#i WILL say i did like the final confrontation w s*las

[ssvnormandie]

my final thoughts on ve*lg*ard are as follows: …. meh

[wongiemei]

[Why] Enemy!Jeno

15 - “why? Well, one, my life, fuck you. Two, fuck you”  +  25 “don’t worry, i’ll forever be yours”

Warnings: Angst, Fluff (at the end), mentions of Jaemin, jealousy, triggering themes like attempt suicide

You hated Lee Jeno.

There was no specific reason with that hatred as it is every little thing mixed into this one big ball of resentment.

You two used to be the bestest of friends and the closest but something in him changed causing you to slowly resent him.

Was it when you were both 7 and he pushed you down the slide and caused you to get a scraped knee?

Or was it when you were both in middle school and he intentionally exposed your crush to Suwon?

Maybe, it was when you were both 15 and he told your parents that you were secretly dating Lee Suwon.

He was always seen as the golden child while you were seen as the problematic one.

You see, this resentment you’ve felt ever since you were little has grown and grown until you started looking up how to hide a body.

However, the hatred was mutual as Lee Jeno thought it was S O funny to make sure he tortures you every day. Every morning he blasts his stereo loud enough to wake up your entire neighborhood since you had the displeasure of living right across him. 

When the neighbors complained, he always shot them a smile and as if they were brainwashed, they would let him off the hook. Everyday he does this, nobody gets angry at him.

It irked you to no end since he was the fakest and most annoying little shit you've gotten the pleasure to live near.

To get back at him, you made yourself be friends with his friends and got close to his best friend, Jaemin. Since you both lived close, Jeno always sees Jaemin dropping you off from school and you always notice him, giving him a smirk.

It got to the point that Jaemin was cancelling plans to hang out with you. He also noticed you sneaking out of your window and driving off with someone at night.

That someone, being Jaemin.

There was a weird feeling in his gut and he knew something was off because he knew who Jaemin is and what he gets involved with.

Finally, one early morning, he saw you being dropped by the corner of your house and hurriedly sneaked out to confront you.

After bidding Jaemin good-bye, you ran to the dangling rope made of sheets and was about to climb up when a hand grabbed you from behind. A scream was about to rip from your throat but another hand placed itself on your mouth. The man pushed you roughly against the brick wall and you softly groaned in pain.

The face in front of you turned out to be Lee Jeno and you used your free hand and yanked his hand off.

“Lee Jeno, what the fuck!?” You hissed quietly. You glared at him sharply but cowered slightly. You've never seen Jeno this angry before.

“What about you? What the fuck are you doing?” He growled. You opened your mouth to say something but nothing came out. “Nothing to say, huh? One more time, Y/N. What the fuck have you been doing with my best friend in the middle of the night?”

Finally finding your voice, you answered. “What does it have to do with you, Lee Jeno? Are you stalking me now?”

“Goddammit, answer me, Y/N!” He shouted and grabbed your arm roughly.

You winced at how loud his voice was and worriedly looked around to make sure no one heard him.

Why was he so angry with you?

Was it because you were out with Jaemin?

His best friend?

But the pain from your wrist increased since the new ink you've gotten. Whining softly, you wriggled it gently to ease his old on it.

“Let go of me, Lee Jeno!” He blinked and slowly releaed your arm, watching as you brought it close and cradled it.

Overcome with worry and forgetting he was there, you pulled up your jacket sleeve and slowly peeled a little bit to look if it was okay.

Jeno watched with wide eyes as he knows exactly what was under that. Jaemin usually had one on every few weeks since his friend's addiction to ink became fulfilled.

“Oh my God, Y/N. Is that-?” He stopped and pointed to it in shock.

You were going to be in so much trouble if you were found out.

“A what? A tattoo? Yes, it is.” You hissed and he still looked shocked.

“Why?” was the only thing he could utter.

“Who are you? My father? And last time I checked, my body belonged to me. So why? Well, one, my life, fuck you. Two, fuck you.” You raised your middle finger and stuck your tongue out at him.

“Still doesn't explain why you have been sneaking out with him for many nights,” he crossed his arms.

You raised an eyebrow, “Why do you care so damn much?”

Jeno stopped and wondered the same thing.

Why did he care so much?

“Explain before I rat you out,” he threatened, shaking away that question.

You sighed since you really had no choice. “Jaemin has been taking me to watch him get tattoos. I was scared and I kept chickening out. But last night, I finally did it.” 

Jeno looked at you and stared at you, wondering what happened to you. Your torn up black jeans and loose black hoodie with mascara running down your face made you look so much more different than the you Jeno used to remember. You used to wear so much pink and refused to wear anything but dresses. Your pigtails that bounced whenever you took a step became choppy and worn-looking.

But your eyes were the most different. Your innocent eyes became so wild and distorted and he couldn’t believe you were the same girl who made him a flower crown all those years ago.

You noticed Jeno staring at you and you rolled your eyes before snapping your fingers in front of him. “Listen, we’re done here. I told you everything and you can’t tell my parents anything, got it?” 

But you didn’t give him enough time to answer as you jumped to the rope and began climbing, letting Jeno watch you go higher and higher until you disappeared into your room.

Turns out, he really didn’t tell your parents. He kept his word and didn’t say anything about that morning ever since. The tattoo healed nicely and remained hidden under your long-sleeves but so far, you haven’t been caught. Everything seemed to go about nicely but you did notice Jeno being a little distant.

Not that you minded because having your own phone as an alarm clock instead of his stereo was a nice change for once. But you still can’t help thinking that something was wrong.

Jeno drove up to his school and parked at his spot when he noticed you sitting on the hood of Na Jaemin’s car. Watching your interactions, Jeno unintentionally gripped the wheel.

Since when were you Jaemin’s?

You were his to torment and his only.

But you playfully punching Jaemin’s arm and turning red after made him so angry that he jumped out of the car and the sound of the slamming door caught yours and Jaemin’s attention.

“Hey, Jen! What’s u-” Jaemin asked in greeting but Jeno completely ignored him and grabbed your arm.

Your protests and shouts went unnoticed by him as he dragged you to the school and to a storage closet near the lockers.

“What the actual hell, Jeno!?” You screamed but made no movement to leave. He paced in the small room and kept biting his nail. “Yah! Lee Jeno!” 

That caught his attention as you looked at him with wide but slightly scared eyes. You didn’t know what was going on and what he was thinking about.

“When did this start, Y/N? This-us-when?” He asked desperately.

The many nights he’s stayed up thinking about the possible answer was starting to show at how tired he really was.

You faltered at the question. “W-What do you mean? It started because you changed. You became someone I didn’t know.”

The honest answer was something he didn’t understand. No matter how hard he thinks, he doesn’t remember starting to hate you. To him, it was you who changed and not him.

“First, you take my friends and now you’re saying it’s my fault we became like this?” He asks, angrily slamming his hand beside your head, making you flinch in fright.

His eyes widened and he saw your form shake and tremble before your eyes opening and pushing him back. You breathed heavily and ran a hand through your hair.

“I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, Lee Jeno, but you aren’t, and weren’t, someone who gave a single fuck about me.” You seethed while he watched.

His insides churned and he felt like someone just stabbed him. Naturally, the only way Jeno would defend himself is by doing the same thing to the other person.

To hurt them.

“Maybe if you didn’t have your head so far up your ass that you would’ve seen that I actually did. Quite a waste of my part, wasn’t it?” He growled and you bit your lip in anger.

“So what do you want me to do, huh? You want me to stay away from your friends? From Jaemin?” You pushed him back harshly. “But I won’t. You know why? I love watching you squirm with jealousy because you can’t handle me being happy for once. It’s always been Jeno this, Jeno that! My own fucking parents wanted you! Maybe if you didn’t have your head so far up in your ass, you would’ve seen why I hated you so much!”

Even though you loathed Jeno, you didn’t want him to see you cry. Never will you show that side to him because he didn’t need to see you so vulnerable and to only use that against you.

No, far too many people have done that and you weren’t about to let Jeno do that too.

That’s why you slammed the door open and walked away from him, harshly and quickly rubbing your eyes to get rid of the tears. A sob was threatening to escape your throat but you held it in, pulling your hood up. Even though classes were just about to start, you ditched and drove back home, ignoring the questions and voices of Haechan and Jaemin.

He was about to go after you. 

But the moment he saw the glistening of your eyes, he stopped himself and willed his body to not move because he’s already hurt you enough. From the years he’s tortured and made fun of you, he’s never seen you cry. Maybe when he was younger, he wanted to see you cry. But now that he was older, he’s seen the hardships and the cruelty of the world through the eyes of a teenager and a little boy making fun of you is the last thing you needed.

Jeno ran his hands through his hair and chewed his lip, trying to think on how to fix everything he’s done. But he was afraid that he may be a little late.

You were overcome with so much emotions that you cried the whole drive and marched to your house towards your bathroom and sat on the floor, sobbing your heart out. 

Why, exactly?

When you were about 5, a little boy named Jeno moved in right across from you. Of course, your young self was excited because your neighborhood was full of old people so having someone your age meant you would have someone to play with. Meeting him for the first time was weird since he hid behind his mother’s legs but as the months passed by, he became your friend, your best friend.

Jeno loved sports.

He was a member of a little league baseball team and you were usually there to cheer him on. The first time he hit a homerun, you felt an unfamiliar feeling swell up against your chest. You weren’t an idiot as that’s all Jeno could talk about and his only goal was to hit one. And when he did, you thought he was God himself.

You looked up to him and did everything for him and gave him everything. 

Every flower crown you made, you gave it to him.

Every cookie your mother made, you made sure to give one to him.

Every time he got sick, you made a fool out of yourself just so he would smile and forget about the pain.

You gave him everything and in return, he gave you nothing.

Instead of school, you just slept the day away, hoping to wake up from this nightmare and go back to being 5 and never meeting him. But you woke up and went downstairs, about to yell for your parents until you saw a note saying that your father was going on a business trip while your mother went to your grandmother’s house. There was no indication how long they were going to be gone but you didn’t care.

You were used to being alone.

Your mood made you not hungry so you went to watch your TV, take a bath, and straight to bed again. 

Thank God, tomorrow was Friday so you just skipped again and the entire weekend, you didn’t want to eat. Maybe a banana here but otherwise, nothing. Sunday night, you laid on the bathtub, taking a bath and holding a champagne filled glass on the other, staring blankly to the wall. 

Your eyes shifted to the water and you wondered how it felt to just slip in and never resurface. Placing the glass down on the floor, you took a deep breath and closed your eyes before slipping into the water. 

And as if God granted your wish, the last thing you remembered was seeing distorted face of the little boy who lived across the street.

“Lee Jeno! Go over to the Y/L/N’s and check if Y/N’s okay! Her parents just called and wondered if she’s eating well!” Jeno groaned at his mother’s request as he didn’t really want to see you right now.

Not because he was playing a game with the boys but he was kinda guilty and he was too ashamed to face you. 

“Yah! Lee Jeno!” Mrs. Lee yelled again and he finally got up from bed and went downstairs to put his shoes on. His mother came rushing from the kitchen holding a pan of food and handed it to him.

“Make sure she eats this, okay?” He nodded and he went outside before crossing the street towards yours.

He remembers the garage code by heart and he slipped in to the house, tutting at how careless you were. Even though someone knew the code, you should lock all the doors if you were home alone.

He yelled your name but got no response. He placed the pan on the counter and saw a banana peel and a bottle of champagne by the sink. Jeno raised an eyebrow and wandered upstairs, yelling for you once more.

He knew where your room was and he opened it to see you not there. Jeno pushed open your bathroom door and saw a champagne glass on the floor before shrieking at something in the water. He thought it was the lady from the Ring but upon further inspection, his heart stopped at the realization.

It was you.

“Oh, my God! Y/N!” He screamed and he scooped your figure out of the water and placed you on the rug. 

He felt himself turn red at the sight of your vulnerable body but he didn’t care about that as he was focused on your breathing. Jeno found your towel and placed it on you before trying to feel your pulse. It was barely beating and panic was slowly starting to settle in.

“Calm down, Jeno,” he mumbled to himself.

He knew if that he gave you CPR, you would probably kick him so hard that his dick would fall off but he was desperate on trying to save you. So, he placed his mouth on yours and breathed, performing what he learned during his lifeguard job during sophomore year.

It felt like forever and he was starting to lose hope until you suddenly coughed and sat up, coughing your lungs out before puking. You slowly stopped and regained consciousness of where you were and who you were with. You were greeted with the sight of a huffing Jeno who brought you into a hug, mumbling ‘thank God’.

But you were angry. You pushed him away and punched his chest. “Why!? Why did you save me!? Why didn’t you just let me die!?” You cried with tears falling down your face.

Jeno let you hit him until you gave up and leaned your head against his chest. He brought his arms around you and slowly shushed you, running his hands through your hair.

“Why do you hate me so much that you wouldn’t let me go?” Your face was muffled but he scoffed before pulling you away and cupping your face.

His own tears fell when he saw how empty your eyes were. 

How sad and tired you were.

“You must’ve been so tired. So exhausted. I’m so sorry, Y/N,” he trembled. He sobbed and placed his forehead against yours.

Together, you cried and you sobbed because of everything that has happened. Years old wounds began to open again and you were so tired from trying to heal them that you didn’t care anymore.

“I can’t lose you, Y/N,” he sobbed. Jeno clung to you like his life depended on it because just minutes ago, he thought you were gone.

“Why? All you’ve done to me is torture me. Did you try to save me because your entertainment was going to be gone?” You hissed.

He shook his head and he cried harder, tears falling more quickly. “You’re my only sense of home, Y/N. I’ve known you for so long that if I lose you, I won’t find my way home again.”

Even though you still hated Jeno, you knew he was right. You were both the only home you had. From the moment you were kids, you wanted to grow up with him, travel with him, grow old with him. But then he started to change and your desires became twisted.

“Why did you do all those things to me, J? Please, tell me the truth.” 

“You, and I, were making friends and we were slowly drifting apart. I was so scared that I would lose you to them because you weren’t theirs, you were mine. My friend, my best friend. Not theirs. I was an idiot, Y/N, and I should’ve approached it the right way but all I’ve done is bring you harm. I’m so sorry. I’ll spend the rest of my life proving to you that I am. Please, forgive me.” 

You clenched his shirt and you tried to even your breathing. “No matter what happened, you were always going to be first, J. You should’ve known that. Did I not show you and tell you that enough? You were always going to be my first priority, J.”

The tables have turned and you never thought you’d find the day that you and Lee Jeno would be cuddling on your bed. The entire night, it was filled with hushed apologies and shy confessions that were hidden for years.

“You never have to think about losing me to other people, J. Even when we’re on our wheelchairs, you’ll never lose me. So, don’t worry, I’ll forever be yours, whether you like it or not.”

“I like it and I’ll keep you to myself, Y/N.” He hummed before closing his eyes.

But a thought wandered into your head. “Hey, J, you fished me out of the tub and I was,,, naked. YoU sAW mE nAKeD?!”

All the fucker could do was smile.

a/n: late update and I’m not dead, yall. just midterms and crazy shit happening w my family. hope you guys liked it! yall are like obsessed w jeno fr

[howaminotinthestrokesyet]

Where Have They Gone Now: Axl Rose

Born William Bailey originally in Lafayette, Indiana in 1962. His mother was still in high school when she had him, while his juvenile delinquent father was 20 years old. They would divorce when he was two years old, which led his father William Rose abducting him and reportedly molesting the young boy. His mother remarried to a man named Steven Bailey, who was not much better than his birth father. Axl and his siblings were beaten on a regular basis and once again reportedly molested as well. Led by his stepfather, the Rose household was very strict religiously growing up in the Pentecostal faith. He was required to attend church 7 to 8 times a week, and even taught Sunday school on occasion. This seems to be in stark contrast to the Axl Rose we will see later. Axl would comment on his upbringing. “We'd have televisions one week, then my stepdad would throw them out because they were Satanic. I wasn't allowed to listen to music. Women were evil. Everything was evil." Music became a source of solace from an early age as he began singing in the church choir at the age of five. Rose began as a natural baritone, but decided to change his pitch consistently during practice just to anger the teacher. The future Guns N’ Roses lead singer also began to study piano at Jefferson High School, as well as participating in high school musicals. At the age of 17, Axl was going through some insurance papers when he discovered the existence of his biological father. At that time, he unofficially adopted his real father‘s last name of Rose, but told everyone he would not share a first name with him only referring to himself as W. Rose. After this discovery, the young man began to completely act out leading to at least 20 misdemeanor arrests from public intoxication to assault. Lafayette police were trying to charge him as a habitual criminal when he moved to LA in 1982 at the age of 20.

Almost immediately upon arrival, Rose joined the band Rapidfire with guitarist Kevin Lawrence. He had met him just outside the Troubadour in West Hollywood. They recorded a five song demo, but due to legal actions was not released until 2014. The EP was entitled Ready To Rumble. His next band included childhood friend and guitarist Izzy Stradlin, which they named Hollywood Rose. They recorded a demo featuring songs like “Shadow of Your Love,” “Anything Goes,” and “Reckless Life.” These songs would appear on various releases throughout the years including 2004’s, The Roots of Guns N’ Roses. The band would break up just after the hiring of Slash and Steven Adler. The biggest reason for this was that Rose decided to join LA Guns led by guitarist Tracii Guns. As he struggled for musical success, the young Axl continued to work to make any sort of money including night manager of Tower Records and even smoking cigarettes for a scientific study at UCLA with Izzy Stradlin. By 1985, Rose had restarted Hollywood Rose, so this band and LA Guns could merge their members. Guns N’ Roses was finally born, but almost immediately Tracii Guns and two other members left the band. Essentially, Guns N’ Roses became an expanded version of Hollywood Rose rather than any connection to LA Guns. They simply liked the name, so they kept it. Yet, there is absolutely no Guns in the band.

One thing to understand about Rose and his prima donna behavior that eventually led to the disintegration of the band was that every band in Los Angeles wanted him to be their lead singer in the mid-1980s. Axl had a certain buzz about the energy and intensity he brought every night on stage that could not be replicated. He represented the shining star of the Sunset Strip at that time; he could pick any group that was not signed to a record contract. The band would sign with Geffen Records in 1986, but one thing to note was that right before he changed his name officially to W. Axl Rose. The name originated when he was playing in a band called the Axls, so one of his bandmates suggested that he change his name to Axl. Rose thought it was a cool idea and never changed it. As the band began their sudden rise to the top of the music world, people began to realize that Rose was much different than any other singer before him. He began to single people out in the crowd, who were causing problems after two people died at the Monsters of Rock Festival in 1988. Most times previously singers would tell roadies to take care of it without publicly calling out anyone in the crowd. If you listen to their live compilation album, there are a couple of tracks where you can hear him actually doing this. Axl would say this in a 1992 interview. “Most performers would go to a security person in their organization, and it would just be done very quietly. I'll confront the person, stop the song: 'Guess what: You wasted your money, you get to leave.'" Upon the release of their EP Lies, Rose ran into quite a bit of controversy for his use of racial and homophobic slurs in the song, “One in a Million.” His explanation and defense of the use of the terms at the time was he meant it to be a joke about people that are a pain in your ass in your life. If that had occurred in our present times, he would have been canceled immediately. In 1992, the singer tried to explain the use of the lyrics once again relating some personal experiences he had with blacks and gays that had formed this negative connotation in his mind. For all the controversy, the group was dropped from a 1992 AIDS benefit show. By 1989, most rock writers had begun to see him as one of the top frontmen in rock and roll at the time. Rolling Stone had such respect for him as a singer that they allowed him to use his personal photographer for their story on him, instead of someone on their staff. During the recording of Use Your Illusion, Rose began to impose his will upon the band in a variety of ways. He forced the band to accept his friend Dizzy Reed as a keyboardist. Axl then wanted to fire their longtime manager Alan Nevin, which the band had to go along with because the singer threatened to not perform on the album if he was allowed to stay.

The Use Your Illusion tour began in May 1991 highlighted by concerts that started hours late, rants of his on stage, and even a riot in St. Louis. He tried to jump into the crowd during that show to take away a fan’s video camera, so after he got back on stage Rose quit the concert. Upon seeing an empty stage, the 25,000 people there started a riot. The damage bill came out to be just around $200,000. The friendships between the band members and Rose were gradually imploding throughout the tour. At one point, Axl demanded and received legal ownership of the Guns N’ Roses brand name. He had supposedly issued an ultimatum either give me legal ownership or I will not perform. Axl would later deny these reports saying the contract would not have been legally binding if he had done such a thing. Who knows what the truth is when it comes to this band sometimes? The singer helped to start another riot in Montreal at a concert co-headlined by Metallica. The heavy metal band had their concert cut short because pyrotechnics severely burned lead singer James Hetfield. Once again, Rose was nowhere near the venue to go on early coming on stage very late. The group needed to do an extensive set to make up for the short one by Metallica, but Rose cut his set short claiming voice problems. Once again, the fans rioted leading to some extensive fines directed towards the singer by Canadian authorities.

In 1994, the band released the covers album The Spaghetti Incident, which included a hidden track originally written by Charles Manson. Axl had intended the song to be a message to his ex-girlfriend Stephanie Seymour. The controversy that followed this song meant that the band needed to donate money for the son of one of the victims of those murders. In 1994, Rose also decided to terminate guitarist Gilby Clarke as a member of the band without consulting any of the other members. This decision was made so that Axl could bring in the controversial guitar replacement, Paul Tobias, which eventually led to Slash leaving the band. By 1997, the only original member of Guns N’ Roses was one Axl Rose. He had started to fade from any public view becoming essentially a rock and roll hermit. The media had dubbed him either Rock and Roll’s Greatest Recluse or the Howard Hughes of Rock and Roll. By the late 1990’s, rumors began to spread that Rose was forming a new lineup of Guns N’ Roses for an album entitled Chinese Democracy.

The absolute insanity that was Chinese Democracy took place from 2001 to 2011. The album would be officially released in 2008, but not after several starts and stops over and over again. A tour of the new album had been scheduled from 2001 to 2002, but almost all of the shows were either cut short or canceled because Rose was either a no-show or would quit very quickly. Finally, in 2006 and 2007, he actually toured as Guns N’ Roses promising new music. The concert offered very little in Chinese Democracy, but only concentrated on their hit songs. Around this time, he had changed his hair into cornrows, which got a laugh from music fans everywhere. One should note that Izzy Stradlin actually made a few guest appearances during that tour. Fans had hoped that a reunion collaboration might occur, but there was no such luck. Upon the release of Chinese Democracy, the singer did everything he could to sabotage any possible success the album might have overall. He refused to promote the album, would not return phone calls, or give interviews for three months after the release of the album. By the time he actually did say something about the album, the reclusive Rose complained that Interscope Records did not help them very much in promoting the album. In 2009, Axl and GNR went on a 2 1/2 year long tour, which included a headlining appearance at Rock in Rio 4. Around that time, he was sued by former band manager Irving Azhoff for $1.87 million. Of course, Axl countersued him claiming that he was forced to do a reunion tour because Azhoff had completely mismanaged the release, promotion, and tour of Chinese Democracy. In 2010, he sued Activision for their game Guitar Hero. Axl claimed that he had an oral agreement with the company that if “Welcome to the Jungle” was allowed on the game, then Slash nor any Velvet Revolver would not be included in any release of it. Not only was Slash’s music included in the game, but he ended up on the cover. A judge threw out the lawsuit in 2013 saying that Rose could not prove the oral agreement and the statute of limitations had run out anyway. In 2012, the Guns N’ Roses singer was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but he declined to appear. In an open letter published on the Internet, Rose stated that due to the tensions between his former bandmates, he did not want to be where he was not wanted or respected. Yet, slowly but surely Guns N’ Roses began to tour with some of the original members culminating with the inclusion of Slash in 2016.

[pandawritespoorly]

With Time: Chapter 35 - Concours D'arts Musicaux

Author’s Note: Here we go!!!

I'm not entirely satisfied with this chapter, but I do enjoy it a lot. Also, I'm sure you were all expecting a strong language warning, and you would be correct! 'Pissed' and 'Bitch'. Not nearly as many as you expected, huh?

Chapter Summary: The music competition. 🎉

First | Previous | Next

“You sure you want to go?” Allan asks.

“No one would be upset if you backed out,” Claude reminds her.

Marinette sighs shakily, glancing out her window towards her former school. She’d honestly been doing a lot better when it came to her classmates, but she hadn’t been back to the school itself since…

Since that day.

She massages her wrist unconsciously, thinking of the confrontation, the yelling, the fall. She still can’t really remember much past Chloe finding her in the bathroom.

Claude, Allan and Felix are in her room with her, on their way to the competition. Felix puts a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Marinette?”

She turns back to them, taking a deep breath to steady herself. She can do this.

“Y-yeah. Yeah, I’m still going to go. Worst case scenario, I leave early, right?”

“Indeed,” Felix agrees.

Nodding, she leads them out of her room, and the group makes their way out of the house. They walk across the street, and stare up at the school for a moment.

Marinette walks up the stairs, taking in the sight of the main courtyard, packed with students from all over for the competition. Oh, Kwami, there’s so many people-

“Marinette?!” A quiet voice says, barely loud enough to be heard.

The three boys ready themselves to deal with more of Bustier’s class. To their surprise, Marinette quickly finds the speaker and breaks into a grin, hurrying over.

“Marc! It’s been so long! How have you been?” She’s speaking to a dark haired boy in a red hoodie. Not part of Bustier’s class.

“I-I’ve been f-fine. Art club is s-so quiet without you, everyone was s-so worried, because you just disappeared, and your c-class was awful. Nathaniel said…” he trails off, frowning.

Marinette copies him. “What happened?”

“He w-was just saying a-awful stuff, and we br-broke u-up… he wouldn’t even work with me anymore, because L-Lila said she’d get him c-connected to a real writer-”

Marinette bristles. “He did what?”

Marc shrugs helplessly, “I- I think he figured it out eventually, he’s b-been sitting away fr-from everyone now.”

“But he hasn’t spoken to you? Hasn’t apologized?”

When he doesn’t meet her eyes, she gets her answer.

“Come on, we’re going to talk to him. He has no right to treat you like that and not apologize.” Marinette leads the boy up the stairs. Claude, Felix and Allan, who had watched the entire interaction smile and follow after her.

She’s doing well so far.

They arrive outside of what must be the art room, if the inside is anything to go by. Nathaniel, who they do recognize, is sitting inside, doodling idly.

Marinette’s got that look in her eyes, as she steps inside. “Nathaniel.”

His eyes snap to her immediately, and he stares at her in shock for a little bit before speaking, “M-Marinette? Y-You’re here?!”

She just stares at him, raising an eyebrow.

“I-I’m so sorry! About-”

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to.” She pushes Marc forward gently, he’s looking at the floor, “Did you really abandon him like that?”

Nathaniel fidgets in his chair, “Well, Lila a-also said-” he realizes what he’s saying, “W-wait! I meant it differently! That came out wrong! I just… I’m sorry, Marc, I didn’t think a-about anything really, and, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” he mumbles.

There’s tension in the room, from the unresolved issues between the boys. Marinette knows this doesn’t involve her. She shakes her head. “I think I’ll let you two talk.”

As she walks down the hallway, Claude stays back a moment to address Nathaniel, “She may have said otherwise, but she deserves an apology. The way she was treated here was vile and inexcusable.”

Only when Nathaniel nods shakily does the actor hurry to catch up to their friends. Marinette is speaking, “I just can’t believe that Nathaniel and Marc broke up! They had a great relationship! Lila really did a number on the class.”

“Don’t give Lie-la so much credit, Dupain-Cheng. It was you,” Chloe interrupts, appearing out of nowhere.

“What?” “The morons here get akumatized so much for a reason. You were the only one who tried to actually communicate, and the class fell apart without you. Everyday Ladybug and all that. All the couples have basically broken up, with the exception of Lahiffe and Césaire, because Lahiffe has no backbone and Césaire thinks they’re the definition of a healthy relationship.”

“Don’t exaggerate, Chloe. They’re perfectly capable of sorting out their problems on their own,” Marinette argues.

Chloe scoffs, shaking her head but dropping the conversation.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng! Do my eyes deceive me or has the storm finally passed and our shining rainbow is back?!”

Marinette turns, sees Aurore standing a little ways down the hall, “Aurore! It’s been so long!”

She runs up to give her a hug. The taller girl rolls her eyes, “And whose fault is that?”

Marinette shrugs sheepishly, “Sorry, I-” “Not yours, little cloud! It’s that horrible hurricane that’s swept through here! She’s blocking out the sun, and that’s all we had left without you!”

“Oh, I know about that.”

At Marinette’s expression, Aurore smirks, “Ooh! There’s a storm brewing!”

The designer winks. “Perhaps.”

While the two girls chat, Chloe stands with the three boys Marinette had come with. “Marinette really downplays how many people loved her here. I’m not even sure she realizes she was pretty popular.”

Allan shrugs. “She hasn’t noticed at our school either, but she definitely is.”

“Good. She deserves people who appreciate her.”

Eventually, Aurore and Marinette part, and the group wanders away. Marinette shows them around the school as best she can. At one point, they get separated for some time and Marinette ducks into a classroom. She wanted to get out of the way of the people in the hallway to text her friends quickly. That plan is forgotten when she sees who is inside.

Lila and Alya stare at her in shock momentarily, before Lila shudders and pretends to hide behind Alya in a terrified manner. The former journalist pats her ‘friend’ comfortingly before standing and turning to Marinette.

“What are you doing here, Monsternette?”

The girl recovers from her shock and sighs sadly, “I’m here for the concert.”

Lila gasps. “I won’t let you harass my boyfriend!”

Marinette scowls, uneasiness giving way to fury. “I’m not the one harassing Adrien, and he’s not your boyfriend willingly!”

“Just because you’re some jealous creep, doesn’t mean you get to attack my bestie like that!” Alya yells.

“Oh, would you grow up?!” Marinette growls, gesturing wildly, “This isn’t some tv show where every action I take is because of some boy! Despite what you may think, I have a life outside of a romantic one!”

“Sure, so the fact that you’ve finally dropped the kicked puppy act has nothing to do with the fact that Adrien isn’t here?” Alya retorts.

Marinette stares at her. “What.”

“Please. Do you think we’re stupid? Everything you’ve ever done has been an act to gain sympathy. Thankfully, we had Lila to open up our eyes. All those times you pretended to do nice things? They were all so that we’d like you, honestly-”

“Do you even hear what you’re saying? You’re delusional! You think that was all an act? Do you think I pushed myself down the stairs and sprained my own wrist for sympathy points from a class that already hated me and a boy who wasn’t even there?!”

Alya opens her mouth to argue, but Marinette isn’t finished, “No! No! You do not get to downplay my feelings or how I was treated! Do any of you even realize how long it took me to properly heal from all that?!”

“It was just a few bruises-” “Emotionally! I didn’t even think that the people hanging out with me regularly for months even considered me their friend despite how obvious it was until I heard them call me that when they didn’t know I was around! I spent months feeling like any slip up would cause a repeat performance of what happened here! Do you have any idea how tiring that is? The effects it can have on someone?!”

Alya’s face softens, and she looks concerned for a moment. It really hadn’t occurred to her that Marinette might have been the victim. Then Lila speaks, “N-nice story, but I’m sure A-Alya won’t fall for it the way L-L-Ladybug d-did.”

Alya scowls, sympathy gone, “Of course not. Unlike anyone dense enough to like you wherever you go now-”

“I do not appreciate you insulting the entire population of the school we attend,” Felix interrupts.

Marinette turns to see Felix, Allan and Claude standing in the doorway, each of them looking beyond furious. She beams, running to give them all a tight hug.

“Now, whether or not you’ll excuse us, we have better things to do than try and carve stone with a stick,” Claude retorts as they turn away.

Down the hall a little ways, Allan is hugging Marinette tightly, and the girl is giggling slightly.

“Allan, it’s okay, I’m fine.”

“Still gonna’ hug you, ‘Nette. I can’t believe that of all the times you had to run int’ them it was the one time we weren’t there.”

Claude races over and joins the hug, and Felix just smiles at his friends.

When they separate, Claude looks at Marinette worriedly, “We heard some of that before we arrived. Did you really spend months thinking we didn’t consider you our friend?”

Marinette’s face colors a little and she looks away slightly, “In hindsight it was kind of dumb, but yeah. I thought you were all just being nice.”

“Nope!” Allan hugs her again, “You need more hugs.”

“For sure!” Claude agrees.

She only laughs, returning the gesture. When she’s finally freed, Felix gives her a quick one as well, having waited out the group hugs.

“Let’s not let them ruin our fun, I can keep showing you around!” Marinette suggests. The others readily agree, and they all move on. Lila and Alya aren’t their priority at the moment.

Soon enough, it’s almost time for the performance, so they go over their final preparations to reveal Lila once and for all.

“Alright, so first we show the slide with the public records proving she was in Paris when she was ‘traveling’, then her interview so that Jagged and Ali will speak up, then we can play the museum recording, and by then her mom will probably have some choice words, and by that time the police will have arrived, anything else?” “Nah, too much could over do it. We’ve got plenty more evidence if it’s needed though,” Allan says.

“Ms. Marinette! I was 87.3% certain you would show up for this event!”

The four turn to see a small robot floating nearby, “I wish to speak with you! I believe that Max is ill, as he seems to be suffering from delusions. He caught it from his classmates and I noted that you had immunity, and was wondering if you could help me!”

“You’re adorable,” Claude whispers.

“Markov!” Marinette greets the robot, “Actually, you might be able to help…”

---

The concert is over, and everyone did splendidly - to the surprise of no one at all. Allegra is back with her friends, and they’re all congratulating her.

It’s bittersweet in that Adrien can’t be with them yet.

The large projected image on the wall glitches, catching everyone’s attention. For a moment, it seems as if it goes back to normal, before it glitches again, changing to show a very different image this time.

Displayed on the wall are the dates in which Lila had supposedly been traveling with her mother. Directly next to them are public records showing her mother had been in Paris.

Some quiet murmurs begin to get around. Mostly confusion, either visitors who didn't even know of Lila, or people beginning to suspect the truth.

Next is a video, straight from the Ladyblog (someone had saved all the posts and made a site to act as an archive), of Lila claiming to know Jagged Stone and Prince Ali. This had been a ‘special feature’, a two-in-one interview of Lila talking about both of them in one clip.

“Oh yes, Jagged and I are very close. Basically best friends - well, after Ladybug of course - we first met when I saved his kitten from a runway. That’s when I got tinnitus. Anyways, I met with Prince Ali soon after because that’s actually why I’d been at the airport. Ali and I basically grew up together and I was on my way to visit.”

She continues, blabbering on about both celebrities for some time.

When it ends, there’s an outraged cry from the back, “That’s so not rock n’ roll! I’ve never met that girl, and she makes me sound like some creep! That’s defamation! Not cool!”

The crowd turns to see a fuming Jagged and Penny. Soon after, another woman stands, Prince Ali beside her, “Prince Ali would never associate with such a blatant liar. His only childhood friends are in Achu.”

The murmurs get louder, until a voice calls over the noise, “Lila Diablo Rossi, what is the meaning of this?! You haven’t been traveling, you said the school was closed! You said that Ladybug was incapable and that Paris was unsafe!”

Mrs. Rossi is fuming, trying to spot her daughter in the crowd. Everyone is furious now, because no one gets to speak about the city’s heroes like that.

Before anyone else can speak up, the screen changes again. There’s some text, with audio playing in the background.

 The following audio was recorded when Ms. Lila Rossi happened to find a former classmate at the Louvre. This classmate had always claimed Lila was lying, and Ms. Rossi drove them out of the school through intense bullying. It has been edited to keep this person anonymous.

 “-is you! Here I thought this would be a boring field trip! This is a spectacular surprise though!

“See, I told you I knew what I was doing. No one’s seen you in months and they all still  hate your guts - rightfully so of course.”

There are footsteps as the speaker approaches the phone.

“You know, they call me their everyday Ladybug now? I’m honestly insulted - not only did they give me your old dumb title, but they’re comparing me to her. They were that is, until I changed that.

“Look at you! You’re pathetic! I can’t believe I considered you a legitimate threat to me. I could have just left you be and they would have eventually left you in their own time.

“Those morons could walk in right now and would still believe me if I told them you attacked me. They just despise you that much. Not that I can blame them - you’re just so detestable.”

 There’s a stunned silence as everyone takes in what they just heard. The doors burst open, Ladybug and Chat Noir stand tall, accompanied by multiple policemen and people in suits with stern faces.

Ladybug steps forward, “Lila Rossi. You are under arrest for working with and assisting a known terrorist for your own personal gain.”

You could have heard a pin drop.

“There has been plenty of circumstantial evidence, but Chat and I never had any substantial proof. Then, a civilian got footage of you capturing an akuma and using it to akumatize yourself.”

The room erupts. People are shouting and screaming, Mrs. Rossi looks shell-shocked. The crowd pushes the girl forward, and she’s fighting.

“No! You can’t do this! I have immunity!”

“No. No you don’t,” Mrs. Rossi manages.

Lila pales. “...what?”

Her mother doesn’t respond, looking faint.

“I’m Gabriel Agreste’s future daughter-in-law! There’s no way-”

Chat interrupts, “Oh yes, that. We know all about that. The deal you made? We aren’t sure of the exact details, whether you made a deal with Mr. Agreste or with Hawkmoth who went after Mr. Agreste, but we know. Adrien was forced into that relationship, so there’s probably a few more charges to add to your list since you were well aware that he didn’t like you in that way.” “Sexual harassment isn’t okay,” Ladybug chimes in, “And surely you’re aware that’s what you were doing?”

At this point people have their phones out and are recording the whole thing. One of the people with stern faces steps forward, “Mrs. Rossi, you may want to come with us.”

She nods, following the procession weakly.

Ladybug and Chat take off. Soon enough, Marinette and Adrien slip back inside, showing up behind their friends, “Look who I found!”

Adrien waves awkwardly, though no one notices as he’s crushed in a tight group hug. He laughs happily as he returns the hug, it’s good to be back.

The moment he’s released, a yellow blur nearly knocks him to the ground.

“Hey, Chlo’.”

She hides her face, and while she may be silent, he can tell she’s likely crying. After about a minute or so though, she pulls away, looking as pristine as ever.

“Well, I say we get out of this place and away from these utterly ridiculous people.”

No one argues, and they head outside, quickly heading into the bakery. Adrien is ushered inside Marinette’s room where he’s bombarded with more hugs, everyone talking at once.

After they separate, they find their own spots to sit, and Marinette turns to the model, “So, what do you want to do?”

He hesitates, unsure, “Hmm… video games?”

“Yeah!” Claude cheers.

Marinette gets the stuff out and offers a controller to Adrien. Felix opts out, and conveniently enough, Allegra and Chloe are also left to wait. The girls sit next to each other, blushing lightly and pointedly not looking at each other.

Allegra’s hand lightly moves to rest over Chloe’s. She turns to look at their hands, then back to the braided girl beside her, who is suddenly very invested in the game. Chloe smiles, turning back to the screen as well.

Neither notice Felix sneakily taking a picture and sending it to the group chat.

---

Earlier:

 Today’s the day! Alya is so excited for the competition! It’ll be fun to see Adrien perform, and maybe they can hang out afterwards. Lila has been an absolute godsend when it comes to convincing Gabriel to allow Adrien more free time.

It’s such a shame that she sprained her wrist again and can’t conduct the concert as she usually would.

Lila is nervous that all her usual bandmates wouldn’t be happy to see her, seeing as she ‘abandoned them’ so Alya is comforting her in an empty classroom.

“Lila, I promise, no one-”

The door opens.

She steps in.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Alya can only stare, unprepared for this. Some traitorous part of her is happy to see her. Missed her.

Alya is disgusted with herself.

Lila shudders, attempting to hide behind her real friend. That’s all it takes to shake Alya from her stupor, she pats Lila gently and turns to her former bestie.

“What are you doing here, Monsternette?”

She sighs. “I’m here for the concert.”

Lila gasps. “I won’t let you harass my boyfriend!”

Alya’s heart goes out to her. Even when faced with Marinette. Her love and loyalty to Adrien shows no bounds. Alya is relieved that she is beginning to make progress. When it had been several months and Lila hadn’t seemed to recover at all from Marinette’s bullying, the class feared that the damage done was irreversible.

Marinette scowls, glaring at the two, as if they were the bad guys here. “I’m not the one harassing Adrien, and he’s not your boyfriend willingly!”

Oh she did not just-

Lila’s self-esteem is bad enough, and she’s confessed to Lila that she worries people will think she’s not worthy of dating someone as great as Adrien. Alya wonders if Marineitte was the source of that, because though they haven’t seen her in a while, it certainly sounds like something she would do.

“Just because you’re some jealous creep, doesn’t mean you get to attack my bestie like that!” Alya yells.

“Oh, would you grow up?!” Marinette growls, gesturing wildly, “This isn’t some tv show where every action I take is because of some boy! Despite what you may think, I have a life outside of a romantic one!”

But there is no other explanation! Alya wants to shout. Why else would someone like Marinette bully someone like Lila?! Some part of her- some jealous part of her reached out and corrupted the rest of her, dragging that sweet girl that Alya once knew into some pit of cruelty.

Alya had been her best friend long enough to know that Marinette can go to extremes when it’s something she cares about.

Even if she shouldn’t care.

Even if it isn’t her business.

“Sure, so the fact that you’ve finally dropped the kicked puppy act has nothing to do with the fact that Adrien isn’t here?” Alya retorts.

The other girl looks at her incredulously. “What.”

“Please. Do you think we’re stupid? Everything you’ve ever done has been an act to gain sympathy.” If Alya had to tell the truth, she’d admit that she’d been… hesitant to believe at first that all of the nice things Marinette had done were just a ruse. Of course, now there’s no other explanation. People don’t just change personalities like a switch. If Lila’s testimonies were anything to go by, Marinette is not the girl they all thought she was. “Thankfully, we had Lila to open up our eyes. All those times you pretended to do nice things? They were all so that we’d like you, honestly-”

“Do you even hear what you’re saying? You’re delusional! You think that was all an act? Do you think I pushed myself down the stairs and sprained my own wrist for sympathy points from a class that already hated me and a boy who wasn’t even there?!”

She makes good points, but it’s not like Adrien wouldn’t have found out! Then he would have been hovering over ‘poor Marinette’ for being injured! Lila had explained it! It made sense!

Or did it?

Alya opens her mouth to point this out, but Marinette cuts her off, “No! No! You do not get to downplay my feelings or how I was treated! Do any of you even realize how long it took me to properly heal from all that?!”

This time Alya does get a chance to point out the inaccuracies. “It was just a few bruises-” “Emotionally!” Marinette interjects, “I didn’t even think that the people hanging out with me regularly for months even considered me their friend despite how obvious it was until I heard them call me that when they didn’t know I was around! I spent months feeling like any slip up would cause a repeat performance of what happened here! Do you have any idea how tiring that is? The effects it can have on someone?!”

Oh god. Was it possible? Had they been wrong all along?! But… then they’d… Marinette had-

Lila whimpers. “N-nice story, but I’m sure A-Alya won’t fall for it the way L-L-Ladybug d-did.”

Alya scowls. She’s disgusted with herself for almost falling for that. “Of course not. Unlike anyone dense enough to like you wherever you go now-”

“I do not appreciate you insulting the entire population of the school we attend,” A vaguely familiar blonde boy interrupts.

Marinette’s face lights up at the three boys who have occupied the doorway. She rushes to hug them, and one of them speaks.

“Now, whether or not you’ll excuse us, we have better things to do than try and carve stone with a stick.”

And then they’re gone.

---

Lila had never understood why villains in stories were described as ‘cackling’ until she’d started doing this.

The pure power she feels every time she gets her latest sheep to turn against one of their own.

The way the target she chooses looks.

Utterly broken.

Completely destroyed.

It’s sensational!

It’s marvelous and she’s completely addicted.

It had been borne of boredom, but now it’s her very lifeblood. A high that never ends.

Until it does.

She’s stricken with horror, unable to do anything but stare at the projected images on the screen.

How?!

She’s been doing this for forever, and she’d never been caught by anyone other than a few insignificant brats. They’d been dealt with.

Her own mother didn’t even know!

And now…

Everything is fast forward and everything is slow motion.

The crowd pushes her forward and she finally remembers herself.

She is Lila Rossi. She’s made of stronger stuff than this! So she fights, because that’s all she has left. Pure animal instinct to kick and scream and shout.

“No! You can’t do this! I have immunity!”

“No. No you don’t,” her mother whispers.

Lila feels her remaining spirit drain away. “...what?”

At her mother’s silence Lila pulls herself together. Fine. So no diplomatic immunity. That’s fine. She can still work without that. She’s got her will. There’s always a way out. She is better than these imbeciles! They can’t just treat her like a commoner! A nobody!

“I’m Gabriel Agreste’s future daughter-in-law! There’s no way-”

Then Chat Noir speaks and all the rest of her hope disappears. She’s lost everything.

She doesn’t bother fighting anymore, submitting to the authorities.

There’s no use anymore. This is her end.

It’s all come crashing down.

---

Alya is next to Lila when it happens. The screen glitches and changes.

Everything changes.

Lila lied, and they all turned on Marinette.

Marinette, who had done nothing.

Nothing at all to deserve this.

Marinette who had done nothing.

Nothing to get back at them for all the pain they’d caused.

She’d just left them. Slipped out of their lives, and carried away like a leaf in the wind.

She had every right to be furious with them, and instead she just walked away.

Left them.

Alya knows she should be beyond pissed, though she’s not sure if it would be for Lila, or for what they all did for Lila, or even solely for herself.

And yet…

The guilt is what hits her first, and once it digs its dark claws into the pit of her stomach that’s all she can feel. Her heart feels torn to shreds and her knees can barely support her. With the guilt comes the shame, and it’s not nearly as potent but it’s just the cherry on top.

She’s not paying attention, because nothing matters right now because good god what did they do to Marinette?!

---

In a few hours time, Marinette and her friends are all decorating cookies in the kitchen.

One drops, and it breaks apart. Claude grins, and Allegra glares at them.

“Well, I guess-”

“Don’t. You already-!”

“-that’s just the way the cookie crumbles!”

Allegra sighs defeatedly. Adrien looks up. “What do you call it when you use a deer-shaped cookie cutter?”

Allan smiles. “What?”

“A cookie doe!”

Marinette and Allegra sigh. Felix just shakes his head.

“This is really friend-chip goals, huh?”

“Claude, these are sugar cookies,” Felix remarks drily.

“Hey, why did the Oreo go to the dentist?” Adrien turns to Claude.

They feign innocence as they turn to him, “Why?”

“To get his filling replaced!”

It’s almost impressive how many puns they get through without repeating while everyone finishes the cookies.

When the cookies are done, they turn on the TV, finding a news broadcast. Nadja Chamack is turning to the camera seriously.

“Shocking news in Paris today. If you’re just tuning in, you’re going to want to stay. During a musical arts competition at Collège Françoise Dupont, it was revealed that one Lila Rossi has been actively working with Hawkmoth himself for sometime now, doing everything from akumatizing herself, to manipulating others to be prone to akumatization themselves..”

“This is called karma, bitch!” Chloe cheers from where she and Allegra are sitting together.

“Language!” Adrien calls. The blonde only sticks her tongue out defiantly.

“Ms. Rossi is being held outside of the city pending investigation, but authorities assure us that this was investigated thoroughly before they made the public arrest. Ladybug and Chat Noir themselves assisted in the investigation, revealing that Ms. Rossi’s motivation was, in part, forcing Adrien Agreste to be her boyfriend. That’s right folks, Paris’ favorite couple has been revealed to be nothing more than an abusive relationship consisting of an involuntary victimized Adrien Agreste and a teen terrorist in the making.”

Everyone cheers at that.

“The Agreste brand has issued a brief public statement saying that they are unaffiliated with Hawkmoth, and that they were unaware of Ms. Rossi’s crimes. Adrien’s location is unknown. It is assumed he is taking a break from the media spotlight, and everyone agrees that after going through what is now known to be regular sexual harassment, he certainly deserves the break. Gabriel Agreste is under public fire for how Adrien was treated and some theorize he could be a close accomplice to Hawkmoth, if not the man himself. He is not the only one under fire though, as it was revealed that Collège Françoise Dupont allowed Ms. Rossi to get away with an astonishing amount of offenses while enrolled there. She faked disabilities, missed months of school with no real proof of where she was, and even caused one of her former classmates to leave the school due to the intense bullying she received while there. Speaking both as a mother and a friend of the child’s family, I am appalled that such behavior was not only allowed, but actively encouraged. Authorities assure us that investigations are underway - both into the school and the Agrestes, but many can’t help but feel that this is not enough. No amount of investigation can undo the pain caused by this individual.”

The broadcast continues, but the group tunes it out. Marinette sighs, “She’s gone. She’s gone and she won’t be coming back!”

“Finally.” Chloe rolls her eyes.

“It is a relief,” Felix comments, “that we will not have to deal with her nonsense anymore.”

“I’m glad that those awful classmates won’t have any reason to bother you now Mari,” Allegra sighs.

“About that…” Marinette raises a finger hesitantly. Allegra and Adrien look at her, while the other boys just frown. Chloe scowls.

“Yeah, they had a run-in before the performance,” Claude sighs.

“What did they do?” The two blondes say in unison.

“Nothing really,” Marinette shrugs. Adrien disagrees, if the way he hugs her tighter is anything to go by.

“We got separated and she ran into them in a classroom. Lie-la was up to her usual tricks, and Alya was defending her from Mari,” Claude starts.

“She held her own pretty well, but we got her outta’ there once we got there.” Allan smiles at the pigtailed girl proudly.

“Then she was hugged,” Felix states a-matter-of-factly.

Claude looks at Marinette meaningfully, asking permission. She understands and nods.

They sigh, “We also found out that Marinette didn’t think we considered her a friend for a few months.”

“Apparently, we were just being nice,” Allan remarks.

Allegra squawks, turning to Marinette, who is being held even tighter by the model beside her, “I will come over there and hug the low self-esteem out of you!”

“Already on it,” Adrien says. Marinette giggles as Allegra hugs her too.

Chloe is fuming, “Ugh, I think Queen Bee should come out of retirement just so Pollen and I can sting some people. Both of those wannabe faux foxes and their lackeys.”

Allegra turns to her, though still hugging her friend, “I think Honey Bee would be perfectly willing to do that herself.”

“I don’t think Kit Mime deserves to be compared to either of them,” Allan pipes up. Claude smiles.

“No superheroes are going to do anything to anyone,” Marinette reprimands. Adrien recognizes her Ladybug Voice™.

Chloe sticks her tongue out, “You’re not the boss of me. I’m also not hearing any protests to me just beating them up without the miraculous.”

Marinette glares at her.

“I don’t think you need to do much,” Adrien interjects, “I’m sure it won’t take much convincing for Chat Noir to pay them a visit.”

“These are all wonderful ideas.” Felix nods approvingly.

Marinette sighs in defeat.

---

Adrien and Marinette wave at everyone as they go, each with their own share of cookies (Chloe with extras for Sabrina). Marinette turns to him, “When do you have to-”

His phone rings, and he sighs, “Speak of the devil.”

She waits, watching. He keeps his face impassive as he hangs up and turns to her.

“Well?” “Father says that it may be for the best to ‘hide from the media’ here if it’s alright with your parents,” he reveals, grinning cheekily once he’s finished speaking.

She hugs him, “He’s basically bribing you with a sleepover, but right now I’m just glad that you get to stay over!”

Hurrying inside, she calls to her parents, “Maman? Papa? Can Adrien stay the night?””

Sabine pokes her head out from a doorway, “Of course, dear!”

That’s all Marinette needs to hear before she leads Adrien upstairs to her room hurriedly.

“If you’re not careful, I might just think you’re excited to have me over, Princess.” He smirks.

“I am! Usually you’re stuck in my room! Not to mention that you’re finally free from her.”

“I’m with her, Kid,” Plagg mutters lazily.

“I’m so proud of both of you! Both of you went through terrible things that you didn’t deserve at all, and you made it out without even being akumatized. You deserve a break!” Tikki chirps, “I’m so sorry you had to go through all that.”

Marinette smiles softly, petting Tikki until the Kwami smiles again, “It’s not your fault, Tikki.”

Tikki just looks at her mournfully, and the two Gods fly off to speak, giving their charges a break.

Adrien flops across Marinette, looking at her happily. She’s about to tease him when he slow blinks at her and she blushes lightly. He grins, then grins more when she returns the blink.

He snuggles against her, purring happily. She laughs, her hands finding his hair. They sit contentedly in silence for a little bit until Adrien notices Marinette drooping slightly, holding back a yawn. They’ve been sitting together for a while, his head in her lap while she scratches his scalp idly. She’s slowed, and stares forward blankly, blinking slowly every so often and seemingly just a few moments from dropping to the floor. She doesn’t realize she’s been found out yet, continuing to scratch where his cat ears would be.

He frowns, she wouldn’t normally hide being tired, unless-

“Marinette, I thought I made you promise not to overwork yourself,” he reprimands.

She flushes slightly, “What are you talking about? I’m fine.”

“You’re exhausted. When was the last time you slept, and how much sleep have you been getting most nights?” He sits up, studying her.

She slumps, knowing there’s no use trying to hide it. “I technically never promised. I just wanted to make sure that this went smoothly. For your information though, I slept last night.” She sticks out her tongue at him.

“How long?”

“...four hours. Three or less for the past week and a half?”

He gives her a look, and she just grins sheepishly. Shaking his head in feigned exasperation, he scoops her up into his arms. She kicks her feet, “Hey! I don’t need to go to bed, I can just sleep in tomorrow!”

“Yes, yes you do need to sleep now. I know how awful being overworked is, but you don’t have someone making sure you have time for sleep, so I will be doing that.”

She harrumphs, wrinkling her nose.

He reaches the top of the steps to her bed, turning and flopping backwards onto the mattress. The pair bounce slightly, and Adrien lets Marinette go to allow her to get into a more comfortable position.

“Oh, so you’re planning on just watching me to make sure I sleep?” Marinette teases.

Adrien shuts his eyes. “Nope. I’m a cat, so I’ll take any o-purr-tunity I can to nap.”

He knows she rolled her eyes, even if he can’t see her. She lies down next to him, huffing so he knows just how awful he is for having the audacity to make her rest properly.

After a few minutes, he feels the mattress shift as she carefully sits up, trying to go down and presumably work on some project. His eyes fly open, and he grabs her wrist. “Excuse you, I believe you’re supposed to be sleeping. I guess we’ll be doing this the hard way then.”

Before she can protest, he pulls her arm out from under her, catching her as gravity pulls her down.

“I’m not tired.”

“That’s because you’re being a stubborn baby bug.”

She scoffs, “Alley cat!”

“And proud of it,” he murmurs, pressing his face into her hair.

He leans against her pillows, dragging her with him so that she’s farther from the edge of the loft. Nestling her head under his, she reaches her arm over to give him a sideways hug. His other arm is wrapped around her back, and he carefully undoes her loose pigtails with his fingers. She hums appreciatively.

“I’m not tired you know,” she mumbles.

He just purrs louder, holding her closer.

She yawns, “Still… not…”

She never finishes the sentence.

Adrien grins, hearing her breathing beginning to even out. He rubs soothing circles on her back, trying to get her to rest sooner. He knows he was successful when her soft breathes line up with the pattern of sleep.

It’s not long before he goes the same way.

---

Author’s Note: There's a lot happening here, where do I even begin?

Anyone curious as to Lila's middle name? It means 'devil'. Very fitting.

Don't you love it when the resident supervillain is too busy doing PR to cause anything?

Sabrina is with her father, sipping her tea and watching Lila's world burn.

I sincerely hope you all enjoyed this long awaited chapter!! As I said in the beginning note, I'm not satisfied with it. Something just feels off, but who knows? I could be crazy! I hope this lived up to all the hype! 💖

Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave any thoughts, theories, constructive criticism, or anything really in my ask box, in replies or through reblogs. I love seeing what you think!

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[tessatechaitea]

Team Titans #21

Team Titans is an anagram for a tit stamen.

In this modern era, anything you say online can eventually come back to haunt you. But back before the Internet existed (or was mostly just drunk assholes and minors in AOL chat rooms), the main thing that could come back to haunt a person was writing into a comic book and asking for a pin-up issue. Sure, I had young person crushes on a few comic book characters. But I never wrote to Mike W. Barr and asked him to write a story where Halo spends most of the issue in her underwear. No, I wrote that letter to Jim Aparo. "Come on, Jim! Just have her coming out of the shower in some scene! I can't prove this yet because it's 1984 but it'll probably become common practice to draw characters in towels getting out of showers when artists like David Finch and Tony S. Daniel become popular! And their renditions of adult women will look even younger than your rendition of Halo!" I find the amount of "Ooh la la"s and "Ha cha cha cha"s I've had to read in the letters pages of The New Titans since they published a swimsuit shot of the women of the Titans incomprehensible. And I'd find it incomprehensible even if that amount were just one. Which it was not. I wouldn't be too flabbergasted if I didn't think mostly grown ass men wrote to comic books. I know kids did too! Take Roy Thomas as an example. But no way are young people the majority of letter writers. Speaking of comic books, I just read Terry Moore's "Five Years" and it pissed me off. Mostly because eight out of the twenty pages were blank. After the first blank page, I thought, "That was a weird choice." But it kind of fit because it was squarely at the point in the narrative where the phi bomb goes off in Katchoo's dream. But then a few pages later, it was a double spread of blank pages. Being a Master Comic Book Reader, I thought, "This can't be right." And it wasn't right! Not at all! Now I have to purchase a new copy so I can see what I missed. And, no, I won't be taking this copy back to the comic book store. It has my greasy fingerprints all over that stupid glossy black cover that Terry Moore insists on doing! Not that I think the store would resell it. But I do know they'd have a great set of my fingerprints to use for nefarious purposes. Or possibly legal purposes that would just get me in trouble. At least "Five Years #1" had blank pages so I knew something was missing. It took me 20 years to finish reading Neil Gaiman's Sandman because I didn't realize there were something like eighteen pages missing from The Kindly Ones trade paperback I own. This issue begins with the U.S. military surveying the damage from the Team Titans battle with Lazarium.

Being that Lazarium was only killing Titans, this means the Team Titans have killed 36 more civilians than Lazarium. Way to go, heroes!

Writer Jeff Jensen didn't have the balls to kill all of the extra Titans in the black hole so he decides to have most of the survivors attack Battalion and the other Titans. Enough comic book readers accept the premise that at least half of the battles in comic books have to be good guy against good guy, no matter how stupid the reason. And the reason doesn't get any stupider than having a bunch of Titans that were just battling alongside Battlion to suddenly decide the only sane reaction to Battalion suggesting they clean up the mess is to shoot Donna Troy in the face. At the very least, it gives Mirage a chance to mention that 500 Titans just died. After coming up with Wonder Boy and Two Gallon Hat and Liquid Joe, Jensen realized he was out of ideas so he just killed most of the others. And yet he seemed so excited to build a new Titans universe with hundreds of new characters! I wonder if he did come up with five hundred characters whose names were even worse than Liquid Joe and Two Gallon Hat, so the editors told him he was fucking crazy if he thought DC was going to use any of them. The Titans seek refuges at the Justice League Embassy in New York. I forgot there was a time when the Justice League forwent their headquarters to run embassies all over the world. Giffen and DeMatteis must have thought there'd be big bureaucratic Marx Brothers type laughs in trying to run an embassy. And I suppose there could have been! Did they ever do a story with some Assange-like villain like Calendar Man or The Riddler seeking asylum from Batman's fists? At the embassy, Donna Troy works out a sweet deal with the government to allow the Titans a life free from being blamed for every little problem that crops up in New York.

Great negotiating, Donna! "Do whatever the government wants or be hunted like vermin!" She's the fucking Trump of the Titans.

The government's deal amounts to the same deal the Team Titans had already accepted in their future life. The government will provide them with basic necessities and education in exchange for working in small military groups united under some mysterious leader. They all jump at the chance to not do anything different with their lives, especially considering that the other option was to be shot on sight whenever they mentioned their stupid names. The government, with the help of gossip reporter Cokie Roberts, concoct a story to cover up the Titans murder of two hundred people. I know it was reported earlier by me that they only killed three dozen non-Titans. But it turns out, according to Cokie and the government, two hundred non-Titans were killed by the black hole. I suppose they're including all of Lazarium's henchmen and also all the people the government killed when they realized they had the perfect excuse to disappear them with the Titans' black hole. It's interesting that nobody worries about all the people killed in the black hole because that was an "accident" and yet everybody loses their minds when they think about Nightrider killing the guy ultimately responsible for it all. Maybe they're all just grossed out that he drank blood.

I'm just going to assume the Wonder Woman look-a-like's name is Frottage Girl.

Mirage feels badly about deceiving the public since she pretended to be Lazarium so that the world wouldn't know the Team Titans killed him. But Cokie Walters is all, "Don't fucking worry about it, slut! The news lies all the time!" I guess when you're a celebrity gossip reporter, you don't really worry too much about journalistic ethics. A proper reporter wouldn't have lied about this story. They would have just interviewed some government agent who would lie about the story and then they'd shrug their shoulders and go, "Well, I guess that's one side of the issue! If only there were somebody who could investigate the story to find out how true it is. I don't know who that would be though. A doctor? Or an astronaut? It's a mystery!" While the Team Titans film another puff piece with Cokie Walters, Donna Troy approaches Wonder Woman with a problem: she wants her powers back.

If the graph of an argument doesn't look like an ouroboros, Donna Troy wants no part of that argument.

Donna wants to petition the Greek Gods to get her powers back and she needs Diana to be her arbiter. Diana says, "You have my support in everything you do," and now I don't know why I'm so aroused.

Maybe it's due to panels like these that I can't help reading out of context.

Donna confronts the Titans, pleading with them to return her powers. But the Gods have a law: "No take backs. Too bad, so sad." So they send her back to Earth where she lands in the yard of Terry Long's ex-wife. She looks in the window and sees a happy family scene starring Terry and his ex-wife and Terry's daughter and their son. She lets her low self-esteem get the better of her and runs away thinking her marriage is probably over before she can hear Terry yell at his ex-wife for being a snarky jerk. So a happy ending for once! Team Titans #21 Rating:: C-. My main question for Marv Wolfman and Jeff Jensen is this: how the fuck did you manage to make a comic book with this much potential so fucking tedious?! Maybe you need to have a teenager's sense of drama to find any enjoyment out of this comic book at all. Killowat loves Mirage but he's a racist and she's all, "No way! Probably! We'll talk!" And Nightrider needs to eat people but he won't so he almost dies but then he eats a person! Donna Troy was happily married until she saw Terry and his ex-wife getting along for five seconds and now their marriage might be over! Battalion constantly calls people cheeseheads and their heads aren't even really made out of cheese! Terra loves Gar but Gar is all, "The boner you give me makes me feel guilty! Go away!" Redwing is all, "Prester Jon, my brother! We can finally hug!" But Prester Jon is all, "Ew! You're gross with the pointy ears and talons and veiny wings! Get away!" Also, what happened to Deathwing? I really hope Mirage dismembered him. Hopefully Jensen will devote a full issue for a flashback of that scene.

[geeharrisons-blog]

hey you crazy kids, it’s me, ya girl LARA. bringing in my fave gorl, the friend who wants to comfort you but has no idea what she’s doing, the girl who wanted to compliment you but accidentally insulted you and now doesn’t know how to fix it, who regularly says “ thanks, you too ” to ticket salesmen at the movie theatre tell her to “ have fun ” ... GEETA ( aka gee, greta, saint geeta... )

( NAOMI SCOTT, CISFEMALE, SHE/HER ) you’ve probably already heard of GEETA HARRISON through the LA music scene. the TWENTY-THREE year old is the BASSIST & CO-LEAD SINGER of the band SHY VIOLETS, an INDIE POP band that has FOUR members & sounds kind of like GROUPLOVE, FICKLE FRIENDS & THE KOOKS. GEE is said to be DEXTEROUS but also CONFRONTATIONAL. i wonder what bandslam makes of them ?

( tw: drunk driving, car accident, death )

— ✧ HISTORY

your first memory is her laughter. years later it still rings in your head, it resounds against the walls of your chest. it’s still in you. the sound of her voice as she cradled you, sang with your head against her chest. you still don’t understand the language, but the soft hums and vibrations tell you that you are oh, so wanted. oh, so loved.

your parents are DAVID and SAMIRA. your parents were young and in love. your parents were broke. your parents moved to SAN FRANCISCO and started a band. you weren’t planned, but who cares about plans anyway ?

you are born from their music. you sprout from the fingertips that caress the piano keys, or strum the guitar. they name you SONG, in your mother’s native tongue ( GEETA, GEE-TAH ). you were always meant to make music. to BE music.

you never knew silence. there was always MUSIC, always beautiful harmonies filling the air and flooding your lungs. the beatles, the stones, hendrix, joplin, dylan, bowie. you don’t listen to the radio. you only know your father’s records, and your mother’s voice. the strum of his guitar. her fingers on the piano keys.

you turn TEN years old and you hold a guitar for the first time. he teaches you his favorite songs, which are also yours. you don’t have a lot to talk about, but you have THIS. this is the ONE thing you can share with your father, and you take to it like a duck to water. you were B O R N from music, like athena from zeus’ head. you were ALWAYS meant for this.

school lets out, and you run to the music store. you make music for the people, take advantage of the instruments on display. you learn how to play on borrowed keys and strings. there isn’t a MOMENT when you’re not playing, or listening, or making music. at school, you write, at home, you practice. this is ALL you know.

the first time you hold a BASS guitar in your hands you’re FOURTEEN. you feel as if part of your body has been missing until this very moment. it’s a tan-colored stratocaster, and it feels like coming HOME.

the summer after you turn FIFTEEN, you’ve got your eyes set on a seafoam green fender. you work all summer. you don’t see your friends. you bring her home and name her PENNY LANE.

in high school, you join every band that will have you. you just want to play music, you don’t care about the genre. you NEED to play. at home, you write your own songs, but you keep them to yourself. one day, they’ll find the right outlet.

you’re EIGHTEEN and almost out of high school when some drunk asshole C O L L I D E S with your mom as she’s driving home one night. they rush her to the hospital. you’re hanging out with your band after a show when you get the call. your father is holding her hand as she takes her last breaths, moments before you come running in. you’re too L A T E.

you almost don’t graduate. you stop playing. you stop writing. you live with your father in complete silence. for the FIRST time, there isn’t a sound. not a note, not a hum. the next year passes by in a foggy blur. suddenly you’re NINETEEN and nothing has happened. you haven’t moved an inch.

your dad has moved on. you don’t understand how. every day he walks further, and further A W A Y from you. you hoped it would be the other way around, that this would bring you closer. isn’t grief supposed to do that for people ? instead, he finds someone else. you were so used to seeing your parents together, so used to thinking that they were the ONLY people out there for each other. it doesn’t make sense in your head for your father to be putting a RING on someone else’s finger.

now, you have a stepmother. she’s sweet, but she’s not your mom. you let her know. don’t let her fool herself into thinking she’s a replacement. you have SIBLINGS now. around your age. they’re nothing but STRANGERS to you.

one day, you sit down at the piano your mother used to play. it doesn’t sound the same as when she played it, each notes bouncing off the walls of the apartment you grew up in, but it kind of feels like she’s still THERE. your dad starts crying. there’s a moment of understanding. this is where your paths diverge. he’s MOVING with his new wife and kids. there’s a baby on the way. you realize you need to move too. this isn’t the same apartment you grew up in. you can’t STAY here.

the next day you pack your things and drive to LA. you don’t have a plan yet, but you’re not too worried. again, who cares about plans ?

a friend lends you his couch. you get a job at a music store ( those have always felt like home, no ? ). you two find your own place. you work a few different jobs, teach other kids how to play music. you find your way around the scene. make some friends who play in bands. you join a band called SHY VIOLETS. you’re back to playing the bass, and you feel like you have a home again. everything is finally making sense. THIS IS WHAT YOU WERE MEANT TO DO.

— ✧ PERSONALITY

❝ she didn’t sob or wail. her grief was horribly discreet  but as persistent and almost as silent as bleeding from an unstitched wound. ❞

ZODIAC SIGN: aries-taurus cusp ( april 20th ) PERSONALITY TYPE: estp – the entrepreneur ENNEAGRAM: type 8 – the challenger TEMPERAMENT: melancholic HOGWARTS HOUSE: gryffindor MORAL ALIGNMENT: true neutral PRIMARY VICE: pride PRIMARY VIRTUE: diligence ELEMENT: earth MORE STATS HERE !!

hello kids this is geeta aka gee, my sad, awkward, fighty gorl.

at first, she’s kinda quiet and reserved. she has a one-track mind, and the only thing she cares about is the music. she wants to be the best bassist she can be. the best singer she can be. make the band the best it can be.

she lives and breathes music. it’s what she grew up on, it’s the only thing she knows. doesn’t really understand people who aren’t as passionate about music as she is. can be a little closed-minded when it comes to this. she honestly just doesn’t do anything that isn’t music-related. definitely needs to learn how to relax and get a life outside of the band. music is her life; she doesn’t care about anything else.

she’s pretty great at what she does and she knows it, so she can get cocky sometimes. she’s very proud of the band and what they’ve achieved, and sometimes that can go to her head. but the truth is she has the chops to back up her talk.

she’s stubborn as a mule and that definitely shows when dealing with the band. she knows what she wants and has trouble compromising. shy violets is all she has so she’s fiercely protective of it, and extremely loyal to her bandmates.

she doesn’t trust people easily, so she’s very cautious when making band-related decisions. who they sign with, where they play, etc. she’s kind of a control freak.

she’s a generally friendly person, but she doesn’t open up easily and plays things close to the vest. she can come off a little cold sometimes, but not rude. just awkward. her communication skills are shit.

she’s only comfortable enough to be emotionally open with a few select people. or, of course, through the music she writes.

she can’t back down from a fight. it’s a problem, and she knows it, but she can’t avoid confrontation, she runs headfirst into it, even if she’s in the wrong. mama didn’t raise a quitter, but she did raise a fool.

she’s always listening to music. she’s that – *planet explodes* *removes one earbud* what – meme.

she doesn’t really drink, partly because she’s a control freak, and partly because she’s still spooked by what happened to her mom. she’s not very comfortable around drunk people, unless she’s also a little tipsy. she’ll drink just enough so that the people around her don’t think she’s weird, but she’s always the sober friend at the end of the night. she’s always the designated driver, even if she wasn’t out drinking that night. she’ll get out of bed to drive the drunk children home. she’ll do this without being asked, but she’ll still complain about it the whole car ride.

a bicon™ because i’m a firm believer that straight people don’t exist.

you will all learn soon enough that my specialty is sad girls™ and this is. only the first. it’ll only get sadder from here on out.

— ✧ EXTRAS

BASSIST CLAIM: laena geronimo from the like. VOICE CLAIM: greta salpeter from the hush sound. THEME SONGS: way it goes – hippo campus | some nights – fun. | don’t take the money – bleachers | drive – pale waves | some nights – fun. PINTEREST: xx PLAYLIST: [ always a wip ] xx

— ✧ CONNECTIONS

i’m probably gonna work out a page for these, but in the meantime, i’m just gonna list some general ideas in case anyone is interested !!

your character and geeta grew up around each other in san francisco, and they moved to la around the same time. they sometimes drive up there together [ taken: open 0/1 ]

your character was the first new friend gee made when she moved to los angeles. still very raw from losing her mother, she opened up to them. they know her better than most people [ taken: ricky clark ]

your character is the friend gee crashed with when she first arrived in los angeles, and later got an apartment with. they still live together, with all the ups and downs that entails [ taken: nathaniel taylor ]

your character is a big influence in geeta’s music, she probably saw them live a few years ago and is absolutely blown away by what they do musically. she admires them greatly, and really looks up to them [ open 0/1 ]

your character is geeta’s best friend. her platonic life partner. 10/10 would die for them without thinking twice. they sometimes makeout a little too [ taken: jade vandermeer ]

your character worked with geeta at the music store [ open 0/?? ]

your character and geeta dated shortly after she moved to la. it didn’t last, and they both realized they were together for all the wrong reasons. they’re friends now, but not after writing some angry breakup songs about each other [ taken: nathaniel taylor ]

your character and geeta dated for a while, but it didn’t end well. not necessarily messy, but awkward. she does everything in her power to avoid them [ open 0/1 ]

your character and geeta dated for a while, and they were really into each other, but that kind of fizzled out. they’re still friends though [ open 0/1 ]

your character and geeta hooked up once. it’s nbd [ open 0/?? ]

your character is someone geeta kind of hates. maybe she doesn’t hate them, but she’s kind of grossed out by them. the last person she would ever expect to hook up with, but hey, she did. and now they won’t let her forget it, because it’s so easy to get under her skin [ open 0/1 ]

your character and geeta aren’t in the same band, but often get together to jam out, or write music together. throughout this process, they bond and learn a lot about each other [ open 0/1 ]

your character and geeta almost dated once. almost. something happened that made them reconsider [ open 0/1 ]

your character has a crush on geeta, and she doesn’t even notice. perhaps it’s better this way, since she can’t return the feeling and wouldn’t know how to turn them down [ open 0/1 ]

your character and geeta don’t really get along. they’re always trying to one-up each other, always trying to beat the other one. they don’t hate each other, but they’re constantly competing [ open 0/1 ]

your character has geeta’s phone on speed dial for when they’re too drunk to go home. they crash regularly on her couch [ open 0/?? ]

your character is someone geeta’s had feelings for some time, but still hasn’t acknowledged. they’re good friends, so taking that next step feels impossible. they’re someone she can open up to, and her feelings are getting harder and harder to deny [ taken: ricky clark ]

[lejojotrash]

Well, if this ok to you...Banned footage scenario with La Squadra and they healer S/O? Maybe enemy stand is acting like some kind of haunted house and they should eliminate it's user, but they can see how it works only at slowmotion video? %)

Hello everyone! Anon, I hope you’re satisfied with this and if this was what you wanted, but if you don’t like it and this wasn’t what you wanted, please tell me! And I can rewrite it for you with what you actually wanted! But this took a lot of time and effort, so I hope you enjoy it anyways!

Banned footage scenario with La Squadra and healer s/o, fighting a stand user that has a haunted house for a stand.

“The targets should be in the warehouse…” Risotto stated gruffly, as the eight of you stood in an alleyway by a rather unsettling, battered warehouse. It currently the dead of night, and all of you were assigned a mission by the boss to get rid of a set of targets. It was rare for La Squadra to work together in pairs, and even rarer for the squad to work altogether, but apparently the targets were extremely dangerous stand users, planning to rise up as a gang that wants to rival against Passione.

Melone was at a far away location, ready to set up Baby Face and it was honestly pointless for him to be here, since he wasn’t exactly useful in up close confrontation, so you could say he was back up.

Pesci was slightly hiding behind Prosciutto, who was smoking and equipped with an irritated look. Risotto was still staring at the infrastructure with absolute seriousness and caution. Ghiaccio was standing next to Riostto, arms crossed and tapping his foot on the concrete with impatience. Formaggio leaning against the wall, too relaxed and laid back for all of your liking, and you were squatting on the ground, messing around with the pebbles and dirt.

All of you were waiting for Illuso, who was currently in his mirror world trying to eye how many people were in the warehouse and such.

“What’s taking him so long?” Ghiaccio complained, signaling the start of his irritatingly, long rants. “We’ve been standing out here for almost an hour!”

“Maybe he died,” Formaggio suggested, and Pesci’s face paled, and Prosciutto shot a glare at Formaggio at his twisted statement.

“Your statement isn’t helping anyone, Formaggio,” You muttered softly. He grinned sheepishly.

“I kid, I kid,” He waved it off, in order to escape Prosciutto’s wrath.

“Just send me in, Capo. I can easily take down the stand user. White Album is invincible,” Ghiaccio reminded and boasted to you guys, yet again for the millionth time.

“What about the neck area?” Formaggio questioned, specifically to piss Ghiaccio off. Ghiaccio sends him a glare.

“And the user’s arrogance,” You added under your breath, but Pesci and Formaggio unfortunately heard you. Pesci covered his mouth to hide his smile and growing laughter, while Formaggio was letting out snickers.

“What was that?” Ghiaccio hissed, the temperature literally and physically dropping a couple of good degrees. “You wanna say that again, Little Feet and Kiss of Life?” Ghiaccio stressed the names of Formaggio’s and your stands, since they aren’t really as great as Ghiaccio’s White Album.

“If you get hurt, don’t ask me for help then… Since your stand is so great,” You responded.

“That’s enough, you two,” Prosciutto stepped in, like the mature peace keeper he was. Ghiaccio scoffed at his interruption. “If Illuso is gone, then it’s an unfortunate loss. We can grieve later. We need to focus on the mission first and foremost.”

“Prosciutto’s right,” Risotto steps in as well, making it more difficult for Ghiaccio to argue against Prosciutto. “We will wait for another 20 minutes. If Illuso doesn’t come back to report to us, then we’ll send you in, Ghiaccio.”

“Fine.” Ghiaccio reluctantly agrees because he does not want to face Metallica.

And so the waiting game begins, the silence was thickening as well as the tension as the minutes tick by. There’s no sign of Illuso. Not even a simple text. Illuso was most likely dead or something happened to him.

Ghiaccio preps his stand the moment it passed 20 minutes, you shivered due the cold nature of his stand. Ghiaccio looks expectantly at Risotto, who in turn signals Ghiaccio that he can go on ahead. And with that Ghiaccio sneaks into the warehouse.

“What if something happens to Ghiaccio?” You ask curiously, head tilted, the question directed to Risotto.

“There’s no way anything could happen to him,” Formaggio answers in his stead. “‘White Album is invincible.’” He imitates Ghiaccio’s tone of voice and captures his arrogance. None of you laugh at Formaggio’s attempt to lighten the situation, but none of you were particularly worried. Ghiaccio’s stand compared to Illuso’s stand was far superior, going from a 10 to an 100.

“I’m just asking,” You respond. There was no noise coming from the building, no fighting or explosions or screams. Something was up. What was going on? Why was Ghiaccio taking so long? He can’t be taunting the enemy for that long.

“If White Album was defeated, then how we can we defeat it?” Pesci questions, looking incredibly dejected. Prosciutto slaps some sense into Pesci.

“Shut up,” A deafening command, but the thought of the defeat of White Album makes you all unsettled. Some more time passes. You take the time to observe the warehouse: old, rusty, creepy… Wait… There was something shining along side the building, attached to the upper part of the warehouse. One couldn’t really see it if they didn’t pay really close attention.

“Capo…” You called out to your leader. “There’s something shining on the building. Do you see it?” Risotto’s eyes narrowed at your observation.

“What are you talking about? I don’t see anything,” Formaggio states, trying to search for the thing you were talking about. “Are you getting sick?”

“If I was sick, I wouldn’t be on the mission,” You deadpanned.

“I don’t see anything,” Risotto states gruffly, finally after moments of careful observation. You furrowed your brows in confusion. There was definitely something sparkling along side the building.

“Me neither,” Prosciutto puffs out a ring of smoke and snuffs out his cigar, stuffing his hands in his dress pockets. “Pesci, we’re going in.” Pesci looks incredibly surprised.

“Me?” He repeats, stupidly. Prosciutto shoots him another glare, and then begins to walk towards the warehouse. “W-Wait! Big Bro!” Pesci jogs after him, pulling out Beach Boys.

“And so there are three,” Formaggio points out as the three of you stare at the backs of the two other members.

“Four, counting Melone.”

“Right…” The two were gone, and even more minutes passed by.

“How strong could this stand be?” Formaggio questions, eventually squatting down to your level.

“Strong enough to beat White Album,” You answer with a hint of being a smart ass in your tone. “But what if the stand wasn’t strong…” Risotto and Formaggio look your way.

“What?” Formaggio scratches his head.

“The stand could be the warehouse,” You answer simply. “But it doesn’t explain why you guys don’t see the shining thing alongside the warehouse.”

“Because it’s not there,” Formaggio simply answers. You shook your head.

“Why would I be lying, Formaggio?” You question again. “There’s no point in lying during a mission.” Risotto makes a noise of discontent, his face scrunching up in displeasure.

“The stand could just be making it see what it wants us to see,” Risotto suggests. “Psychological warfare.”

“Then… Why can I see it?”

“We said on the mission, we’d be taking six people,” You’re eyes widened.

“So… They weren’t expecting an extra person?”

“Most likely.” Suddenly Risotto and Formaggio looks towards the warehouse, so you do too. The warehouse’s doors open.

“Oh hey, look they’re back.”  Formaggio points out, and waves. “So how did White Album go against psychological effects? Not so invincible now.”

“Prosciutto, did you end up killing the stand user?” Your eyes widened, your throat went dry.

Who were they talking to? There was nobody in front of the building, none of their team members came out of the building yet.

The two words suddenly flow through your mind, as you began to call out to your leader and Formaggio, but suddenly, two long, black, tendrils? Hands? Shot out of the warehouse, and grabbed Formaggio and Risotto, pulling them into the warehouse.

Sweat began to poor down your face, a nervous chill went up your spine. What do you do now? Melone. Call Melone. You quickly contact Melone.

“How did the mission go, bella?” He assumes that you’ve successfully finished your mission.

“They’re gone, Melone,” You could only say out of your throat.

“What?” Melone thinks you're​ joking. Of course your joking. There’s no way the boss of La Squadra, almost all of La Squadra would be taken down by some random stand user.

“The stand user could make people see what they wanna see, and, oh God, Melone, what do I do?” You begin to feel scared. Why wouldn’t you? Your teammates we’re all taken down by some psychological stand user.

“Calm down, (First), breathe,” He commands. “Okay. I can’t really do anything right now.” You choked back a sob of despair. “But wait. I’ll guide you, okay? You need to do this.”

“My stand is useless, Melone!” You hiss into the phone. “It only heals people!”

“You’ve killed before, no?” Silence. Just silence. “And you know about the stand’s ability, right?” More silence. “Does the user know that you’re there?”

“No…”

“Molto bene!” He cheers from the other line. “So now… You just need to sneak in without getting caught…” You took a deep breathe in and exhaled it out.

“But I think there’s a security camera there,” You state. “How do I get past that?”

“Easy,” Melone brags. “I got the technology stuff under the bag, so don’t you worry about that, (First). I’ll tell you when I put all of the cameras on loop, alright?”

“Yes…”

“Molto bene~”

After a few too long minutes of you despairing over the fact that you need to kill somebody even though your stand was useless as fuck in battle and the range of the stand seemed to be the whole fucking warehouse, Melone gave you the green light.

“I need to hang up,” Melone now informs. You pause in your tracks to sneak into the warehouse.

“Why?”

“So the stand user won’t hear us communicating.”

“Oh…”

“Are you scared?” The bastard has the fucking nerve to-

“Eat dick, Melone, I ain’t scared,” You immediately hung up the phone before he could properly respond. Okay. Maybe you were a little scared, but you had no choice. You entered the warehouse through the back-

And holy Mother of Christ, there were black tendrils everywhere. Thankfully you didn’t step on one, and they barely twitched when you opened the door, but you realized that you needed to be hella cautious. The tentacles were all around the place: floor, walls, ceiling. It was just gross. You slowly avoided stepping in the tentacles on the floor in order to find the stand user without alerting said user and kill the shit out of said user.

Eventually you headed to what seems to be a staircase downwards, which assumedly would lead you down straight to your demise, and maybe hell if you thought about it more.

You creeped down the staircase, praying and trying that you weren’t making a lot of noise, and found the basement, where there was a bright screen light, and what seems to be noise of extremely disgusting laughter. You took a peek in the room and saw your teammates pinned against the wall with the tendrils. The tendrils covering their entire heads, only leaving the nose open so they could breathe, you supposed.

“My win! My win! My win!” You heard cheers of an annoying male, you assumed to be the stand user. “I defeated  the group! The fearsome group of Passione! Ha! Hahahahahaha!” You grimaced. “Nobody can defeat Sweet Dreams! My Sweet Dreams! My precious Sweet Dreams! Once La Squadra absorbs they’re wildest fantasies and dreams, they’ll be begging to work for me! And then I’ll be unstoppable! It’s my victory! My win! Nobody can defeat me!” Yeah. Well except your ego, buddy. You had enough of this shit. Quickly and precisely you aimed your pistol and shot the male. “W-What?!” A loud crashing sound filled the room probably the stand user, and the tendrils were beginning to disappear. You entered the room. “W-Who are-Ugh!?” What a waste of time. No point in answering a dead man’s questions. You shot him again, effectively killing the stand user. Your teammates drop to the floor as the tendrils disappear. They were all knocked out.

“C'mere, Little Feet… Lemme pet ya… I won’t shrink you, I promise…” Formaggio muttered, stretching his arm out fruitlessly, and dropping it on Ghiaccio’s face, cracking his glasses. Ghiaccio was just sleeping away, grabbing Formaggio’s arm that was on his face and cuddling it, some droll went on Formaggio’s arm in the process. Prosciutto was as still as ever but he was snoring loudly, and Pesci was moving on the floor around like crazy. Illuso was curled up into a ball, and Risotto was also still sleeping, stiff as Prosciutto as well. Naturally instead of healing up your teammates and waking them up, you took pictures on your camera.

The flash went off, and that alarmed Risotto, who immediately woke up, and stared around his surroundings, trying to find the enemy, but he pieced together that you were the one who dealt with the situation from the pistol you held in your hand to the dead body on the floor.

“Good job,” his voice was groggy, he rubbed his oddly colored eyes, to get himself more awake.

“Anything for La Squadra,” You responded simply. He liked your answer, if you could tell by anything by the hum he responded with. “Are you hurt?”

“No.” You don’t mention the leftover tear streaks that are on Risotto’s face. There’s enough pride to be broken from getting captured by the enemy and seeing what you always wanted, and in the end finding out that none of it was true, and it was all an illusion.

Open ended ending! Risotto could be crying from lot of things, seeing his very much alive cousin, or Sorbet and Gelato being alive with La Squadra, La Squadra living very normally lives, or… Living a normal life with you! Hahahaha. I should be doing hw

[thirdhostage]

When in Rome (Ethan x FemReader) part one?

(( gif not mine - love ))

(A/n): SHOT THROUGH THE HEART

AND YOU’RE TOO LATE

Request:  hi!! I wanted to request something because you're a REALLY good writer. What I was wondering if you could write an Ethan x fem!Reader where Reader was supposed to go on vacation with the fam but they had exams to finish so their parents decided to just fly out and then fly Reader out once exams were done but the parents misclicked or something and booked a flight to LA and Reader can't get a flight back until the month is over and Ethan hears them on the phone like "what do you MEAN I'm not suppose to be in LA, that's what the plane ticket said!" Followed by something liked "yOU MISCLICKED? IM STUCK IN A DIFFERENT COUNTRY FOR A MONTH W/ NOTHING BUT A CHARGER AND FIVE CENTS" and Ethan(maybe the whole team too) overhears and they're like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ lets be nice and then something starts to ;) happen between Ethan and Reader. I'm SO sorry if it's too specific, change it to how you think will work for you!

Warnings: lmao angry bean reader

_____

Dragging along the airport was almost a relief. (Y/n) wasn’t one that was afraid of flights, not at all. She actually quite enjoyed them. But, this flight in particular seemed so shitty, that even she despised it.

Children screeching, people snoring.

Lucky it was illegal, because (Y/n) would have locked several children in with the cargo.

Having forgotten her headphones meant that she was able to listen to her luggage wheels charm the airports heavy air. It was late- or early. Three in the morning early, yet the girl was energized. Ready.

Queer, though, how this airport did run her memory.

Just before they had left, her parents took time to explain what the airport layout looked like and what exit her cab would be at.

Where (Y/n) was at now, looked nothing like what was described to her.

She kept walking, tossing out her phone and trying the home button a couple times.

“Dead...” the girl uttered.

(Y/n) rolled (e/c) eyes, and directed her path instead through groups of sleepy people to a public pay phone.

Standing up her bag, (Y/n) released the handle and grabbed the phone. She offered it several coins, dialed a number and waited.

Peering around, she viewed many different people. Quite lively, she thought, for three in the morning. Decent amount of folk were walking about the airport; grabbing luggage, casing through arrival gates.

“Hello?”

The phone finally picked up.

“Mom?”

“Oh hey, hon. Did you just land?”

“Yeah...”

(Y/n)’s words were almost drawn out and suspicious. She continued to look about as she spoke.

“You’re in L.A, right?”

“Yeah.” she repeated.

“Well, we’re in, uh, London.”

For a couple of moments, the girl stared off at a far wall. Then she said:

“I’m not in London, mom; I’m in L.A.” (Y/n)’s statement was weary “That is where we are vacationing, right? Los Angeles?”

“Ah, no. We found out just before you had landed that you’re dad misclicked on the booking website... but your phone was dead, so I didn’t have anyway of telling you...”

“He.. misclicked...” (Y/n) said slowly.

“Well yeah.”

“Mom-”

Quickly, the heat rose to (Y/n)’s head. She did not, by any means, want to be told at three in the morning that she was in an entirely different country than planned.

Alright, this night got even worse.

“MOm, you mean I’m in bloody L.A for no reason?”

Her mom coughed awkwardly on the line “It gets better-”

“Oh, joy.”

“See, we won’t be able to get you out here until that bonus check comes in at the end of the month.”

“You mean I’m here for a fucking month?”

“Well dear, he misclicked the loca--”

“WHAT dO YOU MEAN HE MISCLICKED? YOU left mE IN AMERICa WITH NOTHING bUT A CHARgER AND A COUPLE BUcKS!”

The confrontation went on. (Y/n)’s voice kept wavering volume, and she became blind to those around her. Eventually, a small pool of people gather around her, listening idly.

Among those several, stood out a group of four. A tall brunette, a shorter looking brunette, a slim boy with blue hair, and a nice looking girl with yellow hair.

“Mom, you do realise I have no where to fucking go right? I’m not supposed to be in L.A...”

(Y/n)’s words became all but futile when her mom eventually hurried herself off the line, and hung up.

“Guys, she’s stuck here...” mumbled the short brunette, turning to look at the taller man.

“Mark, don’t even--”

“We could house her for like, a couple weeks, and then see if we can maybe fix her problem?” the blue boy then pushed.

The tall male sighed heavily, dropping his head so his eyes could pierce the tiled floor.

“Well,” he inquired.

“I really don’t care. I’m jet lagged to shit, we just got back from PAX, I’m still in the generous mood; just get her and let's go.”

Mark began to smile gaily, spinning back around to see (Y/n) place down the phone and sigh irritably. The rest of the grouped travelers began to taper off.

“Here, uh, Mark and Ethan will, uh, stay here? And Tyler and I will go get, a cab...” said the yellow haired girl, facing the tall male for confirmation. He nodded to her, and they directed themselves on their way.

“Fucking, fuck, fuck sake...” (Y/n) breathed, coursing a hand through her hair before turning right. There, she ran into Mark.

“Oh, sorry!” said Mark, looking almost frantic.

“No, no I’m sorry. Wasn’t paying attention.” the girl said quickly, stepping aside to walk away from him.

“Wait-!” called the youtuber.

(Y/n) didn’t want to have to deal with this, no, not at all. She turned back around, and taped on her best grin.

“I just overheard what you were saying...” Mark begun to explain. (Y/n)’s facial expression took on a look of exasperated shock “and you know, I came to offer a place to stay? Not just alone with me-! With myself, Ethan, Tyler, Kathryn, and Amy. My house mates, kinda...”

She didn’t say anything. Peering down, she looked at the plane ticket she held within her hand. L.A, huh?

“I mean...” then (Y/n) began to mumble “I don’t want to impose...”

“Not at all!” Ethan smiled when he appeared at Mark’s side “We’re offering.”

(Y/n) charmed them with a thankful look. Ethan was able to see her face fully now. He was roped in by her eyes, and couldn’t seem to bring himself to a focus.

“Alright, well...” the girl sighed and gave the two boys a real smile “I have nothing much to lose.”

Mark beamed back to her, gesturing for her to follow them. He led the way, allowing Ethan and (Y/n) to talk behind him.

“My name is Ethan.” he said cheerfully, looking down as they walked. The girl beside him smiled a thoughtful grin at Mark’s back.

“I thought as much. I’m (Y/n).”

The male took a moment to hear she had said before he replied with a heart in his mouth.

“You know who I am?”

“No.” replied (Y/n) “You just don’t look like much of a Kathryn.”

“Oh, right...”

The girl chuckled at his reaction, glancing at him curiously as the three of them walked. He seemed very genuine for someone she had just met. Offering her a house and kindness at three in the morning might not have been an easy feat for everyone. Ethan surely peaked (Y/n)’s interest; just a certain charm about him.

“Soo, airport girl, what’s up?” Mark asked, grinning back at her over his shoulder.

“Well, my parents and I were supposed to be going on a holiday in London. But I had to stay back for school stuff, so they flew me out later in the week.” the (size) girl began to explain, cutting through her words once with a resentful exhale “Turns out they suck at computers and clicked ‘L.A’ instead of ‘London’ for my flight location...”

“Yikes-” said Mark, sparing her a thoughtful glance. She gave him back an apologetic smile.

The group turned up at a far exit, where outside the door waited a cab containing Tyler and Amy.

Mark kindly swooped in beside (Y/n) and stole her luggage, hiding it away in the trunk for her. She thanked him.

“Alright, she can either sit beside Mark or Ethan.” offered Tyler. The mentioned brunette hoped in the very back beside Tyler and one empty seat. In front of him sat Amy, Ethan and the other empty seat.

(Y/n)’s answer came quickly, and kindly; very sure.

“I’ll sit next to Ethan.”

_____

(A/n): Hi yeah this is pretty shit so I’m going to make a part two for it

don’t worry, I’ll make it better

[survivorjordanpines]

Episode 4: Bless me father, for I have sinned - Adam

Okay, I really hope my tribe isn’t full of slow dumbasses who take forever on this challenge. Because if my (script-assisted) challenge time of ~3 minutes doesn’t end up winning me immunity, I am going to T H R O W H A N D S

So, that vote was a cluster fuck. Can you believe LA didn't tell me that the vote was on Kage and not Regan? i'm same. I can't wait to stab her in the back later on in this game just for the hell of it. I'm thinking I'll play nice for now and then when she least expects it, shove her into the proverbial waters and let her drag herself down. True friendship. This challenge has ruined my life so many times in the past. I.. actually did pretty good? 9 minutes, 21 seconds.. I think. I don't think I could have done it faster. I'm happy with my time. Can you imagine a world where I, the biggest flop, actually win an immunity? I mean, I won't, because we'll probably lose when half the tribe throws the fucking competition to try to win the immunity for themselves. I hate these people. I honestly only like Adam and Rafael right now because those kids didn't lie to me!!!

Bless me father, for I have sinned. It has been three tribals since my last confessional. I went to the isle and climbed the third tree, the last one that should've had something since kage told me there was nothing in the second, and jess said there was definitely one in one of the trees, but since mine was empty, someone lied. Probably Kage. He's nice he always says good morning to me. But turns out him and Jaiden were liars. They used my name to try and get Regan out. Saying I said she was an easy vote. Which is awkward because I did say that but not to them. Doesn't matter because Jaiden came clean and cleared my name. But these bitches can't be trusted. Sad I wasted my time on the isle, shoulda gone north but I wanted to rule out the trees. Oh well, hopefully I get to go back. Could really use some of them advantages. Oh well, glad I didn't have to go to this tribal cuz I didn't do shit for the music video challenge. Jordan just can't come up with a challenge that's not lame or cliche. Like flag making? Music video? Come up with something original 

Kage going was a major blindside. I think Charlotte and I were the only ones not part of it. So I need to maneuver through this game with her carefully. I am at the bottom of this tribe which means I need to a) up my social game and b) advertise myself as a free vote for anyone who wants it. Hopefully, I can make it through as I do not want to go against Kage in redemption island.

So i'm super excited its the Steps because I have an opportunity to redeem myself after being booted because of the steps in Easter and Great Lakes! Anyways theirs like a glitch with skype where if you go on airplane mode and then write all the messages then go off airplane mode they will all send within like a minute. It's a cute look and I want that immunity so I don't have to deal with having to send someone home I like. I'll return to the ashes of my tribe and figure out whats happening lmao 

I'm tired of these people already when can we tribe swap??

I think I managed to get Gage's trust. Our conversation today was a real heart-to-heart game-wise. He told me, willingly, about the Kage vote and we managed to agree that Kage was playing too hard, too fast. I think I have deflected a vote against me from him. I know I didn't win individual, but I think I secured a spot as the worst maybe? Karen is gunning for me all because of previous bad blood. I'm frustrated that my life in the game depends on her attitude. All I need is five votes in this next tribal council and I better go fishing now. Right now I feel like I have Gage and Charlotte only. They seem to be the ones who trust me like I trust them.

Well I have Gage's and Jaiden's vote for tribal. I don't know exactly who but I'm all ears for anyone that comes by. I was really hoping that Charlotte wouldn't go since I kind of needed her vote. If she stayed, I would have had four votes right there. Karen is heavily against me and I don't know who is on her side. It'll certainly be one hell of a vote, that's for sure.

[2017-11-24, 11:08:24 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): my first legitimate effort earned immunity [2017-11-24, 11:08:30 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): mastermind i don’t count bc thats partly luck [2017-11-24, 11:08:34 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): shooketh [2017-11-24, 11:08:43 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): regan with 47 hours is a fucking look [2017-11-24, 11:08:54 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): she pissed i’m going based on what i saw before i got kicked out lmao [2017-11-24, 11:09:09 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): i  hate people who sabotage their tribe for personal gain so i hope they vote her ass OuT

Can you believe your girl found an idol?

Apparently I'm the queen of finding idols if Jordan isn't in the damn game. I found one in Forbidden Forest, and one in Kuang Si. I mean, okay, technically I stole one from Ian in KS but I'm still counting that as a win for me. All my walking paid off and I searched the right tree to find an idol. It's not a cool idol or anything, Jordan just called it a hidden immunity idol and I GOT NO PICTURE, but still... it means I'm guaranteed safety whenever someone tries to vote my ass out so that's something. Let's see them try to come @ me with an idol in my pocket.   Is that a granola bar in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? NAH BITCH, that's an idol and I'm voting your ass OUT.

okay damn here's the sitch we got this weird six-person alliance going with me/ryan/jess and ruthie/emma/andreas, the last three of whom are presumably very close, and apparently jess/ryan/cole/casey also have a chat, and as a result i'm feeling more than a little left out of things. especially because both ryan and jess are unable to vote tonight (rats) so it's basically me and everyone else that i don't trust. BUT i had a good talk with casey last night and decided i would much rather work with her & cole and ryan/jess than the other three, especially cos emma's like literally not ever around and i dont see the point in keeping her here over someone who would talk to me. so what i'm thinking right now is, i vote with casey and cole for emma, the other three vote whomever, then there's a 3-3 and jess gets to vote on the revote so we can get it done. of course, this assumes that i can trust anyone, which - as previously stated - i can't. but i don't have time to worry about it so i'm gonna go with my gut. i'll write more later but i have to go make pita bread so ttfn

So my strategy in this challenge totally failed! Miserably. Anyways, so we have tribal and I really didn't wanna have to vote because I think this is where things shall get messy. I wanna stay in the background but Ari is really smooth and I can see they're like trying to paint this as my idea to send Cole him when it's kind of an unspoken thing that Cole should be the next to go. And then, part of me also wants to gather Cole and Casey and we vote Jess. Then plus her self-vote, she'd go home. I feel that it would be an iconic MOVE but its way too early to turn half my tribe against me and then I'd still be in a 4-3 minority. So honestly who knows what will happen tonight.

So, when i was chatting with Ari I knew they were making the convo seem a certain way and yet here I am now having Ari throw me under the bus to Cole. I had a good relationship with Cole and Ari just completely screwed me. I thought Ari was smart, but they're causing a lot of distrust. The only, ONLY way I see how this makes sense in their head is if I'm going to be the one going home. And that pisses me off. How do I know this is happening ? Because Cole confronted me about comments I made and guess what, the only person I've chatted with is Ari. I'm very frustrated, this move makes no sense for Ari, and now Ari is trying to throw Casey under the bus. I'm just overly very frustrated right now and this moves makes no sense for Ari. None at all. 

What a day. So I got all that sorted out with Cole, and I know Ari told him so I don't trust Ari anymore. What I thought we had is GONE. Now Casey is probably going which I'm not here for. AT ALL. But, I need to make sure Cole stays around so he still trusts me. I also think that Ari/Jess/RTP are setting me up to go home if we lost again, so I'm hoping for a swap so I can make some good relationships. One thing I have going for me is that I know a fair bit of people in this game and I can def use that to my advantage. Plus im the redemption island king so people don't wanna fuck me over for that. Part of me wants to just vote Jessica to get back at Ari, so honestly who even knows at this point. I'm a rather vindictive person and I think that ends up fucking me up in games, so I'm trying to think with my head but its hard when people are blatantly trying to pull the wool over my eyes.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASSSE make it so that Emma and I are on the same tribe, she's the only one that I think is 100% real to me.  Also I think Ari might be a rat, she told Cole that me, Emma and Andreas were voting for him and I???? I would never vote Cole. I would vote out some of my alliance members before I would vote out him. Maybe. 

The people that have come up to me about anything game-related are Regan, Gage, and Jaiden. Gage seems to honestly want to work with me along with Jaiden. Then there is Regan who just told about why the vote went as it did which I already knew about. Finally, I was talking with David and that was just friendly conversation. The only way to actually live through this tribal is to up my social game and basically follow wherever the majority is. That's the plan, but I still feel like I'll either get some votes or be voted out. The latter seems most likely.

So it looks like the majority is falling on Jaiden and I'm depressed. Jaiden is the one of the only people on this tribe that has my back. Losing him is losing a vote that will be with me for the rest of this tribe's existence. Now I just hope he wins redemption and isn't too pissed about me voting him out. Please let this work in my favor gods of Survivor!

Hey first confession here~ First tribal my tribe is full of sketchy people first pippa made a voting confessional i was throwing her name around well that was everybody and this vote i wanted to go vote off casey but ari decided to be messy and throw andreas name out i wanted  to be loyal to them for once instead of voting them off but noooo now jessicas name is being thrown out and aris name and caseys names because of me and etc.... Ruthie is my number 1 so yeah

Anyway I think we're blindsiding Adam, it'll be 4-2-2 so like 4 would be David Regan la and gage, 2 would be me and jaiden and 2 would be Adam and raf, assuming that Adam is voting with raf and not against him. Tbh if this works out then it'll look like I'm on the outs of the alliance so 🤷🏽‍♀️ It could work bc it might get me info on ppl who think I could swing their way instead. Also I'm considering actually working with jaiden, he seems trustworthy so far and he said he would vote for me so

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE BE A TRIBE SWAP PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE OR A MUTINY LET ME GET AWAY FROM THESE PEOPLE!!!!!

that was a mess and a half!

[gdwessel]

War Of The Worlds Night 4 - 5/14/2017: Title Change; News About The Podcast - Now Part of Place To Be Nation!

Last night was the final War of the Worlds show, from the old ECW Arena in Philly. I will place these under a spoiler cut, in deference to sensibilities of those who don’t want to know ahead of their airing on TV. The final episode taped of the night will be Episode 300. And there was a title change.

Meanwhile, we recorded Episode 25 of the Strong Style Story Podcast yesterday. It’s not up online yet, however in between recording and now, the show has now been officially picked up by Place To Be Nation and the Pro Wrestling Only Podcast Feed. Of course, they are also the ones that host the spin-off show Strong Style History. And they have a very large reach compared to the DIY operation myself, Chris, Steve, Lawrence, JB and all our associated guests have been doing.

So, Episode 25, when it’s up, will also now be on the PWO feed. The upshot of this is, eventually, our Podomatic and iTunes feeds will be going away, however P2BN has their own iTunes feed, so you can still get us that way. By the time LA rolls around (where we plan to podcast practically hourly), that’ll be all on P2BN/PWO. I hope they’re ready for this.

Meanwhile, we’d like to thank all our listeners who’ve helped us get to this point. Enjoy the shows!

Next NJPW show is Wednesday, the beginning of Best of the Super Juniors 24, which will be live on NJPWWorld. All singles action too!

- 5/17/2017, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Best of the Super Juniors A Block: Jushin Thunder Liger v. TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

Best of the Super Juniors B Block: Tiger Mask IV v. Volador Jr. [CMLL]

Best of the Super Juniors A Block: Ricochet [FREE] v. Taichi [SZKG]

Best of the Super Juniors B Block: ACH [FREE] v. BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

Best of the Super Juniors B Block: KUSHIDA v. El Desperado [SZKG]

Best of the Super Juniors A Block: Will Ospreay [CHAOS] v. Marty Scurll [ROH]

Best of the Super Juniors B Block: Ryusuke Taguchi v. Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Best of the Super Juniors A Block: Dragon Lee [CMLL] v. Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables]

And now, spoilers for last night’s ROH taping:

I’m lazy, so I’m copypastaing from Wrestling Inc.’s results page:

Ring of Honor War of the Worlds

Television Tapings 5/14/2017 *Spoilers* Title Change

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | The 2300 Arena

Sold Out House + Standing Room Only

Dark Match

* The Tempura Boyz (Sho & Yohei) defeated Coast 2 Coast (Leon St. Giovanni & Shaheem Ali) by pinfall

Episode 1

* The show opens with a promo from The Young Bucks and Hangman Page. They announce it's a new era in the Bullet Club and welcome Marty Scurll to the ring. Marty talked about how stupid Adam Cole was at the War of the Worlds PPV. He continues and asks, "Who's ready to have tea time with Marty?" Adam Cole interrupted asking, "Why have a tea party with Marty when you can have story time with Adam Cole?" Cole declares himself as the franchise player in the company. Page then says he's going to run Adam Cole out of the company.

* Josh Woods defeated David Starr by submission with a rolling knee bar

* Silas Young and The Beer City Bruiser come to the ring for a promo. Silas mocked Jay Lethal for being the franchise and asks what makes him special or better than him? Silas says he beat him clean in the ring in Milwaukee and claims he has his number. Lethal interrupted, walking down to the ring, saying this isn't a company where we talk about our problems. This is a company where we fight. Silas informs Lethal, "You don't get what you want. You get what I give you" as the Bruiser sneaks up on Lethal from behind and the next match begins. Silas joins the commentary team.

* Beer City Bruiser v. Jay Lethal. Lethal wins by DQ after Silas interferes. A beat down from both men commences on Lethal as Bobby Fish runs in for the save.

* Cody comes to the ring and blames ROH management for not wanting a guy like him, a guy without an ROH contract, to be their world champion. Kazarian comes out, presumably early and by accident, as Cody continues his lengthy rant. He turns his attention to Colt Cabana on commentary asking what he said at the War of the Worlds PPV. Eventually Cody points out that Colt stated Lethal's shoulders were down flat on the mat when Cody had him in the figure four and the referee didn't do his job ignoring a pin.

* TV Main Event: Cody defeated Kazarian with Crossroads. Hangman Page comes down and they double team Kazarian. Christopher Daniels runs in for the save.

Women of Honor

* Gabi Ortiz & Sumi Sakai defeated Tasha Steelz & "Bonesaw" Jessie Brooks after Sumi pinned Tasha following a northern lights suplex

Episode 2

* War Machine defeated Will Ferrera & Cheeseburger by pinfall. War Machine cut a promo talking about their IWGP tag title reign and then challenged The Young Bucks.

* BUSHI, Sanada, EVIL, & Naito defeated Mark & Jay Briscoe, Bully Ray, & Dalton Castle after Bushi nailed Mark Briscoe in the face with mist and Naito capitalized for the win.

* TV Main Event: Hangman Page defeated Adam Cole by pinfall following two reverse Tombstone Piledrivers. Lots of "Thank you Adam" chants before the bell. Following the match Page pushes referee Todd Sinclair down, takes his belt, and begins whipping Cole. Kazarian runs in for the save. Page & Kazarian quickly vacant the ring area. "Thank you Adam" chants break out again throughout the arena. As Cole raises his hand thanking the fans Marty Scurll attacks Cole from behind. Marty says he just stole his moment like he did at the War of the Worlds PPV. It is then announced that the non-televised main event of the evening will be Marty Scurll v. Adam Cole in a Philadelphia Street Fight.

Intermission

Women of Honor

* Kelly Klein defeated Jenny Rose by submission with a dragon sleeper

Episode 3

* Roppongi Vice & "The Kentucky Gentleman" Chuckie T (Chuck Taylor) defeated Hangman Page & The Young Bucks when Taylor pinned Matt Jackson

* The Rebellion (Rhett Titus & Shane Taylor) w/ Caprice Coleman v. Jay White & Jonathan Gresham. The match appeared to be a no contest after Kenny King and the Motor City Machine Guns interfered. King attacked Gresham first directly in front of the ref but let the action go. There was no official announcement. After the melee, the babyfaces stood in the ring and challenged The Rebellion to a match at the next ROH PPV on June 23rd. They declared that the losing team must disband. So the match is set- Search & Destroy v. The Rebellion at ROH Best in the World.

* TV Main Event for the ROH Television Title: Kushida defeated Marty Scurll by pinfall after Adam Cole came to the ring dressed as Marty Scurll, distracted Marty, and Kushida capitalized for the win becoming the new ROH TV champ.

Episode 4 (TV Episode 300)

* Silas Young & The Beer City Bruiser defeated Bobby Fish & Jay Lethal after Silas scored the pin on Lethal

* The Kingdom (Vinny Marseglia & Matt Taven w/TK O'Ryan) defeated Dalton Castle's Boys. Following the match Mark Briscoe enters the ring and confronts Castle in what was a heated verbal exchange. Jay Briscoe comes down to intervene followed by Bully Ray. After talking him down, Mark then leaves through the crowd.

* Punishment Martinez destroys Joey "Diesel" Daddiego in under two minutes

Cody comes out to join the commentary team

* TV Main Event: The Addiction (Christopher Daniels & Kazarian) & Tanahashi defeated Gedo, Goto, & Will Ospreay after Daniels nails Gedo with the Best Moonsault Ever Following the match Tanahashi vacants the area and Hangman Page and Cody attack Daniels & Kazarian

ROH Web Exclusive - Philadelphia Street Fight Marty Scurll defeated Adam Cole with the chicken wing after countless interference from The Bullet Club

"Thank you Adam", "Please Don't Go", & "Speech" chants filled The 2300 Arena as Adam Cole asks, "Who's ready for story time with Adam Cole baybay?" A "We will miss you" rang out. Cole then delivered his farewell address to the ROH crowd.

"I fell in love with pro wrestling at the young age of nine years old and I was infatuated with guys like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Rock and all the countless superstars that I saw. But what really made me decide that I wanted to be a professional wrestler was Ring of Honor. [applause]

I've said this countless times and it's the truth, this place- not just the locker room, not just the camera men, not just the referees, but all of you, we are one big, giant family. The love and respect that each and every one of you have shown me is the reason I can stand before you here today nine years a pro wrestler, three times a world champion traveling the globe because you guys thought I was good enough. No matter what happens going forward, I just want each and every one of you to know that I deeply love you and Ring of Honor will always be my home. And I'll end it with this, since she's here, Mom- Happy Mother's Day!"

Cole's music hits as the crowd applauded. Cole held up his index finger indicating "one more time". Cole bent down and throws 'em up as the crowd let out a thunderous, "ADAM COLE BAYBAY!!!" The crowd chants "Thank you Adam" as he departs.

[micromanfever]

Walter Rosales [Editor at Solowrestling.com] interviews El Zorro (Jesús Cristóbal Martínez) 2/12/17

Link to interview��https://www.solowrestling.com/new/58942-el-zorro-en-exclusiva-aaa-necesita-hacer-cambios-y-estoy-seguro-en-que-los-hara

If you are reading this, please consider clicking the link to give that site a view

FOLLOW Walter Rosales on twitter @WalteRosalesII

The Solowrestling team had the pleasure of interviewing Mexican wrestler Jesús Cristóbal Martínez, better known as El Zorro. Zorro's career is outstanding, taking a step towards the largest companies in the US and Mexico, being in his native country where he was established for years as a centerpiece of the company Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). Known for its facets in the company, and his rivalries with people of the stature of Charly Manson, Cibernetico, Dr. Wagner Jr. and El Mesias, the former champion remained in the company for almost 17 years, until finally deciding to abandon it. Zorro agreed to talk exclusively with Solowrestling , to tell us more details about his departure, as well as reflect on his career and upcoming projects or plans. - After 17 years of AAA company you have left their cast of wrestlers, and although you commented that it was not related to the other departures, you leave when you are involved in the middle of a story with The Apaches and the OGT's, what motivated to make that decision to leave AAA? "I think that independently, if before or after my decision there were differences, I want to think that each one had his personal motive, that's why there comes a time when you agree and take your step. In my case I can say that it wasn't a month, a little more than a month ago I made the decision, but it took me 5 years to think about, in which my character went from being at the top and went down. The same thing (leaving) does not have to be explained, people know and even in chats and in social networks I have seen that they realize why. I expressed myself not once, but several times, and it was agreed that they were going to make better decisions with my character, but actions were not taken.

I have nothing to say to my bosses. They always gave me help. They listened to me and I have very good anecdotes and experiences with them that I am personally very grateful for. But you realize that sometimes it isn't the pattern, but its the political relations by people who are assigned by power to serve, and not to serve in power. Unfortunately that has always existed and there came a time when I wondered what was I doing there. But I reiterate, there were many times where it wasn't the pattern, but many times it was the people around. Because there is always is favoritism. Their motives carry favortism, but it's better not to be involved. It's better to cut it off while your healthy and get out. I can not make my family depend on people in a place where they have like you to give you something to do. I have trajectory (resume/history), knowledge and skills that could have helped me develop more. I wasn't able to and that's understandable, but that is why I would rather spend my time on other things that do not know if they will work until they are undertaken. I think it was the healthiest thing for the company and for me, 17 years is not anything short, but I'm happy because I always tried to do the right thing. But it always wasn't up to me. Things happen for a reason. - AAA in the last 12 months has had many people leaving, this is something that happened in 1997 when several of his talents left to join the company Promo Azteca , and at that time you were starting as part of Promo Azteca . Today you are on the other side. What have you reflected on after having lived both experiences from such opposite points of view? "The experience that has left me is to understand that when you reach a new place, that it's like a river in which there is a current, you must paddle with the current, because when you add to and not take away, your stay is favorable. I have learned that when there is no more current, you better move. In the case of my colleagues, everyone has their reasons and are very respectable. But I think I do not care or talk about them. When there is a change it is because something is happening. If things were right you would stay. Not that I want to cover the sun with a finger, or speak poorly, I simply say that in your personal life you have a perfect relationship, it is because things get along well, when you start to have problems is because something you are doing wrong . There are many reasons, but it was good to belong at one time to Promo Azteca. Then independent and then AAA, because the change in air, when you know that you will not give more or you can give more but there are better alternatives, is valid enough.

Because tomorrow you are going to ask yourself what would happen if you would have done this, but what if does not exist. It's worse than asking yourself why you didn't do anything, than trying to do something and fail. I have learned that and that's why I have decided to make the move, or take the risk if you will. The independent wrestler is aware that he will have to go to places of all kinds. It's the mentality to have, but at least you know that you will charge equally everywhere, but you have to give your best performance and demonstrate it. There is a fable called Who ate my cheese? , I remember that when I read it I understood that you have to decide between eating the same cheese and waiting for it to end, or going out to find a new place where there is, or who knows when you will find it, but I think you get more by going to look for it. I learned a lot from that. " - Obviously each exit had it's own reasons, but after all, in the locker room there were lost friendships, either from complaints to the board as is the case of Fenix or misunderstandings as in Jack Evans with La Parka, what was the environment Of work among AAA wrestlers before your departure? "I feel that the work and companionship did not have any problems. There are different styles and companions, but when you try to become a complete wrestler is when you face every type of fighter. It makes you better by taking on any type of style. If I had the opportunity to have a character like La Parka, then I would not think twice. And not just me, but anyone. Now, if you ask me if La Parka is a comedy act or a bad character, I'm going to say neither, because I had the opportunity to face La Parka and do things outside of his style and he knows how to do them. Which is different from not being required to do them. Because people have him categorized with a certain fighting style, and it's very valid point of view, but that does not mean I do not know, but I do not defend it. There are comrades with whom you fight with, but if there is not that I think your passion for wrestling has become meaningless. When there are battles, you must strive, and I say battle because when it costs you to collaborate and take advantage. That has to be because if it wasn't, it would be boring." - To finish with the subject. Equally due to the company's exit, people note that the situation in AAA is perhaps not the best, and several reasons have been pointed out, some very serious even as the referendum Copetes Salazar has received complaints of sexual harassment and the company has not acted on it. What do you think has been the factor or the accumulation of factors that have led to the current situation of AAA ?, Do you think this may change in the future? "Well, I reiterate that each one has their motive, I can not say that Copetes Salazar has proposed something to me because NO [laughs], but everyone is different. I do not defend anybody, but if there are times when it's annoying and there is favoritism, and there will always be. I can give examples and say them out loud, but it's a very exhausting subject. It will not solve anything. It's better to get up, shake off the dust and walk away. But, I know that there will be changes in the company, because there must be. It is a very consolidated company, solid and with a lot of infrastructure. I am confident that they will do so and if they don't, they have their reasons. They should do it for the benefit of everyone. We are human beings and we make mistakes. Sometimes we have to be aware to whom we give a power and know of that person to know if it is apt to exercise that power, but I am not concerned with the power to judge. That power doesn't belong to me. I have a good relationship with my ex-bosses. Which they will take it into account and will be correcting those issues." - Now you start as an independent and you have your first confirmed date in The Crash , company with which you will present again, in a public known as the Tijuana, What expectation is generated by your next appearance? "Look, there is no small venue or small crowd, the public of Tijuana is one of the best crowds in Mexico. They are very knowledgeable and demanding, so it is a very big commitment. Being able to confront foreigners who have a very different style in Mexico is a big challenge. It is a challenge to be able to take advantage of them and demonstrate why you are there and why you are given that responsibility. And it is good for your career because people will say that you are trustworthy and that you can be part of the package. The best reward is for people to come out happy, to recognize your talent." - You will fight Jeff Jarrett, with whom you have outstanding accounts, Is this the opportunity to pay them off or do you see it as one more step in the story between you? "Notice that it is a challenge for El Zorro because Jeff Jarrett in the career against El Zorro has been something ephemeral like. It was a feud that could have given more, but the purposes of the feud went to another goal. But now I have the chance and maybe people want the rivalry to continue, and I would like to sincerely give you one more chapter. And not just with Jeff Jarrett, but with other wrestlers who have been a cornerstone in the career of El Zorro, it's time to do it. To get people happy and come back to see something that was pending is a great challenge." - Speaking of Jeff Jarrett, he has made his return to TNA recently, in fact in his match with you, will be Eli Drake. Who is also in TNA. Years ago, you came to confirm that your arrival to TNA. However we never saw you in the company. What happened between you and TNA that we did not get to see your arrival there? "Lack of communication. When that does not exist, it is as the saying goes: you can not serve two masters. I believe that now that El Zorro is an independent, my commitment is directly with me and I am free to make and make decisions and commit to myself. To agree on something and to carry it out. It is an attitude that shows that you are willing to do, and it is important when you step foot in any company or territory. Especially when you own your time. - Even without having participated in TNA, you have already had a tour in the USA. You even got to participate in the three big companies like WWE (WWF at the time), WCW and ECW. Being on TV even as part of the program Super Astros. What memories do those experiences leave you and how much do you think helped your career? "A lot, a lot. I think everything that went from 1998 to the end of 2000 were very important for that stage in my career. The fact of leaving your country and facing foreigners gives you a lot of experience. If El Zorro had not made that decision to leave, he would not be the same. I want to take that road again, I want to learn and I want to help people just starting out, just like they did with me at the time. I think now that I have the opportunity to return the favor to wrestling and to the new talents. It is something that I have in my intentions set on and will achieve it". - You were in Super Astros but today we have Lucha Underground. Which was driven by AAA and has wrestlers from the company, you however were not part of the show. How were wrestlers chosen for the Lucha Undergound show ? "Notice that it was something that we all expected, but sometimes it's not on certain people, as is in the case of Dorian Roldán, to be able to take people that you want, that would be different. To take the people you want to take, maybe there were restrictions placed and it just didn't happen. But the fact that you do not go to Lucha Underground does not mean you do not go to other venues, maybe Lucha Underground is not for you. At the time when I was as independent  abroad, I stepped into places I never thought I would step on and met people I never thought I would meet. So they were unforgettable experiences that I never thought to have. It was a very motivational thing to experience. Now, belonging to a company is good. I do not say no, because it's like a cycle in which you're going to compromise. It's the same as if you do not have a place to belong but you're treading, what's important is that you do not lack in opportunities. As a wrestler and as a person is paramount for you to grow. If you have a better company, if they value you and give you a better work plan, do it the best you can, because that company can be the springboard for many proposals and many goals." - Some came to report that there were annoyances from those who were not invited to join the Lucha Underground and that there were even blockades for talents like Faby Apache, Do you know anything about this case or did you notice these supposed frustrations? "Well, when the news came that we were going to undertake the new US market. We were all aware that we were going to take part at the time, and so far there are some like in my case that did not take part. But I reiterate, there may be many things and situations, but I see it as not all may have gone, not because you weren't able to preform in that situation, but because you were being counted on to be a mainstay for the company here. The company was going to count on them completely, and sometimes you can not venture into other territories being that you are a workhorse for the company. The company can not run out of talent. It's a complicated issue that maybe not everyone can understand, but it's not because you do not have the talent, Faby Apache is a very complete wrestler, everyone knows it, she's a very good wrestler, and not because she is not able to wrestle in the USA but, for the simple reason is that she is the standard for women in AAA and when one thinks of women, they think of her." - With 41 years of age and more than 20 years of experience you have been in AAA, CMLL, Aztec Promo, WWF, WCW, ECW and fought in several countries, it seems that you have nothing left to do, but refute it. What remains for to do for El Zorro? "A lot! Believe me I would like to travel again. Two years for me were not enough. I was inspired by Mil Mascaras who was an ambassador for Mexican wrestling. He traveled the world in many places and I have followed his career and inspired me as a fighter, especially as an independent fighter. It is a delight to hear him speak. That gentlemanly and he has a lot of wisdom. Two years were not enough and I think that El Zorro can do even more. I would like to be an example to the new people, that if you set your mind to it, you can do it. As Mr. Mil Mascaras says, the basis of success is the effort, If you want it then you must try harder." - Did you have anything left to do in AAA? "Yes, I needed to defend the megachampionship more. I think it was a matter of giving more work and more development to the character and give my luster to the championship. I think that when you have a championship it's like a relay race. If you get the relief, you have to do your part. Strive to travel a few kilometers and then give the relief to the next person. So yes, I think I needed it, but well, believe me, if you are given the chance. I would do it, and in the best way." - Precisely that reign reflects a lot of how in Mexico the championships are valued, since they are not usually the most important in a rivalry, do you consider that they should give them more importance? "I think the championships are are equal to the performance that you put in. And, if it is important, it would be more important to be able to give that athlete that prestige and the opportunity to defend it. Not so much to maintain it. If you defend it, it's because you can maintain it. Now if you defend it and keep it, Next time will be much more competitive. I think it is not only in AAA but in Mexico that this system has been lost. To give that motivation to the athlete, to be able to get that bit of extra effort out. - You have been innovative in Mexico to have several characters such as the prophet, the man in the iron mask, the Count of Seville and others, Is it important for you to keep the change of image? "I think not only for El Zorro, but for every fighter that has to be important. Something that caught my attention that I learned abroad is when you mix your development wrestling with acting. The power to give life to certain characters is something that captivated me. I had my mouth open and impressed, because I had never seen it . I saw a Mankind, a Cactus Jack, a Dude Love and a Mick Foley and said 'But there are four characters in one!'  The development of each character was something that for me was like a child with toys or new shoes, said that he had to do that. I remember that when the opportunity presented itself to change the character of the Zorro for the first time and to use the character of the iron mask, Mr. Antonio Peña (QEPD) said 'I like to talk to you, because you have a lot of restlessness like me' And I would say 'I like it better, because if I am crazy you are even more' [laughs]. He was a very open person and he never said no. Two people with whom I will always be grateful to work are Victor Quiñones (QEPD) and Antonio Peña, who taught me that everything can be done. You can not say that you can'tt because if you don't do it, it's something to both be heard in different concepts but directed to the same thing. With the changes of Zorro I realized that I could do it, and I can say that I have used characters that you will not imagine, and gave life to original characters that people said could not be done.

They are challenges, but you can do it, and doing them makes you a complete wrestler. "I think now I have the opportunity to return the favor to wrestling and new talent, it is something that I have in my plans and I want to achieve it. "

Getting to have these characters like being possessed by a mask, talking to an invisible horse, a prophet, imitating the Spanish accent, was there one you would most enjoy playing it? "Everyone of them, I liked them all! People have their favorites and they have their reasons. Maybe people would be more focused on a certain character. But personally speaking, to talk to a horse and pretend to be a madman, not anyone will do. Face the cameras then forget it. Maybe it seemed ridiculous to many, but my teacher told me if you want to be convincing, first convince yourself. And if you do, you're going to convince them. It was a challenge to make totally opposite characters, but it is an experience that is unforgettable.” - Have you thought of new ideas to execute now that you are independent? "No, but notice that I want to do this. I want to have a concept in which El Zorro is neither tecnico nor rudo. I already have some dates out there. I think I'm being programmed more as a tecnico than as rude and some have asked me when El Zorro will return to its origin, and I feel that soon it will and I would love to return to that character. But more-so I would love another challenge. At least in Mexico. In Japan yes with (Keiji) Mutoh and another Japanese that I do not remember the name of, they to interpret two characters at a time. For me that would be a great challenge, it would be like in the movie with Don Diego de la Vega and El Zorro, in this case Cristóbal Martínez and El Zorro, and it would be a challenge that I would like to do." - Now as independent your list of rivals and partners extends. Are there any with whom you would like to meet again or a new talent with which you want to partner with? "Zorro's career was very marked by Charly Manson. People think so and I also think so. If I would like to give the second part. It would include Cibernetico too, and why not? As partners as well. I would like a one-on-one with Ultimo Guerrero, Rush, LA Park, with people that were not possible before, because before I was in a company and because of the policies, it did not happen. But already to be part of the independent circuit gives it a chance to happen. I would like them to be one-on-one. The same for them has to be a plus. The plus being able to show that they are made of. There are many young people too. The truth is that they surprise me as prepared as they are today. If you go to DTU, because it is a small company, but it has created it's own sense of prestige in Mexico. It is a nursery/stomping grounds for new outstanding talent and a checkpoint where many pass, go to USA, come to AAA and even Elite, to the CMLL. Maybe it is a short stay, but they go on, and that in my times was rare to see. The young people are still preparing and have the desire that motivates you to give more. You no longer see the old school thinking of saying I'm going to mess you up, but instead you give the talent confidence to work. The match doesn't happen alone. It takes a group effort. I can say that as an experienced talent it feels rewarding to know that you have earned their trust, that is priceless. - There are established veteran talents that today, do the work of promoters or creative, Would you like to have a role like this? "You do not know this, but something I talked to Joaquín Roldán about in the last few days that we sat down to talk, was that there were projects for me to add my input to the creativity department, and I think that area hurt me Very much not being able to carry it out. Because when Mr. Antonio Peña was around, I would give ideas and when they came into confidence, they would tell me to do it. One of the topics that was discussed in my departure was that and I would have liked to go and be able to help the talents, to do as I had been taught. To do as I saw done.

The thing about working with the cameras and many other things that make you more complete. Believe me I do not regret, but I would have liked to stay to do that. It was the time to carry it out but it didn't happen and things happen for a reason. - Currently Mexican wrestling has been somewhat shaken and perhaps affected by internal and external factors, in your role as a veteran. What message would you leave today to your colleagues and to the fans? "The fans become more and more demanding, and increasingly knowledgeable. Things can be done and are being done but everything is a process. There are fans who are truly knowledgeable and are the ones who as a wrestler when you convince them you are on the other side. There are pseudo-fans who say nothing more than just to say things. They're opinions that give much to be desired, but there has to be that because it is part of Wrestling. This is going to improve. Wrestling is a sport that in Mexico happens to be culture. In 2016 they declared it an official day, and being the second sport behind the soccer means a lot.

This is going to grow and improve, bad opinions and concepts will be still be around, but if there was no such thing, it would not make sense. The new generations, promoters, as well as the wrestlers have much to give for this to continue to transcend. They have nothing more to take care of and maintain respect for the fans and for oneself. Everything can be done, you only have to be willing to. - Thank you for this unforgettable chat and thoughts Zorro. Please, if you could send a message to your readers at Solowrestling we would appreciate it more. "Friends talking to you is your friend El Zorro, the prophet of wrestling, to invite you to follow Solowrestling closely. The best interviews, podcast and so on. And remember that if there is a god and there is a messiah, there is a prophet and his name is El Zorro.

Link to interview https://www.solowrestling.com/new/58942-el-zorro-en-exclusiva-aaa-necesita-hacer-cambios-y-estoy-seguro-en-que-los-hara

If you are reading this, please consider clicking the link to give that site a view

W Rosales Editor Solowrestling.com  @WalteRosalesII