#he’s either gonna snap or sacrifice himself

[kadextra]

q!Bad talking to the Skeppy statue:

“We need to rely on the people closest to us, we need a shoulder to lean on. I realized Bagi and I couldn’t handle this situation alone (reason for why he involved q!Baghs) we need to rely on our friends, somewhat…. it’s all for our eggs.”

[paces around, stares off into the distance before looking back at Skeppy]

“Hmm. When am I gonna tell them? *violently pulls out a scythe on the statue and laughs* Never, Skeppy. They can never know. :)”

[hums and walks away]

[niki-phoria]

Hi hi hi !! Can you do a scenario where chishiya's gn! s/o (who's normally sweet and sunshiney) finally snaps and cusses someone out or smth? I thought it would be p funny lmaosjsks (also unrelated but like who's ur txt bias)

i'm so obsessed with doctor chishiya you don't understand

pairing: chishiya x gn!reader (they/them pronouns used once) genre: fluff word count: 1.3k

warnings: not canon compliant, pretend this is before chishiya also starts sacrificing people ig ??, canon typical violence, death, cussing, i can't actually remember how arisu arisued his way out of this game so this could've actually gotten all of them killed lmao, i am incapable of writing fics if they don't end in a confession idk

a/n: thank you for requesting !! i couldn't really figure out how to make reader sweet so i just made them super cooperative (if that makes sense lmao) i hope you like it !!

also i am a beomgyu stan at heart but kai has had a GRIP on me since cysm something in that studio choom fancam changed me idk

requests open !! read my rules first

a group of people are already awkwardly standing around when you approach the building. a ‘ding’ chimes as soon as you enter the doorway, confirming your participation. you grab one of the phones on the table and sign in before moving to lean against the wall. chishiya stands next to you, subtly judging the people around you. 

“registration closed. game: dead or alive. difficulty: three of clubs,” the announcement begins. “rules: players must choose between two doors to exit the building. game clear: players exit the building safely within the time limit. game over: players enter the wrong room or run out of time.”

a clock hanging on the wall lights up with a timer counting down from two minutes. the people around you begin to panic. 

“life or death?” a woman reads. she’s wearing an apron covered in flour, nervously looking around the room. “how do we know which one to choose?” 

“just pick one,” a man argues. he’s in jeans and a stained shirt that reeks of alcohol, even in the borderlands. his words slur together a little. “we’re all gonna die anyways.” 

“nobody has to die,” you interrupt. “we can work together to win this one. we still have one minute and forty seconds left.” you glance between the two doors. they both look the same- artwork printed on the top half of a door labeled either “life” or “death.” 

“it’s life,” a man wearing a business suit says. his voice is deep and confident. there are no wrinkles or imperfections in his clothes though he looks tired. he peers at you through thick glasses perched on his nose. 

a high school girl nervously runs towards the door, swinging it open and stepping inside. less than a second later, a laser shoots through the ceiling and her body falls to the ground. your body stiffens next to chishiya. you stare at her corpse in shock until he starts pulling your arm, shoving you through the death door and slamming it shut behind himself. the room sets alight as soon as he does. 

“why would you do that?” the woman wearing an apron yells. “she was just a kid!” 

“these are death games,” the businessman apathetically responds. crooked fingers raise to push his glasses up, staring at you. “sacrifice is always necessary.” 

“we’re running out of time,” a teenager mumbles. he still has a bike helmet strapped on. “we need to choose another door.” 

time continues to tick down. panic engulfs the room. the woman nervously glances between the two doors before she closes her eyes, placing her hand on the handle of the life door and swinging it open. after a few seconds she lets out a relieved gasp. you’re quick to follow her out of the room, shutting the door behind you. 

the next room looks exactly the same as the others. a gray room with two doors, one labeled ‘life’ and the other ‘death.’ the timer is becoming faster now. 

“we should take turns choosing doors,” the woman suggests. “i picked the last one, it’s someone else’s turn.” 

“that sounds fair, right?” the high school boy anxiously fiddles with the clasp of his helmet. he glances at the time before turning to you. “i think they should go.” 

you flinch a little from the sudden suggestion but nod. “okay.” before you can leave to open a door chishiya pulls you back by your arm, leaning in to whisper in your ear. 

“pick death.” he has no expression when you look at him but gives you a small nod towards the door. your hand shakes a little when you set it on the handle, swinging the door open and stepping into the room. after a few seconds of nothing happening, you let out a small sigh of relief. 

“who goes next?” you ask, looking between the teenager and the businessman. 

“your friend should go,” the businessman says. “he said something to you before you picked the door. what was it?” 

“why does that matter?” 

“he hasn’t said a word since we got here. for all we know, he could be a part of the games.” the woman shrinks back away from you at his words. you scoff. 

“you really think whoever is running these games is sending in spies?”

“he’s right,” the teenager says, moving to the other side of the room next to the woman. “how do we know who you are?” 

“we’re running out of time,” chishiya says. only thirty seconds remain on the timer. he grabs your hand, moving to the ‘life’ door and opening it. after a few uneventful seconds, the others rush into the room behind you. 

“he’s gotten every single answer right,” the businessman argues. “how?” 

chishiya sighs. “the building is shaped like a square. there’s one room in the middle and eight rooms surrounding it. the girl who opened the first door led to the room in the middle. if we stick to the edges of the building we’ll be able to complete the game.” 

“how long have you known how to win?” the woman yells. “why did you let that girl die? how can we trust you?” 

“i wasn’t sure until the second room.” 

“if you’re so sure, then open the wrong door.” the businessman says. “if you’re right, then the middle room will have more than one door and we’ll be able to see inside.” 

“are you a fucking idiot?” the words leave your mouth before you realize what they are, only spurred on by the anger coursing through you. “seriously, who do you think you are? you’ve done nothing but guess your way through the game and now that we have a strategy you’re complaining about the plan working? shut up and listen for once. he’s saving your lives!” 

you take a breath to calm yourself, almost shrinking back to chishiya’s side. he glances over his shoulder at you, silently reaching over to take your hand into his. the group stares between you, chishiya, and the businessman but you ignore them. the warmth of chishiya’s hand in yours calms you. 

“it has to be death,” he says, turning back to the group. “open the door.” nobody moves until you drag him with you to the door, swinging it open and entering the next room. 

you follow chishiya through the rest of the rooms until you end up at the final room. “wait,” he pulls you back, next to his side. there are only ten seconds on the timer. “the ‘life’ door leads to the middle room but the ‘death’ one goes back to the original room.” 

“the entrance and exit must be the same.” you rush to the door, quickly throwing it open and running out of the room. the fire barely misses you as it scorches the room, setting it alight in flames. you pant, leaning back against the wall of the original room. 

your phone chimes in your pocket. “game cleared. congratulations.” 

chishiya’s hand remains in yours, leading you out of the building. the cool night air feels good against your skin. he squeezes your hand, letting himself slightly relax. “thank you,” he whispers. “for standing up for me. for trusting me.” 

you nod, pulling him into a hug. chishiya stiffens a little, awkwardly standing in front of you before hesitantly wrapping his arms around you. “of course i trust you. i love you.” 

chishiya presses a kiss against your forehead, pulling you a little closer. “i love you too.” 

[yuri-is-online]

Hi! Congratulations again!? I feel like we celebrated 300 followers just a couple of weeks ago…

Can I ask for prompt 6 with Floyd, please?

Thank you in advance<3

6. Crowley has decided to put together a murder mystery for the whole ball and you've been the first one "killed." Whoever is playing detective seems really upset about that.

Annon I felt like that too I was really surprised we cleared 500 this fast (⊙_⊙) The last event ran from the end of July to the start of August so you really are not wrong.

Also as a note, if the other annon who requested this prompt for Floyd (along with Riddle and Idia) you are more than welcome to message me with either a replacement or a separate prompt for Floyd. I also have a request for this prompt with Jamil and Ace, so maybe not either of them, I am very sorry (;ﾞ°´ω°´)

notes: they/them used for Yuu, Floyd is swinging his mood as much as he is his fists. The other event requests can be found here.

There is a nigh demonic cackle hissing in a distant corner of the ballroom, it makes you want to ditch your mask and dancing shoes and sprint for the exit.

"As I was saying," Crowley tries again, looking in confusion down at the tiny card that apparently had sealed your fate as if he has maybe read it wrong "Yuu is our first victim tonight! Please see yourself up to the balco-"

"Who did it?" Floyd has somehow appeared just above your shoulder, mask tilted just off of his face. He had been sleeping, completely disinterested in the stupid game Crowley had thought up. It sounded really boring, and it still sort of does. But someone is moving in on his territory, and no, no, no. That simply will not do. You turn to look up at him, tiny shrimpy eyes wide with fright. (note: this is in fact delusion, Yuu is extremely confused, not terribly frightened by their untimely death.)

It's ok little shrimpy, he nods to himself. I'll squeeze whoever did this real good. (further note: this is not delusion, someone is very much about to get badly hurt.)

"Mr. Leech, unless you have the detective card-" Floyd doesn't even bother to respond, he just rolls his eyes and pulls the card out from somewhere. He bites it, keeping it safe between his teeth as he cracks each of his knuckles looking at each and every mask in the room. "Well I guess that settles it, um Mr Leech I trust you know this is a game and won't take things too seriously." Crowley is more than happy to abandon his students to yet another consequence of his own actions, shuffling off towards the gallery and you roll your eyes. Before you can follow suit Floyd catches your hand, his grip is strong, keeping you from really struggling or moving away much at all.

"Um Floyd? I'm dead, I'm supposed to be upstairs on the balcony." You know reasoning is a dead end with Floyd when he's in a mood but there "is no shame in trying" to quote a different eel who you are certain is not cackling somewhere in a corner at just how farcical this little play is turning out.

"Nah," he shakes his head "you're a ghost shrimpy now. And ghosts always stick around their husband's 'till the murder gets solved, 'kay?" It should be sweet, really. But there's this thing Floyd does with his voice when he really wants to hurt someone, "manic" is the best way you can describe the tone it takes, that makes you think if you really did die he would be quite quick to follow. Probably at the end of a hangman's noose. You sigh, doing your best impression of one of those TV dead wife's you bring Floyd's palm up to your cheek and dejectedly lay your head on it.

"My love," if logic won't snap him out of this maybe playing along can "will you be able to move on once you know who is responsible? I don't want you to-"

"Nah." He is more than happy to hold you though, spinning you around to face the audience as he drapes himself around you, chin resting on top of your head. "I'm gonna sacrifice whoever kill'd ya to bring you back." And with that lovely announcement of your impending revival, he singles in on a particularity terrified looking Heartslabyul random and smiles. "Ain't that right guppy? You wanna start runnin?"

"I'MSOSORRYHADNOIDEAITWASYOUOKTHANKSB-" The student vomits up his excuse and starts sprinting for the door, Floyd hot on his heels cackling with Riddle close behind, screaming at both of them for "breaking the rules of the game" but no one, least of all Crowley really seems to care.

"Considering all the ways this could of gone, I take this as a complete success!" You really hate how you can't say that he's wrong.

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

Random bsd theories

Finished 113 and uh. Uh

The member of the Agency who's gonna get transferred to the PM will probably be Tanizaki, or Yosano. I know there was that whole deal Mori and Fukuzawa made but there's no reason for Mori to keep it, and Yosano being forced to work with the man who caused her trauma would be a very interesting arc. That said it's also been noted multiple times Tanizaki would make a good assassin and Asagiri flat out said he's the member of the ADA closest to evil, sooo-

Gin Akutagawa is going to get Rashoumon if Akutagawa is actually dead. I don't know if he is even after the vampirism but I think he should be, because it would finally give some stakes to this series bc no one has died before and it would make Fyodor as a threat matter. Anyway I think it would make sense if Gin were to get it, especially considering with Tachihara's current unknown state that's another reason to get her more involved with the plot.

Fyodor's not actually dead. There's no way he's been built up over the past 2/3 arcs to die like THAT.

Aya has an ability. What it is, I'm not sure, I know her irl author's most famous work is Nagareru, which I have not read, so maybe something to do with that?

Also, Higuchi is going to become important soon. Asagiri has confirmed she has an ability - I'm betting we're going to find out what it is soon. Especially if Akutagawa is actually dead, which again I think he is because otherwise all the buildup was wasted, I think she's gonna get an arc of her own soon.

Dazai is going to be forced to develop and it won't be pretty. I've seen notes that he's kinda regressing back into his 'Demon Prodigy mindset' from the healthier one he developed with the ADA in the earlier arcs, before Mori released Q, in order to protect himself and the ADA from threats like Fyodor - so he's been more willing to sacrifice people or colder with his plans. In order to get out of that spiral something is going to need to snap him out of it.

Oh speaking of that - Dazai is either the son or grandson of the Old Boss of the Port Mafia from before Mori took over. Explains why he was implied to have known the old boss, and why his ability is basically an anti-ability, if he was constantly around someone so unstable and had to protect himself.

The Order of the Clocktower are going to become new antagonists with Agatha Christie also playing a role. We already know she exists in the BSD verse and the potential for a character based on her as a villain is insane. I'm also thinking she could potentially be the actual 5th member of the Decay of Angels, considering Sigma has existed for all of 3 years and spent a lot of that time actively being human trafficked, yet the organization was clearly prominent for years before that.

[scribz-ag24]

I have a question, have you ever thought about Dusknoir lashing out to partner specifically if met with extreme hostility after they explain what happened in SE5 to hero and partner?

In my mind the reason Dusknoir resonated so much with Groovyle speech was not only because of guilt (he feels a lot of that wuefhihwe) but also because they basically were in the same situation, and knew in his heart that in the way they approached the future, Groovyle was doing the right thing.

On the other hand, for someone like partner who in Dusknoir eyes has nothing to loose by stopping the planet paralysis, would make it feel disingeneous in some way to just point a finger to find a "culprit", and even though Dusknoir knows hes in the wrong, considering hes not the best at controlling his emotions when under stress, at one point he would at least snap back i think.

anon i love love LOVE this idea and i hope i can draw sth like it one day!! It's truly marvelous!

Dusknoir being angry that partner is pretending to act like a judge of character, like they're offended they should forgive dusknoir after what he did, ignoring the fact that their own life was NEVER endangered by grovyle's plan, unlike dusknoir's life. That they were an outsider to this conflict and little else than a side-attachment to Hero, dusknoir's actual target. (It is prettu funny how Partner gets dragged along into the conflict for no reason lol, all they did was liking their rock and their best friend and dusknoir almost killed them for it)

Dusknoir will gladly take the blame and accept the consequences of his violence towards hero and partner, but he will not GROVEL to them, not when he was only ever fighting to keep himself alive. He will move on and be better, he will awkwardly make amends as best as he can, but he's not always gonna lay down and take all the berating without snapping back a bit. Especially not when it comes from one of the people who was most fooled by his facade, who had the weakest will of them all and would have succumbed to the darkness faster than anyone if left alone.

Partner grows a lot throughout the story, and I think by the end of postgame they have enough self esteem and will that they've outgrowned dusknoir, in a way. They're no longer led by what others say, and they are sure they deserve to exist in this world. So facing Dusknoir again and having to face their most embarrasing lapse of judgement must bring a lot of bad memories. I think in a normal conversation Partner would be calmer. However, maybe if Dusknoir presses in the right way, they could even be demoralized, some of that old respect could come back and make them more susceptible to dusknoir's judgement.

Both Partner and Dusknoir are cowards in a way. Partner starts as a timid person with no ability to even approach the guild, and incapable of standing up for themselves. Dusknoir has nothing in his life, only a slightly-less-literally-unhinged impulse for self preservation than the mad god he serves. And even then, at least Dusknoir was fighting for something, even if it was something as meaningless as his empty doomed existence.

I think it would be fun for Dusknoir to realize that similarity with partner and bring up the conversation in the old ruins that partner never heard. The one where Hero learned their unfortunate fate were the planet to be saved. He could mention how if Partner had known he could have sided with the very same person they are reprimanding right now. That they would either fail to live up to the mission once their will was tested with hero's imminent disappearance, or they would have betrayed their so-called friends because of their selfish wish to never lose hero.

I believe it could really hurt partner to hear that Hero refusing to tell them until the last moment was only proof that not even them trusted that partner could make that sacrifice.

Of course I'm sure Dusknoir would regret going that far and losing his temper, and I'm not sure if he could be so articulate in a moment of high emotion, since with grovyle in se5 he kind of sputters a bit while he tries to deny the goodness Grovyle claims to see in him. But I think he could hurt partner deeply once more and make their breach even worse. Plus it would make Partner feel like they haven't grown at all since the last time Dusknoir played them like a fiddle.

Tbh i think the only good ending here is if they throw hands hard. and partner wins. not for any thematic reason but just bc dusknoir should get his ass kicked more often

anyways anon i love the idea its so good!!

[jgabi51]

“Home doesn’t exist anymore… because of you!”

Sonic Prime was great and I can’t wait to see what happens next. There are still so many questions that we have unanswered. But listen y’all Sonic is gonna need therapy.

!!!!SPOILERS(sort of)!!!!

And its a lot of reading, like if you are going to read this next part sit down and be ready for bad grammar and to think critically

What Sonic is going through in Prime felt like/reminded me of the metal virus and or lost world. In those stories the basics are: Sonic doesn’t listen, does something impulsive, makes the issue worse, everyone gets on the ‘Sonics fault’ bandwagon sooner or later and yells at him; people expect Sonic to fix everything, forgetting that he is a living being too who needs food, rest, support, to fix the problem. In past games Sonic seemed too happy in the face of the grave situations he was faced with. For the sake of argument, to me this is Sonic putting his ‘hero’ persona on to inspire hope in those around him. And maybe to try and fool himself as well. But in recent stories, and under certain writers, Sonic has matured to show more emotion and vulnerability to better flow with the dark themes his adventures address. Some great examples of this are Unleashed, Frontiers, and of course the metal virus saga. To clarify, I’m speaking in reference to the difference between: Sonic showing genuine emotion of (mostly) any kind [typically when by himself as an internal monologue or when around 1+ of his very close friends] vs. Sonic being exaggeratively bravo, trash talking his opponent(s), overly optimistic, and narcissistic [typically dawned while enemies or someone whom he met recently or doesn’t see often are present or when he his in public/has a lot of eyes on him]. Think Sonic in the Tail’s “am I a burden?” Scene in Frontiers vs. Sonic being allegedly in prison and tortured for 6 months after he gets his behind handed to him yet seeming fine and as confident as before once a complete stranger comes and saves him in Forces. Also to note, if it wasn’t clear, Sonics impulsiveness, impatience, quick-wit, fast learning/adapting nature, creativity, sense of justice, and ‘valuing his friends/family’ mindset is shared and holds strong across the board. They’re skills, traits, and morals that shape the spiky blue speedsters opinions and views; his personality. Those things are just who he is. Woo! That was lengthy but theres more, I bring this all up because in Prime I saw hints of both: the too-happy/‘hero’ persona Sonic who’s sassy, snarky, and a bit of an a-hole and the Sonic who feels the pain, would sacrifice a world/universe (hehe) for his friends, is Tails’ (adoptive and unofficial) big brother. This shows that Prime has a lot of potential and Prime!Sonic has a lot of layers yet to be explored as a person. Which may shed light on what Sonics personal and mental journey might hopefully for me be as the story is told. I just hope either Sonic snaps, breaks down and cries or yells and rants about (not killing anyone or a villain arc, just not yet) or if Sonic is gonna be able to keep it together til the end we see him get his trauma addressed. Either way blue is gonna shed tears and its all I can ask for.

[zooophagous]

Strauss marched stiffly behind his companion. No, companion was far too friendly a word. She needed a different descriptor. He mentally combed through what English his racing mind could cling to. She was something more of a jailor, or perhaps a carnivorous bird of prey, more of a captor.

If there was an English word for someone who captured another and forced them to commit violence, he couldn’t find it in his lexicon. He had an idea, however, that he may fit the definition of “hostage.”

He had tried to imagine himself more of a shepherd, or a “sheep dog,” a chaperone or someone who could perhaps persuade Frau Pietra not to behave badly- at least while he was with her. How foolish to imagine this was a sheep, and not a wolf. 

Sylvain’s psychic prowess did not, as far as he knew, extend to the wholesale reading of minds. She didn’t really need to. Her confident posture and the sense of direction with which she was leading him gave the sense that she already knew very well what he was thinking.

“I hope this walking is working up your appetite.” She called glibly back at her shadow. “I know it’s working for me.”

“I am not hungry.” He replied glumly.

“Yes you are. I can hear your gut growling at you. We are going to find something, and you WILL eat.”

“Where are we going?”

“To find a worthwhile target.” She muttered. “Don’t you worry, Herr Strauss. I know you. I know you’re picky. Too picky to take just anyone. I’ll have you know I hand picked a vile, nasty little son of a bitch who’s evaded justice for quite some time. Just for you. I know that’s your MO.”

“What is MO?”

“Modus Operandi. The mode in which you operate.”

“Is that how you think I operate? Picking off alleged villains to slake my thirst and spare my conscience?”

“Am I wrong?” She looked over her shoulder at him. “We both already know your history. You really gonna try and deny it?”

“If you truly knew anything about me, you’d know I subsist on charity.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “Not murder.”

“Don’t sell yourself too short. You also subsisted on medical malpractice and on soldiers and prostitutes. A crook isn’t much different.”

“I do what I have to, Frau Pietra. I am not always proud of it. I do not need to do this.”

“Oh no, you do. Just not for your usual reason. I went through the trouble and you’re going to follow through.”

“Where are you even taking me? You still haven’t told me.”

“You can see it from here.” She pointed at the skyline of the city. It wasn’t an impressive skyline, but part of it stood proud against the dingy orangish clouds of the light polluted sky. A black, barbed spire, the pointed shape of which was nearly reminiscent of the stakes found hanging in the halls of the Van Helsing Institute. 

“The cathedral?”

“Got it in one, chief.” She smirked. “What’s the matter, scared of a little crucifix and holy water? I don’t know how much you’ve bothered testing it, but that doesn’t work.” Her face grew dark. “Ask me how I know.”

“God would have to care for that to be real, and he does not.” Strauss replied softly.

“There is no God.” She snapped. “For at least one poor asshole, we’re going to prove it.”

“And if I refuse?”

“You won’t.”

Strauss crossed his arms protectively over his torso. His mind raced while his footsteps deliberately dragged, trying to buy precious moments to think. The looming silhouette of the cathedral only grew larger with every step. 

Maybe he could make a break for it. No, she could find him. Unless he ditched the watch, but then Artemis wouldn’t be able to find him either. Maybe he could tackle her. And be publicly rent limb from limb. Also less than ideal. But, to save a human life perhaps? He wasn’t sure his altruism stretched so far as to sacrifice his own life for a stranger who meant nothing to him. As bleak as it sounded, perhaps it was better the stranger than himself. What an awful way to think, though, and one he was sure would disappoint Artemis if she could hear it.

His internal monologue had failed to illuminate the correct way to proceed. What was worse- it also had failed to buy any time. The pair of vampires walked abreast down the sidewalk to the tall form of the church that stood lit up in warm light against a starless sky. 

Sylvain stepped into the lawn of the holy place, undeterred by the watchful gaze of a marble statue of Mary that glowered down at them. She stalked around the side of the building, away from the main doors, with a purpose that indicated she knew exactly where to go. 

“This way.”

Strauss obediently trailed behind, stooping low to try and hide in whatever shadows he could afford with his height. Sylvain found her spot by the wall, and, placing her hands against the bricks, began to climb. 

Her claws deftly found whatever thin holds the bricks could offer her, and she scaled it fearlessly to the second floor. A little window glowed from within- some poor soul working late in the office wing. She peeked into the lit room and tapped ever so gently at the window pane, catching the attention of the occupant. Even from his position on the ground, Strauss could see her face twist into a cruel smile. She curled her finger in a beckoning motion. She was a difficult request to resist.

A man appeared at the window. He had no sooner opened it when Sylvain shot her claw into the opening and seized him by his shirt and yanked him off his feet. She clung to the wall with one claw, and turned outward to hold the terrified, whimpering target with the other.

She dropped him.

Strauss ducked forward and caught the dead weight of the half-hypnotized prey item roughly. He stumbled onto his knee, and spilled the stranger onto the yard. The man scurried backwards away from his savior. Sylvain dropped down in front of him and landed squarely on her feet. She reached for him once again and dragged her prey to a standing position.

“Keep your Goddamn mouth shut or I’ll rip your scalp off.” She growled to the terrified man. She could have spared threats, her psychic sway was more than enough to keep him quiet, and he was too scared to challenge her. 

“This is your worthy target?” Strauss snarked at her. “An elderly priest? I have no love for Catholicism, but I thought you had a bit more… suitable fare.” He almost sounded disappointed as he quietly mocked her. “The only thing going for him is that I suppose he’s technically supposed to be a virgin.”

“Not just a priest, Lu. What you have here is one Father Gregor White. He’s a bit new at this parish, aren’t you Greg?”

“What does that have to do with it?”

“Nothing. It’s just that before he was moved here a year and a half ago, he was in South Carolina for four years. And then in New Jersey before that for two. Seems to have a hard time staying put, doesn’t he?”

“And?”

“You can’t be this dense, Lu. What big important high profile reason might the church have for sending a priest away to a new parish? Do you think perhaps they had a few complaints?”

She stressed the last word sharply. Gregor feebly muttered a stuttered response of “it’s not true!” before receiving a kick in the ribs for his protests.

Strauss winced with empathy and stepped forward to separate the two. Sylvain pointedly stuck herself between them. 

“What, this one not good enough for you? After all the trouble I went through to really pick out a good one?”

Strauss glanced down at the glassy eyed and lost looking priest. 

“I recognize him. The day I escaped, I had no shirt. I fell from a roof, and he gave me his jacket.”

“Oh, so that little act of kindness covers a multitude of sins?”

“No. But I still have little interest in killing him.”

“Why not. Did you go soft? Did Ursula defang you? Or maybe she just neutered you.”

“I simply refuse to bite when there isn’t a need to.”

“You’ve killed pedophiles before.”

“Yes, and that killing is what got me hunted down and captured in the first place. I lost my home and my freedom and my entire life was permanently upended. I would be an idiot not to think of consequences now.”

“Should have known better. Practically gift wrapped a hot meal for you and you turn your nose up at it like a spoiled lap dog. I was told you were a tiger. Now I can’t tell if I see stripes on you or just the outlines of your ribs. Do you think you can survive on altruism? Would you starve to death to let this scum live?”

“I have survived on altruism for over two hundred years. You have barely survived five, and have done so by living on the periphery of humanity like a kicked dog. Abandoning my harmlessness and hunting humanity is what nearly got me killed.”

He stepped towards her with his teeth bared. “Go ahead then, if it’s that important to you that he dies, you do it. That seems to be your “modus operandi,” as you so aptly put it. Why bother making it mine? Clearly you’re the superior hunter here. Show me! Show me how it’s done!”

“This isn’t about me, Lu.”

“Then tell me straight up. Why does it matter so much that I be the one to spill blood here?”

“Because I’m fucking TIRED of you denying your nature.”

She shoved him hard in the chest. Strauss stood firm and didn’t move. Sylvain stumbled backwards a step from her own force. 

“You and I both know you’ve got a hungry mean streak deep as the sea beneath that meek little facade, Strauss. You won’t control it if you don’t fucking acknowledge it, don’t you get that? Maybe you could get away with that in that stupid fucking hole in the ground but that’s long gone. Now you’re HERE. Here and pretending you aren’t one bad day from ending everyone around you.”

“I believe you’re projecting, Frau Pietra. I may have bitten, yes, under duress. But I am not the one leaving spent corpses in the park like a drunk leaving a trail of broken bottles.”

“What the Hell are you talking about?” She tilted her head to one side. “You think I kill people? You think I’m stupid enough to pick off people in the town Ursula Harker comes to get coffee every day? Do you honestly think that little of me?”

“If you don’t even hunt, why the Hell should I?!”

“I already told you this isn’t about me. Honestly Lu, you want the truth? It’s not about you either.”

“Then what is it about?”

“It’s about HER!”

Sylvain yelled in his face. “It’s about Artie, ok? You happy?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Of fucking course you don’t. You don’t understand fucking anything. Or at least you’re real good at playing dumb. I told Artie, I fucking warned her not to keep messing around with vampires. I BEGGED her to quit. I didn’t want what happened to me to happen to her.”

Gregor tried to crawl away, only to be snatched by his shirt collar and flung against the wall.

“I was the best hunter they ever had. Maybe even more so than Ursula. If I could fuck up and get turned into… THIS then it could happen to anyone. It wasn’t worth it to keep the Institute open. But no. She was just like you. Weak. Too weak to make a hard choice. Too weak to finish me off when she had the chance. And even losing her eye wasn’t enough to teach her a lesson. After losing me, she goes and gets you. You! A half feral grave dweller, who had just skinned a man alive.”

She laughed bitterly as she ranted.

“Getting you out of there and letting you loose is what you deserve, I’ll give you that. But it wasn’t about you. I had to get you away from her. I had to get vampires, including myself, away from my girlfriend before she got herself fucking killed. Now here I am handing you freedom, and you’re too stupid to take it and run.”

“Ex girlfriend.”

“Excuse me?”

“Artemis is your ex girlfriend. Not your girlfriend. I don’t think you can rightfully call her yours after you took out her eye.”

“What’s it to you if she’s my girlfriend or not? Are you jealous or something?”

“Artemis is my friend. Is it not natural to want to protect your friend from a former lover who injured them?”

“Please. She isn’t your friend. She’s your OWNER if anything. She doesn’t care about you beyond her project.”

“I know for a fact that isn’t true.” He replied a bit more slyly than he should have.

“What do you mean by that?” Sylvain asked suspiciously.

Strauss was silent.

She abandoned her assault on the priest and turned now to Strauss. She grabbed him by the throat with sudden ferocity.

“I SAID what do you mean by that?”

Strauss stared wide eyed in shock at her. He was instantly aware that she was exerting her will on him. Quite a bold move, to try that on another vampire. He had only a split second to decide whether or not to fight it. Such a distraction would probably get her mind off of ‘hunting,’ but only at his own expense. While his mind grappled for a foothold, his mouth was already bending to her will.

“I know because I love her.”

Sylvain laughed cruelly in his face. “You love her! That’s rich! I knew you had Stockholm syndrome but woooow Lu. This is pathetic even for you. You really think she reciprocates?”

“Yes. Considering how many times we’ve slept together.”

Oops. 

Strauss clamped his claw over his mouth. Too little too late. Sylvain stared him down with a hard incredulous stare. She was in apparent shock, and for a moment was silent, though the heat of her anger rising out out a noise at a frequency only vampires could hear.

“You… and Artie.”

Strauss shot a look to the priest, who was now slowly rising to his feet and trying to slip away. He hoped the look conveyed “you’re welcome and get out quickly,” but that was a lot for such a stoic face to say. He made hard eye contact with Sylvain.

“Yes.”

She struck him. She struck him again. One two in rapid succession across the face. Hot pain seared his cheek from the rip of skin under her claws. She made to swing again. He caught her arm and swung her bodily into the wall. She stopped stunned for a moment.

Her eyes were wide and her breathing heavy and ragged. A deep growling voice choked out of her between desperate angry breaths.

“I’ll kill you. I’m going to wait for her to show up and I’ll kill you right the fuck in front of her.”

“She isn’t showing up.”

Strauss pulled the smart watch from his pocket and crushed it in his fist.

Sylvain descended on him with a shriek. She jumped and caught him in her claws and sank her teeth into his neck.

Strauss felt her many rows of sharp teeth pop through the skin like a man biting an apple. He returned the favor sinking his own teeth into her neck and shoulder. Vampire blood was some rare delicacy. Metallic and viscous but cold. Difficult to consume.

He didn’t have long to play sommelier. Her hand was on his face, trying to find an eye with her claws. He grabbed her by the hair and yanked her off of himself. She clung to him and left long blood trails down his body with her claws.

He held her aloft by the scalp, she dangled and hissed and spit like a feral cat. He slammed her head first into the brick. She fell into a crumpled heap, but shot out a leg and caught him squarely in the groin. He doubled over and she jumped him once again, raining blows on his back and head.

He flung himself to the ground, using his superior size to pin her. She kicked and fought beneath him and threatened to split his hide and spill his guts. He got up and backed away from her. Strips of skin and pulled hair hung from him in bloody tatters. 

Sylvain did not get up. She groaned and grunted, and writhed on the ground as if in terrible pain. Dark hair began to appear around her face and her arms.

Time to go. 

Strauss turned and broke into a run away from the church and down a dark alley. Sylvain’s cries of pain echoed behind him, soon replaced by a mighty rush of wind that bore down faster than he could run.

An immense bat, larger than any eagle, swooped low and swiped him with its sharp clawed feet. He fell to the ground on his stomach. Before he could think, it was there again, piercing his body with claws like meat hooks.

She ascended into the sky with her captive. Straight up and out, over the city, and gaining altitude quickly.

The faint tears in Strauss’ eyes began to congeal into frost as she bore him higher and higher into the dingy clouds. Thick mist surrounded him, blinding and confusing. He didn’t need to breathe but the air still felt cold and thin and hurt his chest.

She brought him to her zenith, outside of the city, alone in the dark ove a desolate barren field.

She dropped him.

Strauss fell like a stone. The rush of cold wind cut through his clothes and froze his hands and feet into stiff useless shapes. He fought with his shirt, desperate to maintain composure to escape it and focus. The cold dampened the pain of transformation. Newly sprouted black fur flew in the wind and offered no protection from it.

He fell out the bottom of the cloud and saw the earth growing larger beneath him. He bit his lip and forced his frozen fingertips to spread. The earth was closer. He willed his torn skin to right itself enough to form a wing membrane. Closer still. He beat his arms in a frail attempt to catch the wind. Closer. He righted himself and positioned his keel even with the earth. Now below the height of the tall cathedral spire. Impact imminent.

Twenty feet before becoming a bat-shaped crater, his wings took, and he flew. Up and up and away quickly, but not quickly enough. Sylvain shrieked at him once again and slashed at his back from above. He went straight up back into the clouds to lose her. 

She was on him still. He turned to face her. The two great bats flew at each other hard and fast and clipped into each other like jousting knights, each trying to break the other’s wing. Sylvain turned in a wide loop and flew at him with her jaws wide. Strauss ducked and swiped at her with his clawed feet, catching a stray piece of her leftover clothing.

The two spiraled downward, the centripetal force swung them wide in a useless circle as their altitude plummeted. It was a game of chicken now, who would let go first. It wasn’t a game he could win. Sylvain hung on and became a dead weight, content to crash and take her opponent down with her.

The earth was approaching rapidly again, but this time Strauss had no time to change trajectory. He let go of Sylvain and she was flung afield. He braced his wings out like a parachute to slow his fall. Too late. He made contact with the earth and bounced, and bounced again, and skidded roughly through the dry hard sticks of a former corn field. 

His skin had given up the ghost. Holes decorated his wings like bloody stars. He shrank painfully back into his now naked human form. He was spent. He began to crawl away on his hands and knees, only to have the nude form of Sylvain appear before him, glowering down at him with fire in her eyes.

“I should kill you. I should rip your dick off. I should give your head to Artie as a Christmas present.”

“Then do it.” He grunted in defiance.

“No.” She grinned, and let out a choked laugh. “Don’t need to. Sun will be up soon, and you don’t have so much as a shirt.” She looked around, pleased with herself.

“You know what, Lu? I’m not even mad you broke the watch anymore. Artie can have you. If she can fucking find you.”

She turned and walked off, her proportions growing weirder with every step until finally she was fully winged and flying off once again, leaving Strauss mercifully alone in the dirt.

Or perhaps unmercifully. Strauss shakily found his feet and took a few wincing steps before falling to his knees in exhaustion once more. He repeated this process, though unsure of where he was actually going.

This field was a wide gape of treeless expanse. Beyond it, a gravel road, and more field beyond that. The faint rosy fingers of dawn began to claw at the horizon. Strauss forced himself to stand. The ache of fear produced a low whine in his chest. He needed rest, rest he couldn’t afford. 

Shaky step gave way to shaky step. The air was growing warmer now. Larks, singing beautifully, heralded the break of morning. At last the bloody red sun crested on the horizon and bathed the field in awful color.

Strauss tried to run, to even jog, but his battered body was at its limit. The light became warm, and soon after, became uncomfortable. Itching gave way to burning. Strauss hunched over, covering his face with one hand and his genitals with the other and turned his back to the sun and began walking as quickly as he could in a blind straight line. Whatever he ran into would have to be shelter.

A wetness began to trickle down his back. Sweat? No. Blisters had begun to form on his burned skin, and the largest of them had already burst. New blisters formed swiftly beneath the old, and in minutes had burst anew, rapidly spilling the water in his already dehydrated form.

The pain had nearly stopped now, his skin ruined to the point of numbness. Dead strips of it clung to him like snakeskin. He hazarded a glance up, un-shielding his eyes for a moment to get his bearings. The light painfully blinded him, and as he blinked through the dancing green after image he saw nothing. Nowhere to run to, and nowhere to hide.

His knees gave out again. This time, for good. He would not be standing back up. He gripped the dirt with his now stinging, red hands and braced for the end. Insects and birds assaulted the field in a cacophony of annoying noises. He would not even die in peace. 

Another animal was in the field, at the periphery of his blurred vision he saw a small brown shape. It was a mouse.

A wild field mouse stopped just short of his hand. It looked at him with blank black eyes, then turned back to the dry dirt of the field. It began to dig in the loose dry soil, and was gone.

Strauss watched it go, and shifted the loose earth beneath his claws a moment. He gathered his failing strength and furiously began to dig.

[redundare]

malevolent theories and predictions too unhinged to post in the discord pt 1 (rampant spoilers for everything thru part 29)

i've seen this one around, but it's my favorite pet theory: Kayne is a christian entity. everyone's convinced he's the crawling chaos and that's far more likely, but hear me out: he chose the name Cain. at one point he mutters about a Lilith, another very important figure in christian lore. when John says "jesus fucking christ" Kayne snaps back "present and accounted for." he really wants John to take Arthur to the order of the fallen star, and what we know about the order is: it hides in plain sight (what's more plain sight than the church?) and Larson is a member. Larson, who met Collins in a confessional during Prelude. i'm just saying! (this is the only one that has any evidence btw the rest are just me vibing)

the reason Arthur is special is because he has the blood of an eldritch god in his lineage. we know that Amanda Cummings and Anna Stanczyk were pulled into the ritual because their blood was the blood that began the ritual to unleash Shub-Niggurath 600 years ago. so blood is canonically important, and we know absolutely zero about Arthur's family or heritage. plus, Kayne says anyone else would've died during the ritual, which means Arthur was a stronger vessel than a normal human. why is he able to hold onto his sanity so well, and why is he able to host john without dying? cuz he's a little eldritch himself???

even more unhinged: Arthur actually became the missing part of the king this whole time, and the voice in his head is just a way for him to cope. (the Trader saw two of them and had no reason to lie about that, so i don't believe this one's actually true, but it's fun to think about)

Arthur's parents: they were either into eldritch stuff, or they didn't kill themselves, they were murdered to push Arthur along his path

i don't think Kayne lies as much as people think he does; like most tricksters i think he has fun with the truth just as much as lies. for example, he says to Arthur, "No, you’re not caught, you’ll leave alive, and alone and and and… afraid." this is all true! Arthur does leave alive and alone and afraid. so i believe when he says, "John’s grown, he’s regretting, he’s a hero now. He’s gonna sacrifice himself for you, obviously" this is Harlan is directly foreshadowing endgame (or maybe just a season finale, and then Arthur has to go to the Dark World)

next season we're going to a different plane. Arthur and John are going to try to stop an Order ritual and get their asses sucked into Leng or R'lyeh or some shit (alternatively this will be the point where john sacrifices himself, and Arthur has to go after him, possibly with yellow in his head again cuz you know Larson's gonna be there)

OR it's Arthur who gets sucked into the other plane/goes away, and next season we get John and Yellow together sharing a body having to go save Arthur (this is less of a theory and more of a dream, god i'd be so happy if this happened)

the booth entity. at some point somewhere, harlan said this was "the patrons versus a malevolent entity." who the fuck is the booth entity, and is that the same malevolent entity we're up against? was harlan being metaphorical and meant he the DM is the malevolent entity? (would not be surprised; isn't that all DMs really?) but Kayne put such a fucking emphasis on choice, and Arthur's entire existential spiral that's been going on since part 11 about choice vs predestination has been one of the central themes of the whole narrative. will the 4th wall break down entirely between booth john, patrons, and the narrative?? logistically i'd say no since it's behind a paywall and how would you engage the free listeners with that content, but my heart says absolutely yes this is where we're going.

[khaleesiofalicante]

Okay, so here's the thing. I believe we've established the fact that Lance is David's son to his very core. Not very outgoing, heart of gold, a fighter, a survivor. Plus he believes everything Max does is cool and if we bring IALS into the mix he is pretty obsessed with Max so I'd say definately David's child.

And then he goes around and pulls shit like this and my brain just goes: "He is also Max's son sucker!", because honestly that was such a Max move, I needed a moment to remind myself this was Lance's chapter. The "my papa loves me so much that when I die he'll be devasted so I'll make him hate me by being a cunt so he won't be devastated when I'm gone" move that Lance made? Not an original buddy! It's already been done, by your dad, when he made his bapak believe that he'll sacrifice him when he was actually planning on sacrificing himself. And guess what? It did not work! And it will not work for you either Lance! (Note to Lance, have Gwen pass it on to him please?). And I'm gonna go ahead and guess that Max won't know about it until quite later onto the plot? I mean he'll know that something is up with Lance but he will mention it to David and he'll be like "Mon ange please leave it alone" . Because I feel like if he does catch on about what Lance said to David he'll confront him about it and Lance will tell him the truth about why he said what he said. And if that happens I need Max to tell him this story. I need him to know that his thing he does is never gonna work. Oh god, so much pain.

I'm not even gonna talk about the Theia stuff because it also reminds me of TLND Max. When he pretended that David was trivial to him when David was his everything? Why is Lance picking up Max's coping mechanisms, Lance buddy you're smarter than this! Oh can someone please tell him that making the live of his life believe he isn't worth it didn't work with David and it won't work with Theia either? Again, painn

Here's something I didn't expect to hurt me as much as it did. Mavid. Did David seriously lie to Max? When did those two get to the point where they lie to each other? I mean hide stuff from each other is something but straight up lying in each other's faces? That's another thing altogether. What I'd happening to them and can someone please snap their heads straight and remind them that they are Max and David and it's them against the world and they should be inseparable instead of lying to each other?? Also, did Max go to see Mina? I feel like he went to see Mina, even though I'm secretly hoping it's Rafael. I have a wild imagination.

Also, the "your love gets people hurt" like from IALS making it to LBAF hurts a lot more than it should, Dani whyy😭 And please explain what happened to my sweet baby AJ, was he sad because of Régine( whom I want to smack almost as much as her mother at this point) or was it something else?

I'm sorry if this is long or blant, it's literally all my thoughts while reading this I couldn't contain them. But hey, here are some tik toks I found to make the pain a little better.

This audio feels like Theia and Cami talking about Lance and it makes me laugh so hard😂

Not exactly happy but this soundtrack when Lance closes the door after the whole Mia/Theia fiasco

A little gift for Arthur( and the rest of us Kincaid stans)

Again not very happy but this is Rafael about Max isnt it?

FMF Max about his husband probably

This is giving me serious Lance/Max vibes watching Theia/David unleash their anger on someone

Max/David and Lance/Arthur dynamic?

Okay that's it for noww🌷

PS: I'm so sorry your work is keeping you so busy these days, I hope you find the strength to push forward and end all your work while also find little things to make you happy and make it a little better💛

MAN, I NEED THIS AFTER THE DAY I HAD. THANK YOUUUU.

I'm so glad to see you noticed that Lance pulled the EXACT same move Max did in Edom. Except Max's thing only lasted like two days 😬. Max will notice it (only a little). But it's Arthur who notices it first (my perceptive babygirl). We'll talk about this whole thing later. It's like a whole plot point so yeah we have time :)

TLND David and LBAF Theia be like "that sign can't stop be because i can't read" lol.

Also, I'm not sure what you meant by the "lying" bit. Were you referring to the part where David lied about him being the car instead of Lance? Also, interesting how you differentiate between lying and omission because Max is hiding some pretty big stuff from David 😅

Arthur was sad because Kincaid didn't acknowledge him at the party and pretended like he didn't know Arthur 😕 (also he danced with Theia which made Arthur realize he won't get to dance with Kincaid like that)

Thank you for the tiktoks, bebe. That cami and theia tiktok was ON point and the FMF one made me giggle looool. Also, that last dynamic is David/Lance 🥰

Work got busy because of my own dumb-assery because I wanted to work with some new people and took on some new work and now i am regret. But it's a short project and should be over by November so I just need to survive this cursed month.

ALSO I REALLY HOPE YOU'RE READY FOR BRAZILIAN GP BECAUSE IT'S GOING TO BE GOOD, FAM.

Loooooooove you.

[sleepdeprivedsimp234]

Hello again, lovely!! 💙💙

I’m preparing to shove Gov and the States through the wringer (lots of self-sacrifice and tears, idk Gov just keeps jumping in front of anything presenting any form of danger to the States) so I need some dopamine to cope:

Last time Gov comforted the States, but do you think any of the States would protect Gov? (He’s a self-sacrificing idiot, could be missing two limbs, half his skull shattered and disemboweled and still trying to work smh) I just think the man deserves a break, even if he’s torn-to-pieces in the lead-up to said ‘break’ (most likely forced because he will still try to work tbh)

~💙💙💙

Hiiii!!! And yes I agree, Gov needs a break. A long one too. So why get the most assertive of the Main 6 to get him to take a break: Louisiana (haha I love him too much lmao-)

=====================

(This may or may not have some Gov/Loui 👀)

=====================

It was around 10pm when Gov snapped back awake due to hearing a teleportation chime. He turned around to see Louisiana standing behind him. He noticed that Loui wasn't in his normal attire (he had exchanged it for a black cropped hoodie, and Gov definitely wasn't blushing lmao), and he didn't have Florida with him. Which was oddly suspicious.

"What do you want, Mags?" Gov sighed.

"I came to check on ya. Also to tell you that I'm taking you on a walk in Baton Rouge. To y'know, have a break." Responded Loui with the smile that the Main 6 (and me 👀) adored so much.

"Listen, Honey, I would love to, but I'm very busy right now." Gov said, gently cupping the smaller's face in his hands.

"I know, but I think ya can take a break. You've been workin' all day for the past 4 days, and I'll bet you haven't slept either. Loui said, walking over to Gov's closet and pulling out a pair of jeans and a black turtleneck. 'Is this really all he has in terms of casual clothes- me and Yorkie really need to take im' clothes shopping at some point.' Loui thought to himself before tossing the clothes at Gov, who just barely caught them. He walked over to Gov and stood up on his tippy-toes to give him a peck on the lips before sitting down on Gov's bed. "Go change Cher. I'll be waiting here."

Gov just blushed brightly and just went to his bathroom to change with no questions asked (hehehe SIMP-).

A few minutes later, Gov walked out of the bathroom wearing the clothes that Loui had thrown at him. Loui looked up from his phone and smiled a bit before walking over and grabbing the taller's hand.

"Ya ready?" he asked. He waited until Gov nodded yes to teleport to the busy streets of Baton Rouge.

Gov looked around with nothing but pure amazement in his eyes. "Wow... It's beautiful...."

Louisiana chuckled a bit. "Yea... It ain't no Dallas, L.A, Miami, or NYC, but it sure is somethin'." He said with a bright, fond smile. "Now I'm gonna bet you haven't eaten anything all day, so I'm gonna take you to one of my favorite bars so we can getcha somethin'."

Gov didn't bother arguing, cuz he knew it was no use. He was absolutely WHIPPED for his boyfriend. He allowed himself to get dragged to a rather nice looking bar around ten minutes from where they had landed. As they entered, he noticed how Loui seemed to know every worker there. After a bit of looking around, he nearly ran into Loui, who had stopped at the counter where there was a bartender.

"Ah Loui, good to see ya again!! Who's yer little friend here?" she said with a friendly smile as she shook Loui's hand.

"Hey Chels! Nice to see ya too sha. This here is ma boyfriend, Gabriel." He said, returning the handshake and smile. He elbowed Gov, and gave him the look that said 'say hello'.

"Hello." Gov said with the friendliest smile he could muster.

"Hey Gabe, you can call me Chelsi. I'm assuming y'all are gonna want the regular, Lou?" She asked, turning to Louisiana.

"Yup. Thanks sha."

"No problem!! Go find yourselves a table and I'll be around in a lil bit."

"Aight." Loui said, shaking her hand once more before dragging Gov to a table somewhere in the back of the bar.

"So um... You seem to be a regular here." Gov said, trying to make small talk with the smaller state.

"Yup, I come ere' every other day, and trust me, aint nobody here gonna bite ya, they're all very nice." Answered the Pelican State.

"I wasn't really worried about that Mags." Gov said.

"Yea okay sha- you were literally shakin' with anxiety when we walked in here and you were lookin' at everybody like they were gonna bite ya."

"Well what if-"

"And don't bother sayin' that it was because ya were cold, cuz it's 80°F AND humid outside."

"I- fine. Whatever." Gov said, pouting ever so slightly.

"Good boy." Loui teased, smirking when Gov started blushing again. He looked up when he saw Chelsi standing there with their food. Now it was his turn to blush.

"Pfft- y'all are real cute together. Here's yer order, have a great night y'all." She said before walking back behind the bar where she worked.

The two personifications sat and ate for about fifteen minutes before about 4 or 5 tall guys walked up to their table.

"Can we help ya?" Loui said, keeping up his friendly smile and tone of voice.

"Well you most definitely can, cutie~" said one of the guys (he looked like he might be the leader of em all) as he seductively leaned on the wall next to Loui.

Loui looked like he was trying his hardest to not tell this guy to f*ck off. But still, he kept up his friendly attitude. "Ehhh- sorry not interested man."

"C'mon~ Why not?~"

Loui was starting to get a bit uncomfortable and his friendliness was starting to disappear slightly. "Like I said, I'm not interested. Now, please leave us alone."

"Y'know, funny thing is, I don't remember it being a question, pretty boy~" said the guy as he wrapped an arm around Loui's waist.

Okay- Gov's gonna intervene now. He stood up and said "H-hey... Guy, he said he wasn't interested. Now leave. And don't put your hands on him."

The guy that had his arm wrapped around Loui glared at Gov before walking up to him and grabbing him by the front of the shirt and pinning him against the wall. "What're ya gonna do bout' it huh?"

"I-I-I-" Gov started to say before he noticed that Loui's eyes were glowing a bright red. Well sh*t.

Suddenly, Loui jumped up from his seat and grabbed the guy that was pinning Gov against the wall and threw him head-first at an unoccupied table. He smirked when the other 4 decided to attack him. Good, more blood~

Gov watched as Loui proceeded to beat the living sh*t out of the other four guys. He flipped and broke one's arm, he knocked another out completely by smacking his head on his knee, and the other two also received a few kicks and punches before running away like absolute cowards.

Loui laughed a bit to himself, satisfied with his work. He turned back to Gov, who was staring at him with a wide-eyed amazed expression. He wrapped an arm around Gov's shoulders and pecked him on the cheek before teleporting them out of there while the people were distracted.

Gov wrapped his hands around Loui's waist and kissed him on the lips, Loui returning it. The two kissed for a solid five minutes before finally pulling apart, but still not taking their hands off each other.

"Where the hell did you learn to fight lie that??" Gov asked, still amazed.

Loui looked confused for a second before catching on. "O-oh hehehe uh... Well, ya don't live this long and learn nothin' sha. Especially when ya live in da hood. I guess that being friends with Texas, York and Mass helps ya learn a few things as well. Plus- I wasn't bouta let ya get beat up back there, sha."

"Mhm you are indeed my little knight in shining armour huh?" Gov teased slightly, bringing Loui in for a tight hug and nuzzling the top of his hair. Loui returned the hug, burying his face in the taller's chest.

"Yup I am sha."

[aberooski]

Question. Zane is like

Very Edgelord but kinda snaps out of it later on. I'm trying to find some kind of balance or at least something that'll be kinda like an "Oh shit" moment for him. I'm having trouble with him because it's either "would he throw an insult?" Or "is he being too nice?" Any advice?

Ooh okay hmm 🤔

I've run into this myself not having much experience personally writing Zane. He's a difficult one to get a grasp on in my experience because of how complex he is.

Of course context is important, like what stage of edgelord Zane is at because especially if he's full Edgelord Supreme anything that could shake him would have to be pretty big and drastic.

Finding Zane's middle ground is tough honestly, I know exactly what you mean. The thing I've found to keep in mind is that Zane has a disconnect between his emotions and his ability to express them that was probably created during his time training at the dojo with the cyber legacy as a kid. And how that translates especially to Syrus is that he acts kinda as a disciplinarian almost, like a demanding mentor with high standards than a brother, but Syrus hasn't grown or developed as a duelist or within himself enough to be able to achieve so Zane's tough on him and ultimately unfortunately exhibits abusive behaviors, but also you can see hints in the first season that he does care and is trying to look out for Syrus in his own weird, very detached sort of way because it's the best he can do. It takes extreme situations for him to be able to align his heart and his head concerning his ability to express his care for his brother.

For example back in season 1, Camula threatening to sacrifice Sy'd soul if Zane defeated her. Or in season 3 Sy could've been killed by the Doom Dozer had Zane not stepped in. And even then in those situations he's fairly casual about it. He's still kinda distant all things considered but less so than usual.

I guess if I had to boil it down, my main advice is that no matter what, Zane is an emotionally distant, closed off guy even when he's expressing any genuine concern. He's more of an acts of service guy in terms of expressing his feelings, and he's a tough love kinda guy. He's harsh and doesn't sugarcoat or anything like that. Unless someone is actually dying or in a situation where they could, he's not gonna be very soft or nice without an undertone of harshness to it. If that makes sense?

[acciowilltolive]

"Wait, so they sent three of you for ah five year old? Seems a bit like overkill, dude, not gonna lie."

"Kid, I will ask you one last time. This doesn't concern you. Get. Outta. Here."

"Well, too frickin bad. If you wanna get to Morgan, You'll have to go through me."

OR

Tony and Pepper are out of the country for a fundraiser, leaving Peter to babysitting duty. But the night goes very south very quick as three thugs with the motive to kidnap Morgan enters the mix.

Activate: Protective Brother Peter

Whumptober '23: Day 28 - Bloody Knife | Sacrifice | "You'll have to go through me

Chapter 1:

“Those are the only choices you have.”

“But what about-?”

“No,” Peter held up a finger, squinting his eyes threateningly, “You either pick The Lorax or Megamind or, I swear, I will not hesitate to play another Star Wars film.”

“But Petey!” Morgan whined, bouncing on the couch, “Both of them are so old.”

Peter gasped, beyond offended, “I’ll have you know, missy, I grew up with those.”

“Yes, Peter,” she rolled her eyes dramatically, assembling her Frozen Lego set, “That is because you’re old.”

He scoffed, “...Remind me to apologise to Mr. Stark. This hurts. And speaking of things that can hurt; isn’t this practically a safety hazard?” he poked the Lego castle, “This is very sharp and could probably seriously maim someone.”

“Dad can seriously maim someone.”

Peter agreed with a laugh.

“When will Mom and Dad be back?” Morgan asked, cozying against his side.

He wrapped an arm around her, patting her head, “They said not to wait up. So, a few more hours at least.”

Mr Stark and Pepper had gone to New York for a fundraiser helping all the people who lost their livelihood due to the snap, leaving Peter to babysitting duties. He didn’t mind it. He loved Morgan. Her sharp humour (even for a five-year-old) kept him on his toes. He shared her stories from before she was born and in exchange she told him stories from the years he was - ah - MIA, to put it lightly.

He wondered himself when Mr. Stark would be back, and checked his wrist to see the time only for his eyes to widen, “Oh shi-” Morgan looked at him with a look that was just pure Tony.

“...sheeps. Time to… count sheep! In bed! Time for bed! Sleep!” he said jerkingly, getting up, shutting off the TV, and gathering Morgan in his arms.

“But I’m not sleepy,” Morgan said, letting out the cutest ever yawn oh my god.

Peter smiled, “Of course you aren’t.”

In less than ten minutes, he had gotten Morgan to brush her teeth, change into Iron Man pyjamas –with Spider-Man socks!-- and tucked her in her bed. He freshened up too and was scrolling mindlessly through his social media after chatting with May when he felt it.

His spider-sense.

He paused, holding his screen to pause the video of a rabbit nibbling on a strawberry.

Nothing.

Peter had learned by now to never doubt his tingle, so he put his phone on the bedside table –a decision he’d come to berate himself over later– and made his way down the staircase.

He held his hand onto the handle of the door leading into the main hall, steadying his breathing. He opened the door and-!

No one.

Huh.

He swallowed and found his throat dry. He made his way to the kitchen, ducking to reach the lower cabinets for a glass.

Maybe his senses were just warning him against dehydration.

The lights turned on.

…that’s probably just Morgan who woke up and followed-

“Get out from under there. Hands in the air. No funny business.”

Okay… maybe his senses were not just warning him against dehydration.

Peter slowly straightened up, hand clutched around the glass, and frowned at the sudden onslaught of lights.

“Seriously? Are you trying to get caught? Who turns on the lights in the house they are trying to rob!”

At least, he hoped they were just robbers. There were three guys –all in black attire, complete with ski masks– all of them tall, with knives in their belts. The guy on the left looked the strongest with muscles bulging out of his arms, whereas the other two seemed more on the leaner side.

“Look,” said the middle guy, “You don’t have to get hurt. We are just here for Stark’s kid. Get outta the way.”

Peter’s head vibrated with an inner ‘Activate: Protective Brother’ as he tried to stall them to formulate a plan.

“Wait,” Peter shook his head, “So they sent three of you for ah five year old? Seems a bit overkill dude, not gonna lie”

“Kid-” the middle guy spoke again, the other two as still as rocks. Was he like the spokesperson of the group? “I will ask you one last time. This doesn’t concern you. Get. Outta. Here.”

“Well, too frickin bad. If you wanna get to Morgan,” his hands clenched around the glass.

This glass empty.

“You’ll have to go through me.”

Yeet.

He threw the glass straight at the thug nearest to the stairs, both –the dude and the glass– shattering on impact, leaving the spokesperson and the strong dude to be dealt with.

“You’re gonna regret that, punk,” the kidnapper spokesperson moved in front of him as the other guy moved behind him, essentially trapping Peter between the two thugs and the countertop.

“You know, I regret like ninety-five percent of my decisions, so it’s really not that bold of a statement.”

Using his banter as a distraction, Peter rolled over the countertop and before the spokesperson could turn around, rammed his shoulder between his shoulder blades, sending him flying into the bulky guy.

The bulky guy rolled the other thug off of him and came at Peter with his knife raised high. Peter looked around and ended up using a rolling pin to defend himself. He punched the assailant in the ribs, before throwing the rolling pin on his masked head. He was about to follow it up with a kick when-

Spider-sense.

He ducked.

And not a second too late, if the knife embedded in the wall by his head was anything to go by. The Spokesperson looked almost offended that Peter had dared avoid getting shish kebab-ed by his knife.

Peter was about to show some real offence to his face when he was tackled by the muscle of the group. The guy manhandled him into standing in front of the spokesman, pinning his arms behind him. The spokesperson took advantage of his bound arms and punched him square in the jaw, his body stumbling further into the guy behind him. Blood gushed in Peter’s mouth as the spokesperson continued raining down punches on his face.

Peter’s vision started blurring around the edges and knew that he had to think of something; and fast. Thrashing around was useless –only tiring him further– and unless he wanted to reveal his identity to these creeps (he didn’t) he couldn’t Spidey his way out of this one.

So he did the only smart thing he could think of.

He bit the arm holding him.

Hard.

The bulky guy howled in pain and released him. Peter gave him a hard kick in the nuts for good measure before whirling around and throwing a punch at the spokesman’s abdomen, the impact sending him skidding across the floor till he hit his head on the window.

He wasn’t getting up anytime soon.

“Peter?” Morgan stood at the doorway, her Black Widow plushie grasped tightly in her arms.

“Oh… hey Mo!” he smiles awkwardly, waving a bloodied hand. Oh, he must look horrible, blood covering his face, staining his teeth, trying not to collapse on the floor.

Trying to be as non ‘character in a horror movie’ as possible he spoke in a calming, yet hurried voice. “Mo, I have a mission for you: I want you to go to your bedroom, lock the door, call Mr. Stark, and not come out until he asks you, can I trust you with that?

“Yes, but about you- Watch out!”

A sudden weight on his back sent him sprawling across the floor.

“Morgan! Lock the doors!”

He listened to her hurrying up the stairs and sighed internally. Fingers grabbed at his hair and sent his face pounding into the floor. Repeatedly. Each thud resonated painfully in his skull. Peter gritted his teeth against the pain, placed his palms on the floor, and jerked his head back with everything he’s got.

The weight disappeared off his back and in a split second Peter got up, crouching low to the floor, and before the muscle-man had time to recover, tackled him around his shins, using his bulky build against him as he dropped to the floor like a bag of bricks.

Bag of Bricks, however, had more fight in him than Peter gave him credit for. He sat up, grabbed the back of Peter’s sweater, and hurled him across the room.

Peter’s body collided painfully with the sofa’s edge, sending him rolling across the sofa and onto the ground, all the air being knocked out of him, leaving him winded and dizzy.

Footsteps walked in his line of vision and Peter couldn’t do anything but cry out as a foot reared back and kicked him in the ribs.

“Punk,” The guy scoffed and Peter saw with bleary eyes as he made his way towards the stairs.

Peter scrambled to get up, looking around desperately for something. That’s when his eyes fell on his weapon of choice. He grabbed it and with a final burst of strength ran towards the assailant and just as he turned-

BAM!

Peter slammed Elsa’s Lego Castle across the bulky guy’s temple, efficiently knocking him out for good.

He stood for a few seconds, reeling with the aftershock, panting with exhaustion, sweat dripping into his eyes.

“Yep,” he bounced the Lego set in his hand, “Could definitely maim someone.”

He winced and looked around at the destroyed living room. He hoped Pepper wouldn’t be too mad. He heard the distant hum of thrusters and knew Mr. Stark was near. He’d know what to do. Mr. Stark always does.

Peter blamed his momentary sense of relief as to why he didn’t notice the first guy getting up.

Glass guy grabbed him by the shoulder, turned him and pushed a knife to the hilt into Peter's side. A broken gasp lodged itself in his throat which turned into a hoarse cry as the guy ripped the knife out, slowly. Peter felt each jagged cut of the knife tearing through his insides as it was pulled out and felt his eyes closing against the pain.

When he opened his eyes, it was to find himself leaning against the countertop, legs spread in front of him and head lolling onto his shoulder, the assailant screaming crazily something which Peter was too far gone to comprehend. A steady nothing had taken over Peter’s hearing; only the sound of blood dripping onto the floor audible to him.

He knew he should do something. Put pressure on the wound, stop the blood from flowing, shut the stupid yelling, but he was just so tired. Fatigue had settled heavily on his bones and made home. His eyes threatened to roll back into his skull.

A great stream of light blasted across his vision, his eyes squinting against it and when he opened them he was seeing red and gold.

Red and gold meant safe.

Red and gold meant he was okay.

“Peter! Kid! Stay with me, please. Come on, don’t do this. Talk to me!”

Mr. Stark had gotten out of his suit, his cream Armani suit –which probably cost more than Peter’s existence– was stained a rusty shade of red as he pressed his hands to Peter’s sides.

Peter knew he should feel pain. But he felt absolutely nothing.

He gathered his strength and choked out, “M-Morgan-”

“Rhodey’s got her. That’s it, kid. Keep talking to me.”

He shivered, “S’ C-Cold.”

Mr. Stark’s face crumbled painfully as tears flowed freely from his eyes, “We’ll get you warmed up soon. Okay? You hear me. Just- just, hold on. Please.”

“I’m – I’ll be okay. I’m safe.” he coughed, and felt blood dripping down his lips, “As long as you’re here, I am okay.”

Mr. Stark smiled.

And he thinks he smiled too.

Before passing out in Mr. Stark’s arms.

[demonprincezeldris]

I'm so sorry I only just saw your last post on the pirate au^^" it's late though so this is probably gonna be rather short.

So, I do like your idea, for Mel to finally be 'revealed' when Zeldris confronts him. For that to happen though, I think Mel and Zels father would have to want to take Meliodas back for... something. The Liones Naval Fleet is strong and even the Demon King wouldn't risk attacking them unless they had something or someone irreplacable to him, this being Meliodas. Why would he want him back? Well, there could be a few reasons, like he wants to make Meliodas the leader of his crew and snap him out of his "little tantrum" (in which case the DK would obv view Meliodas as nothing more than a small child), or he actually wants Meliodas dead as either revenge or because he knows something that he can't have his enemies know. One Idea I kinda like though is that the DK wants Meliodas back to sacrifice him in some sort of ritual so that he (the DK) can, like, gain immortality or to make Meliodas his puppet or something. Not like in canon, where he takes Meliodas' body for himself, but in a more literal sense. The DK and Mel are still separate people, but after the ritual Meliodas would be unable to disobey the DK. And I mentioned that Meliodas and Zeldris aren't (completely) human, that's also relevant in the ritual, I don't know how yet though. Wait, I just realized, if the DK is attacking Liones to get to Meliodas, he would have to know that Meliodas was with them, otherwise he wouldn't take the risk of getting captured and/or killed.

And one more thing, Zeldris mentioned that a Liones general killed their mother, but would that general be Baltra or Zaratras? Or someone else before them? Would that general be related to Baltra, like maybe it was Baltras father or something? Was Baltra there when their mother was killed? If so, he might have recognized Meliodas from back then already, even before he realized that he was the pirate Meliodas. Ooooh, this could cause a mighty rift between Mel and Baltra, because Baltra took Meliodas in and cared for him, but he also just stood there and watched as his mother was murdered in front of him, which, in Meliodas' mind, would brand him a coward and may even get Meliodas to willingly go back to his father. Not for his father or Zeldris, but so he could enact his own revenge. The ritual his father needs him for could also be a ritual to enhance or awaken his non-human powers. He could be like a giant sea dragon or something. Honestly I'm still not entirely sure about that, but it kinda has to be something monstrous. It could be possible that their father and their mother were two different kinds of sea monsters, so Meliodas and Zeldris could be something new entirely, unknown but powerful.

I am so sorry that I took so long to respond to this.

I love your ideas on why the DK might be attacking the Liones Naval Fleet.

The DK may be strong, but he's not stupid enough to just charge in and ruthlessly attack them. As you said, the LNF are a formidable foe, and very powerful. Maybe there could be rumors that a young boy with golden hair recently joined their crew? And it causes the DK to go in search of him to bring him back.

Meliodas was the general at one point, so he does know some pretty big secrets about their fleet that he could reveal to the enemy. So the Demon King is urgently tracking down Meliodas so he can't spill any secrets to their sworn enemy.

I feel like Bartra could be the best candidate for the general who killed their mother. And the realization that Batra killed their mother would JUST be enough for Meliodas to switch sides again. They showed him kindness by helping him when he was wounded, but now that the cards are out, he's seemingly done helping them.

I also feel like Meliodas wouldn't know it was Batra who killed their mother, as she most likely would have hid them from sight and eventually died. With baby Meliodas and Zeldris crawling out after the fight and realizing that their mother had been killed. when askinig their father, he just says. 'Damn Liones generals did this.'

Just a bit more added to the shock factor in the revelation of this.

[citrusreadstoa]

Reading The Dark Prophecy: Chapter 19 (SPOILERS)

"You cannot commit murder. Any death you cause is the will of the gods and entirely beyond reproach." That's an... interesting take on things. I never thought of that before, but from a mortal's perspective, that might be the case. However, we are judging the PJO gods as people, and thus murder on their part is still murder.

"It's true I had laid waste to whole cities with my fiery arrows. I had inflicted countless plagues upon humanity." Yeah, I think individual murders are the least of your crimes and maybe these acts of mass destruction should be what you're repenting for instead. I guess the latter could be connected to the plague spirits and how some disease has to be let loose to keep them in check, but the "burning down whole cities" thing is still unnecessary. "Once Artemis and I slew a family of twelve because their mama said something bad about our mama." I know that myth. Queen Niobe. During a ceremony honoring Leto, she bragged that she shouldn't have to partake because she was superior, having seven sons and seven daughters (sometimes six of each, it varies). And then Artemis and Apollo killed all her children. And the dad either killed himself or was killed by Apollo. And then Niobe turned to stone. The end. This is vaguely linked to the seven girls and seven boys that were annually sent as sacrifices to the Minotaur. Anyway, this is still a tragedy and unbelievably petty, but still pales in comparison to all the other stuff Apollo and Artemis have done. Mostly Apollo, 'cause I haven't heard about Artemis causing too many natural disasters (though I'm pretty sure she sent a giant boar to trample a city once, don't quote me).

"None of that did I consider murder." You... you sure about that? Okay, the burning cities and plagues are just you carrying out your duties as the harbinger of natural disasters, but Niobe's family isn't murder? That was definitely murder.

"I was Narcissus, Caesar's trusted personal trainer." Eh? Same Narcissus as the reflection guy? I didn't know he was employed! So he must've been a trainer before he got cursed. If this is just another dude who just happens to be named Narcissus, I'm gonna sound real stupid... Nah, this is a valid question.

"We can take him" Oh no, so that's why what Meg said sent him spiraling.

"considering his mistress and prefect had poisoned his wine at lunch." Lmao is everyone around him just trying to kill him dead? Lemme guess: he grew paranoid when there wasn't any reason to be and then the violence from that paranoia became a self-fulfilling prophecy so people actually started trying to kill him because of how horrible he was and now the paranoia comes from actual danger.

Okay, I realized something last night: Commodus's character art kind of makes him look like the type of shady love interest you'd find in books/movies like 365 Days that, despite his violence and paranoia and lack of respect for boundaries, the leading lady will inevitably irrationally fall for, doesn't he? (This has nothing to do with the actual character; it's just what the character art reminds me of.)

"Not that he knew my true identity" Why doesn't Apollo visit him as himself?

"I'm done thinking about consequences!" He's done? Did he ever start thinking about the consequences to begin with?

"Then I closed my hands around his neck. 'I'm sorry.'" So what's it gonna be: drowning, strangulation, or snapped neck? How did Commodus get the chance to become a god if he died here? Are all the Triumvirate emperors escaped souls?

"You. Blessed. Me." Fuuuuuuuuck.

"I simply couldn't look at the surface of any pool without imagining Commodus's face, stung with betrayal, staring up at me." So, as a god, do you just keep accumulating regrets forever until you can't look at anything without remembering some horrible deed you did? 'Cause that sounds absolutely comical.

"WE CANNOT REMAIN." We cannot remain at the Waystation? It's not safe?

"his carotid pulse" CAROTID (n.): each of the two main arteries that carry blood to the head and neck / (adj.): relating to or denoting the two main arteries which carry blood to the head and neck, and their two main branches

"Was there anyone I hadn't betrayed and disappointed? Any relationship I hadn't destroyed?" No. Sorry, did that come out harsh? I'm sure there's at least, like, one singular-- no, probably not.

"I was Al's . . . liaison to the African American bootleggers." Again, how old was she when she joined the Hunters?

"I have no idea what that means." For a god of poetry, Apollo sure does let a lot of metaphors go over his head. I wonder if losing his powers somehow affected his reading/listening comprehension.

[whydousernamesevenexist]

"Welcome, my virgin maiden, your sacrifice is appreciate- wait a minute," the demon pauses, his eyes scanning the boy's body, "you're not a maiden. And you're not a virgin either," he scrunches his nose.

"No," the boy looked down at his tied hands, bouncing on his feet nervously, "I guess they just took me because I'm female, and didn't think you'd pick up on me being a guy. And nobody asked me about my virginity." He shrugged, then looked up at the demon. "Is it a big problem?" he tilted his head questioningly.

"Uh, yeah, kinda?" the demon exhaled. "This ritual requires the blood of a virgin woman specifically. Listen, if you're neither a chick nor a virgin, why did you even volunteer?"

"Volunteer?" the boy raised his eyebrows. "I didn't. They just kinda… kidnapped me? I guess that's the term," he shrugged, rubbing his tied wrists against each other, trying to loosen the ropes.

"And they didn't tell me there were conditions for the ritual or whatever. They didn't even tell me what was going to happen to me."

"They… what?" the demon sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, then took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"Do they not know anything? The ritual not only asks for a virgin woman, but for a willing woman specifically. Do you mean to say you're here against your will?"

"Yes, sounds about right," the boy nodded. "Hey, could you please untie me? The ropes are itchy."

"Yeah- yeah, okay," the demon sighed and snapped his fingers. The ropes disappeared immediately.

"Thanks. Um…" the boy looked down nervously, "what are you gonna do now?"

"Now, my friend," the demon smirked mischievously, "you and I are going to teach my followers to respect gender identity, and that consent is important. That is, if you want to go with me, of course?" he smiled.

The boy smiled widely. "Yeah, sure. Sounds good," he grinned, and turned back to where he came from, waiting for the demon to follow.

You were kidnapped by a cult to provide sacrificial blood to summon a demon. They manage to finish the ritual and you see a hunky man standing at the centre of the summoning circle, looking confused as fuck, who goes from confused to enraged as he figures out you did not give consent.

[chatonnoir]

anyway here’s some predictions (based on the translations from @crizztelcb​) etc.

The reporter asks, “Where's chat noir? You guys have saved Paris without him a couple of times recently, did you two get into a fight?” Then Adrien hears Ladybug say Chat Noir is “just a partner like any other” and that hurts him because he misunderstands it to mean he’s no different to her than all the other temporary holders. It’s the final nail in the coffin of insecurities that’d been building up in the past few eps.

Ladybug is facing a very difficult Akuma/Sentimonster and Chat Noir either shows up late or accidentally makes something worse etc. Chat Noir says, “I can lend you a paw and buy you some time.” Under high stress, Ladybug snaps, “You want to help? How about you stop making me lose time!”

Ladybug’s annoyance might have rolled off his back at any other time but Ladybug had no way of knowing that he was in a vulnerable spot in regards to their relationship at that moment. So instead, it gets to him. Bad things happen and he gives up his ring.

Ladybug “choosing another Cat Miraculous holder” is coming from stubbornness and hurt over him leaving. She doesn’t want another Cat holder, but it’s sort of a “fine!!! be that way!!!!” reaction. And she thinks the problem was that Chat Noir loves her too much (a very funny way of refusing to reflect on her own feelings on that front). That’s why he recklessly sacrifices himself and nearly gives her heart attacks. That’s why he gets distracted in battle. That’s why his feelings were so hurt. Ladybug decides that her relationship with her partner needs to be purely professional, so her solution is: “I will need to choose another. One who isn't in love with me!”

The thing is, she made it very clear in the episode just before this that she can’t know the Cat Miraculous holder’s identity. So one possibility is that she lets Plagg choose a new holder, and he just goes straight back to Adrien. (That, or maybe she lets Viperion do it, seeing as she trusted him in Ephemeral, and he thinks he’s being very clever by giving it back to Adrien while pretending he didn’t know he was Chat Noir all along. But that’s a theory that doesn’t actually have any basis and is just coming from me waiting for the Wishmaker reveals to play a crucial role somewhere other than Ephemeral)

Enter Cat Walker:

( “meow?” lmaoo she’s so cute here) Maybe Ladybug said “meow” because she was in the middle of ranting by herself about Chat Noir because she’s still sad and upset with him for leaving, only to be caught off guard when Cat Walker shows up. E.g.

Ladybug: ooooh check meowt I’m Chat Noir I’m so COOL, I’m just gonna GIVE UP MY RING and LEAVE even though I said I LOVE LADYBUG and we were the PURRFECT duo, me-

Catwalker: Hello Ladybug

Ladybug: .... meow?

If we know one thing about Adrien it’s that he’s good at playing roles to please others. The princely outfit as Cat Walker, the punny hero name, and the adorable little paw print buttons all just feel very “Adrien” -- especially paired with the fact that Ladybug was blushing over him, cause they already showed us she’s not one to easily fall for Felix’s fake Adrien charms. That’s why I’m pretty convinced it’s Adrien. Maybe he takes back the ring from Plagg, but instead of becoming Chat Noir again, he chooses to play a different Cat Miraculous holder. One who is ideal and “perfect” and chivalrous and doesn’t joke around or “annoy” Ladybug etc. He thinks maybe it’ll show him once and for all if Chat Noir really was a hinderance to Ladybug all along and if their partnership/friendship was never as special to her as it was to him. He needs the closure.

Now for some very hopeful predictions for the end of the ep that are totally pulled from thin air bc the trailer only shows the first half of the ep:

Ladybug and Cat Walker’s mission together goes perfectly. Not a single distraction. Not a single ill-timed joke or flirtation. Cat Walker is charming and professional and perfect and gets the job done. And it’s all wrong.

Ladybug misses Chat Noir so much. She finally accepts that underneath all the stubbornness she’s just sad because he left and she wants him back because she can’t accept anyone else as her Cat other than Chat Noir. And that admission basically heals the wound from the beginning of the ep wherein Adrien was led to believe Chat Noir was “a partner like any other,” and the doubts that’d been building up over the past few eps leading him to think that their partnership didn’t mean the same thing to her as it did to him. In rejecting Cat Walker, Ladybug didn’t just tell him that he’s irreplaceable to make him feel better, she showed him, without even knowing its him, that she truly believes he’s irreplaceable.

They haven’t resolved everything by the end of the ep and there’s still talking that needs to happen between them over the next few eps, but the hurt is out of the way.