#coming from someone who had 2 bootlegs

[bl4z1ng-tr1ckz]

I forgot to show you guys how he arrived two days ago lol (Ragatha's under the tree) -🔥

[chipsarchiveblog]

Hey Deltarune Fandom

I know its 3am as I wright this but I think I found something online that might be important- or at least, be something to consider- food for thought and all that jazz-

you see, I was scrolling thought reddit when I came upon a particular post...

it starts of seeming very normal, right? I mean, it's just your average detarune fan asking about equipment advice, right?

but.. somethings... off, to say the least......

Not only is the wording weird when talking about Spamton, (with the phrasing of "Spamton dude" being particularly odd, as to get to Spamton's shop, you need to get fairly familiar with him and his character, but this user seems to be acting like this is their first time meeting him.) But Spamton HIMSELF seems to look... Different than usual. Or, at lease, different than his usual shop sprite that is...

and I was not alone on this sentiment, as the comments noticed too!

which leads to wonder....

... yeah, that...

To which OP provided an... Interesting answer....

D-.... Didn't have the money? But, deltarune is free game? Or, at least, Chapter's 1 and 2 are...

you see, a while back, Toby mention online that Chapters 3, 4, and 5 would all be released together, and, unlike the first two, cost money. (or as a certain salesman would phrase it, cost some [[Sweet, Sweet KROMER]]!!!)

Not only that, but its kinda ironic that this user pirated a copy of a free game, and have the one character who has a history with shady links (or in other words, [[Hyperlink Blocked]]) be the one who's changed... Almost as if this bootleg game has its own bootleg of Spamton... The one character who literally tries to be a bootleg of ANOTHER character in-universe. *Cough cough* Swatch- *Cough cough*

But this also leads to question... are there any other differences in the game? I mean, it is a pirated game, surely there has to be some other differences from the original game other than some seemingly random shop sprite of spamton, right?

luckily, I was not the only one who was curious about this and a user by the name of kuro50 ask OP to quote:

To which OP responded:

how... convenient.....

I mean- don't get me wrong- I get that feeling not having any program to record with (though than again OBS Studio exist)- but even still, all of this seems a little bit too, odd to just let off as something "normal"...

but, than again, its not like there's anything necessary wrong about it either, right? I mean, sure, it weird that someone pirated a free game, but, maybe they're just some gullible kid online?

...Except, a user by the name of ThePotatoPerson510 pointed out a few striking things...

And then... it all stared to click...

I went to check the profile and, just as ThePotatoPerson510 had said,

"u/ThatDudeTobias, Cake day December 27, 2022, made 12 hours ago..." the same hour as the spamton post was made... almost as if the account was made just so they could post this.... (Note: the previous image in this post of the spamton post says it was made 10 hours ago. This time gap is because I have been writing this post for 2 hours straight now- coming onto 3 hours- as such, I give you this screenshot showing both the post and the profile, and thus, showing they were in fact made in the same hour-)

MID WRIGHTING UPDATE: It seems as if there WAS a time gap between the two post, as its 5:24am and I just took THIS screenshot showing the time gap. Take this how you will I suppose ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Now, about the name... It seem kinda... on the nose, to say the least. I mean, Toby, Tobias, seems a little to similar, right? But, at the same time, knowing Toby, he would be the type to use a seemingly obvious while still not TOO obvious name to fuck with us (he DOSE have a history with being a troll when it comes to his games ¬_¬||)

Also, looking back at the spamton image and comparing it to the name "Tobias", they both share one thing in common... They're both SIMILAR to their originals, to the point where you can tell what they're based off of, but, somewhat off...

As for the one other post on the account, well...

its..

... A comment on MeIRL?

Well, what's the original post?

A..... Video of some guy walking up the stairs, only to keep looping up the same steps, unable to get to the end?

Well, that's... anticlimactic..... Sooo.... Is this just some random account then? Was all of this just for nothing? Was it all red hearings in the end? Well, that's what I thought..

For you see, I realized something....

Toby Fox is a well-known fan of anime, but, not just any anime.... specifically, JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE. How do we know this? Well, in undertale, there is an item in the game called a Punch Card

When this card is used in battle, it says, "OOOORAAAAA!!! You rip up the punch card! Your hands are burning!" This increases your attack. "ORA" Is a common phrase screamed in JOJO' when one of the Jostar's are attacking.

Not only that, but in deltarune, main antagonist of chapter 2 is Queen.

her battle theme? Attack of the Killer Queen

Killer Queen is the stand of Yoshikage Kira. The main antagonist of JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE: Diamond is Unbreakable. Which is the 4th Chapter of the series.

So, what dose ALL of this have to do with the video "Tobias" commented on? Well, you see, in JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE: Stardust Crusaders, when Polnareff, one of the main protagonist, tries to walk up the stairs to face DIO, the main antagonist, he finds himself in the same loop as the man in the video. Continuously walking up the same set of stares, unable to reach the end.

Meaning, the video that "Tobias", or, as we presume, Toby commented on was in fact...

A JOJO REFFERANCE, AND THUS, MAKES PERFICT SENCE AS TO WHY HE WOULD COMMENT ON IT

...... And so with that last tidbit out of the way, we are left with 3 conclusions that we can come to... 1. This "Tobias" is actually Toby Fox teasing us about Chapter 3 and or some other upcoming scheme of his he has up his sleaves.

2. This "Tobias" is actually Toby Fox just fucking with us

and 3. This is some third party not affiliated with Toby but still making something and teasing it (possibly and ARG or something of sorts) .... That or I've just spent over 3 hours of my life typing this up only for it to be a shitpost by Temmie or something :/

either way its 6:41am as I type this and I have not slept all night so I hope you liked this deep dive analysis into this possibly important reddit account that could hold significant lore for the upcoming chapters of deltarune and if you'll excuse me I'm going to go collapse on my couch for the rest of the day :) have a wonderful time zone <3

[ravenadottir]

i started playing season 6, and i've got shit to say for the half of dozen people that are still following me in this cobweb infested blog (i apologize, i'll be explaining what's happening on a different post)

i'm only on day 2 of the season, right when it's announced that roberto is coming (which is so disappointing to me that he isn't brazilian but portuguese, like... WHEN ARE WE GETTING A GOOD BRAZILIAN CHARACTER????)

anyway, here are my thoughts:

WRITING:

i actually didn't see much of a problem with it so far. it feels on par with similar conversations we had in the past, except this time we're getting to know them a little deeper than, say, season 3.

knowing bella's family situation or roberto's is kind of refreshing because we barely learned bobby had a sister on a throwaway scene on s2, so... yeah, it's ok.

i like how they express themselves because as an litg player, i'm used to some eloquence, but as someone who sometimes watches the show i HAVE to suspend my disbelief since i know islanders from the show are just... NOT GOOD AT EXPRESSING THEMSELVES, to say the least.

i like the conversations we had so far, it felt fluid and fun, but then again i've only coupled up with jamal, because obviousoly i did, who would i go for, fucking ryan? WAKE UP.

the challenges piled up but because of how many dialogues we had in this little time i think it worked pretty well.

CHARACTERS:

grace - girl, it's been a day and ozzy is not even that hot. HAVE YOU SEEN YOURSELF? he's punching, not you. chill. (and i hate they're giving the intensity they gave hope here, feels bitterly familiar and they better fucking knock it off).

bella - FINALLY a girl i like who's available and slutty (affectionate) since the beginning. i absolutely think bella might be right there with talia when it comes to arc as an LI, but we'll see. if anyone dares stealing her or if fusebox even make the slight suggestion of a slowburn i'm burning their HQ idc

ivy - alright i see you bootleg marisol, but i don't give a shit, you're annoying, die in a hole.

amelia - i think she's putting a front and deflecting the negative attention to ivy but that's just me. also, the twist of the public choosing who she should couple up with before she could tell us is extremely dumb and unnecessary, but also a reason for her to say a different name later, maintaining her image of good sister. i don't trust her, i WILL step on her head to the finale, die in a pit you're also annoying.

jamal - i like the attention but everything with moderation gives me way more tingles than a crybaby that can't stop talking about how he wants to be with me again. we were coupled up for a few hours and only had one conversation, chill bitch. it's giving ted mosby and every himym fan knows how bad that is. i'm not sure if every guy that the public chooses to be with amelia on night 1 acts the same, but i'm slightly turned off. it's too much boy, calm down, i'm here to be a slut, calm down.

ryan - get a haircut or let it grow because looking twelve and the coolest lesbian at the same time is not the look for you. its giving hipster with a chemistry kit at the local café.. also, either you're the douchey musician or a bad poet, you can't be both, PICK A STRUGGLE.

lewie - the impersonation of being stuck in traffic. i don't care for you, die in the same hole as ivy and amelia.

ozzy - fucking pulling the noah, man. i've seen this before and i'm not interested. stop being such a coward and tell grace how you feel. i know for a fact you're gonna be drama and it's because you refuse to be honest. it's so embarrassing, bestie.

roberto - HOT. i only saw the preview but i'm excited.

PACING

it's great. i think it was kind of weird how fast and furious it was with some previous seasons (remember the last season i played was 3 and half of 4 {it was soooo tedious i gave up half way through}) but i think so far it's ok. it definitely has better cliffhangers than other times when they thought they tried their darnedest.

OBSERVATIONS WITH SCREENSHOTS:

there's no fucking way they thought these were worth diamonds. and 22 diamonds for that frufru purple shit??? it looks like something who doesn't sew would put together with a hot glue gun, stop.

ivy i might kill you like they kill one of those vampires at the end of the twilight saga, by opening your mouth so wide it cracks off your skull. SHUT - UP.

and amelia... you're irrelevant, get out.

BUDDY, YOU'RE THE MOUTHPIECE OF THE GROUP NOW, HOLY SHIT. grace has me on my knees, i can't.-

bitch, we did! i kissed you in the challenge. EXCUSE YOUR BEAUTIFUL SELF! (also, for the breasts appreciators, i feel you, boobs are great, really! but like, those... two... lines... coming out of the bikini???? yeah, that is actually what gets me. you didn't need to know but i told you anyway, because i'm happy bella is hot and cool and i don't know how to shut up when i'm love, leave me alone!) whoever designed her knew EXACTLY what they were doing.

I LOVE GRACE. I JUST DO.

i'll give ryan some cool points because 1, he burned ivy in front of everyone, and 2, he admitted and owned up to it. good for you, bestie, good luck when you take a trip to the hair salon and get rid of that... hair. also, STOP SKIPPING LEG DAY BUDDY. from the waist up it's giving "abs, hot, i go to the gym", from the waist down is giving "i'm twelve and there's a reason i go to the beach in pants".

bella and grace looking naked and glamorous but feeling threatened by this ugly ass dress is the funniest joke in the writing so far. truly. i've had mermaid costumes at 4 years of age less embarrassing than this atrocity. stop lying, bella and grace, YOU'RE BOTH NAKED AND PERFECT.

and that's what i have to say so far. i'll continue playing this season until they inevitably fuck up. i'm not being pessimistic, i'm just... well, i guess i am. but i have no reason to believe otherwise.

also, i keep forgetting ozzy is here even though it's been a day. idk why.

anyways, i'll come back with more litg brain rot in a bit.

[bcdrawsandwrites]

[ID: A Psychonauts fic cover. The cover depicts Sasha’s Shooting Gallery with one of the bootleg tiffany lamps being blown up by a purple psi-blast. The shade of the lamp is split into two large chunks, with the left one featuring a subtle, stylized Loboto, and the right one featuring a subtle, stylized Sasha. The title, “Having a PSI-BLAST!” is shown with “Having a” just above the lamp and “PSI-BLAST!” between the two split parts of the shade. /end ID]

Fandom: Psychonauts

Rating: T

Genre: Humor, Hurt/Comfort (a weird mix of both)

Characters: Sasha Nein, Caligosto Loboto (and Raz and Milla very briefly)

Warnings: PTSD, panic attacks, (SPOILERS: mentions of torture)

Description: After tracking Loboto’s progress with re-learning his repressed psychic powers, Sasha decides that it’s time for him to learn psi-blast. He begins his lesson as usual, but things quickly start going off-course... for more reasons than one might expect.

Beta Readers: @jaywings and @of-science-and-stars

Notes: This takes place after Psychics Ruin Everything, but if you haven’t read that, then just know Raz has helped Loboto re-gain his psychic powers post-Psychonauts 2 and the Psychonauts are teaching him how to use them safely.

---~~~---

Outwardly, Sasha was in his office, straightening books on the shelves, putting away a few he'd been studying, and using practiced telekinesis to sweep the dust off of his table and into a trash bin. Inwardly, he was reviewing his notes, even though this was a lesson he'd given a dozen times or so. Though this would be his first time (in a while, anyway) giving the lesson to someone... closer to his age.

Or someone who had once been a detainee at headquarters.

...Or someone who had kidnapped him twice.

He paused, sighing. No, this wasn't how he should be thinking of his pupil. After all, Raz and Morry had left detailed notes about their experiences in Caligosto's mindscape, making it clear that he had, indeed, changed for the better. It wasn't all that different from how he, Milla, and Ford had examined Morry's mind several weeks ago. They'd helped Morry, and now it was time to continue helping Loboto.

It had taken a bit more convincing than he would have liked; Loboto had been hesitant to enter his lab again, for reasons he couldn't fully understand. It wasn't as though he'd tortured him, though some of the devices he'd used could be a tad... uncomfortable. Regardless, the situation with Maligula had been resolved and there was no reason to interrogate him further.

Razputin had vouched for him, though, assuring Caligosto that Sasha was an excellent teacher and that psi-blast was a useful technique.

Indeed, it was. It had gotten Sasha out of a fair number of dangerous situations. Not to mention its therapeutic qualities.

The door to his lab slid open, and Sasha gave a quiet hum, stepping out of his office to glance down the hall. To his surprise, Caligosto was there alone, peering into the lab while gripping the edge of the doorway.

"You can come in, Caligosto," he said with a calm nod.

Loboto stayed put. "You're not going to psychically drug me and set me on an exam table, are you?"

"That would be counterintuitive, so, no."

With an uncertain grumble, Loboto crept into the lab, his loupes darting around as though he were expecting some kind of trap. Sasha waited for Raz to follow him in, but the door slid shut behind him.

"Is Razputin not coming?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, he got called away," Caligosto said, his face scrunching up as though he'd just tasted something sour.

"Very well. We can conduct the lesson without him." With a wave of his hand, he urged his new student to follow him further into the lab. He'd moved the exam table and most of the monitors off to the side, so there was a decent amount of empty space to stand in. Sensing Loboto's hesitation, however, he glanced back at him again. "How has your training been going so far?"

"Uh..." Loboto shifted uneasily where he stood. "Fine? The army man ran me through his silly little obstacle course, and Raz is helping me with telekinesis."

"And levitation?"

Caligosto froze. "Fine," he said quickly, his mouth screwing up.

Sasha gave a short hum. In truth, he had been actively tracking Loboto's progress. Morry was required to report back to him, Raz was always excited to discuss whatever work he was doing, and he and Milla were in constant contact.

It was how he'd learned that Loboto had been making very little progress with his levitation training, and why Sasha had decided to go forward with the current lesson.

Nodding again at his student, Sasha walked to the center of the lab, then paused. Milla, Loboto and I are going to proceed with the psi-blast lesson.

Oh! I forgot that was today. I'm just heading in for my weekly meditation in psychoisolation.

It's not a problem. I'll fill you in afterward.

I look forward to it, darling!

Hearing the clanking of boot heels against the metal floor, Sasha turned to face Loboto again. "If you're ready, we can proceed."

Once again, he hesitated. "What if I'm not?"

"Is there anything in particular holding you back?" Sasha asked.

Loboto didn't answer, his loupes now scanning the floor beneath him.

As the shower cap Loboto insisted on wearing made it impossible to read his mind, Sasha couldn't pick up on the exact reason for his hesitation, but if he had to guess... "We could wait for Agent Aquato if you wish."

Immediately Loboto perked up, only to glance away, crossing his arms. "Well it's not really necessary..."

"It's not a problem. Give me a moment." With that, Sasha placed a hand on his temple and reached out, managing to locate Razputin in Hollis's office. Agent Aquato, are you there?

Uh, yeah, kinda busy right now, Sasha. Is everything okay?

Caligosto was wishing to wait for you before we proceed with the lesson.

Oh! Yeah, I can— There was a short pause. ...Wait, no, Hollis just handed me more paperwork. Aw man, are these double-sided?! Who the heck—

I see. I'll attempt to sort things out, but if not, we can reschedule. Removing his hand from his temple, he looked back at his student, who was turned away, though his loupes were turned back to focus on him. "Well, it seems Agent Aquato is going to be preoccupied for a sizeable length of time. As such, we might have to reschedule."

"Oh, that's too bad," Loboto replied in a droning voice, striding toward the door. "I was really looking forward to that!"

"Yes, it's a shame," Sasha replied, lighting a cigarette with pyrokinesis and TKing it to his lips. "Turning your negative emotions into firepower is a useful and enjoyable skill, but I'm sure I can slot you in again in another week or so."

Caligosto froze, and Sasha allowed himself a small hint of a smile.

"Indeed, this is a skill that has saved both Razputin and I on many occasions. But if we have to wait, then that's how it is."

"Hhhghhh...!" Caligosto spun around, pointing an accusing claw at Sasha. "Don't you try that psychic-psychology-psychononsense on me! It won't work!"

Sasha shrugged, TKing his cigarette away for a moment and breathing out the smoke. "I wasn't trying anything. Merely stating that the power was useful, but it's understandable that you'd want to wait to learn it. Which is clearly your preference."

"Hey, I never said that!"

"So you wish to proceed with the lesson?"

Caligosto stared at him, yellow teeth bared, before he tossed his arms up in the air. "Yes! Fine! Okay!" Growling, he stormed back to the center of the lab. "Let's see if your silly power is as useful as you say."

Sasha didn't hide his smile this time. "Excellent. Now that you're ready, we can proceed." With that, he put out his cigarette in a nearby ashtray, and gently TK'd his Psycho-Portal onto his forehead before tapping the door.

Caligosto's mouth wobbled nervously, but he steeled himself right before his astral projection was yanked from his body and into Sasha's mind.

—-~~~—-

The welcoming calmness of the shooting gallery sprawled out before them, with all of its predictable, purposeful patterns and simple colors, not a single mental object out of place, and no distracting sights or sounds or—

"Hello? HellooOOOOOO!"

Sasha grimaced as his student cupped his hands around his mouth and called out into space. "Yes, Caligosto, I'm right here." Nodding out at his mental world, he prepared to start his usual lecture. "Welcome to—"

"I was tryin' to see if my voice would echo," Caligosto replied, looking back at him. "Seems empty enough."

Strolling across the surface of the cube, he attempted to roll with Loboto's interruption as he had Raz's comment back when he’d taught the young agent. "There's more here than meets—"

"I guess you don't have much in the way of thoughts, then," Caligosto went on with a smirk. "Perhaps they leaked out from using your silly psychic powers too much?"

Sasha resisted the urge to unfold an entire face of the cube to prove him wrong. Instead he stared him down silently, a technique that worked to quiet down rowdy children who refused to pay attention to his lectures—or was supposed to. Loboto stared back, keeping his defiant grin, but it slowly faded as he seemed to realize Sasha wasn't going to put up with his nonsense. Once he was sure his student was going to cooperate, Sasha continued toward a specific section of the cube face.

"As I was saying, there's more here than meets the eye. But I've learned to keep it under strict control..." And he spun around to face Loboto, who had been following awkwardly behind him. "Which is what I'm here to teach you: control."

Caligosto froze, his loupes twitching as they looked him up and down. "Control?" he repeated, his brow slowly furrowing and claw clenching. "You tricked me! You said you were gonna teach me how to blast things with my brain!"

Taking a half-step back, Sasha raised a brow. "It's necessary to learn in order to achieve that skill."

"Oh, sure it is! You guys are alllll about mind control, aren't you? Keeping people under your thumb, making sure you've got people wrapped around your scrawny psychic fingers—"

Sasha heaved a sigh; he should've seen this coming. "No, Caligosto. Mind control is an entirely different subject, and one frowned upon here, aside from in the most desperate circumstances." He shook his head. "The sort of control I'm talking about is self-control."

Loboto crossed his arms. "I've heard that before, Dad," he spat, sticking his tongue out between his teeth.

He could feel a headache coming on, but a thought crossed his mind. "Actually, it's good that you're feeling this anger right now."

That seemed to catch Caligosto off-guard, and he reeled back. "Wh-what?"

"It will be useful for the purposes of this lesson. I was about to ask you to gather your anger together—as well as other negative emotions, such as fear—and you have already accomplished this." He gave his student a smile. "Well done, Caligosto."

Loboto's mouth was now hanging open, his head tipping to one side. "...Huh?" he said, the utterance sounding vaguely like a dazed goose.

"Hang onto that anger—it will be useful for later."

"Oh...kay..." Caligosto looked away, scratching his head just beneath his shower cap. His loupes were now looking down at the floor, as though searching for something he'd lost.

"In order to learn this technique, we must control those negative emotions, concentrate them, and release them... as firepower." Sasha paused briefly to glance back at Caligosto, who was for once focusing on him. But upon realizing he was being observed, his student snapped his head in another direction, as though suddenly very interested in the faint neon patterns in the distance. No matter; few students could resist his illustration. "Say something disgusting appears before you, so terrible and repulsive that it simply must die."

Just as Sasha prepared to step on the hidden button, Caligosto blurted out: "Like a terrible criminal defense attorney?"

Sasha paused. "No, Caligosto. Killing people is frowned upon here."

"Hmph!" Loboto crossed his arms, his fingers tapping irritably against his prosthesis.

"I had been thinking something more along the lines of..." Sasha pressed his foot down on the floor, activating a triangular button. A distance off, a circular panel opened, and the embodiment of all things tacky and awful shot up out of the cube: a bootleg Tiffany lamp. With an only slightly exaggerated step back, he shielded his face with his arm. "Agh."

"Oh, my dad had one of those in his office," Loboto remarked absently.

"It's too tacky and disgusting to even set eyes upon... but,"—he drew his arm away from his face—"I can use those feelings of disgust to my advantage. I control them, focus them..." With exaggerated motions he moved his right hand to his temple. "Concentrate, and... release!"

A blue bolt of psychic energy fired from his forehead and directly at the lamp before him, shattering it.

"And the world is a better place," he finished, flipping his hair back and turning to face his student. But instead of finding him in awe of the power on display, he found him with his arms still crossed, his head tipped to one side and brow furrowed.

"I could do that."

"Very well." With another stomp of his foot, Sasha activated the mechanism beneath them, which released another lamp. "Give it a try, Cali—"

Before he could finish talking, Caligosto stormed up to the lamp, and, with one swift kick, shattered it. "There!" He looked back at Sasha, his hands on his hips. "See?"

...Right. He should have seen that coming. "Well, you did indeed destroy that poorly-constructed monstrosity, but your methods are... not quite what I had in mind."

"Guess you need to try thinking outside the box, then, celery-man!"

He elected to ignore that comment, instead summoning another lamp. "Let's try this agai—"

SMASH.

Loboto stood with his heel planted where the lamp had been standing, his mismatched loupes staring directly into Sasha's glasses.

Sasha stared right back, keeping his mounting frustration from showing on his face. "...Have you forgotten, Caligosto, what lesson you are here to learn?"

"No, but apparently you psychics forget that you can break a lamp with something other than silly psychic powers!" his student retorted.

"The lamp is merely a target for you to practice your psi-blast on." He pressed down on the button once again. "Now, if you—"

SMASH.

The fragments of the mental object faded behind Loboto, whose eyes never left Sasha.

In turn, Sasha continued to stare back, this time saying nothing as he produced yet another lamp, which Loboto then kicked up into the air, never looking away even as it smashed against the floor. Another lamp was summoned and subsequently smashed, this time with Loboto's opposite leg. Not wasting a beat, Sasha stomped the button repeatedly, and his student smashed each lamp the second they appeared, even when he had them summoned to slightly different locations. Loboto was practically dancing—no, he was dancing, every few steps punctuated with the smash of a newly-summoned mental bootleg. All the while, his gaze never left Sasha, at least partially (one loupe occasionally twitching off to the side to ascertain the position of the next target).

Ridiculous. This was absolutely ridiculous. He'd taught multiple students previously, the majority of them much younger than Loboto. There was no reason he couldn't keep this under control—

Control. That was it.

He ceased stomping on the button, watching Loboto all the while. While his student continued to stare back defiantly, Sasha did not miss the brief look of consternation on his face. With an exaggerated motion he raised up his leg, meanwhile gathering his frustration together in his mind, compressing it and subtly lifting his hand toward his temple.

Loboto noticed the movement of his leg, and when Sasha stomped on the button, he grinned.

But instead of the lamp appearing within Loboto's reach, it jumped up at the far edge of the cube. Before Loboto had time to react, Sasha released his psi-blast, shattering the target before his pupil had time to react.

"Wh—hey!" Caligosto cried, whirling around to stare at the smoldering patch on the floor. "I thought I was supposed to break that!"

"Indeed you were," Sasha replied, relaxing his shoulders. "But there will be moments, much like that one, during which time is of the essence, or when you cannot get close to your target, and thus must attack from a distance." He eased his foot onto the button again, bringing up another lamp a distance off from Loboto. "Shall we try again?"

Loboto glared at the target. "Pshhbbttt... fine!" Gritting his teeth, he put his claw toward his temple, hunching down slightly.

Approaching his student, Sasha went on, "Remember, focus on your anger, concentrate..."

"It'd be a lot easier to do that without you yammerin' at me," Caligosto spat, brow furrowing as he focused on the lamp. His loupes glowed brighter, his claw shook, and with a low growl that escalated into a shout, he released a purple blast of psychic energy. Rather than taking the form of a beam, however, it scattered erratically in front of him, and Loboto staggered back from the force of it.

Finally they were getting somewhere. "Well done, Caligosto! That was a good attempt." Stepping up to the lamp, Sasha noticed the fading scorch marks where the bolts of energy had hit the floor, barely missing their target. "You've figured out the release, which is a good start, but you still lack control." He turned to face his pupil once more. "Fortunately that is what we—"

He paused.

Loboto was hunched forward, his eyes tipped downward, his left hand pressed against his forehead. His breathing was slow and heavy, as though he'd just run for some distance.

"Are you all right?" Sasha asked, his tone immediately softening. He'd taught a number of his students and seen a variety of reactions to a first psi-blast attempt, but they had always been positive. It was a release of negative energy, after all, and typically led to elation, aside from when one was in combat, of course. For a moment he pondered what had happened here when it struck him that Raz, Morry, and Milla had all reported that Caligosto seemed to get headaches from use of his psychic powers. "Are you in pain?"

"What?" Finally Caligosto looked up, brow furrowed in consternation. "No! I mean, yes, that recoil is terrible. But that's not..." He trailed off into confused, lilted mumbling, his eyes searching the floor.

Sasha opened his mouth to point out that psi-blasts didn't have recoil, but he stopped himself; that didn't appear to be the part that was bothering his pupil. Frowning, he stepped closer. "What seems to be the problem?"

Caligosto massaged his forehead. "That felt... sorta..." He hesitated, mumbling again for a moment before speaking up, "...familiar...?"

"Familiar?" Lowering his head, Sasha put a hand to his chin. "You would have had to use it before, then, but psi-blast typically must be taught." He tipped his head back, regarding the glowing patterns decorating the sky of his world. "Of course, there are rare cases in which a psychic can use it before they are properly taught, such as when they are born with a proficiency in it—again, a rarity—or... well." Turning away, he frowned. "...During moments of serious danger, when the mind is at a heightened point of distress. Fear and other negative emotions will typically be in abundance, then, and the mind may then act accordingly in order to protect itself, even if the user is unaware of what they are doing."

Not a particularly pleasant situation to think upon.

"But unless you fit one of those rare criteria," he went on, facing his student again, "I don't think you—"

Caligosto's knees were buckled and shaking, both of his hands tugging at the edges of his shower cap, his eyes dim and staring at nothing. His face had gone a few shades paler, and his chest was heaving rapidly.

Oh.

Heart hammering in his chest, Sasha hurried up to his side. "Caligosto, can you hear me?"

In response, Caligosto's breathing quickened in pace.

Scheiße.

Putting a hand to his own temple, Sasha reached out. Milla, I need your help. Caligosto is—

The message slammed against a barrier before it even finished sending.

Right, she'd gone to the psychoisolation chamber for meditation and probably wouldn't be out for another hour or two. Meanwhile, Caligosto had sunk lower, still breathing rapidly, and part of Sasha was glad that he wasn't in his student's mind—though perhaps fighting a Panic Attack would be easier than dealing with one the usual way.

Staring down at him, he ran through the options in his mind. His first thought was to pull out his tin of smelling salts and get Caligosto out of here, but exiting the mind that way tended to be jarring enough as it was, and that could potentially make the issue worse. He could contact Raz, but he was still likely busy, and asking a child for help when a grown man was having a panic attack did not sit right with him.

But how on earth was he supposed to deal with it, then?

By this point Caligosto was seated on the floor, curled up on himself, his body trembling and his breathing not showing any signs of slowing.

Massaging his forehead, Sasha considered a few more options. Smoking typically helped him when he was stressed, but Caligosto likely wasn't in any frame of mind to accept a cigarette, even a mental one that bypassed the negative physical effects. They were nice to have in his—

Sasha raised his head, his eyes widening. There was no guarantee it would work, but... he stooped down to his student's side. "Caligosto, I'm going to move you to a safe location." It wasn't entirely a lie—he had been holding back his personal Censors from this area for the time being, but they never appeared in the other location at all, and perhaps letting his student know that he would be in a safer place would help put his mind at ease. "Hold on."

Lifting Caligosto into a gentle TK grip, Sasha opened a hidden door in mid-air, which bathed the two of them in a bright orange light. He stepped through the opening, easing Caligosto in behind him before TKing the door shut. His student seemed unaffected thus far, still breathing heavily as he was held off the ground, and Sasha looked around the room as he debated where to place him.

In sharp contrast to the rest of his immaculate mind, this room featured much brighter colors, with bright orange walls against a plush carpet with patterns that had been out of style for several years now. A coffee table with a number of speculative fiction novels (as well as, he noticed, a few comic books—those were new) and a few ash trays sat between a couple armchairs, the right-hand one sporting a large plush rabbit, while a distance off hovered a screen and VHS player that wouldn't have looked out of place in the workshop across the quarry. Green potted plants decorated the corners of the room, while pictures of distant cities (and a single framed picture of bacon) adorned the walls. A small table off to one side featured an old photograph next to an actual Tiffany lamp.

Nodding, Sasha sat in one of the chairs, and deposited Caligosto into the other chair, settling him next to the plush rabbit.

Immediately Loboto jolted back to life, letting out a wild gasp and gripping both arms of the chair. His loupes swiveled around to take in the room. He was still breathing heavily, but he was aware of his surroundings, so that was an improvement. "Wh... wh..."

"Relax," Sasha said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his legs. "Try to slow your breathing. You're still in my mind, and you're perfectly safe here in this room."

Caligosto was still trembling, but he did as instructed, drawing in a deep breath and letting it out. His grip on the sides of the chair loosened, and he started to draw his arms closer to himself, leaving Sasha concerned that he would curl up on himself again. But the second Caligosto's hand touched the plush rabbit at his side, he picked it up and wrapped himself around it, hugging it to his chest and burying his face into it.

Not the reaction Sasha had expected, but the plush toy was aiding remarkably in calming his student; he would have to thank Morry later for inspiring it.

While he waited for Caligosto to calm down, he TK'd over one of the paperback books on the table, absently retrieving a cigarette and lighting it. After a few moments, he heard Caligosto's shaky voice:

"Th-this is... a strange therapy session."

Looking up, he found Caligosto staring back at him in confusion, and Sasha raised the rim of one side of his glasses. "It's not a therapy session. We were in the middle of a psi-blast training lesson."

"...Were we?" Loboto's brows furrowed, his loupes twitching left and right. "Oh. ...Did I... learn it?"

"No. You had a panic attack."

Caligosto's eyes searched the middle distance for a moment before the memory dawned upon him again. His brows raised, his face growing pale, and he abruptly wrapped himself around the plush rabbit once more.

Sighing, Sasha returned to his book, his eyes skimming the pages of a novel that was even more worn-out in its original physical form. It was another few minutes before Caligosto spoke up again:

"You're not asking me anything."

"No." TKing the book away, he glanced back at Loboto, who was eyeing him from behind the plush rabbit, his loupes poking out between the toy's floppy ears. "Do you want me to?"

Caligosto's lights went a shade dimmer as his loupes flicked off to the right. One loupe knocked against the ear of the plush rabbit and retracted slightly like a snail's eye.

"Then I won't." Sasha took a drag from his cigarette, letting it out through his nose. "If you feel calm enough, we can resume the lesson."

Caligosto ducked behind the plush again, one hand tugging on his cap as he muttered to himself.

"Then we'll wait a bit longer. Take your time."

They resumed sitting in relative silence, other than Loboto's intermittent, incoherent muttering. After another few minutes had passed, Loboto mumbled something louder and a bit clearer: "H-he made it come back."

"Hm?" Sasha TK'd his cigarette butt over to one of the ashtrays. "Who made what come back?"

Caligosto hesitated. "...Raz."

Raising a brow, Sasha sat up straighter in his chair. During the few weeks Loboto had been training, he'd never heard him say anything negative against Razputin. "Is this related to when Agent Aquato entered your mind?"

His grip around the plush rabbit tightened. "I buried it," he choked out. "I didn't want to remember it."

Ah, a memory vault. That would explain it. "Is that what caused your... episode?"

Caligosto did not answer, and his breathing grew quicker.

Sasha scooted forward in his chair. "Caligosto, you do not need to speak about this if it is causing you distress."

"Doesn't—" he croaked out between gasps. "Doesn't matter—still there—"

Sighing, Sasha retrieved another cigarette and TK'd it out toward Caligosto.

Glancing out from behind the plush rabbit, Loboto spotted the offering and reeled back, brow furrowed and tongue stuck out between his teeth. "What?! Egh!" he cried, batting it out of the air like a gnat. "Do you know how bad those are for your teeth?"

Without looking away from his student, Sasha dismissed the discarded mental object and bit back the urge to inform him that "no thank you" was a more appropriate answer, and that a cigarette smoked in a mental world would have no impact on his dental health. "It was merely a suggestion," he replied.

Loboto stared at him a moment longer, his loupes pulled back, before he eased himself back into the chair, staring down at the plush. He turned it to face him, touching the bottom of its head with the smooth side of his claw to lift up the face, as though he were addressing the rabbit rather than Sasha. "...I had some... bad clients, back in the day."

Sasha nodded. "You worked for a number of our enemies."

Caligosto sputtered, waving a hand at him while still watching the rabbit. "I know that! I mean they were..." Again he hesitated, bringing his hand back to the plush. "...bad... to me. Ill-tempered, looking for loopholes to get out of payment, and... other things."

Humming in interest, Sasha leaned back in his chair again. "Bad in such a way that your mind reacted to defend itself?"

Loboto's loupes stared down into the button eyes sewn onto the rabbit. "I was late with a client... and he was angry with me. But—" He shook his head, gripping the rabbit a bit too hard. "He wasn't my only patient! Juggling clients is a pain, and you've got to be more patient when there's more than one patient in the office! But... some people don't care for the proper art of dentistry..."

Sasha remained silent, his glasses narrowing as he listened.

"He... didn't like... that I was late." His gaze grew more unfocused, more distant, and he smiled unhappily. "Angrier than a patient with an ill-fitted veneer, heh!"

"And his anger caused him to attack you."

"Oh, it wasn't an attack." Slowly Caligosto's loupes tipped back upward, facing Sasha, though not really seeing him, as he grinned even wider. "It was a surgery!"

Sasha nodded.

And then the meaning hit him.

The warmth of the room faded, and his stomach plunged. Loboto's eyes remained fixed on him, his mouth still stretched in a grin, the red and green gaze and yellow smile all too bright against the dark implications the man had uttered. "...A surgery," he repeated, his voice distant.

"Yes. A necessary one, or so he told me. One in which I would learn a valuable lesson." Caligosto's own voice was also slightly off, as though his mind was off elsewhere, leaving both his body and his mental projection behind. "Funny, I don't remember what the lesson was! But I didn't want to learn it. I wasn't big on college education, hah!"

Sasha wondered if Caligosto was aware of what he was saying. He suspected not.

"Was a strange lesson, too. He grabbed me with a psychic hand, and grabbed my arm, too, like this!"

He swung out his prosthetic arm off to his side, and Sasha felt the blood drain from his face as he realized where this was going.

"And then he had a bone saw! Have you used one? I have! Fascinating tool, excellent for the messier bits of dentistry, but I didn't want it used on me—and BANG!" His whole body jerked backward, slamming against the back of the chair, his loupes spinning. "It went flying! Wooooo!" He waved his left hand to indicate a sailing motion. "But then it came right back. And that client—I couldn't see him for all the shiny sparkling stars in my eyes, but he was absolutely livid! And that fancy instrument—its teeth bit right through—"

"Enough!" Sasha cried, standing abruptly.

Loboto gave a start, scrambling to grab the plush rabbit again. Gone was the distant smile, and his eyes were locked onto Sasha, his brows raised.

Slowly Sasha realized that his fists were clenched at his side, and he was glaring at Loboto. Exhaling, he loosened his stance and put a hand to his forehead. "Sorry," he said quietly, shutting his eyes as he turned this new information over in his mind.

During his time in the Psychonauts, he'd seen a lot of things, some worse than others. He'd read the minds of others—with more care than he had as a child—and found things both fascinating and disturbing. He'd entered the minds of others, uncovering their memories, both good and bad. But much of that had been during missions, when he was prepared to witness such things. While his job revolved around helping others, one had to employ a certain amount of detachment to keep from becoming overwhelmed.

He had not made such preparations today.

"That was an inappropriate response," Sasha went on, brushing his hair back and taking his seat.

"Oh, I get it," Caligosto went on, tipping his head. That same distant, unhappy grin returned. "Not everyone has the stomach for this line of work. Buuuut it turned out all right in the end!" Holding out his right arm dramatically, he flexed his claws and, with his left hand, grasped just below them. "I've got this now, complete with a pepper grinder! ...Well, no pepper anymore, but I'll figure something out! Might be able to retrofit some dental tools into this thing..." He let his prosthetic arm go and turned it this way and that. "Not a bad deal, don't you think?"

Sasha stared at him for a long while, his arms resting on his knees. "The faintest memory of what led to your obtaining it plunged you into a panic attack."

Caligosto balked, his face turning a shade paler, before he smiled and waved a dismissive claw. "Psssshaw! Let's just forget that whole thing happened."

"On the contrary," Sasha said, "I believe we should get back to our lesson."

Before Caligosto had time to protest, a door spontaneously opened within the seat of his chair, and he yelped, dropping through it. A similar door opened beneath Sasha's feet, and he stood, levitating calmly through the portal and out of the sitting room.

The other side of Loboto's door opened perpendicular to the floor, the gravity shift causing him to stumble forward rather than drop straight downward, while Sasha merely continued levitating downward until his feet touched the ground. The doors snapped shut of their own accord, leaving the two of them back on the same face of the cube they'd been on before.

"Wh-what was that for?" Caligosto stammered, looking around at the shapes floating in the sky. His hands grasped absently as he did so, and he looked down, seeming to notice he was no longer holding the plush rabbit. Growling, he crossed his arms tightly against his chest. "That other room was cozy."

"I'm not here to put you in your comfort zone, Caligosto," Sasha said, strolling closer to him. "I am here to help you step out of it, to learn something new."

Loboto's loupes twitched left and right as he studied Sasha's face. "No." His lower lip stuck outward in a pout. "I don't wanna!"

"You wish to go back on your word and cease training under the Psychonauts?"

"No!" Loboto grit his teeth, pointing an accusing claw in Sasha's face. "I don't wanna quit training. I just don't wanna do your silly training! I don't gotta shoot stuff with my brain—I can just..." He drew his claw back, fiddling with it and mumbling. "Wonder if I can stick a pistol in this thing..."

Sasha drew in a breath, looking down at the patterned floor. "Very well. If you do not wish to resume psi-blast training, we can train in a different area."

Dropping his arms to his side, Loboto stared. "Wait, really?"

Looking up, Sasha nodded firmly. "Indeed." He maintained eye contact with his student for a moment before resuming, "I want you to demonstrate your skill in levitation."

Caligosto balked, stepping back and looking away. "Uhh..."

"You've been training with Agent Vodello, so presumably you know how to summon a levitation ball. Go on."

Grumbling, Loboto stared down at his feet. "...All right," he said, and his eye-lights flared as he concentrated. It took several seconds, but finally he bounced up about a foot into the air, held up by a psychic fishbowl beneath him, complete with a betta fish swimming within. It lasted for a second and a half before it began to waver, then popped, sending Loboto falling heavily back onto the floor. He did not look up. "...Happy?" he muttered.

Just as Milla had told him. Sasha put a hand to his chin. "Did Agent Vodello explain why you might be struggling with this?"

Caligosto tapped his prosthetic arm with his fingertips. "A bunch of touchy-feely mumbo-jumbo about letting negative thoughts weigh me down." His claws and teeth clenched. "What's she want me to do about it? Go to therapy?"

Tipping his head to one side, Sasha hummed. "That could be arranged, but I can offer you a more immediate solution."

Caligosto's head snapped up. "Really? What's that?"

"Resuming our psi-blast lesson."

With a tremendous groan, Loboto tossed his head back. "You and your stupid psi-blasts!"

"It is the lesson you came here to learn to begin with."

Loboto spun around, then began storming away, going off in a singsong voice, "Silly stupid psi-blasts slung sloppily around the square—"

"Do you not remember, Caligosto, what powers a psi-blast?"

"Yeah, yeah, it was your anger and everything. I got that part," Loboto muttered. He stopped walking, his head tipped up to stare at the patterns overhead, his loupes locking onto one and watching it drift through the mindscape.

"Yes, and only part of it," Sasha went on, stepping closer to him. "For it is more than just anger that can power a psi-blast—it is all negative emotions, including fear."

Loboto's shoulders went tense. "I'm not a sissy!"

"I made no implication that you were. Everyone has fear within them, and often possesses an abundance of it shortly after surviving a traumatic experience. This is natural, and it is not a weakness. And as a psychic, you can use it as a strength." He paused for a moment to let that sink in, watching as Caligosto lowered his head, his loupes twitching left and right, searching. "Paradoxically, your trauma—and therefore the fear related to that trauma—is tied in part to psi-blasts themselves. While this is a hurdle, I do not believe it is insurmountable."

"No!" Loboto snapped, taking a side-step away from Sasha and glaring at him. "You can think whatever mumbo-jumbo you want, but I'm not doing this stupid lesson for you!"

"Then..." Sighing quietly, Sasha looked down at the ground for a moment before looking Caligosto in the eyes. "Perhaps do it for yourself?"

Caligosto's furrowed brows knit in confusion. "Eh?"

"Negative emotions can be released through a number of outlets, but psi-blasts are a quick and powerful one that can benefit the user."

Once again, Caligosto stared down at the floor, humming to himself as his loupes searched the patterns for answers they would not yield.

When no further response came, Sasha went on, his voice softening: "I know you're frightened, but I believe this will help you."

Loboto frowned, glaring at the floor. "Oh, sure. I'm sure this is because you think it'll help, and not 'cuz you've got some superior breathing down your neck to teach me this stuff."

"I don't," Sasha replied, and Caligosto looked up in surprise. "Teaching you to psi-blast was entirely optional on my part. I was in no way required to give this lesson."

His student's mouth hung open, his eyes unfocused in an expression of sheer bafflement. It did not last long, as his face scrunched up in fury, his yellow teeth bared as he lunged forward, pointing a claw in Sasha's face. "Why?!" he snapped, his eyes searching as Sasha took a startled step back. He went on, too fast for Sasha to interrupt: "What's in this for you? D'you get a kick out of pushing me around or something? Wasn't enough to have me psychically strapped to that table and ask me questions until my brain rotted out, so now you gotta trap me in your mind for this—?!"

"You are not trapped," Sasha said, quickly and firmly. "I know for a fact that Razputin delivered you a container of smelling salts. If you have misplaced it and you wish to leave, you need only tell me, and I will eject you from my mind immediately. Do you wish to leave?"

Lowering his claw, Caligosto continued to stare him in the eye.

After waiting a moment longer, Sasha breathed out through his nose, letting out the tension he was holding with it and dropping his shoulders. "We may not have... gotten along previously," he admitted. "I do not regret keeping you detained and interrogating you, as that was done purely due to a time-sensitive mission. Lives were at stake. But even then, your safety was important, and that part has not changed." He looked up at the sky overhead, at its precise patterns and colors. "Unlike the physical world, this world is under my complete control, and I can make sure it is a safe environment for you to learn in. As well..." Finally he looked back at Loboto, who was now somewhat hunched, his arms crossed and his expression uncertain. Sasha's own face softened. "I want to help you, Caligosto. Keeping negative feelings built up within, with no safe release, is... unbearable. Dangerous."

Caligosto looked back up at him, tilting his head. "...Dangerous?"

Sasha looked aside; while something he had personal experience with, it was not something he liked to reflect on. "As a psychic, your emotions are in some ways entwined with your powers... and if you do not find safe, controlled ways to release your negative emotions... they can find ways to release on their own, in ways you will not like."

His student's brow furrowed, his loupes tipping down toward the floor again.

Meanwhile, Sasha shook his head and took a step closer. "I would not wish for you to deal with it alone."

Caligosto turned away for another moment, muttering to himself, then looked back at Sasha, brow furrowing again. "...Well?" he said, finally. "Are you going to show me how to do this, then, celery-man?"

Sasha raised a brow, but smiled nonetheless. "Yes, but I would ask you not to call me that again."

"Pshaw." Waving him off, Caligosto cast a glance around the face of the cube they stood upon. "So uh... lamp?"

"One moment." It didn't take long for Sasha to locate the button, and soon another hideous lamp appeared. "Now, last time you managed to fire a blast, but it lacked concentration. You must focus your feelings together in order to hit the target."

Caligosto clenched his claw close to his temple, his loupes darting over to Sasha and back to the lamp. "And how'm I supposed to do that?"

Humming, Sasha held his hands in front of himself as though cupping something spherical. "Picture your emotions as physical matter which you are packing into a ball."

"Ah!" Loboto perked up. "Like a filling stuffed in a cavity!"

"...Yes, if that helps."

Initially Caligosto smiled as he bent forward, preparing his stance, only for his face to go pale. He began to mumble incoherently, his loupes darting this way and that.

Sasha stepped closer to him. "You are safe here, Caligosto," he affirmed. "Do not let your fear overtake you. Use it instead to empower you."

Caligosto's breathing picked up, and he began to tremble.

As much as Sasha wanted to urge him further, he bit his tongue. "Should we try this another time?"

Caligosto growled, shaking his head and focusing on the lamp again. "No, no, no..."

"Very well." Keeping close to Caligosto, he turned his own gaze toward the lamp. "Then keep your focus on the target, concentrating your feelings..." He hesitated. "...Pack them into the cavity, if you will."

With an affirmative grunt, Loboto nodded.

"Concentrate... and release!"

A purple blast shot from Caligosto's head and struck the lamp, shattering it into pieces. He let out a cry, staggering back.

Meanwhile, Sasha brightened. "Well done, Caligosto!" He turned to face him again, only to frown when he found him hunched over, holding his head and shivering. "...Are you all right?"

Caligosto did not answer, only breathing heavily.

Sasha knelt near him. "You are safe. The man who hurt you is not here." When his student made no acknowledgment, Sasha looked away for a moment, thinking, before summoning a TK hand and resting it on Caligosto's shoulder.

Loboto started with a gasp, leaping upright and looking around frantically. Seeing the transparent blue hand on his shoulder, he stared at it in consternation. "...Oh," he said shortly. "Uh. Thanks." With that, he waved it off, and Sasha released it. Once it had faded, Loboto leaned forward, pressing the heel of his hand into his forehead, still panting. "D... dunno how you guys do this stuff," he muttered between breaths.

"Psi-blasts are not supposed to cause pain to the user," Sasha said. "As I understand it, this is a common issue for you?"

Caligosto managed a short nod.

"It may be due to the fact that you have not used your powers in some time," he remarked. "It may be a pain akin to a sore muscle, and if so, it will go away in time." Frowning, he looked away. "But given your... unique situation, it may be something that needs looking into."

Immediately Loboto grabbed either side of his shower cap, tugging it further down on his head.

It wasn't as though he were planning on carrying out a cranial examination right this moment, anyway. Shaking his head, he moved on: "Beyond your headache, how are you feeling?"

After a moment Caligosto let go of his cap, straightening his back and scratching the back of his head. "I dunno," he grunted. "Uh... okay?"

Sasha hummed. Not the response he was hoping for, but describing one's feelings wasn't always an easy process. "Are you feeling well enough to make another attempt?"

Sighing, Caligosto dropped his arms to his side. "Fine."

With another press of a button, Sasha summoned not one, but three more hideous bootleg Tiffany lamps, each worse than the last. Hearing a squawk of horror from his student, he shook his head. "Yes, they are unbearable, are they not?"

Maintaining eye contact with Sasha, Loboto swung his arms in the direction of the lamps. "You want me to blast three of them?!"

"Yes, in a specific order." Responding to his thought, the numbers 1, 2, and 3 appeared over different lamps. "This will test your aim."

Loboto grit his teeth, looking between the lamps and Sasha a few times.

"If this is too difficult for you to manage, or if it brings you too much pain, then we can try again at another date."

"Hhhnnnngg... fine!" After stomping a bit closer to the lamps, Caligosto clenched his claws near his temple again. "Packing into this cavity... so I can blast one into you," he muttered. With a growl, he fired a purple blast from his forehead at the lamp labeled 1, then at the next two in quick succession before doubling over.

"Excellent!" Sasha smiled as the fragments of the mental lamps disintegrated, but his smile faded when he turned back to his student, who was still doubled over, trembling and panting. "Was that too much?"

A shuddering sound came from Loboto's throat, his whole body shaking with the effort, and for a moment Sasha was worried that he was panicking again. But as it went on, Sasha realized that... no, it was not the sound of panic.

It was the sound of laughter.

It was quiet at first, but it gradually grew in force and volume as Loboto raised himself up, straightening his spine and finally tossing his head back, arms outstretched as his laugh turned near-maniacal.

In spite of himself, Sasha took a step back. This was... new. "Is... everything all right?"

Loboto's laughter ceased as he whirled around to face Sasha, his smile wide. "Never better!" he exclaimed. For a moment he faltered, his hand on his forehead as he looked aside. "My head is burning, but—!" And he straightened again, his face bright and grin fierce. "I feel fresh, like my teeth have just had the plaque scraped from the enamel!"

Ah, now that was the reaction he'd been hoping for. "Excellent. As I said before, the psi-blast—" Before he could finish, he had to jump back as Loboto swung his claw at him, evidently in an attempt to grasp him by the collar.

"Again!" Caligosto cried, a frantic giggle bubbling out of his throat. "Give me another target!"

"...Yes," Sasha said, allowing himself to relax. "We can proceed with the next part of the lesson, if you're so inclined."

"Oh, I am!" Loboto snapped his claws together with a menacing, metallic click.

Nodding, Sasha summoned a new device from the depths of the cube: a dial and a valve. With a psychic nudge, he moved the dial to 1, and the valve spat out a Censor. The mental figure landed on the ground with a startled no!

"Hey, I've seen those before," Caligosto remarked, bending down to get a closer look.

"This is a Censor. They're an integral part of any sane person's mind," Sasha said. "You may have seen them in Agent Vodello's mind, or perhaps Agent Oleander's." He paused. "I hope."

"Yeah. Seen 'em in my mind, too." Caligosto tilted his head as the Censor stepped closer to him. "Funny lookin' little—"

"No!" the Censor cried, and slammed its stamp into Loboto's face.

With an undignified snarl, Loboto staggered backward, straightening his back. Before Sasha could say another word, Loboto placed his claw against his temple and psi-blasted the Censor, leaving a smoldering mark in its wake, along with a blue orb of raw mental energy with a cross above it.

"Yes, they will attack you if you encounter them in others' minds, as you are a foreign entity," Sasha explained. "Fortunately, many of them can be easily disposed of via psi-blast, as you have seen."

"Not very good at their jobs if they're taken out so easily!" Caligosto said, rubbing his face where a red mark from the Censor's stamp was fading.

"It's not so easy if you're encountering a swarm of them, or one of the larger varieties." Noting that his student was looking around worriedly, he went on, "Though you're in no danger of that here. I have enough control over my Censors to keep them from swarming you, for the purposes of our training. As well, you'll want to absorb that mental energy it just converted to in order to keep your own up."

"Hrm, how do I...?" Caligosto crouched down, reaching out toward the raw energy, and gave a start as it absorbed into him. "Oh... huh."

Sasha gave a nod of satisfaction. "You're doing quite well for a beginner, Caligosto." Especially given that earlier reaction, he went on silently. But he paused; as he watched his student, he couldn't help but notice he was still subtly trembling, his face still a shade paler than it should be, his breathing still a bit labored, his loupes staring out into space. It wasn't much different from how he'd seen him a few weeks ago, when he lay atop Sasha's examination table, terrified that Sasha might uncover his client's identity and incur their wrath, no matter how much he tried to play off his worries as a joke. This time, though, it wasn't just fear he was trying and failing to conceal.

Of course, he should have known that this wouldn't be something he could overcome so easily. The psi-blasts were a temporary solution, not a magical erasure of trauma. But there must be something...

Pondering over this for a moment, an idea occurred to him, and he took a step closer to his student. "I was planning on proceeding with the lesson as normal," he began, and Caligosto started out of his spaced-out state, "but I'd like to try something a bit... different. This next part of the lesson may be unorthodox, but I believe it will help you."

"Yeah? What is it this time?" Loboto asked, one hand on his hip.

"This next part will require a bit of... vulnerability on your part."

Caligosto stiffened.

Not an encouraging response, but Sasha went on, "If you could allow me a moment to read your mind, I can provide you with a specialized training exercise."

At that, Loboto grinned, tugging down on his cap with one hand and waggling a claw in Sasha's face. "Ah-ah, that's not happening!"

"You're forgetting, Caligosto, that that cap of yours is not physically there. You are not physically here. You are a mental projection within my mind, and that barrier of yours means nothing here." Sasha held his hands behind his back. "Of course, you are not required to go through with this. I will not pry into your mind without your permission."

Looking down at the patterns on the floor, Caligosto hummed. "What sort of... specialization are we talking, here?"

"If you allow me to make a quick mind read, I can create a training exercise that is more specific to your current needs. It will enable you to progress further more rapidly." He let his student mull over that for a moment, then continued, "I will not pry into your mind any more than necessary for the purposes of this lesson. I will let you know, this will be significantly less invasive than the procedures you went through previously during your interrogation."

Caligosto's brow furrowed, and he did not look up.

"Of course, if you're happy with going through things at a slower pace—"

"Wait!" he cried, head shooting up, brows creased in worry. "Okay! I-I'll do it, but—" He shook his head, frowning. "But no funny stuff!"

"Of course not. Science is no laughing matter," Sasha replied with a smile. "Now, just give me a moment." With that, he shut his eyes and reached out, both literally and figuratively, until he could read Caligosto's thoughts.

Instinctively he darted past the surface level thoughts, leaving those to keep some amount of privacy to his student, and went straight for what he knew was bubbling just under the surface:

Fear of another panic attack. Pain. Terror. And... memories—memories being fought against, pushed back over and over again, buried under thought after thought.

Sasha pushed a bit further, weaving around the attempted mental barriers until he reached it. Immediately a vivid image flashed in his own mind, and he pulled away, opening his eyes.

Loboto stared at him tensely. "Are you gonna do something or what?"

Ah, good. "It's already done," he replied, lowering his hand. "I've gotten the information I need."

Immediately Caligosto reeled back, covering his head in his hands. "Eugh!" he cried, shuddering. "Sneaky spying psychics seeking sacred secrets...!"

"A patient in the hands of a skilled surgeon shouldn't even feel the blade, a fact I'm sure you're aware of," Sasha remarked. "I told you it wouldn't be overly-invasive, and I did exactly what I said I would."

Grunting, Caligosto crossed his arms. "So now what?"

For a moment, Sasha stood back, turning over the mental image he'd extracted. It was never easy to tell how true these sort of things were to life, but the more important part was that it was how the subject viewed or remembered what they had seen. He studied it for a few moments, frowning. "Now... I will have you face a challenge," he said, looking his student in the eye. "Though I must warn you that this may cause some level of distress."

"Pshawpffbbt!" Loboto waved a dismissive claw. "Those Censors don't scare me."

"This will not be a Censor," Sasha said, and when Caligosto opened his mouth to interject, he went on, "nor will it be another lamp. This time I will be giving you a challenge that will be much more personal."

Caligosto stared back at him, his brow starting to crease in concern.

Thinking it over a bit more, Sasha added, "Before we begin, I will remind you that I have full control over this mental world, as well as your experience. You need not worry about any significant harm coming to you."

"Y-you already told me that!" Loboto blurted out, though his trembling was becoming more apparent.

"Yes, but I feel it was important to remind you again, in order to reassure you—"

"This is beginning to have the opposite effect," Loboto said, deadpan, and Sasha raised the rim of one of his glasses.

"Very well. Don't say I didn't warn you." After walking a distance away, he dismissed the valve and dial, and brought up a black-and-white control panel, its dials, buttons, and levers patterned similarly to the surface of the cube they stood upon. He felt something spawn on another face of the cube, but dismissed the thought—likely a Censor seeking another outlet. With one hand on his temple, he cranked one of the unlabeled dials, typed a command onto the keyboard, and pulled a lever on the side of the panel. In response, there was a loud whirring from beneath them, and Sasha nodded in satisfaction. "Let us begin."

The whirring noise grew louder, and Caligosto took several steps back, looking around frantically. "What—what are you doing?" he stammered, only to yelp as the ground began to shake beneath him. Before he could ask another question, a circular part of the floor just a few feet away from him began to descend, and he stumbled away from it, loupes locked onto the spot.

And then the circular part of the floor began to rise... bringing with it a tall, imposing figure shrouded in shadow, only its eyes visible and glaring.

Caligosto shrieked, staggering back and holding up his arms in front of himself. "NO! NO! Wh-what are you doing here?! I already gave you what you wanted...!"

The figure said nothing, and Sasha leaned forward over the console to watch as the entity stepped closer.

"Remember, Caligosto, I'm in complete control of my mental world!" he called out, but his student hardly seemed to notice.

"Go away!" Caligosto wailed, swiping his claw in the direction of the mental entity, though he continued to back away from it. "I'm not doing business with you again!"

"Oh?" the figure replied, his voice a low growl. "Yet you were so eager to do business with me before..."

"I've learned my lesson! I'm—I'm not doing this again!" he cried, continuing to back up.

Well, this wasn't going exactly how he'd hoped. "Focus, Caligosto!" Sasha called, turning a couple controls on the console again. "Fight back!"

Yet Loboto found himself backed against the edge of the cube while the figure stalked even closer. He looked over his shoulder with a whine; while gravity would have simply shifted if he stepped further back, he didn't seem aware of that option.

Still the figure stalked closer. "You've learned your lesson, have you? Let's just see about that!" Without warning, the figure manifested a bright green TK hand.

Sasha froze. "Wait—"

The hand swiped at Loboto, who yelped and ducked away, managing to get himself out of the corner. The figure rounded on him.

And a bead of sweat rolled down the back of Sasha's neck as he glanced down at the controls, which his hands were no longer touching.

Meanwhile, Loboto held his arms up to shield his face as he stumbled backward yet again. "GET AWAY FROM ME!"

"I'm sorry, doctor, but it seems you need a refresher!" With a snarl, the figure reached out with his TK hand, which Caligosto, by some miracle, managed to return with a panicked psi-punch, a purple psychic claw appearing before him to block the blow. It faded half a second later.

"Don't worry, Caligosto!" Gritting his teeth, Sasha looked down at the console and frantically typed a few commands into it. "I've got it under control!" he called, even as the lights on the console flashed red and emitted a few warning beeps. Just as he was wondering why, a series of sparks shot out from the side of the console, and he stepped around to take a look. He let out a strangled gasp at the sight he beheld:

A panel of the machine had been stripped away, and a blue creature with bright red light bulbs jutting out of its back had stuck its head into the device. It was chomping at the wires within.

"I don't need a refresher, b-but you need a breath mint!" Loboto shouted, glaring back at the figure, only to gulp when the man's TK hand clenched and pulled back. The fist swung forward, and Caligosto ducked down, the top of his cap blowing back as the figure's psi-punch wooshed over his head. "Oops."

The figure's TK hand pulled back to his side. "I won't miss next time, doctor."

"You're supposed to," Sasha muttered as he telekinetically yanked the Bad Idea away from the console. It tore out a chunk of wires with it, a few bulbs on its back popping from the excess electricity. It seemed unconcerned, grinning wickedly around the wires in its teeth.

"L-look," Caligosto stammered, his voice taking a higher pitch. He held up his hands again. "I already gave you what you wanted! I did everything you asked! The appointment is over—you're free to go home!"

Meanwhile, Sasha’s frustration and panic rapidly left him in a concentrated blast of blue psychic energy, sending the Bad Idea flying out into oblivion with a squeal.

"No, doctor," the man replied, tilting his head. "I believe I have some payment due, and I'm going to exact that payment"—he pulled his hand back—"right"—and Loboto reeled back, preparing to duck under another punch—"NOW!"

The TK hand launched forward, but instead of punching, it snagged Loboto's prosthetic arm, yanking him up into the air with it.

Sasha's head snapped back toward the fight, and the blood drained from his face. Scheiße.

Now hanging from the mental figure's grip, Loboto went very, very still, the color draining from his own face, his eyes out of focus.

The figure gave a quiet laugh as he held him up a few inches higher off the ground. "There we are," he said, his voice a low rumble. "You've done such fine work with this fascinating new mechanism here." Slowly he turned him so Caligosto's left side was facing him. "I'm sure you'll do even better with the second one."

The hair stood on the back of Sasha's neck, and he charged out from around the wrecked console.

But in the same moment, something snapped.

Loboto's loupes, which had been staring out into space, suddenly flashed, his yellow teeth clenched, and with a jerk, his free hand pressed against his temple. Half a second later, a purple beam of psychic aggression blasted out from his forehead, striking the figure in the chest.

With an echoed cry, the figure staggered back, his TK hand disappearing, dropping Loboto. "Gah! When did you learn to—?!"

Before he could even finish talking, another purple psi-blast hit him, striking him directly in the stomach. Then another. And another, leaving the man collapsing to his knees.

As Loboto stomped closer, his face was no longer pale, rather shifting to a shade of scarlet. Slowly his mouth twisted into a grin. "Your appointment's over, but I've got time—I can spare a few minutes to teach you a lesson!" He reached down with his claws to grab the man by the throat, and hoisted him back up to his feet.

Sasha skidded to a halt several feet away, frozen as he listened to the strangled noises emitting from the mental figure.

Loboto held the man like that for a long moment, his brow furrowed and eyes locked onto him, his free hand still against his temple, all the while the figure gagged. A purple light was building just above Loboto's loupes, slowly growing brighter before suddenly blasting out directly into the man's face. The claws released him, and he collapsed to a heap on the floor. The shadows that composed him gradually drifted upward like strands of smoke from a snuffed candle, until finally he dissolved into nothing.

When the figure finally disappeared, Caligosto let out a sharp breath, hunching down with his hands on his knees, his head hanging, his chest slowly heaving.

Sasha looked over his shoulder, mentally dismissing the console (which sank into the floor) before looking back at his student, barely suppressing a shudder. After a moment of deliberation he took a few cautious steps closer, attempting what he hoped looked like a genuine smile. "That was quite the show, but you did remarkably w—"

Loboto's head snapped up, and he lunged at Sasha, grabbing him by the collar and hoisting him upward before he had time to react. "YOU!" he snarled, his red-and-green eyes burning into Sasha's shades. "YOU were the one doing that!"

Sasha winced, mentally reminding himself that the spittle that was flying from Loboto's mouth and hitting him in the face was not real. "Yes, I was, but—"

"SO YOU BROUGHT HIM BACK?!" Loboto screeched, shaking Sasha in his grip.

Immediately Sasha went to grab Loboto's arm to steady himself. "No, it was only—"

Loboto's eyes flashed as he flung Sasha to the ground.

"...an illusion," he wheezed, pushing himself up on his hands. Loboto was glaring back at him, eyes still burning in fury, but his prosthetic arm was clutched protectively close to his chest. It wasn't hard to figure out why. "...Sorry."

"Sorry you dove into my mind to dredge up an illusion of that?!" Loboto spat, pointing a claw at where the mental figure had once stood. "I've done some sick things, b-but I would—" He faltered, shuddering as he held his arms to his chest. "I wouldn't—I-I never—" Grinding his teeth, he rounded on Sasha again, this time gripping his own left shoulder a bit too tightly in his claws. The hitch in his voice betrayed the betrayal he felt: "Y-you had him try to...?!"

Rising to his feet, Sasha heaved a sigh and rubbed his forehead. "No. That was not my plan at all," he admitted, looking back at where the panel had been. "I had only meant to take that memory of yours and manifest it for a brief moment so you could attack it. But I never intended for it to attack you." He punctuated the word with a glance back at Caligosto, who stared at him intently, before looking away. "However, this was... not a technique I've employed many times before, and it seems it may have gone awry." He hesitated, a frown tugging at his features as he looked off in the direction where he had blasted the Bad Idea. "I... lost control of the mental figure early on in the exercise."

There was an extended silence, during which Sasha began to wonder if Caligosto had simply bailed from his mind; he wouldn't have blamed him. But his student's voice spoke up, quietly, "You lost control?"

When Sasha looked back, he found Caligosto staring back at him, his arms at his sides, his head slightly tilted. "Unfortunately," he replied. "It happens to the best of us."

Loboto continued to stare at him before shaking his head with a snort of disbelief. "Aren't you... psychics supposed to be... ehhhnnn... flawless?" He pulled back his lips, tapping gently at one of his own teeth. "Like a tooth with no plaque, no cavities?" Glancing away, he put his hands on his hips. "Especially you higher-ups in the Psychonauts..."

Something clicked in Sasha's mind, and he couldn't help the amused smile that crossed his face. "Razputin spoke highly of me, did he?"

Loupes snapping back in Sasha's direction, Caligosto gave him a look. "That's putting it mildly!"

Laughing, Sasha shook his head. "He means well, but no, we are flawed as anyone else... some more than others." Another thought occurred to him, and he shifted closer. "We don't expect perfection out of you, Caligosto. We only wish for you to try." When Loboto looked away, brow knitted in contemplation, Sasha went on, "Which, by the way, in spite of how everything got out of hand, you handled it quite well."

"I don't wanna go through that again," Caligosto said, eyeing him.

"No, of course not."

With a grunt, Loboto looked away again, but a slightly more genuine smile crossed his face. "I... do feel a little better, though." He looked down at his claws, clicking them together. "That felt good."

"That was the intent," Sasha said with a smile. "That having been said, I think that's enough of this lesson for now."

"Finally." Loboto slumped forward, his arms hanging limp at his side. "I'm beat."

Nodding, Sasha put a hand to his temple. "One moment..."

—-~~~---

The sounds of the lab came first, with the quiet beeps and chirps and whirs of the nearby machinery, before the rest of it came into view. Sasha glanced up just in time to see Loboto's mental projection fly back into his own body, and he reached up to snatch the Psycho-Portal off his head, sliding it into a pocket.

Meanwhile, Caligosto staggered, letting out a dizzy moan, and Sasha automatically reached out with TK to steady him, gently placing a hand on his back. Caligosto did not flinch away.

The whirring of the lab door caught their attention, and the two of them turned as Raz came bounding into the room on his levitation ball. "Hey guys! I finished that paperwork." He came to a stop before them, dismissing the lev ball. "Wait, you haven't started yet?"

"I'm afraid you're a little late, Razputin," Sasha replied. "We've just wrapped up our lesson."

"Aw, man!" Raz crossed his arms, but his disappointment was short-lived. "Maybe next time."

"I was just about to tell our friend Caligosto here that he should get some rest. He's had quite the mental workout." Nodding toward Loboto, Sasha rubbed his TK hand on his back before dismissing it.

Caligosto's loupes turned in Sasha's direction before glancing back down at Raz, though he said nothing.

"Got it! C'mon, Cali, let's get some psi-pops." With that, Raz reached up to grab Loboto's claw and happily led him toward the lab's exit.

Just as Sasha was about to remind Raz that rest included actually sleeping, not consuming candy, a voice rang through his mind: Hello, darling! I hope I'm not interrupting anything?

No, I've just concluded the lesson.

That's wonderful! How did it go?

Sasha hesitated, thinking over everything that had happened. It had all been so... chaotic, and it had gotten a little out of hand. He hated to say as much, but it was the truth.

"So how'd your lesson with Sasha go?" came Raz's eager voice from just outside the lab, and Sasha glanced toward the lab's exit in interest. Unfortunately they were already out of view, but he could still hear Loboto's reply:

"Well... I learned how to do this."

Panic rushed through Sasha's chest for the briefest of moments before he registered the wobbly hum of a levitation ball manifesting. It remained for several moments before he could hear a distinct pop.

"Woah!" Raz cried. "But—wait, wasn't your lesson about psi-blasts?"

"Yep!"

"...Huh."

A smile crossed Sasha's face, and he shook his head. All things considered… I think it went well.

[toxinellebug]

Shadybug & ClawNoir First Receiving the Miraculous Part 2

The first week of school was just as much of a waste of time as Adrien expected;

The curriculum was behind what he was used to, way behind. 

     He never realized how frustratingly boring it would be to have to wait for a room full of people to catch up with the simple basics of particle physics.

The other students were annoying. 

He didn’t mind signing autographs for his fans the first time Chloe paraded him around- it was even nice to have a little extra attention.

     But then they KEPT approaching him; asking him to go places with them, his contact information, or asking for photos (thankfully he had the great excuse of his contract which prohibits his image being used for anything, personal or commercial use, without the written consent of the Gabriel Brand.) 

            He liked modeling, he liked having fans, and he liked receiving praise, but that didn’t mean he wanted people trying to hug him and use him to blast their selfies all over social media.

                It’s called “personal space”.

A concept that still went over Chloe Bourgeois’ head, apparently…

      He was grateful that she had lunch delivered directly from the Le Grand Paris, since the food, or, what passed for food at the school cafeteria was lackluster at best.

           But she insisted on sitting so close that their elbows touched.

                   It was so uncomfortable.

(Also, he couldn’t just eat his food in peace, he had to listen to Chloe loudly rate each portion of the meal and whether it was up to her standards or if the chef was lacking that day and whether or not she needed to be replaced, before looking over her shoulder to snicker at some dark skinned girl in glasses who glared daggers right back at her. Chloe’s redheaded flunky, er, that is… Chloe’s redheaded “friend”, found this hilarious and agreed with every word and giggled when the dark skinned girl would storm out of the cafeteria in a huff.)

He also hated the way Chloe would cling to his arm when he was just trying to walk between classes. 

               He lost track of how many times he excused himself to make a quick stop in the boy’s toilet just to get himself some breathing room!

              If Chloe’s mother wasn’t such a big name in the Fashion industry as well as chief editor of ‘Style’ magazine, Adrien would gladly tell her to back off.  Unfortunately, she is, and he doesn’t want to think about the backlash his father would receive, or the nasty article about himself that would headline ‘Style’s next issue.

He also wished Chloe’s “friend” would stop offering to do his homework and take all his notes. That was weird.

              The only thing somewhat worthwhile is fencing on the team under M. D'Argencourt; private lessons were fine, but it is more interesting to have different opponents to practice against for a change.

Other than that, school is tedious and suffocating.

Now that the week is FINALLY at an end, all he wants to do is go to his room, play his mother’s   banned bootleg vinyl copy of Peu-Être’s ‘Robot☆Monster’, and listen to ‘L'Esprit Se Meurt’ as he collapses on his bed and contemplates why his Father insists on subjecting him to this torture.

His plans come to a halt, however, upon seeing a strange package waiting for him atop his desk.

         It’s… Brown?

His father was generous, and had a habit of giving gifts he personally chose. So a present for enduring his first week of school wouldn’t be odd, per say….

      But the gifts his father wrapped always had colorful, patterned, sometimes even textured paper, and were always matched with a ribbon in complimentary colors, tied in intricate bows, as if it were a submission to an art exhibit.

        There was no way someone as extra as his father would use such simple brown, parcel paper.

The more logical explanation was that it came in with his fan-mail, but that didn’t make sense either;

              It was un-opened.

The Gorilla was diligent, and he always opened and inspected every piece of fan-mail before it ever reached Adrien’s eyes.

As much as Adrien liked modeling, being famous had some drawbacks, namely obsessed fans that were more than a little scary.

        His bodyguard always checked to look for anything creepy (requests for feet pics, or locks of his hair), obscene (explicit fanfiction featuring Adrien and the sender that results in a restraining order being issued), or downright nasty (underwear that they would like him to sign, wear, then mail back). 

There was NO WAY the Gorilla would leave an un-opened package from a fan in Adrien’s room.

              Unless….

Looking at the package more closely, disregarding the accompanying envelope which only had his name on the front, he took notice that there were zero postage markings of any kind.

         Meaning it was delivered IN PERSON.

(Not that it was unheard of for people to just drop things directly at the gate, or in one bizarre instance, toss things over the fence, giving the Gorilla a ‘bomb scare’ and causing Adrien to wonder what kind of work his bodyguard did in the States before coming here.)

      ….Didn’t Pâtisseries use brown paper?

Curiosity over his Umbrella Thief had been impossible to ignore;

(see older post “Shadybug/Claw Noir Reverse Umbrella scene Headcanon”, also, someone PLEASE teach me how to link)

He didn’t have any classes with her, and he guessed she was too shy to try an approach him like the other students. 

       His photoshoot schedule, Chinese lessons, and Fencing practice meant he couldn’t just wait around at the school gates after classes had ended for the day.

So, he did the reasonable thing and asked his bodyguard to look into it. Not that he asked him to stalk her or anything! (That would be weird and super illegal.) Just, well, keep an eye out for her, maybe see if he could learn anything from a distance, without being creepy of course.

It had taken him nearly the entire week.

      For reasons Adrien still did not understand,

his description of “cute girl, leather jacket, passion-streaked midnight hair, and eyes that crease into crescent moons behind a wistful smile, disguising a forlorn soul adrift in a sea of mediocrity, hadn’t been specific enough.

But eventually, while Adrien was at Fencing, the Gorilla had managed to casually follow the girl in pigtails at a distance long enough to witness her entering a nearby bakery, from the private side entrance reserved for those that took residence in the building.

His Umbrella Thief wasn’t just a shy fan, her parents ran the best pâtisserie and boulangerie in Paris!

Well, that would explain how she is able to attend a private school like Collège Françoise Dupont.

Perhaps this was a package of pastries from her parents’ store, maybe there was even a message confessing her admiration for him inside?

He could use that as an opportunity to approach her, express his gratitude for sweets, and offer to treat her to the movies… Strictly as a gesture of fan-appreciation, of course.

Yes, if was definitely the anticipation of choquettes and Pain Au Chocolat, and nothing else that made his heart race as he tore away at the brown paper.

But before he could open the flaps of the cardboard box, another thought occurred to him:

          You could fit an extendable umbrella into a box this size.

What if… What if HIS umbrella was inside?

What if the girl had noticed she was being stalk-FOLLOWED, and thought he was angry?

What if what was waiting inside was a tear-stained apology letter begging him not to contact the Enforcers and have her arrested on charges of petty theft???

That would make it difficult to ask her out on a da- OUTING! Ask her out on an OUTING to the cinema purely for her sake! *ahem*

Now, instead of his heart racing, his stomach was twisting. 

Other than the whole stealing thing, she was probably a nice girl… He certainly didn’t want her to feel upset, or want to avoid him.

      But, if she didn’t want anything to do with him ever again over this, was there anything he could do?

Holding his breath, Adrien opened the box with trepidation and discovered….

…An antistatic electronics foam pouch and a jewelry box.

Adrien felt his mood sour even further as he unsealed the pouch.

It was a mini-tablet.

Forget ‘sour’, he was PISSED.

He recognized the tablet; His father used a similar one for video meetings with clients, distributing managers, coordinators, and other people he didn’t have time to meet with in person.

A list that now included his own son, apparently.

The jewelry box no doubt contained the latest Gabriel brand accessory that Adrien was expected to model for an upcoming shoot that his father couldn’t be bothered to take time out of his busy schedule to inform him face to face.

It took all the self-restraint Adrien had not to chuck the stupid thing out a window (he had plenty of them to choose from).

You know what? This was fine. 

    If his father could lock himself up inside his atelier, then Adrien could do the same!

Tossing the package and its contents aside, Adrien left his room and marched downstairs to go inform his personal chef that from now on he would be taking all his meals in his room.

Father could swap out the table de salle à manger with a terrarium for all he cared!

And Adrien doesn’t care!

….Though, he expected his father to care, at least a little.

Mom would’ve cared.

Adrien didn’t have much of an appetite, picking at his meal while he waited for his father to come knock on his door with an apology that never came.

(Gabriel heard that Adrien requested his meals in his room and assumed his son was pouting over being forced to go to school. Since Gabriel can recall what it’s like to be a moody teenager, he figured it was best to give his son time to calm down, and he would try to invite him down for breakfast tomorrow.

He’s also trying not to be hurt that Adrien calls him “Father” now, instead of “Dad”).

Alright, if Father was too stubborn to show himself, then Adrien knew just how to grab his attention;

      Pushing aside his now cold dinner, Adrien picked up the discarded tablet and found the side power button.

             He was going to use this little “gift” to open a video call and give his Father a piece of his mind!

What he didn’t expect was the red, grid-like laser scan of his face, nor the A.I. voice that announced “Identity confirmation complete: Adrien Agreste, approved.”

Ok, he had to admit that was pretty cool.

The screen lit up red, and all thoughts of Adrien’s Father went out the window.

                        The Supreme.

The Familiar red and black symbol with an ‘X’ in the center; representing world-wide jurisdiction and demanding compliance.

This was a huge deal. Huge, and more than a little terrifying.

    He was only 13 (his birthday was in two weeks though), what on earth could The Supreme, the force that governs the entire planet, possibly want from him???

He seriously doubted this was fan-mail.

He tapped the small flashing icon on the bottom left corner, pulling up a message screen.

Whatever Adrien had been expecting, it wasn’t… Whatever the heck this was.

Kwamis? Powers? Rules? It sounded like the synopsis of a game show.

This had to be a joke. But he didn’t know anyone with such a twisted sense of humor.

Even the most deviant and corrupt wouldn’t have the spine to use the symbol of The Supreme, not even mockingly. The penalty wasn’t worth the risk.

Still, how could he take any of this seriously? 

Magic rings? Power of Destruction? 

       As if! He wasn’t some naive little kid who believed in fairytales like the Genie in the Lamp.

Was it like, a metaphor? Or some kind of coded message he was meant to decipher?

But if that was the case, shouldn’t there be a substitution key or at least some kind of hint?

       Wait-

There had been an envelope, hadn’t there?

Of course! Why hadn’t he opened that first??

Scrambling around, Adrien located the envelope that had been knocked aside and fell beneath his desk chair.

It is a simple, white envelope with his name written in calligraphy.

    Inside is a note, written in that same calligraphy, on what he recognizes as Xuan Paper:

     “M. Adrien Agreste, you have been chosen.

          The bird in the gilded cage sings because captivity is all it has ever known. 

       The items being entrusted to you are a matter of utmost secrecy and should be used with discretion. 

       May they teach you the melody you have longed for.

      Please ensure you are alone.”

…Well, that was super cryptic and incredibly unhelpful.

Crumbling up the note, Adrien examines the tablet again; there are no other icons other than the text screen with the list of “instructions” and rules to be followed.

So, equally useless. Great.

The only thing he hasn’t checked is the little black hexagon box.

The tablet mentioned a ring… Oooooh, like a de-coder ring?? That would make more sense than singing birds!

Finally he was getting somewhere- 

What he actually got was blinded by a flash of green light as soon as he opened the lid.

Waiting for the light to fade enough to safely open his eyes, Adrien came face to face with a black and angry looking… Gerbil?

A gerbil with antennae, hands on it’s hips, a twitching tail, and the symbol of The Supreme stamped on it’s face…. 

      And it was floating.

Merde! It was FLOATING!!!!!!

Adrien glanced from the tablet, to the black ring in the box, back to the fuming ‘kwami’.

This was real.

Adrien’s heart was racing again, albeit for an entirely different reason.

His cheeks hurt as he grinned for the first time since he can’t remember when.

Snatching the ring and putting it on, he said the transformation phrase.

The mean looking gerbil/cat/kwami-thing disappears into his ring and he is enveloped in green light, magic washing over him and surging through him; it feels right, like his entire life has been leading up to this moment!

Gone was the preppy, boy-next-door look of the Gabriel brand.

His hair went from blond to a spiky green, and his green eyes were now a toxic purple with black slits behind a black mask. 

      Cat ears? Sure, why not?

Clawed gloves, leather jacket, mace ball collar, spiked boots and belt?

Oh yeah, he was feline dur à cuire!

He rushed to the windows, threw one open and leapt out into the night. He didn’t have a plan and he didn’t really care. It was time to find something to break!

—————————————

The Supreme gets a notification on his personal device;

     Both tablets have been activated.

Now is the time to let the children have fun; let them play about in the city and revel in their new super abilities.

   Ah, to be young and have so little self-restraint….

They will no doubt enjoy themselves… For a while at least.

But the more they use their powers, the quicker things will be set into motion;

      It will start as nothing more than dull aches, unpleasant but not at all hindering. But those aches will only continue to grow, becoming painful marks, eating away at flesh, making them weak and drained when they are without their transformations to empower them.

Nothing in this world is free, after all.

Arrogant teenagers will revert back into frightened children, afraid of what is happening to their bodies but terrified of revealing to anyone the strange marking that they cannot, dare not, explain.

After a satisfactory time has passed, he will transmit another message to their tablets. A message of salvation.

For a price, of course.

He will offer to reverse the damage caused by their use of the Miraculous, to whichever one of them manages to retrieve the jewels that were stolen from him.

But only one.

Competition can be quite motivating, especially when one’s life is on the line.

PART 1

[unsurewhatusernametoput]

I love having to explain to people exactly how obsessed with SIX I was

like my friends will point out when it’s coming to my city and I’m like “yes honey I’ve known, I’ve known since 8 months ago and I have tickets don’t worry” and then when I mentioned six fanfiction and my friend was like “wait people write fanfiction about it?” “Yes and I’ve read so so many that I had to read wattpads fics FUCKING WATTPAD, if you read the six the musical fics on there you would know….I also know like every ship of the six and probably have read a diff of it” “PEOPLE SHIP THEM?!?!? Aren’t they like cousins?” “Yes but luckily the fandom is small enough no one ships the incest ✌️😜”

then he went on to tell me I was the person that drew Miku binder Tomas Jefferson 😭😭😭

and then when someone sends u a six meme and u have to pretend you’ve seen it for the first time (so that they keep talking abt ur intrest)

one time I was in a little six the musical thingy and the director was asking everyone abt a “little” background about the queens and one person from each group would answer, (I was in the Boylens, but like ofc bc I literally am Anne Boylen and the main character soooo) AND A KID FROM MY GROUP SHOT UP HER HAND AND THE TEACHER CALLED ON HER AND THE SHIT SHE SAID WAS “she uh grew up in France and then married the king and then flirted with 3 guys and then got beheaded” LIKE NO BITCH SHE DID NOT DONT RAISE UR HAND IF UR GUNNA LIE TO US DHFHJFJDIDISKSJSJWHUEUEUE SO THEN I RAISED MY HAND TO HELP HER PUT THERE 😭😭😭✌️😭

ALSO I TAUGHT MY GROUP SO MUCH SHIT ABT HER IN FACT EVERYONE AT THAT PLACE KNEW I WAS THE HISTORY ONE SO THEY WOULD COME UP TO ME AND BE LIKE “hey _____ do u know anything about Anna of Cleves” UMMM HELL YEAH !!!!!!! IT WAS SO FUN 🤭🤭🤭🤭

another time I was doing Karoke and me & my friend wanted to sing SIX and she’s like “so which song” and I’m like “I know the lines to like all of them so we can do any one”

one time my friends said “her forehead is so big it could be Library full of SIX facts” 💪

also I had(ve) no friends that were this intensely or at all obsessed with it so I would literally be fucking texting myself links to videos and stuff

Also like one time I got jumpscared bc out of the corner of my eye I saw Santa Claus and thought it was H*nry VIII

Also I have seen almost every single one of Art E’s (person who made six the kids) tumblr posts + may or may not have also gotten a virus (no fr I’m not sure) from tumblr when scrolling through six posts

whenever I couldn’t sleep or was home alone yes I would perform six and yes I would know most of the lines

the biggest album on my phone is six photos + I have separate albums for every queen and their kids

also I have seen pretty much every incorrect SIX quote and they are pretty much inside jokes with myself

when I would get really anxious I would imagine my life if I was an actor on tour playing Boylen and my friendship which each of the other random actors and also I would imagine my favorite six six (the last song) animatic

there were times where I could hardly do anything without thinking “OMG THIS IS SO JANE SEYMOUR LIKE I,AGINE IF THE QUEENS WERE HERE AND JEHFJDJWKWKWMMA” (to myself in my head I’m not annoying like that….well to anyone but G)

I wanted to make a Anne Boylen cosplay SOOOO BAD despite having no cosplay skills one time I tried to make one for a belle doll I bought at goodwill speicifically for that purpose and also one out of cardboard

I have an album with all of the bootlegs I could find that aren’t just a black screen and can send it to u

and yet although I’ve been obsessed for 2-3 years I have hardly made any art for it and just have like 50 million unfinished sketches and may or may not have unfinished fanfics and so so many mental ideas of animatics (idk how to animate) that I abandoned after a day and I own 4 pieces of merch that I didn’t make myself (7 if u include the stuff I made) ✌️😭 ✌️😖

when I was bored instead of watching a Netiflix show or listening to music like a normal person, oh no, I would rewatch H*nry VIII oversimplified I’ve seen it like 10 times honestly a banger

Also if you know these 3 songs you are SUCH a real one and I love you;

-divorced behead and died 🗣️🔥💯‼️ divorced beheaded survived 🗣️🔥💯‼️ IM H*NRY VIII IVE HAD 6 SORRY WIVES YOU COULD SAY I RUINEDTHEIR LIVES 🗣️🗣️🗣️🔥🔥🔥💯💯💯💯‼️‼️‼️

-H*NRY H*NRY H*NRY HAD SO MANY WIVES THAT HAD TO DIE 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🔥🔥🔥💯💯‼️‼️‼️‼️ H*NRY H*NRY H*NRY HAD SO MANY ONLY ONE SURVIED ☝️🗣️🗣️🔥🔥💯💯💯‼️‼️‼️

-ITS SO SUPER CRAZY THAT I GOT TO BE QUEEN 🗣️🔥🔥💯‼️‼️‼️ THE ODDS WERE AGAISNT IT IF U KNOW WHAT I MEAN OFC I WAS THE DAUGHTER TO A POWERFUL KING BUT I NEVER THOUGHT I’D END UP WEARING THIS THING 👑👑🗣️🗣️🔥🔥🔥💯💯💯‼️‼️‼️‼️

Also yes I censor H*nry and not fuck bc it’s funny and I like that it’s like a little with us six fans 💪 as well as Henrat

also I did a history project on Elizabeth I

also at another preppy little thing I did was think which of my friends are each of the queens bc I’m Boylen therefore we all have to be besties

And I could write something probably longer than this post abt my head canons of what I think their personality would be like au’s how I think their friendships are to each other what they would like and dislike, basically a really advanced sim and yes I have made them in the sims but sims 3 won’t let me have more than 8 so Edward had to go also Eddy is an iPad kid bc I deicided like come on Jane would so give him and iPad and be like “oh yes ofc I will pay 20 dollars so u can have new robux 😇”

also I have every single one of the queens and their kids deathdays on my calendar (Mae is not included) as well as their birthdays

also it has been 2 years and I still remeber the time and date I saw six for the first time (cried 6 times 3 when it started 3 when it ended) 💪💪💪

being a SIX fan is having no clue what to say when someone asks how many wars H*nry fought but knowing the amount of miscarriages Lina had

fun fact: Henry killed thousands more ppl than Mary ✌️😜

One time I got in like a 30 minute argument with my friends Snapchat ai about whether or not H*nry deserves decent human respect BITCH JUST BCZ IT WAS A “DIFFRENT TIME” DOESNT KAKE IT OKAY” 😤😤😤

ALSO I HAVE SOOOO MANY UNPOPULAR OPINIONS AND ALSO KATHRYN PARR IS SPELT WITH A K GUYS GET IT RIGHT BC ELIZABETH MADE HER A FRENCH VERSION OF ONE OF HER BOOKS AND PUT HER INITIALS ON IT WHIC WERE KP ‼️‼️‼️

Also fun fact Elizabeth signed everything Elizabeth R because R means Regina which means queen in Latin or something and Elisabeth could speak SOOO MANY diffrent Languages.

[wheel-of-fish]

Why every time someone asks for "almost kiss" gifs or "the catch" you never post JOJ with Gina Beck? I'm sick of that 2005 bootleg. It's so sad no one filmed him with Katie Hall, Sofia Escobar, Harriet Jones, Emmi Christensson, etc. He had much better Christine's on his later runs

Hellooo, infamous JOJ anon who has harassed other bloggers, made ageist comments about actresses playing Christine, and repeatedly insulted the filmers who have graciously provided us with London footage! I was wondering when I'd see you in my inbox!

To answer your question—and I'd think this would be obvious—I can't make gifs from footage I don't have! But thank you for reaching out to complain about all two (2) gifsets I have made that fit this criteria.

Anyway, you're sick of the 2005 bootleg and I'm sick of hearing you complain about the 2005 bootleg, so maybe you could stop bothering people about it and it won't come up so much? Otherwise, I'm going to start posting Rachel Barrell gifs out of spite. :) Thanks!

[wheelin-after-midnight]

28.

1) If you had to make a six hour cross-country journey, would you rather take the train, fly or drive? How come?

You cannot travel across my country in 6 hours in any way. - this.

2) How long do your earphones tend to last before the connection goes and you have to replace them?

I use headphones, not earphones, but connection going hasn't been a reason I've needed to replace them. I'm on my third pair of the same type. First ones fell in the toilet, second accidentally fell in a bucket of water. Other than accidental things like that happening, nothing goes wrong with them. They'll cut out if I'm a certain distance away from the device I'm using, but it's a decent range before that happens.

3) If you could dye your hair any colour in the world, assuming it would look perfect with your colouring, what would you pick and why?

The next time I need to do it it's either gonna be Ariel from the little Mermaid shade of red or some shade of pink.

4) Are you a fan of musicals? If you are, what ones have you seen live and which ones would you like to see?

I fucking love musicals! I used to be so passionate about musical/live theatre and I miss it so much. If I had opportunities to get back into acting I'd take them in two seconds. I've seen lots of musicals. Not big productions on Broadway, but I really want to! I love Rent, Wicked, Mamma Mia, Annie. I ended up getting a copy of the Tina Turner musical from someone on Reddit after I couldn't get tickets. (Yes I know. Bootlegging is bad. I hate it and would rather not. Creators should be paid what they're worth, but I tried to get tickets for multiple different dates and they had no accessible seats.) The quality was actually really decent and it's an awesome production. If they come back around, I will definitely try to get tickets again and go and actually experience it. The standing ovation at the end was a good six minutes. It was warranted.

5) If money was no object, and you could go on a two-week vacation with one other person, who would you take, where would you go and what would you get upto?

Babe. She would probably want to go to Italy. I want to travel basically anywhere and everywhere, but my first stop would be South Africa. What we get up to would depend on which of those places we went first, but I'm down for all kinds of things. Literally anything as long as it's accessible to me or we can make it that way. Also just a lot of time together wherever we're staying. Sleeping in, lazing around, eating good food. Lots of sex.

6) Are you someone who needs to have time alone?

Oh, Christ, yes. I do have too much of it now, but I don't do well with the other extreme of constantly being surrounded by others either.

7) What’s your opinion on couples who do literally everything together? Are you like that, or is that like one of your worst nightmares?

I don't have opinions on relationships I'm not a part of, people can do what they want and what works for them. Gf and I are long distance and not together all the time. Our relationship is also open and she has one other partner, so we are not like this. I don't think we would be even if we closed things again in the future and lived nearer to each other. I would go do things with my friends or see certain people in my family and there would most likely be times she didn't feel like joining me. Not a big deal. I would obviously invite her often, but I think it's very healthy to have your own things going on independent of each other and miss each other a little bit.

8) Have you ever had to give up something you were addicted to? Did you actually succeed?

I wasn't necessarily addicted, I wasn't getting falling down drunk or drinking copious amounts, but I drank every day for a year after my Nan died as a way to cope. Daily alcohol consumption was never my normal. I didn't completely quit drinking, I just quit using it as a daily coping mechanism.

9) Does your favourite food vary depending on your mood or on the time of year or anything?

I have two favourite foods that never change - (homemade) mac and cheese and pizza, and then a bunch of favourites that I do cycle through often.

10) Do you know anyone whose views/opinions are the complete opposite of yours? Do you find it hard to get on with them as a result, or can you generally ignore it and find something else to talk about?

My entire family, basically. I find it hard to get along with some of them, not necessarily just because their opinions are opposite to mine. Yes, I can tune it out and put on a good face. You learn to when you don't have much support and your physical situation doesn't really give you the choice to do anything other than that. I can find some kind of common ground with just about anyone, even if it's small, superficial things.

11) Have you ever had to work (or study) with someone that you really didn’t get along with? How did you deal with it (ignoring them, being nice, etc.)?

Yes. I treated them the way I would want to be treated and otherwise ignored them and got on with what I needed to do.

12) Have you ever had any problems with your wisdom teeth, or have they been taken out already?

I've not had them taken out.

13) Which one of your senses would you miss the most if you lost it?

Sight.

14) Do you ever listen to CDs anymore?

I still have my collection, but nothing to play it on.

15) What’s your favourite type of fast food? Is it something you eat a lot or do you try and limit it?

Pizza or Mexican. I don't eat any fast food often because I can't go out on my own, I can't afford it all the time and there's very few good options that deliver in my tiny ass area.

16) Do you find your mood changes when you’re hungry or tired? Does eating or sleeping automatically cure your of a bad mood?

Bro, when Nippy was a baby, there was a period where I was hardly sleeping and omg, it was something else. I cried all the time and was overthinking the craziest shit. Gf was genuinely worried at times, I think. She would listen to me cry and read my bubbles of text and just gently be like 'yeah, okay. It's okay. It'll be fine. You really just need to get some sleep.' Once that actually happened I realized how much better I felt.

17) When you see cute animals, do you just wanna pick them up and cuddle them or fuss them?

ALWAYS! 😍😍

18) What’s the stupidest fight you’ve ever gotten into? Did you make up with that person or did you end up losing them over it?

Babe and I have had some pretty bad times. We worked through them. We're doing amazing.

19) Do you find yourself using people as footrests and pillows if you’re sat next to them?

No.

20) Have you ever gotten really bad travel sickness? Has this put you off travelling or going by certain modes of transport in case it happens again?

I did when I was a kid. I always used to get carsick.

21) What’s your opinion on prostitution? Should it be legal and regulated, or is it something that needs to be gotten rid of completely?

I'm not getting into my opinions on this right now.

22) If it was a case of prostitution or being evicted from your home, which option would you pick (assuming you’d tried everything else to make money first)?

23) What would go into your ideal sandwich? Do you eat that often or is a treat for you?

I eat sandwiches often. Usually toasted fried egg ones with cheese, ham and cheese, turkey and cheese, German salami and cheese.

24) In general do you prefer modern art or more traditional art? Or do you really not care?

I prefer all kinds of art.

25) If you want (or don’t want) kids, is this something you’ve always known or have you changed your mind as you’ve grown up?

I always knew I wanted kids. I can't have them, though. :(

26) Do you believe “once a criminal, always a criminal” or do you think that people can really change and become better?

I don't believe once a criminal always a criminal, but I also don't believe all people can or will change and become better.

27) Have you ever read a quote or a poem and really connected with it?

Many times.

28) What’s something that really puts you off a person (bad hygiene, whatever)? Are you willing to look past that in order to get to know them properly?

If they're a close minded asshole, if they shit on other people's happiness or passion, self centeredness, pathological lying, general lack of empathy.

29) Are you into piercings and tattoos? If not, do you judge people who are, and vice versa?

I love tattoos and have two. Want at least two more. No longer have piercings, but nothing against them at all. I don't think it's anyone's place to judge what another person does with their own body. You can be against something all you want for your own. Don't project that onto others.

30) What’s your opinion on places like Seaworld? Do you think keeping whales and dolphins in such small enclosures is cruel or a necessary evil?

There's no necessary evil about it. It's straight up evil. There's literal footage out there of those poor creatures banging their heads and bodies against the enclosures repeatedly because they're upset and depressed being confined like that. It's disgusting. Fuck those places.

[riddlerosehearts]

HII ITS IDIAVIL ANON AGAIN!!! i wanted to respond to the post u made in response to my ask... I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND NOT BEING ABLE 2 WRITE FICS LIKE!! ive been creatively writing for years and when it comes to stuff im rlly passionate abt i can become super duper creative. my struggle with writing fanfic is finding the time and motivation, plus my adhd makes it difficult for me to focus, BUT IVE BEEN DOING BETTER RECENTLY!!! im kinda familiar with wicked? i saw it on stage back when i was just a wee lad but i dont remember much of it (i honestly think i fell asleep ;-;) but i've been wanting to watch both the play and the new movie, i just haven't gotten to it yet. i will definitely keep this in mind as i watch both!! a few weeks ago i actually watched jennifer's body for the first time, i'd been wanting to watch it but then i saw someone mention a jennifer's body idiavil au and oh my gods i literally couldnt stop thinking about it. i've definitely kept that au in mind, and i will do the same for the wicked au!! when i do eventually watch wicked i'll probably send another giant yapping paragraph in ur asks abt it... ALSO PLEEASEE I WOULD LOVE LOVE LOVE TO HEAR MORE ABT UR AU IT SEEMS SO COOL!!! also. hercules au. oh my god u get me. i'm not exaggerating when i say i've thought abt the idiavil meg and hercules parallel at least once a day for the past like five or so months. i NEVER stop talking to my friends about it EVER. i was actually on a disney cruise (twas a family trip) about a month ago and they had a giant tv above the pool, they showed a movie every fifteen minutes (after the movie prior had ended) and WHEN I TELL YOU I FREAKED OUT WHEN I SAW THEY HAD A SHOWING FOR HERCULES. AND I HAD TO RESIST FROM STIMMING (i get embarrassed when i stim in public bc i dont like being looked at or percieved like ever) DURING WONT SAY IM IN LOVE LIKE THATS PROBABLY MY FAVORITE DISNEY SONG OF ALL TIME OH MY GOODNESS. I WOULDNT STOP TEXTING MY FRIEND AND TALKING ABOUT IDIAVIL. also i did see ur response and oh my goodness i think abt it so much. ill probably share the keychains and playlists off anon later... also i LOVE the fact u keep ur pins of them next to each other... my birthday was actually a while ago (oct 28th) but the art has been delayed bc shes been busy which idm, shes putting a ton of effort into it. ill also probably share that off anon whenever its done!! alr im gonna wrap this up, i do have a few things i have to get done soon but i'll try to send in those playlists and pictures of the keychains b4 i go to bed tn!!

hi again haha!! whenever you watch the wicked movie i really hope you enjoy it! just keep in mind that they kind of, extended every single scene in act 1 to make it 2.5 hours long (when the whole stage musical with both acts combined is that length), so it's only a part 1 and we won't get part 2 until next year. which admittedly DOES bug me but i still loved the movie anyway. if you want to watch the stage musical after that, well, the people who record bootlegs usually ask you not to put them on youtube but people do anyway AKJDGJFSG. so you can probably find one easily enough! it's my absolute favorite musical! when i went to see it live in april, i kept thinking "well, vil does share glinda's love of fashion and her popularity and ambition, but he's different from her in a lot of ways too! for example, he doesn't believe that popularity is the only thing that really matters, and he would never sacrifice his own morals and ideals to achieve his goals... oh... wait..." and then i realized that the whole plot of book 5 is that vil kind of DID do all that! that's the whole tragedy of it, that he overblotted because he DID start to think that his hard work was meaningless and that he SHOULD resort to any means possible to be the most popular at the expense of his moral compass, and he thought of himself as ugly for doing so! he COULD have ended up basically alone, being praised by others around him as beautiful and good while inside he secretly believes himself to be wicked, just like glinda if his friends hadn't done everything to stop him from poisoning neige.

and idia may not be an animal rights activist like elphaba, nor is she an otaku LOL, but elphaba grew up lonely and ostracized because of her green skin and idia's family curse forced him to grow up isolated on the isle of woe and have blue fire for hair. she's a caretaker for her disabled sister whose father blames her for her condition, and idia has a robot brother whose death he blames himself for. elphaba is jaded and sarcastic and abrasive and deeply insecure, and who else fits that description? the only issue is that idia is far too pessimistic about the future to decide to do what elphaba does in defying gravity on his own, but i think in an AU he could be pushed to do it. also there's this part in wicked where after glinda and elphaba get back from a big dance at the ozdust ballroom glinda says "was that your first party?!" and elphaba deadpans "does a funeral count?" and i can just so clearly see that with idia and vil AFKJDGHF. there's so many other scenes too that i just see as being perfect for them.

as for fiyero i had two ideas here: in the actual musical, there's a love triangle in which elphaba and fiyero ultimately end up together but as i mentioned i would want to give my AU a happy ending and make vil and idia end up together in it. so i would do one of two things: 1) cast kalim as fiyero, because he literally just fits the role perfectly. fiyero is a foreign prince, and look at the lyrics to dancing through life and try to tell me kalim wouldn't sing this. but i don't ship kalim with either vil or idia, so in this scenario i'd probably cut the love triangle and have him somehow end up as their bestie who supports whatever insane gay thing those two have got going on. imo kalim really does fit fiyero better than anyone else and this idea is just so funny to me. or 2) cast rook as fiyero, keep the love triangle, and have it end in polyamory because even though i've never even considered shipping rook with idia i do ship rook/vil and i think this would be hilarious as an AU. also, there's a scene in wicked where glinda and elphaba are hanging out and glinda is like "let's tell each other our best secrets! i'll go first! FIYERO AND I ARE GOING TO BE MARRIED!!!" and since they've just started dating elphaba is like "he's asked you already??" and then glinda goes "oh no, he doesn't know yet!" and imagining vil saying that about rook just makes me laugh so hard.

OKAY. so there is an incomplete summary of my thoughts on a vilidia wicked AU!! honestly i don't really watch horror movies so i haven't seen jennifer's body but if i ever do watch it i'll have to keep that AU idea in mind. as for the hercules parallel idk if you've seen this post of mine but it makes me so happy every time someone likes or reblogs it because then i get to think about them again. hercules/meg has always been one of my favorite disney couples so when i saw this happen in book 6 i was immediately just. doomed to be insane about vil/idia forever because are you KIDDING ME?? also your birthday is right after mine omg, mine was october 25th!! so a late happy birthday to you, then! one last thing i'd like to say in this already way too long response is that i have two sets of floyd and riddle nuis--listen, they're my other favorite ship so i bought the first ones online and then saw more at a con i went to and couldn't resist--and i'm going to be getting idia and ortho nuis for christmas. hopefully soon i'll be able to get a vil nui as well so i can keep him right next to his boyfriend and his film club buddy/future brother-in-law 💙💜

[digi-tama-in-your-pocket]

Tomorrow is the 1st, so that means it's time to do a v-pet swap.

Last month, I actually kept running my Pix because I was having such a good time with it, but I finally put it to rest for now. It's still my favorite modern Tama, so I might pull it out again at another date. And in it's place, i'm running the Tamagotchi Smart for the first time, with the only Smart Card I have, the One Piece friends. If I like the Smart well enough, I might buy a few more Smarts..... or bootleg versions of them, because official Smart Cards are stupidly expensive, someone on Ebay makes clones for 10 bucks a pop. We'll see though, I can already tell it's gonna have a learning curve, especially without any english in the menu.

Also running my X3 Yellow, which I thought I hadn't run yet, but I guess I did but just forgot about it? I'm starting out of the gate with Palmon X. I've finally got an idea of what kind of charms to use for the DMX by the way, so that Meat charm is temporary until they come in the mail. They'll make sense when you see them. But there's a new beaded strap!

Those are my two v-pets new to the rotation.

For V-pets staying in rotation, I decided I'm keeping my Uni running at all times, at least until Bandai drops support, because I don't want to miss out on any updates or events. I think i'll start a new egg on it though, I've kept poor Kikitchi for long enough. And i'm still rocking my Gen 2 hoping Zuccitchi will become Zatchi. I keep forgetting it's a bad idea to walk away from it where I could potentially get a discipline mistake, hopefully I haven't had any yet. I recon i'll put the Gen 2 away when the Tamagotchi Connection remake finally arrives in a few weeks....hopfully it actually gets here earlier than the delivery date says.

That's the update for today. Really excited for the Connection remakes this month. Also I forget that we should be expecting the Pendulum colors, but man does the delivery date feel so far away, because I ordered from Zenin, i'm likely going to end up getting them later than those who ordered from Premium Bandai directly.

[hoenn-hakase]

Anniversary: The Story Thus Far

With the 10th Anniversary Super Gauntlet going on, my brain has kicked into overdrive this week thinking about some of the lore concepts to come up. Of course, at this point we've only done Red, Bootleg Yellow (yes, I'm counting it), Gold and Silver, so we've still got a LOT of games to cover before we get into the plot, but ideas are already flowing. Things may change, but I just wanted to get down some current thoughts down while I've got it.

So one plotline the Lorecord has been playing around with for a few years now is that our last season, S10, took place in a Post Apocalyptic universe that S9 had been building up to (I wanna make a separate post on this) and we finally got an arc ending payoff with Wilting Y. Each person has their own thoughts on the timeline and what events led to this and what the aftermath was, but my gosh that moment we collectively went "OH SNAP" when connecting Mega Aerodactyl to Yveltal, there's no the question of what's going on in the Super Gauntlet.

Super Gauntlet is all vanilla games being played completely on real hardware systems. This opens us up to a lot of features we've never had access to! It's exciting but having all of the regions in their vanilla states feels like a new era. The world was rebuilt It's been centuries since The End. Someone hit restart on the universe. All thoughts that have come up in discussion before. But then something interesting came up: Our first loss.

Now I personally don't think a run needs Releases to become "interesting" but it can lead to some really fascinating ideas as we try to make sense of the loss. In this case, we were fighting over the need for Cut to continue the game. Our options were: 1) evolve the Kakuna (Simon) we already had in the party so Beedrill could learn Cut. Unfortunately, there was a pretty dedicated group of evolution cancellers, so doable but proving difficult. 2) With patience wearing thin, we could just deposit someone and go catch an Oddish. (Which is what eventually happened.) 3) It may be difficult, but we had a Spearow in the PC so if we needed to use it anyway to deposit someone, we could grab the bird then trade it for Dux, just like we did in the original Red run. But people were scared of the PC and for good reason, since sure enough we had a PC war break out and Marvin "Mushmouth" the Squirtle, Simon the Kakuna, and yes, even the Spearow, were all Released.

But interestingly enough, someone proposed that Dux was the one behind this. The question quickly became why. Maybe... just maybe... because this Dux was the same as the one from Original Red. That maybe Dux was trying to avoid the fate that killed him before. Maybe because he saw this group of relic hunters and knew that Ash did not have the most noble intentions in grabbing the Helix Fossil and would actually unleash an even greater threat in his quest chasing rumors and legends and whispers of the bygone era. Ash clearly obsessed about the past when it seemed almost everyone had forgotten about it. He spent hours at the museum in Pewter to learn about the gods and set out from home with a dream. He had already obtained things like the Helix Fossil, the Town Map, the Bicycle, all symbols of Chosen past and surely more to come. Maybe the death of Marvin and Simon was truly an accident but now that Dux has "awoken" the memories of his past life, he now starts a new personal quest to follow the Chosen to stop the Voices from destroying everything again. Which Dux may have been right about Ash sadly since the kid eventually did NOT revive Helix but eventually went out of his way to obtain the mysterious Missingno named Bucket who he used a few other times to expand his riches. Put a pin there, I'll get into his fate later.

And then it was added that we meet a Farfetch'd in Ilex Forrest too. Maybe the next time we would meet Dux. Maybe he was still traded by the little girl to someone else and that's why he refuses to listen to the Woodcutter's assistant. Now that he's aware of all of this, he ran from owner to find Celebi and get answers about these strange memories of a past life. Why is this happening? What happened before? Something to definitely look out for once we saw the stories of Gold and Silver.

Well, GS dual runs came up and we could see that the twins Raymond (Gold) and Xyler / Xylver (Silver) have very different personalities with Xy often taking advantage of his brother to expand on his own power and speed on ahead by wrecking anything and anyone in his path. He caught a Ledian early on, who has become associated as the Incarnation of Olden just as one would say Helix is an Omanyte (even if there have been times we've said not all Omanyte are Helix) and much later on it gained an on-again-off-again teammate status further solidifying Xy's reputation for being a "morally gray" character. All the more telling that he failed to get either of the Tower Duo while Raymond was able to get both. Raymond is a sweet kid, and a good kid. After his brother took his Chikorita and left him with a Geodude, Raymond stayed loyal to his rock friend and eventually got a Golem. He had a Slowpoke he made a king. He had the patience and kindness to evolve his Eevee into an Umbreon, and yes, he eventually befriended Ho-oh and carried it to League.

I mention all this because even if they seem like a pair of ordinary kids, no grandiose backstories (yet) or cool occupation, something of great interest came up towards the end. For one, we were told this was not a race but by gosh did it get treated like one. Johto lasted about a day and a half. Xyler beat the League while Raymond was still in Blackthorn City and just to dunk on him, he beat it a second time while Raymond was trying to win the first time. (In truth it's because we had one VERY dedicated player who wanted to get Ledian it's promised place in the Hall of Fame) But we got to the Trainer House in Viridian City and discovered we had some guests! Ritchie was one of our side game hosts from Yellow about a year or two ago, and NEEKO was from a Silver run from about the same period.

Neeko is especially curious to see here though because during his run, he was able to pull off some ACE glitchery most notably turning the Sudowoodo into a Celebi named ASUS. It was also said about this time that when we played Blazing Emerald Redo as a side game it was to wash the awful taste out of the community's collective mouth after some of the things that happened during our original Blazing Emerald run. There had also been joking how we ~never~ got to use the Pokemon Agony had before. And we sure ~never~ got to see some of the places that only exist in BE before. So there was some lore that Neeko used his own reality warping powers and Time Guardian friend to "erase" Blazing Emerald from the timeline. Agony.... Is another tale for another time, but let's just say I hc he did not take the idea of "fading from existence as everyone he loved forgets about him as some sort of punishment for things outside his control while he STILL suffers the consequences" very well. Neeko probably means well? But him showing up to beat down Xy (he swept us in the first encounter) is not a good sign for our power seeking scamp because Neeko has literally destroyed people before, he would do it again if he thought it would fix things. AND WORSE he's got ties to Celebi which brings us back full circle that maybe the one Dux was working for / went to meet in the forest with, was none other than Neeko. And given Xy's bad luck with birds (even his flier was "borrowed" after Raymond picked up Kenya then traded it to him) who better to thwart / keep an eye on this punk than the Leek Knight himself here to fulfill the divine duty he never got to fulfill?

And maybe he did. Maybe he didn't. I have two thoughts that if he did, what happened. 1) Neeko "erased" Xy's original adventure where we don't know and don't want to think about what he did to catch Neeko's attention when there was no one to stop him. This second time having Raymond go with him / instead of him may be specifically to stop that path of events from happening again. 2) Xy may have been the target but Neeko may have learned from his mistakes. Instead of going after him directly like he did with Agony, he tried to change the course by instead going after Ash. 3) ... Both are simultaneously true.

Ah yes, still got that pin?

Now before we started SGRed, we played a few intermission games to test out the system in preparation for the official run. One of those was Bootleg Yellow. We didn't finish it though, but we had a hero named Ash and he picked up a Squirtle so connections are there already. Since Missingno messed up our Hall of Fame data, we discovered that Ash was "dreaming of Marvin" as we watched a mini HoF play out with a corrupted Squirtle image. After the run, we got to go back and finish Yellow. Interestingly, since Ash had a full pack when he beat Giovanni, we had no space for the Fissure TM. Game Freak thought of this, so Giovanni doesn't disappear until you take it. So it looks like in SGR, Team Rocket never disbanded. BUT in Bootleg Yellow there's a greater focus on Team Rocket if I understand right and the League Rematch replaced Gary with Jessie and James as Champion. So Ash did end up finishing off Team Rocket so Johto events could proceed as they should. But how this came about is because after Yellow we have been playing Stadium2 with our games plugged in. There's a feature in Stadium2 that both lets you play the GB cartridges from an arcade mode and allows you to bring Pokemon from said cartridges into the arenas. Ash tried to withdraw Bucket and of course the game crashed. This seemed like The End for him. Except timeline wise this may have been what "saved" him assuming he completed Red, failed to defeat Team Rocket, whatever happened between Neeko and Xy the first time, Neeko went back and ripped Ash out of this Bad End but by doing so Ash ended up starting over in Yellow. Further complicating things is either Ritchie is here because while Ash had to set up events for Xy, Raymond didn't have that problem because Ritchie had done it. They're cool, just hanging out. That may mean when Neeko tried to fix things with Ash though, he accidentally booted out Ritchie. Alternatively, it could be that since the world is having these moments of repetition, Ritchie being a Chosen never forgot the old world and had his Yellow adventures ages ago. Seeing things play out (albeit differently this time) he's just here because he's worried about his home and wished nothing but the best for Ash. Which he did good so now Ritchie is just keeping an eye on things because he knows Neeko and is nervous about what he's up to. Please don't erase anyone this time. That caused such a mess... On the upside, whatever terror Neeko thought Xy might do didn't come to pass. Interestingly, ASUS ended up being the name of Xy's rival, so it's possible the redhead jerk was actually Celebi in disguise all along checking in on Xy to make sure he was good this time. Or ASUS being so aggressive was because he kept failing to stop Xy since he kept losing. It's funny then to think Neeko only showed up in the post game after having an "aw crap" reaction to Xy getting to the League miles ahead of Raymond but then Xy let his brother catch up. Only because like the Tortoise and the Hare he got cocky. Raymond defeated Red first so he kinda won the game. Red was vanilla Red of course so I'm not quiiiite sure what significance that would mean for Xy to reach him second. And with Ash and Ritchie around, technically we're not even sure who this Red is but it was (possibly) important to Neeko either way. So since Raymond won, that did ..... something??? We'll see.

But going back to Ash now. Why would he not have his team when starting over? Because after GS we went back to Stadium2 where Ash's team has been crumbling because of technicalities. First we ended up trading Bucket to Raymond but this turned it into a normal Ditto so it's no longer a cursed abomination. Ash could technically get Bucket back, but it'll never be the same. We also evolved our Onix into a Steelix so that's nice for him, but Ash can never bring him home now since Steelix would create a time paradox. So that's two members gone. As much as Ash cares about Pixie I bet he wouldn't dare risk her or the others remaining on a second journey if he started over in Yellow. Buuuut alternatively, Ash falling through a crack in the space-time thanks to Neeko may have honestly made him forget what happened. Was Red all just a dream? He's waking up 10 years old again being told Oak is waiting to give him his first Pokemon... Man, it was a nice dream being all action hero and finding creatures that shouldn't exist and all that. But... Just like Dux, it's possible as he went along this journey, even as things are slightly different, he's getting memories of what feels like another world. Another life... What happened to him?

And that now has my mind racing over other characters who may have had memories stirred. Ash's rival was named Blue. Is it the one from Original Red? From Gauntlet? What does he remember? Does Lance have this sinking feeling that for all his fame and fortune he's missing something? He had a wife, a whole family back in Naljo before the world fell apart. And now he's met not one but three new Chosen, how much deja vu is he getting from TPP shenanigans over the years? I have some thoughts on them, but that's for another post subject.

But for now, we got Ruby and Sapphire coming up on Monday!! And you know it's about this point in the series the stakes start rising. We've taken on mere mortals, now let's save the world from primordial titans! .... Good luck heroes.

[charliethomascoxuniverse]

Charlie Cox's 'Boardwalk Empire' Performance Prepared Him to Play Daredevil

By Liam Gaughan  December 31, 2022 (X)

By elevating one of the greatest shows of all time, Cox signified that he was ready to lead a gritty series of his own.

It’s Charlie Cox’s world right now, and we’re all just living in it. 

Although many Marvel fans feared that Cox would never get the chance to play Matt Murdock again after Daredevil was shockingly canceled on Netflix, Cox returned for a surprise cameo appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home. It wasn’t just a brief wink to the fans; it was an announcement that the devil was back. Cox returned for a featured role in She-Hulk: Attorney At Law and is prepping work on the upcoming Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again. In the meantime, he already has another hit series on his hands with the Netflix spy thriller Treason. It seems like Cox had returned out of nowhere, but anyone who watched him on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire knew that he was always destined to be a star.

While Cox had been positioned as the lead of Matthew Vaughn’s Stardust in 2007, the film unfortunately failed financially, despite promising reviews for the exciting Neil Gaiman adaptation. It would be almost a decade before Cox stepped into the role of “The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen,” but he wasted no time by stepping into playing one of the best characters in Boardwalk Empire. The HBO crime saga was one of the buzziest shows of the early “peak TV” era, and Cox was already stepping into a critically-acclaimed hit that featured one of the all-time greatest television characters in Steve Buscemi’s Nucky Thompson.

Cox first appeared in Season 2 as Owen Sleater, a young IRA volunteer who comes to join Nucky’s enforcers in Atlantic City. While adding another face to the rich tapestry of characters could have complicated a story that was already dense, Cox was able to explore the all-consuming nature of the criminal lifestyle with his emotional performance. Owen is an endearing, spirited idealist who serves as a bright spot in a very bleak series, and his grasp on reality evolves in utterly heartbreaking ways. With charisma, moral ambiguity, and romance, Boardwalk Empire’s Owen Sleater set the precedent for Matt Murdock.

When you’re acting alongside an actor as legendary as Buscemi, you have to differentiate yourself in order to stand out. Cox doesn’t look or act like any of Nucky’s other goons; he seems like a straight-laced political revolutionary who is willing to sacrifice his life for a good cause. While he easily charms Nucky’s wife Margaret Schroder (Kelly Macdonald) and the housemaid Katy (Heather Lind), he doesn’t leave his initial meeting with Nucky without making a promise that he can handle the rougher sides of the bootlegging business. These are quickly shown to be no false claims; Owen brutally stops Commodore Louis Kaestner's (Dabney Coleman) men from disrupting Nucky’s casino in a shocking moment of violence.

It could have been hard to relate to Owen after seeing what he was capable of, but Cox shows how his blissful ignorance has led him to this line of work. He’s grateful to prove himself to someone as influential as Nucky, and he takes every opportunity possible to show that he will follow his duty to the bitter end.

Nucky finds that he’s willing to confide in Owen because of his loyalty, and makes the decision to give him the role of his personal driver and bodyguard. It’s here that we see how ambition corrupts Owen’s soul; by being so close to Nucky’s inner circle, Owen begins to pick up on the skills that could make him a career criminal. He deals with some of the same moral quandaries and Catholic guilt that made Daredevil one of the MCU’s most interesting heroes.

Owen’s Importance to Nucky Is Clear

Owen is particularly needed in Season 2 as Nucky begins to distance himself from Jimmy Darmondy (Michael Pitt), his previous protégé. Jimmy turns from gratefulness to resentment, betraying his former mentor in order to make a bid at leading his own crime ring. It feels like Nucky has a paternal role to fill (as he’s sworn to keep his own children out of harm’s way), and Owen’s dedication gives him a new potential heir. Boardwalk Empire is rarely heartwarming, and while it’s clear that Nucky still sees Owen as a pawn. However, there’s a tenderness to their conversations that has become absent from his relationship with Jimmy.

Owen shows his fierceness when he cuts down the traitor Del Grogan (Gary Tory) in “Peg of Old,” which only makes his disruption of the Thompson family unit more interesting. Despite his romantic fling with Katy, Owen is unable to deny his attraction to Margaret, who is similarly helpless to resist his charms. Margaret and Owen are two outsiders who haven’t totally figured out their futures; Owen is still an immigrant who isn’t used to American culture, and Margaret has had to set aside her concerns about her children’s safety in order to stay with Nucky. They’re two young members of the faith who must deal with never having a normal life again; this was one of the essential elements of Daredevil, as Matt found that he would never be able to restore his romance with Elektra (Elodie Yung) or Karen (Deborah Ann Wolf).

Owen Ultimately Reaches a Heartbreaking End

This doomed romance serves as one of the critical plot points of Season 3. Despite saving Nucky’s brother Eli (Shea Whigham) and landing a critical deal with Arnold Rothstein (Michael Stuhlbarg), Owen finds comfort in his breaks from duty in the moments he gets to share with Margaret. Despite everything that he has seen, Owen still holds on to the dream that one day they will be able to run away together. If Matt’s belief in the goodness of people served as his moral compass in Daredevil, Owen’s faith that his romance will be lifelong only signifies his destiny. His death in “A Man, A Plan…” is jaw-dropping, but it comes as a needed shock to finally show the splintering of Nucky and Margaret's relationship.

Boardwalk Empire never returned with the same vigor after Cox’s absence; Seasons 4 and 5 failed to introduce new allies for Nucky that were able to show the complexity of criminal duty. While Owen’s death is shocking, it’s an effective moment in the series that sets it forward toward a path of no return. By elevating one of the greatest shows of all time, Cox signified that he was ready to lead a gritty series of his own. It finally feels like his continued excellence has been appreciated.

~*~

[nug-chuohku]

Seto-kai

Founded nearly 70 years ago, the Seto-kai family is headquartered in Chiba City. They have maintained themselves as a prominent power not only in Japan but in multiple countries including parts of the U.S. and Southeast Asia. The group doesn't stand out amongst the rest when it comes to violence, as they conserve a consistently peaceful (by yakuza standards) business image. Doing work commonly in money laundering, gambling, racketeering, prostitution, blackmail, loansharking, protection racketeering, and a more recent development in dealing bootleg hypnosis microphones.

Generally speaking, the Seto-kai doesn't start fights, having a strict no-killing rule amongst the group. Being a more consecutively successful money-earning gang, the Seto-kai is notorious for sweet-talking their way out of violent conflicts and helping citizens during major destructive events. This sort of weaseling does get on the nerves of many gangs around the Tokyo city area. Still, the family is near-untouchable so long as the money keeps on flowing. 

A couple of years ago however, the group had a hiccup when it came to their illegal hypnosis microphone business, leading to the loss of their partner business and the loss of several dozen members - either by death or by retirement. This waver has weakened Seto-kai a bit and as a result, they have been the target of several attacks by smaller gangs.

1. Oyabun

Name: Seiji Matsui (松位 晴慈)

Age: 42

Position: Head of Seto-kai

Bio: The exact opposite image of a gangster, Matsui used to double as a real estate agent when he wasn't busy intimidating someone for money as a yakuza member. At the age of 30, he became the head of the Seto-kai when the prior Oyabun had passed. The position was no easy task, however, with many members making attempts on his life to steal the seat. Despite those many years of hardship, he's earned his subordinates' respect as the current head of the group, maintaining the gang's snakelike charms while displaying a more kind and forgiving approach towards his kobun.

With whatever money he can spare, he likes to support children in unfortunate circumstances usually through anonymous donations to organizations dedicated to the cause. He has a sense of sympathy towards children in those circumstances, having come from a similar background.

"No need to fret about what you owe us! Take your time… Just know that the Seto-kai always cashes in on their debts. Always."

2. The Secretary

Name: Noriji Kudou (久藤 憲二)

Age: 47

Position: 2nd in Command

Bio: Colder, more calculating of the Seto-kai leaders, Kudou is the man in charge of wrangling each of the smaller groups together. Acting as an over-glorified secretary, Kudou loves order. If it weren't for the group's long-standing rule to not kill, he would have probably executed a handful of associates by now. Of course, he's loyal to a fault, all to keep order.

Kudou has been the right-hand man to Oyabun, protecting his life multiple times. As far as anyone knows, the two treat each other as brothers having grown up and eventually joined the Seto-kai together. 

"Accounting says that we are down a percentile… And the numbers don't lie. What sort of slacking has your department done now?!"

3. The Accountant

Name: Yuko Rachi (良知 優心)

Age: 49

Position: Head of Seto-kai Accounting

Bio: Yuko was lied to, to make this brief. Having been tricked into the group by a friend who recruited her under the guise of an ordinary accounting job, Yuko has now been loyally working with Seto-kai for decades. At first, Yuko was terrified of course! But with some of the coaxing from Kudou and the Oyabun, she's made herself the head accountant, managing the money which is brought in from all over departments. After all, what is a business without someone to manage all their money?

"I see that you’ve made some improvements since the last quarter! I hope you don’t plan on slacking now… Oyabun expects us to do our best!"

4. The Lawyer

Name: Syougo Gonda (権田 丞吾)

Age: 36

Position: Seto-kai Representative Lawyer

Bio: Even criminal organizations need a lawyer! Syougo works as the main legal representative to the Seto-kai, typically getting the group members lighter sentences for the charges they are given or even straight up getting members out of trouble completely. Syougo overtook the previous representative lawyer by miraculously helping the Seto-kai get away with a major money laundering scheme that had been exposed carelessly.

"What, you think that criminals don’t have lawyers? Everyone needs someone to back them up in every corner, including the legal side."

5. Head Shark

Name: Makou Jibiki (地引 引野)

Age: 38

Position: Head of Extortion 

Bio: A terrifying man, Makou is the expert when it comes to anything involving racketeering. Loan sharking, protection rackets, blackmail, you name it. The moment he gets a whiff of a money opportunity he takes it, no matter the cost. His group has the most members, as the Seto-kai specializes in extortion the most. Under him, he has many smaller sub-divisions headquartered in several cities as a part of their business.

He’s described as a loud, vulgar man, he’s harsh towards his underlings, wanting to maintain high expectations out of each one of them. Many subordinates describe him as a tough parent, but Makou seems to hate this notion.

"What are you shrimps doing, hah?! Quit fucking slacking, get out there, and make some fucking money!"

6. Queen of Luck

Name: Akiko Fujita (冨田 璃子)

Age: 36

Position: Head of Gambling 

Bio: The overseer of the more public businesses, Akiko loves anything to do with gambling. Organizing pachinko parlors, casinos, and horse races, they operate legitimately in and out of Japan. That doesn’t mean Akiko plays fair all the time, often rigging bets and running illegal games underground as a way to earn even more money. Their businesses get into trouble legally pretty often, but it’s nothing the Seto-kai lawyer can’t handle.

Akiko may indulge herself in the most luxurious items she can get, but despite her overly flashy display, most of the items she owns has been shoplifted. Kudou gets on her case for this often although Akiko dismisses him casually every single time.

"Darling! Isn’t that too low? Come on, let’s raise the stakes a bit, hm? I’ll throw in my car if you want…"

7. The Madame

Name: Sawa Chinen (智念 佐和)

Age: 73

Position: Head of Prostitution

Bio: An older woman, Sawa has been in the family longer than the others. Sawa is harsh towards most people, the only people having seen her gentle side are her subordinates and Makou (with whom she sometimes works). She stubbornly stands in her position despite many members insisting that she should step down and let someone else take over. However, it’s her belief that nobody can take over her position… Not yet at least.

"You think you can waltz in here and pick any one of my girls or boys to sleep with you?! Not with that empty wallet, you won’t!"

8. Little Arms Dealer

Name: Hiroki Ebinuma (海老沼 寛希)

Age: 28

Position: Head of Weapons

Bio: The youngest of the executives and the most inexperienced, Hiroki was promoted to his position when all of the seniors in his department were slaughtered in the incident. While nowhere near the same as the previous leader, this sole survivor managed to tough out the trauma and has revived his group well enough. While the Seto-kai does forbid the act of killing, Hiroki supplies the departments that go out into the public with the skills and weapons needed to defend themselves. This includes hypnosis microphones, which used to be the group’s main choice of weapon. However after the incident, supplies have been cut and as a result, Hiroki has had to establish connections beyond microphones to simple weapons, such as knives, tasers, and other less deadly choices.

Hiroki appears as a strong, silent leader but in reality, his anxiety and trauma has left him with a prominent stutter, which he is extremely embarrassed about. To combat this, he only speaks to his close subordinates who act as his speaker.

"Yyy… Yy-you shouldn’t b-b-be here. Iii-it’s a m-mistake to t-tressp-p-pass."

[aaronymous999]

Oh my god time to do this. The tough one is deciding what OC to do this with but you all know I’m choosing Aaron because he’s also sorta my sona?

1. Aaron has a whole stuffed animal collection, although he only sleeps with a few of them because well. They’d overflow the bed and some of their fabrics are uncomfortable to sleep with so he only sleeps with the fluffy or pillow like ones he owns. Although it’s on the nose his main pillow plush is bootleg Spider-Man merch he found someone made, just a round blob with Spider-Man features. Aaron bought it and it’s now SO FLAT. Because he sleeps on it every night. He also sleeps with his baby plushie, he’s had it since he was 5 years old and it was made by his brother Mark in an Elementary School class. It’s ugly, lopsided, strangely big for what it is, and its been through the wringer and is covered in patches and visible stitches used to repair it over the years. The plushie itself is some sort of mix between a cat and a dog, although Mark intended it to be like their childhood dog who passed before Aaron could remember, it ended up as a weird just. Animal creature. Aaron cuddles it every night, and after the end of the first arc started carrying it around with him everywhere…

2. Aaron can at bare minimum take care of cacti and succulents, plants that he can leave on his window sill and water once a month. Aaron would not at all be able to take care of high maintenance pets, or very expensive creatures, like seahorses or fancy fish tanks. But he’s totally able to handle playing with the family cat, and filling her food bowl. And occasionally spending too much money on stupid gifts for her. But he could not handle remembering to buy food and scheduling vet visits, which is why his parents do most of that. And lastly a child… while he’d be a “fun dad” he wouldn’t be a good one and he’s self aware of that. His forgetfulness and his secret identity would make it impossible. And he couldn’t live with himself neglecting a child like his parents do :(

3. “Love interest..? I like, um. A girl with eyes, maybe- a nose or something. Clothes wearing. Someone more like a friend than a girlfriend… haha…” *Trying to stay in the aromantic closet so bad*

4. Yup! It’s the only color besides black and white on his suit. Casually he’s usually wearing green but he appreciates a red flannel every once in a while! Which looks pretty nice because he has red undertones for his skin.

5. Aaron gives impulsive speeches as Spider-Man like. A lot. When he’s coming off of adrenaline from a fight he’s actually very good at it, but when caught off guard he tries not to make speeches because he’s awful at it. The only other types of speeches he generally makes is for school. Which he’s pretty average, yet stiff at.

6. No matter what Aaron will always take advice from fellow older heroes he looks up to. Also Mary Jane Watson just because she just has good takes on things. Generally Peter has pretty good advice as well but generally Peter gives Aaron fighting advice and Aaron gives Peter life advice. On the other hand, although Aaron respects Cindy Moon, they are very completely different people. Cindy has a more vengeful mindset, although she’s not entirely stoic and mean all the time, she’s not exactly the forgiving jokester that Aaron is. Aaron generally also doesn’t take advice from villains who aren’t reformed because, y’know. Norman Osborn isn’t known for being trustworthy. Also heroes he doesn’t respect. Common Tony Stark L, weird queer kid from the Twin Cities WILL NOT listen to you Ironman you freak!!!

7. Silly gentle giant. “Weird Spider Freak.”

8. Although Aaron is my sona he is not like me in this way. I don’t like super complex puzzles but I like working my brain occasionally. On the other hand Aaron fucking hates all puzzles. Chess? His brain hurts. Sudoku? HOWW!!! Rubix Cube? Witchcraft. It hurts his brain and it does not mesh well with his autism. He’s much more of an english, history, creative wired person than a math and science and puzzles

9. Sometimes? Mainly plants or sentimental objects. But things like random lamps, not really. But if he accidentally rips the plushie Mark gave him he’ll apologize to it while he’s sewing it back together.

10. Aaron desperately wants to return to middle school. Weird I know… but he wishes he could be friends with Harry again, and be getting closer with Peter. He wasn’t the happiest in his transition at the time but his friends and supportive family made it fine. Especially if he could go back with all his memories and knowledge. He doesn’t see Spidey as much of a burden either so going forward in time wouldnt be that bad either? But he would prefer to be friends with Harry again.

11. Aaron would freak out and ask Peter what to do. Peter would probably make a whole budgeting plan which would end up with Aaron changing his identity cutting ties with everyone and putting most of it into savings and living humbly. Aaron would be confused, and just end up saving most of it besides upgrading his suit.

12. Aaron doesn’t really like romance. ( unlike me despite us both being aro ) Although he would describe himself as romance indifferent honestly it fluctuates between that and romance repulsed. Sometimes he’ll drop things if the romance is too much of a main plot.

Will come back with more after dinner-

oc asks that reveal more than you think

Do they sleep with a stuffed animal? If they have multiple, who’s the favorite?

Can they take care of a plant? What about a pet? What about a child?

Ask them to describe their love interest.

Do they look good in red?

Speech! Speech! Speech! Speech! Will they give one, and what about?

Who will they take advice from, no matter what it is? Who won’t they take advice from, no matter what it is?

Describe them in three words. Now let them describe themself in three words.

Do complex puzzles intrigue or frustrate them?

Do they empathize with non-sentient things (dolls, plants, books…)?

What age do they most want to be right now?

They’ve won the lottery. Spend, or save?

Do they like romance in the books they read (or in the book they’re in)?

Name one thing their parents taught them.

Would they agree with the term ‘guilty pleasure’? Do they have any?

What would they consider a waste of time– other than school or work?

If money wasn’t a limit, what would they wear?

Do they like children?

Kissing: tongue or no tongue?

Do they study before tests? Practice before job interviews?

What do they like that nobody else does?

What would it take for them to break up with someone? What would be the last straw?

Do they like being called pet names? Do they call other people pet names? What’s their go-to?

Stability or novelty?

Honesty or charity?

Safety or possibility?

Talent or effort?

Forgiveness or vengeance (or…)?

Would they date a fixer-upper?

What recurring dreams do they have?

What would they do if they knew it would be forgiven?

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[dollarbin]

Shakey Sundays #34:

Archives 3: Takes

I've gotta say, Archives 3 is underwhelming so far.

Now, of course, I'm experiencing it in true Dollar Bin curmudgeonly style: I've got my hands on a digital copy of the sampler Takes collection and that's it so far. Unless one of you gifts me the yet-to-be-released $800 vinyl version of the whole thing, I frankly don't want a physical copy of Archives 3.

Here are a few of my cranky, middle aged white guy, reasons why that is so, penned while I guzzle generic booze on ice in a Southern California heatwave:

I don't ever want to own a CD again. I can't stand the things. Neil used to agree with me on this point; now he wants me to have 17 more of them. For shame Neil!

Same thing with Blue Ray discs. 40 million years from now the only thing left on this planet will be cockroaches, scratched up and unplayable CDs and Blue Rays and Willie Nelson - that crazy guy will never die.

Neil continues to clog up his Archives collections with tracks that we've all had for decades on original releases. If he took off all the previously released stuff, including most of the incredibly dull Hawks side of Hawks and Doves, Archives 3 would be half the size and half the cost. Give me a break, Neil. We can already experience your career in consequential order by simply listening to your original records, which we all already own, in order.

Dude, this collection covers 78-87. I love Neil's music from this era, but let's get real: Archives 1 and 2 were both a way bigger deal. And Archives 4 will be as well. (Archives 8: The Montsanto Years Uncut? That will be another story...)

My house is already full. Where the hell would I keep that big box? It'd wind up in my underwear drawer - and that drawer is already full of valuable undergarments that I actually need in my life.

What's more, the sampler "Takes" collection is pretty damn underwhelming. Sure, we get a tantalizing taste of Neil teaching Nicolette Larson and Linda Ronstadt Stars and Bars; and, sure, the new 76 version of Drive Back, in which Neil momentarily forgets how to play guitar altogether and then suddenly remembers how and sets our souls on fire, gets me fired up for all the new Budokan-era stuff he's finally letting us hear with soundboard quality.

And, wow, for sure, yes, the Boarding House Trasher, which comes complete with heated pool and, at last, the air-conditioned bar that Neil's original lyric sheet promised (and which I would love to access right about now), reminds us of that song's windy chasms and forlorn depths.

But there's plenty of underwhelming nonsense on Takes - and the collection is supposed to make us want to get our hands on the whole shebang.

After all, because my famous brother has been hooking us up with Shakey bootlegs for over two decades, we already know that:

Joe Freakin' Lala dominates much of If You've Got Love. His bongos fill me with rage.

Bright Sunny Day makes me pray for an immediate hurricane.

The baby from Devo singing Hey Hey, My My from Human Highway makes me hate all babies. Hate them!

Happily, there is one immediate revelation on the Takes collection: Neil Young's solo effort to emulate the Faith-era Cure.

Seriously: compare The Cure's The Funeral Party to Neil's initial attempt with a track my famous brother and I have both spent time on lately, Razor Love; in 85 Neil was, knowingly or unknowingly, emulating Robert Smith in his first, metallic, somber and sparse, heyday:

Did Neil know how to work up a dark wave of Cure-level depth and complexity? Nope.

But do I wish that he'd spent more time in the genre and recorded an entire solo album in this vein instead of pumping out Old Ways?

Hell yes.

Now, someone, bring me more booze and ice. I'm gonna listen to Takes all over again.

P.S. My famous brother, who is a showoff, just lambasted my review of Archives 3, insisting it is a tear-jerking monster of greatness. In the process he showed off his very own gargantuan box. Enjoy adding on to your house so as to make room for all those new CDs bro!

[ktineee10]

I'm Guilty of...

image taken from: https://www.vecteezy.com/vector-art/1631155-shopaholic-with-purchases

As someone who thinks of retail therapy as a means to calm my anxiety of most things, I cannot avoid some misbehaviors when it comes to purchasing certain items. One of the misbehaviors I am most guilty of is binge eating, and buying alcohol to relieve stress. In a situation where I can buy food, I usually buy more than what I can handle and most food goes to waste, thinking that I can eat the food I bought while stressing over revisions and requirements is generally what prompts me to buy more. This however is super false as it ends up me not even noticing most of the food and not even consuming it and letting it go to waste as I am too immersed with the work that I am doing. This was evident during the pandemic, with classes and professors giving requirements to us that go over our capacity thinking that we are at home our availability to do work is changed to 24/7, I tend to order food online and have it delivered and most of the time it would be food good for 3 people which I only eat ⅔ of and not exactly all. These types of food then go to waste because the pandemic made my family more wary and we don’t share food because of that. To me food was a way to relieve stress and try to relax and I guess that translated to the more food I buy, the better as I get more chances to have a break and eat but it ends up me just binge eating all of it as well due to the time constraints I had in finishing and catching up on deadlines. 

That said, when food doesn’t really help me with the stress I tend to gravitate towards excessive retail therapy or buying too much clothes online or in real life which is such an inappropriate practice as it has become such a wasteful routine as I do not wear most of them and don’t even use most of the things I buy. These items have not only become a waste to me but also clutter that is an inconvenience to my family. However, I cannot stop as in times of stress I really do feel the need to just shop and the excitement I feel when a parcel is almost here or if I look through racks of clothes, the stress and anxiety I felt before that leaves my entire body. For example, before the start of my last semester of my undergraduate life, I was applying to a med school and thinking about my future. This was causing me so much panic and stress and because of that I really needed an outlet, before I knew it I was binge buying clothes that I really did not need or was not really necessary for me to get at the time but because I was feeling stressed and needed the retail therapy I had gone all out and bought 5 shirts and 2 bottoms that I did not need.

Another sample of misbehavior I am guilty of as a homebody is getting bootleg films online or streaming illegal streaming sites for TV shows and such instead of just paying for the subscriptions. As someone who tends to only watch shows when I have nothing better to do or when I feel certain emotions, I do not see the necessity to get a subscription other than Netflix, as it is not something I would fully maximize, that said I turn to bootleg sites and such to watch the shows I want to alleviate the heavy feeling I have in those days. 

In my field of study, I think it can really help in terms of teaching children good habits and teaching them alternatives for purchasing by incorporating them into their daily play routines as i t allows them to understand good consumer behavior without having to directly and strictly teach them. This allows for children to build routines that are positive to consumer behavior and allows for them to understand in the simplest way that there are misbehaviors that we should avoid. They may not know that these are misbehaviors but they would know from the very beginning that this behavior as a consumer should not be done as it is bad. Overall, starting from a very young age and teaching the right kind of consumer behavior is crucial to when they purchase as adults as their self-regulation is much more enhanced by such practices.