#someone else has to have this idea it can't be just us

[beloveds-embrace]

Thinking about designationless reader...

Imagine how alone she must've been for all her life. It started since she was young, her parents pushing her to the corner of the home, away from the family, and naturally, her siblings would follow their parents' lead, pointedly ignoring her, and finding any excuse available to be out of her presence. She wouldn't understand them anyway, she can't tell the difference between noises nor could she even recognize scents. It just wouldn't work.

Reader thinks that maybe she could find someone, anyone in school, but kids are like sharks, except instead of smelling blood, they smell the lack of all scents on her. Most kids have a combination of their own and their family members' scents. Reader has nothing, so everyone continues the pattern, but now with more stares and jeers and hushed giggles. Reader knows that bullying is bad, but anything would be better than simply not existing to anyone. That's what the others say, at least, that she's nothing, nobody. Never to her face, though, just in the whispers shared between friends.

She eventually tries to find others like her through the wonders of the internet. There's maybe a handful more scattered in her country, but none are her age, and all have their own families who care about them. Was it just her who wasn't deserving of love, of connection? Reader reaches out to them, and they talk a little, but before long, through no one's fault, it falls through. She was bad at talking anyway, even if she doesn't have to worry about scents or sounds that aren't there, she never knew much about context or connotation. She never had the opportunity to learn about the intricacies in communication. Reader is back alone.

The military eventually scouts her, and it's the first time anyone has ever really looked at her. Sure, they look at her like a valuable tool, but a tool is better than nothing. Reader obviously joins, desperate for crumbs. She climbs the ranks, gets the job done. She is good at her job, so people respect her. She learns how to talk professionally, emails, texts, and so one, but no one talks to her on leave. No one invites her to the pub after a good mission. No one even talks to her in the mess. But people do talk to her when they have to, and that's enough. Maybe she even gets a callsign. Doe. After Jane Doe, the placeholder name for unknown individuals, and insult if anything.

Now there's the 141. They invite her to things. They talk to her. They touch her. Reader exists for them. She isn't just an unknown person stuck in the background and invisible to everyone else, and Reader doesn't know what to do. Her speech is awkward and overly professional, even in personal settings. How is she supposed to be friends with someone, multiple someones? How is she supposed to move? To act? To express? She doesn't know, but she really wants to learn. At least now she has good teachers.

ANON YOU GENIUSSSS okay but this? Perfect. AHHHH I ADORE THIS IDEA!! Esp the jane doe callsign omg yes

You weren’t used to being seen.

Growing up, you learned quickly how to make yourself small- how to exist quietly, without taking up space, without asking for too much. Because the few times you had asked- asked for a hug, asked to be let into the nest, asked why you felt so different- the answers had all been the same.

No.

Not now.

Not you.

It wasn’t that your parents didn’t love you. You were sure they did, in their own way. But love was hard to feel when your mother flinched at your touch like you were something disgusting, when your father sighed like he was tired every time you entered the room as if you were taking up space he was saving for his other children. When your siblings built their nests without you, curling into piles of warmth and safety while you sat outside the door, knees pulled to your chest and hands balled into fists to keep them from knocking, a cold ache burrowing itself in your chest.

You stopped knocking eventually.

You stopped trying.

You used to wonder if you’d done something wrong- if maybe you could fix yourself and everything would go back to normal. But it wasn’t something you could fix. It was just… you.

Scentless.

Designationless.

Invisible.

School had been worse, perhaps the worst. At least your family had pretended not to notice how different you were. The other kids didn’t bother pretending. They stared openly, whispered behind your back, laughed when you walked by. You’d caught bits and pieces of what they said- weird, wrong, broken, as if they hoped by having you hear their words, they’d convince you to leave at last.

You’d started keeping your head down after that, slipping through the halls like a shadow. No one talked to you unless they had to, and even then they either did it with a mocking, jeering tone that echoes in your nightmares or with a meek tone; as if your lack of everything is contagious. No one sat next to you at lunch, either. When partners were assigned, you always ended up working alone per your teachers’ instructions.

It was easier that way.

At least, that’s what you told yourself.

By the time you joined the military, you’d gotten good at being alone. You didn’t need friends. Didn’t need packmates. You had work, and work didn’t care if you were quiet or awkward or too stiff to laugh at the right jokes. Work didn’t care if you flinched when people got too close or froze when someone raised their voice. Work demanded to be done, and you had nothing and no one to stop you from that.

But the military also has the same teens who used to bully you so consistently. Rookies all to ready and happy to lord over you. It’s how you get your despised callsign, Doe. Jane Doe. A cruel mockery, comedy wherein you are the joke that has the world laughing.

Still, you wear it. It’s still an acknowledgment and that will always be better than never being seen. You flit from team to team, unit to unit, always an observer from afar, watching everyone around you speak a language you can’t.

But the 141 was different, when you eventually end up working for them.

They cared.

They cared in ways you weren’t ready for.

Soap was relentless, dragging you into conversations even when you barely knew what to say. He filled the silences like it didn’t bother him, kept talking for the both of you, lounging against you unbothered, until you started talking back. Gaz was gentlest, steadier. He never pushed, just lingered close enough to remind you he was there, waiting, whenever you were ready. Quiet, silent acceptance you’d never been given before, and you were yet far too afraid to so easily cling to it.

And the Alphas- Price and Ghost- were worse.

Price had a way of looking at you that made your chest ache, like he saw you, really saw you, and didn’t mind what he found. Scentless, with no designation and all. Ghost was quieter, sharper, but his eyes tracked you everywhere, presence wrapping around you like he was staking a claim you didn’t understand, like he was teying to etch every part of you behind his eyelids.

You didn’t know what to do with it.

They didn’t give you space. They sat next to you at meals, tugged you along when they went out for drinks, called you over during breaks like it was the most natural thing in the world. And it felt natural- until it didn’t, because sometimes you still felt like an outsider.

Like you didn’t belong.

You tried to hide it, but they saw through you. They always did, and they never shied away.

When you started avoiding the mess hall, it was Gaz who caught you, shoving a plate of food into your hands and dragging you to sit with him like it wasn’t a big deal. When you hung back during missions, letting the others fall into their pack dynamics without you, Soap was the one who looped an arm around your shoulders and pulled.

And when you flinched, once, at the sharp sound of someone’s voice echoing down the hall- when you tensed so hard it made your fingers tremble- it was Price who closed the distance, standing in front of you like a wall and letting Ghost linger at your back. Neither of them said a word.

They didn’t have to.

You weren’t used to being protected. You weren’t used to belonging.

But they made it hard not to.

[mysteryshoptls]

SSR Leona Kingscholar - Nightmare Suit Vignette

"What makes a qualified king"

[Halloween Town – Town Hall]

Leona: You want to hear more about the Halloween we celebrate back home? We've already come up with enough ideas for you.

Jack Skellington: Well, you guys have so many fresh ideas. I want you to teach me everything you know, without skipping a thing.

Epel: Without skipping a thing… Hmm, was there anything else?

Epel: Oh yeah, don't the people in this town wear any costumes for Halloween?

Jack Skellington: Costumes?

Epel: Yes! We dress up like mummies, werewolves, vampires and other sorts of monsters to scare people.

Riddle: When it comes to scaring… I don't think any of that would be any different for the residents here.

Epel: Oh, right… Hmmm, I'm sorry, I can't think of anything better.

Jack Skellington: No, you're fine. Basically, you're saying that you dress differently than you normally do, right? That also sounds interesting.

Jack Skellington: Might not be too bad to have big ears, a tail, sharp fangs and claws to become a werewolf.

Epel: Jack-san… a werewolf?

Leona: Kekek, I can see that making things even more confusing.

Leona: Regardless, it's much too early to be talking about next Halloween.

Jack Skellington: Too early? Not at all.

Jack Skellington: Once this year's Halloween is over, we only have 364 days until next Halloween.

Riddle: Indeed. I agree in that it may not be too early. Even this time, we are all working on a tight schedule…

Riddle: If you were to create a rough plan now, there'll be more time for preparations next year.

Leona: I get what you're saying. But there's no saying whether our Halloween will even be successful.

Leona: We haven't even finished the prep for this coming Halloween.

Leona: I think it'd be best for us to give our brains and bodies a rest to make sure we can even prepare everything properly.

Jack Skellington: Yeah, it's important to take breaks. But once this Halloween is over, you guys are going back to your own world, right?

Jack Skellington: And during the day, we're all so busy with preparations. I want to hear all your stories while I can.

Leona: Your eagerness to learn is astounding. If that's the case, then there's someone else who can help you better.

Leona: Hey, Idia.

Idia: Eeek!? D-Don't just pan the camera over to me… Why me, anyway…?

Leona: "Why"? Well, obviously because you're the Housewarden of the dorm Ignihyde, which adheres to the diligent spirit of the Lord of the Underworld.

Jack Skellington: The Lord of the Underworld? That sounds fascinating. Idia-kun, tell me more.

Idia: T-T-T-Tell you more? More what? I mean, s-sure, I know all his lore, but I don't want to give a presentation, or anything…!

Epel: Right, since Jack-san is the King of Halloween… That means he'd be considered the Lord of this town, right?

Leona: You can't judge someone just by their title. A king is only as good as what actions they take.

Leona: Although I'm pretty interested in what exactly the King of Halloween is expected to do, too.

Jack Skellington: What I do? Well, of course, that's to make Halloween as frightening as possible.

Idia: I-I mean, since you're the King of Halloween, you just gotta hype up Halloween, right? I guess…

Riddle: In order to make Halloween as frightening as possible, what exactly do you do?

Jack Skellington: Let me think. I'd drive a cart…

Epel: You drive…?

Jack Skellington: Or take walks in the cemetery with Zero…

Idia: And walk your dog…?

Jack Skellington: And I'll also read, or do experiments.

Riddle: Reading is one thing, but what sort of experiments does one need to do on Halloween…?

Jack Skellington: And finally… It's also my job to look over the townsfolk's proposals that the mayor has gathered.

Leona: Ah, there we go, finally something that sounds appropriate.

Leona: But you're telling me that the king goes through everyone's proposals personally? I bet there's a more efficient way to do it.

Jack Skellington: No, not at all. I need to take everyone's ideas and bring them together to make the best Halloween ever.

Jack Skellington: Wait, yeah, that's it. The king is someone who can bring everyone together.

Epel: I see. So, that's why you're the King of Halloween.

Idia: Ugh… There's no way I'd ever be able to bring everyone together like that…

Riddle: I cannot allow you to wallow like that. It is a Housewarden's job to keep the students together.

Leona: Hey, now, Riddle, don't bully the guy. That's way too much to ask of that gloomy kid.

Leona: But, huh, never expected bringing everyone together to be considered what makes a qualified king here. Guess it's much easier to decide a king here in this town than in other places.

[Halloween Town – Center]

Mayor: Now, now, everyone work quickly! We must hurry to finish making all the decorations!

Jack Skellington: Mayor! I've brought all the finished decorations.

Mayor: Oho, these have been made splendidly! I'll get these up on the gate now.

Leona: …I thought I'd take a break around here, but it looks like I should look somewhere else.

Leona: I'm exhausted from all the troubles I've had to deal with. I can just leave the rest of the preparations to the townsfolk… Hm?

Grim: OUTTA THE WAY, GET OUT OF MY WAAAY!

1. Grim, stop! 2. Someone please catch him!

[Mayor's face changes to sad]

Jack Skellington: Mayor, look out!

Mayor: AAAAAAAA HE'S GONNA CRASH RIGHT INTO MEEEEE!!!!

Mayor: H-Huh…? I'm not hurt…

Grim: MYAAAAAH! DON'T PICK ME UP BY MY SCRUFFFF!

Leona: Shut up, stop fussing. Geez, it's just one thing after another with you.

Leona: What did this furball do this time?

1. He ruined a bunch of the decorations…

Leona: So, that's the reason why he's got so many things stuck in his fur after running away without looking where he was going, huh. Leona: There's spider webs, bat wings, and… is this a fish bone? How many decorations did you destroy?

2. He snuck a bunch of the candy…

Leona: There's a lot of crumbs all over Grim's face. …I understand what happened. Leona: You got caught stuffing your face, and just ran away without looking where you were going, huh.

Grim: Humph! Blame the decorations for being in the way!!

Jack Skellington: …

Grim: How dare all these things stick to my beautiful fur… I'll throw off all these weird decorations!!

Grim: HEY, LEONA, LET GO OF ME ALREADY!! LET GO, LET GO, LET GOOOOO!

Jack Skellington: GRAAAAAAAAAH!!

Grim: Eeep!?

Grim: I-I was just joking! And now that my tummy's happy, I'll totally help with the prep now!

Jack Skellington: Then make sure you put the decorations back where they came from. And apologize to everyone you caused problems for.

Grim: Fine…

Jack Skellington: Good. Halloween is right around the corner, you know.

Grim: His bones streeeetched, and he had such sharp teeth just now… That version of Jack was super scary.

Leona: Hey, [Yuu]. Go see Trey and Jamil right now, and tell them everything that happened.

Leona: Since it's those guys, I'm sure they already planned for any sort of possible trouble, but…

Leona: If Grim really did eat so much he's full, then there's no way we'll have enough to eat.

Leona: After you talk to them, do whatever Trey and Jamil tell you to. Got it?

1. I understand. 2. Yessir, right away!

Grim: Gweh!? Hey, [Yuu], don't you grab me by my scruff too!

[Grim and Yuu leave]

Leona: What's left is… Those decorations, huh.

Mayor: That's right. We need to finish decorating the gate as quickly as we can. I'll call the closest people and...

Leona: Hey, now, you planning on having everyone stand in a line and take turns going up and down the ladder to set everything up, or something?

Leona: Just have someone call over the witches.

Leona: These are all light. If they carry them up on their brooms and put up the decorations, it'll be over in less than 30 minutes.

Mayor: Eeeh!? But I'm having the witches do a different task.

Leona: Then have someone else do whatever it is they're doing. Halloween is right around the corner, right?

Leona: Do you all even have time to be lax about all this?

Leona: Pretty sure now's the time you want to start thinking about who should do what to get everything done in the shortest amount of time possible.

Jack Skellington: Yeah, I think you're right, Leona-kun. If we're looking for someone to trade jobs with the witches… I think that guy over there should work.

Jack Skellington: We'll tell the witches to come to the town center and have them do this task.

Mayor: We're going with what Leona-kun says, hm… Then, can I ask you to help on a few other things?

Mayor: You see, we're actually facing delays on this task and that one…

Leona: Haah… I just wanted to rest for a bit.

Leona: But it'd be bad if I just let it be and Halloween is a big failure, since I won't be able to go back home.

Leona: Fine. I'll just do a little bit more work, then.

[Mayor's face changes to glad]

[Halloween Town – Center]

[rabble, rabble]

Halloween Town Resident A: Jack, we've finished with our tasks.

Halloween Town Resident B: We're done, too. Oh, and it sounds like there'll be enough candy made in time, too.

Jack Skellington: That's great! Thanks, everyone.

Leona: …Looks like we somehow made it. Now all we can do is hope Halloween goes off without a hitch.

???: For my part, I apologize for all the troubles I caused.

Leona: Yeah, seriously. You can't possibly imagine the amount of extra work I had to do all because of your tantrum.

Skully: However, ever since you took charge, Leona-san, it seems as though all preparations were completed smoothly.

Skully: Vil-san looked over all the completed delicate needlework, and Idia-san provided so much help with difficult calculations…

Skully: I heard you took everyone's strengths and thoughtfully allocated tasks accordingly.

Leona: I didn't do nothing "thoughtfully." I just gave them stuff I didn't want to do.

Skully: Oh, you are most humble. Yes, even Trey-san and Jamil-san were especially thankful for your consideration.

Skully: Because you see, they were lacking in sweets in a greater number than Jamil-san had initially thought.

Skully: He said, if you had not sent [Yuu]-san to inform them…

Skully: We would have been forced to have a desolate Halloween without candy.

Leona: Heh, well, sorry for makin' him work harder, then.

Skully: …You keep a good eye on everything around you. Not only did you look after your schoolmates, but also the townsfolk.

Skully: You were able to get everyone to work together, despite only having met them only a few days ago… Your skill is a sight to behold.

Jack Skellington: That's right!

Skully: Jack-sama!

Jack Skellington: As everyone finished their tasks, they'd all report to me afterwards, you see.

Jack Skellington: When I told them everything was all thanks to Leona-kun's improvement efforts, everyone was so pleased.

Dr. Finkelstein: That's right. Leona's got quite the head on his shoulders. He's a rather capable young man.

Mayor: Absolutely. Whenever we consulted him, he'd always have an idea ready, and once we implemented it, it always went well.

Sally: It was amazing how he didn't even need to leave the town center, and could figure out the situation and give the right instructions right away…

Skully: He never lifted a finger, and yet he was able to expertly give commands… Heheh, sounds like Leona-san is a king to me.

Skully: Perhaps it could be said, then… That this Halloween came to be thanks to two great kings.

Jack Skellington: Yes, it's just as Skully-kun says. Because a king is someone who can bring everyone together.

Mayor: I agree, you guys are so skilled in keeping everyone on task!

Sally: Both of you have amazing leadership skills.

Dr. Finkelstein: Indeed, we've received great inspiration from all of your original ideas.

Skully: Isn't it amazing, Leona-san? Not only are you receiving high praise from the illustrious Jack-sama, but also from all those who admire him…

Leona: Well, whatever, thanks for all the accolades.

Leona: Just hearing all of you say all that is making me feel idiotic for even putting so much thought into everything.

Leona: If someone is recognized as a king by all those who need and admire them…

Leona: I guess that person really becomes their "king," then.

[Savanaclaw Dorm – Lounge]

Savanaclaw Student A: And that's how we do Halloween at Night Raven College. That was epic!

Savanaclaw Student B: I had just as much fun prepping as I did enjoying the events. Man, I can't believe Halloween's over already.

Jack: What are those guys doing…? They should be getting ready for Spelldrive practice.

Ruggie: Guess they're just sufferin' from what we call the Halloween Blues. Y'see it every year. There's always freshmen who're burned out after.

Ruggie: I mean, I totally get the same "we did it!" feeling, sure. But if they keep lounging around like that…

Leona: Hey, you. How long do all of you plan to laze around?

Savanaclaw Student A/B: AH, HOUSEWARDEN LEONA!

Leona: It's almost time for Spelldrive practice to start… You guys must be feeling pretty good to not even be changed yet, huh.

Leona: If you've learned the applied magic needed to change your clothes right here, right now, why don't all you freshmen show me what you can do?

Savanaclaw Student A/B: S-Sorry! We'll go change right now and head towards the Spelldrive field!

Leona: Geez, they're just one pain after another…

Jack: They were all just laying around… But as soon as they saw Leona-senpai, they straightened right out.

Ruggie: Didja see how stiff they were when they shot up straight? …Well, I guess when a lion glares atcha, anyone'd fall in line.

Ruggie: See, that's why when Leona-san's around, everyone's at attention… It's like the whole dorm is in peak condition.

Ruggie: That's Leona-san, for ya. Our king is the best of the best!

Leona: What, I'm a king just 'cause I scolded some of our cubs? That's a pretty cheap price for a throne.

Leona: If you're gonna try to butter me up, try making a little more sense.

Jack: It's not just idle flattery. Just like Ruggie-senpai says, you're our…

Leona: Yeah, yeah, whatever, thanks.

Leona: …Leave the stupid chatter out of it. Time to head to the Spelldrive field.

Requested by @farfalla049 and @raven-at-the-writing-desk

[fanbasetwo]

PERVERT BOYFRIEND ANTON HEADCANONS!!

NOTE FROM SENA , I don't really mind doing riize asks since my riize masterlist is literally empty, so thank you for this anon! [REQUESTED] headcanons, nsfw MASTERLIST!!

join my taglist by sending an ask or commenting here <3

PERVERT BOYFRIEND ANTON! has a habit of 'accidentally' bumping into you from behind when you're wearing a skirt, always finding excuses to sit next to you on the couch.

PERVERT BOYFRIEND ANTON! whenever you're studying together, he'd find ways to 'distract' you - like resting his leg against yours under the table, or leaning over your shoulder to 'help' you with your notes, but really just to get a whiff of your scent.

PERVERT BOYFRIEND ANTON! who after studying, would ask if you want to 'watch a movie' in his room, but really just wants an excuse to cuddle. His excuse? 'Body heat helps us focus better on studying'

PERVERT BOYFRIEND ANTON! whose room is a mess, but he always knows exactly where everything is. His desk is cluttered with books, papers, and various knick-knacks, but his drawer is always stocked with his favorite snacks and a hidden stash of condoms.

PERVERT BOYFRIEND ANTON! who likes to hide sex toys around the house and then "find" them in front of you, pretending to be shocked.

PERVERT BOYFRIEND ANTON! might have a habit of "accidentally" spilling things on your clothes so he has an excuse to help you undress. Or he could always find reasons to give you massages, focusing just a little too long on your more sensitive areas.

PERVERT BOYFRIEND ANTON! gets a thrill from the idea of someone else catching them in the act. He might suggest having sex in risky places, like in a public park or in the back of a car.

PERVERT BOYFRIEND ANTON! who can't help but sneak peeks at you when you're changing, or 'accidentally' walking in on you in the bathroom."

PERVERT BOYFRIEND ANTON! who’s always trying to catch a glimpse of your panties, whether it's when you're wearing a short skirt or just lounging around the house.

PERVERT BOYFRIEND ANTON! who’d definitely be the type to tease you by text, sending cute but occasionally naughty messages throughout the day. Something like “What color panties are you wearing today?” just to get you blushing.

PERVERT BOYFRIEND ANTON! who has taken surreptitious photos of your lingerie when he thought you weren't looking, and he definitely has a whole album on his phone dedicated to 'candid shots' of you looking cute, cuddly or sexy in various states of undress.

© fanbasetwo | tumblr

[waywardducks]

I have a love/hate relationship with Batman and I need to talk about it.

I’m obsessed with the Robins and anyone that hurts them is on my shitlist, and this includes Bruce. He's a horrible father, he’s abusive, he's got some misconstrued morals, he's just an asshole altogether and he acts like a moody teenager more than a middle-aged man.

But he's such a fantastic character. He has done some fucked up shit, but he's also lived through some fucked up shit, and no, I don't just mean his parents. Despite losing his parents, he was still raised in a house built on love, and Alfred raised him the same, but differently. He didn't come from a bad home. Yet he still turned out the way he did. And that's fascinating to me!

I attended a Batman panel at a convention back in September and it has honestly stuck with me. The panel was on Batman’s traumas and how they affected him and shaped him. It was run by a group of licensed trauma-specific therapists and psychologists and the insight they had on it was amazing.

One of the speakers said that in the loss of his family, Bruce is trying to surround himself with a new family, all young boys who look similar to himself. I believe that one of them said he wasn't trying to make a family in the sense that he was the dad, but that it was just family. Like brothers maybe. They said that it wasn't even something he was doing consciously, it just started happening naturally for him. Because the boys remind him of himself. Batman is still a scared little boy in an alleyway, watching as the bad guy gets away and his parents bleed out on the floor at his feet. He trains them because he wants them to be strong, stronger than he is.

Something else that they said that really stuck with me was that the best way for Batman to heal is to not be Batman anymore, that Batman is so ingrained in Bruce that trying to get rid of Batman would do more harm than good and that the only option to lead to any healing for him was to help him shape Batman into something different. Slowly, help him use Batman to overcome his traumas instead of create new ones. But not to get rid of Batman.

I think of Batman Beyond. Bruce is so controlling still over Batman. He's old, lonely. There's no one left but Terry. This is what Batman did to him and he chose it. Its shocking.

Batman is a huge crybaby, a self-sabotaging man who does what he thinks is right, even if it's not always right. He's mentally ill, no one mentally healthy is that paranoid. He pushes his traumas onto his kids, he can't handle having to be emotional, because that means feeling and grieving the pain, and that's too much for him. (see: how he acted after Todd’s death) he’s stubborn, he can't take no for an answer half the time. He thinks everyone and everything is out to get him. He has lost himself in a persona to try and hide from his feelings. He hates himself for his parent's death and feels like he wasn't strong enough. He can't handle the idea that someone might love him because he hates himself so much that he ruins his relationships. Dick is such a good match for him because Dick is so loyal and will stay through all of his little freakouts. I think Dick realized that Bruce only means well at some point and that's why he forgave him.

I hate him. He's so stupid. I love how his brain works. He's such a piece of shit.

[gogogoat495]

[ID: 1 - Text reading "Reynolds: I'll tell you one other thing about this story that nobody gets. One day, a friend of mine at the studio comes by pushing a two-wheel cart. It had three or four legal boxes on it. He goes, 'Okay, Reynolds, thanks for this.'

I go, 'What's that?'

He goes, 'This is the Groove, these boxes. This is everything you've written,' Anytime you write something and you hand it in, they stamp it and it goes into a box somewhere, because Disney owns it. It's like that last scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark. [Some time later,] the movie's out, and a guy knocks on my office door and says, 'Are you Dave Reynolds? I'm from archives. I just need the final script for Emperor's New Groove. They didn't send one down.'

I go, 'What's that?'

He goes, 'The final draft, the whole final script.'

I go, 'No script.'

He goes, 'There's no script? What are you talking about?'

I go, 'We don't have a script. We never wrote a script. We just made the movie.'

He goes, 'You've got to have a script. Archives has to have a script.'

'I don't know what to tell you. Tell them to go see the movie. It's in theaters right now.'

He goes, 'You guys don't have bound pages?'

I go, 'Nope. We have no bound pages. There's three or four legal boxes. You can have all you want. I saw them the other day.'

They had a couple interns just take all the pages and put them into a document, and then they wrote interstitials, and they slapped my name on it. This is the honest-to-God truth: The first and only draft of The Emperor's New Groove was handed in two weeks after the movie was in theaters."

2 - Gif of a smug Kronk saying "mission accomplished"

3 - Gif of two guys going wide-mouthed with shock

4 - Text reading "Dindal: Story rooms, often someone will pitch an idea almost as a joke and then someone else goes, 'That's funny. But what are we really going to do?' This was the only movie I worked on where someone pitched an idea like that and we went, 'Let's use that.' Like Yzma, [who's been turned into a] kitten, is falling off the tower and we're like, 'How are we going to get her back up? She's not going to splat.' I don't remember if it was Dave or Don Hall, another story artist who's become a director since, said, 'What if there's a trampoline salesman at the bottom and she hits that and bounces back up?' We said, 'Oh yeah. That's what it should be.' You can't imagine a story session in Bambi where somebody says that. This quickly became a movie where a trampoline salesman makes sense."

/End ID]

emperor kuzco was clearly gay

[animeyanderelover]

Can I request the HCs with female Isekai'd Darling (from our universe) and characters from: D.Gray-Man - Millennium Earl (human form), Tyki Mikk, Komui Lee, Kanda Yuu and Allen Walker; BSD - Mori, Fyodor; JJK - Geto, Toji, Nanami?

I have already done this concept with Fyodor in the past.

Tw: Yandere themes, possessive behavior, obsession, delusional behavior, clinginess, manipulation, guilt-tripping, isolation, abduction

Tags: @shumidehiro @leveyani @izanami78 @lovley-valentine7

Isekai'd darling

Mori Ougai

🍷​If you ever desire to curse someone for the fate that awaits you in this world then curse no one but little Elise. It is Mori's ability which alerts him of your presence as she senses that there is something different about you. Normally there is little interest that she ever expresses in others so her declaration that there is something different about you perks his interest just a bit. Are you an enemy? If you should prove yourself to be an obstacle then there is no doubt that Mori will get rid of you. Yet upon initial observation you look lost and overwhelmed more than anything else. It could all be just a bluff as Mori knows the one or other thing about a fake appearance to fool others as his gaze follows you, trying to search for any indications that will give you away. Perhaps you feel the eyes of the evil resting on you though, a cold sensation that travels down your spine as you carefully turn your head around as your gut churns as if warning you that there is something terrible about to happen. When you meet the magenta eyes watching you it is already over. You are unable to hide the recognition, the fear as you are met with a man you know to be a dangerous person.

🍷​As both of you are in a public space there is no grand spectacle that Mori can summon as of now but the predatory grin that he gives you with a tilted head is message enough. You know something that you shouldn't know. For that alone he cannot allow you to roam free. Abducting you is relatively easy as soon as the night falls and you stumble still blindly around without a concrete goal in mind. You are not killed as of now though as there still remains the question to be asked where you came from. A question that you struggle to answer and one that More can't find any answers to either. He has caught something within his net that he is unable to identify and that intrigues him but also means that if you do not cooperate will mean torture for you. It is this aspect that forces the answers quickly out of your mouth, praying that Mori will believe your words. It is obvious from the way that he tilts his head and the way his magenta eyes seemingly look into your soul that he tries to decipher if your words are a lie. When he finds nothing though does he start considering your words. You do not strike him as the deceiving type. No, you appear much too honest for that.

🍷​Your abilities would be of great use to him over the course of the story considering that you can predict the events that will go down and Mori plans to abuse that, marking your position as a precious prisoner. There are no games of pretend played from his side considering that you already know just what he is capable of which means that you get relatively early on a front seat to the cruelities that he is capable of. You are a unique chest piece on the board that defies the known positions and perhaps that is why he treasures you so much and keeps such a smothering hold of you. You fascinate him like no other does which kickstarts his entire obsession with you, accompanied by frilly dresses, pink ribbons and a new life as his darling doll. You are kept close to his side under all means necessary with your only playmate being Elise. It is a sad and lonely life that you lead but Mori is not quite as composed as the eye may perceive. No, he is painfully aware that even you have no idea how you got here or if you will ever return and it is this nagging what-if scenario that only serves to make his whole obsession more suffocating as he smothers you every day with the fear that by the next you might be gone.

Allen Walker

🔴​Allen is no ordinary human for he not only houses a Noah within his soul but his left arm and his cursed eye will also perceive what his human eye is unable to perceive. If it wouldn't be for those listed factors it is likely that it would take the boy a lot longer to catch on to your secrets. Yet Nea senses that you are no normal person, a first stirring of curiosity which carries over to Allen. His arm senses a strange energy coursing through your entire body when he touches you, an energy unlike anything he has ever experienced. And then there is his cursed eye which is able to see your soul but not trapped within an Akuma but within this very world, a sight that he struggles to process and understand the first time his cursed eye observes you. Allen hesitates to tell you what he senses but now that he has been made aware that there is something very different about you he realises that you indeed act very strange. Customs, fashion and the daily way of life seem to be such foreign concepts to you yet at the same time you harbor more knowledge about Akuma, the Exorcists and even the Noah family when he briefly mentions them to you. Allen doesn't believe you to be an enemy though.

🔴​Eventually he is led to talk to you about the things that he has discovered, partially influenced by Nea who feels a growing urge to understand what he doesn't you. His brain needs comedically long to properly grasp your words though as the idea of the existence of another world is something out of old alchemists fantasies even with the world filled with mysteries that Allen lives in. What he understands immediately though is your desire to return home and with that he wishes to help you though he has no idea who to ask or where to even start. The situation is not made easier by the fact that not even you seem to know why you landed in this place in the first place but Allen remains optimistic, especially since you are prone to drown in your pessimism. That is the start of the journey that the two of you take as Allen is not only a familiar face to you but also capable of protecting you from the dangers of this world which you might otherwise fall victim to. Additionally Allen fears that the Noah family might come for you if the Earl were to find out about your unique existence. Having you as his companion makes him feel less lonely as he has someone to talk to, the beginning of his growing affection.

🔴​It is the growing discomfort that he feels whenever you bring up the feelings of longing and the homesickness that you feel the longer you are stuck with him in this world. It's a terribly selfish notion that even Allen can recognise as such. As much as he would like to blame those feelings of obsession on Nea though, he knows that some of those thoughts and feelings are born from his heart and not from Nea's. He shouldn't feel that way as you don't belong in this world which is filled with so much more horror than your own home yet his heart is weeping and screaming whenever he imagines the day where you disappear and return to your own place. Thoughts of your laughter and your smile haunt him even in his dreams, venomous words from Nea threatening to seep into the essence of his mind. He doesn't dare to voice any of his internal struggles as the two of you continue your journey though. Actions are still taken as his own feelings of selfishness start to mingle with the good intentions that still exist in his heart. He avoids people who he fears might know of your transportation from one world to another, delays the entire journey to have as much time with you for himself as he can.

Kanda Yu

💙​You are brought to the Black Order precisely because you seek their help out and offer them in return your services as you decide to sell the knowledge that you posses in order to get home. A fair offer, a valuable offer which they cannot pass on as otherwise you might seek out the Noah family. For that sake you are delivered to the head quarters where you meet Yu for the first time. The moment his cold eyes rest on you, you already know that he does not have a high opinion of you. Whenever he is around you there is this burning silence that you desperately wish to break yet you do not dare to utter a single sound as you fear that he would not appreciate that at all. Yu is someone who has been trusted with your true identity and it is precisely because of that knowledge that he doesn't feel comfortable with you. It feels lika a breach of his own privacy that you know so much about his past, his present and his future which he doesn't want you to know. His attitude is borderline rebellious as he constantly tries to go against the knowledge that you have to prove that his future is not carved in stone. The first few months his behavior is colder than the snow storms in Antarctica.

💙​It takes him a lot of time to slowly warm up to your presence and to treat you kinder as he starts not treating the time with you as an order that he begrudgingly finishes because it is his job. That doesn't mean that things are suddenly all sunshine and rainbow between the two of you. The tension is still there though now it shifts into awkwardness which is in some aspects worse as you recognise his subtle attempts to be a tad bit nicer to you only to unintentionally say something or do something rude and cold once again when he retreats as he senses the awkwardness of the situation. Still, baby steps get the two of you somehwere until the atmosphere between you eases and becomes more bearable for the both of you. Sometimes you even tell him of the life you have led in your own world though you never try to talk too much as you don't think that he would appreciate if you were to ramble his ears full. Truth be told, you don't even know if he is listening at all sometimes but you just need to get your emotions sometimes out of your chest. Yu is in fact listening though he never utters a single word, absorbing your feelings and words silently.

💙​The beginning of his obsession puts the two of you almost back to level zero as his feelings threaten to crush and overwhelm him, clawing at his icy composure that he has always kept around him. His obsession alienates Yu from you. He takes more missions in order to spend less time with you but never dares to ask Komui to be excused from his guard duty permanently, afraid that the head of the branch will catch on to his troubling emotions. In your absence the possessive feelings grow though, the uncomfortable knowledge that you seek a way to return to your own home with the help of the Black Order. Against his better judgement he meddles with the entire process as he needs to know how far the research has already gotten and if there has been any way found to bring you back. When he finds out that there still has been no theory made how to bring you back, something within Yu eases as he finds himself to be less agitated and on edge. His priorities shift once more with time as he settles into his obsession as he suddenly insits on taking over most of the guard duties, viewing other Exorcists as too incompetent and inexperienced to look after you and protect you.

Komui Lee

👓​Komui observes you the first time you are brought into his office with a confusing mixture of caution, fascination and the silliness that most of his co-workers are familiar with. Though he may not look like it, there is a deeper understanding of the humans ways and feelings that he has adopted over the years that he has been the head of the European Branch. He trusts his ability to inspect a person and figure out whether they have bad intentions or not. You do not strike him as someone who has a bad thought in their head, your demeanor instead scared, lonely and lost. Still, it is the vast amount of knowledge that you possess that has been the reason why you were brought into the headquarters to begin with as Lenalee picked you up during a mission after you confined a worrying amount of information to her that no one is supposed to know. Komui spends the entire time pouring you coffee and offering you biscuits as you honestly confess to him what has happened, who you are, from where you are and how you got here. By all accounts it is a story that no one should believe yet he does not sense a single lie in your face nor can your words of knowledge and wisdom be ignored.

👓​The Black Order is quite happy to keep you protected and within their reach as the knowledge that you have might just ensure their victory against the Noah family and their goals. They agree to help you to find a way back but only if you share with them everything that you know. Komui is one of them. He has not abandoned his humanity and he sees how much pressure is put on you, pressure he attempts to shield you from as good as possible. At the same time he is dedicated to the course and the goal of the Black Order. Your knowledge could save lives and reduce the casualties that the organisation so often suffers. It could save his younger sister from death or vast injuries if you simply share everything that you know will happen in the future. As the head of the European Branch he spends surprisingly much time with you though not solely for extracting information from you. No, in fact he uses you as an excuse to avoid his paperwork as he only appears to question you about important matters when in reality he is just chatting excitedly with you about your own world, fascinated to hear about how it works all whilst relentlessly pouring you coffee and feeding you biscuits.

👓​Very much in tune with his emotions despite his silly exterior, Komui is a surprisingly terrifying person to have in such a situation. He has one of the highest positions attainable, your life in those headquarters is pretty much in his hands and all scientific research to find a way to bring you back home can and will be stalled by him. He has always been confronted with difficult decisions that have made him look more than once like a heartless person yet deep down he has always felt guilt and pain. The decision he makes after he has acknowledged his obsession with you goes through no different process of emotions. Behind the scenes he starts meddling with the research, informs himself of any theories that might have been created only to find a way to rebunk them and might even put the research on pause for a longer while. None of that reaches your ears though as he lies perfectly to your face, keeps up that peculiar and strange facade around you to distract you from digging too deep. You cannot leave. You are much too valuable for the Black Order and the lives that he partially holds responsibility over. You're much too precious to him too, his feelings something he knows he can't stop.

The Millenium Earl/Adam

🎃​Adam is bound to sense that there is something special about you, an energy that he has never felt in any other human before. No Innocence but something entirely different that draws him to you. What exactly it is is something that he fails to put his finger around and so he decides to ask no one but Wisely to take a deeper look into your thoughts. What the younger Noah reveals to him afterwards surpasses anything that he could have ever predicted and immediately he knows that he has to have you. Not yet as adam but as the Earl who would greatly profit from having someone who knows so much about the future of this world as well as its past and hidden secrets. Eager to finally meet you himself, the Millenium Earl decides to take on the role of your abductor. Your horror is kindly ignored as he introduces himself to you with that signature bright grin on his face. His voice filled with the eagerness and the thrill of having someone as valuable on his side and hopefully achieve his goal before you are put into unconsciousness and are carried back by another Noah. As the Earl he is quite different, his words sweet but always laced with subtle threats if you should not comply.

🎃​The moment he reveals himself as Adam to you all of that changes. His human form is only something that he shows you after he has already gained his obsession for you and has realised that as the Millenium Earl he is bound to always frighten you no matter how kind he might try to be. The guilt seems to fully hit him whenever he is Adam as he reconsiders the behavior he exhibits around you as the Earl and even he has to silently recoil when he realises just how borderline creepy he tends to be in his other form. In this form he attempts to undo as much of that damage as possible though deep down he is still understanding if you are still too frightened to spend much time with him even in his human form. Pressure is on from the other members of the Noah family though who all have long recognised the Earl's feelings and fully back him up even though not all of them necessarily hold the highest opinion of you. Considering your peculiar circumstances though the blow of their dislike might be softened though. They often force you in situations where you are stuck with him. Adam knows of those attempts and whilst he doesn't fully support them, he doesn't stop them either.

🎃​Wailing guilt crashes with a biological need to keep you with him, to always have you by his side. Your longing for your family and true home pain him. How could they not for he is also all too familiar with the loss of family? Yet his very soul is weeping with the thought of assisting you to find a way back home. He loves you after all. It may not be the love in fairy tales but he views it as a pure love nevertheless. Adam is very open with those wishes to you, desperate to have you understand even if only a bit. He's only met with tears and betrayal, a sight that cuts so much deeper than Innocence ever could. His decision may waver with such incidents but it never crumbles for his need to love you and have you outweights everything else. You are a part of this family now and he dearly hopes that eventually you will grow to accept that and even love your new life here. That future is not guaranteed though as Adam knows that even your arrival remains elusive, a riddle unsolved. The phenomenon may struck again though, only that it might take you back to your own world this time. A thought so terrible that it only fuels him to cling to you tighter, pleading in his heart for you to not disappear.

Tyki Mikk/Joyd

🦋​Tyki is no ordinary human. He is something more than that and it is his Noah which reacts so strongly to your presence, something that stands out from the crowd of other humans. There's something different about you but it is no Innocence. It is something that not even Joyd can categorise and it is the failure to understand what makes you so different from the rest that puts unbeknown to you a target on your back. He may not eliminate you as he still needs to learn what it is that makes you so different but if you should turn out to be a threat he will be forced to do something. For now Tyki decides to spy on you though in hopes of figuring you out. His human form has always worked as a disguise yet never before has he seen such a reaction from any human before. Distrust, wariness, a gaze that seemingly transcends what a human eye should perceive. It is a short spark in your gaze but it is a spark of recognition nevertheless, one that lets him know that he has been found out before he could have done anything. If you know so much about him already, what do you know about the rest of his family? Some part itches to get rid of the potential threat but he is civilised enough to allow you an explanation.

🦋​He struggles to believe you when you see yourself backed against a wall and forced to reveal to him what you are. Yet he does not sense any dishonesty on your face. Your story seems rather far-stretched though and you sense that he is struggling to accept that story. With no other option left as you have already caught his eye now you offer yourself that he could ask his nephew Wisely to read your mind. The casual mention of a member of his family as well as the awareness of his abilities startles him, his eyes narrowing in hostility before he reluctantly agrees. The hostility is partially replaced when it turns out that you are speaking the truth but that is quickly snuffed out by hesitation and a cluelessness on how to treat someone like you now. The Earl seems rather keen on keeping you though. Your knowledge would be useful in their hands and he cannot let you be found by the Black Order. Additionally you are such a special human, from a new world completely. Now, Tyki feels a tad bit guilty for essentially making you a prisoner of the Noah family and he attempts his best to provide you with some sense of normalcy amongst all of the chaos you are stuck in.

🦋​Perhaps it is your knowledge that allows you to bear more understanding for his family even though you don't agree with all of their goals. Nevertheless, you are indeed a very strange human and that stirs a growing fascination that Tyki and even Joyd have for you. He's a member of this family who spends arguably the most time with you and has plenty of chances to discover your personality and little quirks. A sick pride and possessiveness fills his chest whenever you entrust him with your thoughts and secrets, basking in the knowledge that you reveal so much of yourself to him. His human side and his Noah side are quite torn apart as his obsession festers. However, your freedom is not a decision that he is capable of making, no matter how guilty Tyki may feel. You have already gotten too deeply involved with his family to escape and it is this unchangable fact that has Joyd almost purring. You're not going anywhere after all. He lays claim on you pretty soon, something that all other Noah realise pretty soon with the way he behaves around you. The Earl welcomes it, giddily proclaims you as a new family member. As part of the family they will find a way to forever keep you in this world.

Fushiguro Toji

🪱​The decision to actually save Toji is one that is surprisingly hard for you, especially once you meet the man himself. Still struggling to settle in this world, it is an almost mocking twist of fate that you end up working in the tiny restaurant where he often likes to hang out. He has an infamous reputation in that place due to his rude and cocky personality and it is not hard for you to see why. After all he is quite an unbearable jerk. And the smell! He reeks like he has been sharing a rubbish bin with racoons as his home. It costs you quite a few customers and against your better judgement you make the unfortunate decision to stand up against him. After all the owner of this place was kind enough to offer you a job and you will not have your wobbly life be ruined all because of him. He only gives you a lazy glance when you start lecturing him angrily, demand of him to be at least a little bit less of a jerk and behave himself. Then he goes back to ignoring you, infuriating you even more. You persist though until you finally manage to get on his nerves and he towers over you in all of his glory. God, you are terrified but stubbornly refuse to be intimidated by him. Oh, you only end up making everything worse.

🪱​Toji finds your presence to be quite amusing as you become his favorite plaything to rile up and make all angry and mad whenever he visits the place you work in. He seems to genuinely enjoy messing with your emotions if you would have to judge based on that shitty smirk on his face every time you lose your temper. He appreciates the bit of spunk that you have and the pathetic attempts of yours to have him behave better. Do you believe that you can fix him or some shit like that? You are the only person he has actual interactions with though most of them exist of him provoking you and watching as you look like you're torn apart between crying or screaming though you always hold it in and just glare stubbornly at him as you refuse to give him the satisfaction. Still, you keep up with him and deep down some part of him appreciates that. You're a little mystery yourself as he has one time actually tried to look into your past out of boredom only to find nothing. He isn't bothered by that though as he lives only in the present and the only thing that matters somewhat that he gets to be entertained by your antics. Everything boils down to when you spot him with Shiu Kong and realise that his death is close.

🪱​You try to be friendly, try to stir him away from that path only to be rudely told off. His insensitive words tip you over the edge and that is when you explode and reveal far too much only to conclude that you won't give a shit then and he can die if he wants to. No one will miss him. In the next moment he slams you against the wall, his fists cracking the solid material behind him. Your words have triggered memories he has been pushing away and now you have brought it all back. How do you know all of that? He leaves you no choice, smells your dishonesty and refuses to let you go until you have spat everything out. For the first time he actually finds his demeanor shaken, the troubling emotions even briefly visible on his face before he pushes it all down. Then he just knocks you out and brings you into some cheap hotel where people won't question him carrying your unconscious form into the room. When you wake up, there are a lot of things that he would like to talk about with you. He doesn't feel like dying, a notion that has only recently spawned into existence because of you. You know, maybe he will listen to your advice. He has other plans. Plans that involve you in every aspect.

Geto Suguru

​🗻​Monkeys. Filth that Suguru believes has to be eradicated from this earth as peace will only exist in a society with sorcerers. Non-sorcerers are worthless as they produce the very curses so many sorcerers die for. Suguru sees the curses, senses Cursed Energy. However, around you he senses absolutely nothing. No Cursed Energy leaking out of you, no negative emotions that would only produce more curses. Your very presence is an anomaly as even curses pass you as if your presence is invisible to them. Your very existence is a great irritation to Geto who has always believed sorcerers to be the superior humans. You should by all accounts be a monkey as you do not see the curses around you yet at the same time curses have such a peculiar reaction to you as they cannot sense you properly nor can they latch on you. He doesn't know what you are as you are neither a sorcerer nor a monkey and that triggers Geto more than it should. It's like your very existence is a thorn in his eyes. He observes you with great hostility as he tries to figure out who you are. When he approaches you, he hides all of his ill feelings though. Only for you to stir away from him as if he is the plague.

​🗻​That certainly triggers him. You dare to treat him like that? You, a monkey who has no worth to your existence? Oh, now you have provoked and angered him. The abduction is sped up and he willingly allows the people he sends out to be rougher with you as you have punched his ego the wrong way. His face reveals all of his emotions when you are thrown in front of his feet. The disgust, the anger and above all that frustration of not knowing in which category he should put you in. He attempts to intimidate you, to reveal to you of his world and all of the curses yet his eyebrow can only twitch when that triggers no shock or fear out of you. Instead you look at him before firing right back at him, revealing that you already know. You know? How do you know? You cannot see curses! You have no Cursed Energy! It is pitiful as you observe how he loses his temper in front of you for a few seconds and the way you look at him only damages his ego further. It takes him more willpower than it should to regain his composure, his eyes narrowing before he grabs your chin harshly. Oh, he will teach you how to behave properly in front of someone like him. He will figure you out.

​🗻​Suguru forces you through a lot, doesn't stop until he has the information that he desires and the respect he believes you owe him. The truth you do reveal to him though not out of fear but spite when you manage to trigger his temper and he seethes about the useless existence of your kind. That shuts him up for a good while. You even imagine a glimpse of terror on his face before he storms out of your room. Indeed, you have seen fear within him. He tries to ignore the words, attempts to have you admit that you have been lying to him but even if he were to force you to say it, the truth would still be in your eyes. The news of his death shake him, the knowledge that his body will be used for other goals even more. In front of your seemingly all-knowing gaze he suddenly feels vulnerable and exposed and he despises that feeling. There has been a gravid shift in the power dynamics between him and you and it has tilted in favor of you. No matter what he does, the damage is there and is there to stay as well. Still, Suguru refuses to let you leave. You know too much, are too valuable even though it pains him to admit that. He will fix that twisted imbalance between the two of you though. You just wait.

Nanami Kento

💛​As a sorcerer Nanami is bound to notice that there is something off about you as soon as he meets you but he decides that as long as you are no danger to others, he will not dig too deep into the matter. You do not question him too deeply about his past and he decides to return that favor out of respect. You struggle within your own life a lot as you seem to be new to the city and try to find the right balance yet you are always very kind to him when you see him. Almost too kind in Nanami's opinion as you try your hardest even when you had a visibly bad day. He assures you time and time again that it is not neccessary for you to be that kind-hearted to him but you always insist until he just caves in. He doesn't mind the occasional appreciation but yours feels excessive to the point where Nanami gets suspicios. Something feels wrong even though he cannot wrap his finger around it. The more suspicious he gets though, the more he starts paying attention to your strange existence. You are no sorcerer yet you do not create any Cursed Energy. You are not like Maki though which leaves him with little clues to work with. Your behavior around him is strange as well, the sadness and guilt in your glances confusing the man.

💛​He doesn't believe you to be a bad person but the longer time passes, the more the lack of information about you as well as the unusual way of your very existence start to bother him. Time has forged a tight bond between the two of you, one that has made Nanami very attached to you. After a long and tiring day you seem to be the light at the end of the tunnel, a little paradise where he can just relax for a while. With that attachment follows a need to protect you though, to know about where you are at which time so he can assure that nothing will happen to you. He is not blind to his emotions for you, knows what they entail yet it has never been as difficult for him to control his feelings as it is when he is with you. In his future where he so far has only seen him enjoying his retirement he suddenly envisions you by his side, an image that refuses to be pushed away. Subtle attempts to question you about your past are usually quickly shot down by you yet the flicker of guilt is always there and it starts to bother him more and more. Once he starts courting you do you end up rumbling, the guilt eating you out alive. You can't do this anymore.

💛​You sit down with him, you confess everything to him. Initially you can see that he doesn't believe you but the more you start revealing, the more you notice the shift in your expression and body language. When you get to the Shibuya Incident and arrive at his death he suddenly shuts you up, his lips pressed into a thin line. He needs a few seconds before he finds the strength and the right words to speak again, immediately asking you if you have told anyone else. When you shake your head he instantly warns you sternly to not tell another soul. Everyone would try to either eliminate or capture you to make use of you power if word were to slip out. This is a secret that will remain between him and you for now, for your own safety. Everything makes sense to him now. The kindness you always showed him, the guilt he would always see when you were looking at him. All because in the future he is going to sacrifice himself. All the information you have entrusted him with haunt him at night and rob him of his sleep, a simmering frustration as he realises that there may not be a future for him. If there is no possibility for a future with you, at least give your presence to him and let him be selfish just a bit.

[mysecretlittlelibrary]

Second Lesson

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Word Count: 3.1k

Warnings: edging and overstimulation

Genre: smut

Summary: Some things are not self explanatory, and Steve has decided he's going to fill in the gaps by coming to you to ask his questions about sex and some of those questions have more involved answers than you'd expect

***

You hear a knock at your door while you're looking for something in your closet.

"Coming!" You call, taking a moment to contain the hurricane that you've created in there. You open the door to find Steve in the hall.

"Are you busy?" He asks.

"Not particularly, what's up?"

"I have another question."

"Shoot." You say, gesturing for him to walk into your room.

"Edging. What it is?"

"It is pleasuring yourself or someone else until the brink of orgasm without letting them actually have an orgasm."

"That sounds like torture." Steve frowns.

"Sometimes it is. It can be used as a punishment, some people enjoy it though, it can also be about increasing endurance- you know- training to last longer in bed, it also usually makes the orgasm more intense when you do eventually get to that point."

"Huh, have you done it before?"

"Been on both sides." You shrug. "Oh also I should mention that like most kink terms there is an equal yet opposite complementary term. For edging its complementary term is overstimulation."

"And that is?"

"If edging is about restraint when it comes to pleasure then overstimulation is a hedonistic indulgence in it. Orgasming again and again and again, sometimes to the point of pain this is where a safe word can be useful because you may say things like stop or I can't take it especially because post orgasm sensitivity can be a bitch but the whole point is to keep going and if you've already talked about exploring either edging or overstim, your partner will probably ignore you saying stop because again the point is to keep going even if you are sensitive, but if they're going to ignore you saying it's too much, you need to be able to stop them if it actually is too much."

"Are all aspects of sex so- severe?" He asks.

"No. Sex can be incredibly soft and gentle and sweet, it can be slow and tender in many ways. I mean, you saw some of that last time. You just- happen to have coincidentally questions about the other end of the spectrum today." You shrug.

"It just seems very, intense. Like maybe too intense? I don't get why you would want to put someone through that. It seems like a slippery slope, sex should be about love not some form of- torture."

"Well calm down, you sound panicked and it's not like I'm going to strap you down and force you to experience it. It's not for everyone Steve, different people have different preferences, this is why it's good to have those conversations before you sleep with someone so nobody gets put in a stressful situation they didn't sign up for. Plus there are a lot of ways to express love you know. If your person wants you to do these things then that absolutely shows that you love them, especially if you do them with the care you're meant to."

"I just don't understand it I guess." He shakes his head.

"That's fine Stevie, no one can force you to do it or enjoy it or even comprehend it really. Like I said, it's a personal preference. Just- be honest with your partner when the time comes." You shrug.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Do you... like this stuff?" Steve asks.

"I do. With the right person."

"Really?"

"You have your ideas about sex, I have mine." You shrug.

"What's that mean?"

"You said sex is about showing love and I agree with that to a point but to me it's also about pleasure. It's about exploring yourself, sometimes through someone else. It's about learning and adventure. The heat and intensity, passion that is borderline all consuming, sex can be many things. I like to experience all of them."

"Oh." He breathes.

"Of course that's just me. I'm not here to change your mind about anything." You hum.

"I have to try this edging thing."

"You don't. The hands on lessons are an option not an obligation, you don't seem interested in that and that's fine! You can just take the verbal explanation and proceed with your day as long as it makes sense to you, there's no reason to force yourself to try something that don't appeal to you." You shake your head.

"Well, it's hard to understand something if you're not open to experiencing it right?"

"I mean, I guess sometimes."

"So I want to experience it. That way I can understand it." He insists.

"As long as you're sure about this."

"I'm sure. Let's do it." He nods.

"What? Now?"

"Do you have time?"

"Depends on what time it is now."

"Three seventeen."

"I've got til six, I have another engagement later this evening."

"Is that enough time?"

"Plenty. Get comfortable, I would recommend getting naked, you do need to at least take off your pants or you'll likely stain them but it'll probably be more comfortable to take off everything because there's a chance you'll get hot. I know you run pretty warm already but I don't know how much you'd enjoy your shirt sticking to your back after twenty minutes." You say.

"Right, yeah." Steve hesitantly shuffles out of his pants and underwear and then, after seemingly debating in his head, he also pulls his shirt over his head and places all of them on your desk chair before sitting on the bed.

"Alright, I'm going to treat this like I would a real situation. Of course, the expectations are different, I know so don't worry about performing a certain way. Just like last time if at any point you have a question or something makes you feel uncomfortable you can simply say so assuming you can focus. If you can't focus use your stoplight. Yellow, or red, just like we discussed before." You tell him as you pull open the drawer by your bed and grab the bottle of lube.

"What's that for?" Steve asks when you squirt a generous amount into your hand.

"It's a lubricant. It might be a little cold at first, but I'm sure you'll appreciate it, especially the longer this goes." You say sitting beside him. "I'm going to touch you now, is that alright?" You ask.

"Yes." Steve nods with more conviction than you'd expect. You wrap your fingers around the base of his dick and he takes in a large breath. His exhale is shaky as you drag your hand up his length with a pressured grip. You circle his tip, slowly massaging it, watching his reactions, enjoying the way his abdomen seems to flex sporadically. His breathing is coming out harsher now and you begin to pump him. Last time you made a point not to stare at him since he was clearly rather nervous about the whole thing but not looking is rather impossible with this 'lesson' so you take the time to really get a look at his dick as you stroke him. The tip is a reddish pink and there are a couple veins running very noticeably along it. You already knew he was big, he's been inside you for fuck's sake, but looking at it unobstructed, boy was he... endowed.

"So how this works Stevie, usually, is that you'll tell me when you're close, ask me, beg me if I tell you to, ask me to cum and I'll tell you if you've earned it. Of course I won't demand all that from you, I'm rather good at reading people's bodies." You explain to him, stroking faster, holding a little bit tighter.

"W-what do you mean usually?" He asks wearily.

"When I do this with partners. There's a bit of power play that comes with this, if you hadn't noticed, having control of how much pleasure your person receives at any given moment. It's a very powerful feeling. But this is more about teaching you than my own enjoyment, so it's a bit different, I'm just offering you more details about the appeal of it all." You explain.

"A-and you- you like that? The p-power play?" He asks. You can tell he's really starting to struggle with his focus, his body is twitching, and he's gripping the sheets, blinking rapidly as he speaks. You watch his whole body tense up and take that as your cue to ease up. You slow your wrist to almost a stop, relishing in the groan Steve lets out.

"I find it can be intoxicating." You smirk.

"So that's how this works?" He pants.

"Pretty much." You nod, picking up speed again. Steve moans as his body jolts again. You can't help but imagine how nice he'd look with a couple of hickeys. You won't be giving him any of course but the idea does captivate you for a brief moment. It's clear that Steve is trying to control his reactions, but the shaky breaths and strained grunts give him away.

"My god." He whispers, tipping his head back. If it was anybody but Steve saying those words, you'd affirm that you are their god and they should worship you as such but it's not somebody else, it's Steve and you'd best keep it simple. When his body tenses up again, you slow your hand accordingly, and Steve lets out a strained groan.

"You know Stevie, you don't have to try so hard to keep quiet. I like your little noises. They're hot." You say.

"I'm not- r-really used to... making n-noises like that." He pants out.

"Well, a bit of advice, most girls like to hear that you're enjoying yourself."

"Really?"

"Yep." You say, stroking him faster, again. You continue your game with him, slowing down when his body tenses up and speeding up when his shuddering breaths quiet. With each denied orgasm his restraint on his vocalizations seems to slip, by the fith time you're slowing down he's an unending string of moans and grunts and even a few whimpers when you squeeze in just the right place.

"This is torture." Steve grits out. His entire body is flushed and his skin is glistening.

"I know but you're doing so well. Just a little longer and I promise I'll reward you. Don't you want that?" You ask with a mocking sweetness in your tone.

"Please." He says breathlessly.

"Oh that sounded nice." You smile. You're not even trying to break him like you would under usual circumstances but the sound him whimpering please to you almost makes you want to.

"Y/n- I feel, like I'm on fire. Please I need to cum." Steve huffs through clenched teeth and you start to wonder if he's reaching his limit. Gripping his chin you gently tilt his head to look at you.

"Checking in Stevie, gimme a color please." You say softly.

"G-green, this is insane." He says shakily.

"You haven't tapped out yet." You smile slightly.

"Is that the goal?"

"Not today." You wink at him. You decide it's probably best to stop here, so you pick up your speed again watching for the telltale signs of his orgasm but this time you finally let him peak and you can't decide if the sound or sight is more dazzling. Either way, you work him through it as evidence of his release spurts over your hand and his thighs in thick ropes. There's an impressive amount of it and you wonder if this is a super soldier thing or if he's just really pent up. When nothing else comes out and he hisses against your touch you let him go. "I'm gonna get a wash cloth, hang tight." You tell him standing from the bed and walking into your bathroom. You rinse your hand first and then soak a washcloth with room temperature water. When you pop back out his arm is draped over his eyes but he otherwise hasn't moved. You start with his neck, wiping the sweat that's probably made his skin sticky. You do a quick swipe across his chest too before moving on to cleaning the remenants of his orgasm from his thighs and recovering dick. "How are we feeling?" You ask him once he's clean. You toss the washcloth in your hamper and grab a water from your mini fridge before sitting beside him on the bed.

"That was- intense." He says.

"Yes but you knew that going in."

"I mean- when you finally let me, you know. It was intense- probably more so than I've ever felt." He says and you giggle at his avoidance of saying orgasm.

"We should really work on your comfortablilty with some of these terms. But yes that intensity is a high some people crave."

"Wow."

"Was it worth it?" You ask.

"What?"

"You said it was the most intense orgasm you've ever had, would you say the payoff was worth the buildup? After all you called it torture."

"You're not even nice about it."

"I was actually very nice, I didn't wait til you were crying to get you off which- is usually what I'll do."

"You make people cry?" He blinks surprised.

"Sometimes." You shrug.

"That's- further than I-"

"I know, that's why I didn't make you cry. Although crying is way more likely with overstimultion anyhow." You shrug.

"Is it?"

"Wanna see for yourself?" You ask opening your bedside drawer again.

"Well I'm not sure I can hand-"

"Here." You drop one of your toys in his hand.

"What's this?"

"A vibrator. I figure it's not fair if every lesson is just me doing things to you like some sort of lab rat so I thought you might want to try overstimulating me. The only other way for that to happen is for you to learn my body but who has time for that? This is efficient and pretty much idiot proof it'll get the job done regardless of your personal experience." You shrug.

"You- want me to use this on you?" He asks wide eyes watching you quickly take off your clothes.

"Yes I do. It's simple, I promise. It does most of the work for you. If you have the energy for it that is." You say.

"Depends on just how simple it is." He says. You sit on the bed next to him and grab his wrist, placing the vibrator in his hand against your clit. It's not on but your insides still clench in anticipation when it touches you.

"Put it here, small circles or wiggling it up and down is fine but keep it in this general area, start with light pressure and press harder as we go. I'll be using the same stoplight system, so here's a couple of preliminary warnings, if I squirm away follow me or hold me down, if I cry that's fine, if I scream let me, ignore me if I ask you to stop or say it's too much. In fact, no matter what, you keep this against me until I call red and I will call red. Sound simple enough?"

"You might cry and that's a good thing?" He frowns.

"It's not a bad thing. It probably won't happen anyway I'm just covering my bases no need to look so terrified." You chuckle.

"How do I turn this on?" He asks after a moment.

"The last button."

"What are the other two?"

"One controls the rhythym and the other controls the power, don't mess with those buttons. For the sake of this lesson they are off limits."

"Last one turns it on?"

"Yes." You nod. Steve stares at the buttons for a moment before a sharp click fills the silence and you jolt from the sudden stimulation. He moves the toy in tight circles, his face pinched in focus. Your hips grind against the vibrator and it doesn't take long for your first orgasm to hit you with a soft moan.

"Oh." Steve says, as if he's surprised.

"Keep going, add pressure." You huff out. Shuddering pants indicate that Steve's done what you asked, your muscles tensing from the continued pleasure post orgasm. The thing with this particular vibrator is that it works quick and you hardly manage to calm down before your second orgasm sneaks up on you. Steve trades the circles for little up and down motions that draw a couple sharp moans from you. 

"Are you okay?" He asks.

"Fine Stevie, I'm fine." You say shakily. Your third orgasm comes with a cry through your closed mouth. You know it's impractical to be so mindful of your sounds but you've got to remain at least semi-composed to be of any help to Steve. More and more your body spasms as the stimulation continues, practically twitching from the pleasure. Small whimpers begin to escape with more frequency as you quickly approach orgasm four. On this one your eyes roll back and you allow an obscene sounding high pitched moan to fall from your lips. Steve makes a sound somewhere in his throat which you barely hear. You're starting to feel that bite of overstimulation layering under the pleasure and it makes you squirm. You jerk against the toy, hoping for a reprieve from the buzzing and Steve, the dilligent student that he is, places a hand across your stomach, holding you in place and all you can do is cry out as he presses the vibrator firmly against your clit. You grip the sheets tightly as he starts to make little circles around your too sensitive bundle of nerves, your whole body is shaking as another orgasm quickly creeps up on you with a squealing noise and string of curses. You can feel your brain getting fuzzy, that familiar hedonistic haze threatens to blanket your thoughts, you know if you don't stop Steve soon you'll be far too blissed out to do so and Steve is not equipped to handle that sort of headspace.

"Okay, red. That's enough Stevie." You say breathlessly but firm. Steve quickly moves the toy but struggles to turn it off so you take it from him and turn it off yourself. You take a couple of moments to recompose yourself, ignoring the phantom buzzing and overwhelming wetness between your legs when you sit up and pull your knees to your chest.

"Are you alright? Do you need water? Can I get you something?"

"I'm fine Stevie. How are you feeling?"

"Me? I wasn't the one-"

"The whole point of this was to see if you enjoyed either edging or overstim- having tried both, do you feel like you at least have a better understanding of them like you wanted?"

"I- guess I have a better understanding."

"Well what're you thinking?"

"I thought I would- hate the edging thing but, as... intense as it was there was something, freeing about it? Like getting on a ride at Coney Island and the ending was, worth the build up."

"And overstimulation?"

"It's incredible watching the way your body reacts to such an onslaught. Plus the idea of bringing your lover imense pleasure like that is undeniably delicious, I can see how that kind of thing can be so thrilling."

"Well there you go. Questions answered. You're free to leave." You say.

"Are you sure you don't need anything?"

"I'm fine Steve I'm just going to hop in the shower you've got nothing to worry about really. I've got other things on my schedule of today remember?"

"Alright- if you're sure. I'll see you around. Enjoy your evening."

"Thanks. See ya." You say. Steve seems hesitant to leave but without a reason to stay, he has to shuffle his way out. You let out a sigh after your door closes. You've got a couple hours before your evening plans, good thing, you'll need it. Hopefully one of these days Steve will ask a simple question with a simple answer that doesn't a demonstration.

***

Tagged Users: @chososg1rl

[olderthannetfic]

As someone who some times works with disabled people who do handcrafts. It's not actually an accessibility support to make those thousands of sizes, so I really get your issues with it.

Most of those patterns work like shit. Most of the physically disabled people still do their own patterns and adjustments, they just need tools that are better suited their individual needs. A person in a wheelchair or with one arm has to adjust things, but the ones I've worked with, who've been into their crafting hobbies for decades, can do most these things themselves.

People with mental disabilities (lower functioning (IDK if Anglospeakers still use that term tho)) can't get a use out of these hundreds of pattern types because they need a different kinda help when attempting them. (Easier standard patterns with good instructions are way better than advanced patterns ranging from the XXXXXS to XXXXXXXXLs, basically)

All in all, these "inclusive" patterns whatever else falls into it is just another one of those "THINK OF THE DISABLED!!!" when in most cases it's performative and seems to be more of a "Lazy ppl/Hustlers use disabled people to demand/sell something."

--

Godddd.

The latest crochet thing was an issue where the pattern is written in a normal, traditional style. It has a lot of shorthand. It also explicitly says that it isn't for beginners. The free versions are a video or one of those oldschool blogs with bajillions of ads that make it impossible to read.

Now, I can see why this would be a problem, especially if you aren't willing to cough up the $5 for the download.

However, the solution is to either teach a person to read traditional-style patterns with their nice, succinct abbreviations or find them a crafting buddy who can work with them one-on-one on that particular pattern.

Learning to read patterns sometimes isn't easy. That's true for everyone with every type of brain. That's why it's a thing you teach. The moaning about this is like someone going "Some books are harder than See Spot Run and that's bad!"

The wank was a combo of people wanting every pattern written out fully in sentences the way one on etsy from last week would be and of people wanting to participate in some stupid viral tiktok trend and thus "needing" an accessible version of that specific pattern.

(Someone created said accessible version... i.e. they drove traffic away from the blog post with the ads. Good job, genius. Both this person and the pattern designer have ended up with a million haters descending on their heads, of course. Everybody lost.)

--

I'd trust a designer like Skeindeer Knits to have some idea how to design a sleeve that can fit over my upper arm. I would not trust Andrea Mowry and her weird stick arms ideas about biceps circumference. I love her patterns and especially her promo photos, but jesus.

I think there's a poisonous pattern of both ~needing~ to make what everyone else just did (so all patterns have to be all things to all people) and of everybody just picking whatever designer looks most aspirational in their photo shoots.

I'd have way more respect if "I only promote size inclusive patterns" was followed by "Here are designs from designers who found a plus size model or who are plus size themselves" instead of "I checked the size range listed on ravelry." (Who am I kidding? Of course they won't do that. So few big designers bother to get a plus size model that it would mean tons of extra work for the youtuber doing a pattern roundup.)

So it all ends up back at "The sophie scarf looks good on everyone!!!"

It's the holidays.

Everyone is making that overrated dishrag as a gift for their 20 nearest and dearest.

Kill me now.

[nebula-nonhuman]

(preface: cluster B-wise, I have diagnosed BPD and from conversations with therapists and my therapy group and people with NPD, it seems that I have a fair share of NPD traits. Which isn't uncommon. My friend has NPD with a lot of BPD traits.)

The question marks because my splitting has been pretty mild for the last year or two and also because I'm unsure if it counts if I can double book keep? Like I usually feel like someone is super ideal and can do no wrong ever but I can recall their "bad habits" and flaws just fine if I force myself to, I just can't change the emotions. And I don't think I feel victimised (or like. I assume it doesn't count if you feel like you deserve it aka if you don't actually feel like a victim) per se but I do feel misunderstood a lot of the time but in a good way. My fears usually concern being understood. Also while I do partake in behaviour I do consider potentially self damaging, I know the exact way the criterion is worded in DSM-V and I know that I don't fit it.

Question marks either because I don't understand (define "often") or because it's something I do only in specific situations (I DO like being the center of attention and when I am I expect the attention to be on me and me only, but it has to be a scripted interaction. I hate being noticed in an average encounter. I'm supposed to be in the spotlight when I'm in a debate competition and speaking, when I'm giving a presentation as my final, when I'm playing theatre, when I'm hosting an event. But I hate when people try to make the situation deviate from the script. If I'm the organisator, I am supposed to be noticed as an organisator. I will not take part in a conversation with you and the me who is suited for a conversation is not the me who is suited for the spotlight. If I am forced to become the other I will no longer be capable of being in the spotlight, and the me who takes part in conversations is afraid of conversations anyways. My point is don't go off script and keep your eyes on me and everyone will enjoy whatever the hell the event du jour is.) or something I used to do much more in the past (I DO exaggerate my achievements but these days usually only when the urge to one-up others kicks in or when they don't have a sufficient reaction to my honest statement). And we've been over the "misunderstanding" thing.

??? - what does that mean. Not yes or no because I am stupid and have no idea what exactly is meant by that and what counts.

Also actually had a problem with the stress and anxiety one. As far as I know it only counts if you aren't stressed in normal and abnormal situations. But I tend to get stressed in everyday situations but when push comes to shove I just go "Oh well. I am The Responsible One now (usually because I look around and estimate that I am the best person for the job or that nobody else would be capable of being responsible and putting their panic or stress aside)." and experience no emotions whatsoever. Also I compulsively lie all the time ngl. For literally no reason. I'll just say something and then go "That's literally not true, I have no idea why I said that."

Made for fun, don't use as a tool for self diagnosis. 🎼

[fuckyeahisawthat]

While I absolutely adore all the "Viktor acquires Jayce's last name for accidental/practical/non-romantic reasons" ideas, I think Viktor would have had to solve his last name problem for paperwork reasons as a student at the Academy, and if he didn't have a last name, the simplest option would be to steal one.

He figures out within three days of starting at the Academy that he needs a family name.

Introducing himself as "just Viktor" gets him marked out as from the undercity immediately, if missing one of a hundred other social cues hasn't already. "Don't you know no one knows whose kids are whose down there?" he hears someone scoff from down the hall, after he's extracted himself from a conversation that was going nowhere good.

Family, like most things in the undercity, is assembled from spare parts more often than not. Family is who will have your back if someone is giving you shit; who will offer you half of something that is already not enough. His parents by blood are both alive and still live together, but no one knows them as anything other than Iveta and Hal.

But topsiders care about things like bloodlines and inheritance, and they all have family names. Not just the rich kids whose family names are carved into buildings, but the children of merchants and craftspeople and workers.

So, he needs to acquire one.

He can't just make one up. What if he picks something that sounds obviously fake to their ears? Or worse, the name of a real, well-known family that he then has to explain his connection to? No, it has to be a real name, just not one that anyone would care about.

He goes to the cemetery. Not the fancy one with the high wrought-iron gates and elaborate masoleums, but a humble one, in a part of the city filled with the modest homes of tradespeople. He searches until he finds an ill-tended family plot, the most recent date of death a hundred years in the past. A simple man, maybe a baker, judging by the carving on the headstone. That will do.

He makes up a story to go with it (a Piltover family of small shopkeepers, forced into the undercity by hard times several generations ago, but topsiders by ancestry still) and starts writing his name as Viktor Trini on homework assignments and forms.

"Viktor." Professor Heimerdinger catches his attention after class one day, a few weeks into the term. Viktor has a routine for this steep amphitheater-style lecture hall by now. Sit in the front so he doesn't have to deal with the stairs; make a bit of a show of gathering up his books and papers slowly after class, letting the students who are in a hurry get out the door first, without his uneven steps slowing them down.

"Yes, Professor?"

"Excellent work on the last assignment. Inspired problem-solving, if I must say."

"Thank you, Professor." He'd been gratified by the solution he came up with, but it's nice to hear someone else say it, too.

Heimerdinger is still holding his problem set paper, rocking on his toes on the small stepladder he uses when lecturing, when he doesn't get too animated and just start striding across the desk like a stage. "You know," he says. "I knew an Aloisius Trini, many years ago. Lovely fellow. He could get a bit gruff with the customers, when the shop was busy, but he made the best meat pies, so nobody cared. I was wondering, might he be your...grandfather perhaps?"

"Yes," Viktor says quickly. "Though I never knew him."

Heimerdinger lowers his voice conspiratorially. "I think you will find that great-grandfather works better, given the math." And he winks.

Viktor's throat goes dry. "Professor, I--"

"Ah-ah. No need to worry, my dear boy. Most people you meet in Piltover won't be nearly three hundred years old." He leans in, drops his voice to a whisper again. "We'll keep this our little secret."

Ah. He understands what's going on now. "Of course. What do you want in return?" He doesn't like this, owing someone who could have him expelled with the stroke of a pen.

Heimerdinger looks surprised at the question. "Nothing!" he says. But that can't be true. He'll ask for something sooner or later.

"I want you to succeed," Heimerdinger says after a moment. "I've seen a lot of students come through these halls, and you're very bright. I predict you'll do extraordinary things."

It still feels like a trap, and maybe it shows on his face, because after a minute Heimerdinger makes a noise of frustration and says, "Fine. If you insist on viewing this as a favor to be repaid, come to my office. There's a lightbulb that needs changing and I can't reach it."

That, he can do. "Thank you, Professor," he says quietly as Heimerdinger hops down the stairs of the stepladder.

"Don't thank me until you've seen the state of this light fixture. I can't reach it to dust, either."

[anarchyspider]

I don't care how TPN ended I heard the intro again yesterday and just thought. How can I make this about DC (Basically just the Bats though) .. SO I WILL

Some TPN Spoilers! Me and @legodamianwayne brainstormed some ideas (Though they added a lot more) and I wanna put it here!

• The Wayne family holds a huge share of the farms. Bruce didnt know this until years later and now he tries to help the orphans inside escape.

• Dick, Jason and Cass were part of the first group of orphans that he successfully rescued. Jason however later "died" after an encounter with a demon.

• Tim wasn't born on the farm his family also has a share on some, I'd like to think that he begins to help out as well at an early age when he finds out.

• Steph and Duke were in the same orphanage as Damian and they managed to escape together but Damian was too young at the time for them to take with.

• Talia is a mama and she and Damian basically have the same dynamic as Isabella and Ray. I personally figured Ray and Isabella would be pretty similar role wise for Dami and Talia too considering Isabella is Ray's biological mother as well.

• Maya and Jon could be somewhere outside the walls that one of the groups eventually come across that are surviving out in the world. @legodamianwayne mentioned that they'd like to think Dick, Jason and Cass split up to create their own groups to help on different farms as well.

• So Dick has the titans, Jason has the outlaws, and Cass has birds of prey (with Babs).

• Colin could also be involved as one of the main people in the resistance against demons too I feel.

Will probably add more onto this later.. if anyone else has any ideas or anything to add to this AU too I'd love to hear it, let us know ✌️

[starry-bi-sky]

Blood Blossom Au: Baby's First Commissioner Meeting :)

TL:DR This Post: Danny (orphan) gets poisoned with blood blossom extract by Vlad. He runs away from him and ends up under the care of one Pre-Robin Battinson Batman! Starry is loudly pushing her batdad agenda.

(Also known as "Late At Night, When The Nightingale Sings" on my ao3!)

This was a fun rough idea I've been sitting on for weeks, thinking about how Commissioner Gordon and Nightingale's first meeting might go.

---------------

Commissioner Gordon likes to think that he's adjusting to the new normal of Gotham very well, -- the new normal being grown men running around dressed like bats, in military-grade strength body armor, committing acts of vigilantism, -- and slowly, little by little, he was no longer being surprised when this new normal pops up out of the shadows like the world's most terrifying daisy. His shaving lifespan thanks him for it.

....

The kid is a surprise though.

Granted, he seemed to be a surprise to the Bat too.

There's been a string of murders lately, -- which, in Gotham, is kind of like saying there's been another storm during monsoon season. And there's just been another; in some dilapidated building down in south Gotham, with the broken, boarded-up windows and mildew-crawling walls to match. The victim is a man in his thirties, multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, left in the center of the room for the blood to pool out around him.

The place is already secured when he arrives, the building swarmed with officers and the forensic detectives. The Bat emerges shortly after he does -- or, he might've been here the whole time, hiding someplace dark and shadowy. For his own sanity, Gordon doesn't think about it too hard.

The kid is a surprise, and he appears like a bolt of lightning.

He shows up in the middle of a conversation Gordon is having with the Bat.

A whistle, sharp and loud, slicing through the air, meant for open air rather than a confined space. Gordon's ears pierce and protest the sound, and the solemn, murmured chatter floating through the room abruptly cuts off like the swing of a gavel. As he turns towards the sound -- as they all do -- he swears, up and down, that he sees Batman's shoulders jump, just slightly.

At the source, perched on the window, is a boy. A boy in a gray-blue scarf and an oversized black hoodie, one that hangs off his frame and has ace bandages wrapped around the wrists in some attempt to cinch the sleeves. The hood is up, big like the rest of it, and threatens to swallow the upper half of the boy's face whole in the fabric. What upper half Gordon can see, is smeared with some kind of opaque, black face paint. He's holding onto the side of the frame with one hand, on his hip is a grappling hook. A familiar grappling hook.

Gordon has multiple questions, and his officers tense up.

Martinez puffs up, brows furrowing as his face shapes into a frown. Shoulders rolling back. "You can't be here, kid--"

The reaction is immediate, like a spark to gunpowder, the boy yanks his fingers from his mouth and his mouth twists into a scowl. Head snapping over to Officer Martinez, his hood manages to stay on but Gordon swears that as he bares his teeth, the glint makes them look sharper than they should be. His voice is rasp and quiet and harsh; snappish in its hissing; "Put a fuckin sock in it, Martinez. I'm not stayin."

Martinez reels back, and the boy immediately veers his attention off him. Like a switch, his demeanor drops. Despite half his face being covered, his mouth twists into a cringing, apologetic smile. Slanted and off-beat, embarrassed. It'd be disarming if this wasn't Gotham, and if he didn't just hiss at Martinez like he was about to bite his head off.

"Sorry." He whispers, voice deceptively polite and softer now. Gordon has to strain his ears to hear him. "I was looking for him."

He points his finger towards-- Gordon? No, Gordon follows the direction, and finds himself looking at -- the Bat.

The Bat, who always looks stiff as a pole, now looks even stiffer. Somehow. Well, the explains the grappling hook attached to the boy's waist.

"What are you doing here?" The Bat says, gruff and unable to completely smother the stumble of surprise in his tone.

The boy still holds a sheepish smile, and slips off the window ledge. His feet hit the creaky boards with a near-silent thud, the Batman finds his feet and rapidly begins crossing the room.

Gordon notes the slight tremble in the boy's legs as he straightens. He adjusts his scarf, which droops close to his knees now that he's standing, and slings a backpack -- how long has had that? -- off his shoulders. When the Bat reaches his side, he does as he always does, and looms over the boy like a spectre. A threatening mass of shadows cloaked in all-consuming black. Standing next to him, the boy looks teeny in comparison.

The Bat is a man who terrifies even the most hardened criminals, Gordon has seen grown men shiver in fear at the mention of his name. And yet when the boy looks up at him, he doesn't even flinch.

Instead, his sheepish smile melts away like ice under the sun, holding only traces of his previous embarrassment. It remains as a shadow on his face, a small upturn at the corners of his mouth. The boy pushes his hood back just enough to reveal glinting, ice-flint eyes surrounded in tar-black face paint. He holds the backpack up with one arm. "You forgot this."

[p5x-theories]

(updated 12/20/24!)

Part 4! This goes through to the end of what's available in-game as of Version 3.0.1.

This is also where it officially switches from the Katayama Arc to the Akashi Arc, though it's all considered Chapter 3.

The next day, the group reconvenes on the roof and recaps that their next target is Akashi's Treasure, within his and Katayama's Composite Palace. Shadow Akashi had previously been parasitizing Shadow Katayama, but they were able to rescue Shadow Katayama by getting her to return to her real-world self.

However, Ruferu clarifies that because they weren't able to steal her Treasure yet, she hasn't had a full change of heart yet, either. But she's no longer in danger, and her desires won't distort further. Shun mentions that her suspension from school is still active, and he's worried about her. Motoha also worries that the Treasure will disappear since they couldn't steal it, but Ruferu reassures her that, while normally a Treasure will only manifest for about a day after the Shadow is warned, Shadow Katayama wanted them to take the Treasure, meaning she had a desire to be changed. In other words, he believes that as long as Katayama has a desire for her Treasure to be stolen, it'll stay manifested within the Palace.

Shun says he'd feel better if they could check for themselves whether it's still there, but the Palace is on lockdown. Ruferu adds that they've searched everywhere they're aware of so far without finding a hint of anything, so Akashi's Treasure must be somewhere new, but they'll still need to open the dam back up to get anywhere deeper in the Palace. Riko brings up that a new "power source" will reopen the dam, which Ruferu confirms, but Shun points out that'd mean Akashi finding a new victim to exploit. Wonder stresses they can't allow another victim, and Riko agrees, saying she's come up with a victimless plan: they just need to trick Akashi into thinking he has a power source.

Motoha doesn't quite understand, so Riko rephrases, they don't have to actually let him take advantage of someone else, they just need him to think he's doing so. Shun says he still doesn't really get it, but asks how does she plan to do it, and Motoha asks who she plans to use for it. Riko responds that she'll do it herself, with no hesitation. Everyone reacts with alarm, and Riko explains that it's the only way to avoid someone being hurt.

Wonder dislikes this idea ("Then let me be the bait" or "Too dangerous" as the response options), but Riko only thanks him for his concern, emphasizing that she's the best candidate for this. Akashi currently thinks she's on his side, so if she betrays him, he'd need to work to further control her. Motoha still doesn't like this, but Riko's unfazed, even smiling as she says she won't really become his power source, they're just going to trick him into thinking that. Ruferu points out that Akashi is cunning- how does she plan to accomplish this?

Riko agrees that she's heard about his past and knows how dangerous he can be, which is why she plans to explain everything to them as they go, to ensure nothing goes wrong. Motoha double-checks that she's not going to take this on alone, and Riko assures her that she's not going to force herself anymore, fully intending to rely on them as her trustworthy companions as necessary, and hoping they do the same for her. Wonder agrees, then Cattle (expressing some concern still) and Shun (reminding her to keep her word and not try to be brave here).

Suddenly changing the subject (and apologizing for doing so), Riko abruptly asks Shun if he only ever eats instant ramen, and if he's considered proper nutritional balance. Shun is slightly thrown-off, but clarifies he only eats instant ramen for lunch, and has proper meals at home. He admits that he just likes eating instant ramen, but it's also a kind of market research. This confuses Riko, so he explains that he keeps up with what kinds of instant ramen are available, and checks out any new flavors that come out, even if instant ramen is totally different from the kind in restaurants. Motoha adds that Shun wants to open a ramen shop in the future, and his ramen is super delicious. Shun humbly thanks her for the compliment, and Riko apologizes for misunderstanding his planning for the future.

Shun tells her she doesn't need to apologize, and Riko offhandedly mentions she's never been to a ramen restaurant. Shun and Motoha react with shock and dismay respectively, which makes Riko a bit sheepish, and she quickly explains that she doesn't often go out to eat with her family, and wouldn't just go to a restaurant alone. Motoha, still sounding a bit frantic, says she goes alone all the time. Calming down a bit, she then recalls that Riko never ate ramen with them back in their Little League days, either. She announces they'll all go together after school today, then! Riko starts to say this is too sudden, but Motoha tells her there's no time like the present, and warns everyone not to make any plans for after school.

Ruferu thinks it's a good idea, though he won't really be able to participate, and Motoha promises to get him some pork and eggs, to his delight. Shun suggests they head to Ashouken, so they can ask Masa if he has any news about Katayama. Riko decides she would actually like to go, if there's an acquaintance of Katayama's working there. Motoha declares it decided, and cheers.

Motoha's surprised at how busy Ashouken is when they arrive, even though it's barely evening. Shun proudly tells them business has basically recovered now that Miyazawa's gone, with people praising the return of the ramen's original flavor, happy to see this prove that people really do want genuinely delicious food. He reflects that if they'd never stopped Miyazawa, he wouldn't have gotten to see this, and thanks the Phantom Thieves again.

Feeling that was a bit too sentimental, he quickly asks Riko what she's planning to get, and recommends the shoyu ramen. Motoha then says her own recommendation is getting every topping, and half a portion of rice with it. Riko is surprised to hear she'd want to eat a bunch of rice even after finishing her ramen, looking fond as she says that's a bit too much. Motoha gasps, and Shun says Riko's opinion is too normal. Riko asks Wonder what his recommendation is, with the options being "Simply order shoyu ramen", "Add an egg", and "Every topping with a half portion of rice"; if you pick the egg, Motoha laughs that Wonder's tastes are similar to Ruferu's. Riko decides that if it's just an extra egg, she could probably eat it all.

They begin to eat, with Riko tasting it and making a noise in surprise, commenting on how good it tastes before digging in more enthusiastically. She admits she didn't expect it to be this good, especially the taste of the soup base; she finds it amazing that customers can have food that tastes this high-end for such a good price. Shun's pleased to hear this, and comments that it's no surprise the UMETANE president's daughter has such a good sense of taste.

Motoha announces that the pork slices, soaked in the soup base and then eaten with rice, are also super delicious, and tries to offer Riko a bite. Riko, somewhat alarmed, appreciates the offer but refuses. Motoha keeps pushing, saying just one bite- she'll even feed it to her! Riko is slightly baffled. Wonder, watching this, can comment either "I also want to feed Riko", "I also want Motoha to feed me", or "I want Shun to feed me"; if the latter is picked, Shun coolly replies he's not going to feed him. Motoha (still holding the food out to Riko) exclaims that he's too cold, then wonders if Wonder said that because he wants to imitate what she's doing with Riko. Shun insists he still doesn't want to, so he should just have Ruferu feed him when they get home. Wonder reacts with sweat drops.

After they've finished eating, Motoha comments on how happy she is to be full of delicious food. Riko says it's a pity she's never been here before, and she'd like to come again in the future. However, she still thinks it'd be a bit embarrassing to come alone... Motoha excitedly declares she'd come with her anytime, and she should try fried rice with her ramen next time!

Masa comes over with a plate of eggs and pork, thanking them for coming and saying the plate's a treat for Owl-kun. Ruferu hops out of the bag and says the store manager really understands him, to which Masa (with the tone of one talking to an animal or small child) asks him to keep his voice down so he doesn't draw the attention of the other guests. Ruferu, quieter, very seriously apologizes for his rude and ungentlemanly behavior. He thanks Masa for the food, then eats politely.

As he does so, Shun thanks Masa for going to the trouble of making food just for their owl, and Riko thanks him for the extremely delicious meal. Masa thanks her for coming to their restaurant, and asks if she's another one of Shun's friends, mentioning that Shun brought Motoha here, too, and teasingly saying he didn't expect Shun to have so many beautiful female friends. Shun says it's not whatever he's thinking, and she's his senpai. Masa considers this, and asks if she's Wonder's girlfriend instead, then. The camera pans a bit dramatically to Riko reacting with surprise, then Wonder doing the same, and the player can answer either "That's right", "No", or "My lover is Ruferu".

If the latter is chosen, Ruferu asks what he's talking about, flustered, while Masa laughs, saying it turns out his pet is his lover, and that's why he carries it around in his bag all day. He promises that Wonder can bring him to Ashouken any time, and he'll give him some pork and eggs for free. Shun, with an awkward face, comments that he discovered a while ago that Wonder sometimes likes to "make jokes and act stupid". Ruferu flatly says he's glad it was just a joke, but he almost choked on a piece of egg.

Riko clears her throat, then introduces herself to Masa, mentioning that she's heard he also knows Katayama, and she was in Katayama's class as a first-year. Shun asks if Masa's heard anything from Katayama recently, since she's still under suspension. Masa starts out by saying he heard someone posted on Magatsushin about the "Tyrannical Teacher". Everyone reacts with surprise, and Motoha quickly explains that that's all nonsense, and Katayama was just disciplining some troublemaking students. Masa laughs, saying that having some students get mad at her and post bad things about her on the internet is totally "Kumi-chan's" style; a passionate teacher like her attracts attention, and it's easy to fall into extremes of being either loved or hated.

He then admits that she seems energetic still, and actually just had ramen at Ashouken yesterday, where she mentioned the suspension. She seemed a little haggard, but ordered extra noodles, so she's fine. Shun is clearly relieved to hear this. Masa adds that she said "There are still a few students who believe in me. For them, I can't give up", as well as "I want to start over and become a better teacher", seeming very motivated. Motoha also reacts with relief, and Riko claps her hands together. Masa then lightly tacks on that she said she's using the suspension period to prepare lots of quizzes, to Motoha's alarm. Shun reacts similarly, muttering that that's Katayama for you. Still, Riko is glad to hear Katayama is doing well, and Wonder nods.

Masa then asks around when Katayama was submitted to Magatsushin as a phantom. He says he tried to look for the post, but couldn't find it, and wonders if it got buried. Riko is surprised to hear this, but Shun says it's fine, there was no need for anyone to watch it anyway. Masa explains that he was just curious because it was a post about someone he knows, bringing the legend of “Lightning Legs Katayama” back into the world! Shun mutters that no one needs that legend.

As they leave Ashouken, a man walks by the camera conspicuously.

They stop outside, and Motoha again expresses relief at hearing some good news about Katayama, quizzes aside. Shun agrees, but he's still a bit concerned about Masa saying she looked "haggard"; Ruferu doesn't seem too worried, however, as her Shadow was under a lot of stress from Akashi, and recovery will take some time. Plus, unfortunately, as long as the Palace still stands, it'll still have a bit of an effect on her.

Motoha notices Riko looking at her phone, and asks what she's doing. Riko responds that she's checking Magatsushin, since Masa said he couldn't find the Tyrannical Teacher post, and sure enough, no one's talking about it, and the single post about it ended up getting buried. The Tyrannical Teacher was never officially certified as a phantom. Shun says that's a good thing, but Motoha notes that it still caused a lot of commotion at their school, even if society at large ignored it. Riko agrees- only Kokatsu Academy cared about Katayama being a phantom, which means that if the Phantom Thieves had sent Katayama a proper calling card, they would've given away to the mastermind that the Phantom Thieves are associated with Kokatsu Academy.

The others react with alarm. Ruferu recalls that Kiuchi and Miyazawa were both evildoers in public, and therefore any member of the public could have recognized the threat they posed, but no one knows Katayama is also the Rush Rider, so the assumption would be that the Phantom Thieves were targeting the Tyrannical Teacher, which only people at Kokatsu even cared about. Motoha, hearing all this, is suddenly very glad they didn't send her a calling card.

Shun points out that once they found her Palace, they couldn't exactly ignore her, though, since they don't pick the bad guys here (... not that Katayama's a bad person!). Riko similarly notes that they didn't have a choice in the matter, but still finds this all a bit suspicious. Shun then adds that Akashi is more publicly recognizable as an unscrupulous consultant, so they're at least safe to send him a calling card without worrying too much. Riko agrees; they'll begin her plan tomorrow, to Motoha's concern, and Ruferu asks if she's really okay with doing this. Shun reiterates that they're not going to let Riko sacrifice herself.

Riko very seriously replies that they need to take some risk, or Akashi won't take the bait. And she wants to be able to steal Katayama's Treasure as quickly as possible, so that means starting her plan tomorrow. The screen fades out as she begins to explain what she's going to do.

Elsewhere, Akashi talks on the phone, telling the person on the other end that everything is going well on his end, and it's only a matter of time before they take the bait. A distorted voice asks through the phone if that's really true, which throws Akashi off. The voice clarifies that Akashi's following the plan, but it seems like it's taken a lot of effort this time. Akashi somewhat frantically assures them that that's not true, and everything has been according to his plan. The voice continues that even if the Phantom Thieves don't take the bait in the form of the teacher, it wouldn't matter, as they can still use this incident "as a basis for judgment". However, Akashi should begin preparing the next bait, and thoroughly investigate the entire academy. Otherwise, Akashi himself will be the bait.

Akashi brings a hand up to his face, and tells the voice not to joke like that; he won't let himself be pushed around by others anymore. That's the whole reason he followed the voice's advice and switched careers to be a consultant! The voice replies that as long as everything goes well it's fine, then. Akashi hangs up, then moves his hand to his chest, muttering that everything's going well, but for some reason he feels uneasy.

The next day at school, Wonder, Motoha, and Shun listen through the door as Riko confronts Dean Yamanashi, demanding he end Katayama's suspension (her tone of voice is noticeably more forceful than her usual quiet tone, though she's not over-acting). Yamanashi asks why she's suddenly bringing this up, and Riko responds by asking when her suspension will end, insisting she doesn't believe Katayama did anything wrong. Akashi innocently reminds her she was there when Katayama attacked him, but Riko declares that while Katayama did grab him by the collar, it was after Akashi himself provoked her into doing so. The other teachers react with surprise.

Riko reiterates that, in her opinion from having seen the incident, Katayama's punishment was too harsh. The teachers begin to rethink their initial reactions to the suspension, as Yamanashi and Akashi seem a bit nervous. Yamanashi insists Katayama's behavior was inappropriate, checking with Akashi, who agrees that Katayama was also prohibited from any contact with students outside of class at the time. She visited Riko outside of class, which is why Akashi reprimanded her, and that's what "provoked" her. Riko coolly replies that Katayama only came to talk to her because she was worried about Riko's workload; does that mean they're punishing Katayama for her kindness?

Riko then addresses the other teachers directly, asking them if they really think this is the way things should be, with teachers too scared to even try to communicate with their students. Is it really reforming their workplace to prevent them from guiding students outside of lectures? This gets through to the other teachers, who bring up how worried they've been about appearing on Magatsushin, and how much Katayama always cared about her students. Yamanashi panics, telling them not to be swayed by a few words from Riko, and puts his foot down about Katayama's punishment being correct.

He then approaches Riko directly, and asks what she's doing; it's not like her to speak against the teachers. Riko repeats "like her", then more loudly asks what "like her" means. Does it mean silently taking on Yamanashi's work for him? Yamanashi makes a nervous noise, and Riko asks again that he reconsider the punishment, before curtly bowing and leaving.

At lunch, back on the rooftop, Motoha very seriously repeats Riko's final words to Yamanashi, then gushes over how cool she was there. Shun asks if it was really okay to challenge Akashi face-to-face, but Riko assures him this is all part of the plan, as they need Akashi to recognize her as an enemy. Ruferu recalls that this is in order to prompt him into targeting her, and Riko nods. As long as she pretends to submit to his efforts to frame her at the right time, she'll end up as the new power source in the Palace. Ruferu clarifies that this will cause the Palace to lower its guard, so they can sneak back in.

Riko explains that at that time, she expects that a cognitive version of herself will appear there as the power source. Since her Shadow has already become her Persona, it's not in danger of being pulled into the Palace and genuinely taken advantage of, the way Shadow Katayama was. Ruferu now understands how her plan is a "victimless" one: Shadow Akashi will think he has a new power source, but won't actually be able to gain any power from a cognition, and Riko won't be in any danger. However, if he realizes he's not actually able to generate power, he might close the Palace again; Riko agrees, warning them this will become a race against time.

Wonder still expresses concern for Riko in the real world, and Shun agrees, saying she should count him in as bait as well. Riko insists that's a bad idea, however, as the mastermind is evidently trying to figure out their identities, and raising a commotion together would be very suspicious, not to mention tipping them off to the fact that they're all friends. Shun doesn't exactly like this answer, but Riko continues that Kiuchi's heart was changed after he targeted Tomoko, and Miyazawa's was after targeting Shun, so although they luckily didn't send Katayama a calling card, there's still a lot of evidence to suggest the Phantom Thieves are from Kokatsu Academy already.

Motoha panics, looking around the rooftop in alarm, but Riko reassures her that the mastermind probably doesn't know their exact identities yet. Still, Katayama having a change of heart will likely confirm the Phantom Thieves are at Kokatsu. After saying this, Riko wonders aloud if Katayama was made into a phantom in the first place just to-- then mutters that she may be overthinking it, but it's a suspicious coincidence. Riko declares that she's going to do some research on how Akashi came to Kokatsu.

The next day, Riko catches up with Wonder on his way to school, and says she didn't delay in looking into Akashi. Wonder can ask if she got some sleep too, to which she replies with a smile that she got plenty of sleep, as this actually didn't take very long. As it turns out, although Yamanashi said Akashi was sent by the school board, it was actually the other way around- Yamanashi recommended Akashi to the school board. Ruferu asks if that means the two knew each other beforehand, and Riko confirms, saying her father met one with of the members of the board, who offhandedly mentioned that they decided to hire a consultant based on the recommendation of the dean.

Wonder comments on Riko's dad's connections, and Riko says she believes her father probably knew about Akashi's reputation since Akashi used to be a corporate consultant. Ruferu is impressed by Riko's ability to get all this information so quickly. Riko admits that she used to avoid talking about anything but work with her father, but after chatting with him for a while, she discovered it really wasn't a big deal, and she'd been restraining herself for no reason. She adds that since he has a lot of connections, she'll have to make use of him more in the future. Wonder can agree, or suggest she take her father out for ramen sometime, to which Riko is slightly surprised, but then laughs and agrees that if it's Ashouken, her father would certainly find it delicious as well.

Bringing the subject back, Ruferu says he didn't expect Yamanashi to have been the one to get Akashi this job, and Riko mentions that this is apparently Akashi's first time working as an educational consultant. Ruferu, confused, brings up that Akashi's supposed to be a well-known consultant. Riko clarifies that he's never worked in education before, and generally, consultants work within companies. Companies would also offer a higher salary; Kokatsu isn't paying Akashi nearly as much. So, with all that, she thinks it's particularly strange that Yamanashi recommended a consultant with little relevant experience in the education industry. Ruferu agrees, it's odd to give up familiarity and stability to suddenly work in education. Wonder can suggest that maybe he wanted to sneak into Kokatsu, or perhaps he's the mastermind, or perhaps Yamanashi is the mastermind; if the former is chosen (or maybe regardless of answer), Riko says she's not sure, but it's possible the mastermind is right in front of them, so they'll need to be extra careful.

At the end of what appears to be an inter-club meeting at school, Riko says she has one more topic to discuss. She stands up, and says she's passed out to everyone copies of some complaints the Disciplinary Committee recently received. She also hands one to Yamanashi, who is alarmed to see its contents. There's murmuring in the crowd as everyone reads the papers, and Yamanashi demands to know what's the meaning of this.

Riko turns to address everyone, and says she can't verify whether the claims made here are true, but according to this, Akashi previously worked as a corporate consultant, and during that time, forced employees to be suspended or resign, and psychologically tormented them, in some cases leading to suicide. Yamanashi insists that's all nonsense, and Riko responds that whether or not it's just a rumor, as a member of the Disciplinary Committee, since they received this complaint letter, she would like to ask Akashi about it, and turn this into a public matter at the next student assembly based on his answer.

Yamanashi drops the paper and stands up, forbidding her from making this public, and telling her she needs to discuss this sort of thing with him first. Riko replies that, with all due respect, this was a complaint submitted by a student to the Disciplinary Committee, and the current rule is that students are supposed to resolve students' problems themselves, rather than interacting with teachers. Yamanashi tells her to have more discretion, and the other students react to this. Still floundering a bit, Yamanashi again insists this is just slander against Akashi, and snatches the paper out of one of the other student's hands before telling everyone these copies will be destroyed, and no one is allowed to talk about this matter. He then frantically dismisses the meeting.

Later, Yamanashi approaches Akashi, asking him if what's written in the complaint is true. Akashi assures him it's not, then asks who wrote it, somewhat forcefully. Yamanashi explains that apparently the Disciplinary Committee received it, and Riko planned to raise it as an issue. Akashi mutters, "Tanemura? Her again?", then takes a final drag of his cigarette, tosses it, and turns to face Yamanashi, asking him about how he'd said she was an obedient student, but now she seems to be targeting him. Yamanashi laughs nervously, and admits he doesn't know.

Akashi then asks if he at least took care of the matter, even if it was just baseless rumors, and reminds Yamanashi that, as the one who recommended Akashi to the school board, it'd reflect poorly on him if those rumors got out. Taking on a threatening lilt, he adds that, if this gets him fired, he can't guarantee he won't let something slip... Yamanashi panics, and assures him that he forbid the students from spreading the rumors. Akashi thanks him, and somewhat mockingly says he's counting on him. Akashi's phone then begins to ring, and Akashi shoos Yamanashi out of the smoking area.

Picking up the phone, Akashi immediately apologizes for keeping the person on the other end waiting, and asks if something happened today. The same distorted voice from before responds "Crooked Consultant A", to Akashi's confusion. The voice explains that Akashi was just submitted to Magatsushin, and he should see it for himself. Akashi taps at his phone, then reacts with surprise, seeing the complaint letter was photographed and posted to Magatsushin. Becoming angry, he wonders if the students uploaded this. The voice, however, reminds him that all of this information has been posted anonymously on message boards before, so this isn't much of a surprise. Akashi starts to protest, and the voice notes that it sounds like things suddenly aren't going so well.

Frustrated, Akashi instead says that this was just a prank by a student, and he only lost his temper a bit. He's already arranged for these rumors to be put to rest, so everything's under control. The voice accepts this, and says it'll deal with Magatsushin, adding that even if Akashi becomes their target, it'll still be evidence towards the Phantom Thieves; after all, he's making enemies of everyone there. Akashi winces. However, the voice warns him to be careful, and not let himself have a change of heart. Akashi assures the voice that's impossible, and he's already preparing his next bait, which will hook the Phantom Thieves for sure.

After school, Ruferu spots Riko down the hall as he and Wonder are leaving, and suggests they check in with her. Riko greets them, and assures them that with her actions, Akashi's focus should have turned towards her, and he'll likely take action against her soon. Wonder asks again if she's okay, and Riko says everything's fine, reminding Wonder that Akashi isn't the type to use violence. His approach will either be to slander her or frame her for something, and use that to shape her into a phantom, like with Katayama.

Ruferu points out that that's still a problem, but Riko insists that no matter what people say about her, she won't give in, because she knows there are people who really care about her. Wonder can reply either simply "Yes", or "No matter what, we're by your side", and she thanks him. Ruferu almost complains about how determined and reliable she is, but reminds her not to show off, and to keep the rest of them updated on everything. Riko agrees that of course she will, and says she'll see them tomorrow.

The next day, as Wonder walks into class, he hears some students gossiping, something about Riko and the dean. Motoha immediately asks him if he saw Magatsushin today, and when Wonder shakes his head, shows him and Ruferu a post on her phone. The post says "the Dean of Academic Affairs at K Academy colluded with the company president's daughter", and "the two were in the student guidance room for a long time, where someone saw them exchanging documents. The president's daughter has excellent grades and a good reputation in the academy, but she uses money to buy all this from the dean." Motoha then points out the photo attached, which has blurred faces, but can still be recognized as Riko and Yamanashi, and adds that the idea of Riko buying her grades is so obviously made up that she was dumbfounded.

At that moment, their phones buzz, with a message in the PT group chat from Riko, asking if they've seen Magatsushin. Motoha confirms, and Riko says that although she expected to be targeted, she thinks they could've come up with something better, as she hasn't fallen to the point where she needs to buy her grades. Still, she admits it did make her a bit uncomfortable, and wonders if she's experiencing a slight deprivation of desires. She speculates that Akashi's goal in posting things like this is to contribute to a physical and mental exhaustion, then says she's being called to the teachers' office, and she'll update them after.

Putting their phones away, Motoha mutters that she's still worried about Riko, and suggests they head to the teachers' office as well, to listen in again.

In the office, Yamanashi is, of course, denying all of the rumors. Ms. Taniyama brings up that they often see the two of them together, and Yamanashi insists that he's just having her help with academic work, asking Akashi to back him up. To Yamanashi's dismay, however, Akashi says that's while his claim is correct, it did look like Yamanashi was taking advantage of her with the work.

At this moment, Riko enters, and Yamanashi asks her to explain the situation to everyone, claiming he's never cared about money, and never touched her grades. Riko confirms that this is true, and her grades have never even needed that kind of manipulation. Mr. Shimonuma relents, admitting that Riko's always very serious about her schoolwork, and it's pretty obvious to anyone looking. Ms. Taniyama then asks if they really are together so often because they're doing academic work, and Mr. Endo somewhat more seriously asks her why there's so much work for her to help with, and requesting she explain how she's been helping in detail.

Riko thinks for a moment, then replies that, for example, she helps organize the paperwork that gets submitted to the Education Committee. The teachers, plus Yamanashi and Akashi, all react with shock. Riko continues that she also helped put together the information Akashi requested when he first arrived, and works with other information such as the teachers' attendance sheets, evaluation sheets, and data about the school's income and expenditures on the computer.

Mr. Endo turns to Yamanashi, asking why he's trusting students with things like evaluation forms. Riko, with a surprised face, replies that she thought the teachers must have all known about it. More angrily, Mr. Shimonuma responds that this is way beyond what should be left to students. Yamanashi flounders, and starts to say that's not- Well, but Tanemura-kun is just so good at it- it's for her future! It's good experience for her future career! Riko apologizes, telling everyone she believed it was for that as well, and it didn't occur to her it might be confidential information she shouldn't have. Ms. Taniyama says she has nothing to apologize for. Mr. Endo agrees that she's not the one in the wrong here, but the dean, however...

Yamanashi desperately points out that Akashi, the educational consultant, went along with all this, turning around to face Akashi. Akashi, unfazed, says that he told Yamanashi it was inappropriate to let a student handle those documents, to Yamanashi's dismay. However, he agrees he's also at fault for ultimately going along with it. Changing the subject, he determines that the Magatsushin rumors do seem to be groundless slander, and he'll see what he can do to deal with them. Yamanashi finally smiles, thanking him. Akashi asks him to come with him, so he can hear the full story from him.

After Akashi and Yamanashi leave, the teachers turn to Riko, and Mr. Shimonuma is the first to ask Riko again if the Magatsushin rumors really were just empty slander, which Riko confirms. Mr. Endo says Riko's a very good student, so he had trouble believing any of it anyway, but... Ms. Taniyama finishes, the rumors will probably still circulate for a while now. Riko assures them she's mentally prepared, and knows she didn't actually do anything wrong. She still has people who care about and believe in her; that's what Ms. Katayama taught her.

Ms. Taniyama reacts to Katayama's name, and Riko explains that Katayama scolded her when she found out about Riko's blind obedience to Yamanashi with all the work he was giving her. She adds that she regrets not listening to Katayama sooner, as maybe things wouldn't have gone the way they did. Ms. Taniyama says that they didn't even notice, but Ms. Katayama really does care about her students... maybe she always looks anxious out of concern for them. It's only now that she appreciates how much Katayama was doing for the students. Mr. Endo agrees, admitting that he became a teacher to help guide students down the right path, but lately he's just been avoiding them. Mr. Shimonuma mutters that he hopes Katayama can come back soon, and Riko perks up, agreeing immediately.

In another office, Yamanashi panics, in disbelief that someone submitted him to Magatsushin and asking Akashi what to do. Akashi coolly tells him to calm down, because none of it's true, right? So it won't be an issue. Yamanashi, however, gives a bit of a noncommittal answer, and Akashi smiles, saying there must be some truth to the article after all. Yamanashi panics, telling him to keep his voice down. With a laugh, Akashi adds it would be bad if anyone followed the clues and uncovers anything, and Yamanashi frantically asks him what to do again.

Akashi's smile vanishes, and he replies that it seems like there's more going on than he was aware of. A much more malicious grin appears on his face, and he suggests Yamanashi tell him everything, so he can better help fix this. Yamanashi hesitates, then something occurs to him, and he clarifies with Akashi that all the things he's heard about from when Akashi was a corporate consultant are just rumors, right? Akashi doesn't react well, and Yamanashi quickly explains he just wants to be sure. Akashi flatly responds that he sees Yamanashi's worried he'll use his secrets to force him to get suspended, or resign, or even commit suicide, then grins threateningly again and says that if he wanted that to happen, it would've been Yamanashi that was suspended earlier, not Katayama.

Yamanashi laughs with him, looking relieved but still sounding a bit nervous. Now smiling in a way that looks more friendly, Akashi assures he won't betray him, he just wants to help. So believe in him, okay? Yamanashi nods, saying he does, so please help!

The camera pans to reveal Ruferu was watching this scene through the window. He flies away.

On the rooftop, Ruferu relays this information to the rest of the group. Riko notes that Akashi has Yamanashi completely under his thumb, and Motoha adds that Yamanashi sounds kind of pitiful, also being targeted by Akashi. Riko realizes that, if that's correct, it's actually bad: she was supposed to be the bait, but if things are going like this, then Yamanashi might be Akashi's new "power source" instead.

The others react with surprise, and Ruferu clarifies this means Yamanashi's actual Shadow would be in danger, not just a cognition of Riko. Motoha, slightly frustrated, says she doesn't really like Yamanashi, but based on what Akashi said, it seems like there's something bigger going on, and they can't just ignore it if he becomes a victim. Wonder suggests they head to the Palace, and Ruferu agrees, as something must have changed there by now, perhaps even the lockdown being lifted. Shun says they'll head in after school, whenever Wonder's ready.

Entering the Palace, they discover the weather has changed, now looking foggy rather than stormy. Soy thinks that means there might really be a new power source.

And, sure enough, they're able to reenter the power plant, finding a new, mouse wheel-like contraption with Yamanashi's Shadow running inside, just outside the entrance to the area where they fought Shadow Katayama. He makes panicked, slightly pathetic noises as he runs, while nearby shadows watch and taunt him, saying he won't generate any energy like this, and he needs to have greater desires. They warn him Akashi will abandon him if he doesn't, and Shadow Yamanashi panics further.

From where the Phantom Thieves are watching, Closer comments that he seems really pitiful, while Cattle confirms this is his actual Shadow, not just a cognition. However, his desires likely aren't very distorted, explaining why he looks almost identical to his real world self. As if to confirm this, Shadow Yamanashi whimpers that he wants to keep his job until retirement, with a full pension, and he doesn't want a divorce. Cattle identifies these desires as being a part of his own self-preservation; that is, as Closer clarifies, the most basic desire that anyone has, but also a dangerous one to allow a Palace ruler to steal.

Shadow Yamanashi then continues, pleading Akashi-sama not to tell his wife or his boss about Yamanashi's gambling addiction, to the Phantom Thieves' surprise. Closer amends that his desire isn't that basic at all, as Shadow Yamanashi lists out forms of gambling, insisting they're nothing to worry about, they're just small risks! He's only funding it with money from students' parents! He then mentions that Akashi caught him doing this, and used it to force Yamanashi to recommend him to the school board, abruptly switching from pleading with Akashi (who, to be clear, isn't even here) to cursing his name.

With this, Yamanashi's connection to Akashi all makes sense to Cattle, and Soy grumbles that while it's okay to gamble your own money, it's not okay to use your position to extort money from parents. Closer says it sounds like bribery- isn't that illegal? Wind points out that all this means Akashi targeted Yamanashi's weakness just to get into Kokatsu, and when Wonder asks if it was all to create a change of heart target/to get to the Phantom Thieves, she finds that likely. Soy wonders why he went after Katayama instead of Yamanashi in the first place, then, and Wind speculates that while Yamanashi was Akashi's initial way into Kokatsu, he also gave Akashi free reign within the school, so he was originally better to keep as a pawn.

Closer mutters that Akashi really is the worst, then says they still can't ignore that Yamanashi's Shadow is in danger, even if it is his own fault, right? Wind agrees; originally the plan was for her to become the new target, but Yamanashi was picked instead. Soy worries that the Palace will go into lockdown if they rescue Shadow Yamanashi now, but Cattle reassures everyone that, given the shadows are currently trying to provoke Shadow Yamanashi into having more desires, they clearly aren't at the point of stealing any of his desires yet, so it shouldn't be affecting his real world self yet. Closer asks if that means it's okay to ignore him, and Cattle agrees that it should be- for now. But if he starts to distort, there'll be a problem. The group agrees to focus on Akashi's Treasure for now.

At that moment, one of the shadows taunting Shadow Yamanashi notices them, and the shadows attack. Afterward, with the shadows gone, they're able to approach Shadow Yamanashi directly.

Shadow Yamanashi immediately addresses them, saying he doesn't know who they are, but he can tell they're pretty skilled. Can they let him out?

The five exchange a look, and Soy asks the others what they're doing now. Shadow Yamanashi takes offense, and haughtily asks if they know who he is- he's the Dean of Student Affairs at Kokatsu Academy! Whatever school they're from, he can help them out: improving their grades, letters of recommendation, even faked test scores, whatever they want. All he needs is some money from their parents. Closer mutters that he's awful, and Soy adds that he offered so casually, he must do this a lot.

Louder, Soy calls back to Shadow Yamanashi that they don't care about that, they're looking for Akashi's Treasure. Shadow Yamanashi is alarmed (or perhaps confused), and Soy elaborates, asking if there's anywhere Akashi goes often, or any forbidden areas. Shadow Yamanashi asks if they're planning to do something to Akashi-sama, and Wind replies, so what if they are? Is he going to report this to Akashi? If he stays quiet, they might come back to rescue him after.

Shadow Yamanashi considers this, making another alarmed noise. Soy points out that if Akashi's using his weakness against him, they're enemies, aren't they? This almost sways Shadow Yamanashi, but then he recalls that Akashi-sama's also helping him deal with the rumors on Magatsushin. Concerned, he adds that he's even taken money from the parents of candidates applying to get into Kokatsu in the first place, and if Akashi finds out about that...!

Closer is shocked he went that far, and Wind mutters that her desire to save Yamanashi at all is gradually fading... Soy doubts that a guy like this should even be working at a school. Closer asks Cattle why Yamanashi wouldn't have a Palace from all this, and Cattle explains that it's a bit complicated, because the parents paying him bribes also benefited from the transaction. It wasn't a one-sided interaction where he stole their desires, so it didn't distort his Shadow. But it's still criminal behavior, so the police can take care of it without their help.

Hearing all this, Wonder declares that they're focusing on Akashi's Treasure first (the two options are a more polite or more blunt way of saying this), and Shadow Yamanashi nervously wonders if they can really beat him. Still, he then points to a door at the back of the room, and explains that Akashi (no longer calling him "Akashi-sama") spends most of his time in the control center of the dam, through that door. Shadow Yamanashi himself wasn't allowed in, and very few of the dam's staff are even permitted. If there's anything important to be found, it'd be there, or even deeper past it.

Perking up, Closer thanks him for the intel, and Soy waves, telling him to do his best here. As they walk away, Shadow Yamanashi panics again, asking if they're really not going to save him, and threatening to sabotage their grades. Wind stops, and without turning back to him, resolutely says they will change Akashi's heart. But, if he can't wait that long, perhaps he should try reflecting on himself, and maybe he'll be able to return to his real world self without their help? Shadow Yamanashi repeats "return to... my real self...?", and Wind leaves with the others.

The door takes them outside the dam, right by one of the pipes spewing water through the actual dam wall itself. Closer notes that the weather hasn't changed, probably because Shadow Yamanashi isn't actually working as a power source right now. Cattle suggests it may also be because Shadow Akashi himself is still active. Soy says they'll just have to beat him then, but Cattle reminds him they still need to secure a route to his Treasure in the first place.

They end up having to essentially scale the dam wall, finding themselves on one of the roads they'd traversed before. However, now that they know they're looking for the dam's control center, Wind recalls the direction it's in. Before long, they reach the entrance and head inside.

Soy immediately notes that it's spacious and bright in here, and very clean- in other words, completely different from the rest of the Palace so far, like someone's taking care of it. Closer thinks the colors are a bit hard on the eyes, especially all the green. Just like Akashi's clothes, it's uncomfortable to look at. Soy starts to agree, then realizes, wait, is this part actually Akashi's Palace? Wind suspects this is the case; at first glance it looks clean and safe, but that impression's only superficial, and it's actually quite dangerous.

Closer asks what dangers Wind thinks they'll find, but Wind admits she has no idea, only that she expects something devious. Akashi's a cunning person, so there are likely to be a lot of traps ahead of them. Cattle agrees, and he and Wonder warn everyone to stay vigilant.

As they explore, they see more workers from Katayama's part of the dam, as well as of course the aggressive shadows associated with Akashi. Some workers allude to "that place", but make it clear that it's some kind of forbidden location that everyone's forbidden from even talking about.

It doesn't take long for them to wander into an area where one of Akashi's workers is standing with one of Katayama's workers, operating some kind of machine. The thieves duck around a corner before they're spotted, and Closer and Soy both comment on how much better they've gotten at hiding and being Phantom Thieves in general (until Cattle warns them to keep their voices down).

We get a look through the window at the machine, with another one of Katayama's workers strapped into it, as one of the workers tells the trapped worker that it's a victim of the dam's demand for energy, but it should be honored to be chosen by Akashi-sama. They'll use this "brainwashing chair" to siphon its emotional energy into the purple tanks next to the chair.

At first, the trapped worker protests, but the other workers only comment that its "anger" emotion has reached its peak, then start the machine. Purple electricity crackles around the trapped worker's head.

Seeing this, Closer announces she can't stand by and watch anymore, and yells at the workers to stop. They turn around, and she says they'll have to go through her if they want to keep hurting people.

After defeating the workers, the Phantom Thieves inspect the machine, Soy muttering that it's crazy they're doing human experimentation here. Wonder agrees, and Closer adds that even if it's the Metaverse, she can't let it go. Cattle suggests they free the trapped worker. Once it's free, it mentions that all it did was try to do a bit of research into "that place". Originally, it was angry that Akashi would do this to it as punishment, but now it doesn't feel anything at all. It's like its anger is gone.

Wind notes that this must be how they're powering the dam at all without Katayama, and Soy is shocked that they're stealing the workers' emotions. Cattle adds that they're even provoking the workers before stealing their emotional energy. Wind says that if they stand idly by, there's no telling what Akashi will do next.

After solving a puzzle in one particular room, a box pops up out of the floor, holding several pairs of smart glasses, with the words "blue period" written on it. Soy decides to try one on, then exclaims in surprise. The others tense, and Cattle asks if it was a trap, complaining that he put the glasses on without any preparation. Soy explains he was surprised, because it looks like there's a movie floating in the air in front of him.

The others relax, and Wind decides to put the glasses on as well, reading out the words, "Kei Akashi - The Glory of the TV Crew Era". Cattle asks if that's what he did before becoming a consultant, and Closer realizes this could be like Kiuchi's Palace, where he showed them scenes from his past. Cattle doesn't think it's quite the same, though, as in Kiuchi's case it was a deliberate trap targeting Closer. In this case, he speculates this was born from Akashi's desires, perhaps to talk about himself, or to glorify the past. Wind points out that regardless of the reason, it seems the glasses will give them a glimpse into Akashi's past, and they might learn something about his connection to the mastermind through them. The other three put glasses on as well.

The video starts, referring to this as "Part 1" of Kei Akashi - The Glory of the TV Crew Era, and Akashi's voice narrates, saying his glorious career began with him working as a director's assistant on a prime-time programming block. TV game show titles are shown in succession. Closer recognizes the first- she watched it in elementary school. She and Soy both recognize the second, sounding fond of it. Wind wonders what it means that Akashi worked on these shows, and Closer agrees that she can't imagine Akashi having worked on such a fun program.

The text changes- "And finally, he made it to the director's seat..."- and a new title, "Exploring Dams Across Japan" pops up. Soy says he's never heard of this one, and Closer explains that it plays on weekday mornings, and she watched it once when she was home sick. It played during a break on the shopping channel, and only lasted about 15 minutes. It covered the history and facilities of whatever dam was featured, and every episode was pretty much the same. Cattle doesn't think it sounds very interesting.

Akashi's narration continues, explaining that his first time as a director was working on this show, but although it's been running for over ten years, it gets very low ratings, and is mainly just a filler show for the programming schedule. The director isn't even allowed to change the format at all.

A scene appears and plays out, with Akashi's silhouette being the one on the left. A younger and more upbeat Akashi calls a wrap on filming, and thanks everyone for their work today. The cameraman (on the right) thanks him for his hard work as well, but lightheartedly comments that they're never going to improve the ratings no matter how hard they try. Akashi says he hit the nail on the head.

The interviewer for the show (the female silhouette in the middle) says her grandma loves this show, and Akashi replies that some people like to put it on while they do housework. But, as long as there are people watching it, he'll do his best to live up to their expectations.

The cameraman comments that Akashi's so hardworking and motivated, he's surprised he got exiled to a show like this that no one cares about. Akashi says "exile" doesn't quite cover it, but he's not even sure what he did wrong. Maybe they're just trying to give him some experience as a director first? The cameraman isn't sure, but he's glad to have Akashi here; he makes the job a breeze, and a great experience.

The interviewer brings up that Akashi submitted a pitch for a new show, right? If they like it, he'll be able to get back to prime time. Akashi confirms- he sent it to his senior for review, and he's pretty confident in his idea. The interviewer agrees it's super good, and she's sure they'll like it. Excited, the cameraman asks Akashi to bring him along with him to prime time, and the interviewer seconds that.

Akashi replies that of course he will, and then a bit more hesitantly, as long as the pitch is accepted. Specifically to the interviewer, still in that hesitant tone, he admits that he'd like her to be his partner in life, too, if she's willing. The interviewer is thrilled, while the cameraman says he feels like a third wheel, but congratulates them. Part one ends there.

The Phantom Thieves take off their glasses, and Closer's surprised that Akashi seemed like a pretty good guy back then. Cattle agrees that both his work and private lives seemed fulfilling, and Akashi himself seemed cheerful. Wonder and Soy wonder what made him change, and Wind points out that it said "see you next time", so there will probably be another part to explain that. They'll just have to keep an eye out as they search for the Treasure.

Nearby, they also pick up a computer chip that looks important.

As they continue on, they encounter devices that mind-control the workers in a more traditional sense, altering their thoughts (for instance, we see some workers about to clock out for the day, who are then hit by the device, and suddenly return to work). While this bothers the Phantom Thieves, they realize they can alter the devices in their favor, to stop shadows from attacking them as they proceed, though it makes them a bit uncomfortable to do so.

Eventually, they find another box of smart glasses, this time with "don't forget" written on it. Soy wonder what that means, but Cattle begins to speculate these flashback videos aren't actually for Akashi to talk about himself or to glorify the past- Wind finishes the thought for him, maybe they're a reminder of what happened to distort his desires in the first place. Closer suggests they put on the glasses and see.

Kei Akashi - The Glory of the TV Crew Era Part 2 begins with another TV show title, this time one called "Youth Explosion! Club Battle Kingdom!". Closer is shocked Akashi worked on this one as well- she loves this show! It's a game show involving competition between different clubs from different schools. Soy agrees, finding some of the event matchups to be particularly interesting. Closer adds that sometimes the host of the show gets excited enough to cry, and it's great to see all the passionate students from different schools. Wind admits she rarely watches TV and isn't familiar with this show, but still finds the premise very interesting.

However, the screen changes, and we see silhouette Akashi (the shoes close to the screen) confronting his senior, saying that Youth Explosion! Club Battle Kingdom! was his idea, so why did the his senior get put in charge of the show? Mockingly, his senior replies that Akashi's already so busy with the dam program, and he has so little experience, it'd be hard for him to manage this show on prime time. Just leave it to the senior, he'll turn this show into something popular!

Akashi starts to protest, but then the female interviewer walks into the room, and approaches Akashi's senior, cutely thanking him for the promotion. His senior replies that it was nothing, and he'll see her for dinner tonight at a hotel if she'd like. She cheerfully agrees, and rests her head on the senior's shoulder as he puts an arm around her.

Akashi is momentarily at a loss for words. The interviewer apologizes lightly, saying she really wanted to go to prime time. But the dam show's a great program, so he should keep doing his best! She waves, and she and the senior walk out of the room together, as Akashi collapses to his knees in disbelief. Part two ends there.

Closer isn't quite sure what to say. Cattle summarizes- Akashi's show and girlfriend were both taken away from him. Soy says he can understand why he fell to his knees. Wind stresses that Akashi's actions in the present day are still unforgivable, but they should look for the next part.

They also pick up another important-looking computer chip.

Further ahead, they reach a hallway that seems to inflict them with some kind of intense headache or even migraine; Closer clutches her head, and Soy says his vision's going blurry. It seems it was either only that spot, or perhaps something they had to push past, though, as they continue onward without looking too affected.

Just past this spot is a room where a bunch of Akashi's workers have gathered, with one extra-strong one in the center whipping one of Katayama's workers. Soy asks if they're planning something, but Wind says this feels more like a trial. Sure enough, upon closer inspection, the Katayama worker is sitting with its wrists bound, while the strong Akashi worker says it entered "that place" without permission, and stole some important computer chips.

The Katayama worker says nothing, and the Akashi worker takes this as an admission of guilt, so it will be punished. The workers watching from the sides all cheer "Punishment! Punishment!". Soy agrees Wind was right, and worries about the worker about to be punished. Cattle wonders if the machines and red light around it- which bear a resemblance to the mind control devices they've seen before- might be preventing the worker from responding. Wind points out that it also said this worker entered "that place", so if they save it, it might be able to direct them there. They decide to shut off the machines and save the worker.

After shutting off the machines, the red light glitches and disappears, and the strong Akashi worker seems to vanish as well, leaving only the Katayama worker in the center of the room. It thanks them, and, seeing they're also working against Akashi, offers to help. Wind asks about "that place", and it explains that term refers to the core monitoring room, not far from here. It then says it wants to show them something, and raises the final box of smart glasses out of the floor. Before they put on the glasses, it says it needs to get out of here before it gets caught again, and leaves.

Kei Akashi - The Glory of the TV Crew Era Final Part plays. Akashi is still on the ground, and the cameraman approaches him, asking if it's really true he was embezzling production funds. Akashi stands up, and insists he would never, to which the cameraman replies that "she" was just lying after all, then. Akashi asks who "she" is, and the cameraman clarifies it's the woman Akashi had proposed to (the interviewer). She's been stuck to their senior like glue lately, and constantly spreads rumors about Akashi.

Akashi is angry to hear this, and the cameraman continues that she probably thinks it'd be bad for her if her ex were ever to make it into the spotlight. Akashi wonders why this is happening, sounding upset.

The scene shifts, and Akashi approaches his senior and ex-fiancee. His senior asks what's wrong, and Akashi addresses his ex-fiancee, bringing up the stolen show pitch again, saying she could've vouched for him and proven he came up with everything. Playing dumb, she says she doesn't know what he's talking about, to Akashi's dismay. His senior mockingly asks what he's doing, trying to say it was plagiarism? With no evidence?

Defiantly, Akashi says the proof is that he has the same text on his computer still. His senior, however, fires back that it was actually Akashi trying to steal the pitch, and now he's trying to cause more trouble, isn't he? Turning to Akashi's ex-fiancee, he asks her if the pitch was his own idea originally, and she fawns over him as she says yes.

Back to Akashi, the senior says that this industry is a wild jungle, an eat-or-be-eaten world. If he wants the limelight, he should flatter his seniors more. If he disobeys, he'll be targeted again, and devoured down to the bones. As for the senior, he's currently eating Akashi's ex-girlfriend! The ex-fiancee fawns again, asking what he's talking about playfully, to Akashi's frustration.

She then adds that you have to step on others to reach the top, and the courage to do so is super hot. Akashi's not like that- he's just a weakling that's going to get eaten. She then cutely bids him goodbye with another wave, and the couple walks off.

The scene changes again, to Akashi falling to his knees in the room with the checker-pattern floor again (it's almost identical to the shot where the cameraman approached him, screenshotted above), but this time a distorted voice similar to what we've heard on the phone with Akashi speaks, telling him that just moving on won't be enough. Understanding others, being tactful, planning ahead, and acting with purpose are all necessary. Only by having the appetite to consume everyone else can you survive; that's how this industry- no, all of society- is.

Akashi lifts his hands up from the ground, looking down at them, as he mutters "Eat... or be eaten...", and the voice continues to say, as the saying goes, people's happiness is built on the pain of others. No matter who it is, they have malice in their heart. It tells Akashi's he's talented, and that makes him a target. Akashi repeats this quietly. He's... talented? And it's because of his talent that people target him...? The voice says that people who have motivation and knowledge are suppressed, making their talent disappear, because everyone else only cares about their own best interest. Eat, or be eaten... which will he choose? Akashi, sounding angry, starts to respond that he... he will-!

The scene changes again, and Akashi, now sounding actively malevolent, declares that he'll swallow everything up. The weak, the talented, anyone he can make use of, he'll eat up every bite, bone and skin.

Fixing his posture to be a bit more proper, and speaking in a more calm tone, he introduces himself as Kei Akashi, the "consultant of justice" who will "punish evil and save your business". This isn't a game show- he'll bring you real entertainment. With this, Kei Akashi - The Glory of the TV Crew Era ends.

Closer speaks first, summarizing that Akashi was betrayed by his senior and girlfriend and became a victim, but his desires distorted. Soy adds that in order to take advantage of others, to avoid being taken advantage of himself, he became the shady consultant they know now. Wonder expresses that even given all that, his current actions... and Closer finishes, yeah, it doesn't give him a pass to deprive others of their desires just because he went through this.

Wind says that after the terrible experience he had, he could have used that as motivation to help others, but Cattle points out that not all humans have the strength to do so. The fact that they're seeing these memories proves that sometimes negative emotions can fuel a human's desire for survival. Remembering the betrayal he suffered in the past is connected to Akashi's desire to keep living. Wind doesn't have any words to respond to this.

Cattle continues that it's undeniable that Akashi's own desires are distorted, and he's hurting others and stealing their desires. If left unchecked, he'll continue to do so, and there will be more victims. Wind agrees- for the sake of Katayama, and all of Akashi's other victims, they need to change his heart.

Sure enough, like the worker told them, "that place", the core monitoring room, is just ahead. On the way, they find another important-looking computer chip.

Closer is amazed at all the screens in this room, but wonders what the thing in the middle of the room is- it kind of looks like a brain. As she comments, Wind walks away from the others. Cattle speculates that it seems to be hiding something, and asks how to open it.

Wind, who walked over to one of the consoles with wires running from it to the central brain, catches their attention. The screen on the console is showing the rooms where they'd found the smart glasses, as well as those important-looking computer chips. Wind explains: it looks like those chips are used here, but they need four, and they only have three. A detour further past the core monitoring room ends up being needed to secure the last chip, and then they return.

With all four chips inserted, the cables plugged into the central brain retract, and the "brain" itself opens up, revealing a holographic map of the dam. At first Soy asks if it's the Treasure, but Closer says it doesn't seem like it. Wind speculates that Shadow Akashi may monitor this while giving orders to his workers.

Closer then notices the two red spots marked on the map, wondering aloud about them. Wind notes that one is on the power plant, while the other... is somewhere they haven't been yet, in the middle of the dam. Closer suggests maybe it's marking Akashi's Treasure, since the other dot is on the power plant, which is where they found Katayama's Treasure. Wonder compliments Closer for noticing, and she seems pleased. Cattle says that direction would match up with the direction of the Treasure that he can vaguely sense.

Soy is mildly frustrated that they spent all this time in the control center just to discover the Treasure is somewhere else, but Wind reassures him that determining where the Treasure is is a reward in and of itself. Closer agrees, but adds that she gets how Soy feels, too; the trip wasn't for nothing, but it does feel like a bit of a waste of time. Cattle warns them not to drop their guards, since they haven't fully secured their infiltration route yet. Soy chuckles, and says they should cheer up and head out.

Heading to the spot marked on the holographic map, they reach a fence, and Cattle says he can feel the Treasure just past it.

Most of the rest of this part can be watched here, with rough, machine-translated English subtitles. Parts are missing, however, which I'll add in where they come up.

Soy declares that all that's left is to send the calling card to Akashi, then! Closer says it took forever to get here, but it feels like they've finally made it. Wind turns to the group, and thanks everyone for their hard work; there's just one last step ahead of them now. She starts to ask Wonder what they're doing next, but the audio becomes glitchy, and Wonder is alarmed as everything flashes white.

We see a scene at Kokatsu, with Akashi peeking around the corner, looking a bit out of it. He then walks around the corner, and we see Riko, Motoha, and Wonder walking together further down the hall. Akashi laughs somewhat weakly- very different from his usual tone- and, with his face in his hand, thinks to himself that he has nothing left. Some students walking by glance at him, but he pays no attention, continuing that his hope and reason for living are gone. He stumbles forward, thinking "Why... only me...? Why?" as two other female students gasp, one's hands flying up to cover her mouth as the camera reveals Akashi's holding a knife. He thinks "I'm always being eaten... stolen from, losing..." as the camera focuses in on him drawing the knife, framing Riko, Motoha, and Wonder just ahead. The camera shows his face, clearly out of it, as he says he sees, he'll just destroy everything, as the female students run away. Isn't that a good idea? Raising the blade, he says he'll take you with him, Tanemura-san, charging at Riko blade-first. Wonder watches in horror, reaching out toward him, but Riko and Motoha barely have time to react before he collides with Riko. The screen goes black, Motoha screaming, "No!! Riko-senpai!!!"

Everything flashes white again, returning to the present, Wonder shaking his head and clutching it. He thinks, "It... happened again...", and Cattle, thinking, asks if he saw something again. Wonder nods. Wind repeats "saw something... you've said this before." Closer brings up that he said he "saw" something during the Flavor Fight before as well. Wonder motions to explain, and the scene cuts for a moment. When it comes back, Wind restates what he apparently explained, that he sometimes has daydreams. Soy is shocked to hear that Wonder had one during the Flavor Fight, where he lost and Yamagoshi died. Wonder nods, and Soy asks if he's just so worried that it's making him hallucinate bad outcomes. Closer, however, brings up that Wonder was the one to mention Ashouken’s “life”, which he then asked Yamagoshi about, and that was how they saved Soy. Cattle says it sounds like they're not just regular dreams- they sound precognitive. Soy points out that if that's the case, then why is Yamagoshi still alive? And the idea that Akashi would stab Wind with a knife... Wind agrees that while it's not impossible, it'd be strange for someone as cunning as Akashi to make a reckless move like that. Soy reiterates that maybe Wonder's just too anxious, and his imagination is getting the better of him? However, Wind suggests that, rather than an overactive imagination, it almost sounds more like the *worst* future possible, which they want to avoid. Wonder thinks about this, and both his response options have him stress how real the daydreams feel. Closer asks if that means these visions really happened, but Soy doesn't understand what she means. She explains that it's something you see a lot in manga: in order to avoid a bad outcome, you go through the same thing over and over again. Soy mutters that she's just talking about manga plots, and Closer sheepishly admits she's a fan of stories like that. Wind thinks this over, and Closer becomes nervous, saying it was just a joke. But Wind doesn't think it's entirely impossible. Something like the Metaverse itself would've sounded crazy to them a few months ago, like something out of fiction. Closer admits that's true, and Soy adds that they've got talking owls and hooded monsters, too... Cattle, predictably, takes offense to this. Wind continues: the fact is that Wonder is seeing something none of them have experienced, and he's been able to use information from those visions to avoid worst-case scenarios in the past. It's possible that something about these daydreams *is* legitimate, and they should be taken seriously. Wonder can ask either "Would there be any point?" or "Why is this happening?"; in the video, the former is chosen. Wind replies that she genuinely has no idea right now, but next time he has a vision like that, he should be sure to tell them about it. Wonder nods. Looping back to the original topic, Soy says they've secured their infiltration route for the Treasure.

The linked video cuts off here, but it's not the end of the scene, and in fact cuts out the next scene entirely:

Wind double-checks that they just need to send Akashi a calling card next, and Cattle confirms; last time, Riko's words to Katayama were enough, but that's not going to work this time. They'll need to ensure Akashi sees the calling card, and then steal his Treasure that same day. Everyone nods.

Closer then asks how they're going to deliver the calling card. She suggests putting it on his desk, but Soy points out that while he'll definitely see it, it's so ordinary that he might not take it seriously, thinking it's only a prank.

Wind admits she has an idea, and Closer excitedly asks her what it is. She explains that Akashi's crimes are difficult for even the police to identify, but every time he's consulted somewhere, he's left victims behind. Therefore, she wants to reveal to more people what he's done, making it so he can't ignore the calling card. She wants tens of thousands of people- no, even more than that- to see it.

This piques Closer's curiosity, and Soy mutters that he's glad Wind's so dependable, but he's really glad she's not their enemy. Wind continues that she'll need their help, but she'll explain more later, to Closer's dismay, who complains that she built it up for them just to delay the reveal. Cattle points out that if they stay here much longer, they're at the risk of being found by shadows. He believes it's time to retreat for now, and Closer somewhat reluctantly agrees. Soy says they'll leave the calling card planning to Wind.

Back in the real world, outside of Shibuya station in their usual spot, Riko says they should disband for today, and she'll work out the details for the calling card. Motoha says she's really looking forward to what Riko has in store. Shun suggests Wonder get some rest; maybe he just has those weird visions because he's not getting enough sleep? Wonder nervously nods.

Ruferu brings up Wonder's vision of Riko being stabbed again, but Shun cuts him off, saying he's thinking about this too much. Ruferu continues anyway, wondering what would push someone like Akashi, who's always calm and operates behind the scenes, to suddenly commit murder. Wonder can suggest either "Desperation...?" or "Losing everything...?", and Ruferu rephrases this as losing all his desires. However, if he lost all desires, including the basic desire to live, he shouldn't still have the desire to take someone else down with him. Perhaps someone else interfered, and stimulated his negative desires, completely distorting them...?

Shun, frustrated, says again that they shouldn't overthink a bad thing that never happened. As long as they change his heart, everything'll be fine. Wonder can either agree, or say they need to do this for Riko's sake. Ruferu slightly awkwardly agrees, apologizing for going on about it. He suggests they all rest up and prepare for Riko's plan. Motoha enthusiastically agrees, bidding them all good night.

The video continues:

Wonder goes to sleep, and finds himself in the Velvet Room once again. Merope apologizes for bothering him so late at night. Igor says tonight, he'd like to talk about the glimpses of tragic fates befalling those close to him that Wonder has. Wonder can respond either "You mean the daydreams?" or "Is Igor the one showing me these?". In the video, the former is chosen, and Igor repeats, "Daydreams? So you think these are only dreams?". In my own playthrough, I picked the latter, and he instead replied, "Impossible, these scenes are what you yourself have seen." Igor continues, "are these scenes a reality of the past, a predicted future, or truly just your imagination?". He asks Wonder what he thinks, and Wonder has all three of those possibilities as response options. The video picks "a predicted future", to which Igor replies that makes sense, as Wonder doesn't have these memories himself, so it's natural to assume they're precognitive. In my own playthrough, I picked "a reality of the past", which instead gets the response, "But... you don't have these memories yourself? I'm very curious why you think this." Igor then laughs, and says it could be the past, the future, or perhaps neither entirely... Regardless of which it is, only Wonder himself will be able to determine this. Wonder reacts with a ?, and Merope explains that what Igor means to say is that Wonder must continue to feel a desire towards this, and should not stop thinking about it. Igor agrees, then asks Wonder if he recalls these words someone said to him before: "Not being aware of one's abilities, and not having those abilities at all, are two different things." Wonder thinks to himself that this *does* sound familiar, but after thinking for a moment, cannot recall who said this. (Notably, Ruferu was the one who said this, back when he first sat in the seat across from Wonder on the train, just before the Rush Rider rode onto the train and charged at Wonder.) Igor laughs again, and advises Wonder to continue to hold tightly onto his desires if he wants to avoid ruin. Ominously, he adds that he hopes this isn't Wonder's final choice. Wonder can ask either "Final choice...?" or "Do you know something?"; regardless of which is picked, Merope makes a noncommittal noise (with her expression that's often used for annoyance), then says that's all for tonight. Igor says he looks forward to their next meeting, with a laugh.

The very last bit of a scene from this update is also omitted from the video:

The next morning, Wonder wakes up, and thinks to himself, "Final choice... What does that mean?" He then shakes his head, noting that he's unable to think of an answer, and gets out of bed. He recalls that Riko's planning something for Akashi, so he should get ready in the meantime.

P5X Third Arc Summary

(last updated 7/30/24!)

Only the first half of this arc has been added to the game as of the making of this post. Once the second half is added, that will be covered here as well!

Usual disclaimer: Please keep in mind this game still has no official English translation, so this summary uses a mix of what happens visually, what I understand of the Japanese dialogue, and Google translate for the Chinese text, in order to get the broader picture here. This will be focused on summing up everything that happens overall, without getting into a line-by-line translation.

Contrary to this blog’s name, this post is going to have as little speculation as possible, and stick to confirmed facts.

This post (and its reblogs) will cover the Katayama Arc.

The Phantom Thieves have gathered on the rooftop of Kokatsu Academy during lunch, after Ruferu apparently asked them to. He brings up the "person behind the scenes" that he suggested might exist after they stole Miyazawa's Treasure, and suggests that they should avoid talking about their Metaverse activities in areas with other people around, in order to protect their identities.

Motoha agrees that that's a good idea, but thinks the rooftop should be pretty safe, since it's big and no one else comes up here. Ruferu decides they should make this their hideout for now. Wonder can respond "Hideout...?" or "Very stylish". If the latter is picked, Ruferu is pleased he understands, and suggests it's "chic" as well. Motoha still doesn't understand the term, saying Ruferu's using difficult words again, to Shun's slight bafflement.

Putting that aside, Shun confirms that people rarely come to the roof during lunch, reminding Motoha he always eats alone up here. She hasn't been up here much, but really likes the idea of eating under the blue sky.

As they start to eat, she notices that Shun only brought ramen, and all Wonder has is bread, so she offers to share some of her food. Shun wants to focus on his ramen, but if Wonder accepts, Motoha mentions she made it herself. This catches Ruferu's attention, who now wants to try some as well.

Once they're done eating, Ruferu gets back to business, saying he wanted to discuss their next target. They don't have any clues, but since they stole Miyazawa's Treasure a few days ago, they can use that to open the next area of Mementos. Shun agrees they should look for the next Palace there, and it's decided they'll go there after school.

Before the bell rings, Motoha remembers Tomoko told her about a new teacher coming to Kokatsu, though he won't teach any classes.

Elsewhere in the school, the Dean of Academic Affairs, Yamanashi, is introducing the teachers to a man named Kei Akashi. He's an educational consultant sent by the school board. Akashi explains that, as he's sure they're all aware, teachers in the country are overworked, and the job of an educational consultant is to help ease their burden. While he's here, he'll be conducting an investigation to identify problems at Kokatsu, and assist in creating an environment that allows teachers to focus on educating students.

The teachers all like what Akashi proposes, and Yamanashi lets them know there will be a mandatory school assembly to introduce Akashi to the students. At first, Katayama is in favor as well, but when she says she'll be able to spend more time with her students, Yamanashi berates her for a recent unauthorized home visit she made, which a parent complained about.

Katayama explains that the student whose parent complained has been missing a lot of school lately, and leaving early. She tried calling their parents, but was unable to get in touch, and took this as a further sign that something was wrong. If her student is having family troubles, she wants to be able to support them.

Akashi tells her to stop, and switches his glasses over to another pair, suddenly knowing her full name is Kumi Katayama, to her surprise.

He explains that they're smart glasses, and he checked the information he has on her using them. He then agrees with Yamanashi that she shouldn't be making house visits, citing the fact that students complain about them, and calling her mindset outdated. Katayama continues to try to argue her perspective, that some students need more support, especially if they're clearly not getting any, but Yamanashi shuts her down, saying Akashi is correct. He then forbids her from seeing any students outside of school- saying that goes for the other teachers as well- and ends the meeting.

Katayama and Akashi stare at each other for another moment as everyone else leaves, and Akashi tells her he looks forward to working with her before leaving as well. Outside of the office, however, he mutters to himself that, as he suspected, she'll be the perfect bait, and he needs to let "that person" know everything is going well. He pulls out a cellphone, and the scene ends.

Back in her classroom, Katayama struggles to get the attention of her class, eventually yelling at them all to be quiet.

She immediately seems to regret it, but awkwardly informs them of the mandatory assembly tomorrow morning. She then ends the class for the day. Some murmurs go through the class about her reaction.

Motoha turns around in her seat, and comments that Katayama seems to be in a bad mood. While she understands Katayama couldn't get them to settle down, the yelling was alarming.

The other students start gossiping again, saying Katayama must be a phantom. At this moment, Shun walks into the classroom.

He warns them not to say things like that behind Katayama's back, then heads over to Wonder's desk and asks about going to Mementos today.

In Mementos, they head right to the door, and sure enough, it opens. The MetaNav informs them a new area has opened up, to Soy's surprise. He wonders where the app came from, and Closer admits she never really thought about it since it's so strange already; it works with no signal, and can't be deleted.

Soy asks Cattle if he has any idea, but Cattle doesn't, though it's possible he might remember something as he regains more of his memories. All he knows is that people with strong desires can use it. Closer starts to think it's a little scary, if even Cattle doesn't know anything about it, and the snake icon doesn't help.

Cattle explains that the ouroboros is rather famous, as a snake that eats its own tail... but Closer points out this icon isn't actually eating its own tail, to Cattle's shock. Eventually, they brush it off as overthinking; the important thing is that the MetaNav lets them steal the hearts of people like Kiuchi and Miyazawa.

With that, Cattle attempts to locate the next Palace by listening for the voices of the collective unconscious. He's startled out of his focus by the feeling of a powerful presence approaching, which forms into a shadow. Cattle and Wonder immediately recognize it.

They're forced to fight it again, and find it significantly more powerful this time. When they beat it, Cattle explains to Closer and Soy that he and Wonder fought this shadow before, when Wonder first came to Mementos. Closer asks if that means it came back, and Cattle mutters to himself wondering if it can somehow reform and steal desires infinitely, but then brushes that off, deciding the world would have fallen into chaos long ago if that were the case. Still, they'll have to keep an eye out for more like it in the future.

Cattle then tries to listen to the voices again, but has no luck. Closer guesses maybe that means the next Palace ruler hides their evil actions like Miyazawa did, and Cattle agrees-- they'll need to find more information first. Soy asks how they'll get it here, and the others clarify they'll need to get information in the real world, which reminds him of when they were asking about Miyazawa.

As they leave Mementos, the scene cuts elsewhere, to the Cyler Eats deliveryperson speeding down Shibuya Central Street, rushing right past people and nearly knocking them over.

As people complain, one of them recalls that was a phantom, the "Rush Rider".

That night, Wonder visits the Velvet Room. Igor congratulates him on his desire winning out over another Palace ruler, and Merope applauds. Igor says his desire is strong enough to guide the current world, and he's using the power he was given very skillfully. When Wonder asks, Merope clarifies Igor was referring to the power to enter the Metaverse, and Igor mentions the MetaNav by name, saying that, depending on the user's will, it can be a key to avoid the coming ruin, or the culprit that brings it about.

Wonder can ask "Key?" or "Culprit?", and at least if he chooses the latter, Igor says outright "A person with this power... You're not the only ones." Wonder tries to ask about this, but Igor can't give him the answers; the ending has to be decided by Wonder. With that, Wonder wakes up.

The next day, Wonder sees Yamagoshi taking down the closure notice on Toraiken's front door.

Yamagoshi recognizes him as Shun's friend, and explains that Toraiken is resuming business now that he's feeling better, even if he hasn't completely recovered. He wants to see his customers' happy expressions again. Ruferu comments that his desires have returned to him now that they changed Miyazawa's heart and opened another area of Mementos.

Yamagoshi does lament that Miyazawa drove away all his part-time workers, but then realizes Wonder must live near here, and invites him to come work at Toraiken part time if he ever wants to. He then warns Wonder that it looks like it's going to rain, so he should hurry to school.

Ruferu asks Wonder if he brought an umbrella; he did not, but there's no time to run back home and grab it. Sure enough, they get caught in the rain at Shibuya station, and they run into Motoha, who's in the same situation. Luckily, as they're running through the rain, a car pulls up: it's Riko, who offers a ride. Motoha eagerly accepts, and Wonder follows after Riko clarifies they're both welcome.

In the car, Riko types away at a keyboard as Motoha thanks her. Riko explains she happened to be passing by. Wonder can comment either "Going to school by car?" or "Rich people..."; if he chooses the former, Riko clarifies that she usually takes the train, but she had work to get done, and Motoha sympathizes that it's impossible to get anything done on a packed morning train.

Riko and Wonder then formally introduce themselves to each other.

Once they reach the school, Riko parts ways with them, and Motoha exclaims again about how lucky they were to run into her. Ruferu comments that Riko's car was very comfortable, nearly on par with his own car form. Motoha teases him, saying Riko's car is more advanced, but it makes sense, given Riko is the eldest daughter of the president of UMETANE.

When neither Wonder nor Ruferu know what she's talking about, Motoha explains that UMETANE is a company that sells a wide variety of plum products, and even has ads on TV. She's surprised they haven't heard of it. She used to drink plum juice from Riko after training, back when she was in a little league and Riko would cheer her on. They don't talk much anymore, though.

Students start to pass by Motoha, Wonder, and Cattle, and after a moment of confusion, Motoha realizes they're headed to the assembly Katayama told them about yesterday. They have to hurry to make it in time.

At the assembly, Riko introduces Akashi, then steps aside to let him speak. Akashi introduces himself, and says he's here for an investigation to help make Kokatsu better, which includes any student suggestions. He lets them know they'll be seeing him around school and in classrooms, but he's not a suspicious person... although saying that probably makes him sound suspicious.

The other students seem to have mixed opinions on him, but Motoha thinks he's interesting, and Ruferu comments that he may be able to help strengthen the students' desires. Riko dismisses the assembly.

After the assembly, Yamanashi formally introduces Akashi to Riko, as the head of the disciplinary committee. Putting on his smart glasses, Akashi identifies her as the UMETANE heiress. Riko asks about the smart glasses, so he explains that he has information about the students that serve as the backbone of the school uploaded onto them. He further identifies her as someone who is popular and has excellent grades.

Yamanashi is impressed by how much background research Akashi did, and tells him he's free to order Riko around for whatever information or busywork purposes he may have. Akashi points out that using the phrase "order around" sounds like a violation, and Yamanashi backtracks. Stepping around that, he invites Akashi to make use of the student guidance room and his office as much as he needs. Akashi thanks him, mentioning that though he was already given a desk in the teachers' office, much of his work is a bit more confidential than that affords.

Yamanashi then has Riko hand a file of information that he'd requested over to Akashi. Riko says she'll also send him electronic copies. Yamanashi again brags about how much work Riko did for him, and this time, Akashi wonders if it's appropriate to hand over so much work to a student, not to mention the potential confidentiality issues. Yamanashi, sheepish again, clarifies Riko's very good in this regard, and much better than the other students at getting things done. Akashi pushes a bit more, but Yamanashi insists this is preparation for the family business she plans to inherit. Riko agrees, saying her father encourages her to help out the teachers.

With this, Akashi accepts her help during school hours.

Back in class, Katayama wraps up a lesson, then, somewhat downcast, reminds the class to be polite if they do ask Akashi for any help or have suggestions. Motoha, turning around to talk to Wonder, wonders if something's bothering Katayama, and Ruferu speculates it has something to do with Akashi based on how she talked about him. Motoha starts to sidetrack, and thinks about what suggestions she'd have for Akashi, like less exams, a better cafeteria menu, and more sweet bread types in the school store.

The next day, Wonder runs into Shun during lunch, who apparently bought several "rare flavors" of instant ramen this morning to try for lunch. He asks Wonder if he wants to join in at the hideout. Wonder's thought bubble declares him to be a bit uneasy about the weird flavors, but curious enough to say yes anyway. They take a detour to buy drinks.

However, the vending machine is blocked by two girls filming a video, claiming they're going to buy and try every drink in the machine. Shun complains, and the students nearby say the girls have been doing this for a bit without caring about anyone else, so someone should probably call a teacher.

One of the girls expresses doubt that their video will really get much attention, and the other asks her what they could do instead. The first girl suggests they do the thing that phantom did, and pulls out a lighter and hairspray, saying she's going to make fire spray~! in a cutesy tone.

Shun, alarmed, says they have to stop them, but before they have a chance, Katayama runs over and slaps the lighter out of the first girl's hand. The second girl holds up her phone.

Katayama demands to know what they thought they were doing, and the first girl innocently says they were just filming a video. The second girl then declares she took a picture of Katayama's violent action, and she's going to post it on Magatsushin, hoping it'll go viral.

Shun comes over and grabs the second girls' wrist, saying that's enough, and Katayama was just stopping them from doing something stupid. The first girl immediately takes out her own phone, and takes a picture of him, mockingly calling him a violent boy. Katayama asks Shun to let her go, and he reluctantly does.

Katayama then tells them to stop taking pictures, and confiscates the first girl's phone, to her anger. The second girl refuses to hand hers over when asked, saying Katayama's just trying to cover up the evidence they got, since she's a phantom. She starts to chant "Tyrannical teacher, tyrannical teacher!"

Riko appears, and tells them to quiet down.

Riko asks what happened, and the girls declare that Katayama used violence against them and confiscated one of their phones. Shun immediately says it was because they took out a lighter first, and the girls call him cruel. Riko shakes her head, and continues to try to get the actual story.

As this happens, Akashi approaches, and, seeing this is an argument between a teacher and some students, says he'd like to know what's going on as well.

He decides that he'll hear our Katayama's side of the story, while Riko will talk to the students involved. Katayama protests, saying the girls were going to do something dangerous, so a teacher should be supervising them. He should at least call another teacher over to oversee things, if he wants to talk to her. Akashi brushes this off, saying students should deal with student problems, and dismissing Katayama's further arguments with a line about "outdated thinking" again.

Riko assures Katayama that she can handle them, though this seems to trouble Katayama. Akashi then takes the confiscated phone from Katayama, telling her she can't confiscate personal belongings from students, and if she deleted things from them, it could be seen as destroying evidence. He says he'll look over the videos himself, as an outside party, and then delete them afterward if they're not evidence of anything.

The girls protest this, and he advises them that controversial videos aren't the best way to earn views, but offers to show them some other techniques for video editing that are more popular later. The girls immediately fawn over how cool and mature he is, causing Riko to shake her head again before taking them with her.

Shun mutters that he was there, too, and Katayama says she'll talk to Riko later. With that, she and Akashi leave as well. Shun tries to tell her she did nothing wrong, but she just holds up a hand as she walks away.

The next day at school, some of the students in Wonder's class are gossiping about something that is "definitely Katayama" and a "girl getting beaten". Motoha watches something on her phone, then turns around and shows it to Wonder: it's an edited video of the incident yesterday with Katayama and the girls, posted to Magatsushin and calling Katayama a phantom. Motoha mentions the face is blurred, and the name is changed to "Teacher K", but anyone at Kokatsu can immediately tell the teacher in the video is Ms. Katayama.

Elsewhere, Yamanashi is outraged at this scandal, having one of their school's teachers posted as a phantom. He confirms whether Akashi deleted the video like he was supposed to, and Akashi says he did, but, well, the situation was chaotic. It's possible another student filmed everything. Yamanashi, distraught, now forbids Katayama from interacting with students outside of teaching her classes, and she's also not allowed to confiscate any student's belongings.

Katayama asks if he's forbidding her from stopping students from doing something dangerous, and Yamanashi insists she just call another teacher, or Akashi, or even Riko to deal with it instead. Katayama, alarmed, asks if he's trying to make teachers depend on students, and he declares that Riko's more reliable than her. Akashi adds that after Riko talked to them, the two girls wrote letters of apology, unlike the boy that Katayama dismissed.

Yamanashi then sends a defeated Katayama home for the day, saying they'll have other teachers cover her. He warns the other teachers not to get involved in students' business. Akashi and Riko should be relied on as the go-betweens.

Later, instead of Katayama, Mr. Hakozaki enters the classroom, and clumsily tries to explain that Katayama went home because she was "sick" when students ask about her. The students gossip, speculating she got fired because she appeared on Magatsushin, and Mr. Hakozaki frantically admits she just got sent home early today.

After class, Motoha expresses concern about Katayama, and Ruferu points out that, no matter the truth of the situation, their homeroom teacher is now technically a phantom. Motoha clarifies she was only posted once, and not officially recognized by Magatsukami, but Ruferu points out that that doesn't really matter in the eyes of everyone else.

He then mentions that Kiuchi and Miyazawa were also phantoms, so that could mean Katayama could become a Palace ruler, even as Motoha says it's impossible. He's not set on the idea, but he wanted to address the possibility.

After Wonder goes to sleep that night, we see a whale swimming through a body of water, and then several of those shadows (that Wonder and Cattle fought before) spawn in Mementos.

The scene then cuts to Katayama entering a public restroom, and the Cyler Eats deliveryperson, also known as the Rush Rider phantom, stepping out of the same restroom and getting onto a bike.

With her speech bubble now identifying her as Katayama, the Rush Rider complains that her head hurts, and, sounding like she's in significant pain, wonders why she became a phantom, and why she's like this. She rides off on her bike, and the camera pans over to show Akashi walk up to where she was just standing. He laughs to himself, and does something with his smart glasses.

The next day, Wonder runs into Motoha and Tomoko on his way to the school store during lunch. They invite him to come eat with them up on the roof after buying some food. However, the school store is being monopolized by the same two girls from the other day, filming another video.

This time, they're planning to buy and review all the bread in the school store. Tomoko and some of the other students recognize them as the girls from the video with Katayama, and several of them complain that they're not letting anyone else buy anything. However, the girls just threaten to take videos of anyone who gets in their way and post them online.

Motoha moves to talk to them, but Tomoko stops her, warning her that those are the girls that got Katayama identified as a phantom. This just makes Motoha angrier with them. Someone else suggests they call Riko, but another says they already called her. Wonder wonders why they don't get a teacher, but Tomoko tells him that everyone is supposed to go to Riko now. The teachers are unreliable these days, since all anyone needs to do is take out a phone and say they're filming, and the teachers will back off immediately. Motoha can't believe this.

Riko finally arrives, led by another student, and is disappointed to see these two causing trouble again. She asks if their apology letters were a lie, but they claim they weren't doing anything, just buying stuff at the school store. Riko tells them they're causing problems for the other students, but they whine about wanting to finish filming their video first.

At this, Akashi arrives, and their demeanor immediately shifts, happy to see him and pleasantly asking about what he's doing here as if he's a friend they ran into by chance. Akashi offers to teach them more secrets to making popular videos, and they happily agree to come with him to the student guidance room.

Akashi then turns to Riko, and somewhat dismissively (though smiling) tells her he can handle this, and she should enjoy her lunch. After all, fixing problems here is his job. Riko looks slightly downtrodden at this.

As Riko leaves, she runs into Motoha, Tomoko, and Wonder, and they step aside to talk.

Motoha marvels at how quickly and easily Akashi resolved the situation, but seeing that Riko seems a bit off, asks if she's okay, considering she has to deal with all the students' problems now. Riko admits there have been a lot of people coming to her, but Yamanashi comes over before she can answer further.

He asks about the incident, noting it was the same two girls, but then tells Riko she shouldn't be needing Akashi to solve problems, as their evaluation will look better if he's less involved. This strikes a nerve with Motoha, who steps forward and says the teachers should be taking care of things, not Riko. Yamanashi nervously explains that Akashi's new policy is that students solve students' problems, to help with student autonomy and let teachers focus on teaching. Motoha fires back that that sounds like an excuse, but Riko tells her to stop.

Once Motoha backs off, Riko asks what Yamanashi wanted from her. Yamanashi informs her he forwarded her an email from Akashi, and wants her to take care of organizing the data he requested. Once Yamanashi leaves, Motoha and Wonder are shocked that he'd blatantly push his work onto Riko.

Riko, however, says it doesn't matter, because as long as she takes care of it, she'll also get the evaluation she deserves, from the dean. But then she makes a pained face, and calls him a "shallow" and "easily manipulated" person. Her focus is on protecting herself and her own interests, and as long as people see her as a pawn to be used, they won't betray her. She can trust Akashi to an extent, since he's not the type to sever a useful relationship with someone as long as they don't get in his way, but she finds him a bit suspicious, since she's unsure what he really thinks.

Motoha asks what she's saying, and Tomoko tells her no one would treat her like that. Riko turns back to them, and asks them if they think the idea of relationships maintained on those principles are scary. She can't trust anyone without considering their personal interests first. Motoha and Tomoko insist they care about Riko, and even offer to help her with the dean's work for nothing in return, but Riko says they haven't changed, and politely turns them down. After she leaves, Tomoko says Riko must have changed, because she wouldn't have said something like that in the past.

The next day, the Phantom Thieves gather at their hideout again, and Motoha asks if they're heading to Mementos to keep looking for the Palace. Ruferu mentions that having a full name makes it much easier for him to focus in on the Palace while listening to the voices of the collective unconscious, and the topic of Kiuchi and Miyazawa both being phantoms comes up again. Motoha adds that they were both confirmed phantoms, and Shun comments that it makes sense that bad people like them would have Palaces.

Motoha tries checking Magatsushin for phantoms, and the first two she finds are the Rush Rider (who she says she knows nothing about), and then "Teacher K", the "tyrannical teacher", otherwise known as Ms. Katayama. Motoha tries to brush past her, but Ruferu advises they take the possibility more seriously. Shun immediately goes on the defensive for Katayama, saying she was just filmed by some troublemakers, but Ruferu is unfazed, as the public considers her a phantom, no matter what the truth of the situation is. Shun is still skeptical, because Katayama's not a bad person.

At that moment, Katayama herself comes up to them, Ruferu barely noticing her in time to fly away. She says she wants to talk to them, and brings up the video of the Flavor Fight on her phone. Shun is surprised, as Miyazawa's channel was deleted, but Katayama says his channel was popular enough that people probably reposted the videos. She asks if it's Shun in the video, and Shun awkwardly avoids answering, so she pushes, saying the three of them must have gone to the Flavor Fight the day they skipped part of their afternoon classes.

Wonder can tell her the truth or lie; if he tells the truth, Shun frantically tries to shush him, while Katayama thanks him for being honest. She says she doesn't blame them, and won't tell the other teachers, but she hopes they'll come to her if they have any problems in the future, because as their teacher, she wants to help them. She also expresses concern about how much they've suddenly been spending time together; it's fine if they're just becoming better friends, but she worries they've gotten into more trouble.

Shun starts to ask her how she knows- then cuts himself off, makes a guilty, nervous face, and says there's no trouble at all. Katayama laughs, calling him a kid who can't lie, and asks them to come to her before doing anything dangerous. Shun apologizes, and admits there is a problem, but he can't tell her, no matter what. Katayama seems distraught to hear this, so he tries to assure her that they'll figure it out and be fine for sure, but it doesn't help much, as she mutters to herself that she must be unworthy of trust.

Akashi then interrupts, reminding her the dean forbid her from talking to students outside of class, to Motoha's surprise. He calls her an "internet celebrity" who can't be allowed to influence students, which immediately angers Shun, though Katayama tells him it's fine. Katayama then dismisses herself, but quietly pleads with them to talk to an adult, even if it's not her, before she leaves.

Walking over to them with a smile, Akashi calls that a disaster, though Motoha insists Katayama was just worried about them. Akashi says he can help them instead, and uses his smart glasses to immediately identify them. At their surprise, he explains they can compare faces with the student registry. With that, he invites them to come to him with any concerns, and exits the roof.

Ruferu returns, as Motoha decides Akashi is actually a little scary, though she thought he was a good teacher originally. Shun declares that he doesn't like him. Ruferu complains about their meeting being interrupted, and says he wants to try using Katayama's name to find the next Palace. At Shun's reluctance, Ruferu points out that this could also prove she's not a Palace ruler, while narrowing down their search options, and Shun relents.

After school, they head to Mementos. Though Soy and Closer are convinced it won't work...

Cattle is shocked to be able to locate the Palace after saying "Kumi Katayama" and listening for a moment.

Closer and Soy are also in disbelief, but Cattle insists there's no mistaking it. However, while he's positive her name led him to the Palace, he does describe the atmosphere as "a bit strange", with "something like noise mixed in, interfering with the signal". Miyazawa's Palace didn't have anything like that.

Wonder, Closer, and Soy decide they'll have to see the Palace with their own eyes, so they set off towards where Cattle heard it coming from.

To be continued in the next reblog!

[total-drama-brainrot]

TD World Tour AU, where Noah doesn't tell Owen that Alejandro is an eel in London... In Area 51, Noah is accidentally splashed with an alien truth potion (which wears off after a few days) and he talks to Owen... Owen asks Noah what he truly thinks about Alejandro, and Truth-Potion Affected Noah says this: "I have mixed feelings for Alejandro. He's a brilliant, interesting guy and I like him, but I don't trust him. He's like a slippery eel dipped in grease, swimming in motor oil. Basically, Heather with social skills. Wait a minute, why am I telling you this?!"... What if Alejandro secretly heard Noah call him all those conflicting things + Alejandro also learns that Noah is affected with an alien truth potion? 👽

Alright, you got me. I'm an absolute sucker for truth potion plots, especially when the character(s) effected by them are usually either pathological liars or incredibly secretive- of which Noah absolutely falls into the second category, given he shares so little personal information.

I'll gloss over why Noah declined to shit-talk Alejandro in London (though there's so many ways this change in behaviour could be justified) since the focal point of this hypothetical centred around their time in Nevada, so let's start from the beginning of the Area 51 challenge.

Area 51:

Before we start, it'll have to be established that no one was eliminated in London. Let's say that the majority vote went towards Duncan (team CIRRRRH voted him out immediately because they found his re-admission to the competition unfair, I guess. I imagine he'd also vote himself, if not as a plan to escape the competition he'd been actively skiving from, then just as an act of spite) but Chris instead claimed it was a rewards challenge- much like he does in Greece- because he doesn't want to let Duncan slip away again so soon.

I see no reason to alter the first part of the challenge- the sneaking into Area 51 portion- since team CIRRRRH's course of entry is fairly straightforward. Noah's presence doesn't make much of a difference to how it would play out; the majority of them throw their rocks and run, Owen gets lasered over the fence and Owen-napped, ect ect.

When both teams have managed to make their way into the Black Box Warehouse, Noah immediately suggests they should prioritise rescuing Owen. Tyler's quick to agree, since he's a firm believer in the "no man left behind" mentality (and he probably makes a not-so-subtle jab towards Noah for his chance of tune compared to London, where both he and Owen did leave Tyler behind) leaving Duncan and Alejandro to split from the group- Duncan in search of Gwen, and Alejandro just takes the opportunity to finally be free from his 'incompetent teammates' and prioritises finding an artifact.

Noah and Tyler come across the contraption Owen's trapped in, Tyler punches it in a futile effort to break it open, and the face hugger cube drops into Noah's hands. This is where the point of divergence comes into play; Tyler has his E.T. moment with one of the face huggers, but Noah- who's a tad bit more observant than Alejandro, and used to dodging surprise attacks from his various older siblings (and Izzy)- anticipates his own face hugger attack and promptly starts a game of cat-and-mouse with a taser alien hot on his heels.

The commotion of which attracts the rest of his team. Alejandro and Duncan arrive on the scene to see Tyler being electrocuted by an alien and Noah running in circles evading another.

Duncan attempts to rip the face hugger from Tyler's face, finding success at the cost of sending Tyler trampling into Owen's captive contraption (essentially taking Alejandro's canonical place in this scene) and inadvertently freeing Owen.

Meanwhile, Alejandro swipes up the nearest box he can find and snags the alien chasing Noah, who's still very loudly panicking as he flees, and succeeds! The alien is swiftly captured into the box, netting team CIRRRRH their artifact, and Noah promptly goes careening into the nearest tower of junk in his face hugger-fuelled hysteria. This causes another box to topple from the peak of the tower, landing directly on Noah's head and spilling its contents onto the bookworm- glass vials filled with a mysterious, luminescent cobalt blue liquid shatter into pieces drenching Noah in whatever they contained. (i.e. truth potion.)

Owen has his false-amnesia moment, characterised by his Joker makeover, and Alejandro enacts his revenge post-hypnotic suggestion after being addressed as "Al" one too many times.

Noah, understandably, swiftly objects to Owen's treatment and demands that Alejandro snap him out of it. Alejandro concedes, and Owen's brought back to himself. At least, for a moment, before the fatigue of having his mind messed with sends Owen into near-catatonia (the same as canon), meaning he has to be ferried through the Warehouse and back to the Jet by Alejandro and Duncan.

Things carry on canonically from there; Noah's just sort of there for the most part, though there'd be a minor hint to his newfound proclivity for honesty. Something along the lines of him giving an uncharacteristically honest answer to Owen as to who he's voting- Tyler, of course, since he was the one who ultimately threw the challenge for them... and also because Tyler still holds some resentment towards Noah for what happened in London, and Noah feels guilty about it every time he looks at the jock. Wait, why did he say that?

Sometime between this and the elimination scene, Noah wipes the truth-goop off of himself, but not before the effects have already started.

Tyler's voted out, yada yada yada.

The Jet:

Thus begins the start of "Picnic at Hanging Dork". Team CIRRRRH, consisting of just Alejandro, Duncan, Owen and Noah, are slumming it up in the Economy Cabin. Alejandro tries to rally his team by asking how to break apart Courtney and Heather's tentative co-operation. Owen suggests having Alejandro seduce Heather, since it worked for both Bridgette and Leshawna. Duncan makes his "Babe Olympics" comment. Noah pipes up that playing with someone's feelings is pretty scummy, even for someone competing for a million dollars.

Alejandro takes Noah's reluctance towards his methodology poorly; he hadn't spoken up before, when Alejandro had utilized the same strategy against other girls- and even Owen noticed that, so surely Noah did too- so why was he to outwardly against him using the same tricks? Duncan agrees, and offers ''his'' idea of having Alejandro flirt with Courtney to throw both her and Heather off their games (since Heather has an obvious crush on Alejandro), and things follow canon.

Then, the scene between Alejandro and Courtney happens. Noah scoffs at the display from the side lines, prompting Owen to ask him why he's so against Alejandro's plan.

"I mean, you never said anything before, when he flirted with Bridgette and Leshawna." Owen comments, light-hearted in nature but with an underlying questioning tone.

Noah's eyes flicker with a cobalt glow, easily mistaken for a trick of the light, and he speaks without even thinking.

"Yeah, because I was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. Bridgette was happenstance, and Leshawna's whole deal could've been a coincidence, or some massive misunderstanding. But this?" Noah extends an accusing hand out towards a smug looking Alejandro, then pans it over to a flattered Courtney, "He's outright toying with Courtney's feelings after she was cheated on in front of an international audience. It's scummy."

Owen nods in understanding, momentary contemplation evident in the pouted curve of his lips, and he chimes in.

"Does that mean you don't like Al?"

"I never said that."

"Well, how do you feel about him, then?"

Again, a flash of blue light against the hickory backdrop of Noah's eyes, and he responds thoughtlessly.

"I guess I have mixed feelings about him. On the one hand, he's slippery, like an eel dipped in grease, swimming in motor oil. He's like if you took all of the worst aspects of Heather, wrapped them up in a pretty package, and gave them social skills..." He holds his hands out before him in a scale-like manner, with the left tipped downwards and tie right raised by his chin. Then, the two hands swap positions.

"And on the other hand, he's brilliant. I've never met anyone as talented as Alejandro; he's smart, he's athletic, he's funny. It's almost unfair just how perfect everything about him is- even his face is perfect. It's ridiculous! Infuriating, even. It's so hard to dislike him, even when I know he's bad news, but that doesn't mean I trust him."

Owen stands slack jawed beside his best friend, both impressed and stunned at the raw honesty of Noah's tirade. Noah, now a little more aware of himself, realises that he's said more than he intended to- more than he thinks he's ever spoken in one go throughout the entirety of Total Drama. He's not usually one for speeches, after all, let alone honest ones.

He's always been the type to play his cards close to his chest, so why...?

"I, uh, didn't mean to go off like that."

And he also didn't mean to admit it, either. What was going on?

The look Owen gives him is, in a word, vivid. The blonde has a shit-eating grin stretching across his face, a sort of elated smugness practically glowing from his features.

"Sounds like someone has a cruuuush!~"

What? No? No! Not at all, where would Owen even get that idea?!

Noah splutters to correct Owen's assumption (to disastrous results, because he does sort-of has a crush on Alejandro, so the truth potion doesn't allow him to outright deny it), and in his preoccupied state he misses how a calculating pair of sage green eyes never seems to stray from him.

Alejandro has a lot to think about in regards to a certain cynic, it seems.

[perpetualexistence]

Bad news: I don't think I'm going to be able to write for ever day of TD horror week as I'd originally imagined.

Good news: The days I am going to be part of will be Cooking. I shan't spoil too much about it but one day already has 2.5K words and is only like a fourth of the way done.

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Malice (Dad Squad)

Fair warning, this does have TotK content but none of it is spoilers. It's all literally stuff from the trailer. But anyway, I had fun writing it. :)

The lurch was absolutely nauseating.

Rusl shivered on his hands and knees, dizzy and disoriented and so unbelievably ill. He'd never been pulled in so many directions at once at such an unimaginable speed. He could barely make out his surroundings, having been torn from the jungle where they'd been wandering.

Taking steadying breaths, Rusl kept his eyes squeezed shut to reorient and not throw up. He remained stiff, not daring to move until the wave of nausea had passed. As his mind slowly stopped spinning,

The grass beneath him was damp, littered with little stones, which was the first thing he noticed. The stones felt... unnaturally shaped. Running a finger along it, he felt the curved edges, the too straight lines framing it.

Cobblestone. Cobblestone with grass growing through it, so withered and worn it was barely there anymore.

More ruins?

Exhaling, Rusl slowly opened his eyes. It was a dismally dark day, wherever they were. Storm clouds brooded overhead, he could tell by the lighting and the damp. Beside him, Abel was laying on the ground staring up at the sky, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. The Fierce Deity was crouched just a pace away from the pair, apparently reorienting faster.

Rusl wasn't surprised.

The Ordonian leaned back on his knees and feet, a trembling hand reaching for Abel's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"Headache," Abel muttered before sitting up. "I'll be fine. But..."

The Fierce Deity rose to his full height, helping Rusl to his feet. The blacksmith stumbled a little, dizzy at the speed at which the deity lifted him up.

Rusl's companion opened his eyes, glancing around before gasping. "This is--this is just outside of Castle Town! How did--did that item bring us here?"

This was Castle Town?

Rusl looked around again, horrified to see the ruined remains of what should have been a sprawling city. He'd seen pieces of ruins, leftover outposts, a destroyed wagon here and there, but nothing of this magnitude.

Spirits above. He swallowed, suddenly thankful that the Twili invasion hadn't reached this level of destruction.

"But how did we--?" Abel cut himself off abruptly, and Rusl was about to ask what was wrong when he noticed it too.

What was that aura? Why was there ominous mist emitting from all around them, oozing out of the ground like steam from a boiling lake?

The Fierce Deity hissed, collapsing to the ground, a hand clutched to his face.

"Fierce...?" both men made their way to him, hands hovering over him uncertainly.

The deity was trembling, in obvious pain with his sharp teeth bared and eyes glaring into the earth. His hand on his face slid up to his hair, fingers curling around it in a desperate attempt to alleviate whatever was wrong.

"What's wrong?" Abel asked.

Fierce curled in farther, shriveling from their attempts to touch him. "It's the mask."

"What mask?" Rusl questioned.

As the Ordonian tried to figure out what in the blazes was happening, Abel's eyes roamed forward towards the city, and beyond it, to the castle.

"This mist..." he muttered. "It's the same as..."

Rusl looked between Abel and the Fierce Deity, wondering what in the world was happening and how they could fix this. "We need to get him out of here."

"Kill him." Fierce suddenly snarled, pulling away when Rusl tried to reach for his shoulder. "I'll be fine. Get him."

"Who? Who are you talking about?" Rusl asked, growing far more nervous than he cared to feel. He was usually fairly adaptable and had seen so many things that had little explanation in his life, but seeing a war god writhing in pain was beyond unsettling, particularly since he was his friend.

Abel rose, eyes dark. "It can't be..."

Rusl was clearly missing something, a connection that both of his companions had made. Nevertheless, the priority was to help the Fierce Deity, not worry about whoever they were talking about.

Abel clearly didn't seem to understand that, gripping his sword with enough ferocity to make his knuckles white. He marched ahead.

"Abel, what are you doing?" Rusl called. "We have to get Fierce out of here!"

When he got no response from the world weary traveler, he looked back at the deity, who insisted through gritted teeth, "Go with him. I'll be fine."

He looked distinctly not fine, but watching Abel walk into a heavier dark mist made Rusl equally unsettled. The Ordonian sighed. "Get away from here. Find somewhere safe to lay low. I can help you--"

"No," Fierce hissed. "I do not require help. Abel does."

"Fierce--"

"I will retreat as instructed," the deity acquiesced shakily. "But help him."

Abel had almost vanished into the darkness. Rusl bit his tongue, standing stiffly, filled with dread and annoyance. "Fine."

Drawing his blade, he hurried after the former knight, feeling cold dread sink into his bones the closer to the castle he got.

Abel's world was a desolate place, filled with mausoleums for villages, but this place had to be the pinnacle of it all. Rusl didn't want to get any closer. Had those guardian creatures really caused such destruction?

Despite his misgivings, the Ordonian did manage to catch up to Abel, who was slowly descending a stairway into the damp depths beneath the castle.

"I don't understand," Abel said softly as Rusl approached. "There are no guardians here. There's... no sign of anything."

"I'd say this mist is a pretty clear sign," Rusl pointed out, grabbing Abel by the wrist. "As is our friend's ailment. We should go back to him. There's something wrong about this place."

Abel pulled out of Rusl's grip sharply. "I know. It..."

The two men stared at the dark abyss below. Abel's face glowed with equal parts determination and dread. He was just as scared as Rusl, but rather than listening to his gut instinct, he ventured forward.

Rusl sighed. This man was beginning to remind him of Link.

Rusl had been to many a place that gave unnerving auras, but that had always been milder sensations. A feeling of being watched, an innate sense of danger to the area that would linger near dungeons. This... this was something entirely different.

This, for lack of a better word, felt demonic.

Pulling out a lantern, Rusl lit the wick and glanced at his companion. "If you're insistent, we should at least have a means of seeing where we're going."

Abel nodded in thanks before continuing. Rusl sighed and followed him down the stairs.

The farther they went, the sicker Rusl felt. He broke into a cold sweat, shivers racking his body. He'd never had such a visceral reaction to anything - even the Twili barriers that infected his world, despite their wrongness, hadn't made him physically ill. They'd felt more like the sensation of being in the dark, an overbearing heaviness and fear of the unknown, whereas this felt like a violation of body, mind, and soul.

He honestly didn't know how Abel wasn't at least reacting to it. Even the Fierce Deity had been affected. It had crippled him.

Spirits. It had crippled a war god. What were they doing down here?!

"Abel," Rusl tried again. "We should go back."

"What happened to your cheer for exploration?" Abel asked in a monotone, not really asking so much as distractedly challenging. He was far more focused on what was ahead than his companion behind him.

"I have a sense of self preservation," Rusl replied. "We don't know what we're walking into."

"It's like the Calamity," Abel muttered, more to himself than to Rusl. "But it's... I don't understand."

"The Calamity?" Rusl repeated. "The destruction of your land?"

"The Calamity isn't just an event, it's a monster," Abel explained, walking ahead despite his ominous words.

"So... we're walking towards the monster that destroyed the entirety of Hyrule," Rusl supposed with a raised eyebrow, continuing to follow his friend.

Abel huffed, stepping hesitantly as they seemed to reach the bottom of the stairway. "I don't hear any guardians yet."

"Those aren't the Calamity?"

"No. The Calamity used the guardians."

Rusl looked around warily, lantern raised. "So we're potentially looking for a beast that is stronger than guardians. And a single guardian can annihilate both of us."

Abel's shoulders stiffened, and he shook his head. "Dammit, Rusl, I don't know. This... this mist surrounded the capital on the eve of the Calamity. But... then the Calamity happened. Nothing is happening here, except that our companion is falling ill because of it."

"We should be trying to help him," Rusl reasoned.

Abel turned sharply. "This is me helping. He... he said..."

"He said kill him," Rusl repeated, a little disturbed at the words.

Abel grew very still and silent.

"Do you really think we can defeat something that is incapacitating a war god?" Rusl asked solemnly, trying to get through to the knight. "I had an entire resistance to assist me in my journey to save Hyrule, and inevitably it was Link who did the most work."

"Yes. Link. A child." Abel hissed. "We left the fate of our nation in the hands of children and expected them to--"

There was the sound of a foot scuffing on a rock and both men immediately froze. It came from somewhere ahead, vague and distant and bouncing in the chilly air, steadily making its path to them. It moved rhythmically, steps on stone, growing ever quieter.

Someone else was down here.

Someone else was down here and they were walking further into the abyss.

Abel stepped forward, sword at the ready. Rusl followed, armed and on edge.

Who else was down here? Had they heard the two men arguing? Was it just Rusl, or was the mist getting thicker?

The pair walked through some unusual corridors, and though Rusl's lamplight wasn't the best, he could make out odd shapes and figures in the stone. Abel glanced at it in passing, noting it and moving ahead. Neither man spoke at this point, ears peeled for any indication that they had caught up to whoever else was down here.

For such a foreboding place, there was certainly a strange lack of monsters. Rusl didn't know if he should find that reassuring or not.

Finally, the two men descended further and emerged into a large underground cavern of sorts. A strange light shone ahead, dulling Rusl's lamplight to that of a mere stub of a candle. The pair paused, uncertain and leery. Rusl's eyes settled on a strange swirling pattern of light that emitted from a... severed arm? The arm was perched on a half rotted corpse, almost as if it were pushing the corpse to the ground.

As if this place couldn't get any creepier.

Notably, though, Rusl's eyes caught movement. Up by the mummified body were two other figures, their voices lost in the echoes of the large space. All he could make out was that one was a female and one was a male. The male had a sword with an uncomfortably familiar shape to its hilt.

Rusl squinted in the darkness. It was hard to tell from here, but something about the swordsman's blade... he tried to focus more on it but couldn't, not at that distance with the dim light. The Ordonian turned to his companion and saw Abel transfixed at the sight.

"Is... this the Calamity?" he whispered. Was the foe already defeated? Was it trying to recuperate its strength? Who were the two in front of it?

Abel didn't answer. Voices grew louder, a strange sound emitted from ahead of them, and Rusl jumped, turning to look at the scene ahead of him to find that the corpse was moving.

There was a flash of light and the entire room shook. Rusl grabbed on to Abel's arm, pushing both of them against the wall to brace themselves as the entire place seemed to crumble in a flash of red, hellish light.

Abel dove forward, and Rusl yelped, pulling him back and trying to fight his vicious energy.

Abel was frantic; he didn't even seem to notice Rusl was there anymore. Instead, a scream tore out of his throat, desperate and pleading and terrified.

"LINK!"

The ceiling collapsed, and they were sealed into darkness.