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darlingshane · 1 year

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The Icing on the Cake

Shane Walsh x F!Reader

Rating: 18+

Word Count: 2,6k

Summary: Shane's is full of surprises on your birthday :)

Content/Warnings: Smut, eating, cake, handcuffs, ice play, bj, dom/sub undertones.

– My Dear, Stefanie (@anna-hawk), as you can see, I wrote this with you in mind. This is my first attempt at writing a domme!reader, and I barely grazed the surface. I'm sure you would've taken this further, cause I know how much you like torture Shane, but please accept my humble take on this.

– Read below or at AO3.

Shane’s full of surprises on your birthday, but he wasn’t always exactly like that.

For what you’ve observed up until that moment, you’d never have pegged him as someone who easily submits or aims to please because he’s never cared that much to even try until now. In any aspect of his life, he always has to have the upper hand, but especially when it comes to dating. He’s shown clear signs of arrogance that often rubs you the wrong way in the few months you’ve been together. And both of you being every bit as stubborn as the other, you’re easy to clash every other week over petty issues. But whenever you fight it doesn’t take long to find a way to resolve that because let’s face it, the best part of arguing with him is the makeup sex.

On your special day, he proves that while yes, he can be unequivocally impertinent at times, he’s very thoughtful and sweet given the opportunity.

For starters, a couple of weeks ago, he offered to take care of all the details of your dinner party. You wanted something small at home with some friends, and he took over as planner and host for the evening, making sure you had everything you wanted for this particular day. Behind your back, he tried to adventure himself into baking a cake for the party to surprise you, but all his attempts didn't come up as he expected. He had limited time to learn and practice and while he lost the battle and gave up at the end, he saved the very last one he did to see what you thought. He set that one aside for the two of you, and ordered one from your favorite bakery to share with all your friends.

When the day comes, it's a lovely evening altogether with all your favorite people. The food is perfect. You gave Shane some pointers of what you wanted, and he did not disappoint at all. You could tell he was trying to impress you and turned on his charm up to eleven during dinner.

But if that’s not enough, he keeps upping himself and once everyone is gone he shows you something he’s made himself. A cake he kept hidden in a mystery box he put in your fridge earlier that day.

You watch his hands as they open the box on the counter to reveal the homemade cake.

“Don’t laugh. I've never baked before.”

“I’m not laughing,” but your mouth automatically curves, while you survey his creation.

It’s a simple chocolate cake, triple layered, a little uneven, with no decorations beyond the frosting and a single strawberry in the middle – and a lot of charm, you’d say. While it doesn't look the best, you really appreciate the effort he put into it.

“Are you sure you weren't baked when you did this?” You can't stop yourself from teasing him a bit.

He only rolls his eyes and sighs, “wanna try it or not?”

“I do! I'm sorry,” your hand squeezes his forearm softly. “Please, can I have some?”

“That's better,” scoffing, he slices a piece into a plate, and watches you as you bring a bite to your mouth, hoping it tastes better than it looks.

He did follow the recipe to the T. That was not the problem. It was the artistry that gave him a headache. But cake is cake no matter what, and as you savor it, you look at him wide-eyed, surprised by how good it tastes.

“Yeah?” the edges of his face soften, glancing at you bashfully.

“It’s fucking delicious,” your tongue swipes the chocolate from the corner of your mouth.

“Just like you,” he angles his face and presses a chaste kiss to your lips.

As you finish your slice, he goes ahead and rolls up his sleeves to help you clean up.

“You don't have to do that,” you tell him as he proceeds to wash the pile of dirty dishes, “you've already done enough, Shane.”

“I wanna,” he glances over his shoulder. “Go watch TV or something. Birthday girl shouldn't have to clean up.”

“Suit yourself,” you kiss his shoulder and retire to change into comfortable clothes and relax for a bit.

When he’s finished, he takes out the trash and comes back with something else he left in his car.

He sits on the coffee table and places another present in your hands that you eagerly open, only to be baffled quickly when discovering he got you a pair of handcuffs.

“What the hell am I supposed to do with these?”

“Whatever you want, darlin’,” his mouth pulls up at one of its corners, “you said once you wanted to tie me up –badly. Figured if you wanted to punish me for what I said the other day, this would be the perfect opportunity.”

“I mean… it doesn’t have to be a punishment. If I had to punish you for all the crap that comes out of your mouth, it'd take me a loooong time.”

“Suit yourself, but this is a one time offer, sweetheart. What's it gonna be?”

Your lips purse for a beat; with your mind already concocting a few ideas.

“If you're sure you can handle it, then I guess we could play with them.”

“Handle it?” he snorts, promptly standing up, beckoning you, “c'mon, let's see what you got, darlin’.”

Oh, he's in for a challenge, you realize.

Once you're in your bedroom, you have him strip down to his underwear in front of you while you observe how he follows your every order. This is something that you’ve always been partial to; having partners earning your affection by doing as you say is easily one of your biggest turn-ons, but not everyone is always willing to give up control like this, especially guys. Especially Shane Walsh, who surprises you once more tonight, fully offering his body for you to do as you please.

As you walk around him slowly, surveying every inch of his tall figure bathed in the light of your lamp, you pinch his butt to get a reaction out of him. He barely flinches and only licks his lips, entertained by how much you're enjoying yourself.

You order him to lay down on the bed and bring his arms over his head, and suddenly-overly-compliant Shane does as he’s told without questioning.

Once he’s taken that position, you crawl over his figure, straddling his toned abs as you secure his wrists with the handcuffs to one of the middle bars of the headboard.

“You’re having too much fun with this,” he chuckles.

“Oh, you have no idea, baby,” you purr in his ear, tugging the elastic of his boxers and releasing it to have it snap against his skin.

Then, you scoot backwards, climb out of the bed, and leave the room for a minute to gather something from the kitchen. In a small bowl, you put half a tray of ice-cubes to torture him a little.

“Jesus-Fucking-Christ,” he mutters when he realizes what you’re about to do.

“Language,” you scold, placing the bowl on the nightstand.

“I thought you said it didn’t have to be a punishment.”

“Changed my mind,” your lips curve up, as you proceed to remove all your clothes before climbing sensually back into bed, slinging your hips like a cat.

He mutters something as you settle on his thighs and get a hold of one ice-cube from the bowl. You hold it over his abs, without touching him yet.

“Just say the word and I won’t do it. But if you behave… I’ll give you a reward.”

“Like what?”

“I guess, you’ll have to trust me,” you wink at him. “What’s it going to be, lover boy?”

“Ice,” he exhales, offering his bare torso as he internally prepares for the change of temperature.

“Hmm, that's what I thought,” extremely pleased with his choice, you bring the ice cube to your mouth first and lick one of the sides before placing it on his navel.

His stomach hollows at the icy sensation, as you draw slow circles on his skin. By the way he breathes out, and his eyes flutter shut, you can tell he's already hard in anticipation of the newfound kink he didn't know he had. If you do it right, maybe he'd be open to repeating this again.

“You're so fucking gorgeous,” his breathing comes out a little shaky, as his eyes flick open.

“Did I tell you to speak?” questioning firmly, you purposely crease your brow.

“Ah, c'mon, I can't speak either?”

Clicking your tongue once, you shake your head and grab a second piece of ice from the bowl.

Holding it over his mouth, you ask him sternly to open it and when he does, you tuck it between his lips, so he can't utter a word while you have your fun.

“Do not drop it,” you reinforce before sliding the ice cube from his abdomen up his torso.

Leaving a trail of melted water on his skin, Shane shivers as the cube touches new spots, making his skin rise, and you can't help but smile at his reaction. You circle his wide pec a couple of times, and every time you graze his nipple, it earns you some delightful grunts around the cube that slowly thaws between his teeth.

You move it to the other side and repeat that action in the other half of his chest.

Having him like that is so much hotter than you ever thought, and he's surprisingly managing it better than you expected for someone who doesn’t like to surrender.

As a reward for behaving that well, you place the cube between your fingers aside and lean forward to lick the cold slickness around those sensitive peaks adorning his broad chest. The warmness of your tongue is a mercy, and he shuts his eyes for a moment, basking in that little treat as his whole body shudders beneath you.

Once you’re done with his nipples, you draw the curve of his neck and give him a few nibbles here and there on your way up to his mouth. With your lips, you remove the ice cube from him and lick it sensually as you set yourself straight, scooting forward on his lap until you're sitting right on his crotch that has grown considerably bigger since you started.

“Goddamn it, sweetheart. Are you trying to kill me here?”

Bringing a hand to your mouth, you laugh as you collect the remains of the cube on your palm and send it back into the bowl.

“What did I say about speaking?” you put a finger in the middle of his plush lips.

Knowing that he’s in big trouble again, he swallows his words.

You use that moment of unruliness to torture him for a little longer. Part of you wants to shove an ice cube in his underwear just to be mean. Instead, you forgo of that, and start moving your hips back and forth, rubbing yourself against his monumental erection.

With his eyes fixed on you, you bite your lip, pinch your own nipples and watch him writhe and groan underneath you. The rolling of your hips comes a little faster, getting your own arousal to stain his boxer briefs.

Bracing your palms on his chest, you keep rubbing yourself against him with passion, as he drinks you in, marveling at how fucking sexy you look on top of him. His hands pull on hard to get rid of their binds, desperately needing to touch you. That’s all he wants to do, and it drives him crazy not being able to fill his palms with your tits right now, and eat all his way down your body to taste the warmth of your pussy.

He has to put all his focus on holding the imminent orgasm that is held by only a shred of will. To avoid that, he clenches every muscle, and fucking prays in his head for you to finish before he does.

“Don’t fucking come until I tell you to,” you grumble firmly, noticing him already twitching between your legs.

You can tell he’s close, and it’s killing him that he can't complain either about your interesting approach. If he knows what's good, he’ll hold himself until the end.

Almost there yourself, as you work on your release, you throw your head back and use his swelling to shamelessly mark his underwear with all your juices as you get yourself off.

Letting out a long exhale, your body relaxes after the orgasm hits.

You lean forward again and utter right on his lips, “you better not have come when I take off these boxers. Have you?”

“Oh, may I speak now?”

“You may,” you scoff, amused. “Tell me, have you come or not?”

He considers for a moment, “you’ll have to see yourself.”

“Hmm,” with a questioning look, you peel down the band of his underwear to uncover his epic hard-on that's begging for a release. There's some wetness around the head, but surprisingly he hasn't come yet.

You can't help but tease him a little more as you use a finger to draw that straining vein that's close to burst. His cock jerks at the attention, making you laugh at how Shane mutters and presses his head against the pillow in total frustration. If he wasn't tied up he'd probably make you pay for that; but his new adopted position reminds him that it’s still your birthday, and you can do whatever you want with him, even when he's that close to losing it.

“Shh,” you hush, “it's time for your reward.”

As promised, you honor him for holding out so well by kneeling between his legs, so you can gratify him with your mouth. Without too much preamble, since you've tortured him enough, you draw a breath and dive right into it. Curling one hand around the underside, you sink your lips onto his length, and bob your head gradually faster, sucking the life out of him with every stroke and lick your tongue provides.

Given his state, getting him off is a piece of cake.

His pleasure produces heavenly sounds, as his hips move upwards, thrusting into your mouth to have his dick touch the back of your throat. It all fuels your burning desire to blow him harder until his orgasm reaches its crest, leaving your tongue covered in cum in its wake. You relish in those strings of seed, licking your lips and swallowing, as you pull your head back to see him completely overcome by pure ecstasy.

His body relaxes, as you move to rest on top of his heaving chest. He barely registers when you reach for the key and unlock his hands, and keeps them above his head for a long moment before realizing he's finally free.

With a dopey smile, he wraps his arms around you as you pillow your head on his shoulder, watching him come down for his high.

“We should do this more often,” it comes out hoarse, and he clears his throat.

Your hand is holding his jaw, as you guide his face to the side to have him lock eyes with you, “yeah? You liked that?”

“I… probably more than I expected,” he admits.

“Even the ice?”

“Even the ice. But not as much as those lips of yours,” beyond satisfied, he then brings a hand to your face, and his thumb tugs and releases your bottom lip, “what you did at the end… That was the icing on the cake, sweetheart.”

#shane walsh x reader #shane walsh #twd fanfiction #the walking dead #jon bernthal #jon bernthal smut #jon bernthal fanfiction #darlingwrites

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floralcavern · 3 months

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Jumping on the bandwagon and rewriting Wish!

I think it’s worth noting I have not seen Wish. I’ve watched reviews, other rewrites, and Spilling The Milk’s reaction video, but that is it. And I refuse to see it, since this is the type of movie that was perfectly crafted for me to hate, so I don’t want to waste 1+ hours of my life.

Let’s start with the backstory of the kingdom.

King Magnifico was a young dreamer within his own kingdom. But his kingdom was tyrannical. Magnifico joined an elite and exclusive group of sorcerers. He was the youngest one there, and the one who with the loudest thoughts. He was very open about his hatred toward the kingdom. But he was quickly shut down and even arrested for his radical ideas.

But then, the young princess of the kingdom finds him in the dungeon and they share a lot of the same views! This princess turns out to be Amaya.

So, together in secret, they plot to take down her father. They said they would rebuild their kingdom from the ashes, make a new world order where they will be infinitely times better rulers.

They were young, naive dreamers who didn’t realize that this plan could hurt a lot of innocent people. And it did.

Using Magnifico’s raw magical abilities, they manage to take over. But something maybe goes wrong and they end up destroying everything. Maybe Magnifico even ends up killing his own family. That’s a good way to fuck him up young 👍

They have to relocate and travel to new lands with refugees. Obviously, Amaya and Magnifico will lie to them all about what happened. They don’t want them all to know that they’re responsible for the deaths of their loved ones!

But after taking down the old kingdom with his magic, Magnifico’s magic is severely weakened.

But they realize the refugees spirits are very low. So Magnifico grants 10 of their wishes as a way to make them happier (and easier to manipulate, but he didn’t realize that was what he was doing or that was why he was doing it).

But now this started a new tradition. Every year, 10 wishes will be granted, as Magnifico claims he only had enough magic to grant 10. But the longer someone’s wish is separated from them, the more their life force is drained and fall deep into depression. So, why do they even bother throwing their wish into the pile?

It’s kind of like a gambling addiction. That desperation and hope from all the propaganda that maybe their wish is will be granted. Also, just lying and propaganda. Lots and lots of propaganda to get people to send in their wishes. So, ya, the fact that wishes may not be granted and stuff is well known and common knowledge.

Now, why do Magnifico and Amaya want wishes? Well, they’ve realized that Magnifico can absorb wishes and make his magic stronger. So every year, he gets stronger and stronger, but they tell everyone “Ohhhh. Magnifico is too weak for your wish. He can only grant 10. Sorrrrryyyyyy..” But in reality, that’s not the case. And Magnifico and Amaya are saying they want to “spread their perfect kingdom” to other lands, which is strange since they also promote the idea that their citizens should stay in the confines of their kingdom. It’s all about propaganda, baby!

Now, let’s get to Asha.

Asha is BLAND. She is a watered down, diet Anna from Frozen. Which is such a shame. So here’s what I’m gonna do with her:

Asha has always loved fairytales. She has a library that would make Belle proud. And because of her love for fairytales, she’s grown a love for magic! She rambled on and on about her love for magic and stories.

(Also, quick thing, I feel like her library full of fairytales could allow to get rid of so many unnecessary things from the movie that were added just for Easter eggs. Instead, they could be kept in the background of her library)

But Asha is very naive, which is something her grandpa worries about. Asha has a history of being taken advantage of because of her kindness. She has trouble telling genuine kindness and liars apart.

Now, her grandpa’s wish was to be able to inspire the younger generation. But it never came to fruition and now he’s too old. So Asha takes matters into her own hands and attempts to be an activist. Sadly, she doesn’t have bathe charisma or public speaking skills to be an activist. Usually, her speeches fall completely flat and end with her embarrassing herself.

But Asha’s biggest dream is to be a sorcerer. So, after enough begging, she manages to be taken in by Magnifico as his assistant.

At first, things go well! She makes somewhat good progress.

But somehow she figures out about Magnifico being a liar and using people’s wishes and purposefully not granting them, letting the citizens slowly have their life forces drain. She’s horrified, but Magnifico manages to manipulate her to calm down and just hear him out, yknow? And Asha wants to be able to trust him, so she calms down to hear him. But Amaya emerges from the shadows and knocks her out and has a couple of guards drag her to the woods to kill her.

But due to her little magical ability, Asha manages to escape the guards in the woods by the skin of her teeth and ends up stumbling across the spot her and her dad used to spend time in when she was young, causing her to break down sobbing.

She then makes her wish. A very vague wish that just things will be ok..

And then a cute little star creature appears! We spend around 5-10 minutes with this little guy, maybe a small song and Asha smooches its cheek, causing it to get all giddy and turn into…

Drumroll pleaaaase…

Starboy!!

Starboy

Oh Starboy.. we were so robbed.

Starboy is a giddy, chaotic, mute little guy. He’s always been interested in humans, but kept in the cosmos by the other Wish Keepers. But now that he’s actually face to face with a human, he attempts to act all serious and stoic. But with Asha, he has trouble doing that because he keeps getting flustered because he thinks she’s really pretty and he likes hearing her ramble about fairytales and magic.

Asha tries to learn to do her magic, but she can’t, so Starboy offers to help her out, but turns out, his magic is all wonky on Earth.

What I’m thinking is there’s a different magical force on Earth than the cosmos, so his magic is all out of wack. He continues to have random magical outbursts, of magic, causing chaos and accidentally getting him and Asha nearly caught multiple times. He also can see the souls of humans, seeing their wishes. The humans who have sent in their wishes and not been granted have souls that are deteriorated and this horrifies Starboy, making him realize how serious this all really is.

The Goat:

Oh GOSH, this thing. I’m keeping it, obviously, since every Disney princess needs an animal sidekick.

But I shall be taking away its ability to talk and giving it a backstory.

Asha’s dad had a prized goat. And her dad loved the goat. But shortly after her died, the goat also died, leaving only its baby. The baby goat.

I imagine that when it comes to Asha’s naivety, Starboy is mostly the kind of friend who goes “*Sucks in teeth* Yaaaa.. um.. you’re doing great, Asha.. haha..” Meanwhile the goat just rolls its eyes, wishing it could talk just to tell Asha what’s what.

Just make the goat have big expressions, make him the sassy one of the trio simply based on facial expressions.

Starboy x Asha

I have so many ideas. Starboy being mute helps Asha have to read body language and facial expressions and actually read people, which helps with her naivety and easily tricked by words nature. She no longer has to focus on the words coming from someone’s mouth, which is what she always was tricked by. The sugarcoated words, since “why would they lie to me?”

So Starboy being mute means she actually has to focus on things other than words, allowing her to have a deeper bond with Starboy than with anyone she’s ever had.

And with Starboy, he’s so obsessed with trying to prove himself to the Wish Keepers that he acts all stoic and serious around humans and not actually allowing himself to be curious and explore and be starry eyed and excited. So Asha helps him to loosen up and live in the moment, even for a second. She helps him realize he doesn’t have to prove himself. He just needs to help, and it can be in his own, unique way.

They continuously inspire each other.

The rest of the plot:

This one I’m still trying to figure out.

All I know is Magnifico and Amaya are convinced that they’re in the right and end up probably committing some war crimes in the neighboring kingdoms or something. They truly think they’re doing good. Then again, they thought they were doing good last time all those years ago with the old kingdom and ended up killing a lot of people. But Magnifico desperately wants to believe it was all worth it, since he literally watched his family die. He doesn’t want to believe that was for nothing. He and Amaya must spread their empire.

I imagine Asha learns the spell Magnifico used to take people’s wishes and used it on them at the end and we see their wishes. Idk that they would be, but something beautifully tragic probably, but also lowkey evil.

Asha returns their wishes to them, saying they are too evil to grant. Magnifico tries to manipulate Asha, but she holds strong and doesn’t fall for it. Magnifico and Amaya get angry and we get a Magnifico vs Asha and Starboy magic fight with Amaya in the end trying to absorb the wishes, as she desperately wants to help Magnifico. But since she has no magic experience or whatever, she ends up getting hurt and nearly dies.

Magnifico rushes to her and cradles her body. He wants to heal her, but his magic battle has left him incredibly weak.

Starboy tells Asha to look at Magnifico’s wish again, and it’s changed to hun only wanting his wife to live.

Asha and Starboy exchange a look, nod, and together they grasp hands and grant Magnifico’s wish.

Asha and Starboy decide to make them prisoners, doing laborious work. But despite the fact that they’re now criminals, Asha never separated the two from one another. She knew that they loved each other. She knew that they were well meaning, but they’re also dangerous and did bad things, so they must live out the consequences.

Also, of course Asha takes on the role of Queen! I like to think that Starboy ‘says’ his wish is to let these people have a ruler who will treat them well and for peace amongst them all. And his wish is granted, making Asha the ruler.

Asha tells everyone that she will not be ‘granting’ wishes. She says that they shouldn’t all rely on someone else to grant your wish, since waiting around for someone to do it all for you will only make things seem meaningless and less fulfilling. Instead, she promotes empowerment in oneself.

And then she would turn to Starboy and smiles softly and would say “And of course… it is always ok to let someone else into your life who wishes to help you.. to help grant your wish..”

Starboy later has to go back to space and him and Asha smooch.

And then it would later go to a scene where Asha is a little older. There’s a celebration, celebrating their day of liberation. Asha is looking out her balcony, watching the fireworks, and a star twinkles and Starboy appears on her balcony.

He gives her a look. That twinkle in his eyes and smirk and ever so slight head tilt she remembered so well.

Asha laughs. “What’s my wish..?”

He nods.

She smiles and looks down before looking back up to him. “To have you as my Prince Charming.. to let this be the perfect.. fairytale…”

Starboy smiles and flies into her arms. The two kiss and there’s a flash of light and Starboy turns into a normal human.

The end.

(I seriously hope I worded all of this ok and that you guys can see and understand my vision)

EDIT:

ALSO! I forgot to add this, but when all the village people see what’s going on and all that, they decide to help by rebelling against the guards. And it’s the grandpa who starts this revolt, since his wish was to inspire the generation. Also also, it eventually comes out that Magnifico and Amaya were responsible for killing everyone in the last kingdom and all the elderly folk have a moment of grievance and betrayal and maybe Starboy can use his magic to project the memories of the elderly’s loved ones, just to really show the king and queen what they have done, how they never actually saved anyone and actually ruined these people’s lives

#I think I made Asha autistic woops #disney’s wish #wish rewrite #writers on tumblr #Writers of tumblr #asha wish #starboy #starboy wish #writer stuff #writerscommunity #writeblr #Wish #disney wish #wish 2023 #Queen amaya #king magnifico #Fan writing

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flightfoot · 9 months

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So I have no idea how asks work, I hope o am doing the right thing.

Sooooo any miraculous fan fiction suggestion? Maybe something chloe focused? Because I am basically running out of fic about that on ao3,butaybe maybe maybe you can help me? Thank you!!!!!!!!!!(oh and thank you even if you don't aswer oh and sorry if I am disturbing you!!!!!)

Have a nice day :)

I'm happy to help! I read a crapton of Miraculous fics so I can help. I'm glad you specified Chloe fics because well, I need something to go off of.

Oh yeah, it probably goes without saying if you know me at all, but none of these fics will demonize Alya, Adrien, the class, any of that sort. I don't tolerate those fics.

So first of all, @generalluxun really likes to write Chloe fics, so looking through his AO3 page is probably a good idea. I Won't Let You, which is a one-shot of Felix and Chloe talking at the Hawkmoth defeat party, empathizing with each other's circumstances, is a particular favorite of mine, if you want a taste.

Now onto the rest of the fic recs!

well somewhere along the way our words I must've gotten lost by @noirshitsuji

Beelya where Queen Bee visits the Césaire house after Alya writes an article about her fighting Mr. Pigeon alone. Normally Chloé would like the publicity but Alya had titled it ‘The Birds and the Bees’. After that she ends up coming back to complain about her mother. And her father. And about the fact that her oldest friend seems uncomfortable around her. Her visits becomes weekly, then almost nightly. (Don’t forget to include Chloé redemption (and some “Bee Movie” jokes).) * Alya isn’t quite sure how she ended up here, in a place where she isn’t even surprised Chloé would seek her out to talk about her dad, where she wouldn’t even mind her doing so, where she would expect it, where she would– (–thud. She might be in trouble.)

I loved seeing Alya's and Chloe's relationship grow and change through the years here, becoming closer and trusting each other more!

---

Can't Sleep Either, Huh? by EmeraldButterfly

Chloe gets up late at night. Turns out she’s not the only one who’s worried about Pollen. (AU where former Miraculous holders have an empathetic link with their kwamis)

This one's really short, but I love Zoe and Chloe comforting each other, since they can both feel what Pollen's going through at Monarch's hands over the link.

---

at our wedding by @anna-scribbles

“Chloé,” Adrien said slowly, “At our wedding, are we gonna have to…” “No!” Chloé shook her head firmly. “We don’t have to kiss. We can do whatever we want. It’s our wedding.” “Oh, good,” Adrien sighed. “You have to kiss at a wedding,” Félix argued. “I don’t have to do anything and you’re not the boss of me!” Chloé shouted. “Yeah!” Adrien grinned. He grabbed Chloé’s hand again. “Yeah, it’s our wedding.” // Adrien and Chloé, wedding planning through the years.

This one's great for seeing how Adrien's and Chloe's relationship in particular has changed over the years, though Felix is involved a lot as well.

---

Restorative Justice by @kasienda

Chloé has never been a fan of Ms. Bustier’s community building activities. In fact, she detests them. She doesn’t want to learn about the drab boring lives of her peers. And she absolutely can’t stand it when their confessions make her feel things. Feelings that she doesn’t even have names for. But when Adrien unknowingly shares his struggles with his double life, Chloé vows she will do anything to get Ladybug to set things right. Even if it means pissing off the heroine. Chloé was already mad at her anyway.

I love this, everyone sits down in a circle and talks about their feelings and problems and work on making things BETTER, on healing and fixing things.

---

This last one is a special treat, it's one of the best Miraculous fics I've ever read (and that is saying a LOT).

Hold Me By Both Hands by @angelofthequeers

“I know he said never to take you back,” Plagg mutters. “But he’d change his tune if he knew.” He looks Adrien straight in the eye and, more serious than Adrien’s ever seen him before, says, “There’s someone you gotta meet. He’s been looking for that book for ages.” How differently might the events of season 2 have gone if Adrien had also known of Master Fu from the start?

This is a rewrite of seasons 2 and 3, with Lila being active and sneakier, Adrien not being left in the dark, and everyone talking things out a lot more. I ADORE the interweaving plot threads of this fic, it's fairly episodic in nature and it packs a lot into its word count.

The single best plotline it has, and the one that shoots it up to the top of my list of best ML fics, is its Chloe Redemption plotline.

Basically, Adrien says he won't be friends with Chloe unless she starts treating people decently, and so, taking this to heart, she goes looking for help in learning how to do that because well, she doesn't want to lose Adrien. So naturally, she goes to Marinette.

Marinette helps, but there are no shortcuts here. If you've seen The Good Place, Chloe's character arc here is a lot like Eleanor's was there, with her not only needing to learn how to be nicer to people, but t find reasons to WANT to be a better person, outside of simply wanting to avoid a bad outcome. I literally wrote an essay about Chloe's character development in this fic, THAT'S how much I loved it.

Anyway, seriously, check this fic out!

#ask #miraculous ladybug #ml fanfic rec #chloe bourgeois

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ridiasfangirlings · 2 months

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I had a dream that I was a ghost and the only person who could see me was my crush so... this but SaruMi.

Imagine this post-betrayal but pre-reconciliation, and neither one has any clue why only the other person can see them. Like imagine Yata’s out chasing a Strain causing issues in Homra’s territory. Kamamoto is helping him and they manage to corner the Strain but then Yata gets hit, Kamamoto is also knocked down for a moment. When he looks up Yata’s nowhere to be seen and Kamamoto looks around worriedly, yelling Yata’s name. Yata meanwhile slowly sits up, shaking his head and sweating because what the hell was that. He tells Kamamoto to stop yelling, he’s right here, but Kamamoto completely ignores him. Yata’s like hey shut up I’m here you know, standing right in front of Kamamoto, and Kamamoto worriedly yells ‘Yata-san! Where are you?’ as he walks right through Yata. Yata just freezes all ‘eh?’ and looks down at his hands, which are translucent, and promptly screams.

Poor Yata is just freaking out now, like did that asshole Strain kill me and now I’m a g-g-ghost. He shakes his head like no I gotta be cool about this, I can’t be a ghost right. He does at least realize that there’s no body and that makes him relax a little, he was chasing a Strain after all so this must just be a Strain’s power. He figures well Kamamoto can’t see him but he’ll just go back to Homra and Mikoto-san will definitely recognize him, or at least Anna will. Yata follows Kamamoto back to the bar, where Kamamoto tells everyone what happened. Kusanagi looks worried and says he’ll look into what the Strain power is, all while Yata’s waving his arms and yelling that he’s right here. Anna looks like something is bothering her but then she shakes her head, looking right through Yata like everyone else. Yata’s immediately deflated, he has no idea what to do now.

It’s weird having people walk through him at the bar so he decides to go try and find the Strain on his own, like maybe he can haunt that asshole into fixing him. As he’s walking down the street he passes a S4 blockade and decides to check it out, thinking maybe they’re after the same Strain. The S4 guys of course can’t see him either and Yata easily walks through them, thinking maybe there’s one good thing about being a ghost. That’s when a knife hits the ground by his feet. Yata falls backward and a couple of the S4 boys ask Fushimi what happened, Fushimi ignores them as he grins and says it’s awfully bold of Yata to walk right through a S4 blockade. Yata’s all you guys don’t own the street you know before cutting off as he realizes that Fushimi can see him. Yata’s like wait you really see me Saruhiko and Fushimi clicks his tongue all of course I do, you’re right there idiot. Hidaka nervously asks Fushimi if he’s okay, it sounds like he’s talking to someone but no one’s there. Fushimi raises an eyebrow all confused and Yata laughs weakly as he says it’s a long story.

Fushimi tries to drag Yata over away from everyone but imagine even though he can see Yata he can’t touch Yata either and his hand passes right through. Fushimi’s face goes pale and his breath hitches for just a moment before he recovers himself and grumbles at Yata to follow him. Once they’re alone Fushimi asks Yata what’s going on, Yata laughs weakly and says he ran into a Strain and somehow only Fushimi can see him. He wonders why that is, grumbling that it’s just his luck that the only one who can see him is a dirty traitor. Fushimi says he doesn’t want to be the only one who sees Yata either, telling Yata to go away. Yata’s like wait you can’t just leave me like this, help me out. Fushimi’s all why should I, we’re enemies remember, and Yata’s like well this a Strain thing right, it’s your job to handle this shit isn’t it. Fushimi says Yata isn’t his boss and Yata’s all come on Saruhiko please, Fushimi scoffs that of course Yata’s asking for his help only when there’s no one else. Yata groans and is like fine, I’ll just be like this forever.

He’s ready to walk away when Fushimi mutters ‘one day.’ Yata’s all ‘huh?’ and Fushimi matter-of-factly says S4 has been chasing the Strain that attacked Yata and the power wears off in a day, he just needs to wait it out. Yata’s immediately relieved all so I’m not gonna be stuck as a ghost. Fushimi’s all good, you have your answer now leave me alone. Yata hesitates and then awkwardly says well, thanks for the help and Fushimi just snaps at him to go so Fushimi can get back to his work. Once Yata’s gone Fushimi goes back to the alphabet squad, Akiyama has the information about the Strain up on a screen and is giving a debriefing. He mentions that his Strain can turn someone into a ghost and the only person who can see you is the person you’re in love with and Fushimi’s face is totally blank as he says what a stupid power, that can’t be the reason at all.

#sarumi #Talking K #and then Yata finds out about the crush thing too #and is like no that's gotta be wrong I definitely don't have a crush on that traitor #they are both in denial and even the Strains know it

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taintandviolent · 1 day

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long rambling rant about AHS delicate below the cut (contains spoilers!!)

listen, I had my qualms with this show from the get-go because it was filmed during the strike, and the circumstances surrounding said filming (after speaking with someone who shall remain nameless) were beyond shitty. but, not wanting to be a groundless naysayer, I gave it a good college try anyway. I went in with as little bias as I possibly could, truly.

Overall, the season felt very disjointed and haphazard for me. while it didn't lack the classic AHS stylization, the plotline didn't feel like a season of AHS at all. I'm not sure what it felt like, but it wasn't the show I know and love. albeit, i'm not a fan of pregnancy storylines and this was entirely that, at its core and even during its reveal, but i gave it a shot anyway, for the sake of it being AHS. I'm not sure why or what motivated RM to go with a story based off Delicate Condition, like what was the driving force where he read it and went NEEDS TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH AMERICAN HORROR STORY STAT???? don't understand that all. i guess it stays true to his recent obsession with focusing on real issues as opposed to ghosts and ghouls and fun shit, but I digress.

the lesser, supporting roles were all played wonderfully. everyone who was a 'background' character for lack of a better term did a great job. which usually isn't how it goes for AHS.... everyone does a great job and it's this amazing cohesive success, regardless of if you have a starring or a supporting role. didn't feel that way with Delicate. also having absolute monster talented actors like Billie Lourd and Leslie Grossman but making them some superficial PR specialists? weird. weird choices all around.

Emma Roberts didn't exactly shine in this role, but she wasn't playing the stereotypical bitchy girl that she usually plays so I can at least give her that?? i guess?? kudos for uhhh brancing out or something? it was a very lacklustre performance, in my opinion. as are most of her performances, but that's a conversation for a different day. i'll say that it was the most.... *grits teeth* invested I've been in her. all her other characters are just preppy bitches. anna at least had some emotional substance.

Kim K was.... well, not great, but she was better than I thought she'd be. I'll say that. I'm not convinced that she wasn't just being herself.... but yknow. she knows how to "play" a mean, scary upper elite type bitch in charge kind of role, I guess. sounds like I'm just describing her... well, anyway.

the finale felt extremely rushed. I felt like none of anna's hallucinations were explained, what was real, what wasn't real. what were they?? the sisterhood of what? why were they still alive after decades and centuries?? what was the baby? what was the fucking spider thing about??? why were spiders so prevalent in the promo stuff? and the - ugh lord have mercy, the "battle", if you can call it that?? a simple chant being what defeated Siobhan?? c'mon, be so for real with that. that was like they had NO idea what they were doing and they just decided last minute to be like "a magical whispered spell hooray!! the evil is defeated!!!" afjhdeskjsd. what.

is it worth a watch...??? uhhhhhhh I guess so?? if you're a completionist and wanna try? I truly don't know how to answer that man. like if this was my first introduction to AHS I probably wouldn't watch another episode of any season.

anyway, tldr AHS: Delicate was very weird and I rate it like a 3/10. Maybe 4 because of the supporting roles being acted well. I don’t know man.

#texty #AHS delicate

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dk-wren · 4 months

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Buddy Daddies Week - Ep. 9-12 Rewatch

Hello and welcome to Day 5 of my Buddy Daddies anniversary week! If you read the little end blurb from yesterday's post, let's just say things did not go according to plan and I decided to switch my planned post for today to tomorrow. That means today, I'll be sharing the last batch of thoughts and questions I had while rewatching the final four episodes of the series. And because this was a bit of a last minute switch, I was not able to grab as many images to accompany my notes at the time of posting. I will likely add those in later today or over the next few days. Hope you enjoy!

This interaction between Kazuki and Rei about Miri and who she gets her grit from is so cute because Kazuki saying she gets it from him paired with Rei’s side-eye (which in this case I interpret as due to disagreement) both convey how they deeply they feel connected to Miri and the father figure roles they’ve taken on for Miri

It’s kinda interesting to me how throughout this episode, at least based on the subtitles, Miri is the one who constantly says how she’s gonna win the gold medal. There are a few lines from Kazuki that sort of support that mentality, telling her she’s sure to win or that’s the spirit after saying she’s gonna get that gold medal, but overall, he generally just tells her to try her best. And I think that’s very sweet how he doesn’t really put that pressure on her and just wants her to do the best while enjoying herself.

Reason #? of why I love Miss Anna - her determination in the tug-o-war game (also gotta love how everyone is impressed/loves her even more for it)

Random bit, but again the sound design for this moment-perfect! I was so confused at first because I heard the crunching noises but in my head, I couldn’t put two and two together as to what would make that noise if Miri is just eating a normal onigiri. Then, it’s revealed why when Miri gets to her rice ball’s filling. Also, judge me all you want, but sound delicious and I will gladly take Kazuki’s judgmental stares and comments

Two other things about Papa Rei’s rice balls: 1) I love how imperfect they are in terms of shape and sizes, at least compared to Kazuki’s other prepared food. It does a good job illustrating how Rei is trying his best and still learning. And 2) I love how the different shapes/sizes might be due to the different fillings Rei put in, which of course would be revealed a few moments later, suggesting that Kazuki gave Rei his own space while he was making them based on his confused reaction

Even though Kazuki questions Rei’s choices in terms of what he put in the rice balls, I like how he puts back on a smile and asks him “See?” after hearing Miri’s enjoyment of them, circling back to Kazuki’s point that Miri would love anything he made for her (+ bonus small Rei smile)

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The fact that there is no hesitancy in their actions. Miri takes a few seconds to read and process her scavenger hunt “item,” then immediately goes for Rei. She tells him to come with her, giving zero explanation, and, okay maybe after a beat or two of processing and thinking about it, Rei gets up and follows her. Then, when Miri and Rei come back to Kazuki, she tells them to run and the two exchange a glance and go for it, winning Miri her gold medal.

What a great episode, with such a cute ending of Rei and Kazuki thinking about next year’s Sports Day. Post-credit scene? Nah, don’t know her. This episode also just ends with the credits.

(Okay, pettiness aside, did Ogino take these photos or another member? And has Kyu been stalling? This is most likely a threat, but is it to warn him that he could have some control as to what information gets back to the Boss (or the illusion of that idea)?

From my first watch of this episode, I always thought/joked in my head, you can literally see the moment Kazuki’s heart breaks when Miri runs to Misaki instead of him. Just another moment which has always stood out to me.

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Say it with me…character growth! When Misaki tells Kazuki and Rei that she is here to take back Miri, I can’t help but scream a little in how you can hear and clearly see Rei’s facial expression change at the thought of Miri being taken away

I know there’s a lot of conflicting opinions and views about Misaki, and while I will concede it was incredibly reckless and uncaring for Misaki to send Miri by herself to find her father, I think how Miri reacts to seeing her mother again says a lot about how Misaki outwardly presented/treated Miri. Underneath everything, I do believe Misaki loved Miri, even if just a tiny bit. Was she the best mother, probably not, but did she do the best she could given her situations, probably.

That being said, Misaki asking Miri (based on sub) if she’d rather be with her papas than with her does kinda irk me. The wording already sets up an underlying opinion, or that Miri would rather stay with Kazuki and Rei, which is only half of what Miri feels. Miri responds to Misaki’s question by saying that she loves her mama and papas, disagreeing with Misaki’s underlying question, but also making it known that she loves or wants to be with both of them. (I’m sorry if this is diving way into what I was taught in my rhetoric/writing classes)

Framing, let’s talk about, but not really because I am not knowledgeable enough in that regard, just gotta appreciate how when Misaki tells Rei and Kazuki that she wants to live her life for Miri, she is in frame, asleep on the couch, but right next to Misaki’s head/face. Maybe this is looking too into things (but that’s nothing new for me), but I feel like a connection could be drawn between what the mind wants and what her heart wants. And previously, all shots focus Misaki in the center of the frame, not seeing too much around her. Up until this point, Misaki is talking with the two of them with the knowledge they are in a “dangerous business,” but has yet to reveal this information to them. Before having to outright say it, Misaki is likely trying to convince Rei and Kazuki to agree to return Miri to her care. This is not to say Misaki made up or lied about having lung cancer (I do think she’s telling the truth about that), but in this moment, her mind is leading her more than her heart as she is attempting to remove Miri from this supposedly dangerous situation. Again, I do think Misaki loves Miri and wants to spend time with her, especially if she does not know how long she has to live, but I don’t think in this moment, it is her heart that’s fully leading her

When Kyutaro tells Rei and Kazuki that they better be willing to face the organization if they want to keep Miri, asking them if that’s what they want to do, Kazuki’s stuttering just comes up as “I…” in sub, which doesn’t give me a lot to work with. I think at this point, Kazuki is uncertain or unsure if he’s truly ready to fight back against the organization for a multitude of reasons. But, if he was about to say “I am,” or he’s ready/willing to take on the organization, I think that would explain a lot about his behavior when entering Suwa Manor in ep. 12 (which pulling from one of my previous post’s, I described as “Kazuki is radiating an abnormal amount of chaotic energy for him”)

Kyutaro’s line, “All this was ever a dream,” I’ve always been interested in what his intention was. Was it purely to convince them? Was he completely serious? I don’t think I have an answer for this, but it’s something that intrigues me

Give me another year and then maybe I’ll be able to put all my thoughts and feelings about the ferris wheel scene into coherent words. One thing I will say though, something I’ve never thought too hard about before, but during this rewatch it sorta stuck out to me, I feel it is towards the beginning of this scene that Rei fully processes or understands that the decision has been made for them to give Miri up based on his reaction to Kazuki saying “Normal happiness.” Also, whoever chose to have the same song in the background of this scene as in the hydrangea fields in ep. 7, thank you for irreversibly hurting me

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As has been pointed out before, the freaking parallels with Kazuki leaving his scarf with the kitten in ep. 1 to leaving his scarf with Miri in this episode, I will be crying in the corner if anyone needs me

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Can I just say how much the end credits hurt after watching this episode? Especially the last frame! They’re all chilling, napping on the couch together, what do you mean Kazuki and Rei just gave Miri up? No, they’re all still together!

Something that I really liked how it was handled was Miri’s perception on her parents. To her, Misaki is her mother and Kazuki and Rei are her fathers. Maybe it is just because she is young, but there are few things that could probably shake that view for Miri. She loves each parent for a specific reason or rather because they are really good at a certain thing. You could call it naive or innocent, but I loved how this then translated into Miri constantly saying she wants to be with her mama and papas whenever the question was posed. For her there was no choosing one over the other.

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Hello, high school English really rewired my brain because I am back on my Shakespeare symbolism. First off a random thought: how long were Rei and Shigeki talking that it went from being sunny (okay, maybe it was already sunset) to fully dark outside? And secondly, the fact that Shigeki reveals his hand, or that he will now take care of Rei’s outside ties (i.e. Miri and Kazuki), at night, in the dark, ooooo!

Perhaps because I have my mind wired a certain way while rewatching this time (sorry if this has already been pointed out before), but I find it very intriguing how scenes between Miri and Misaki are paired with scenes between Rei and Shigeki. Both children, Miri and Rei, are more or less reuniting with their parents after some time apart. However, Misaki is there almost comforting Miri, telling her that she’s changed and wants to continue changing to provide a better future and life for Miri. Whereas with Shigeki, he’s there to remind Rei he cannot change and his return to the organization was inevitable. Unlike Misaki and Miri’s scenes, Rei and Shigeki’s reunion is cold, formal, and all business.

Again, perhaps it is just a translation thing, but I can’t get over the implications that come with Shigeki telling Rei he has yet to close up his “affairs.” Sorry gonna let my inner nerd out for a little bit, but based on the definitions from Merriam-Webster, the first definition is “commercial, professional, public, or personal business,” which easily relates to this situation. Based on this definition, we can interpret Shigeki as asking Rei if he tied up his personal business, as in his connections to Kazuki and Miri. Adding a second layer, the second definition is listed as “a procedure, action, or occasion only vaguely specified.” To me, with the keyword of “vaguely” in this second definition, “affairs” in this sense would compliment Shigeki’s clear distaste for Kazuki and the idea of Rei spending time away from the organization and with people he views as “lower” than their family. Likewise, it represents Shigeki’s distance from Rei and how he is only concerned with the end result, or Rei returning “home,” and not what comes in between or what must be done to get to that point. And for the third definition of “affair,” Merriam-Webster states “a romantic or passionate attachment typically of limited duration.” Now, “romantic” can be omitted depending on how you view Kazuki and Rei’s relationship, but the general ideas of a deep, or “passionate,” connection and “limited duration” stick out because under this lens, then Shigeki is literally undermining Rei’s ability to grow or belief that he has changed. “Attachment” goes back to Shigeki’s talk about Rei finding fixations that he must overcome or ignore because of the future he envisions for Rei in terms of taking over the organization. Shigeki believes Rei’s love for Kazuki and Miri is simply that, a fleeting feeling, and not one that was fostered and equally reciprocated. Similarly, in viewing Rei’s relationship with Miri and Kazuki as only temporary, this reflects Shigeki’s certainty that Rei would always come back to the organization. Bottom line I guess is no matter which definition you interpret Shigeki’s use of the word “affairs” at Rei, or in viewing each definition as another layer, it is loaded with his sole goal of making Rei feel like it was inevitable for him to return back to the organization and back to his side as the future heir

Ogino’s reaction to Kazuki yelling “Now, Rei,” conveys a lot of information about Rei’s image and status within the organization. If even a top member like Ogino immediately reacts, without fully knowing if it is a ruse or not, I’d argue tells a lot about the level of skill and efficiency Rei is known to have by other members

It’s a small gesture, but in her dying moments, Misaki telling Miri she’s sorry for being selfish, and then using the back of her finger to touch Miri one last time, a part which is not bloody, I just, ahhh. Forgive me if this is a stretch, but the fact that Misaki is purposefully not getting Miri “dirty” and in her own way, is trying to spare Miri from the darkness of the world or in doing what she can to help keep Miri’s innocence. Let me go scream over in this corner.

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The four episodes covered in this post have a lot of really good examples of Rei’s growth over the season. The balcony scene is no different since you have Rei going from asking Kazuki if they can change (from ep. 8), uncertain of the answer himself, to telling Kazuki they can change, already having convinced himself and now needing to convince Kazuki

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I still can’t get over the fact that Rei and Miri both have their own aprons now too! Though I’ve still yet to fully figure out what Rei’s is. For whatever, reason the white coloring makes me think it’s a polar bear on the front, but I don’t know how much sense that would make otherwise. I feel like if Kazuki bought the aprons, it’s likely a cat on Rei’s apron. (And that’s this episodes random thought or detail I’ve spent too much time thinking about)

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Another moment that always manages to melt my heart: Miri struggling to put on her boot because she’s grown that much and the rapid succession of Kazuki asking if she forgot anything, Miri saying no, Kazuki asking about her handkerchief, her immediately saying she forgot, then Rei joining Kazuki and Miri with said handkerchief in hand. They’re a family y’all and they sure do operate like one.

Thinking about it now, I kinda wondered why Miri only made Rei make a pinky promise with him. Rei has grown a lot over the series, but between the two, he is still the more reserved and papa. Perhaps, this is why Miri only makes Rei promise since she knows Kazuki will be at the concert no matter what. Based on the translations I had though, when Miri tells them they better be at her concert, especially since her mama, or Misaki, won’t be, Kazuki responds with “We will” while Rei says “We promise.” With Rei explicitly saying “promise,” maybe that’s what leads Miri to make a pinky promise with him, which so clearly affects him for the remainder of the episode

What it’s been, like nine months and I still cannot get over Kazuki and Rei’s entrance and fight in Suwa Manor! Like, I wish I had more to say but I’m just yelling, rooting for them and love seeing them both be badasses

I know it's been pointed out, but man, the fact that Rei’s hair comes down during the kitchen fight as he is about to deliver the final blow to Ogino, with a little help from Kazuki, just shows his progression of who Rei really is, not the Murder Machine, or a living weapon, but Rei Suwa, a person and father

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It’s so simple, and yet, and yet! the power that comes with Rei saying goodbye not to his Boss but to his Father, oh my gosh. He is not just walking away from the organization and his position, he is fully walking away from his family cause he’s got a new (and better) one waiting for him, just as he is

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Such a small detail, but gotta love how Miri has kept that green teddy bear with her as she’s grown up

Perhaps this is just my imagination, but does teenage Miri’s voice sound different here than the one in Kazuki’s imagination. If so, that’s awesome because Kazuki wouldn’t know how exactly Miri would sound that many years later, and how Miri turned out nothing like Kazuki had feared

These photos! I love it all! I hope Kazuki, Rei, and Miri are all able to continue living peacefully and with each other for a long time!

And that's a wrap on my rewatch!

I had a lot of fun getting to revisit so many of these scenes and letting the more analytical side of my brain take-over. I know these were long posts, so I really mean it when I say I appreciate your time and support! Also, I originally wrote down all my thoughts on a doc, which is currently sitting at just over 9k words and 16 pages. So, I did try my best to condense what made it onto each post (let me know if you want me to post the full version for any of the eps). I've still got two more days of content planned, which I'm really looking forward to sharing! Unfortunately, school is about to start up for me again, so it might be a little bit of radio silence afterwards.

Thank you again for all your support and joining me on my rewatch!

-Dakota Wren

#buddy daddies #buddy daddies anime #buddy daddies rewatch #dk wren's bd celebration week #kazuki kurusu #rei suwa #miri unasaka

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highkeyweeb · 1 year

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Here’s why I think each Buddy Daddies episode has the title it does!

Fun Fact: Did you know that the color of the title card gives you an indication who the episode will be about?

Of 13, there were 5 Kazuki episodes, 3 Rei episodes, 3 Miri episodes, and 2 neutral episodes!

Episode 1: Piece of Cake (red) ❤️

Embarrassingly self explanatory, it’s the cake that Kazuki baked that drew Miri’s attention to him when he was entering the elevator.

But I also think it’s used ironically, since the plan that Kazuki had for the assassination goes completely haywire. Especially considering it was supposed to be an easy mission.

Episode 2: The Kiss of Death (blue) 💙

The ‘kiss of death’ is a mafia term that signifies a member of a crime group or organization is soon to die. Kazuki and Rei’s job this episode was to assassinate a man who was a part of some type of gang.

This one is a ‘Rei’ episode because he’s typically the one to take out their targets and would be doing the killing, so the mark on the targets head falls on Rei to deal with.

Episode 3: The Spice of Life (red) ❤️

This one probably has to do with the fact that when Kazuki confronts Miri’s mother he tells her that children are a gift despite being a lot of work. That they make your life exciting, worthwhile, and worth living; they make it ‘spicy.’ In this episode Miri officially becomes the spice to his and Rei’s life when he definitively decided they’ll be taking her in!

Episode 4: What Will Be, Will Be (pink) 💖

The phrase itself means that you can’t stray away from your predetermined fate and that everything that’s supposed to happen will happen. With that in mind, I think it has to do with Miri making friends at daycare.

Even getting her into the daycare was a hassle, but then once she got in she was an outcast. However, when letting things take their natural course (her and her dads being themselves), she was able to get into the right daycare for her (with a loving teacher like Miss Anna) and make friends in the end.

Everything played out the way it was supposed to from the beginning, because Miri only deserves to be in a loving environment (and not at that first daycare with the grumpy old lady) surrounded be people who appreciate her and want her company.

Episode 5: Crunch Time (red) ❤️

Also fairly self explanatory, it’s crunch time for Rei and Kazuki because they’re running low on funds. On top of that Miri’s daycare is closed so they’re literally on a time crunch in order to get some of Kyu’s work done.

A more implicit meaning could be that it’s time for them to confess to Kyu that they’ve been hiding Miri, and deciding whether it’s still possible or efficient to keep her a secret any longer.

A ‘Kazuki’ episode because he’s clearly very stressed throughout the entire ordeal, but I also think it becomes clear for the first time that he’s afraid of having another family be taken from him. He’s doing his all to make their arrangement work out, even to his own detriment.

Episode 6: Love is Blind (pink) 💖

Another easy one! Miri loves everyone despite their faults, and is even seen showing kindness to someone she got into a “fight” with, as well as a literal criminal. She isn’t upset at Taiga for getting them lost, and genuinely believes she’s helping the thief by telling them they had to pay for the food.

She has a kind and loving heart no matter the person or the situation!

Episode 7: After Rain Comes Fair Weather (red) ❤️

This one is actually a Japanese proverb, but it has a pretty simple interpretation: after bad things come good things.

A Kazuki-centric episode where he reflects on his tragic past while it rains, and then the sun comes out once he’s confronted with the realization that there are good things in front of him and ahead of him.

Episode 8: Nothing Seek, Nothing Find (blue) 💙

A saying that means that you won’t get results if you don’t search for them yourself.

Rei has lived his life up until this point just going through the motions and the requirements that the organization has given him. For the first time in his life (and the show) he finally stops and thinks about his life and what he wants.

He hadn’t sought out a purpose for living before, so he never had one. But then Miri fell into his lap and as he slowly started to try for her, he found his purpose.

Episode 8.5: Cherry-Pick (white) 🤍

Included it cause why not? A cherry-picking of the most important and plot influential moments from the past 8 months.

I don’t think the color of the title card has any meaning for this episode, but I do think it has meaning for episode 12~

(To be fair I only really included it in the graphic because I initially planned for there to be 13 episodes and I didn’t want to rearrange it).

Episode 9: No Sweet Without Sweat (pink) 💖

A phrase that means achieving good things takes a lot of hard work, which is why we see Miri working hard to train for the race in the beginning of the episode.

It’s also used to motivate people to preserve, so even though Miri didn’t win the race like initially intended, she kept her head up, kept trying, and her hard work resulted in her family winning in the end.

Interesting that this phrase has such a similar meaning to episode 8’s title, showing that both Rei and Miri had episodes where they achieved some type of result after a setback (less literal for Rei, since he was being ‘set back’ to step 1 in life) further increasing the number of parallels between Miri and Rei that we see throughout the show!

Episode 10: Lost at Sea (red) ❤️

A bit of a confusing one to decipher initially. I’m inclined to say they were “lost” about what to do with Miri but they come to their decision pretty quickly as most of the episode is about their day out with her.

Instead, it seems more like this episode is named this way because even though the choice in their heads about what is best for Miri is clear, their hearts are confused, and they feel lost about who they even are without her in their life as shown in the very beginning of the next episode.

A ‘Kazuki’ episode because it’s obvious that he was the one overly invested in their little family from the very beginning. He’s also the one who makes the decision to let her live with her mother.

Episode 11: Everyone Will be Hypocrites (blue) 💙

The episode where every character in the show exhibits hypocritical tendencies: Misaki for saying she will do better for Miri and take care of her from then on, and then dying.

Kazuki for believing that they could change and be a family together, and then saying that they had to send Miri away because that was what was best for her.

Kyu for calling Misaki to take Miri away because he believed that would be the only way to keep her safe, then noting that she was safest with Kazuki and Rei because they knew the threat of the organization and could actually protect her.

However, despite everyone contributing to the title in some way, this is a ‘Rei’ episode because the organization is the sole reason for all of this episodes developments. He’s faced with the reality that returning isn’t good enough, and learns about the lengths the Boss will go to.

Episode 12: Daughter Daddies (white) 🤍

There’s a line in episode 11 where Kazuki and Rei say “it won’t be fake this time” because they’re not going to be taking care of Miri out of obligation from killing her parents and having no where else to take her they’re going to be doing it because they love her and want to be a family with her, that’s why it’s going to be ‘real.’

That’s the point of this episode and this episodes title, everything they do from here on out they do for Miri. Since they left the organization, being ‘buddies’ isn’t the gimmick anymore, it’s just two daddies raising a daughter together.

Plus, the color white often symbolizes completion, so there’s no better color for the final title card of the show.

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princesscatherinemiddleton · 1 year

Note

What would you like to see from Kate’s Centre?

I’m fairly sure the Centre is research-led and I don’t know what falls under its remit so these are just things I’d like her to do in the area of the Early Years

Support with the creation and implementation of a support network (predominantly but not completely online) for new mums, expectant mums, and mums who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth or child loss. Like mumsnet but better and less catty (also, where I said mum, read parent, but there would obviously be more focus on the parents who gave birth)

Continued focus on neuroscience and early neurodevelopment. A lot of the research should be focused in this area

More work around perinatal health and mental well-being, working with charities like the Maternal Mental Health Alliance

A collaboration with forest schools to promote outdoor play and learning. I’d love for her to find a forest school which provides ideas or resource packs for families who don’t have access to outdoor areas and for her to provide an idea based on her Back To Nature garden (I’ll never forget it even if Kate does)

Work on raising awareness of the less palatable maternal mental health conditions - I’m thinking specifically of things like Post Partum Psychosis. Speaking with mothers who have been through it, professionals, support groups. Lending her voice or name to a physical awareness campaign

A combined “dads” campaign with William. While I’m sure they would target it at dads, it should be for the non-birthing parent. Provide a space for the discussion about their mental well-being and their concerns

Supporting (using the data) the creation of a training programme for professionals. It could be combined into academic training (degrees) or be standalone and delivered by a charity to early years leaders and child educators. It should focus on the science behind the early years, the importance of the child’s mind, and ensuring the learning provided for the children fits with the latest in academia

Something (and I’ve not thought about this too much) around the next step (5-10). Supporting children when their school goes from learning through play to learning from books. Promoting the same ethos and understanding about the early years for all children. Collaborating with forest schools, Steiner schools, Montessori schools, homeschoolers, anyone and everyone who doesn’t follow the traditional school method. Celebrating neurodiversity

If research is being done, keep it in people’s minds. If the Centre is researching “does playing structured team sports increase the production of dopamine in under 5s” have Catherine regularly visit under 5s playing team sports. Have her visit a testing centre. Have her look at the results and learn about how to use those results to come to a conclusion. On that note…

Admit when the data doesn’t back up their thoughts. If the data came back with “no, there is no evidence that playing structured team sports increases the production of dopamine in under 5s”, say that. They can still say team sports is good but they could then adapt the research. Is it sport in general? Does it increase the production of another chemical? Is it a purely physical benefit?

Once a year, hold what is essentially a massive fun fair in a big London park (Hyde Park?). Ask for businesses to donate their time to set up food stalls, games, activities. The money raised can go to the centre, as well as the centre’s partners and the charities represented in the advisory group (Anna Freud Centre, Action for Children, the MMHA). Get the whole royal family to come - it’s a day out for kids

Separate the Centre from the Royal Foundation. Have a completely different core team, a completely different social media team, different leadership. Promote the work of the centre on their social media, not just of Catherine and the centre. It needs to be its own thing

It should be child-focused, not about the future adults children will become

#anon #answered #kate

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thoughtdump · 1 year

Text

My takeaway’s from Anna’s interview that nobody asked for or probably even wants:

- Explaining how she used to be so lively/energetic & loved attention as a kid but once she started figure skating she was able to put that energy into something “more productive” (figure skating) because of how now she’s not like that anymore. She never speaks up, she puts up with everything & bottles all her emotions inside. (And she says this like it’s a good thing). No babe you just lost your light & got the life sucked out of you!

- I appreciated her interrupting the interviewer when the interviewer was going down a path of trying to get Anna to talk about “controversial” topics because it was inappropriate but on the flip side Anna practically saying “if the news regarding the Russian ban isn’t good developments then I just don’t pay attention to any of the news “over there”” is incredibly tone deaf & beneath her. Didn’t expect that from her. I guess they ALL are full of themselves & brainwashed beyond repair.

- These girls have undiagnosed eating disorders. Every single one of them.

- Abused abused abused. She doesn’t even know it. It’s just downright sad.

- Alina seemed/seems to be the only one who truly supports her & always saw she was a gold medal contender even when everyone else thought she wasn’t. I also think it goes both ways, Alina doesn’t seem to have a lot of friends aside from Anna. Glad they have each other in this disturbing environment.

- Interviewer sprinkling Russian propaganda every 2 seconds by pretty much saying the Russians are the only good athletes in the entire world & without them, other athletes from other countries “know that competitions without Russians aren’t fair” (which isn’t true, it’s the complete opposite actually & tbh it’s been nice to watch figure skating knowing their demonic presence isn’t there) is not surprising but still incredibly blood boiling. These people are on another planet. Delusional is an understatement. Lost causes.

- Her explaining her emotions/mental state after winning gold is literal depression. As she mentioned, it was complete emotional burnout. The abuse isn’t worth it. At the height of her career & she feels absolutely nothing & it sends her into an existential crisis of essentially ‘this is it? This is what it feels like to win gold? Nothing?’ Just another example of how these girls are used as tools for the federations success. The life of a girl is worth nothing to them. A long, healthy career is nothing to them. The pressure of knowing that you have literally ONE chance to be perfect, that you will never come back to the Olympics because your body has been broken down by our methods… it’s too much & that’s what you get because of it. A 17 year old winning gold at the Olympics & feeling complete emptiness. Because winning isn’t everything.

- Overall, every time a Russian does an interview I wish I never read it :)

#figure skating #russian figure skating #anna shcherbakova

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lizzyverydizzyyo · 6 months

Text

D.E.A.N | Chapter 25 - Getaway

Masterlist and overall summary of the whole novel is here. | Prompt on trope-appreciation-tuesdays that inspired this is here. | @whumptober-archive

Fandom : Original Work

(I) (II) (III) (IV) (V) (VI) (VII) (VIII) (IX) (X) (XI) (XII) (XIII) (XIV) (XV) (XVI) (XVII) (XVIII) (XIX) (XX) (XXI) (XXII) (XXIII) (XXIV) (XXV) (XXVI) (XXVII) (XXVIII) (XXIX) (XXX) (XXXI - END)

AO3

Wordcount: ± 3826

TW: Suicidal Ideation, Depression, Mention of Sexual Assault Threat, Mention of Torture, Medical Procedure, Medical Instruments, Mention of Weapon/Gun

The time has come for Mark and everyone around him to commence their escape plan. There is no way around this.

Whumptober 2023 Themes:

Day 16 — “Don’t go where I can’t follow.”

Day 17 — “Leave me alone.”

Day 19 — Psychological

Day 29 — Troubled Past Resurfacing

This story is set in the last half of 2016.

——

Something is thrown at him, some kind of clothing. It roughly rouses him from his sleep.

“Get up.”

He blearily raises his head from his crossed arms on the bed. He sees Anna there with an urgent look.

She now goes around the bed to the empty side across from Mark.

“Wake him up too,” she simply says.

He just now notices that Anna’s hands are full. She is carrying tons of gear and other things with her own weapon slung on her shoulder. One of the gears is the bullet-proof vest she just threw at him.

“What’s going on?” he asks in confusion.

“Something about someone accidentally turning on his laptop parts connection. I don’t know,” she answers while walking around doing whatever she is doing, her voice impatient. “Just get him up.”

Mark has just finally realized what some of the things she is bringing are. They're D.E.A.N earpieces comms with some radar wristwatches. Anna's HT is nowhere in sight.

The good thing about being in D.E.A.N is that a lot of things are catered to him and his fellow agents, like those earpieces and the radar wristwatches which are designed specifically for D.E.A.N—the division's preferred mode of communication with each other when in action, as per their standard training.

The earpieces are smaller and more ergonomic than those in public circulation; unobtrusive when agents need to move quickly, even with the attached speaker—which is just as tiny with the length not reaching up to the wearer’s mouth. With their sizes, the earpieces are quiet; the sound coming from them goes directly to the wearer's ear and the speaker is also highly sensitive. There is no need to be loud and have any intel heard by enemies or give away the wearer's position if the agent needs to hide. Each earpiece has a small electrical board for control to be inserted into a specialized slot on the upper sides of their bulletproof vest.

Besides the earpieces, they have wristwatches for radar and mapping purposes which, to some extent, can predict what obstructions are near the wearer, like walls or nature elements if they are outdoor. Apart from those, they can register anything into the wristwatch's database before dispatching and activating them, and the registered objects will show up as dots of various colors depending on what they are: the agents themselves who are similarly wearing the watches, explosives they set as traps, or other items. It's very handy for locating each other if they are in chaos or separated, or for traversing unfamiliar terrain.

Both items have incredibly important features that most of their other comm devices (and other government agencies') don't have; the hardware itself is created to support D.E.A.N’s more rigorous security and encryption technology. While nothing is truly 100% unhackable (as shown by the teams’ concern with Agent Van Hoven’s suggestion before), both devices are definitely much more secure than other widely known comm devices.

When worn together and wirelessly connected to each other, the earpiece and radar watch prove to be paramount for a mission's success and an agent's safety.

Unfortunately, because of their sizes, their storage for electrical power also has to be small, regardless of how advanced it is compared to other batteries produced in the world. The two devices may have the technology of charging using the kinetic energy of the agents running around, but D.E.A.N still won’t just whip them out willy-nilly if it’s not possible to find a stable source of power anytime soon.

The bad thing about being in D.E.A.N is that, more often than not, they are fucked, especially right now. The fact that they’ve decided to wear those devices at this point means the situation has become serious and dire.

Helga must be coming and close.

So, at the sight of those items after hearing Anna's words, all sleepiness is immediately shed from Mark's body, and he moves quickly to stand from his chair. He puts both hands onto Nick’s shoulders to push at the sleeping boy firmly, but not roughly.

“Nick,” he exclaims urgently as he keeps shaking Nick, “Nicky, get up.”

Nick still doesn’t wake up.

“Nicky,” he repeats more firmly as he shakes Nick’s body even harder, “you need to wake up.”

He pushes and shakes Nick a few more times, fear jolting in his heart with how difficult it is to wake Nikolai up. He worries that something might have gone wrong along the time that he was asleep.

Fortunately, Nick opens his colorful eyes again, although they look a little red and bleary.

“Mark?” he slurs with confused voice.

Mark bends down a little to get closer to Nick so that he doesn’t have to talk so loudly.

“We need to go. They say this headquarter is not safe anymore.”

Nick furrows his eyebrows. “How?”

“I don’t know,” Mark simply says with Anna’s impatience somewhat bleeding into him, turning around to grab his own vest and items. “It’s just not, okay?”

Several people are walking into the room, as he can hear from the multiple footsteps. When he turns around, he sees Angie and Doctor Lowe there.

“He awake?” Doctor Lowe questions gravely.

Mark is busy wearing his vest and adjusting his earpiece, looking at his surrounding to check if there is anything they might need to take, so he says distractedly, “Yeah.”

“Good,” Angie now responds, walking closer to both of them, “get ready now.”

In the background, a nurse enters the room carrying one handheld bag. Mark recognizes her as one of Doctor Lowe’s nurses who assisted the first surgery in their own headquarter before. She approaches the surgeon, who is rummaging through the med bay for whatever medical tools and items they might need.

They only have one medical bag with them as they go over all the drawers and table surfaces to take whatever they need, quietly discussing with each other regarding what to take and what not take to make sure they fit into the bag.

“We’ll take off his IV, yeah?” Angie asks Doctor Lowe distractedly too, now focusing on taking Nick’s right hand.

“Yeah, he needs them off. Otherwise, it’s just gonna get tangled,” the surgeon replies in the background. “We’ll put IV drips in again when he is safe with the backup team if he needs it.”

That’s all Angie needs to hear. She quickly darts to the closest medical cart and pulls out a drawer to take some medical tape and alcohol swab. She still has Nick’s hand in one of her own, so she can quickly step closer to Nick and cut down any unnecessary action to be efficient.

Mark is now helping Anna carry the stuff she brought inside as she is wearing her own vest, utility belt, earpiece, and watch—taking inventory of all the gears and tools and deciding which goes to who. Where Angie and Nick are, Mark can see in his peripheral vision that she is putting all of the medical stuff she needs on the bed. Mark is tapping the tiny button of his earpiece to turn it on while looking at the watch’s screen to check if they’re synced and working, so he doesn’t pay too much attention to either Angie or Nick.

Still, he knows that Angie immediately but carefully peels off all the medical tapes that’s still on Nick’s back of palm, which are tethering the saline and blood transfusion IV needle to his hand. For the needle, she is pulling it out more slowly and carefully until it’s completely out of Nikolai’s vein. She then rips the package of an alcohol swab and pushes it onto the entry wound. Her other hand is grabbing the medical tape roll to pull and rip out a new one before plastering it onto Nick’s hand on top of the swab.

Throughout this time, Nick is pretty much ignored, so no one is aware of Nick’s combative look until he suddenly pulls his hand away from Angie.

“No.”

They all stop moving out of surprise and puzzlement.

“I’m not going.”

They stare at Nikolai, their brains taking an awfully long time to understand what he means.

“Nick, you’re—”

“I don’t care,” he grits out again to the 5 of them. “What’s out there for me anyway? More of my torture footage? PTSD? Bullshit permanent medical conditions?”

“Nick, I know you’re upset, but this is not the time,” Angie tells him, clearly trying really hard to be patient and not get irritated.

“No,” Nick says again more firmly. “Whatever’s waiting for me outside, even if we can escape Helga, I don’t want any of it.”

“Nick—”

“I don’t fucking care,” Nick spits out once more, now to interrupt Mark, his glistening eyes blazing, “I’m not going. They can shoot me dead for all I care.”

Anna hisses and throws her head back in frustration before turning around to stomp to Nick's direction.

"Listen," she starts harshly, "You're traumatized. You're suicidal. You wanna die. Yada yada yada. I get it."

He and Angie just stare at Anna—even their grouchy surgeon too— dumbfounded by the sheer cruelty in her words when Nick is already emotionally fragile like this. Even Nikolai looks shocked at her insensitive speech to the point that he stops looking depressed and becomes angry instead.

"But, they're NOT gonna kill you. Do you understand?" she half-yells at Nick's face. One hand that's not holding her rifle harshly lands on Nick's shoulder.

Mark is about to shout back at her on Nick's behalf, but she doesn't let him put a word in before she talks again.

"They're going to fucking put you through the hell you went through for years before!" she continues exclaiming angrily at Nick's face, her own brown eyes furious as they stare up at Nick's heterochromatic ones, "Maybe even so much worse because you got away and broke their digital defenses down."

Nick's face falls slowly into devastated and even afraid expression, and Mark won't deny the fact that he somewhat agrees with Anna.

"Is that what you want, you little shit? You want to be tortured and gangraped and whored out again? Beaten up, starved, and tased for however long it takes for us to rescue you again? If at all? That what you really want? Huh?"

There is a long moment of silence while Nick searches Anna's eyes, and there is an almost imperceptible change in Anna's eyes into looking desperate.

Mark realizes that Anna, too, is scared for Nick—scared that in her watch he will be caught, taken away and hurt again. Maybe she doesn't want another mounting guilt in her conscience after making Nick almost killed himself before.

Nick eventually pushes himself forward to drop from the bed. He pulls his jacket tighter around himself, looking at Anna and the rest of them. Without words, his face signals that he finally relents and agrees to go with them.

"Thank fuck," Anna shouts.

She throws a bullet-proof vest at Nick then hurriedly shoves an earpiece comm and a watch into his palms, which he receives with a clueless look.

“Wear them, oh my god!” she cries out in frustration.

Nick automatically takes a step back, spooked by Anna’s thin patience.

Mark decides to step forward and gently takes the things from Nick.

He picks up the earpiece comm first, putting it on Nick’s left ear with the electrical board dangling slightly. He grabs a vest next, unzipping and putting it on Nick himself, then he slides in the electrical board into Nick’s upper left slot, seeing as Nick is left-handed. He follows it by tapping a similar button on Nick’s earpiece that he tapped on his own earpiece before.

Eventually, he grabs Nick’s trembling and thin wrist to help him put on the radar watch properly. He clicks the button on the side of the watch’s screen until it lights up, showing various blue dots where he knows everyone else in the room is standing.

Good. They’re all functional.

“Can you wear it now?” he asks as he steps back from Nick with his still open vest, trying to minimize crowding Nick’s space and making him nervous, “you just need to zip it up.”

Nick looks down on his own torso, fingers frantically feeling for the zipper. He finally finds it and zips it up hurriedly.

“Okay,” Mark stares up at Nick’s swirly blue-brown eyes, “do you know how to use the comm?”

Nick gives a small, fearful headshake.

“Look at this,” he says to Nick as he grabs Nick’s hand again to show the watch’s screen. He chooses to ignore the uncomfortably intimate feeling of the gesture that’s supposed to be technical and clinical.

“You’re in the middle of the screen, on this dot,” he says, pointing at the blue dot in the middle with pulsating waves outwards like most radars. “You can drag it or zoom in like normal GPS map to see around you.”

Mark put his index finger on the screen then drags it to the left to see more of what’s in their left side: two pulsating red dots where Doctor Lowe and his nurse are standing and a faded straight line where the wall to this room is. He then puts his thumb and index fingers on the screen and drags them away from each other, making the line seem thicker and more dynamic. He sees a more shadowy part of the line where the door is supposed to be, which makes sense because the door is obviously thinner than the wall.

Nick looks at the screen intently throughout this.

“Tap twice if you want it to go back to showing your relative location and normal mapping size again.”

Mark decides to grab Nick’s other hand, pulling the bony right index finger, then he pushes the tip to tap the screen twice. As he explains, the screen snaps back to showing Nick’s location in the middle of the screen. Mark then looks up to Nick’s face, silently asking if he understands. Nick frantically nods.

Now, he points to the tiny, almost flat-looking electrical board fitted to Nick’s upper left shoulder.

“You see 5 buttons, right? One circle, one square, then below there are left and right arrows with triangle in between?”

Nick simply looks down uncomfortably so that he can see the buttons Mark is pointing over his chin.

“The circle is to activate it. You click on it when you want to communicate with someone, so that it’ll connect to the network it’s set into.”

The network being the one comprising all agents within this headquarter wearing the same kind of pre-set and pre-connected earpieces and watches, of course, but the details aren’t so important for Nick to know right now. At least, not until they’re far enough from here and closer to the backup team, where they will disconnect from the current network and connect to Central Hub backup’s network instead.

“You can leave it on all the time so that people can continuously contact you, but I suggest against doing that because that leaves the connection vulnerable to Helga’s infiltration if they have the right tools and skill.”

This time, Nick gives a firmer nod. Encryption and digital connection security are his forte, after all.

“You already need to have this watch constantly on, to see where you and other agents are. It’s risky enough already. So, when you’re not using your earpiece, click the circle again to deactivate it.”

“Okay,” Nick replies shakily, more because of his nerves, Mark guesses, than not understanding something. It’s all pretty straightforward.

“The left and right arrows are to toggle between receivers.”

Nick simply nods at Mark’s further explanation.

“When the earpiece is on, you’re not always going to be automatically connected to the agent you’re actually trying to communicate with—” Nick nods again while looking at Mark slightly, “—so click either left or right to shift your connection to different agents until you find the agent you need.”

“Uh…” Nick mumbles, “…how… do I know?”

“You can see who you’re going to switch to on this watch, because the one you’re connected to will not blip in and out anymore. Left arrow means you’re connecting to agents in the left portion of your watch, and right arrow to the right area. It favors closest horizontal distance rather than vertical to your relative location.”

Nick looks up unsurely again with bitten lip, seemingly scared of asking questions Mark or the others deem as stupid. Mark decides not to explain that a dot that stops blipping in and out can also mean that the agent is most likely dead, since the watch can’t detect any pulse from the wearer’s wrist anymore.

They don’t need to scare Nick off right now.

“I mean, how do I know who they are? Is it… is it just random agent… on my left… or right?”

Shit. He didn’t think about that.

Mark is debating whether he should give Nick a copy of the list of all agents’ names along with their corresponding codenames, or only to tell Nick the teams’ codenames, hoping that whoever Nick connects to is the right agent to help him when needed. Nick might not need to know who the specific agent is, only whether they’re from 4 of the Offensive teams, Medic teams, or Tactical Intelligence team here.

Hell, even Mark has not memorized everyone’s name and codename here—just what team they’re from—considering they’ve only been here for less than 24 hours. Besides, Nick might not be able to keep constantly pulling out a paper and looking at it while clicking left and right. He is going to get shot or run straight into a Helga member because he isn’t paying attention to his surroundings.

He eventually shakes his head at Nick.

“Don’t worry about it.”

That reply doesn’t seem to inspire confidence in Nick, but he seems too intimidated by how serious everyone appears—including Mark—in this room to argue, so Mark continues.

“Now, the square is to lock the connection when you think you have the right person you want to contact. It can be the other person clicking their own square button, or you, but the point is…” he looks up again at Nick’s eyes, making sure the younger man is still following, “…once you or the other person clicks it, no other agent can switch connection to either of you until one of you clicks the square button again to unlock the connection.”

Mark can feel the presence of the others behind him, expectant and somewhat impatient.

“The last is the triangle, which is to take turns talking when you’re already locked onto an agent. Basically, you talk, you press it, then listen to the reply, then they also click it once they want you to reply back.”

Nick is so engrossed in looking at Mark’s fingers with deeply furrowed eyebrows that he doesn’t look up.

“You know, where you say something like “It’s NK56, do you copy? Over.” Like in Hollywood,” he tells Nick with a little exaggerated voice and a smile in an attempt to alleviate Nick’s very apparent anxiety.

Nick does look up, but he simply gives Mark a blank face. It’s clear the joke doesn’t land.

“Do you understand?” Mark checks in, changing back the tone to being serious.

Nick nods frantically before saying, “Circle is on and off. Arrows to switch agents. Square to lock and unlock from an agent. Up arrow—I mean tri… triangle...”

“Yes, whatever you wanna call it,” he quickly interjects.

“Um… triangle is to take turns talking.”

There is another button on the earpiece itself to completely turn it on and off that he pressed before, which is to disconnect from one network and connect to another, but it’s not important for Nick to know right now, so he doesn’t tell Nick that.

“Good,” Anna chimes in this time, now calm and firm again. She then puts a helmet onto Nick’s arms. “Wear this too.”

This time, it doesn’t take long for Nick to understand what to do, so he immediately brings it up to put it over his head.

The others take a vest, other protective gear one by one, and the comm devices, but no helmet. Anna obviously couldn’t bring all of them enough helmets on top of everything she carried, even if she is deceptively strong, so most of the people in the room are left with unprotected heads for now.

“Oh, before I forget,” Anna says, digging into one pocket of her fitted cargo pants, “You need to have these with you at all times.”

She is holding a handful of keys, some tangled up with each other. She doesn’t wait for Nick to understand what is happening before walking towards him and opening the flap of one of the pockets on his utility belt. He just freezes while she drops the amalgamation of metals into it, then she closes the flap so that the velcro stick again.

“Those are keys to the possible vehicles we’ll use to transport you.”

Nick still stares dumbfoundedly, not following Anna’s train of thoughts.

“Whoever ends up with you ‘till the end will need the key to escape, so it’s better for you to carry them yourself than letting random agents hold them, just in case they don’t end up going with you to go to the backup team.”

Nick seems to somewhat understand the implication.

“They said not all agents will go with you to backup. Some need to stay because Helga people are too close by. They decided to just battle those bastards while in here in our turf than while enroute.”

Eventually, Nick nods, so Anna turns away from him.

“The rest of our stuff is outside. And the other agents too,” Anna explains more, “More detailed plan will be explained there, but the gist of it is they’re gonna divvy all of us up to fitting positions and choose who will go with Nick. Hopefully done before Helga people arrive.”

She steps away now with long strides towards the doorway, expecting the rest of the people in the room to follow her without being instructed, so all five of them walk out of the med bay with Anna.

Once they’re out in the open area of the headquarter, they all walk automatically to the gear shelves to take a helmet one by one with some rifles and other tools, except for Nick. Although Doctor Lowe and his nurse don’t grab any firearm either, aside from the other non-weapon items they take.

The place is buzzing tensely in the background, all agents going around busy with all sorts of things. Fortunately for now, Mark can see that there are no Helga people arriving yet. Maybe they’ll have more than enough time to prepare.

Still, he realizes, this is getting real now.

***

(I) (II) (III) (IV) (V) (VI) (VII) (VIII) (IX) (X) (XI) (XII) (XIII) (XIV) (XV) (XVI) (XVII) (XVIII) (XIX) (XX) (XXI) (XXII) (XXIII) (XXIV) (XXV) (XXVI) (XXVII) (XXVIII) (XXIX) (XXX) (XXXI - END)

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chidoroki · 1 year

Text

182 Days of TPN - Day 21

Chapter 21: “Blatant Trap”

Okay WAIT. I don’t remember them asking this question at all because the anime skips over it completely?? It goes unanswered in the manga since Krone just agrees then reiterates how she’ll tell them anything as Emma proceeds to ask to look at the tracking device, but still. I can imagine what Krone’s answer would’ve been by that look on her face.

You just had to give them ideas, huh? Sure it’s helpful in the end and ultimately makes that device Ray spent years slowly putting together go unused, but now our girl gets a bad idea in her head for later! Oh, I dunno if it was ever mentioned (or this is me forgetting as usual) who removes the trackers of everyone else (minus Ray & Emma since the latter does both) the night of the escape but, I shall imagine it was Anna since she’s our future medic.

Also, Norman’s comment about there being no knives in the house was kinda unbelievable to me, but nah, they really only have one damn fork. How do y’all cut up your food? Do you even have spoons for things like soup?? (no worries, future me says yes and some are shown in a couple chapters).

And they both look stunning for their ages! (pftt, “their ages,” as if i’m not old as hell too..god that’s highly upsetting).

This advice definitely works wonders for Emma. She was already a good actor before, but now? especially after Norman’s shipment and during the night of the escape? Ooohh she plays Isabella like a fiddle and I absolutely love it.

No, I don’t know about whatever keyboard smash nonsense you just said. Why? Because we never get to hear how to say His name and yes it still bugs me! And since we’ll never know how to pronounce and I don’t wanna refer to him as “scribbles” as so many others do, I shall continue to call Him as “bastard” because that’s certainly what he is after what he did Emma! I’ll never forgive Him for that.

Favorite panel/moment:

Gilda certainly has quite the imagination.

#the promised neverland #tpn manga #182daysoftpn #chidoroki used chatter

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klodizzle · 10 months

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100 tips from my mom who passed away two years ago

1. Chocolate is only a temporary fix.

2. A properly-fitting bra is not a luxury. It is a necessity.

3. Your happiness is your happiness and yours alone.

4. You are good enough.

5. You have to love yourself before expecting others love.

6. A man does not validate your existence.

7. Eat the extra slice of pizza.

8. Wear what makes you feel beautiful.

9. Love the world unconditionally. It's one of the only things that will remain after you. Be kind to it and leave as small a carbon footprint as possible.

10. The partners we choose are additions to our lives. They do not 'belong' to you, nor you to them. You are two separate people who chose to come together. It should always remain a choice.

11. Don't be high maintenance.

12. Wear sunscreen. Every day.

13. People love you because of how you make them feel about themselves.- When someone feels good in your presence they're going to want to spend more time there.

14. Don't judge others- it's not your job.

15. Walk with your head up and look people in the face when communicating.

16. Be honest and loyal.

17. Never, ever bite your nails.

18. You're beautiful with and WITHOUT make-up.

19. Learn from your mistakes. And mine.

20. Dental hygiene is not an option.

21. Your GPA is not a confession of your character.

22. There is strength in breaking down.

23. You don’t have to like yoga.

24. You have a voice for a reason- use it.

25. Take care of your feet. And your teeth.

26. The most important part of being beautiful is feeling beautiful. Do and wear whatever makes you feel beautiful, regardless of fads.

27. Lead by example.

28. Classy is a relative term.

29. Dance- Even if you can't. Don't be afraid of what others think. You'll have so much more fun if you aren't.

30. Learn to say no and mean it.

31. Be the fruit loop in a world of Cheerios. Stand out. Like what you like. Don't adapt to who others are. You are unique and there's nothing more beautiful than confidence.

32. Teach. In every way possible. Explain things, offer your experience and listen to others that do. Never forget that your ideas are much more valuable when paired with the experiences of others. Individually, we only know so much...

33. Learn to laugh at yourself.

34. Give back. Volunteer, teach, read, donate. It feels so much better to give than to receive.

35. A woman is a woman is a woman- Don't compare yourself to others. That also goes for men...

36. Take something from everyone that crosses your path. Note the thinks that you like or dislike about them and implement or remove those traits from yourself.

37. Cry, uninhibited.

38. Laugh until you can’t breathe.

39. Keep others secrets.

40. Eat soul food- often.

41. There is no shame in hoping for love. Don't be too desperate to find it. It can't be forced or rushed.

42. Play. You're only as old as you feel. Run through the sprinklers, chase down the ice cream truck and swing at the park every chance you get.

43. Do not take sex lightly.

44. I mean it.

45. Anna Karenina. I’d like it if you read it.

46. The world spins on the principle of inherent tragedy. Life isn't fair. The sooner you accept that, the easier it will be.

47. Be independent. Don't rely solely on someone else, financially, emotionally or otherwise. Always make sure that you are in a situation because you want to be. You have the right to change your mind as many times as you wish.

48. Put time aside for yourself. You will be a better partner and parent because of it.

49. Carbohydrates are not the enemy. Neither is your body.

50. Involve yourself in an organized activity of your choosing. Especially if it's something unfamiliar that terrifies you.

51. Listen to classical music-occasionally. Country music-often.

52. Sing in the shower. And car.

54. You are more than capable. Anything worth having requires hard work. If it comes too easy, it probably is.

55. Self reflect. Be accountable.

56. Don’t smile if you don’t mean it.

57. Mean your anger. Mean your sadness. Mean your pain. Don't play games with yours or others emotions.

58. I am always, always listening.

59. Bad associations spoil good habits.

60. Be silly.

61. Don't fear failure. It's how we learn. The only true failure is not trying in the first place. Everything else is just experience.

62. Be the best person you can be. Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching, regardless of benefit to yourself.

63. Come home smelly, tired, smiling and with a good story.

64. Your story isn’t really yours. Share it.

65. The most valuable thing that we have to offer others is our time. It's precious, don't waste it. Spend it wisely and appreciate it when it's given.

66. Well-fitting and modest is ALWAYS sexier than too small and tight.

67. The ugliest thing in this world is discrimination. Who are we to decide who someone else should love, what color skin they should have or what birth control options they should choose. Never, ever make someone feel inferior because of their differences.

68. Don't ask questions that you already know the answer to. The only validation you need is your own. On the other hand, don't be afraid to ask the questions you don't.

69. If you hurt, let yourself hurt. If you want to cry, cry. Everyone deals with life differently. Just remember, that it is no one else's responsibility to heal you. Although, some will try, it's not possible. You have to take the steps to heal yourself. Be open to it. It can't happen unless you're ready.

70. Humility and subservience are not synonyms.

71. Wash your face twice per day.

72. Be gentle to your body. It's the only one you have. It will carry you and frustrate you all at the same time, but just like life, what you put in to it will be proportionate to what you get out of it.

73. Science is really cool. So is literature. And history. And math.

74. People can and do change. Only, if and when they want to.

75. There is no substitute for fresh air or the calmness of water.

76. There is no shame in asking for help.

77. Despite the saying, love is not unconditional, it really is... You can't treat people poorly and expect them to stay. They won't. Nor should you. We get what we give.

78. Carry your weight. Do your best. That's all you have and as long as you put all the effort you have in to something, even if it doesn't work out, you will be able to walk away from it with no regret.

79. If you do what you've always done, you're going to get what you've always gotten. Change, although scary, can be wonderful.

80. That salad is not better than pasta and it never will be. Period.

81. You’re fooling no one. Nor should you try. Be yourself in every situation.

82. Find at least three green vegetables you can tolerate.

83. A smoothie is not a meal. Neither is ramen.

84. Expect the best from everyone and regardless of how many have wronged you in the past, trust everyone fully until they give you a reason not to.

85. Leave your baggage at the door. If you can't, you're in the wrong place. Go home and finish your work. Nobody deserves to pay for someone else's mistakes.

86. Take time off. Travel. Make memories. Never get too busy making a living that you forget to make a life. No one ever looked back and wished they had worked more. Life is about people, not material things.

87. There is a certain kind of man ( and woman) you need to avoid at all costs. It'll take awhile to recognize him/her, but once you do, never go against your instincts.

88. Be kind. Always- To yourself and others.

89. What other people say is right isn't always what's right for you. Go with your instincts and do what's best for you. You're the only one lying your head down on your pillow at night and the only one responsible for the choices you make.

90. Find something that makes you incredibly happy and never stop doing it.

91. Give thoughtful gifts. Never money or gift cards. Take the time to make someone feel special.

92. Form an opinion. Make sure it's based on fact rather than emotion. Don't be afraid to change it based on experience. Remain as open- minded as possible. You'll miss out on so much if you're not.

93. "I don't know" is not an acceptable answer. Especially in regard to feelings. If you truly don't know, take the time to reflect and find out.

94. Read as many books as possible. It's a wonderful thing to step out of reality and in to a book.

95. Argue with people when you need to. Stand up for yourself and what you believe in. Never let anyone bully you in to silence.

If it’s worth fighting for, fight fiercely.

96. Don't ever miss an opportunity to learn. Use every vehicle available to do so. Knowledge is power.

97. Don’t fight for acceptance. You can't please everyone, regardless of how hard you try.

98. Never miss an opportunity to tell someone how you feel. You never know when it is the last time you will see them,

99. Take pictures. Our memories sometimes fail us, our bodies change and we age. Pictures are timeless.

100. I'm proud of you. I love you and I will ALWAYS be here for you.

~Mom

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lovemesomesurveys · 9 months

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Have you ever been hurt by a narcissist? Yes. I found out I had been used and played by him the whole time. He used his charm and complete BS to get me interested even though he wasn’t that interested in me. He figured I’d be easy to manipulate and I’d be there for his convenience until he decided he was done. Despite me expressing how I felt, including the hurt, which took a shit ton for me to do, it was clear he didn’t really care. He didn’t get it. He didn’t understand what the big deal was. All he thought about was himself and didn’t consider who he was hurting in the process.

What does forgiveness mean to you? This reminds me of that movie, “Just Friends”, where Anna Farris’ character is a singer and has a song that goes, “forgiveness is more than saying sorry”, and yeah I agree. But as far as me doing the act of forgiving, I tend to forgive and give out many chances. I never forget, though.

Have you forgiven everyone who's wronged you? No.

What's your favorite thing to do at sunrise? I’m generally asleep.

How are you celebrating Earth Day this year? I don’t do anything on Earth Day.

What is God teaching you right now? I know He’s been using these past several years, especially this past year, to teach me a lot. I have many things to work on and things I needed my eyes open to. I think He’s also been building our relationship. I admittedly have been distant and fallen off track, but I really want to get back.

What does Notre Dame Cathedral mean to you, and how has its fire affected you? I don’t have a connection to it.

Are you prophetic? No.

What is something you miss from your past? So many things. My childhood, especially.

Are you beating yourself up about a stupid decision you made? Oh hunny, only all the time.

What's the last dumb decision you made that you beat yourself up over? Ugh, but there’s so many. Definitely the stupid decisions I made and the decisions I never made at all and just ignored instead.

What's your favorite version of the Bible to read? If applicable, do you underline verses in your Bible? The NIV.

When was the last time you went to church? I haven’t physically been to one since 2016. I had been attending the livestreams, thought, for awhile. I slacked off this past year and I’m actually really upset about it it’s something I need to change soon.

Do you surrender to Christ every morning? I need to start my mornings talking to Jesus.

What's the last song you listened to on repeat? The new Barbie song with Nicki Minaj.

Have you ever smoked weed, and if yes, did you like it? Yeah and yes. I stopped doing any of that stuff back In 2013 and only got back into it a few months ago. I wanted to try it and see if it’d help the health related issues I have, especially anxiety. I will say my method of choice is the tablets.

Do you have any big regrets in your past? I have many big regrets.

If you've ever talked to a counselor, did it help? Mehhh, a little but honestly not much. I really didn’t feel I gained much from it. Granted, that was my first counselor and I know it can take multiple times to find the right fit for you. Perhaps I should look again. Does your town's hospital have a good reputation? Yeah.

What is your hometown known for? Nothing good. My city is shit.

What is your hometown's symbol? --

Who do you miss from your past? I miss several people from my past.

Are you longing for and missing a toxic person? Not anymore.

What's your greatest longing? Ugh, to get better and be able to get out of this damn bed and actually go somewhere. I need a vacationnnnn.

Have you ever read a Bible verse and thought, "this isn't true"? If so, what do you do when that happens? No.

What are you behind on? Life.

Is there someone who's stolen from you and never got caught? I don’t think so.

Do you wish you could talk about spiritual things with someone? No.

When was the last time you had a deep conversation with someone? My mom and I have a lot of those.

How long has it been since you weren't lonely? I’m not physically lonely too much, it’s more so emotionally I guess. Just being stuck in my own damn head all the time.

Have you been lonely for most of your life? I’ve definitely felt that way.

What color is your sleeping bag? I don’t have a sleeping bag.

When was the last time you used a sleeping bag, and what for? I used one we used to have one winter when it was shockingly super duper cold. It was wild and I loved it.

Do you prefer to sleep under the stars or in a tent? I prefer to sleep inside on my bed.

Do you live near the woods? No.

What do you want to be for Halloween this year? List 1-3 ideas. I don’t dress up for Halloween anymore. I stopped doing that years ago.

List five things people have been jealous of you for. Uh, nothing???

List five things you have felt jealous of other people for. I mean, I feel envy for those who appear to be happy and in decent health and are able to take fun trips all the time and have a fun social life. I don’t have any of that and yeah, it’d definitely be nice.

Do you start to feel jealous of someone after they've hurt you? I don’t think so.

Does your astrological sign match up to your personality? No. I’m so opposite of a Leo.

Which bugs do you hate the most? ALL BUGS.

What is your favorite shade of brown? Coffee brown.

Do people tell you you look sick when you wear a certain color? If yes, what color? No, just based on my overall appearance in general.

Do you find yourself exhausted much of the time? All of the time.

Do you find that people call you lazy, even though you're always exhausted? I call myself lazy even though I know I have things getting in the way and making it much harder to do things and I don’t have the energy or motivation to do them.

What color is your toilet seat? White

Would you rather live in an apartment or a house? A house.

What's one thing you had growing up that you miss now? I miss being a kid and just playing Barbies for hours and hours, no cares in the world.

List three ways in which you are a hippie. I’m not.

Do you prefer kale, lettuce, or spinach? Spinach.

#personal #text #survey #surveys

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pastelavender88 · 2 years

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Night-time Sunshine- Chapter 3

Series Masterlist

Again today, I had a free period so I found myself in the gym ogling the boys. Billy was again handing Steve his ass on a platter. Billy either hated Steve or was in love with him. Either way this was not going to end well. Before Billy walked into the locker room he made his way over to me. “How’s it going sweetheart?” He shot me that dazzling smile again.

“You talking to me or did you confuse me with the girl you were giving a ride to the other day?”

“Somebody jealous?”

“Yeah right. If you think I would be jealous of someone like Anna, you got another thing coming. Last I checked, every jock within a 10 mile radius banged her.”

“You think I’m a jock?”

“So you did bang her then?” I said with an irritated smile.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Billy, this little cat and mouse thing we got going on, is really starting to get on my nerves.”

“You know, the cat always gets the mouse.”

“You must have never watched Tom and Jerry. Now, you should really hit the showers. You’re starting to stink.”

He looked me up and down and started to laugh. “I like you, Sinclair.”

“And I like not having to go to the free clinic.” He just shook his head and walked away. A few moments later Steve walked out of the locker room and made his way to me.

“Did you know about Jonathan and Nancy skipping?”

“No but so what they skipped? I never pegged you as the jealous type.”

“I’m not jealous. It’s just they’ve been gone since yesterday.”

“What, do you think something happened to them?”

“I don’t know, but I’m not going to wait around and find out.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m gonna go over to her house and check on her.”

“Alright. Well tell me how it goes.”

“Yeah, will do.” He walked off with an urgency.

As I was leaving later. I looked over at the middle school and noticed Lucas and the same redhead girl that was in Billy’s car arguing. Was she Max? I hoped to god she wasn’t. I looked over and saw Billy watching me and then he turned back to the two of them. Out of nowhere I heard, “Y/n you know him?”

I turned to him and saw he was still watching the pair argue. “What’s it to you?”

“When a little shit is…”

“Watch it. That’s my brother you’re talking about. Don’t think for a second just because you’re a guy I won’t come over there and kick your ass.” I spat back at him.

Billy finally tore his eyes from the two of them and looked at me. “Yeah, I’d love to see you do that Princess.”

“Stay the hell away from me Billy, and if I find out you so much as spoke to my brother. I’m gonna stick my foot up your ass.” I opened the door to my car and got in. I backed out but made sure to flick Billy the bird before leaving.

The next morning at breakfast everyone was eating when Lucas asked, “When mom's mad at you, how do you make her not mad?

Mom replied, “ That’s a great question. How do you, hon?”

“First, I apologize. Then, I get your mother whatever she wants.” Dad said.

“Even when she’s wrong?”

“She’s never wrong, son.” Dad quickly replied. Erica and I smirked.

“That’s right.” Mom added. Lucas got up from the table, turning to leave.

“Not hungry?” Mom asked.

“Not really.” replied Lucas.

“Where you goin’?” I asked.

“To hang out with Dustin.” He said before he left.

I was hanging in my room when I heard Erica talking to someone in Lucas’ room. “Erica, who was that?”

“One of Lucas’ friends. I think it’s the one who didn’t have teeth. He said it was a code red.” The one without teeth was Dustin and that’s where Lucas said he was. What the hell is a code red? That couldn’t be good.

I went to my room to grab some decent clothes and my keys. “Erica, I’m heading out. Tell mom and dad I’ll be back later. If Lucas comes back, tell him he’s in deepshit.”

“Can I say it like that?”

“If mom hears you say it then no i’m not telling you to say it like that.” I walked out of the house but I decided to walk down to Mike’s house. If he did really go to a friend’s house, it might have been Mike’s. Walking up to the house I saw Dustin in the doorway. “Dustin, where is Lucas?”

“You tell me. I’ve been looking for someone to help me for hours.”

“He said he was at your place.”

“Well then he lied obviously or I wouldn’t have biked over here looking for someone, now would I?”

“Listen here you little…” Just then Steve’s car pulled up. Dustin seemed occupied with his presence.

“Steve.” Dustin called out and walked away from me. “Are those for Mr. or Mrs. Wheeler?”

“No?” Steve said, confused.

“Good.” Dustin snatched the flowers from him and quickly walked away.

“Hey! What the hell?”

“Nancy isn’t home.”

“Where is she?” Steve and I asked at the same time.

“Doesn’t matter. We have bigger problems than your love life, and where your friend is. Do you still have that bat?”

“What bat?” I asked.

“The one with the nails? Yeah, I still got it. Why?” Steve said.

“I’ll explain on the way.” Steve started to walk towards the car when I stood in front of him and stopped him.

“Wait a second now. You have a bat with nails in it? Henderson is bossing you around? And no one knows where my brother is? What the hell is going on?” I shouted.

“We don’t know but I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” Henderson remarked.

“Henderson I swear to god, I will come over there and slam your head into the dashboard so hard.” Dustin quickly turned around and looked out the front window. “I’m coming with the both of you.”

“What, no!” Dustin yelled.

“Henderson, what did I just say?” I began to walk over to him when Steve grabbed my arm.

“Don’t hurt the kid Y/n.”

“Then I’m coming with.”

“No, it’s too dangerous.” Steve replied.

“Too dangerous? You don’t even know what it is.”

“If the kid needs a bat with nails in it I’m going to assume it’s dangerous.”

“Oh please. I could kick your ass and still make myself a sandwich without blinking an eye.”

“Not true, but okay.”

“You wanna test it out by telling me I can’t come again?”

“Fine. Get in the car.” I made my way to the passenger seat.

“Get out Henderson.”

“But, I called shotgun.”

“The dashboard is right there you know?” He got out of the car and went to the back seat.

“You happy now, Sinclair?”

“Peachy, Harrington.”

#eventual steve harrington x reader #stranger things x reader #stranger things #steve harrington #lucas sinclair #sinclair reader #billy hargove x reader

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randomnameless · 2 years

Text

Third Run with the Liberty Route!

All those talks about Supreme Leader/Supreme Ruler of Norzelia reminds me of something...

Benedict, my goodness.

In every other path, it is the person who “lost” the duel who asks to be killed or says they’ll follow without discussing, but here?

Roland, as usual, asks for Serenor to kill him and Benedict just goes “do it if he’s alive there’s a chance your claim won’t be legitimate”, my god.

I had the insight (bcs I messed with this vote during the first run) but damn if this is super cold, especially since Benedict’s plans always, always involve getting rid of Roland, putting him in danger or ruining people of Glenbrook (never Wolffort) while those brave people will, for some reason, accuse the Royal Family.

“Cordelia is already under our control” Guy you just told Serenor she’s his sister, now she’s something to be controlled ?? After kicking her brother out because he was a possible threat to Serenor’s accession to the throne, Benedict thinks Cordelia is harmless?

Gustadolv thought so, and if things happened the way they planned, Avlora would have turned against him so... Of course, we ally with Cordelia’s beloved husband (to be, even if that wedding was already consummated) and before the “talks” Benedict confesses to Anna he wants to create a perfect world where Serenor will be the Supreme Ruler of Norzelia.

Mmh, I love this.

Ensue the “talks” where Gustadolv notes how Serenor is just Benedict’s sock puppet (almost like... Frani and Regna were to Patriatte? Except Benedict doesn’t do it for his own financial gain, but because both Simon and Regna cockblocked him, I don’t know which is more pathetic).

Gustadolv apparently accepts the fact Serenor will rule over the future Norzelia where salt will be free so everyone will have access to it and the world is going to enter the modern age... while no one notes that Gustadolv, this Gustadolf who hates to lose, will act as a loyal lapdog?

Lol

At least Benedict fully buys the “liberty” mindset, if the people will regulate the salt, no one will control it and there’ll be no Hyzante left - so everyone will get access to salt, right?

Double lol, Gustadolv knows it’s impossible, because this is what happens in Aesfrost, and look, there’s still salt sold in the black market and poor people dying in the streets.

Frederica has a heartfelt talk with him, where she doesn’t regret offing Erika and Thalas (GODS) because sacrifices had to be made, and she says she will obviously follow the ideals of her husband -

Like wait a second, Frederica, the Frederica who stops when they’re dead, tells them goodbye, in a route wondered if there was any other way, now thinks she doesn’t regret it ? Early game Frederica would have hated it, and regretted killing her family because despite everything, she hates killing people and causing suffering.

But now, apparently she adopts the “liberty” mindset where you can do everything to reach your goal, except hurt Rozellians. Gustadolv states with Hyzante gone the Rozellians will be freed, to which Frederica agrees - I find it hilarious, really, knowing how this route ends.

AFAIR, from all three routes, it’s the only outcome where the non concerned part of the trio is upset (we don’t know what happens to Benedict at the end of Roland’s ending, but since Serenor is nominally in charge of Wolffort and still alive, he shouldn’t be super pissed, it’s just back to day one).

Then comes the nonsense with the letter from “Roland”, to which Anna, Benedict’s trusted aide, for the first time, is shocked by his ploys - but Serenor comes to his rescue, saying they already slaughtered 4 babies so what’s 1 more (we are already in this mess so let’s continue).

Kuddos to Benedict being a perfect scheming “advisor”, he apparently made a mold (?) of Roland’s ring... the second Roland gave him his ring. Meaning, he always thought a situation could arise where he would need to usurp Roland’s identity/signature, also meaning, Benedict always wanted to put him under the bus.

This route is fun, I swear.

Now, time for Decimal to decimate Ayxame who made the grave sin of, uh, defending his borders against us, when we are betraying him because Benedict wants Serenor to rule over the world, after we got rid of Clarus.

And then, Enigma will cease to be.

Edit -

The title of the final chapter is very fitting, since both Gustadolv and Ayxame noticed it, Serenor isn’t doing things on his own volition, he always defers to Benedict so, who is the puppet dancing? Hyzanteses? Serenor? The Hierophant?

Benedict, the “let’s make a plan and know everything about X before charging in” wants to rush against the puppet who vaporised people by snapping her fingers, gods this route is a mess.

Decimal’s convo with his “successor” made me sad though, because yes, the Hierophant is naught but a tool without any will, and it makes Benedict and several character’s convos completely miss the mark, accusing this thing of having propagated the Goddess’s creed - this automaton cannot be older than Laila, and is younger than Decimal so...

But all is well that ends well - the truth about the automaton is revealed to ruin Hyzante (Benedict also swap his battle line with “let’s conquer Hyzante” instead of “let’s free Norzelia” which reminds me of a certain route in a certain game) and Hyzante falls to Glenbrook, under King Serenor.

Epilogue Benedict finally confesses he never gave a shit about Norzelia nor its people (not even the Wolfforts!!) because he wanted to get revenge at the world (Simon, Regna and himself) for not being able to fuck protect Destra - if she was used as a tool, then he will take revenge by making her son the supreme ruler for Norzelia -

Which raises all sorts of “uh...” implications, since, well, mothers are non-existent in this game (bar a certain someone) but was Destra really unhappy with Simon? We don’t know what happened with Regna, were they really “in luf” or was it just a one strike encounter? Erador and the entire Wolffort people seem to hold Simon and Destra in high regards, meaning she was at least well treated during her time as Simon’s wife.

Compared to Frederica and Orlea’s situation... Serenor was raised as the son of a Lord and the Heir of one of the major Houses on the continent - we don’t know a thing about Roland’s mom (was she a noble from the Patriate side or, idk, a noble from Landroy/Silvio’s lands?) but Benedict raging at the situation, and at Simon for, uh, accepting it??? - like dude, what would you have done? Let Destra be killed by Patriate’n’co ? Thrown her on the streets? Gave her to Mc Random so Serenor would grow up as a peasant?? By taking Destra as his wife, apparently treating her well, and naming her son his heir, Simon acted in her - and Serenor’s- best interests !

But since it’s about the woman he simped for, I suppose any decision would have sucked because Destra didn’t end up with him.

Anyhow, Benedict after his confession, wants to give up his life for using Serenor as a pawn, but Serenor refuses, using his mother’s words (per Benedict) and this is fitting, in a way, because there’s no way in hell Serenor’s going to accept this mess Benedict put him in without Benedict’s support.

Serenor also confessed not giving a fuck about Norzelia, but wanting to feel worthy of the Wolffort name, his father’s admiration, his friends’s too (well about Roland...) and ...

Well, this route is the most selfish one, in a sense. No one gives a crap about randoms, even if Benedict tries to sugarcoat it with “Norzelia will be free and everyone will get equal access to salt”.

Frederica is burnt by the Rozellian treatment, if they commit a crime they will pay, regardless of circumstances (who is Rudolph?) just like Aesfrost and yes, some people are going to lose in an ultimate “muhritocracy” but Benedict and Serenor dgaf, true to the Aesfrostian mindset.

For Frederica who stopped giving a fuck about the world and its people, to hyperfocus on Rozellians, it’s harsh.

Just as her mellow reply, calling Serenor (but I noted from the JP voices, even if the script doesn’t mention it) Your Majesty/Highness and not Serenor anymore (a far cry from “my husband” in her own path!!).

Roland gives food and assistance to people living in Wolffort territores, we see everyone, young randoms, women, old people, old Hyzantese, even Rozellians... From his route, we know Roland always puts the well-being of the people over everything else (his own, the world and, ultimately, the few “necessary sacrifices”) so of course this route would lead to his rebellion. People from Serenor’s old lands are suffering, people in the city (salt merchants and aristocrats) are thriving (why salt merchants are thriving if salt doesn’t cost anything anymore??) and randoms are suffering, just like your ole Glenbrook, or worst, Aesfrost.

Desperate people turn to desperate means, and who pops up at the end to lead all those people away? Idore himself.

Does the people know what Idore did with his false oracle?

Idk, but if the intel comes from Serenor “Roland left or he didn’t but he totes wrote a letter to people saying he’ll rebel against me and it wasn’t a strategical ploy no sir” and Gustadolv, idk who’s going to believe them, especially since Hyzante was “conquered” by Glenbrook, and Laila, the only surviving saint saying she accepts the alliance/subjugation is totally not reminiscent of Cordelia’s situation, when she accepted Aesfrost’s domination.

Not so unsurprinsigly, I can see why this ending is supported by some people in a certain fandom, the similarities are jarring, but Square didn’t back down because it needed to sell waifu merch and put the player on a pedestal.

#triangle strategy spoilers #TS and FE16 comparisons #both routes are red that's it lol #more seriously they made a good job #if the main game didn't depict Aesfrost as a land a lot and where are its problems #to hyper focus on Hyzante #the ending does the inverse #Adrestifrost sucks and their mentality sucks #there's no place for the poor the old and the randoms #former slaves are given equal chance as random laymen #but former slaves need more support since they don't start on the same line #we have a ton of real life comparisons which makes Benny's point completely moot #in a way this ending sucks for both Serenor and Frederica only Benny's happy #in the morality ending Frederica and Roland are kind of happy even if they're alone #and in the utility ending we don't see benedict but as long as Serenor is alive he shouldn't be pissed

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