#ugh the second half of the program...

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

[fickleminder]

50 Ways to Die in the Devildom

To prevent another war, one of the cardinal requirements of the exchange program was for the exchange students to be alive at the end of it. No one said anything about what happens in-between.

Content warnings: violence, blood, gore, lots of death. Halloween 2024 fic 👻

Diavolo nearly spat out his tea laughing. "In the freezer? Lucifer, you sly demon!"

"It got the job done, didn't it?" Lucifer took a sip from his own cup with a satisfied hum. "The human has a pact with one of us now, and there's nobody else I trust more than Mammon."

"Indeed. The responsibility will do him good, on top of securing our contingency plan if things go awry. Excellent work!"

"Thank you, Lord Diavolo."

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.

.

"Well, that was fast."

"The human didn't even last one month—"

"All of you, shut up." Lucifer knelt next to your body on the floor of the student council room. "Mammon, use the pact to keep track of their soul. Beel, stop licking blood off the tiles and help Asmo with the cleanup. Levi, going for the jugular was quick but messy; you're on cleanup as well. Satan, prepare the materials for the resurrection spell."

"Seriously, all this over a stupid quiz…" Mammon grumbled.

Finally coming back to his senses, Levi spat out the chunk of your neck still in his mouth and started to scream.

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Beel took one look at his half-eaten custard before transforming with a roar and stomping towards the culprits.

"N-Now wait a second, Beel! Lemme explain!" Mammon quickly put himself between you and his rampaging brother. He didn't want to have to participate in that dumb ritual again; calling souls back to their bodies was too much effort. "There's a good reason for—"

"You... ate... My... CUSTARD...!" Beel's fists smashed into the kitchen counter, the cupboards, the walls, and anything else he could get his hands on, while Mammon kept you behind him and dodged the blows. Any physical contact with Beel was sure to obliterate you in a heartbeat, and not even Satan would be able to put you back together if that happened.

With his attention focused on Beel, Mammon failed to notice when a chunk of concrete came flying in your direction, clobbering you squarely on the side of your head with a wet CRUNCH.

You hit the floor like a sack of rocks, and both demons froze at the sight of all the innards spilling out of your caved-in skull.

"Not again!" Mammon wailed loudly.

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.

.

"I don't want to hear it."

Despite the very real threat to his life, Mammon still felt the need to rub it in Lucifer's face. "Hey, I'm just sayin', ya can't pin this one on me this time!"

"At least Luke didn't see anything. I hope." Beel frowned at the little angel's unconscious form in his arms, with the grimoire still clutched tightly in a death grip. The poor kid had fainted when Lucifer unleashed his power and... Well.

To prevent another war, one of the cardinal requirements of the exchange program was for the exchange students to be alive at the end of it.

No one said anything about what happens in-between.

You had literally dropped dead after Lucifer shifted into a higher demon form to intimidate you into getting out of his way. He never intended to use force against you to begin with, but had also completely forgotten that some things were just not meant for mortal eyes. Your eyeballs were burnt to a crisp, leaving behind charred, bloody sockets in your face.

Lucifer rubbed his temples with a sigh. "Mammon, take my card and go buy a new pair of human eyes. Make sure to get them in the right color."

"Ugh, fine, but you're getting Levi to call their soul back!"

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Henry 1.0 purred loudly and coiled up to take a nap after his snack.

"Asmo, quit messing around and do something!"

"Shut up, Mammon! Or do you want to get eaten as well?"

"Mmm grilled snake..."

"For the last time, we're not eating Henry 1.0!"

The human-shaped lump in the giant snake's belly was unmoving.

"You realize that if they die, you ain't gonna get this kind of power anymore, right?"

Asmo froze, the drunk smile on his face faltering. Mammon had a point; Solomon had only lent you a tiny fraction of his magic, and yet you were able to draw out so much power in him! It was undeniable, you were one human he definitely had to hold on to.

"I think it's starting to digest—"

"Bad Henry! You spit them out right now or—"

Sighing, Asmo batted his eyelashes at the giant snake and began working his charm.

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.

"I can explain—"

"Let me guess. You tried to make a pact with the human in another pointless bid to get under my skin. They refused, and so you chopped them up. Not exactly helping your chances here, are you."

"Tch. I can put them back together—"

"You'll have to convince one of your brothers to call their soul back, since you obviously can't do it yourself—"

"Don't you think I know that already?!"

"Stop throwing books at me! You should know better than to lose control of your wrath—"

"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP—"

"Wait, that book is—!"

*THUNK*

"…"

"…"

"F—"

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Belphegor knew you and his brothers were close, but he was still determined to make his point. When he had thrown your body down the stairs and into the foyer as though you were nothing more than a mangled rag doll, he expected tears, anger, heartbreak—

"…Seriously? We just finished the last ritual yesterday!"

"ROFL not it!"

"Not it."

"Not it~"

"Belphie, I missed you so much! Oh, not it."

"You guys are the WORST!"

—not whatever the hell this was.

"What the fuck is happening?!" Belphie snarled, pointing furiously at your corpse. Blood was soaking into the carpet, yet even Lucifer looked only mildly annoyed. "Why aren't any of you mad? The exchange program—"

And then your body dissipated into wisps of fading light, another you poked your head over the top of the stairway to stare at the commotion, and Lucifer gave a long, deep sigh before revealing the secret he'd been keeping for centuries.

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You'll get the rest when we get our money back! The note read.

Inside the parcel it came with was a severed hand with broken fingers. The area where your forearm had been sawed off was still sluggishly oozing blood, but Mammon guessed you had probably already bled out by that point.

He shouldn't have left you to walk home by yourself after class, but what's done was done. All he could do now was come and get you and put you back together. It was his responsibility as your first, after all.

Mammon cracked his knuckles with a grin. Time to show those lesser demons why messing with the Great Mammon's human was a bad idea.

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"How was I supposed to know they couldn't swim?" Levi complained despite looking thoroughly chastised.

"I shouldn't have had to tell you that a mere human doesn't stand a chance against Lotan's floods." Lucifer pinched the bridge of his nose. Behind him, Satan was attempting something called CPR, having read about it in a book and wanting to try it out. There was a loud CRACK, followed by a quiet "oh shit", and that was when Lucifer decided to call it a day.

"Levi, cleanup duty. For the entire house."

"But—!"

"Satan, ritual. You can handle the spell on your own this time."

"Tch."

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Levi and Beel watched from the broken window on the second floor as you floated face down in the garden's pool fountain. At first they thought the fall would have killed you, but apparently the allure of water from the siren's song was too strong for that.

"…Should I try CPR?" Beel asked after a while.

"Please don't, you'll end up shattering all their ribs like Satan did." Levi grimaced. "Tell you what, if you call their soul back, I'll perform the spell and nobody else has to know."

"Deal."

.

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.

"Drop it."

*growling*

"Cerberus! I said: Drop. It."

Whining sadly, the giant hellhound lowered his middle head and carefully deposited his cargo at his master's feet. The left head nudged it gently with his snout, and the right one howled mournfully when it did not move.

Lucifer couldn't help the small wince as he took in your state. He could tell it had been quick at least; it wasn't the first time you had to take Cerberus out for his daily walk, but he had likely been in a playful mood today, hence the accident.

Said hellhound was clearly remorseful and kept glancing at the small pile of snacks and toys you had brought along to entertain him during his outing. Even Lucifer softened at the sight, and as he bent down to scoop you into his arms, broken spine and charred flesh and all, he found himself looking forward to personally calling your soul back to him.

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When your skin started to break out and swell rapidly, Asmo realized that something had gone terribly wrong.

"Darling!" He screeched as you clawed at your throat, which had ballooned in the few seconds Asmo took to reach you. The moisturizer he had given you dropped to the floor, and he quickly picked it up to inspect it.

"Acid lavender scented... Demonologist approved..." Asmo murmured as he read the printed label. "For external use only... Hyperallergenic—"

By the time the answer finally clicked in his brain, you had already turned blue. Not a good color on you, in his humble opinion.

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The curse was simple: the afflicted would experience random bouts of frostbite on their fingers and toes, no matter how warmly they dressed. The nipping cold would serve as an excellent inconvenience and at worst, it could completely freeze over entire limbs.

Perfect for a stuck up older brother who always dressed like a prude.

Unfortunately for Satan and Belphie, Lucifer was not the first one to touch the newly-cursed air conditioner remote.

"W-what's going on…" You slurred on the floor, curled up and hugging yourself for warmth. You weren't shivering anymore, which was a good sign, right? "Wh-why… s'cold…"

Satan and Belphie exchanged looks. The effects of the prank were clearly more severe on humans, but even then it didn't seem like you were going to kick it anytime soon. They could try to break the curse, but given how complicated it was to cast it in the first place, maybe they were better off putting you out of your misery.

"It's a Devildom thing. We get cold snaps out of the blue sometimes," Satan explained as he cradled you close, feeling as though he were holding a block of ice. "Due to the skies being constantly dark here..."

Belphie's magic trickled into you as Satan distracted you with magical theory, and before long you had gone still in his arms, eyes closed.

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"...Are you sure we can't tell Solomon? I mean, we have solid proof that his cooking is lethal now, so this is technically his fault."

"Who the fuck brought his food into the house to begin with?!"

"I did, sorry. He must have snuck some stuff into the basket of pastries Simeon and Luke gave us."

"Seriously, this guy needs to take a hint when everybody tells him to stay out of the kitchen..."

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Lucifer was seething. "What. Happened."

"I didn't do nothin'!" Mammon exclaimed, still clutching you tightly. You looked like you were sleeping in his arms, if not for the blue of your lips and your still chest. "We were just walking home, and then the next thing I know, they're eating dirt!"

"Liver failure, brain damage, collapsing lungs…" Satan looked extremely grim after assessing the current state of your body. "There's no singular cause; everything's just… falling to pieces."

Asmo paled. "But why? We've been so careful! We always got the freshest parts, and there hasn't even been an incident in weeks!"

Levi and the twins nodded frantically.

But the truth was undeniable. There were only so many times you could have your organs and limbs replaced or repaired with magic before your body decided to break down completely. Death was inevitable; it was coming for you regardless of how often you'd already cheated it.

How long did you have left before they couldn't bring you back anymore? You had exceeded all their expectations, lasting until the end of the exchange program and beyond, and they'd grown too attached to let you walk out of their lives permanently. You had gone from becoming a chore for them to prevent all-out war to something akin to a beloved house pet.

"What do we do?" Mammon looked to Lucifer for answers.

But for once, the first-born had none.

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"Blacked out from stress, you say? How uninspired."

"I know, right? You would think they'd be able to come up with new excuses over time, but nooo, it's always the same old story."

Michael gave a deep sigh. "Those brothers never learn. How long was it before they became complacent and stopped wiping your memory?"

"Four months." You grinned and reached for another scone on the tray of pastries. "To be fair, they do tend to make it quick so there usually isn't much to remember to begin with."

"I still can't believe those idiots thought the Celestial Realm wouldn't find out," Thirteen snorted. "How dare they think I don't know how to do my job!"

"Now Thirteen, it's natural for souls to spend some time in Purgatory before ascending or becoming Damned. Their mistake was assuming the pacts gave them any claim in the first place."

You tilted your head slightly, as though you were listening to something far away. "Speaking of, I think I hear them calling! Thanks for the tea, it was lovely chatting with you, as always."

Michael frowned. "You can't keep this up forever."

"Chill out, Mikey—"

"Don't call me that."

"—it's all good! No need to start a war in my name or anything."

Thirteen rolled her eyes. "He's right, you know. And just because you had nothing going for you in the human realm doesn't mean you have to keep playing along with those brothers in the Devildom."

"What can I say?" You shrugged nonchalantly as the reaper prepared to escort your soul back to your body. "They make me laugh."

[m1ssunderstanding]

Understanding Lennon McCartney Rewatch Part 3.2

The thing is Paul just physically can't say what he feels. It's just an impossibility for him. So if he says reading a negative article about himself “doesn't help” or “it's not good” but it “doesn't get home” I just assume he means ‘It hurts, but I can't think about that too hard or I'll go into a self-hate suicidal spiral again’. 

I always love how Paul says Linda. “Linder is er, nature mad.” 

She!!

Hearing Paul talk about watching Mary be born makes me wonder if John was there with Sean? Also I wonder if Linda would talk about the experience so glowingly. Probably. She's tough as nails. I had a lovely experience, personally, after the epidural lol

“Dear friend . . . I'm in love with a friend of mine.” This is such a strange and beautiful song. It's a man who has to apologize to his friend for falling in love with someone else. At least, that's my interpretation. What's everyone else's?

I understand why he's so closed off. I do. But when John is going off every five seconds, we're missing half the picture here and it's turning out warped. They really are such a good study of attachment honestly.

“Nothing will ever break the love we have for each other.” White-knuckling my way through this section with this quote clenched in my fist.

Yoko, talking about John fighting with Paul: any couple will go from swearing to kissing and it's like that. What favors are you doing yourself here, babe? Maybe John's the PR mastermind between the two of them.

I find John's comparison of working with his romantic partner to being ambidextrous very confusing. Does he mean just doing two things at once?

“If I can't have a fight with my best friend, I don't know who I can have a fight with.” -- Intro slutty gender-fluid Wings Paul my beloved -- “Tell me why, why, why do you treat me so bad? So bad? When you're the best friend a man ever had?” I heard on some podcast somewhere. Someone was going on about how forward-thinking the Beatles were to refer to the women in their songs as “friends”. And I was like, nununununu do not give them that credit.

This is just soooo. In this era? 90 minutes in the middle of a recording session?

John: Sorry, my estranged fiance is calling, gotta take a break. Guitarist: again? Drummer: how estranged can they be if they call every three minutes? Yoko: should we just record the other parts or . . . John: (receiver cradled to his cheek, lovesick grin on his face) Hey, how was Heather's school program? Haha, yeah, I bet she was.

Okay, so you've made up with Paul and now you're done being homophobic? *Cardi b voice* well that's suspicious. 

The fact that John's asking Paul to play on stage with him in 1972?? Ugh! If it was just about legalities and money and shit I would be genuinely so pissed at Paul for not going. If only because Come Together sounds incredibly lame without his bass and piano. But also for the obvious fix-it reasons. I have to remind myself of how truly awful Klein was. By being the only one to stand firm against him, Paul actually ended up saving them all from a lot of trouble. But gosh would this have been good!

Things normal people say, for sure, for sure.

Okay in my head it went like this. John calls George and bitches about what an egomaniac Paul is because he won't do anything with him as long as Klein is involved. George gets off the phone and calls Ringo and they make a bet as to how long it is until John decides they should get rid of Klein. 

“Where's your audience, Paul?” “In the theater, Dave.” As he should. The cuntiness is unparalleled. Yeah, maybe people like to see a family friendly eclectic magic pixie sexy hard rock floor show? Ever thought about that, Dave?

Anyway, he seems genuinely pissed when the interviewer even mentions the other Beatles and he refuses to even admit he still talks to any of them. Why? 

John's just so benevolent and selfless. He's completely straight, of course, but he's always offering to do gay shit. You know. To be nice. 

I forget that not only was May their literal employee, but she was ten years younger on top of that. And yet, she managed to do so much good in that relationship. I have so much respect for her. 

There's obviously a lot going on behind the scenes that they don't say in interviews. Duh. But I wonder what it is that caused Paul to be so open and happy in this interview where he's asked about the other Beatles compared to before. I wonder if he and John had a really lovely talk, or if he's heard a demo of “I know, I know.” Or maybe it's just he's so reassured that they've got rid of Klein that he feels safe acting open to a reunion on record. Who knows, Yoko. 

So so smart to pair “In My Life” handwritten lyrics with the matching lyrics of “I know I know” playing at the same time. I forget about that connection (“I love you more”) because it's so overshadowed by the “than yesterday” right after. I seriously wonder if John thought he was being so obvious with this one the way he was with HDYS and half hoped people would ask him if it was about Paul and he could make up for the whole thing. Because it's just so heavy-handed. It's beautiful. I love it. I'm sure Paul loved it. But yeah. John's just beating us over the head with the references here. 

I also wonder (very tentatively!!!) if Paul was maybe a bit more emotionally vulnerable with John than we usually think. I would never think this except for the “you know I nearly broke down and cried” “I'm sorry that I made you cry” and “no more crying!” I don't know. What do we think? 

His little baby smirk. It's so silly and cute. He's being very positive about getting back together, and the interviewer asks if John would initiate that. Just a very coy, “a, well, I couldn't say.” I wonder if at that point if he'd said on live tv that he wanted to get together again if it would've happened. Seems like it might have, but I understand him being scared. 

Elton John taking pictures like a fan and John: I wanna impound all those photos till I get me green card. What a random idea for a commercial. I love it, obviously, it's hilarious. I wonder who thought of it. 

This doc is so good at implication. The smirk as “loving in the palm of my hand” plays. That's not a reference to hand jobs, is it? Certainly not talking to someone with beautiful hands?

Everyone go look up Nineteen Hundred Eighty Five on YouTube. The singing sex is something else, yeah, but I'm always so blown away by the piano part. The fact that he's self taught and doesn't read music and this man will go on to compose symphonies. 

[raitonsfw]

There srsly needs to be more bby boy Nagito stuff, idk what's wrong with ppl 😭 I'm requesting Nagito with his s/o that were a couple before the neo world program, and once Monokuma announces the killing game, Nagito's sweet mommy s/o makes it clear that no one's laying a finger on him, getting very overprotective. During Nagito's hope rants, his s/o is just glaring at the classmates like "dammit y'all better listen to what my bf has to say". They/she also praises him a lot during investigations and for leading the class trials. 🤗

𝚒'𝚕𝚕 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚊𝚏𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗 | 𝚔𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚎𝚍𝚊 𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚝𝚘

synopsis: The sun and the sea taunted you as the bear played with your downfall, but more detrimentally, your boyfriend who had offered himself up to the entire class with the extent of death knocking at his door. or; a rewritten chapter one of super danganronpa 2, with an insert of overprotective reader and slight baby boy nagito.

warnings: gn!reader and or fem!reader, spoilers for chapter 1 of sdr2, cursing, fits of despair, a crapload of hope references, a kiss with implied smut (nothing nsfw is explicitly written), nagito and reader are a couple, slight praising, affection, petnames (my love, angel, baby boy), reader would do anything for nagito, implied violence (the first victim), mentions of death, mentions of blood, primarily angst?, its not totally on brand with the request im so sorry!🥺

a/n: gave me a beautiful excuse to rewatch the entire first chapter of sdr2 (tysmmmm). i tried my best for the baby boy(ness) of it all, but my brain wasn’t working with me as i wrote so there’s only slight mentions. i didn't write past the second half of the trial because if i actually wrote in the blackened from chapter 1, the reader probably would’ve jumped over the trial stands to attack them for trying to hurt nagito. idk why i struggled so much, ugh but i promise promise promise i can write nagito better than this i swear. wc: 2.9k. m.list

now playing: moving up in the world by dagames

divider credit: @benkeibear & @firefly-graphics

The sun shone against the beach and you squinted at it in confusion. Another bad dream, you thought but then it all rushed back to you. It was something like a dizzy spell, the classroom you had been seemingly teleported out of felt surreal as you sat on the grains of sand surrounding you. You looked over to your right, your vision blurred and saw someone also laying next to you, unconscious and plastered on their side.

And then the pixelated green came into view as you blinked away the fuzziness, your heart nearly punching up to the base of your throat. You let out a disgruntled noise, crawling over towards him to see if he was breathing, ‘cause if he wasn’t– You couldn’t bear that thought, pushing it back within the crevices of your mind as you ran your palm over his arm.

“Nagito, Nagito!” You called out as you shook him gently from the rasps of the trance, hoping he’d respond. His chest rose and fell to your relief, and you studied the details of his face. His eyes were closed and his mouth slightly agape but no noticeable scars or wounds stuck out to you and your heart fell back to normal with a steady pulse. You shook him again, this time a little more forceful, and he awoke with a start. His eyes shot open and he took in the picture before him, sitting up quickly. Nagito groaned quietly as the sun hit him directly in the eyes and he rubbed them carefully, trying to make sense of what had happened.

You saw his realization dawn on him. “Y/N.” 

Nagito immediately hugged you, much more tightly than he ever had before and you held onto him as he buried his hands into the wisps of your hair. He felt calm, the aura around him filling up the spaces in your confusion as he looked at you for the first time since the classroom. His grayish eyes clued in onto the mayhem they had encountered when the pink rabbit explained their future school trip. But what he couldn’t hide was his truth, the iniquity wedging itself in between his seams, the spiraling circles within his pupils, the hope that he so desperately craved on the tiny island. 

And you were to make sure he had all the hope he needed rushing through his veins, whatever it takes for your partner. 

When you two met each other’s eyes in the midst of the tiny classroom, you were both confused. It seemed as if you had forgotten things about the other, something in between but you couldn’t quite figure out what. All that came to you was the newfound love you had acquired for him, being as you had started dating him a few months before he was accepted into Hope’s Peak Academy. 

You tried to remember the missing piece but as he glanced at you, his mouth opening slightly, the doors slid open again and the last student made his way into the classroom. Your head had become totally muddled and as you moved on closer to Nagito, his mouth had been basically sewn shut with the presence of the new classmate. He was assessing the reality of the issue they were facing and you decided not to bother him, letting his mind wander. 

As the waves crashed against your ears in the background, you were faced with another revelation. That he was safe– here with you, that one instance made the whole weirdness much more easy to handle. 

“I’m sure everything’s okay.” Nagito assured, a kind smile resting against the frivolities of his demeanor.

“It’s just a school trip.” You nodded, agreeing with him. It was going to be okay. 

“A happy school trip full of hope.” 

“Wh-What just…happened…?” Nagito spoke in between the dead silence, the other students peering at each other with horrified looks. 

No one dared answer him, half of the students looked like they were about to faint. You included. 

The entirety of Jabberwock park had felt like death seeped in and took hold, the pained feeling sinking into the cracks of the sidewalk. Monokuma had just disappeared along with the Monobeasts hovering behind his tail and you felt the anguish of his despairing words weigh you down heavily, your heart threatened to burst as the thought of what the stuffed bear explained. 

You needed to protect him, the thought following closely as you remembered every single syllable of the rules Monokuma mentioned. You didn’t want to be murdered, your brain reeling with all the possibilities of what could happen. But more importantly– most importantly, you didn’t want Nagito to die. You were painfully aware of his self-depreciating tendencies and sometimes he scared you with quiet comments about death. 

“I guess I’ll offer myself up first if this is a killing game. Maybe we can find some hope in my death if we all work together in favor.” You heard Nagito announce with a wavering confidence and you snapped your neck towards him. 

Like that.

A staggered look spread on your face and you felt your cheeks become hot with anger. You couldn’t find your footsteps fast enough, your entire body moving into front of Nagito and you shielded your hands up. Hajime went to protest but you beat him to it, your mouth flying open. 

He was not fucking sacrificing himself in the name of hope. You cut that cord short, on second thought he had all the hope he needed at the moment.

“No one’s laying a finger on anyone, you hear me?!” You burst out, your annoyance through the roof. “Especially not Nagito. We can figure this out another way, we’re not sacrificing our friends. Don’t even think about it.” 

“We’re not going to kill, no one here’s like that.” Hajime interjected, albeit a bit hesitant. “We’re not sacrificing anyone.” 

“The fear that Monokuma instilled in everyone though...Hajime, are you positive someone won’t? At this point, it seems to be fully plausible that someone could potentially kill someone with the notion of that escape motive.” Byakuya spoke up and his words felt like a thousand bricks. 

He was right, that motive was extremely compelling. But it didn’t phase you in the slightest.

Everything you had was behind you, the white haired man leaning into your backside as you defended him. There was nothing for you at home, everyone just about had left you and you promised with a solemn word that you’d give your everything to Nagito. You tried not to be too mad at him, you understood the situation completely. He was just trying to help, even as fucking idiotic as his words seemed to be in that precise moment.

“Babe, it’s okay.” Nagito leaned down towards your ear, murmuring the pet name affectionately and you felt his hands rest against your shoulders. “I don’t mind being a stepping stone for hope.” 

You whipped your head around to face up at him, the insolence draining within your vocals as you spoke to him. “We’ll talk later.” You continued, towards the rest of your classmates. “If you so much as look at him the wrong way, the blackened will certainly be me. And I will get both of us off this island without so much as a hint of regret.” 

“It doesn’t work like that.” Mahiru stated. 

You didn’t care. Everyone looked uneasy, a great tension had begun to hover over you. If you had to be the bad guy in this situation so no one would touch your boy, it was worth it for them to be basically eying you like a mastermind. Hajime glanced at you as you nearly seethed your sentence, backing up into him as a way to protect him. “Do not touch him.” 

Without a second thought, you grabbed Nagito by the collar of his shirt and dragged him back towards the bridge to the cottages, his small frame bending down as you two walked. As you passed through the hotel gate, you let his shirt go with a sigh as you fully realized the scene you made. “I’m sorry, angel. I got too carried away again.” 

“No, it’s okay really! I was out of line.” He apologized with an awkward smile and you were taken aback by his confession. He straightened up, smoothing over his shirt with a quiet hum. “Someone will kill someone though and if it has to be me, I honestly don’t mind.” 

“Promise me you won’t start anything.” You made to say, ushering him inside of your cottage. He immediately beelined for the foot of your bed, sitting against it carefully as you closed the door behind you. You locked it and made to shut the blinds of the windows when you heard him flop onto the bed with a tired exhale. “Nagito?”

“I’m okay, just thinking.” He said with a sigh, his eyes fixed on the ceiling as you made your way to him. You sat next to him, crossing your leg over the other as you leaned one of your palms on his thigh. He glanced down at you, his eyebrows raising slightly as you gently patted it.

“No, seriously. Please don’t start anything.” You quietly said again. “I don’t want to lose you, you’re quite literally the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Nagito sat up, his shirt rucking down the pit of his tummy and you smiled at him as he leaned closer to you. His hair was a bit messy from the day and you tangled your other hand into it, smoothing it upwards. He hummed happily at the feeling, closing his eyes. “I’m happy that it’s you I’m trapped on an island with.” 

“And a bunch of other people.” You laughed quietly, intertwining his hand with yours against his thigh as you continued brushing his hair out with your fingers. “But yeah I’m glad too, baby boy.” 

You saw his face light up, a blush spreading across his face. You swore you felt his heartbeat quicken, the small pulses against your chest as you leaned into him to kiss him. He returned the gesture with another low hum, with much more oomph than usual. 

“You take such good care of me, Y/N.” He whispered against your lips, smiling into it. “What would I do without you?”

“You’re lucky to be alive, you know.” You wearily reminded him as you pulled away from him and his face dropped with the realization. You don’t know what Nagito had realized, maybe it was the subtle hint of his talent keeping him alive but you were not expecting his next words as they fell from his lips a bit too seriously.

“Promise me something if I do get murdered? Don’t find the culprit.”

You struggled to wrap your head around his words before a bubbly laugh escaped you, trying to lighten the situation. You moved to straddle his hips, trying to desperately shut up the plan that was herding in his mind. You looked down at him as he looked back up, his hands resting against the small of your back and you saw it– the spiraling, the mess of his unwanted trauma, a plot that he conjured up within the walk back towards the cottage. 

The killing game was a bonus. 

“What if the culprit’s me?” You asked, pushing him back onto the pillows and Nagito let out a quiet noise. “Surely, you wouldn’t want me to die?”

“I would gladly die by my lover’s hands.” 

The pitch black clouded your eyes and you let out a quiet yelp. You didn’t know what was going on, why did the lights go out during the party? A few loud shouts surrounded the room and you closed your eyes, listening to the sounds of everyone panicking. You huddled yourself against the wall, practically tripping over the cord connected against the wall and you felt it lift up slightly as you sat there on the ground.

Where was Nagito? A minute ago he had been next to you and Hajime but when you had fumbled for his hand when the lights went out, it wasn’t there in reach.

The lights came on with a blinding shine to them and you immediately scanned the area for Nagito. He had fallen near the back table and he glanced towards you with a panicked expression. His name fell from your lips quietly as everyone else gasped at Mikan, but you didn’t care to react to whatever had happened in the middle of the room. You rushed over to where Nagito sat, clearly in a daze and you helped him up quickly. “Are you okay? Did you trip?” 

“I did, yeah.” You dusted off the backs of his thighs for him, checking for any scraps and bruises. He hugged his jacket over himself and bit, his cheeks blushing red as you finished up and you planted a small kiss on his face. “T-Thank you, Y/N.”

You had to make sure he was alright, there was no telling what had happened during that blackout. Someone could’ve brought in poison and tainted a weapon with it, though you weren’t quite sure how it would’ve made the pat down as Byakuya had checked everyone thoroughly. But still if there was so much as a scratch on Nagito, the entire world was going to burn with you.

A stench of blood had perforated your sense of smell and you were just about to double check your partner’s clothing again before Hajime flipped up the tablecloth that had laid stagnant against the back table, revealing the first kill of the game that taunted your demise.

The investigation began not long after the screams died down, the remnants of sniffles and sobs overtaking the hallway. You walked around aimlessly with Nagito, trying to get information out of your classmates but there was no luck for the both of you. Ironic huh.

“Hey, Hajime. Can Y/N and I join you for the investigation?” Nagito asked as he spotted Hajime opening the door to the crime scene again, having just finished speaking with Sonia. “I think it would be easier for us to talk in groups rather than one on one.” 

“So smart, my love.” You murmured out loud, which made Nagito immediately take your hand as Hajime muttered out a ‘sure, just don’t get in the way.’ You squeezed his hand as you felt the sweat on his palm, trying to reassure him internally that everything is okay. He was probably just spooked that he had predicted the killing, how could he have known? 

And how could you have known Nagito’s motive? 

As everyone stood around the poisoned circle, you folded your arms across your chest. Stationed next to Mahiru and Hajime, you peered in front of you. Nagito was a ways away from the cursed podiums that had you cornered in truths and interjections, standing in between Ibuki and Mikan with dignified silence.

As the trial went on, he didn’t speak much and he certainly didn’t pass up the chance to eye you up from the distance as you stated your case when you were suspected because of your outburst. As you scrambled for an opening, something to show for accountability, Nagito spoke for you. 

“We’re all friends, aren't we?” He laughed it off, the tone switching and you almost applauded his efforts to help you. “We don’t even have any clues to go off of, not a single one. Let’s just give up, we wouldn’t want to waste Monokuma’s time.”

So you want us to die? You couldn’t exactly argue with him now, his plan revealing itself to you. A thick band of trust snapped against you, he had broken it. But you saw the hope rushing through his veins, the pure bliss you had managed to capture from the corner of your eye, the despair that battled his hope swirling in them– and you made your decision right then and there. If you insist. If it means we die together, Nagito Komaeda.

“No, he’s right! Listen to Nagito here, let’s just give up.” You advocated, the reasonings blurting from your mouth faster than you could speak. As you looked around the room with confidence practically pouring out of you, you caught everyone hurriedly agreeing with Nagito. You shouldn’t be so presumptuous but it was the truth, after all. There wasn’t a fucking thing anyone could say or do, the clues had been wrapped up by the killer, swept underneath the rug that had been laid out in its foyer.

That’s wrong, I think.” Chiaki piped up, downcasted but a willingness snagged in her voice. “There are clues.”

Nagito’s eyebrows furrowed and you shot a look at Chiaki, glaring at her with suspicion. What did she mean by that, huh? “There aren’t any clues. We investigated the entire building, searched every crevice, every single piece of evidence–” You started, nearly spiraling yourself. There was no way there was a clue, because if there was…

“The desk lamp.” 

“Desk lamp? That’s impossible, Hajime. How would that be a clue?” You argued, but he had already proved you wrong. 

“Nagito… It was you, wasn’t it?” 

“M-Me?” Nagito almost stepped off the podium, just barely catching himself as he lunged for the center. It was surely just a coincidence you found him next to the blood splattered table, the lamp cord tangled up against his ankle. A coincidence? No, he didn’t kill anyone. He simply meddled with the killer, sparking interest–perhaps fear into them. You looked over at Nagito, noticing the way his hand trembled against his chest.

Then your boy burst into a fit of laughter. It was going to take a lot to protect him now.

Whatever it takes, my love.

a/n: wanna get tagged in future writing posts? join my taglist!

[madaqueue]

Practice Makes Perfect | Chapter 8

synopsis: you and yuji have been best friends basically as long as you can remember, and you made a promise to each other to stay friends and help each other be the best versions of yourselves for your future partners. but will things change when yuji finally starts looking for a relationship?

pairing: yuji itadori (18+) x f!reader

themes/content: modern college au (characters aged up to 18+). language, fluff, angst. alcohol consumption, jealousy, kissing (x megumi). 18+, MDNI

word count: 1.8k

a/n: this is like mostly fluff/angst but don't worry we'll get back to the regularly scheduled programming soon

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The bass echoes around the room, vibrating in pace with your heartbeat. Everything in your body feels numb, like you’re being boiled down to your essence and becoming sound waves. The only thing you can feel are your lips.

They press into Megumi’s, his mouth soft. You feel a hand go around your waist as another moves to your back. Using what you learned from Yuji, you gently suck on his lower lip, prompting him to open his mouth slightly. Your tongue enters his mouth tentatively, waiting to see if he’ll respond; he does.

The hand on your back pulls you into him as his lips part further, his tongue meeting yours. You slide one hand from his neck up into his hair, causing him to sigh softly into your mouth.

Almost perfectly in sync, you both pull away for a moment to breathe. Megumi looks down at you, face flushed from the unexpected show of affection. “What was that for?” he asks, eyes low. You can barely hear him over the music, but fortunately his lips were still practically against yours.

“Just felt like it,” you shrug with a smirk.

“Mhm,” he hums sarcastically, clearly not believing you. Something behind you catches his attention again and he straightens up to look over your shoulder.

Against your better judgement, you turn around once more to see what he’s staring at. At first you don’t see anything, but then it hits you: Yuji is gone, as is the girl who was just with him.

“Shit,” you mutter.

“You okay?” Megumi leans his head over your shoulder so his lips brush against your ear. You hear concern in his voice, the flirtiness that was there a second ago now gone.

Your breath catches in your throat, momentarily taking away your ability to speak. “Y-yep,” you manage to sutter out. “I’m just gonna go get another drink,” you say without turning around. Megumi’s hand around your waist drops as you move through the crowd.

Fighting against swaying bodies, you finally make it over to a table with open liquor bottles and empty cups. Your mind feels clouded with a mix of anger, jealousy, and…lust? Ugh, it doesn’t matter, you think. Whatever label you put on what you’re feeling isn’t going to change the fact that you feel it. Your hand shoots out to grab a half-full handle of vodka, pouring it into a cup before downing it. You wince at the burn it sends down the back of your throat and pause momentarily before pouring yourself another and knocking it back. As you go to pour yourself a third, you feel a hand rest on your waist.

“Hey,” the familiar voice behind you loudly speaks into your ear, “I didn’t know you were gonna be here!” You turn around, suddenly swaying slightly on your feet, and are met with warm brown eyes staring down at you.

“Hiii Yuji,” you try to say with an eye roll, but it comes out sloppier than expected. You move to bring the cup up to your lips before he reaches out to grab your wrist.

“Woah there, I didn’t take you for somebody who likes shots. Especially not of,” he pauses to sniff the liquid in the cup, “the shittiest vodka known to man.”

“Well, guess y’don’t know me that well after alllll” you retort, your words suddenly slurring more than you expected.

“Okay,” he chuckles, “let’s take it easy, huh?” He reaches down and grabs the cup from your hands with little protest.

“Fiiiiiine,” you drawl, “but you knowww s’rude to let somethin’ go to waste.” Leaning into him, you slowly move his hand up so the cup is at his lips, not breaking eye contact.

Yuji rolls his eyes, running through options in his head before deciding it’s easiest to do what you ask. Besides, he’s never been one to say no to you. His grasp on the cup tightens as he tips the liquid into his mouth, keeping his gaze on yours.

Fuck, you think, why is this so hot? The way he swallows, eyes locked on you the whole time, brings that familiar heat between your legs.

“So, now that I’ve appeased you, can I take you home, sweets?” he asks through a grin, trying not to wince at the taste of the awful liquor going down his throat. In response you simply groan and lean into his chest. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he chuckles. He takes your hand gently and guides you through the party towards the door. As you walk past the dance floor you look up and see Megumi surrounded by his friends, a smile forming on your face knowing he’s happy.

The cold air hits your skin as you step outside and you shiver. Without saying anything, Yuji takes off his hoodie and gives it to you, leaving him in just a t-shirt.

You walk home in silence. You had so many questions coursing through your mind, but you just didn’t want answers to them. Is that girl Nobara? Did he see you with Megumi? Where did they disappear off to when you were making out with Megumi?

Suddenly you’re facing the door to your room. Yuji swings the door open and wraps an arm around you, guiding you inside. Once you’re standing in your dorm, he picks you up and holds you against his chest, walking you towards your bed. He sets you down so your legs are hanging over the edge and he bends down, sliding your shoes off and setting them by the door. 

Closing your eyes, you flop onto your side and groan. “Yuji,” you whine.

“Yes?” he answers, grinning as he bends over so he’s eye-level with your head that now rests on the pillows.

“M’sorry,” you utter, barely above a whisper.

“What could you possibly be sorry for?” he asks, his smile turning to a frown. He reaches up to gently tuck a piece of hair behind your ear.

“F’caring ‘bout you,” your words still slightly slurred.

He laughs. “You know you don’t have to apologize for that. Besides, I care about you, too.”

“Hmm…then m’sorry for kissing Megumi,” you follow.

“W-what?” he falters. “You kissed Fushiguro?”

You half open your eyes to focus on him and see his gaze darting around the floor before he notices that you’re looking at him. “Mhm,” you hum softly. “I…I thought you knew.”

He shifts his eyes back to the ground. “Um, no, I didn’t.” He halfheartedly chuckles. “Congrats though, that must mean your date went well.”

“It wasn’t a date…” you trail off, your eyes shutting again.

“What do you mean?” he questions, trying to hide the desperation in his voice.

“It wasn’t…I just did it to make you notice…” your voice quieting as you speak.

“Notice what?” he continues, trying to understand what was possibly going through your mind. He didn’t even particularly care that you kissed one of his closest friends; he just wanted to know what he did that made you think he, for even a moment, wasn’t noticing you.

As you get pulled deeper into sleep, you don’t respond. You don’t have the energy to, and you don’t want to have this conversation now. You can feel yourself getting closer to telling Yuji how you really feel about him if he keeps pressing, so you decide it is safer to just let yourself rest.

You hear Yuji moving around your room and you open your eyes again to see him walking towards the door. “Wait,” you say suddenly, still sleepy but trying to get his attention. “Stay.”

Yuji sighs, saying nothing but turning back around to walk towards you.

“C’mere?” you plead, holding your arms out to him. “Please?” you softly beg.

He concedes - after all, he really can’t say no to you - and leans his body between your arms as he slides next to you in bed.

“Thank you,” you murmur, nuzzling your head against his neck. The smell of his cologne lingers on him, reminding you of the ocean.

“Of course,” he whispers. Your breathing slows as you fall into sleep, and Yuji slowly scans your peaceful face before he lands on the smeared mascara under your eyes. The thought of you crying makes his stomach drop - were you crying because of him? He couldn’t bear the thought. “I always notice you,” he mouths, pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead.

–

You wake up the next morning to a pounding headache, causing you to wince as you sense how bright the room is even through your closed eyelids. Reaching out your arms, you realize your bed is empty. Panicked, you sit up, again causing your head to throb. You force your eyes open and frantically search the room for any sign of Yuji before landing on the floor.

Tufts of pink hair poke out from underneath a blanket as he rests on your carpet, curled up and snoring. The sight warms your heart and you can’t help but let out a giggle, the action sending your hand up to your aching head. You turn your attention to your bedside table where you see a full glass of water, meds, and your favorite chocolates. Did Yuji do this? He must have, he was the only one in your dorm since last night.

Remembering last night, the details felt a little fuzzy. You pop some pills into your mouth and chug gulps of water as you swallow them.

Yuji stirs below you as he rolls over to face you. “Oh, hey! You’re up!” he says, looking up at you with sleepy brown eyes.

“Mhm,” you nod, trying not to aggravate your headache. Looking down at him, you giggle again. “Why are you on the floor?”

“Oh! I didn’t want to assume you wanted me to stay in bed with you since you were pretty drunk by the time I got you home, so I waited until you were asleep and got you some stuff I thought might make you feel better in the morning and then moved down here. Besides, your carpet is very comfortable,” he grins, petting the pink carpet beneath him.

You laugh again before processing his words. “Wait, you brought me home last night?”

“Yep!” Yuji smiled, cheery as ever.

“Shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t know and it’s not your job to do that, and-” you start to apologize.

“Hey, you don’t have to be sorry for anything. I love taking care of you,” he cuts you off as his smile softens. “And for what it’s worth, you really didn’t do anything wrong, so you better stop apologizing,” he jokes.

“Or what?” you tease with a smirk. Your head is already starting to feel better, giving you a bit of spunk back.

“Oh, you’re about to find out!” he giggles. With that, Yuji throws his blanket off and hops onto the bed on top of you. He momentarily pauses as he looks down at you. “Do you feel okay? Can I get you anything else?” he asks, realizing he may have just jostled someone who is very hungover.

“I’m okay,” you say sweetly, reaching a hand up to stroke his cheek.

“Good,” he chuckles, moving his eyes down to your lips, “because I have something else I’d like to try.”

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[smells-like-mettaton]

Happy birthday @carlyraejepsans!! Small birthday fic for you!!!

Word Count: 1 123

Rating: G

Summary: Papyrus and Mettaton enact an explosive plan to get Sans and the Queen together.

XXX

“Are you sure this will lead to an explosion of romantic feelings?” Papyrus whispered to Mettaton in their hiding spot behind a conveniently-shaped shrub. 

The convenience was artificially-created—he had been the one to trim this particular hedge in the shape of himself and Mettaton—but that was okay. Sometimes these things needed a little artificial flavor, or nothing would ever get done! 

He hoped Queen Toriel liked the artificial flavor of bombs. 

“Darling, nothing is more romantic than missile toe!” Mettaton replied, holding a long pair of binoculars to see through the hedge. “Just wait. This program hasn’t even started yet!”

Papyrus scooted closer, pressing one eyesocket to half of the binoculars. It gave him a pretty good view of his brother and the queen standing beneath one of the garden’s arches, where Sans liked to hang out and pick water sausages for his “illegal” hot dog stand. Mettaton had forged a note in Sans’s handwriting, and Papyrus had set up the missile toe—a tarsal-and-bomb combo Mettaton said was a hit on the surface—to create the most romantic atmosphere possible. Surely it would blow through Sans’s aloof exterior and compel him to confess his true feelings!

“Hey, Tori.” Sans hid a bundle of water sausages behind his back. Papyrus wasn’t sure why he bothered, since they both knew Toriel knew what he was doing with them. “Water you doing here?”

Papyrus suppressed a groan. Sans was never going to get anywhere with abysmal puns like that! It was a good thing he had such a brilliant brother looking out for him!!

Toriel laughed, though, because she was absolutely smitten by Sans’s slime-emitting charms. Somehow. 

“Oh, nothing mulch.” She smiled, her fangs poking out from under her upper lip. Papyrus had caught Sans grinning dopily at that smile more times than he could count. Not that Toriel would be able to tell, since Sans’s expressions were nearly impossible for anyone but Papyrus to read. “I hoped you might be able to tell me.”

She held out the note Mettaton had written. It had told her to meet Sans here for a special surprise. 

“Huh. Any idea who wrote that?” Sans asked, glancing around. 

Papyrus tried to keep his bones from rattling with anticipation. 

“It was not from you?” Toriel frowned. 

“Nope. It’s a pretty good forgery, though. They even got my i’s write.” He held the paper up to the sun lamps in the cavern ceiling, like he was trying to see through it. Mettaton hadn’t hidden any secret messages, though, as far as Papyrus was aware. “Hey, wait a second.”

While looking up, he’d apparently noticed the missile toe. Perfect timing!

“Hit it, darling!” Mettaton said.

Papyrus pressed the remote detonator. 

The bomb exploded with a BOOM of bones and confetti. It was loud, it was flashy, it was perfect! In fact, Toriel was throwing herself at his brother already!!

She tackled Sans to the ground, tarsals raining down on her back. Sans’s face, pinned near her shoulder, went bright blue.

“Are you alright?” Toriel asked him quickly, propping herself up on her palms. 

“Uh,” he said coherently. 

“Ugh, Sans, you’re blowing it!!” Papyrus hissed.

“Let the show go on,” Mettaton stage-whispered. “There’s still time for a grand finale.”

“Not sure about all right, but looks like I’m all left in one piece,” Sans finally said, still lying on the ground. 

“Thank goodness.” Toriel sighed shakily. “Perhaps I should not have disbanded the Royal Guard after all… I never would have expected such a cowardly attack…”

“Heh. I think you’ve got it the other way around.” Sans picked up one of the fallen tarsals. “This has the Royal Guard written all over it.”

“You mean—Papyrus did this?” Toriel’s brow furrowed.

Papyrus cursed. Ratted out by his own brother! Didn’t he have any sense of gratitude??

“Do you not think that is a little far-fetched?” Toriel asked, standing and helping him to his feet. “Perhaps he is being framed. Your brother has no reason to fight either of us. Unless our puns pushed him too far…”

“Nah, he’s not into that kind of pun-ishment.” Sans grimaced. 

“Then why…?”

“Because Sans is incapable of telling you how he feels!” Papyrus burst through the hedge, leaving a Papyrus-shaped hole in the Papyrus-shaped shrub.

“Hey, bro.” Sans sounded tired, and not at all surprised to see him.

“Papyrus?” Toriel gaped.

“And Mettaton!” Mettaton burst through his adjacent shrub.

“And Mettaton.” Sans sighed. “Nice job with the note.”

“Thank you! Having a built-in photocopier comes in handy.”

Toriel pinched the bridge of her nose. 

“What is the meaning of all this?” 

“Romance! Drama! Bloodshed! What else?” Mettaton beamed. “The producer isn’t supposed to be seen on set, but Papyrus made the executive decision to pull back the curtain, so here we are! Ready for our close-up!”

Toriel shook her head, but chuckled.

“Of course… well, that is sweet of you. But, I am afraid your script has an error in it.”

“An error?” Mettaton gasped with a hand to his mouth. 

“Yes. You see, I already know how Sans feels about me.” She smiled.

“You… what???” Papyrus’s jaw dropped.

Sans went pale. Paler than usual, anyway.

“What.”

She rested a hand on Sans’s shoulder.

“I did not want to press you on the subject. I have been alive for hundreds of years. I can be patient.” She gave Papyrus a stern look, and he shivered. “As you should learn to be, as well. It is terribly impolite to force someone to confront their feelings before they are ready.”

Papyrus looked away. He’d just been trying to help! Still, there was no fighting a look like that. He could only hope she decided to spare him.

“I see… My dating handbook must be missing a few pages,” he muttered.

“There was no force involved! Only the romantic catalyst of missile toe!” Mettaton insisted, hugging Papyrus close as if to protect him from Toriel’s glare.

“Missile…?” Sans snickered. “Okay, that’s funny.”

“I knew you would understand!” Papyrus said. Sans always appreciated a good jape!

“Yeah, yeah. Just don’t try toe blow me up again. Just ‘cause ya missed this time—”

“UGH!! You are impossible!!! You are lucky the Queen puts up with you!!!”

“I think I do more than put up with him.” Toriel winked.

Sans blushed again. 

“Wonderful! That’s a wrap, darlings!” Mettaton waved with the arm that wasn’t squeezing Papyrus. “No need to thank us. Just order a jar of MTT-Brand Beauty Yogurt™ for your first date, and we’ll call it even!” 

Mettaton engaged the wheels in the heels of his boots and zoomed them away. The sound of Sans and Toriel’s laughter echoed behind them.

That was all the thanks that Papyrus needed.

[quendiviner]

24 and 26!!! Micro fic time!!

YEAAAAA THANK U <3 i know it says micro fic but. well. it's a bit longer than that. also something that happens a few hours before this :3

24: tender & 26: how dare (you)

summary: Klara gets worried that Toby's not answering her messages and decides to go investigate what's going on along with her coworker, Jay.

warnings: implied capture, implied murder

"It's not answering the messages."

"Oooooh, you sound worried. Do you have any specific reason to worry?"

"How dare you to even imply something like that?"

"I'm just kidding, just kidding," Jay looked at the front mirror and noticed Klara glaring at him, "I'm sorry, that was a bad joke," he paused for a moment, before adding, "Can you please watch the road now?"

"Hmmph."

"But, I'm sure it is fine. I mean, maybe it's just walking back home? Or taking a longer public transport trip?"

"Tobias might rarely ever care about its leg problems but it's not so stupid to walk ten kilometers to our apartment. And it does use its phone on walks," Klara said, "It likes to look up things it sees outside for fun. And tell random facts about them."

"Well, hm... maybe it's just enjoying a bit more coffee than he was going to?"

"I don't know. But I have a bad feeling," she muttered and stopped the car. "Do you have access to all the active protocols in projects?"

"There's different kinds of them? Hang on, let me see," Jay took out his tablet and opened the table. After scrolling for a moment, looking for the filters or onformation, he closed the device and shook his head. "Only the public for all workers ones."

Klara stared out of the window for a moment, then suddenly hit the steering wheel with her hand, while yelling, "Fuck!" She took a deep breath and leaned on the wheel. "Ugh. Okay, hm. Can you check how far the cafe is from here? Like, do we have time to stop by for a moment and see what's up?"

"Sure. It's a... six minute ride! I'll drop the coordinates to the car," he swiped the file on his screen, "And, well, I'm sure Sarah will understand if we're late from the meeting. It's not like she can handle everything by herself."

"God, thank you so much," she pressed on the screen to switch gps on and continued to drive.

---

The cafe had barely any people there, with two middle-aged men sitting outside on the terrace and a few others inside. One of the men winked at Jay and the other one giggled a bit as he and Klara entered the cafe.

"Excuse me, hi!" Klara waved at the barista, "Can you help me with something?"

"Sure," they nodded and leaned closer, putting the towel and the half-wet cup on the counter, "Can I get you something?"

"No," she said quickly, before Jay could say something else, "Have you seen this person?"

"I am sorry, but answering this goes against the cafe's privacy rules."

"I have this person's permission to know."

"I am sorry, but answering this goes against the cafe's privacy rules."

Jay smirked. "Well, you could skip the rules, this one time?"

The barista looked at him for a moment, before replying, "I am sorry, my programming does not allow me to," they paused for less than a second, and continued with a recording of Jay's voice, "'skip the rules.'"

Klara covered her face with her arms. "Why did they make the robots obey laws so strictly..." she muttered, and quickly glanced at Jay opening his mouth to reply, "Not even a word about robot uprising."

The robot stood quietly for a moment, before asking, "Can I do something else for you?"

"I'll have a cappucino," Jay said, ignoring Klara's glaring, and waved his wrist in front of the counter. "12 universal credits... How does you wife have money to hang out here so often."

The barista smiled and said, "Got it, be right back!"

Klara looked at him. "If you even think about getting into my car with a cup of coffee-"

"Don't worry, don't worry, I'll drink it here. Though, I did see an empty smoothie cup beneath the passenger seat."

"That was Toby's frappé, actually."

"Ah, of course it gets to ignore the rules," Jay thanked the barista that gave him his cappucino, and continued, "Wait, why was it under passenger seat?"

"Won't you want to know that, you nosy litt-" she stopped mid-sentence. "That table outside. That's its leather jacket on that chair."

Jay followed her outside and stopped by the table. "Maybe it forgot about it?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Tobias would never forget its favorite jacket."

The two men sitting by the other table looked at them. One of them, the one with a red scarf, and who originally winked at Jay, asked, "Are you two looking for something?"

"Huh?" Klara stared at them for a moment, "Un, yeah. How long have you been sitting here?"

"Since the morning!" The other man said, "We're celebrating Peter's," he pointed at the man with red scarf, "divorce here. And seeing how many people he'll manage to stop and talk to by winking. That's how Petey met his spouse. I'm Mark, by the way."

"Speaking of, does this one count?" Petey asked and frowned a little when his friend shook his head.

"Uh, alright, um. Have you seen this person?" Klara showed them a photo of Tobias, "Um, without the cat, though. I'm pretty sure it left her home."

"Oh, hey, we sure did!" Mark nodded. "Short little butch, right? The one with these big brown eyes with this...tender gaze. And a smile. You remember the one, right, Peter?"

"Ooooh yeah! It had this fluffy white sweater on a blue shirt. I complimented the sweater and it said that it actually belongs to its wife. That it likes wearing when it's feeling anxious or sad. Its wife must be a lucky gal."

Klara felt a lump in her throat and hugged the jacket tighter. "Do you, um- Can you tell me what it was doing here?"

Mark nodded. "Sure! First it stopped by to talk to us, then it went inside to get a latte-"

"And a cookie!" Peter added.

"Right. Or maybe two cookies, even. Anyway. Then it went to sit by that one table and waited. What book was it reading?"

Peter had almost answered when Jay intereupted, "A bit less details, please. We're in a hurry."

"Well, okay then! Where was I- oh, right. It was waiting by the table until this man, strawberry blonde hair, greyish eyes. Had this blue jacket, like that one corporation's ads. The one that does all kinds of meds."

Peter muttered, "I think it does more than meds."

While Mark answered him, Jay leaned to Klara and whispered, "That sounds like Archie, the guy whom Samuel appointed as the new lead chemist on the project."

"Makes sense. Tobias said that it needs something from its friend at work."

"Now you don't think it's collecting evidence. do you? You know what that mea-"

Mark cleared his throat. "Ahem. The guy went to get iced tea first, then came back and sat next to this person you're looking for. They seemed to have a friendly chat. We didn't really listen to, but I did hear some talk about 'files' and 'project'."

"Your doe-eyed buddy also got a bit twitchy when the blonde arrived," Peter added, "it looked here and there every now and then, and paid a lot of attention to sudden noises."

"Please, it was like that even before that guy arrived. And did you see its big eyebags? Definitely made me believe into the 'anxiety' part."

Klara sighed. "Right, okay, hang on" she picked up an empty glass on Tobias's table, standing next to a cup with some latte still in it, and a half eaten cookie on it. She pushed away all the thoughts that tried to offer all the worst case scenarios explaining why they weren't finished, poured some water and drank the whole glass. "Alright. Let's get the most important question answered. When did they leave?"

The two men looked at each other. "Three hours ago, probably?"

"The robot didn't notice they left because of the jacket and never ended up taking their dishes away," Peter added while looking at the table.

"How did they leave?" Jay asked.

"Well, this person you're looking for, it said something like it's feeling sleepy or weird-" Mark began.

Peter interrupted him for a moment. "Actually, it said it was feeling strange."

"Yes, anyway. This other guy offered it to stand up and take a few steps, maybe that would help."

"Well, it did that and almost fell! Good thing the tables are sturdy, or else it would've fallen face first on the asphalt."

"Uh-huh. The blonde offered some help for it to stand up. As your person was muttering something about barely feeling its legs, or, hell, everything, a black car drove next to the cafe."

"A black car?" Jay asked, "Do you remember the car's license plate number?"

Mark looked up, then shook his head. "No. But it had this dark red stripe. And a red poppy flower."

Klara muttered something to herself and Jay asked Mark to continue.

"At first your buddy got a bit scared at the car, but the blonde man seemed to somehow calm it down and got it in the car."

Peter snorted. "I'm not actually sure he calmed it down. Looked more like the doe-eye was on a verge of losing his conciousness."

"Don't be ridiculous, Petey, why would it? It was probably just sleepy. It's not like we witnessed a corporate hostage situation or anything."

Klara and Jay exchanged glances. "Wow, okay. Thank you for your help," Klara managed to say and took out her phone. "Are you staying here for longer?"

Peter nodded. "Uh-huh, we still have two hours before the cafe closes at eight."

"Okay, well," she typed a small amount of money on the screen and stretched out her hand. "Here's for a few more cups."

The old man smirked and waved his wrist against hers. "Always happy to help, ma'am."

"Yeah. And good luck with finding this person of yours," Mark smiled.

"And happy divorce say to you," Jay murmured and waved them a good bye.

Klara and Jay walked back to the car.

Klara placed the leather jacket carefully on the passenger seat and stared at it for a moment, until Jack's voice brought her back from her thoughts. "You do know what this all means, right?"

She nodded, ignoring the feeling in her stomach. "We need to get to the lab building."

"Why do you think they are there?"

"The labs have a specific kind of nanobots that effectively gets rid of all kinds of biological substances," she explained, "Officially it's to make the scientists' lives better. In practice it also makes it easier to deal with some problems that occur, of which the corporation doesn't want others to know. Technically it's also against the corporate rules but no one bats an eye unless you complain to internal affairs."

"When you say problems, you mean something like whist-"

"Do not say that out loud."

"God, sometimes you're even more paranoid than your wife."

"It's good to have similar hobbies with your spouse."

"But you do understand what kind of status Tobias has right now?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Klara muttered, "Come on, let's go there. We're half an hour late from that meeting anyway. And call Mabel, please."

"Why?"

"I need to complain to internal affairs."

-------

taglist (reply/dm/ask in tags to be added or removed):

@spaceratprodigy @elvves @dekarios @aeducanthaig @edgepunk

@dickytwister @hiddenbeks @terendelev @tuntau @babylon5

@claudiawolf @velocitic @eluvixns

[mischief-lies-and-stories]

Immortal Thor #15 Reactions

K, Listen. I know this came out weeks ago, and #16 is out on Wednesday. It's been a busy month and a half for me. I moved, started back at work and my master's program. But I'm back now and ready for some Thor (technically. You know why I'm really here).

Spoilers for Immortal Thor #15

Shit, wait. I don't remember the last issue. Guess that's what I get for waiting 2 months.

Oh, yeah okay. Reread my notes. Thor took on the wheel and Nyx fucked somebody. Zeus, I think?

And Loki almost fucking died! And we were all just CHILL ABOUT IT!!!

Oh. He's a wrestler now.

Thor if you kill them I'll kill you.

FUCK!!

Ugh, fuck OFF Amora

No, but it's decided by me, and I say Burn the bitch and bring Loki home!

Eeeeeewwww get off him and GO. AWAY!

NO! GET OUT!

Yeah banish her or kill her. Don't be more lenient with her than Loki. I guess unless it is Loki. Fuck I hope it's Loki.

Hey wait, is that just Loki? I was thinking the scientist was Tony but they're too much of a twink for that

FUCK it better not be Loki

Am I supposed to know whose body Agger is driving?

(As you can tell I don't believe Thor's successfully banished Loki for a fucking second)

[kimerawrt]

Dannymay 2024, now with kitty paws!

Prompts from my AU, also in AO3

Day 2: Wish

“Hiss. Grrr. Meoeoew. Nyaaaa!”

“What the hell dude?!” Tucker frowned at his best friend.

The technogeek teen was holding his friend with a confused look in his eyes. Danny had transformed into a ghost cat to fight a ghost just before lunch, and came back after school was over. Tucker had grabbed the glowing blue cat with three eyes and hid with him in an alleyway. 

The teen didn't know why Danny had not transformed back to his human form, and now his friend was making a lot of cat noises that Tucker would never be able to figure out what they mean.

“Ugh, I wish you could talk” Tucker mumbled while making his way through the park. He needed Sam now, but she had gone home to care for her sick plants.

“Nya! Hiss!” Danny now looked upset.

“What?” Tucker forgot one of the rules about speaking a specific word in the park.

From the fountain, a beautiful ghost emerged. She turned towards Tucker and, with a mischievous smile, she spoke.

“So you have wished, so it shall be!”

The ghost then disappeared in a cloud of pink smoke that covered half of the park for a few seconds.

“Cough, Cough! What the hell is in that smoke?! It smells like my grandma’s perfume” Tucker coughed a little.

“Como sea, eso no es importante” Danny said.

“Huh?!” Tucker looked at his best friend that was now talking. In Spanish.

“Tuck, mi amigo! ¡Tengo hambre! ¡Alimentame!” Danny exclaimed but Tucker looked blankly at the blue cat.

“Dude, Danny. I know Esperanto not Spanish”

“¡Tuck, aun no he almorzado y tengo hambre!” Danny gave Tucker a pleading look.

“Oh right! Wait a second” Tucker got an idea. He took his PDA from his backpack and opened the translation program he had installed some time ago in case another ghost like Wulf appeared and they didn't know the language.

“Ok done! You can speak now dude” Tucker was feeling proud of his quick thinking.

“¡Tengo hambre!” Danny exclaimed into the PDA.

“I'm hungry!” the robotic voice of the machine sprouted.

“…” Tucker looked at Danny with a deadpan face.

“¡Alimentame!”

“Feed me!”

“… why do I think that's what a normal cat would say?” Tucker was wondering if he just grabbed a normal ghost cat and not his friend.

“¡Tucker!” Danny whined.

“Tucker!” the machine repeated.

“Fine, fine. You are Danny and we are going to Sam’s house so she buys us some Nasty Burger” Tucker said with a smirk. There was no way he was not going to show Sam this.

“¡Oh, buena idea Tuck!” Danny nodded while purring.

“Oh, good idea Tuck! [Noises of contemptment]” the machine sprouted.

--------

not translated spanish: "Whatever, that's not important" "Tuck, my friend. I'm hungry! Feed me!" "Tuck I haven't had lunch yet and I'm hungry!"

[milarqui]

Scarlet Lady: Prime Queen

Directory | Robostus

Scarlet Lady: Prime Queen

Lila observed the bouncing girl, slightly worrying how she would survive the night, while she kept the phone close.

“Thanks for hooking me up with this babysitting gig, Marinette,” she told her classmate. “I need some cash for Mme. Bustier's present.”

It had been a bit of a surprise that all of her classmates were actually into buying presents for their teacher – something she had never done before – but she really wanted to fit in with the rest of the class, and, well, when in Rome...

“No problem! I already had plans anyway,” Marinette replied. “You might want to record Mme. Chamack's new show tonight. Manon conks out at 8:30, so she'll probably miss half of it.”

“Ugh, an hour long interview with Scarlet Lady,” she complained. “Maybe Chat Noir and Marigold will tie her to the chair so she behaves.”

----

Marigold heard the soft laugh of her classmate and made a grimace.

“That's not a bad idea,” she muttered, as she started to break off the conversation.

It was time for... an interview.

----

“Live in 10 and no heroes, Nadja.”

“They'll be here, Arlette!” Nadja Chamack, TVi's star reporter, told her producer, trying not to sweat: regardless of her assurance, she knew something could still go wrong. “We're gonna break records tonight!”

“You better if you want to keep your prime time slot,” Harlette threatened, as per usual (the slot was coveted by most everyone at TVi and she had been lucky to present the idea for Face to Face and have it accepted). Still, she was certain she had what she needed for –

“Hey.”

“WAH!” Nadja involuntarily screamed as the couch that had been empty two seconds before now had two heroes happily sitting without a care. “How– where did you come from?!”

“Trade secret~” Marigold sing-sang, as Chat Noir leaned towards her with his hands on the table.

“Where's Scarlet Lady?” Nadja asked; while she wasn't strictly necessary for tonight's interview, she could help put the cherry on top of her hopes.

“Oh, she'll be here,” Chat Noir reassured her. “At the last possible second. But forget that, let's talk interview.”

Chat Noir jumped back and sat next to Marigold.

“Off the table topics: Identities. Miraculouses in reserve. Power ups–” Chat Noir counted, while the Bee Heroine looked amazed at him.

Wow, he's like a professional... almost like he's done this before... she thought.

----

“5 minutes, 35 seconds... 5 minutes, 33 seconds...”

Sweet almighty forces of creation (which she wielded on a regular basis), could Chloé get more self-absorbed?

“Chloé, just wait for the show to start with the others!” Tikki berated her.

“As if! I have to make a showstopping entrance worthy of my stardom!”

Never mind.

Every time she asked herself that question, Chloé just proved herself more than capable of saying 'yes'.

----

“Whatever. We don't need Scarlet Lady, we have the two that matter.” Arlette said. “Don't forget the goal, Nadja. Boost the ratings to max audience reactions. Make sure that red turns to green.”

Nadja briefly looked down at the electronic bracelet on her left wrist, currently showing a single red line, as a door slammed and a familiar red and black figure swung her way into the studio.

“Helloooo~ The star is here!”

“Scarlet Lady!” one of the cameramen exclaimed, as the aforementioned landed right next to the table.

“Nice of you to join us, Scar,” Chat Noir sarcastically greeted her, while Marigold sighed.

“As if you could start without me!” Scarlet Lady replied, unaware of how wrong she was in that regard.

----

“I'm Nadja Chamack, you're watching Face to Face!”

“Mommy!” Manon exclaimed, while Lila smiled. When she was calmed down, she was a little angel...

“For our first show, we have Paris' favorite protectors, Marigold, Chat Noir and Scarlet Lady!”

----

Elsewhere in Paris, the Césaires were watching the program with interest, as was a good part of the city. Most times, what they could see of their heroes outside the fight were brief moments before they had to leave, so the fact that they would be for a good hour on screen was interesting.

“Thank you for coming,” Nadja Chamack said.

“Thank you for having us, we're happy to be here!” Marigold replied, smiling.

----

“Ooo, Nadja, the Queen Bee is pleased,” Chat Noir teased.

“'Queen Bee'?” Marigold asked, looking at her partner. “Just how many nicknames do you have for me, Chaton?”

“Do you really want to know?” he asked in reply, grinning at her.

“Good evening, my loyal fans!” Scarlet Lady exclaimed, ignoring the conversation behind her as she hogged the camera.

“Um, please sit down,” Nadja asked as she moved on to the first part of her interview.

----

“We see you saving Paris, but we know next to nothing about you,” the reporter said as the camera focused on the heroes.

“Lucky you, you can ask anything!” Chat Noir replied with a smirk.

“Within reason,” Marigold added. “You never know who could be watching.”

Watching, indeed, Gabriel thought. If there was anything that he could exploit to achieve his objective, then he could well watch this asinine television program.

----

“How about some questions from your fans?” Nadja said, turning to a blank screen behind her. “Hello, caller!”

The screen, turned on, showing–

“Hi, Marigold and Chat Noir! I'm Alya~” their friend said, smiling and waving. “Would you give me an interview for the Ladyblog?”

As they saluted her with different ranges of awkwardness, Scarlet Lady glared at the screen.

“Excuse you, you've forgotten about me,” she said. “You know, the illustrious leader?”

“My followers are interested in the heroes of Paris, not you,” Alya said with a deadpan look.

“WHAT?!” Scarlet Lady yelled.

Nobody cared.

Instead, Alya turned the camera towards her twin sisters, standing next to their beds.

“Marigold! Chat Noir! We have a question!” Etta said.

“Yes?”

“When are you bringing back Koki Marina?” Ella asked.

“She was so cool!”

“I like her hair!”

Marigold smiled.

“Don't worry, girls, Koki Marina is a great hero and we'll definitely be calling on her again,” she replied.

“Yay!” the twins shouted, but then Ella looked at Alya with a curious face.

“Alya, why are you blushing?” she asked, and the camera turned around to show that, indeed, Alya was heavily blushing.

“ANYWAY!” the future journalist said, interrupting the conversation. “Remember to submit your Akuma sightings to the Ladyblog! And tune in for that future interview–”

“NEXT CALL!” Nadja shouted in an attempt to recover control of the situation. The screen stopped showing Alya and turned to show another girl the heroes knew well. “Welcome, caller!”

“Hello~” Lila said, and from a corner of the screen another face showed up.

“Hi mommy!” Manon said, and Nadja smiled.

“Hi sweetie,” she replied, as she silently gave Lila the cue to make her question.

“I'm Lila and I have a question for Marigold and Chat Noir.”

“What, nothing for your ex-best friend, you fraud?” Scarlet Lady said, laughing, while Marigold glared at her.

“Knock it off, Scarlet,” she warned, as Manon reentered the frame with the Marigold doll she had made for the little girl to play with, and Lila readied her question.

“What I wanna know is, how do you put up with Scarlet Lady when she's the worst?”

The heroes froze up at the blunt question, sweating as they tried to come up with something useful, while Scarlet Lady became incensed.

“How der you call in to slander my name and insult me?!” the red-suited girl yelled. “You're just mad I called you out for being the liar you are!”

Lila just stuck her tongue at her as she took a hold of Manon.

“Okay, that's enough!” Chat Noir shouted, sweating as he attempted not to show his true thoughts. “We all work towards the same goal of saving Paris and defeating Hawkmoth.”

“Scarlet Lady has a very important role ensuring we can all continue mostly unbothered by Akumas.

“So you put up with her because you have to, got it,” Lila 'helpfully translated' while Manon waved at the screen.

“Goodbye, caller,” Nadja cut off with a sigh.

“Nadja, get control of your show!” Arlette commanded. “Get to the scoop, now!”

Well, she had hoped to take a while longer to reach that point, but if she didn't act quickly she would lose the chance.

So she turned to Chat Noir and Marigold.

“Numerous fans think that on top of being a couple of superheroes, you're a 'couple', period,” she dropped, leaving them shocked. “Can you confirm it's true?”

“Huh?!” Marigold mumbled.

“What?!” Chat Noir shouted.

“Gross,” Scarlet Lady interrupted. “As if I'd ever be a couple with either of these sidekicks!”

Nadja gave her an awkward smile.

“I'm referring to 'Chatgold',” she said. “No one seems to care about your love life.”

“WHAT?!” Scarlet Lady yelled.

And, yes, nobody cared.

Chat Noir glared ahead at Nadja, while Marigold blushed, looking down.

“We're partners, doing our job,” the Black Cat Hero said. “No feelings involved.”

“That is a very personal, very inappropriate question,” the Bee Heroine added, clearly angry.

“The views are rising, don't let up! Time to give your evidence!” Arlette continued, pushing her to go forward with the plan.

“So then,” Nadja said, as the screen turned to show a still image of Marigold and Chat Noir kissing. “How do you explain these pictures?”

Chat Noir quickly recognized what it was from.

“Oh no.”

Marigold... didn't.

“WHAT?!”

Scarlet Lady...

“Oh, that.”

… didn't particularly care.

Marigold immediately jumped at her partner.

“When did THAT happen?!”

“I was reversing Dark Cupid's spell, I swear!” Chat Noir said, embarrassed. “I was saving you, not kissing you!”

“Then how about these?” Nadja continued, showing more images.

When she scratched him under the chin over his idea to capture Animan.

When she kissed him in the cheek to catch Glaciator unaware.

When he kissed her hand as he gave her the Tiger Miraculous for Juleka.

“Those are out of context!” Chat Noir yelled.

“Excuse me, the kiss?!” Marigold shouted, still stuck there.

“We're partners, friends! Of course we're going to be close, but–” Chat Noir shouted at Nadja, but Marigold...

“THE KISS!”

… had yet to comprehend everything that had gone on back then.

“OH KNOCK IT OFF ALREADY!!! I'm at my FUCKING limit!”

Everyone on the set turned to look at Scarlet Lady in shock.

“I can't believe you'd waste my time to speculate on my sidekicks' love lives, instead of focusing on what's really important – ME!”

True to form, she did the right thing for the wrong reasons.

“Of course we'll cover your exploits, Scarlet Lady,” Nadja said in a conciliatory tone, “as soon as your partners admit the truth–”

“This is the dumbest interview ever!” Scarlet Lady shouted. “We're leaving!”

Nadja just barely avoided dropping her jaw in shock.

“What?! You can't–”

“Sorry, but for once I agree with Scarlet Lady,” Chat Noir said, giving the presenter an ugly look as he helped an almost comatose Marigold leave. “This has been incredibly unpleasant and uncomfortable.”

“Wait! The show isn't over!” Nadja attempted to call out. “The fans will be disappointed if you don't answer–”

“No means NO, lady!” Chat Noir shouted at her, and the door to the set slammed shut.

----

The command to stop the program came a few seconds after the heroes (and Scarlet Lady) left, and Nadja collapsed to her knees, crying; it had been her best chance to make a program to rival everything else in the channel, and it had sunk within a few minutes.

“Welp, wrap it up, people,” a crew member said after no one started to move for a few moments.

“Do you think we'd have a better success rate if every show at our station wasn't live?” a camera man asked.

No one noticed the black butterfly flitting down towards Nadja Chamack.

At least, not until it was too late.

----

The heroes and their not-so-heroic companion had jumped to the roof of the studios, where the latter of the group proceeded to continue making her displeasure of the previous events known.

“The AUDACITY! What a HACK!” Scarlet Lady yelled. Chat Noir ignored her, instead approaching his partner, who was clearly saddened by the reveal of their kiss.

“Marigold! I'm really sorry!” he said, trying to fix his mistake. “You can punch me if you want–”

“It's fine,” she interrupted, but even he could tell it very well was not. “It was just because of the Akuma, right? It didn't mean anything. So let's drop it.”

Chat Noir tried to come up with something to reply, seeing how hurt she was, but –

“AND ANOTHER THING!”

– Scarlet Lady was still in her tirade.

----

At her house, Lila looked at Manon, who had fallen asleep just a moment before everything went to hell, and saw her being completely dead to the world.

“What a dumpster fire,” she muttered, thinking of how badly Manon's mother had handled the show – as well as Scar's reaction.

“Good evening! Welcome to your new show! I'm your hostess, Prime Queen!”

Lila turned to look at the screen... which showed Nadja Chamack, only this Nadja had deep red hair, fluorescent blue skin, and Tron lines over her dark blue clothing.

“... of course,” she grumbled. After everything, it wasn't surprising that she became Akumatized.

----

“Tonight, Marigold and Chat Noir disappointed their fans by refusing to admit they're a couple in love!”

For once, Chat Noir, Marigold, and Scarlet Lady shared the same opinion on what they were just watching.

“You've got to be kidding me,” they said in unison.

----

“We'll see how far they'll go to hide the truth!” Prime Queen continued – and the screen behind her showed...

“Huh?!” Lila said, shocked. The studio screen was somehow showing her, as seen from her TV screen!

Which, of course, was the point when the Akumatized villain pushed her hand through the screen – and, as if it were an American horror film, Prime Queen's hand was suddenly coming out of her TV!

“What the heck, why ME?!” she complained as she tried to dodge the hand of doom.

Unsuccessfully.

----

“Welcome to the Subway of Suspense!” Prime Queen declared, showing a speedometer to the side, while a column to the side was filled to about a fourth of its size. “If it reaches 100 km/h, you can say goodbye to Scarlet Lady's former best friend!”

“Nadja, you idiot, you just kidnapped your babysitter!” Lila, tied up in cables, screamed at the Akumatized reporter – who ignored her.

“Will you dare to go through the screen to save your dear little Lila?”

Scar scoffed.

“As if I'd get my nails dirty for the superliar.”

Chat Noir sighed. Knowing Scar as he did, it didn't surprise him. Nor did her reaction to him pointing out the obvious.

“It's being broadcast live,” he said.

“Out of my way!” Scar shouted, ignoring the dismissive glares from both heroes as they jumped behind her.

----

Landing into the now moving metro car, the tiny screen at one end showed Prime Queen, looking with way too much interest at them.

“You're going to be the stars to the biggest audience record in TV history!” she declared. “Rules are simple! You admit the truth, that you're a couple in love, and I'll stop the subway!”

“A forced confession is as good as a false confession!” Chat Noir angrily shouted back, furious that she was trying to force something that was untrue.

“I want my scoop!” Prime Queen yelled; much like every other Akuma, she was looking for Number One.

“Seriously, why does anyone even care about this?!” Marigold said.

“If it helps, I care more about the 'not crashing' part,” Lila added from the floor.

Marigold sighed, and began to blush as she spoke.

“Fine, Prime Queen. I confess. I am in love with Chat Noir.”

“Oooo! Saving their fan by admitting their true feelings! The news is going crazy~!”

“Good thinking with that lie, Goldie!” Chat Noir whispered as she looked his way... but then she looked away.

“Superheroes don't lie, Chaton,” she whispered back.

And then he began to blush, as he realized what she meant by that.

“What a sweet gesture!” Prime Queen continued, simpering, as the bar to her right filled up to half. “But! The audience isn't breaking records yet! You'll have to do better than that~!”

As the heroes patently held onto their wish to roll their eyes at the goalposts being moved, Prime Queen gave a little clap.

“Oh, I know! To prove your feelings are authentic, you need to take off your masks! To do so, give me your Miraculouses!”

“Gross,” Scarlet Lady interrupted. “I'm not in love with either of these cretins. And I will do no such thing!”

Prime Queen made a grimace.

“Oh, I forgot you were there.”

“YOU–!”

Clearly unwilling to give up, the Akumatized villain jumped through a screen that took her to the Louvre museum, and then reached through another, grabbing someone else and tossing them into a sarcophagus.

“On to the next segment, dear viewers!” Prime Queen declared, showing her newest victim was–

“ALYA!” Marigold said, terrified.

“Marigold! Please, help me!” Alya – tied, trapped, helpless – begged before Prime Queen slammed the sarcophagus shut. “Ow!”

“Oops! Isn't that the girl who runs the Ladyblog?” Prime Queen maliciously said. “Better hand over your Miraculouses before your biggest fan is mummified!”

“Uh, why should I save her after she snubbed me–” Scarlet Lady muttered.

“Hurry up so I can go back to my room!” Lila interrupted her, shoving her through the screen.

“AH–!”

Marigold and Chat Noir jumped through as well...

“This isn't the Louvre!” the Bee Heroine exclaimed; instead of the museum, they had landed into a freezer room.

“She trapped us in!” Chat Noir added as the screen behind them changed to show Prime Queen's face.

“You got that right!” the villain replied. “Last chance, heroes! Take off your Miraculouses or your biggest fan will take a dip in the Seine!”

“NO! ALYA!” Marigold shouted again, trying to look for something that would help stop the Akumatized villain.

“Don't keep the public waiting~!”

“So what.”

Chat Noir and Marigold turned to look at Scarlet Lady, shocked.

“SCAR!” Chat Noir yelled.

“What? I'll bring her back when we win, so what's the big deal!”

----

“The 'big deal' is that that's seriously messed up, Scarlet!” Marigold shouted.

The other big deal was... well, it was being broadcasted live.

And hundreds of thousands of Parisians were watching.

And they just had seen and heard the so-called 'heroine of Paris' demonstrate a complete lack of regard for a potential victim's death.

And through many minds went one thought.

Is she what we thought she was?

----

Besieged by glares from the other two, Scarlet looked away.

“Oh fine, you big babies: Lucky Charm.”

As she saw the object Scarlet had summoned – a roll of tape – Marigold quickly came up with an idea.

“This'll work,” she declared, picking an empty pizza box – from the same pizza shop where Luka worked, even – and pulled it apart.

And put it on top of the screen, while Chat Noir (who had quickly seen the plan) grabbed the tape and fixed the spread box to the screen.

“Wuh–What's going on?! Why can't I see?!” the villain shouted.

“Too bad, Prime Queen,” Chat Noir said, grinning, as he stood to one side of the screen. “We think we will take off our Miraculouses.”

“And we will reveal our identities!” Marigold taunted.

“You just won't get to see it~!” both of them finished in unison.

“They'll probably make out too,” Scarlet added.

“No, Scar,” Chat Noir added, ready to move as soon as the villain fell for the trick.

“You better not be lying,” Prime Queen said, confirming she had swallowed the bait, and she punched through the screen and pizza box.

Which a prepared Marigold was all too happy to take advantage of.

“Venom~”

“Cataclysm! Free with one freezer exit,” Chat Noir said as he destroyed the freezer's door.

“The fact that that worked was embarrassing,” Scarlet Lady said as Marigold pulled the paralyzed Prime Queen into the freezer.

“Who's the idiot here, her or Hawkmoth?” Marigold rhetorically asked.

----

Once more, everything was fixed through the use of the Miraculous Cure, save for Scarlet Lady's entitlement and reputation, and... the situation between Paris' heroes.

“Marigold, I–”

“Chat Noir, I know we're just good friends and partners, you don't have to–”

“NO!” Chat Noir interrupted. “Goldie, you're AMAZING! And kind and wonderful and the best partner ever!”

“Chat, please, just don't–” Marigold begged, struggling not to tear up in front of her friend.

“I mean it! It'd be easy to fall for you, but --” and here Chat Noir began to blush, “but I'm already in love with Marinette Dupain-Cheng!”

Marigold completely blanked out at hearing those three words, and slowly turned to look at her partner.

She must have misheard something.

Or she had just gone temporarily crazy.

Because there was no way the boy she loved just said he was in love with her civilian self.

“Wuh... buh...” she babbled as she tried to make sense of it.

“You might not know her since I had her swear to stay out of fights around the time you joined the team,” he continued, completely unaware of the storm he was causing in her mind, “but she completely captured my heart! But since I see her everyday as 'myself', I can't just forget her! If you met her you'd get it!”

Marigold's eyes widened, and her blush intensified. What Chat Noir had just said... it really sounded like...

“The two of you are so alike, it's almost as if–”

Whoa, time to cut it off.

“AHAHAHA! You know what?!” Marigold interrupted, smiling. “She sounds awesome and you should totally go for it. Anyway, gotta go!”

“HUH?!”

And, as Marigold left, Chat Noir was left looking at her, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

----

Finally back at home, she watched at the now snoring little girl on her bed, making her pout.

“Wow. Amazing what people sleep through,” she muttered, before putting the covers over her again and moving to another room so she could check her computer without disturbing Manon.

Just in time to receive a call request.

Opening the screen, she quickly accepted.

“Yo!” Alya said, smiling and waving. “Glad you're safe!”

“You too,” she replied, returning the smile. “I guess the Cure has more heart than Scarlet Lady.”

Alya's face turned thunderous.

“She was gonna let me drown! She's dead to me!” she yelled, before shaking her head and breathing deeply. “Prime Queen sorta had a point with these views. Too bad for her they're all on my blog.”

“Seriously? That many people care about the imaginary romance between coworkers?” Lila asked, opening the Ladyblog and seeing the comments.

“Mostly people are split between ship wars, and freaking over Scarlet Lady,” Alya replied, and Lila could tell it was quite the understatement.

DING!

“Huh? An email?” Alya said, opening it – and she squinted at the contents. “You've got to be kidding me.”

“What is it?”

“Nadja Chamack just invited me to be a guest on her new show, 'Side by Side'.”

Her jaw dropped.

“All that melodrama over her dumb show being cancelled and they just handed her a new one?!”

----

“What a looong day, come to me my love~” Plagg sang, hugging a piece of Camembert cheese, but Adrien paid little mind to him, instead going over of what just happened. Which the Kwami noticed. “Uhh, what's got you thinking so hard?”

“Marigold... her reaction was strange.” He turned to him. “Her mood completely changed when I mentioned Marinette. And not in the way you'd expect if she was jealous... is it possible... that Marigold could be...”

Plagg began to sweat.

“Oh, no,” he whispered.

He really didn't want to face Tikki if his boy realized the truth.

----

“WOOHOO~!” Marigold said, landing on her terrace as she changed back to her normal self, letting Pollen come out.

“What a wonderful revelation!” the Kwami said, clapping with her little arms. “Chat Noir is in love with 'you', my Queen! Aren't you happy?”

“Sure, but, uh...” she replied, shrugging, confused. “What did he mean he 'sees me everyday as himself'?”

----

Zombizou

@zoe-oneesama Finally reached the end of Season 4! Let's see how much I manage to do before you end the story...

Also, we're at 498 pages, 199,063 words, 1,073,925 characters!

[catindabag]

TBOSAS on Crack short take (29)

*When the Tributes finally discussed the Mentorship Program after the Zoo Fiasco* Read [This] first.

Facet: Yesterday was kinda crazy.

Velvereen: Crazy?! Those Capitol losers were freaking hilarious!

Marcus: Says the one who didn’t need to clean up their Mentor’s mess.

Velvereen: To be fair, none of those four freaks were assigned to me.

Marcus: Well then, Velvet, I hope you get the worse one.

Velvereen: It’s Velve- Why am I even correcting you?! Your Mentor is a stupid drunk idiot!

Marcus: Ha! I pray your Mentor is an unhinged psycho who will feed you expired food.

Velvereen: You little sh-

Facet: Why are you two even fighting?! And why was that last part weirdly specific?!

Panlo: Yo, let’s trade Mentors!

Marcus: Does anybody want to take mine then?! I’m literally ready to sell his soul to anyone-

Lamina: But Marcus, your Mentor was clearly loaded with food and money.

Panlo: Yeah! You’re so lucky! Your Mentor was even generous to give me a second ham sandwich.

Brandy: Pablo, why didn’t you save me some?!

Panlo: For the last time, Brandy, my name is Pan-

Brandy: I don’t care!

Lucy Gray: And his boyfriend even gave me a rose! What a cute looking gentleman!🤭

Jessup: Are you sure about that, Lucy Gray?

Lucy Gray: What do you mean?

Jessup: Well, last time I checked, that Snow Angel was stupidly drunk and embarrassing himself in front of Treech.

Mizzen: He and his friends were also busy crying and hugging Reaper all the way here!😂

Reaper: Ughhh! Don’t remind me!

Coral: Lucky indeed. My half-naked Mender-

Teslee: Mentor.😀

Coral: *glares at Teslee* My stupid Mender only gave me this useless cheesecake coupon.

Brandy: What’s a coupon? Is it edible? Can I eat it?

Jessup: At least Vitamin Girl gave me these sparkly pills.

Panlo: Are you sure those things are safe to digest, 12?

Jessup: Don’t know. Don’t care.

Lucy Gray: They might as well taste like candy.

Facet: I just hope my Mentor is rich enough to feed me.

Teslee: Can we stop thinking about our Mentors for a moment? You’re all just making me nervous.

Lucy Gray: Don’t be so giddy, Teslee. We haven’t even met all of them.

Teslee: You’re just happy you already met your stupid Mentor! Plus he’s pretty!😫

Lucy Gray: And very much taken.

Velvereen: His super rich boyfriend is so clingy though.

Tanner: Well, I wish I had a super rich glucose guardian who would spoil me rotten too.

Facet: Same. But I want mine to take me shopping and buy me expensive jewelry.

Lucy Gray: Why the jewelry though?

Facet: Because I have standards.

Circ: Well, I just want someone as smart as me.

Jessup: Please stop. I don’t want to hear any of your fantasies while I’m still alive and breathing.

Reaper: Ugh!! Why did they even let a bunch of kids mentor another bunch of kids?!

Treech: Honestly, I couldn’t and wouldn’t care less.

Lucy Gray: Yup. Capitol people are weird.

Coral: Says the weirdest one.😒

Lucy Gray: Hey! Stop bullying Reaper!

Reaper: She’s not talking about me, Baird. She’s talking about you.

Lucy Gray: No, she ain’t!

Coral: Yes, I am!

Treech: Why are you guys even fighting? You should be more concerned about our dwindling food supplies.

Velvereen: Well, we could just save the cookies that Blondie and his rich boyfriend gave us for the next few days-

Mizzen: I already ate all of mine and Coral’s. So-

Coral: Mizzen, you little gremlin, how could you?!

Mizzen: They were delicious!

Coral: They were my evil Capitol cookies! Not yours!

Mizzen: Sharing is caring!

Coral: You never share, you evil gremlin!

Tanner: Well, I think the people in charge should at least feed us while we’re here.

Dill: *coughs* I think our Mentors will take care of that problem.

Hy: *coughs* I just hope my Mentor is rich enough to give me medicine.

Sheaf: I hope mine can steal me some Capitol sweets.

Brandy: I want to eat cake.

Panlo: Just don’t expect someone normal then. You might as well end up working with a Kleptomaniac who steals puppies for a living.

Reaper: Or a freaking Ravinstill.

Tanner: One of the President’s family members?! Never!

Dill: *coughs* Imagine working with a crazy Ravinstill.

Coral: Honestly, I would rather die of embarrassment if a stupid Ravinstill was assigned to me.

Dill: *coughs* Same.

Bobbin: I would literally take anyone else at that point. Heck! I would take one of those four drunks to be my Mentor.

Jessup: Shut up, Bobby! We get it already.🙄

Bobbin: It’s Bobbin!😠

Mizzen: No need to fight. Besides, we just have to wait and see by tomorrow.

Lucy Gray: Yeah! Let’s hope for the best!

Reaper: *is aggressively praying* Please, Panem, for once, I beg you to give me the normal one!😫🙏

Tanner: The normal one?

Reaper: And please don’t give me a Ravinstill! Give it to Dill for all I care!😭

Dill: *coughs* I heard that!😠

*Meanwhile, at the President’s Mansion*

Felix: *sneezes*🤧

Androcles: What’s wrong, Class Pres? You have been sneezing nonstop since late afternoon.

Felix: I came out to work on my essay today, but honestly, I’m feeling so attacked right now.

Androcles: That’s rough, buddy.

Felix: Wait- How did you get in here? And why are rolling in my freaking bed, Andie?!

Androcles: What do you mean? I always come here after school.

Felix: But I didn’t even invite you?

Androcles: You don’t need to invite me. I have your house keys.

Felix: You stole the Presidential House Keys?!

Androcles: You gave them to me.😀

Felix: I don’t remember giving you my- Andie, did you steal those Keys from the President of Panem?!

Androcles: Felix, my bestie, just accept the fact that we’re fundamentally married already!😘

Felix: We’re not even a couple-

Androcles: We have been bromantic boyfriends since the moment you won the class election.

Felix: Says who?!

Androcles: Says everyone but you, Class Pres~.😏

[squishbee]

Gorgeous 🍎 (Vil x reader song ficlet thing)

now playing:

Gorgeous - Taylor Swift

0:01 ❍─────── 3:32

🎵You should take it as a compliment that I'm talking to everyone here but you 🎵

You and Grim managed to bring all the dorms together to have a party. There wasn’t a specific reason it was just a fun thing you wanted to do. You bribed Grim to hand out invitations to all the dorm leaders in exchange for tuna. Out of all the breathtaking men there, one in particular had your interest in his grasp. Vil Schoenheit

🎵If you've got a girlfriend, I'm jealous of her. But if you're single that's honestly worse. 'Cause you're so gorgeous it actually hurts 🎵

You haven’t had many interactions with the Pomefiore leader yet so you didn’t know much about him, besides general info everyone knew. You hoped he didn’t belong to someone already, but you would be shocked if he didn’t.

🎵 Ocean blue eyes looking in mine. I feel like I might sink and drown and die 🎵

You must have been staring at him for too long, because he felt it. He turns and captivates your gaze with his eyes. After a few long seconds of looking into each other, he gives a slight polite smile.

🎵You're so gorgeous, I can't say anything to your face 🎵

Should you go over and greet him? It would be normal to do since you are the host of the party. His beauty is just so intimidating.

🎵 And I'm so furious at you for making me feel this way. But what can I say? You're gorgeous 🎵

Ugh, how dare he have such charming looks. It almost feels like a crime. Feeling so torn, unsure how to converse with him. Just do it. Worst he can say is no, right? Rejection sure is scary though.

You walk up to him and give somewhat of a friendly bow. “I’m so glad you and your dorm decided to come. I hope the party is to your liking.” You tell him. You were so nervous in the back of your mind. “It is quite nice, but could use some more purple decorations.” He says half serious-half jokingly. “Well, I’ll try to remember next time.” You say with a laugh

🎵You make me so happy, it turns back to sad, yeah. There's nothing I hate more than what I can't have🎵

He’s a celebrity. What chance do you even have with him romantically? Thoughts like that eating you up inside change the moment to bittersweet. After the small interaction, you went back to hanging out with your friends, Ace and Deuce. You weren’t sure how to keep going after squashing your own confidence, so you left things short and polite.

🎵Guess I’ll just stumble on home to my cats alone🎵

After Ace and Deuce helped you clean up once the party was over, you and Grim headed back to the Ramshackle dorm. It was more like your home than a dorm at this point, since you had nowhere else to go.

You did your nightly routines then laid down in bed. When sleep was about to take over, your phone dinged. It was from Vil (all of the students numbers are programmed in your phone in case you need help).

Vil: You’re so gorgeous💜 I can’t say anything to your face

Was this him texting a confession?

You: Huh?

Vil: I’m sorry if this seems out of nowhere, but you intrigue me. Getting to talk to you face-to-face, even briefly, makes me want to know you more.

It seems you weren’t the only one unsure how to speak at the party today.

You: Wow. I was feeling the same way. That’s why I barely said anything because I was nervous 😳

Vil: Well if you’d like to get over that nervousness, hang out with me tomorrow. I know a good coffee spot

You: I’d love to that sounds so fun

Vil: See you tomorrow then,

gorgeous

[aita-blorbos]

Hypothetical Question, I think?

AITA for 'mistreating' the characters in my games?

God, I can't believe I'm even writing this. This feels so dumb.

I'm in pretty hot water with the public right now, so I'll keep things as vague as possible. Don't make any assumptions who I am. You are definitely wrong. That guy has better things to do than be here and ask crazy questions.

Ever since I (Adult, m) was little, I've been developing games. I developed them by using a special program, Gameworks, this firm, GF, put out. My first game was a massive success, my second one (a sequel) was met with mixed reviews since many didn't like how radical it was. GF made me an offer to buy the rights and produce a third game.

Who in their right mind would refuse that? Obviously, I took the money. The third came crashed and burned. It was full of bugs and all that. A small part of me died when I saw what they did to the IP. But I couldn't hold onto it forever. I had bigger plans. Why should I care?

Anyway, I hired my chilhood friend C (Adult, f) to help me with game development. We both worked on female characters since she insisted i shouldn't have only male ones. But ever since she created hers, there were these weird bugs in my games...

Anyway, I started a franchise of fighting games (which I don't get nearly enough credit for btw). I bought the rights to one of my favorite characters and obviously added him to the franchise. (gamers were so annoying, constantly whining about how characters were overpowered, underpowered, boring, ugh)

I made a huge game after that, but it flopped on release. I even paid the biggest gaming streamer to play it, but it was all for nothing because C messed with the game! She left bugs in there to intentionally sabotage me! Her ego was just to big to stand in the shadow of my greatness. And since everyone saw everything go to hell live... it bombed.

I had to take the money that was left and make my next game completely on my own again. It was supposed to be my great comeback. But then those modders took my half-finished game and made a mockery of it! So I filed a lot of lawsuits to get them down!

Sorry, I'm rambling. I'll try to keep it brief from here.

I did start another series, a shooter, but the characters were just too old... a breach thankfully corrupted a lot of data.

My Gameworks Assistant has been acting weird since then, telling me I'm in danger. It's weird, but... I've been thinking a lot lately... what if the characters I created... live somehow? It sounds so dumb, but... I think I fucked up with one of my characters especially.

He was the main character of my very first game and based on a younger version of my grandpa. And when my second game ever made got insanely popular... I just wanted to get rid of the game so it made me look like a genius. So I let my Gameworks Assistant delete everything from that game.

I don't know, this all sounds so stupid and crazy, but AITA for mistreating my game characters?

[e1dritchqueer]

hi!!! id love to hear all about ur xcom characters:3 especially your rangers! ... I don't know what that is but id love if you told me!

okay okay okay my xcom sillies!!!! So context for xcom 2, after the first game the like... xcom program lost and this fascist alien organization takes over and xcom 2 takes the perspective of a resistance origination fighting against the aliens rather than like... a weird government project in xcom 1

So the big appeal for xcom 2 (TO ME) is dressing up all the characters and making them all cool and silly and seeing them grow (and sometimes die :( but this is my first playthough so I'm MEGA savescumming) and making them gay and making propaganda about it

All xcom characters are randomly generated so I try not to change much about their name and appearance UNLESS I want to transgender them

ANYWAYS

my rangers

Rangers are a really fun class in xcom bc they're like the melee guys and ugh they have a lot of cool mechanics, and unlike my other guys (like generic grenadier, generic grenadier. generic grenadier)

here they are (xcom has some very cool post making features :))) )

I realized this post is REAL long bc of photos so all of their details are below !!!

anyways, going by each one by one, starting with Sergio "Pathfinder" Valdéz

He was my first ranger and it def shows!!! He started off a bit silly but slowly he becomes swaggier

my favorite thing about him (apart from him being literally one of the most experienced fighters in my run) is that he's gay married to his alien bestie, Mox. Xcom 2 has a mechanic where soldiers can bond and do teamwork stuff but I was like nah they're gay now

anyways this is their beautiful evolution, I love them so much. Mox is an alien catman now I love him (bonus mox pic as a treat). Those two were also part of the group that took out one of the big bosses permanantly (chosen assasin) and now Pathfinder rocks their cool ass shotgun

also ugh I have so many screen shots of him

Kong "Jetstream" Guo

I only got another ranger till I was DEEP in the campaign but that was Jetstream!

I think I mostly sent him on covert missions until Pathfinder got REALLY taken out for a bit and like now gah I love him. Covert missions increase soldiers' stats and it really showed for him How he started out: (also if the poster tags aren't silly goofy that's bc xcom makes an automatic poster for each mission and sometimes I don't have a joke but the posters look nice/have good pics of the xcom guys)

Anyways I call him Jetstream bc while making his armor look all cool I realized I had accidentally made Jetstream Sam's armor so like????? slay!!! I literally just went with that. He specs really well into mele enow and has a special blade (the chosen assasin katana) that is REALLY good against armored mechanical enemies. Also like gah he's so good with that weapon, he took out like... three armored enemies in a single overwatch turn with that blade so like yeah... jetstream sam type guy.

I love that second image bc it was one of those auto generated ones bc it has this spooky quote and he's just like :)

Jane "CATastrophe" Kelly

Actually my first character but I never used her bc she's like... the only pregenerated character you have so for a while I didn't know what to do with her till I got this cat armor mod and was like "I know what I'm gonna do with her". Anyways she's an axe wielding catgirl for the resistance.

anyways she's slay I love her she wields two fusion axes and throws them at big robots she's really fun :>>>>

Anyways here's her throwing an axe at a sectopod

also I love her lil tail :3

Raine "Spectre" Elliot

Okay she was a weird little cis guy when I got her but I since turned her into a cool transgender half alien gal :>>>>

I gave her that cool lil mask and also gave her the Apex/Titanfall Ash voicelines bc like... idk felt with the vibe of that mask

She also has the WRAITH suit which allows her to phase through stuff so like she's very cool and ghost coded. Idk much else abt her yet but her bondmate is a cool sharpshooter lady and when that happened I was like "yeah slay okay they're girlfriends"

I have a lot of other xcom sillies (including literally ottacon) but this post is getting waay long. Thank you for the ask!!! I love my xcom sillies and love talking about them

[anewbeginningagain]

Ice dance takes:

The Taschlers were actually the most robbed team at Nepela, because their SS is top notch, they skated with great speed attack, and skated clean.

Z/K have a stronger MJ RD than L/L. Much love to Lala, but that music edit is a MESS, sometimes there's literally no music, they used barely any of the Thriller chorus, a million uber distracting sound effects. Z/K's isn't extraordinary but it functions, better allows for them to perform.

On the other hand Z/K's BatB is a huge miss, juniorish and also sort of generic and aimless. L/L's FD is so lovely, the first half is maybe a little sedate? But grows so much by the end, love the stationary lift variation, and the way they move and the pictures they make is just ugh gorgeous! Would have given them the PCS edge to medal over Z/K, with D/S obviously banished far from the podium lol.

G/Pa have a nice FD, they looked undertrained at Lombardia, hope they've been able to train well when they show up at SA. C/P have my favorite set of programs two seasons in a row, and they looked really good! I'm worried about if I.AM has the push for them.

For the most part, it looks like I or @macaroni-rascal wrote these takes LOL

Regarding Taschlers - I'm definitely a fan of their power and speed, I do have issues with their posture and underefinment though and I dislike their material this season. They (mostly her) generate speed by being in an angle to the ice and it's something that I personally find bothering.

Agree on Z/K's MJ RD being stronger than L/L's. Currently, Thriller is a miss for me for all the reasons you mentioned and I pray they will revamp it and the music edit until Skate America. I also told @macaroni-rascal that I think G/P(2) and CPom are at a risk since Z/K's RD has the potential to be a crowd favorite and in a place like US Championships sometimes it's all that matters. I also agree regarding Z/K's BoB FD being very bad, it's fake Disney drama in a super junior way with choreography that doesn't really do anything. A huge miss for me, especially compared to L/L's FD that when skated clean I can see it being successful.

G/P(2) looked undercooked in their challenger but their scoring was way more severe. Michael fell on the twizzles in the FD and they scored less than a 100, nepotism team did the same and scored 111 - in what world?! G/P(2) are way superior in every aspect (perhaps except for lifts, and that's only because in nepotism team he's used to carrying her around 99% of the skate). I liked G/P(2)'s FD, I think they have tons of interesting moments in it (perhaps too much for this point in the season and it might benefit from some editing) and I look forward to seeing it develop.

CPom do have one of the strongest pair of programs for the second year in a row and they've been looking really good. Will it be enough I'm not sure given the insane push for Igor's team and G/P(2) being favored by the judges compared to them. They are in for a massive fight that's for sure.

I also like W/L's RD - it's one of the better 80s RDs and they skated it today much better than a month and a half ago when they debuted it. I do have to say that so far most of the 80s RDs have been a huge dud.

[hughesgarnet]

the albums of my life in no particular order

#1 Greyson Chance's Hold On 'Til The Night (2011)

the very first physical album I've ever bought for myself, spent a month and a half saving up to buy this after my elementary graduation. i took care of it so much that the case broke LOL

fave song/s: Home Is In Your Eyes, Little London Girl (became my alarm ringtone!), Summertrain (adult me loved this), Stranded (my imaginative self imagined a whole MV for this song), Running Away (man this song resonates more to me as an adult PLS), Light Up The Dark, Fire (cover) (I love this cover sm!)

#2 One Direction's Take Me Home (2012)

the second album I bought! got the Yearbook Edition alongside Niall's cardigan from Penshoppe (both are still with me!!) LMAO this album reminds me so much of high school, so nostalgic. one of my classmates gifted me a folder filled with printed lyrics so I had every song memorized. i also remembered that I used to make jingles with some of the songs' tunes from this album!!

fave song/s: Change My Mind, Over Again (it enhanced my "rapping" skills LOL), Nobody Compares

#3 Taylor Swift's RED (2012) (linked is Taylor's Version!)

this album reminds me of my first and only vacation on my uncle's city, my Samsung GT-C3222 that was stolen when I was on my way home LOL. also I (still) have Myx Magazine Taylor Swift special edition filled with all her lyrics up until her Red album. also it reminded me of Cornetto!

fave song/s: State of Grace, The Lucky One

#4 5 Seconds of Summer's debut album (2014)

this reminded me of that specific* person LMAO whenever I listen to this album, I think of him and how he's doing, and if things were different, would we have a chance? EME LAMANG! anyways only the REAL ones that Heartbreak Girl and Try Hard sound different on this album compared to their pre-releases. my sister also loved this album, her fave is English Love Affair!

fave song/s: Heartbreak Girl, Long Way Home, Try Hard, If You Don't Know (I know it's not on the album, it's from Don't Stop EP BUT I love this song sm), Try Hard (the old version!! linking it below)

#5 Justin Bieber's Purpose (2015)

i remember asking for an illegally downloaded copy of this album along with One Direction's Made In the AM. both reminded me of my last year of junior high school and my old Nokia N8 phone (and the ringback tones of my classmates (and ex); it was either What Do You Mean or Sorry LOL)

fave song/s: No Pressure (on repeat!!), The Feeling

#5 BTS' Love Yourself 轉 Tear (2018)

when One Direction had their (FAKE!!) hiatus back in 2015, I never followed any musical artist so I embarked on my 2-year journey of being a Potterhead and a Dramione shipper LMAO I knew BTS since I was 13 but never really focused on them because I was busy focusing on 1D pls,, anyways this album has a great impact on me, I never knew that the first time I watched Fake Love's MV (with subtitles) that I would love them this much. (also, the track listing??? chef's kiss!)

fave song/s: 134340, Paradise, Love Maze, Outro: Tear

#6 BTS' MAP OF THE SOUL: PERSONA (2019)

this album reminds me of anything pre-pandemic. it was 2019, my dog just gave birth to three puppies (only one survived, which is Chimmy), I shifted programs and finally felt that everything was falling into place. it made me appreciate the color pink. everything was great.

fave song/s: Boy With Luv, Jamais Vu

#7 BTS' MAP OF THE SOUL: 7

i still can remember how everyone was so excited about this album. no, this isn't just an album, it was a milestone. 7 years for my one true 7. it was such a grand scale album, performance-wise, lyricism-wise, concept-wise, until hell broke loose.

fave songs: Interlude: Shadow, Black Swan (the orchestra version!!), UGH!, We are Bulletproof: The Eternal

#8 RM's mono. (2018)

ah. RM's mono. where should i start? is it possible for an album to see through your soul? i don't know. but this one did. and it became a source of solace. a warm embrace. even up until now, it's my very special friend.

fave song/s: everythingoes

(will put the continuation of this post on a reblog since I already exceeded my 10 audio/video URLs LOL)