#so maybe she looks uncanny 24/7

[n-just-n]

Practice? Haven't been dong portraits quite some time

[melanodis]

*EidoLotus voice* M... More...? More Natah...? 👉👈

FR FR i am SO curious about her. What is ur design rationale what r ur headcanons for her please please elaborate... I wanna knoweee

- Leo 🦁

really old doodle ft nimbus (my friend's mimic oc) yayyy

The doodles above don't really do her much justice but I wanted a really quick mockup. She has the little elbow feathers on the sides of her head :)

@leolithe

She's like a fish or some kind of creature to me, at least in her more sentient form.

I do really like the interpretation of her as a system but I don't do it myself because I'm simply not educated enough on the topic nor have much firsthand experience with them in order to comfortably do so.

She also occasionally visits the drifter camp and has a little hangout area in the cave just for her.

Post TNW she's a lot more... loose? Unhinged, even? Faced with the realization that you have free now and can do whatever you want. With how Hunhow sits in the oceans of Uranus it makes me associate sentients with being aquatic so I like to think she just... dives into the streams of the camp or even in Cetus to catch fish to eat. See above image.

More rambling under the cut.

Along the same vein, she also struggles with having to remember she does in fact have free will now. She doesn't HAVE to play mission control 24/7. I imagine outside of the little pod she has on Lua, she has an entire nice little living area all to herself, adorned with porcelain, gold, and many lush plants. Something that even the Orokin would gawk at. A library full of texts long thought lost, many in dead languages from old Earth.

For more rationale towards my design; I wanted her to sort of embrace her sentient nature more, maybe looking kind of aggressive and colorful. Like a bird. But she's a big sweetheart, really.

Doing "human" things to break up the monotony of her previous life. Even something as simple as making tea from a kettle. Ballas' line, "Her kind feel no pain". She wants to prove him wrong so badly. To drink tea, burn her tongue a little and this silly human mistake makes her feel alive. That little flinch and shock down her spine as her nerves recover. Maybe a little wave, "oops".

She's genuinely so tragic. Spending millennia as a pawn just to switch hands multiple times. The deception, the manipulation, the gaslighting. Then finally being freed and just... not knowing what to do with yourself because you can't remember what it was like without being manipulated, by facets of constructed selves in your mind or by external forces. gggggghuhhhhh.

While my Natah still kinda takes from facets of Margulis, it's more of a like, uncanny valley type way. It looks like her but something is Off.

More or less Lotus is used to talking to brick walls. So for someone to actually actively listen to her (and not roll their eyes, shrug it off) and engage in conversation is actually insane to her. Like reading off a script your entire life and suddenly being forced to scramble together your own coherent sentences. Narrating her every thought in her head like the silly machine she is. "Oh god, it's been 2.3 seconds and I'm sweating bullets. She's looking at me. I haven't formulated a sentence. It's been 3 seconds now. She's raising her eyebrow awaiting a response. Um. UM." An awkward grin.

I have taken to kinda smashing her like barbies with Eudico, with what I have dubbed "mom squared (mom²)", two people learning through each other what it actually means to be human. Eudi retelling what it's like to be organic (originally), Natah taking notes. What a "normal" family would've been like. It's all completely new to her but it's so interesting to contrast against her own.

Something cool I found from decompiling her model is that the Lotus helmet perfectly covers the face seams on her sentient form.

Aaaand an excerpt from my notes that I've held onto forever.

-

Something something about Eudi being warm and Natah being cold and comparing that their bodies are both synthetic but completely different architectures. Themes of Corpus technology in sterile white rooms whereas Sentients live and thrive in those warm (colored, i doubt drifting in the dead of space is warm lmao), organic Sentient murex.

It's like. How the Warframes are more or less just tech meat. Sentients too, created by the Orokin, would probably follow the same flavor of design.

"Time and time again, you've had to rebuild yourself with nothing but scraps... why not change things up sometime?"

Eudico shrugs.

"Why don't you? You can be anything you want."

"I guess we've both grown too comfortable in our bodies, then."

"There's pieces of my parents in me. Like my face, that defines me as a person, gives me an identity and paired with a unique voice to match. But that's about all I have left that's mine."

"I think I get it. It would be.. rude, to get rid of those features."

"More sentimental value than anything, Really. Plus, I like my red hair. It's.. quite rare in Corpus society."

And Natah continues to cling onto Margulis, because no matter her form we still see facets of her.

[azures-grace]

i give you two options

a. the entire list of questions

or

b. 2, 5, 14, 20

Challenge MCFUCKING accepted

Questions at the end

1. 4 published, but technically I worked on The Shadow of the Wicked but didn't publish anything for it.

2. One shots!

3. Fallout lmaoo

4. 2, Skyrim and Fallout, 3 if you wanna get technical and say My Father's Name is FNV and Too Much has Fallen in Mine is Fo3

5. Butchicity.... Goober n Gore......

6. Butch DeLoria and Moira Brown

7. Yeah! Started writing for Fallout, and the new ships would be Moira and Lissy and Butch and Lissy but that technically hasn't actually come up in any writing yet. There's stuff I've been writing for it tho.... But for later.....

8. TMHFIM, it was really special to me because it was like... The first thing I was able to write after being really depressed for a long ass time. God bless antidepressants.

9. Ooh... Hard question. I was really happy to work on all of them, but I think Let me hold you until I soften your hands made me the happiest because it's just. Pure fluff.

10. One of the oneshots, I'm a whore for unfinished long fics nshdjejdbd

11. Uncanny Blood, mostly because I wanted to work on later parts a lot and had to figure out travel times and then had to write a whole extra chapter even though technically I had 2 chapters after it written, so currently the fic is at a standstill because I have to write chapter 3, even though I have 4 and 5 ready to go 😔😔😔

12. None of them lmaoo. My Father's Name, probably. I know the beginning of New Vegas pretty well.

13. Shortest: My Father's Name, Longest: TMHFIM

14. Depends on when in the year I was? I've got a couple character playlists n stuff sorry for the terrible answer lmao djsjjzbd

15. TMHFIM, I was stuck between several titles, but I'm using at least one of them for a later chapter, so all is well.

16. Let me hold you until I soften your hands. Makes me emotional

17. "Evenings by the fire were always their favorite part of the evening." Or "Her father had been… distant lately." I feel like both of those set up the tone of the story pretty well. And I giggle at the sentence mistake in the first

18. Well. I've only got two of those. But it's " “I think I'd like that, blood.” " which makes more sense in context. I'm gonna go cry about it now.

19. Eheheheh my favorite part. I have 2

“Hey,” Amkar said lightly. “Even if there's no real information here, at least it's very pretty to look at. Those Nords sure were on to something…”

“Weird to hear that from a Thalmor soldier,” she pointed out, pulling out her journal and beginning to sketch the crarvings.

“Just because I'm a racist doesn't mean I can't enjoy art,” he said.

She took a long pause trying to figure out if he was being serious or not. “Are you joking?”

And

“Hey!” a voice shouted from above.

She looked up, shading her eyes with her good arm. “Hi?”

“Are you a raider?” the voice called down.

“What's a raider?” Felicity asked, flabbergasted.

“Sherrif! You should get over here, there's some weird girl covered in blood at the gate!”

20.

“Oh? Family? You're not some deranged lunatic who spawned into Tamriel with a poor haircut and a strangely lovely taste in music?” Caryalind had pushed himself up onto his elbows to look at her.

21. I don't think so...? I think what surprised me most is how terribly Bethesda's characters in Skyrim are developed, I guess? At least for the minor ones and the general factions. Too many bandits. So I gave them personalities.

22. Google docs 😔

23. Felicity punching Moriarty, no question about it.

24. Nope

25. I didn't, I guess? Just... Fell into a writer's block and then came back months later.

26. Looooots of fanart, my azure arted tag has almost all of it.

27. None in the fanfic world, but I had 2 art trades this year and that was fun! I'd love to do more in the future.

28. My friends who listened to me ramble about my characters :]]

29. Finish up Chapter 6 of TMHFIM!

30. Oughg more TMHFIM and maybe a New Vegas fic or prequel that covers Celeste? Those would be fun...

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

How is brand Harry & Meghan faring in the US? Not good | Arwa Mahdawi | The Guardian

Is America finally getting bored of Harry and Meghan? It’s starting to look that way. Only a few months ago the pair were media darlings in the US; now they have become a bit of a joke. The animated sitcom South Park gave the first big blow to their stateside brand a couple of weeks ago with an episode featuring a couple bearing an uncanny similarity to the Sussexes. In the episode, titled The Worldwide Privacy Tour, the pair travel the globe with placards saying: ��Stop looking at us!” and chanting: “We want privacy!” Harry’s memoir, Spare, is parodied as “Waaaagh”. The couple also get advice from a PR expert who tells them to portray themselves as victims. Not terribly flattering stuff.

Now the comedian Chris Rock has taken aim at the couple in his new Netflix special, Selective Outrage. He dismissed Meghan’s claims about racism in the royal family, saying: “Some of that shit she went through was not racism”, but “in-law” behaviour. He also joked about how it was odd Meghan seemed surprised by the fact the royal family might harbour archaic views. “It’s the royal family! They’re the original racists. They invented colonialism,” Rock said.

Polls also reflect a shift in US-based attitudes towards the pair: their approval ratings have plummeted since the South Park episode. According to polling commissioned for Newsweek, Harry’s popularity has dropped 48 points since December and Meghan’s is down 40. Now Prince Andrew, the guy who palled around with a convicted sex offender, has higher US approval ratings than the Sussexes. Though, to be fair, that seems to be because fewer people in the US know about Andrew’s tawdry dealings than they do in the UK. Because Andrew isn’t parading himself on the US media 24/7 like Harry and Meghan, it’s easier for someone stateside to forget who he is. If only we all had that luxury.

How are Harry and Meghan responding to this seeming shift in attitudes? Well, let’s just say they haven’t exactly put out a statement saying they think Rock and South Park are hilarious and they love nothing more than laughing at themselves, ha ha ha. On the contrary, there were rumours that they were so upset by the South Park episode that they were considering legal action. While they’re certainly fans of calling their lawyers, a representative for the couple told the Guardian that reports the pair might sue were “baseless” and “boring”.

I’ll tell you what’s really boring: the neverending pity-me-please performance the two are foisting upon us. As a staunch anti-royalist I was sympathetic to the couple to begin with – my enemy’s enemy is my friend and all that – but the constant oversharing has jumped the shark. Particularly since it becomes more obvious by the day that their grievances are less to do with systemic inequality and more to do with feeling they didn’t get a big enough slice of the born-with-privilege pie. I mean, come on, you can’t go around complaining about how backwards the royals are while insisting that we plebs refer to you as Duke and Duchess. You want some credibility? 

Give up your stupid titles.

Another unsolicited piece of advice for Duke and Duchess: read the socioeconomic room! You may have noticed that “eat the rich” storylines are a big theme on TV at the moment. From the latest season of Netflix’s You to the White Lotus to Succession, there are more rich-people-are-awful-sociopaths storylines on the telly than you can shake a silver spoon at. This isn’t a weird coincidence. It’s been noted that storylines about rich people tend to vary depending on the economic climate: in good times onscreen obscene wealth can be enjoyable escapism; in bad times it’s more of a hate-watch. And, I don’t need to tell you, the world is currently going through “you need to take out a second mortgage to buy eggs” sort of times.

Finally, Harry: I know you weren’t exactly the most committed student, but maybe pick up a history book. The US has something of a reputation for losing patience with British aristocrats.

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist

​

[hospitalterrorizer]

diary286

6/30-7/1/24

sunday - monday

the end of pride month. ..

i did not do anything, i sort of wish i had.

i am also up way too late again. i slept until 5 pm today for no reason??? so idk. screwed up... everything was going okay too it felt like, w. sleep.

anyway, i did draw more for the cover art, and maybe a couple more draw-y bits and then it'll come to collaging some more stuff together.

i also worked on music more.., other songs again. it's really fun, i forgot that, it distracts me though, i need to get to other stuff and writing songs that i want to use for b sides, while good, just probably results in more stuff i end up needing to figure out... but it does make me happy. it's just a mess to keep lists and things, which is how i tend to try to manage that stuff, keeping stuff i want for full things, stuff i wanna stick on b sides to singles, and filenames written in a notebook i have so i can memorize it all better. even just writing helps keep stuff in mind.

oh, here's something i ought to write down, i learned a new word today:

solecism.

it can be a grammatical error (speech or writing (though inclination tells me that i ought to think more for speech? idk)). it can also be a faux pas, is one way to put it but that's only sort of it i think, it's also, according to webster 'a breach of social etiquette,' another meaning is 'a deviation from the proper/normal/expected order', all of this together colors the word interestingly, where grammatical failures represent a kind of social blight/failing to exist within, not just the normal i suppose but the order/ideal handed to you, to represent that thing as well. a solecism is a kind of floating tumor upon the norm, in language, perhaps then too the grammar of the body? as in, body language, reactions as solecism, that kind of thing. this all helps me, new words are important to cling to, develop relationships with.

it's good to discover a new use for this diary, i should be explicitly doing this every time i see a new word, unless it's a bunch in a day.

listening to majority rule before bed now... i did play more elden rign, but i didn't do a lot today, as i am at the final boss of the dlc without much else to explore, but i do think there is some, i am going around and doing that. it's really sad that it's gonna be over soon. i love wandering around that world they made, the overcast harsh autumn, the green/pretty places uncanny and scary by their proximity to that lovely and gnarled tree. i killed the big sunflower boss, and i really loved its design, and the fight was fun too. having seen the final boss i figure it will probably make me feel a little crazy and irritated but idk, that's kind of the arc you go through with these bosses, where at the end of it, you're like, i kind of love you. which is beautiful to me.

also having seen a lot of the dlc, it's really kind of awful to me how people seem to be responding to it, like totally hating it, or like, saying it's awful because the bosses are 'cheap'. the ways gamers get can be really freaky. it's insane that people feel their egos are wounded because they couldn't kill a boss in a videogame. the worst i ever feel is like, bothered in the moment that it killed me in two hits, which i think is a misstep, it should be a minimum of 3 hits, some bosses need a little less hp, some attacks need to be tuned too i guess, but nothing, so far, feels like malenia waterfowl dance in the base game, at least when i fought her unpatched when the game came out. that was maybe the most bs feeling thing ever, and still i really like her, she's like perfectly designed as a character, it's hard to be frustrated for long with a game that has such perfect art + design. another criticism i have... they didn't put something that looks like this in the game:

i need it ! i need something leather in the game!! why didn't you put anything like this in the game... more tight fitting light armor plzzz!!.

anyway, as is evident, my complaints are rather thin, nothing is outright even approaching bad and all that needs to change are like, idk, maybe some deeper things related to numbers that it seems like they're getting to with this little patch they put out.

anyway.. idk what else to say about today... today a beetle got in and crawled on me? that was funny.

oh i also downloaded a bunch of free plugins of this person's site:

they're awesome, the person, and the plugins, very strange little things that feel useful already, i got one cuz it looks good for bass synths and then some noisy/freaky stuff. excited for all that.

so,

byebye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[astralelaine]

1. Majestic Rep Theatre, McCarter Theatre (I don't support them!), and Trinity Theatre

2. Ocean!!!!

3. I like everyone equally.

4. What The World Needs

5. Uranium Suite (I like it, just not a personal favorite.)

6. I'd rate Uranium Suite at the last, and Waiting for the Drop on first. Second is probably Tragic Fact, and third would be Fall Fair/Minor Turn.

7. Small Things Become Big Things (It doesn't fail to make me cry one bit)

8. Astrid!! (And Trishna)

9. I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion, but Constance is so underrated. She's not talked about enough!!!

10. PassionRoses (Misha/Noel) and PerfectDolls (Ocean/Penny | Jane) :D

11. Maybe PerfectRap? (Ocean/Misha) I see them more to have this sibling dynamic (Older Sister/Younger Brother type of vibes), but I have no problem with anyone who likes it :P

12. Literally all of the American Tour cast. They're so awesome.

13. Favorite representation of PassionRoses is when they just have this huge bromance. They help each other with lots of things no matter what. Literally ride or die bros.

14. My favorite representation of Jane Doe is when they make her look so incredibly off-putting. I love the Janes that make her look so uncanny, ex. Ohio University's Jane Doe and Sarah Jane-Pelzer's!

15. There's no denying WTWN is extremely catchy, no matter how horrible Ocean's character is.

16. Other than the OG set and costumes, I love the costumes and set design in McCarter, especially Karnak's design (I don't support McCarter btw)

17. Every TBOJD performance. I love watching different ones because there's a tinge of uniqueness, especially how they sing her arpeggio riffing.

18. I headcanon Ocean to LOVE Taylor Swift. Like a die-hard swiftie. In the Works & Processing video, one of the directors (Rachel? Or Jacob..) mentioned that WTWN was heavily and specifically inspired by Taylor's style of music (pop). I just think when Ocean was in times of stress, she'd plug in her earphones and would listen to Reputation because it was one of Taylor's "savage" albums, and Ocean would get extremely motivated to continue on with her duties, humming to some of Taylor's songs on the way.

19. I don't have a personal theory, but I did find one that was really interesting (and adding to my own thoughts) -- Jane Doe, or Penny Lamb died before the rollercoaster disaster. I assume she was decapitated by something else. I haven't really thought about what cut her head off completely, but generally it'd be another accident, and no one left to find her. Police have given up on her and just called her "Jane Doe" because police are really shitty. Because of her death, her soul just roams around Uranium, not getting proper closure of her death. This went on until Karnak was moved and abandoned in the warehouse, and briefly found Penny's soul wandering the deserted fair, using his power to bring back her body as she happens to also be in a St. Cassian uniform, however in one condition: to participate in a game of life and death. Karnak continues to bring back the choir's souls in the warehouse to compete who gets to go back to Earth, including Jane Doe. This was ultimately strange for them because they didn't know who Jane Doe was prior to the disaster and couldn't remember who she was at all. Anyway, that's a personal favorite theory of mine. I think there's plot holes to it (I could tell), but I don't want this to be longer than it should.

20. There was this fic called "All The Boys Noel Gruber Loved" by @/baphomets_balance on ao3 and I thought it was a pretty good insight of how his previous life was like as the "only gay guy" in Uranium.

21. 4pplecore on TikTok and Tumblr!! Also sillyouhette on TikTok :3

22. I actually haven't made a RTC OC yet, but I would love to make one.

23. I've been thinking about this a lot halp,,, I think my catchphrase would be "That's amazingness!" and I'd be "The Most Curious Girl in town" because I'm really curious about things I like.

24. Ocean's whole-ass monologue before her song number.

25. There was this picture I saw yesterday on Tumblr with Jane's doll head as an accessory on a shelf, and was apparently singing 'Karnak's Dream of Life'. I would LOVE to see that because it's SUPER creative!?!

26. I haven't visited or watched CIVA charter's production yet, but I saw a video of them singing Uranium Suite and it was so awesome (also Blue Bridge!!)

27. Any slime tutorial that's on sight.

28. Nope :( Cons of living in the Philippines...

29. I would LOVE to play Ocean, but I just need vocal training...

30. My favorite part of RTC is its comedy in such a morbid setting and the beautiful lessons you can learn from it. Ocean's monologue when she was chosen to have the final vote was absolutely inspiring -- it just made me love life a bit more, and more accepting of death because I lived life well, and had one hell of a ride, and it was worth it. And the fandom is very accepting, I hope it continues like that.

Ride The Cyclone Ask Game!!!

Just some fun little questions!! Please do rant as much as you want with any and all of your answers :D

Favourite production?

Favourite character?

Least favourite character?

Favourite song?

Least favourite song?

How would you rank the opening songs?

Favourite cut song?

Favourite cut character?

Unpopular opinion? Or if you don't have any, a popular opinion you agree with?

Favourite ship?

Least favourite ship/ship that you don't understand the hype for?

Favourite RTC actor(s)?

Favourite representation of [insert ship]?

Favourite interpretation of [insert character]?

Favourite take on [insert song]?

Favourite costumes/set design?

Favourite vocal performance?

What are your headcanons for [insert character]?

Do you have any theories?

Favourite RTC fanfic/fic author/fic recs in general?

Favourite RTC fanart/fanartist/any fanart you love?

Do you have any OCs? If so what are they like?

What would your catchphrase be and/or what 'The ___ in Town' would you be called?

Favourite line of dialogue?

Something you haven't seen in a production that you want to?

Any underrated productions you love?

How many productions have you watched? Which ones?

Have you ever been to see a RTC production?

If you were in a production of RTC, who would you play?

Overall favourite part of RTC and/or the fandom?

[anxiousnerdwritings]

How do you think House Martell would be platonically? I feel like the obsession would most likely occur if Reader was Elia’s only surviving child. After that whole debacle, the entire house, especially Oberyn, would be so incredibly smothering and protective. Even better (or worse for Reader) if she was an exact replica of her mother.

I feel like Doran would be very calculated when it comes to the Reader compared to Oberyn’s more aggressive nature. Plus, there’s also the Sand Snakes, who guard the Reader under their father’s orders (but would still do it without that)

I could definitely see them being yandere for a surviving child of Elia’s especially given what happened to her and her other children, the Martells would be excruciatingly protective over their only thing left of Elia. I could also see the Martells being yandere for a family member who resembled Elia, like maybe a child of Doran or Oberyn or even a distant family member who just looks so much like Elia it’s uncanny.

No matter who the darling is, everyone would make it their ultimate goal to keep them safe and protected. You can bet the darling wouldn’t be allowed to ever leave Dorne or even the Old Palace where they all reside. Doran and Oberyn would be the most overprotective out of all of House Martell, including the Sand Snakes. Doran is definitely more cautious and calculated in comparison to Oberyn, who is much more aggressive and quick to act. They both have different ways they go about their obsessions but one thing can be very certain; this darling will be loved and taken care of to no end. No one is going to allow anything to happen to them.

Arianne, Quentyn, Trystane and the Sand Snakes would all be given the task to entertain and just overall be company for their darling so they don’t get lonely and to keep their mind off wanting to stray away. Ellaria would also of course keep the darling company. If they mean so much to Doran and especially Oberyn then they mean just as much to her. And everyone would share stories of Elia to the darling, letting them know just how important she really was to the family.

The Sand Snakes would definitely be the darling’s certified bodyguards. They won’t be able to go to the bathroom without being escorted by at least three of the Sand Snakes at a time. Not to mention the darling will probably never sleep alone either. Whether it is Arianne, Trystane, or one of the Sand Snakes, their darling will always have someone with them and sleeping is no exception. It’s only to ensure their safety 24/7 but it’s also totally a comfort thing. Also, Oberyn and Doran will 100% do little check ups on their darling, probably more Oberyn then Doran, but he’ll report everything back to his brother.

Doran and Oberyn would definitely want to spend as much time with their darling as possible. How could they not? There would no doubt be slip ups of them calling the darling Elia, it’s bound to happen really. Doran would really love to have the darling sit with him and just talk or even read to or with him. Or even play some games of Cyvasse (their version of chess) with him . Oberyn would definitely sing to them, read to them even, and he’d love to awe them with his many stories. Not to mention how spoiled the darling would be, not only by Doran and Oberyn but everyone else too.

When Myrcella comes to Dorne after being sent off by Tyrion, the Martells would be extremely paranoid about their darling interacting with her. It’s not so much Myrcella herself that is a threat, not at all, it’s just that she has Lannister blood and they don’t trust any Lannisters with their only piece of Elia. Never again.

[the-bjd-community-confess]

Mod: A batch of confessions about the NSFW doll photo topic:

1

If you’re asexual and hate sexy doll pics…. That sounds like a you problem, stop trying to make it everyone else’s problem. Ask people to tag, use the block button, go ahead and curate your feed, but demanding everybody cater to your likes and dislikes is kind of self centered. Sincerely, somebody who posts 0 sexy doll content and never has. Also posting sexy pics in a hobby that is CLEARLY NOT for children, dolls or not, is not grooming and it is totally ridiculous to claim that.

Also, minors in this hobby please understand that these dolls are not typically geared toward children. if you are responsible enough to handle the detailed sculpting of these dolls such as their detailed genitalia, you should be mature enough to block and move on when you encounter a doll photo or story that is sexual in nature. You are not the target audience in mind and there is no reason to think the entire hobby should cater to you. This is the internet not a public school.

~Anonymous

2

ok where is everyone finding all of this untagged R-18 doll stuff???? Im on twitter, tumblr, reddit and insta and I've never seen anything nsfw w/o it being tagged. Not doubting anyone's experience, Im legit just confused.

~Anonymous

3

What even is a “highly sexually charged” image? Because to me that sounds like something that isn’t straight up porn and you know what? Older teens should be mature enough to handle that. I sincerely hope that you complain this much about violent imagery on the internet, that is far more damaging to young minds IMO. Anyone to who thinks nazi glorification is ok but “sexy” dolls are not, yikes.

~Anonymous

4

ok but where are all of you finding the filthy oversexualized porn doll blogs that post untagged nsfw content 24/7? i never know if you're complaining because someone posted an anime doll in a bikini and you're all prudes, or if someone drilled a hole in the crotch of their minifee so she can get nine inch nailed by that new dollshe sculpt. i have deadass tried in the past to find nsfw doll content because i'm a filthy degenerate and man, it's actually not easy to stumble into. throw me a bone!

~Anonymous

5

When it comes to 18+ doll topics, I'm a firm believer in the AO3 method of tagging your shit. Is it a perfect method? No, but tagging it is basically due diligence. Especially since so many parents can't be arsed to, y'know, parent their kids online. If you tag your 18+ art and someone complains, like minors/antis who hunt down things to whine about, then the onus is on them for deliberately looking at things they know will bother/upset them. If you tag, then the people who bitch about it will have no one to blame but themselves. Maybe the community using a unified tag like NSFM (not safe for minors) would help?

~Anonymous

6

Bjds have a slight uncanny valley effect for me, which is one of the reasons I love them. Idk why but this it makes me feel some uncomfortable emotion when I see them sexualised (something like mild disgust or cringe?). I'm not really sure why sexualisation pushes the uncanny valley to an uncomfortable level for me. If you find your dolls sexy there is nothing wrong with you, it just means you're unbothered by this, you should enjoy your dolls however you like. Just please put a nsfw warning <3

~Anonymous

7

Lol you all think we’re sex negative just because we don’t want to see your shitty doll porn

~Anonymous

[skzfelixity]

Being A Counter | The Uncanny Counter

Just moments and life with the counters because you deserve a non-blood related family like this one💕

You were the 4th one to join the squad, if you count Cheoljung out.

Your spirit guided you to eonni’s noodles and you were more than confused.

“Do I have to work at a restaurant?”, “Oh wait- you want me to eat, how thoughtful of you!”

“Just go inside!”

Your spirit was annoyed to say the least.

“We’re closed-”

They didn’t expect to see you so soon since their own spirits informed them about a new member an hour ago.

Ms Chu welcomed you with a warm hug, Hana with a nod and Motak kept eyeing you suspiciously.

“Does your spirit need glasses?”

Ms Chu glared at Motak’s remark about your spirit picking you.

Don’t take it personally, it’s literally Motak being Motak at first sight.

After some explaining of what the counters do, you were asked to join them and you didn’t hesitate to immediately accept.

Your instant response startled Ms Chu, earning a chuckle from Motak.

“What are you so surprised for? If she didn’t accept, she would die.”

“She might die doing this job too.”

It was literally a situation of instant death or possible death.

Let’s go with possible death for now.

Oh well, what’s cooler than saving people’s souls anyways?

All four of you grew closer mission after mission.

Even though Hana was still cold and distant, you found yourselves getting along pretty well. Training together almost every day.

Motak became like a father to you.

He no longer had this intimidating aura, from your point of view.

His mean remarks were more like ‘I care for you so I will tease you’

He cares deeply for all of you but he will never admit it out loud.

Ms Chu would always remind you to eat and stuff like that.

She was like a mother to you and it did radiate a sense of comfort.

She definitely acted like a mother but if you asked her, she would deny it saying she doesn’t care about you and then the next minute she will be asking you about your day etc.

Game nights !!!

Just imagine playing monopoly with them:

Motak going to jail for the 14th time, he was used to putting people in jail after all, whining about it until his turn comes again.

Always gets 5 when he rolls somehow.

“The dice is broken.”

Ms Chu with a lot of money, she definitely did not steal it from the bank when y’all weren’t looking, waving it like a fan in front of her face.

“Where did all this money come from?”

“My pocket?”

Hana laughing more frequently than she did before.

Overall spending time together apart from work was fun.

Strong bonds take time.

You did a pretty good job capturing spirits, maybe because of their low levels but still it wasn’t easy.

Like damn, you lost count of how many times Ms Chu treated your injuries.

Using her power also affected her health but she didn’t even let any of you go without treating even minor injuries.

Got to stop her once by saying, “We need a mom for the group.”

She at least knows you see her as a mother and that makes her beyond happy.

She wouldn’t hesitate to reduce her lifespan for all of you<3

One day you were all eating noodles when an idea popped in your head.

“Why don’t we wear matching clothes when we go on missions?”

No one seemed against it, Motak liking it a lot.

You did fight over the colour though:

You wanted red, he wanted grey.

You ended up getting both.

Soon enough, the day that you didn’t manage to catch an evil spirit came, following the death of Jang Cheoljung.

His spirit, Wigen, found another person to become a counter.

Aaaaand your 5th member joined you.

He wasn’t as quick as you to agree but what can you say? It was live or die for him.

So Mun, a high school boy living with his grandparents.

He didn’t seem promising at first but he proved his potential soon afterwards.

You had to save his ass because he was always in trouble. 

Episode 10 can’t happen, you kept him in check.

Time proved that something you missed in your bond was So Mun, the team felt complete with him.

He is the baby of the squad, everyone worries about him 24/7.

Sometimes you would just mess with him for absolutely no reason.

Car rides after a mission always go like:

“Can I rest my head on your shoulder?”

and So Mun falling asleep a few minutes later, with all his weight pressed on you.

You trying to stay comfortable while not touching Hana.

“Touch me and I will kill you.”

You heard it once and you both knew, you didn’t need to hear it again.

The sun is up after a mission? Ice cream.

Eat all you want Jangmul is paying.

The moon is up after a mission? Meat/Noodles.

Missions increased, introducing So Mun to the grey jackets and trousers.

I feel like red would still be his fave ones though.

“Oh Ms Chu, it matches with your hair!”

*smack* poor So Mun.

Working on the restaurant:

You, Hana & Mun serving while Motak and Ms Chu cooked.

Honestly? It was a mess.

Mun constantly dumping into either you or Hana, stepping on your feet from time to time.

Some customers being scared of Hana because of her face, choking on their food every time she passed by.

Zoning out while watching TV was a regular for you and Mun, it happened to Hana too though.

Ms Chu calling you three to take the bowls, no one knew she could yell that loud. Motak often joining you in serving just to not hear her getting ignored.

Whenever high school boys came to eat, you could feel Motak’s glare from inside the kitchen.

“So Mun, tell them to leave.”

Poor Ms Chu had to hear Motak complain about high school boys’ poor mannerisms.

He doesn’t want you around boys, you’re too young for that.

That one time you broke a table, oh man.

“Oops?”

Ms Chu was furious, Motak laughing at the customers’ faces.

Had to clean the huge mess, So Mun offering to help.

You and So Mun? Besties.

You went to school together every morning, same class.

You two, Ungmin and Juyeon spent almost every break together, eating snacks and making fun of each other.

Always made sure to hide you when Hyeoku was around, he just knew this certain bully had a crush on you.

One time, he noticed Hyeoku making his way to your table holding some sort of candy. He immediately dragged you away.

Ended up looking at a wall, Mun claiming he wanted to admire the red and brown bricks with you.

He just doesn’t want you around Hyeoku because he is dangerous, no other reason:)

Having dinner at his house? At least once a week.

His grandparents obviously adored you. His grandma being able to recognise and remember you, well most of the time.

His grandpa’s jokes about you two becoming a couple, never failed to make you smile. His grandma complimenting you with the sweetest grin on her face.

Sleepovers happened a lot, usually falling asleep while discussing about evil spirits and all.

Hana warmed up to the team more. She started seeing you and Mun as her younger siblings, always taking care of you and looking out for you in her own way.

You were all cleaning one day when Jangmul stormed into the store.

“What do you spend all this money on?!”

Long story short: Motak, You and So Mun were guilty for spending too much on your stomach needs.

“All this money for food?!”

He wasn’t that mad, he just thought y’all bought a house and didn’t tell him beforehand. Motak threw him a bag of chips to calm him down.

Yep, Jangmul ate them all.

“You want to eat the bag too?”

A lot of dancing, especially when in a good mood during shifts.

Of course So Mun tripped countless times, wdym.

You had each other’s backs, there was no reason to worry.

You were a family and the restaurant was your home.

[meili-sheep]

I have so much power now omg

I still might answer anonymously bc i switch between two accs not blogs

anyway here, sum more Asmoday!Diluc and his mum

they're both just chaos and i love that for them

also the main inspo i got for Eldritch Diluc is from an ongoing Kaeluc fanfic and a rlly underrated oneshot of eldritch Diluc

Klc one here

oneshot here

And yeah, Eldritch!Diluc being emotionally inept would fit, he has basic common sense, as should everyone, but emotions? may Celestia help the poor soul who's being comforted by Eldritch Diluc he doesn't fully understand what's so upsetting about breaking up with someone you used to love, can't you just move on?? well he knows it makes people sad but he really doesn't know how to make em feel better other than a couple of words and awkward back patting

and for an excuse to continue to slander Crepus in this au, Crepus's wife in this one finds Diluc shortly before Crepus finds Kaeya

because storms and their meaning are so intertwined with Diluc's story i think she would have found Diluc in a storm, and one may think "wouldn't he be an adult?" well you see, i think he would've settled for a child form to make himself appear more harmless to others, he cannot die yes but he can feel pain so he wouldn't want people to panic from an adult appearing seemingly out of nowhere looking so human and yet so wrong in the littlest ways, hitting the uncanny valley mechanism of our minds

so anyway, Crepus and his Wife(I'll just call her Umbra, which is a way of saying night in Latin) were in different locations during this storm, Umbra in the forest hill w/ the statue of the 7 near dawn winery and Crepus returning from the city, i think she would have been just vibing around the statue before the storm hit, and when it did she ran to the winery but came across Diluc who went out of his home(more like cave) to see the rain, and because this is a child out in the storm and is possibly freezing Umbra takes Diluc with her to the winery

Meanwhile on the way back from the city(probably idk) Crepus comes across Kaeya and takes him in then. Basically, both of them came across the boys same day different times and locations

and i do not have a clear outline for why but i think Crepus would have somewhat distanced Umbra from Diluc and Kaeya, i think maybe cuz their relationship is already strained and that they've been trying for a child(an heir to Crepus's perspective) for a long while now but since Diluc came along, a boy with red hair and eyes that can perfectly be passed for being that of the Ragnvindrs and Kaeya being a suitable support for Diluc as he would be clingy to Diluc(reason is: Kaeya feels Diluc is powerful and even a tad bit unnerving, but Diluc doesn't seem to wanna hurt him so Kaeya chooses to cling onto him so that he could be protected) or even a backup

but I think when Crepus was gonna bond with Diluc he got unnerved by the kid(?) because he seems to know more than he lets on(he doesn't know everything, but the world does and it sings to him, teaches him. [That's how he cheats in tests lmao, he asks the world "what's 2 × 12?" and the world sighs and replies "24" /j] ) and because of that he would've slowly shifted his focus on Kaeya but tbh Diluc doesn't mind he just wants an excuse to visit drapgonspine (the stories the world sings here is very interesting according to him)

He is true eternal, omnipresent not in the way of knowing everything, but existing even if the concept is diminished, and he is very inept with emotions

i think Diluc and Kaeya wouldn't have that stormy night fight in the way many depict it per se, but it's a truly one-sided fight from Kaeya's side, trying to have at Diluc and get him to kill Kaeya once an for all but maybee, just maybee- when Kaeya gets his vision in the peak of the moment he cuts Diluc's head off, and he would be horrified, absolutely horrified, but then Diluc's body waltzes over to his head picks it up, and just places it back effortlessly, he still gives sounds of pain when he gets his head back tho, can't exactly scream when ur away from ur lungs

Diluc would have ran away tho bc of Kaeya's horrified expression, and that 3-4 year journey is rage but mostly at himself. he still goes on that murder spree tho, every Diluc deserves a cathartic quest of Fatui and Abyss order mass genocide

anywaayyy- that's all!!

-Leyline!Anon (still tagging this at the end so i don't forget with my other acc when I'm actually on anon!!)

I'm honestly terrified of the power you now hold.

But I kind of love the idea that Kaeya can feel Diluc is powerful and something not human. And in a fit of emotion trying to take on Diluc and honestly really seeing Diluc's abilities.

And Diluc just. Taking his head and leaving.

Then when Diluc comes back. Kaeya can tell. Yes, Diluc. In some small way was hurt by their fight. He hasn't said much to Kaeya but hasn't threatened him or anything. It's an exciting twist on their dynamic.

[sassyduckqueen]

Miraculous: Rise of Anatis 66

So here's my version of Feast. I wasn't too keen on Master Fu's whole background so I've tried to make it more believable plus this links in with the plan I have for the order and Su Han. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter. The next one I'll be working on is going to be Happy Ending aka Akuma!Adrien. I'm looking very forward to writing this up as it will be more lighthearted and fun then some of the others that are to come :)

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Chapter Sixty-Six: Feast (2/2)

Luka frowned as he sat on his bed, holding Feng's journal in his hand. He had been trying to read it but found he couldn't concentrate. After helping Marianne meet with Master Fu, he decided to return home. She had asked how he knew of Fu and he explained that he had helped him during Princess Justice's attack and had decided to help him out now and then such as picking up groceries for him. She had commented that she wasn't surprised that he had been helping Fu out but he didn't mention he was Anatis. It's not that he didn't like her but more about the trust thing. He was still confused with everything and her mentioning that she was a witch as well offering to teach him magic had given him a lot to think about but also learning of her existence and that Fu had a sweetheart had made him wonder how truthful Fu had been. It wasn't that he thought Master Fu shouldn't have a life outside of the miraculous but Fu himself had acted like that was his life and didn't mention anything outside of it then there was the question he hadn't want to face that lead to other questions. Did Master Fu know he was Feng's reincarnation? If so, is that why he decided to entrust Luka with the miraculous? And finally the last and hardest question... if Master Fu did know... was he going to tell him? Luka didn't know what to think because of the recent events. A few weeks ago, he might have known the answer but a few weeks ago he didn't know that he was a vessel for an ancient mage or that Master Fu was possibly living a double life. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He didn't feel entitled to know what Fu did in his life. He honestly was happy for him in having a love interest but it also felt like Fu was going against his own lessons. In the guardian training, they had been doing Fu had made out that his way of living had been something that he had chosen because he was the guardian of the miraculous, only then for him to have this whole different life outside of it. That wasn't even including the fact that Fu might have known witches existed. Did he not consider that knowing that piece of information could have helped? Luka didn't want to be angry but it just didn't sit right with him but maybe that was Feng thinking that and not Luka. He didn't know anymore. Tikki gently poked his cheek, making him look over at him.

 "Are you ok?" She asked, making him sigh.

 "I'm not sure," He admitted, looking down. "Master Fu always seemed to make out that his life was all about the miraculous. I mean his own landlord doesn't even know his real name and he's gone on and on about secret identities but now it turns out that he has a lover who isn't a miraculous holder but knows all about Fu and the miraculous yet I'm not allowed to tell anyone... I feel hurt that he never told me about her or anything about his life. When I've asked him about what happened with the temple, he shoots me down and changes the subject. I get that he has a life... I'm not mad about that. I mean he runs a massage parlor and I'm not there 24/7 but... it just feels like he's expecting me to follow a bunch of rules that he's made but doesn't follow himself... am I overreacting?"

 "Maybe you should bring it up to him," She suggested, making Luka sigh a little but nod. He should be able to talk to Master Fu about how he feels after all. He moved the journal to his bedside drawer and closed it before flopping down onto his bed and looking up at the ceiling. He let out a sigh before rolling over to face Tikki.

 "Do you think I should try and talk to Feng?" He asked, making her look at him. 

 "I think it would be a good idea if you feel that it's the right time," Tikki replied, making him smile at her. She gave him a small smile back before yawning a little.

 "Why don't we get some sleep?" He suggested, making her nod before the two of them closed their eyes and tried to fall asleep.

 ~Master Fu's Shop, Next Day~

 "So what is on your mind?" Master Fu asked as Luka sat in front of him. Luka wasn't sure how he would react but it was better to ask him instead of letting it fester. "Luka?"

 "I... how come you never mentioned Ms. Lenoir before?" He asked, making Master Fu look at him. "Or any of your past?"

 "The past is the past," Master Fu answered firmly. "That is all there is to it. It has no place in the present,"

 "Then why chase after Ms. Lenoir?" Luka asked, making Master Fu frown and look at him. "She's the past, is she not?"

"That is for me to know and no one else," He stated harshly, making Luka frown before sighing. "Luka, I do not wish to snap at you but my secrets are my own,"

 "And I get that but you told me as a guardian, your life is devoted to the miraculous, and yet you go out every week to wait for a woman who might not have even turned up," He gasped, making Master Fu frown. "And it's not just that. Every time I ask about what happened to the order of the miraculous and why you're the last guardian, you brush me off. I mean you never even told me about the miraculous mage or even that what I experienced during Blackout was a magical backlash. You only started to tell me about him after I began to have the dreams and Tikki confirmed it was him! Which brings me to another thing you failed to mention! Did you know I'm his reincarnation and decided just to add to the list of things you've kept from me?!"

 "What? No!" He gasped before his eyes darted to the side, making Luka frown. "I didn't know..."

 "But you suspected..." Luka replied, frowning. "How long for?"

 "Luka,-"

 "How long for?" He asked again, making Fu frown as his eyes flicked silver.

 "Since I found out you were an empath," He admitted, making Luka look at him with a look that he couldn't quite read. Luka got up and turned to leave, causing Master Fu to lightly grab his arm. "Luka-"

 "Please let go of my arm," He stated in a small voice that surprised Master Fu. He slowly let go. He turned around and faced him, making Fu frown. He could see hurt in Luka's eyes. "Were you going to tell me? Or were you just gonna consider that the past and bury it deep with everything else you know?"

 "Luka, I thought it was pointless to let you know when I was 100% sure,"

 "And the silver eyes? The seizure from the Akuma? The second aura you sensed when I was sick from it? You're telling me at that point you didn't know?!" Luka asked, making Fu frown. "That you didn't suspect? What about when I asked to have the kwamis help me track down Issac? Or maybe the fact that I have uncanny luck and that the kwamis warmed up to me like no one else?! Cause now that I know what I am, I can see the signs as clear as day but you suspected and have had more information about that than I have..."

 "Luka, I understand you're hurt-" Master Fu gasped, holding up his hands but Luka shook his head. 

 "I have told you about my dreams and you had a rough idea of what might be happening to me... yet you didn't tell me...I'm constantly afraid about what's been happening to me and you knew that but you didn't think to even mention it!" He muttered, looking at Master Fu. It became apparent to Master Fu what this was really about as soon as he saw Luka's expression. It wasn't one of anger but one of hurt and betrayal. Luka felt like he wasn't trusted. "You never tell me anything. I don't even know you're the last guardian or how you lost the butterfly miraculous! And every time I've asked you brush me off and now this! Why? Why didn't you tell me?! Am I really that distrustful to you?"

 "Kwami no," He gasped, holding up his hands. "You are one of the most trustworthy people I know but I was afraid and I didn't know how to bring it up. As for my past, it is hard to talk about,"

 "I see..." Luka muttered, still looking down. "I'm going to go home. Good night, Master Fu,"

 "Luka!" He gasped as he walked out, causing him to frown as Wayzz flew over. "Should I have told him?"

 "I did advise you too, Master," Wayzz explained, making Fu frown. "But I think the best course of action is to let Luka come to you and when he does, don't brush him off. Be open with him. If you brush him off again, you might damage your relationship with him beyond repair,"

 ~A Few Days Later~

 Luka frowned as he threw a ball up and caught it again. He was laid on his bed and unsure how to move forward. He hadn't gone back to Master Fu yet as he wasn't sure what to say. He felt like he may have overreacted but at the same time, he wasn't sure. It's not that he wanted to know everything about Master Fu's past. He just wanted to know what had led to Fu losing the butterfly miraculous. That was the only thing he actually knew or at least until recently. He had talked to Lady Noir about it and she revealed that she had discovered that Fu's nightmare had been the ghosts of monks from the order. She had thought he had known so never thought to mention it but was surprised that he didn't. She didn't think he was overreacting but he wasn't sure. He frowned as his phone vibrated, making him pick it up and see Marinette was calling. He smiled a little pressed answer.

 "Hey," He answered.

 "Hey, are you free?" She asked, making him smile a little. "Alix has invited us for an unveiling of a new exhibition at the Louvre and I was wondering if you wanted to join us then get lunch with me afterward?"

 "Are you asking me on a date?" He asked, grinning.

 "Um... no! Yes!! Urg... maybe?" She asked in a flustered manner. He chuckled. "Would you like it to be a date? I'd like to be a date..."

 "Um.. m-maybe..." He gasped, caught off guard. He would love it to be a date but he's not sure if he should say that. Luckily, Marinette just giggled in reply.

 "So it's a date then," She replied in a shy manner. "I can meet you at the Liberty if you want,"

 "Sure," He replied, sitting up. 

 "Oh, I should warn you. Alya will be there as well. Apparently, she's found something about superheroes," She grumbled, making him chuckle. "I thought you might be interested in that too since you were interested in the Egyptian exhibit,"

 "Yeah, that would be interesting," Luka replied, smiling. Plus that way he could find out what Alya wanted to show them. "I better get dressed,"

 "That might be a good idea, Lu," She laughed, making him smile. "See you soon?"

 "Yeah. See you soon, Melody," He replied before they hung up. He put his phone down and got up. He grabbed a towel and headed to the bathroom, taking a quick shower before coming back through as he dried his hair. He glanced in his mirror and frowned a little to himself as Tikki flew over. He flicked his hair that was slightly faded. "I need to redo my hair,"

 "It's not like that naturally?" She asked, making him smile and shake his head.

 "No, I add the teal and dyed it black," He replied as he changed from his PJs into his outfit. He decided to wear his usual pants but switched his jagged stone shirt for his kitty section t-shirt that Marinette had made for him. He smiled and sat down on the bed as he pulled on his socks and shoes as Tikki settled next to him. "My hair is naturally dark brown,"

 "Really?" Tikki asked, making Luka smile. "I bet you'd look really handsome with your natural color... not that you don't look handsome already..."

 "I get what you mean, Tikki," He smiled, gently picking her up in his hands. "I don't mind my natural color. I just prefer my hair like his but thank you,"

 He gently kissed her forehead, making her giggle before she floated up as his mother shouted for him. He smiled and opened his hoodie for her, causing her to fly inside before he grabbed his phone and keys then headed upstairs. Marinette was stood, talking to Juleka as she waited for him. He couldn't help but smile as he saw her. She was wearing a black hoodie with cat ears on it and a green paw print on the side. She had black shorts on as well and black ballet pumps. Her hair was done in her usual style but she had switched out her red hair ties for lime green ones. He cleared his throat, making her look behind her. She grinned as she smiled at him before walking over.

 "You're wearing your kitty section shirt," She grinned, clearly happy. He couldn't help but smile. "It looks awesome,"

 "Well, you did make it," He smiled, making her blush. "I love your outfit. Lady Noir inspired?"

 "Yep," She grinned, popping the p before pulling up her hood and lifting her hands as if they were paws. "Do I look pawesome?"

 "Such a cute kitty," He grinned, making her giggle as Juleka rolled her eyes and mumbled something about getting a room. Both of them blushed as she grinned and walked away, leaving them both alone. Luka gently rubbed the back of his neck as Marinette pressed her fingers together. "Should we get going?"

 "Y-Yeah," She nodded, smiling as she hooked her arm around his. He smiled as they walked off the liberty.

 ~At The Louvre Museum~

 "Alya! They're here!" Alix grinned, waving as Marinette and Luka came over. Alya looked up from her phone and grinned.

 "Girl, that hoodie is so cute," She smiled as Marinette smiled. "You need to put your hero-inspired stuff on your website. Oh, we could do another photoshoot!"

 "Hmm... I don't know... would people actually buy this stuff?" She asked, playing with the sleeves. Luka gently knocked his arm in hers.

 "Of course, they would," He smiled, making her grin back. "You're an amazing artist, Melody,"

 "Well... Juleka would be a great model for this..." She mumbled, smiling. "Oh, maybe I could ask Rose to model with her so she doesn't feel too overwhelmed,"

 "That's a great idea," Luka smiled, getting a nod of Alix and Alya before he turned his attention to the pink-haired girl. "Marinette mentioned that something was going down in the museum?"

 "My dad has been setting up several attractions to bring people to the museum," She replied, making Luka nod as he looked at the posters of the upcoming events. "There's even a music contest. Hey, you should enter,"

 "I don't know," Luka mumbled, looking to the side. "I'm not good enough... besides it says that it's a violin contest,"

 "Bull and so what if it is," Alix replied as they walked inside the museum. She grabbed a leaflet and handed it to him. "You should at least think about it,"

 "Maybe," He muttered, folding it up and putting it into his pocket. Alix gave him a look before heading to the front of the group. She led them inside, causing Luka to look around as he did. It was quite a turnout. Adrien and Kagami were stood with Adrien's bodyguard, Nathalie, and her mother. Next to them was Chloe and her family. The mayor looked very excited but Mrs. Bourgeois looked very bored. Luka wasn't surprised. She probably thought history was utterly ridiculous. Near to them was a cameraman and Nadja Chamack, who was doing a piece on the reveal. Before he continued looking around to see who else was there, the sound of his name made him look around alarmed before he noticed Jagged rushing over to him.

 "Dad?" He gasped, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

 "Oh, Alim invited me," He grinned, causing Luka to give Alix a questioning look. She shrugged as she felt just as confused as he did. "Plus history is rock and roll. Ah, Marinette! How's my favorite designer?!"

 "I'm good thank you," She smiled, making Jagged grin. "How are Penny and Fang?"

 "They're good," He grinned, making her nod. "Penny's enjoying a nice spa day with Fang today so I thought I'd take up Alim's invite and check his latest find. Hey, why don't you guys stand with me?"

 "Oh, that would give me a great view of the exhibit for my blog!" Alya grinned, causing Jagged to grin and lead the four of them to the front. Luka smiled at Marinette as she leaned against his side, moving his arm around her shoulder. Mr. Kubdel walked over to the podium and smiled as the crowd looked at him. Alya grinned and began to film as they heard Nadja doing her own piece of the camera.

 "Welcome, everyone. It's so nice to see people still interested in history," Mr. Kubdel smiled. "Especially young people,"

 Alix groaned and hid her face.

 "Now today is a very special day as it marks the first time in a while that we have a new exhibit," He continued, making people murmur. "And even better, it's not Egyptian,"

 A few people chuckled at that. 

 "This statue was found in the highest mountains of Tibet and appears to have been carved from hardened lava," He continued, making a few people whisper in interest. Marinette leaned over closer to Luka.

 "This is exciting," She whispered, making him nod in reply before she leaned against him again. He smiled as Mr. Kubdel continued to talk about how it was discovered, causing people to discuss it excitedly. He clapped his hands and moved over to the red curtain covering the statue. 

 "Now for the moment of truth," He stated, taking the rope in his hand and pulling it. The curtain dropped, revealing a strange little statue but almost instantly, Luka stepped back as he felt a pulse coming from it, similar to the painting and the eagle miraculous. He could feel it and what he felt from it scared him. That thing was not a statue but what surprised him was the sound of a crash. He glanced over as Gabriel's assistant dropped her iPad and stepped back as if she was dizzy. However, he couldn't think much of it as his head pulsed again, causing him to groan as it turned into a full-blown migraine.

 "Luka?" Marinette gasped as he rushed off, causing her, Alix, and Alya to follow. He rushed into a stall and locked the door before throwing up as Tikki flew out and asked him if he was ok. He shakily grabbed some tissue and wiped his mouth before dropping it in the bowl and pressing the flush. Slowly, he stood up and unlocked the door before walking over to a sink. He ran the tap and splashed his face, closing his eyes as he did. He straightened up and looked in the mirror, jumping as he saw Feng stood behind him.

 "N-Now's not a good time," He muttered, leaning against the sink before he looked up but Feng didn't disappear. "What?"

 "We need to talk," He stated, making Luka frown. "It's important,"

 "Tonight?" Luka stated, making Feng nod before he disappeared. He let out a sigh as Tikki flew over to him. "Great... an appointment with my past self... how did it get to this, Tikki?"

 "If he's asking to see you, it must be important," She stated, making him nod. "But are you ok?"

 "I don't know," He muttered, frowning. "That thing felt alive... and hungry..."

 "Hungry?" She asked before jumping as someone knocked on the door.

 "Luka?" Marinette gasped, making him frown before he checked his reflection again. He walked over to the door and opened it. She looked up at him with concerned eyes. "Are you ok?! You look so pale,"

 "I'm fine," He muttered, still feeling sick. "Just a sudden wave of dizziness. It's passed now,"

 "Are you sure?" She asked, placing her hand on his forehead. She gasped and pulled away. "You're burning up! I'm taking you home right away!"

 "Melody, I'm fine," He stated, making her frown. "Why don't we go and catch up with Alya and Alix?"

 "Hmm... alright but if you get worst I'll drag you to the Liberty myself," She gasped, making him nod in agreement. The two of them walked over to where Alix and Alya were. They were at the scroll that had the Egyptian Ladybug drawn on it.

 "Hey, you feeling better?" Alix asked, making Luka nod.

 "Just a headache," He replied, smiling a little. "So what are you doing over here?"

 "We were just discussing the possibility of that statue been linked with Anatis and Lady Noir," Alya grinned, making Luka raise an eyebrow. "Ok as you know I'm doing a video on it for my blog. Well, I've also been looking into Hawkmoth, Anatis, and Lady Noir! Not for their identities before you ask... well, not Anatis' and Lady Noir's anyway. Hawkmoth is a different ball game but I digress. Now if we're gonna go into this rabbit hole, you need to know that superheroes such as Anatis and Lady Noir get their magical powers from jewels called Miraculous,"

 "Right..." Luka continued as Marinette gasped. 

 "You told me you were going to stop researching Anatis so you don't reveal his secret identity!" She gasped, making Alya rub her neck.

 "And I am... because this isn't to do with Anatis but in fact Hawkmoth! I'm gonna help him unmask that insane butterfly man and save Paris!" She grinned, clearly proud. "And I think I've found a connection between superheroes, Hawkmoth, and the miraculous!"

 She turned to the scroll on the wall. 

 "Which is why we're here," She gestured to the wall. "So I'm convinced that Anatis and Lady Noir... or at least superheroes similar to them have been depicted through the centuries until for some unknown reason, they disappeared from the world and everyone forgot about them. We already know this one,"

 She gestured to the scroll.

 "The Ladybug holder of Ancient Egypt. Originally believed to be male but after some research, I learned that they are in fact female," She explained, making Alix look at it. "But I'm convinced there are others. Follow me,"

 She led them to a painting of a knight in black armor. Luka frowned as he looked up at it. To his surprise, the knight came to life. He could hear the chanting of war as the knight looked at him before taking his sword out and placing it on the ground. Once that was done, he got on his knee and bowed his head towards Luka as if he respected him. Luka blinked and when he opened his eyes, the painting was back to normal. He frowned a little as he looked at it. Was it his imagination or a memory? He wasn't sure anymore.

 "Here," She stated as they looked at it. "A black knight... or black cat miraculous holder? This way!"

 She rushed off again, causing them to follow her. She stopped outside a painting of a woman surrounded by butterflies. Just like the painting of the black knight, the image came to life as Luka looked at it. The woman smiled at him before holding a butterfly in her hand and charging it up before letting it go. Unlike Hawkmoth's, her butterflies were beautiful. They remained white with a silvery glow. Luka blinked as it fluttered towards him, causing the painting to turn back to normal as Alya spoke.

 "A Lady in the woods?" She asked as the other two looked at her. "Or a butterfly miraculous holder?! Oh, check out this one!"

 She dragged them over to the greek area, stopping in front of a vase that showed Hercules on it. Once again, the image came to life and looked directly at Luka, grinning at him before flexing his muscles and letting out a roar of power. Luka couldn't help but grin as he continued before someone knocked into him, making him look over at Marinette.

 "You're looking better," She smiled, making him smile back before he looked back at the vase only to find it was still. 

 "So obviously this is of Hercules but what if I told you he was the holder of the lion miraculous?" Alya gasped, making the three of them give her a disbelieving look. "Seriously? I saw him using it when that Akuma sent me to ancient Greece! Now onwards!"

 She led them to a statue of Jeanne D'arc and took a picture of it. Luka frowned as this one didn't move.

 "You know back in the day sculptures were painted right?" She asked, making them look at her. "Most of the paint vanished over time but tiny pigments still exist. Well, thanks to this app we can see how it originally looked. See?"

 She double-tapped the picture causing a ladybug pattern to appear on it. Luka rose an eyebrow.

 "But here's the cool thing," She replied, flicking to the picture of the black knight. She zoomed into his armor, showing a symbol Luka recognized as the symbol of the guardians of the miraculous before she showed it on the other pictures she took. "See? It's the same symbol,"

 "And it was on that statue!" Alix gasped, making Luka frown. Why would that creepy statue have the symbol of the guardians on it?

 "Yep. I think it's some sort of emblem that represents an 'order of guardians' that have been watching over miraculous holders over time," She stated, flicking to the painting of Sir Rene. She zoomed in and showed that he had the symbol as well. "See? Even the Dragon Knight had it!"

 "Ok, but how does this help Anatis and Lady Noire?" Luka asked, making her blink. "So far, it just shows that they might have a 'guardian' themselves,"

 "Right but I don't think they do," She stated, making him frown. "You see the heroes changed,"

 "Changed?" Marinette asked, making Luka frown. What did she mean by change?

 "Well, we know that 200 years ago, these guardians just disappeared but roughly 150 years before their disappearances, something changed and the heroes became something more like villains," She stated, making them blink in surprise. "So we know that ladybug heroes are usually creative and kind right? but after that change, several 'ladybugs' came into existence but they are not what you want in a hero. We're talking assassins and criminals! I mean from what I've gathered, Vlad the impaler had a couple of miraculous. Now I'm not saying that everyone was a bad guy but it seems that at the very least the judgment of these 'guardians' changed and not in a good way, which brings me to my conclusion. I believe that Hawkmoth might be part of this order but that also opens a whole different can of worms. Like why turn up now? Why give Hawkmoth a miraculous? And why are they fighting against Anatis and Lady Noir? I mean it's been 200 years,"

 "I don't think that's the case," Luka stated, making them look at him. "I recon Hawkmoth just found his miraculous,"

 "Ok but explain how he knows about the ladybug and black cat or even Mayura!" Alya gasped, pushing her glasses up. "Someone must be behind it and I'm gonna find out who. My best lead is that statue. Alix said it's about 200 years old,"

 "Right,"

 "Which means it's the last known trace of the order," She grinned, making Luka frown. "If I can find out who carved it then I could unearth what happened and why the order disappeared as well as why they have returned which in turn could help unmask Hawkmoth! Or at least my video might!"

 "Video?" Marinette asked. "Wait you're gonna publish your theories on the Ladyblog?"

 "Well, I already have... I mean how else will Anatis hear about them?" She asked, making Luka frown. "This way he can use the video as a reference and track down this order... Luka are you ok? You'll look ill again,"

 "I... I'm not feeling too well still..." He muttered, giving Marinette a weak smile. "Rain-check?"

 "Sure," She nodded, gently pecking his cheek. "Want me to walk you to the Liberty?"

 "No, it's ok," He smiled, making her cross her arms. "I'll go straight to bed,"

 "You better," She stated, making him nod before he kissed her cheek again and turned on his heel. He headed out of the museum and headed towards the Seine but ducked into an alleyway as soon as he was out of sight. Tikki flew out as he frowned.

 "We need to go talk to Master Fu," He stated before transforming and jumping up onto the roof. He raced across Paris and landed in the alleyway next to Master Fu's house. He detransformed and headed into the building, coming to Master Fu's. He hesitated for a minute before knocking.

 "Come in," Fu answered, causing him to walk inside. Fu looked at him in surprise. "Luka, I wasn't expecting to see you today. There's no Akuma,"

 "Alya has posted a concerning video on the Ladyblog," He stated, making Fu frown. Right now, it didn't matter that he was a little annoyed at Fu. This was more important. He took out his phone and showed him the video, causing Fu to frown as he watched it. "She thinks she's helping me,"

 "Well, Alya is a smart girl so I'm not surprised that she dug up this information plus she believes that the guardian is helping Hawkmoth not you," He replied, looking up at him. "But don't worry. None of this can lead Hawkmoth to us,"

 "You sure?" Luka asked as Fu continued to watch the video. As soon as the odd statue was shown, Fu went pale and dropped the phone in fear. "Master?"

 "it's impossible!" He gasped, looking at it. Luka picked it up and paused the video. "We're doomed!"

 "Master, it's just a statue! A weird feeling statue admitted but still just that," He replied but Fu shook his head. "Master?"

 "That's no statue, Luka!" He gasped, making Luka frown. "It's a sentimonster! A magical creature conjured by emotion and shaped by the holder of the peacock miraculous!"

 "Master, me and Lady Noir have already fought Sentimonsters created by Mayura," Luka reassured. "We'll do the same with this one,"

 "None of them have come close to the power of this one," Master Fu gasped, clearly frightened. He closed his eyes as Tikki and Wayzz flew over. "It was born from the negative emotion of a young man who had no idea what he was creating..."

 He fell to his knees, making Luka frown.

 "I can't let you fight it..." He muttered before he snapped open his eyes. "As the guardian of the miraculous, I order you to revoke your miraculous to me,"

 "What?! No!" Luka gasped, stepping back. "Who will defeat Hawkmoth? And that sentimonster?!"

 "That is no longer your concern," Fu answered, harshly as he held out his hand. "Now hand them back to me,"

 "No, I'm not giving them up!" Luka argued back, stepping back. "You entrusted them to me and I know I can defeat this sentimonster!"

 "Luka, it is too dangerous. That thing will swallow you whole and it is immune to the power of the miraculous," He gasped. "This is for your own good,"

 "And what about the good of Paris?!" He gasped, making Fu frown. "How will we stop Hawkmoth?"

 "As I said it's no longer your concern," He stated, making Luka frown. "You and Lady Noir will give up your miraculous then I will leave Paris with the miracle box forever. It will come after me as it hungers for the miraculous. Hawkmoth will also follow, meaning Paris will be spared from both monsters,"

 "But endangering everyone else!" Luka gasped, making Fu frown. He didn't think of that. "You can't expect me to give up and let Hawkmoth terrorize someone else or let you get eaten by some monster,"

 "Luka, as your master, I order you to return your miraculous," Fu started but it was the wrong thing to say because Luka's eyes turned a blazing silver.

 "I said no!" He shouted, causing the room to vibrate with the amount of raw power coming from him before his eyes turned blue again. "Master, I know I haven't been great recently but you placed your trust in me when you gave me the miraculous so please trust me now,"

 "Thank you, Luka," Master Fu smiled, making Luka blink. Had he convinced him? "Thank you for everything... why don't you go home but keep an eye on the app, just in case?"

 "R-Right," Luka muttered but he didn't feel like he had won. He frowned and turned on his heel, leaving the place.

 ~Later that Night at the Louvre~

 Mayura jumped down and slipped past the security guard, heading towards the Sentimonster as she stuck to the shadows. She ran over to it and stopped in front of it before holding out her hand. She opened her fan and held it to her mouth.

  "I can feel its yearning, Hawkmoth," She stated, smirking. "It's hungry. Ravenous for miraculous,"

 She placed her hand on the stone, causing it to crack and break before a small, blue creature climbed out of the pile of rock.

 "Yum, yum," It declared before looking at her. Or at least she felt like it was looking at her. It was hard to tell since it had no eyes. "Miraculous!"

 It dived at her, causing her to sidestep out of the way before it fired its long tongue at her, causing her to dodge and jump back as it crawled towards her. She held her fingers, ready to destroy its amok which made it stop.

 "You take one more step and I'll take your amok away from you," She threatened as it tried to resist and move forward. She used her power to make it feel the amok been slowly ripped away from it, making it groan in pain. "Do you really want me to destroy you?"

 For a minute, it resisted but then slowly surrendered to her, making her smirk and hold up her fan again.

 "The Sentimonster is all yours, Hawkmoth," She declared, causing Hawkmoth to smirk from his lair. He opened his window as he looked out to the Parisian night, allowing the moonlight to flood into the room as he sighed.

 "Ah, the frustration of having a miraculous just outside your grasp," He stated before holding out his hand as a butterfly landed on it. "I know that feeling of hunger only too well,"

 He placed his hand over it, charging it up before releasing it.

 "Fly away, my little Akuma, and evilize this sentimonster!" He declared, spinning his cane and slamming it down as the Akuma fluttered out of the window and to the museum. As soon as it came to the sentimonster, it swallowed it, opening the connection to Hawkmoth. "Feast, I am Hawkmoth. You have a consuming hunger that only miraculous will satisfy. Well, I can help with that. I'm giving you the power to track down and devour every single one! But after you've swallowed up their owners, you must bring two of them to me. The ones of the ladybug and the black cat,"

 Feast growled, making Hawkmoth chuckle.

 "Oh, but don't you worry," He stated calming Feast. "I'll give them back to you as soon as I'm done with them. I'll even give you the peacock's and mine as a bonus and thus you shall have eaten every miraculous in existence and your hunger will finally be satiated. Do we have an agreement?"

 It nodded, making Hawkmoth smirk.

 "Alright!" He declared, smirking evilly. "It's dinner time, Feast!"

 "Yum, yum!" It replied as the purple smog took over, causing it to grow in size. As soon as the purple smog disappeared, it let out a roar. "Miraculous!"

 It sniffed around before heading out, making Mayura smirk and follow.

 ~Dr. Lang's Apartment~

 My flower... wake up... Mila jolted awake as soon as she heard Toutai's voice before she blinked and looked around. None seemed out of order but she felt a tingle on the back of her neck. Take the Koi miraculous and run...

 "What?" She gasped but shook her head. He had never led her astray before. Quickly, she jumped up and opened the box, taking out the one he had instructed her to do so before she slipped it on and rushed out of the flat. Seconds later, a huge blue creature crashed in, destroying most of the place as it sniffed out her miraculous box. She silently transformed and called upon the Koi's power, creating a shadow clone that ran out of the building. Fortunately, the creature followed, making her let out a sigh of relief before a feeling of horror washed over her. She quickly checked and found her box was gone but then she remembered she wasn't the only guardian in Paris. She jumped up and made her way to Master Fu's before jumping inside. "Fu?!"

 She frowned as no one answered before searching the place. To her horror, she discovered that Fu had taken everything with him include his miracle box. She rushed back over to the window, hoping that he hadn't been stupid enough to have taken back Anatis' and Lady Noir's miraculous but if he had then someone would have to deal with the sentimonster. She jumped out of the window and ran across the rooftops, heading to where the sentimonster was...

 ~Feng's Hut~

 Luka frowned as he looked around the hut. Currently, it was just him in it but he was sure Feng would be here soon. After all, it was Feng's idea to meet. Luka still wasn't sure about talking to him but Feng did say it was important. A shiver made him turn around, coming face to face with Feng. 

 "I'm glad you decided to hear me out, Luka," He stated, making Luka raise an eyebrow.

 "You said it was important," He stated, making Feng nod and sit down on the bed. "Well?"

 "I had a vision that you need to know about," He stated, making Luka frown. "A sentimonster is in your time... hungry and ravenous... it will devour all in its path,"

 "The Louvre found a sentimonster recently," Luka stated, moving over before his eyes widen. "Hawkmoth is going to use it to find Fu! I have to warn him! Thank you-"

 "Luka, that's not why I called you here," Feng stated seriously. "There is something else you need to know,"

 "And what is that?" He asked, frowning. He hadn't seen Feng look so serious before but right now, he looked like someone had died. "Feng, what is it?"

 "It's already gone after him and things have already been set into motion," He stated, making Luka frown. "Your master is fleeing as we speak. He has taken the miraculous and is heading north. Lady Noir is already trying to chase him but she won't make it in time for she does not have her ring,"

 "Why doesn't she have... her... ring?" He asked as realization flooded over him. He moved his hands to his ears and touched them, finding the earrings gone. "No... he... he took them..."

 He sunk on his knees as tears filled his eyes. He couldn't believe Master Fu had done that to him and Lady Noir. He thought he had gotten through to him and earned his trust but no matter what he did, Fu just didn't trust him. Feng got up and walked over to him, placing his hand on his shoulder.

 "It isn't that he doesn't trust you," He states, making Luka look up at him. "He's afraid for you. This Sentimonster is much more powerful than usual. It came from the broken heart of a child living in fear and sorrow. He is afraid it will devour you,"

 "It will devour him!" Luka gasped. "And even if he manages to get away from it, Hawkmoth will hunt him down. I can't let that happen! I won't let it happen!"

 "Is that what you truly want?" Feng asked, making Luka look at him. 

 "What I want doesn't matter," He muttered, looking down. "I have to stop him. He's going to get himself and others killed,"

 "Well, that monster is only after miraculous," Feng stated. "As long as others stay-"

 "I'm not just talking about the sentimonster. I'm talking about Hawkmoth," Luka stated, making Feng look at him. "If Fu takes the miraculous and leaves Paris, Hawkmoth will follow and terrorize another city! He already tried to cause world war 3 and akumatized Meishi! He won't stop until he's won!"

 "So you're willing to fight the war, despite it no longer been your duty?" Feng asked, making Luka look at him. "You have been relieved of your duty, Luka. You can walk away and live a normal life,"

 "A normal life?" Luka asked, making Feng nod. "I could be... normal?"

 "Yes," He answered, making Luka look at him. "You've been given a very rare thing from the universe. A second chance if you will,"

 "A second chance?"

 "At a normal life," Feng stated, making Luka look at him. "Your miraculous came to you by chance and desperate man. It was a desperate situation and called for a hero to step up but that is no longer the case. Your journal has brought you to a crossroads with two very different paths that lie ahead. On one hand, you can walk away from all of this. Give up on Fu and the miraculous. You can go on to lead a normal life. You'll be able to go to school, get a career building instruments, have a family, and live happily. Or you can keep fighting. You can chase after Fu, reclaim your miraculous and defeat the sentimonster. You might defeat Hawkmoth or you might be the one defeated in the end. Either way, the choice is yours and yours alone but know this. Whichever path you decide to walk... there will be no way back to the other one. Once you chose, there will be no going back. I will not try and persuade you onto either path, but I feel obliged to warn you, that whichever one you take, you will never be able to change your mind again. Both paths have good things before them, but there are also consequences lying in both as well. I feel that you should know this choice and all that comes with it so you can make a decision that is right for you,"

 "What do you mean?" Luka asked, feeling overwhelmed and confused.

 "It's why I asked you here," Feng explained. "I know that if I didn't, you would chase after Fu and seal your fate. I think it's only fair that you should be aware of a choice you are making as it will change everything,"

 "E-everything?" Luka asked, surprised that one choice might have such an impact. "I... I don't know what to choose... part of me wants that normal life... but the other part knows I'm not normal... and what would happen to you if I chose to give it all up? Would I still be you?"

 "Luka, we may share a soul but you and I are not the exactly same. For one thing, our experiences are different," Feng replied, making Luka blink. "But you're as much part of me as I am part of you so don't worry about me. I won't be disappearing. I'll still be here when you need me, even if you chose to be normal... but I don't think that's the issue, is it?"

 Luka frowned a little.

 "I don't know who I am," Luka muttered, looking down. "And maybe this choice wouldn't be easier if I knew but I don't. Am I Luka or Anatis? Is Luka even real?"

 "You are both," Feng replied, making Luka frown.

 "How can I be both?" He asked, frowning. "Anatis is everything I'm not. He's brave, confident, fierce, and a hero. I'm just Luka and Luka... is just... well Luka. There's nothing special about me,"

 "Luka, you're a musician yes?" Feng asked, causing Luka to nod. "Then you understand that it's the musician who plays the song right?"

 "Of course,"

 "So why do you think Luka isn't anything like Anatis when Anatis is just the song you play?" Feng asked, making Luka blink. "Anatis is as much a part of you as you are a part of him. The only difference is you can exist without him but he can't exist without you... which brings us back to your choice,"

 "This hasn't made it easier,"

 "It's not meant to,"

 "I want to be normal... I want to walk away and give it all up...."

 "But?"

 "I... I made a promise," Luka muttered, thinking about how he promised Paris and everyone that he cared about that he wouldn't always be there to protect him. His mind flashed to Marinette. How would she feel if he gave up? And Juleka... Rose... Chloe... Alya... Ivan... they would never get their miraculous back if he quit. Chloe who's come so far and sweet Rose who took the role of the bee perfectly. Juleka is the perfect fox. It has brought her out of her shell and sure there is bad but he wouldn't have gotten free from Issac if it weren't for Kaalki and Tikki. Of course, Tikki. He would never see her again. Or Lady Noir. If he walked away, he would lose his best friend. Sure, he might gain a normal life but could he live like that? Because that's what it boiled down to. He could give up but would he be able to live with himself afterward? "But if I don’t do this, someone else will have to,"

 "Luka, for one moment... forget about others," Feng ordered. "And just think about what you want for once... it's ok to be a little bit selfish,"

 Luka nodded and tried to focus on it but his mind kept jumping back to the others. Would Lady Noire forgive him? Or would she hate him? And who would take over for him? What if they couldn't handle it?

 "... I can't... I know you say it's ok to be selfish sometimes but I just can't," Luka gasped, making Feng look at him. "I can't help but think... how would others react knowing I gave up? Would they understand and forgive me? I'd be abandoning my best friend! Would... Would I be able to forgive myself?"

 "This is who you are, Luka. The kind, selfless boy who wants to help people. Your heart is pure and gentle," Feng stated, making Luka blink. "Even when given a choice to be free, you think about others and how they would be affected so the question is this. Could you live with yourself if you walked away from the miraculous and been Anatis?"

 Luka took a moment to think but the answer was clear to him.

 "No... I wouldn't be able to," He answered, looking at Feng. "I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I gave up. I made a promise to my friends, my family, and my city. I'm not about to turn my back on that,"

 "Then you have your answer," Feng replied, making Luka blink. "Now the only thing is what are you gonna do about it?"

 "I need to find Fu and save that idiot from Hawkmoth, the sentimonster, and himself," Luka answered, feeling ready to fight before he blinked. "But how do I get out of here?"

 "Like this," Feng stated, tapping his forehead. Luka felt him fall backward before he jolted up in his bed, just as a piece of paper fluttered down. Instantly, he moved his hands to his ears and felt that his miraculous was truly gone. He pulled away and grabbed the piece of paper to read it.

 "Luka, you are the most incredible Ladybug but I can not let you or Lady Noire risk your lives to fix a mistake I made... he made a mistake?!" Luka gasped before shaking his head and continued to read. "I hope you can forgive me but this is no longer your burden. Be happy, live a good life, and forget about me and the miraculous. Sighed Fu,"

 As soon as he stopped reading, it disappeared in a green light. He jumped up and ran out of his room, climbing straight up the stairs to the upper deck. He ran across it and over the gangplank, just as Master Fu was cycling off.

 "Master!" He called out, causing him to gasp and race off. Luka chased after him. "Master! Wait!"

 Fu ignored him and cycled off faster as Luka continued to race after him. He came to a stop as Fu disappeared but before he could do anything else, a huge monster landed in front of him and headed in the same direction as Fu did. He gasped and turned on his heel, running back to the Liberty. He raced down into his room and grabbed one of his jackets, zipping it up. He slipped on his shoes and rushed out but stopped as he realized his hair would identify him. Luckily his mother kept several temporary hair dyes. He rushed over to the box they were kept in and raid it, pulling out a mousse that would change his hair black. He rushed to the bathroom and quickly did it before washing his hands. He put it back and raided the Halloween box, taking out a masquerade mask. It was a full face mask that was mostly white with a red diamond on the right side and a black diamond on the left. It also had golden detail on it. He put it on and secured it at the back before racing back upstairs and grabbing his mother's bike instead of his. Firstly, it didn't have a basket on it and it was completely black. He took it and across the gangplank before jumping on it as he heard screams. He cycled off, following the screams. Several people were standing to the side as their cars were turned over as if something had made its way there. He turned a corner as he cycled as fast as he could but to his surprise, he wasn't the only one. A girl on a pink bike was going in the same direction and going just as fast as he was. She was wearing pink PJs bottoms, a leather jacket done up, and a motorbike helmet. She had a broom on her back, secured with a belt. She had to be Lady Noir. After all, Fu took her miraculously too.

 "Annie?" She asked, confirming her identity.

 "Hi, Kitten!" He replied as they raced towards the sentimonster. 

 "I love the mask, my mysterious bug!" She called over as they sped up. "So what's the plan?"

 "Not sure yet," He replied as they chased after Fu and the sentimonster. Luka looked around, trying to work out a plan. He gasped as he noticed someone running across the rooftops. They were dressed in a similar outfit to Koro but it looked more like a fish than an octopus and it was dark blue in theme with white patches but their hairstyle was the same, making him release it was Koro but with a different miraculous. "Looks like we're not the only trying to help," 

 "Koro?" She asked, making him nod as they turned a corner. "At least, someone has their miraculous,"

 "I think she's using a different one," He replied before seeing a street that would bring them in front of Fu. "Let's take a shortcut,"

 The two of them turned down a different street and followed it around, going past the Dupain-Cheng bakery and the park near it. They came out in front of Fu and the Sentimonster, continuing to cycle as Luka looked around, trying to work out how to help. He noticed a bus moving in front of them.

 "There! The bus!" He stated, speeding up. Lady Noir did the same as he came to the window of the driver. As soon as he did, he knocked getting the man's attention. "Hey, driver! This might seem crazy but I'm Anatis! We need your help!"

 "Sure, you are," The man chuckled, making Luka frown under his mask. "And I suppose that's Lady Noir?"

 "Well, actually yes!" He replied as he looked behind. The bus driver rolled his eyes. "Look, I get that you don't believe us but regardless of who we are, it doesn't change that that man is been chased by a monster! We have to help him!"

 The bus driver looked in his mirror and gasped as he saw Fu been chased by the sentimonster. He gasped and nodded, taking the situation seriously as he released that he was telling the truth. Who else would try and help a complete stranger?

 "Alright! I'll help!" He declared, making Luka nod. "What do you need me to do?"

 "I need you to block that monster's path with your bus as soon as that man passes you," He stated as he saw Master Fu speed up. "Make sure you get out of the bus as soon as you do,"

 "Right!" The driver stated as Fu cycled by.

 "Now!" Luka shouted, causing the bus driver to slam on his breaks. The bus swerved to the side, blocking the path of the sentimonster. He rushed out of it as soon as he stopped, which was lucky as the sentimonster grabbed it with its tongue and swallowed it whole. Luka frowned as he looked back. It didn't even slow it down. He sped up and came to a stop where he saw Officer Roger's car. 

 "Officer, I need your help," He stated, making Roger look at him before he pointed at Fu. "That man's been chased by a monster and we need to help,"

 "Uh... sure but maybe we should wait for Anatis and Lady Noir," Officer Roger suggested, making Luka sigh again.

 "Why do you think I'm wearing this mask?" He asked, making Officer Roger blink. "Right now, I don't have access to my usual suit so I had to improvise. Now, will you help me or not?"

 "R-Right," Officer Roger gasped as Lady Noir stopped near them. "I'll help you but please cycle on the side of the road so you don't get hurt. Now, what do you need me to do?"

 "Can you block that creature's path?" Luka asked, making Officer Roger nod as Fu cycled by. Luka nodded before the two of them took off again. Roger moved his car in front of the sentimonster and yelled at it through his megaphone but like the bus, the sentimonster just swallowed his car whole and it barely slowed it down. Luka frowned as he looked around before noticing Andre's ice cream van on the side of the road. He nodded to Lady Noir, who nodded back before the two of them cycled over. "Andre! I'm-"

 "Anatis and Lady Noir I know," Andre stated, making Luka smile. "What can I do to help you, young heroes?"

 "We need to try and slow down that sentimonster," Lady Noir gasped, pointing to it. Andre nodded as he moved his cart.

 "Hop on," He stated, causing both of them to drop their bikes and climb onto the sides of the cart before Andre cycled into the path of the sentimonster. To get its attention, he began to sing. "My name is Andre! I make ice cream! I'm friends with our heroes! They refuse to scream!!"

 "Have some yummy ice cream!" Lady Noir shouted, scooping up some and throwing it at the monster. "A Lady Noir special coming up!"

 "Much tastier than the miraculous!" Luka declared, throwing some at it. They continued to do so until they ran out. "Andre! We're out of ammo!"

 The sentimonster threw out of its tongue, causing the three to fly off the cart. The sentimonster pulled it towards it and swallowed it as they landed on the ground, rolling aside. Luka jumped up, along with Lady Noir as Andre looked at the creature with fear.

 "Andre, get to safety," Luka ordered, causing the ice cream man to jump up and run off as Lady Noir held out her broom. "Ready, Lady Noir?"

 "As I'll ever be, Bug-a-boo," She stated as they faced the creature. It roared and scuttered over to them, licking its lips as it did. 

 "Hey! Leave them alone!" A voice yelled as Koro dived from the roof she was on and landed in front of the sentimonster. She spun her knife as she stared at it before glancing at Luka and Lady Noir. "Anatis, Lady Noir. Go after Fu! He knows more about this sentimonster than he is letting on!"

 "What are you going to do?" Luka asked.

 "I'll buy you some time to find out how to stop this thing... now go!" She declared, charging at it. "Shadow Self!"

 She glowed brightly before a shadow of herself appeared, helping her take on the creature. Luka and Lady Noir turned and ran towards Fu, who was staring at the carnage with fear. Luka rushed over as he stared.

 "Master!" He declared but before he could get much closer, a wave of fear caused him to stumble forward as he gripped his forehead. Lady Noir gasped and caught him before he fell to the ground. He took a deep breath as he leaned on her before he looked up at Fu. "You're not just afraid of that monster... you're terrified of it... why?"

 "I... can't..." Fu gasped, dropping the bike as he stepped back. Koro was dodging its tongue and fighting against it with her shadow but everyone here knew it wouldn't only delay its actions. Fu stepped back and gripped his head. "This is all my fault..."

 "Fu, please tell me what you know," Luka gasped, pulling away from Lady Noir. "I know you're holding back information but we have to defeat it!"

 "No, I can't!" He gasped as tears rolled down his cheeks. Luka felt sick from the amount of fear coming from him but he pushed forward. "I did this... this is all my fault,"

 "Annie, I think he's having a panic attack," She gasped, making him frown as Fu curled in on himself. Luka took a deep breath before kneeling and placing his arms around him in a hug. Fu's eyes went wide as he did, surprised by the action. Luka's eyes turned silver before he felt himself and Fu been surrounded by a light, causing him to pull away as he came face to face with a little boy. He looked around confused as he was no longer in the streets of Paris but in a room that resembled Feng's hut. In the middle of it was a pool of water shaped like a yin-yang symbol. The two dots in it were podiums and the little boy in front of him was dressed in Chinese garb but his eyes remained the same.

 "Fu?" He asked, making the boy look at him. He was still crying and looked terrified. Luka knelt and placed his hand on his shoulder as the boy cried. "Hey, it's ok,"

 "I di-didn't mean to do it," He sniffed, making Luka frown. "I just didn't want to get punished again,"

 "Punished for what?" He asked but the scene changed, making him frown as he looked around before he noticed the boy was now sweeping up. He frowned and walked over but he ignored him. However, Master Fu was now stood next to him.

 "I was younger than you went I was chosen to be a guardian. My parents told me that it was a great honor and took me to the temple to train," He stated, making Luka frown. "I wasn't very happy there. The guardian who I trained under was cruel and vicious. He would punish me for the slightest thing. Making me do 1000 push-ups, forcing me to go for days with no food, or locking me in a small, dark room with no windows. No matter what I did, he would harm me. He told me it was to prove that I was capable off been the next celestial guardian but I didn't want to guard anything. I wanted to go home and be with my family. I would write them every day but one day, Master Han came and told me the worst news of my life. My family was dead. Our village had been raid by invaders. They were among the casualties. I broke down crying and he told me I was weak and deserved to be punished,"

 The scene changed to the boy been sat opposite the miracle box as tears silently rolled down his cheeks.

 "He locked me in here with the miracle box, telling me I could not come out until he said so," He explained, making Luka frown. "I was to have no food and kept an eye on the box. The only thing I had with me was my apprentice staff. Hours passed and my sorrow grew as did my fear and anger. I wanted to escape and run away but I was afraid that Master Han would catch me and punish me. More hours passed and not only was I sad, angry, and afraid but I also grew hungry and I had enough. I didn't care if I got punished/ I didn't want to watch over the miraculous. I hated them as much as I hated this temple. No, I would escape. Anything was better than this place. So I came up with a plan. I would take some food from the kitchen for my journal and escape from this temple but I didn't know how to. Master Han had the only key and the door was locked. That's when I had another idea,"

 The scene changed again, showing him opening the box and taking out the peacock miraculous before transforming. He charged up a feather and put it in his apprentice staff, creating the little creature that had become a statue.

 "I created a sentimonster that would help me escape. The first thing I ordered it to do was to get me some rice balls for the journey as it would be a bleak one. I planned to have it help me escape once it came back," Fu explained before looking down. "But the miraculous must never be used for the wrong reasons. All of the bad feelings I had mingled with my hunger and wish to escape and created a sentimonster very different from the one I envisioned. A ravenous creature with an intense hunger for everything but especially for the miraculous as they were the cause of my suffering,"

 The sounds of screams echoed around them, making Luka frown.

 "In my panic, I lost my staff. The very object that would have allowed me to control it," He muttered as he saw the boy drop it before he detransformed and tried to put back the brooch as he cried. "I was just a child. I was so afraid I didn't think of destroying it by using the peacock miraculous. I had tried to erase what I had done but it was too late. One of the other monks got me out of there, telling me to run with the grimoire he had managed to save and the miracle box... the last miracle box... before he too was eaten by the sentimonster. It was then I realized how dire my mistake was. The sentimonster had devoured every box at the temple and when the guardians had tried to stop it... the temple... the order of the miraculous... everything had been destroyed,"

 The scene changed to a snowy mountain with the young fu looking back with tears in his eyes before the sentimonster came after him.

 "I tried to escape the sentimonster but in doing so, I lost the grimoire and the miraculous of the peacock and the butterfly. I thought the sentimonster had disappeared forever," Fu replied, looking down. "This is all my fault. If I hadn't been so foolish, Hawkmoth never would have existed..."

 "Master, you made a mistake but you were a child living in fear and grief," Luka stated, making Fu look at him. "And what Master Han did to you was cruel. I'm sorry you went through that but running away isn't the answer. I know you're afraid but it's not too late to fix your mistake. Give me and Lady Noir our miraculous back and trust in us that we can stop that creature. Let us help you fix this,"

 "Luka..." Master Fu replied as the light engulfed them, returning them to Paris. Luka pulled away as Fu looked up at him with resolve. "You're right. It's not too late..."

 He opened the box and took out the earrings and the ring.

 "I shouldn't have taken these from you," He stated, placing the earrings in Luka's hand and a ring in Lady Noir's. "So please go and transform..."

 "I can't pretend that I'm not hurt by your actions," Luka stated as he fixed his earrings into his ears, causing Tikki to manifest as Lady Noir put on her ring. Plagg appeared as well. Both hugged their holders, relieved to see them again. "But I understand why you did what you did and I'm glad you finally saw sense. We will talk about this later but first... Tikki! Spots on!!"

 Tikki disappeared into his earrings, transforming him back into Anatis but something felt a little different this time. He felt more powerful. He took out his yoyo and threw it as the sentimonster was about to eat Koro. He pulled her to safety as he and Lady Noir jumped over. 

 "Koro, get Master Fu out of here," Anatis ordered, causing her to nod and help Fu away as the sentimonster tried to attack him and Lady Noir. The two of them dodged it, jumping out of the way. "We need to find Master Fu's staff! That's where the amok and possibly the Akuma is,"

 "Ok, but it doesn't have any baggage!" Lady Noir declared, throwing her baton at it. She re-caught it when it bounced back before dodging its tongue. "I think we need a bit of luck!"

 "Ok! Cover me!" He declared, jumping back as Lady Noir charged at it. He threw his yoyo in the air. "Lucky charm!"

 A metal detector appeared out of thin air, causing him to catch it as it fell before he glanced around. Koro was bringing Fu to the side, causing them to light up. He jumped over and landed next to them.

 "Master Fu.. your staff... was made of metal?" He asked, making Fu blink.

 "Part of it was," He stated, making Anatis smirk. "Anatis?"

 "There are only two places where the staff could be then," Anatis replied, thinking. "Where the temple was or..."

 He looked over at the sentimonster, just as it swallowed Lady Noir's baton. Fu and Koro gasped as they realized his plan.

 "No, it is suicide!" Fu gasped, causing Anatis to look at him. "You'll never escape,"

 "Trust me, Master Fu," He stated, making the two of them look at him. "I know my plan seems crazy but I know what I'm doing,"

 "I trust you, Anatis," Koro stated, making Fu look at her. "You should put more trust in your student, Fu. He and his partner have faced this creature without their miraculous. I have full faith the plan will work despite how crazy it is,"

 "Thank you, Koro," Anatis replied as Fu frowned.

 "There must be a different way... we can still run..." He stated, taking his hand. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you died in this mission,"

 "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't try to fight it," Anatis replied, making Fu blink. "This is who I am, Fu and I need you to believe in me. Me and Lady Noir can and will defeat this creature,"

 "Anatis..." Fu stated before nodding and letting go of his hand. "Of course, I believe in you. You're one-half of the best heroes I've ever known,"

 "Thank you," Anatis replied before jumping over to Lady Noir. "I have a plan,"

 "I'm not going to like it, am I?" She asked as he spun the yoyo around them, pulling her against his chest as he moved a hand around her. She gave him a look as he grinned at her. "I hate you,"

 "No, you don't," He grinned back. "Ready to get the staff back?"

 "Oh no!" She groaned as the Sentimonster licked its lips. "Not the tongue,"

 He gave her a grin as the sentimonster fired its tongue at them, causing it to stick on them before it pulled them into its mouth and swallowed them whole. A few minutes later, they appeared in a strange area that was purple and blue. Random items followed around including Andre's ice cream van, the bus, and Roger's police car. Lady Noir blinked and swam over to her baton, grabbing it and fixing it onto her belt.

 "It's bigger on the inside," She declared, looking around as Anatis nodded. "Are you ok?"

 "I don't know why but I feel like we're been watched," He stated, making her look around before he shook his head. "Let's get this over and done with,"

 "Right," She replied as they began to swim through the strange place. Anatis looked around as they swam through things before noticing something swimming in the corner of his sight. For a second, his mind flashed to the creature from his nightmare but he shook his head and stopped.

 "Who's there?" He asked, making Lady Noir stop to. "Come out,"

 "I mean no harm," A voice replied, moving out of the shadows. It was a young monk, dressed in a red hanfu with orange pants. He had no shoes on but there was the symbol of the order of the miraculous on his hanfu but he had a hood up, covering his face in shadows. "You were swallowed by that beast, weren't you?"

 "Yes," Anatis replied, frowning. His instincts were screaming that something was wrong with this boy. His skin seemed slightly gray as well. "Were you eaten as well?"

 "Yes, I was merely meditating when that beast came in," He replied, moving over. Lady Noir moved back, afraid of the monk too. "Is something wrong?"

 "No, we just can't waste any more time," Anatis replied, making him frown before he and Lady Noir swam off, feeling the monk's eyes lingering on him. "Are you ok?"

 "I feel sick... something wasn't right with that monk," Lady Noir muttered, taking his free hand.

 "I felt it too," Anatis replied as they came to a temple. The metal detector beeped. "It must be in here,"

 "Right," Lady Noir replied, nodding. The two of them swam in as the young monk watched them. His mouth broke in a smile but it wasn't like a normal human's smile. Instead, it showed multiple fangs as his eyes glowed a dark crimson before he swam back over to an older man, who seemed to be held in suspension. He was much older than the young monk but wore similar clothing. He had no hair and large eyebrows. His eyes were closed as if he was asleep, causing the boy to tilt his head to the side.

 "Time to unite once more, puppet," He declared, turning into a dark smoke before it moved over to the monk, forcing itself through his nose and mouth. He gasped and snapped open his eyes, revealing them to be black and dark crimson red in color as he let out an unearthly scream that echoed.

 "What was that?" Lady Noir asked as she and Anatis hear the scream, making him frown.

 "Nothing good," He replied, frowning before the metal detector beeped crazily. He pointed down to the staff that laid on the floor was the temple. "There! I knew it had to be intact... otherwise, the sentimonster would have disappeared,"

 "In that case, your wish is my command," Lady Noir grinned, holding out her hand. "Cataclysm!"

 With her charged up hand, she grabbed the staff, causing it to break in half and release the amok and Akuma. Within seconds of its destruction, the area around them exploded around them, causing them to reappear in front of Master Fu and Koro. The two masters stared in amazement as they did before Anatis took out his yoyo and captured the amok and the Akuma. He released the purified versions before throwing his metal detector into the sky.

 "Miraculous Ladybugs!" He declared, causing the cure to spread around Paris before disappearing. Master Fu stepped forward and cleared his throat, causing Anatis to look at him.

 "I... I am sorry," He stated, causing both Lady Noir and Anatis to look at him in surprise. "I was afraid and didn't want to be blamed for your disappearance but I should have trusted you in the first place. I should have told you about the sentimonster right away and not brush you off. Please forgive this foolish old man,"

 Lady Noir looked at Anatis, who frowned.

 "Master... while I understand why you did what you did, I am still hurt by it," He stated, making Fu look at him. "You say you trust me but every time I've asked about your past, you brush me off. When I've asked about the miraculous you lost and how you lost it, you close up and tell me to drop the subject. You tell me the miraculous is everything and I can't have a life outside of it but then you go every week to meet your lost love. I didn't realize it but I'm putting my life on hold because of it. There is someone I love and I haven't told her. I keep blaming outside forces but the truth is... I feel like I can't tell her. I feel like I can't have a life other than the miraculous... a feeling I'm sure you're familiar with and one you're against but you act like you believe that's how it should be. Fu, your old master was abusive towards you and yes, you made a mistake. I get you were young but you... you should have trusted me and Lady Noir but instead, you didn't. You ran, knowing it would follow. And Hawkmoth would too. Yes, it would be nice to free Paris but not at the cost of another city... and now... now Hawkmoth knows who you are... he probably knows what you look like. All you've achieved is making this a hundred times more difficult than it already is,"

 For a moment, Fu was silent as he took in Anatis’s words.

 "You are right, Anatis," Fu answered, bowing towards him. "For that, I am sorry..."

 He turned to Koro, making her blink. 

 "My dear Mulan," He stated, making the two younger heroes blink. "I have a favor to ask you,"

 He held out the miracle box to her.

 "Could you hold onto this until I have found a new place to settle?" He asked, making her blink and take the box. "Anatis is right. Hawkmoth knows my identity so I must find a new place to live. I must set up a new security system and until I have done so, the miracle box is unsafe with me. I also ask for you to continue to train Anatis as a guardian while I sort out things. I will take back over once I am settled. Once his training is complete, I will pass the box to him... assuming you still wish for that?"

 He looked at Anatis, making him frown as he thought.

 "Yes but I also want to do it my way, meaning I want to have a life outside of the miraculous too," He stated, making Fu nod. "I won't sacrifice the miraculous but I'm still just a teenager,"

 "The training to be a guardian takes years to complete," Mulan stated before turning to Lady Noir. "I can train you as well if you wish,"

 "Um... I'll think about it... but we should go," She replied as their miraculous beeped.

 "Wait..." Mulan gasped, taking out a couple of cards and hand them to them. "My address... for training but also should you need someone to talk to,"

 "Thank you... Dr. Lang?" Anatis asked, looking at her. She nodded, making him look at her with surprise. He had no idea his therapist was the guardian of the western box but that was another can of worms he would deal with later. "Right... we should go... bug out!"

 With that, he and Lady Noir jumped away.

 "Come, Fu," Mulan stated, making him look at her. "I think we both need a strong drink,"

 ~Feng's Hut~

 "So you're back," Feng stated as Luka looked over. He was sat with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. He opened them as he looks over at Luka. "I assume you completed your mission," 

 "The sentimonster has been taken care of," Luka replied, sitting down in front of him. "But at a cost... Hawkmoth now knows who Master Fu is and my friendship with him is damaged. I don't know if it will ever be the same. He's allowed Koro... I mean Mulan.. to guard his miracle box while he finds a new safe haven and asked her to take over my training as a guardian,"

 "Mulan is a good choice to go with. She is a strong ally to have," Feng stated as Luka nodded. "But I sense there is something else on your mind,"

 "The temple of the Order... it will be restored because of the miraculous cure, won't it?" Luka asked, causing Feng to nod. "I met a young monk in there but he didn't feel... right... even Lady Noir was afraid of him..."

 "Rightly so," Feng replied, making Luka frown. "You know that Master Toutai's title was stolen from him by a man named Su Han and he murdered him as well?"

 "Yes, Mulan mentioned it but didn't go into details as to how it happened," Luka admitted, frowning. 

 "It was a painful experience for her," Feng replied, making Luka nod. She lost the love of her life. He couldn't imagine a harder pain than that. "Due to the nature of his death, it acted as a key of sorts..."

 "A key?" Luka asked, frowning.

 "Yes, the temple was built on a site that had a strong connection to the spiritual plane, and when Toutai was murdered by a man he considered a friend, that betrayal allowed for a dark spirit to escape its cage. Once freed, it seeks out a host, taking over Toutai's murderer. I don't think he was aware of the spirit but soon after, the guardians changed. The heroes who were picked weren't true heroes, Alpheus' guard, who were created to help keep the balance, was transformed into a cult devoted to finding my next reincarnation, and children were abused and punished in the name of the Celestial Guardian. They took my teachings and made a mockery of them,"

 Luka looked pale at what Feng had said. 

 "It was this very thing that led to the downfall of the guardians," He replied, making Luka frown. "Su Han believed Fu to be my next reincarnation. As a result, he tormented and abused him. He intended to break him down so he would never be able to reclaim the title that he believed belong to him,"

 "Wait... I can reclaim the title of Celestial guardian?" Luka asked, frowning. He did not want to meet this Su Han figure. He sounded awful. Feng nodded. "But how? I thought Su Han stole... how did he steal it?"

 "By doing the one thing a guardian should never do," Feng stated, frowning. "He used the wish,"

 ~The Next Day~

 "Don't be bemused. It's just the news," Nadja Chamack stated as she reported on the mysterious reappearance of an ancient temple that had been restored by the miracle cure last night. Throughout Paris, several people watched in their homes as she spoke about it. Audrey Bourgeois watched from her penthouse as Tomoe Tsurugi listened to the broadcast with her earphones. Alim Kubdel frowned to himself as he watched it from his home as XY watched it from his private boat. Over in England, Amelie Graham de Vanilie watched as well and finally, in their private study, Gabriel Agreste and his assistant watched it, frowning. 

 "I think it might be time to reach out to the others," Gabriel stated as he looked at one of his rings. The signet on it was the symbol of the order of the miraculous. "Send out an invite to the heads of the five families,"

 "And should I mention the miraculous?"

 "For now, we'll keep that private," He replied, causing Nathalie to nod. "It's a need-to-know basis and they don't need to know,"

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Next Chapter: Coming Soon

[yunatheintrovert]

shot through the heart (and you’re to blame) | Chapter 1 [Russell Adler/Female Bell!Reader Soulmate AU]

As you tapped your foot against the carpeted floor of the conference room to Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie, you felt your once anxious mind calm down.

For far back as you could remember-which really was just the year 1981-music with your ever trustworthy Walkman had always helped you with...well everything.

It had been one of the reasons you loved that pencil-pushing job in the cubicle at Langley as an intelligence analyst. No unholy amount of paperwork could overcome the clarity you felt at the sound of music blaring through the headset at your ears, drowning out everything else in your world. There was no voices, no ringing in your ears, no screams.

It was all just the consistent sounds of songs you listened to time and time again.

(And as much as you hated to admit it, there was that stubborn bit of hope that refused to die in every song you listened to. Because maybe, just maybe-you had someone out there when you had no one to call your own.)

That stability you found in a world that you knew you had no place in was all thanks to an old acquaintance and now friend. Belikov must have heard from Lazar about the noise complaints from your neighbors. After all, the next time you met him at the scheduled Chicago Cubs’ game, he handed a boxed Sony Walkman WM-5 model with his usual smile under his signature blue Chicago Cubs hat.

As much as you prized your precious Walkman, you couldn’t help but notice how the timing of the mixtapes it played was...uncanny.

Granted, you made the mixtapes yourself. But the MK Ultra program didn’t give you foresight into the future.

You remembered Lazar laughing amusedly at your musings about that. You swore it was true although perhaps that was the paranoia left over the MK Ultra program.

Yet as you sat patiently at the conference table, you couldn’t help but feel a sense of foreboding that punctuated the ringing silence the Walkman had before it moved onto the next song on your mixtape.

SHOT THROUGH THE HEART AND YOU'RE TO BLAME-

As the song you had listened to for years after quite literally getting shot in the heart rang loud and clear in your ears, you registered the doorknob turning across the room.

And suddenly, you just knew.

The song you had listened to for a year while getting as drunk as a fish in bars was coming back to haunt you with a vengeance.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake-” you muttered to yourself, perhaps a bit more loudly than you intended.

Russell Adler walked through that door not a second later.

Even as you swiveled your gaze to the suddenly very fascinating waste basket at the opposite side of the room, you couldn’t help but look at your former...superior out of the corner of your eye.

He was as calm and composed as ever. Signature sunglasses and the ever present cigarette in hand, he looked the same as he did in 1981.

Years ago, you would have admitted that it was frustrating to be ignored that way.

But now, all you could hope for was that he was just here to sit in for the meeting.

If the implanted memories were any indication, Russell Adler always tied up loose ends.

And you were that one loose end that just wouldn’t die.

Quietly sighing to yourself, you soon turned your attention to the briefing that just started. Half of the people you didn’t recognize. But you did notice the familiar figures of Lazar and Belikov sitting in the seats next to Adler.

It must have been some time into the briefing that you felt a forceful nudge at your leg. Turning slightly, you faced your neighbor, recognizing the familiar face.

She was an analyst at the cubicles in Langley as well. Although, she had a fair resume filled with a reasonable amount of fieldwork related to the Eastern Bloc.

“Bell,” she said as you read her lips and the frustrated look in her eyes, “Turn off that damn Walkman.” you assumed she said that in a hiss.

Truth be told, you weren’t exactly popular among the analysts at Langley. You were rather aloof with your quiet lunches in your little cubicle and constant listening to music on your Walkman in the busy hallways.

Suddenly, you saw the analyst’s head turn towards the upper end of the conference table.

And just like before, you simply knew who your “neighbor” was looking at.

“There’s no problem, sir. It’s just her-” You saw the analyst gesture to yourself before she added, “I don’t know if she was paying attention to the briefing.”

There were several times in your line of work that you wish your conversational and social skills were more up to par....and this was one of those times.

You looked at Adler, shrouded in a sparse cloud of smoke with his signature sunglasses on.

“Bell,” was the word you registered all too well.

You felt the gunshot scar on your chest ache in pangs because you heard that word-BellBELLBell-in Vietnam all those years ago-nonono

It wasn’t real. And you had to listen to the advice the shrink gave you.

They were all just surreal dreams.

“Sir?” you quietly inquired, making sure to use the honorific. After all, there never ever was any personal feelings involved in the past and thus formality should be used to distinguish that (and deep down you knew it was for your sake because you had to draw a damn boundary between reality and whatever the hell MK Ultra planted inside you).

For a split second, you could have sworn something crossed his face. Although, you could never tell what he was thinking behind those shades.

“We’ve got a job to do, Bell.” You felt yourself freeze, “What is it?” He was testing you.

Of course.

“Objective is a downed American recon satellite over the Angolan desert. Secure perimeter, destroy sensitive technology, and exfil at 1300. Weapons armament is at our discretion,” you said in clipped statements before adding, “Further details will be assigned to us at a later time.”

Much to the frustration of your “neighbor”, Adler simply nodded approvingly at you in that ever slight way before taking a drag of his cigarette.

Luckily, the briefing was over in around 15 minutes without a hitch.

By the time it was over, your mixtape had already gotten to Tainted Love by Soft Cell and you were already in the middle of jumping out of your chair and making a hopefully subtle dash to the hallway.

From the pain you drive into the heart of me The love we share Seems to go nowhere

Suddenly, you felt a weighted, warm pressure on your shoulder and you instantly twisted around with your hand on the origin of the pressure-

-only for you to blink in consternation at the warm feeling of callused skin against your own.

He’s not wearing gloves, you thought vaguely for a moment as you held Adler’s large callused hand on your shoulder.

Wait-

“Sorry, sir-” you jerked away from him with an apology, “...old habits die hard.”

'What old habits? You had none, not with him.' you kicked yourself mentally.

“You should be more aware of your surroundings.” Ah, yes...The same kind of lecturing you would get in the safehouse when you would listen in on his calls...Granted that somewhat deserved, but it wasn’t like he wasn’t watching over you 24/7 like that time you saw him watching you wander around in the darkroom.

“Yes, sir.” you simply said. It was better to be unnoticed by Adler than it was to piss him off. If you had to be the same devoted obedient subordinate as before, so be it.

There just wouldn’t be any personal feelings involved this time.

(because there were none. It was never personal.)

And I've lost my light For I toss and turn I can't sleep at night

You couldn’t help but feel rather awkward at the silence that lingered in the air.

“If that’s all, I’ll be going now, sir.” you rather sheepishly said before moving to turn to walk away. 

“What are you listening to, kid?” Adler asked suddenly.

“What?”

“The song,” he gestured to the Walkman secured at your waist.

“Tainted Love,” you quickly answered, “Soft Cell.”

You could’ve sworn you saw Adler’s lips twitch up ever so slightly in almost a rather smile....or grimace. You could never quite tell with him.

“It’s a good song, Bell.” was all he said before walking away.

And with that exchange, you were left alone and confused in the hallway.

Once I ran to you (I ran) Now, I'll run from you This tainted love you've given

Author’s Note: 

This is my first time writing out Adler's character as well as even writing out a Call of Duty fanfic. Hopefully, it turned out okay. My writing is still pretty rusty at the moment. 

Anyways, I love writing Soulmate AUs and I found the idea of it to be interesting with a Russell Adler/Bell concept. Aside from my love for Soulmate AUs, I also just had to write out post-canon ending Bell having a Walkman and listening to music all the time with it.

Also, in case anyone is confused, this has a canon-divergence where Bell got non-fatally shot by Adler just before getting pardoned by a high-ranking official for her efforts and then getting a pencil-pushing job as an intelligence analyst at Langley. It's somewhat based on the "happy ending AU idea" post I put on here. It's rather unrealistic but I decided to run with the idea since it ran well with the soulmate AU concept.

Well, thanks for reading!

[homeformyheart]

❣random kiss for a twc pairing of your choice! (~narrativefoiltrope)

author’s note: thank you for the request @narrativefoiltrope!! i had such a hard time choosing which prompt and which pairing, which is why this took so long, and i took liberties with what a “hand kiss” could mean. hope you all enjoy!

copyright: all characters, except the oc detective, are owned by mishka jenkins @seraphinitegames. series/pairing: the wayhaven chronicles – adam du mortain x f!detective (regina bishop) rating/warnings: 13+; a teeny bit of angst because it is a du mortain after all based on/prompt: random kiss prompts // 6. a hand kiss word count: 1.1k summary: adam insists on keeping watch over regina even though she’s just doing paperwork in her apartment.

paper cut

time seemed to tick by slower than usual in the detective’s apartment, where adam was on duty to ensure 24/7 protection of regina. he was certainly not there to keep her company as she tried to catch up on the paperwork spread out all over her small dining table. no, he had picked her up from the station and escorted her home as part of his commitment to her protection, that’s all. if he got to tend to her well-being in the process, well, that was acceptable and not fully disagreeable to him.

so here they were, just the two of them in an apartment that seemed smaller than usual. he didn’t let himself linger on that thought as he stood by the window, looking around for anything suspicious, ever the alert soldier.

the evening quiet was comforting, except every so often regina would let out a groan and her head would fall to the table with a soft thump. his head would whip around each time, because even though he knew she was only doing paperwork, there was always a chance she was hurt or in pain.

he briefly checked the time on his phone as she let out another groan. it was already 1 in the morning and he knew she had an early day. nevermind how or why he knows her schedule better than she does some days, because he’ll just say it’s relevant information for her protection detail.

“why is there so much paperwork for a town that barely has anything going on!” she said in exasperation, rubbing her tired face with her hands.

adam turned to her with an eyebrow raised and the smallest notion of a smirk on his face. even if she had looked over at him, regina was too far away to notice, which she hadn’t, much to adam’s surprised disappointment.

“don’t say a word, i’m not talking about supernatural stuff,” she muttered under her breath, knowing that he’d hear her anyway.

regina let out another loud sigh as she looked at the pile of untouched paperwork that she barely made a dent in. she had been at this for hours and only made it about a quarter of the way through the pile, because somebody insisted on treating her as though she was made of glass. she half-wondered if things would be easier if she was made of glass, because then maybe she could withstand to be in adam’s presence long enough without melting inside.

he wasn’t even doing anything besides scanning outside the window occasionally and glancing over at her. and she only knew he was doing that because she was trying her damn hardest not to look at him because doing so made her heart ache and she really was trying to finish these reports. if she got to avoid dealing with her feelings at the same time by not looking at him, even better.

she groaned and shuffled the completed reports into a pile so she could tuck them away, letting out a small yelp as the papers grazed the palm of her hand, leaving a thin, but deeper than expected, paper cut. before her brain had a chance to register that she should apply pressure to ease the sting, her hand was yanked upward. adam’s figure cast a shadow over the table and regina slowly lifted her head to meet his gaze. his thumb was stroking the cut on her hand, sending a tingling feeling down her arm that she knew wasn’t from any sort of pain.

the soft lamp lighting brought out a rich emerald hue in adam’s eyes and regina held her breath, not wanting to break whatever this moment was between them. she could see the muscles around his eyes soften as he looked at her with such longing, she was sure she had forgotten how to breathe or move. he slowly lowered his head to her palm, kissing the cut gently and regina’s mouth parted in surprise as she took in a sharp breath.

and of course, the moment was instantly broken as adam froze and quickly dropped her hand, turning around and retreating to his spot by the window.

regina let out the breath she was holding and brought her hand to her lap, slowly outlining the spot his lips touched with her thumb. she should be disappointed, but instead she smiled as her cheeks warmed and turned back to the reports on the table. she most certainly had the energy to get through a few more.

about an hour later, adam noticed that regina’s heartbeat had fallen into a steady rhythm and glanced over to find that she had fallen asleep on top of her reports. he quietly made his way over to her and let his body relax, eyes softening as he took in her tired appearance and intoxicating scent. he wanted to stay like this, where he could let down his guard and pretend for a moment, that they could exist.

after a moment, he carefully slipped one arm under her knees and the other around her shoulder, gently tilting her body forward so she’d fall against his chest. he carried her to the bed and tucked the comforter around her, his hand lingering over some of the hair that had fallen over her face, fingers twitching slightly and wanting to brush it aside.

“i wish you’d stay,” she mumbled softly before letting out a sleepy sigh, but of course, his vampire hearing picked up on it. he froze with his hand hovering over her forehead. “but i know you won’t.”

he brought his hand back to his side and slowly walked backward out of her bedroom and toward the front door, her mumbled words echoing in his head. he paused with his hand on the doorknob and closed his eyes, regina’s steady heartbeat matching the beat of his own.

it still shocked and scared him how easily she figures him out, time and time again. regina had an uncanny ability to pierce his skin and read him like a favorite book she refused to put down. he wanted to assume it was unintentional, that she was just good at reading people but that wasn’t her strongest skillset. maybe she was just good at reading him.

maybe one day it wouldn’t feel so uncomfortable.

today was not that day.

he opened the door and closed it behind him quietly, his shoulders hunched and hands shoved deep into his coat pockets as he walked away from her apartment, his heart apologizing with the words he couldn’t bring himself to say.

* * * * * permatag: @kelseaaa; @kat-tia801; @anotherbeingsworld; @crackerdumortain; @pearlsandsteel; @gloynporslen; @sosolenoo; @alyssalauren;  @wayhavenots; @gingerbreton; @takemyopenheart; @fhauvilles; @writer-ish;

[zrtranscripts]

Home Front, Mission 27: Cat and Mouse

The Thurman Show

~

[alarm blares]

SAM YAO: Five, Five! Get up, get moving. Something's triggered the mall's alarms and every zom in earshot's shambling towards your location. You need to get warmed up if you're gonna stay ahead of them. Head out of the room into the corridor.

[door opens] There should be a couple more doors at the end of the corridor. Open the first one, and – [zombie roars] Aw crap! Zoms. Slam it, quick! [door shuts] All right, we'll try straight on. Zoms that way, too. And behind you! They're blocking all our exits.

Okay, okay. Just-just think. Wait a minute, is that an open door straight ahead of you? I don't remember that being there before. And uh, no, it's not on the map. It's painted, so you'd hardly be able to see it if it weren't opne. Well, it's the best option we've got. Head through... [door opens and closes]

Ah yeah, I can see you on my cams now, Five. There's a staircase down. Wow, those steps go down a really long way. You better get moving and I'll... I'll try and work out where you're moving to.

~

SAM YAO: I can't find the staircase anywhere on the map. There shouldn't be anything this deep under the mall, but I'm getting camera access as you go down, like... like the whole place is waking up around you. You've reached the bottom, Five. There are zoms on the stairs behind you, but there's a door ahead of you you can lock from the other side.

[door opens and closes] Right, more cams turning on, and then I can tell where you are. [door creaks open] Okay... you're in a wardrobe. In a bedroom. Right, that's a bit surreal. Get out and close the wardrobe behind you, okay? [door closes]

ARTEMUS THURMAN: Welcome to your new apartment, employee! Overwhelmed? Take a moment and breathe it all in. Need to escape from it all? Well, there's your 13-inch color TV complete with walnut cabinet and Betamax video recorder!

SAM YAO: A recording of Thurman's voice. What's going on? It's like you're in a show house or something. Look for a way out, Five, I don't want you trapped in there.

ARTEMUS THURMAN: Not in the mood for telly? [continues in background]

SAM YAO: It's like you've walked into the 80s. And everything's so clean. It looks box fresh. If anyone was supposed to live here, they never turned up. Right, there are zoms behind the wardrobe, so you're not going that way. Front door's locked... you're gonna have to kick it in, Janine-style.

Right, stand with one foot in front of the other about shoulder-width apart. Lift your back leg and bend it, keeping your knee as high as you can, and kick your heel straight out in front of you, remembering not to lock your knee, okay?

Go for it. Aim your heel at the door hinges. You can lean on the wall for balance if you need to. Pull your toes back as you kick, otherwise you might break them on the wood. All right, swap to the other leg, now same again. Knee up, kick out. Yep, yep, you're definitely getting there. Fantastic, Five! You've got legs like, like... a donkey. But in a good way. Yes, you're through!

Head out into the corridor. Cams are showing me you're on the ground floor of an apartment block. The doors either side of you must lead into other flats. Go straight ahead and you'll get to the main door. Did you hear that? Flies, buzzing behind the doors of those flats.

I don't want to know what's in there. Get out of the building. If the main door won't open, you know what to do. I don't understand what's going on here, Five, or why the zoms were suddenly like, herding you here, but we've got to get you out.

~

ARTEMUS THURMAN: Welcome to Thurmanville, loyal employee! To reward your tenacity, creativity, grace under fire, you've earned what everyone wants: citizenship in my own personal utopia!

SAM YAO: It's so weird. It looks like you're in a cookie cutter suburb from an American movie. Huge pastel houses with swimming pools, massive cars. But the trees are... plastic. And it's empty, like a ghost town. I think something very bad happened here. The apartment block you just came out of, someone's written inside the window with lipstick, I think. It says, “Help us.”

I can see Thurman! He's here! He just walked out of that same apartment block. Oh, he looks angry. He's looking for you, Five. Duck behind the hedge now! [foliage rustles] Okay, I can get you away. Commando crawl. Stay low to the ground and crawl forward on your forearms. Go. Thurman still looks exactly like he did in his videos. Could it be his son? It's a pretty uncanny resemblance, if it is. He's quartering the area, pacing up and down. You've got to keep moving.

ARTEMUS THURMAN: Don't you dare let Thurman down!

SAM YAO: Five, just keep moving. He hasn't seen you, just keep going. Okay, right, that wall will break his line of sight. When you're ready, head for the next building, but stay low.

~

SAM YAO: Okay, Five, he's moved on. Head towards the convenience store ahead of you. I had a look on ROFFLEnet, and I don't know if this is good or bad, but I think I know where you are.

Remember how Thurman wanted to create a bunker that would survive the nuclear apocalypse? Well, there were rumors he built a whole underground town. It was supposed to be for him and the people he thought were worthy of joining him. I guess that includes you, Five.

So there must be a lift back up or another set of stairs, right? But until we find them, you need to steer clear of Thurman. God knows what he wants you for, or what happened to the people who were supposed to live here.

[door opens, bell rings]

ARTEMUS THURMAN: Welcome to Thurmart, where you can support your town through the magic of capitalism 24/7.

SAM YAO: There's a lot of food in here, Five. You could hole up in here for months, if you really like weird-colored soda and tins of hot dogs. Yeah, you'd better crank those storm shutters down, I don't want Thurman to see you inside. Grab the handle and move it up and down like your bicep curls, yeah?

Oh no, Thurman heard the shutters rattling! He's coming. Keep going, Five. They're good and thick, they're your best chance at keeping him out. Halfway. Keep cranking the handle. You're doing so well. Nearly there, Five, but so is Thurman. Keep going. That's great, Five. The shutters are down.

ARTEMUS THURMAN: I'm not finished yet.

SAM YAO: Bloody hell, he's hitting the shutters with his fists. I can't believe how strong he is. What's he done to himself? The shutters won't keep him out for long. There's no back door, but there should be a fire escape on the first floor. Head up the stairs, and mind that fruit display! You're going to - ooh... knock it all over. The fruit, Five. It's plastic, like the trees outside. The food in here, it's-it's all fake. Get up those stairs, Five. Yep, that's brilliant. You're nearly there.

Oh God, there's someone up ahead lying on the floor. He's dead, long dead. Except the body, it's-it's not decomposed, just sort of uh... it's dried out, almost mummified, like there's no bacteria in the atmosphere. And there's some of that fake fruit in his mouth. I think he was trying to eat it when he died.

I don't understand, Five. Why bring someone down here just for them to starve to death? It's-it's monstrous! The shutters won't last for long. If there's a fire escape, Five, you'll need to use the handle to crank down the ladder. Hurry!

~

SAM YAO: Okay, I've found a lift shaft on the plans that will get you back up to ground level. I think it might be in the tall building to your right, the one that says Thurman High. Smash the window and get inside. [glass shatters] You're in, Five. Man, it's like stepping into the high school from every American kids' TV show, except it looks brand new and completely empty.

Okay, go straight past that row of lockers towards the trophy cabinet. Wow, there's even a poster for the prom, Summer 1989. We never had anything like this when I was at school. I suppose Thurman thought America was the ideal of capitalism or something.

Yep, there's the lift. Press the call button quick. It's not coming. Maybe it's stuck on a higher level. Get up there and see if you can unjam it. [glass shatters in the distance] Thurman smashed a window and he's climbing through! Oh, his face, Five. He looks so angry. What does he want? Get up those stairs, go.

There's another body on the stairs. I think... I know who she is. Keep moving. All that noise has attracted some zoms. The woman on the stairs, she's a New Canton runner, vanished six weeks ago on a meds run. Her mum offered a reward on ROFFLEnet. Her name was Marsha. I guess we know what happened to her.

You're nearly there, Five. If you can get to the lift, we can get you out of there. Keep climbing. You're there, and there's the lift! Ah, but there's no up button! It's not the one to the surface. I'm so sorry, Five. Okay, there's a corridor ahead of you. I think it's a connecting bridge over to the next building. I'll get you out, just keep going.

~

ARTEMUS THURMAN: Welcome to the Thurman Institute of Technology, where today's dreams become tomorrow's reality.

SAM YAO: Five, there's a mob of zoms chasing you. Head for that sturdy-looking laboratory door past the robotics department, the one marked longevity research. I've watched the tapes back. Thurman definitely set off the alarms in the mall to use the zombies to herd you down here, just like we did to him with the water, but we can use that trick, too. [door shuts] Brace the door. You need to stop the zoms coming in. Remember your wall sitting?

Get your back pressed to the door in a sitting position, your knees over your ankles, and hold it as long as you can. Yeah, keep bracing, Five. And there's another dead body slumped over that workbench. Oh, I hate this place! She's holding... is that a Dictaphone?

[alarm blares] Okay, right, I've set off the fire alarm to distract the zoms. Thurman must be bringing people down here just like he did with you. The zoms are starting to disperse. Is it all some sort of sick game for Thurman, luring people here just to watch them die? I won't let that happen to you.

Okay, the zombies have gone, you can relax. Damn it, here comes Thurman again! Quick, Five, open the door and - No! There's no door handle on the inside! You need to find a way out before Thurman comes in, but there's no other door. That must be how the poor dead scientist got trapped. There's... there's no way out.

Hang on a minute, loads of the food's piled up around that cupboard in the wall, like it fell out... It's a dumbwaiter, Five! That's it, that's the shaft back to ground level. I think... I think I can reroute power to it long enough to get you out of there. Just give me a minute to uh... Yep, yep, it's working!

Grab the Dictaphone, we'll listen to it later. Might be something on the tape that'll explain this place. Now wedge yourself in the dumbwaiter in your wall sitting position and hit the switch. Yes! It worked. You're going up, Five. And in the nick of time, too.

ARTEMUS THURMAN: You're one of the lucky ones, one of my chosen ones. No matter how far you go, there'll always be a home waiting for you in Thurmanville. There'll always be a home waiting for you... always waiting for you... always...

~

SAM YAO: Thank God you're out of there. For a moment, I thought I'd lost you for good, but you're safe now. You can't be comfy, squeezed into a tiny food elevator, but you're nearly back at ground level and Thurman's hundreds of feet below ground along with all the zoms. The worst thing is he seems to be obsessed with you, Five. We need to figure out what's going on down there or we'll never be able to stop him.

Oh... that's weird. Your headcam’s glitching. Back on the surface, Five. Time for you to get some rest. There's someone there, Five, waiting for you outside the dumbwaiter. But that's not possible. How could he be here so quickly? It's... Thurman.

~

[gayoperatorgunclub]

For the ultimate ship meme, Lion and Doc? I'm sorry, I'm LionDoc trash-

it’s all good!! whenever someone sends in an ask, i get an excuse to talk/write about one of my interests! really, it makes me so happy to be able to create content that people hopefully enjoy!! 💝💝💝

General:

Rate the Ship -   Awful | Ew | No pics pls | I’m not comfortable | Alright | I like it! | Got Pics? | Let’s do it! | Why is this not getting more attention?! | The OTP to rule all other OTPs

How long will they last? - until the end of time, babey

How quickly did/will they fall in love? - it was love at first sight but then they started talking i do think it was some form of ~interest~ in one another at first sight, but then all that drama and lack of communication happened so they didn’t really allow themselves to even dream about the possibility of a relationship. HOWEVER! once lion joined rainbow and they talked their shit out like people who know how to cope, there was a period of a few months that is now referred to as The Four Months of Pining™, during which glaz did a lot of paintings where the subject (who usually bears an uncanny resemblance to doc or lion) is staring at something (or someone) longingly. he calls it his french period. when they finally get together, a LOT of money changes hands. and goes straight into sledge’s pocket (he was the only one who bet that it would take them this long). diana gets a brand new collar (handmade), bed (handmade), dish (handmade), and many new toys (some handmade, some store-bought. sledge’s craftsmanship can only get him so far) 

How was their first kiss? - you know how the french are supposed to be super suave and confident??? and how gay people are trying their hardest but they’re just Not Good at things????? (i know these are stereotypes but stay with me). well, with their 5/8 french blood (i hc one of doc’s parents is fully algerian while the other is half french, half algerian), and their 4/4 gay blood, they have an 81.25% chance of success in matters of the heart. sadly, that 18.75% chance of failure came into play during this situation. picture it. doc and lion. romantic, home-cooked dinner. le festin is playing in the background. they’re holding hands over the table. suddenly, doc’s cat goes into labour. all hell breaks loose. lion is getting flashbacks to his son’s birth, so now he’s hyperventilating. doc carries him to the couch and turns on the fan so he can cool off and catch his breath, before carefully moving his cat, Rayie (arabic for gorgeous, pronounced rye-ah) to the living room in his handmade Birthing Box, then grabs a pile of blankets and a heat lamp and situates himself on the ground nearby so he can help her if she needs it. once the kittens are born (they’re twins!! Sadiqi is the boy, and Amirti is the girl!!!) doc makes sure they’re nice and warm and that Rayie is recovering, and gives her pets while she cleans her babies. once the happy family is all settled in for the night, doc walks over to the couch and just. lays down on top of lion. once he’s gotten over the adrenaline of the birth, he takes lion’s face in his hands and says “promise me you’ll be more calm if we ever decide to have kids” and gives him a BIG smooch while lion’s just short-circuiting like “does he know i have a son???? did i forget to mention my son?????? also what about these kittens??? are they not sufficiently childish to count as children????? DOES HE WANT KIDS????? does he want to marry me??????? wait why is he getting so clo-”

Wedding:

Who proposed? - lion. it was the day of their two year anniversary (yes i AM saying they got together the august after outbreak don’t @ me) and they were on vacation at doc’s family’s Secret Beach House. they were vibing on the balcony, watching the sunset, when lion suddenly clears his throat. doc turns to look at him and finds his boyfriend down on one knee, looking like he might flee to Bermuda. he’s reaching for something in his pocket. doc starts laughing. lion, completely misunderstanding his reaction, flushes and stammers out an apology. doc sees this, and immediately stops, though he’s still smiling gleefully as he catches lion by the biceps, then reaches into his own pocket and pulls the ring he was going to give olivier. they exchange rings, giggling like little kids, and spend the rest of the night making out on whatever surfaces are available. 

Who is the best man/men? - for lion? montagne. (his son is the ring bearer and doc’s niece is the flower girl). for doc? rook. he’s so happy he gets to participate in his dad’s wedding

Who is the bride’s maid(s)? - for lion: finka. for doc: twitch

Who did the most planning? - both of them!! do you know how hard they worked to ensure the ceremony was valid in the eyes of both of their religions

Who stressed the most? - s e e  a b o v e

How fancy was the ceremony? - Back of a pickup truck | 2 | 3 | 4 | Normal Church Wedding | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Kate and William wish they were this big.

Who was specifically not invited to the wedding? - lion’s parents. they tried to call him during the reception but doc’s grandma grabbed his phone and started cussing them out, talking about dishonor and how they tried to disown him so they’re not his parents anymore, and besides, his new family absolutely adores him, so really, it’s their loss. once she hangs up, she pulls lion into a hug and he calls her his favorite, if only, grand-mère

Sex:

Who is on top? - who’s topping? lion. but sometimes doc gets bitchy so he gets to set the pace if you know what i mean

Who is the one to instigate things? - they are both lowkey horny 24/7 so 👀👀👀

How healthy is their sex life? - Barely touch themselves let alone each other | 2 | 3 | 4 | Once a couple weeks, nothing overboard | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They are humping each other on the couch right now (only because they do get to see each other fairly often. if one goes on a long mission without the other, once they get back they will bump it up to a 10 real quick)

How kinky are they? - Straight missionary with the lights off | 2 | 3 | 4 | Might try some butt stuff and toys | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Don’t go into the sex dungeon without a horse’s head

How long do they normally last? - idk long enough ig. maybe longer if someone feels they’ve been left ~unsatisfied~ they might go a few more rounds ;))

Do they make sure each person gets an equal amount of orgasms? - ok it depends on what they’re doing but usually it’s one or two each, but on ~special~ occasions it’s either doc getting edged and denied for hours, OR doc getting forced to come over and over again until he’s begging for something, whether it be more or a goddamn break even he isn’t really sure. either way he’s crying and lion is consistently asking if he needs to safeword and otherwise checking in because they may like it rough but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care

How rough are they in bed? - Softer than a butterfly on the back of a bunny | 2 | 3 | 4 | The bed’s shaking and squeaking every time | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Their dirty talk is so vulgar it’d make Dwayne Johnson blush. Also, the wall’s so weak it could collapse the next time they do it.

How much cuddling/snuggling do they do? - No touching after sex | 2 | 3 | 4 | A little spooning at night, or on the couch, but not in public | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They snuggle and kiss more often than a teen couple on their fifth date to a pillow factory.

Children:

How many children will they have naturally? - unless someone’s hormones and organs get fucked, zero

How many children will they adopt? - probably none?? idk they’ve already got lion’s son and they’re both busy enough with work so

Who gets stuck with the most diapers? - NEITHER!!!!! DISGUSTANG!!!!!!!!!

Who is the stricter parent? - god i wanna say both. like lion and his attachment to rules??? but doc and his Mom Friend energy????? but ig lion BUT HE’S NOT STRICT TO THE POINT HE’S A BUZZKILL OR ANYTHING HE’S JUST RESPONSIBLE (he will NOT allow his husband and son to go vandalize the property of some islamaphobic brits, as much as he agrees with the sentiment) 

Who stops the kid(s) from doing dangerous stunts after school? - doc will only allow vandalism if it’s in the name of righteousness. meaning, he’ll allow their son to spray paint the walls of a goddamn walmart with shit like “eat the rich” and a portrait of robespierre and a guillotine, but it is a HARD NO on defacing places like the library or community center (unless he has a good reason to do so). lion spends his time praying and making sure his son knows which acts of civil disobedience are acceptable and which are distorting their goal 

Who remembers to pack the lunch(es)? - doc. he (privately) dreams of retiring (eventually) and living out his lifelong dreams of being a househusband. so

Who is the more loved parent? - SHUT THE FUCK UP RIGHT NOW GET OUT OF MY HOUSE IM GONNA BEAT YOUR ASS. but ig lion??? BUT ONLY BECAUSE THEIR SON HAS KNOWN HIM LONGER. doc is half Dad and half Cool Uncle Who Gives Me Spray Paint And Tells Me To Make Myself Heard (to clarify, i know doc is a pacifist, but im kinda projecting my own sentiment of “we’ve tried to be peaceful but you wouldn’t give us the time of day. now that we’ve “acted out” we’ve gotten your attention, and rest assured, things are going to change.” he won’t hurt anybody, he’s just tired of having to be everyone’s “muslim friend” and educating people on things they could google themselves)

Who is more likely to attend the PTA meetings? - it used to be lion out of necessity, but when people started asking about his “wife” he was really torn between telling them that he and his son’s mother separated, but now he has a partner and his son seems very happy about it. when doc finally attends a meeting with lion, people really struggle to hide their shock. a few clunky but well-meaning “we support you”’s and “we’re sorry for everything that’s been going on”’s later, doc has used his charm to make friends with literally everyone. from then on, he is on pta duty on behalf of lion and his ex

Who cried the most at graduation? - lion! his parents purposefully didn’t show at his, so it’s a big deal for him to show his son just how proud he is. doc tears up a little too, but manages to mostly keep it together so he can support lion, who spends most of the day heave-crying about how proud he is into his husband’s shoulder. gustave just pats him on the back and tells him that they’ll run out of donuts if they don’t get to the concession stand soon

Who is more likely to bail the child(ren) out of trouble with the law? - doc. civil disobedience, baby!! he has never been caught. lion fears the law after his youth, so he tries to avoid any visits to law enforcement. he also can’t stand to see his son behind bars

Cooking:

Who does the most cooking? - doc. househusband, remember?

Who is the most picky in their food choice? - doc, but only because he can be a bit of a spice supremacist. he has to get his ingredients from these very specific farms and markets or else his great grandmother will begin manifesting in their house to curse them

Who does the grocery shopping? - doc, bc he does NOT trust lion to not just sweep all of the microwave ramen and kraft mac n cheese into the cart then sprint to self-checkout

How often do they bake desserts? - whenever possible. doc and maestro live by the philosophy “don’t do anything halfway” if they’re going to go through the trouble of making a meal, it will have multiple courses. 

Are they more of a meat lover or a salad eater? - doc is more of a salad eater but only for ease of consumption with halal laws. he adores filet mignon

Who is more likely to surprise the other(s) with an anniversary dinner? - lion! maestro enlists himself as assistant head chef after walking into the base’s kitchen one day to find lion covered in flour and lying facedown on the floor, crying

Who is more likely to suggest going out? - also lion! though he’s memorized doc’s order at all of their favorite restaurants, so he usually just gets take out and puts on a big show of being a “tired housewife who works in the kitchen all day just for this one meal” and setting up the table so it’s all nice and romantic

Who is more likely to burn the house down accidently while cooking? - lion. he tried crème brûlée once. never again 

Chores:

Who cleans the room? - lion. organization is everything to this man. doc helps with laundry and such, but for the most part he leaves organization to lion and his systems (think leslie knope levels of planning and organization)

Who is really against chores? - neither! they both understand that teamwork makes the dream work, baby!!

Who cleans up after the pets? - doc, since lion’s already asked him which color hanger should represent “clothes i can tear off my husband before we fuck” and he needs a Moment

Who is more likely to sweep everything under the rug? - neither. they don’t own a broom

Who stresses the most when guests are coming over? - lion because of the deep-seated catholic urge to appear perfect in front of others, and doc because people will gossip, olivier!

Who found a dollar between the couch cushions while cleaning? - lion. he immediately called doc into the room and asked “is this your stash of drug money?” doc, who had been asleep because it was 3 in the morning on a saturday, just stares at him

Misc:

Who takes the longer showers/baths? - it is so bold to assume they don’t shower together to “cut costs”

Who takes the dog out for a walk? - lion is known in their neighborhood as the man who walks cats. there is a facebook page where people post pictures of him walking his cats. vigil is an admin

How often do they decorate the room/house for the holidays? - LITERALLY EVERY HOLIDAY GETS DECORATIONS. lion makes his own for the muslim holidays since there really aren’t many “of good quality” in stores. when they first started dating, doc came home to find his house covered in ramadan decorations, and lion standing precariously on a ladder, trying to string up fairy lights while learning how to pronounce important arabic words. needless to say, doc cries

What are their goals for the relationship? - mutual joy and contentment!!!! 

Who is most likely to sleep till noon? - doc. he’s sleepy

Who plays the most pranks? - lion, but they’re stupid ones like replacing certain pictures with danny devito. doc gets back at him by replacing pictures of jesus with ewan mcgregor, and putting yoda into his nativity scene. lion doesn’t notice

[ryqoshay]

OTP Ask Meme (Impatient Edition) YuuAyuSetsu

And yet again, I know the point of these things is to wait for followers to Ask questions from the list, but reading though this one got me thinking too much. About all of my flagships. And I wanted to answer all of the questions. And not wait for a handful to maybe be asked.

So again, credit again goes to @lonelypond​ for this version coming across my dash. Reblog that version if you want to do this thing correctly.

Also, just because I’ve already answered these here, I’ve expanded on some for various reasons and left others short if I believe the reasons are obvious. So if you still want to do the whole interactive thing, you can still ask for clarification or whatever.

And finally, there will be spoilers ahead for Tri-Arame, both for scenes I’ve written and posted, as well as some that remain in my Notes and WIP Warehouse. I’ll try to remember to link to the chapters mentioned.

1. Who wakes up first?

Ayumu. The comfort of sleeping next to or between her girlfriends has caused her internal clock to be uncanny in its accuracy, such that she no longer needs an alarm, as depicted in Early and Bright. Yuu doesn’t need an alarm either, as if the smell of cooking breakfast or brewing coffee isn’t enough to wake her, Ayumu will do so eventually. Setsuna will wake up sometime after Ayumu and before Yuu.

2. Who wants to stay in bed just a little longer?

Yuu is always happy to spend a little longer in bed, if for no other reason than to cuddle with whoever is there with her.

3. Who takes longer getting ready?

One could argue Setsuna, but that would primarily be because Ayumu is taking her time enjoying styling her hair.

4. When they can’t sleep, what do they do?

Probably watch anime.

5. Who falls asleep while watching a movie?

Ayumu, especially if she is comfortable and warm in between Setuna and Yuu. Yuu might fall asleep depending on the genre of movie.

6. Who falls asleep last, watching the other with a small affectionate smile?

Depends on the night’s sleeping arrangement, though more likely Yuu or Ayumu.

7. Who comes up with the cheesy pick-up lines?

Yuu intentionally. Setsuna less intentionally as she honestly thinks quoting some anime or manga line is cool; neither Yuu nor Ayumu are willing to dissuade her as they find it adorable.

8. Who gets extremely competitive playing Mario Kart?

Yuu and Setsuna like to make just about anything into a friendly competition. As of Betting For Play, they start including little requests winner gets to make of the loser. Ayumu joins the fun from time to time but is nowhere near as competitive as the other two.

9. Who accidentally pushes a door instead of pulling?

Setsuna, if she is focused on talking about anime/manga/idols/etc with Yuu or Ayumu.

10. Who sets the other’s ringtone to something loud and obnoxious behind their back?

Yuu

11. Who rearranges the bookshelf/DVD shelf in alphabetical order?

Setsuna likes her doujin collection organized properly so she can quickly find her favorites when she wants to reread them again.

12. Who does the hands-over-the-eyes “Guess Who” thing?

Yuu. I can see Setsuna doing so after she is more comfortable with her girlfriends.

13. Who points out a dog when they see one?

Setsuna

14. Who’s prone to road rage?

Setsuna, but only if Ayumu and/or Yuu are passengers with her; her desire to protect those she loves kicks in. If she is alone in the car, she might grumble a bit but it won't ruin her day.

15. Who’s prone to wearing socks indoor (or to sleep)?

Ayumu, and possibly Setsuna. We've seen barefoot sleeping Yuu in canon.

16. Who reminds the other to put on sunscreen before going to the beach (or pool)?

Ayumu

17. Who carries all the important documents while traveling?

Ayumu

18. Who gets the window seat?

Probably Setsua. Then Yuu and Ayumu get to enjoy watching her excitement from the view.

19. Who puts their cold hands/feet on the other?

Yuu intentionally. Setsuna unintentionally.

20. What do they argue about the most?

Less an argument, more a heartfelt disagreement, but they all maintain a concern about doing their fair share or that they’re somehow holding the other back or whatever. The other two then have to reassure them they’re doing fine.

21. Who’s clumsier?

Setsuna. Ayumu to a lesser degree.

22. Who texts more often?

Yuu and Setsuna

23. Who is better with kids?

Setsuna is best at keeping kids entertained and happy, with a story or a song or other sort of performance. Ayumu is best at tending to the kids’ needs, like feeding and calming them down when they’re upset or applying first aid. This isn’t all to say Yuu is bad with kids, just that the other two are better.

24. Who’s the better cook?

Ayumu, by far and away. Yuu is capable of the stereotypical bachelor level of cooking. Setsuna is prone to extreme experimentation, but if supervised by someone like Ayumu, she is capable of producing something edible.

25. Who mistakes salt for sugar?

Setsuna.

26. Who puts the fork in the microwave?

Possibly Setsuna

27. Who cooks at 2 in the morning?

Either Yuu or Setsuna

28. Who lets the microwave play the loud beeping sound at 1 a.m.?

Yuu, though she would be quite apologetic about if it woke anyone up.

29. Who licks the spoon when they’re baking brownies?

All of them.

30. Who likes doing the dishes?

Ayumu and Yuu are fond of doing them together. Setsuna is happy to take one of their places as she falls into the routines of the other two.

31. Who has bigger cravings? What are they?

I would say Yuu for idols, but I believe Setsuna matches or possibly exceeds her. Setsuna for anime and manga and doujin, in addition to idols of course. Ayumu initially just for Yuu, but then later for both Yuu and Setsuna. For food? Yuu and Ayumu have a canon fondness for Kope Pan and I imagine they pull Setuna into this desire over time.

32. Who remembers what the other one always orders at a restaurant?

Ayumu

33. How do they eat ice cream? What’s their favorite flavors?

They each get different flavors with the express intent of trying some of the others. Not sure about favorite flavors yet.

34. Do they go on dates? What are they like?

Absolutely. Ayumu prefers peaceful walks in parks or window shopping in the mall. Yuu also likes those things, though more because it is time spent with Ayumu, and eventually Setsuna, than for the activity itself. Once introduced to idols, she keeps track of local performance schedules and insists they go regularly. Setsuna loves hitting up the comic and game shops and has reservations for Comiket as soon as they’re available. She also loves the idol Lives, obviously.

35. What do they smell when they smell Amortentia?

Yuu smells the slightly gasoline-like smell of the dye Ayumu helps her use, the pyrotechnics used on stage during certain performances, and Tamagoyaki. Setsuna smells the sweat produced while performing under the heat of a spotlight, tabasco chilies, and the lingering scent of Yuu and Ayumu left on Ayumu’s bed. Ayumu smells the fabric softener the Takasaki family used for their laundry, Yuu’s hair, and Setsuna’s hair.

Tamagoyaki is the sweet, rolled egg omelet we see Ayumu feed Yuu in an early chapter of SIFA, or possibly Ayumu’s Bond Episode, I forget. Either way, I like the idea of that being a simple dish Ayumu learned to make at a young age and got Yuu hooked on her version of it over the years.

For Setsuna, I wanted to be more subtle with the tabasco thing, so I could hint at it instead of stating it directly. Thus, I looked up the ingredients for Tabasco… and what do you know, it’s made from tabasco chilies, which themselves are named after the state of Tabasco in Mexico. So yeah, a brand named after its main ingredient, which is named after the region where it is grown. No getting away from the name there.

Also, yes, Ayumu gets two hair entries, one for each girlfriend. I don’t care if it’s cheating or a cop out or whatever. I love the headcanon that she is obsessed with hair, so of course how it smells would be something that resonates with her. And she would absolutely be able to tell the difference between Yuu and Setsuna in a blind scent test.

36. Which one is the secret snuggler?

Setsuna is decidedly the most “needy” in her snuggles, though Ayumu can have her moments. Yuu loves all forms of physical contact, but that really isn’t much of a secret to anyone.

37. Which one offers their jacket to the other when they complain they feel cold?

Setsuna, with her desire to be heroic and cool. And Yuu, having grown up with Ayumu who gets cold.

38. Who reaches for the other one’s hand while driving?

Ayumu

39. Who leaves little notes in the other one’s lunch?

Ayumu. (Bonus: What does it say?) Cute, little affirmations of her love for her girlfriends.

40. Who is the most affectionate?

Yuu is the most open about it with Setsuna coming in a close second, but only after she is more comfortable in knowing she isn’t impressing herself too much on the others. Ayumu loves her physical affection, but is more reserved in initiating it; more sensual intimacy on the other hand…

41. Who is the big spoon/little spoon?

After a few weeks of rotation and figuring things out, they settle on Yuu being the big spoon to Ayumu while Setsuna snuggles into Ayumu’s chest, as first portrayed in Late Return Night. If, however, Yuu and Ayumu exhaust Setsuna during intimate activities, leaving her passed out between them, again, Yuu will roll her toward Ayumu and be her big spoon instead, like in Betting For Play.

42. What is their favorite feature of their partner?

If asked, Ayumu would probably say she loves Yuu’s gentle, supportive smile and Setsuna’s heart-igniting, passionate smile. However, if actions speak louder than words, her girlfriends’ hair might be considered her favorite feature. Yuu loves Ayumu’s adorable blush when she is teased and the fire in Setsuna’s eyes when she performs. Setsuna loves Ayumu’s braided bun, enough to want to emulate it sometimes, and Yuu’s excited expression as she cheers from the audience.

43. What is the first thing that changes when they realize they have feelings for the other?

For Yuu? Honestly, not much, in either case. She had little desire to rush anything and was happy to take it all at a casual pace. Not much changed for Ayumu either when she realized she loved Yuu as they were already spending a ton of time together anyway. However, upon realizing she had feelings for Setsuna, she resolved to finally move past her jealousy over the bond Setsuna had formed with Yuu; how successful she is with this is part of her character development in TA. Setsuna tried to walk away from the other two when she realized her feelings for them were stronger than just friendship and she was afraid of coming between them. They pulled her back in. And she let them.

44. What are their nicknames for each other?

Currently, I only have Yuu not using any honorific with Ayumu, as opposed to -chan she uses was her peers and juniors, and eventually her seniors after they’ve all graduated. I figure she has been referring to Ayumu as such for so long that changing, even to add -chan, would feel strange, even if she constantly calls Ayumu cute, making the honorific fitting in that regard. Setsuna uses -san with everyone, even her girlfriends and Ayumu uses -chan in a similar manner to Yuu, though with Yuu as well.

I have seen other authors use the alternate reading of the kanji for Ayumu’s name and have her girlfriend call her Pomu. I’ve also seen Setsuna shortened to Setsu, as Ai does in the anime. And while I am not opposed to someday adopting either or both of these to my own writings, I am awaiting what may or may not be revealed in the second season of the anime before I finalize how the trio refers to one another. Even if that means major retcons to what I’ve already written; just add them to the list…

45. Who worries the most? Over what?

Probably Ayumu. However, as mentioned above, all three worry about contributing enough to the relationship. Prior to officially dating, Ayumu and Setsuna worried that they were getting in the way of the other being a happy couple with Yuu, as revealed in Change Overnight.

46. Who initiates kisses?

Yuu, as mentioned above, is quite happy to initiate physical affection of all sorts, both in public and in private. Setsuna is more willing to initiate hugs and welcome home kisses, though is more hesitant with other types of kisses. Ayumu is similar to Setsuna but swaps for good morning kisses as the type she is more comfortable initiating.

47. Who says I love you first? How did it happen?

Yuu drops the more casual version quite often, and with just about everyone she is remotely close to. She probably starts adding the more serious version occasionally, with just Ayumu and Setsuna, as she feels their bonds have strengthened to that point. Setsuna is not quite as liberal with the casual version as Yuu, but definitely uses it more with Yuu and Ayumu. She probably doesn’t use the more serious version until after they’ve made their relationship official. Ayumu realizes she hasn’t said it at all, not even the casual version, prior to them dating, and decides it’s high time to start, as revealed in Change Overnight.

48. Who tells their friends/family about their relationship first?

They probably tell their friends at the same time. For family, I would imagine Yuu has no problems saying something right away. Ayumu likely isn’t far behind. Setsuna… I’m still working through my thoughts on her family, to be honest.

49. What do they do when they’re away from each other?

In When One’s Away, Ayumu started a practice to send one of Yuu’s sleepshirts and one of her own stuffed animals with Setsuna when she goes out on tour. She also has a set of wireless charging mounts that allow the three to share a conference call so they can see and hear each other before falling asleep at night. If Yuu is the one away, swap her shirt for one of Setsuna’s. If Ayumu is away, she would swap her own stuffed animal for one of Setsuna’s. This is to make sure no one feels completely left out, since it is rare that the three would be separated completely and more often only one would be away at any given time.

50. Who gets overwhelmed by small acts of kindness?

Setsuna and Ayumu.