#If i thought my step by step meta was long this one just took the cake asdfas

[minty364]

DPXDC Prompt #108 Part 2

The thought sounded ridiculous and yet Damian found himself unable to completely scoff at the idea. He himself had seen some strange things in his lifetime and it wouldn’t be fair to completely dismiss the idea outright. 

“I’m unsure what your point is but I guess I suppose they exist.” Damian eventually said.

Danny chuckled at this, “I guess you're not from Amity Park huh?” he joked.

Damian scoffed, “I’ve never even heard of that place but I gather that’s where I am at the moment?” He mentally filed the name to search later. 

“Yeah, born and raised. Anyways, we’re the most haunted city in America. Ghost’s are real, you’ll probably meet one at some point. They’re uh… kind of attracted to me? Kind of like… “ He trailed off for a moment, likely lost in thought trying to come up with an example. Damian was going to call him out for spacing, they were probably running out of time before one of his siblings or Pennyworth came to check on him. Luckily Danny continued, “Hey, what city am I in right now, maybe there’s a comparison I can use?” Danny asked.

“Tt, did you not even think to use GPS to find your location before calling me?” Damian scoffed, his supposed ‘soulmate’ was incompetent, “You're in Gotham.”

“Gotham? Well I guess you could compare them to Batman’s rogues then, however they tend to play a little rough. It’s kind of how ghost’s bond.” Danny’s explanation made it sound like he was the one roughhousing with these ghosts. He wasn’t quite sure where this was going but he let him continue, “so well… this next part’s kind of hard to explain especially without proof but well… I’m what the other ghost’s call a halfa. I’m half ghost half human.”

Damian opened his mouth to retort, the notion that you could be half dead was ridiculous really. But as soon as he opened his mouth a cold blue wisp wafted out of his mouth shocking him. An unfamiliar feeling washes over him and he looked down in terror as he started sinking into the bed.

“Explain your power’s now, I appear to be sinking into your bed.” Damian demanded. The feeling was odd, it was almost as if the bed didn’t exist. 

“Uh, right, Okay… so, it’s kind of emotion based? Take a few deep breaths and you’ll be able to ease yourself back out.” 

Damian did just as Danny instructed and took a few deep breaths. Soon he was able to solidify and sit back up on the bed. Suddenly, a knocking sound was heard through the phone. 

Shit, just like he thought, they took too long and one of his siblings came to check on him. He thought it was sweet that they cared, but he’d never voice this thought out loud to anyone. 

“Danny, I need you to listen very carefully. I need you to open the door and hand the phone over to them. Don’t say anything, understand?” 

“Uh Okay?” Damian could tell Danny was raising an eyebrow at this but he did as Damian told him anyway.

“Uh, Hello?” The voice on the phone said, Damian recognized it as Tim Drake-Waynes. 

“Drake, Please step into the room and listen to my instructions,” Damian waited a moment as he heard the door shut. “Alright, meet my soulmate Danny, apparently his parents study soulmates and they did something and now we’re in each other’s bodies.”

He heard Danny sigh, “It was only supposed to strengthen the soulmate pull. It’s not my fault they don’t know about my weird biology.” 

“Weird Biology?” Drake parroted, “do they not know you're a meta?”

There was a pause before Danny spoke, “No, I’m not a meta… but for the simplicity of things, and this conversation, sure, you can call me a meta.” There was a tiredness to his voice, as if he had this conversation with someone else before.

“The name’s Tim,” he told Danny, then Drake suddenly said in an excited voice, “hey, let’s let him in on the family secret and prank Bruce. Let’s tell everyone else about it and see how long it takes him to figure out it isn’t you… we’ll have to train Danny of course. If he really is your soulmate he’s going to find out eventually and it might be good to prepare him ahead of time” The idea sounded ridiculous to Damian but at the same time, he was recently having some doubts about his Father’s attention on him. Drake had a point, if Danny really was his soulmate, he’d find out eventually. 

__________________________

Danny wasn’t sure what was going on, after he handed the phone off to Tim, they talked about some family secret. Soon Tim hung up the phone and turned to Danny, “Damian say’s Sam and Tucker are there and they’ll call back when he’s back up to speed which means that we need to get up to speed ourselves,” he glared at Danny. Danny, who was still wearing Pajamas stood there as Tim approached him. Once they were a yard apart Tim spoke again, “Listen, the secret I’m about to tell you must not be told to anyone outside of this house, got it?” He fixed a hard glare at Danny.

Danny shrunk back for a moment before a thought occurred to him, “why don’t I tell you my secret as well? Damian is already learning by now and since you're his brother you’ll probably be able to help out.” Secrets for secrets, that way they would both be afforded some leverage in the situation. 

Tim seemed to think for a moment with a hand on his chin, he nodded for a moment before looking up at Danny, “Alright, but tell me yours first.” 

#dp x dc prompt #danny fenton #danny phantom #dp x dc #dc x dp #writing prompt #poor danny #I honestly don’t have the time to write right now #I’ll do what I can but updates are going to be sporadic #I’m working on a lot of projects like video essay type things so let me know if it sounds interesting #I own a fuck ton of video games so I thought I’d try to branch out a bit in the content I make #Danny and Damian are soulmates #dead serious #Probably a bit ooc #I dissociated a bit writing this #my asks are open #all my prompts are free to use

[escelia]

Thank you so much to everyone who enjoyed the first part! I hope I didn't miss anyone in the tags.

You can click here to read the prologue and here to read part one.

Enjoy~

Not So Normal pt2

Bruce had gathered his whole brood in the Batcave for their debrief. This time, Danny included. He'd hoped that one day he would bring Danny down here and tell him all about their nightly activities, just not so soon. His newest son didn't even seem fazed at all by all the vigilantes flooding into the cave. Not that that really meant anything with him floating down through the ceiling with Dick and Damian in hand. To think one of the kids living under his own roof was a meta and he hadn't noticed… he had to step up his game as Gotham's greatest detective.

"Is the Joker alive?" Was Bruce's first question once everyone was situated and settled. He had a personal rule about not killing his rogues, but honestly, after what the Joker pulled, he thought he might be able to overlook it. After all, when an eldritch being takes a life, who is he to argue?

"Of course he's alive! Nobody dies when I get involved." Danny puffed his chest proudly. He hadn't broken his no casualty streak since he started hero work over a year ago. Not many heroes could say that, and Danny worked damn hard to keep it that way.

Bruce let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Out of relief or disappointment, he didn't know.

"Next question. Where and what is 'clown jail?'"

"It's a subspace of the Infinite Realms." The detective tucked that term away for questioning later. "It's a trick I picked up from my Head Guard back in the Realms. It's basically a space where you experience whatever punishment I think fits your crime. But it's all psychological, so no one ever gets hurt there."

"And what's his punishment?"

"Are you a meta or an alien? I can't tell at this point."

"How long have you known about us?"

"Why did you look so different back at the warehouse?"

"You have a Head Guard?"

The questions came in like a flood. Danny flushed at all the attention, unsure where to start first. He looked to Damian for help, but he only folded his arms and smiled smugly. That little traitor! But he supposed that's what he deserved for waiting so long to tell his family. In his defense, the last time he told a family about his abilities he'd ended up strapped to a table with a scalpel poking at his spleen.

"One question at a time, please!” Danny screeched, covering his face in embarrassment. He stared at Damian pleadingly one more time.

"I told you to tell them before something drastic happened, so don't look at me. "

"You knew?" Jason pouted. Damian just smirked and puffed his chest in pride. He knew exactly why Daniel hadn't told them, but had been confident that his new family wouldn't react the way his old one had. Perhaps this would teach Daniel to trust him a bit more. And wasn't it something that Damian wanted Daniel to trust him.

"They aren't like the Fentons, Daniel. You should tell them."

The words were like a balm on Danny's nerves. The others were smiling patiently at him, judgment absent in favor of eager curiosity but not in the cruel way it had been on Jack and Maddie's faces. He took a deep breath before starting in on the details. No place like the beginning, he guessed.

He told them about how he half died when he was 14 and all the abilities he gained as a result. He told them about his hunter parents and his colorful array of rogues turned friends. Bruce had paled considerably when he got to the part about Pariah Dark whisking their town away and his subsequent defeat of the Ghost King. And he looked downright nauseous when Danny detailed his victories over several of the more godlike entities of the Realms, like Overgrowth and Vortex. He left out Dan, skipping to the part where he'd effectively become the ward and apprentice to the Master of Time, Clockwork. And finally, he told them about Jack and Maddie.

When he'd stumbled into Gotham after the vivisection and begged Bruce to take him away, to protect him, "please, I just wanna feel safe again," he'd told him that it was abuse and refused to outline the details. This time, he looked him in the eyes, and with one finger wrapped around Damian's for support, he told his family about how the Dr's. Fenton had cut him open and poked around in the name of science.

"So… you're not a meta?" Duke asked in the silence that followed Danny's confessions. He had to admit he was grateful his brother wasn't dwelling on his past. Damian had been right, they were taking it well. Boy, did he let it show on his face in a typical, 12 year old, "I told you so," fashion.

"I don't have a metagene and I'm technically half-dead, half-alive. Damian used the term Pseudo-Meta. I kinda like it."

"So let me get this straight," Jason began. "Since dying, you won the Ghost King's crown by right of conquest, defeated several godlike entities, who are now your friends, and your mentor is the literal God of time?"

"Pretty much."

"Damn," he whistled. "I don't think I died right the first time. I want a do-over."

Danny snorted in laughter and Damian tutted at him while the others elbowed him in ribs.

"Does that make you a god?" Dick teased.

"I don't think so, but every time I ask Clockwork he gets all cryptic, so maybe?"

Bruce was getting a headache.

~~•○•~~

"Alright, it's time to solve some real mysteries now," Tim said with a gleam in his eyes. They'd migrated up to the kitchen for post patrol cookies. Alfred had been pleasantly surprised when Bruce had explained that, thanks to Danny, everyone had made it home relatively unscathed. And considering they'd had a run-in with Joker, that was worthy of cookies in his opinion.

"Danny, how in the world did you get Damian to stop trying to stab you?"

"Actually, yeah! You guys have gotten really close. What's the secret?" Dick asked with a raised eyebrow. Damian rolled his eyes and answered for Danny.

"I challenged him in combat and Daniel accepted. It's not my fault none of you were intelligent enough to realize it was a bonding tactic." Bruce tried to hide his laughter in his mug while the others blatantly gawked at him.

"No way."

"I have a picture of the first time he managed to graze me in a sparring session! You guys wanna see?" Everyone swarmed him to see the photo. Dick cooed and tried to pinch Damian's cheek, but was met with snapping teeth. Steph, with eyes sparkling, just muttered, "cute," so as not to stir the youngest's ire. Danny ended up promising to send the picture into the group chat later.

"By the way, you never did say what Joker's punishment was," Jason mentioned casually. Danny smiled cruelly, his frosty blue eyes glowing.

"His greatest fear, of course! A prolonged stay in a Gotham that has not nor will ever know the Joker. I swear, I've never met a clown that wasn't a total narcissist." Danny popped the last bite of a cookie into his mouth and dusted the crumbs off on his pants. "No one is allowed to hurt my brothers. Ever."

~~•○•~~

Damian was just about to climb into bed when he heard a knock at his door. He looked up just in time to see Danny phase through it into his room.

"Why even bother knocking?"

"Because it's polite!" Damian rolled his eyes. "I just wanted to say thank you for earlier." He took a seat at the end of the bed and Damian sat next to him, as was tradition for their late night chats.

"I'm the one who should be thanking you," Damian countered. "You weren't ready to tell everyone, and yet you came when I called."

"Of course I did. You're my little brother. And I'd do it for any of you." Danny nudged him with his shoulder, and it earned him a tiny, barely there smile.

"Thank you Danny."

"Using a nickname, huh? Don't let Dick hear that, he'll think you're playing favorites."

"Of course not. I have a reputation to uphold after all. Besides, Richard already thinks you're my favorite. It's giving him a complex."

"Well, aren't I?"

"Tt, don't push your luck."

There was a beat of silence before they erupted into laughter. Danny was so proud that he could make Damian laugh, even if it was more reserved than the guffaws he and their brothers had when they found something particularly funny. He couldn't wait to brag to Jazz about it once it was safe to contact her. If it was safe to contact her.

"I'll see you in the morning," Danny said, leaning lightly against his brother's shoulder in lieu of a hug. He floated over to the door. "Goodnight, Dami."

"Sleep well, Danny."

~~•○•~~

Vlad Masters gnashed his teeth while he stared at the computer screen in his office. First Daniel up and disappeared without so much as a word, and now he was all over the news and tabloids as the newly adopted "Daniel Fenton-Wayne." He was annoyed. He was furious! He was… confused. What had that fool Jack done to get Daniel taken away? Why hadn't Maddie stopped it? How did Daniel end up getting legally adopted by Bruce Wayne of all people? The boy should have come right to him if something was wrong. He deserved it! The boy was his or he was no one's!

The man swatted the mug off his desk. It shattered against the wall.

#danny phantom crossover #danny phantom #danny fenton #dc x dp #fanfiction #damian wayne #batfam #ghost king danny #big brother danny #protective danny #fright knight totally taught danny how to make fear dimensions #jason wants a do-over #bruce has a headache #danny is a pseudo-meta #or a god #clockwork refuses to clarify #no beta we die like danny #vlad throws a tiny lil temper tantrum

[farewelln3verland]

I cant forget the way you looked at me

pairing: best friend! taehyun x fem! reader

a/n: for taehyun's birthday, as well as Tubatu’s Year Long Birthday Event 🎂 created by @junniieesbbys and @boba-beom!

“you know, many people would kill to look like that,” you comment to your date, taehyun.

the two of you had been best friends for almost a year, and you knew he liked art, so he was a clear choice to have as your guest. when you decided opening your photography gallery was the next huge step in your career, taehyun had been right there for you through it all.

and the open house that you hosted this very night had turned out even better than you could have dreamed. of course, it might be partially because you had a celebrity friend there, but hey, any publicity would be good for business.

taehyun was currently tugging on his suit collar, grimacing slightly. “i should have never let yeonjun pick out my outfit.” 

“probably not, but hey, it draws attention to this great picture i took of you. and you look amazing, tae.” you assure him softly.

you point over at the black and white photo of him on the beach. his head was tilted backwards, hair slightly blowing in the wind. the meta point? it had been drizzling when you’d gone, so there was fresh dewy raindrops gliding over his face. with the quality of your camera, you could easily see the drops become embedded into his eyelashes. 

you giggle slightly as he tugs at his outfit again. “if you have such a problem with the outfit we can just take it off-“ you quip and he shoots you an amused yet silencing glare. 

“don’t make me do something about it.” he murmurs and you do a double take. 

“what?” 

“you heard me.”

“uhhh-“ your brain short circuits trying to figure out why your best friend was flirting with you. you’d made jokes before, calling each other ‘babe’ and ‘love’ ironically, but this had a waaay different ring to it. i mean, he was just a naturally dominant and flirty person...right? right??

“just shut up and kiss me.” he suddenly muttered, leaning closer even as you back away a few steps, and his eyes widen, then give a flash of sadness, his face becoming closed off.

“ah. i see. i-i’m sorry-“ he apologizes, truly sorry, but with a note of coldness in his voice.

“no- i would kiss you, tae, but the paparazzi…we can’t do this in public. if i'm going to have you, i'll have you to myself." you tell him, reaching for his arm.

he flashed a sincerely relieved and happy look at you, then nodded. there was something in your bones that just screamed at you that he was going to end up going home with you tonight. 

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

years of you being with the love of your life and best friend flashed through your mind, especially that one night a couple years ago when he made you his. the night you had your open house, the night he made you aware just how much he needed you. how much he loved you.

the times that you thought back to... it always made you fall in love with him more. yes, he’d been passionate, after confessing of loving you for most of your friendship, maybe even a little impatient. but demanding? no. you’d already been in deep, given him consent twice, and still, as he was about to make love to you, he still asked. 

“are you sure? once i start- i won’t be holding back-“

and you knew then: you never wanted him to hold back again.

#tubatus year long birthday event #txt #txt smut #txt imagines #txt post #txt fic #tomorrow x todoro #tomorrow by together #tomorrow x together #txt taehyun #taehyun moodboard #taehyun x reader #taehyun imagines #taehyun #kang taehyun #taehyun smut #taehyun hard hours #taehyun hard thoughts #taehyun fluff #txt scenario #txt x reader #txt hard hours #tomorrow x tomorrow

[violetlunette]

Okay, so I really like Female Silver. (Obviously, I like Male Silver better, but still.) It’s a bit hard to explain, but I like the idea of Lilia trying to raise a sweet, angelic girl and figuring out how to keep her safe while respecting her independence. Here, I drew Lilia catching Silver as she fell asleep. The image isn’t one of my best, but I like it well enough.

Anyway, while I’m here, some headcanons for a Female Silver AU.

*When Silver got her first period, neither she nor Lilia knew what the heck was going on and panicked. Lilia took her to a midwife who—after laughing—explained what was happening. Both were horrified and had trouble understanding that it was natural. (Lilia was then traumatized when he looked at the biology book Silver was given to help understand what was happening to her body.) *While none of the boys were overprotective, they were all very much aware that Silver was beautiful and were cautious around strangers. As such, they’re a bit more defensive of a female Silver than a male Silver, as a pretty female will attract danger more than a pretty male. **Lilia taught Silver to never talk to strangers but never told her why. *The second thing he taught Silver when her chest grew was how to break someone’s arm. The first thing was how to break “hardwood.” *To this day, Lilia never had the sex talk with Silver. He’s tried a few times but, whenever he does, he sees his baby girl and wusses out. **Despite this, Silver is very much aware of sex as they had a burrow of bunnies behind the cottage and, since she can talk to animals, they explained the concept. (Though, as all her information comes from animals, she’s a bit mixed up.) ***On that topic, Silver herself is very curious about sex and relationships. VERY curious. *When Silver first arrived at NRC, people were quite taken with her beauty, however, only a few brave ones approached as others saw her stoic features as ice Queen qualities. *At first, Malleus was confused (and a bit jealous [not for romantic reasons, but that people were approaching her]) when people approached Silver as they acted in a way he wasn’t familiar with. When he discovered what was going on and that Silver was being pursued, he had a mini-freak out. There were thunderstorms, and students were getting struck by lightning—it was chaos till Lilia stepped in and told him to calm the heck down. **Silver was bewildered by the whole experience and still had no idea what was going on. ***On that topic, Silver is still 100 % oblivious to romantic topics. *Malleus still sees Silver as a little girl and is always thrown off when something happens to remind him that she’s a young woman. He honestly has trouble processing it, but when he does, he gets melancholy. *When Silver first arrived at NRC people thought she and Lilia were an item due to how close they were. **They thought the same when Sebek arrived till he LOUDLY rejected the notion. *Lilia tries to act calm and cool, but one time Lilia saw a bruise on Silver’s neck and—believing it was a hickey—obsessed over it for hours, till Silver informed him that she got it while training. Basically, he can pretend to be calm all he likes but that girl more often will send him into panic without knowing it. (Just like Male Silver does.) *Silver finds her long hair annoying, but keeps it as she likes it when her father styles it. (Meta: This is a defense for me as I just like drawing long hair.) *Like her male counterpart, Silver is a strong fighter and hopes to become a knight.

#twisted wonderland #silver twst #twst silver #twst #mine #silver twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland silver #silver vanrouge #twst diasomnia #lilia vanrouge #twisted wonderland lilia #twst lilia #malleus #sebek #malleus draconia #twisted wonderland malleus #twst malleus #sebek twisted wonderland #sebek zigvolt #sebek twst #lilia #female silver vanrouge #female silver twst #female silver #genderbend #rule 63 #genderswap

[fincalinde]

for your ask meme: wei wuxian?? 👀

Since I've got some new followers over the past couple of days (who knew what branching out from Xiyao would do for my reputation!), I'll once again add the disclaimer that I write MDZS meta and not CQL meta. I'm aware that in CQL, WWX is characterised somewhat differently. I have thoughts on that too, but I'm not immersed enough in CQL to commit to sharing them publicly.

Since WWX is the main character and appears in almost every scene, I won't attempt to write a thesis statement on him. (You cannot afford my hourly rate.) Instead I've decided to focus on an aspect of WWX that I feel is often overlooked or sanitised. That is to say:

WWX is extremely annoying.

He's not just irritating, or overly exuberant, or a touch too arrogant. He is infuriatingly obnoxious.

Obviously WWX is also brave and often well-meaning. He loves deeply, even if he consistently lets down the people who care about him. He's strong-willed enough to abide by his own sense of morality in the face of overwhelming disapproval and danger, and arrogant enough to make unilateral decisions when it would be better for all concerned if he took a step back. He's bad at big picture thinking and rarely considers the full ramifications of his actions, but he's also incredibly adept at getting out of scrapes, and he has an admirable if also somewhat depressing ability to shrug off pain and suffering that is the result of his difficult days on the streets and his mistreatment by YZY. 

And he's obnoxious.

I do think it often gets forgotten, because Wangxian is intended to be a love story and it's much more tempting to write sweeping romance and charming banter than hark back to all the canonical moments in which characters, including LWJ, genuinely want to throttle him to death.

He never shuts up! He's constantly laughing far too loudly and for too long. He's the sort of person who thinks it's funny to pull the rug out from under someone in a conversation so they end up discomfited and embarrassed. I fully understand that a large part of his hectoring LWJ is a precursor to his later romantic interest and is in line with his flirtation style, but the fact remains that he goads LWJ beyond the point of endurance on multiple occasions. LWJ just happens to be a weird dude who's really into it.

A good example of what I mean is when Wangxian encounter each other at Phoenix Mountain. WWX asks LWJ if he's ever kissed someone, then proceeds to speculate that LWJ has never been kissed and will never be kissed. LWJ doesn't seem to mind this at first, and only becomes angered when WWX lies about having been kissed before himself (oh LWJ), but it's important to remember that WWX has no idea that LWJ has any interest in him whatsoever. From WWX's perspective, he's just having fun belittling someone else over a topic that for most young people is a sensitive one. I don't want to oversell this moment and claim that it's bullying, actually, but I do want to use it to highlight that WWX is not always a considerate person and this type of behaviour is teeth-achingly thoughtless and cringeworthy.

I could go on, but if you pick any given scene including WWX you're likely to see dialogue in which he's being actively annoying to other characters, intentionally or otherwise. This isn't an attack on him, just an observation that in order to write him in a canon consistent manner he should be not just witty and chatty in a way where other characters simply roll their eyes and keep going. He should genuinely actually aggravate them and it should have consequences within the scene. Characters such as JC and WQ care about WWX but also find him infuriating, and that's with good reason—never mind the juniors, whom WWX takes pleasure in messing with. There are many characters who feel great respect and affection for WWX, and every single one of them also regularly feels deep frustration and irritation towards him too. There should be some meat on the bones of any back and forth between them.

#ask #thatswhatsushesaid #roquen meta #i consider wwx an extremely difficult character to write #capturing this aspect of him without alienating your audience #is quite the tightrope #it's not surprising that it's often watered down #or just generally made more palatable

[aprocessionofthoughts]

Stitches and Cookies

ai-less whumptober 2023 day 10- scars/collar fandom- Danny phantom x batman TW- scars, medical stuff but nothing graphic summary- Jason helps patch Danny up then feed him

ao3 ai-less whumptober2023 masterlist part 2 of DLM

Danny stared at the man in front of him. He felt wrong. Like he should be at least slightly liminal, but there was something wrong with his ectoplasm.

And Danny had just revealed his scar to him.

But the man, Jason, kept projecting a sense of calm. And despite everything he had been through, Danny felt that he could trust him.

Jason’s breath had hitched when Danny had lifted his shirt, but now he was looking at the stab wound an agent had given him when the GIW caught up to him yesterday. Danny didn’t have long. He would have to leave Gotham soon. But he had figured it would be best to get his injury treated first. 

It had been a month since he had escaped the GIW lab and he had no wish to go back.

“Do you want anesthetic?”

Danny blinked. “What?”

Jason gestured toward his wound, “Do you want some local anesthetic before I start the stitches?”

Danny shook his head. “No, it doesn’t work on me.”

Jason raised an eyebrow, but just got out some disinfectant and started cleaning the wound.

Danny turned away, biting his lip. It stung. With everything he’d been through, he’d have thought that something this simple wouldn’t pain him anymore.

It didn’t take long for Jason to be done.

Both of them sat there for a moment in silence. 

“Want to tell me who gave you that?”

Danny didn’t say anything.

“I could protect you.”

Danny snorted. If the GIW found Jason they’d put him on a lab table as well.

Jason sighed. “Alright, would you at least like some food? I just made some cookies.”

DAnny frowned, looking around, “Where…?”

Jason winced. “Actually, my apartment is next door. This is my friend’s. He asked me to watch it while he was gone.”

That didn’t seem like it was true. But Danny didn’t feel any negative intentions coming from Jason so he nodded.

“Cool.” Jason stood and offered Danny a hand which he took, wincing as he stood up. “Follow me.”

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

Jason struggled to keep his emotions from showing. Danny had a dissection scar. And that wasn’t the only thing. Not counting the recent stab wound, Danny had plenty of scars from burns to cuts to ones that looked medically induced.

And Jason had also seen the scarring around his wrists and neck. Things that came from being chained up too long, and what might be a power suppressant collar, if Jason’s guess about Danny being a meta was true.

He was fuming. Who would do that to a kid? Just wait until he found them. He’d make sure they didn’t hurt anyone ever again.

But for now there was a scared, hurt kid who needed his help.

Jason took a deep breath and let the kid into his apartment. 

First step, cookies and hot chocolate.

#ailesswhumptober2023 #ailesswhumptober #danny fenton #Danny phantom #day 10 #scars #Jason todd #Jason is liminal #Jason Todd likes to cook #dead like me

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Ok so here's the fairy tale meta thing based off a lie that I was talking about.

In Dead Apple, there's a flashback scene at Bar Lupin where Dazai explains the concept of apple suicide to Oda, while a track called "Dear Prince" plays in the background. There's a brief mix-up where Oda confuses the story of Snow White for Cinderella - but when I first came up with this, I misremembered what he said (I mixed up... his mix-up...) and thought the line was about Sleeping Beauty.

And I'm so unreasonably annoyed by this because that would've made so much more contextual sense. Why? Because they both involve an awakening. Moreover, there's a few interesting details in the environment of the older tales (I will not be using the Disney versions as the Dead Apple motifs actually connect better with the originals and also because I have never actually seen them... embarrassingly enough) that translate quite nicely to aspects of Dazai's life and bonds.

Specifically, there are some loose parallels to be found with Odasaku and the story of Sleeping Beauty, and Chuuya and the story of Snow White. (Note that this is not intended to be shipping fuel or anything; interpret it however you like, I'm just drawing connections.)

And yeah, I know this is an entire half-baked meta formed around a line that doesn't even exist but please just give it a chance or at least humour me please please please please please

Alright let's get the Cinderella thing out of the way first since I want to at least address it.

Cinderella has its origins in the old Greek story of Rhodopis, which sets up the main aspects of the story we know now: a servant girl from a poor background ascends to royalty through marrying a prince, who searches for her after finding her missing shoe. This doesn't really bear any resemblance to the rest of the movie or any other ongoing themes... unless you want to suggest that maybe Dazai's jumping from one side to the other was something akin to a "shoe-test"; that he was looking for a perfect fit. I think that's quite a stretch though and it's likely this really was just a throwaway line meant to show us Oda's occasional uh... airheadedness. If anyone has any further thoughts on this, I'd love to hear them.

It's a shame, really, because the slip up could've been given more significance and also because as an analyst of sorts it is my sworn duty to pull meaning out of absolutely nothing so I guess I took another step further here and made up my own line to analyze in stupidly excessive detail.

The entire point of this was meant to show how both the stories of Sleeping Beauty and Snow White have a theme of awakening, and so do Dazai's bonds with both Odasaku and Chuuya - they both have a function of "waking him up" in a sense. However, the means of doing so manifest very differently.

So, let's talk about Sleeping Beauty.

Sleeping Beauty has its origins in an old Italian story called Sun, Moon and Talia, which has many of the elements we know today but was uh. A lot darker. And way more non-consensual. The version the more modern story takes its roots from is Perrault's version. Here are the important bits to this analysis: the princess pricks her finger on a spindle out of curiosity, the good fairy puts everyone in the castle to sleep along with her for 100 years so that she will not be alone when she wakes, the prince does not wake her with a kiss but instead she wakes just by his presence and they sit and talk for a long, long time.

So, on to my delusional parallels. Part one: the princess pricks her finger out of curiosity. See, for Dead Apple, we have to rethink this a bit because Dazai brings up the concept of apple suicide, not murder. Of course, this is a parallel to himself and his disregard for his own life, so here we can take it that he did not "prick his finger" out of mere curiosity, but also, likely out of a desire to "sleep".

It's hard for me not to draw a connection between the curiosity aspect of the finger prick and Dazai's curiosity to join the mafia, especially with the next part - where everyone falls asleep as well for the time the princess is asleep. Essentially, no one will age or die. For as long as the princess remains unconscious, the world will not change. And if the princess perhaps, wanted this, then we can infer what is likely a fear of being left. Maybe even a fear of living. Dazai joined the mafia because he was curious if it would have what he sought. Instead, he spent his days trapped in an "oxidizing dream" as he detached further and further both from his humanity and from others. The mafia is already a place where people don't talk to each other openly and we know Dazai was even more unknowable than that - if he doesn't care about himself or others, the dream goes on. He stays asleep, and if he doesn't care, then he doesn't lose anyone - no one truly "dies".

As for the last part, there isn't much to say. Dazai warms up to Odasaku because the man just talks to him. And likes talking to him. And doesn't tell him to stop when he's being really freaking weird. But notably, Odasaku doesn't do much at first to help Dazai "awaken". It's only when he's about to die in his fight against Gide that he realizes he regrets not saying something sooner. Odasaku only has one chance to wake Dazai before he dies and he does it by shattering that dream that he will find what he's looking for. Paradoxically, that hope Dazai held onto was what trapped him in that singular mindset. Oda dies shortly after and the illusion is broken. Dazai wakes up, his world kickstarts where it had previously been stagnant and Dazai greets the sun and tries to live.

See why I'm slightly annoyed this wasn't the line now?

But hey, while we're at it, let's also talk about Snow White because the Dead Apple movie was actually a lot more firm with its connections than I think people realize.

Firstly, I would love people to know that in the original Grimms' fairy tale, Snow White doesn't clean the dwarves' house but in fact burgles it, eating their food, drinking their wine and falling asleep in one of their beds after testing each one, and generally leaving the house in complete disarray. Yeah. Not related to my point at all, but this sounds an awful lot like something Dazai would do (but more out of mischief than naivete of course).

Here's the important part though: Did you know that the Queen attempted to have Snow White killed not just once, but three times? The first two times, the dwarves were the ones to save her and quite quickly - they made a deal after she broke into their house that she would fix it up for them and maintain it in exchange for her staying with them in safety. It's an agreement of sorts, but as they became fond of her, they try and save her life in earnest. The poisoned apple is actually the third attempt to kill her, where the Queen bites into the white, non-poisoned part of the apple and Snow White, thinking it safe, eats the red half and falls asleep.

Hey. Remember the colour of the pill Dazai took in Dead Apple?

Yeah, someone on that team knows the original fairy tale.

Interestingly (and this is where I got really excited), there are three different attempts to kill Snow White (or, if Dazai is to be believed, three different attempts at her own self-destruction) - and there are three different instances where Chuuya "wakes" Dazai, twice while they're partnered (when they have an "agreement", terms in a sense as partners), and once in Dead Apple.

The first is in Fifteen, the infamous scene where Dazai shoots the body and Chuuya snaps him out of it by wrenching the gun out of his hands. I'm honestly a bit too tired to go super into that scene right now but I'm doing a little bit on it later - all that needs to be acknowledged here is that Dazai was out of it and Chuuya forced him back to earth. The second occurs during the Dragon's Head Conflict when Dazai is completely insensitive to the death of a mafia executive and Chuuya decks him for it. The now-infamous line "no one would believe that" is often misinterpreted I think. Chuuya says this in response to Dazai's "I'm human, too, you know." He's not saying "you're not human", he's saying "you are human but no one would believe that with the kind of shit you're saying and doing". It's the same kind of sentiment in the first scene where Chuuya intervenes, I believe. And it is a form of waking, in that Chuuya snaps Dazai out of his more inhumane moments - he basically calls him out and forces him to reevaluate; the epitome of a rude awakening.

Now for the Dead Apple scene proper.

Firstly, let's establish something. They are no longer partners in the mafia. They are even on separate sides. The framing of this changes Chuuya's actions from working with Dazai with occasional call-outs to bring him back to earth, to saving him in what is quite literally a rescue.

In the original myth, again, there is no waking kiss. Instead, in this third time, everyone assumes Snow White is really dead, that she will not be coming back. The prince, who happens across her, insists she at least receive a proper burial. But when carrying her coffin, one of them trips and they stumble, which jostles the princess enough that the piece of apple stuck in her throat is dislodged and she coughs it up, reviving. Uh...

Yeah.

Anyways this got kind of messy at the end and idk if it even made sense this is really just unhinged rambling so...

Tldr, Odasaku and Chuuya both help "wake" Dazai even if their methods and personalities are very different, which is part of the reason why both bonds are very important. Neither are particularly gentle with him, but waking, especially if all you want to do is sleep, is not a gentle thing.

#this is barely a meta but if i didn't write this up i felt like i was going to go insane #not my best work by far but i hope it's at least enjoyable #bsd #bsd dead apple #bsd meta #bsd dazai #bsd odasaku #bsd chuuya #do i tag with the ship names? sure ig #odazai #soukoku #skk #storyrambles #<-last tag is appropriate story has rambled for too long on this. a meta based on a line that doesn't even exist

[tired-teacher-blog]

Head empty only

Hawks x pro hero Reader

But they run into each other at a twice concert because they happen to be sitting together but y/n forgets that they wore a skirt to the concert so now they have to act like they aren’t turned on when hawks puts his hand on their thigh- 👀

Hi sweets! You got it 😉 also I'm really sorry it took me a while to get to it but I hope you enjoy it.

Title : De-stress

Characters : Hawks/ Fem reader

Genre : A little bit of angst/ Fluff/ Smut/ One shot

Summary : You and Hawks were present during the celebration to announce the merge of the league with the meta liberation army when your anxieties took the best of you. At that moment, it was up to your boyfriend to ease your nerves in a very special way.

Masterlist|Second Masterlist

You knew the moment you stepped foot into the mansion that Keigo would be there, but of course, you'd have to address him as Hawks in front of everyone else in order to preserve his real identity and yours by extension.

It was a turning point in the lives of everyone involved, a big announcement to be made by Redestro stating the merge of the Meta Liberation Army and the League of Villains under a new name and a new leadership. You and Keigo knew beforehand since you had infiltrated the league for some time in order to gain their trust and report back to the Commission.

_ "Hey beautiful, are you ready?" your boyfriend's all familiar voice came from behind you in a playful whisper.

_ "I don't know Hawks, I'm really nervous, I can't even begin to imagine what that would mean for the rest of us." you couldn't, for the life of you, hide your concerns.

_ "Hey it's gonna be okay babe, you and I have been through worse and came out unscathed, so just relax a little," he stole a quick kiss when no one was looking, "but you know what bothers me the most? hearing you call me by my hero name instead of the one you and I know." he chuckled giving you a wink.

You knew he was trying his hardest to ease your nerves, he was probably as worried as you were— if not more, and the smile that found its way to your lips was your way to wordlessly thank him.

_ "Shall we take our seats? they'll be out at any minute to give the speech." he placed a palm behind your back, guiding you to your assigned seats.

You thanked the heavens you were sat in the last row, away from everyone's prying eyes since the way your legs shook and your brows knitted would've easily given you away.

Here we go.

The league— along with Redestro, waltzed into the hall and greeted their followers before making the announcement.

The joint forces of both organizations to be renamed the Paranormal Liberation Front, and to work under the leadership of Shigaraki Tomura.

Hearing all that was nothing new to Hawks or to yourself, but the deafening cheers troubled you further.

A soft soothing touch against your thigh pulled you back to your senses, and a sweet blinding smile welcomed you as soon as you turned your head to face him.

_ "Relax babe, we knew long ago that something like this would happen," he sneaked his hand under your skirt and squeezed your— now exposed flesh, "let's just enjoy the show for now."

You nodded, tense muscles already loosening. He was right, you were aware and prepared for what was happening so there was no reason to worry.

His hand felt so nice against your thigh, and you secretly thanked him for not retracting it.

The tips of his fingers absentmindedly drew small circles on your skin, and you didn't care that your skirt rode up your legs further each time he decided to inch closer to your core, you were sitting in the last row after all, enjoying your boyfriend's innocent touches.

He squeezed your inner thigh, pulling your leg up and placing it on top of his.. maybe this wasn't as innocent as you thought it would be.

_ "What are you doing?" you whispered a scold and tried to free your leg from his grasp as you looked around to see if anyone had noticed the compromising position you were put into.

_ "Nothing, your legs look really tempting in this outfit so I'm just going to have as much as I can get." he shrugged plainly, as if he didn't just force your legs apart by placing one of them on his lap.

You tugged at your skirt, desperately trying to pool its soft fabric between your legs as you bit the inside of your cheek and looked straight ahead while pretending that you weren't a little turned on when your jerk of a boyfriend decided to leave his hand a hair away from your pussy.

The speech Redestro was enthusiastically chanting, the followers' cheers, the full hall, all seemed distant, unimportant even.

All you could focus on was your boyfriend's fingers on your inner thigh.

You shakily tried to pry his hand away but to no avail, he's just too stubborn to give in so easily.

_ "Stop it already." you were annoyed at that point, sending him a threatening glare and hoping he would listen.

_ "You don't like it? I thought you would, I mean look at that," he ran a finger along your damp panties, "but if you want me to stop then, by all means."

He abruptly released your leg and took his hand back before turning around to join the crowd's cheers. The asshole.

You were left with a tingly feeling spreading throughout your core and took some deep breaths as you hoped you'd chase away your growing arousal.

What you failed to see in your flustered state, was the amused side looks your boyfriend had been sending your way. Watching you squirm and bite down on your lip because of him was a treat.

_ "Are you okay honey? You don't seem too comfortable." damn him, playing clueless despite being well aware of his effect on you.

_ "Ye.. yeah I'm fine." you didn't mean to sound awkward, but he managed to get under your skin.

He crossed his legs and leaned in just enough for his hot breath to tickle your ear.

_ "You know? This mansion is filled with empty rooms, so if you want we can slip in one of them and.."

_ "Alright, get up before someone notices sees us leaving." you gave him no chance to finish his sentence as you already knew what he had in mind, and frankly, you no longer cared about your surroundings, all you wanted was him.

You scurried out of the hall like a couple of college lovers, it was unusual for either of you to act so rashly, especially during undercover missions, but for once you allowed your playful sides to take over without putting much thought into the consequences.

_ "This room looks good, it's far from all the commotion." he stated, already pulling you in and closing the door behind you two.

_ "Keigo, isn't this crazy? we're supposed to be out there doing our job but instead we're.. ah.." you were interrupted by his lips on your neck, kissing and nibbling on your flesh.

_ "Stop worrying baby, nothing bad will happen so just relax and think about nothing but me." he urged, face buried against your skin and arms sneaking under your short skirt.

Truthfully, it was his way of distracting you, he hated seeing your worried expressions earlier, since he knows you too well and realizes your tendency to overthink everything to the point of spiralling into despair.

_ "Keigo.." all you could do was moan his name as his fingers pushed your panties down and fondled your glistening cunt.

_ "I love hearing you call my name." his lips moved up to yours, hungrily devouring them as his fingers fucked you slowly.

But that wasn't enough, you wanted to touch him too, to feel his eagerness, to have him between your legs, "Keigo, I want you inside me now, please.." you breathed out as you clumsily fumbled with his belt buckle.

He smirked as he finished undoing his belt and unzipping his pants before picking you up and propping you against the wall.

_ "Brace yourself, we have to be quiet." he planted another kiss on your lips, a soft one this time, before pumping his length a few times and pressing into your heat with a satisfied groan that mirrored your whine.

You pulled him impossibly close to your chest as you tried to regulate your breathing and adjust yourself to his cock.

It felt so good, he felt so good. Each time with him feels like your first, the excitement, the nervousness, the shyness, the playfulness.. the love.

_ "Honey are you feeling alright?" he whispered in your ear before nuzzling your cheek and sending shivers along your neck, but you couldn't respond, you couldn't utter a sound, all you managed to do was nod feverishly and wiggle your hips weakly to prove your point.

_ "I got it babe." he groaned, pulling out to the tip before slamming back into your heat.

You gasped in surprise burying your face in his neck as you feared being heard by anyone outside of the room.

He fucked you fast, and deep, growling with each push of his hips against yours.

Your hands moved to thread themselves through his golden locks, "Keigo.. kiss.." you struggled between thrusts as you longingly gazed into his eyes.

_ "Ah.. damnit baby what are you doing to me?" he wasted no time devouring your lips and you moaned softly against him as the faint taste of alcohol he had earlier tickled your tongue again.

You were getting lightheaded as you quickly neared you blissful ending, and the way you tightened up around his cock was proof enough.

He smirked against your lips as he pummeled you faster and rougher, knowing full well how much you'd enjoy it.

_ "Keigo.. please I'm cumming.. keep going please.." you shamelessly wailed and he gladly obliged, pounding into your cunt until your eyes rolled back and your legs shook uncontrollably before you slumped onto his chest.

_ "Are you okay honey?" he groaned through gritted teeth, struggling to guard his self control.

He halted his thrusts but left his dick buried deep inside you, he was still hard and breathing raggedly, but didn't want to overstimulate you.

_ "Keigo, put me down, I'll help you." it was the least you could do.

He didn't respond after that and you didn't wait for him to. You freed yourself from his grasp and kneeled down before his bouncing cock.

You looked up to find him gazing at you with a mixture of adoration and arousal, and your heart skipped a beat when he smiled lovingly as he cradled your cheek with one hand, guiding you to his anticipating dick.

You took it into your mouth immediately, humming around his length in satisfaction.

_ "Fuck.. yeah babe.. keep going." he hissed running his fingers through your hair.

He was so close, bucking his hips shallowly against you and biting down on his lip to keep his voice in check.

You hollowed your cheeks and ran your tongue along his shaft as you watched the way his face contorted in pleasure.

_ "Babe I'm gonna cum! let go quick!" you could tell he was close, judging by the way his cock started twitching in your cavern, but you refused to let go, you wanted him to cum into your mouth.

_ "Fuck! Y/n!" he growled before shooting his load into your welcoming heat.

You took it all, happily swallowing everything he had to offer before falling on your butt with a satisfied giggle.

_ "Are you okay honey? you didn't have to do that." he followed you down and gently wiped the corners of your mouth before placing a soft peck on your glistening lips.

_ "Thank you Keigo, for always doing your hardest for me." because even if he doesn't say it outright, you know that you will always be his number one.

_ "Anything for you sweetheart." to hell with the villains and the commission, nothing can take your spot in his heart and mind.

#hawks x female reader #hawks smut #hawks imagine #hawks x reader #bnha hawks x reader #hawks scenarios #keigo takami smut #keigo takami x y/n #keigo takami x reader #keigo takami x you #my hero academia headcanons #boku no hero headcanons #boku no hero fanfic #my hero academia fluff #my hero academia fanfic #my hero academia imagines #boku no hero imagines #my hero academia smut #boku no hero smut #my hero academia fic #boku no hero fic #hawks x you #hawks fanfic #hawks fluff

[stagefoureddiediaz]

I'm not sure who to ask, but you always seem happy to answer questions, so I'm sending this your way.

I'm "newish" to the fandom. Never really kept up with spoilers and metas and things like that. So, I'm curious if you could tell me: Has the buddie speculation always been like this? Like, it just seems like the people promoting the show are really pushing thoughts to connect to Buddie happening.

And it's fun and exciting. Don't get me wrong, but I guess I'm just wondering how prepared I should be to not get my hopes up?

Love your blog, and I hope you're doing well ❤️

Hey Nonnie

I'm so sorry its taken so long to get round to answering this ask. I am always happy to answer asks and I'm so glad you sent this my way - even if I'm not sure if I'm the best person to answer it!

firstly welcome to the fandom - I hope you enjoy being a part of it with us!

in answer to your actual question, it depends on if you mean the promo team or if you mean the teams making the show - as in the script writers, set, props and wardrobe departments etc.

If you mean the former, things in terms of promotion aren't really that much different from pre season 6, we've had a bit more from cast members other than Oliver this season than last (they let Ryan out of his cage a little bit for starters!!) , but its not really been that much different to before.

If you are talking about the teams making the show then yes they have stepped up their game considerably this season. A lot of people rat on Kristen Riedel as showrunner, which I think is grossly unfair -things might've been a bit bumpy in transition when she took over -(I personally think she tried to take too much on by writing, directing and being showrunner, but she realised this and stepped back in order to do right by the show and that says a huge amount about her) but actually we are getting a lot more tying up of loose ends and making use of things in canon that wouldn't have happened under Tim - KR is a master of making use of what canon has already put in place to build on the story and flesh out characters far more than we see in a lot of shows.

It is important to note that the showrunner has final say about pretty much everything that we see on screen, about what is being put out there - if KR didn't want the step up in buddie related metaphors such as the couch then we wouldn't be seeing it on our screens so the fact we are seeing it is telling and there really isn't any other way to read it other than the intention is there from the show for Buddie to go canon - slow burns are just that a slow burn - we're not going to get it all given to us in 2 episodes - that would be a diservice to the characters and to the work the show has been doing. They started the build up for this at the beginning of season 3 (I remain convinced that it wasn't part of the plan in season 2, just a happy accident that they decided to play around with a bit in the later part of the season to see if it had legs or if it was just a bit of a flash in the pan) and there has been a very purposeful build up since then.

KR and the PR department are not going to explicitly say 'oh yes Buck and Eddie are endgame' in interviews - that would spoil the journey and they are never going to do that. I keep saying it , and others do to, Buddie going canon is huge - it will literally be the first queer romance slow burn on television that has been done with intent and given the same amount of care and consideration as a heterosexual slow burn on any other show and there is absolutely no way they are going to ruin the build up or the moment it happens - they want us to be kept guessing until it happens - that is good storytelling, they want us to still be surprised when it happens because even if we know its going to happen we don't know how or exactly when.

This show is incredibly good at taking us in one direction before changing tack and misdirecting us for a little bit. None of us were quite prepared for just how badly Buck was going to deal with his Everest sized mountain of trauma -we knew he was traumatised and we knew he needed to deal with it, but not a single person saw just how badly it was going to play out (or how much it was going to hurt us when it happened), but we do know that the show likes happy endings and likes to show healing so however bad it might be right now, Buck will come out the other side a better person who has had some major growth and ready - ready for Buddie canon - because he wasn't there yet - we all knew that!

I am totally prepared to be wrong, and feel free to come at me with knives if I am, but there has been too much intentional build up this season (and even last season which was building us up to where we are now as well) for things to go in any direction other than Buddie - we just have to trust the show and the process and enjoy the ride because I have no doubt its gonna throw us another curveball or two on the way but when we get there its going to just be so epically good!

Sorry I think I went of on a bit of a ramble 😳😳😳 but I hope it was worth the read! I'm always here to answer questions!

#kym answers things #nonnie asks #911 on fox #911 fox #911onfox #eddie diaz #evan buckley #buddie

[rriavian]

Hey. I hope the beginning of the year is going very well. While thinking about Sandman again, something came to my mind. We know that when Burgess imprisoned Morpheus, it was for the benefit of Corinthian and that's why he tried to keep him in prison and even tried all means to do so. But Corinthian was certainly aware that Burgess would not harm Dream. He also tried to get Rose to kill Dream. But in the end, it would be thanks to Corinthian's manipulations that Rose would harm Dream. I don't know how to call it, it may sound ridiculous but...

What if enemies like Lucifer or the two gods who previously tried to destroy Dreaming actually harm Dream? Would Corinthian defend his creator, or see that he was useful in this and help destroy them? What I really wonder is whether Corinthian's loyalty to its creator is more important than its own interests.

Always a pleasure to get an ask from you!! I am so sorry this took so long to answer! It’s been a very busy month and I’ve been terrible at keeping on top of things, but thank you so much for the question. I love it when people ask me things like this <3

First, let’s consider what we know from canon.

There is an interesting trajectory to the Corinthian’s approach to his conflict with Dream. In episode one he advises Burgess on how to keep him trapped, and then 100 years later the Corinthian decides to seemingly escalate to an actual murder attempt.

I’ve think I’ve written meta about this before, but when I watched the show I never believed that the Corinthian seriously thought Rose could actually kill Dream. However I do think it’s clear that he saw an opportunity to gain the upper hand, and I think that’s a very big part of what motivates the Corinthian’s decision making. Other motivations aside, the situation with Burgess and the later situation with Rose both have that in common—they are opportunities to gain an advantage over Dream, just with differing limits in the scale of damage they are able to cause.

Scale is something the Corinthian seems very good at estimating, and something he always seeks to maximise. He doesn't necessarily escalate purely out of his own desire to harm Dream; what he does in both scenarios is push right to the limit of what advantage his chosen chess pieces are capable of winning for him.

He knew Burgess wouldn’t be able to harm Dream, knew that the limit of Burgess’s capabilities was to keep him trapped, didn’t so much aim low as take full advantage of the tools available to him. With Rose he realised that she might be capable of much, much more than keeping Dream trapped, and so he used exactly the same principle as always while knowing it had the potential for a much higher reward.

The Corinthian also did the same with John Burgess (if lighter touch) by following him to make sure that he would make it to Dream’s ruby. He didn’t need to actually go with him for that plan to work, just needed to make sure he got the ruby and knew he'd then point it at the right target.

I was tempted to go off topic and make a point about the Corinthian never stepping directly into Dream's path until forced to, but I've made it before so we're going to move on. I'm going to leave this point at how the three big threats to Dream in season one were all set up/assisted in some way by the Corinthian.

Where am I going with this? Well, my second point is that the Corinthian tailored how he interacted with them to be exactly what was required to get them to do what he wanted. And he did it by offering to help them get exactly what they want. This fails with Ethel Cripps because she's probably one of the only people who didn’t fall for his tricks (and whose goals he didn't accurately deduce) but it usually worked with minimal interference on his part.

The Corinthian executes/gently nudges his plans into place through:

a) one long chat with Burgess

b) a mere few seconds with John

and c) a road trip with Jed that acts as an in for his later discussions with Rose (which is the most elaborate set up by far, probably because of how dangerous she is as the vortex and how much work it will take to get her on side)

Now, turning to your actual question (sorry for the long set up!) but in a canon setting I 100% believe that season one Corinthian finds the idea of loyalty to Dream quite repulsive. He'd squash any such urge viciously! It would feel like a personal failing, I think, for him to be tempted to defend his creator for that reason alone. So I think he'd do exactly what he was doing in the show and take full advantage of any favourable opportunity to help take Dream out.

I just don’t believe that he seriously understands what would happen if he succeeds/even really wants that outcome.

One reason for this is because Dream can’t really be killed, or even destroyed. The personification of dreams is essential to the universe (perhaps in some ways dreamt up by it). So while we could argue about whether ‘Morpheus’ could be destroyed Dream absolutely cannot.

The Corinthian would know that. So to him it’s a moot point, he can arrange as many attacks on Dream as he wants, can even attack him directly if ever he thought he had the power, but Dream will never, ever die. I think part of him enjoys that, being able to throw everything he can at him as many times as he wants. Does that make the Corinthian's quest for freedom meaningless? Not necessarily, because there are other ways to win (such as trapping him) and Rose’s power as a vortex might have been a real game changer if the Corinthian had been successfully able to direct how she used it.

(I say might have because I don’t think the Corinthian was right in his understanding of her powers – Rose would have destroyed the universe and herself)

The Corinthian very clearly wants to be able to murder/do what he wants to his hearts content without Dream’s (very justifiable) disapproval. There are more complexities within that, and I could probably write a whole essay on his motivations, but this post is long enough already. What I think it comes down to is that the Corinthian aligns himself with those he perceives as being able to help him keep his agency and avoids those that might threaten it. He uses people who he doesn’t consider a danger to him, and even if they do have some power (like Rose) he is very careful in choosing those targets, and how he approaches them.

Above I said that the Corinthian would take advantage of a favourable opportunity to gain an advantage and I think that's a very important distinction.

One could argue that Lucifer would have been by far the most powerful ally the Corinthian could have, but they’d have been too powerful, and potentially too unpredictable due to their own goals. The truth is he'd mostly likely be unable to manipulate them while remaining in control. The Corinthian was going for a very precise, surgical strike (to take out/disable Dream) and wouldn’t have taken such a risk while he had alternatives available. He allies with/influences only those that he thinks he can manipulate, if not outright control, to produce his desired outcome.

So if a threat to Dream could also turn out to be a threat to him (say if an enemy came to destroy not only Dream but all of his creations) then the Corinthian would, perhaps not side with his creator, but he’d definitely oppose the threat itself. What that might look like would depend on the scenario/threat, but it could make for some very interesting AUs.

#the Corinthian #dream of the endless #the sandman #sandman meta #spoilers for season one only #as always this answer got long #rria attempts to write meta #character meta

[saltyb0ba]

im soooo normal about ezran callum sibling relationship

the little kid who had to grow up too fast, leaving stolen jelly tarts behind for clean hands on the throne and the big kid who never got a chance to play house with his younger brother before worries took the place of imagination. the kid king who seems to be handling things well, but no longer laughs at jokes with his kind of humor, and would rather get to the point than have a bit of fun with finding out the answer.

ezran luckily has a strong support system and a brother that will be there for him no matter what, putting himself in danger just to ensure ezran's safety. he's bonded with zym on a psychic and emotional level, and can talk to animals with relative ease. making the burden of the crown just a bit lighter. he knows he has people he can reach out to and lean on, and takes advantage of that when the offer is handed to him. growing up hurts, but with loved ones surrounding him, it was okay. as okay as it could be.

callum is his own support system. soren's called him step-prince for as long as he could remember, and though it was never explicitly shown, it's not hard to infer the amount of damage that can inflict on someone's mind. he already was second in line to the throne despite being the older sibling, and to just have it drilled in your head again and again that someone doesn't want you there just hurts. and it forms an unhealthy mindset that sticks with him for a while.

soren's insisted that it was a joke, but it's not wrong for callum to take it personally. especially with how many times soren's repeated it. claudia lost his respect a long time ago. callum isn't really shown to have the same amount of familiarity with the royal court as ezran does, and his office is a bit isolated from the rest of the castle. it isn't where he sleeps (though sometimes falls asleep in), but even in his own quarters he's separated from ezran. that bed's either filled by rayla or just empty moonlight at this point.

callum's always taken his own path whereas ezran followed in his father's footsteps.

that's naturally led to callum exploring a new future alone (or at least, with minimal support) vs ezran having the entire castle staff to rely upon with centuries' worth of experience in handling the rule of a king.

and proven in the series, it's caused ezran to detach from callum a bit himself. how he thought callum's upset post-possession was about rayla and not the literal puppeting that had been going on. he was never able to see through his brother the way callum could see through ezran and that's likely intentional.

bait and zym are also like parallels to their relationship in a sense; ezran had accidentally batted bait away in his sleep and bait left, upset and a little angry -- until callum saw him and invited him to hang out with him. they don't have a connection like ezran and zym have (unless you wanna get super meta, since bait's sounds are made by jack desena), but they understand each other just as much as the king and dragon prince do. before that happened, however, bait was very clingy with ezran. see the connection?

they haven't abandoned each other, far from it. they've gotten more aggressive in their love, especially with the stakes raising and callum extremely prone to becoming a weapon. ezran would prefer to talk things out, though something tells me aaravos would rather have fun with his toys instead of discussing things. maybe the way they show brotherly love is different now, but callum knows what sacrifice he would have to make to protect his family, his brother. ezran doesn't want to lose callum, and is determined to find a solution that doesn't involve the loss of his brother. his only brother.

thank you for coming to my ted talk this was a massive brain dump that i just needed to get out haha! i'm a sucker for sibling relationships and theirs draws me in like no other.

#limited rayla mentions because this is a focus on brotherly bonds and love #and not romance #i don't think it's really talked about enough about how much they've separated going down their own paths #even though they're almost always at each other's side #callum's doing something no human has ever really done before #and ezran is repeating the cycle of taking the throne and becoming king #might braindump like this more i find it really relaxing #ceo of sibling relationships that's me #tdp #the dragon prince #tdp rambles #the dragon prince rambles #callum and ezran #callum tdp #ezran tdp #bobarambles #bobasalt

[rubberduckyrye]

So, a friend of mine showed me a "Kokichi Defense" video that mentioned one of my metas a couple of times. And while I watched it mainly to see if they referenced me anywhere else (and just for the shits and giggles), it does remind me of my own theories regarding Kokichi... and how a part of me st ill feels like I never quite finished analyzing his character as shown on screen.

I wrote a LOT about certain aspects of him, about the things I saw in his character arc and story--but despite me not really knowing what else I could have added to the table, it still feels like I left things on a cliffhanger. Like there was more to dig but that I couldn't see, or got burnt out to the point everything was a bit of a blur.

However... There is one thing I do know I want to talk about, and it relates to my Mass Mercy kill Theory, and why I believe that Kokichi's actions towards the mercy killing were genuine. Something that I was thinking for a long minute about after I had watched the defense video. Not something related to Kokichi, but to my perspective on things, and why I came to the conclusion of his Mercy Killing plan being more genuine than others like to believe.

It's because... well, I know what it's like first hand.

I think I mentioned it on my original theory that I didn't want people to argue with me about the Mass Mercy Kill theory in general because of "personal reasons." Well, this is why--it's because I know what that despair is like personally.

When I lived with my parents, it was a horrible situation no matter where I went. Abuse left and right, degradation, dehumanization, helplessness, worthlessness, hopelessness--there was no "safe" place for me. Hell, I once considered it to be safer to be homeless than to live with my parents, and had to be talked out of it by my friend.

When faced with such a despair... suicidal thoughts are easy to come by. Yet I think this is why my perspective on Kokichi's actions in the 4th trial are different than most--because where I think a lot of people don't think about their motivations for their suicidal thoughts as deeply as "I was miserable/depressed", I took the time to analyze it extensively. I guess you can say the thoughts I had during those times were so terrifying that, as a coping mechanism, I wanted to know its source.

I wanted to know what made me think living wasn't worth while.

Self esteem issues are often a big culprit, but... my main source for these thoughts, they were just... a plea for release. The mercy of death. The hope of everything just, finally coming to an end--because suffering was pretty much all I knew, and thought I would only know.

Mercy killing was introduced to my life in the form of pets who grew old and had to be put down, so the concept to me wasn't anything new. I knew when my first dog died, because my parents didn't lie to me about it. They told me straight up they put her to sleep. I was probably like five or six when my first dog died.

So when I had these horrible thoughts, it was really easy for me to like, immediately know where the desire was. I was suffering, so thusly death must be my only answer.

It is, at its route, mercy. Even in its most fucked-up, twisted form of logic, it was still a desire for mercy.

I think that maybe that's why I think of Kokichi's actions in trial 4 to be a genuine attempt at a mass mercy kill plan. Because I saw myself in that situation, except in a situation that was far more miserable and far more dire. One where living would be truly meaningless.

From that perspective, everything made sense to me, because I already know that feeling well. It was easy to make the leap of "Mercy kill everyone before the find out the horrible truth" in logic because I knew where step one was.

I often have memory problems when I think about my time with my parents--the first twenty years of my life. My mind actively tries to forget how bad it truly was, just for a semblance of normalcy. Like, maybe it wasn't that bad, maybe I was the one in the wrong.

But... no. That's just the lie my mind tries to tell me when I can't remember the first 20 or so years of my life well.

But yeah, sorry for the downer of a post. I just kind of wanted to get my thoughts out on it before I forgot.

#danganronpa V3 #kokichi ouma #DRV3 #suicide idealization mention tw #negative tw #mercy killing mention tw

[kachikirby]

GranEssex Chronicles: Chapter 16 - The Rookie Tournament (Part 1)

The GranEssex crew members that were attending the tournament safely landed and arrives at their destination. It was a huge stadium that doubled as a hotel. Currently it was completely rented out for the use of the Organization, meaning no civilians were around to potentially cause issues. At that moment, Meta was laying on the bed that was prepared for him, thinking about the fights to come.

"The opening ceremony hasn't started yet, so I can't go look for Fettuccine..." He thought.

"Sensei, when is the ceremony? You never gave us a time."

"Tomorrow at 6 in the morning, the actual tournament starts at 9."

"Why is there three hours in between the ceremony and the tournament?"

"You say three but there's actually only one. My father can and will take forever with his speech."

"And we have to sit through all of it?"

"Yes. I'll let you in on a secret Meta, it's a endurance test. Father deliberately takes a long time in order to gauge just how much patience you all have."

The youth let out a sigh. While he understood the sentiment, that didn't mean he didn't dread it.

"Look at it this way, Meta. This will be a good opportunity to study the competition. You can learn a lot about someone based on how they react to a situation."

He only stared, but then he just turned over in bed. "I'll just go to sleep."

"Good, conserve as much energy as possible. You will definitely need it."

"Ok, sensei. Good night."

"Good night, Meta."

"...Could you use a sleep spell, please? I'm too awake to sleep."

She let out a giggle. "Very well then."

Kurabe stood up and walked over to her student, tucking him into bed. Then, she traced a rune on her lips and kissed him on the cheek.

"Sweet dreams, my little knight."

Meta didn't respond as the spell instantly took effect on him. His mentor gave a smile.

---------

The next morning, everyone was gathered to the main arena, where various key members of the Organization were standing in the middle. Chief among them was General Z himself. Each of the four divisions were places in four different corners of the room, with the Combat Division in the top left corner. This gave Meta the chance to look around at the other divisions, stationed in other corners of the room. In the top right corner was the Intelligence Division which only had four competitors: Fettuccine and three others he didn't recognize.

"Sensei, do you recognize those other three?" He whispered.

"Nope." Was her simple reply. "I don't know any of the competitors except for that Fettuccine girl. They aren't my students."

He gave a slight sigh, understanding her words. However, he still saw Fettuccine waving at him out of the corner of his eye. He waved back and continued to look around while waiting for Z to speak. Then his gaze turn towards the Stealth Division. There were eight competitors, all of which were wearing similar shinobi-styled garb. He would ask if Kurabe knew them, but he knew the answer would be "no". Then he turned to the Magic Division's corner. To his surprise, there were twelve competitors, meaning that the magic divide had the most. In total, there was am even 32 competitors.

"Sensei, is it this common for the Magic Division to have so many competitors?"

"Yes. Now get ready, father is about to speak."

Meta wanted to question why she called Z "father" in a situation that she would usually call him "the general", but the slight glare made him fall silent as he looked up to see Z stepping up to the podium.

"It's good to see you have all arrived here safely. This tournament is immensely important to the Organization as all of you here will be important faces in the future of our Organization. Each of you have boundless amounts of potential and it's our duty to see that potential fulfilled. There are no lovers here, all of you will leave this tournament as stronger and wiser individuals, and will be counted upon to rise up to fight against any evil our galaxy faces. Now, allow me to cover the history of why the tournament exists. You see, when I was just a young lad at the age of 47-..."

As the General kept talking, Meta noticed a few people were either falling asleep or starting to lose their patience.

"That's probably what sensei was talking about..."

Not everyone was, though. Fettuccine was seemingly unbothered and one of the Stealth Division members was as still as boulder. The youth squinted at the member, trying to see if there was a reason for it, like they had fallen asleep or something like that. However, they were wide awake and stared back at Meta, as if sizing him up. However, the puff continued to stay strong. The competitor was a definitely a member of the Bio Clan, going off by how they looked. They were wearing the standard Bio clan outfit, the colors of which were black and yellow.

"...they look quite similar to Bio Raiden, actually..." He thought.

"Ah yes, that one I do recognize. That is Bio Sting, Raiden's grand niece." Kurabe said, noticing the stare down.

Meta nodded. "She's strong, I can tell just by looking at her." He said.

"I can tell that, too." Kurabe said.

---------

Unbeknownst to Meta, Sting was having similar thoughts.

"Honorable uncle, that Star Warrior. He will be my biggest challenge."

"The student of the Lady of Shadows? Indeed so."

"Her disciple. I see, that explains that powerful aura of his. I hope he will be one of my opponents, I must test myself against him."

"Perhaps he may. You will have to wait and see until then."

"Yes, grand uncle." She replied, looking away from Meta.

---------

The boy let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He then looked at the last corner, the Magic Division. Honestly, he wasn't too impressed by what he saw. Half of them had this cocky aura around them, while the other half looked either bored or scared out of their minds. As the speech went on it was apparent to Meta that the general was deliberately taking as long as possible. Just when he was about to lose his patience, Z cleared his throat.

"Without any further delay, I declare that this tournament has officially started. Meet back here in exactly one hour."

Almost everyone seemed to let out a sigh of relief.

"You heard him, all of you are free to roam around and release pent up aggression and what not." Kurabe explained to her students.

Admittedly, Meta partially just wanted to stay with his mentor, but he had the feeling there was someone who wouldn't allow that. Stepping to his left, Meta dodged an oncoming silver and blue blur.

"Mettyyyyy! You weren't supposed to dodge!" This was of course Fettuccine.

"Natural reflexes. Anyway, it's good to see you in person again, Fetty."

"Great to see you too, Metty!"

"I take it you want to explore the place and have me come with you?" Meta asked, cutting straight to the point.

"Yup!"

"Then let's go." Meta said, walking off with Fettuccine close behind.

---------

As the duo walked around the arena, they began to talk to each other.

"I'm glad you're completely back on your feet. I'm so pumped to see you fight and win!"

The youth chuckled. "While I don't doubt that I'll win, remember that we're doing this for training."

"Oh, I know. That's why I'm participating in the first place. While my job doesn't require me to fight often, I need to make sure my throwing skills are good enough or not." Fetticcuine exclaimed while punching at the air.

"Throwing skills?"

"Yeah, my style CQC. No one would expect such a dainty little lady to be able to grapple right?"

"Well, more of someone whose specialty is interrogation." He replied.

"Plus, I just want to see how mentally strong our comrades are. I'm sure you know this, but if a fighter loses their cool in a fight... well, then, they are easy pickings. And I'm quite good at doing just that."

"They are..."

"And speaking honestly, that's probably how I'm going to win most of my fights. I know my strengths and weaknesses, I just need to see my limits for each."

He only nodded silently in response. "...If we end up fighting Fetty, then-"

"Then I expect you to not hold back."

"I won't." He said, completely serious.

"Good! If I'm going to lose then I want to lose with dignity."

The puff nodded.

"Now come on, I want to check out the medical facility~!" She said, grabbing Meta's hand as he gave a confused expression.

"What for?"

"Well, it's important to know where it is, right?"

"...That's a fair point I suppose, but I get the feeling there's something else going on." He stated.

"Wellllll, I did hear a rumor of an interesting doctor being here."

The youth stared. "...I don't see why I would care so much for a doctor..."

"The doctor part isn't the important part, it's the interesting part that I care about. If the rumors are to be believed, he's a criminal."

That in particular also piqued Meta's interest. "A criminal? Why would the Organization bring a doctor criminal into this?"

"I don't know and what I don't know I want to learn."

The youth let out a sigh. "Well... I guess we can go investigate it."

"You don't need to act disinterested, Metty, I know this sounds exciting to you."

"Let's just go see what this is about. Lead the way, Fetty."

"Ok! Let's go find the place that I don't know the location to!"

"Why did you sound like you knew where it was then?" The puff asked with an internal sigh as he was dragged.

"I simply said I wanted to see it, I never implied knowing where it was."

Meta just sighed once more. "Just go."

"Down the hall to the left." A voice said from behind them. Turning around Meta saw a glimpse of a ninja like figure leaving the area.

"Bio Sting, right? You can come out."

After a brief moment, the ninja stepped out of the shadows. "You're as perceptive as the rumors say you are."

"By your wording, I assume you're interested in me?"

"Perhaps."

"That means yes." Meta said, used to Kurabe using "perhaps" as a substitute for "yes".

The ninja seemed to glare at him. "As you have surmised, I am indeed Bio Sting, grandniece of the honorable Bio Raiden. Meta, student of the Lady of Shadows, I declare you my rival."

The youth only blinked silently. "...excuse me?"

"I've already analyzed the rest of the competition and I have deemed you to be my greatest obstacle here. Therefore, you are my rival."

"Um... I appreciate you saying that I'm so strong, but I don't think I need a rival."

"Who said you had a decision in this?"

"Seeing as it involves me, I should have a say in the matter. Besides, instead of this vocal grandstanding we should just let our skills do the talking."

"Very well. I will look forward to defeating you in the finals."

"We'll see." Meta replied, teleporting behind the ninja, surprising her slightly.

"I-impressive, aren't you?" Sting uttered, clearly trying her best to hide her sudden surprise.

"I don't like to brag. Thank you for the directions. Now, let's go, Fetty."

With a giggle, the Limet woman quickly followed after him, leaving the ninja to continue watching them.

"He's faster than I expected. A mere miscalculation on my part. Watch out, Prince of Shadows, next time, I'll be ready."

"Sting, who are you talking to?" Another of her teammates asked.

"Nobody. Just a shadow." She replied in a cryptic fashion.

"...you're a lot weirder than I thought."

"It's called being dramatic. My father and grand uncle do it as well."

The teammate only stared blankly. "Ok."

"Never mind. I have a rival to observe." She said as she disappeared from sight in an instant.

---------

In a few minutes, Meta and Fettuccine arrived at the medical facility for the tournament.

"Alright, what exactly are we looking for?"

The woman looked around intently before her eyes fell on a certain door. "There we are!" She hummed as she began to walk towards it.

"I assume he's in there?"

"Yup. You see, behind this door is actually a massive fridge."

"A fridge?"

"Yup! It'll be a bit cold, but I can handle it."

"I know you can but, why would this doctor be in a fridge?"

"Because it supposedly slows the growth rate of bacteria... and it's because he's a Limet."

"I see. I assume that's a reason why you're so interested in seeing him?"

"Yeah. I'm curious about him."

"Well, after you."

Fettuccine nodded and opened the door with Meta following in after her. Almost immediately, they felt a blast of chilly air fall over them. The inside of the room looked like a prison cell and in front of them were bars, protecting them from the humanoid figure that sat in the room silently. Almost immediately, the man raised his head, covered by some kind of metallic helmet and stared at them with eyes that glowed with a greenish light. There was a faint tinkling of handcuff chains as he processed what was going on.

"...do you need me to operate?" A calm, masculine voice uttered after a moment.

"Um... no, we're not."

Almost immediately, Meta felt an aura of disappointment come from the man. "Then what do you want?"

"My name is Fettuccine, head interrogator of the VictoriousArc. I'm here to speak with you about why you're here."

"I'm here in case someone needs to be operated on. That's all there is to it."

"You know that's not what I'm asking. I'm asking why you are here as a prisoner. Erhard."

"Fettuccine, do you know him?"

"Oi, if you need to call him anything, call him by his prisoner number, SCR51." One of the guards suddenly said.

"Know him? No, I just did my research." She replied, ignoring the guard completely.

"Well, if you did your research, you would already know that, wouldn't you?" Meta asked.

"No. I know his true name but anything else, his history, why he's a prisoner, it's all unknown to me. The only record I could find was a name."

The guard walked up to her now. "He was imprisoned for a massacre that occurred at Seton University on the planet of Currumpaw. About 300 people were killed through unknown circumstances and this guy was found at the scene of the crime. We believe it to be some kind of deadly virus that he was immune to, since the subject was unaffected by it. He had no memory of what happened there and was charged with 6000 years in solitary confinement."

Meta raised an eyebrow. Something didn't seem to add up. While there was a chance he was guilty of such a heinous crime, locking him up for 6000 years seemed excessive. Especially if there was no actual proof he was behind it.

"But did you actually do it?" Fettuccine asked the prisoner.

"...I don't remember."

"Of course he did!" One of the guards said.

"And do you have any actual proof?"

"He was an assistant to one of the main medical researchers there, who vanished shortly before the massacre!"

"And? That's not proof that's coincidence. Let's say all of the guards in your squad except for you two died. Would one of you be the killer?"

Both guards looked at each other nervously.

"Of course we wouldn't be!"

"Then why is he the culprit if you have no actual proof?"

"Why do you even care!"

"As an interrogator it's my job to find the truth. So, an innocent man being held in prison for a crime he may not have even committed makes my blood boil." She said, one of the few times she was scarily serious.

There was a brief moment of silence.

"...do you really think that?" The man in the iron mask asked.

"Of course!"

After another moment of silence, he let out a chuckle. "That's the first time I've heard something like that in about 100 years..."

"...Has anyone tried reading your mind to view the memories you lost?" Meta asked.

"Is such a thing even possible?"

"Yeah, did mind reading not exist back when this happened?"

"Mind reading was never used to solve a crime before... and I imagine they wanted to close this case as soon as possible." The prisioner uttered.

"Or someone was covering their tracks." Fettuccine added.

"Wait a minute, you said you don't know anything outside of his name... how can you be so sure?"

"I'm not sure about if he's guilty or not. All I know is that he was imprisoned without being given a chance to prove his innocence. I want to expose the truth and if the truth is that he's innocent, then I want to help him."

Meta couldn't help but stare at his friend in admiration. "Is this the true reason you wanted to participate? To meet this guy?"

Fettuccine shook her head. "No, that's just one of three reasons. The second reason is to actually test myself. I am serious about that."

"And the first reason?"

"To see you silly!"

Meta gave a small smile.

"You two should get going." The prisoner said. "I'm sure the tournament will begin soon will it not?"

"Oh, that's right!"

But just before Fettuccine left, Meta asked a question. "Wait, if you're a prisoner, why are you working here?"

"It's because I'm a doctor. I get 45 years off my life sentence by performing high-profile surgeries. But I honestly don't care about that..."

The youth raised an eyebrow. "If you don't care, then why do it?"

"I like helping others. Nothing else to it."

Something within that straightforward sentence resonated with the young puff. "Right. Let's go, Fetty. We can help him later."

"Ok!" She smiled before leaving the room with him.

---------

Upon exiting the room, Fettuccine spoke up. "Let me guess, you're gonna ask Kurabe to read his mind?"

"Yes. I don't see any better options."

"You're right. No amount of interrogation can make him recall something he can remember. Mind reading is our only real option."

"And if there's anyone I know who's good at mind reading, it's sensei."

Plus, Meta had a feeling he was innocent. A loss of memories is one thing, but his gentle personality was the real deal.

"...how could someone like him really be arrested for a crime like that...?"

"Unfortunately, he's probably a scapegoat. Someone needed to be blamed and he was perfect for that. As someone who values the truth, it makes me sick."

The youth stared at his friend's furious expression, one that seemed almost foreign for someone as cheerful as her. "Do you think proving his innocence might improve the system?"

"That's my hope at least." She replied, reverting back to the same happy expression she had before.

"Then I say we should go for it."

"Oh, I was going for it no matter what. But it does mean a lot to have your support, Metty."

"It's not a problem. I feel the same way about him."

Fettuccine gave a giggle. "Excellent~! Soooooo, what do you think of that Bio Sting?"

"She seems skilled. However, she's allow going to be irritating if her stalking me has any indication."

"I am not stalking you. I'm merely observing your every move." They could hear the person in question say from the shadows.

"Yes, that is stalking." He replied back.

"Yeah, I see what you mean by irritating." Fettuccine said, secretly relieved that Meta had no real interest in the ninja out of fighting her.

"...Fetty, are you hiding something from me?" He suddenly asked.

"Hmm? Not really, why do you ask?"

"You seemed to be relieved about something for a moment."

"It's probably just your imagination. I'm just in a good mood is all."

That was what she said, but Meta felt there was something more to it. But before he could question her any further, he heard a voice from the loud speaker.

"Attention all fighters. Make your way to the arena now. The bracket and fighters' placements will be revealed in five minutes."

The woman gave a smile. "You hear the speaker, let's go, Metty!" She exclaimed while dragging him.

Meta smiled at his friend's antics. "Maybe it was my imagination."

---------

Once everyone had arrived General Z step forward, making everyone fear that here would be another speech.

"Behind me is the finalized bracket. Every match was picked completely at random and by a citizen of this planet with no affiliation to us. Walk up and look to see where you are in the placements. Farthest left will be the first match of round 1, farthest right will be the last."

Almost immediately, Meta began to scan through the bracket to find where his placement was. His eyes widened when he saw not only his placement, but his first opponent.

"I'm the first match and I'm fighting..." He said, turning to look at his newest comrade, Carter.

"Well, looks like I'll be getting that fight after all." The warrior said with a chuckle. "Just didn't think it'd be this soon, huh, Meta?"

"Yeah." He replied with a nod.

"Well, hey, I'm glad my first match is against another swordy. You better not hold back just because we're on the same crew."

"I don't plan on it."

A sound of a cane could be heard hitting the floor.

"Now that you all know your placements, fighters 1 and 2 make your way to center of the arena. Everyone else makes your way to the stands." Z commanded.

The remaining fighters nodded and made their way to the stands as Carter and Meta took to the center.

"Now to decide the arena you'll be fighting in." Z said as he spun a wheel. The wheel stopped after a minute of spinning and landed on the words "Ballroom". "The course you will be fighting on is ballroom."

Meta was relieved that his first match would take place in a mostly normal location. He was honestly worried of getting stuck with something like an hourglass or lava floor.

"Momo, if you would be so kind to get the arena ready?" Z asked the head mage.

"As you wish, General." She replied before casting a spell.

Before he knew it the entire landscape changed. The arena was exactly that of a ballroom, down to having walls that prevented ring outs. Unknown to him, Momo casted another spell that allowed all the spectators to keep watching despite of the walls. As for the ballroom itself it was quite standard. Ten large, round tables and a sizeable chandelier.

"Ready? Begin!" Z's voice yelled.

The one to make the first move was Carter pointed his sword at Meta and shot a blast of electricity. "VOLT!"

The puff smirked and pointed his sword at the oncoming blast and easily absorbed it.

"Rats, I was hoping to catch you off guard with that!" Carter said as he started to run straight at the youth, his only hope of winning being actually getting close.

Still smirking, Meta let out whips of electricity and grabbed five of the tables with then and threw them at Carter. The Blade stood his ground and cut all of them in half but after dealing with the last table, he got kicked in the face by the youth. The force of the kick sent him flying and landed underneath the chandelier. Meta flew up and cut the chain holding the chandelier in half, causing it to fall. In a panic, Carter quickly rolled out of the way before he could get crushed. He got back to his feet and looked around, only to not see Meta.

"Where did he go?" He wondered.

He then noticed that his shadow was getting bigger and instantly knew what thar meant. He looked up to see Meta dive bombing at him. The Blade raised his sword to block, only for Meta to cut it in half. Carter was now disarmed.

"Want to keep going, or do you want to forfeit?" Meta asked, pointing his sword at his opponent.

"No, I think it's clear who the victor is."

In a flash of light, the ballroom disappeared and the two found themselves back in the normal arena. Almost immediately, they heard the roar of applause.

"Dang man, I knew you were good, but you straight up outclassed me. I didn't even think of using electricity to grab and throw objects."

"It's not something I do often, but it's useful for catching people off guard."

"You're telling me. I'm gonna be feeling that kick of yours for a while." He then looked down at the floor. "And I guess I'm going to need to make a new sword."

"...I can help you make one later." Meta offered.

"Deal."

While he couldn't make out what people were saying in the stands, Meta knew that pretty much everyone was impressed by the match.

"I think you painted a target on your back with that performance, man." His comrade then whispered.

"Trust me, I know." He replied, noticing a ninja staring daggers at him.

"Well come on, I'm sure sensei wants to congratulate you." Carter said while pointing to the stands.

Meta was honestly surprised by how upbeat the Blade was despite losing.

"Alright, I guess I'll go see her then." He replied with a smile.

The two left the stage and saw the next two competitors make their way to it. It was an Intelligence Division member vs a Magic Division member. Meta was only somewhat interested because he was going to fight whichever one won. The youth then began to make his way up to where his mentor was.

---------

Upon reaching the highest section of stands where Kurabe was, she was the first to speak up.

"Good job, you two. That was quite the exciting fight."

"Thanks, sensei, though I never actual got a hit in." Carter said, not really bummed out about it.

"You tried your best and that's all that matters."

She then looked at Meta. While her first instinct was to hug him, she decided to do that later when they were in private. "Congrats on your first victory, Meta. I suppose I was wrong about you being on edge after all. You were more relaxed during that than you have been when trying to actually relax."

As much as the youth wanted to object, he honestly couldn't.

"...It seemed effortless for you." Carter added.

"I wouldn't go that far. Controlling those electric whips I made use more energy than you may think." Meta said.

"Well, I guess you should go take a rest and prepare for your next match." His mentor said with a smile.

"I'm fine. Seeing as I was the first to fight, I'm going to be waiting awhile until the next round starts anyway."

"Good point. These fights can go on for a while. This event usually lasts at least one week."

"So, there's a chance I might not even fight again today. That's fine, it gives me a chance to observe my future opponents. I suppose it was good luck to go first, wasn't it?"

"It was indeed, Meta." She replied with a smile.

He nodded and turned to watch the fight, which was now taking place in an hourglass.

"...Good luck indeed." He said with a sigh, hoping that this fight didn't take too long for the competitor's sake.

"Well, come on and sit down next to me."

"Fine." Meta said, knowing that any kind of argument was pointless.

"...it's either that or I hug you." She said telepathically.

"I'm already sitting down, sensei. Please, try to remember that we're in public... you can do it when we're back home, I guess..."

"You say that as if I don't plan to already."

"Kurabe, he's right. You're here a commander first and foremost." Mercury said.

"I know. There're no rules saying commanders can't give hugs though, nor do I care if anyone has a problem with it. Not even my father."

"Sensei..." Meta uttered.

"Don't worry, just a little light teasing. Just sit down and focus on the match."

"I already am sitting..."

"Then sit some more. What's wrong with sitting between me and Mercury anyway?"

"Nothing. I'd just rather actually choose to sit here then be ordered to. I was going to sit next to you regardless."

His mentor only pouted in response. "Oh no, is he already in his rebellious phase? I know he's a teenager but it's still too soon!" She thought.

---------

While Kurabe was having nonsensical thoughts, Meta kept watching the fight. As if knowing what her friend was thinking, Mercury rolled her eyes.

"I didn't hear the names of the two fighting. Who are they, sensei?" He asked, snapping Kurabe out of her delusions.

"That one wearing a backwards cap is Lucla. He's a member of a race of psychics. The one wearing a cowboy hat is Ilo. He's a unique type of mage that uses gun magic." She explained, happy to still be relied upon.

"...sensei, are you ok?" The youth suddenly asked.

"Not that I'm not touched that you're concerned, but shouldn't you rather be asking questions about the fighters? You will be fighting one of them." She said, fully back in her serious mode.

"...ok, I'll trust your words."

"Then start asking questions. You have to be ready for anything."

"Alright, what's gun magic? I've never heard of that type before."

"It's easy to explain. Much like regular guns, they fight by shooting bullets, but these bullets have magic infused with them. Depending on what type of magic is used, the bullet will have different effects. For example, notice how his bullets are moving in slow motion?"

Meta took a closer look, and he was able to see the bullets moving, to his surprise. "How?"

"Time magic. Those bullets can either go as fast or as slow as he possibly wants. Right now, they are slow, but..."

The gunslinger snapped his fingers, causing the bullets to fire off at blinding speeds, piercing through the body of Lucla and making him unconscious.

"Well, you can see for yourself."

"And he did that all with magic? Amazing..." The youth stared. He already knew he had to start thinking of a way to counter it.

"I suppose. There is a major weakness to it, but I'm sure you'd rather figure that out on your own."

He did. He honestly did.

"Will he be ok?" Crate asked, noticing blood coming out of the loser's wounds.

"Don't worry, there's an expert doctor on the premises." Kurabe explained.

For some reason Mercury fidgeted, but Meta decided to ask about that later.

"So, are they going to take him down there, or will the doctor be brought up here?"

"Both. The doctor comes here and decides if the damage is serious enough for them to be taken to an operating room. If not, then he'll just operate here."

"I see..."

In Meta's mind, that meant he would see Erhard again, if only for a brief moment. He also glared at the winner of the fight, who didn't at all seemed concerned for the man he just shot. In fact, he was gloating. He couldn't stand people like that. But he didn't have time to ruminate on that, as the two guards he had met earlier practically shooed him off the stage while guiding a silver humanoid figure wearing handcuffs onto it.

"Is that... Erhard...?" He wondered.

While everything else about him looked like the Limet he had met earlier, there was one particular detail missing: he was no longer wearing the metal helmet, now showing his true appearance as a surprisingly young-looking adult.

"I take it you met him earlier?" Kurabe asked in a calm tone. The fact that she seemingly held no animosity towards the supposed murderer made Meta feel comfortable about talking about it.

"I did with Fettuccine, and I just don't understand why someone like him was locked up."

"Because sometimes the innocent are named guilty to please the masses. A concept I loathe in its entirety."

"Then why don't you read his memories? Surely, you'd be able to find the real culprit if you did that."

"Unfortunately, I legally can't. The case has been dropped for centuries. The only way I can is if someone manages to get the case back open." She explained.

Meta had a feeling he knew who she meant by someone. "...Fettuccine."

"If she can convince the leader of the legal division to open the case back up then I'll gladly offer my services."

"Who's the leader of the Legal Division?"

Honestly, Meta didn't know there were more divisions than the ones commanded by the Big Four.

"The legal division isn't like the four main ones. They don't do any fighting and honestly calling them a "division" is a tad misleading. Legal group is more accurate as there are only six active members. The leader is named Wolfried. He's a gruff and quiet man but is willing to let people make their cases. Stern but fair is the best way to describe him."

"I see... so if Fettuccine can show him solid proof that Erhard isn't the culprit, he'll be let go?"

"Essentially. But be warned, she'll also be tasked with trying to find the actual culprit too. I'm sure she's already quite aware of that herself."

"I'm sure she can handle it, especially if you can find the truth buried in his head."

His mentor nodded in silently in response. Then he once more took a look at the doctor, who was examining the patient closely.

"...sensei, there's something I don't understand. Isn't he able to shapeshift or absorb metal if he's a Limet?"

"The handcuffs and metal are all coated with crystal tree resin, a natural substance that makes whatever it's covered with immune to being absorbed by a Limet. As for the shapeshifting... take a look at his back."

Meta squinted and saw a red magic seal.

"It's one of Momo's magic seals. It's a special type of magic that can cancel out any kind of transformation ability. It's the reason Momo is one of the Big Four in the first place."

The youth looked confused. "What are you talking about, sensei?"

"Oh, I guess you don't know about that." She uttered before sighing. "The primary requirement to become one of the Big Four is that you must have done something that has positively impacted not just the Organization, but also the entire universe."

"I suppose that makes sense. What did you and the others do?"

"For my contribution, I reinvented the entire education system for the Organization. My philosophy of never giving up on a student has led to the birth of many heroes and warriors that protected the universe. For Reedy, he created the test used to identify Hivemind Limets, the exam named after him, and has contributed much to the research on them. For Bio Raiden, he created multiple commonly used espionage techniques. Some people love to joke that he created the very act of espionage. As for Momo, she created that sealing magic."

Meta was equal parts impressed and not surprised. "Considering how excellent of a teacher you, I suppose I should of expected that."

"Why, thank you, Meta."

"But back to him, doesn't all of that seem unnecessary for someone who isn't dangerous?"

"Because they think he's guilty, they believe it is necessary. Besides, they justify it by saying the only time he'll be out of cuffs is during surgery."

"...How can Grandfather allow that?" The heartbreaking way her student uttered that made Kurabe want to say something, but she couldn't.

"Excuse me, but did you ask if the doc is alright with those restrictions on him?" Vul who had been listening in asked.

The youth blinked silently.

His ally shook his head. "Yes, keeping someone who might be innocent imprisoned is awful, but did you ask him what he thought? Look at that face, does he really seem that bothered by those cuffs or that seal?"

Meta took a look at the man and indeed, he didn't seem bothered at all. In fact, it seemed like he couldn't care less about it.

"Look man I get you think it's unfair because you believe he's innocent, but this is just how prisoners are treated. Your old man's hands are tied. It sucks but that's why you're going to help that cotton candy friend of yours prove his innocence right?"

"Yeah, but I can still say it's not fair, can't I?"

"You can and you may be right. But to the families of the people he supposedly killed, they might think he's getting it easy. From what I understand it's not like he's been tortured or anything of the sort. The fact they trust him to operate on people at all proves that your old man has done all he can to make his prison life comfy."

"I see..."

Meta had to admit, the bird was right. Erhard seemed perfectly happy. The way he was treated was less of a prisoner and more so an employee with restrictions. Restrictions he didn't even seemed bothered with. In fact, he looked happy as he was closing the wounds of the fight's loser.

"Sensei, Grandfather tried his best right?"

"He did, Meta. So don't worry about it."

"Thank you..."

To be honest while he felt happy that Z did all he could for Erhard, the fact someone in the Organization imprisoned an innocent man just to close a case sickened him.

"...Just focus on the tournament. You can worry about it later." He told himself, using breathing exercises to calm down. As if noticing his behavior, Kurabe began to rub his back.

"Would you like a hint on how to deal with that mage?" Kurabe asked to hopefully get his mind back on track.

"No, I want to figure it out myself. I can't rely on you all the time." He replied with a smile.

"That's very true, and I trust you can do it."

Meta nodded and closed his eyes to think. "So, his bullets are what's magical. His guns seem to be perfectly ordinary and from what I can tell he has no other methods of fighting. I get it, that's such a glaring obvious weakness but it's also one hard to capitalize on. I just have to take away his guns or his ability to use guns while making sure not to get shot."

Kurabe only smiled.

"So pretty much, if I take away his guns victory is mine. For that, I hope I get the forest arena. The trees will help me move around undetected."

"And if you don't?" His mentor asked.

"I'll manage regardless of what arena I get. The forest would simply be my preferred stage."

She chuckled. "Indeed. I taught you well."

"Of course. Now if I had to pick the arena I wouldn't want, it would be the fog."

"Indeed. It would make it quite difficult for you."

"Why? Wouldn't the fog keep you covered like with the forest?" Carter asked.

"Yes, but it would give him just as much if not more cover. His bullets would be near invisible in that case."

"I see. So it would be the worst kind of stage."

"For me anyway. The worst in general would be the lava."

"Tell me about it..."

"You should consider yourself lucky that you lost so early then. Now you won't have to deal with it." Meta joked.

"Yeah, I have you to thank for that."

The youth smiled and decided to keep the rest of his thoughts to himself, just in case he was being spied on by anyone from the magic division.

"Alright, so I have a few options. Use lightning to shoot the guns out of his hands. Cut the guns in half. Or knock him out before he can even react. My teleportation is the perfect tool for all three options..." He continued this train of thought for quite a while.

---------

Meta spent the entirety of the third fight thinking, not even paying attention to who was fighting. This changed when it became time for the fourth match when Kurabe gently nudged him and pointed at the arena. One of the fighters was Fettuccine.

"Ah, Fettuccine!" He called out.

"You know she can't hear you right?" Vul asked until he saw her wave back. "...Well, what do I know right?"

Meta gave a smile. "That's just how Fettuccine is."

He then noticed her opponent, another mage from the looks of it. The opponent was holding what appeared to be a paintbrush, something that confused Meta until he realized what was going on.

"She's a summoner."

"A summoner, huh? Now how'll your girlfriend get out of this?" Vul uttered with a smirk towards the youth.

"I give her under five minutes." Was all he said.

"To win or lose?"

"To win obviously."

"...an interrogator?"

"You'll see."

With a questioning look, Vul turned back to the arena and waited for the fight to begin. The fight was taking place in the standard arena, no gimmicks, only the two fighters. The mage summoned skeletons by painting with her brush. Fettuccine was surrounded by ten undead creatures, but she was the complete opposite of scared.

"That's it? You can make anything you want and you for cartoon skeletons? I mean I could tell that you're a goth chick but really? Look at these guys, they are as threatening as a balloon in a needle factory." She taunted.

Her opponent seemed to look confused by that statement, as if she was wondering why she was being taunted.

"I mean seriously, look." The woman commented as she effortlessly ripped off one of the skeletons head. "Come on, can't you like make something more threatening? This is a fight, not a Halloween contest."

The mage gritted her teeth and summoned a new creature. A large dragon. Again, Fettuccine acted unimpressed.

"A dragon? Really? What's it gonna do, breath fire on me? Please, as if becoming barbecue is anything to be worried about."

As if annoyed by that statement, the mage then summoned yet another beast, this time an ice dragon.

"Ooooh getting frosty, aren't we? Though you do know I would die if that thing actually attacked me right? Seeing as I am a Limet. And what's against the rules again? Oh yeah, killing."

In a panic the mage got rid of the ice dragon and summoned a new dragon to take its place, not realizing she was just doing exactly what Fettuccine wanted. The mage panted, running out of breath and looked up, realizing that all of her summons were slowly disappearing.

"What?" She said in response before realizing what happened. She used up all of her mana already.

"And that's what I was waiting for."

"Y-you tricked me!"

"Duh."

It was now as the woman had said: the mage had no other ways to defend herself.

"It's unfortunate, you know? My older brother is a summoner and he told me all about a shared weakness most summoners have. Insult their summons and they'll just make more summons to prove the insulter wrong. Sorry, but I'm your worst possible match up." Fettuccine explained before picking up the mage and tossing her out of the ring.

"What did I tell you?" Meta said, gazing towards Vul.

"How did you know that's how the fight was going to end?"

"Fettuccine's an interrogator. Her specialty is getting people to break."

"I knew that much, but how did you know that mage was going to crack that fast?"

"From what I can tell, a lot of mages in that division are either scared stiff or extremely confident in their abilities."

"And as a result, easy to make squirm." Vul surmised.

"Exactly." Meta watched on as Fettuccine left the stage and was greeted by her brother and sister. "I suppose I'll have a chance to speak to them later." He thought.

"Oh yes, you'll have plenty of time later, Meta." He heard his mentor's voice in his head.

"Sensei, would you please stop?" He said, causing her to laugh.

He then heard his voice in his head once more. "Fine, but I get to snuggle with you as much as I want when we return to the room."

"Sensei, that has nothing to do with any of this. Please, just drop the hug talk until we go home."

His mentor let out a slight sigh as she wrapped herself in her cape, as if she was ashamed of herself.

"Sensei, stop. You have nothing to be ashamed of, just please respect my privacy. I still love your hugs but that doesn't mean I want them all the time... but I suppose I wouldn't mind hugging later in our room."

Kurabe didn't respond, but continued watching the tournament as if she had quickly reverted back into her serious mode. Internally she was debating something inside her head.

"He's right. I need to slow down, if I don't, I'll just accidentally upset him. But..."

She looked at him.

"Are you sure you won't mind?" She asked in reference to hugging.

"Of course, just please stop speaking in my head without permission. That's all I ask."

"Thank you, Meta. So, you do realize that there's a good chance you'll end up fighting her in the 3rd round."

"I understand that. And I don't plan on holding back."

"So, you already talked with her about it. Good, you know her better than I do so you know what to look for. Do you think she can get under your skin?"

The youth took a moment to think. "Perhaps, but at the same time, I think I can get under hers as well."

"Oh really? And how do plan on doing that?" She asked, genuinely curious because she knew Meta wasn't the type to normally do something like that.

"I just have to say the right things."

"I get it, you're gonna get her flustered with compliments. But can you get to her before she gets to you? That's the true question."

"I feel like you've prepared me for anything she can say."

"Really? I haven't seen our mentor insult you." Vul said.

"You're right, she hasn't."

"Then what exactly has she prepared you for?"

"Teasing."

Vul started laughing but stopped after looking at his face. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"I am. Fettuccine knows that I'm used to being insulted by some of my fellow students and the best way for her to get inside my head would be to tease... or even flirt with me."

"That's certainly, a different way of fighting I guess."

"Yes, but you've already seen that. She gets into people's heads to make them let their guard down before she springs forth."

"I meant the flirting part."

"Just another part of her strategy." Then he turned to his mentor, who was unusually silent. "What's wrong, sensei?"

"Nothing for you to be worried about, Meta." She said. Internally she was wondering just how often she actually did tease him.

"If it's about my comment, don't worry about it. You can consider it part of my training for my fight with Fettuccine."

"...You're becoming very mature, Meta."

"I am?"

"Yes, you are. Much faster than I expected too."

"...are you ok, sensei?"

"I'm perfectly fine."

"Why do you look like you're about to cry then?"

"I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion, considering my visor is still on. Nor am I feeling sad."

"...then is it tears of joy?"

"If you wish to believe so, despite there not being any tears to begin with."

The puff stared for a moment before raising his mentor's eye visor. "Oh, you really weren't crying." He said as he put the visor down.

"Of course." She said. In truth, she actually was, but was using magic to hide them. "Now let's focus on watching, shall we? Crate, I know that your match is after this one, so get ready."

Meta looked over to the Boxer who had been quiet up till now. Though judging by his first meeting with her, that didn't come off as surprise. She seemed to be the quiet type. Not only that, but she seemed extremely nervous.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm just worried about losing. I know that this is just a training experience, but I can help but feel I'll be a failure if I lose..."

The youth didn't know what to say. He could relate to that, the aftermath of the Myovam flashing through his mind. He hated defeat, but even so.

"...You'll only be a failure if you give up. Failing is horrible, but that's why you stand back up and keep trying, to become strong enough to prevent it from happening again. Also, if you go in expecting to lose, you will. You said you were the strongest of your village, right? Then you have people you're fighting for, right? So, get up and fight for them."

His friend looked at him and silently nodded.

"Sorry, sensei. I'm sure you wanted to be the one to give her a pep talk."

"Don't be. Looking out for and building up your allies is a good trait a leader should have."

Meta smiled. "Thank you." He then blinked. "...You think I can be a leader?"

"Of course I do. From what I was told, you were quite the leader back on that day you served as captain. Not only that, but you defeated a Myovam on your own. Don't you think that you have a certain level of charisma within you?"

"...I never really thought about it before, but when you put it like that."

His mentor smiled. "Someday you will be a full-time leader, and you'll be an excellent one. I guarantee it."

Meta wanted to ask if she really meant that, but he already knew quite well that his mentor wasn't the type to sugar coat things.

"Contestants of the next match make your way to the arena please." A voice could be heard saying.

"Well, Crate, you're up. Good luck." Kurabe said.

"Ok. Who knows, maybe my performance might blow you all away?"

"Then show us you can."

As the large dog left, Meta noticed how happy she now was. "I guess my speech was effective after all." He thought to himself.

---------

The fight itself wasn't much to talk about. Not that it was bad, but rather too short as Crate knocked her opponent out in one punch. The rest of the round one matches went swimmingly. Vul defeated a member of the magic division, the two Bukisets defeated the remaining intelligence division members, meaning Fettuccine was the only intelligence member to make it past round one. And finally, the two bullies lost their flights. Sheba especially got it the worst as his opponent was none other than Bio Sting. That fight in particular kept playing on repeat in Meta's head. The reason for this was because Sting took out Sheba in two blows. While Sheba wasn't the strongest guy around, Meta had to admit his defense was impressive. So, for his defense to be cracked instantly... well, it made Meta look forward to his eventual fight with Sting even more. This even continued to follow him when he returned to his room with his mentor.

"You're worried about your fight with her?" Kurabe asked.

However, Meta seemed to not have heard what she said, as he didn't react as he laid on his bed.

"Meta." She repeated, getting his attention. He noticed she wasn't speaking as his caretaker, no, she was in full teacher mode.

"Sorry, sensei. Could you repeat the question please?"

"Are you worried about your fight with Bio Sting?"

"A little."

"Stop it."

Meta looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

"Let me answer you with a question of my own. Is Sting your very next opponent?"

"...she isn't. But sensei-"

"No "but"s." She removed her visor and looked at him, straight in the eye. "Why are you worried about a fight that's not happening yet?"

"Huh?"

"You aren't scheduled to fight her anytime soon. She's on the exact opposite end of the bracket. The only way you'll fight her is if you both get to the finals. Don't focus on the fight that doesn't exist, focus on the one that does. The gunner is your current priority, not her or anything else. You can worry about her when the time comes but until then, quit worrying about it. You'll never reach the finals if you don't keep your head in the game." She explained is a commanding but still comforting voice. After a moment of silence, she continued. "You already know the strategy you'll be employing against the gunner, correct? Well, let's go over it, shall we?"

Meta scratched his head. "W-well, he can't fight without his guns, so I'm going to remove them from him as fast as possible."

"And how will you do that?"

"I'll use the trees and-"

"What trees? Don't assume you'll get the arena you personally want."

"...If I end up in an arena with something I can use as coverage, I'll teleport around to confuse him and strike from behind."

"And if you don't have an area with something you can use as coverage?"

"I'll use my lightning to either knock his guns away or at least disorient him."

"What if you are unable to use magic?"

"What? Why?"

"Remember what I taught you. Be prepared for any situation. You don't have any magic, what do you do?"

The youth became silent as he thought. Suddenly, he heard his mentor unsheathe one of her swords and tapped the floor with it as she glared at him.

"What. Do. You. Do?"

"...He wasn't that fast from what I remembered, in fact he seemed quite cowardly until he got the upper hand. So... I'll run towards him as fast as I can. I'm still the fastest of us even without my teleports, so if I can close the distance between us fast enough, he'll be helpless."

"Assume he gets the first shot off on you and gains the advantage. What do you do?"

"Assuming I have my magic back, I'd use my lightning to blind him and fly out of his field of vision. If I don't have my magic... I'll use someone else's." Meta said, remembering the seals received from Tam.

"Someone else's?"

"Tam gave me some magic seals just in case. One in particular might just be the ace up my sleeve. It will let me move three times faster than normal, but it only lasts for five seconds."

"Do you have any other scenarios?"

"I'll throw my sword at him. I'm sure I can throw faster than he can shoot."

"And what if you can't?"

"Then I'll make it so I can. You taught me that if I can't find an opening, then I'll have to make one myself."

"Excellent."

"...Is that what you were trying to get me to say?"

"No, I was merely reviewing battle plans with you."

"Oh. Do you-"

"If you're going to ask if I believe that you'll win the answer is yes. But that's not what you should be asking. You should be asking if you believe in yourself."

Meta became silent.

"Well, Meta, do you believe in yourself?"

"...Yes. I know I'll win."

Kurabe gave a smile as she lowered her visor back over her eyes. "Very good."

"Sorry to make you worry, sensei."

"Oh, please, Meta. I'll always worry about you."

"Thank you... and I'm sorry for losing my patience earlier." He slightly fidgeted. "...if you want to snuggle or whatever now I suppose I wouldn't mind..."

"...is that your way of saying you want me to?"

"...I guess, yeah."

"Is that a yes or a no?"

"...yes."

As if a switch was flipped, he felt himself be practically tackled by his mentor in a tight hug.

"You did it, Meta! You won your first match! I'm so happy!" She practically squealed as she hugged him tightly, nuzzling the top of his head.

"Thank you, sensei. Please don't squeeze too hard."

"No promises..." She giggled.

"Fair enough..."

Despite this, she seemed to loosen her grip a bit.

"Alright, I suppose you should sleep now. You're fighting first thing in the morning, you need all the rest you can get."

"Alright then. Thank you, sensei."

"Then I guess I'll just have to resume hugging you another time-"

"Stay... please..."

Kurabe looked at him in concern. "...is something wrong, Meta?"

"No. I just want you to get as much snuggling time as you call it."

"That's just your way of saying you still want to be hugged, isn't it?"

"It's both."

She then let out a huff. "Well, if that's what you want, then I have no choice. Good night, my little knight."

"Good night, sensei."

---------

In the morning Meta was ready to fight, ready to win. He wasn't going to allow himself to lose. Now he stood in the arena, ready for the next match.

"Ready to become Swiss cheese?" The gunman taunted.

Meta simply stared at him, not caring enough to engage in pointless smack talk. General Z spun the wheel, which landed on the lava arena. With a flash, the fighters were now standing on a rock floating in a sea of lava. Looking around they saw there were ten rocks in total, meaning only ten places to fight on without getting burned.

"Well, this is probably second worst to the fog area..." Meta uttered.

"What's the matter? Afraid of a little heat?" The gunman mocked.

"Says the one whose legs are shaking in fear."

"Nah, man, you're just imagining things."

"Ready, begin!" Z's voice roared signaling the start of the fight.

Before his opponent could respond Meta teleported in front of him and threw out a punch. Meta's intended target was the stomach, simply knock the air out of him and leave him vulnerable. However, the gunman blocked the punch with his arm, a move he would regret. A loud snapping sound could be heard, a clear sign that his arm was now broken, and he was screaming in pain. Meta, startled by what just happened began to panic.

"Quick, forfeit now so that we can get you to the medic!"

With a pained expression, his opponent only turned the gun on the youth, but his hand was clearly shaking in pain. With a sigh, Meta knocked the gun out of his hands and into the lava.

"You have no weapon and a broken arm. Give up before it gets worse."

Then he attempted to punch the youth, who quickly just grabbed his hand.

"Why are you so desperate? You clearly are unable to fight right now."

"We're soldiers, I might be a coward but I'm no quitter!"

"Fine." Meta grumbled in annoyance as he karate chopped the back of his neck, knocking him out.

With his victory secured, the arena returned to normal as Erhard was once more escorted to the losing participant.

"Meta, was it? Thank you for knocking him out, it'll make checking on him easier."

"No problem, Erhard. I'm glad to be of help." He then looked down. "Will he be fine?" Meta asked, concerned about potentially ruining his opponent's career.

Erhard pulled out a device in response. "Portable x-ray. Let's see here... looks like his arm can be repaired without much effort. He'll be fine by the end of the week."

The youth let out a sigh of relief. "That's good..."

"Don't beat yourself up. Of all the injuries caused so far during this tournament, this is one of the tame ones."

Admittedly, Meta was slightly surprised to hear that Erhard practically knew what he was thinking, but he didn't show it. "I won't."

"Good. Now you best be going, the next match will be soon. That Fettuccine girl will be fighting, won't she? Go cheer her on."

"Yeah, I will. And I'm sure you will be, too, won't you?"

"Me? Normally I don't take sides in these fights, but yes. I think will be."

The puff gave a smile towards him before returning to the stands.

---------

"Sensei, are you disappointed in me?" He asked once he reached his seat.

"Why would I be?" Kurabe asked, blinking in confusion.

"I used too much force and hurt someone."

"Did you intend to break his arm?"

"No, I intended to kick him in the stomach and leave him open to attack."

"Then there's nothing to be disappointed about. Yes, you hurt him, but this is a tournament. Injuries like this will happen, be they accidental or intentional. Besides, I'm proud of how you handled yourself. Yes, you used more force than necessary, a problem we'll need to work on, but as soon as you noticed you broke his arm you tried to finish the fight peacefully and quickly. If you dunked his remaining arm in the lava, then I'd be disappointed."

"Even though you would have probably done it if you were pissed off enough?" Mercury asked.

"Oh, I would, but I want Meta to become better than me. Anyway, Meta, don't beat yourself up over this, it was an accident and an accident you tried to fix quickly. Just try to reign in yourself against weaker opponents. Objectively speaking you are one of the physically strongest competitors here."

"I understand. I'll try to hold back a bit."

"Good. And now that's over, your original strategy of stunning him was perfect. And look at that, another fight with no injuries on you. You make me a proud teacher, Meta.

The youth felt his cheeks become redder at that praise. "Th-thank you, sensei..."

"You're welcome." She said. In truth, she was initially worried about Meta when he broke that arm, but seeing as it was accidental it put most of her worries to rest.

"That's definitely the first thing we're doing when we go home, training him to control himself." She thought.

"...thank you, sensei."

"Again, you're welcome. Now look alive, the little lady is about to start her fight."

Almost immediately, Meta turned to the arena to see Fettuccine waiting down there. "Who is she fighting? Oh, it's Buru."

He sat down, curious to see how Fetty could handle a Bukiset. "Hm... what I'm more interested in is what field will be chosen for her."

The wheel turned around and around, landing on the ice arena.

"Interesting, I believe that'll hinder Buri more than Fettuccine." Kurabe commented.

However, Meta looked slightly concerned.

"Don't worry, Meta. If the match somehow approaches the hour mark, the match will be suspended." Mercury said.

"Thank you, Mercury. Though that's not entirely what I'm worried about. I don't know who to root for. Fetty is my friend, but Buru is a fellow student. Should I root for both or for neither?"

"...you say that, but I know you want to root for Fetty." The woman said with a smile.

"...I do. But that just leads into another problem. If she wins, I'll have to fight her, and I already promised not to go easy on her." He said.

"...you're worried about breaking her arm, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"You do know us Limets don't have bones, right?" She asked with a chuckle.

Meta only blinked.

"Kurabe, can I borrow Rubis or Grenat for a moment?"

"That's an odd request but alright. Just return them when you're done."

"Thank you."

Mercury took one of the swords, Rubis, in her hand and, without hesitation, chopped off her own head. Meta looked in shock, while Kurabe wasn't bothered in the slightest. Mercury's body then picked her head back up and reattached itself.

"See? Perfectly fine." The woman then returned the swords to Kurabe. "Nothing to worry about as long as you don't aim for her core."

"...Thank you, Mercury."

"No problem, Meta!"

While that conversation was going on, the fight was already underway. Buru was immune to Fettuccine's taunting. In fact, it was pointless trying to even make them say anything as Buru was mute. So, Fettuccine had to rely on her other skills to win. The Bukiset was attacking with throwing spears, meaning that they didn't need to worry about slipping on the ice. The woman, however, had to keep moving. In a surprising twist, Fettuccine ripped off her own arm and threw it at Buru. The arm connected and began to choke Buru. Quickly, Buru held up a white flag, indicating their surrender. Almost immediately, she let go and walked over to pick up her arm.

"Sorry about that, but it's not like I had much other choice."

Buru only gave a thumbs-up, as if understanding what she said.

"Well, Meta, looks like you will be fighting her." Mercury said.

"Yeah. I know I can't hold back now..."

"Remember there's more ways to win than physical strength. You know what you need to do, use her strategies against her."

"I know. That's why I can't hold back."

"...Can't hold back with flirting?" Vul asked.

"If I want to win, I can't."

"You're an interesting person. Meta." Vul said with a laugh.

"Oh, I don't think I'm that interesting." He uttered shyly.

"Most interesting people don't. Now go talk to her, it's obvious that you want to."

"Alright..." He nodded and headed down.

---------

Upon reaching where his friend was, Meta was immediately noticed by his friend.

"Hey Fetty, congrats on your victory." He said awkwardly.

The woman giggled. "Thanks, Metty! It took you a lot to say that, didn't you?"

"Not really...you know we are fighting next round, right?"

"Yup! So, you better not hold back! Because I won't!"

At first, Meta was confused as to why she was so enthusiastic about fighting him, but it quickly dawned on him.

"She trusts me to not do anything unnecessary." He thought to himself. With a grin Meta held out his hand. "May the best one win."

"Yeah!" She took the outstretched hand and shook it. "So, shall we go somewhere else? I don't know about you, but the cafeteria sounds great right now."

"Yeah. I'm feeling hungry, too."

"Alright let's go!" She said as she dragged him with her.

"Wait, I should tell sensei first!"

"Why? You don't see me telling Reedy anything."

"That's because he's Reedy!"

"Well, yes, but there's no reason to tell mommy you're getting food. Come on!"

"But what if she asks where I am!?"

Before he could get a response, he was further dragged.

"You can tell her you got lunch with the cutest girl you know later. Right now, let's actually get lunch first."

"O... ok..." He uttered, blushing a bit.

"Great... at this rate I'm going to lose before the fight even begins. Keep your cool, Meta, don't let her get to you." He thought to himself.

Fettuccine seemed to smile at this. "What's wrong? Can't handle being around someone as cute as me?"

Meta bit down on his tongue, trying to think of a clever response. "I'm... um... uh... I bet you like being with a handsome person." He said, mentally slapping himself for saying something so dumb and awkward as that.

The woman only giggled. "Why yes, I do love being with someone as handsome as you are~!"

Meta sighed, fully knowing that beating her in a verbal contest was a uphill battle. But even so, he wasn't going to admit defeat. "...Thanks." He responded bashfully.

Fettuccine laughed and dragged him off to the cafeteria.

"...So, Fetty, what did you think of my fight?"

"I thought it was good. It was quite mature of you to try to settle it peacefully."

"So, you don't think less of me for breaking his arm?"

She turned back to him with a pout. "Why would I think less of you for an accident, you dummy?"

He smiled at her bluntness. "As you said. I am a dummy."

Now the woman turned fully towards him, still pouting. She then knelt down and began to squish his cheeks. "You're not dumb! Just over thinking!"

"...But you called me a dummy in the first place."

"That doesn't mean to take it seriously, you dummy!" She squished him harder.

"I wasn't. I was jokingly calling myself a dummy because I was over thinking. I'm smiling right now, aren't I?"

"You better be joking!"

"I just said I was. Or are you just using this an excuse to touch me?"

The young lady blushed and stopped, an action Meta took note of.

"It seems I've discovered a chink in her armor..." He thought. "...Seriously, Fetty, thank you. I was worried that you and others would look down on me for what I did. Cleary I was just over thinking it."

"No problem, Metty! I'm just glad you're feeling better now!"

"I am. I'm ready to take on any challenge. So, apologies in advance if I hit too hard during our fight."

"Oh, I don't mind it at all! I'll at least know that you're not holding back!"

"Of course. Plus, I'm sure you can handle a rough time." Meta said innocently, not at all aware of what combination of words could mean.

Fettuccine blushed. "O-oh, is that how you're feeling, huh? W-w-well I think you'll have to wait a few more years for that..."

Meta looked at bit confused but felt it was best to ignore what she said. He could always ask Kurabe about it later anyway. "So how have you been Fetty? Working hard I imagine."

"Oh yes, I've been working and training hard."

"That's good to know. I know you weren't apart of that mission, but have you been sleeping well? No nightmares or anything?"

"I've been sleeping perfectly fine! What about you? Have you been sleeping well?"

"Perfectly. I haven't had any nightmares recently."

Fettuccine smiled. "I'm so glad to hear that."

"Yeah. Anyway, let's have fun during our match. No hard feelings no matter what."

"Yeah!"

"Fraternizing with your opponent? How odd." A ninja-like voice said.

Meta already knew who it was. "I thought I said to quit stalking me, Sting."

The ninja walked out from behind the shadows of the cafeteria garbage can. "Not stalking, monitoring."

"What do you want? Shouldn't you be waiting for your match?"

"My match is the last of this round. I have plenty of time before I fight."

The puff let out a sigh. "Again, what do you want?"

"I would think that be obvious. I'm observing my rival."

"So, you're stalking me."

"No, I'm observing-"

"Are you interested in Metty or something?" Fettuccine asked.

"Interested in him? Please, all I'm interested in is fighting him. I already have a special someone in my life anyway."

"...I can't help but pity them."

"Low level insults mean nothing to me."

"Look, I don't care if you consider me a rival. But if you don't have anything you want to discuss with me, kindly leave."

"As a matter of fact, I do wish to speak with you."

Meta raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"You two wish prove the good doctor's innocence and find the true culprit, correct?"

"Yes, why?"

"I wish to help." She said, any hostility in her voice now gone.

"You want to help? Why?"

"While on a mission a few months back, my legs were badly damaged. My career as a ninja would have been over, if not for him. He brought back my ability to walk, so I wish to return his kindness by bringing back his freedom."

"I see. So that's why you want to help us prove his innocence?"

"Precisely. That...and you two are very interesting to me and I'd like to learn more."

"You know you can just talk to us instead of just stalking us, right?"

The ninja didn't respond, and Meta could tell she was embarrassed. "...You're shy, aren't you?"

"I am not!"

"No, you are. That's exactly how I respond when someone calls me shy."

"You're just imagining things!"

"Fetty, you're the living lie detector. What do you think?"

"Guilty as charged."

Sting seemed to let out an embarrassed groan, as if accepting defeat at those words. "...I might be a little. Outside of my grand uncle, my parents, my siblings and my girlfriend, I don't exactly speak to many people. I do apologize if I made you uncomfortable with my behavior."

"Well, then you'll just have to learn how to speak to other people, won't you?"

"Does that mean you'd be willing to help me?"

"Of course!"

"I don't see why not."

"...Thank you, my new friend, and frival."

Meta tilted his head in questioning. "Frival?"

"Yes, friend and rival. A frival."

"Sounds good to me, Stingy." Fettuccine said.

"Stingy? Ah, this must be what's known as a nickname."

"Yeah, she gives those to all of her friends."

"So that's why she calls you... "Metty". Interesting, I suppose I should think of nicknames to give to you both." Sting uttered.

Meta smiled, glad that his "rival" wasn't as crazy as he thought she was. "Only if you want to. Don't strain yourself trying to think of one."

"It's nothing I can't handle, Steel."

"Steel?" Meta repeated.

"Yes, Steel. Your name is short for "metal", is it not?"

"Yeah, steel works for me, Wasp."

"I see. So that is what you have chosen for me."

"Yeah. If you don't like it, I can give you a different one."

"No, I do not mind it at all."

"Now give me a nickname!" Fettuccine exclaimed, making Meta chuckle at her antics.

"I see. I will have to think about that."

"Well, don't think too hard. Anyway, back to business, how exactly can you help us with our doctor problem?"

"I'm glad that you asked." She then paused. "...you have no idea, don't you?"

"No, I do. While I have no concrete proof, I believe it might have been an inside job from the legal division. I can search around for any kind of evidence."

"If you can find any solid evidence, it would be a lot of help."

After Fettuccine said that, Meta spoke up. "Don't we already know it was an inside job? They made him a scapegoat just so they can close the case, didn't they?"

"No, that's just a theory and unless we can find any proof it'll remain a theory."

"...this is why I don't care to learn about this stuff. This is giving me a headache and we haven't even gotten started yet. So, Wasp, how do you plan of getting info? I'm sure the legal division has plenty of guards and locks."

Sting gave a chuckle. "Lucky for you, I'm one of my great uncle's best students."

"I figured that much out." He replied with a grin.

Fettuccine looked on in curiosity. "They were at each other's throats not too long ago and now they are buddy-buddy. Life sure is strange." She then gave a smile. "Though, it might just be an example of that special talent Metty has."

She then took on a more serious expression. "Stingy, I'm sure you're aware of this but if you get caught..."

"Trust me Candy, I know what I'm getting myself into."

"...Candy?"

"Yes, your blue hair reminds me of blue cotton candy."

"Come to think of it, Vul said the same thing..." Meta thought.

"That's one I haven't heard yet, I like it! Anyway, just be careful to not get caught. I'd hate for you to be kicked out of the organization or worse because of my goal."

"Don't worry. I can handle it."

"Handle what exactly?" An elderly voice said. Turning around they saw Bio Raiden.

"The next match." Meta quickly responded.

"Meta, I would appreciate it if you didn't answer for my niece. Sting?"

"It is as he said, uncle."

"You've always been a terrible liar. The truth, now."

The entire group seemed to become nervous.

"...I plan on infiltrating the legal division to help find evidence to prove the innocence of the doctor that saved my life." She said.

Raiden stared at her for a solid minute before nodding. "Very well. You have my blessings."

"Thank you, great uncle."

"Of course. Just remember the number one rule of infiltration."

"Remain unseen no matter what."

"Exactly. I will not bail you out if you get caught."

"Understood."

The old ninja nodded in response. "This goes for you two as well. I will keep quiet about this, but will not bail you out if you get discovered. The punishments will be severe and will bring great dishonor onto your according divisions."

Meta and Fettuccine nodded, both slightly terrified by his tone.

"It's not just me, you should be concerned for. I'm sure the Lady of Shadows and the Silver Tactician would be furious about it as well."

They nodded, though Meta decided to keep the fact that Kurabe was assisting them a secret. Fettuccine, on the other hand, shuddered.

"Good, then I'll pretend I didn't hear anything. Word of advice, hold your secret meetings in a more private location."

"Understood, great uncle."

"I'll be on my way then."

"Wait sir, why exactly aren't you reporting us?" Fettuccine asked.

"It's quite simple. He saved Sting's life. A Bio always repays our debts."

"Well... thank you anyway." She uttered.

Meta looked at his Limet friend and knew exactly why she seemed to be on edge. Reedy would be absolutely furious if he found out about this.

"Sting, once you're done talking with your new friends, return to the stands at once. Your match will be soon."

"Yes, grand uncle."

Raiden nodded and left. All three of the young soldiers relaxed now that he was gone.

"Fetty, do you know why Reedy would be so against this? We're doing this prove a Limet's innocence. Wouldn't he want to be a part of this?" Meta suddenly asked.

"That's not the part he minds. In fact, he would advocate for it. It's the fact that we'd be using such shady methods that's a problem for him."

"I guess I understand, I prefer settling fights honorably. But, as a strategist he should know that sometimes shady methods are necessary."

"You want to be the one to tell him that?"

"No, cause he's a stone wall. Nothing I'll say will get through. It's not that I don't understand that he wants to follow the rules. But if these rules are keeping an innocent man imprisoned, then maybe those rules should be discarded."

"That's true."

Meta thought for a moment before speaking up. "Did you mention it to Raita? She's probably the only person who can get through his thick skull."

"I have considered it, but I'd rather not involve anyone else, especially not someone who isn't even a proper member of the Organization. We'll just have to make do without him."

"I agree. Now, if you excuse me, I must return to the stadium for my match." Sting said before vanishing.

It was at that point that Meta spoke up. "...Fetty, I don't know myself why I am asking this, but are you afraid of Reedy?"

"No, I'm not afraid of him. I'm afraid of making things harder on him." She immediately replied and tilted her head. "Why did you ask?"

"You just seemed really afraid when he mentioned that Reedy would be furious."

"Well, yeah, but that's less because of Reedy himself and more so my actions causing him to be furious."

"Is he really that threatening when he's angry?"

"Yeah, but that's not what I'm afraid of. I'm... I'm afraid of failing. Reedy being angry doesn't matter, it's the why. Which is why we absolutely can't mess this up." She uttered as she began to tremble.

Suddenly, Meta hugged her. "We won't fail, Fetty. I promise."

Without warning, Fettuccine's entire body became a shade of pink, much to his shock.

"Fetty, are you ok? Are you feeling well?"

Then, to his further shock, he felt her taller body suddenly shrink and looked in his hands to see a pink-colored blob in his hands.

"Fetty!?"

The blob didn't respond, but Meta could see literal hearts in her eyes.

"Let's just take you the room I'm staying in, hopefully you'll get back to normal soon."

-

-

-

Toyhouse Pages for Characters appearing.

Erhard

Bio Sting

#kirby fanfic #granessex chronicles #meta knight #fettuccine kirby #kurabe #erhard #captain vul #bio sting #bio raiden #general z

[anti-katsuki-lounge]

I’m about to share my unpopular opinion here. Bakugou’s kidnapping should have been the beginning of the end of his hero career, his fall from grace.

Why?

Because the literal scum of Japan view him as one of them. They saw themselves in a hero student.

That should have been enough to get the (trashy irresponsible neglectful) faculty to do some investigations into Bakugou’s behavior and reflect on how much let let him slide without consequences.

And let’s face it, even with Aizawa vouching for him, social media is a place where scandals, incidents, theories, and opinions thrive. We were already introduced to the world of journalism in MHA when the camera quirk journalist wanted to do interviews with class 1A students and how they were willing to breach UA’s security defenses when they heard All Might was teaching there. So it wouldn’t be far fetched to assume that journalists would be interested in an inside scoop.

Articles, meta analysis, and social media posts would be likely to surface, all commenting on how villains sympathize with a person who is supposed to be an aspiring hero, before they all reach the same conclusion; the sports festival.

Disdain would follow soon after. Because to the general public, the LOV targeted Bakugou because he very much acted like a villain. And then things will slowly begin to make sense.

I know this seems like reaching, but I find it very likely for UA to be blamed as well. Not only for the kidnapping taking place but also never stepping in or making any progress in shaping Bakugou up. People will see this and begin to wonder ‘How many villain hopefuls is UA responsible for creating. This will lead to UA having to change policies. To what exactly, I’m not sure.

But one conclusion is clear, either Bakugou is put on academic probation until a police investigation is complete (Again, this is a student who villains thought would make a great addition to the team. That should have been taken more seriously other than a gloss over by Nedzu), or he is removed from the hero course all together.

Either way each result will end in the same way, Bakugou’s reputation would be in shambles (if it wasn’t already due to the sports festival), no one would be able to trust him, and his PR would crumble before it even started. And PR ratings are an extremely important part of heroics that people don’t give enough credit. It doesn’t matter how strong, skilled or smart his is or how much potential he has. A poor PR rating is enough to keep him from rising through the ranks. So his dream of being number one will likely never become a reality.

This incident will very likely follow him for a long time. Even if the hype dies down, any wrong move cause him to lose everything. Let’s be realistic here: we all know how prevalent cancel culture is around the world right? Well, I think it’d be the same situation Bakugou finds himself in. The media will likely watch him like a hawk. Waiting for a mistake or slip up. At any given moment, Bakugou can find himself cancelled just like that. It’s like a metaphorical sword above his head.

On the topic of his friendships and how the class perceives him? I don’t think they’d think badly of him right away. I mean they were all worried about him and some were actually willing to save him. But, they’re bound to be exposed to some mainstream media. They’re teenagers, so they probably have a lot of social media exposure. Just imagine the realization and then the horror.

I’m not saying hear me out, but hear me out.

This is a theory I honestly 100% agree with. Either his kidnapping should’ve ended his hero career or it should’ve properly set up his redemption story. Instead we got Kacchan vs Deku 2, where Katsuki missed the point of why he was kidnapped and was given pep rallies by All Might and Izuku even after he literally took someone outside to beat them up so he could feel better. He would then miss out on an asswhopping that would’ve humbled him greatly in the name of “punishment”, something that Izuku also received after defending himself yet conveniently he still had to fight Mirio. All in all, the aftermath of his kidnapping was handled horribly and should’ve either ended his career like you’ve said or should’ve been written much better.

#anti katsuki bakugou #anti bakugo katsuki #anti bakugo #anti bakugou #mha critical

[3pirouette]

Fic: The Paradox of an Old Man (1/1)

Title: The Paradox of an Old Man

By: TriplePirouette/3Pirouette

Spoilers: General MCU through Endgame, No Indy Spoilers

Disclaimer: They're not mine :)

Distribution: AO3 Anyone else please ask first :)

Summary: Indiana Jones may be nearly immortal, but one of the perks is that he’s lived long enough to see a few things, including finding a close friend again many times over.

A/N: So, even though I have this as a series, some of these stories DO contradict themselves. Basically, I just love playing with this idea of Indy and Steve and Peggy all knowing one another and I’m not going to go too nuts with the details, because the stories are what they are.

This one plays with the idea of Steve and Indy finding one another in the future more than once, and how that affects them both. There’s a larger story in here, but I seem to have a hard time grasping at it. For now- here’s the lighthearted side.

This if for Steggy Week 2k23 (Day 1: Headcanons and Meta - Thank you @steggyfanevents ) and also for @captainjimothycarter , whose unending love for this ridiculous universe only makes me want to write it more.

~*~

2012

Indiana Jones looked near the same as he had 70 years before, and it stunned Steve to his core.

“You were expecting an old man, weren’t you?” Jones stepped back, opening his door wide and sweeping his arm out. He smiled, just a little, as Steve moved past him into his home. “I guess we both got a surprise here.”

Steve turned, shoving his hands in his pockets, nodding. “When Fury told me you were alive…”

“No one knows why,” he threw his hands up, shrugging, before tipping his head and leading Steve into the living room. It was small and lived in, with books and tiny treasures covering every surface. Jones stacked the papers and folders on the coffee table and shoved them in a drawer next to the well-worn couch. “Though a few SHIELD scientists seem to think it has something to do with this cup I drank from…”

“A cup?” Steve looked up, confused, as he sat.

“Cup, chalice of Christ…” He shrugged and grumbled, moving to the small kitchen and pulling two bottles of beer from the refrigerator. “We couldn’t ever find it again to test it, so…” He rolled his eyes as he handed the Steve the bottle, “They think.”

Steve nodded, pulling the cap off his bottle and tapping his against Indy’s. “To old friends.”

He laughed, short and hearty. “To old friends, who both look like they did in 1945.” He took a long drink, sitting in the arm chair across from Steve. “Fury didn’t tell me what happened, just that you were back.”

“It’s a long story.”

“I know the first half,” he muttered, “how’d you survive?”

Steve smiled. “Well, they think…”

~*~

1954

“People are noticing,” Peggy started, folding her hands in front of her.

The gray in Peggy’s hair slipped simply into her chignon, a small streak of something he’d never known.

His dad had lost his hair young, and he couldn’t remember his father without gray in the hair he had left and in his beard. Indiana Jones hadn’t seen a change in his hair, except for the length, in as long as he could remember.

“Nary a wrinkle in twenty years? Yeah, they should.” Jones sat across from her in her office, shaking his head. “What are we going to do about it?”

Peggy sighed. It wasn’t easy to have to have this talk with him. He was a friend. A confidant. He was one fo the smartest men that consulted for SHIELD and sure as hell one of the few that took her leadership seriously. “The current school of thought includes special effects make-up and prosthetics.”

Indy laughed, standing. He paced the room, wringing his hands. “You’re gonna dye my hair gray?”

“Among other things.” She watched him like a tiger in a cage, heart in her throat. “That keeps you here, with us.” She looked down at her desk, tapping her nails on it gently. “The other options are much more-“

“Much more ‘run and hide’ every ten years?” His voice was dripping with sarcasm. He turned to her, shaking his head. “If it was anyone but you, Peg, telling me this-“

“You’d have laughed your way out the door by now, I know.” She stood, moving to his side. “Please, I need you to understand. Questions have been raised that we can’t ignore anymore.”

“Everyone in SHIELD has seen a lot more weird shit than a guy that doesn’t age.” He paced away from her, needing the distance. “You’re telling me you can hide the Ark of the Covenant in your yearly reports but I’m a problem?”

“You’re not a problem!” Peggy paused and amended herself, shrugging. “Most of the time.” He smiled at that, and she was happy for the moment of levity. “But this is a problem. One we can stave off for a bit but…”

He shook his head. “I shouldn’t have given you a hard time.” He stepped over and sat back in the chair heavily. “Truth is, people outside of here are starting to notice, too.” He looked up. “So maybe we should talk about the options.”

Peggy sat on the edge of her desk, a little calmer, and a little sadder, knowing this meant an ending was coming. “Let’s do it over dinner, shall we?”

Indy smiled slyly.

~*~

2012

Steve sat back on the sofa, beer warming on the table. “It’s good to know she had you,” he muttered. “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but-“

Indy cut him off with a nod. “I see her when I can.” He looked down at his hands. “She has more bad days now than good ones.”

Steve sighed, rubbing his suddenly sweaty hands on his thighs. “I’m uh-“ he cleared his throat, hiding his emotion. “I’m just glad she had a good life.”

Jone’s eyebrows rose. “She told ya about it?”

Steve took a long swing of beer, hiding the time he needed to compose himself. “No, uh, not so much.” He sniffed and took another shorter drink. “She told me mostly about her time with the SSR and SHIELD, but she did tell me she had a family- showed me pictures of her kids and grandkids.”

Jones paused, asking when he couldn’t wait anymore. “Her husband?”

Steve shook his head, looking at the floor. “No, no. It was still- is still-“ he stopped and looked up, eyes a little haunted. “She had a lot more time to get over me than I did to get over her.”

“Still not over her,” Jones commented, drinking from his own beer.

Steve just shook his head. “How do you get over a girl like that?”

Indy stood, taking Steve’s nearly empty bottle from his hands. “Well, if you don’t want to know anything about him, I can respect that.” He slipped both bottles into one hand then let his palm sit on Steve’s shoulder for a minute before heading back into the kitchen.

~*~

2023

When the door opened, Steve was confronted with a man who hadn’t aged a day. Indiana Jones looked exactly the same, with the exception of his mouth hanging agape in surprise, as he had for nearly the last hundred years.

Steve smiled, wrinkles shifting around his face, glad he was able to surprise his friend. “You weren’t expecting an old man, were you?”

Indy stepped forward, hugging his friend. “You’re confusing this old man, now, Rogers.”

“You know well enough, Jones,” Steve pulled back, moving past him and into he home where he felt comfortable as he’d been there many, many times in his life. “I couldn’t remember the exact date-“

“Have to get you a date book with the big print now,” Jones joked, closing the door.

Steve pointed at him, only half smiling at the joke. “So I probably waited a little too long.”

“Saw your young self for the first time last week,” Jones said gently, sitting in his armchair. “You drank all my beer.”

Steve smiled, moving into the kitchen and helping himself to a bottle of water from the refrigerator. He held it up but Jones shook his head. “And ate all your food, as I recall.”

“Damn near all of it,” Indy grumbled good natured.

Steve leaned against the counter, fiddling with the water.

Jones waited patiently for the questions to come, he knew there would be questions.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

He smiled. “Because you didn’t know. Because I wasn’t sure if that was how time worked. If it was a paradox that would somehow fix itself or, well, I’m sure you can guess. A million reasons, really.” He spread his hands out. “Every culture has myths about time travel, and none of them tell us what to do with the possibility of paradoxes. I didn’t think it was a good idea to mess with it.”

Steve nodded. “Fair.”

“Better be,” he smiled crookedly, “It’s the only answer I got.”

He slipped to the couch, sipping from his water. “You know, for the longest time, I thought you were the one that married Peg.”

Jones did a double take. “What?”

“You never talked about it, neither did she.” Steve shrugged. “I couldn’t find anything on it, anywhere.”

“Because we were hiding you from yourself, buddy.”

“I know that now,” Steve smiled up at him, “but back then- or now- hard to get a grip on tense with this.”

“Tell me about it.”

“I was convinced that you’d married her.”

Jones leaned forward, elbows on his knees. He took a long, slow breath, and then looked Steve in the eye. “To tell you the truth, I thought about asking her out more than once. There was a gap in there before you showed up…”

Steve leaned back, unbothered. “I wouldn’t have blamed either of you.”

“Gorgeous, smart, quick-“ He sighed, shaking his head. “But she was always yours, and I knew I made the right decision to stay her friend when you showed back up.”

The men smiled at each other. “Still, thanks for looking out for her before I got there.”

“Glad to have done it. She’s my friend, too.”

~*~

1954

“Steve!” Peggy called, unlocking the door. “We’ve got one more for dinner!”

Steve appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, apron slung around his hips and toddler upside down in his arms, smiling when he saw Jones move into the house behind Peggy. “Great.” He walked over, depositing his son in Jones’ only slightly surprised arms. “He’s all yours.”

Steve pecked Peggy on the lips before turning back to the kitchen, Jones tickling the toddler as he squirmed in his grasp, giggling. “Dinner should be ready soon.”

“What’s on the menu?” Jones asked, righting the boy in his arms and tossing him nearly to the ceiling to hear him giggle.

“Roasted chicken!” Steve called from the kitchen. “Maybe potatoes. They’re…”

A pot crashed and Peggy, Indy, and the boy paused, looking towards the empty doorway.

Steve peeked around the edge of the doorframe, apron dripping wet. “Uh- no potatoes.”

Indy huffed, passing Peggy her baby boy and pulled his hat off. “How are you one of the greatest soldiers the word has ever seen and yet incompetent int he kitchen?”

“I’m not completely incompetent,” Steve’s voice drifted as the two men disappeared.

“No, Just mostly,” Jones jabbed, moving back through the space Peggy could see to pull an apron from their cupboard and then stack a new set of potatoes in his arms. “How did you mess up boiling potatoes? Aren’t you Irish?”

“”Well, I-“

Indy was zipping through Peggy’s line of sight, and she smiled as she watched Steve trail behind him like a lost puppy. “And you grew up in Brooklyn, in the Great Depression?”

Steve paused, flopping his hands out to the sides. “Like we had money for potatoes.”

“Just… focus on the chicken before you burn the damn thing,” Jones ordered, before leaning out, smiling at Peggy. “There will be potatoes.”

Peggy just laughed, cuddling her boy to her chest.

“Oh, goodness,” she muttered, shaking ehr head, before calling back out. “I’ll be in my office, then. Don’t burn the place down please.”

Their voices, in chorus, answered her as she moved down the hall. “I won’t!” The unspoken part, full of levity, was that neither man could really be sure if the other wouldn’t, though.

Peggy wouldn’t have it any other way.

#Steggyweek23 #Steggy fic #steggyfanevents #3P’s Fic #Indiana Jones crossover

[princess-of-the-corner]

Idea for Princess Bee au:

Marinette realizes Chloe has really grown and changed and worked on her issues bc Chloe apologizes for bullying her for years

Like, after their kids become friends and they've started interacting more Chloe privately goes to her and says 'im sorry I bullied you for years when we were kids. I was taking out my own shit on you and that was horrible. I shouldn't have done that, and I deeply regret it'

Just a simple apology, taking accountability without trying to make excuses, and in private, without Adrien or someone around that Chloe might be secretly trying to impress

Bc like, a lot of how Mari sees Chloe has been colored by their past of being victim and bully. The only times she's seen the genuine good that Audrey tried to abuse out of Chloe were all tied to the Miraculous somehow, either bc of the Bee Miraculous or bc of her being Ladybug, someone Chloe very clearly admired.

It would be easy to look at that and think 'shes only being nice bc she wants to be Queen Bee/she doesn't know I'm someone she bullies under the mask' when in the few months between Chloe's trying to change and Miracle Queen happening that was all she really saw

(something which isn't helped by the meta aspect of 'the Status Quo is God' that the writers religiously stick to. I hate that in shows, where we get episodes of character development that feel like they don't matter bc all the episodes in between ignore that for the sake of sticking to the status quo until the finale happens)

Chloe apologizing for being a bully is something we never got in cannon, and I think it would go a long way to getting through to Marinette that Chloe has genuinely changed for the better over the years since they were kids

Oh yeah like ofc Chloé does apologize and like. There's probably two apology scenes?

One would be a quick thing when they first met again of 'sorry for being a dick I was dealing with a LOT as a kid but ya know got over it', but then yeah a second more in-depth apology somewhere down the line when Chloé's not caught off guard by her presence and knows that she's going to have ongoing long-term interaction with Marinette and the others where she /does/ have to properly own up to All That™ instead of just 'oh we ran into each other so say sorry without unpacking'.

And in between the first and second apology it doesn't fully sink in for Marinette yet. Not out of maliciousness or anything but like

She hasn't properly thought about Chloé in years. Maybe a passing thought but she never analyzed the whole thing. So the Chloé in her memory is the version she knew when she was still a teenager with a very black/white mentality and using that to make leaps in logic toward what Chloé did instead of recognizing her as a complicated person in a hellish situation.

Like, now as a grown adult who can understand things: If she took a step back and looked at what Chloé's situation was, she'd more readily realize the abuse happening and how it affected her, and that some things like 'working for Hawkmoth/Monarch' don't make sense without something else happening. Middle School!Mari just rolled with Chloé being a jerk like her mom and her dad spoiling her but clearly they loved her becuse ofc parents love their kids and clearly someone as bad as Chloé threw away all chance of changing simply because it was too hard to change her perfect life and it was easier to throw a tantrum and join the Villain over not getting handed a reward than it is to earn said reward.

But grown adult!Mari hasn't really taken the step back to really think about that. So the Chloé in her head is just a spoiled brat who refuses to change and betrayed the Team for petty reasons. And that persists for a while because this vision is so solid and she doesn't know the full story that when the current Chloé acts different, she's once again trying to tie the two together and assuming Chloé is just being fake nice.

She catches on eventually, of course. But there's the initial suspicions because of it

And to clarify: I don't mean this in any kind of salty way. It's just hard to see the change in something when the old version so solidly exists in your head

#princess bee