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penwieldingdreamer · 2 years ago

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Fallin' in Love

Thank you all for the being patient with the long wait and still staying with the story. This one has gotten really long, so thanks everyone for participating in that little vote - if you want more of those, let me know. Now happy reading, let me know what you think of this part or if you want to be tagged 🥰💜

[fluff, cursing; long chapter ~3.7k]

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"Either fuck me or fuck off! I'm done being a charity project!" You pulled off your light sweater, throwing it on the couch next to you. This was what he wanted according to Becky, so you’d give it to him and be done with it, your heart and body bared.

"I'm not going to sleep with you, especially if you're drunk out of your mind. And stop spouting that shit about bein' a charity case. I told you 're not!"

Unshed tears gathered in your eyes, knowing he was right but with your clouded mind, would have none of it. "Then fucking LEAVE!"

And he did leave, slamming the door on his way out. But not before he told you to get your shit sorted out.

Again you had let Becky, your former best friend get into your head. But this time she didn’t just use words. No, she made sure to cut you deep. Publicly.

You weren't sure if Glen remembered Becky from the accident but you knew if he had and knew her to be acting towards you like she had, he probably wouldn't have smiled the way he did in the photo she had taken.

But that wasn't the problem.

No, she embarrassed you, telling the world you were a charity project for others. That no matter how hard you tried, you’d never have people wanting you for yourself. Because you were a people pleaser and a wallflower.

To top it off Becky made sure to show you that you'd never stand a chance with Glen - not that you'd ever get to be more than friends with him.

You could never compare to anyone, model or actress, that was part of Hollywood so why would someone like him bother to be with you. He deserved a woman that made him look good, not - well, not Hollywood-esque.

Standing next to him in the photo they looked like the next Californian power couple with Becky's perfect hair and body. You couldn't compare when you were new to the friend group and you couldn't compare now. She always got the guys and if she didn't after two cocktails she made sure she did take them home with her. That's how it went.

You should have seen the signs in the beginning, but you ignored them. Wanted to be part of the popular group even though you weren't in college but the same age as them. Now a few years later and another ruined friendship by your anger, you knew you needed to change it, needed to start to believe the girls and the one man that hadn't judged you in any way since he met you that night.

"Honeybee!" The pounding on your door pulled you out of your thoughts, finally making you look at the mess you made in your workshop studio. "Open up, we know you're home."

Greg…When the girls couldn’t reach you he was the one blowing your phone up with calls and messages.

Anger fueled rage had swept through you three nights before after Glen had slammed the door behind him. Your confidence already at a low point after what Becky did, you felt like whatever projects you worked on would never measure up to the expectations you had put on yourself. Because in that moment you felt like a failure. You weren't even able to get the one guy, that had shown interest in you, into bed but all you did was make him angry and tell him to leave.

"Hun, you've been MIA for three days now. We gave you time but we really got to talk." Gigi called from the other side, admonishing Greg for being so rude.

You waited, still sitting on your studio floor and watching the carnage you had caused. Metal and little gems littering the floor, designs partly ripped or crumbled. The girls knew where you had hid your spare key so they'd come in anyway, but you knew they didn't want to just barge in.

After some more debating and whining from Greg, you heard the familiar scratching of a key in the lock. "Hun, we'll come in, okay?"

You turned toward the small hallway, your home studio just to the left of your front door. Sniffling, you looked up at the model and the Lousianian actor. "He hates me." You sobbed, pulling your knees closer to your body.

Three days there had been radio silence - not just on your end. Both of you needed time but whenever you wanted to tell Glen how sorry you were your inner voice told you that he'd probably needed some more time to get his head in straight for his upcoming project, a new movie in Australia. Too far away to mend it with just an 'I'm sorry' text.

"Oh, babygirl." Greg shushed you, crouching down beside you and pulling you into his embrace. "He ain't hating you, Glen's just as upset as you."

“But he hasn’t called…or, or texted. We never went a day without a call or text.”

Gigi kneeled next to you, brushing away the stray tears. “Glen’s leaving for Sydney today. He’s been packing up the last few days.”

“He’s leaving…That’s today?!” You knew he was leaving, but with the fight you had completely forgotten time and dates. “I need to, need to tell him.”

Scrambling to your feet, you ran to the table in your hallway. Gathering your keys and shoes you made it to the front door before Greg and Gigi knew what had gotten into you.

“Honeybee! You need to stop.”

Shaking your head, you made your way to the sidewalk. Thankfully the next bus stop was only a few feet away, so if you were lucky you could catch the next bus into central LA and hopefully get to LAX on time.

Shaking their heads, both friends followed after you. “You’re not going to get there on time, you know that.” Gigi called, motioning to Greg to get his car around. “We’ll take you there and I’ll let Glen know you need to talk to him, but you need to calm down and get in the car!”

Taking a deep breath, you stopped. She was right - of course she was. It would take you hours to get to the airport and you’d not see the Texan for a while so you could apologize in person. Slowly nodding your head, you watched as Greg pulled up the car and both Gigi and you got in. You buckled up, holding on as the Lousianian actor sped off towards the man you had slowly fallen in love with.

Nearly an hour later due to traffic you finally arrived at LAX, jumping out of the car before it even stopped. Greg cried when he forcefully hit the breaks, Gigi glaring at him from her seat next to the actor. He just shrugged and shut it off before both followed you inside the building.

“I texted Glen, he’s still at the gate, but boarding will start soon.” she told him and kept their eyes out for you.

“Well, let’s get her there, so they can finally kiss and make up.”

Nodding, they spotted you heading for the airport security check. You had a head start and somehow it seemed people were just moving away to let you through. Stopping at the end of the queue, you tapped your foot impatiently. You had seen the Qantas flight to Sydney was ready to board and if they didn’t get a move on you’d never make it in time.

Taking a deep breath, you considered your options:

You could either wait and risk you'd not be able to apologize to Glen in person - because, yes he'd probably pay for a ticket to visit him, but he and those you considered close friends now had done so much already, and you yourself couldn't afford it. And an apology over text or call was just - Nope, not happening.

Or you could run up to the front, beg and cry so security would let you through and you could try your luck at getting to him before the take off.

Swallowing the lump in your throat, you squared your shoulders and put one foot in front of the other making your way to the female guard checking the bag of another woman.

Clearing your throat once you had reached them you earned a few outraged calls from passengers you had cut off. "I, sorry to bother you, but this is really important, I need to get through to the gates."

"Everyone needs to get there, darling." One passenger called from behind you while both women raised their eyebrows at you, shaking their heads.

Gigi and Greg had closed the distance to you, standing at the end of the queue and waiting for the chaos to unfold. There was nothing they could do but look out for you and hopefully not have you arrested.

"Listen, this is a matter of life and death, okay."

"As long as you're not on fire or bleeding from the inside out or whatever you need to wait like everyone else, I'm sorry."

Hands clenching into fists, you took a deep breath. This wasn't at all going like you had planned in your head. Chancing a glance at your friends, you considered just taking off but police and airport security would be on you the second you stepped around the woman.

"But I am!" You cried, unshed tears gathering in your eyes as they gave you a disbelieving look. "My heart is bleeding for the man about to fly off to Sydney, because I can't apologize for being a bitch to him and for not telling him that I've fallen in love because I let the words from someone who I thought was my friend. So please, just let me get to the gate. I promise I'll pay for any inconvenience, just let me get to him and fucking tell him I love him."

Greg and Gigi whooped from the back, grinning like kids in a toy store. You finally admitted it and they knew it was going to be fine in the end.

"Come on, let her get her Prince Charming, so we can get to our own flights!" Someone called and an elderly couple in the front nodded eagerly. The female guard watched you closely, keeping her hand on her walkie talkie, debating what to do. She knew if she let you go her boss was going to have her head, but seeing you standing there, tears about to fall and causing you more heartbreak. "I…you need to promise…this is not a romance movie, you come back here as soon as you told him. Seeing as you don't have a bag or anything with you, I'll let you go."

A broad grin spread over your lips. "Thank you, thank you so much." You mumbled, throwing your arms around her before hurrying off, your friends throwing up their arms in triumph, laughing and calling after you.

"Go get 'I'm, Honeybee!"

You chuckled, chancing a glance at the flight board so you still had the right gate. It wasn't too far from security check but the amount of time you stayed in the queue they might as well already have taken off. Willing your legs to move faster, you ran to the boarding zone, barely avoiding other passengers still lounging in the take off area.

You could see the empty seats at the gate before you got there, the flight attendant still calling for one missing passenger. Feeling your heart plummet, you grabbed your phone from your Jean pocket, fumbling to reach Glen’s number so you could call him. Maybe he still got the time to talk.

Maybe, he was the one still missing boarding - you hoped he would be.

Finally getting the contact, you pressed call, swallowing the lump of anxiety that had made it hard for you to breath. "Glen?" You desperately called when you heard a click on the other line, hoping to hear his deep voice that usually sent butterflies cursing through you but you only reached voice mail.

"H-Hey, I, it's me," you sniffled, brushing a stray tear of your cheek. "I'm, uh, I'm at the airport, at your gate b-because I wanted to apologize for being a bitch. A-and you're not here and I guess it's my own fault, because you deserve better but I guess, I just wanted to tell you that you were right all along. I was letting her get in my head and you've been there for me because you're my friend. And, and I w-wanted to tell you that I love you. I guess I had for a while but I didn't think you'd feel the same so I kept quiet about it. I hope you'll have an amazing time in Australia and hopefully you'll still want to talk to me once you get back."

Taking a deep breath, you felt the tears no freely running down your face, snot clogging your nose and you felt anything but pretty. "I love you, Glen and I'm sorry." You let out a sob, your head hanging in defeat that you didn't even get to see him before he'd be gone for the next few months filming in Australia.

"Young man?" An elderly woman called to him as he put away his carry-on, reminding him a lot of his late granny. "Your phone's been ringing a few times now."

Looking down he saw the missed calls he'd gotten. Two from Greg and Gigi, three from you followed by a voicemail. "Thanks." He mumbled, sitting down in his booth next to hers.

Taking a deep breath he opened the voicemail, listening to your labored breath and quiet sniffles. "I love you, Glen and I'm sorry."

"Shit." The Texan mumbled, running his hand over his face, breathing deeply in and out. The flight was delayed as they were still waiting for one more passenger but he still hadn't shown up. If he was fast enough he could get out and get to you - if you were still there, your last call had only been two minutes ago. Shaking his head, he sprung up from his seat and moved to the front of the plane. First class wasn't too full, so he was lucky to not have to weave through too many people.

"Sir, you should take your seat again, we're nearly ready for take off."

"You're still waiting for one passenger who still hasn't shown up, if he doesn't you'll have to get his luggage off the plane again due to security reasons. The woman I love just somehow gotten to the gate only to find it empty. If I'm not getting off this plane right now to tell her I love her I won't get another chance to do it."

She bit her lip, turning to her fellow attendee with a questioning look. He just shrugged and Glen had to pull out all the stops he could, resorting to acting his way off the plane. "Listen, I know you got your timeline and all that, but it's the first time in a while that I truly felt a connection to her. She was in an accident and had the weirdest dream where she thought I was her boyfriend. She's an absolute movie nerd and god, just listening to her rant about something with so much passion, there's no way you can't fall in love with her. I think she's the one, but she won't be if I can't get back there and tell her."

"Goodness, deary, just let him get off or he'll look like a kicked puppy all the way to Sydney." The old woman called from behind him, a scowl on her face but when both attendants turned away to check with the pilot she gave him a wink and a smile. Glen sighed and mouthed a quick thank you before the female reluctantly nodded.

"But, we'll be waiting at the entrance of the landing or else we'll have to wait for you, too."

Glen’s thousand watt grin on display he raced out of the plane, the door thankfully still opened. His heart was hammering and he really hoped you were still at the gate. He wouldn't know what he'd do if you weren't, avoiding you for the past few days and trying to get his head in order.

You had been hurt so many times by your supposed friend and when he had to get you from the bar Monica, Keleigh and Rainey had taken you he was shocked how much your behavior had changed in those few minutes you were sitting in his car.

The gangway back to the gate had felt like an eternity, but he finally made it, breaths coming out in long puffs and he seriously questioned his training regime if he was already feeling like he ran a marathon today. Looking around, Glen finally spotted you heading away from the gate, head hung low and shoulders hunched in defeat.

"Darlin'!"

Defeated, you had made your way back to the security check, the female guard and both Gigi and Greg already standing at attention. Shrugging your shoulders with a shake of your head you felt the sadness overcome you again. You had tried to call him again, that maybe he was just occupied but apparently he still didn’t want to talk to you. All three of them sent you a sad smile, knowing that you’d need your friends now and the security stepping away. Everyone had experienced heartache at least once in their life and they knew that nothing but a good long hug and some chocolate and ice cream were the cure for that.

“Darlin’!” A call pulled you out of your gloom, but you weren't sure if they called you - it could have been anyone. Still, stopping in the middle of the terminal you waited with bated breath if it had just been your imagination or you’d mistaken that call.

“Darlin’!”

You turned around, your eyes widening at the sight of the dark blond you had tried to reach heading straight for you. A mixture between a sob and a laugh left your lips, your legs moving towards him. At first wobbly and slow but then getting stronger and quicker as you wanted to meet halfway “Glen!”

The entire time you had run up to him, your mind was spinning with how you’d act standing so close to him, but all had come to a stop when you threw your arms around his shoulders, holding onto the taller Texan. “I’m sorry, I was being unreasonable and I thought you hated me.” You mumbled into his shoulder, feeling tears mist your eyes again as his arms tightened their hold around you.

“No need to apologize,” Glen shushed you, leaning his forehead against yours, his eyes closed just as your own and only wanting to feel the moment you had together. “It was a tough day for you.”

Your hands moved to his cheeks, cradling his face in your soft hands, thumbs brushing along his stubbled cheek. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll call you anytime I can, you’ll not even be able to miss me ‘cause I’ll be that annoying.”

Chuckling at his joke, you opened your red rimmed eyes, your own smile making your eyes crinkle. “You won’t be. And even if you were, I'd miss you all the same.”

“I’ll miss you, too, darlin’. And all the info about motorsports, nature and the way you bend metal you provided each day since I’ve gotten to know you.”

“You’ll have too much to do to really miss me.”

Shaking his head he bent down to seal his lips with yours. And suddenly you felt a spark, like something inside finally came alive that had been sleeping for a very long time. Usually all this was only part of the romance books you had stashed on your bedside table but now you were the main character and Glen your Prince Charming. A soft moan escaped your mouth, your feet moving onto your tiptoes to get even closer to him. One of his larger hand cradled your head, his fingers tightening in your hair, while the other splayed over your back, pushing you into his body. Greg and Gigi whooped when they saw the scene before them.

“Finally, I would have put her on a plane to Australia myself.” Greg grinned, putting his arm around the model’s shoulder, watching both of his friends kissing at the airport like they were truly part of a romcom movie.

All sense of the outside world was lost to you, there was only Glen and you - Nothing else mattered. His scent surrounded you and it felt like coming home.

“I love you.”

His lips had left yours, his broad grin spreading over his face, the dimples prominent. It was your second time that day saying those words to him and every time your heart felt lighter and lighter. Glen’s thumbs brushed over your cheeks, the skin tinted red from your blush. “You have no idea how often I wanted you to say that and to tell you myself.”

With a sigh, you leaned your head between his shoulder and neck, breathing in his scent to save it to the back of your mind before he was gone for the next few months. The clearing of a throat pulled you out of your trance.

“As wonderful as it is, but you’ll miss your plane, Mister Powell.”

He turned to look at the flight attendant, breathing out a sigh but nodded. There was no way Glen was going to convince them otherwise. “I’ll have to leave now, the plane won’t wait for me but I’ll call you as soon as I land.”

Nodding your head, you pulled him into one last hug before he had to leave. “I’ll talk to you later. I love you, Glen.”

“I love you, too.” He returned, brushing your hair out of your face, sealing his lips with yours one last time. Breaking the kiss, Glen sent you a smile before he followed the attendant, raising his hand in a wave. “I’ll call you!” He called and was gone, leaving you behind at the terminal, but there were no tears to cry only a smile filled with happiness.

@emorychase @shanimallina87 @fortheloveoffanfic @roosterscock @novagreen04 @luckyladycreator22 @none-of-your-bullshit

#glen powell x reader #glen powell x reader AU!#glen powell AU!#glen powell RPF

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walls-actual-ly · 4 months ago

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hanging out with my brothers drunk friends (I gave them water and more political education than school lmao)

yesterday i came home to my moms place spontaneously and well, my 16 yr old brother was throwing a party. greeted me and went "Oh you re out of rehab you can get drunk with me now!"

bc somehow he forgot/didnt know that I went to rehab for severe substance abuse/light addiction lmao

anyhow, I didnt drink (still proud of me for that), but I almost immediately started to chat with some of his friends because I was active in the same student group than them back when I was in Highschool and we talked about how the group changed (it became centrist, basically. they took a youth group called "pro individuality" and turned it into a group organizing basic school events. still fuming at the mouth.)

anyhow, I went back inside and took my birth control and immediately one girl was like "hm I dont like the pill bc its bad for you, so many side effects :("

and then we had a conversation about how important birth control is for the liberation of women, and once the girl and I finished the chat another incredibly drunk 17 yr old girl entered the kitchen and went "omg I hate birth control!!"

so we had the same conversation again, she settled on "well I just dont want to take it but I also want to spare up my virginity for my potential future husband."

you see, my brother has many friends, kids grow up fast, I didnt know her name, but once I heard her say it I put a name and stories to her face and holy fuck, this 17 yr old girl has literally send pornography of her body to adults on a discord server we re both on. "every time you have sex with a guy you leave a part of yourself behind" baby there is literal child pornography of you on the internet. you deserve help. the adult man on the server talk about the different nudes they have of you.

anyway I had no idea how to bring up that, I m only her friends older brother and I dont want her to feel uncomfortable, and she was super drunk. so somehow we ended up talking about Hitler vs. Stalin. No Sex-Girl thought that Hitler and Stalin are both equally horrible, and I tried to explain to her that political massmurder is different than industrialized genocide, she is such an adorable centrist.

meanwhile a boy joined the chat and we shift towards discussing the European election, those teenagers are just openly discussing who they voted for and apparently my brother is running around flaming everyone who didn't vote for a party he likes :((((( I love this boy so much but omg one of the kids literally said that my brother is bullying conservative voters lmao and, even better, one of the girls told me that she thinks my brother is only politically based and left-leaning bc of me 🥹🥹🥹 all the exhausting debates I had with him back when he was kinda antifeminist anti woke are paying off!!!!!

but yeah so turned out No-Sex girl voted conservative bc she thought they are "the political middle", and that was actually super eye opening. I was always wondering why so many young people voted cdu, but she openly said that she has no idea what they are actually stand for, what their goals are or their values, but she thought that they are neither left nor right, the centre, the democratic middle.

and that is a major failure of the media, but I can understand how she came to this conclusion - it's been told to us over and over and over since the day we were born. the cdu is the middle, the Spd is left wing. meanwhile right now both parties are undermining our constitution and enacting severely rightwing policies - but you would not know that if all you know about politics is the commonly spread word, usually spread by the parties themselves.

and its so illuminating, I m hanging out in fairly political circles so I just... forgot that most people have no clue about politics. all they hear in the media is "current government bad, only one other Democratic Party", so ofc the normal non-nazi-adjacent youth votes cdu on mass. and that sucks. but its something we can base our actions on.

i have been thinking about making political germany focused content for literal years now, I even made a few YouTube videos when I was like 18, they were cringe as fuck ofc. and I dont really want to make YouTube videos now, video essays arent really my thing. but I ve been thinking about streaming / "reaction content" in which I watch normal media shit and talk about whats actually going on.

one of the girls told me that I should become a politician, that I say what she means but in words she doesnt have, and tbh its not the first time that people told me to get into politics.

yesterday the Berlin state attorney deported Maja, a non binary German citizen to Hungary while knowing fully well that the Supreme Court will oppose the deportation if given time. so they did it in a hurry over night, and when the Supreme Court ruled that Maja can not be deported to Hungary for the next 6 weeks... well, by then they had already handed Maja over to the Hungarian police, and despite the orders of our Supreme Court the Berlin police refuses to bring her back to germany.

shit is getting rough here, our judicial system is being disrespected and ignored over and over and over again. our constitution gets undermined, our rights are being spit on by those in the government. and I feel powerless - but the conversations yesterday reminded me that I m not, that there are countless people out there who literally dont know better and who need someone to sit down and explain stuff in an engaging way, and I think thats something I could do

but I m also scared and worried, I am afraid to show my face bc I know how much hate id get, I m afraid to use my voice bc of how bad the oppression is getting in the recent months. but thats what the government wants, I guess. if there is no vocal opposition they can do whatever they want. shit s scary, but maybe No-Sex girl wont vote conservative again if she remembers our chat lmao

#deutschland #germany #politics #free maja #german politics #deutsche politik #the kids are alright just misinformed #before someone screams about drunk 16 17 yr olds... we re in germany #you can buy beer and wine at 16 #and sure they also drank vodka and other hard liquors #but one of them is perhaps 18 or their parents bought it idk idc #cdu #spd #cdu/csu #we need to talk about the fascist decline in europe

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linagram · 2 years ago

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[ 𝚔𝚎𝚒'𝚜 𝚝𝟷 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚊 ] 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢

his vd is here, everyone. the most problematic male prisoner so far's vd.

just so you know, i feel like the universe itself didn't want me to write his voice drama. the power went out like two times while i was trying to write it, uni is killing me and i also had to rewrite his voice drama multiple times.

i'll be so surprised if anyone votes him innocent tbh 😭😭 the original version of his voice drama was supposed to make him look more sympathetic, but that scene was deleted because 1) his vd would end up being way too long and 2) i had to stop myself from revealing too much kei lore, like this is only the first trial! the original version was also supposed to reveal more information about kei and eiji's parents and i also had to delete that, again, it would just be too long and it would look like i was trying to give you reasons to vote him innocent. (and i'm not doing that! do what you want with him <3)

also this voice drama mentions those other crimes kei committed before milgram and. um. yeah, they're bad. i don't want to spoil anything, so just know that there will be mentions of torture, they're not detailed though. there's also a mention of kei getting injured thanks to eiji. again, it's not detailed and the injury isn't that serious. (also warning for kei refusing to accept that eiji and miki are not a couple and just being his usual self. you know what i mean /lh)

(divider link)

(sounds of footsteps)

Miki: Hey, Eiji-san..

Miki: That next prisoner.. he's your brother, isn't he?

Miki: I mean, you both have the same last name and you look alike, so..

Eiji: Yes, he is my brother.

Miki: Ah, I see-

Miki: Wait, REALLY??

Eiji: But even though we're related, it doesn't mean that I will forgive him that easily.

Miki: But.. He's your family..

Eiji: Well, I don't consider him my family. I don't see my own parents as my family either.

Miki: Were they.. um, bad people?

Eiji: .. Yeah. The worst.

Miki: .. I'm sorry.

Eiji: It's fine. I'm just happy that Milgram gave me an opportunity to punish this guy for ruining my life.

Miki: But Eiji-san.. We are supposed to judge them for their crimes.

Miki: We can't judge them for something that's not the reason why they're here.

Miki: Like, for example, maybe that prisoner really was a bad person, but what if his crime is actually forgivable? We can't just vote everyone guilty based on their personality-

Eiji: I know this guy better than you do.

Eiji: And let me tell you, he does deserve the worst and most painful death.

Miki: Was he the one who did.. this to you?

Eiji: ...

Eiji: Even if I tell you the truth, you will still try to defend him.

Miki: I will defend all the prisoners until I actually see why they're guilty and why they deserve to be punished. Until that, I will try my best to understand their motives and reasons!

Eiji: .. It's only the fifth interrogation, but you've already changed so much.

Miki: T-thank you, I guess?

Eiji: It's time. I hope you're ready to meet him.

(door opens)

Kei: Oh! Here you are!

Kei: You really kept me waiting, you know.

Eiji: Get your feet off the table.

Kei: Yep, it really is my dear brother.

Eiji: And is that a milkshake?..

Kei: Yeah, a strawberry one. Want some?

Eiji: Where did you get that-

Eiji: Oh.

Kei: I made a request and this adorable little guard gladly agreed to get it for me!

Eiji: .. Gladly?

Miki: Uh-

Miki: W-well, y-you see..

Eiji: (to Kei) What did you do?

(sounds of Miki still trying to explain herself)

Kei: Nothing, really. I just smiled at her and told her she's the only one who can help me and that's it.

Kei: And why are you so nervous? Really, I should be more nervous than you.

Eiji: Yeah, I'm literally about to vote you guilty and punish you for every single thing you've done.

Kei: No, no, I'm not talking about that!

Eiji: And what are you talking about then?

Kei: Well, now my plan is ruined.

Eiji: .. What plan?

Kei: Oh, I just thought that maybe I can try to seduce the guards so that they vote me innocent, but then I found out that the guards are actually my own brother and some high school student who turned 18 recently, so..

Kei: Yeah, that's not gonna work.

Kei: But judging by your partner's reaction-

Eiji: If you do anything to her, I'll forget about the whole "three trials" system and I'll just kill you right after the first trial.

Kei: Hey, I literally just told you that I'm not gonna do anything to your girlfriend, so calm down!

Eiji: SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!

Kei: ...

Miki: ...

Kei: .. Then who is she to you?

Kei: It's impossible for her to be anyone else to you. You know, she's a cute girl and she's always with you, of course, you'd start falling in love with her sooner or later!

Eiji: You don't even know what it's like to love someone.

Kei: Of course I do-

Eiji: Not in that way.

Kei: .. Fine, you win.

Eiji: Let's just get started before I smash that glass over your head.

Kei: Woah, scary~

Eiji: So, Prisoner 005.. Sanada Kei, 25 years old.

Kei: That's me!

Kei: (to Miki) Wait, no, actually, did you know that I'm the younger brother and Eiji is the older one?

Miki: Really??

Eiji: Don't believe a word he says. He loves to lie just to mess with people.

Kei: You are no fun at all.

Miki: Actually, Eiji-san..

Miki: Do you mind if I'll be the one asking questions this time?

Eiji: Huh? Why?

Miki: I just.. don't want you to get too emotional. I think it wouldn't be fair if you were the one judging your brother.

Eiji: But I-

Eiji: What are you talking about? You know that I will judge him fairly!

Kei: Oh, I would love to talk to your partner more, Eiji! You get kinda boring sometimes.

Miki: Hehe..

Miki: U-um, first of all, Sanada-san-

Kei: Just call me by my first name. Me and Eiji are brothers, so like, it can get confusing.

Miki: O-okay then. So, do you like this place? Is it comfortable?

Kei: Are you worried about me? That's so kind of you!

Kei: Well, I'm not really happy about the fact that I'm in prison, but wow, I don't know who's responsible for all this, but they really brought some of the hottest people I've ever seen to this place.

Kei: Like, have you seen Eiko? Or Shun?

Kei: Yurika is beautiful too, but.. we don't get along well, haha.

Eiji: Do you even have any friends here?

Kei: Of course I do! I've already mentioned Shun and Eiko and I'm very close with them! I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that they're actually in love with me.

Kei: Oh, I'm close with the younger prisoners too! I'm basically their older brother figure or something.

Eiji: .. Really?

Kei: Akio can say whatever he wants, but he really does trust me. I'm the only prisoner who knows some of his darkest secrets, hehe~

Kei: And me and Riku are so similar! Haha, he really reminds me of my younger self.

Miki: I see.. I'm glad to hear that you like it here.

Miki: Okay, second question. I don't remember Eiji-san mentioning it, but.. what do you do for a living?

Eiji: ...

Kei: Oh, well, I'm just a photographer-

Miki: Really? That's so cool, I can definitely imagine you being one!

Kei: I'll take that as a compliment. But to be honest, I'm.. not exactly proud of working for fashion magazines and most of my "normal" photos.

Kei: I'm more proud of working for my father's friend!

Eiji: Wait, you still work for-

Miki: Oh, is it because they're someone famous?

Kei: .. I wouldn't say that. It's actually better for his identity to stay unknown.

Miki: Why though?

Eiji: Because that friend of our father is a criminal who kidnaps people and tortures them.

Eiji: A-and then Kei takes photos of them while he does so and that man either keeps the photos for himself or sells them to other.. monsters like him.

Miki: .. What?

Kei: Man, when you say it like that, it sounds like something illegal. Just so you know, all of my.. uh, "models" are still alive!

Eiji: Yeah, they're alive, but I'm sure most of them are now missing at least one body part!

Kei: Hey, it's not my fault that people like those photos so much. I just do it for the money, it's not like I have a choice-

Eiji: Don't even try lying to us, you just do it because you enjoy it! You're not any better than him!

Kei: Well, what's so wrong with me liking my job? You enjoy being a prison guard and torturing people and I enjoy taking pictures of people while they're being tortured! We both suck, let's admit it.

Eiji: .. But I-

Kei: What, are you trying to say that you don't like making people suffer? Come on, everyone can hear other prisoners' screams when you interrogate them. I definitely heard Shun begging you to let him go earlier. Why would you be so cruel to him if you didn't like hurting people?

Kei: Ah.. You're just trying to act more like me, aren't you? You're just scared, aren't you? You don't know what to do, you're lost, you're confused, and now you have to judge your own brother! Of course, you have no other choice but to act like your older brother who is so much stronger and braver than you!

(sound of glass breaking)

Kei: .. Well, this is a new one. Usually I'm the one who makes people cry and I never end up being the one in pain, but I'm open to new experiences.

Eiji: I just thought it would be nice to change things up.

Miki: EIJI-SAN, WHY DID YOU DO THIS?

Miki: Kei-san's hand is bleeding and I don't have anything to-

Kei: Please, don't worry about me, I'm fine. I have a very high pain tolerance.

Kei: Unlike my little brother~

Eiji: YOU-

Kei: Haha, what are you gonna do next? Come on, show me what you've got! You want to be as strong as me, right? Then act like it!

(sounds of Eiji standing up and walking closer to Kei)

Kei: What, are you going to slap me or-

Kei: ...

Kei: W-why is everything so colorless now?..

Kei: I don't want to live in a world like this..

Kei: Hey, give my sunglasses back.

Eiji: Make me.

Kei: Come on, you're just acting like a child right now. I said, give them back.

Eiji: Nope.

Kei: WEREN'T YOU TAUGHT TO LISTEN TO WHAT YOUR OLDER BROTHER SAYS?

Kei: Ah-

Kei: So I can't even touch you, huh?

Kei: So boring..

Miki: Wait, so this means.. We're allowed to do whatever we want while the prisoners aren't able to do anything to fight back?

Eiji: Sounds fun.

Kei: Heh, you really did turn into a younger version of me.

Eiji: S-shut up!..

Kei: How interesting.. So, you can either vote me innocent to protect me like you always did in the past or you can vote me guilty just to see me cry and make me apologize to you.

Kei: I wonder what you will choose.

Eiji: I've already told you that I will vote you guilty no matter what.

Kei: Sure, say whatever you want. But remember one thing..

Kei: If you vote me guilty just because you want to see me suffer, that means you really are just like me.

Eiji: !..

Kei: *laughs* Finally! This is the face I wanted to see so much!

Miki: Eiji-san, are you okay?

Eiji: Just a reminder that I still have your sunglasses and I can break them right now.

Kei: .. See? We really are alike.

(bell rings, machinery sounds)

Miki: Wait! Kei-san, I don't know what's going on and I don't know anything about your relationship with Eiji-san..

Miki: But please, tell us at least something about your crime! Just why are you here?

Eiji: That doesn't matter-

Miki: IT MATTERS TO ME!

Eiji: ...

Kei: .. So like, is she the one who's more dominant or-

Miki: Tell us about your crime. Now.

Miki: If you do, maybe I'll be able to change your brother's mind. And you want to be voted innocent, right?..

Kei: .. *laughs* Wow, Eiji, your girlfriend is insane.

Kei: Fine, I'll give you a hint. Just give me my sunglasses back. I don't feel like myself when I'm not wearing them.

Kei: Oh, and make my dear brother vote me innocent, of course.

Miki: Eiji-san, sunglasses.

Eiji: You're really gonna let him-

Miki: Do you want to learn more about his crime or not?

Eiji: ...

(sounds of Eiji's footsteps)

Kei: Thank you~

Kei: Ah, I feel so much better with them.

Kei: So, about my crime. Haha, I wonder what my video will show.

Kei: But anyway, here's your hint! Look at my uniform. Look at it very carefully.

Miki: What do you mean by that?

Eiji: You're just trying to fool us, aren't you?

Kei: Okay, then, Eiji, do you remember what you said earlier?

Kei: My name, my age.. what else?

Eiji: "Sanada Kei, 25 years old"..

Eiji: Listen, I don't have time for this.

Eiji: Let's just finish this already.

Kei: Well, I tried my best to help you.

Kei: So, Eiji.. Vote me innocent, just like a good older brother that you've always wanted to be, would.

Kei: Or vote me guilty and accept your defeat-

Eiji: PRISONER 005, KEI, SING YOUR SINS!

Miki: "Prisoner 005".. IT WAS "PRISONER 005"!

═════════•°• ⚠ •°•═════════

#wow. this vd is.. something #you can think of naomi's vd as a break before this one dhjsjsk #this guy is so punchable but also.. yeah he really is one of the most interesting prisoners here #not sure if i'm satisfied with this version of his vd but it's definitely better than the first one #anyway yeah still no info about his murder (we did get a hint from him though). sorry #i wonder if anyone expected kei's crime before milgram to be something like that #🎤 voice dramas! 🎤#🗡️guard 001: sanada eiji 🗡️#🌼guard 002: andou miki 🌼#🍓prisoner 005: sanada kei 🍓#milgram #milgram oc #milgram project #also forgot to mention but. shun and kei are so similar if you think about it.#like shun's undercover lyrics and his backstory.. and this voice drama..

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occult-roommates · 2 years ago

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Airport interlude

Around a month later, Akva finally had some time to take a few days aside and go to Del Sol Valley visit Paisley and her family. And then some of her friends showed up at the airport with her to have conversations I really wanted to write but had nowhere else to put idc this ain’t a professionally written novel I do what I want.

Akva: Thanks for coming with me guys! Bye everyone! Dawud: Ciao. Rudi: Welcome, that was a nice walk. Now I gotta go home, it’s the Eurovision tonight and I don’t wanna miss my country humiliating itself yet again. Daniele: Rud, it’s like 8 am, I know Europe is a few hours before us, but I think you’re overestimating it a bit. Rudi: I wanna be ready. Oh and by the way, I’m rooting for your country. Daniele: Aw, thanks. Dawud: No idea what you guys are talking about, but I know a few German songs cause you know, I took German classes in high school. Like Rock me Amadeus or 99 Luftballons. Rudi: Literally everyone knows 99 Luftballons. Daniele: To be fair, I don’t think I know any other songs in German but that one, so kudos to you Dav. Rudi: You dont- You don’t even know Rammstein? Like...Rammstein! They’re famous as fuck and they’re icons from my dad’s hometown. He even brought me to one of their concert when I was 10 which...In hindsight he 100% should not have but you get my point. To be fair, I don’t think my dad really knew what he was getting himself into, we had been invited by his best friend. Daniele: Eh, I know them by name, but it’s not really my type of music so I don’t think I know any of their songs.

It was now Dawud’s turn to leave the conversation, as his mechanic lessons were just about to start. Hopefully that day, he was not going to injure his hand. Whelp, now Rudi and Daniele had no reason to stay at the airport, so they just left the scene too.

Daniele: By the way, the other day, don’t remember why, I tried looking at all of the burger joints in the city, and did not see the restaurant you work at. Why? Rudi: Because I don’t work at a burger joint?? I work at a Filipino restaurant??? Daniele: Oh...I just thought...Ok you’re gonna make fun of me but it’s because the place is called Bob’s House and I don’t know, that has strong burger joint energy. Rudi: It’s because their logo is a pineapple, duh...No that’s not a joke, the name was their daughter’s idea and she was like, 5 years old back then. She told me personally while we were smoking weed together behind the art museum. Daniele: I don’t get the joke? Rudi: Ok, I can believe you don’t know Rammstein but...Spongebob??? How the fuck do you not know Spongebob??? Daniele: I did not made the connection alright, calm down. Rudi: Wait, I just realized, but the daughter, her name is Marisa by the way, she’s a mermaid...Well, obviously the entire family are merfolks, but she’s also the same age as Akva, give or take a year or two. And like, she’s bi. I know it cause one time I was talking about wanting a tattoo and she showed me hers, and it’s a heart shaped bi pride flag...Do you see where I’m getting at? Probably not, but I’m still asking just in case. Daniele: Matchmake her with Akva? Rudi: How the fuck did you guess on the first try? But yes, that’s my plan. I think they’d be cute together. Daniele: I think they need to have more in common than just being mermaid. Like, I don’t think Akva would be the type to date someone who smokes weed. Rudi: Ah, come on. Akva’s been through a lot, she deserves a nice girlfriend. Daniele: Please, first you wanted ruin Dawud’s relationship with Matteo, which I get you wanted to do that for me but still, now this? You’re aroace Rudi, stop trying to interve in people’s love life you clearly don’t know what you’re talking about. Rudi: Um fuck you, and I’m no longer rooting for Italy, my vote is going to Finland now!

Rudi did not care, as soon as Akva came back from California, they were gonna try to make her and Marisa meet. They would be so cute together, or at least that’s what the werewolf thought.

Prev - Next

#ts4 #sims 4 #the sims 4 #simblr #ts4 simblr #occult roommates #akva singh #rudi marron #daniele rossini #dawud sahan #OcRo s2 #long post

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insomniac-jay · 2 years ago

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Feeling Things (I Don't Want To)

Usagi has always been the girl that the boys run away from. The one who never gets a Valentine because they think she's weird. Voted "Most Likely to Be a Crazy Ex-girlfriend". But did Awase care? No.

Or: Awase has a crush Usagi and she can't handle it.

The license exam was Usagi's least favorite part of being in hero school. Not only would she have to work in a group, something someone like her dreaded doing, but there were also too many people she would have to interact with. She always hated that when it came to school.

But, she was with her friends Bofuu and Yukina so maybe this wasn't too bad.

"How much longer do we have to do this?" Usagi folded her arms as the other Shiketsu students got off the bus.

"Just for one more year. The seniors don't take these exams," Bofuu replied while stretching. As soon as Inasa stepped off the bus, she ran over and hugged him tightly.

"So," Yukina cocked her eyebrow. "When are you getting a boyfriend?"

"Please." Usagi rolled her eyes. They were about to take the most difficult and defining exam of the year and all Yukina could think about was when she was getting a boyfriend. "We know every boy would much rather eat glass than be my boyfriend. Bofuu will tell you that I was the only one who never had a secret admirer or got Valentine's presents."

Not having a boyfriend benefited her a lot; it allowed Usagi to retain her standards, which were fairly high (even for her) as well as her confidence. She was so sure that there was not a man in the world who would ever want to date her, not even for a joke.

"So what about that headband guy?"

"What headband guy?"

"The one with the welding Quirk from U.A. that you keep running into. Yesterday you told us that you ran into him at the mall."

Usagi scoffed. "He's too busy liking that Yaoyorozu girl to be with me. I don't even think he knows my name or what I look like anymore."

When Awase first told his friends that he was in love with Usagi Mahojo from Shiketsu, at first they were concerned. How could he have gone from crushing on Yaomomo to...her?

"Isn't she that pink girl who's always at war with herself?" Hiryu asked. "She's kinda scary if you ask me."

"She's really...intense." Tsuburaba shuddered as her voice rang in his head-- and that was from when they were first years.

"I know, but she's so...so beautiful." Awase remembered the complete awe he was in when he first saw Usagi. Her long, pastel pink hair that faded to blonde trailing down her sides, her cornflower blue eyes, and tanned skin. And don't even get him started on when she was in action. "I definitely think she deserves a chance. We keep running into each other all the time."

"That's true." Hiryu scratched his chin. "You did see her at the mall the other day, and before that you saw her at that boba shop."

"Well if that's what you think, then we support you." Kaibara patted his shoulder. "Just be ready for some type of conflict."

A year later and Awase was ready to make his feelings known. Now older and wiser, he figured that he'd cut out the middleman and tell her straight up.

In his hands was an envelope with a pink heart sticker as a seal, intended for her. Perfect too, as his eyes landed on his crush standing across the way from him.

You got this, Yosetsu!

Taking a deep breath, he made his way over to the woman. Once at a decent distance from her, he exhaled and let it all out.

"Mahojo Usagi!"

Usagi's face paled when she looked at the man standing in front of her. As if in some twisted form of fate, the headband guy from U.A. with the welding Quirk was right in front of her.

"Oh my," Bofuu whispered. "Usagi looks like she's seen a ghost."

Yukina smiled to herself and pulled out her phone. She was adamant on recording this. "No, Bofuu, this is history in the making."

"Ever since we saw each other at the exam last year, I couldn't help but be in awe of your beauty. Now I don't know you that well and you with me, but we keep running into each other too much for it to be a coincidence," Awase began as he took her hand in his own. "I guess what I'm trying to say is...I have a crush on you."

Usagi stood there for a few minutes before bursting out laughing. "Oh my- oh my goodness, haha!" She wiped a forming tear in her eye as she tried to calm herself down. "This was a great joke and I'll be sure to put it in the yearbook as one of my favorites."

"It's not a joke, is it?" Bofuu asked.

"Nope." Yukina continued recording.

Awase stared at her intently even as she laughed. While she may have thought it was a joke, he was being completely serious. After a few more minutes of silence, it began to dawn on her.

"W-wait, you are joking, right? S-surely this isn't real..."

"I'm not. I'm very serious about this," Awase replied. "I've had you on my mind ever since that day and I wanna make my feelings for you known."

Usagi's body became weak as she felt her world shatter. There was no way! This had to be fake! "W-who's paying you to say this?!"

"No one."

"What TV show are you on?!"

"None."

The more conclusions she tried to draw to this situation, the more wrong they were. Her reputation for being unattractive was about to go down the drain with everyone watching.

"I...I..."

"Here, have this." Awase handed her the envelope before running back to his class. Usagi looked down at the envelope as her body shook.

To: Usagi Mahojo

From: Yosetsu Awase

"This can't..." Usagi gasped as she fainted from the pure shock, Bofuu rushing to catch her before she hit the ground. Everything was about to change for better or worse.

Was it really time for her to face the fact that someone was crushing on her?

@floof-ghostie @calciumcryptid @s0ursop @opalofoctober @elflynns-horde-of-stuff @peachyblkdemonslayer @pizzolisnacks

#jay's bnha ocs #ship: awasagi #oc: usagi👸#jay's writings

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antrel · 1 year ago

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Minecraft live was just before I went away for a few days, now I'm back and ready to incoherently rant.

So first up, the mob vote. It's what gets everyone riled up and ready to argue.

While I love to see everyone so passionate about this game, especially this far down the line, that passion is often not channelled in the healthiest of ways. I think it's a nice idea that's implemented incredibly poorly. As it stands we're faced with 3 pretty useless low impact creatures that are all just silly little guys, and I still saw several people wishing things as bad as cancer on anyone who didn't vote their precious favourite into the game (GG penguin supporters, worst I saw from you was threatening to be sad if you lost, hope you're all doing okay). If you genuinely think that someone deserves any amount of pain and suffering because they hold an opinion different to your own, you need to go and see someone about that, that isn't a healthy response.

Now I'm not saying I'm perfect of being completely civil and dignified. I try not to post about it, but glowsquid shouldn't have even come close to a win. Anyone who thinks that was a fair vote, let me just follow me on this one. A very popular online influencer asked all their followers to vote for a specific mob because they thought it would be funny to see everyone else get mad/sad about it. Because it was done on twitter at the time people then voted with every account they could get their hands on, I wouldn'tbe surprised if you told me people made multiple new accounts just to vote. Mojang changed how they held the vote because of that year, you now have to vote via an owned copy of the game, the way it should have always been. Sure people could still try to sway the votes of others or create new accounts, but minecraft isn't free, and the people you know who have a minecraft account are far more likely to have an opinion of their own instead of just letting you vote on their accounts. They've changed the system so that only players get to vote, and generally speaking they only get to vote once. That seems pretty fair to me, but given that the voting system was changed in response to a landslide victory, you'd think they'd have given the losers another chance, a fair chance. And the fact it's taken them this long to even vaguely say that they might add some of the losers one day just stoked the flames. With the old biome votes they asked 'which do you want first' and made sure to let us know we would get all 3 eventually. But before this year, all we'd heard in regards to mob votes was that the losers from the original mob vote would never make it into the game. Making it a much more tense 'who gets to live' situation.

Honestly I don't think that saying we might get some losers back is even a good idea here, it's just going to make people who lost even more vocal and whiny until they get the mob they wanted. Which I get, I really do, but it's not healthy to divide your community and then keep them divided. And I don't think that any of this was intended, the whole point of the vote was to have fun interacting with the community, for the majority of players to get to feel like they contributed something to the game they love and hold dear. Every year the community gets more and more toxic about it, and every year mojang try to figure out how to fix the problem. When they tried biome votes, people only cared about the mobs in them, so they stuck to mob votes. People complained that there was a disproportionate amount of representation to one type of play style, so they made all the mobs little useless passive mobs. People speculated about what mobs might bring to the game and spread that as fact, so they're continuously giving us more solid information and people are still speculating and spreading misinformation. And then people are complaining about it without contributing anything helpful to the conversation. If you're not going to be constructive, just be quiet, it's that simple.

Finally on to the update itself, 1.21 or as I'm currently calling it 'the tinkering update' as that's the word they kept wanting to drive home in their presentation. When I was really thinking about what I wanted next from minecraft, well my response has been largely the same for the past few updates, new structures to adventure in and more importantly, new loot to obtain from structures that you can't get anywhere else. The deep dark did a great job at this, and I loved the updates to almost every structure that we got with the 1.20 update. So where does that leave me on this one? Honestly I'm currently a little let down. Now don't get me wrong here, a replayable dungeon, with unique mobs and cool down spawners and restocking loot is literally what I've been creating in my survival server for my friends to play through, and the breeze gives me so many new ideas and the fact that the new spawners scale for the amount of players around is amazing. But the currently shown rewards just aren't quite there for me yet. Diamonds and emeralds just aren't unique enough for such a fun looking challenge structure, but these are early days for the development and that could just be placeholder loot, I genuinely hope that it is at least. And if these are the rewards you can expect from these spawners, oh boy. Given that tamed wolf kills count as player kills, and wolves auto aggro on skeleton variants, there's an easy way to now make an afk bone, slowness arrow, xp, emerald and DIAMOND farm. AFK DIAMONDS. That doesn't sound healthy for the game at all. I can understand that diamonds are their go to exciting loot, but making them renewable just really pushes things too far for my liking.

I love the look of the new copper blocks, and I'm excited to get a metal door that isn't iron. That being said, you can clearly see a player right click one open in the footage, which disappointed me so much, we already have so many options for doors that work like wooden doors. Copper bulbs are such an interesting concept, with an unknown amount of potential, I'm super excited to see how they fully function when they come to snapshots.

It's nice to get a tile set for tuff finally, it felt so lonely and so niche before. I have managed to shove it into a few builds at this point, mostly as a floor, but I'm glad it's finally getting a use.

Finally, the crafter. Taking the craft out of Minecraft feels quite strange, and yet oddly I'm more excited for it than I thought I'd be, and I think that's down to it's implementation. I've seen auto crafters in modpacks and such and they're either way too easy or way too complicated, none of them felt like minecraft and none of them interacted with redstone in such a unique and interesting way. I mean it's such an interestingly unique redstone tool that I can see it being used at some point (probably not anytime soon) for redstone other than crafting, I can be used to count anywhere between 1 and 9, and then can be instantly hopper drained to count that exact number again, that's gonna be useful to somebody at some point. But for it's main functionality, it's going to become just as core to automatic farming as shulker loaders are, if not more core. Like can you even imagine the amount of unique things you can now afk for. Not just the materials anymore, the whole item. Which farm next to a skeleton or spider spawner, small bamboo farm if it's a spider spawner, afk mining at a cobble generator, and wake up in the morning to more dispensers than you have ever been bothered to craft for yourself. The minecraft industrial revolution is fast approaching and I couldn't be more excited for it. Every players experience is going to become so much more unique as they decide for themselves how far they personally think it's worth going with auto crafting, people are gonna encounter so many interesting challenges as they figure out how to auto craft this new specific recipe. It's such a big change to the way the game is played and experienced, all tucked neatly into a single block.

And for all those complaining that this is a small update, firstly get your head out your ass about a free update that isn't owed to you, but secondly this already revolutionary update is only just beginning. This is the stage of development where we only knew about camels and bamboo, and look what we ended up with. Even if this is all the update has, I'm happy with the features presented, and cannot wait for the upcoming snapshots, so I can tinker with it all myself.

#Minecraft #Mojang #1.21 #Minecraft live #mob vote

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thoughtplickens · 1 year ago

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Go then, there are other worlds than these. ~ Jake Chambers

Roland Deschain is the last of his kind, a Gunslinger. He follows a man in black across a desert in a world that has moved on. The few people he comes across on his journey seem to fear, worship or hate gunslingers: some times all three. Jake Chambers, a teen from a different world (ours, it seems) meets Roland at a waystation and joins him on his journey.

Jake and Roland follow the path of the man in black and palaver, or talk things over, while they go. Roland finds out Jake died in his world and that is around the time he ends up in Roland's world. The gunslinger has a sneaking suspicion Jake will die in this world as well. He meets up with the man in black alone and is told a prophecy that sets up the next books in the Dark Tower Series.

Where in Maine are we? We aren't. Far from it, Dude.

Where in the King Timeline are we? Book #15, Novel #12, Dark Tower #1

Connection to previous King books: The man in black is referred to as Legion and Flagg, both names of the face of evil in The Stand.

Connection to The Dark Tower: This bad boy is the start of the epic series

Good Guy #1: Roland Deschain. Duh. He is him.

Good Guy #2: Jake Chambers. Man, Jake just keep getting the shaft, but deserves so much better. I sure hope he gets redemption later in the series....

Bad Guy #1: The man in black. Marten that was, Flagg, Walter, Richard Fannin...whatever you call him, he's bad.

Bad Guy #2: This is a tough one, because everyone who was bad in this book acted that way because the man in black had them under some kind of spell. The slow mutants get my vote, because God knows what they would do to our heroes if they caught them.

Freakout Factor: How about Roland fornicating a demon to save Jake from it's clutches...that do anything for you?

That Ending Though: Not my favorite, as it just ends with the two characters going their separate ways and waiting for the next book.

Overall Thoughts: The first DT book is pretty damn good. King's take on Tolkien's world building gets a little weird in this one, just a little taste of what is to come. A pretty perfect way for a pretty perfect series to start.

Total Rating: 8.0 jawbones (out of 10)

#stephen king #horror #Dark Tower

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tombeane-blog · 1 year ago

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The Writer's Strike - Part One

“Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously and, accepting both of them.”

George Orwell - "1984"

I've been mentally trying to organize three possible blogs - "Quantum Computing", "The Girl From Ipanema" and, "Artificial Intelligence versus The Three Stooges".

But something keeps interrupting these conflicting trains of thought because this writer's strike ticks me off.

First: The unjust way we are programmed to care or not care about this, that, or the other.

Second: It is ultimately a losing cause i.e, trying to stop progress in order to protect jobs.

Capitalism finds it's way forward no matter how much they try to destroy it.

Obviously, the sooner I transfer this organically grown homemade crapiola about this strike from my brain to yours, the sooner I can get back to more more important projects.

Yep, The Hollywood Writer's Strike and the quazillionaire movie stars who march bravely alongside their brothers in arms for a half hour on the weekend.

If Hollywood and the T.V. Industry stay on strike for even a quarter or a third of an eon, what is the downside?

Is it having more time for reading, watching old movies, learning a hobby, going outside, spending time with family and friends, traveling around or listening to Pink Floyd?

Don't get me wrong. I feel sad for anyone who loses their livelihood through no fault of their own.

I weep much less for those who voluntarily walk out just to get more money. And I have none tears for those making millions of dollars while virtual signaling that it is all about standing up for the common man.

As usual this is all about the money - no matter what they say.

I know, you know and he/she/them know that some of these striking writers make a metric ton of money and own gated homes overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

We also know that not one single out of work blue collar Bud Light truck driver owns one of those houses.

Even further, the writers chose to strike without caring about the thousands of poor working minionites forced into the unemployment line with them.

Who deserves our sympathy more?

And how do we as a society choose who to weep for? Or is it not us that chooses?

It seems many of the ones who get the sympathy are the ones that are part of a favored group. Trust me, there are few groups more favored than Hollywood elites.

After all, they tell us how to vote, when to wear masks, and who is allowed on social media.

"Oh no! The guy who wrote that genius dialog for those twelve Fast and Furious movies is out of a job! - For God's Sake, Somebody Please Help Them!"

"What's that? A Bud Light driver lost his job as a result? And he had a wife and three kids and just bought a house?"(cue the cricket sounds...)

Maybe it is simply about the money.

Inner city deaths by gangs and child thugs kill thousands every year and more thousands die on the streets poisoned by Chinese Fentanyl.

"Hey babe, would you change the channel please. This is depressing"

Religious zealots crash into a building, killing some 3,000 people and America goes to war and spends billions upon billions of dollars and loses even more American lives. "U.S.A.! U.S.A.!"

No Americans died in Ukraine but there we are still - spending billions upon billions - a lot of it going to U.S. weapons manufacturers - while humongous problems plague every city and town in the U.S.

Thousands of these deaths or thousands of those deaths. Those we should care about. These we shouldn't.

Who is manipulating us? This is worth saying twice. Who is manipulating us?

We are told to choose who to sympathize with, who to reward or what we care about based on what? Which is more newsworthy and attracts eyeballs? Which produces the most clicks? Which produces revenue? Or just which more closely aligns with the reigning ideological bent?

I just can't generate any sympathy for the Hollywood actors/writers and their overseers who preach to us about how to live our lives, who to love, who to hate and who to care about. And they push Hate America and sewer trash on children - and are now crying for more money and guarantees of future revenue streams.

So who do we choose - voluntarily striking writers and Hollywood glitterati? Or involuntarily out of work truck drivers, camera operators, grips, sound technicians, makeup artists, nearby restaurants and catering crews, et al, who are also out of work.

"You there on the right thrown into the unemployment line - sorry about that."

"You there on the left who walked out on your jobs - the nation is here to help."

But, they also say it's really about A.I. taking away their jobs...

0 notes

qqueenofhades · 3 years ago

Note

Do you really hate this county? Or were you just ranting?

Sigh. I debated whether or not to answer this, since I usually keep the real-life/politics/depressing current events to a relative minimum on this blog, except when I really can't avoid ranting about it. But I have some things to get off my chest, it seems, and you did ask. So.

The thing is, any American with a single modicum of genuine historical consciousness knows that despite all the triumphalist mythology about Pulling Up By Our Bootstraps and the American Dream and etc, this country was founded and built on the massive and systematic exploitation and extermination of Black and Indigenous people. And now, when we are barely (400 years later!!!) getting to a point of acknowledging that in a widespread way, oh my god the screaming. I'm so sick of the American right wing I could spit for so many reasons, not least of which is the increasingly reductive and reactive attempts to put the genie back in the bottle and set up hysterical boogeymen about how Teaching Your Children Critical Race Theory is the end of all things. They have forfeited all pretense of being a real governing party; remember how their only platform at the 2020 RNC was "support whatever Trump says?" They have devolved to the point where the cruelty IS the point, to everyone who doesn't fit the nakedly white supremacist mold. They don't have anything to do aside from attempt to usher in actual, literal, dictionary-definition-of-fascism and sponsor armed revolts against the peaceful transfer of power.

That is fucking exhausting to be aware of all the time, especially with the knowledge that if we miss a single election cycle -- which is exceptionally easy to do with the way the Democratic electorate needs to be wooed and courted and herded like cats every single time, rather than just getting their asses to the polls and voting to keep Nazis out of office -- they will be right back in power again. If Manchin and Sinema don't get over their poseur pearl-clutching and either nuke the filibuster or carve out an exception for voting rights, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act is never going to get passed, no matter how many boilerplate appeals the Democratic leadership makes on Twitter. In which case, the 2022 midterms are going to give us Kevin McCarthy, Speaker of the House (I threw up in my mouth a little typing that) and right back to the Mitch McConnell Obstruction Power Hour in the Senate. The Online Left (TM) will then blame the Democrats for not doing more to stop them. These are, of course, the same people who refused to vote for Hillary Clinton out of precious moral purity reasons in 2016, handed the election to Trump, and now like to complain when the Trump-stacked Supreme Court reliably churns out terrible decisions. Gee, it's almost like elections have consequences!!

Aside from my exasperation with the death-cult right-wing fascists and the Online Left (TM), I am sick and tired of how forty years of "trickle-down" Reaganomics has created a world where billionaires can just fly to space for the fun of it, while the rest of America (and the world) is even more sick, poor, overheated, economically deprived, and unable to survive the biggest public health crisis in a century, even if half the elected leadership wasn't actively trying to sabotage it. Did you know that half of American workers can't even afford a one-bedroom apartment? Plus the obvious scandal that is race relations, health care, paid leave, the education system (or lack thereof), etc etc. I'm so tired of this America Is The Greatest Country in the World mindless jingoistic catchphrasing. We are an empire in the late stages of collapse and it's not going to be pretty for anyone. We have been poisoned on sociopathic-libertarian-selfishness-disguised-as-Freedom ideology for so long that that's all there is left. We have become a country of idiots who believe everything their idiot friends post on social media, but in a very real sense, it's not directly those individuals' fault. How could they, when they have been very deliberately cultivated into that mindset and stripped of critical thinking skills, to serve a noxious combination of money, power, and ideology?

I am tired of the fact that I have become so drained of empathy that when I see news about more people who refused to get the vaccine predictably dying of COVID, my reaction is "eh, whatever, they kind of deserved it." I KNOW that is not a good mindset to have, and I am doing my best to maintain my personal attempts to be kind to those I meet and to do my small part to make the world better. I know these are human beings who believed what they were told by people that they (for whatever reason) thought knew better than them, and that they are part of someone's family, they had loved ones, etc. But I just can't summon up the will to give a single damn about them (I'm keeping a bingo card of right-wing anti-vax radio hosts who die of COVID and every time it's like, "Alexa, play Another One Bites The Dust.") The course that the pandemic took in 21st-century America was not preordained or inevitable. It was (and continues to be) drastically mismanaged for cynical political reasons, and the legacy of the Former Guy continues to poison any attempts to bring it under control or convince people to get a goddamn vaccine. We now have over 100,000 patients hospitalized with COVID across the country -- more than last summer, when the vaccines weren't available.

I have been open about my fury about the devaluation of the humanities and other critical thinking skills, about the fact that as an academic in this field, my chances of getting a full-time job for which I have trained extensively and acquired a specialist PhD are... very low. I am tired of the fact that Americans have been encouraged to believe whatever bullshit they fucking please, regardless of whether it is remotely true, and told that any attempt to correct them is "anti-freedom." I am tired of how little the education system functions in a useful way at all -- not necessarily due to the fault of teachers, who have to work with what they're given, and who are basically heroes struggling stubbornly along in a profession that actively hates them, but because of relentless under-funding, political interference, and furious attempts, as discussed above, to keep white America safely in the dark about its actual history. I am tired of the fact that grade school education basically relies on passing the right standardized tests, the end. I am tired of the implication that the truth is too scary or "un-American" to handle. I am tired. Tired.

I know as well that "America" is not synonymous in all cases with "capitalist imperialist white-supremacist corporate death cult." This is still the most diverse country in the world. "America" is not just rich white middle-aged Republicans. "America" involves a ton of people of color, women, LGBTQ people, Muslims, Jews, Christians of good will (I have a whole other rant on how American Christianity as a whole has yielded all pretense of being any sort of a principled moral opposition), white allies, etc etc. all trying to make a better world. The blue, highly vaccinated, Biden-winning states and counties are leading the economic recovery and enacting all kinds of progressive-wishlist dream policies. We DID get rid of the Orange One via the electoral process and avert fascism at the ballot box, which is almost unheard-of, historically speaking. But because, as also discussed above, certain elements of the Democratic electorate need to fall in love with a candidate every single time or threaten to withhold their vote to punish the rest of the country for not being Progressive Enough, these gains are constantly fragile and at risk of being undone in the next electoral cycle. Yes, the existing system is a crock of shit. But it's what we've got right now, and the other alternative is open fascism, which we all got a terrifying taste of over the last four years. I don't know about you, but I really don't want to go back.

So... I don't know. I don't know if that stacks up to hate. I do hate almost everything about what this country currently is, structurally speaking, but I recognize that is not identical with the many people who still live here and are trying to do their best, including my friends, family, and myself. I am exhausted by the fact that as an older millennial, I am expected to survive multiple cataclysmic economic crashes, a planet that is literally boiling alive, a barely functional political system run on black cash, lies, and xenophobia, a total lack of critical thinking skills, renewed assaults on women/queer people/POC/etc, and somehow feel like I'm confident or prepared for the future. Not all these problems are only America's fault alone. The West as a whole bears huge responsibility for the current clusterfuck that the world is in, for many reasons, and so do some non-Western countries. But there is no denying that many of these problems have ultimate American roots. See how the ongoing fad for right-wing authoritarian strongmen around the world has them modeling themselves openly on Trump (like Brazil's lunatic president, Jair Bolsonaro, who talks all the time about how Trump is his political role model). See what's going on in Afghanistan right now. Etc. etc.

Anyway. I am very, very tired. There you have it.

#anonymous #ask #politics for ts #covid for ts #i had a lot to say evidently #rant

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miraculouscontent · 3 years ago

Video

dailymotion

It’s heeeeere! Another summasalt, this time with nearly twice the length of the first one!

(Turns out that not having caffeine doesn’t help me talk any slower.)

Script below:

Anonymous asked:

Thoughts on Rocketear?

Can you Rocketear the newest episode apart with your salt, my beloved Salt Queen?

Penny for your thoughts on Rocketear?

Aw, anon! You can have that for free! I'm a generous goddess.

"Rocketear" begins with Chat Noir and Carapace - just Carapace, really - holding back a pack of what I presume to be the physical manifestation of the writing staff's age, or at least a representation of how behind the times the writing seems.

Just as the dinosaurs break through Shellter. Ladybug shows up with the scientist who revived the dinosaurs in the first place and said scientist uses a whistle to calm the dinosaurs down. There's also a line from Bob Roth about putting the dinosaurs in a theme park to make money and I know what it's referencing but it's so incredibly random that it doesn't really come off as a proper joke.

Carapace was notably sad right after battle, but insisted that he was fine when Ladybug asked. Rena, sporting a... - I would like to say "new design" but it's a recolor in every sense of the word - is hiding behind part of a building and smiles after the heroes before walking off. Ladybug takes Nino's miraculous back but sees that he's still upset and asks him again what's wrong. Nino asks where Alya was and Ladybug claims that she only needed Carapace for the job, which cheers him up but only until Ladybug is already gone.

Mm, I guess Nino and Adrien relate in heroism not being enough for them unless they have their respective love interest to flirt with.

Also, I know this is an obvious set-up, but the show can't tell me that Ladybug just always brought Nino and Alya whenever she needed one of them. Season 3 required her to go to Master Fu to get the miraculouses, and unless she already knew that Nino and Alya would be in the same location - which, okay, the show does basically shove the two of them together whenever Nino is onscreen, fair, if two characters are in a relationship in this show then it's weird for them to NOT be with that person - but it just seems like a gamble, not to mention proof to Shadow Moth that the two are close if Ladybug constantly brings both of them.

Anyway, Ladybug goes into the sewer and asks Rena if she's seen any sign of Shadow Moth or his traps. Rena didn't see anything and they de-transform. Marinette is about to leave when she thinks of something, but Alya assumes it's about her new look, which was apparently not voluntary on her part and the suit automatically adapted to Alya's new role as Rena Furtive, which she has now named it as.

Marinette reminds her that this is supposed to be a secret and that they agreed that the fox has no owner. When Alya is evasive about whether she told Nino that she won't be Rena anymore, Marinette stresses that everyone needs to believe that Alya won't be using a miraculous anymore so that she can remain an undercover spy.

What's the point in changing the look if you're not going to show yourself anyway? I mean, insurance, I guess, but still.

Alya, exasperated, parrots what Marinette has apparently told her before: that she helps Ladybug with Mirage in case Shadow Moth tries to follow her so Rena can follow him instead. Marinette stresses the situation again and Alya tries to get Marinette to agree on her telling Nino that she's Rena Furtive, but Marinette refuses.

At Marinette's house, Alya talks further and explains that she doesn't know if she can lie to Nino since they don't keep any secrets--Alya, babe, you kept Rena Rouge from him and didn't tell him that you knew he was Carapace until Ladybug was forced to give you your miraculouses at the same time. I don't wanna hear it.

Marinette states that it's too late for that and also not technically a lie, but Alya gets upset and says that Nino will never trust her again if he finds out that she kept something from him. Marinette brings up how she had to keep secrets from Alya too, but they're interrupted by Tom appearing and wanting to play games with them. Marinette makes an excuse about homework that she's repeated many times, as Tom comments that the teachers give her too much. After Tom is kicked out - hang on, lemme just... - Marinette uses the moment to show Alya that she's lied to her family a lot and hasn't played games with her father in months. She states that there's no other option as they have to protect their identities, and Alya agrees to talk to Nino.

In Alya's room - I just presume at this point that Nino's house doesn't exist and Chris is an illusion - Alya tells Nino that they need to talk, but stammers and states that it's hard to talk about. Nino thinks that she wants to break up with him, but Alya assures that she loves him. She finally gets to the cover story that Rena herself made up in "Sentibubbler" and Nino understands, sad that she won't be around anymore but agreeing if it's what Ladybug thinks is best.

Is it weird that Nino respects Ladybug's wishes more than Alya does?

Nino hugs her and is confused by why Alya was nervous to tell him, as she can tell him anything and nothing will change their relationship. Alya feels guilty and hugs back, murmuring about how they don't have any secrets; that's not what Nino said, but sure, push this plot to its already predictable conclusion. I mean, I thought it was vaguely sweet that Nino switched to seriousness immediately when Alya said that she wanted to talk, but how am I supposed to be invested in this couple when their dynamic boils down to "STRONG, INDEPENDANT WOMAN who wears the pants in the relationship because her boyfriend is portrayed as a wimpy coward"? Like, the show constantly dragged Nino down to make Alya look "powerful" by comparison, and then when it comes to characters like Marinette, we get a girl who works very well outside of her relationship with her endgame love interest.

It's the fakest form of "girl power," dragging guys down to raise girls up or actually making a strong girl character but having her love interest be a weakness that creates flaws in her that weren't there originally and having that love interest be who she's "destined for."

I'm rambling, sorry.

In class, Marinette assures Alya that she did the right thing and Alya agrees. As they're leaving school, Marinette talks about how their "night walks" start soon, and Alya non-subtly talks about how Rena Furtive will be on the lookout while Ladybug and Chat Noir patrol. She stops, however, as gets excited about some pictures she took of herself as Rena Furtive, which has a lot of details that Marinette hasn't seen. I don't know whether to groan at what I just heard or remind everyone that Rena Furtive is literally just a recolor and therefore this is the writers patting themselves on the back for this design, so let's just move on.

Alya then shows Marinette her phone--AUGH, MY EYES--and suggests making a poll on her Ladyblog so people can vote for their favorite Rena design. Marinette has to stress again that Rena Furtive is supposed to be a spy and thus invisible, which Alya admits that she forgot about.

Okay, I've been holding off on talking about this, but now seems like the best time to bring it up. Alya has been a trash friend as well as a trash confidant, and her role as Rena Rouge boiled down to, "it was convenient for her to be the fox at the time it was needed." She's not particularly stealthy like one would expect of a fox, and she was easily one of the worst candidates to be told Marinette's big secret. I'll get more into this later, but I have to stress that Alya has treated Marinette no differently since learning of Marinette's identity and has already gone against Marinette's orders once before at the time of this episode airing. Episodes are constantly torn between validating their decision to have Marinette tell Alya, having Marinette be worried about the decision while the show considers her to be ridiculous for it, and then having Alya either consider or make choices that clearly don't gel well with what's good for her role. Much like Marinette, she lacks a sense of self-control and--wow, a female character who's impulsive, never seen that stereotype before.

Point being, "Sentibubbler" stressed over and over that Alya was the right choice and deserved to be both the permanent fox and the understudy for guardian, but then we have "Rocketear" here where Alya is making basic emotionally-driven errors that I'm not even remotely sympathetic to when Marinette has gone through so much worse over the course of three+ seasons.

*sigh*

Alya laments that it's hard to find new content for the Ladyblog - ah, yes, tell me more about your struggles, Alya - but figures that at least she can post stuff about Chat Noir instead of--I don't know--making fake Ladybug theories to lead people off Marinette's trail. Marinette says that it's a great idea, though Alya still doesn't look too happy. The scene then rewinds to a little bit to show a different point of view, this time with Adrien and Nino. Wait, this feels familiar, wasn't there another episode that did something like--ohhhh no, this is going to hurt.

After saying good-bye to Adrien - something I wish I could do every time he's mentioned or on-screen - Nino catches the bit of conversation where Alya talks about the Ladyblog. Nino talks as if Marinette isn't there and asks Alya out to the movies because Marinette is chopped liver and this is about Alya and how sad she is, guys.

Wow, she's turning into Adrien faster and faster.

Alya hesitates, but Marinette assures her that there's still time. Alya excitedly runs off with Nino and they watch what I presume are previews given the narrator, featuring recycled footage from the Ladybug PV. Nino is upset because Rena is mentioned but not Carapace, and the preview features Rena telling Chat Noir to forget Ladybug because it's Chat and Rena herself who are trulu made for each other.

I don't know what's funnier; the complete lack of self-awareness or the suggestion that a biracial couple would exist in this show outside of a special that gives them maybe a minute of screentime and acts more like suggestive canon anyway. I think I might've been too generous with that line about dinosaurs.

Nino is offended by the preview and Alya brushes off his comments, stating that it's just a cartoon and it's made to entertain people, though Nino himself is certainly not entertained. Can't say I entirely blame him considering that Alya doesn't really try to say anything substantial or even agree with him. No cuddling or reassuring kisses, she just gets slightly sad and turns to her phone for a bit.

After the movie, Nino is cheered back up again until he catches Alya on her phone once more. He offers to take her home, but she's distracted, and he comments that what she showed to Marinette looked pretty nice; I don't know because they didn't show it. Nino asks what it was and Alya evades the question, stating that her battery is running out. Nino is suspicious, but spots Andre's ice cream cart and the two head over there. Andre calls them his favorite couple and asks what they want, but Alya sees Ladybug gesturing for her and has to run off, giving Nino a cheek kiss as she goes which feels like too little too late at this point.

Nino catches some conveniently-placed kids arguing over who Chat Noir loves, but they settle on the fact that girls in general love Chat Noir. Nino is then seen at the Seine watching the Ladyblog's latest video, where Alya is talking up how amazing Chat Noir is. I hate to stop every five seconds to complain - okay, actually I don't - but I presume this video must've been made after the movie since Nino seems like the type who would actively follow his girlfriend's blog, yet not only is this video perfectly set up to echo the kids and the movie preview, but Alya - despite apparently caring about her boyfriend soooo much that she kept trying to convince Marinette to bend the rules - didn't even try to warn Nino or text him so he doesn't take it too seriously. It's like "Sentibubbler" with the conflicting messages about identity rules; Alya cares about her boyfriend but both isn't thinking about how he'll take the things she says and apparently doesn't know him well enough to realize that he wouldn't be mad over her keeping a secret that she was told to keep. I already talked about how they play up Nino to be the emotionally weaker one of the relationship, but then they don't have Alya try to cover or make up for that. She's been acting very much not like Alya - you know, the one who in "Sapotis" practically bragged about how great she'd be at covering for Ladybug - with her stutters and weak excuses, so I can't completely blame Nino for being upset after everything that's happened when he sees the writers projecting onto Alya as she talks about how Chat Noir is brave and funny and cute and showing all these images of him as well. I don't agree with all of his actions, but--oh yeah, speaking of which--

Nino calls Adrien and is talking to him about how Alya must be in love with someone else. Adrien dismisses the idea, as Alya and Nino are together basically all the time, and asks who she could possibly be in love with. When Nino suggests that it's Chat Noir, Adrien laughs and jokes about it being Fang instead. Nino points out the video but Adrien did see it but is overall unphased and convinced that it means nothing. Nino says that he'll find proof and hangs up, but Adrien is certain he'll find nothing. Plagg comments that Nino will find someone because Plagg's charisma has definitely contaminated Adrien.

Ugh.

Adrien expresses concern that he put on the cat's charm too much and accidentally made Alya fall for him, and decides to visit Alya as Chat Noir to be sure.

Meanwhile, we get a reference to film noirs as Nino narrates. That's the second blatant reference this episode and now I feel like they wrote this script while doing a movie marathon.

Chat Noir arrives at Alya's house and Trixx hides before Alya opens the curtains to reveal her surprise guest. Nino is nearby watching the scene with his phone as Alya wonders aloud if something's wrong. Chat assures that everything's fine, but brings up the video she posted. He insists that it made him happy, but points out that she's been following him and Ladybug since the beginning and that they know each other much better due to everything that's happened. He has some conveniently-worded dialog as he starts to say that he hopes something's just an illusion and Alya gets worried that he's about to bring up Rena. Chat continues and clarifies that he wonders if she started to feel something for him, though adds that he understands because just look at him.

UGGGGH.

Chat clarifies by making a heart with his hands, which Nino sees. Alya laughs at this gesture and states that she has a boyfriend, doing the same heart gesture and suggesting that her love for Nino is even more than that. Chat Noir apologizes - hm, I didn't know he had the capacity to do that - and hugs Alya, saying that he was just confused.

An absolutely unnecessary hug for two people who, at least in terms of their current selves, have had very little screentime together, but this is also the show where making eye contact basically means your friends and it's all just to push the plot along so Nino inteprets that Alya is in love with Chat Noir, so whatever I guess.

Alya states that Nino is far more irresistable than Chat, then adds that she doesn't even know his secret identity, and she'd never fall in love with someone she doesn't know. Nino then runs away upset and the scene cuts away to the next day where--

Wait, wait, wait, hang on a second. Two things right off the bat there.

First off, we're just gonna sidle past that "wouldn't fall in love with someone you don't know the identity of" while ignoring the existence of the love square? Not even Chat thinking about how he doesn't know Ladybug's identity and trying to excuse that he doesn't have to? This guy is that certain of their relationship?

Secondly, Nino is practically sobbing and Shadow Moth doesn't take this as his opportunity? Same guy who akumatized Mr. Pigeon 72 times and has akumatized Gigantitan more than once? What is this pacing???

But--alright, so Adrien comes into school and sees Nino, still dressed up in his detective gear, which gets ignored completely as Adrien goes to tell him about Chat Noir and Alya. Because the show doesn't know how Adrien would convey this within reason, Nino interrupts him, taking him down into the lower part of the school where he has a desk and chairs set up. Adrien goes to ask when Nino had time to do this, but Nino slams his hand on the desk to cut him off. Nino presents the evidence he took and they go back and forth, likewise with Adrien turning off the background music while Nino turns it back on. Adrien insists that it's a misunderstanding, but pleads innocent when Nino asks how he knows. Adrien states that Alya is just a superhero fan and that she and Chat Noir have nothing in common.

Again, the complete lack of self-awareness is astonishing.

Adrien repeats what Alya said about secret identities and how she wouldn't fall for someone she doesn't know - they're really ignoring this, aren't they? - and continues hitting Nino's soft spots about how unlikely it is until Nino decides to tell Adrien something he's not supposed to.

He tells Adrien, not only that Alya is Rena Rouge, but that he's Carapace. Adrien goes through a range of emotions beyond sAD for once, shocked at the fact that they know each other's identities. Nino states that they don't keep secrets from each other, except now Alya is with Chat Noir. Adrien still doesn't understand and brings up how secret identities have to be protected, or else Nino wouldn't have told him because Ladybug wouldn't agree to it.

Oh, here we go. So that's why they waited.

Nino states that it was Ladybug herself who gave them their miraculouses at the same time; not giving the reason why, of course, nor pointing out that they're temporary heroes so there's understandably some leeway. Adrien is having a moment, but manages to bring the subject back to Alya and Chat Noir, who he still doesn't think are a thing. Nino argues that it's because Adrien doesn't know Chat Noir, but he does because he's Carapace and knows how Chat Noir acts. He says that it's all flowers and confessions when Ladybug appears, but he gets rejected because Ladybug thinks that he's annoying, and she's right. He adds that Chat flirts with Rena Rouge and that's all that needs to happen, with Chat stepping in on the first mission Carapace lost in. Nino laments the loss of the love of his life and wishes to shut Chat Noir up forever; we all do, Nino, we all do. Shadow Moth finally steps in with - oh, less than eight minutes left in the episode, yikes - and Nino is akumatized into Rocketear.

Rocketear rejects Adrien's pleas to stop, insisting that Chat Noir is who he's after, not Adrien, and Adrien transforms in sad fashion despite Plagg's reminder of who Rocketear is after. Alya, meanwhile, is in the art club with Marinette - wait, since when was Alya in the art club - telling Marinette about how Chat Noir thought she was into him due to the video, which Marinette groans at. There's an earthquake and they peek outside to see Rocketear firing his tears at Chat Noir, shouting that he stole Alya from him. Chat Noir tries to tell him otherwise, but Rocketear won't listen.

Alya groans at Nino doing this, then she and Marinette set off to find a place to transform. They conveniently go to the same place Adrien and Nino were, so they see the desk that Nino had set up.

Genuine question, how seriously does this episode want me to take itself, because now when I recount all the unnecessary love square drama in my head - because you know that's where this is going - I'm going to have to think, "Nino, dressed in a detective outfit, ripped off his fake mustache and told Adrien both his and Rena's identities, and also that Ladybug was totally cool with it and thinks that Chat Noir is annoying."

Gettin' two completely different vibes here. The episode clearly wants to be important but it doesn't take itself seriously either, which it totally could while including enough jokes to keep things light. Instead, I'm just left scratching my head and wondering what tone they're going for.

Marinette finds Nino's phone on the desk - I'm calling continuity error on that one because he at no point put it on the desk, at least not on-screen - and she questions Alya on the video she sees. Alya insists that nothing happened, apparently completely unphased by her boyfriend having spied on her, and says that he wouldn't have misunderstood if he'd heard the actual conversation.

The two transform and Ladybug immediately uses Lucky Charm, receiving a projector. Ladybug is clueless and Rena Furtive suggests creating an imaginary movie like Nino. Ladybug gets an idea, remembering Alya's earlier comments, and Rena confirms that she remembers every word of it.

Aaaaand, just like that, all of the tension has been completely sucked away. You know, "Backwarder" was a trash episode, but at least when Ladybug was showing every step of her plan, she didn't tell us what it was.

Meanwhile, Rocketear and Chat Noir are still arguing--I started zoning out at hearing the same thing over and over again at this point, so I just presume they were fighting over who does stuff behind their love interest's backs better; I don't think they came to an agreement but they're both losers anyway.

Chat Noir says that he'll prove his innocence, tossing his baton aside to show him giving up, but Rocketear points out that it proves nothing and strikes Chat Noir with his tears.

Our endgame love interest, everyone. Straight As yet about as smart as a sack of bricks, and that at least won't flirt with anyone non-consensually.

Chat Noir makes a point that he doesn't want to hurt Rocketear, and Shadow Moth tells Rocketear to take his miraculous before finishing him. Chat Noir can only weakly tell him not to before Ladybug snags Rocketear's wrist and diverts the shot. Ladybug explains to Rocketear about the projector and how it'll let him hear the audio of the recording he took. She adds that she doesn't know what Chat said, but she trusts him.

Marinette, I'm sorry, I feel so bad for you.

Ladybug turns on the projector and Rocketear relaxes at actually hearing what was going on. Rena then de-transforms and hurries out to meet with Rocketear, hugging him as Rocketear apologizes for doubting her. Alya also kinda sorta apologizes in a way I don't understand and Rocketear then breaks his akumatization, very casually, all on his own.

Yeah, just--casually, in a matter of seconds in fact. You know, it's really sad when people resisting akumatizations are more tense and emotionally compelling than them breaking them. This is twice in one season now and has zero impact considering that Nino's reason for being akumatized was already taken care of so he had no reason to stay akumatized anyway. Him breaking his own object to release the akuma would've at least been different, but instead it's just a repeat of what Alya went through with even less tension considering that Alya's wasn't even that good in the first place, relying on her relationship to Ladybug rather than who she knew to be her best friend.

Moving on, Ladybug captures the akuma and uses Miraculous Ladybug to bring everything back to normal. Shadow Moth monologues about how love and secrets don't go well together and he's sure that she has a lot and I'll talk about this later.

Ladybug hands over the magical charm, which Nino takes but insists that he won't need it, as he'll never let Shadow Moth use his love to manipulate him again. Plenty of other things to get akumatized over, but they gave the supposedly ace character a robot to help him stick out and also gave the supposedly aro character a miraculous back in season one to give her more importance. If characters aren't in love then they need something to ceompensate for it.

Nino apologizes to Chat Noir for being wrong and Chat Noir assures him that everyone has doubts, even him. He gets sad and Ladybug asks him what's wrong, but he insists that he's fine - officially throwing away his right to be upset at her later as far as I'm concerned - and they do their usual fist buuuuu--

...Really?

Everyone then splits up and Chat Noir sulks by himself instead of--you know, talking to Ladybug, or asking her anything, or making any sort of excuse for her because that would mean he actually has faith in her and understands that their partnership is different from temporary heroes, even if the excuse was as basic as her wanting to protect him more than the others because he would be that egotistical if they didn't want to stretch out this unnecessary drama.

Later on, Adrien is staring at a picture on the Ladyblog that might be a metaphor for the show considering how "in the foreground" Chat Noir and Rena are.

Adrien vents about Ladybug giving miraculouses to Alya and Nino, but Plagg states that she's the guardian. Adrien clarifies that he's referring to Alya and Nino knowing each other's identities, but Plagg doesn't see the issue. Adrien gets huffy and asks why the rule exists for LadyNoir but not Ninya, but Plagg again points out that she's the guardian, so she makes the rules, though obviously he uses cheese metaphors to convey it.

Okay, Plagg is only, like--half-right because he doesn't have all the information. If you don't mind me rambling for a bit, I'm on the fence here because, on one hand--yes, I agree that Marinette should be allowed to make her own rules, and I often do that in my writing because I think she should be permitted leeway in order to let herself be happy, but on the other hand, it's not technically her rule, as she had to let Alya and Nino in on their identities back in the Season 2 finale, so Fu was still around for a season. She wasn't even guardian yet!

Now, presumably so the fandom could blame Marinette if anything happened, Marinette never discussed this with Fu on-screen, so I can't say whether or not Fu knew, but I feel like he must've since Marinette had to have told him the heroes' identities off-screen, given "Party Crasher," and thus I imagine that Marinette would tell Fu everything that happened, which is consistent with what she does on-screen even if she'd keep things from him for a little while.

"Furious Fu" had also established that not even Master Fu followed rules completely, meaning that Marinette is in this awkward spot of mostly following what Fu taught her, which aren't all guardian rules anyway, and having to break the rules on occasion for various purposes. I can't say what Fu approved of and what he didn't, because episodes spend so much time on the love square that they forget about Marinette as a person and how she interacts with everyone else. From an emotional standpoint, I can't blame Marinette for not revoking the miraculouses of people whose identities get discovered because of her, as I imagine she feels guilty and it probably doesn't seem fair to force them into another miraculous or have them be entirely without one because of a mistake that she made, meaning that someone needs to be throwing a lot of red flags for Marinette to be through with them.

Though obviously, from the show's standpoint, it's just an excuse to not make new models, but I complained about that enough in "Sentibubbler" and this episode even went out of its way to design a detective model for Nino while spraypainting Alya's bodysuit in the same breath, so this is the world we live in.

Anyway, Marinette is essentially in this position where she still has Fu's rules hovering over her, but she's also trying to step out on her own and make her own decisions to varying degrees of success or failure depending on your point of view. Tikki--wait, no, bad idea--Su-Han then, could easily give input on these things, perhaps with Marinette discussing a modern day set of rules for someone her age and going back and forth with Su-Han on what the right choices to make are, finding something that's comfortable but within a realm of predictable control. Su-Han was okay with some rules being broken after seeing how Ladybug handled them and they could've easily made this episode about that instead, but instead, we get rules being set and then being broken on a writer's whim.

Which now brings us to the end of the episode, where Marinette is on the phone with Alya and apologizes for causing trouble between her and Nino. Alya tells her not to worry and she'll fix things - you know, those things that, to Marinette's knowledge, have already been fixed - and asks if Marinette trusts her. Marinette does, and Alya hangs up in order to face Nino.

Yeah, that feeling of dread in your stomach? That means you know how predictable the writing is and what's about to happen, good for you.

Alya explains that she has to tell Nino something and he's worried, this time trying to sheepishly break the tension. She explains that she's still Rena Rouge, much to Nino's shock, and adds that she's in hiding, which is why Ladybug didn't want her to tell anyone. Nino asks why she's telling him if she's not supposed to tell anyone - proving my point from a while back that he wouldn't have been upset had she kept it a secret - then asks if Ladybug agreed with it.

I want to give him a pat on the back for considering Ladybug, but he didn't even tell her when he had the chance that Adrien knows his identity now, so I'm just beaten down at this point.

Instead of answering the question directly, Alya says that she can't hide her identity from him because she loves him and they don't have secrets.

You know, like Nino telling Adrien about Rena's identity, or Alya saying specifically that she's a permanent holder, which I'm sure both of them will confess to since they said that they don't have--aaaaand the episode ends on happy triumphant music, okay.

I mean, I guess Alya at least didn't tell him that Marinette was Ladybug, but that is such a low bar and not even remotely worthy of congratulations when Alya told Nino the specific thing that Marinette told Alya not to tell; the thing that they had agreed on.

Nino wasn't upset anymore. He won't be getting akumatized either. Alya endured the supposed hardship of being a permanent fox holder for four episodes before breaking down and telling her boyfriend. Even her excuse doesn't hold any water because, again, they're both still technically keeping a secret, particularly Alya who knows Marinette's identity as Ladybug. The episode also apparently forgets that Alya and Marinette's friendship must not be as strong by her logic of telling Nino specifically everything, as Alya kept Rena Rouge a secret from Marinette for all of Season 3, but tells Nino about continuing to be Rena Rouge in Season 4. Boyfriends before BFFs without explicitly saying it, or to be more specific, whatever screws Marinette over the most, because that's what this comes down to, made worse by "Optigami" where Marinette told Alya that she'd tell her everything and I guess that doesn't go both ways.

"Sentibubbler" had Alya stress that no one would ever know. She promised Marinette and told Marinette to trust her, and the episode spent its entire running time talking her up and assuring Marinette that she was the right choice, even considering Marinette ridiculous for worrying when Alya had done something without Marinette's permission the episode right before it. Then, three episodes after "Sentibubbler," when Marinette is finally comfortable and trusts Alya completely, Alya betrays that trust. Nino betrayed that trust, knowing he wasn't supposed to do so but telling Adrien his and Rena's identity anyway, because he was losing an argument and needed to PROVE something.

Marinette gives them an inch and they take a mile. Marinette bent the rules so that they could continue to have the miraculous they'd started with and they disrespected her because it was hard for like a day.

And if this bites them back, it won't reflect poorly on them, it'll reflect poorly on Marinette.

It's not like Alya just overrode Marinette. She didn't go, "Hey, I'm telling Nino, I'm sorry," or tried her hardest to go back and forth with Marinette until they both agreed. No, she did what she told Marinette she wouldn't do without saying a word to her, because LOVE and SEEEECRETS.

And this only applies to her, of course, because don't think I didn't notice the parallels between this episode and "Truth," because WOW.

Episode begins with Marinette hoping for something and it blows up in her face? A date at the cinema that ends on a sour note? Plot-centric couple trying to get Andre's ice cream and the female with a secret needing to leave in a hurry? Boyfriend character getting akumatized over their girlfriend's secret? Boyfriend assumes/suggests that the girlfriend's secret involves Aaaaaadrien - or his alter-ego in "Rocketear"'s case - and the episode hints as much to him even though he's completely wrong? Akuma's colors are blue and black? THE BRIDGE?

But, ahhh, little difference, here and there, y'know, like how Marinette was forced to break up with her boyfriend while Alya got to keep hers, and Nino got to have long talks with Alya while Luka got little to nothing with Marinette.

Because do note that Alya, while trying to convince Marinette and talk to Nino about not keeping secrets, at no point suggests that Marinette deserves to be happy and deserves to have a boyfriend and that Marinette should be allowed to tell Luka her secret so they can get back together, so you have Alya here selfishly prioritizing her relationship with Nino while making no comment about Marinette's relationship, essentially asking Marinette to allow her what Marinette herself didn't have the luxury of, and Alya knows this because Marinette told her. It is both incredibly insensitive of Alya and incredibly insulting of the show to make so many parallels between this episode and "Truth" just to have everything crash down for Marinette because she's Marinette while everything goes well for Alya and Nino because they're not Marinette.

We've talked before about the formulas that are literally baked into the show, and one of those is how Marinette makes a mistake in every episode and has to learn from it. What that mistake is in this episode, I don't know, but considering that she apologizes for Alya and Nino's problems, I guess the show blames her for what they themselves had taught her.

Point being, there's a clear karma system in place, but it only applies to Marinette, and forcing her to mess up in every episode means that she is literally not allowed to be with Luka because had she been able to clear things up between them, he would've eagerly accepted her and they could've been happy. It'd be too difficult for her to mess up when Luka doesn't put mountains of pressure and expectations on her like everyone else. Factor that in with how she can be herself around him and it leads to situation that are too difficult for her to screw up in because her mistakes - more often than not - center around Adrien or her role as guardian.

And because another rule in the show is to bring up Adrien so they don't "lose him for too long," she can't avoid bringing him up either. If he's not in the plot, he has to be mentioned, leaving Marinette in a lose-lose situation that she'll never be free from.

So, let me just get this straight then:

The guy who spied on his girlfriend instead of talking to her about his assumptions gets to keep his girlfriend, not because he realized it was wrong regardless of whether he was correct or not, but because the situation had been cleared up for him, yet the guy who actively resisted his akumatization, saddened by his girlfriend's secrets but wanting her to share them when she was ready, gets broken up with and tossed to the wayside because he's not a rich blond boy who got a miraculous because he happened to be within the twenty meters of space where Fu was searching for new holders?

Meanwhile, the girlfriend who has gone against the wishes and insistence of her best friend - guardian of the miraculouses, by the way, so she calls the shots, something that Alya herself said in "Optigami" BEFORE GOING ON TO DO HER OWN THING IN THE SAME EPISODE AND BEING REWARDED FOR IT - is allowed to go against the wishes and insistence of her best friend again for the sake of "all love, no secrets" with her boyfriend and so she can have the happy ending she wants, yet the girl who was chosen for a miraculous without her consent, forced to screw up and talk about a random boy who doesn't even go out of his way to spend time with her, treated like absolute trash by writers who find humor in her misery, and is the only one to receive overly harsh and long-lasting consequences for her actions while also covering up and forgiving the actions of others within the episode where they do it...

doesn't get her happy ending, and won't ever get her happy ending. That thing Shadow Moth said about love and secrets not going well together? Yeah, only goes as far as the writers want it to, because both Nino and Alya still have secrets, and some of the ones they did tell each other were forced by someone else and kept until that very moment. This idea that people in love have to tell each other everything and that it makes a relationship stronger makes me immensely uncomfortable, and that lesson is also in "Guiltrip."

People should be allowed their secrets, and obviously there are exceptions for things that are being hidden with malicious intent, but being essentially forced to share everything or risk not having a "full and complete" relationship is stifling and sounds like it'd only cause stress.

This episode sucks. It furthers and confirms everything I've already thought about the show, Nino's screentime continues to be dependent on Adrien, Alya, or both, there are pointless references that completely take me out of the experience, and the utter betrayal from Alya and supposed message of the episode just reminds me that Marinette is inevitably going to be stuck with a guy who didn't even DO anything in this episode and is going to let himself stew instead of asking for any sort of clarifications from someone he apparently trusts so much.

So the takeaway is that Marinette's life is awful, she'll be forced to apologize for rules that she didn't even come up with herself, her best friend will walk all over her for the sake of her relationship with a guy - not even for the sake, really, they were going to be fine, it was more for HER personal comfort if anything - and the guy who actually makes Marinette happy and could've known her identity instead BECAUSE HE AT LEAST DIDN'T HAVE A TRACK RECORD OF SPILLING HER SECRETS gets treated in the exact same way that she does; like nothing, just something to abuse unfairly.

What a waste of an episode.

#MC's Videos #category: episode summaries #category: salt #salt: adrien agreste #salt: chat noir #salt: alya cesaire #salt: nino lahiffe #video: critique #MC's Renders #render: persona #episode: Rocketear #((I would usually apologize for rambling but you guys seem to like it lol.))#((I could still afford to trim down the summary probably and repeat myself/ramble a BIT less but yeah.))#((I'm also feeling a little more comfortable this time around))#((which might come off in my inflections.))

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