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hypnotiiize · 22 days

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𝐠𝐨𝐝𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬

𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥’𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘮

𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐦 𝐱 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬: this is real old and angsty like not for fake. it’s short though. also i grew up catholic so u gotta bear w the lil references and shit. trigger warning religious talk kinda

She couldn’t remember much of the year if she was being honest.

She could remember her best friends’ wedding.

She could remember Valentine’s day.

She could remember March and April breezing past her, a mixture of Easter and celebrating her friend’s birthday.

She could remember the drowsiness that overcame her in May. She could remember how it followed her well into June.

She could remember her friend’s baby being born, and she could remember smiling down at his tiny squished face.

And she was happy for them, she was. But, when she found herself in her newly quiet home at the end of the day, the reality remained that she was alone. Utterly alone. No one to turn to. No one to rely on. Alone. She felt that this was her fault.

When her friend called and cried to her about new motherhood delivering a swift kick to her backside, she accepted the opportunity to stay with her friends for a few days, maybe even weeks— however long it would take for her friend to get back on her feet with a new addition to the household.

The record was three weeks. July was almost over. Amelie, ever-grateful, had even told her that she could go back home if she wanted. The woman, not wanting to overstay her welcome, accepted that as well.

She had been accepting a lot of things, it seemed. She would leave the following week, after the event that was planned meticulously for the baby.

It was when she was getting ready to go to sleep early— the baby had a habit of scream-crying at the break of dawn and she liked being up with him— that she received a knock at the guest bedroom door. Curious, she tip-toed across the room and found herself opening the door to reveal her tired friend whose smile grew as she rocked her fast-asleep son. [y/n] invited them in and grabbed the baby at once, sitting on the bed with his little body cradled in her arms.

“Okay, I wanted to tell you so that you weren’t, like, bombarded with this,” Amelie began after a small chat about how the baby had just done something cute.

She involuntarily put pressure on her eyebrows, furrowing them together.

Amelie folded her hands in her lap. “You know his baptism is next week and you know you’re his Godmother, of course... I tried to talk Trent out of it, but he’s going to make you know who his Godfather.”

She could feel herself gasp at the mention of you know who. She definitely knew who.

“If it makes you uncomfortable, I get it. And I get it if you’re not ready to see him. I can have someone else step in as his Godmother for the ceremony if you can’t do it. You don’t have to go to the party. What are you feeling?” Amelie asked.

She bit the skin of her bottom lip. She looked down at the almost two-month-old who looked so much like her friends that it was crazy. He was blinking up at her with his bottom lip poked out, looking scandalized. She laughed and rubbed the pad of her finger over his dark waves.

“I’m feeling a little overwhelmed… But I can do it. I don’t care about him. This is for my Godbaby. Right? This is for my Godson,” she cooed to the baby who half-smiled.

“You’re sure?”

“Sure. Yes. Yeah.” She was trying to convince herself more than anything and she knew it. “No one cares about that man, anyway. It’s just Rayan’s day..” The baby smiled as if he knew what they were talking about, and the women fussed over him a bit more. When the familiar weight pressed itself against her shoulders, She sighed. “I need a drink.”

“Go raid Trent’s cabinet, girl. You know he’s not shy about Don Julio,” her friend joked about her husband.

There was a painful twang in her chest at once. Her husband. Her friend was joking about her husband. A man who she shared a child, a home, and a life with.

She could taste iron. She would later realize that she had bit the inside of her cheek open. For now, she chopped the stinging sensation up to the of moths fumbling about in her stomach.

Her friend took her Godson and she was left alone once more. She laid her head on the linen pillow and stared blankly at the room before her. Wistfully, she imagined Amelie and Trent embracing each other at the end of the very long day. She imagined them nuzzling against the other as they gazed down at their sleeping baby boy. Then, she imagined everything that could have been.

She fell into a slumber with remnants of saline tears on her cheeks, and she woke up days later wearing a crisp white blouse and her best earrings. Rayan’s baptism.

He barely left his mother’s arms that day. He was tiny and it was a big day for him and he was wearing a long, pristine white dress that used to be his grandfather’s when he was that small. So Rayan slept, and she tried not to kick open the church doors and run as far as her legs could take her.

She knew he was in the room. She could feel it. If she opened her mouth to speak, she could taste it. If she inhaled too deeply, she could smell it. His presence was the sustenance that her soul had been missing for far too long and she was being punished for it. Her hands were shaking. She slipped off to the bathroom three times before she realized that her issues could affect the day. Being unreliable or looking flaky was the last thing she’d wanted to do after making it so far through the day. When she sat back down in the pews, she crossed her hands extra tight in her lap and kept her neck arched high. She would shake it off. This was for Rayan.

After some time she stood with her friends and made her way to the front of the church. She could feel him behind her. Then beside her. She willed herself not to look at him and focused solely on swearing to remain a key figure in the baby’s life.

For you, I’ll do my best.

He made his pledges after her. She felt as if she couldn’t breathe. He was so close to her. She could feel the echo of his baritone in her feet. She could taste iron, far more pronounced this time.

The baby was placed in her arms, and the metallic flavor dissipated at once. She secured her arm around his head and tugged his gown down. He whined, only to stop a second later when his mother kissed his hand.

The priest asked the Godparents to move closer. She stepped forward and nodded when appropriate. The priest said something that she didn’t really catch. She had been too busy making sure Rayan was comfortable. Brown hands came forward and untied the loose strings around the baby’s neck. He pulled the baby’s hat off. She could hear the ocean in her head.

She leaned forward and lowered her elbow an inch. The priest placed his hands in the tub of water before him and her. He poured water on the baby’s dark tufts of hair. One hand, then two, then another for good measure. Rayan let out a short cry from the temperature of the water.

“It’s okay, honey, you did great,” she whispered to her Godson when it was all over. She held him tighter, closer to her face.

“Maybe he’s cold,” the familiar voice said. “Here, let me put his hat back on.” Brown hands came into view and she watched him make the loose loop-the-loop. Rayan calmed down.

Rayan’s parents came and uttered softly to their son. His mother fought tears. His father let them glide down his cheeks freely, rubbing the top of the baby’s bonnet with a thumb.

“Hey,” the Godfather’s low voice was saying. He was not whispering. Anyone could have heard him. Though, when she thinks back on the moment, she can remember the soft, whispering tickle of his breath hitting her ear. She wanted him to be whispering.

She greeted him back weakly and she did not try to hide it. With everyone focused on Rayan, the awkward encounter would just be their own and she could not muster the strength to make it anything but.

The corner of his mouth quirked up, weakly too, and he said, “You look really nice.”

All at once, she could hear the ocean. She could hear volcanoes erupting. She could feel the familiar sharp chill of ice, and she could smell the smoke of paper burning.

She could not remember what her response was, or if she even responded at all. She could only remember the pain of living without the only man she had loved for months after being together for so long.

Through the fog, a voice prompted, “Let’s get a pic with the Godparents.”

She craned her head and found herself staring at a man that she had gone to school with. Kareem was known for being tall, charismatic, and a photographer. Therefore, she was not surprised that her friend had invited him to the gathering. Though she wished that someone would have filled him in on the current situation before he suggested such things.

Rayan’s parents moved away. She took a half step closer to Rayan’s Godfather. Rayan’s Godfather took a half step closer to her.

For the first time in months, they were pressed against each other.

Her chest felt hollow. Icy. It burned to inhale. It took too much effort to exhale. She lifted the baby so that he was perfectly between them. A brown hand fixed the baby’s dress. Fingertips grazed fingertips. She could taste iron pooling just behind her teeth, and then she smiled.

Her first tear fell when the camera shuttered for the last time. The people were emotional, too. They spoke to the baby in whispers. The Godfather left her side to go gawk at his Godson.

It was only her in the center of that stage. She was alone. There was no one in her corner anymore.

She had no husband. No new baby to baptize. No boyfriend to envision her future with.

She felt as if she was going to drown. She sucked in a burning breath.

She tasted the iron.

#jude bellingham x black reader #jude bellingham angst #jude bellingham x oc #jude bellingham x you #x black fem reader #x black reader #trent alexander arnold x black reader #trent alexander arnold #jude bellingham one shot #jude bellingham x reader #jude bellingham imagine

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immaturityofthomasastruc · 9 months

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IOTA Reviews: Emotion

Hey, remember Felix? You know, that minor character who is the entire reason Gabriel has all of Ladybug's other Miraculous? The writers remembered he existed more than halfway through the season.

Let's get into the eighteenth episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Emotion

We start off with Marinette and Adrien getting ice cream, and just like last episode, right when they're about to kiss, Adrien stops at the last second. While we don't see it, it's heavily implied that Gabriel is behind this. It turns out that Adrien has to get ready for some dance for rich people. While it has a name and I think it was mentioned in a few earlier episodes this season, it's really just some dance for rich people, so I don't care enough to remember it. Of course, all of the rich characters we know are invited, like Kagami, Chloe, Zoe, and Prince Ali. Lila, on the other hand, wasn't invited. This might sound important, but nothing happens with her until the end.

Zoe isn't going because of the “character development” she's gotten, so she offers to let Marinette wear her dress to the dance, which just so happens to be a masquerade ball. Tikki asks why Marinette even wants to go to this party she wasn't invited to, but all Marinette says is that it's so she can tell Adrien that she didn't have to keep the dance a secret from her. Why didn't Marinette just call Adrien? Because then we wouldn't have a story.

At the ball, Adrien and Kagami are the king and queen or whatever because their parents are really determined to make their ship sail even though the two show no real interest in each other (insert your own joke about the writers here), but they're interrupted by Amelie, Emilie's twin sister and Felix's mom. She's worried because her son has been missing for weeks, but Gabriel couldn't care less about the little twerp.

At the party, we get a somewhat amusing joke where Chloe fails to recognize Marinette under her mask, where Marinette not only says her name is Zoe, but her “underling” is named Chloe too. But speaking of...

Chloe: How rich are your parents? Rich? Very rich? Immensely rich? Of course, otherwise you wouldn't be here! It's too bad we can't bring out underlings with us. I'm sure these tin cans can serve properly but we can't make fun of them! (grabs a drink from a butler robot before kicking it) So lame!

Okay, did the writers just stop caring about writing convincing dialogue for Chloe? This is a problem I've noticed a lot this season. Yeah, Chloe was bad in the last four seasons, but here, she constantly talks about how Sabrina is her “underling” (Passion), or how she finds Marinete's suffering to be amusing (Derision). It's not really out of character, but it's weird how she's so much more blunt when it comes to boasting about how full of herself she is. It feels like a lot of her lines this season were meant to be placeholders for stuff the writers thought they'd change later, but then they decided to keep it in anyway. And of course to show how stuck up the other rich kids saying the same kind of stuff Chloe normally says, which is somehow less subtle social commentary than Hop Pop shouting “EAT THE RICH!”.

Adrien and Kagami talk about how they're expected to follow orders, while pretty much saying that Kagami is a Sentimonster since the camera really wants to show off her ring.

Oh wow. what does this mean? Wow, this is such a compelling mystery with so many twists and turns. I am so very invested right now.

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However, as the two talk, it's clear that Adrien isn't himself, literally.

“Adrien”: Let's leave, I dare you.

Kagami: Are you insane? We can't do that.

“Adrien”: Of course, we can. I can.

Kagami: (gasps) You'd do that?

“Adrien”: Wanna bet?

Kagami: No, we can't.

“Adrien”: See? You're not as free as you claim. Don't you think we should be able to decide our future?

I'll get back to this later.

Marinette tells “Adrien” that she loves her, but Chloe figures out that Marinette crashed a party she wasn't invited to. Of course, because this is Chloe, we're supposed to ignore how unnecessary this plan was for Marinette. Seriously, Marinette crashing the party in “Gabriel Agreste”, as illogical as it was, made sense, because they needed to stop Chloe from showing Gabriel incriminating footage of Marinette. Here, Marinette had no real reason to crash this party when all she had to do was call Adrien, and Chloe, like her or hate her, makes a good point in that she wasn't invited. But again, since this is Season 5 Chloe, she could say she opposes human trafficking, and the writers would still find a way to make her look like the bad guy.

Chloe tells the other rich kids to help her expose Marinette, but because they're so stuck up and entitled, they refuse to touch her. I'll give you all a moment to groan from that unfunny joke. Then we get this conversation between Marinette and “Adrien”.

“Adrien”: All eyes are on you.

Marinette: They're looking at me like I'm a monster.

“Adrien”: Look closer, Marinette. (whispers into her ear) They're the monsters.

I officially take back everything bad I ever said about the Canto Bight scenes from The Last Jedi.

While I get what the episode's going for, we really haven't seen a lot of the 1% doing things that would actually warrant this level of scorn from the audience. Yeah, most of them were egotistical snobs, especially Chloe, but you can't really see this as a shot at the elite when it's aimed at their children instead of their parents. All we've seen in this episode is the rich kids being jerks (and even then, it's played for laughs), Chloe rightfully trying to get Marinette thrown out of a party she had no reason to crash, and Gabriel and Tomoe trying to pair their children together. If you want to show the audience how bad rich people are, you need to show them actually abusing their power and mistreating others. As bad as the aforementioned Canto Bight scenes were, they still worked because it managed to back up the point it was trying to make.

Compare this to characters like the Ferengi from Star Trek or the World Nobles from One Piece. These are allegories for the 1% that work because they do a better job at exaggerating aspects of them that can translate to how we see the elite in our world. With the Ferengi, they represent everything wrong with cutthroat businessmen who base their entire society over financial gains, and with the World Nobles, they represent the disconnect with the common people by being so arrogant, they wear helmets that prevent them from breathing the same air as the commoners. If you wanted to show how bad the rich were, especially considering what's going to happen in a few minutes, you needed to do more to make the audience not like them so we'd be more happy to see them get their comeuppance.

Marinette figures out that Felix impersonated Adrien once again (it honestly stops being impressive when he's done it during literally every episode he appears in), and he decides to transform using the Peacock Miraculous in public for some reason, calling himself Argos.

Argos' design is okay. The suit and coattails look pretty nice, and the coloring on his face works a lot better than Gabriel's. The only problem I have is the way the hood looks. It looks too goofy to go with the rest of the suit. It kind of reminds me of that salmon suit Squidward wore in that one episode of SpongeBob SquarePants.

Before anyone else at the party can do anything, Argos reveals a Sentimonster he created, Red Moon.

Red Moon is... a red moon. It's just a red moon that floats above the city, and it gives Argos the ability to make anyone bathed in its light disappear with a snap of his fingers. If anything, this shows how overpowered the Peacock Miraculous is, and that Gabriel was a real idiot for not trying anything like this while he was Shadowmoth.

Anyway, after making everyone think his cousin is a supervillain as part of his brilliant plan, Argos decides to tell everyone in the room about what his Sentimonster can do. He demonstrates this by, of course, choosing to snap away Chloe before targeting Gabriel and Tomoe. You really have your priorities straight, buddy. Argos then carries Marinette outside before throwing her in a dumpster, because if he snapped her away, than Ladybug couldn't fight him.

But then Argos decides to go to the streets, and decides to snap away a bunch of innocent civilians... while singing a jazz song. To anyone curious as to what it sounds like, I must warn you, it isn't for the feint of heart.

I take back everything bad I ever said about the Hawkmoth rap.

First off, I'm just going to say it, Bryce Papenbrook cannot sing. Argos is clearly trying to sound like a suave and confident villain like Doctor Facilier from The Princess and the Frog, but his delivery is terrible. It either ranges from flat monotone to trying to shout while dealing with a sore throat. The point I'm trying to make is that there was a good reason someone else did the singing voice for Adrien in the recent movie.

Second, this doesn't do anything to make us root for Argos as a character, because there's no reason for him to be doing this. I can understand why he'd use his power to get rid of Gabriel and Tomoe (even Chloe, given we know how much she's done), but why is he suddenly going nuts snapping a bunch of random people who haven't even met him before? The episode tries to make him a character who only does bad things because he has no choice to, so him doing this to a bunch of innocent civilians makes no sense.

Finally, WHY THE HELL IS THIS SCENE A MUSICAL NUMBER?! It's hard enough to see Argos callously wipe out a bunch of bystanders, essentially committing genocide, but the tone of the song is all upbeat and cheery, while the lyrics are about how Argos should get whatever he wants. What is the purpose of adding a song here? Are we supposed to find this funny? Is it meant to establish Felix as a wild card? Is the song supposed to make us like him more because of how catchy it is? What was the writers' endgame here? Like I mentioned earlier, this flies in the face of the characterization the episode is trying to establish for him.

Marinette transforms into Ladybug and arrives on the scene, confronting Argos over what he did last season.

Ladybug: You're the reason why I lost the other Miraculous in the first place! And why he took them! You gave them to him without any regard for the consequences it might have with the people of Paris!

Argos: True, except I work for no one. I only helped Monarch cause it served my plans! I needed the Peacock Miraculous and today I need yours and Cat Noir's so I can make my wish!

Ladybug: Your wish?! What do you want?! What are you trying to do?! You're destroying the world and we don't even know why!

Argos: When I merge your Miraculous together, I'll make a wish to create a better world! A free world, where no one will be under anyone's control anymore, where no one will be excluded like I was! A world without people like you to decide what's right or wrong! Who gets powers and who doesn't!

Dude, you're literally playing God right now by snapping away people who did nothing wrong, while singing a song at that. You have no right to lecture Ladybug on how to use power responsibly. And once again, even though we just saw him happily snapping people out of existence like the kid from that one Twilight Zone episode, the episode is going back to portraying him as someone who's only doing this because he has nothing to lose.

Ladybug tries to use her Lucky Charm, but gets nothing in response. This is because her plan is to get Argos to give up, but even in episodes where her plan was to get Akumas to give up, she still got her Lucky Charm (Rocketear, Qilin, Penalteam, Reunion, Perfection, Intuition), so this doesn't really make any sense. Ladybug calls Argos' bluff, so he wipes out everyone from existence. After running into Kagami and snapping Adrien back into existence, Argos is surprised that they aren't thanking him for wiping out all of humanity, and in fact, see him as a complete psychopath.

We then learn Felix's true plan. Earlier that day, Argos capitalized on a opening he had been hoping he would get for weeks, and then created Red Moon. Right after Adrien's date with Marinette, Argos ambushed Adrien, and snapped him out of existence with Red Moon's power. He then decided to impersonate Adrien so he could infiltrate the dance and snap Gabriel, Tomoe, and everyone else out of existence.

I think my feelings on this plan can be perfectly summarized by Tony Stark.

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First off, why did he need to sneak into the dance? All Felix had to do was transform into Argos, and nobody would know who he really was.

Second, why did he need to impersonate Adrien? Felix claims he's doing this for him, yet all he did was steal his girlfriend and ruin his public reputation. As a matter of fact, why did he even snap Adrien away? You're already wiping out all of humanity, so I don't think temporarily doing the same to Adrien will earn you any goodwill.

Third, why did he waste so much time screwing around with Marinette and Kagami? I sort of get why he would try to get in Kagami's good graces (keyword being “try”) by trying to convince her to rebel against her mother more, but why did he dance around with Marinette while pretending to be Adrien? Felix later says he wanted to spare Marinette for Adrien's sake, but he barely knows her, and whether she finds out Felix impersonated her boyfriend or not, she's going to be pissed at either you or Adrien because of your galavanting. In fact, I don't think he ever told Adrien that he danced with Marinette while at the dance in the first place.

Finally, he really needed to wait for this for weeks? If your goal was to get rid of Gabriel and Tomoe, why didn't you just ambush them yourself instead of waiting for a public function? This isn't like has last few appearances where he needed to rely on his intellect. He has superpowers now. All he has to do is create another Sentibug or some kind of assassin Sentimonster and he can be rid of them easily. Instead, he waited weeks for a chance to steal his cousin's identity, dance with his girlfriend, talk trash about Kagami for listening to her mother when he's supposed to be helping her and Adrien, blow his cover in a crowded area by transforming, and use his killer moon to erase all of humanity from existence while singing. Remember, this is the show that usually makes jokes about Marinette's obsession with unnecessarily complicated plans.

Anyway, Argos tries to use his powers to bring Marinette back, but for some reason, they won't work. My best guess is that it's because Marinette transformed into Ladybug, but that shouldn't chance the fact that Argos snapped her with Red Moon's power. After trying to justify his genocide by saying he never wanted to hurt Adrien and Kagami, Argos remembers how his powers work and brings everyone back. After Ladybug lets him go scot-free, Argos goes to a private place realizes that he may have made a few mistakes for almost wiping out all of humanity, tearfully snapping Red Moon out of existence, calling it “his sister”. Because I guess we were supposed to emotionally connect to the giant moon that showed little to no signs of sentience this entire episode? Argos transforms back to Felix, and we learn that Amelie knew where he was the whole time, and she was apparently testing Gabriel for some reason.

After Adrien explains to Marinette that his father ordered him to not tell her about the dance, Adrien goes to talk to Gabriel about it. Gabriel, being Gabriel uses his control over Adrien to force him to never talk about Marinette again. Gabriel then gets a call from Lila, and even though she's been nothing but helpful to him since Season 3, he's apparently tired with her. Why is he suddenly rejecting the help of his most competent (by comparison) ally?

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Also, the episode ends with the revelation that Lila somehow knows Gabriel is Monarch. Why? How? I DON'T CARE, BECAUSE THIS EPISODE SUCKS!

Oh my God, this episode was just terrible! “Derision” and “Adoration” definitely got to me with the way their stories were handled, but this was the first episode in a while to really piss me off. The plot was contrived as hell, basically being a repeat of “Gabriel Agreste”, and you all know how I wasn't exactly a fan of that episode. Think about it: Marinette sneaks into a party, Felix tries to scheme against Gabriel, and Marinette and Adrien end up getting caught in one of his schemes.

The social commentary about how bad the rich were just felt more pretensions than anything else. I get that it's meant to teach children a lesson about the real world, but the episode feels so confident in what its trying to say when it's not that deep, even by kids' show standards. Rich people are bad? Yeah, I think someone like me who lives in the same country as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg knows that. Will you actually teach kids about the financial conditions that allow the wealthy to abuse their power or the cutthroat methods they'll resort to in order to turn a profit? No? You're just going to tell kids that rich people are jerks without giving any actual evidence in the same episode you're using to try and to teach them? Man, these writers just keep hitting it out of the park here!

This whole “Rich people suck” message also falls flat because Felix is the one pushing it. You know, someone who already comes from a rich family? It's not like Bruce Wayne where he uses his money to help the people of Gotham, as Batman or not. Felix just whines about how “tHeY'rE tHe MoNsTeRs.” when he's just as well-off as they are. The episode tries to do a subtle discrimination message as evidenced by his rant as Argos earlier, but it doesn't work because we have never seen anyone discriminate against Felix for who he is. Yeah, the episode once again tries to hint at him being a Sentimonster, but because the show hasn't just pulled the trigger and confirmed it, it's hard to really sympathize with him being “excluded” when we've never seen him being treated differently by others in earlier episodes, and even if he was a Sentimonster, nobody would know or be able to discriminate against him in the first place.

I don't know why the show keeps trying to excuse Felix's actions when once again, he pretty much committed fucking genocide yet the episode still wanted us to feel bad for him realizing his actions had consequences. If he actually wanted to own up to his mistakes, he'd either hand over the Peacock Miraculous to Ladybug or help Ladybug stop Monarch. For someone who claims he hates when people abuse power to make others suffer, he's no better, judging from how both times he's gotten to use a Miraculous, he's either screwed over Ladybug (Strikeback) or endangered a lot of innocent people. And if you're wondering why I didn't point out any double standards between the treatment of Felix compared to Chloe, that doesn't really matter. No matter how you feel about Chloe, whether you feel like she got screwed over or not, it doesn't really make how the writers are glorifying Felix any better or worse, as his potential “redemption arc” isn't off to a good start.

The plot was stupid, Felix was an idiot, and it felt like more effort was put into the musical number than the writing. In my opinion, this is easily the worst episode of the season so far.

Although at the very least, now that we have even more evidence that Adrien, Felix, and even Kagami are all Sentimonsters, I think I know what clip I can start using to describe my feelings on this plotline.

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THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... FELIX

For someone who managed to outsmart Gabriel on multiple occasions with no superpowers, Felix's intelligence really took a nosedive the second he got the Peacock Miraculous. He came up with a completely unnecessary plan that involved impersonating his cousin's identity and mocking his friend when he's supposed to try and win their favor, he danced with his cousin's girlfriend without his consent, transformed in public, smearing his reputation even further, and proceeded to gleefully wipe out humanity through a musical number, and needed other people to point out how immoral his actions were. Of course, Marinette gets second place thanks to her plan to break into the party and later letting Argos get away.

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gravestrain · 1 year

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we don't have to talk about it; b. boeser

Well I wasn't sure if this would be done in time, but it is and it is probably the most proud I have ever been of a piece of writing I've made. I did not get a perfect bingo but I chose trade angst, friends to lovers, playlists as a love language, "it's always going to be you," and summer romance. This is some sickly sweet soulmates fluff accompanied by some sickly sweet playlists. There is a bit of NSFW mentions towards the begin but no actual smut. For this reason, 18+ readers only please ☺️

Happy birthday sweet Demi @wyattjohnston! 💖 I am so lucky to be in this community with you and wanted to write you something in return for all you do for our community of hockeyblr writers.

I want to preface this by saying that this is probably a slightly unrealistic version of Brock, and that is okay. This is a work of fiction. Do I think Brock listens to boygenius? Definitely not. But for the sake of this story, he would. As always, I did some research for this fic and so the programs at both UND and UBC that Harper completes are real programs/degrees!

Also; this is the inspiration picture I had for Harper's tattoo (photo from Pinterest). If it isn't clear in the story, I imagine Harper to have a lot of tattoos. I imagine her having a lot of small tattoos all over her body. Additionally, I tried my best to give Harper no other physical descriptors other than her having tattoos, so you all have the freedom to imagine her in any way that you possibly could want to, which I think is a beautiful thing. She/her pronouns are used. 2.6k words plus 3 small playlists ☺️

~~~~~~~

"We don't have to talk about it," Harper whispered to Brock as she slipped out from under his arm, the warm covers forcefully removed from his body. Brock shuddered at the implications of that.

His best friend. His lifeline, his biggest supporter. Somehow, he had ended up in bed with her, swollen lips and hair astray. He wondered if it meant absolutely everything to her, the way it did to him. He wondered if she would lay up for days, trying to forget the way her lips felt on his, the smell of her hair, the curl of her fingers around his.

"He's just lost," Harper told her best friend Amelie that weekend over cocktails. She was convinced that Amelie's eyes were going to pop out of her head when Harper whispered to her that she had ended up in bed with her childhood best friend. "Harper, I don't know how you can say that. It's your best friend, for Christ's sake. This isn't just anybody. Everyone in Vancouver is dying to get where you just were." Amelie ranted to Harper, trying to relay the implications of what the two of them had done. "Things between you two may never be the same." She exasperated and Harper rolled her eyes.

"Please, he is just overwhelmed. He feels very out of his element with the trade rumors and just wanted some safety and normalcy. It's not like it was romantic. Trust me, there was no aftercare or lit candles or rose petals." Harper sighed dramatically and Amelie tried to pretend like she believed her. Meanwhile, Harper tried to forget what it felt like when his fingers ghosted through her hair afterwards, when he brought her water and wiped her down gently. She tried to forget the way her heart beat out her chest at the way he held her afterwards. That she had to force him to let her go. Amelie shook her head and sipped her cocktail, wondering if Harper was foolish enough to think that she believed her.

Brock was avoiding Harper. That much was obvious. It would be more obvious if Harper wasn't doing the same thing to Brock. It had been a week since they slept together with no contact, probably the longest since their only real fight in freshman year of college when Brock left for an out of town game without saying bye to Harper. If Harper had known better when she slipped into bed after too many cocktails that night with Amelie, she would have stopped herself from opening one of her biggest secrets.

Harper had been making monthly playlists of Brock for as long as she could remember. In her Spotify, they go back to 2018. She thinks it was from the only time in their life when they were separated, when Harper was finishing her degree at UND and Brock was playing across the continent in Vancouver. It was a piece of her that she had always loved to do. It felt like a sacred part of their friendship, despite Brock knowing nothing about it.

If the amaretto sours weren't fogging her brain over, she would've done a double take at sending Brock her playlist titled "Brock: May 2023." But she didn't. She just sent it.

Brock was in bed, trying to fall asleep for the night when his ringtone for Harper went off. He shot up in bed, the reality of not talking to her for a week setting in. He scrambled for his phone, and found the playlist attached with a simple message: "I miss you." He was sure that she was out drinking with Amelie, just like they did one Saturday every month. With no judgement, he remembered that she had already gone out for their get together this month, but that was the last thing on his mind as he clicked on the playlist.

The playlist had a cover, just as all of hers did. A picture of Brock smiling wide after a game that he remembered her taking at the beginning of the month. He knew the ignoring was mutual, but his heart started to sink when he thought of just how much it could have been affecting her.

"I miss you more," he replied back without even clicking on the playlist. When he did, he found out that he didn't recognize many of the songs, but they would soon become the soundtrack to the rest of May for him. The dark screen of Spotify glared up at him, the tracks listed:

cool about it by boygenius

Graceland Too by Phoebe Bridgers

Radio by Lana Del Rey

Cornelia Street by Taylor Swift

Labyrinth by Taylor Swift

I saw you in a dream by the Japanese House

Brock simply pressed play on the playlist and let it hum him to sleep, his heart constricting at the way that the songs related to them and how they made him feel.

~~~

Harper knew Brock like the back of her hand. She knew what made him smile and what made him front. She knew what made him feel proud and what bruised his ego. Naturally, she knew what kind of music he would like to listen to. And she knew that Brock had probably never willingly turned on a song from any of the artists that were featured on the May playlist. But she knew him. And she knew what he needed to hear.

So when he sent her a picture of the lyric "you know how much I hate that everybody just expects me to bounce back, just like that" from Labyrinth by Taylor Swift, she didn't flinch when she soon saw the caption that went with it: "how do you know exactly what I need to hear. I don't think I've ever related to a lyric more." She smiled at their affinity for each other. She was however surprised, when a Spotify link of his own came through.

Titled: Harper, May 2023.

not strong enough by boygenius

Cleopatra by the Lumineers

End of Beginning by Djo

Don't Give Up on Me by Zach Bryan

The Archer by Taylor Swift

"I see I've inspired a bit of your music taste," Harper responded with a cheeky smile. She was certain that he had never heard a boygenius song before she sent him one. "You see right through me," he responded back cheekily, her cheeks burning. Harper stared at the playlist in awe when she realized that he was in fact referring to The Archer. Before she could even think twice about it, she was drafting an email to her tattoo artist about getting the tattoo for "The Archer" that she had been wanting for months.

It seemed that a week after that conversation, with few in between, that Brock was also doing things before he could think twice about them. When he had started the trek home from his night out with the guys, they all did a double take when he asked Quinn to drop him at Harper's. He hadn't told anyone besides Petey about their sleeping together, but they could all tell that something was going on between the two childhood best friends.

"Are you sure that's a good idea bud?" Elias asked, clapping his hand on his best friend's shoulder. He knew the status of the friendship at that point and he could also recognize that Brock was beyond intoxicated. "Yeah, we're good now. Just a blip. She's expecting me." He smiled his most convincing smile at Elias and he seemed to fall for it. "Alright bud, well if she throws you out screaming give me or Quinner a call and we can take you back to your place?" He offered and Brock nodded, his feet carrying him quickly towards the door. At this point, Brock was eagerly trying to make his way to his best friend who he hadn't seen in weeks. It had now been almost three weeks since they had seen each other. Brock was soon to be heading home to Minnesota, and Harper would soon be following him. He would wait until the school year was over so he could help Harper pack up and move back home.

It was never Harper's plan to follow Brock to Vancouver, but once she followed him to UND, it seemed inevitable. It became glaringly obvious that the two of them could simply not live without each other. When Harper graduated with her bachelors in Communication Sciences and Disorders, she had already been accepted into the University of British Columbia's Masters program for Audiology and Speech Sciences. After two years in this program, Harper graduated, and got her dream job as a speech pathologist in a high school not far from her apartment.

When she first let Brock know of her plans, he was living with a teammate. He insisted that he could get out of the lease and that he wanted to live with her so that she wasn't by herself. Harper had already found another girl in the same program study as her that she would live in a nicer apartment with. She was lucky that she never had to worry about money. Both of her parents had good paying jobs, and they always supported her choice to be with Brock in Vancouver, seeing as Harper's mom's best friend is Brock's mom.

Brock made the familiar descent up to the 4th floor to Harper's apartment, typing in the code and letting himself in. It was just past 1. Harper liked to stay up late, and her roommate Carmen had gone back home to Edmonton for the summer, meaning he knew he was okay sneaking in this late.

"Harps?" He called out, heading towards her bedroom. He slowly opened the door and found her laying on her side in her bed. Her bedside lamp was still on, letting him know that she had just dozed off and hadn't actually fallen asleep for the night. Brock's eyes furrowed in on the angry red skin that lined the obviously new tattoo that she was sporting on the back of her left upper arm. A bow and arrow, with ivy detailing now adorned her arm. Small cursive words were also laced within the bow. Brock couldn't make them out from where he was standing, but he didn't have to to know that they were something from the Taylor Swift song. His heart constricted at the mere thought of that, that something that they had shared amongst each other was now permanently on her body. It would be with her for the rest of her life.

As the soft pads of his fingertips reached out to touch it, Harper shot awake, startled by the sudden touch. "Just me, honey," he rasped out. "You scared the shit out of me," she gasped, rolling over to face him but careful not to put too much pressure on the new ink she was sporting. "What are you doing here?" She mumbled, eyes squinting to adjust to the lamp light.

"I can't do this anymore," he sighed as he sat on the end of her bed. "I love you, Harper. And I want everyone to know it. I want you to know it." He confessed. Her eyes widened, sitting up to move towards him. "You're drunk." She muttered, not making eye contact with him. She knew how this would end. She had imagined it so many times, a scenario where she was able to be with her best friend, as she had wanted for so long. But they all ended the same way all of her past relationships ended: heartbreak, agony, trauma.

"I am, but I know I love you more than I could ever begin to express. You are the center of my world. Let me love you the way you deserve to be loved." His hands were now holding her own, his soft eyes pleading with hers as he reached out to touch her palm. "It's always going to be you, Harper. In every universe. Just tell me you love me and everything will be okay." His blue eyes stared into her own with more passion than she could ever comprehend. Tears welled up in her eyes, and all she could think to do was lean in and kiss Brock with all the love she had had for him since she was 16 years old.

Now at 26, as she held onto him, his steady heartbeat anchoring her to sleep under her ear, she wondered if it could have always been so easy, to love her best friend whole heartedly, and that he would love her the exact same way back. When she felt his fingertips brushing her shoulders gently, a soft hum of "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac coming from his lips, a late addition to her "Brock: May 2023" playlist, she realized she was wrong all along. Being with Brock would never lead her to heartbreak, agony, and trauma. It was Brock. Her Brock. Gentle, warm, soft as a blanket Brock. When he wrapped his arms around her, and she finally felt her lips on his once again, she realized her doubts were always just that: doubts. And with a sweep of his thumb across her cheek, they both pulled back, looking at each other and wondering if they'd feel happiness like this forever.

_____

3 months later

"You guys are absolutely disgusting," Quinn grumbled in fake agony at Brock and Harper who were cuddled up on the couch outside on the patio, watching the sunset at Brock's family lake house. "At least you don't have to share a wall with them!" Petey groaned, causing Brock to shove his shoulder. "You two should just be happy that you don't have to share a room anymore." He tried to deflect but it only caused more bickering from the two, finger pointing about who snored louder and how last summer Quinn took one too many turns sleeping on the bed and Petey had to sleep on the floor an extra night.

Harper snuggled deeper into Brock's shoulder, inhaling his familiar scent. She pulled the blanket up to puddle around her hips: Brock always ran warm, and she always ran cold, so the blanket never came anywhere near him. She reached up to brush a small piece of hair out of Brock's face as she chucked and Elias and Quinn's antics. There was nothing like enjoying the lake with Brock and their loved ones.

Of course she had spent countless days here with Brock. Many people had come through the front door and experienced the magic of the Boeser family lake house and all the memories and warmth that comes with it. But there was truly nothing like this feeling of warmth, joy, the feeling of home. She wondered if she would ever be as happy as she is in this current moment, this current summer.

When she looked up at the man next to her, the man of her dreams, she knew she would always be that happy. He was mid sentence when she couldn't resist the burning urge to kiss her lover on the cheek, leaning up to snuggle into his neck, her cold hands reaching under his sweatshirt, causing him to shiver.

"Could you guys be any more disgustingly cute? Makes me sick," Quinn muttered, taking a sip of his beer. "Yes," the two of them muttered simultaneously. Quinn and Elias just laughed, shaking their hands at the response. They knew the answer, and it wasn't that they really minded. They loved Harper and loved that Brock was happy and not embarrassingly pining after his best friend anymore.

Harper began humming along with "Sad Songs for Sad People" by Megan Moroney, one of her favorites for the month. Now that they were dating, the playlists were still made monthly, which some slight changes. They were now titled "Brock and Harper" with the month and year accompanying it, their two profile pictures snuggled up next to each other at the top. The cover photos were now pictures of the perfect couple.

At this point it was Brock who couldn't resist placing a soft kiss on his lover's lips. As they cuddled together, they both knew that they could never replicate the first summer at the lake as an official couple, but as long as they were together, the happiness, the magic, the joy of that first summer would last forever.

Brock and Harper, August 2023

Sad Songs for Sad People by Megan Moroney

All of the Girls You Loved Before by Taylor Swift

Grapejuice by Harry Styles

Golden Hour by Kacey Musgraves

Since We're Alone by Niall Horan

Lady May by Tyler Childers

Sweet Nothing by Taylor Swift

I Hate Love Songs by Kelsea Ballerini

Bad for Business by Sabrina Carpenter

Starting Over by Chris Stapleton

#Demi's birthday bingo #brock boeser #brock boeser x fem oc #brock boeser imagine #vancouver canucks #nhl #nhl imagine #nhl fic #vancouver Canucks imagine #fem oc

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lutiaslayton · 8 months

Text

Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva

ＰＡＲＴ　１１

〚ＦＩＲＳＴ〛〚ＰＲＥＶ〛〚ＮＥＸＴ〛

Disclaimer: This is a fan-translation for the Japan-exclusive novellisation of the movie Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva. The original novel was written by Aya Matsui under the supervision of Akihiro Hino, and belongs to Level-5.

This translation only aims to be a pleasant read for non-Japanese fans, nothing more: I made a few deliberate changes while translating in order to get the writing style closer to what is usually found in English fanfictions, as the Japanese storytelling can sometimes be different than what we are used to.

＊ The Island of Ambrosia

How long had we been on the lifeboat?

It felt like such a long time that I began to wonder if the explosion on the Crown Petone had even occurred.

Was it real? Or had it been a dream that all twelve of us here had seen at the same time?

There were only twelve of us left. First there were me, the professor, Janice, Mr Whistler, the seven-year-old Melina, Amelie, who was said to be a British chess champion as well as a high school student, and Mr Brock with his iconic backpack…

And then, there were the people who had taken the other lifeboat: the former captain O’Donnell; Mr Bargland, who looked in such good health, it was hard to believe that he only had six months left to live; there was the gorgeous Mrs Raidley, and another woman, Miss Annie Dretche, who wrote mystery novels…

And finally, believe it or not, there was Mr Starbuck, the former footballer from the national team who was known as the ‘Legendary Left Leg.’ Any member of the national team was a star among stars in the whole United Kingdom, but Mr Starbuck could not bear talking, or even hearing about his past carreer.

Annie secretly told me why: his ‘Legendary Left Leg’ was tattered with scars from the surgery he had received after an injury… and because of it, he could no longer play football. He had an unwavering determination to play football once more, and this was why he was trying to obtain eternal life.

I had woken up in the lifeboat during the early hours of dawn, and Annie, riding on the other lifeboat next to ours, had been the only other person awake. With nothing better to do, we had spent the time chatting.

By that point, the boats had slowed down, and were now leisurely headed towards the island that had appeared in the distance.

I was hungry and thirsty, but still had enough energy left to talk. So Annie also told me this: Mr Bargland was the president of a giant trading company, the ‘World Fleet’ corporation, and Mrs Raidley was the widow of a billionaire as well as a queen of high society. This lady had said that she was participating in this puzzle-solving game for the sake of making her beauty shine forever…

“I am quite partial to gossip magazines,” Annie concluded, winking at me with a mischievous smile.

Annie herself was a mystery writer, and fairly well-known in the United Kingdom; even I knew that any mystery written by Annie Dretche would always be number one in the sales charts upon release. My mum was a big fan of her works.

“Annie, the first film I ever watched was ‘Murder on the Thames.’ I saw it with my mum in a small cinema in Misthallery.”

I had been kept on the edge of my seat from start to finish, wondering how the protagonist would be able to solve the perfect crime in the River Thames. When I told her, she flashed a very happy smile.

“I think it’s a pretty good mystery, if I do say so myself.”

But then she fell silent. She looked in the distance and murmured:

“Luke, if I could have eternal life, what do you think I would do?”

“Huh? Um, I don’t know…”

It did not immediately occur to me.

“I am going to keep writing masterful mysteries, forever. I believe I can.”

As she said this, her eyes were sparkling against the horizon. I wondered… How old was she?

Definitely younger than Captain O’Donnell. About as old as Mr Bargland and Mr Whistler…

And yet, I thought that in this very moment… she was thinking about death.

Maybe she had too much talent, and not enough time, to live a normal life. There were so many different reasons for people to wish for eternal life…

With this in mind, I too continued to stare silently at the horizon.

We arrived on the island together.

Mr Bargland looked around cautiously. “What on Earth is this island…”

“At first glance, it seems to be uninhabited…” Captain O’Donnell mused.

At that moment, Mr Brock began to dash off. As he was running, he was muttering in excitement:

“Impossible! Could it be? Finally…?”

At the end of his course, he hugged a rock and exclaimed:

“There’s no doubt about it… This is Ambrosia!”

Ambrosia!? I was not the only one to be astonished.

“Ambrosia, you say?”

“Or should I say, this is where Ambrosia used to be…”

For the very first time since I met him, Mr Brock lowered his backpack and pulled something out of it with great care. It was a scrapbook, and it seemed to be an extremely important one to him.

“This is a scrapbook dedicated to the immortal kingdom of Ambrosia, which I, Marco Brock, amateur historian, cobbled together in my spare time from work!”

“It’s so thick…”

“So you’re a History geek…”

Mr Starbuck and Mrs Raidley were both taken aback, but Mr Brock was so engrossed in turning the pages that he didn’t seem to have heard their voices at all. Instead, he soon took out a sheet of paper from one of the pages and aligned it close to the rock he was facing.

“Just look at this! It’s the same crest!”

He was holding a drawing of the incomplete coat of arms. And indeed, there was something carved into the rock that seemed to have the same symbols.

The professor walked up to him and gazed at the crest.

“Indeed, this looks like the coat of arms of Ambrosia. I have seen it before in Dr Schrader’s study.”

Mr Brock’s voice was trembling with excitement and emotion.

“See? It’s here! I finally got my wish!”

Captain O’Donnell was also deeply moved. He looked around the island once more, this time with a completely new expression.

“I never thought I would be able to set foot here in my lifetime… But I see now. This is Ambrosia…”

Mr Bargland’s eyes squinted… then sparkled.

“So the elixir of immortality is hidden somewhere on this island?”

At these words, everybody came still, as if frozen in place. After all, they had just realised… This had been our intended destination all along.

It was then that Mrs Raidley’s voice rang out. “Wait, look over there!”

I followed her gaze, and saw that a table was set up under a tree on the beach. Food and drinks were laid out, ready for a meal.

“Food…”

“And wine, too…”

Mr Starbuck and Mrs Raidley both voiced their excitement, walking up to the table. We all followed suit.

A message written on a small card that had been placed between the rows of treats caught my eye.

“To all participants in the game…” I read out loud.

“Thank goodness… I was so thirsty.”

“Is this a reward for solving those puzzles?”

Everyone competed for a chair, rushing to eat. Ms Bargland was the first to pick up the wine, and he eagerly began to pour it into a glass.

“Or perhaps… Could this be a new puzzle?”

At Amelia’s words, everybody stopped their hands. Mr Bargland’s wine gurgled and overflowed from his glass.

But then, Melina reached for a plate of fruit and… began to eat, carefree. I had never seen this type of fruit before, I wondered if it could be native to this island… Regardless, that was what she was eating. I couldn’t take it any longer…

“…Well, who cares, I’m eating!”

We all took Mr Bargland’s words as permission to eat. We were simply too hungry.

They say that hunger makes the greatest kind of seasoning, and indeed, never had I ever had such a delicious meal.

“Oh, it’s so good!”

“Really…”

Janice smiled, as she tasted the same fruit that Melina had picked earlier. The professor too closed his eyes when I grabbed a handful of food. Usually, he would casually say something like, “A gentleman should always watch his manners, Luke.” But it seemed like today, he would let it slide.

After the meal, I went on a stroll along the beach. My stomach was full, I was happy, and I just… well, I kind of wanted to be alone, away from everyone.

I found many beautiful shells on the beach. And there was no one to pick them up, on this desert island… Well, I could afford to keep one or two.

I could hear Janice’s voice in the distance. She was enjoying a chat with the professor.

“This all feels like a dream… The game, this island… and eating outside like this, with the great Professor Layton, looking at the sea side by side…”

“The part about eating outside… would be quite normal for the archaeological survey class.” Somehow, it sounded like the professor had been saying this as if he were actually asking a question.

“Ruins and beaches are two different things,” Janice replied with a shrug. “But I suppose that ruins are more romantic to you.”

This reminded me of the fact that she used to take classes with him when she was a student. That was years before I met him… She probably had many memories of her school days that she remembered fondly. She probably missed those times by his side.

This suddenly made me feel… very lonely.

I decided to walk away so I wouldn’t hear their conversation anymore. Melina was picking up shellfish too, just a bit further. When looking at her like this, she seemed to be even younger than just seven years old. Did this child really say that she had eternal life…?

I walked up to her and tried to offer the shell I had picked up earlier, but she wouldn’t even look at me.

I pressed the shell to my ear and crouched down beside her, before saying:

“If you do this, you can hear the sound of the waves.”

Melina remained silent.

“Well, that’s what I’ve been told, but… I was never able to hear them properly.” This was an honest confession.

“…I hear them,” she muttered.

Her words surprised me. “Really?”

She brought a shell to her ear and began to sing.

♪

Hm-hm-hm-hm… Hm-hm-hm-hm… Hm-hm-hm-hm-hm-hm-hm-hm-hm-hm-hm-hm…

The melody was somewhat melancholic, but very beautiful.

I sighed. “That’s a pretty song.”

“…The sea taught me.”

“The sea?”

Did she really hear the song just now, coming out of the shell?

I was about to ask, but the howling of a beast was heard from somewhere.

I looked around in all directions with a start. Just this instant, this had been the sound of a ferocious, cruel… yes. The voice of a wolf.

“Did you just hear…?”

When I turned my head back to her, Melina was gone. I looked around, but she was nowhere to be seen.

I ran up to Mr Whistler, shouting in panic: “Mr Whistler, Melina’s disappeared! She was right here a second ago…”

He did not bat an eye. “She must have gone off to play elsewhere.”

‘Elsewhere’…? He was so careless!

“What is that look for? She will come back.”

I wanted to object, but suddenly… I heard that voice again.

“Ladies and gentlemen, your little break is about to end.”

At the same time, a pack of wolves darted out of the bushes behind me.

“P-Professor! Wolves!”

Mrs Raidley screamed. When the man’s voice rang out again, it was as if he could see how upset and scared we were; and it was tinged with a sinister laugh.

“Now, shall you all be the wolves’ dessert next?”

“R-r-run!”

Everyone else ran as fast as they could, and they did not need Captain O’Donnell to do it. But I stayed behind. The wolves growled and slowly came closer, and closer…

That was when I was struck by a flash of inspiration. If I could try talking to them… I could talk to animals, after all.

People would sometimes ask me how I could have this ‘magical power,’ as they say… but I have been able to talk naturally with the neighbourhood dogs and cats for as long as I can remember. So when they would ask me how… I don’t really know myself. I will simply talk to them when I need to, because I can.

And in that moment, I really needed to.

I jumped in front of the wolves to protect Janice, and started talking to them.

“Grr… Gruh! Garuh! Grruh…”

In proper English… “We’re not doing anything hurtful!”

The wolves replied…

“Gahooo…”

What? Funny?

I had no idea what they were talking about. Usually, I would know for sure…?

“Professor, this isn’t right! They don’t understand me!”

“Someone must be manipulating them.”

As he said this, the professor threw sand at the wolf that tried to attack him. This scared off the pack for a small moment.

“Janice, Luke, we have to go!”

All three of us set off at full speed towards the forest, catching up with the others.

“I, I can’t, run anymore…!”

Annie sounded like she was in pain.

“…Yet you’re running anyway,” Mr Bargland huffed with disdain. “You’re stubborn, old lady.”

　⇚　　　　　　　⇛

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naoke666 · 2 years

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Explaining Iruma and Kirio's relationship

Hey there! In case you have been struggling to understand what exactly the relationship between these two characters is, I have decided to write down this helpful guide to dispel any confusion you might have.

Before writing this essay, I have carefully consulted with the manga's author, Osamu Nishi herself, and therefore everything I describe here is absolutely true and canon. This guide is 100% objective and explains the exact author’s intent towards the relationship between them.

Hopefully you will find this post useful. Let's begin!

***

...Kirio was Iruma's first crush.

At the point in story where they meet, Iruma has just learned the joy of achieving a goal, thanks to Amelie. However, that initial goal was simply "ranking up", a goal suggested by someone else but not something devised by Iruma. Now that he has learned how fun overcoming challenges is, Iruma is perfectly ready to start learning about what kind of ambition he has. Cue Kirio!

This gentle-looking demon with a weird accent vaguely says something about improving the lives of weak ones and making the Netherworld a fairer place, and it strikes gold. Doing good things for others? Creating a solution for inequality? This stuff resonates with Iruma deeply. Since Iruma's destiny is to become a demon king it only makes sense that these ideals would appeal to him. He imagines a date with Kirio where they are making cool magical tech to help disadvantaged demons together and for the first time in his life experiences inspiration.

There is one more thing that makes Kirio stand out in Iruma's eyes. Although he has already spent a bit of time in the Netherworld and is slowly getting used to it, Iruma is still a little uncomfortable with many of its customs. The folks here are all fun, but they are also a little too intense in their own ways. And that makes sense - they are demons after all. Something like kidnapping juniors and torturing them into joining your after-school club is not uncommon here. Iruma also has to deal with the constant anxiety about being found out as a human and getting eaten. He can never quite let his guard down, even around his friends.

Kirio, though - he is so round and sweet and harmless! He does not force or torture anyone into joining his batra, he is not intense at all, and he is actually sort of a push over too. His gentle demeanour and soft-spokenness appeal to Iruma not only because they are so relatable but also because they provide him with much needed break from the demons' over-the-top (although still fun!) nature.

During their first talk Iruma carefully lets his guard down - shares that he does not have that much mana either - and is met with pure acceptance, kindness, and a marriage proposal.

You might have noticed that I have slightly adjusted the text in a few of the previous manga panels. If you didn’t, that’s okay too. The changes are quite subtle, so they may be a little tough to spot. They are not done with the intention to alter the original dialogue but just to help convey author’s real intention.

It is no surprise that (in anime) Kirio becomes the first person who Iruma feels safe enough with to share that he is human.

On the one hand, Iruma feels safe with Kirio but on the other hand he feels inspired and uplifted by him too. It's only natural for a crush to develop in these conditions.

Iruma is consistently giddy and excited to spend time with Kirio. Once his feelings reach their peak, Iruma proposes to Kirio too.

In his passionate speech Iruma talks about how great it would be to try and strive for something as seemingly impossible as Battler Party Prize. Once someone who could only live from moment to moment, Iruma is for the first time excited to work towards a tougher, but more fulfilling objective. He wants everyone to realize how great Kirio’s Battler is - Kirio’s ambition becomes Iruma’s ambition too (or what he perceives that ambition to be).

Kirio appears in Iruma's life at the best moment. On the one hand, Iruma is slowly starting to figure out how fun it is to strive for goals, but needs to understand what he specifically wants; on the other hand he is still a little overwhelmed by the Netherworld and needs someone he could be a little less guarded around. Someone a little less demonic than all these demons around Iruma, but still a demon. And Kirio seems like the perfect undemon-like demon so far.

...Which is why Kirio revealing his true face is that shocking.

Kirio is introduced through the contrast to all the overly demonic characters, but his motivation makes him, in fact, the most demon-like demon that we have encountered so far. The Battler Arc is a little special compared to the rest of the arcs - and that is because it was originally intened as the series’ end, in case the manga was to get axed (https://media.comicspace.jp/archives/18287).

Nishi: You used to say. You said that you wanted to make it so exciting that it would be okay if the series ended here.

Editor: Yes, we talked about making the fourth volume of Kirio's story as if it were the final volume, so the climactic episode of the division showcase was written over a period of two weeks. Even in the first series of the anime, the producers often talked about how they wanted the resolution with Kirio to be practically the last episode.

(thank you deepl)

And I believe that because this arc was supposed to be the last, it could pull off the kind of things that all the following arcs can’t. One of them is taking a carefully built-up image of the Netherworld and then turning it completely upside down. Most of the series' jokes are built on the same idea: the demon world is almost like the human world, but turned up a notch, since it’s a demon world after all. For example - and ordinary school, but they have torture classes in here! Cause they are demons! Ha-ha! Despite this extremeness though, the Netherworld slowly grows on the reader, becomes cozy; the demons’ intensity becomes part of their charm.

But revealing a character with motivation this vile and perverted ruins that wholesome image. This is supposed to be comedy! This is supposed to be a heart-warming found family show! How can a character like that exist in this world?! Yet, it doesn’t go against the world-building either. It’s almost like Nishi is smiling at us, asking “Hey, why are you so surprised? I told you, they are demons after all”. And all we can do is nod, as we realise how dangerous this world really is, and how much we do not know about it yet. It’s chilling, it’s shocking, it completely subverts everything we know about the story so far, it’s so surprisingly pitch-dark.

...And so Iruma realizes, that even though he loves Kirio very much, it would be a healthier choice to just stay friends!

Thus, instead of helping Kirio reach his ambition as he planned at first, Iruma destroys Kirio's ambition instead. He gently friendzones him by blasting through his barrier maze and plans with resolve and Yodth-level magic power.

In the aftermath of it all anyone else would feel betrayed by Kirio, be angry with him; alternatively, someone else might enter a deep denial about his true nature, try to justify his actions. But Iruma does neither of these. He is just not that kind of person. As we have learned during the climax of the battler arc, he does not see the point in wallowing in despair and anger; he prefers to move forward and take action. He also hates to see people get hurt and fundamentally disagrees with Kirio’s actions. And thus, Iruma stays true to himself - instead of being heartbroken and angry, instead of justifying Kirio, he simply accepts that his first love turned out to be a pervert terrorist. And he also acknowledges that despite everything, these feelings were real and special, and that he has grown a lot thanks to this person.

Iruma eventually moves on - to new experiences, new life, new people. He is not stuck in those memories, and in fact he doesn't think about Kirio too often. Yet, Kirio has a soft spot in Iruma's heart. Iruma still keeps a tag with his name on the club member list, and he has also expresses hope of meeting Kirio one day again.

Iruma is not waiting for Kirio because he is in denial about how terrible he is, or because he hopes to fix him. There are many ways to hint that Iruma is making a mistake by waiting for Kirio, and yet nothing like that is present. Desire to have it all, following his own ambition instead of being swept by somebody else's - all these important lessons Iruma has learned during his time with Kirio. Iruma is waiting for Kirio because he chooses to treasure the time they have spent together and because, if it's possible, Iruma would love to rekindle their connection. And although Kirio did not end up making for a great partner, he could very well make for a great friend maybe :)

***

...Iruma is Kirio's first crush.

Last time Kirio had a friend was in pre-elementary school, and that didn't go too well. Most people at school don't acknowledge his existence (because he wilfully conceals his presence with detection-warding glasses), and those who do notice him just bully and make fun of him (and they are completely correct).

So, it's a bit of a change in pace when this blue Kirby springs into his life.

We don't have as much insight into Kirio's thoughts yet (for obvious reasons), but we can probably assume that Iruma doesn't spark Kirio's interest as quickly as Kirio did Iruma's. While Iruma is busy crushing hard, Kirio simply enjoys his (and eventually the rest of Irutrio’s) company.

Still, it seems like he warms up to them. Knowing Kirio’s true nature, it’s easy to assume that he wasn’t honest when expressing how much fun he is having with everyone. But Kirio is not devoid of virtue! According to an interview from Animedia’s April 2021 issue Kirio never lies! He is a very honest guy! I guess...? ...Unless one means “only lies by omission”...?

Kirio never lies.

KIRIO is often interpreted as a "traitor" to Iruma and his friends, but in fact, he is a character who has never lied. He considers Azu and Clara to be his good friends and lovely juniors, and he also really enjoys the activities of the Magical Tool Investigators. Even so, I couldn't help but want to see Azu and Clara hurt and Iruma in despair. It's a completely different feeling. He is a troubled guy. (Nishi)

So, Kirio is having fun with his new friends, and he is genuinely thankful to Iruma for making all this happen. And the fact that he gets to hurt his new friends and see their despair later? Absolute cherry on top. Instead of pretending to befriend them to manipulate them into his evil schemes he ACTUALLY befriends them and ALSO manipulates them into his evil schemes! Isn’t that nice.

Perhaps through a combination of gratitude and genuine friendship as well as exctimenet about his potential despair, Kirio slowly begins developing deeper feelings for Iruma too. Not a full blown crush by any means, but certainly the beginning of something. After Iruma gives a pationate speech about winning the Battler Party prize and marriage proposal, Kirio is visibly touched.

“Awwww, that guy is so sweet. Going to such length for me and my Battler... I am extra excited about making him cry now :)”

Hey, who wouldn’t feel at least a little fluttered when someone so obviously admires them and is inpired to share their ambition?

So imagine Kirio’s shock when Iruma turns him down. What did poor Kirio even do to deserve this?! Oh, that’s right. Terrorism.

Clearly, Iruma’s rejection is a great punch in the guts for Kirio. But, there is something else happening too. After being rejected so hard AND after having his years long in making plan being thwarted like that, Kirio realizes...

...he is deeply, madly in love now.

There is something I want to point out with Kirio here. As much as Kirio is frustrated with Iruma afterwards for ruining his plans, it’s important to note that he does not hate him - in fact, Kirio develops deep fascination with Iruma as a result. Every time Iruma reveals the strength of his ambition, Kirio reacts quite strongly: first time during their talk in Kirio’s secret room, which gives start to Kirio’s “we are matching” mantra, and second time during the arc’s climax. It is true that to him Iruma presents a worthy challenge, perhaps something Kirio hasn’t encountered before. However, Iruma doesn’t pick Kirio’s interest just because he didn’t despair. It’s because he didn’t despair due to the strength of his ambition.

Kirio concludes that in the end they are not “matching” at all, because Iruma’s ambition is that much stronger. In the future, however, Kirio gets a ring explicitly made to “match” Iruma’s, perhaps indicating his desire to match with Iruma after all, including the strength of his ambition.

How tragic - to develop feelings for someone who has just stopped being in love with you and rejected you! Kirio struggles with accepting his feelings at first. Yet he can’t help but save Iruma from falling to his death. Despite ruining his plans and being his natural enemy, Iruma has a soft spot in Kirio’s heart as well. Kirio understands - someone like this is extremely special, and he can’t afford to lose Iruma.

...Not to say that if Iruma falls to his death right now Kirio will forever lose his chance of making him cry and destroying his life! There is no way he is missing out on THAT.

Kirio’s perspective on Iruma changes forever; his life gets divided into two parts, before and after being defeated by Iruma. He promises to meet him again one day and literally disappears into the mist (goes to jail).

Perhaps the best way to summarize how Kirio feels about Iruma now is by quoting the anime’s director, Makoto Moriaki, from the interview she gave after season 1 finished airing (https://cho-animedia.jp/article/2020/02/29/17226.html):

-Who do you think is the character most healed by Iruma?

Perhaps it is KIRIWO. Kirio wants to see Iruma's despairing face, but I think it is because Iruma is someone he feels a great attraction to. I think it's the flip side of love. Kirio would not be interested in seeing the despair of a person he thinks is unimportant. And yet, the fact that Kirio wants to see Iruma's face of despair shows how much he loves Iruma. Perhaps he loves Iruma the most deeply. It is very interesting to watch with that in mind. There is a danger of loving in a world that others cannot imagine.

Kirio’s priorities shift: if he used to be more or less aligned with Baal’s objectives and vision before, but now it seems like Iruma has become a lot higher in his pyramid of needs.

Moreover, he is developing quite some possessive tendencies. He can’t bear hearing that someone else saw Iruma’s despair - noone else dares to bully Iruma except for Kirio himself.

It is entirely possible that the interests of Baal’s organisation and Kirio’s own interest in Iruma might contradict each other one day.

While Iruma is moving on, living his life to the fullest, making new friends and working towards his dreams, Kirio is wallowing in the past, not being able to let go of his feelings. It is worth noting that he at least attempts to be healthy about his crush by continuing to pursue his own objectives and hobbies, such as terrorism. And yet Iruma consumes his thoughts, consumes his being.

In this piece, Kirio’s drool represents his longing for Iruma, his desire to reconnect with his natural opposite, the yang to his yin, to feel complete. Also that he is an absolutely despicable person and that there is no way anyone can stan this guy, much less ship him with Iruma (/pos).

...It’s tough to imagine what the future of these two holds. It would be interesting to see how Kirio reacts upon finding out that Iruma holds no grudge at him and is in fact ready to reconnect. Kirio likely expects Iruma to be disgusted by him after he has revealed his true nature. Yet Iruma could become the only other person, aside from Baal, to accept Kirio for who he is, while discouraging his degeneracy.

It would also be interesting to see how Iruma would react upon finding out that Kirio knows that he is human, excited to chew on his guts and get off to his despair.

After almost a year of not seeing each other they obviously have a lot to discuss. Will Kirio reignite the sparks of lost passion and turn Iruma into his lover after all? Will he get distracted and eat him up before he can do that? Will Iruma eat him up in self-defence instead? And what is Kirio planning to do with that dress?

No matter how it goes, I am sure that whatever development their love life will take once they meet again, it will be exciting and heart-throbbing regardless with only a little bit of pain and horror!

TL;DR: Iruma wanted to date Kirio but decided to stay friends when Kirio turned out to be #problematic. Kirio, on the other hand, only fell for Iruma after the rejection and is now walloving in his feelings and longing for him, while Iruma is moving on. Iruma still treasures the time they spent together and feels nostalgic for his first love. We are yet to learn whether meeting Iruma will eventually result in Kirio unlearning his toxic behaviours or whether it will enhance them and take away any chances Kirio has at getting a date with Iruma after all.

I hope that you have found this guide useful, and thank you so much for reading!

P.S. this post is a big fat /hj

#welcome to demon school iruma kun #iruma kun #mairuma #irukiri #iruma #kirio

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lavampira · 7 months

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13, 16, 22, 23, + 30 for the wol questions? 🩷

[wol questions]

ty beloved!! 🖤

13. are they close with any of the other scions? who do they get along with the best?

minfilia and shtola were her closest confidantes in ARR, and shtola continues to be now, both of them academic-minded and inquisitive and caring in an outwardly detached way that works for them well. thancred was someone she struggled to get along with being too similar to each other’s stubborn and repressed qualities for a long time, but he’s become an older brother figure to her. the twins are baby siblings to her that she lovingly pesters and encourages in equal measure. raha and estinien are her closest friends, though, but for different reasons - raha is her soulmate if she’s ever had one, their lives so intertwined through distance and time, and his gentle insistence at being by her side as an equal to experience adventures and share her burdens while she encourages him to find his place as a scion now that he’s survived beyond his sacrifices and remind that he is an equal to her; estinien is a quiet support where he is always, always believing and trusting in her and willing to lend his lance when she needs, and she tries to be the same for him, simply two friends who know each other well and can coexist without needing to talk at times.

16. what does your WoL do to relax? what sorts of distractions do they seek? do they foster any bad habits as a result?

she goes home to decompress; whether to see her parent, sid and rielle, or her island, there’s something about returning to the sanctuary and comfort of not having to be the warrior of light, but just d’alia, the person. little trips into nature as well, pocketing plants for her scrapbook journal. makes herself a bunch of comfort foods. pretty much seeks quiet and solitude as distractions, nothing really wild, but it does make her a little reclusive and cagey for a time not wanting to be around people when she’s emotionally unstable and repressing it.

22. do you have a unique tale for their job class or is it pretty much like what it is in the game?

for the most part, her jobs are the same as they are in game, though I made her a novice arcanist ahead of joining the guild, and bumped her meeting troupe falsiam in kugane instead of during their eorzean tour. I do headcanon that her drk soul crystal holds more resonance with the real fray’s memories and part of his soul weaved with “fray”/esteem, given how potent a dark knight’s emotions are and the violence in his death that would leave an impression, and the fuckery involved with the crystal, too.

23. are there any side quest storylines that you're particularly fond of or think of as being canon to your WoL's experiences?

BIG BIRD CRASHING THROUGH THE DOOR DOT GIF

the firmament & ishgardian restoration quests!! it’s a lighter way to bond with francel after both of them taking haurchefant’s death hard, but also how she spends her time after the dragonsong war, helping to rebuild the place that’s become not only sanctuary but a real sense of home to her. also tales from the dragonsong war that recaps the HW journey and brings more closure about haurchefant and ysayle for her. that whole side questline with the saint mocianne’s dungeons since she’s a botanist as well.

some of the custom deliveries quests: the orphanage in idyllshire, the widows and orphans fund in rhalgr’s reach, assisting ameliance with supplies for the studium, and helping anden remember who he is with the pixies’ help.

some of the tribal quests as well: the moogles rebuilding zenith; not the full thing for the ananta, but the lead-up during the unlock involving m’naago’s dad and the seeker who wanted to battle him and become nuhn out of vengeance until he learned the truth of his own father; helping the pixies find purpose without seeing titania’s dreams; and everything for the omicrons with the café and elysion in UT.

the culinarian/alchemist questline at the crystalline mean is also canon for her as well; it’s so important to me that she helps the recovering amaro while dealing with the light poisoning.

the shb role quests, its master quest, and the follow-up mini questline are also everything to me and def canon for her experiences as well. no spoilers (holding you at gunpoint to finish leveling rdm + do the warring triad to access all parts) but OUGH.

oh god also that one gold quest that’s so easy to miss but you go with f’lhaminn to say goodbye to a place made for minfilia and leave a stone that was important to her after returning to the source from the first.

island sanctuary & mount rokkon are canon because I love how they bring her back to building a community for herself and her loved ones and exploring new places.

and the hildibrand quests are absolutely NOT canon for her but bring so much unhinged and lighthearted fun to me and I love them for it LMAO

probably so many more I’m forgetting, hey did you know I love a side quest !!

30. what was their highest point in shadowbringers? their lowest? what caused it?

highest: the very first night sky that she brought back, which is kind of sad because it was so early, but that first brief bit of hope that she was able to bring to the people there on the first was so meaningful to her.

lowest: the aftermath of mt gulg/crown of the immaculate, nearly transforming into a sin eater, thinking she lost raha again when he was shot, and the light returning to the skies - it felt like such a devastating failure and made her believe that she would die by the time she had to face emet-selch.

#crying i really had to put a cut because i could not hush about side quests #asked and answered #hythlodaes #oc: d'alia liveq #shadowbringers spoilers

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vyragosa · 9 months

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What do you think the likelihood is in DS2 that Lou comes to real bodily harm as an infant? Like, certain, right? Do you think that even if she ends up living in the end, the story will farm the trauma of her being killed or abducted and severed from Sam?

DS moved me like no other media has for a very long time. It's stayed with me. But I don't know that I can take that kind of trauma as entertainment, so I find myself hoping it doesn't go there, even as I understand thematically why it makes sense.

at first i wrote a strong NO??????? but then i remembered this is kojima we are talking about....ALTHOUGH. this is not metal gear.

REMEMBER WHAT DEATH STRANDING IS ABOUT IN THE FIRST PLACE?! SAVING INFANTS FROM BEING SACRIFICIAL LAMBS, TO A SYSTEM THAT WOULD USE THEM AS THE FOUNDATION FOR *A NETWORK*

sam's realization of what he just delivered to edge knot city is portrayed in the book as him feeling like "he would be swallowed by the earth" and stopping himself from vomitting.

when it comes to louise, i even think it's purposefully angled in a way that it's fragile being shot not louise, and even if louise truly died, it seems like the thematic is to "make everyone artificially immortal or able to traverse from and out of the beach" elle fanning's role would possibly be a leader herself. it all aims to it, or her being much more powerful than amelie in some way.

her name means "renowned warrior" her trauma would not be farmed, it COULD be the resolution but i highly doubt the severing will be portrayed as such, i also imagined the narrative to go in the sense of sam as a father being forced to deal with a child's own wishes and independance and him not projecting his own "louise" on louise...this seems way more likely to me than just "farm the trauma", gotta spin the angle

about higgs maiming a child,

remember, higgs concept art. remember it.

#anonymous

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marmar-woff · 2 years

Text

M!ik 271 thoughts part II

PART I

Serious talk is about to begin but take a moment to appreciate that slice of cake! Like is pure art, the details: the horns, the skulls and the swords, the mini devil's ring castle. Masterpiece! congrats, chef!

Down to business, Iruma was quickly to open up to her. This isn't new, but it is part of what makes their relationship so good. There is confidence to talk, that's why they can go from light and mundane topics to more serious and personal things, it's a real and good balance because that's how the most dynamic relationships should be.

Iruma is conflicted, he has realized his own shortcomings, his weakness. After wining victory after victory, he is finally tasting failure. So is normal to feel down when you are being up for so long. And Amelie does something interesting in response to his feeling of hopeless. She begins by reminding him of his achievements, how far he has come since he was rank 1, and although it hasn't been easy he is now rank 5, he's but one rank behind her, and that catching up with her was one of his motivators.

She gave him the honey, now comes the hatchet. Because Amelie is anything but a passive character is this story. She made herself part of his motivator (also his support) but she won't be idly waiting, cause she has her own desires and ambitions. And we see Iruma's expression of surprise but I think he's a little excited too, he's still blushing, did he likes Amelie's determination that much? Is he thriller by this new challenge?

Far from adding more difficulties or worries, Amelie's clarifying her `part on this agreement. He'll do what he has to do to reach her, but she won't wait for him, she's her own person and she has her sights set on going far, with or without him by her side. BUT she does want him to be by her side, as equals going the same pat to fulfill their own individual ambitions (independent but together)

And Iruma is touched by this show of affection, trust and consideration. Amelie (the one he thinks is amazing) sees him as someone capable of the same, and wants his company very much (In this manner and in other ways that he's not fully aware yet). He was hesitant and sad that he didn't have what it took to get what he wanted. But she reminded him that she is ahead and that she is pushing herself and accomplishing things. Things he can get too if he keeps going.

Here comes the best panel of the entire chapter and one of the best of the manga. Iruma visualized Amelie in front of him as she has been from the beginning, but he also sees himself finally reaching her side. And who knows when that time would be and what it would bring and mean. We can see Iruma's second year uniform but the bands on his sleeves are hidden by the light, perhaps it is a way to hide when this will happen. Personally I don't think it will happen this year, especially if Amelie manages to get rank 7. But that will be Nishi sensei's decision

He's fired up again. Reaffirming his determination. And she couldn't be more pleased, proud and happy. She lifted his spirit with kindness but also honesty. They both reaffirm their intension and plans, and sealed this with a toast, a promise of the future.

I'll stop here because I want to talk more about Amelie's wishes and future outcomes for her. Also the new information we receive about ranks and ascension.

So I'll wrap everything up in the next part

Just one thing

IRUMELIE 4 LIFE

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scottpetersen · 2 years

Text

‘Bridgette The Sentimonster’ Chapter 5

Bridgette got Adrien back to the Agreste mansion. And once they got there, Adrien looked like he was about to have a panic attack.

“What does all of this mean?!” Adrien screamed frantically.

Bridgette couldn’t blame him. Adrien just found out that he’s a sentimonster and there’s so many ways that news could change his life for the worse. It could make Adrien question if he’s even real, make Adrien question he ever had any freedom at all, make Adrien realize that his father is Hawkmoth and has been terrorizing and brainwashing the people of Paris including his friends. It might even make Ladybug think that Adrien is a sentimonster imposter created by Hawkmoth and Mayura while the real Adrien is being held captive by them.

OH NO!!! Bridgette thought as she realized what would happen if that last scenario were to come true.

If Ladybug believed Adrien is a sentimonster imposter, Ladybug will probably destroy him thinking that creating him is part of Hawkmoth’s evil plans.

Snapping herself out of her thoughts, Bridgette realized that she has to do something before that could happen.

Bridgette grabs Adrien’s shoulders and brought him to face her.

“Adrien. I know you’re beyond scared right now but I think I have a plan.” Bridgette said.

“I’m listening.” Adrien said after pulling himself together.

“I’m gonna send Tikki out to talk to everyone who might know anything about this situation or how to help find a solution. That includes your father, Nathalie, your aunt Amelie, your cousin Felix, Ladybug, even the Order Of The Guardians themselves.” Bridgette stated.

Adrien nodded. “Great idea. Thank you, Scarab Walker!”

Bridgette was about to leave when Adrien asked, “Wait. I know you probably found out about the Order Of The Guardians from Alya’s posts on the Ladyblog but how did you know about the rest of my family and Nathalie?”

“Oh…uh…Google research.” Bridgette said thinking up an excuse on the spot.

“Oh. Ok. Good luck!” Adrien said as he waved goodbye.

“Thank you.” Bridgette replied as she jumped out the window.

Bridgette landed on the Agreste mansion’s yard and, after making sure no one was watching, shouted:

“Tikki Spots Off!”

After Bridgette’s Scarab Walker suit disappeared, Tikki appeared in front of her.

“Bridgette. Is everything alright?” Tikki asked most likely wondering how the battle ended.

“No. Turns out Adrien is a sentimonster and we gotta help him before things get too out-of-hand.” Bridgette stated barely resisting the command Gabriel gave her with her Amok object to not share that Adrien is a sentimonster.

That command is also the reason why Bridgette didn’t tell Tikki that she already knew that Adrien was a sentimonster or that she herself is a sentimonster earlier. Another reason why she didn’t tell Tikki earlier is because before, none of the superheroes knew about Adrien being a sentimonster. But now that Ryuko and Carapace do, there’s really not much point in keeping a secret from Tikki either.

“Adrien is a WHAT?!” Tikki shouted with a combination of shock, horror and confusion.

“I know that’s hard to process but right now he needs your help.” Bridgette said. “You have to get back to Ladybug and ask her if there’s anything in the Guardian Spellbook that can help Adrien gain freedom from his Amok object. Also, see if she can contact the Order Of The Guardians to help out.”

They’ve only met hours ago but Bridgette knows Tikki can be trusted. While Tikki was giving her those tips on how to use the Ladybug Miraculous, Tikki struck Bridgette as altruistic, thoughtful and responsible. Those personality traits allowed Tikki to also strike Bridgette as someone who might give sentimonsters a chance. Bridgette isn’t sure if she can trust Ladybug or the Order Of The Guardians to do the same. But she’s hoping that Tikki will be able to convince them considering the Kwami of Creation’s trustworthiness.

Tikki responded to Bridgette’s request by saying, “Ok. I’ll do everything I can to help.”

That caused Bridgette’s faith in Tikki to increase slightly. But she knows there’s only one thing that can confirm Tikki’s willingness to help for sure.

Bridgette handed the Ladybug Miraculous to Tikki. Bridgette knows that without the Ladybug Miraculous on her, Tikki will no longer be required to obey her. So, it will be what Tikki says afterwards that will really decide it.

After the Ladybug Miraculous was given to Tikki, Tikki rewarded Bridgette’s faith by saying, “Don’t worry. I’m not gonna dismiss Adrien as a living being just because he’s a sentimonster.”

“Good.” Bridgette replied. “Try to argue a great case for him. Make sure Ladybug and the Order Of The Guardians know that he’s not another sentimonster being used by Hawkmoth. Lastly, make sure they don’t tell anyone else about this.”

“Since Adrien’s been helping Paris as Cat Noir and didn’t give his Miraculous to Hawkmoth, I have no doubt that he isn’t. And I’ll make sure they keep this secret.” Tikki said.

“Ok. Good luck.” Bridgette replied.

With that, Tikki flew off and is heading back to Ladybug.

Bridgette knows what she has to do next.

I have to find Nathalie. Bridgette thought.

Bridgette then went back into the Agreste mansion searching for her creator.

Nathalie got Gabriel to his bedroom.

Nathalie then put Gabriel onto his bed and buried him under its sheets.

Looks like he’s resting comfortably. Nathalie thought as she watched him.

Suddenly, the bedroom door opened and in walked Bridgette.

“Hello, Nathalie.” Bridgette said awkwardly.

“Hello, Bridgette.” Nathalie replied.

Nathalie then sighs. She knows there’s no point in beating around the bush. “Listen, Bridgette. I know you were Scarab Walker. So, I also know that you’re aware that Adrien knows he’s a sentimonster.”

It was now Bridgette’s turn to sigh. “Should’ve known I couldn’t keep it from you. I gave too much of my personality away during our fight.”

Nathalie nodded. “Yes. But that’s besides the point now. What matters now is that we have to help Adrien and Gabriel. I was planning to continue helping Gabriel get Ladybug’s and Cat Noir’s Miraculouses. But now, too many secrets have been revealed.”

“Yeah. Like how Adrien was actually one of the heroes you and Gabriel have been fighting in order to bring back Emilie. And how Adrien along with a couple of superheroes now know that he’s a sentimonster.” Bridgette said breaking it down.

“About those “couple of superheroes”, their secret identities are Nino and Kagami. 2 of Adrien’s friends. They can probably be trusted to keep this secret.” Nathalie said.

Bridgette then looked nervous. “About that, I already told Tikki, Ladybug’s Kwami, to go to Ladybug to see if there’s anything she or the Order Of The Guardians can do to help Adrien.”

“Wait What?!” Nathalie shouted in complete shock. Who knows what letting them in on this will do?!

“Don’t worry though. I made Tikki promise to make sure they don’t let anyone else about it.” Bridgette tried to reassure her.

That did reassure Nathalie a little bit.

“But still there’s…” Nathalie started but stopped and regained her composure.

Nathalie sighed. “No matter. We can still make a cover story to make sure they don’t figure out that Gabriel is Hawkmoth. And they can indeed give Adrien some much needed help. After all, they probably know much more about the Miraculouses than we do. Plus, we can use their findings to help you too, Bridgette.”

Bridgette looked speechless for a moment there. But then, she smiled and said, “Sounds like a plan to me.”

Nathalie then realizes something else. “We also have to call Audrey Bourgeois, Tomoe Tsurugi, Amelie de Vanily and their families. Ms. Bourgeois and Ms. Tsurugi worked closely with Emilie and Gabriel to help them get the Peacock and Butterfly Miraculouses. And as for Amelie, as I said earlier, she intervened in Emilie’s experiments on Felix. So, we have to make sure they don’t get any ideas about exposing this to the public. I also think we should get Nino and Kagami to ask Ladybug to come over and help discuss this.”

“Ok. And I think Adrien is also gonna need more emotional support if you know what I mean. He’s gonna need his friends.” Bridgette said solemnly.

Nathalie nodded. Bridgette does have a point. “I understand, Bridgette. But I think we should only ask those who are among the people I just listed.”

“You got it. So, I guess we have our plan.” Bridgette said. Then, it dawns on her. “Except…”

Nathalie nodded. “Yes. We’re still gonna have to get Gabriel to cooperate. I’ll see what I can do as soon as he wakes up.”

“Ok. Good luck.” Bridgette said. “You don’t mind me making the calls, do you?”

“I don’t mind. I trust you.” Nathalie replied.

“Thank you.” Bridgette says as she leaves the room.

Nathalie is now alone with Gabriel.

I’m so sorry, Gabriel. But soon, you’re gonna have to look past the memory of your wife. Your son needs you. This family needs you. Nathalie thought.

Gabriel finally regained consciousness.

Where am I? Gabriel thought bewildered.

He looks around and sees that he’s getting in his bedroom.

He also sees Nathalie sitting on a chair beside him.

Then, Gabriel remembers everything that’s happened. Cat Noir turning out to be his own son Adrien. Those superheroes finding out Adrien’s sentimonster nature. Him getting overwhelmed by the thoughts and emotions of himself, his son, Nathalie and those superheroes.

Gabriel then burst out of his bed’s sheets and frantically asked Nathalie, “How long have I been out?! Is Adrien alright?! Are our secrets exposed?!”

Nathalie with a surprisingly straight face said, “Only an hour, sir. And yes, Gabriel. Adrien is safe. At least for now. And not too many people know about our secrets just yet.”

Gabriel gave a sigh of relief.

But then, Nathalie said, “Gabriel. I think it’s time we stop this crusade to bring back Emilie.”

“WHAT?!” Gabriel replied. He couldn’t believe Nathalie would suggest such a thing!

But Nathalie continued, “As you know, Adrien and those superheroes now know that he’s a sentimonster. If we keep this up, we’ll without a doubt be found out.”

Gabriel can tell that Nathalie is right. Too much has been revealed already. Going on like this will draw attention on both his son and himself. His identity as Hawkmoth will be revealed. Nathalie’s identity as Mayura will be revealed. Both of them will be locked away in prison. Adrien will have to live with the reputation of being Hawkmoth’s son! But…

“Bu-but I made a promise to Emilie to bring her back.” Gabriel said stuttering a little.

“Listen, Gabriel. You’ve already took too many risks when it comes to your son’s safety. Are you really willing to take more. Especially given the current circumstances.” Nathalie said with an incredibly stern tone.

Once again, Nathalie’s words struck Gabriel’s heart.

They also caused Gabriel to have flashbacks about what he almost did to Adrien during Gorizilla’s rampage. Gabriel recalls how his mistakes that day almost caused Adrien to plummet to his death. He made Gorizilla drop Ladybug to save him because even with suspicions that his son was Cat Noir, one of his enemies standing in the way of bringing his wife back, he couldn’t bring himself to hurt his son.

Ironically enough, now that he knows for sure that his son is Cat Noir, he can’t bring himself to fight him at all. Especially not with the current stakes.

But at the same time…

“Would Emilie be disappointed that I just gave up? Would she be furious?” Gabriel asked anxiously.

“In case you’ve forgotten, Gabriel, Emilie is not the only one in this house you should be thinking about.” Nathalie replied. “Besides, if you keep going, you’ll lose both Adrien and Emilie. But if you stop now, you at least won’t lose Adrien.”

As much as Gabriel hates to admit it, those words ring true.

There’s no getting around it now. Gabriel knows he has to stop.

Nathalie offers him a hand to help him up.

Gabriel accepts it.

“By the way, we’ve invited the Tsurugis, the Bourgeois’s, the de Vanily’s, Adrien’s friend Nino and Ladybug here. We figured we should talk to them before they get any ideas.” Nathalie stated.

Gabriel understands. After all, the de Vanily’s are directly connected to his family, Kagami was one of the superheroes who found out that Adrien is a sentimonster and she’s a Tsurugi, Nino also found out about Adrien’s sentimonster nature, Audrey has a lot of power and influence and knows about what he and Emilie were up to in Tibet, and they need to steer Ladybug off their trail.

Gabriel then started wondering about something.

“We?” Gabriel asked.

“Yes. Me and Bridgette.” Nathalie said.

The way Nathalie addressed Bridgette as if she were a truly living being didn’t sit right with Gabriel.

“Nathalie. Bridgette is not like Adrien. She was created with a specific purpose…” Gabriel started but Nathalie stopped him.

“And she was created from a combination of emotions that ensure she’s just as much of a human as Adrien. Besides, she’ll probably look past that particular purpose one day. After all, she was able to completely overcome our commands.” Nathalie said.

Gabriel sighs. “You really care about her as if she is your own daughter, don’t you?”

“Yes. I do.” Nathalie replied.

“Then, I’ll be sure to treat her as such as well.” Gabriel said.

Then suddenly, Gabriel accidentally sensed something coming from both himself and Nathalie.

A strange emotion. Very wild but at the same time, harmonious.

And it looks like Nathalie accidentally sensed the same thing too from the same source with the Peacock Miraculous.

“Nathalie. You’re…we’re…” Gabriel said at a complete loss for words.

“I know, Gabriel. But now is not the time.” Nathalie said.

Just as she said that, the doorbell rang.

“Looks like they’re here. Let’s go.” Nathalie said as she walked towards the front door.

“Right behind you.” Gabriel said as he followed suit.

Gabriel knew what that emotion he and Nathalie were sensing was.

So wild.

Yet so harmonious.

So powerful.

Gabriel knew it can only be one thing.

Love.

Notes: Ok. Credit for this partly belongs to @unecoccinellenoire. She was the one who encouraged me to make this fanfic. It was also inspired by her fanfics ‘A Nightmare In Cerulean’ and ‘Nobody’s Perfect’. Also, I decided to lengthen this fanfic to 6 chapters (plus the Prologue) rather than 5 (plus the prologue).

#fanfics #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #bridgette #bridgette is a sentimonster #nathalie sancoeur #adrien agreste #adrien is a sentimonster #gabriel agreste

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harperwalton · 2 years

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excuse me did you see MAYA HAWKE hanging around palmwood studios? oh no, that was HARPER WALTON, the TWENTY FOUR year old ACTRESS who plays AMELIE DIMARINO on BEAUTIFUL SMALL UNTRUTHERS. yeah, you know rumour has it they're - MUDDLE-HEADED and - VULNERABLE, but their fans all say they’re + CONSIDERATE, and + PERCEPTIVE around palmwood studios they’re known as THE LOST SOUL. ( CISFEMALE, SHE/HER)

𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐬

☆ 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞 ━ harper walton ☆ 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 ━ cis female ☆ 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐬 ━ she/her ☆ 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 ━ amelie dimarino ☆ 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 ━ beautiful small untruthers ☆ 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲 ━ february 8th ☆ 𝐙𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐜 ━ aquarius ☆ 𝐀𝐠𝐞 ━ 24 ☆ 𝐒𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐎𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ━ pansexual ☆ 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧 ━ vancouver, canada ☆ 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐬 ━ considerate & perceptive ☆ 𝐍𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐬 ━ muddle-headed & vulnerable ☆ 𝐋𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥 ━ the lost soul

𝐏𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

☆ 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 ━ maya hawke ☆ 𝐇𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ━ 5′8 ☆ 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 ━ slim, althetic ☆ 𝐇𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫 ━ dirty blonde ☆ 𝐄𝐲𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫 ━ blue ☆ 𝐆𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 ━ none ☆ 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 ━ multiple on both of her lobes ☆ 𝐓𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐬 ━ a small sparrow on the left side of her ribcage

— 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐭

Harper’s arrival into the world was anticipated by both of her parents and millions of their eager fans. Being born with a silver spoon in her mouth had its perks. There was never a need or want left unfulfilled. Harper could and did have anything her heart desired. However, it came at a price. During her childhood it was rare for her to see either of her parents and even more so to see them together. Most of her time was spent supervised by nannies or housekeepers until the ripe age of twelve when she began year eight. That was the first night she spent completely alone.

Another two years were spent with lonely nights until one day in early October when she came home from school to find her mother alone in the kitchen. Her arrival was a surprise, not advanced with a phone call or text letting Harper know that she was coming as it normally did. If that wasn’t strange enough, her mother’s red puffy eyes were. Before that afternoon she had never seen her actually cry. The explanation she received that night had broken Harper’s heart almost as much as it broke her father’s when he learned through media the next day of his wife’s affair.

At first her parents tried to work through the affair. Harper’s mother stopped working for a time, deciding to focus on her family and relationship with her husband. That lasted eight months. At the end of the eighth month, her father decided it wasn’t working. This time her father showed up to their home unannounced, taking time from a movie set to come back and talk to Harper. This new was just as bad, if not worse than when her mother had done the same. Her parents were getting a divorce. All of the sudden the world was caving in and her life felt as if it was falling apart. It was the first time she was unsure about anything.

That unsure feeling never went away. In fact, with age it grew, maturing into a steady feeling so constant she rarely questioned it anymore. It only worsened with the expectations that followed her as she grew older. Being born to two of the world’s most famous A list actors, she didn’t have much choice in career path. That had been laid out for her in people’s minds the moment she was born, they just had to wait until she was old enough to accept it herself. And so when she finally did, deciding that if she acted she didn’t have to spend time in broken home, no one was particularly surprised.

— 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭

Acting allowed Harper to have an escape from the real world. It gave her the ability to step into someone else’s shows and be anyone but herself for as long as shooting lasted. That was what kept her in the business after she turned 18. The mounting pressure from fans, agents, and her parents had a small contribution as well, but nothing was set in stone until she was casted as Amelie Dimarino in Beautiful Small Untruthers. It gave her a path when she felt like she didn’t have one. Still she finds herself contemplating, wondering if this is what she wants to do with her life.

𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬

☆ Harper is a sweet girl who has kind of just lost her way in the world and is trying to get it back on track. ☆ Sometimes when she’s nervous she bites her lip and when she’s thinking really hard she sticks her tongue out. ☆ She sings in the shower when the world feels like it’s beginning to get overwhelming again. ☆ After her mother’s affair, Harper grew closer to her dad, spending more time at his house than her mother’s house.

𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

#pwshqintro

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fridayfirefly · 3 years

Text

The Power of Luck [Chapter One]

Read The Power of Luck on AO3

Masterlist [All Works]

Masterlist [The Power of Luck Series]

Written for Maribat March Day 6 - Miraculous Side Effects

The Ladybug Miraculous had quite a few side effects. Marinette was able to think quick on her feet, she was a skilled tactician in battle, and her reaction time was half that of a normal human. Most notably, the Ladybug Miraculous granted its user the force known as Miraculous Luck, which, depending on the situation, was sometimes more of a curse than a blessing. Marinette didn't get to choose how that good luck manifested. For instance, when she needed an extra day to finish a history project, her school closed down due to a gas leak. Or when she wished for a fresh start after the defeat of Hawkmoth, her parents were offered a deal to grow their bakery business in America.

Marinette assured her parents that she didn't mind moving. After all, most of her class had already moved on. Lila had been deported to Italy, narrowly avoiding jail time. Chloé (much to her dismay) was sent by her father to an all-girls boarding school in England. Adrien was taken in by his Aunt Amelie (as Gabriel was in jail and Emilie was declared brain-dead) and moved to England as well.

No one else from Marinette's class left the country, but many of them moved out of Paris. Nathanial was accepted to an elite art school in Marseille. Max was accepted to a gifted program at an elite school in Bordeaux. Officer Raincomprix was transferred to Toulouse and took Sabrina with him. Juleka and Luka both started homeschooling after their mother sailed the houseboat down the Seine to the city of Rouen.

Worst of all was the loss of Alya. Her parents were horrified that the son of Hawkmoth was in the same class as their daughter, and promptly pulled Alya out of class and decided to move out of the city. Alya begged them for weeks but nothing came of her protests. In the end, Alya left too.

The Miraculous Luck could do a lot of things, but it couldn't keep her friends together. Those who remained at François Dupont filled holes in other classes. Marinette tried to make the best of her new class, but she felt no real connection to them. When her parents proposed the move, Marinette jumped on the opportunity. In Gotham, she wouldn't be haunted by the ghost of her old life.

Marinette cut her hair, leaving it choppy and just above the shoulders. She donated all of her brightly colored clothes to the thrift store down the street and created a new wardrobe for herself. It was toned down and mature, much more fitting for Gotham.

Marinette left Paris a much different girl than the naive fourteen-year-old who thought she could save the world. She was ready for a city like Gotham, a city that didn't make any promises, a city where Marinette could set down some new roots.

-----

At first, it was easy to fly under the radar at Gotham Academy. It was a school filled with the self-absorbed children of millionaires and billionaires, after all. Marinette was there on scholarship - her good grades, leadership experience, and working-class parents combined to cut her tuition down by 75%. Marinette quickly learned that scholarship students were at best ignored, and at worst mercilessly bullied. So Marinette kept her head down and vowed that she would get through the year unscathed.

There was one variable, however, that the Miraculous Luck wasn't able to account for. Marinette's entire plan fell apart thanks to one boy: Damian Wayne.

Marinette became acquainted with Damian Wayne through the school's rumor mill. She learned that he was one of the most wealthy and most attractive people in the school, but he was thought himself too good to spend time with any of his fellow classmates (Marinette couldn't fault him on the last bit; she also found the students at Gotham Academy to be difficult, to say the least). Marinette also learned through the school's rumor mill that Damian spent quite a lot of time staring at her. Given that Damian had never paid the slightest amount of attention to a Gotham Academy girl before, this was a big deal. Suddenly Marinette was the farthest thing from under the radar. Everyone who used to look down on her wanted to be her friend. It was exhausting.

Marinette resolved to ignore Damian Wayne - an easy task, given that she still didn't even know what he looked like. Now that everyone was staring at her, it was hard to

"Why?" grumbled Marinette. "Why couldn't my so-called Miraculous Luck help me get through one normal year of school?"

Tikki shrugged from her spot inside of Marinette's backpack. "Maybe all of this attention will turn out to be a good thing?"

"I doubt that." Marinette glanced around, checking that no one had spotted her talking to her backpack. There was one spot in the cafeteria that was hidden from view, a window-sill nestled behind a pillar, bordered by a wall on one side and an out of order vending machine on the other. Marinette sat on the window-sill every day to eat lunch, with Tikki as her companion for the meal.

"I think your problem is that you're overthinking this. Miraculous Luck always works out in the end, even if there are some obstacles in the middle."

"I just want this horrible school year to be over," sighed Marinette, setting her head down in her arms.

"Don't give up yet, Marinette. I have high hopes for this school year," said Tikki.

Marinette had some serious doubts but picked her head up anyway. Maybe this year wouldn't turn out the way she expected. Marinette defeated Hawkmoth, the greatest villain Paris ever faced. She could survive a year of high school.

-----

Marinette was going to survive her senior year of high school. Damian Wayne on the other hand... Marinette still wasn't sure if she was going to let him survive the year, after everything he put her through.

"Excuse me?" a sickeningly sweet voice piped up from behind Marinette.

Marinette put on her best disinterested-face, took out one headphone, and turned around. "Yes?"

There were three girls standing behind her: a blonde, flanked on both sides by a brunette and a red-head. The blonde girl had a smile on her face but a devious look in her eyes. Marinette had long ago learned to spot manipulators, and this girl had it written all over her. "Are you Marinette Dupain-Cheng?"

"Yes."

"My name is Julie Cooper. I was just wondering... Are you dating Damian Wayne?"

Marinette huffed in exasperation. "What do you think?"

Julie's eyes narrowed. "I just wanted to warn you. I mean, did you really think that Damian Wayne would seriously date a girl here on scholarship? You should break up with him before you get hurt."

"It was a rhetorical question. I'm not dating Damian Wayne. It's just a rumor."

Julie instantly perked up. "Oh, good! I was beginning to think that Damian had lost his mind. I mean, I'm sure you would be a nine or a ten at a public school, but at Gotham Academy, you're like a seven, maybe an eight on a good day. Most of the girls who go here are actually hot, not just," the girl waved her hand towards Marinette. "Above average."

Marinette wasn't sure if Julie meant for her to feel flattered or offended, but her words had the strange effect of making Marinette feel both all at once. "Um, thanks? I'm going to go now."

Julie's brunette friend suddenly paled as the girl started to tug on Julie's sleeve. "Um, Julie?" she whispered.

"What, Nora?" Julie's eyes widened as they fixed on something behind Marinette.

Marinette turned around to see what the cause of their concern was. Or rather, to see who the cause of their concern was. It was a boy, tall and scowling. "Are you done here, Cooper?"

Julia nodded, a nervous edge to her voice, "Bye, Marinette." She and her two friends hurried off, exchanging frantic whispers.

"What do you want?" asked Marinette with a sigh. She was tired of dealing with boys who were only interested in her because Damian Wayne was interested in her.

"I wished to apologize."

"For Julie? Did you put her up to this?"

The boy looked confused. "No, of course not. I meant that I wanted to apologize for everything, not just Julie Cooper."

"For everything?" The truth suddenly dawned on Marinette. "You're Damian Wayne! I didn't think that you would be so tall."

"You didn't know what I looked like?" There was real shock in his voice.

"Well, by the time I learned that you had been staring at me everyone was staring at me, so that wasn't much help in figuring out who you were."

"You could have googled me."

Marinette shrugged. "I could have, but it felt weird to google one of my classmates. I pretty much just resigned myself to never figuring out who you were."

"I should have approached you sooner. I've wanted to apologize for a while, but every time I've caught you alone you've looked like you wanted to be left that way."

"I'm not a fan of most of the students here."

"The students here can be..." Damian searched for the appropriate word. "Tiresome. I resigned myself to a dull four years of high school in their company. That is, until I saw you."

Marinette cocked her head. "Why me, though? I'm nothing special."

"You're different than everyone else here."

Marinette stiffened. "I know. I've been told. I'm here on a scholarship which means I don't belong," she snapped

Damian shook his head. "No, that's not what I meant. You move through life differently than all of the other students here. You don't care about the gossip or drama - at least, not until you were right at the center of it all. You've seen the real world, so you float above the high school drama. You're just so... so..."

"So what?" Marinette's tone softened.

Damian ran his hand through his hair, ruffling it. The addition of the messy hair added a certain charm to his otherwise polished exterior. "I've been brainstorming for the right word for weeks. The best I can come up with is pure. You don't let yourself become affected by anything in this school."

It was a very flattering description of her. It was also very on the nose. "I'll forgive you, Damian Wayne, but only on one condition."

"What?"

"I want to get to know you, and I have a feeling that you feel the same way."

Damian nodded. "It's a deal."

Maybe her Miraculous Luck wasn't so useless after all. Marinette had expected to go the whole year without making a single friend. Now, it seemed that she might make one after all.

@maribatmarch-2k21

#maribat #daminette #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Damian Wayne #MaribatMarch2021 #maridami #marinette x damian #miraculous ladybug fic #my work

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fandomsilhouette · 3 years

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So a lot of people have been talking about sentiAdrien, and @arcadeology brought up the point that many times, the very thing that someone is hurt by is what is part of them to begin with:

Those of you who’ve read this delightful fic will understand exactly why this post about pigeon feather allergies has prompted me to write.

cw: sentiAdrien crack theories, pregnancy, miscarriage, blood, illness, Gabriel AgrestexPigeon Man crack OTP, crack taken seriously.

Emilie married Gabriel Agreste for the money.

It’s not a bad thing. He was sweet to her, attentive and kind if a little too coldly distant for her tastes, and Emilie was a model girlfriend-turned-wife in more ways than one: doting, flirtatious without being scandalous, affectionate, the picture perfect face for his up and coming fashion brand.

Besides, she was 24 years old and hadn’t even had a crush yet, and her sister loved magic so deeply Emilie was worried this mystical “career” would leave Amelie destitute. Gabriel was soft to her whims, and rich enough to support another family.

Emilie was just being practical.

Mr. Ramier was anything but. He was wildly passionate about anything and everything he loved, pigeons most of all. He dreamt of flying free, wild rebellion and dogged pursuit in the name of love. He was the best kind of crazy.

No one ever imagined he’d be crazy in love with a married woman.

He certainly never imagined she could love him back.

Emilie had always been practical, that’s all. So when the offer of a warm body came, a man who made her heart patter in her chest and bring to life the flutter of feathers taking flight in freedom as her wings, she fell into bed with him and loved and laughed and lied to keep her marriage safe. She loved Mr. Ramier for every reason she could never love Gabriel Agreste: he loved her back.

It’s just such a shame that practicality never prevented accidents. It’s such a shame Emilie could see herself loving this bastard baby enough to be impractical enough to keep him.

It doesn’t matter. Practical can mean anything, as long as it keeps her-- and now, her lover and her child-- safe. Magic, whispered her sister. Magic, she followed.

Gabriel, ever devoted servant of his wife, follows obediently.

Half buried in snow, fingers moments away from permanent frostbite, Emilie unearths her first treasure. It’s not half of what she wanted, neither wishes nor creation nor cat, but the butterfly and peacock miraculi wink and shimmer against snow, and the drop of blood that spills when the brooch pricks stands stark red against the fluffy white. She kicks black pebbles over the trodden snow to cover her tracks and grins, triumphant.

It’s a promise, Emilie whispers. Red for the ladybug, black for the cat she’ll have in her hands.

Promises are not practical, she remembers six months later. With every experiment on the brooch, Emilie finds herself coughing up blood and bile, black and red and horrible, horrifying.

It doesn’t matter. Emilie makes do with what she’s got. Gabriel searches harder, goes on longer trips and calls them business, because it’s his business whether she dies, whether she lives to represent his company, or to keep him company. He’s in Tibet when she succeeds, or manages something close to success. He has no idea the baby’s been lost.

He’s never known it wasn’t his, anyways.

Gabriel isn’t due back home before the baby comes; there’s a baby in her arms to greet him at the door and she’s made it herself. He praises her new choker, pigeon feather dusted in gold and glitter hanging down past her throat.

It’s the last time she’ll ever see Mr. Ramier. Emilie is practical, and her love is not. This gift, though, she will cherish for far longer than her own life.

She’ll cherish it long enough for her son’s.

Adrien is a perfect boy, a model boy modeled after his cousin and delightful to every sense; he grows in strange spurts and jumps, and Gabriel is too busy to notice. Emilie keeps her boy home, safe and protected and easy to mold.

It’s not enough. She sends Gabriel pacing the earth for the miraculi she craves, experiments desperately on the one she has until she’s coughing up more than blood: strength, memories, hope. It doesn’t matter. Anything is too cheap a price to pay for her baby boy, for the love she lost by the hand of her own folly.

When she gives up the last of everything, Adrien turns into a real boy: hard coded to love and grow and... rebel. He finds his own wings as his mother loses hers, and Gabriel goes mad in his grief.

After all, he’s lost the two people he’s ever known all at once.

When his empathy butterfly phases into Mr. Ramier, Gabriel is awash in a type of furiously determined love he's only felt twice.

Once from his wife...

And once upon a time from his son.

#Notte Writes #Miraculous Ladybug #ML Fanfiction #sentimonster Adrien #Gabriel Agreste x Pigeon Man OTP #Adrien is the true pigeon heir #Prince Pigeon

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release-the-bats-creations · 3 years

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Can i have some cyrus with flowers? I just want to see him with flowers cause he looks so good, and how did he become a plague doctor if i may ask? (I loved his design- i can't-) I really wanna know more about him!

Of course you can! It makes me really happy to see someone likes Cyrus! Sorry it took me so long to get back to you, this weekend is a bit busy for me but I just HAD to take some time to draw this for you! (Also yes, I may have gotten a little inspired by your art of Hallow with the Hanahaki disease)

So his backstory is a little under the works still so sorry if all of what I’m about to write sounds a bit scrambled or written weird, I was just trying to get it all out :)

Cyrus became a plague doctor because of his family. In a way he was training for it his whole life. His father taught him everything he knew as He was growing up. Of course, when he was little he didn't want to BE a plague doctor. He had dreams and aspirations of his own growing up- he wanted to be a writer. His father was away a lot so he was often the man of the house despite only being in his young teens.

The real reason he actually pursued and became a plague doctor was because his mother started showing signs of being sick with the plague… he panicked and started studying harder. The moment he lost her and basically had to raise his little sister Amelie was when he really went fully into it. Did whatever was needed, took the hippocratic oath and put in his chips as local plague doctor since his father was more the traveling type.

To just talk more about Cyrus, he's very gentle and sweet, but people often mistake him for being stoic because he's quiet. He's a very doting older brother and is teaching his sister about medicines and herbs so that she knows how to keep herself healthy in case anything ever happens to him. (He has a constant mindset of "what if something happens. We need to know how to take care of ourselves and if we can, others.")

Granted he isn't entirely human, he has some powers which are from his mother's side, but he doesnt really use them because what they do is against the hippocratic oath. It's part of the reason why he keeps his gloves on at all times. Just a brush with his bare hands is enough to sap life from another person and he doesn't even need to try.

That’s what I have on him at the moment, but if you still have more questions or want to ask about something he said, feel free to send another ask, or heck you could even dm me, I don’t mind. I’d love to hear about your oc Hallow too! He seems pretty snazzy!

#artists on tumblr #original character #my art #oc #digital art #procreate #my oc: cyrus #tw bl00d #tw hanahaki #plague doctor oc #plague doctor

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moonlightchild-otome · 3 years

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the real story of amélie from arthur’s route

hey hey! it’s been a long time! i have been quite busy these past weeks with finals and the summer break.

i also want to start writing hcs, so if you have any requests don’t hesitate to send them to me!

today i wanted to write about a story that i read not too long ago that really coincides with the evil character of amelie in arthur’s route.

a lot of people might have actually already heard of it, she is known as history’s most cruel murderer.

the person we are going to talk about lived in the period of victorian england and was sometimes suspected to have a link with jack the ripper, the serial killer who terrorized the inhabitants of whitechapel.

in other words, she is called the ogress of reading or the victorian ogress and the trial of these murders has been the subject of much attention, especially because she preyed on very young children. Let me tell you the terrifying story of a monster who disguised herself as a warm and loving mother figure

the story of the infamous amelia elisabeth dyer

an ordinary family

our story begins in 1836 in the port city of bristol in england. the hobley family welcomes the arrival of a fifth child, a lovely little girl called amelia elisabeth. the little amelia is very lucky, in a time when poverty reigns in the united kingdom she knows a respectable education, learns to read and to love poetry. however the luck ends quickly as amelia’ mother caught typhus, an illness that showed her a lot of psychological problems. amelia had to take care of her mother until she passes away from her illness. after her mother’s death, the girl loses contact with most of her family members. meanwhile, amelia starts seeing george thomas, a 59 year old man, much older than her, who was only 25 at the time (long live the sugar daddies!). they planned to get married and to avoid gossip, they both lied about their date of birth on the day of the ceremony. (amelia pretended that she was 32 and george 48)

during her marriage, amelia learned to be a nurse but she doesn't have time to forge a real career as her husband dies leaving her alone with their children who are still very young. it's already not easy to raise a child alone nowadays but imagine what it was like at that time when england was in the middle of the victorian period, the industrial revolution changed the shape of the cities and saw the emergence of new social classes. in london and other major british cities, poverty has invaded the neighborhoods and the poor have few options to get by. some live in workhouses which reduce them more or less in slavery for a mouthful of bread while others choose criminality to support themselves.

however, amelia remembers ellen dane, a midwife in her building with whom she got along quite. she had told her that to earn more money she had become a baby farmer.

it is a profession which does not exist any more today but was rather widespread in the 19th century. now, it should not be forgotten that this england inherited puritanism and considered that to have a child out of marriage was a horrible sin. if that came to be known, the young women concerned risked big and could lose their reputation and their work. especially that, at that time, one did not consider that the father had a role to play in the event of unwanted pregnancy. also, it was obviously out of question to abort except clandestinely which was at the same time illegal and very dangerous. all that to say that when an unwanted child came to the world most women preferred to give it up rather than risk public humiliation. but abandonment was also illegal, and none of them wanted to risk the death penalty if their actions came public. this is precisely where the baby farmers intervene. when a woman fell pregnant and did not want to keep the child, she had to put an ad in the newspapers and leave her child to a farmer.the baby would be taken care of and fed until the farm finds a new family. it was a sort of clandestine human trafficking, and sometimes the farmers even housed the mothers in their homes during their pregnancy in order to hide their big bellies.

the birth of the monster

soon, the ogress settles in reading close to london and publishes advertisements where she presents herself as a respectable woman to marry, capable of providing a healthy environment and filled with affection to the children that she intends to collect like the other farmers. she asks for money to be able to look after them. amelia quickly realizes that it is much more profitable to keep the money rather than to use it for feeding and educating the children. and so little by little the treatments that she inflicts on the children become more and more dire (spoiler: she doesn’t take care of them anymore). and even worse, she even drugs the children to prevent them from crying because of hunger. the kids often die of malnutrition and infantile diseases. it is absolutely terrible and yet it is far from being unusual, in fact orphans were very often victims of abuse and many of the baby farmers were far from being trustworthy people. a lot took advantage of the distress of the mothers ready to do anything to keep their secret and these so-called “baby farmers” would leave the children to die in order to pocket the money without any effort. when the mothers asked for news of their children, they often got no answer and when a family wanted to get a child back, the farmer gave them another one instead.

amelia very quickly became addicted to the drugs she used on the children as she couldn’t stand the crying and the presence of the orphans anymore. she decides to move on to a more radical option: directly eliminating the children she is entrusted with.

at first, she will choose to poison them and claim an infantile disease, but the doctor who came to attest the death of the infants shows himself a little suspicious (at the same time, she gives him a case every week or so :/). in short, the guy warned the authorities so that they could investigate on amelia. but no luck, she manages to get away with negligence with a simple sentence of forced labor. and moreover, she decided to opt for a more brutal method for her future murders. that is to say, she was going to strangle them as soon as she was allowed to keep them, pocket the money and look for a new child to start all over again. and this will go on for years, sometimes at the rate of six babies a day, no need to declare the deaths, she got rid of them herself, wrapping them in cloth or old clothes, and then she left to burn them in an isolated place to hide them or throw them in the thames. and when she felt that the authorities could trace the dead children back to her, she simulates a nervous breakdown and suicidal desires and runs off to a psychiatric hospital. she even tried to kill herself once by overdosing to escape an overly suspicious mother who was asking for her child. except that by consuming opiates she had become hyper resistant and the dose that she took was not enough to kill her. she then moved often and took on different identities to prevent the police from finding her and understanding who she really was and this little merry-go-round worked for a long time, a very long time, even, but not indefinitely...

ambush and arrest

in january 1896, a waitress named evelyna marmon gave birth to an illegitimate daughter named doris. she was looking for someone to take care of her and very soon she came across the ad of a certain mrs. harding who wrote "married couple, without children, want to adopt a child in good health in a beautiful country house, price: 10£”. necessarily for this young mother, it is a godsend and the two women contact each other. and here is what mrs. harding replied, "I would be happy to have a dear little girl, one that I will be able to raise like my own. we are a united couple of fairly good conditions. I do not want a child for the lure of gain but to accompany the comfort of the house. my husband and I love children but we do not have any. with me, this child will have a good house as well as all the love of a mother". at this stage you can guess that mrs. harding is in fact amelia dyer who took a false name and who continued with her macabre activities. doris gets taken from the waitress by “mrs. harding” who confirms by letter that the child is doing well, after that she doesn’t give any more news. spoiler: the child did not have more than a few hours to live. once the crime is committed, because yes, it’s done already. amelia covers the body of doris with another child in fabric and travels to the edge of the thames to throw them under the eyes of a man who seemed to observe her but who didn’t address a word to her.

in this kind of case, one wonders “where tf is the police??” well they were on the point of starting a very interesting investigation... on march 30th 1896, the police force finds the lifeless body of helena fry, a baby of hardly 15 months who floated on the waters of the river wrapped in a brown cloth. for the authorities, it is obviously a murder since the child was strangled. they later found on the cloth, a half erased writing which resembles an address. this address is amélia’s, who is now 58 years old; the police then trace her and set up a trap.

basically what they did was to use a young woman as a cover, she pretended to need a farmer to look after her child and as expected it was amelia who answered her directly. so that's how the police organized an ambush at the murderer's house. what first shocked the policemen was especially the unbearable smell which reigned in the house because of the decomposition of certain corpses, they also found meters of edging tape which she used to strangle her victims, and also telegrams testifying of all the adoptions made as well as letters of mothers who asked for news of their children. so yes, there is a lot of evidence to charge her for, especially as they found at least seven more bodies by dredging the thames after her arrest. the bodies clearly had a white mark around their neck probably because of the tape she used to kill the children with. we also know that about twenty children under her care at that time were missing but for the rest it's impossible to know the exact number of amelia's victims. in fact, it is estimated that in 20 years she would have killed between 200 and 400 newborn babies, that's why she is said to be the most prolific serial killer in history.

her sentence and death

in spite of this very important number of victims amelia will be accused for only one crime, the one of the little doris. except that she very quickly confessed a quantity of other murders and tried to commit suicide twice while she was incarcerated. the defense pleaded madness and because she had spent time in asylum the doctors that she had managed to manipulate were able to confirm that was unstable. she herself said that the children she had killed died peacefully; that they were called back by God who was someone who could love them more than anyone on this earth, she said that she had simply made angels and that one day she would sit beside the Lord Almighty. her breakdowns of madness always coincided strangely with the moment when the police approached, so we can think that it was more of simulation and calculation than true dementia. the jury took hardly five minutes to return its verdict, the crimes were so horrible that her mental state could not do much anyways.

amelia was thus condemned to the death penalty. on june 10th 1896, amelia dyer walks towards the scaffold, she decided not to appeal by hearing her verdict and wrote herself five notebooks of confession before her execution that she entrusted to a priest. she tells inside them to have taken pleasure in seeing her victims dying. before her execution, one asked her if she had any last words to pronounce but she answered that she did not have anything to add. at 9 o’clock sharp, the woman who was called the ogresse of reading was hanged. following these tragic events the controls of the adoptions and the activities of the baby farmers were reinforced, new laws were also put in place to protect the children and the mothers and the advertisements in the newspapers were supervised. that said, it still took a certain number of years before child trafficking was seriously supervised…

that’s all for the story! it is a very horrific case and i can’t even imagine what the children must have gone through. i also think we can all agree with the similarities with the character of amélie in arthur’s route.

#ikemen #Ikemen Vampire #ikemen games #ikemen series #ikemen arthur #arthur route #ikemen vampire arthur #IkeVamp #amelia dyer #serial killer #victorian england #victorian #victorian era #ikevamp arthur #ikevam #ikevam arthur

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beebubb · 3 years

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Could you do some ticci toby headcanons of his relationship (platonic) with the pastas (including OCs) and just any headcanons you can come up with?

Sorry i ask a lot it just really like your blog and i feel like i abuse your ask box a lot

Of course i can make some headcanons! And don't worry about asking often, i like it! Asks are always what i look forward too the whole day!

Ticci toby's relationship with the pastas + a few headcanons:

Even if toby has a lot of crackhead energy and seems hyper and happy a lot.

It doesn't mean he doesnt get sad or serious, or just overwhelmed by things. So the pastas each have their way to help him or comfort thing

Also just because toby find comfort or looks for comfort in others, it doesn't mean he's immature or the others are just being pitiful, it's just them being friends and understanding each other. Like friends are supposed to be

He isn't enemies with anyone. He has an OK relationship with everyone. He does different things with the others

Jeff: jeff doesn't hang out with him as much sense he's usually with ben, but jeff does hang out with toby when he's gonna pull a prank on someone. Also even if jeff is a bit of a crackhead, he's pretty mature. They are always doing random things but when toby remembers his past (which happens often when he doesn't have something to get his mind off of things) he gets really angry and just needs an outlet. He tries to suppress it but jeff helps him. "There's nothing wrong with being angry!" Jeff likes boxing, so he always encourages toby to use his boxing bag to get out his pent up anger.

Ben: toby likes games with catchy beats and music (kinda like Friday night funkin') or games where he can create things that just comes to his head. So ben lets him play with him a lot, they play minecraft together. Toby can get anxiety attacks (which ben also gets really often). When toby's anxiety attack starts getting worse, he does a lot of things to try and release some of his feelings and to comfort himself, and those things are biting the inside of his mouth, shaking his hands, rocking back and forward, or just repeating words, and usually it can comfort him, but when there is nothing going on to distract him, it doesn't help much, but ben knows that his favorite colorful rhythm games help, so when ben notices that he doesn't feel well, he always offers toby to play with him to distract him.

Jane: jane is like toby's mom. She's always there to comfort him. She defends him when someone is being an asshole to him and knows the signs that he's having a panic attack or when things are too overwhelming for him. Toby doesn't always say right away when something is bothering him so jane always steps in "can you guys tone it down a bit? It's making him uncomfortable!"

Nina: toby's best friend. Nina is always up to do anything with him. I had a headcanon that nina likes playing on claw machines, toby goes out with nina to arcades often. He also goes shopping with her. Toby is also Nina's model for many things. She has put acrylic nails on him, dresses, and even tried makeup on him. Nina likes wearing makeup a lot, so when there's a lipstick she likes but doesn't know if it will look good on her, he always offers himself as the model "nina, can you put stickers on my nails?!?"

Masky: masky actually really cares for him. He's was the one that taught him self defense when Toby first arrived. Toby has night terrors a lot, so masky lets him sleep with him for the night, or stays up with him no matter the hour. Masky was always there to talk and listen when Toby first arrived in the mansion/manor. Also even if masky is easily annoyed by many things, he doesn't get annoyed by toby's repetitive movements or words. He Knows that it helps Toby cope or comfort himself. Sometimes people tell Toby to stop when they see that masky's stressed but masky always says it's fine, it's not toby's fault that he's stressed.

Amelie: they're a mix of friends and siblings (that get along). she knows that Toby is banned from the kitchen (he can't cook and sets the place on fire) but she always lets him join her when she's baking. She lets him taste test and decorate. Toby can be pretty creative so she appreciates the help when it comes to decorating her pastries. Toby has a big sweet tooth and sometimes sweets help him feel better when he doesn't feel ok, so amelie makes him pastries a lot. Also he's the first person to try when she makes something new, which is an honor for him "I'm a professional taste tester, so I'd think twice when questioning my expertise"

Sherry: she hangs out more with ben, jane, and masky but she's ok with being with toby, she can actually relate to him. She doesn't mind his repetitive movements or phrases because she does the same too. She had a bit of help and treatment for her own mental illnesses from her mom (before she died), so she has shared some things with him that helped her cope, and vise versa. She was used to being reserved and "mature" from a young age, so she couldn't really show when she was happy or excited, but Toby showed her it's ok to show it and whenever he noticed she was excited or happy for something, he would do the same and encourage her to express herself

Hoodie: they are drinking buddies (yes Toby drinks, he's in his early twenties, he can do that), hoodie is pretty chill and toby likes that. Sometimes when he just wants to relax, he hangs out with hoodie, they just sit on the roof outside in the woods and drink together.

EJ: they don't have any issues sense they rarely talk. EJ spends most of his time in his room or just doing his own thing around the mansion/manor. The only interaction that they really had was when Toby helped EJ carry a few bodies to his room

Damien: they barely hang out or talk. Damien is usually busy with his weapon business that he rarely goes to the mansion/Manor, Unless it's a personal delivery to slenderman or business deal, that's when he goes there, but usually it's just to see amelie.

Clockwork: best friends. They do everything together. (I don't really get too much into detail sense I already did a post explaining how they get along.

Slenderman: slender was the one to help Toby. Gave him proper treatment, a home, a good support group, and a real family (aka the pastas). Toby is his proxy but slenderman sees him like a son. He always checks up on Toby to see how he's doing and making sure his mental health is alright.

#mine #my post #creepypasta #Ticci toby #Ask #Jeff the killer #Masky #Timothy Wright #Brian thomas #Hoodie #Eyeless jack #Ben drowned #Jane the killer #Nina the killer #Creepypasta oc #Slenderman #Clockwork

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