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productdatascrape28 · 1 month

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Empower the Surge of Online Alcohol Retail in the UK by Web Scraping Liquor Data

The Alcohol eCommerce sector has experienced rapid expansion, a trend accentuated by the pandemic. Post-pandemic, factors like convenience, safety, and home delivery gained prominence, propelling alcohol sales through eCommerce. In the UK, Kantar noted a £261 million surge in rising sales, with online and convenience stores emerging as the key beneficiaries. Intriguingly, the IWSR Drinks Market Analysis Report 2022 highlighted a global preference for websites over apps when purchasing alcohol online, except in China and Brazil. Notably, in the UK, major online alcohol purchases occur via retailer websites, not apps.

Research Approach

Our research was conducted through liqour data scraping, spanning February 2022 to June 2022. The focus of our study encompassed two prominent grocery retailers, namely Tesco and Ocado, along with three noteworthy grocery apps, namely Gorillas, Weezy, and Getir. The specific category under scrutiny throughout our analysis was alcohol.

Identifying The Alcohol Price Leader

Tesco's Leadership In Alcohol Pricing

Throughout February to June 2022, Tesco consistently established itself as the front-runner in price leadership within the Alcohol category. Leveraging e-commerce data scraping, Tesco secured the lowest prices for 38.9% of its products. Ocado followed closely with 33.8%, while Gorillas exhibited the most minor dominance, leading in price for only 5.6% of its alcohol offerings.

Nonetheless, Tesco's grip on price leadership experienced a gradual erosion over the months. Commencing in February,e-commerce data scraping revealed Tesco's hold on the lowest price for 44% of its products, which tapered to just over 36% by June. Conversely, Ocado depicted an inverse trajectory—starting at a 32% price leadership in February, climbing to 35.3% by June.

An intriguing contender, illuminated through e-commerce data scraping, was Getir. Commencing with a modest 8.2% price leadership for its products in February, Getir's proportion progressively expanded, culminating at 14.5% in June.

Retailers Employing Discounts To Bolster Alcohol Sales

Leveraging discounts using liquor product data collection proves to be an effective strategy to attract consumers impacted by inflation. Through loyalty card discounts, reward vouchers, and various promotional tactics, retailers enhance the allure of their products, rendering them more competitive and appealing to customers. Maintaining competitiveness necessitates retailers' awareness of their rivals' discount offerings. Moreover, price monitoring helps comprehend the potential ramifications of substantial discounting and its influence on profit margins.

A wave of European and UK startups, including Jiffy, Dija, Weezy, Zapp, Getir, and Gorillas, entered the scene with a shared commitment: to provide the swiftest and most cost-effective grocery delivery services.

Our dataset uncovered intriguing discounting dynamics among these players. Gorillas maintained a discounting strategy in line with its competitors. Conversely, Getir appeared to adopt a more aggressive approach, veering towards deep discounting. Notably, Getir consistently offered the highest discounts throughout the observed period. In April, their discounts surged to nearly 9% more than those of Ocado—the runner-up in discounting.

As previously discussed, the period from February to June saw Getir securing price leadership. It's plausible that their strategy of deep discounting contributed to this accomplishment. In contrast, Gorillas opted for a different route, showcasing the lowest and almost negligible discounting practices.

Observing Price Index Trends Over Five Monthss

Our focus shifted towards analyzing Price Index (PI) trends among these five retailers, encompassing February to June 2022. It enabled us to gauge the fluctuations in alcohol prices over this period.

Please note: Retailers operating at the 100% mark indicated they were selling at an optimal price, refraining from undercutting the market. The pricing sweet spot rested between 95% and 105%. Deviating lower would potentially jeopardize profit margins while exceeding this range indicated that the retailer needed to position more competitively.

Price Index Insights: Retailers' Strategic Positioning

Among the retailers, Weezy displayed the most optimal Price Index, residing within the 100% to 102% range.

Conversely, Gorillas held the lowest Price Index, from 89% to 91%.

Getir, initially boasting a lower Price Index of 96.1% in February, progressively climbed to surpass 110% in April, May, and June.

Agility In Price Adjustments: Identifying Leaders

Stability In Pricing Trends Among Retailers

Predominantly, most retailers adhered to a consistent pricing trajectory using liquor product data scraping, maintaining a degree of competitive alignment. Their pricing approaches were relatively well-matched.

Yet, Gorillas stood out for implementing significant price adjustments in specific months. Notably, they enacted a notable reduction of 3.8% in prices in March. Subsequently, in May, Gorillas increased 5.5% in their pricing.

In that same eventful May, Weezy embarked on a distinctive strategy, considerably slashing prices by 10%. This move widened the gap between Gorillas and Weezy.

Preserving Sales Through Stock Availability Management

Diverse Stock Availability Among Retailers

Our data analysis unveiled distinct levels of stock availability across the retailers. Ocado, in particular, maintained the highest availability throughout the observed five months. At a robust 100%, their stock levels gradually receded, concluding at 95.8% by June.

Tesco, on the other hand, encountered a pronounced decline in availability during May and June. At 97%, availability dwindled to 92-93%.

Gorillas consistently exhibited the lowest stock availability, fluctuating between 90% and 94% across the months.

Weezy demonstrated steadfast consistency, upholding a consistent 95% availability throughout five months.

Concluding Insights

In the UK market, a favorable inclination towards online alcohol purchases is evident, predominantly catalyzed by shifts in consumer behavior prompted by the pandemic. According to the IWSR Drinks Market Analysis Report 2022, markets primarily driven by websites, like the UK, prioritize a wide product range and competitive pricing. Both these factors wield significant influence in purchase decisions. Conversely, consumers in app-centric markets hold distinct preferences. While price remains a consideration, it is less vital than convenience and speed.

Product Data Scrape is committed to upholding the utmost standards of ethical conduct across our Competitor Price Monitoring Services and Mobile App Data Scraping operations. With a global presence across multiple offices, we meet our customers' diverse needs with excellence and integrity.

#WebScrapingLiquorData #ScrapeUKAlcoholRetailIndustry #WebScrapingRetailWebsitesData #ScrapeUKRetailTrends #UKLiquorDataScraper #ScrapeLiquorData

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whitepolaris · 3 months

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Bigfoot and the Spottsville Monster

Where there's dense wilderness in America, you'll usually find Bigfoot sightings. Kentucky is no exception to this rule. There's actually more logic to the idea of a primitive humanoid surviving in Kentucky than in a lot of other states, because the terrain here is so pockmarked with caves that lead to thousands of miles of underground caverns that are still mostly unexplored to this day. If Bigfoot exists, he might well be a Kentucky cave dweller.

The area surrounding Uniontown has long been a hot spot for Bigfoot sightings. Folklore legends of all bipedal cavemen, ape-men, or gorillas roaming these woods have been common among locals for years and actually predate the Bigfoot concept, which began in 1958.

In 1988, two deer hunters from Indiana were chased away by a classic Bigfoot-type creature at the Higgins & Henry Wildlife Area outside Morganfield. In November 1996, a woman had a close brush with a ten-foot-tall Bigfoot and watched it walk away slowly and meanderingly, directly in front of her, heading toward the Ohio River.

In 2004, two campers were four-wheeling on trails in the Land Between the Lakes area and encountered a seven-foot-tall creatures with glowing red eyes and a peculiar snot. Although the beast quickly disappeared and there was no confrontation, one of the campers was gripped with an "overwhelming feeling of dread" after returning to camp and decided to pack up and get out.

In September 2006, a Trigg County woman was surprised to find a Bigfoot-type ape-man on her rooftop in broad daylight. Not being a believer in Bigfoot, she assumed it had to be some crazy person in an ape suit and attempted to talk to it by yelling things like "Okay, you're funny, joke's over, now who the hell are you?" with elicited no response. "It was like something out of a bad old movie," she said. "It didn't look real at all. It totally looked like a man in a really fake gorilla suit, and didn't think he was doing a very good job of acting like a gorilla either." But as she was rummaging through her purse for her cell phone so she could call a neighbor for help, the ape-man rolled backward, did a sort of a somersault, leaped an incredible distance off the corner of the roof to a utility pole-something no human could have done-and deftly swung from the pole to the tops of nearby trees with great speed. It was out of sight in seconds. Good work for a guy who likes to put on an ape suit and scare people.

Henderson County is another extremely active area. Kentucky cryptozoology expert Bart Nunnelly tells of a Bigfoot sighting at a specific spot on Collins Road in Reeds in 1968, and again in the same place in 1971. Nunnelly's family had many close encounters of their own in 1975 at their farm in Spottsville. In fact, Bigfoot sightings on their property became such a regular occurrence that the local police stopped answering calls regarding them, even though people in Hebbardsville and other adjoining areas along the Ohio River were also seeing the creatures. The Henderson Gleaner dubbed it the Spottsville Monster, and this term is sometimes still applied to local Bigfoot sightings.

In 1999, a pair of Bigfoots were seen in a field close to Highway 60 in Baskett. This incident illustrates well the "hidden in plain sight" axiom that applies to all paranormal phenomena. The person who reported the creatures noted that traffic was heavy that day, with lots of cars in front of him and behind him, and yet no one else bothered reporting the sighting. In 2004, two witnesses in Hebbardsville saw a similar pair of creatures eating cornstalks near a church, and in 2006 a Hebbardsville man found an anomalous tooth that he believes to be from a Bigfoot. It has characteristics resembling a human tooth more than one from any other animal and yet is far too large for any human mouth.

#type read #weird kentucky

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arg-machine · 8 months

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Comics at machine HQ

It’s been a while since the last Comics post was published. This week, therefore, arg decided to publish another installment featuring some of the comic books and graphic novels he has read since that post.

Of course, a lot happened between these posts: both machine HQ and The Apocalypse Project found second homes over at Mastodon, arg finally crossed the 100 posts mark at Instagram and even published some new music!

One thing remained unchanged, though: he read a lot: not just fiction, but a bunch of graphic novels and comics as well. In this post, he’ll list some of these…

Comics and graphic novels read recently Well, here are the comics/graphic novels arg has read and enjoyed in the last few months. All titles are arranged alphabetically, and related titles – or titles from same/similar genres – are listed in the Also recommended sections. Keep in mind that many – not all, though – of these titles are suitable for mature readers only.

“Far from the auction halls of the elite, The Collector seeks out rare and mysterious artifacts across the world. He is as at home in the salons of Paris as he is in the jungles of Borneo. Set against the backdrop of late 19th-century colonialism, this collection of short stories and swashbuckling adventures is full of surprises and twists, as Toppi is well known for!” Terrific art and exciting stories, books like The Collector truly demonstrate the beauty and power of this medium.

Also recommended: Judegement Day & Other Stories, Navigator, Everyday Hero Machine Boy, MFK, Gurvan - A Dream of Earth, Joyama and Rocketeer - The Great Race.

“BLAB! – the Harvey Award-winning anthology of cutting-edge comics, art, and culture – has returned to its comics roots with a stellar lineup of contributors. Noah Van Sciver depicts the tragic demise of Crime Does Not Pay editor Robert Wood. Sasha Velour portrays the making of film director F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu. Children's book illustrator Giselle Potter examines Peter Rabbit author Beatrix Potter's passion as a naturalist. Illustrated articles include the history of the gorilla and a report on UFOs. All this and much more in Comics and Stories That Will Make You BLAB!” A superb collection!

Also recommended: Gnartoons, Be Your Own Backing Band, Alison, Eight Limbs, Sports is Hell, Art Brut, Public Domain and Unretouchable.

“From creatures of the night to even more terrifying creatures of the day, HAUNTHOLOGY is an anxiety-inducing collection of 28 short stories and vignettes from the mind of Jeremy Haun, the writer and artist behind many acclaimed nightmarish mindscapes. Whether exploring a claustrophobic old house full of nefarious entities or the heavy thoughts one has during the pending end of the world, this very personal project was written and drawn entirely during the COVID lockdowns.” Highly recommended!

Also recommended: Essential Judge Dredd - Dredd Vs. Death, House, Death of the Horror Anthology, Carmilla - The First Vampire, The Keeper and Hell Phone.

“Who are you, really? Are you the things you do, or are you the person inside your mind? In Europe on a business trip, Jonathan Webb can’t sleep. Instead, he finds himself wandering the night in a strange foreign city with his new friend, the mysterious and violent Rainer, as his guide. Rainer shows Jonathan the hidden world of the night, a world without rules or limits. But when the fun turns dangerous, Jonathan may find himself trapped in the dark – the question is, what will he do to get home? Night Fever – the gripping new original graphic novel from best-selling creators Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips – is a pulse-pounding Jekyll-and-Hyde noir thriller about a man facing the darkness inside himself.”

Also recommended: Zaroff's Revenge, Cover, The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book and The Killer: Affairs of The State.

“This heartbreaking manga, by an award-winning cartoonist, examines the history of Okinawa and its military occupation. An essential manga classic presented in English for the first time. Okinawa brings together two collections of intertwined stories by the island's pre-eminent mangaka, Susumu Higa, which reflect on this difficult history and pull together traditional Okinawan spirituality and the senselessness of the War.”

Also recommended: Battle Action, The Witches of World War II and Dead Romans.

machine HQ’s Retro Pick! “First the headaches, then the nightmares of mass murderers who must die – by his hand, the hand that wields the energy of a living sun, the hand of Nexus!

Possessing limitless power, Nexus is the greatest avenger in history, but his power and purpose come from an alien race with their own agenda. Is Nexus a hero or pawn? Deliverer or destroyer? God or devil?” What is for certain is that Nexus, created by Mike Baron and Steve Rude,is a science-fiction superhero masterpiece!

And that, good reader, brings us to the end of this short list! Visit The Apocalypse Project [on Mastodon, on twitter and on tumblr], and stay tuned to machine HQ blog…

Header image features artwork from Vann Nath - Painting the Khmer Rouge and from John Carpenter's Asylum.

The busy boys! Over at Mastodon, arg and Marvin were pleasantly surprised to find the boys from Copiers of Hindustan already there! And from what arg has been able to gather, they’ve been putting the pedal to the metal with their posts!

So, if y’all wish to enlighten yourselves about how plagiarism has reached alarming, pandemic proportions in a certain entertainment industry [wink, wink!] and have an eye-opening experience in general then… go ahead and visit the boys! They’ll be delighted by your presence, or so they tell arg and Melvin.

#comics #reviews

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businessinfinity · 1 year

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dragonandmage · 1 year

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Dragon and The Mage: Before The Dawn

(Some blood in the last part for anyone averse to that)

Forever ago, in this world of magic, a wizard sought to rule over all. He discovered that every living creature held magic, so to wield the strongest magic, he used his immense fortune to gather one of every animal. One such animal was the mighty dragon, the last of their kind. And one by one, each creature was slaughtered like a fruit in a very powerful wine. In time, the wizard’s goal was neared, but the power ended up being too much for his body, and he perished.

With his body deceased, the magic spread to the land, taking form. Combined with the man's own magic, these half-animal, half-human creatures spread into our society. They are a pest, a remnant of one man’s greed, pretending to be human, where they are not. They are deceivers, through and through, nothing more.

A tall man, wearing a long coat, stepped out of the screen and onto the stage, smiling at the crowd of reporters staring up at him. Timothy Avalon.

“That wizard was my great grandfather, rest his soul. My family has long been haunted by his greed and mistakes, but the Avalon corporation has done their best to make up for the harm done.” The fairytale-esque display changed, showing footage of workers picking up trash, pulling cats from trees, and more with each swipe of the man’s hand.

“Nanotech as a whole has been our greatest discovery, taking the accursed dark magics of our predecessors, and making it safer and more humane to use. A clean, kind magic, able to recreate the most complex of organs or technology with ease.” The entire screen compressed, transforming into a small cube, with Timothy turning to catch the falling object. “But I’m sure you all know this well! And it is far from the reason I have called you here today.”

He threw the cube into the air, and it transformed into a glowing blue figure. It resembled a male human, until you got to the face, which had a beard made entirely of tentacles. The figure changed, this time to a female figure with strange, animal-like legs. And then changed again, to a person with crab claws, a person with the lower body of a spider, a person with fox ears, a person with the build of a gorilla.

With each figure, sounds of disgust, fear-- but also curiosity-- rang out.

“These are just some of the recorded creatures left over from my ancestor’s desires, and I assure you, we have tracked even more. They are the last remnant of what he did, staining this world with every second they remain. And as such--”

The cube returned to his hand.

“--It is the duty of the Avalon corporation to dispose of these abominations. To give closure to this nightmare, and ensure the safety and purity of our society. You have my full promise that I will oversee the weeding out of these creatures from our world.”

A number of men and women, wearing vests and gear, stepped from the shadows, lining up alongside Timothy. Each was carrying at least half a dozen of the same cubes from the display, presumably programmed for far more dangerous things.

“These wonderful young ladies and gentlemen have volunteered for this job, and I fully believe in their ability to protect us and handle these threats.” Timothy said, smiling widely to the crowd, who were now snapping photos and fighting to get good angles.

“Humanity will come out on top, my reporter friends! Just as we always have!”

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

Sitting down in the empty hospital waiting room, Leoht Marblis stared down at his technomagic book with amazed eyes. He gently gripped the tiny blue crystal it came with, holding it out in front of him. The boy closed his eyes, focusing on the instructions in the book, to the point where you’d expect something in his head to make a popping sound.

But nothing rang out, and nothing changed. Leoht sighed, lowering his hand and turning back to his book.

“Struggling with it?” Someone asked.

Leoht looked up into his father’s face, who had been standing there for an unknown amount of time. He was wearing his uniform, being on shift at the moment. The hospital had been host to a lot of Leoht’s childhood, catching his father between operations.

“Come on, let me show you how it actually works.” His father chuckled, pulling out his own blue crystal. “Hold it out again, and just… imagine what you want.”

The boy watched his father’s crystal shift, brightening, then forming into the same stethoscope he’d seen his father wear so many times. His eyes sparkled, having never seen it actually happen in real time before.

“Now you try.”

Leoht laid the crystal in his palm, imagining a stuffed animal he’d had for the longest time. Every fiber, every stitch, every sewn cut, a short lifetime’s worth of memories being summoned forth by the boy.

He barely noticed the crystal shifting, growing into a perfect recreation of the plush, composed of a glowing blue material. But once he did, he squealed with joy, holding the faux plush close. “I did it!”

“Yes you did!” His father cheered, scooping up his son into a hug.

“Someday I’ll be as good as you. And then I’ll fix people just like you do.” The young boy giggled to himself.

“Leoht, there is so much more to what I do than fix people.” His father responded. “Maybe you’ll understand that someday.”

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Janet Lionies looked at the door handle, covered in scratches on and around it. With a deep breath, she spoke. “Rain..? Darling, are you here?” The freckled woman poked the door open, looking around inside.

A low sob came from the makeshift bed of blankets and old pillows.

“Your siblings were worried about you. They said you ran in here crying.”

The pile of blankets moved, revealing another freckled face. “I…”

The woman moved towards the bed, sitting down to the covered figure. They were mother and daughter, and only some of the residents of the abandoned building. “Tell me what happened, okay?”

Through sobs, the girl under the blankets spoke. “I-I was at the park… It was nice out, and I was wearing my jacket I swear!! Nobody was even looking at me, and there was this dog. It ran up to me, and the owner said how cute I looked. I went to pet the dog, and…”

Rain raised her hands out of the blanket. They were a dark blue, long, had spikes emerging from the elbow, ending in oversized claws. Claws covered in blood.

“They just… grew. Th-the poor doggy…” Her sobbing intensified once more, tears flooding down her cheeks. “W-why… m-me…”

The mother wrapped her arms around her child, doing her best to comfort the girl. “I… I’m sorry. We’ll… get some gloves to cover them.” She said, knowing full well how little that would help. Rain was the oldest, and the woman had never had to comfort someone going through this, despite going through her own version in her youth.

The mother’s wings, covered by the poncho, emerged with a ‘Fwoomp’, and wrapped around Rain.

“Will I… ever be able to be normal again…?” The girl whimpered out. “Will I ever be able to use my hands again?”

“Yes you will, my darling.” The mother said, without an ounce of faith in her own words.

#modern fantasy #story #writers on tumblr #writing #creative writing

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marketbiz · 1 year

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Global Dog Seat Covers Market Opportunities, Economic stagnation, Value Chain Forecast to 2030

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azfa-co · 1 year

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Amazon.com: Gorilla Grip All-Season WeatherMax Doormat, Durable Natural Rubber, Stain and Fade Resistant, Low Profile, Indoor Outdoor Door Mats, Easy Clean Patio Entrance Mat, 17x29, Black Maze : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Gorilla Grip All-Season WeatherMax Doormat, Durable Natural Rubber, Stain and Fade Resistant, Low Profile, Indoor Outdoor Door Mats, Easy Clean Patio Entrance Mat, 17×29, Black Maze Share: Found a lower price? Let us know. Although we can’t match every price reported, we’ll use your feedback to ensure that our prices remain competitive. Where did you see a lower price? Date of the…

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nikz-artea · 2 years

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Rent-a-Bug

The photoshoot team arranged the props around him while he sat on top of the steps. He waited for the right moment to ask them if they could finish early but between the makeup brushes on his face, the flashes of the camera, some ridiculous change of clothes featuring him wearing a button down shirt unfastened halfway, a few smiles, embarrassed poses and serious looks, he didn’t had the chance. His phone’s screen flashed. 2:43 pm. There were ten missed calls from his friends and another thirty messages. Nino would choke him, Alya would bring him back to life just to kill him again. Either way, he’s dead if he didn’t show up in ten minutes. Luckily, their location was near to the Lahiffe-Cesaire residence.

He thanked all the team then bid goodbye, leaving in haste. Some waved, others reminded him to be careful. A smile stretched across his face as he waved back. They were like his caring, extended family.

A message from Gorilla informed him he got stuck in the middle of traffic. He told him not to worry, he was planning on walking anyway.

His eyes trailed upward, into the sky. Its shade of blue reminded him with his lady’s eyes. Goodness. He missed those eyes. He missed the way it sparkled with mischief when she thought of another outlandish plan. The way it reflect smugness when her intuition was right. But most importantly, he missed the way it stayed on him whenever they talk and flirt and bicker.

‘Get yourself together!’ The voice in his head chided. Every time he was alone, his thoughts strayed to everything he lost. A bad habit he couldn’t seem to change.

The warm air blew against his skin. Sunlight glinted on the horizon. It was one of those rare moments where he could cherish the little things like a kind stranger’s smile or the stray ladybug flitting between his fingers before flying away. No reporters followed him. They gave up asking opinions about his father’s sudden retirement years ago. Fans stopped him every now and then for a picture or autograph. Not that he minded. If his image or signature could make them happy, he’d be delighted to give it. Compared to other times he walked, that day was more peaceful. Meaning, he could come to the party on time. He could see the building already.

Nino and Alya’s house was flooded with people. Most of them belong to the press, fashion industry and famous artists. They crowded the threshold so he slipped through the back door. Luckily, there was no one there to see him act like an alley cat.

A rushing figure collided against him as he rounded the corner. All breath got knocked out of his lungs. Wincing, he reached out to steady the person but the impact sent them both sprawling on the floor in a daze. When the shock passed, he looked down in concern only to be surprised. Marinette gripped the slightly dented paper hats like her life depended on it. She had her eyes shut tight while his arms secured around her waist and her head cushioned on his chest. Bare chest. Embarrassment warmed his cheeks. Leaving without changing first turned out to be an awful idea.

Clearing his throat, he asked. “Marinette, are you okay?”

His voice shocked her more than the crash did. Her eyes snapped opened and she gawked at him. Blood rushed from her neck to her face. For a second, he was afraid he’d somehow broke her.

“Adrien! I-I’m fine! Your chest is great- I mean, your arms- I mean, I’m great!” She laughed awkwardly, crawling out of his reach like he was on fire. “No worries needed! I am fine!”

“Are you sure?” He asked, noticing the faint dark circles under her eyes and exhaustion on her posture.

“Yeah! Totally.” She stifled a yawn, peering back at him. “What are you doing here?”

“I was sneaking past the people outside.” He offered her a hand. “What are you doing here?”

“Wait, you came here in t-that?” Marinette squeaked, gaping at his outfit. “You know, what? Don’t answer. Why the heck did I just ask that?” Her voice rose an octave higher while her face turned a darker shade of red. She rose the party hats to her face, hiding behind it. “I’m, uh, helping with the birthday designs and catering and distributing of f-frops.”

“You mean, props?” His lips curled upward in amusement. She’s too cute for her own good.

“Exactly!”

“Is that why you’re running around carrying the hats?” He chuckled. Typical Marinette. “We’re lucky it scattered when we bumped into each other.”

“Y-yeah. Goodness, that’d be awful.” Even when she spoke, he could tell she was distracted. She reached her ear then released a sigh of relief. The black earrings she always wore shone in the otherwise dark room.

“Anyway, what kept you busy? I haven’t seen you in months!” It worried him sick.

“Months?” Checking her phone, she let out a heavy breath. “I guess, it’s been that long. I was, uh… I- um, you’re the first person I’m telling this. So don’t- don’t tell anyone, okay? I don’t want them to worry.” She bit her lip, avoiding his gaze. “I was searching for something. Or someone. For a long time now.”

His eyes widened. Her words hit too close to home, he almost suspected her of mocking him but the thought was too ridiculous. Kindhearted Marinette would never do that to anyone, especially to her friends. She’d seen him breakdown about a hundred times and not once had she made fun him. It must be pure coincidence.

A sudden jolt of ease spread through his chest. The weight he didn’t know he carried lightened from the revelation. He wasn’t the only one experiencing the intense need to find someone they lost. Somehow, it was comforting to know.

“I understand. Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.” Then after a minute of consideration, he added. “And I know the feeling… searching for someone, I mean.”

“Adrien…” Hesitation and sadness filled her eyes though he didn’t understand why. A minute passed. Two. Three. The knots in his stomach tightened with every passing moment. “Are you looking for your father?”

Oh. That’s why. She thought he was looking for Gabriel.

While the topic about his family still stung, it didn’t hurt that much when he was talking to her. That’s why he could answer her without any hint of bitterness.

Shaking his head, he held her gaze.

“I already know what happened to him and although I know he deserved far worse punishment for terrorizing Paris for his selfish ambitions.” Like resurrecting his mother or changing the past. “I’m grateful they decided to make him pay for it privately. I guess, I still care about him.” It was true. “But I meant, someone else. Someone… who meant a lot to me.”

He wanted her to be relieved like he was when she told him. Though it seemed wrong to be comforted by other’s misery, at that moment, with her standing in front of him, heartbroken and unsure, it somehow felt right. Just two unfortunate souls experiencing the same problem. Reveling in the knowledge that they’re not alone.

“He meant a lot to me too.” There was a hitched on her words but she cleared her throat and flashed him a small smile. “Thank you. I know, it’s not easy admitting any of that.”

“No, thank you for telling me.”

There was a small, irrational part of him that wanted to prolong the conversation. To ask her how she was and make her laugh. Maybe, offer her a ride or ask if they can find their missing pieces some time. It’s just… of all his friends, he missed her the most. Her mere presence. Her voice. The warmth she emitted whenever she was around. He didn’t know whether she had that kind of effect on all people or just him but there’s something about her that made him feel at ease and, daresay, loved. It made the butterflies, the good kind, flutter in his stomach. She was a constant in his ever-changing world and it jarred him when she’d gone silent. Fear clawed at his mind everyday, reminding him of what he lost. He already lost a lot, he couldn’t afford to loose her too.

If he didn’t know any better, he’d say he was in love with her. But he did, and he knew his heart already belonged to someone else. Someone he hadn’t seen for ages. Besides, he was sure she also loved the boy she’s searching for.

Someone opened the door, making them both jump in surprise. The woman eyed them suspiciously like they’re caught guilty of something.

“I need to go or else, Alya will kill me.” She moved past him, light glinting against her ears for the second time that day.

“Yeah, I don’t want to hold you back.” He replied, staring at her earrings with furrowed brows. Now that he thought about it, the earrings almost looked like the ones Ladybug had.

Marinette paused on the door.

“And Adrien?” He could hear the slight tremor on her voice. “I’m really sorry.”

She walked away and he was left staring at her retreating back. Their conversation ended the same way it did in the last eight years, with her apology. He never figured out the reason, only that she found him after the final battle detransformed, crying his eyes out. She held him the same way he did to Ladybug and apologized for everything, no matter how much he told her that his father’s decision wasn’t anyone’s fault.

‘That would explain it. She’s Ladybug and she’s looking for her partner.’ A traitorous thought entered his mind and it took almost all of his will to banish it. He thought about it before. Desperately wished for it to be true. However he’d seen Ladybug and Marinette together during one of their fights.

He buttoned his shirt to avoid any awkward situation and walked out of the room, accidentally knocking someone aside. Adrien caught them before they crashed to the floor. What was wrong with him today? “I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”

The person could barely stand on their feet. His gaze traveled on the item they dropped on the floor. A wig resembling Ladybug’s hair. They- the girl groaned then mumbled an apology. Judging from her costume, she must be the hero Nino and Alya rented from the hero agency. Her face was flushed, brown hair clung to her damp forehead. “I’ll be fine. I have to. I need to perform today.”

He placed a hand over her brow then winced. She had an awful fever. “No, you’re sick.”

Her gaze focused on him and she squinted. “Am I hallucinating or did the Adrien Agreste just caught me and touched my forehead?”

He laughed awkwardly. “I believe, it’s the latter.”

“Oh my goodness. I’m sorry!” She let out a cross between a horrified gasp before coughing.

“It’s fine. Really.” Patting her back, he noted the paleness of her face and the sweat beading on her brows. “More importantly, you need to rest.”

She shook her head, grimacing. “No, I can do it. They rented a Ladybug last month and we already have our schedules full. Everyone but me had personal matters to attend to. I… I can’t back out now.”

“But you have to. Otherwise your sickness will just get worse. I know how important health is in your job.” His hand rested on her shoulder and he flashed her a reassuring smile. “Trust me. They’ll understand. What’s more important is that you have to take care of yourself.”

A flicker of doubt passed on her face. “What about Ladybug? The party will start in a few minutes. They couldn’t possibly find any replacement in such a short notice.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll find a way.”

The girl stared at him then nodded. A slow, reluctant movement. “I guess, you’re right. I still need to drink medicine anyway.”

“Get well soon, Ladybug.”

“Thank you, Monsieur Adrien.” She smiled and he was sure she was one of the heroes he rented to talk while nursing a heartbreak.

He called Nino the moment her concerned friend took her away.

“Dude, where are you?”

“I’m already here. At your house.” He ran a hand through his hair, walking to where he hoped was the right room for the party.

“What? Really?” There was chattering on the other side of the line. “Marinette said, you bumped into each other earlier. You should’ve followed her over here.”

“I was about to but then I met your Ladybug. She’s sick, Nino. Has high fever and cough so I convinced her to go home and rest.”

The news was met with silence. There were muffled conversation in the background and he guessed they were discussing the unexpected problem. Their voices became worried but he couldn’t make out any of their sentences except for some words and phrases like ‘Ladybug’ and ‘-disappoint the kids’.

“I guess, it couldn’t be helped. Thanks for letting us know, dude.” His best friend said. “We don’t wanna disappoint the kids by telling them the hero couldn’t come. We’ll see what we can do. Anyway, you need to come up here. It’s weird calling you when we’re in the same room. I can see you in all your model glory from my position.”

He ended the call then walked to them. The two women moved away, whispering. Marinette furrowed her brows and she shook her head vigorously at something Alya had said. It went on for minutes until the former threw her hands in the air in resignation while the latter squealed and hugged her. He didn’t know whether they agreed on something or not because Marinette stormed off on the other side of the room. Although there weren’t any sign of anger in her body language, only nervousness and determination.

“Don’t worry, Sunshine Boy. She’ll be back soon.” Alya slid in the chair beside Nino with mischief. “For the meantime, can you entertain the audience for a while?”

Adrien gaped at her. “What? How am I supposed to do that? I can’t possibly strike a pose for them?”

Nino turned to his wife slowly so he wouldn’t wake the sleeping baby in his arms. “He’s an awkward model, not a host.”

She laughed, “Relax. I was just messing with you.”

His best friend gave him an apologetic smile as she walked on the stage and prattled about the party. “Sorry ‘bout that. She always love to tease us.”

“I know, I just wished you’d drop that silly nickname though.” His eye twitched.

“Not in a million years, dude.”

“I hate you.”

“We love you too, bro.” Nino chuckled.

Previous | Next

Again, the prompt belongs to @ladyofthenoodle (I'm really sorry if this didn't turn out like what you had in mind when making the au T_T) and can be found here.

I'm probably gonna post the whole story tomorrow on AO3. But I'll keep on posting the parts here too so that anyone who's interested but doesn't have an account can read it too.

Thank you, thank you so much for the likes, reblogs and kind comments. I didn't expected it to get so much notes T_T. I'm literally overwhelmed by your kindness. This means so much to me.

Tags: @mochegato

#miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #miraculous ladybug #miraculous fanworks #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #nino lahiffe #alya cesaire #rent a bug au #I had to read it again and edit it for the umpteenth time because I'm paranoid and the story took a huge turn? From angst to I don't know.#thank you so much for reading this! I seriously wanna cry while reading the comments and reblogs. You are all so kind and sweet #I hope you all health in the world. also drink more water and stay safe! meanwhile I'm gonna cry about how great all of you are #if I'm ever down or in a writing slump. I'm gonna remember the hundred plus people in Tumblr who likes my writing and I won't b sad anymore #It's 2am and I'm still wide awake thinking and reeling. I can't express my gratitude enough for all who read this fanfic of mine. Thank you

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thegrandimago · 3 years

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This time last April, on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the world was coming to grips with the isolation of quarantine and the economic and travel slowdowns that defined the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Even now, with the rollout of vaccines, the virus continues to affect our daily lives. And the toll keeps growing: 3 million dead and more than 140 million cases worldwide.

If anything, the worst public health crisis in a century has brought our understanding of our planet, and our place in the fragile yet resilient web of life throughout it, into stark relief.

Amid so much grief and loss and uncertainty, the biodiversity crisis paced ahead over the past year, becoming a much bigger theme on the world stage. The climate crisis worsened, too. Wildfires blazed. Ecosystems became even more fouled up than they already were.

At the same time, the marked reduction in human activity spurred by the pandemic — what some experts have dubbed the “Anthropause” — has afforded scientists and researchers opportunities to observe the natural world like never before. Coinciding with these unique observational windows has been an increase in attention on Indigenous knowledge and land stewardship as a way forward in combating ecological catastrophe.

In true Vox tradition, here are the 10 most concerning, intriguing, and — dare we say — hopeful things we learned about our planet since the last Earth Day.

1) We saw just how quickly ocean noise pollution can drop, and how much that can help marine life

For a moment last spring, things got very quiet in the oceans.

The drop in human activity that came with the pandemic resulted in drastic and voluntary sound reductions that ran the underwater gamut: from a drop in shipping noise, the predominant source of man-made ocean noise pollution, to decreases in recreation and tourism. All of it suddenly ceased.

In Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park, the foraging grounds of humpback whales, the loudest underwater sounds last May were less than half as loud as those in May 2018, according to a Cornell University analysis. A May 2020 paper in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America found that underwater noise off the Vancouver coast was half as loud in April as the loudest sounds recorded in the months preceding the shipping traffic slowdown.

Chronic underwater ocean noise had been rising over the past few decades, to the detriment of marine life that have evolved to use sound to navigate their world. “There is clear evidence that noise compromises hearing ability and induces physiological and behavioral changes in marine animals,” reads an assessment of marine noise pollution research published in the journal Science in February.

The majority of ocean noise pollution is a byproduct of economic activity. But compared with massively complex issues like climate change, noise is relatively easy to turn down, at least a little. Silencing it at its source has an immediate positive impact: Famously, researchers studying right whales on the East Coast measured a drop in the animals’ stress hormones in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, after shipping traffic abruptly dropped. Even tiny fish larvae are better able to locate the coral reefs where they were born, which themselves emit sound, when the oceans get quiet.

Man-made ocean noise has since ramped back up and is now stabilized near pre-pandemic levels. But it fell silent for long enough last March, April, and May that a global team of scientists is actively scrubbing through audio recordings gathered by around 230 non-military hydrophones — underwater microphones — that monitor ocean noise around the world. They aim to study the “year of the quiet ocean” in the context of ocean sounds before, during, and after the pandemic.

2) A new study found that the Amazon is likely warming — not cooling — the planet

The world’s largest and most species-rich tropical forest, the Amazon, is home to billions of trees that not only provide refuge to a diverse assemblage of organisms but also store and absorb a huge amount of carbon dioxide.

That’s what makes the conclusion of a study published this spring so alarming: Due to human activity, the Amazon is likely contributing to — not offsetting, as one might expect— global warming. “The current net biogeochemical effect of the Amazon Basin is most likely to warm the atmosphere,” the researchers wrote in the paper.

While the Amazon is still absorbing loads of CO2, human activities in the basin, such as deforestation, are driving up emissions of CO2 and other more potent greenhouse gases like methane and nitrous oxide across the basin.

Deforestation, for one, deals a double punch: It both releases gases into the atmosphere and removes CO2-absorbing trees from the equation. That equation now sees the Amazon generating more greenhouse gases than it emits, the study suggests. (It’s worth noting, though, this is all really complicated. For more, check out Craig Welch’s story in National Geographic or read the full study here.)

3) We discovered a bunch of new species

While humans have made a mark on all corners of Earth, we’ve only discovered a small fraction of the species that occupy it. In fact, that fraction could be smaller than 1 percent. And remarkably, not all of those species are tiny microbes and insects. They’re also fish, lizards, bats, and even whales. That’s right: Even giant mammals can elude scientists.

In January, researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said they discovered a new species of baleen whale in the Gulf of Mexico. (You can find the paper describing the discovery here.) Other teams of scientists are also on the trail of what could be yet another new whale species.

Last year, researchers documented scores of new plants and animals, from geckos and sea slugs to flowering plants and sand dollars, as Vox’s Brian Resnick reported. Our favorite? Brookesia nana, a thumbnail-sized chameleon native to northern Madagascar. It may be the smallest reptile on Earth; it’s certainly the cutest.

4) We got a much clearer picture of just how much wildlife we’re losing

The numbers aren’t good.

In September, the World Wildlife Fund published a report showing that the global populations of several major animal groups, including mammals and birds, have declined by almost 70 percent in the last 50 years due to human activity.

A separate report, published in Nature this year, found that populations of ocean sharks and rays have plummeted by more than 70 percent in roughly the same period. And one-third of freshwater fish have been found to be at risk of extinction.

A number of species were also declared extinct over the last year. Those include the smooth handfish, a bottom-dweller that rests atop human-like appendages on the seafloor. It was the first marine fish species to be declared extinct in modern history. (Environmental journalist John Platt has a list of recent extinctions in 2020 at Scientific American.)

5) Protecting plants and animals hinges on a thriving ecotourism industry

In the early days of the pandemic, the popular “Nature is healing” meme overshadowed a darker reality in many parts of the world: As travel ground to a halt, so did revenue from wildlife tourism, putting some wildlife conservation efforts at risk.

The fallout was most severe in Africa. According to a new collection of research from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a government and civil society group, more than half of the continent’s protected areas had to pause or limit field patrols and other operations to stop poachers in the wake of the pandemic.

“Parks have emptied out to a large extent and there’s no money coming in,” Nigel Dudley, a co-author of one of the IUCN papers, told Reuters last month.

Some communities are deeply reliant on wildlife tourism. Late last year, Vox’s Brian Resnick spoke to veterinarian Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, who is working to keep coronavirus-susceptible gorillas alive in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

When tourism dropped, “everybody was struggling,” she said. “The local economy suffered and poaching went up.” (You can read more of Resnick’s conversation with her here.)

6) Researchers uncovered more proof that a key system of ocean currents is weakening

Graphics that show changes in ocean temperature over time generally reveal one trend: The ocean is heating up. But there’s one critical exception. Just below Greenland lies a large patch of water that’s cooling off. And that patch has scientists concerned that we could be nearing a tipping point for the climate.

The cold patch, scientists say, signals that a network of currents that bring warm water to the North Atlantic — known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC — is slowing down, and the melting of ice on Greenland is likely a culprit. One paper, published in the journal Nature in March, suggests that the current AMOC slowdown is “unprecedented in over a thousand years.”

The AMOC shapes weather across multiple continents, so any major slowdown will carry major consequences that could include faster sea-level rise in some regions, stronger hurricanes, and other changes in weather, to say nothing of the impacts to marine ecosystems.

But to be clear, the science on this is new and complex. For a great run-down, check out this recent visual feature in the New York Times.

7) The asteroid that killed the dinosaurs gave rise to the Amazon rainforest

The massive asteroid that struck Earth 66 million years ago may be best known for driving non-avian dinosaurs to extinction, but it also transformed entire ecosystems.

It may have even given rise to the Amazon rainforest, according to a study published in Science earlier this month. The finding is based on an analysis of about 50,000 fossil pollen records and 6,000 fossil leaf records in Colombia from before and after the asteroid crashed into what is now Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.

The data reveals two vastly different forests. Before the event, the forests were stocked with conifers and ferns, and the trees were spread out, with plenty of room for light to stream through the canopy. After the asteroid event, however, flowering plants started to dominate the landscape and the canopy became much more tightly packed, resembling the forest we know today.

“If you returned to the day before the meteorite fall, the forest would have an open canopy with a lot of ferns, many conifers, and dinosaurs,” study co-author Carlos Jaramillo of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama told New Scientist. “The forest we have today is the product of one event 66 million years ago.”

The idea here is that the asteroid impact somehow triggered a series of events that led to the modern Amazon rainforest. What were those events? One theory the researchers offer is that, before the asteroid, herbivorous dinosaurs prevented the forest from becoming dense by eating and trampling plants.

8) A review of more than 300 studies showed that the rate of deforestation is lower on Indigenous lands

The global conservation movement is pushing forward a plan to conserve 30 percent of the Earth by 2030 — an initiative known as 30 by 30 — and increasingly calling for Indigenous communities to be central to that effort.

These groups have historically been uprooted from land in the name of wildlife conservation. There is also greater evidence that forests fare better when they are governed by Indigenous and tribal territories.

A recent UN review of more than 300 studies found that forests within tribal territories in Latin America and the Caribbean have significantly lower rates of deforestation where land rights are formally recognized.

“In just about every country in the region Indigenous and tribal territories have lower deforestation rates than other forest areas,” wrote the authors of the report, which was published by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization and the Fund for the Development of Indigenous Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean. “Many Indigenous territories prevent deforestation as effectively as non-Indigenous protected areas, and some even more effectively.”

9) Wildfire smoke can turn the sky an apocalyptic orange

If there was one day in 2020 that defined the climate emergency, it could have been September 9, when the sky above San Francisco turned completely orange.

Strong winds had carried smoke from fires burning across California to the atmosphere above the city. Particles of soot absorbed or reflected blue light from the sun, letting only orange-ish light through. (Wired has the details.)

But what made the image go viral wasn’t so much the science but what it symbolized: a growing climate catastrophe.

Climate change is making wildfires more frequent and severe, and 2020 provided more devastating evidence. Last year was California’s worst wildfire season on record. By the end of the year, nearly 10,000 fires had burned over 4 million acres — an astonishing 4 percent of California’s total land, according to the state.

10) Scientists finally solved the mystery of why wombats poop cubes

Sure, it may not have kept you up at night, but the mystery of the bare-nosed wombat’s poop puzzled scientists for decades. Why do these adorable, chunky marsupials, native to Australia and Tasmania, leave behind feces with six sides?

Thanks to a new study — published in the journal Soft Matter — we now have the answer.

Building on research published a few years earlier, a team of scientists found that wombat intestines have regions of varying thickness and elasticity that contract at different speeds: The stiffer regions contract relatively quickly, while softer sections squeeze more slowly, together forming a cube-like shape.

But there’s still a bit of mystery left: Why is their poop shaped like this? The jury’s still out, but some researchers believe it’s because wombats climb up on rocks and logs, and the cube-like shape prevents the feces from rolling away. This is key for wombats because they use piles of feces to communicate with other wombats.

What a difference a year makes, truly.

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15001700tt · 2 years

Text

Exa'ct Series

Alyuin (1)

Alyiun Club: You'd think that managing a business is easy and there are no troubles that find you, other than miscalculated reports. But not this one, for various reasons. One being, the business in question is a club and second, it is managed by 9 girls. It's safe to say they were pretty good at their job. The occasional fights break out and they resolve them pretty quickly, but this one needed a little more attention.

Sang Soo was behind the bar, bartending, it was her hobby and quite frankly she was good at it. It's also a great place to keep an eye on the customers. As she made drinks, she surveyed the surroundings.

Her eyes zeroed in on two guys manhandling two of the waitresses that work there, Min Ji and Seo Yun. Sang Soo’s eyes were glued on the scene for a few minutes, her gaze hardening as she took in the girl's discomfort. She was about to ring the security when Yong Sang came out from the back.

“I see them, but we can't do anything yet, they already paid and should be leaving soon,” she spoke with a calm voice, but you could see the hardness in her eyes. Sang Soo released a slow breath before turning her back to the crowd.

“If they don’t leave, I am kicking them out. The girls are uncomfortable, they seem to know them,” Sang Soo stated.

“I'll call Ji Mi out,” Yong Sang threw over her shoulder as she made her way to Ji Mi’s office.

Sang Soo rolled her eyes and murmured, "I can take care of myself". Before huffing and finishing a margarita for a short blonde girl. "Clearly, you forgot about the in-ear piece because you didn't even try to hide your growling," Rae Jae’s voice rang through Sang Soo’s right ear. She swore in her head and let out a ‘sorry’.

“it’s disgusting, I can’t wait for the show.”

“There won't be one,” a voice cut in before Sang Soo could reply with an eager ‘hell yeah’. Sang Soo’s eagerness died in her throat as she realized that Ji Mi had decided to join their conversation but was nowhere in sight.

“Somehow you manage to ruin my fun without even moving a finger,” Sang Soo grunted under her breath while shooting a customer a friendly smile as they decided to leave in favor of the dance floor. She turned at the call of another customer,

“Blue Martini,” his voice cut through the loud music. She nodded and started making the cocktail before turning her attention back to the two guys. Je Ki’s voice cut through the earpiece asking whose voice is that and why it was that deep, but that was the least of Sang Soo’s worries right now, the situation wasn't looking very good.

“Do something, or I will,” Sang Soo growled as she watched Ji Mi approach the two guys that were holding the two struggling girls. Sang Soo kept her eyes on the scene while also making the guy’s drink. When she got the hint that they weren’t budging and decided that it was the last straw.

“I am going in,” she murmured before turning to the cat-eyed deep voice customer. He looked at her with an interested smirk.

“Excuse me, I'll have your drink ready in a minute, but I have to take out the trash,” she excused herself before taking off her apron and sliding over the counter, making her way to the two guys she's been wanting to beat the whole time they've been here. The cat-eyed customer turned to watch what the cute bartender was going to do to the two gorilla-sized men.

“Is there a problem?” she menacingly asked. Ji Mi turned to her and said that they refuse to leave.

“She asked you politely to leave,” she repeated with a glare.

“I see no reason for us to leave when we’re not done,” one of the buffoons said, still holding onto Min Ji, who up close looked like she wanted to cry.

“Please let go of my employees and escort yourselves out before I call the security guards,” Sang Soo said sharply to the two men. Seo Yun literally looked so done, she tried to rip herself out of the man’s grip, but he tightened his hold, and she scrunched up her face in pain.

“It's against regulations to harass the waitresses,” Ji Mi said with a deadpan voice, her patience running thin.

“They’re not waitresses here, they quit.” the man holding Seo Yun spits out with a disgusting smile.

“You have no authority here! You have no power over me anymore, we broke up. Get it through your thick dumb head,” Seo Yun raised her voice, while Min Ji nodded her head.

‘‘How the fuck did you even know that they knew one another, Sang Soo?” Yong Sang asked her through the earpiece.

“Clearly, they're done with you so if you dont mind,” Sang Soo said matter of factly and looked the intruders straight in the eyes “either get out on your own or I'll have to kick your asses out myself,” Sang Soo threatened.

The cat-eyed customer raised a questioning eyebrow. His attention shifted when someone took the previous bartenders’ position. Her name tag said, Hyo Gun. Her attention was on the scene before them. He turns back to see the two men face to face with Sang Soo and the brown haired girl.

“And how are you going to do that, bitch?” he spat in her face.

Sang Soo smirked at the curse word and buffed her chest even more “Well, you see, the security guard will take around a minute and thirty seconds to arrive here and in that one minute and thirty seconds I can dislocate your shoulder and break your nose without breaking a sweat,” she nonchalantly said staring intently at them.

“You think you can take us?” the other one responded to her threat.

“Just try me," she challenged. She could beat them up if she wanted to, but she doesn't want to start a fight. That would just end with her getting in trouble for initiating a fight with a customer. It would be better if the customer throws the first punch. Everything after that would've been a self-defense act and if anything she could get a bonus or a raise.

“Please, remove yourselves from the premises immediatelyk,” she tried again. In a blink of an eye, one of the men threw a punch her way. Fortunately, she caught it with ease.

“You leave me no choice,” she sighed, her face showed disinterest before it morphed into hatred.

The customer at the bar was caught off guard when she easily twisted his arm behind his back. He could vaguely hear the girl, Hyo Gun, behind him calling for the security guards.

Once the other guy processed that a fight had started, he turned to Ji Mi and moved his first in her direction. She easily avoided him, as he was more wasted than the man Sang Soo was handling. She hit the side of his head to disorient him. The two waitresses had already left the scene and gone to the back to report to Soo Mi since she's kinda in charge of damage control.

The two girls kicked their asses when the security guards finally showed up. One of the two men was passed out cold while the other one had a busted lip. To say he was pissed would be an understatement.

“You're banned from coming here ever again,” Ji Mi calmly said. Sang Soo waved her hand sarcastically before returning to her post behind the bar. Hyo Gun helped around for a while before going to the back.

The handsome stranger was surprised, as he didn't think that this would happen. They were very intriguing. He turned to Sang Soo, who looked as if she didn't just beat a man twice her size. He had very good attention to details. He was watching the fight, and he knows for a fact that Sang Soo received one of hell of a punch to her left side, which was unprotected. She had a blind spot, she didn't protect her left side. But he’ll give her props, she knew a lot based on her performance, and so did the other girl, which is weird. He knows for a fact that when they’re hiring they don’t look for a specific requirement, like knowing self-defense. He would know this since he co-owns this club.

He isn't surprised that they don't know who he is, because frankly, he doesn't know them either, but they made an impression, he's going to make Kyungsoo and Jongdae dig.

“I am sorry, can you repeat your drink again?” she asked him.

“Blue Martini” he repeated. She nodded and finished his drink a lot faster than before.

“I think you need to take your break” Hyun Jin came out, tying her apron and taking over.

“I know you say you’re fine, but Sang Hee wants to check on you, you were sloppy, and he got a hit on you," she continued knowing that Sang Soo was going to argue.

Cat-eyed stranger, Minseok, lifted his head slightly. He looked around and saw the security cameras that were stationed at every corner, then back at the new bartender. He could see the earpiece in her left ear through her hair. He may not know who he hired, but he does know what they provide to workers, and it's definitely not earpieces. He paid for his drink and made his way to the house. He needed to do some research, this wasn’t over.

“Fine, but he really was tipsy so his ‘hits’ were even that hard,” she excused herself and made her way to the back only to meet Sang Hee half the way.

“You worry too much,” Sang Soo muttered to Sang Hee, who was already peeling a bruise patch.

“And because I worry too much I saved you from internal bleeding last month, which means that you shouldn't have fought at all!” she huffed.

“I couldn't help it, besides I was itching for a fight. I haven't punched anything in the last three weeks.” Sang Soo whined.

“You’re a bartender, you shouldn't be fighting at all, we have security guards for that,” Rae Jae stated coming in the locker room.

“How come no one is scolding Ji Mi?” Sang Soo whined looking at a crossed arm upset Ji Mi.

“Oh, come on, not you too!” Sang Soo whined again.

“Control your anger,” she commented. Je Ki came in and had a piece of paper.

“Well, congratulations! You kicked ass in front of the owner of the club,” she fake cheered.

“Look, I know we won't get fired. She sighed. “I think it was the blue martini guy,” she added, catching their attention.

“Why?”

“The letter said, he’ll order a blue martini if he's satisfied.”

“Hey at least he was still satisfied,” Hyun Jin said.

“Fun,” Sang Hee uttered. Soo Mi came in and looked at the scene and sighed before sitting down.

“The girls are okay, we’re relocating them to Love Shot just in case.”

#exo #exact series #oc #collision lane #halie writes #kpop #exo fanfics #mafia! exo #exo mafia au #exo fanfiction #exo fanfic #kim jongin #xiumin #baekhyun #exo kai #suho #chanyeol

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productdatascrape28 · 2 months

Text

Empower the Surge of Online Alcohol Retail in the UK by Web Scraping Liquor Data

Research Approach

Identifying The Alcohol Price Leader

Tesco's Leadership In Alcohol Pricing

Retailers Employing Discounts To Bolster Alcohol Sales

Observing Price Index Trends Over Five Monthss

Our focus shifted towards analyzing Price Index (PI) trends among these five retailers, encompassing February to June 2022. It enabled us to gauge the fluctuations in alcohol prices over this period.

Price Index Insights: Retailers' Strategic Positioning

Among the retailers, Weezy displayed the most optimal Price Index, residing within the 100% to 102% range.

Conversely, Gorillas held the lowest Price Index, from 89% to 91%.

Getir, initially boasting a lower Price Index of 96.1% in February, progressively climbed to surpass 110% in April, May, and June.

Agility In Price Adjustments: Identifying Leaders

Stability In Pricing Trends Among Retailers

In that same eventful May, Weezy embarked on a distinctive strategy, considerably slashing prices by 10%. This move widened the gap between Gorillas and Weezy.

Preserving Sales Through Stock Availability Management

Diverse Stock Availability Among Retailers

Tesco, on the other hand, encountered a pronounced decline in availability during May and June. At 97%, availability dwindled to 92-93%.

Gorillas consistently exhibited the lowest stock availability, fluctuating between 90% and 94% across the months.

Weezy demonstrated steadfast consistency, upholding a consistent 95% availability throughout five months.

Concluding Insights

#WebScrapingLiquorData #UKAlcoholRetailDataScraping #OnlineAlcoholRetailScraper #LiquorDataScrapingService #ScrapeLiquorData #LiquorDatacollection

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watchtower-feed · 3 years

Text

First Nemesis

You're a new up-and-coming supervillain and you're looking for your first nemesis. You're thinking of starting small. Like that reporter from the Daily Planet that keeps messing up your villain name. What was his name? Yeah. Clark Kent.

A rookie reporter who grew up in the middle of nowhere Kansas. There's no way he would see a direct attack coming. Even moreso an indirect one.

You're hitting a small fry but that doesn't mean your methods are gonna be cute. You decide to go with the classic kidnap-your-loved-ones strategy. That one never fails.

You're standing in front of the sign that says Kent Farm and take out your phone to dial away. Of course, as a supervillain, getting such personal information on a lowly Daily Planet employee was nothing. The phone rings twice and a cheerful but polite voice greets you. It aggravates you even more.

"I know what kind of person you really are, Kent. And you will rue the day you messed with me." You pause for a dramatic moment and then menacingly whisper, "But only after your parents do."

You hang up. The hand gripping your phone shakes. You're grinning like an idiot because that was one of the best threats you've ever given. Much better than how you practiced it in front of your mirror.

Brimming with adrenaline, you stride to the farmhouse and knock boldly. It's still early in the morning so you expect them to take a while to answer the door. But then it opens and an couple greets you. Already in their work clothes.

"Can we help you?" asks the man you know as Jonathan Kent and his wife, Martha Kent, looks at you from just a step behind him.

You suddenly revert to yourself. Your civilian self. "O-oh! Hello! Umm... Good morning. I hope I'm not disturbing you.."

The old man chuckles a little but it's only half meant. "This is basically lunch time for folks like us." It's only 7:30am. You clearly remember calling at that time so Clark Kent wouldn't be able to punch in for work at exactly 8:00am like he always does.

"Oh yes. Well, umm... I.. I know your son... He's a..." The couple visibly tenses as they wait for you to continue. You notice this and you wonder if this isn't the first time their son has messed with a supervillain and used them as leverage. "..reporter for Daily Planet."

Confused looks. The couple looks to each other then at back you. Their brows are raised and it's more obvious now that they're questioning you. Deeply questiong the very existence of you at their doorstep.

You suddenly snap. What are you doing? You have a plan! You're supposed to be a supervillain! You knit your brows together and stomp one foot in as you push the door the back. Jonathan takes a step back and Martha holds onto his shoulders. You shout at the top of your lungs, "Your son has been getting my name wrong in his articles at the Daily Planet and I demand justice!"

Your pulse is beating profusely and your whole body is tense. You stare at the old couple but they're not cowering in fear like you expected them to be. Instead, Martha had her brows furrowed and her mouth was frowning. "Oh, dear," she says. She gently wraps her arm around yours, "I'll make us some coffee," and leads you to the kitchen.

You find yourself going blank as you're seated in a quiant little kitchen with worn-out yellow walls and furniture bordered with pale teal. Martha goes to the counter and suddenly you all hear a loud booming sound that came from outside. It's enough to make you jump out of your seat, ready to run or fight, but the old couple just stares out the window and then collectively shakes their heads.

"Can you please tell him we have a visitor? And that he should behave himself." Martha looks sternly at whoever it was outside while her husband had already left through the kitchen door.

You can hear faint yelling from outside and try to listen in. "Oh don't worry about them dear. It's just my son--"

"Your son?!" you jump out of your seat. "He's already here?"

She looks at you for a second before she shakes her head. "You told him you were coming but he didn't even think to tell us. My goodness that boy.." Martha continues to mutter about her son while she walks back to the kitchen counter.

The backdoor creaks open and in walks Jonathan with a huge disheveled man trailing after him. He's wearing a flannel shirt that's obviously two sizes too small for his torso and pants that don't even reach his ankles. His hair is a mess and he's struggling to put his glasses on upright. As soon as he walks in, he narrows his eyes at you, struggling to recognize where he's seen you before.

Your offended meter has definitely reached its peak and is now erupting. You stomp your foot and point at him while you appeal to his mother. "Do you see the disrespect? He doesn't even remember who I am?!"

Clark Kent's jaw drops as he looks to you then his mother, then back to you. "You told my ma?!"

"Clark Joseph Kent!" Martha snaps and slaps his arm with a tea towel. "Who told you you could yell at guests in this house?" Clark is absolutely flabbergasted. He gets another whip with the tea towel. "And why have you been bullying this young lady in the newspaper? What has she ever done to you?"

You suddenly think about it. You had your chin resting on your hand as you mull it over. "Actually, nothing. I haven't done anything to you," you say out loud.

Clark huffs as he straightens himself, trying to take back some control in this situation. "I'm sorry about how rude I'm being-- or been but who are you?"

All three pairs of eyes are on you now and you take your own pair of eyes and look at your hands all the way down to your feet. You're in your civilian clothing.

"AHHHH!" you burst out without thinking. Hands gripping the sides of your head. After all that research. All that planning and scheming. All that waiting for your scheduled flight. You forgot to come here wearing your supervillain costume. You're a civillian. You're doomed.

The Kent's worriedly look to each other as they watch your meltdown ensue. All too suddenly you start bowing, spitting out rushed apologies about a mistaken identiy, and taking slow but long strides toward the main door. But before you could make your escape, thick bulging biceps block your path and you look up to find a very pissed off Clark Kent. He's using his other hand to massage the bridge of his nose while his eyes are forcibly closed.

"Just hold on a second here..." he grits through his teeth. "You can't just barge in here and think you can run away just like that."

Another tea towel whip hits Clark's arm. "Would you stop tormenting the poor girl? Sometimes you forget you're bigger than a gorilla."

Jonathan finally decides to step in. "Now, now. How about we sit down and clear this all up over some coffee?"

"Umm," you finally pipe up. An escape has finally formed inside your head, "I forgot that I really should be going. I might not get a flight back to Metropolis today. So..." You bend your knees to try slip past Clark but he blocks you with his knee against the wall and his face is suddenly closer. You can now very clearly see the irritation etched on his face.

"Nonsense," Jonathan answers. "My son can take you back." Both of you quickly swivel your heads to Jonathan with wides eyes. "What? You're going back to Metropolis, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but I didn't exactly drive here..."

"Pfft. What? You flew?"

All eyes snap toward you and the longer they stare at you, the more you can feel your insides squirming. You force out a nervous laughter. "It's not like your son can fly, right?"

Jonathan's booming laughter breaks the tension like hammering through glass. "He can't even fly a kite. I'd drop dead if I ever saw this boy of mine fly."

Martha laughs along with him and you can see Clark doesn't like being the butt end of a joke. So you laugh too.

In the end, you did end up having that cup of coffee with your nemesis Clark Kent no less, but only because you had to wait for Jonathan so he can drive you both to the train station. Turns out Clark didn't bring his passport.

#clark kent x reader #clark kent imagine #superman imagine #superman x reader #watchtower-feed #This came to me in a dream lol no i was conscious

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megumisbimbo · 3 years

Text

- One -

megumi fushiguro x reader

genre: fluff, slight angst

summary: (y/n) was nothing special. A human being who had no idea that curses walked the same earth they walked. But then they locked eyes with Megumi Fushiguro. Can Fushiguro focus on the task ahead or will he be distracted by the king of curses and his new love interest?

series masterlist

Credit for the main storyline and characters goes to Gege Akutami.

the songs are indicated throughout the story at certain points!

songs used:

sunflower - vampire weekend

turn back time - wayv

humble - kendrick lamar

look at me! - xxxtentacion

———— sunflower - vampire weekend ————

It was a normal school day. You sat through each of your classes bored out of your mind. If only something interesting would happen, maybe then you’d enjoy your day. Classes felt longer than usual and all you could think about was getting to the occult club and opening whatever Itadori found last night.

Classes had finally finished. You raced to the other end of the school and walked into the club room and greeted your two classmates.

“Where’s Itadori? Shouldn’t he be here with the thing he found yesterday?”

“We thought it would be cooler if we broke into the school late at night and opened it then!” Sasaki says with a bright sinister smile. Iguchi sat next to her and nodded his head in agreement.

Just then, Itadori walked into the room with a bright smile and greeted you three.

“(y/n)-senpai here’s the thing I found yesterday. Sasaki-senpai said to give it to you so you guys can open it tonight. I’m not gonna be able to make it.”

“No worries Itadori, we’ll make sure to take pictures when nothing shows up.” You say glancing at Sasaki.

You had always been skeptical when it came to ghosts and monsters. Iguchi and Sasaki were your best friends so they always ended up dragging you on their haunted adventures. Itadori was the newbie first year who recently joined. He was happy to take the pair on their ghostly escapades when you weren’t available.

Sasaki ruffled through her bag and pulled out the ouija board you four regularly played with. Itadori turned to you and asked if you were ready to call on the spirit of the day. After asking your fellow club members, he called upon them.

“Spirits! Spirits! Please reveal an animal that the school council president is weaker than!” Itadori said giggling slightly.

You watched as the small coin shaped object wiggled underneath your finger.

“A sea angel?!?” Itadori roared.

Your giggles were interrupted by the door suddenly sliding open revealing the sea angel himself.

“OCCULT RESEARCH CLUB!” The council president yelled, startling you.

“Your club did not submit an activities report! We don’t have room in this school for such irresponsibility!” He yelled, anger dousing his tone.

He explained that the club was going to be used as a changing room starting today and your club was to find somewhere else to play.

“I wouldn’t mess with our members council president.” Itadori said smirking at you and your friends. Sasaki slams a book onto the table and pushes her glasses up onto her nose.

“Here’s your proof council president! As you know, our rugby field has been closed off. The students who used it started getting sick and some were even hospitalized. Don’t you think that’s strange? I mean we’re talking about tough rugby players here. WELL. Just before the players began getting sick, they stated that they heard strange noises and voices on the field.”

You stand up and flip through the book that had rested under Sasaki’s hand.

“That’s where this newspaper article comes in.” You say showing the president an old newspaper clipping from many years ago.

“Mr. Yoshida, a construction man, went missing and he was last seen here at this school during construction.”

Sasaki interrupted, finishing the riveting story you four had discovered.

“Which means. Mr. Yoshida’s body is buried in the rugby field and the sickness was caused by the lingering spirit!” Sasaki said with stars in her eyes. Itadori and Iguchi stood on either side of you two giving jazz hands for dramatic effect. The council president looks at you four with a blank stare, dumbfounded at the ridiculous story.

“No...” He started.

“They were caused by ticks.”

You felt Sasaki wilt beside you while Itadori argued with the council president, explaining that either way this was club activity. The council president interjected and rudely pointed out the fact that neither you nor Itadori were registered with the occult club, leaving the club with too few members.

“Itadori, (y/n)... I thought you said you put your names down.” Sasaki said with an evil glare plastered on her face.

“Sorry Sasaki... I lost the paper ehehe...” You said, staring down at your feet with regret and a bit of fear hidden behind your eyes.

“I did put down the occult club senpai! I swear!” Itadori announced.

“Then who changed it?”

“I DID.” A voice barked, alarming all the students present.

“Coach Takagi?!” You all yelled in unison.

“Itadori, we need your speed and strength on the track and field team.”

“I ALREADY SAID I WASN’T JOINING!” Itadori wailed, hoping the coach would get the hint.

“No can do. However I’m a fair man so I will let you go if you beat me in a fair fight.”

“You’re on!”

You all ran down to the track to see Itadori battle it out with the coach.

“You think he’ll win?” You say skeptical of Itadori’s strength.

“I’ve heard he won the Ninja Warrior contest and he’s the incarnation of Mirko Cro Cop!” Iguchi explained.

“But he’s not dead...”

You watched as Itadori threw the heavy ball the same way a pitcher would. It whizzed through the air landing at about 30 meters from where he started, demolishing the Coach’s record of 14 meters.

“He’s like a gorilla.” Sasaki says behind you.

Itadori then walked up to the three of you and you congratulated him on his impressive upper arm strength.

“You know you don’t have to stay in this club Itadori.” Sasaki said.

“Thanks Senpai, but as much as you guys love haunted places, you wouldn’t go if (y/n) or I didn’t go with you.”

“Being scared is what makes it fun.” Sasaki says, laughing nervously.

Itadori checks his watch and realizes that it was time for him to leave. He speeds down the stairs and out the gates of the school, dust collecting behind him from how fast he was going. Out of the corner of your eye you spot a tall, handsome ravenette. You stare at him a little and hear him call out to Itadori trying to stop him. Do they know each other? Maybe he’s a first year too. “I’ve never seen him. He seems interesting, and cute.” You think to yourself. He notices your stare and sharply turns away giving off an egotistical aura. You break your gaze and scoff. “Interesting, cute...and cocky.”

————— turn back time - wayv —————

The room was dark, lit only by the light of a single candle resting on the table that Sasaki, Iguchi and you sat around. You handed Sasaki the wrapped object and she began fiddling with the stained paper. There were weird symbols on the paper, it kind of looked like a talisman.

“This is creepy, I’m gonna turn a light on.” Iguchi said timidly.

“No no we need to keep the ambience.”

Sasaki finally gripped on to a corner of the paper and began unraveling. The unraveled paper revealed a dark crimson finger.

“Is it real?” Sasaki asks.

“Probably not. Someone must have put it there as a joke.” You say, the skeptical side of you hiding the real fear you felt.

Suddenly the room shook and the candle went out. You were frozen with fear. In all the times you’d gone out to haunted places, you’ve never caught anything, but this time felt different. A faint screeching noise startled you three. Slowly you looked up and noticed a giant monster coming straight for you. You grabbed Sasaki’s hand, the finger stuffed into her pocket, and ran for dear life, Iguchi trailing closely behind. You hear the wall of the club room burst, and glancing behind you a huge creature was seen, hot on your trail. Iguchi turns a corner separating himself from you and Sasaki. You pull her behind a wall and sit with your hand pressed firmly against her mouth. You wait there for what feels like hours. Iguchi walks toward you ever so slowly.

“Iguchi! Thank goodness!” Sasaki says naively.

As he walks closer to you two, you notice the small monster that has latched onto his face. Your heart drops.

“H-el-p m-e..”

Iguchi’s voice rang through the hall alerting the creature that followed you and Sasaki. Almost instantly, the monster picked you, Sasaki, and Iguchi up. You felt the monster feel you all over, as if it was searching for something. Your mind starts going blank. Thoughts of your childhood, your family, the memories you made at school, flood your head. Thick, hot tears stream down your face. You faintly hear the voice of a person yelling. Your vision faded and soon you blacked out completely.

Megumi pov:

————— humble - kendrick lamar —————

Running down the halls I find one of the curses that Sukuna’s finger attracted.

“Out of my way! Divine dogs! You can eat it.”

The curses were getting closer together.

The finger was close.

I turn the corner and find Itadori’s friends. The curse is trying to eat them and the finger?!

Wait.

I recognize one of them. The one that was staring at me on the field.

“I’m not gonna make it!”

A loud crash echoes through the hallway. The window was smashed by someone.

Itadori?!

I watch in shock as he scoops up his friends. The one I’d seen before suddenly falls from his grasp. I run over and catch them in my arms. My heart beats faster.

What was this feeling?

I hold them close to my chest as my divine dogs run over and eat the curse.

“Normally I’d be pissed.. but good job.”

“Oh thanks, but what are those munching on the curse?” Itadori asks.

“Those? You can see them? They’re my shikigami. Normally you can’t see curses, unless you’re facing your death or in special places like this.”

Itadori stands and Sukuna’s finger drops from the girl’s pocket into his hand.

“This what your looking for?” Itadori asks.

I drop the feet of the unconscious person, still holding them upright. I reach my hand out to grab the cursed object. Itadori reaches out to take his senpai from my arms. A loud gurgling comes from the ceiling, startling me.

“RUN!”

I cling tightly to sleeping body and protect it from the curse as I try to call for Nue. The curse picks me up and throws us both against the wall, waking them up slightly. The curse gets ahold of us once again and blows the whole side of the school out, exposing us to the cold night air.

(y/n) pov:

You wake up with a pounding headache. You feel two arms around your waist and the cold night air blowing on your face. Were you flying? You look up and see a different monster heading your way.

“Hang on!” A voice calls behind you.

You turn slightly and see the same black haired boy from this morning. Why was he holding you? And why were you flying through the air? Where is Iguchi and Sasaki?

Slipping from the boy’s grip, you land on the hard concrete behind him. He glances over to you, checking to see if you survived the landing. You looked at him with big tear filled eyes. He struggled to put his hands together to form a bird shadow puppet. What is he doing?

“Damn I can’t focus.” He says, frustration written in his defined features.

Itadori flies through the air and whacks the monster on what looks like the head.

“Are you guys ok?!” He screams aiming his worry at you.

“I thought I told you to run.” The boy asks with a harsh tone.

“No can do, You were in trouble and you still had (y/n) in your arms.”

He jumps back onto the monster and starts beating it ruthlessly.

“Stop! You can’t defeat it without cursed energy!” The boy says.

Itadori doesn’t stop fighting it. The monster grabs him tightly and pushes him closer to his mouth.

“Itadori!!” You scream, heart beating out of your chest.

“Then all I need is cursed energy right Fushiguro?!”

He throws the crimson finger into the air and swallows it in one swift motion. Your jaw drops as the black haired boy, who Itadori referred to as Fushiguro, screamed at him. Fushiguro turns to you and, noticing your shock, runs over. He uses his entire body as a shield over you while his eyes are locked on Itadori’s changing body. Your eyes peek over his shoulder giving you a clear view of Itadori. Dark tattoo like marks form on Itadori’s tan skin. He looked like himself, but different. His nails grow long and sharp. He turns to the monster and swipes his hand upward, causing it to disintegrate. Itadori, or what looks like Itadori, turns back to you and Fushiguro with burning scarlet eyes.

————— look at me! - xxxtentacion —————

“Finally! A cursed spirit’s flesh is no fun! What a wonderful age it has become, women and children crawling around like maggots! It’ll be a massacre!”

His voice is deep and there is no trace of Itadori in his tone. Your breathing is heavy against Fushiguro’s neck. His arms are wrapped protectively around you as you’re both crouched down on the floor. The strange man’s eyes lock onto you.

“You don’t look like a sorcerer, maybe i’ll kill you first!” He says laughing maniacally.

Fushiguro’s grip tightens out of anger, squeezing so tight it hurts. A familiar voice exited the tattooed man’s body.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing with my body? Give it back.”

The soft, sweet voice of your kohai calms your nerves ever so slightly.

He’s still there.

Fushiguro lets go of you and stands in front of Itadori.

“Don’t move! You’re no longer human. Under jujutsu regulations, I will exorcise you as a curse, Itadori Yuuji!”

tags: @xreemie @noyakura

big thank you to @noyakura for the banner :’)) ily

#megumifushiguro #megumi x reader #fushiguro megumi #jjk megumi #fushiguro fluff #fushiguro x you #fushiguro x reader #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen fluff #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jjk anime #jjk fluff #jjk imagines #itadori yuuji

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nitewrighter · 3 years

Note

First Meeting of Genji and Tracer maybe?

I haven’t forgotten all the kiss prompts but I wanted to gear-shift to something a little more punchy!

-------

“I don’t know about this…” Genji mindlessly brushed his fingers along the handle of Ryū-Ichimonji as he walked down the hall, “I’ve never really thought of myself as a teacher...”

“You said you wanted to get off the bench,” Reyes walked alongside him, both hands in the mono-pocket of his hoodie. He had a way of carrying himself that made it easy for the eye to scan past him, despite being head of Blackwatch, but Genji drew the eye, bare skin and metal, and stark black, white and red prosthetics, and so in their walk virtually all Overwatch staff in the hallway gave them an unnaturally wide berth, first a natural reaction to Genji’s appearance, then a flinching recognition of Reyes. “This is the best Jack and I can do for you,” Reyes went on, “Besides, she was in the RAF before this, so it’s not like she’s coming into this with no combat knowledge.”

‘The best Jack and I can do for you,’ Genji glanced away from Reyes, his eyes narrowing in thought, So you show Jack one hand with me, while keeping the other behind your back with McCree. I’m the ‘accountability’ agent, but McCree and Moira... they’re still Blackwatch. They’re still working. His ‘real’ agents. Genji wondered where McCree was now. Was it an ‘errand’ this time or a ‘vacation?’ It wasn’t as if it was sanctioned by Jack either way, but it wasn’t like Jack would look too closely or question it so long as the cyborg ninja was accounted for.

“Hey,” Reyes spoke and Genji was forced to pull himself out of his bristling silence, “Being a part of Overwatch isn’t just cutting through shit with a sword. You have to show you can work with people, and not just Blackwatch.” Reyes gave a short snort, “Though, let’s be real, saying you worked with Blackwatch is a bit of a stretch.”

Genji kept his eyes fixed away sullenly. “So she’s not the only one learning, here,” he mused.

“Now you’re getting it,” said Reyes, smiling.

“You don’t know when Blackwatch’s suspension is ending, do you?” Genji’s voice was level but it wiped the smile from Reyes’s face in an instant.

“Can’t say that I do,” Reyes flicked his own eyes forward, down the hall, “But that doesn’t mean I’m sitting on my hands, Shimada. You can believe me when I say I’m working on ways to get you back out there, because Talon’s only going to get bolder while we’re wrapping ourselves in red tape. But you have to show me, Jack, and all these UN pearl-clutchers you can adapt. Do you understand?”

“Mm,” Genji gave a single nod as they exited two automatic doors out to the training area, where a cluster of training bots where doddering around in various directions.

“Had ‘em cue up your usual warm-up,” said Reyes, putting his hands on his hips, “Think benchwarming got you soft?”

Genji gave a short scoff before drawing Ryū-Ichimonji from his back, but Reyes could hear the smile in his breath beneath his faceplate.

----

“Wow... Blackwatch!” Tracer’s eyes were wide as Mercy and Winston stood next to her in the elevator, “I heard all about the--I mean, everyone heard about Venice but--blimey! Are we sure it’s all right?”

“We’re approaching this as a sort of... rehabilitation from suspension,” said Mercy, “And don’t worry, I’m very well-acquainted with your future teacher and I can assure you that Genji Shimada holds himself to a very high standard as an agent.”

“I know that but....I don’t know if I’m cut out for any of that ninja stuff,” Trace glanced down at the chronal accelerator glowing in her chest, “This thing doesn’t exactly make it ea--easy to sneak around.” A brief ripple of glowing blue chronal feedback bloomed around her on the word ‘easy’ and her shoulders bunched up self-consciously, “Sometimes I don’t know if I can pull off that... speed-up thing I did back with the prototypes...”

“The accelerator reacts to your nervous system,” Winston chimed in, “We can worry about safely discharging the chronal distortion later, but it’s perfectly safe and stable as it is right now! All you need to worry about is keeping a cool head!”

“Cool head,” Tracer said firmly, “Right.”

“But if anything feels wrong you should tell us immediately,” Mercy quickly added.

“Gotcha, gotcha,” said Tracer, nodding. The three of them stood in a nervous, excited silence for a few seconds.

“Is he nice?” Tracer asked, looking at Mercy, “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I can deal with the ‘tough love’ types, but I guess I’m just not really sure what to expect with all this Blackwatch stuff...”

“Oh he’s wonderful,” said Mercy beaming as the elevator dinged and the doors opened, “And I think, while both your situations are very unique, he’ll definitely understand what you’re going through. He’s basically had to re-learn how to coordinate his body, too!”

Tracer’s shoulders slumped with some reassurance as they stepped out into the open air of the training area, “Well that’s a relief,” she said, with a lopsided smile.

“Oh yes. He’ll be a great teacher. He’s patient, and attentive, and really quite funny once you get to know him, and he’s very---”

Mercy was cut off by a snarling, roaring, cybernetically warbling scream as a red, white, and black blur rushed past them on the training grounds. Tracer, Winston, and Mercy watched in some combination of awe and terror as Genji Shimada tore through a batch of training bots like a hurricane.

“Very--um...” Mercy’s words turned halting as Genji dove and slid under one bot and became a whirlwind of blades and kicks, slicing up the training bots closing in on him, before sending the poor training bot he had dived under into the air then springing into the air himself. His wires whipped around him as he twisted in the air, sending the training bot flying back with a kick that made it shatter against a wall.

“Very--” Mercy tried to regain her composure and speak quickly but winced as she was cut off again by the screech and clatter of metal, the loud scream of a broken vocal box on one of the training bots as Genji jammed both sword and wakizashi into it before ripping it outward and rendering the training bot an explosion of broken metal parts. Mercy looked sharply over to Tracer, whose mouth was hanging open in a petrified gawk.

“He’s very...” Mercy was trying to eke words out of herself as Genji sliced off the head of one training bot with his sword then stabbed it through with his wakizashi before pivoting and smashing another training bot’s head with the skewered head of its compatriot. “...enthusiastic?”

Genji’s breaths were ragged and his forearms were quaking with how hard his hands were gripping his sword and wakizashi, surrounded by the sparking broken bits of training bots, his shoulders rising and falling with his breaths. Tracer, Winston, and Mercy all flinched to attention at the sound of clapping next to them and looked to their right to see Gabriel Reyes stick his thumb and forefinger in his mouth and whistle shrilly before clapping some more.

“Attaboy, Genji! Still got it!” Reyes called out to Genji and Genji seemed to pull himself out of a blood-drunk haze (or at least the robot-destroying equivalent of a blood-drunk haze), looking over his shoulder and then flinching to awkward attention himself as he noticed Reyes was now accompanied by Mercy, the gorilla, and... the newbie.

His student.

Who looked about ready to either throw up or piss herself or both from what she had just seen him do.

Reyes was still clapping and smiling obnoxiously, Genji awkwardly lifted his wakizashi (smaller sword was less threatening, right?) and gave a small wave.

“Uh... yo,” he said.

“Er--excellent form, Genji!” Mercy raised her voice so he could hear her but it came out as a squawk, her desperation to try and diffuse the situation obvious in every intonation, “Very... efficient!” She had that ‘everything is going wrong but for the love of god be strong, Angela’ deliriously forced smile on her face, which he had seen both at 3 AM in the lab and at press conferences going down in flames.

“Thank you?” said Genji, sheathing both his sword and moving to walk toward them but then stumbling over a piece of broken training bot. He quickly recovered, straightened himself up to full height and walked briskly over to them before giving a stiff bow.

“So glad you could join us, Oxton,” said Reyes, turning to look at Tracer, his hands on his hips.

“Reyes?” Mercy’s voice was steel wire-tight, “May we speak?”

“Sure, Ange, what--” Reyes started but Mercy grabbed him by the loose sleeve of the hoodie and practically dragged him through the doors of the training area’s control room.

“Wait, shouldn’t we--” Tracer started feebly after them but the steel doors of the room slammed behind them. Tracer, Genji, and Winston all vaguely made out the muffled sounds of Mercy yelling at Reyes on the other side of the doors.

“What were you thinking?! What was that?!”

“What are you yelling at me for? I just thought he should get a little warmed up and the newbie should get some idea of--”

“Some idea of what?! We’ve only barely scratched the surface of the effects the chronal disassociation is having on her physical abilities and you’re throwing up these warzones like---”

“Hey, I just set up his usual training bot session, Doc, you got a problem with Genji’s style, you take that up with him--”

“I don’t have a problem with Genji’s ‘style’--! I--Don’t act like you don’t know what you’re doing---! Is this some other play?! Are you--”

Winston cleared his throat. “We should probably...”

“Right..” said Tracer a little sheepishly.

The three of them edged away from the steel doors. Genji glanced over at Tracer, who didn’t seem to know whether to even look at him as they walked themselves out of earshot of the argument.

“So you’re the new recruit from the flight program,” said Genji, folding his arms and trying to sound as casual as possible.

“Ah...y-yeah!” Tracer blurted out. She cleared her throat and stuck her hand out, “Lena Oxton! Callsign Tracer! Reporting for du--” blue light suddenly flared brightly around her from the glowing object on her chest and she seemed to catch herself, clearing her throat, “er... reporting for duty,” she said extending her hand again, which had somehow jerked back to her side with the blue glow.

Genji moved to extend his organic hand, found that that would be awkward with the hand Tracer had chosen to shake with, then hesitantly extended his prosthetic. She shook his hand so hard it jostled up his whole arm before she caught herself and withdrew her hands to her side, clearing her throat.

“Ah so that’s...” Genji started.

“Yeah it’s a thing,” said Tracer, glancing down.

“Well...” Genji gestured up and down himself, “This... is also a thing.”

“I can see that,” said Tracer with a bit of a nervous giggle. They both gave a glance to Winston.

“Oh!” Winston perked up and started unconsciously signing as he spoke, “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. Winston. I’ll be on the science team overseeing Tracer’s condition with the chronal accelerator. Along with Doctor Ziegler. So we’ll be watching while you’re training together!”

“I see,” said Genji, “And you’re...”

“From the moon,” said Winston.

“From the moon,” Genji repeated, both of them silently agreeing that they didn’t have to go into the ‘gorilla’ part of things. He glanced back at Tracer. “Look--” Genji started but then caught himself, “I--if I scared you back there...”

“You didn’t scare me!” Tracer blurted out.

Both Genji and Winston gave her steady looks and Tracer stiffened her shoulders slightly, “I mean... y’know it’s... nothing I can’t handle. Really!” she put her hands on her hips and huffed, “You’re pretty tame compared to some of the things I’ve seen,” she said. She was trying to inject an adventurous sense of swagger into her voice, but her youth undermined a lot of that.

Genji tilted his head slightly, studying her, and she made eye contact but didn’t sustain it for too long. He was used to that at this point. The red eyes were off-putting for a lot of people, but then his eyes flicked to Winston, then down at the chronal accelerator glowing in Tracer’s chest. There was something simultaneously familiar and alienating standing in their presence, and hearing the faint muffled sounds of Ziegler and Reyes arguing on the other side of the door, there was a spark of kinship between the three of them. Three people who wouldn’t have any place in the world without Overwatch.

“So how do we start?” said Tracer.

“Start?” said Genji, “Now?”

“Well, Doctor Z said you already went through all this stuff to re-learn coordination with all your...” Tracer gestured up and down at him, “Whatnot. And I figure, the sooner for me, the better, right? So lesson one, Teach! Let’s hear it!”

“Uh...” Genji rubbed the back of his head.

“Perhaps you could begin with assessment?” Winston suggested, “Establish what level of combat training Tracer should start with?”

The fastest way to do that is sparring, Genji thought and he got a horrifying mental image of Ziegler and Reyes emerging from their argument in the control room only to walk in on him punching Morrison’s beloved time-hopping newbie in the face.

“The first step to training is.... establishing the training space!” Genji blurted out. He vaguely remembered some lectures from his Shimada clan trainers indicating something similar, but the force that propelled those words from his mouth were more of the ‘70% panic’ variety.

“Establishing the training ground?” Tracer tilted her head.

“You can’t train in a cluttered space,” Genji pointed at the countless broken bits of training bots strewn across the training grounds, “You can start by cleaning those up.”

“...isn’t that your mess?” said Tracer.

“Who’s the teacher here?” said Genji, folding his arms.

“Right! Of course! Sorry!” said Tracer with a sharp salute before zipping off in a blue streak. Genji flinched hard at how inhumanly fast she moved and she seemed to catch herself as well, skidding to a halt on her heels. “Winston!” she called out excitedly, “Did you see that!? I did the thing! I did the speedy thing again!! I didn’t even think about it!! You’re such a good teacher, Genji!”

“I know,” said Genji, trying to look off stoically as Tracer zipped around the training grounds, picking up broken training bot bits and laughing between flashes of blue light.

“...you don’t know what ‘the speedy thing’ is, do you?” said Winston, very quietly.

“No,” Genji replied, also very quietly.

“You’re making this up as you go along,” Winston said flatly.

“It’s called ‘adapting,’” said Genji. He could still feel Winston’s eyes on him, skeptical. “I can adapt,” Genji said, mostly to himself as Tracer threw a bunch of training bot parts into a recycling bin with a loud clatter.

#overwatch #overwatch fic #genji shimada #tracer #angela ziegler

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