#fallen off my rockers one might say

[z-eddsworld]

Jailey Ws

#zeddsart #sorry for being dead #the music freaks #the music freaks jake #the music freaks hailey #Jailey #tmf jailey #tmf jake #tmf hailey #jake tmf #hailey tmf #digital art #clip studio paint #fallen off my rockers one might say #if you're on my discord and you're like “you literally drew this months ago” uhm................ nuh uhhh :3 #artists on tumblr

[melit0n]

I would just like to say thank you to everyone who interacted with my Sleep Token SFX post in the past 24 hours! I've admittedly had a lot of fun reading through the reblogs, lol.

If you haven't already seen them you can find them here:

Part One -> One, Two, Jaws and The Way That You Were

Part Two -> Sundowning and This Place Will Become Your Tomb

Part Three -> Take Me Back To Eden

Unlike a lot of my other ST posts, this one took a long time to put together, mainly because I found the only spare time I had was late in the evening, and after half an hour I was starting to loose it with headphones on and the music at 60 trying to figure out if there's the sound of knocking or if I'm starting to go a bit off my rocker, so I'm really glad it's gotten the interaction it has.

Also, thank you for pointing out the animal noises in Chokehold! Completely missed those. Further, about Decending and Fallen Down, I'm actually so happy someone else heard it; I thought I was spouting nonsense with that one! I had the joy of listening to some echoed piano version of Fallen Down, and then Decending immediately after, and for a split second I thought I was still listening to Fallen Down. I'm really happy with notes on the SFX in The Offering, Like That, When The Bough Breaks etc are stuff people can actually hear as well, and, again, weren't just me spouting nonsense.

+ For those worried about spam liking/reblogging; don't worry about it! Just let's me know you're interested enough to put your own thoughts into it, let alone to read the other two posts after the one you've already read!

Again, thank you to everybody who's been interacting with those posts; means my hours of staring at my laptop and playing back a song fifteen odd times for some noise I swore I had heard the first eight times but has now disappeared has come to a sort of fruition <3

(Plus! I'm thinking about putting this onto a thread on twt, since some of my other stuff has already been reposted on there, both with and without credit, unfortunately, so if you see this on there under the user '_melit0n', don't worry! That's just me. Might do the same on Reddit if people are interested.)

#I'm honestly really happy people like it lol #took me a while but I'm happy with it #literally don't be afraid to spam like/reblog on my blog ever because my reaction is just 'huh. they like my stuff :D' #I might make another big post like this on lyrical comparison but that probably won't come out until December #would you even like to see that? #I'll do a poll sometime #maybe #sleep token #st #vessel #music analysis #music and lyrics #just a lot of analysis #One #Two #jaws (song) #the way that you were #sundowning #this place will become your tomb #sleep token tmbte

[gotta-whump-them-all]

Here is a trope that I read in a fanfic once that has stuck with me.

Part 1

Guy wakes up not remembering what happened before he woke up, like he doesn't remember anything. All he knows is that he is in an unfamiliar place and that he is scared

Someone, that person A doesn't recognize walks into the room that he is in and that person seems so excited to see him

Person A asks person B what had happened and who they were

Person B says that Persin A had lost all of their memories in some sort of accident and that they, person B was their husband

Person A is happy to know that he has someone who loves him and has been taking care of him since he went into his coma

Now person A & B are getting used to being together while person A can't remember anything from what happend before the day he woke up

Part 2

Person C & D have been trying for months on end. Both of them have practically given up on looking for him.

Who are they looking for? Person A of course

Everything had fallen apart since their third team member had gone missing without a trace one day

Person E, Person A's brother had completely lost it when his brother went missing. He did everything he could to get his brother back

Person E goes so far off his rocker that he has to be put into a mental hospital for how insane he has gotten

Then he ends his own life in that mental hospital

Everything has gone downhill since he's gone missing. Both Person C & D feel like the only thing they can do now is to give up and move on with their lives

If I can find it, I'll post the link to the original fanfic where I found this from. I might not be able to because I remember reading the story on my old wattpad account and I don't know if I saved the story.

#fanfic #tropes #not whump #fanfic trope #fanfiction #fanfiction tropes #drabble #short prompt #prompt blog #writing prompt #rp prompts #angst prompt #fic writing #fic prompt #abduction #scenario #scenarios #writing #writing stuff #amnesia

[yakultberry]

✪ summary: your roommate is keeping you up and you try to take matters into your own hands. ✪ pairing: rocker!yuta x reader; very brief mention of frat boy!jaehyun ehehehe ✪ genre(s): angst, fluff, roommates to lovers ✪ word count: 1.6k words

✪ a/n: hello everyone, i've returned once more to post a fic i've written for my love's, @haechanblr, birthday 🥰 happy happy birthday, my spouse, i hope you had the best day today <3 i love you!! also this is the first time i'm posting for nct aaaaa i hope you all enjoy!!

[1:35 AM.] The screen of your phone illuminates the dark room, and you let out a frustrated groan when you see that it’s already been 40 minutes. And he’s still just tuning his guitar. You shuddered to think how long his subsequent practice might be. You throw the covers over your head in hopes of muffling the electric strums, but you still feel them vibrate through your walls. “You gotta be kidding me,” you mutter to yourself, now layering one of your fluffy pillows on your head without much more luck.

For the past year or so, you considered living with Nakomoto Yuta as one of the best decisions you have ever made. Sure, he could wash his dishes a little more often and sure, he could fix his sleeping schedule so that you don’t wake up at 4am to hear him writing another song for his band. But you didn’t really care about all that; not when he was the one that comforted you through your toughest days. You wouldn’t even have to say anything, and suddenly Yuta would be there with takeout from your favorite ramen place and that dazzling smile of his.

Who knew a rocker with bright red hair and leather jeans could have such a soft side?

You realized about six months ago that you had fallen in love with him; the butterflies that incessantly fluttered every time he brushed past you in the kitchen and your heart that burst every time you made him laugh made no doubt of that. This was a major problem, you had decided. Feelings like these never ended well. Not for you anyway. And you’d be damned if you let them get in the way of having Yuta in your life.

So you pretended like the feelings did not exist. And for the most part, it had worked; you and Yuta lived together as usual. Each day, you got to wake up excited for whatever adventure Yuta would bring into your little apartment without the fear of scaring him away with whatever mess was happening in your chest. Until a month ago when he brought home a stray cat, claiming her name was Brie (after the cheese). At that moment, you knew you had to take extra measures to tame that relentless heart of yours before it got more out of hand.

That’s why you’re here, trying to get some sleep so you could wake up at the ass crack of dawn to go hiking with Jaehyun from your English class. It would be your second date with him, and for a frat boy who isn’t quite your type, he did help you suppress your feelings. You had told Yuta about your early plans, and usually, that would have been enough for him to stay quiet for the night. And yet, you have a strong feeling that you could be in for a long night if you don’t intervene right now.

With a huff, you throw off your covers and pillow and stomp over to the room next door, unceremoniously letting yourself in. His room is messy as always with clothes and instruments strewn about; you don’t even bother trying to navigate it, and instead stay by the door. Yuta, who is sitting on his unmade bed, barely spares you a glance before he’s back to toying with his guitar, only fueling your frustration more.

“Yuta,” you say sternly. He answers with a non-committal hum, which at least gives you the impression that he knows you’re there. “I need to wake up early tomorrow, remember?”

“You do? For what?” he mumbles, most of his focus remaining on his guitar. You gape at him. You had definitely told him about your date over dinner and he had definitely said ‘okay’, or something along those lines. So why the fuck was he being so difficult?

“For my date with Jaehyun? I have to leave early so we can see the sunrise or whatever.”

“Oh.” He frowns at the strings he is still strumming, absolutely refusing to make any type of eye contact with you. “You’re still going to that?”

“I-- yes, I am,” you say, brows furrowed. He is being so weird. “So I would very much appreciate it very much if you could keep it down for tonight, because I’d rather not look like a zombie when I go on my date.”

Finally, Yuta looks up at you, his expression now indiscernible. “Why?”

“I mean, I don’t think it’s odd to want to look nice for a date--”

“No, I mean,” he lets out a sigh, “why are you going out with this guy?”

At this point, all you can do is stare at him incredulously, unable to help the frustration slowly coming to a boil under your skin. “Wha--What do you mean?”

“Do you even like him?” The question hits you like a punch to the gut, leaving you speechless as you scramble for some kind of answer. Suddenly, the air in the room is thick and it slowly seeps into your lungs when you open your mouth to reply, but no words seem to come out. “Well, do you?”

Your mouth feels dry. “W-why does it matter?”

“That isn’t an answer.” It wasn’t, but to you, it really didn’t matter whether you liked Jaehyun or whoever you went on a date with or not. That wasn’t the point. He helped you forget and that was a good enough start for you. But you couldn’t exactly tell Yuta that. Now, your roommate looks straight at you, his gaze piercing you as though it sees right through you. “It’s just… why would you date him if you don’t like him?”

“Who said I didn’t like him?” you retort all too quickly.

At that, Yuta lets out an amused scoff. The smirk he sends your way nearly makes your knees go weak. Why does he have to make this so difficult? “Oh come on. A frat dude? We both know that that’s not your type.”

The intensity of his gaze suddenly causes heat to rise up your neck to your cheeks-- whether it is from irritation or from the fluttering in your stomach, you aren’t quite sure. Either way, there isn’t any denying that Yuta is right, but you couldn’t let yourself fall apart so easily. You barely stammer out a reply. “I-- What if I just wanted to try something new?”

“Look,” Yuta says, setting his guitar aside so he can stand and face you. “It would be fine if you did like him. But you don’t, and that’s what’s been bothering me. Why would you go out with this guy that you clearly don’t like when…”

For the first time since you had met him, you think you see Yuta hesitate. As an aspiring rockstar, Yuta always seemed to ooze confidence no matter what he did, whether it was performing a new song on stage or trying to convince you that he can bake cookies without burning the entire complex down. So the way his voice tapers off and the way his eyes shake while he continues to look at you with that unreadable expression is a foreign sight to you. It makes you want to go to him, to be nearer to him, but you opt to stay in place as always.

To your surprise though, you’re the first to break the silence. You realize that you had been holding your breath. “...When what?”

“When I’m right here.”

You aren’t quite sure what you had expected him to say, but it definitely wasn’t that. The four words, so simple and concise, seem to take ages to process in your head. Are you dreaming? Did you actually fall asleep earlier and this is just some cruel trick your subconscious is playing on you? Does he know the meaning of his words? In your daze, you don’t realize that Yuta has made his way to you, and you nearly gasp when you feel how close he is-- it’s the closest you’ve ever been to him. Though he’s not touching you, you feel the warmth of his body, and for once, you let yourself stay.

“Yuta…” you start, but you’re at a loss for what to say.

“Or have I been imagining this whole year? I… I care so much about you, daisy,” Yuta says earnestly. The way he says his nickname for you is so tender, so sincere, and you realize that this is real. This is happening. “I know we haven’t said anything out loud, but I just thought that we were both feeling something. Was it just me?”

You quickly shake your head, and something in you is courageous enough to take his hand in yours. “I felt it too. I just… I just didn’t want to lose you.”

“Baby, you have me.” There it is again: that breathtaking smile that somehow eases all your worries while also being the very source of them. Slowly, you smile back, unable to process all the emotions rushing through you, and you only realize that you’re crying when Yuta reaches up his free hand to softly wipe your tears away with his thumb. He can’t help but chuckle fondly at the sight of you, and that’s when he says it. “I love you.”

At the moment, you know the only feeling that really matters is the one that you share with him. You sniffle. “I love you, too.” And with that, all of Yuta’s hesitation disappears. He pulls you to him and fits his lips over yours, as though they were meant to be there all this time. You instantly press closer, unable to get enough of the sweet kisses that you must have imagined a hundred times over. You definitely prefer the real thing.

A bit later, you text Jaehyun to let him know that you wouldn’t be able to make it in the morning. You do still end up staying up for the sunrise though, the bright rays gently seeping through the sheer curtains of Yuta’s windows as you lay happily in his arms.

#nct #nct 127 #nakamoto yuta #yuta scenarios #yuta angst #yuta fluff #nakamoto yuta scenarios #nct 127 scenarios #nct fanfic #nct scenarios #nct imagines #yuta x reader #i only come here to post the fics i've written for sab #LIFE HAS BEEN BUSY BUT I'M ON MY FEET

[alarriefantasy]

                                      Childhood Friends

Come As You Are by AFangirlFantasy

Words: 12k

Highschool Reunion AU where Harry is Niall's flatmate, Zayn and Liam are married, and Louis is just trying to find his way back home.

i love you most by stylinsoncity

Words: 12k

friends with benefits has always been enough for louis. until, of course, it isn't.

Love is like this; not a heartbeat, but a moan by angelichl

Words: 13k

In which Harry loves Louis, but Louis has been cold to him ever since he presented as an omega at age fifteen.

Eight years later, Louis approaches Harry with a request, and who is Harry to deny him?

What do you mean he's coming? by MediaWhore

Words: 15k

When Harry accepted to be his sister’s Maid of Honour, despite how non-traditional of a choice he was, he didn’t think writing a speech for the wedding reception would be this hard. Now, not only does he have less than two weeks left to find something moving and inspirational to say, but Gemma just confided in him that her old childhood best friend is going to be in attendance. The one who moved to LA and they haven’t seen in fifteen years because he was too busy becoming an Academy Awards winner. But hey, no pressure. It’s just Louis Fucking Tomlinson.

Harry is screwed.

everything comes back to you by amory

Words: 29k

Louis and Harry, best friends since before either of them can remember, broke up four years ago. Louis has achieved his dreams of becoming the next big thing while Harry has stayed back, dedicating himself to his studies. Both are content to forget what they had together, until a tragedy brings them right back into each other's lives.

He's been my Queen since we were 16 by larriebane

Words: 30k

Louis Tomlinson had been best friends with his neighbor’s son, Harry, as long as he could remember. The 16-year-old was small for his age and got bullied for being a weak alpha but Louis was there to help him. However, when the omega graduated from college and left for a university in London, he lost all contact with the Curly One. Five years later Louis finds himself back home, stalking a leggy hottie who looks like something from his wet dreams.

I Sail With You by AFangirlFantasy

Words: 35k

Against his wishes, Omega Prince Harry Styles is arranged to mate with someone he doesn’t love, much less knows. Though he pleaded to his parents incessantly, they not only refuse to comply but force him to depart on a ship days later. Harry prays for fate to step in, to change what’s to come, however, the answer he is given is not exactly in the form he had hoped.

Enter Will Tommo – deadliest pirate captain of all seven seas.

Runner on Third by kikikryslee 

Words: 39k

Or, the AU where Louis and Harry were best friends growing up, but lost touch after Harry moved away. Ten years later, Harry has moved back to town, but he and Louis don't pick up where they left off.

Something in the way by momentofclarity

Words: 40k

Hope Floats 90’s AU. When Louis Tomlinson finds out his wife is cheating on him with his best friend, he packs up his life and takes his daughter back to his childhood hometown to start anew. The problem is—he’s not so sure he’s moving forwards rather than backwards. What he finds in the small Texas town is a whole lot of memories, people who think they still know him and a man who’s spent the past decade waiting for his return.

Canyon Moon by delsicle

Words: 40k

For as long as Louis has remembered, he has been promised to be mated to Harry, his best friend and the future pack alpha. But Louis’s heart belonged to the forest and to the hunt more than he could ever imagine it belonging to Harry.

Then Harry’s father dies in a violent accident, and Louis’s future alpha disappears on the wind.

An A/B/O Lion King AU

Faking It by TheCellarDoor

Words: 46k

A uni AU in which Louis has been Harry’s best friend since he offered him cubed fruit on the playground, and they spend more time cuddling in their dorm beds than they do apart, but it’s not like that. Or is it?

Never Let Me Go by loveisalaserquest17

Words: 55k

Harry and Louis have been friends forever, but they couldn't be more different. One night, with a little too much alcohol, they make a pact to marry in ten years if they're both still single.

Now, one month before the deadline, Louis is willing to do whatever it takes to avoid ending up with his best friend. But is he, really? | Loosely inspired by The 10 Year Plan

like cabbages and kings by you_explode

Words: 60k

When Louis was a kid, he had a series of very vivid dreams about a place called Wonderland. There were rabbits wearing waistcoats and talking cats and ridiculous tea parties, and amidst all the absurdity, there was a boy. A boy with dimples, big green eyes and the sweetest soul Louis has ever known. Louis has always kept a place in his heart for that boy and for his funny dreamworld, and when he’s twenty-five and his life falls apart, it turns out Wonderland might not be so imaginary after all.

Your Name Is Tattooed On My Heart by mcpofife

Words: 86k

Louis is ready to find the love of his life, but first he has to stop falling for the punk rocker next door.

fearless by suspendrs

Words: 97k

Or, Harry left home without a word after high school, and a lot can change in ten years.

Heading for Limbo by kingsofeverything

Words: 100k

Childhood best friends who’ve fallen in and out of touch with each other since Louis’ family moved away when they were thirteen, Harry and Louis find their paths crossing again and again. Each time, no matter how many miles apart or how many years it’s been, it’s as if no time has passed. They fall back into their easy friendship, until life intervenes and sends them on their separate ways once more.

When Harry discovers some life-changing things about himself, Louis is there for him, however he needs. But it’s all temporary because Louis has plans that will move his life from New York all the way to L.A. and the distance isn’t the only thing between them.

The pieces of their twice broken hearts are scattered from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

You Drive Me Crazy (but it feels alright) by MrsStylinson

Words: 102k

Bridget Jones' Diary AU.

“Harry is not short for Harold,” he corrects, his voice as thick as molasses. He lowers his eyes to Louis’ sequined lapels, rubbing one between two fingers. “Is this small or extra small? It looks lovely.”

Louis breaks away from his grip with a petulant huff and pushes him back with two fingers.

“You’re mocking me. Again.”

Harry smiles and it's a real honest swoop of his lips this time. Louis’ stomach swoops with them.

Love Will Tear Us Apart by lovelarry10

Words: 103k

Louis and Harry had it all - a career, friendship, and some of the best sex either of them had ever had.

But Harry ruins it all with one life-changing mistake ... and Louis is left to pay the price.

Own the Scars by crinkle-eyed-boo (KimmieRocks)

Words: 144k

Louis has never felt like he was good enough: for his stepdad, for his life-long best friend, for the life he's supposed to want. After an accident that nearly costs him his life, Louis' parents send him to rehab where he’s forced to face his demons. On the long and difficult road to recovery, Louis must confront the truths he’s been avoiding about his future, his relationships, and his sense of self-worth. Because before he can love anyone else, he’s got to learn how to love himself first.

Now In A Minute by thealmightyavocado

Words: 150k

13 feels like yesterday for many people, but for Louis it actually was.

More than anything in the world, Louis Tomlinson dreams of growing up. Simply skipping over all of the awkward, embarrassing years of teenage existence and getting on with life. Real life.

So when thirteen-year-old Louis wakes up in the body of his thirty-year-old self, he expected everything in his adult life to be picture perfect. And maybe it is. He has it all…or so it seems.

Except his favorite person and lifelong best mate, Harry Styles, is totally missing from the equation and Louis doesn’t understand why. He has a lot of catching up to do and as adult life turns out to be more than what he bargained for, Louis can’t help wondering why a life that seemed so perfect, feels so empty.

Or the 13 going on 30 au that should have been done years ago.

♡ credit to the owner of the manip

♡ past themed recs here

#fic rec #larry fics #larry themed rec #childhood friends #larry stylinson #larry fic rec

[ticklykitty216]

Brawl Stars Tickle Headcanons

Ok so I may have fallen into another fandom-

I cannot control the rate in which I get into things!!

Also be warned, this is a long ass post, and I mean it’s LONG

*EDIT: I added Stu, Belle and Squeak to the post. They’re all at the top of their respective sections/rarities except for Stu, who’s at the bottom of Common. I also added a “Keep Reading” break after the Common section*

*EDIT 2: I added Buzz and Griff, they’re at the top of their respective rarities*

... Anyways here are some headcanons-

*** Common Brawlers ***

Shelly:

Switch, Ler leaning

She’s a very goofy ler

She loves teasing when tickling, mostly verbally

Also loves to chase lees around before she strikes

She’s got super ticklish sides, knees and calves

Her laugh’s loud and contagious

She totally switches between speaking in english and in spanish when tickling/being tickled, change my mind

Nita:

Lee

She’s a fighter though so you want to be careful when tickling her

Her sides, belly and feet are super ticklish

Her laughter is absolutely MANIC

Very squirmy, and thrashes a lot

She gets super flustered when teased

When she’s in a ler’s position she tends to dig a lot when tickling

Colt:

Switch, Lee leaning

Listen, 9/10 times this man is all bark and no bite when it comes to tickling

It’s super easy to get him, like it’s almost a little sad

His belly, ribs and armpits are his spots

He gets super flustered when tickling, and will try to talk when being tickled

This man 110% begs before you even lay your fingers on him

He can be quite the cheeky ler when he’s not getting wrecked

He verbally teases a lot (His favorite is “Coochie Coochie Coo”)

(He’s Shelly’s frequent victim)

Bull:

Ler

Bull is a scary ler

He doesn’t normally tickle people, but when he does he’s merciless

He’s super big and strong, so there is no escaping the Bull

He’ll cradle you in one arm and go to town on your stomach

Or he’ll pin you down and use one hand to keep your hands up and get you with his other hand

Also verbally teases

He’s got ticklish ribs, back and armpits

His laugh is super rough and deep, it’s actually kinda scary

Jessie:

LEE

Oh, oh god she’s baby...

She squirms a lot when tickled

She has the CUTEST giggles, her giggles will water your crops, and cure you’re acne-

Her ribs, sides and feet are her worst spots

She’ll try and curl into a ball to escape

Blow raspberries on her belly and sides and she’s dead, you killed her

She snorts if she’s tickled for too long

Gentlest ler in the west

Brock:

Switch, Ler leaning

He doesn’t tickle people very often, because he thinks it’s really silly, but in the few times he does-

He’s very quick when tickling

Switches spots quickly so you don’t get used to it

His teases, they rhyme my guy

The rare occasions he’s a lee, he’s very squirmy

His laugh gets super jittery and squeaky, and wheezy, and he hates it

Dynamike:

Ler

He’s not ticklish

Though that doesn’t mean he won’t laugh along side you

He won’t go after you unless you’ve been messing with him (or ya’ tried to tickle him)

He’s also very sporadic when he tickles

He’s VERY good at teasing, both physically and verbally

Despite being a little off his rocker, he’ll never take it too far and will stop if he thinks you’ve had enough

Bo:

Ler

Again, he doesn’t really tickle people that often (He does sometimes tickle Nita and Leon though)

He’s normally a very serious and stoic ler, but on rare occasions he’ll get playful

If he’s in a playful mood he’ll chase you down and tease you

He’s surprisingly a very gentle ler, despite being serious and a kinda scary looking ler

His chest, ribs, neck and back are ticklish

He’s not super ticklish, but if you get those spots he’ll laugh

He has a very deep laugh, it’s actually kinda calming

Tick:

Lee

Ok, so somehow this little bomb robot is ticklish

Don’t know why, don’t know how, he just is

He’s ticklish around his sides and under his arms

And if his head isn’t attached to his body around the the edge and inside where his head rests is ticklish too

He’s actually kinda cute when you tickle him, he fails around when tickled

He’s also a really dangerous lee because if he’s tickled for too long his head might explode so watch out

His ‘laugh’ gets high pitched and he ‘stutters’ quiet a bit (Well, more than he usually stutters)

He can’t really tickle people back because he doesn’t have hands...

Though he can (technically) blow raspberries

8-Bit:

Lee

Again, somehow this little robot’s ticklish (Jeez, who’s making all these ticklish robots?!)

His little robot feet and ‘sides’ are ticklish

Also if you lightly scratch his buttons he giggles and squeaks

If you manage to get him flipped on his back and tickle him there’s really nothing he can do

His laugh is very squeaky and high pitched, and he’ll ‘stutter’ as well when tickled

If you tickle him for a while and then stop, and then ask him if he wants to “Play Again” he’ll get SUUUPER flustered and crash (Not really)

He’s not really the best ler, but he’s trying

Emz:

Switch, Ler leaning

She is, such a mean ler

Her nails are well manicured, and they’re merciless

She's both really good at physical and verbal teasing

She’s coo and baby talk you while she finds your worst spots

But she, herself, is deathly ticklish as well

Her belly, armpits and feet are her death spots

Her laugh is very high pitched and she giggles a lot when tickled

Will scream if you quickly tickle her death spots

1,000% will retaliate against you

Stu:

Switch

Is surprisingly a playful ler

If a little cocky and arrogant, but still playful all the same

His verbal teases are very hit of miss because he stutters a lot

But his physical teases are on point, likes to spider and scratch along the ribs and sides

He’s kinda ticklish

His spots are his ‘hips’, armpits and his stomach to some extent (you have to hit it just right to get him laughing)

He tries to curl into himself if tickled

His laugh is, quiet literally, all over the place

He’ll try to talk while you tickle him, but if you hit him with the “Can you repeat that? I can’t understand you when you’re laughing” he’ll literally short circuit

He’ll never admit it out loud, but Stu really likes tickling (or well, the idea of it) and he kinda wishes he was more ticklish in places (he likes the contact)

*** Rare Brawlers ***

El Primo:

Switch

If you were to look up the definition of a switch, you would just see a picture of El Primo

He’s such a carefree guy, who’s willing to get silly and have tickle fights with just about anyone (And I mean anyone)

He’s so strong he can easily pin you down and tickle you silly

He’s not that good at physical teasing, but he’s good at verbal teasing

He’s a really gentle ler, he might take it a little too far, but he’ll profusely apologize if he gets a little rough

His whole torso is ticklish, along with his hips and thighs

His chest and collarbone are also pretty ticklish as well

His laugh is pretty carefree, though it can get a little high and jittery if you drill into his hips, thighs, and ribs

He’ll sometimes let you win tickle fights

He also 100% switches between speaking in english and in spanish, you cannot change my mind on this one

Poco:

Lee

He’d probably be more of a switch if it wasn’t for the fact that’s SOOOO ticklish (and weak)

He’s ticklish pretty much anywhere you get your hands on him

Though some spots that never disappoint are his ribs, hips and feet

The best part about him being a skeleton is that you could, say, take one of his ribs out and tickle it, and he’d still feel it like it was still attached

His laugh is also carefree and happy, like Primo’s, but just in general it’s higher pitched

Oh lord, he get’s so flustered if you tease him, especially if they’re music related

In the rare chances he’s a ler, he’s quite cheeky

His boney fingers are quick and precise

He also rhymes/sings when he teases you

He’s also pretty gentle when it comes to tickling, so he won’t take it too far

Rosa:

Switch, Ler leaning

She’s such a teasing ler

She makes a bunch of puns while she tickles you

She’ll also coo and baby talk you while she goes to town

Also playful, will give chase before a tickle fight

She’s also super strong so she can easily pin you down

100% uses her plants to help tickle you (Because she’s a filthy cheater)

Surprisingly ticklish despite appearances

Her ribs, neck and feet are her most ticklish spots, though her thighs don’t disappoint as well

Her laugh is pretty goofy, and it can go pretty high if you switch spots quickly

Barley:

Switch, Lee leaning

AGAIN, for a robot, he’s shockingly ticklish

His legs, ‘belly segment’ and neck are his ticklish spots

The palm of his hands are also ticklish

His laugh usually stays the same pitch wise, but some places make him either go “hehe”, “hoho” or “haha”

He’s a little squirmy, though he’ll probably just try to push you away

Despite being a robot he’s not really that strong (physically) so he might struggle to pin you down

Though he is surprisingly good at verbal teases for some reason??

He acts innocent as a ler but don’t let him fool you, he knows exactly what he’s doing

Tends to spider his metal fingers all over, with one hand normally going up while the other goes down

*** Super Rare Brawlers ***

Darryl:

Switch, Lee leaning

Despite having 90% of his body covered by a barrel, he’s still got some ticklish bits

His feet, and under his arms are quite ticklish

Like 8-Bit, if you knock him onto his back and kinda hold him there while tickling him there isn’t much he can do (unless he had his super charged)

Darryl actually kinda likes being tickled (But he’d never say it out loud)

His laugh kinda switches between his pirate “Yo ho ho”/”Yar har har” to more giggly and squealy “hehehe”s

Darryl is actually a pretty good ler (Though he’s not the best)

He’s good at both physical teasing and verbal teasing

He uses pirate slang/pirate talk and it honestly makes the tickling worse

He so uses the feather in his hat, you can’t tell me otherwise

Jacky:

Switch, Ler leaning

She’s a rude ler, not mean, but rude

She’s really good at physical teasing, but will sometimes throw out some really good verbal teases

Is surprisingly playful, but like, in a rude way

Totally does that thing like she’s gonna get you, but at the last minute pulls away

Also pretty strong so can easily pin you down

She scream laughs when tickled

Her hips, feet and arms are super ticklish

Ribs also never fail to disappoint

She squirms and thrashes if not properly pinned down

She swears a lot when tickled so...

Rico:

Switch, Ler leaning

May not look like it, but he is a switch

He’s quite ticklish compared to his other robot ‘friends’ and he hates it

Pretty much everywhere is ticklish, but the area around his stomach that you can see into? There. That’s the spot

He flails when tickled so you might want to be careful...

He is also a scary ler

Very strong, can easily pin you

He is so mean with his teases, he’s alright at physical teases but it’s the verbal ones he’s king at

He WILL chase you down, and he WILL catch you

Carl:

Lee

Surprisingly or unsurprisingly Carl is super ticklish

His armpits, neck and his entire lower half is SUUUPER ticklish

If you get him when he’s in his minecart he’ll just flails and giggles (and gets super flustered)

If you get him outside his cart and go for his legs he LOSES IT

He has such a squeaky laugh and giggles, he gets super embarrassed by it

He also will try to talk while being tickled so he just ends up babbling

In the rare chance he is a ler, he’s very mischievous

He likes to poke and prod around ticklish spots

His teases are absolutely ridiculous, verbal mostly

Also totally baby talks and hits ya with the “Coochie Coochie Coo”

Penny:

Ler

Ruthless pirate is ruthless

She is secretly (not so secretly) the master of tickle torture

Her finger are quick and precise when it comes to finding your most ticklish spots

Great at both verbal and physical teases

Also pretty strong, can pin you down (But will most likely try to tie you up)

Tends to scribble and spider around until she finds a death spot, then she targets it and will use different methods to tickle you there

Can’t stand being tickled though-

Her feet, ribs, armpits and neck absolutely destroy her

Can’t take what she dishes out

Though she’s a tough cookie and won’t crack immediately 

But when she cracks, oh boy does she crack

Her laugh is all over the place

She feather sensitive, that is all

*** Epic Brawlers ***

Griff:

Switch, Ler leaning

Griff isn’t a huge fan of tickling, because time is money! And he can’t be wasting time on such childish things!

That said if push comes to shove and given the opportunity, he’s quite the cheeky ler

He’s a king at verbal teases, though that doesn’t mean he’s not good with physical teases as well

He’ll hunt down death spots and exploit them

Most of the time he won’t show mercy, but every now and then he’ll “feel bad” and stop before he goes too far with the tickling

Griff will do everything in his power to avoid being tickled

His armpits, ribs, hips and feet kill him (especially his feet and hips)

His hands are also somewhat ticklish

His voice and laugh go all over the place when tickled, and certain technics do certain things to his voice/laugh

He also talks a lot when tickled as well

Will try to bargain with you to stop tickling him, and will actually pay if you do and promise not to tell anyone

Edgar:

Switch, Lee leaning

He tries, super hard to keep the fact that he’s super ticklish a secret

If you so much as ask him he’s gonna deflect and then try to get outta there

He, is so ticklish. His death spots are his ribs, armpits, hips and feet

He’ll try and fight you off but if you just keep tickling him he’ll eventually stop and try to just shove you off or pry your hands away

His laugh is, at first strained (He tries to keep his laugh in) but after a while it get’s stupidly happy sounding

If you manage to get his scarf off, blow a fat raspberry on his neck

He will literally make this strangled pterodactyl screech before turning into scream laughter, he literally can’t stand having his neck tickled

He will absolutely DESTROY you when he retaliates (not if, WHEN)

He will use his scarf to pin your hands down while he wrecks you

He’ll hunt down your death spots and just target them, he’ll sometimes switch to other spots, but only because of when he goes back to your death spot it feels worse

Not super good at verbal teases, but physical? He’s a king

(He’s unfortunately a frequent victim target for Colette)

Bibi:

Switch, Ler leaning

She’s can be quite the mean ler

She’s decent and both physical and verbal teasing

Her main strength (other than being able to pin you down) is how she’s able to make you feel helpless

That and she’s a smug ler so it call comes together to make her tickling worse

It’s actually kinda easy to get her back

Her belly, hips and thighs are her worst spots

She squeaks when she laughs, and she hates it (If you point it out to her she gets super flustered)

100% will retaliate after being tickled, doesn’t matter who it is, she’ll get you back

Piper:

Switch, Lee leaning

She’s quite ticklish everywhere, but her feet and legs are her death spots

Sides and neck are also a good spot

She’s surprisingly strong despite her appearance, so she might accidentally hit you or kick you if you aren’t careful

Her laughter, is so sweet

But with that being said she’s quite a mischievous ler

She’ll talk down to you and baby talk you while she tickles you

She also does that thing where she pretends to strike then pulls back before she makes contact and coos at you when you react

Despite her being strong it’s kinda easy to turn the table on her

Bea:

Lee

Oh god, another baby

She’s ticklish all over, but her sides and belly do her in

She very squirmy and tends to try and shove you away

Her laugh is so sweet, it is pure

She begs a lot when tickled and also tends to talk when being tickled

Her ears are also ticklish, and she giggles like crazy if you tickle them

In the rare occasions she’s ler she’s literally the sweetest ler

She never takes it overboard

Nani:

Lee

Robot baby

She’s so small and round, she’s ticklish everywhere

She’s the most ticklish robot out of them all

Much like Darryl and 8-Bit, you knock her over and there’s nothing she can do

Has the sweetest laughs and giggles

She kinda likes being tickled, but won’t go out of her way to ask for them

Also a very sweet ler

Pam:

Ler

She’s mischievous, and sweet

She’s good at both verbal and physical teases

Also super strong, will cradle you and tickle you

Can, and will- “Chase you down to tickle town!”

She WILL find you most ticklish spots, there is no hiding from her

She’s only ticklish in one place, which is her thighs

Her laugh is loud, and deep

Depending on who you are, she’ll either let you tickle her or she’ll fight back

Frank:

Switch

He doesn’t get in much on the tickling action, but he is (surprisingly) a switch

He’s actually very sweet as a ler (despite appearances)

He’ll also cradle you in one arm and tickle you with the other (It’s his go-to position, especially against Mortis)

He’ll laugh along side you as he tickles

Very leisurely with tickles, unless you’ve annoyed him, then he’s a little rough and might target certain places (*coughMortiscough*)

He’s actually pretty bashful as a lee

He tries to push people away and cover his face when he laughs

His ribs, hips, and neck are pretty ticklish, though his chest and forearms make him laugh as well

*** Mythic Brawlers ***

Squeak:

Lee?

Squeak is a weird one for sure

They’re kinda ticklish everywhere

Verbal teases work well enough on them

If they’re standing when tickled they’ll stamp their feet on the ground, if laying down they’ll try and curl up

Vibrations also tickle them

They’re laugh is very high pitched and squeaky (pun unintended)

If tickled for too long they kinda just, melt / turn into a puddle of dog slobber (ew)

Not really much of a ler

They don’t quite understand tickling (though they do like it)

Isn’t that great at tickling, but they try their best!

Max:

Switch

She normally doesn’t tickle people unless provoked

She is so quick when tickling, her hands move so fast you’ll struggle to catch them

Will test everyone of your spots until she finds your death spot the slooowly start to hone in

Loves teasing you about your laugh and how quickly it fluctuates

She’s also extremely ticklish

Her hips, legs and feet are deathly ticklish

She will try to run away if you try to tickle her

She’s quite squirmy and might kick you if you’re not careful

If you also tease her about her laugh she’ll get super flustered and stop working

Oh, you better believe she’ll chase you down (and you better be ready to chase her too)

Byron:

Ler

He is such as cheeky ler

He’s great at verbal teasing, and prefers that over physical teases

He’ll poke and prod around until he finds a death spot, and then he’ll slowly tickle is way either up or down to it

He probably has some elixir or solution that makes the skin extra sensitive to touch (or it’s literally just baby oil but he calls it something else to make it sound ‘fancier’)

He’s actually pretty ticklish despite appearances

Ribs, armpits, sides, hips and knees will do him in

His back is also surprisingly ticklish, but he keeps it covered most of time

His laugh is just, naturally evil sounding, even when he’s being tickled silly

Will 1,000% get you back, just not straight away (unless he’s angry)

Mortis:

Switch

Mortis, the bringer of bats and doom, is so horribly ticklish and will jump out of his skin if you brush up against him

His ears, neck, ribs, belly, hips and feet will absolutely murder him

If you drill into his hip bones or the spot between his rib bones he’ll literally die (not really)

He tends to flail his lanky limbs around so you might want to be careful

His laugh is all over the place, and he cackles and giggles a lot

Though, speaking of doom, if he gets his hands on you he’ll rain doom down upon you!

He knows just the right things to say to get under your skin and make you squirm

He’ll also fake you out with tickles and will laugh, mockingly at you if you flinch away

Don’t worry, if you do the same thing to him he’ll literally short circuit

Mr. P:

Ler

Angry penguin delivers angry tickles

He goes straight for the death spots and doesn’t let up until you’re close to passing out

He can’t really verbally tease you (maybe taunts?) but he sure can physically tease you

He 100% uses his porters to help torment you

He’s only ticklish in 2 very specific spots that only Gale and Lou know about

He honks and squeals when tickled

Very dangerous lee, will attack you if you keep tickling (he MIGHT get you with tickles, but very unlikely)

Sprout:

Lee

Doesn’t really understand tickling

They’re pretty much ticklish everywhere

AGAIN, if you knock them over they’re helpless

They tend to flail and will probably try to hit you on purpose

They’re laugh is so cute though, it’s so high pitched and giggly

Like I said, they don’t really understand tickling so they don’t know how to tickle back

They’re trying though, and you gotta give them credit where it’s due

Tara:

Switch

Also will try to avoid tickling/tickle fights

She pretty leisurely when she tickles, though she can be merciless if you annoy her

Can and will use her shadow clones to tickle you

Can’t really verbally tease, but she’s really good at physical teases

Will slowly rake her nails down your sides

Is only really ticklish on the hips, thighs and sides are also good, but the hips are where it’s at

Will try to shimmy and shake out of your grasp 

Her ‘laugh’ gets a little more high pitched when being tickled

Will probably try to attack you after you’re done tickling her

Gene:

Switch

He’s pretty playful when it comes to tickling, mischievously playful...

He’s surprisingly (or unsurprisingly) very ticklish

His belly, sides, ribs and ears are suuuper ticklish

His laugh is more high pitched and giggly when tickled

If you blow a raspberry on his belly, dude, he’s gone

Despite his appearance, he is quite the mischievous ler

He’s quick, and he’ll find your worst spots and tickle them for a while

He so will use a few extra hands to help him

Despite using extra hands, he most like won’t restrain you unless you thrash around a lot

*** Legendary Brawlers ***

Leon:

LEE

Oh no he baby

He is so ungodly ticklish, like it’s kinda scary how ticklish he is

He’s ticklish everywhere, but his neck, sides, and feet are the WORST

He’ll squirm and wriggle like crazy to try and escape

He’ll also try and turn invisible to get away

He has, such a cute, childish laugh

He snorts when tickled, and Nita always points it out and he always gets embarrassed when he does

If he wasn’t so ticklish (and weak) he’d make for a terrifying ler

He can just, turn invisible and sneak up on you and go to town

He’ll try and find your death spots, but honestly it’s so easy to turn the tables on him, he probably won’t find them

Crow:

Ler

Not a huge fan of tickling, thinks it’ll ruin his cool/tough guy image

But if you really bug him (and he doesn’t kill you) he’ll go for it

Hope you aren’t feather sensitive, because his hands are covered in them

Will hunt down your death spots and tickle the crap out of them

He’s super good at physical teases, verbal is hit or miss

He’s surprisingly ticklish for a bird

His armpits (wingpits??), ribs and hips are shocking ticklish

His laugh is super ridiculous, he caws when he laugh and it makes him sound super goofy

If you’re not tickling under his arms/wings he’ll try and fly away

He will either kill you or get you back, there is no in between

Amber:

Switch

Loves starting tickle fights, even if she end losing horribly in the end

She has firm, quick hands

She’s also strong, and will put you in an odd position that’s highly effective

Is a big fan of baby talk while teasing, will also make lame puns while tickling

Everything from the hips down are super ticklish, along with her neck and shoulders as well

She has a very squeaky laugh, and snorts if tickled for too long

Can’t take what she dishes out, you start making lame fire puns at her she’s gonna lose it

Also switches between english and spanish, I don’t make the rules

Spike:

???

They’re a lee???

No one knows if they’re ticklish or not

The verdict is yes, because if you tickle them they make motions like they’re laughing

But if you tickle them for too long they’ll shoot out spikes everywhere

He’s a scary ler for the fact that they’re COVERED IN SPIKES

Yeah, probably not the wisest decision to tickle Spike (Unless you’re Colette)

Though if you must, the technically they’re ticklish everywhere

Sandy:

Lee

It’s super easy to catch him by surprise, and it’s one of the fastest ways to wake him up

He’s pretty ticklish everywhere, his whole torso, armpits, neck, and knees are super ticklish

He’ll try and slap you away and squirm out of your grip so watch out

Depending on where you tickle him, he’ll either let out tiny, tired little giggles or loud boisterous laughs

He whines a lot when tickled, and he can’t stand being teased

He’s honestly not much of a ler

When he gets a small burst of energy, he might scribble over some sensitive spots

If you lightly tickle him while he sleeps, he’ll still stay asleep but he’ll let out these cute little giggles and squirm

*** Chromatic Brawlers ***

Buzz:

Switch

Buzz tries to be serious whenever he can be, but he can’t help but break and be silly

Despite his small size he’s actually pretty strong for his size

Quite the tease, he’ll make these rules while tickling and if you break these rules he punishes you severely

Uses “cootchie cootchie coo” way too much when tickling

He squeezes a lot when tickling, will also spider his fingers over sensitive areas

His go to move is raspberries, he’s a long winded dino so he’s gonna deliver some long, hard raspberries

Can, and will nibble areas like the ribs and belly

He’s quite ticklish

His feet, armpits and belly do him in

He tries to be serious and will try to take control of the situation, but if you keep going he’ll eventually break down and become a giggling mess

He squirms a lot when tickled and will try to curl up if give the opportunity

His little tail wags and slaps on the ground when tickled, point this out to him and he dies inside

Belle:

Ler

Cheeky, very teasy ler (surprisingly, or unsurprisingly playful)

Despite her old age, she’s still pretty strong and fast, so she won’t hesitate to chase you and pin you down

Is scarily good at both verbal and physical teases

1000% baby talks and coos when tickling, will also call you “honey, sweet thing, buttercup, etc.” when tickling you

Very unpredictable, will try and hunt down your death spot and then switch between that and another spot

She would SO, shove her gold hand up your shirt while it’s cold to make you shriek

Quiet ticklish herself, though she’d never admit it

Her ribs, sides, hips and feet will do her in

The back of her neck and ears are a little ticklish as well

She’ll try and swat you away saying things like “Do you know who you’re messing with?” to try and scare you away

After a while of trying to scare you off she’ll try and fight you off (If she actually hurts you she’ll get huffy, but will eventually apologize)

When you’re done you better keep your distance for a little while,  because she’s already planning her ticklish revenge on you, “Mom never misses”

Colonel Ruffs:

Switch, Ler leaning

He’s not a big fan of tickling, thinks it’s too silly (yet he still finds himself in tickly situations)

He’s rather small and he’s not the strongest, but boy is he quick

He’s super really good at physical teases? Verbal is also hit or miss

He sometimes can’t help himself from laughing along while he tickles

He will never admit it, but he kinda likes being tickled...

His belly and feet/paws are his weakness

If you tickle his belly juuust right, his leg starts kicking (and his tail starts wagging)

Same thing if you tickle behind his ears

He might try and bite you though, if he does he will normally (begrudgingly) apologize

Colette:

Switch, Ler leaning

Horrifying ler, legit scary

She WILL chase you down, and she WILL get you

She’ll also just, tickle you out of no where

Her fingers are quick, and precise, and she WILL find all your death spots and tickle them

She’s scarily good at both physical and verbal teasing

Will also baby talk and coo at you

She’s actually really ticklish, and she’s ticklish everywhere for that matter

Her armpits, belly and feet are her worst spots

Actually likes being tickled silly and if you stop she’ll whine and ask you to continue

Blow raspberries on her belly and she turns to putty beneath you

Her laugh is absolutely all over the place and manic, but it’s also somehow really cute?? (How does she do that?????)

Lou:

Lee

Probably the 2nd most ticklish robot

Pretty much ticklish everywhere, but his feet and hands are possibly his worst spots

Like most of the robots, if you knock him over he can’t do anything to help him 

He talks a lot when tickled so he ends up blabbering and stuttering over his words

Can’t stand being teased, he literally loses it

In the rare chances he’s ler, he’s gentle but cheeky

Also will hit ya with the “Coochie Coochie Coo”

He loves spidering up and down sides

Surge:

Ler

Finally, a robot who isn’t ticklish!

He doesn’t tickle often, but when he does he can be quite cheeky

He’s got quick fingers

He’s pretty good at verbal and physical teases

He’ll comment on your laugh and how squirmy you are as he tickles you

He might accidentally take it a little far, but he’ll apologies for it

Gale:

Ler

Not ticklish

He’s playful when he tickles

Not bad at physical teases, but is better at verbal teases

He’s normally not one for restraining but he will if you’re too wiggly

He normally does quick tickles to the side or little pokes and prods

He’s the master of cheer up tickles though

***

I TOLD YOU this post was long...

#Kitten_Blunders #tickle headcanons #brawl stars tickle #I forced myself to write these in 2 days #I had to write them before the inspiration left #I thought about splitting this into 2 parts #but I didn't know where to split the post #there are like 44 brawlers #so I could've done 22 in one post and the others in the second post #but it would split the 'classes' up #so I said screw it; one post #also by the way I described some of these brawlers can you tell who my favorites are? #(man I struggled on some of these; HARD) #You better appreciate these!!

[sassyduckqueen]

Miraculous: Rise of Anatis 47

So I may have fallen in love with the whole Luka playing violin thing so I'm working it into this. I've always had the intention of him playing more then just guitar so it was kind of a natural progression in this story. Also I got to work in some dad!jagged into this :D And this chapter officially marks the beginning of Alya's Redemption. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. The next two chapters will be linked chapters so that should be fun to do :D

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Chapter Forty-Seven: Reflekdoll

"Miraculous Ladybugs!" Anatis shouted as he threw the shoe up into the air. It burst into the cure and swept across the city, fixing all the problems that this akuma had caused including restoring the Eiffel Tower. Anatis let out a small sigh as he watched it. It seemed like a lot of the akumas had it in for the tower. He frowned and shook the thought from his head before jumping up and landing on one of the rooftops with Lady Noir following him.

 "Hey, you ok?" She asked, making him look at her before he gave her a smile.

 "I'm ok," He replied, making her raise an eyebrow. "I was just on my way to something really important when the akuma attacked but I'm fine so sorry for worrying you,"

 "Hmm... if you say so," She grinned before giving him a serious look. "But you know you can talk to me if you need to right?"

 "Hmm, it's not like you to be so serious, Kitten," He teased, making her pout a little. He chuckled at her expression before giving her a soft smile. "Don't worry about me,"

 "Hey, I'm allowed to worry about you," She gasped, making him smile before she glanced to the side. "Been Anatis isn't the same as been Lady Noir. You're the one who has to capture the akuma and restore things while I get to be the cunning, ultra charming Lady Noir. I have it easy,"

 She glanced down as she spoke, causing Anatis to frown a little before he placed his hand on her hair and gently ruffled her hair again, making her look up. He smiled down at her with a gentle look in his eye.

 "I like the cunning, ultra charming Lady Noir," He smiled, making her blush a little. "She keeps me going and helps me have fun. Without her, Anatis wouldn't be here,"

 "Annie," She gasped before hugging him. He chuckled and hugged back. "I like Anatis too. He might have to be the responsible one but I think he has quite the sense of humor,"

 "Thank you," He muttered as she rests her head against his chest, purring a little. He smiled and gently rested his head on top of hers but then both of their miraculous beeped, causing them to jump back from each other. "Ah, I gotta get going! See you next time, Kitten,"

 "Y-Yeah! Right! Bye!" She gasped, blushing before using her baton to launch herself off the rooftop as Anatis waved to her and then threw his yoyo and jumped swung down to the alley where he left his bike. He landed on the ground, just as his transformation dropped. He caught Tikki in his hands as she let out a little sigh before placing her in the basket of the bike where a bag of cookies were. She dived into them and began to eat one as he put on his helmet and got back on his bike. He pushed off the wall and began to cycle. He rode out of the alleyway and headed to the Grand Paris hotel as fast as he could. He pulled up at the bike area outside the hotel and locked up his bike before taking off his helmet and placing it in the basket. He took a breathe before opening his hoodie, allowing Tikki to fly into his pocket. 

 "You ok?" She asked in a quiet voice.

 "Just nervous," He mumbled, smoothing his hoodie a little. "Well, it's time to face the music... literally. Wish me luck,"

 "You can do this," Tikki grinned, giving him a thumbs up. He smiled and gently stroked her head with his finger before taking a breathe and heading into the hotel. He walked up to the desk, causing the woman to look up with a bored expression. "Um hi... I'm here to see Jagged Stone..."

 "Right," She mumbled, looking back at her computer. Luka sighed a little.

 "Uh he's expecting me and told me that his agent Penny would inform the desk that I'd becoming by," He continued, making her look at him with his belief. "Um if you don't believe me, just phone his room and ask him. Tell him Luka is here to see him,"

 "Fine," She replied, rolling her eyes and picking up a phone, dialing a number. Luka tapped his fingers as she spoke on the phone before going bright red and stammering out an apology. She hung up and looked up at him. "Uh sorry about that. Gotta be careful right? Anyway, Ms Rolling has confirmed that you are telling the truth. They're in Suite 36 on the 4th Floor,"

 "Thank you," He smiled before walking over to the lift and press the recall button. The doors opened and he stepped in before pressing the floor he needed. He leaned against the wall as he rode it up before it came to a stop. It pinged and he stepped out before heading to the suite. He stopped outside, frowning a little as he heard some shouting before he took a deep breathe and knocked. A few seconds later, Penny opened the door, allowing the shouting to become louder. She also was talking to someone on the phone and holding a clipboard. He really hoped she wasn't too stressed out. "Um,"

 "Ah, Luka, there you are," She smiled, ushering him and closing the door before walking towards where the shouting was coming from. "Uh huh, that would be great,"

 "Is this a bad time?" Luka asked as he followed her into deeper into the room. He stopped and rose an eyebrow as he saw Jagged on the bed, throwing footballs at a man he recognized as Bob Roth, owner of Roth Records. 

 "Listen, Jagged-" Bob started but Jagged threw another ball at him as Fang hissed.

"No, you listen! I will not sell out and change my look!" Jagged gasped. "I'm a genuine rocker and- Luka!"

 He jumped down from the bed and pushed by Bob, making the man frown as he looked at Luka with a raised eyebrow. Jagged ignored him and lead Luka away from him, asking him how Anarka was doing and what he had been up to. Luka explained that he was working on a new song with Rose. 

 "Jagged, we ar- ah!" Bob gasped as Fang growled at him.

 "Penny, show Mr Roth out will ya?" Jagged ordered, getting a nod of Penny who gestured to the door. Bob glared at her but moved when Fang growled at him. Luka frowned a little and looked back at Jagged. "Oh, don't worry about him. He's just grumpy that I won't work with that rapper, XY,"

 "Oh," Luka nodded, frowning a little. He had heard XY's music and wasn't impressed. There was no feeling or soul to it. "I'm not too keen on XY,"

 "Me neither," Jagged grinned, grabbing his guitar and flopping on the sofa, strumming at it a little. "How's Marinette doing?"

 "She's good," Luka smiled, playing with his hands. He looked down and gestured to the jacket he was wearing. It was the one she had given him on the music festival. "She made this jacket for me,"

 "I thought so," Jagged grinned, making Luka smile a little before he gestured to his guitar. "Want to jam?"

 "S-Sure," Luka nodded, a little nervous. Jagged put his guitar down and jumped up, walking over to a door and opening it. He gestured to Luka to join him, causing him to move over.

 "One of the reasons why I go for this room is because it has a walk in wardrobe," He explained, turning on the light and revealing the wardrobe but it was like an extra room. It was roughly the size of a medium bathroom and had a number of Jagged's stage outfits but it also had a huge amount of guitars and other stringed instruments. "Perfect place for my collection if you ask me,"

 "Whoa," Luka muttered as he walked in. He had only ever seen this many instruments in a shop. "You owe all of these?"

 "Yup. Got a few special additions too," He replied, gesturing to a Fender Stratocaster. "This belonged to Jimi Hendrix,"

 "Seriously?" Luka gasped, glancing at it. He could practically feel the soul of the guitarist in it. Jagged grinned and nodded. "So cool,"

 "Right?" Jagged grinned, grabbing another guitar and plugging it into an amp. "I figured we could jam together if you want,"

 "Ye-yeah, I'd like that..." Luka asked as Jagged began to play and nodded. "Thanks,"

 "No need to thank me, Kid. If anything I should be thanking you for giving me a chance," He grinned, moving his fingers against the board before he stopped. "I know I wasn't around for most of your life and I know it hasn't been easy for you but I want to make up for that and get to know you,"

 "That... means a lot," Luka muttered, glancing to the side a little. He felt Tikki press her paw against his chest to remind him that he wasn't alone before he took a deep breathe. "I want to get to know you as well,"

 "I'm glad," Jagged smiled as Luka glanced over before he noticed a violin. He walked over to it and picked it up. "The violin huh? Can you play?"

 "It's been a while..." Luka admitted, looking down a little. It was one of the few things he didn't like to share about himself but he didn't just learn to play guitar when he was younger. He actually took up violin as well but it was one of the reasons why a number of kids disliked him. He remembered feeling happy when he played it because the lessons were after school so it meant he didn't have to go home straight away and he was good at it. Sure, he hated school but at that point, he hated Issac more so it made sense to stay at school more. The school he attended didn't offer guitar lessons but that's why he took up violin. He would play guitar at home, mostly when Issac wasn't in but would play violin at school twice a week. However, a lot of kids laughed at him for it and called him a geek and other mean words. He didn't think it was geeky but it was just another reason for a number of the kids to bully him. After a while, he stopped mentioning that he played it but still attended the lessons. Of course, things changed when Issac left. For one thing, they moved and Luka didn't want to go back to school, especially since he hated it and Issac was gone. He also stopped attending the violin lessons after that and never mentioned it to anyone but he played for a good number of years. He traced his fingers over the strings, wondering if he could still play. He always found that playing an instrument was like riding a bike. He never truly forgot how to play. He picked it up and tucked it under his chin before grabbing the bow. He took a deep breathe and began to play. It didn't sound great at first and his movements were stiff but soon he began to feel more relax as he remembered how to play and the music followed suit. It smoothed out and the notes turned from weak and distorted to crisp and clear as he moved his fingers against the board. He came to a stop and smiled a little before jumping as Jagged clapped. He forgot he was there.

 "Not bad, kid," He grinned, walking over. "You can keep that one if you like,"

 "Really?" Luka asked, looking at him with surprise. Jagged grinned and ruffled his hair as he nodded. "Thanks!"

 "No problem, Kid," Jagged grinned. "Hey, why do you play that while I play the guitar?"

 "Sure,"

 ~Later that Night~

 "So how did it go with Jagged?" Marinette asked as Luka sat in front of his computer. He promised that he would tell her all about it. He glanced up and smiled a little. "Ooh, you look happy,"

 "I am," He admitted, smiling. "We played some songs together and caught up. He even gave me a violin,"

 "A violin?" She questioned before her eyes went wide. "Wait, you play?"

 "O-oh yeah..." He mumbled, going a little pink as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I do,"

 "And you never told me?!" She gasped, pretending to feel betrayed as she threw her hand against her forehead but it made him smile a little. "But seriously? That is amazing! You'll have to play for me at some point... I mean if you want to that is..."

 "Y-Yeah, if you want to listen," He mumbled, blushing as much as she was. "Um... Oh, Jagged told me to tell you to get a website..."

 "Urg... again?" She groaned, making him raise an eyebrow. "Oh, Jagged's been trying to get me to set up a website so he can commission more work and share it with his friends,"

 "But that's great," Luka gasped, making her smile before she sighed. "Isn't it?"

 "It would be... if I had models! If I set up a website, I need to show case my work and I can't just take photos of it without a model. My work is meant to be wore, Luka but I can't afford a model! I could ask Adrien but then his father will hunt me down! He'll blacklist me and I'll never get to be a fashion designer!" She groaned, throwing her head in her arms as he chuckled a little. She looked up a little and gave him a playful glare. "Don't giggle at me, Mister,"

 "I'm sorry," He smirked a little before making a thoughtful look. "Why don't you get some of your other friends to model? Like Alya or Rose... Or you could go for Juleka? She's always wanted to be a model,"

 "You think she would do it?" She asked, making him nod. "Really?"

 "Sure, I'll encourage her to," He smiled, making her grin. "If you want, I can about it to her soon,"

 "Yes!" She gasped, making him smile. "Juleka is so pretty. She'd be perfect,"

 "I'm glad you think so," He replied before yawning. Marinette giggled a little. "Sorry, I'm just tired,"

 "Well, you spend a whole half a day with Jagged," She grinned. "I'm honestly surprised you're still awake given how energetic he is and how much attention he likes,"

 "Yeah, he's very energetic," He admitted before yawning again. "Sorry, Melody, I think I'm gonna go to bed,"

 "No worries," She smiled before blowing him a kiss, causing him to blush. "Sleep well, Lu,"

 "N-night, Melody," He mumbled, still blushing. Even as she sighed off. He got up and changed into his PJs before crawling into his bed as Tikki settled on his pillow. "She blew a kiss at me..."

 "Yeah," Tikki smiled, yawning. "Night, Luka,"

 "Oh... night, Tikki,"

 ~A Few Days Later~

 Luka hummed as he played his guitar. Juleka had asked him to sit in with her so he could tell her what he thought about her hairstyle. She wanted to change it up but she wasn't sure how or if she had the confidence to pull it off. He glanced up and noticed her, lifting her fringe up and down. Without realizing, he began to play, matching the tempo to her action. When she lifted her fringe and smiled, he played a high note and when she let go of it and frowned, he played a low note. Finally, she frowned and look down, causing him to stop playing and look up at her.

 "Don't you want to be a model anymore?" He asked, glancing at her. 

 "Y-Yeah..." She mumbled, looking down at her hands. "But no one's ever gonna pick me,"

 He strummed his guitar as his mind flicked back to the talk he had with Marinette about Juleka modelling for her website. He knew Juleka wanted to suggest it to Marinette and Marinette wanted to ask Juleka but neither of them had done so yet. He smiled a little as it appeared to the perfect chance to bring them together. 

 "Have you tried to talking to Marinette about your idea?" He asked, making her frown a look down a little. "She wants you to model for her website you know,"

 "I don't want to bother her with that..." She mumbled, glancing down. "Besides, why would she want me?"

 "You're really pretty, Jewel," He replied, using his nickname for her before he got up and walked over to her. "I know Marinette would love to have you as her model,"

 He smiled as he pulled back her fringe, revealing her eyes.

 "You've gotta follow your dreams in life. Don't let them pass you by," He explained as he picked up her hairclip and fixed it into her fringe, causing her to look up as he did. "You were made for this,"

 He gently pressed a kiss onto her hair, causing her to smile before pulling away and putting his guitar away. He grabbed his bag and put it on before opening his hoodie for Tikki to fly into. Once she was settled, he left his room and poked his head into Juleka's. She was just grabbing her back as well.

 "Ready?" He asked, making her look at him.

 "Yeah," She mumbled, holding onto her bag's strap. Luka gather her a soft smile before the two of them left the boat and headed to school. They didn't talk on the walk there but it wasn't uncomfortable either. As soon as they came to the school, Juleka took a deep breathe and the two of them walked in with the other students that were returning from lunch. They still had a bit of time before lessons officially started again but as soon as they walked in, Aurora rushed over to Luka. 

 "Hey," She smiled, making him smile back before looking at Juleka. "Oh wow, Juleka. You look so pretty with your hair like that,"

 "T-Thanks,"

 "No worries," She smiled before turning back to Luka. "Anyway, I thought I should let you know that Mrs Mendeleiev called in sick so we have a free afternoon,"

 "Wicked. Thanks for letting em know," He smiled before turning to Juleka. "That means your last lesson will be free right?"

 "Y-Yeah," She nodded, glancing over at Marinette and the rest of them. She took another deep breathe, causing Luka to give her a grin and a thumbs up before the two of them walked over to Marinette and the rest of their friends.

 "Since Mrs Mendeleiev isn't in today, what should we do? We'll be out an hour early," Marinette asked with the other girls nodding and think. Alya pushed her glasses up and grinned.

 "We should use the extra time to make those videos and photos for Marinette's so to be website!" Alya suggested, getting the girls to agree with her. "Remember I ask you guys to think about modelling some of Marinette's designs?"

 Juleka took a deep breathe and glanced back at Luka, who gave her an encouraging smile and a thumbs up. She smiled back at him before walking forwards, getting the rest of the girls' attentions.

 "Um... I-I'd like to do it..." She mumbled, making the girls gasp. She blushed as they stared at her before agreeing that she should be the model and looked very pretty with her hair clipped back. She glanced back at Luka, who gave her another thumbs up and smiled before he headed to the art room.

 "Ok! Let's get that lesson done then we can head back to mine," Marinette grinned before pulling a thinking face. Alya rose an eyebrow as Rose continued to shower Juleka with compliments. "We're gonna need a technical direction who has experience with modeling,"

 "Oh?" Alya asked as Marinette walked over to Adrien and asked him. He explained that he would probably have to go home straight away until Marinette pointed out that he would in fact be ok to do so as his father wouldn't actually know any different since that's not when school is actually suppose to finish. With that in mind, he agreed before heading to the lesson. Marinette walked over to Alya, who rose an eyebrow. "Girl, since when were you able to talk to Adrien normally?"

 "Since I decided to move on," She replied, shocking her friend. "Adrien is great but he's just my friend and he's with Kagami,"

 "And you're ok with that?" She asked as they walked to the art room for their lesson. Marinette smiled and nodded as they walked inside. She smiled as soon as she saw Luka sat in the back, doing his own thing. Of course, he would be in here since he had a free afternoon since Mrs Mendeleiev was his main teacher. He knew the art teacher wouldn't mind him just working in the back as long as he didn't disturb any of the other students. He was sat with his headphones on, reading something. Marinette smiled softly as she noticed it was a book on playing violin. Alya, however, noticed her line of sight. "Hey, why don't we have both of the Couffaines in on the shoot? Luka could help with the music or something,"

 "Huh?" She asked before glancing at Luka and back at Alya. Her eyes widen at her friend's expression, which was the one she always got when she was about to make a plan. "Don't even think about it! It's one thing hanging out with him but if he's in my room, I won't be able to concentrate and-"

 "No, you won't. You'll be in your element," She grinned, placing her hand on her shoulder. "It's the perfect chance for you to get closer to him,"

 Before Marinette could even argue, Alya turned on her heel and began to walk towards Luka, who was humming a little as he read.

 "Alya! No!" Marinette gasped, getting up to follow her but she could, Rose grabbed her and pulled her out to discuss what they should do as Lila send a glare in her direction. Not that anyone else noticed. Marinette bit her lip and looked back as Alya reached him and tapped his arm. Luka jumped a little and took out his earphones. 

 "Oh, hey Alya," He smiled, surprised that she was talking to him. "Am I disturbing you with my humming?"

 "Oh, no," Alya grinned, resting her hand on her hip. "I was wondering if you could help us with Marinette's fashion shoot,"

 "Me? Um I don't actually know anything about photo shoots" He mumbled, going a bit pink. "B-Besides, I don't want to overstep anyone-"

 "Well, I was thinking you could provide a little music to set an atmosphere and help Juleka relax," She pointed out, making him think a little. She had a point. If Juleka had a panic attack, he would be able to calm her down and make sure she was ok. "And Marinette would love it if you were there too,"

 "Well... I don't have anything else going on..." He mumbled, getting a grin of Alya but before he could say anything, she rushed back over to Marinette and the other girls, telling them that he would help them with the music side of it. Juleka glanced over at him and gave him a small but grateful smile before returning back to the rest of the girls.

 (***)

 Marinette let out a deep breathe as she opened her jewel box and took out a couple of rings out as Adrien directed Alix to get some more light on Juleka. Luka was sat by her computer and was in charge of the music. Of course, he felt as awkward as Marinette did but naturally, Alya didn't seem to pick up on that. Instead, she began filming and moved over to Marinette.

 "Psss," She hissed, getting her attention. Marinette looked over at her. "This is totally your chance to ask him to the movies,"

 "Alya, I want to focus on the shoot," She hissed back, causing Alya to roll her eyes and focus on filming the rest of the group. Juleka was dressed in a stripped top that was navy blue and white with a red beret and blue jeans. She had a green orb necklace on with matching bracelets. Alya smiled as she looked at her before moving around the room to Luka. He waved at the camera a little, causing Marinette to laugh a little when she saw him do that. He grinned back at her. Alya smiled at the two of them. She really hoped an opportunity turned up to allow her to get the two of them alone. They would make such a cute couple after all, especially since she decided to move on from Adrien. Speaking of him, he was talking to Marinette about the jewelry. It was weird to see Marinette not freak out and stumble over her words. "So these are the rings I've got?"

 "This one," Adrien replied, plucking one of them out of her hand. "It will compliment the outfit really well,"

 "That's what I was thinking," She smiled as Alya filmed them before she turned back to film Juleka.

 "How about a little smile for the camera, Juleka?" She asked, making the girl jump like a deer caught in headlights. She looked down and began to mumble to herself, causing Marinette to frown and Alya to pause the camera. Luka instantly jumped up and moved over to her, getting her to sit down and take a few deep breathes. Marinette carefully walked over.

 "Is something wrong?" She asked, wanting to help her. "You know it's really cool for you to agree to be my model but you don't have to if you're not comfortable with it,"

 "Decide fast," Alya snapped, looking at her phone and ignoring the glare that both Luka and Adrien sent her. "We have less then an hour before Adrien has to leave,"

 "That's ok, Alya," Adrien smiled, trying to defuse the situation. "Um... Luka could take over as technical director when I have to go and we can also arrange another shoot when I'm next free. Right, Luka?"

 "I don't mind doing that," He replied, gently rubbing Juleka's back to try and help her calm down. She was still panicking and breathing heavily. Luka frowned a little as he knew she wouldn't calm down any time soon. "We might have to do it another day though,"

 "That's ok," Marinette smiled. "I can stand in for her for now and when she feels better, we can try again. Does that sound ok, Juleka?"

 "I w-want to-" She mumbled, trying not to cry. She felt so bad that she was feeling panicked. Luka gently rubbed her arm again, giving her a smile. Marinette gently knelt down in front of her.

 "It's ok, Juleka," She smiled, gently taking the girl's hand. "We'll do a couple of photos with me in the outfit and then we can switch back to you. That gives you a chance to relax ok? Besides, I should model them myself for a couple of photos with them been my designs,"

 Juleka nodded, feeling a bit reassured as having a second model would take a lot of pressure on her plus Marinette was right. They were her designs so she should definitely get a chance to model them. Alya smiled in agreement before eyeing up Marinette and Luka as an idea came into her mind. This was too good of an opportunity to pass by.

 "Of course!" Alya suddenly shouted, surprising everyone before she jumped over and held up her hands like a frame, focusing on both Marinette and Luka. "The coolest thing about your designs is that they work with both guys and girls,"

 "Alya," Marinette gasped in a warning voice. 

 "A guy," She declared, moving her hands over to Luka a little bit before moving them back to Marinette. "A girl... same suit! What do you think, Luka? You in?"

 "Um... I'm not much of a model, Alya and this is meant to be Juleka's thing, not mine," He pointed out but naturally, Alya completely ignored him.

 "It will be fine! We'll do a duel shoot and then do a single suit with Juleka!" She grinned before grabbing the hat off Juleka's head and shoving it in Marinette's hand, ignoring her as she went to protest. "Juleka, give Marinette your suit,"

 Juleka let out a sigh but got up and moved behind the changing curtain. She got changed back into her normal outfit and handed the suit to Marinette as the rest of the girls set up another changing curtain. Alya shoved another outfit and accessories into Luka's arms and pushed him behind the curtain before he could argue as Marinette took the suit.

 "Are you ok with this?" She asked, frowning as Juleka nodded. "Really?"

 "It's fine, Marinette," She mumbled, playing her hands. "It will only be for a couple of photos right? Besides, it's better this way,"

 "Well... ok but we'll switch back as soon as you feel ready ok?" Marinette smiled, making Juleka give her a soft smile before she sat down with Rose. Marinette glanced back at her, still feeling a bit uneasy with the whole thing but before she could say anything again, Alya rushed over to her and began to push her towards the changing curtain.

 "Just brought you some extra time to ask him out," She gasped quietly, causing Marinette to go bright red as Alya pushed her behind it. Marinette went to say something again but Alya smirked. "You're welcome. Now get changed,"

 She moved away, causing Marinette to gasp before she sighed and took off her bag. It was only for a few photos and until Juleka felt better. It would be fine. Or at least she hoped it would be. She began to get changed into the outfit and put on the accessories. She put on the earrings before picking up the rings. She slipped them on her fingers until she came to the last one. It was meant for her ring finger on her right hand but her miraculous was on there. She bit her lip and glanced at the ring, moving to take it off.

 "I hope you're kidding," Plagg suddenly gasped, poking out of her purse. She silently hushed him as she took her miraculous off and slid the other ring on.

 "It won't be for long, Plagg," She whispered, passing him the miraculous. "Besides, you'll be near by,"

 Plagg gave her a look of disbelief before sighing and going back into the bag. Meanwhile behind the other changing curtain, Luka was facing a similar situation. He had changed fully into the outfit and put on the rest of the jewelry but then he noticed the earrings. He picked them up and frowned as he touched his miraculous with his other hand. Tikki poked her head as he took out his earrings.

 "Don't do that, Luka," She whispered, causing him to look over at her.

 "It won't be for long, Tikki. Just for a couple of photos," He replied quietly, putting them in and gently passing the earrings to Tikki. "Besides, you can keep them safe for me,"

 She frowned but took them anyway. Luka gave her a soft smile before gently petting her head as Alya called for them to come out. He took a deep breathe and stepped out, smiling awkwardly as he did. Marinette stepped out at the same time and gasped a little as she saw him. He looked great but a little shy, making her want to fangirl over how adorable he was. He pushed his hair to the side and looked around nervously. 

 "D-Do I look alright?" He asked, making most of the girls coo as Adrien walked over and smiled.

 "It looks great, Luka but let me just..." He muttered, adjust his beret a little before stepping back and looking at him before he grinned. "Perfect. He looks great, doesn't he Marinette?"

 "Yeah..." She muttered, dreamily before shaking her head. "Ok! Let's do a couple of photos then we can change back and it can be Juleka's go. Sounds good?"

 "Y-Yeah," Luka muttered, nodding but neither of them noticed Alya's scheming expression. If the two them only did a couple of shoots then Marinette won't get a chance to ask Luka to the movies and she couldn't let that happen. As Marinette's self proclaimed best friend, it was her duty to get Marinette with the boy of her dreams. Sure, she thought it would be Adrien but he clearly thought she wasn't good enough for him and settled for Kagami but Luka is still in the picture and while she didn't like the idea of pushing Juleka out of the way, she considered it a necessary evil. She also believed that Juleka would understand when she saw how happy her brother was when he landed a date with Marinette. She grinned as Adrien ordered more light around the two of them. Luka was looking a little bit redder then usual.

 "Hey, Luka, are you ok?" She asked, making him blink and look over at her.

 "Oh yeah," He nodded, gulping a little. "Uh... just a bit warm I guess..."

 "I have a fan somewhere," Marinette suggested but Alya interrupted again.

 "Ok!" She declared, hitting her palm with her hand before turning to the other girls. "Change of plan! We're gonna take the shoot outside!"

 "What?!" Both Marinette and Luka gasped as the other girls cheered but before they could argue, Mylene and Alix grabbed Luka and dragged him downstairs as Adrien followed. Marinette frowned deeply.

 "Alya, what the hell?" She gasped, crossing her arms as Alya grinned at her. "I said we would only do a couple of photos and then switch with Juleka. How are we suppose to do that now?"

 "Girl, it's just so Luka can cool down," She grinned, moving over to her. "Besides, you haven't asked him yet and Juleka will be fine with it. We'll find a place for her to change and do her shoot outside too! Besides, we've only got 30 minutes let before Adrien has to go!!"

 "Alya, you ca- whoa!" Marinette gasped as Alya grabbed her hand and dragged her downstairs, pulling her outside. She rushed over to the Gorilla's car and pushed Marinette inside before telling her that she was gonna grab some things for the shoot. The other girls helped put the equipment in the boot, including Luka's hoodie and Marinette's purse, that they would be using in the car as well then pilled in, unintentionally stopping both Luka and Marinette from getting out. Alya got in last and closed the door, making both of them frown. "Alya, where's Juleka?"

 "She decided to stay back," She replied, making both Luka and Marinette frown. Rose glanced over at them with a confused look.

 "I should check on her," Luka mumbled, trying to move but Alya shook her head.

 "She'll be fine," She replied, making him frown. "We do these shoots and come right back! Now to the Eiffel Tower!"

 "What?! Alya, that's too far!" Marinette gasped but once again, Alya ignored her and leaned in.

 "The Eiffel Tower is super romantic as are the Tuileries Gardens," She whispered, ignoring how uncomfortable they both looked. "You can ask him on a break,"

 "But Juleka-" Marinette gasped as the car began to drive but Alya grinned.

 "She'll be fine and will totally understand when she sees how happy Luka will be," She grinned before giving her a thumbs up. Marinette frowned, feeling very uneasy about the whole thing but right now, she couldn't get out of the car. She glanced over at Luka and saw he looked just as unhappy, making her frown even more. This was not how she wanted this to go at all. Sure, she would love to spend time with Luka but not at the expensive of his sister and not in such a pressured environment. She decided as soon as the car stopped, she would go and get the metro back to the bakery. Luka glanced over at her and she tilted her head to the window, hoping he would get what she meant. He rose an eyebrow before nodding as the car came to a stop. As soon as it did, everyone piled out and began to head to the gardens, apart from Luka and Marinette. The two of them both walked towards the boot of the car, to grab his hoodie and her purse but before they could, Alya suddenly appeared and grabbed Marinette around the arm as Mylene grabbed Luka.

 "No escaping you two!" She grinned, pulling them away from it. "I get that you're nervous but you'll be fine!"

 "I'm not nervous," Marinette gasped, trying to pull away from Alya but the girl had a surprising amount of strength. As did Mylene, causing Luka frowned as he tried to pull away from her.

 "We just want to check on Juleka," He protested, making Mylene frown and loosen her grip a little but Alya shook her head.

 "She'll be fine!" She grinned, making him frown. "Besides, she was freaking out and she'll understand! Now stand there! Adrien, pose them! I'll take the photo!"

 "Alya!" Marinette gasped as Adrien walked over. He frowned a little.

 "Is everything alright?" He asked, frowning.

 "We want to go check on Juleka but Alya won't- What is that?" Marinette asked as they felt the ground shake. Luka glanced up before gasping. He instantly moved his arm in front of Marinette in and protective manner as they saw a giant doll like creature that resembled Reflekta. Alya and the other girls gasped and ran off, causing the doll to look in the direction. 

 "Don't leave, my friends!" The unmistakable voice of Juleka echoed, making Luka gasp but it sounded harsh and angry. "You're the very people I've been looking for! I have something very special for your video!"

 A beam of light suddenly shot out of the doll's mouth, causing Luka, Marinette and Adrien to dive out of the way. Luka rushed to hide behind a wall before swiping his ears.

 "Tikki! Spots on!" He declared, expecting to change but gasped when nothing happened. He had taken off the miraculous. "Damn it,"

 He glanced over to the car from behind the wall and frowned a little. He would have get past Reflekta and her Reflekdoll but it did seem to be more focused on finding Alya. He frowned as he saw Rose step out.

 "Juleka! I'm sorry!" She gasped, getting the doll's attention on her. "I should have stayed with you!!"

 "Juleka is no more! I am Reflekta!" She declared, making him frown. "Everyone forgets about Juleka anyway!"

 She went to fire a beam at Rose but Luka ran off his spot and pushed out of the way before picking her up and running to another wall. He placed Rose behind it and ducked down himself.

 "Stay down, Rose," He gasped as he looked over the wall. Once again, Reflekta had gone back to attacking people, turning anyone she saw into clones of herself. Seeing his chance, he jumped up and ran as fast as he could towards the car as Reflekdoll attacked everyone. He slid behind it, gasping as he saw Marinette behind it. "Marinette, hide in the car,"

 "What about you?" She asked before glancing as a shadow formed over them. She gulped as Reflekdoll stared down at them.

 "Marinette," She growled, making the girl gulp. "You stole my limelight! I was suppose to the star of the film!"

 "Juleka, I'm sorry! I didn't realize Alya would do that and me and Luka were trying to head back to the bakery to check on you!" She gasped as the doll stilled. "I really only intended to do a couple of photos while you calmed down! I swear!"

 "It doesn't change that you didn't let me explain!" She growled before firing a beam at Marinette as Luka tried to get into the boot. "Perhaps you'll understand me better now that you're in my shoes!"

 The doll turned to Luka and grabbed the car.

 "And my rockstar brother! I thought you understood and cared about me!" She growled, throwing the car. "You're suppose to be my older brother but you stole my limelight too!"

 "Juleka, I'm sorry," He gasped, backing away from her. "I should have been more firm and said no to Alya,"

 "Oh, don't worry, Brother of mine. I have something very special for Alya but first, I think you need to know what it's like to be me!" She growled, firing a beam at him. He covered his arms over his face as it hit him but it did no good. Reflekta laughed a little. "That should teach you too but now to deal with the real villain of the day! Alya!! Where are you?!"

 She turned and jumped away to look for Alya. Luka let out a sigh and got up but almost fell as he lost balance. Marinette jumped and helped him.

 "Are you ok?" She asked, making him nod.

 "I should have know this would happen," He sighed, shaking his head.

 "At least, we only got transformed," She mumbled, making him frown. "I'm concerned about the special thing she has for Alya,"

 "Me too but my phone is in the car. If I can get it, I can contact Anatis," He replied, making her nod as other people ran off, scared out of their minds. He went to take a step forward but wobbled, making Marinette frown but she saw a chance.

 "You wait here," She gasped, making him frown. "I'll go grab your phone and get it to you,"

 "Alright," He nodded, figuring he could keep an eye out for Tikki if she did. Marinette nodded and rushed off, making him raise an eyebrow. "How do girls walk in heels?"

 ~Meanwhile~

 Tikki and Plagg screamed as they felt the car spin around before feeling it bounce, causing the boot to break open and everything to spill out. They let out a little sigh before flying up to see what was going on. Tikki gasped as she saw the sentimonster attacking people.

 "Oh no! This is terrible, Plagg!" She gasped, glancing at him as he looked the carnage. "How are we gonna be able to find our owners? Everyone looks the exactly same,"

 "We have to find the miraculouses first!" He declared, making her look at him before he dived down to the rest of the stuff. Tikki followed and began to look for the earrings as he looked for the ring. He flew under a yellow scarf and glanced around as Tikki gasped.

 "Paris is doomed without Anatis and Lady Noir!" She gasped, clearly panicked as he noticed the ring. 

 "Got it!" He gasped, grabbing it before holding it up and glancing at her. He floated over to her. "Stay focused, Sugarcube. Everything will be alright!"

 He gave her a quick smile before flying off to find Lady Noir. He flew towards the Eiffel Tower as Reflekdoll waddled farther into the gardens. He frowned as he saw and came to a stop at a statue of a horse. Plenty of people were running away from here so he hoped that Lady Noir would be among them.

 "Lady Noir! Lady Noir!" He called out, frowning. "Lady Noir!"

 A clone sat on a nearby bench frowned and got up, looking up at him. Plagg smiled a little and floated over, hoping that it was Marinette as they looked at him in confusion.

 "Plagg?" Luka asked, causing Plagg to gasp. 

 "You're not-" He burped green bubbles, making Luka frown. It wasn't who he was looking for but he guessed Luka must be waiting for Tikki. "Why didn't you go to the car?"

 "I can't walk in these heels," Luka admitted, frowning before he looked at him. "Anyway, what are you doing here? Has Lady Noir lost her miraculous? Is Tikki near by?"

 "It's a long story, Luka," He gasped, making Luka frown as he glanced to where the car was and then over to Reflekdoll. He frowned before grabbing the ring of him. "What are you doing?"

 "Using your miraculous," He replied, putting it on. It turned into silver and a little larger then Marinette's version. "We haven't got time to find Tikki or Lady Noir. We need to deal with them now,"

 "Are you sure?" Plagg asked, making Luka nod before he held out his fist.

 "Plagg! Claws out!" He declared, causing Plagg to get sucked into the ring. He put his hand in the air as it charged up with energy before crossing his hands together, creating his mask as they passed each other. He then swiped his hands over his hair, creating cat ears before throwing out his arm as the green energy created his new suit. He spun round as a fake tail manifested. He gripped the energy as he spun back round and did a shake movement with his hands, creating a cropped leather jacket out of it and completing his new transformation. He glanced over his hands, taking in the claws that were on them before looking up and blowing his fringe a little. It had grown longer then his usual length and he could see green on it instead of his usual blue or red. He glanced down, looking at his suit as well. It was a simple suit and black in color but like Lady Noir, he had green detail on it. Most around the edge of his gloves, boots and jacket. Unlike her, he had a simple black belt around his hips that also doubled up as a tail. He also had a little paw print zipper on his collar. Satisfied with his new form, he took out of his baton and pressed the button, opening it up before reading over the user manual. He had a rough idea on how to use it but he wanted to be certain. Happy that he knew what he was doing, he glanced over to where Reflekdoll was. Narrowing his eyes, he ran towards it, taking out the baton and extending it before he slammed it into the sentimonster, making it stumble into the Eiffel tower before he jumped down and ran towards Rose and Alya. Alya naturally looked excited and was filming but Rose looked upset as if she was about to cry. Knowing Rose, she probably was. "You two need to get to safety,"

 "Are you a new hero?" Alya asked, trying to shove the camera in his face. "Has Lady Noir been retired? Does Anatis know?"

 "No, she hasn't been retired, Alya," He growled before spinning around and using his baton to block Reflekdoll's beam. "Get out of here! Reflekta's target is you!"

 "Me?!" Alya gasped, surprised. "What did I do?!"

 "Oh, I don't know!" He growled, annoyed. "How about push her out of the film you were doing and ignoring her when she was clearly upset?! Kwami, it's one thing to ignore your friends' clear un-comfortableness but you completely blanked Juleka but why am I surprised?! You always tend to ignore things when they don't work the way you want them to!"

 "Hey! What's that suppose to mean, new boy?!" Alya gasped, making him growl as he blocked another attack.

 "I'm not new! I just usually wear spots and you know exactly what I'm talking about, Miss Cesaire!" He growled before charging at Reflekdoll, causing the beam to follow him as Rose and Alya blinked in surprise before they clicked to what he meant.

 "He's Anatis!" Rose gasped, making Alya blink and look at him. "But why is he the cat today?"

 "No idea but is Juleka really after me?" Alya asked, frowning. She was so sure Juleka wouldn't mind but if she didn't, why did she turn back to Reflekta? And now she thought about it, Marinette and Luka did look uncomfortable and wanted to check on her but she didn't let them. She frowned deeply as she thought. She was just trying to get them together. What was wrong with that?

 ~Back at the Car~

 "Yes!" Tikki gasped as she found the earrings. She picked them up, smiling as they recharged but she hid as one of the Reflekta clones came over. They knelt down, looking around as Tikki hid behind the wheel.

 "Plagg!" The clone gasped, looking around. "Plagg!"

 Tikki realized that it was Marinette, clearly looking for her kwami but she decided to go looking for Luka instead. They would definitely need a lucky charm and hopefully she'll bump back into Plagg on her way there. She could then tell him where Marinette was. She floated over the Eiffel tower but stopped when she saw Reflekdoll attacking something. She stopped and looked over before noticing a new hero or at least she thought it was a new hero for a second but then she realized it was a black cat hero but male. Her eyes widen in surprise as she watched him block Reflekdoll's attack with the baton.

 "Luka!" She gasped before turning back around. He would need help and she knew exactly who to go to. She flew back over to the car and saw Marinette was still there.

 "Plagg!" She called out, now standing up and looking around. Tikki took a deep breathe and flew over."Plagg!!"

 "You are Lady Noir, correct?" She asked, causing Marinette to look to before she nodded.

 "Y-Yeah," She nodded, looking worried. "I've lost Plagg! What if he's hurt?! Oh god! I'm a terrible hero! Wait... why aren't you with Annie?! Is he ok?!"

 "Anatis is fine, Lady Noir," She reassured, making Marinette let out a little sigh. "But there's been a little mix up with the miraculous,"

 "Mix up?" Marinette asked as Tikki turned around and nodded towards the Eiffel Tower. Though Marinette couldn't see exactly what was going on, it was clear there was a battle, meaning Anatis must already be on the scene but if Tikki was here then... Her eyes widen as it clicked. "Plagg is with Anatis?!"

 "Yes, I think he must have come across him first," Tikki admitted, noticing Marinette let out another sigh of relief.

 "He's safe... they're both safe..." She gasped, holding her hand over her heart before she looked over at the cute little bug. "You must be Tikki then,"

 "Yep. Pleased to meet you," She smiled, making Marinette coo a little at how adorable she was before she gently took the earrings from her and fixed them into her own ears. They turned in simple black stuns. "Do you know the transformation words?"

 "Of course and your special ability is the lucky charm which is used to defeat the villain and cast the cure. Ready?" She asked, making Tikki nod before she swiped the earrings. "Tikki! Spots on!! Ah!!"

 Tikki got sucked into the earrings, charging them up as Marinette threw up her head. She brought her hands up and swiped them over her eyes, creating her mask and removing the Reflekta look before throwing out her left arm as the magical energy traveled across her arm, creating her new suit. She span around as it spreaded across her body, creating the rest of her suit. The yoyo manifested next before the pink energy spreaded across her hips, creating a belt and finishing off the transformation. She glanced at her hands and moved them to her hair. She was use to having a super long plait but it didn't appear in this form. She gasped a little as she touched her hair. It seemed that she had a longer version of her pigtails. She glanced down at her suit, taking it in. It was kind of similar to Anatis' own outfit but yet different. She had black thigh high boots with a red strip on the top of them and a red spot on the top of her foot. Her rib cage and part of her legs were covered in black as were most of her arms but she had gloves that hooked onto her middle finger on her lower arms. Like the rest of her suit, they were red with black spots. On her shoulders were two shoulder guards. Like her boots, they were black with a red dot and a red strip. Her belt was very different from Anatis. Where his was plain black, hers had the ladybug print that framed with black. She also had a belt buckle that was the ladybug symbol. The yoyo was hooked onto the belt. She took it off the belt and opened it up, going straight to the user manual. She read through it before nodding to herself. 

 "Alright, time to help Annie," She mumbled to herself before throwing the yoyo and pulling herself up. She let out a scream as she did. It was one thing to be in Anatis' arms while he did this but she was not use to actually using the yoyo herself. She landed on the ground and let out a sigh before noticing Anatis running and dodging Reflekdoll's beam. She ran and jumped into the battle, landing next to Anatis. Reflekdoll fired a beam at her but she used the yoyo as a shield and blocked.

 "I see you found Tikki," He stated as they jumped back.

 "And I see you found Plagg," She replied, throwing the yoyo and using it to make Reflekdoll stumble. "So you get to play the easy part today,"

 "Hmm, I'm not so sure it will be easy," He replied, slamming his baton in the doll before jumping out of the way again. "We're taking two opponents with each other's powers. Stay focus, Ladybug. This isn't going to be easy,"

 "Don't worry, Mr Whiskers, I got this," She grinned as the two of them jumped onto a wall. Reflekta suddenly said yes to Hawkmoth before firing a beam at them. Anatis blocked it with his baton as Ladybug glanced at it. "Hmm two opponents... well, we know one is a normal akuma but that doll has gotta be an amok. Right, kitty?"

 "Good eye, bug girl," He replied as they jumped back down. "Feel free to call me Chat Malice by the way,"

 "Chat Malice? I like it," She asked as they ran towards the doll and ran up her. Chat took out the baton and slammed it into the side as Ladybug kicked it into the head at the same time, causing the doll to stumble back. They landed back on the ground as Reflekdoll got back up. "So we need to find where the amok and the akuma is hiding and break it,"

 "Can you manage or do you want to turn back?" Chat asked as he deflected a beam from the doll. 

 "I can manage," Ladybug confirmed before frowning a little. "But we need a plan,"

 "Head to the tower," He ordered, getting a nod of her before they both ran towards it. "Her akuma might be in the same place as the last time we fought her but we'll have to check it to be sure,"

 "But we can't get near her as long as she's got that doll," Ladybug replied, jumping up and climbing to the top of the tower. Chat followed her, easily scaling the building. They both jumped and flipped, landing on the tower. Reflekta tried to aim Reflekdoll's beam at them but they were shielded from it. Chat walked over to her and frowned as he leaned down glancing down. She leaned down next to him. "So we need a plan..."

 "We need to get rid of the doll," He muttered, frowning. "As long as she's inside it, she has the advantage,"

 "But if we take the advantage away from her, we can defeat her," Ladybug replied, getting a nod of him. "Ok so last time we used a camera..."

 "True but she's a lot more powerful this time and a flash won't blind her," He muttered, making Ladybug frown before he glanced over to her. "I think now would be a good time for a charm,"

 "Huh?" She asked before realizing what he meant. He smirked at her reaction as she took out the yoyo and threw up in the air. "Lucky charm!"

 A round mirror appeared out of thin air and fell down, causing her to catch it. 

 "Huh? What am I meant to do with this?" She asked, confused as he held back a laugh.

 "Welcome to my world," He smirked as she looked around. "Anything?"

 "I'm not seeing anything," She gasped as the tower shook. The two of them looked over and saw Reflekdoll climbing up the tower. Reflekta looked out of it's eyes and tried to fire her own beam at them. Ladybug used the mirror to send a beam back, annoying Reflekta and causing her to fire at them with Reflekdoll. The two of them jumped back as Chat frowned. "Ok, we need a better plan then this,"

 "Agreed," He replied as Reflekdoll climbed up. He blocked the beam as he turned to Ladybug. "Get to safety then try and look around for a solution while I distract them,"

 "Alright," She nodded, jumping away as he ran to the other side, calling for Reflekta to follow him. Ladybug frowned as she glanced around. Nothing was lighting up but at least, Reflekdoll was focused on Chat.

 "Missed me!" He shouted, diving out of the way of a beam. Reflekdoll fired another beam at him but he blocked it with his baton before grinning at the doll. "Missed me again!"

 "Stay still, you mangy cat!" Reflekta growled, firing another beam at him. He blocked it again with his baton while making a witty remark. Ladybug smirked at it but Reflekta didn't find it very funny. "Shut up! You're not funny!"

 "Oh but I am!" He grinned, jumping down and holding out his baton in a battle pose. "I'm the cunning and ultra funny Chat Malice! Watch and learn!"

 He threw up his hand.

 "Cataclysm!" He shouted, summoning the dark energy before running at Reflekdoll, dodging her beam as he did. He jumped up and slammed his hand on her, causing a number of cracks to go through it as it fell from the tower. Ladybug jumped down and landed next to him but it started to shake and it's eyes began to rapidly open and close.

 "What's happening?" Reflekta gasped from inside as Ladybug frowned.

 "Is that normal?" She asked, looking at him. "I've never cataclysmed a sentimonster before,"

 "I don't think it is," Chat replied. "But Reflekta no longer has her advantage- whoa!"

 He jumped with Ladybug as the sentimonster jumped up and began to fire it's beam everywhere and anywhere.

 "It's like a bee string on a bull," Ladybug gasped, glancing at him as he frowned. "It riled it up without actually wounding it,"

 The two of them jumped out of the way and landed on top of a wall again as Reflekdoll moved around. Chat frowned as he glanced over.

 "We need to clear this up quickly,"

 "And we still don't know where the amok is," Ladybug pointed out, making him nod.

 "No, Reflekdoll! Stop!" Reflekta cried out, making him frown deeply and reminding him that his sister was trapped inside. "She-bug! Cat boy! Help me!!"

 He took a deep breathe, knowing that loosing his cool would not help anyone and took out his baton, turning to Ladybug.

 "Let's focus on getting Reflekta out of there first then we'll deal with Reflekdoll," He suggested, getting a nod of her. He shot her a smile before the two of them jumped and towards the Sentimonster. He threw his baton, trapping in one of it's eyes and keeping it open. The two of them landed on the edge and grabbed onto his baton. Ladybug threw her yoyo and wrapped it around Reflekta's wrist, pulling her over to them. Ladybug grabbed her and jumped on top of Reflekdoll's head as Chat grabbed his baton and joined them. He picked up Reflekta and jumped down, causing her to hold onto his shoulders as Ladybug followed, using her yoyo. The three of them hid behind a wall as Reflekdoll went on a rampage. Reflekta slipped out of Chat's arms and stepped back.

 "These costumes look ridiculous on you," She gasped, smirking at them before pointing her hand at them. "I'm gonna redo your wardrobe!"

 "You could be at least a little bit grateful!" Ladybug gasped, throwing her yoyo. It smashed into the bracelet, breaking it and causing Reflekta to fall down as the akuma escaped. "Besides, I think we look pretty good,"

 "Don't forget the akuma," Chat grinned, pointing to it. 

 "I've always wanted to do this," Ladybug gasped as she took out the yoyo. She slid her finger down the middle of her yoyo, causing it to open. "No more evil doing for you, little akuma,"

 She span the yoyo around and threw it towards the butterfly. 

 "Time to de-evilize!" She declared, catching the butterfly in the yoyo and pulling it back to herself, catching it. "Got ya!"

 She grinned before pressing down on the yoyo and opening it, allowing a pure white butterfly to escape.

 "Bye, bye, little butterfly," She smiled, watching the butterfly flying off as Reflekta turned back into Juleka but Chat suddenly pulled her out of the way, causing a beam to go pass them and turn Juleka back into her akuma self. "Um... we'll be able to fix that right?"

 "Yeah but let's defeat Reflekdoll first," Chat replied as Reflekdoll randomly fired her beam. He took out his baton and charged at her as Ladybug looked around. Still, nothing was lighting up like it should. She glanced at the mirror and let out a sigh.

 " It's not easy been a super ladybug," She muttered as Chat dodged Reflekdoll's beam. "How do you do it, Kitty? This is a lot tougher then it looks!"

 "I just do what I've always done and work with what I have!" He yelled back, dodging Reflekdoll's hand as she tried to squash him. He landed on her arm and ran up it before going across her torso and over her shoulder. "But I have to admit! I like wearing your suit! It's a lot lighter on the shoulders!"

 He jumped off and extended his baton, whacking it into the back of Reflekdoll's head, causing her to clench her fists and getting angrier before firing her beam, even more. Chat jumped out of the way and grabbed Ladybug before diving behind a chimney as Reflekdoll fired a beam at everything and anything. Ladybug sighed as she glanced at the mirror.

 "I... I can't do this..." She gasped, making him look at her. "I have no idea what to do,"

 "Hey, you've got this, bug girl," He reassured, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Let's review what we know,"

 "Reflekdoll is on a rampage," She pointed out, making him nod.

 "But Reflekta was able to control her before," He muttered, thinking before Ladybug clicked her fingers.

 "You're right! She was controlling her from inside her eye! We need to get inside there to find the object containing the amok," She gasped, causing him to smile before she looked over the chimney. Chat glanced over as well as Ladybug glanced at Reflekdoll in her luck vision. Reflekdoll was firing her beam at everything, causing her to turn around. Ladybug gasped as her luck vision highlighted a panel on the back of her head. She glanced down at the mirror in her hand and was surprised when it lit up, followed by Chat as well. "I have a plan,"

 "Let's hear it," He replied, making her nod.

 "See that panel on the back of her head?" She asked as he nodded. "That's how we get in. I'm gonna use the mirror as a coin to open it. Think you can trip her up?"

 "Leave it to me, mi'lady," He grinned, jumping up and heading down to the street level. He extended his baton and placed it in Reflekdoll's path, causing her to trip up. Ladybug wrapped her yoyo around her, keeping her trapped before the two of them jumped over and landed on her head. Ladybug placed the coin into the slot on the panel and turned it around, unscrewing it. Chat grabbed it and pulled it aside before the two of them looked inside. "Look! The stick shift is a hairclip!"

 "I bet that's where the amok is!" Ladybug gasped as he extended his baton and used it to break it, freeing the feather. Ladybug took out her yoyo and caught the feather in it before releasing the now white feather. They jumped down as the sentimonster disappeared before Chat handed her the mirror, making her smile as she took it and tossed it up in the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

 It burst into the magic swamp, fixing all the damage that had been done. Ladybug gasped as she looked up in the air, watching it go. She jumped a little as Chat walked over to her and gently nudged her arm as he grinned at her. She grinned back, enjoying the moment but the day wasn't over yet. A now restored Juleka moved over to them, looking down which alarmed the two heroes.

 "Juleka," Chat muttered in a soft voice as he walked over to her. She looked up at him but gave him a confused look as she glanced over at Ladybug. "Oh... there was a mix up..."

 "Anatis?" She asked, making him chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm so sorry... I just... oh god! What if I hurt Luka and Marinette?!"

 "I'm sure your friends and brother are fine," Ladybug replied, walking over to her. Juleka nodded, looking reassured but then Alya jumped out of her hiding place, along with Rose. Rose rushed over to Juleka and fused over, repeatedly saying sorry but Alya didn't even look at her. Instead, she rushed over to the heroes with her phone. "Why am I not surprised to see you here, Miss Cesaire?"

 "Hmm, well she was Reflekta's main target," Chat hissed, glaring at her and making Ladybug frown. "Isn't that right, Alya?"

 "Well, um... I mean she was after Marinette and Luka as well! Besides, they stole her limelight!" Alya gasped, making both heroes frown. Ladybug went to say something but to both of their surprises, Juleka spoke up.

 "Because you didn't listen to them or me," She growled, causing Alya to look at her in surprise. "I may be quiet but I'm not dumb. Luka didn't originally even want to pose and Marinette was only going to do a couple of photos while I calmed down but you... you just had to butt your nose in again! It was your idea to pressure my brother to pose with Marinette, knowing that he wouldn't say no because he wanted to help her! It was your idea to go outside! You even told me that Marinette didn't want me to pose!"

 "I was-"

 "You say what?!" Chat growled, surprising Alya as Ladybug glared at her. He pinched his nose and shook his head as Juleka frowned.

 "That's what caused me to be akumatized..." She mumbled, looking down. "She told me that Marinette only invited me so Luka would come by and model for her. She said that Marinette didn't think I should be a model but... that wasn't true, was it Alya?"

 "I.. well... Ok so she did want you to model but it would have gone against my plan ok?!" She gasped, crossing her arms. "I thought you'd understand but clearly you don't care about your brother or Marinette's happiness,"

 "I do!" Juleka growled, stepping forward but Chat placed his hand on her shoulder, getting a look of her before she nodded and stepped back as he stepped forward.

 "Miss Cesaire, you don't get to decide that or push people out of the picture just because they don't work with your ideas," He stated, shaking his head. "Your actions-"

 "I was just trying to-"

 "I am not done talking!" He shouted suddenly, making her jump. She forgot how scary he could be but he looked much more scarier in the black cat suit then as Anatis. In fact, his eyes were glowing and she could see fangs in his mouth. "And I don't care what you were trying to do! I don't care if you claim to be a good friend and were trying to make your friends happy!"

 "I am a good friend!" Alya argued, crossing her arms.

 "No! You're not!" He shouted, shocking her. "In fact, you're an awful friend and quite frankly an awful person! What kind of 'friend' pushes someone out and tells them a bunch of lies?! What kind of person posts something that they know the subjects don't want posted?! You pressure your friend to confess her feelings, not caring if she actually wants to and then call her a coward for freaking out and not been able to! You are nothing more then a two faced gossip who has a warped sense of justice and is willing to do anything for the 'views' even if that means posting lies or making up stories! Not to mention you're a hypocrite! Yes, I know full well that you bitch about certain people behind their backs! You don't respect anyone including me or Lady Noir! I had to shout at you, just to get you to back off my identity! And this isn't the first akuma you've caused or did you hope that I would forget about Reverser and Puppeteer?!"

 "They weren't my fault..."

 "Weren't your fault?!" He gasped, sliding his hand through his hair. "For Kwami's sake, Alya, what is wrong with you?! You tore up Mr Anciel's story and called him a liar and a fake! And you refused to listen to your friend then abandoned the girl she was looking after! Anything could have happened so how do you not see what you've done?!"

 "All I've done is try and help people! The world deserves to know who you are and-"

 "You don't get to decide that!" He growled, making her gulp. "But I can see I won't get through to you so you know what? I give up! I am done trying to show you the error of your ways! You won't listen to me because you're too bullheaded to even realize that you are a problem! I mean what kind of person on purpose makes someone think that their friend doesn't care about them in a city that has a super-villain who feeds of negative emotion and turns people in villains?! And it's not like this is something that is new! Oh, no, I know you didn't believe your friend when she was framed, I know you didn't bother sticking up for your friends when they were been bullied and on top of all of this, you still think that a liar is a good person! A liar who has possibly willing taken an akuma and who has made people's life a living hell but hey, she can't be that bad because she claims to know me and Lady Noir. Well, here's a scope for you, Miss Tabloid! I don't know her and never have! Oh and while I'm here, I love cats, I don't go round meeting random civilians, I came up with the name Anatis, I'm not dating Lady Noir, if I'm gonna tell anyone my identity, it certainly won't be to you and my best friend is Lady Noir, not Miss Rossi or Miss Bourgeois! Speaking of her, you helped her almost become an akuma!"

 "Chloe isn't a nice person!"

 "Well, she's doing a lot better then you are!" He growled back, making her blink as tears filled up her eyes. He pinched his nose as he let out a sigh before looking up at her. "Do you think I want to talk to you like this? Cause I don't! I don't want to have to shout anyone like this but you won't listen otherwise so I'm doing the same thing I did with Chloe. You need to take a good look at yourself and do something about your bad habits because you are creating akumas and hurting people who you should care about! You need to work on what’s right from what’s wrong and have a real good look at your life! Because if you don't, your future is going to be a dark and lonely one! Your friends will walk away from you and leave you! Do you understand what is at risk here?! Your blog, your friendships and your reputation! Everything! All of it is at risk because you keep making the wrong choices and people aren't always gonna give you a second chance! They won't even think you're worthy of one!"

 For the first time, Alya didn't argue but look down as tears filled up her eyes. Chat sighed and touched his ears when his ring beeped. Ladybug looked at him and nodded before he turned back to Alya.

 "You need to change before it's too late," He replied before turning on his heel and running off with Ladybug, leaving Alya with a lot of food for thought. The two of them jumped onto the rooftops and ran as fast as they could across them. Ladybug turned to Chat as they did.

 "You really ripped into her," She mumbled, making him frown.

 "I'm sorry," He replied as they jumped to another roof. "I just couldn't hold it back anymore,"

 "It's ok," She nodded, making him nod. "I think she needed to hear it,"

 "So I wasn't too much?" He asked, looking at her. Ladybug smiled and shook his head before the two of them went their separate ways. He jumped down and ran into a nearby alleyway as the ring beeped rapidly. He stopped and leaned against the wall. "Claws in,"

 His transformation dropped and he caught Plagg before he took out a cookie and allowed him to bite into it. Plagg floated up as Luka took off the ring and handed it to him.

 "Bye, Plagg," He smiled as the kwami took the ring. He was still reeling from the whole thing but it's not like it was Plagg's fault. "That was really awesome,"

 "You made a great cat, Luka," Plagg grinned, making him smile shyly. "See ya,"

 With that, he flew off. Meanwhile, Ladybug was doing the same thing. She found an alleyway and leaned against the wall.

 "Spots off," She whispered, turning into Marinette. She caught her and took out a chuck of cheese. Tikki took a bite and floated up as Marinette took off the earrings and handed them to her. "It was really nice to finally meet you, Tikki,"

 "You too, Marinette," She grinned, taking the earrings. "You did a wonderful job as Ladybug,"

 "Thank you," She smiled shyly. "See you soon, Tikki,"

 "Goodbye, Marinette," She smiled, flying off. Marinette smiled a little before she noticed something small and black flying towards her. She gasped as she realized it was Plagg and opened her arms for him. He flew towards her and smiled as she hugged him before she took the ring and put it back on her finger, restoring to it's usual look. She hugged him again and gave him a chuck of cheese.

 "I promise I've never take off my miraculous again," She smiled as he swallowed it whole. "I may have made a good ladybug but I never realized just how tough Anatis has it,"

 "Kid has it real tough but he does good," Plagg grinned. "Let's head back to the others,"

 "Right," She nodded, running off to find her friends.

 ~Back to Luka~

 After Plagg flew away, Luka let out a sigh before noticing something flying towards him. As it got closer, he saw it was Tikki. He opened his arms hugged her when she flew close enough before he cupped her in his hands.

 "I thought I had lost you, Tikki," He gasped as she hugged his cheek, making him laugh before he took the earrings and put them back in. "I'm so glad to have you back. I've never take my miraculous off again, I swear,"

 "I'm glad to be back, Luka," She grinned as he took out a cookie and gave it to her. "Lady Noir made a good ladybug though,"

 "She did, didn't she?" He smiled before frowning a little. She nodded and hid in his pocket before he ran off and headed to where everyone should be. He got there and walked over to the group of girls and Adrien. Juleka was refusing to look at Alya.

 "Look, I'm sorry ok!" She gasped as Juleka frowned deeply and shook her head. "I really thought you'd understand..."

 "You just don't get it, do you?" Juleka asked, looking at her with a sad expression. "You lied to me and made me think my friends and brother didn't care about me!"

 "I was just trying to help Marinette!" Alya gasped, making Luka frown but before he could stay anything, Marinette ran over.

 "Girls!" She gasped, waving at them before turning to Juleka. "I'm so sorry, Juleka. I should have realized how important this shoot was to you. Do you want to give it another try?"

 "Sure but Marinette... I owe you an apology too," She mumbled, playing with her hands. "I thought you didn't want me to model because... Alya... she told me you only invited me so Luka could come and that you wanted him to model... not me... and I stupidly believed her..."

 "Oh, Juleka," Marinette gasped, hugging her. "That's not true at all. I want you to model and if Luka wants to model, I don't mind working something in for him but I would never push you out of the way. You're beautiful and amazing and I honestly can't think of anyone else who would be able to pull off my designs the way you do,"

 "Thank you, Marinette," Juleka mumbled, seeing Luka. She gave him a smile as Marinette look behind her and smiled shyly. "You know I'd love to model with my brother... if you want to, Luka..."

 "I'm good with that if you are, Juleka," He smiled softly before walking over to her. Marinette let out a sigh and turned to Alya, who looked sour. 

 "Alya... I don't understand why you would tell that to Juleka..." She mumbled, frowning.

 "Because that way she wouldn't infer with the plan!" She gasped, pointing towards the siblings before moving closer to Marinette. "Since you decided to move on from Adrien, I thought you'd decided to go with Luka and well, I figured you could get closer to him and ask him to the movies. I did it for you,"

 "Well, I never asked you too," She gasped, surprising Alya. "In fact, I told you not to interfere but once again, you didn't listen to me,"

 "You would never con-"

 "So what?!" Marinette gasped, surprising Alya before she walked up to her and poked her in the chest. "I'll do it in my own time when I'm ready! Not when you are or when someone else tells me too but when I am ready!"

 "But-"

 "No buts, Alya!" She gasped, pinching her nose before shaking her head. Alya had a certain look on her face. She was going to make another excuse and Marinette just couldn't do it anymore. "I can't do this,"

 "Can't do what?" Alya asked, confused.

 "This!" She gasped, gesturing between them. "I'm done, Alya! I can't be friends with someone who doesn't realize what they have done is wrong. I've given you chance after chance to change and be a better person but you aren't even trying and I'm sorry, Alya but I won't be friends with someone who thinks it ok to hurt others. I'll be willing to give you a second chance but you have to show me that you want to be better and want to change but if you don't then our friendship is over,"

 "Marinette, aren't you been a little bit dramatic?" Alya asked, frowning before glancing around. "Girls, you see-"

 "Marinette is right," Adrien stated, surprising her. "Hurting people isn't cool, Alya and I won't be friends with someone like that either,"

 "Same here," Juleka piped as the other girls nodded. Alya blinked, tears filling her eyes as she looked them. All of them had disappointed expressions and looked hurt or betrayed. She stepped back and blinked at them as Chat Malice's words echoed in her mind.

 Change before it's too late...

 Could she? Or was it already too late?

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

Next Chapter: Here

#luka couffaine #protective luka couffaine #Ladybug Luka Couffaine | Anatis #Marinette #ladybug marinette #badass marinette #marinette dupain cheng #cat!luka #miraclous ladybug #ladybug #Ladybug and Chat Malice #Chat Malice #angry marinette #plagg #plagg and tikki #angry luka #Luka and Plagg #tikki and marinette #kwami swap #Luka as chat malice #Marinette as Ladybug #jagged stone #Jagged Stone is Luka's father #Dad!jagged #alya cesaire #alya salt #alya redemption #or at least the start of it #juleka couffaine #rose x juleka

[maggiecheungs]

2020 ~everything~ wrap

i finally have time to do all of the tag games that people have tagged me in over the past month or so! i cannot for the life of me remember who tagged me in which one, so i’m just putting ~everything~ in one huge post. if i tag you anywhere then consider it a standing invitation to do whichever of these you haven’t done :) in fact, this is me issuing a standing invite to any of my followers who wants to do it :) also, thank you all!

Creator Wrap: Favourite Works

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 (or so) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

this collection of philosophy quotes paired with thai bl series, (and its sequel) which is possibly my favourite thing i’ve ever made. for, uh, nerd reasons.

these gifted text post memes i made still make me laugh sometimes

this fic about green from 2gether, which i wrote in the notes app on my phone and published the same day. not my absolute best writing but i am very fond of it <3

i have a bunch fof friend zone dangerous area edits/shitposts which i like, but i’m particularly fond of my fzda as satire headlines (which now has a sequel!)

i also love my crisgood-walmart-lesbian post. i might send it in to gmmtv to try and convince them to do a crisgood-bffs spin-off

+ bonus: since i wrote this list i made this gifset (my first ever!) of jennie panhan in the shipper and i love her too much not to include her on here

+ extra nerdy bonus: this niche meme about Chinese philosophy, which still makes me crack up whenever I think about it

Favourite Creators/Follow Forever

i’ve completely lost track of who’s following who from which blog, so this is just going to be a haphazard, non-exhaustive list of people who i adore/admire/am vaguely intimidated by, mutuality be damned. maybe we talk all the time! maybe we’ve never interacted! maybe i am constantly there in ur tags... lurking... 👀... but if you’re on this list you have made me smile at least once this year and i love you for that alone <3

@wjmild kylie!! you make gifs of arm & tay & lee (separately or in various combinations) & the shipper & and kapook & random fluke pusit cameos & school rangers so i don’t have to <3 ilysm

@janeramida vianey, you have such impeccable taste in general, but your sizzy gifset in particular is so gorgeous it lives in my mind rent free

@applelapis bri, this post was a callout and i want you to know that it haunts me at night as i lie awake staring at the ceiling :((((( i hope you are happy

@gigiesarocha cata, i love it when you show up on my dash bc you have!! such taste!! also, every time you gif gigie i gain five years of life <3 pls continue doing the Good Work

@pvrrish​ eleni, i remeber legit thinking that this was an official poster when i first saw it, it’s so beautiful

@ahysopae​ juliette your khaithird fic is so good and it literally changed the way i think about khai (not an easy feat)

@kurosawadachi angel, whenever i think about grace’s speech i remember your gifset and get literal chills

@doctorbahnjit alexa, you have no right to be as funny as you are. your friend zone edits give me life

@khaotungthanawat sam, you’re probably sick of getting tagged in these lists by random strangers, but i just had to bc your gifsets are Pure Art

@tanwirapong roa, all your gifsets are so ✨iconic✨

faiza @asianmelodrama and rahul @petekaos! yours were the first two thai drama blogs i followed and for ages i lowkey thought of you as my fandom parents.

and some more blogs that make me happy: @curlykytta / @lee-thanat  / @fck-inspector-m / @pangwave / @tichawongtipkanon / @tawanv @kimmonv (violet istg i have spent more time this year trying to figure out how many blogs you have than i have spent admiring your gifsets. & i spend a lot of time admiring your gifsets) / @taytawan / @1akorn and @yihwas (and your radiant lovechild @lakornladies ofc) / @teh-ohaew / @vihokratanas (mel your gifsets are just so gorgeous) / @tootiredtoosadtooangry / @headcompletelyempty / @demiromanticmickey​ / and there are definitely more but my brain is a sieve so apologies if i’ve forgotten anyone!! i love you all!! 

2020 HIGHLIGHTS ✨

rules: list your top 10 shows (bl or not) you watched in 2020 (doesn’t necessarily have to be shows that came out in 2020 though!)

1. 2GETHER & STILL2GETHER

my first thai drama, and even after all the amazing shows i’ve watched this year, it still has a special place in my heart. watching 2gether was the first time i’d ever seen a queer romcom that just... was. for me, by the simple fact of its being, 2gether was revolutionary. and then still2gether came along and took all the best things about the first season and gave us something beautiful and quiet and lovely and just proved to me, once and for all, that queer happiness doesn’t need to justify its own existence. there can be gay cuddles on the beach for no other reason than that we want them. 

2. UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN

i don’t really have the words for this one but. it makes my heart so very soft.

3. FRIEND ZONE 2: DANGEROUS AREA

season one was mindless fun because everyone was an absolute trashfire and it was hella cathartic to watch, but season 2... wow. i love it for so many reasons: it has messy and authentic queer rep; the characterisation is excellent and i somehow care about all of the characters; amazing women taking centre stage(!); a wlw relationship with lesbian, ace and bipolar rep; multiple interesting plotlines; actual character development; arm weerayut as a chaos gremlin... absolutely one of my favourites of 2020.

4. CHERRY MAGIC

i don’t think i need to explain this one, which is fortunate, because i have no idea how exactly i’d describe the happy-warm-fuzzy-queer-seen-loving-affirmed-profound feeling that rises in my chest whenever i think about it. 

5. THE GIFTED: GRADUATION

confession: i liked season 2 more than season 1 (with the exception of the ending, which we don’t talk about). season 1 was enjoyable and interesting, but for me it was season 2 which made me love this series. it did some incredibly interesting and complicated things (even if it didn’t quite nail the landing): it pushed characters to the breaking point and wove so many layers into the story and questioned its own underlying themes. plus, watching it alongside everyone in the fandom made it 200% better. i love all of you and i love this show. egg girl 5eva.

6. THE SHIPPER

i 100% understand why so many people didn’t like this show, or found it problematic, but through some fluke it absolutely worked for me (even the ending). one day i will write an essay explaining my rationale, but for now i’ll just say that it’s one of my favourite shows about adolescence and queerness and identity and compassion and friendship and love that i’ve ever watched. 

7. YYY

this series is absolutely off its rocker, and it somehow managed to be one of the most affirming shows i’ve watched. it shouldn’t have worked by it did, and i love it so much.

8. 3 WILL BE FREE

absolutely iconic. amazing plot, stunning visuals, great characters, canon polyamory, jennie being incredible... what a series.

9. MANNER OF DEATH

i love the fact that this show exists; i love the mix of crime and romance; i love maxtul’s acting; i love the central relationship; i love bun. i know we’re not even halfway through yet, but this show is doing something special and i’m so grateful that i get to watch it unfold in real time. 

10. CHIHAYAFURU (SEASON 3)

odd one out on my list, but I had to include it. chihayafuru is my all-time favourite anime and it finally got a third season, which is somehow even better than the first two. mashima taichi is one of my favourite characters of all time and his storyline hits me on such a profound level. plus, in the years since i first say this show i’ve fallen in love with classical japanese literature (particularly heian poetry) so i had newfound appreciation for the karuta matches (aka i cried every time someone recited one of my favourite poems)

other favourites: together with me, he’s coming to me, sotus and sotus s, my dear loser: edge of 17, why r u, theory of love, wake up chanee!, gameboys, pearl next door, uta koi (anime), three kingdoms (2010), blood and water (netflix). (itsay would almost certainly be on my list if i’d had time to watch it. same with dark blue kiss, which i had to pause so i could do my assignments)

Final Thoughts

well, it’s been... a year (i don’t think anyone needs a reminder of the details) but writing this post has reminded me of all the amazing shows and people I discovered over the course of it.

thank you to everyone for being so lovely and creative and funny and quirky and kind and passionate. you’re all incredibly awesome people and i wish all of you the very best xx

#tag game #I think I was first tagged in one of these like three weeks ago? but I’ve been super busy #happy new year everyone #ellis talks #also I tried to keep this as short as possible bc otherwise I could have gushed for hours about you all #and this post is long enough already #but if any of you are in a low mood or want the unabridged version of my praise then message me & I’ll compliment you profusely to your face #:)

[regrettablewritings]

Preferences: Guilty Pleasures

Characters: Okoye, Lucifer Morningstar, Dewey Finn, Peter B. Parker, Ahkmenrah

Okoye

Okoye is straightforward and stony upon first impressions. And, admittedly, even afterward. The only real difference is that, if one gets to know her better, they might find shock in the fact that in spite of her appearance, she Dora leader actually likes sweets. However, it’s not sweet things in general that Okoye feels guilty for enjoying: It’s Starbucks.

Starbucks is the antithesis of everything Okoye is associated with: Supremely un-Wakandan, a chain establishment, and overall just not worth the absurd cost. Not to mention superbly unhealthy when compared to the rest of a fighter’s typical diet. But yet you can bet that every time she needs to go out of the country or off-continent, there’s an invasive shout for joy at the possibility that she might be able to get her hands on a Frappucino (followed by an internal scolding).

She can’t even explain exactly why she likes it; there are plenty of good, even healthier sweet things back in Wakanda -- heck, back anywhere else!

But it’s a bit like when someone craves the cheap taste of school pizza over a legit pie cooked in a stone hearth: She just loves the sugary sweetness, the application of whipped cream to an already tooth-rottingly saccharine icy drink, the addition of chocolate. But Bast, she also hates it. But ever since T’Challa practically shoved a grande cup of caramel frappucino into her hands, she hasn’t felt entirely the same.

Against her better judgement, she’s more or less unintentionally tried 45% of the menu drink-wise. She doesn’t particularly care much for the food part of the establishment, though if she should ever find herself in one during the fall, she might indulge in a chunky slice of pumpkin bread under the conviction that it’s healthy enough for being gourd-related. Never mind that it’s just a cinnamon mixture with more sugar than actual pumpkin-derived anything.

Really, of all those mentioned on this list, Okoye is the one who probably feels the most disappointed in herself whenever she indulges in her guilty pleasure: It’s a betrayal to her patriotism, to her dignity, and to her attempts to eat healthy. But damn, if this type of betrayal doesn’t taste so addicting . . .

Lucifer Morningstar

The thing about Lucifer is that it’s actually a bit hard for him to feel any regrets over liking anything; he’s the Devil, after all, so his whole thing is about embracing the things that make you feel good. And even besides that, he’s mostly managed to skate by in his time on Earth by categorizing things as Stuff He Likes, Stuff He Tolerates, Stuff He Doesn’t Bother With, and Stuff Humans Seem to Enjoy But He Doesn’t Quite Get. It’s a tad restricted of a system but you can’t argue with results.

However, just because something is difficult doesn’t mean that it’s impossible. The Devil can, in fact, recognize absurdity in liking certain things. Hence why, to a point, he’s fallen prey to his own bizarre pleasures: The Devil has guilty pleasures, and it’s in stupid YouTube videos, Vine, and TikTok.

After he finally drank the Kool-Aid and got himself a smart phone, it was only a matter of time before Lucifer fell down the rabbit hole that is YouTube prank videos and strange uploads about nonsense and animal humor. It was also only a matter of time before he found himself stumbling into Vine compilations. The Celestial is terrifically mystified by the creative power of humans, managing to tell entire stories and peak comedy in only a span of seven seconds. But he’s also quite loathe to have realized it’s been long defunct by the time he’s discovered it.

He’s even more loathe to find himself making references in his daily life: He has actually quietly blurted out, “I sure hope it does” in response to seeing a Road Work Ahead sign, causing Chloe some confusion (and Lucifer lots of embarrassment). He has referred to a culprit as “Jared, Age 19″. Since discovering Vine, there has been at least one night wherein he and a bed mate were sitting there with barbecue sauce on his tiddies, but that was by sheer coincidence.

But eventually the Vine compilation well dried up, and the inevitable transfer over to TikTok happened. And Luci honestly doesn’t know what to make of TikTok. He would describe it as Vine’s Molly-addicted cousin based on its obsession with dancing, but the dances are so stationary that even that doesn’t seem quite right. The videos on the platform are also much more . . . bizarre. And some of them admittedly trigger a fight-or-flight response in him, to which he always chooses the third option of freezing if only so he can keep watching the train wreck unfold before his eyes.

The trouble with TikTok, he’ll admit to himself, is that it’s not as easy to find iconic content the same way he could with Vine. However, this isn’t to say that he hasn’t found anything worth watching over and over and over again . . .

(Let’s just say the “Wolf Pack Compilation” lives in his head rent-free, and he’s both too amused by it and too overwhelmed by its vibe to try and evict it.)

Dewey Finn

Dewey is . . . a special case. Given that he associates messy living and indulging in one’s pleasure a part of the rocker lifestyle, he’s generally quick to embrace whatever makes him happy. He’s very upfront about his interests and is arguably almost incapable of feeling shame. But it’s in there: Deep down. No, not in himself -- in his Spotify. Specifically, a Spotify account made on an email he never uses because it was made specifically to create this separate, uber secret playlist.

One marked “Actual Musical Bops.”

Dewey hates musicals: They’re cheesy, uninspired, gaudy, ridiculous, totally aimed at chicks with weird fantasies that he could never aspire to, and the music is just overall unimpressive. And yet, somehow, against his music elitist nature, a handful have managed to slip through the cracks. At the very least, a handful of numbers have clawed their way past his defenses and into his ear, where they now live rent-free.

In spite of his best efforts, the problems are that he’s a New Yorker, so it’s inevitable that he hears a song or two; and also that, as an instructor (to wealthy New York tweens whose families can afford frequent tripes to the Great White Way, no less), he’s definitely going to wind up hearing about some shows and their stand-out numbers: Against his will, he knows the lyrics to “My Shot”; he has cried in the secrecy of his apartment to “When I Grow Up”; in the never-necessary reason he needs to remember how many minutes there are in a year, he sings it inside his head; hell, he’s even found himself trying to figure out the electric guitar riff from “The Phantom of the Opera” during his down time.

What’s all the more embarrassing is that, given how he presents himself as a music elitist, there’s just no way he can come back from this if anyone were to know. He has to catch himself when he finds himself humming “Johanna” in the teacher’s lounge. He scowls at himself when he can’t sleep and gives in and starts playing “No One is Alone.” He wants to kick his thick ass every time he realizes he’s excited to have stumbled across a “slime tutorial” on YouTube, this one with better quality than the last. The reason he actually put a password on his phone wasn’t out of privacy like a sensible person would, but out of a need to make sure that no one ever found out that he had downloaded the entire Beetlejuice soundtrack, including jankily-recorded songs that never made it to the official cast recording for whatever reason!

And should anyone ever find out about any of this, Dewey has a plan: “Oh, I’m doing research. I’m studying these songs so I can give the kids a lesson on what not to do as actually competent musicians.”

But the lesson would never actually come. Mainly because he keeps prolonging his “research” . . .

He’s also developed a bit of a soft spot for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic due to some students gushing about it, but he would rather sooner die than ever be associated with the term “brony.”

Peter B. Parker

Peter is at a point where he’s too tired to really care about the idea of guilty pleasures. The way he sees it, there are bigger priorities at stake than worrying about someone finding out about your love of some hokey activity or food or form of entertainment.

Besides, he’s a New Yorker: There’s way weirder stuff for people to just not pay any real attention to. Hence why he thinks nothing of his bizarre eating habits. And no, this isn’t referring to his disastrous appetite: This is about his tendency to eat food with his hands. Foods that, well, he really should probably utilize eating utensils for.

To be fair, this habit has always existed in him in some form or another, especially since, as Spider-Man, he often needs to eat food on the go. But during the time he spent living the life of a depressed bachelor, it came out in full force. On the rare occasion he wasn’t eating a food that deserved to be eaten by hand, he often found himself loathing the idea of doing the dishes afterward. There would be days he’d feel only slightly less depressed; enough to make a box of Kraft Mac n Cheese in the pot, but not enough to avoid cutting out the middle man.

He’s thankful the craptastic apartment wasn’t also see-through because if it were, he’s positive his neighbors would’ve thought they were bearing witness to a man’s breakdown as he wept into a pot of macaroni and cheese, his hand full of the stuff, while wearing a Spider-Man costume. (And, to be fair, they actually would be.)

In addition to this, there were also those nights where he would be prepared to actually tuck in to a plate of spaghetti, only for some crime going on elsewhere in the city to drag him away. By the time he’d return, the plate would’ve been cold and his energy too depleted to want to even dream about cleaning more than he already had to.

The great news is that he’s thankfully done a 180, now able and willing (if begrudgingly) to clean up after himself. But bad news is that this feral man will still eat a fully-loaded baked potato like an apple. In a park. In front of women and children. He’s just too tired to care anymore. He’s aware of the guilt in this as a concept, but he’s also aware that he needs to take whatever happiness he can get out of whatever he does. And if that means eating everything by hand, then so be it!

Ahkmenrah

Funnily enough, Ahkmenrah doesn’t seem to experience much of any shame for enjoying the things most might feel the need to hide: He’s constantly curious and has missed out on a lot over the centuries, so why should he feel bad for wanting to indulge in them? Celebrity gossip is just a more fun version of the palace gossip he’d grown up hearing as a boy; reality TV is like watching a play, but with much more fights, less deaths, and more faulty romances; and sloppy meatball subs are like a feast for a man of his time!

Besides, he’s a king: Kings shouldn’t have to feel embarrassment over what the common folk might think.

And yet . . . It took some time, but eventually Ahkmenrah did experience it: Guilt in his pleasures.

He couldn’t even recall where it had all started. Maybe he was searching for more content to swallow after the most recent season of his new favorite show had ended? Whatever the case, he wound up biting off more than he could chew when he stumbled upon . . . fanfiction.

The adorable yet sad thing is that he didn’t even think anything of it at first. It wasn’t until he brought up a ship he’d invested his last few nights awake exploring on the computer: Nobody knew what the crap he was talking about, so of course he felt the need to explain it. But the more he talked, the more perplexed his friends looked. And the more he could feel his cheeks and ears burn.

Oh, he thought. Is this . . . embarrassment? Is that what this feels like? Oh, this is just foul.

Thankfully, nobody pressured him to keep talking about it, but the poor king sure as heck didn’t feel much of a desire to talk any further about it. But he needed to talk to somebody about his newly acquired “feels” as those online were calling them.

Joining fanfiction-oriented sites was the next obvious step, of course, but he’s experienced mixed feelings about it: On one hand, it’s nice to talk with people who share similar views and excitement about a fictional couple. But on the other, the digital wars that have broken out both disturb him and bring out the worst in him.

Like, of course there are bigger things to deal with than whether or not So-So is better off with Him-Ham, but if you truly think that Blah-Blah and Himhaw are a healthy relationship, then you can go do a service and bury yourself in the desert sands to provide substance to the hungry beetles with your flesh --

Suffice to say, a lot of the guilt in this pleasure seems to come from the fact that Ahk can get a little too emotionally invested if the work is really good. He tries to limit his interactions to commenting and praising certain works, and encouraging content creators. However, he’s also contemplated contributing his own pieces of fiction to the fandom . . .

#okoye #lucifer morningstar imagines #dewey finn #peter b parker imagines #ahkmenrah #okoye imagines #lucifer imagines #dewey finn imagines #ahkmenrah imagines #regrettablewritings #spiderman into the spiderverse imagines #spiderman itsv imagines #spiderman imagines #i tried posting this on my phone and it literally fucking deleted EVERYTHING #anyway @staff: the fuck is up? fix that shit because now i literally cannot post SHIT on my phone from my laptop #preference #preferences

[thran-duils]

When the Truth Comes Out (P.1)

Title: When the Truth Comes Out (Part 1) Summary: Reader/Professor Novak. The reader is in graduate school and has fallen into a surreptitious relationship with her married professor. Professor Novak is educated, handsome, and fascinating. But he has an issue of drawing healthy boundaries for him and the reader. And it all comes to a head when their secret is found out and everything has to change. Words: 2,143 Warnings: Smut, ***ANGST***, infidelity, emotional abuse, eventual happiness(?idk if it’s super happy but lmfao)

Chapter Two || Fanfic masterpost || Masterpost (mobile)

Professor Novak’s hands moved up your sides, lips smashed together. His arms wrapped around you, holding you close as he drove up into you.

You leaned back, biting your lip, feeling him inside. Your hand finding a pile of papers that slid out from beneath your weight, causing you to yelp as you started to fall back. Novak’s grip tightened instantaneously on you, jerking you back up.

“Your desk is a mess,” you teased breathlessly, rolling your hips to him.

“I think we are looking at the culprit for that,” he husked in return, his lips finding yours again.

You smiled against his kiss, your hand finding bare desk this time to avoid another mishap. It was true; you had been bent over his desk only moments before and you had succeeded in knocking over his pens to start with when your hands reached out for grounding. Now his papers, whatever they were. He would collect them later.

A vacuum started down the hall and he froze, fully seated inside you.

You turned your head, just as shocked as he was.

“Shit, it is Tuesday, isn’t it?” he hissed, drawing your attention back.

“What does that mean?”

“Janitor is in the building on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays.”

“They probably have headphones in,” you tried to reassure him, running your hands down his arms.

Novak shook his head. “That’s not the problem. How are you going to get out of here without being seen? It’s damn near eleven o’clock.”

“I’ll crawl out of the window,” you whispered, a hand coming down to grip his ass. You just wanted him to continue.

He shot you an annoyed look, “We are on the third floor. Nice try, Y/N.”

“We’ll figure it out after,” you pouted, rolling your hips to him again, sighing softly feeling his cock brush inside you. “Please.” You batted your eye lashes, giving him doe eyes.

It worked; he fell into your rhythm. And soon he had you laying back on your back as he plummeted into you. His hands held tight as they cupped underneath your thighs, his eyes hooded with lust watching your breasts bounce. You touched yourself, biting your lip at him sensually as he locked his gaze on the movement. When your back arched as you saw stars, you whimpered, trying to keep quiet.

Novak followed and his hands planted on either side of you on the desk as he held himself up from collapsing onto you after he had emptied himself. You lazily reached up, running your fingers gently through his hair. He hummed in approval and you massaged softly, helping him to come back down.

He leaned down, giving you a long, deep kiss. “You are lovely,” he breathed.

“You flatter me,” you whispered in return, a grin despite yourself.

Pulling away, he told you, “I mean it.”

You knew he did. He was risking a lot sleeping with you, stealing kisses and time with you when he should be at home. Let alone the scandal it might cause that he was with a student, no matter if you were in your mid-twenties now, in grad school. You had really nothing to lose reputation wise; you would not face the bigger repercussions. He had reminded you time and time again to be quiet about it, saying he did not want you to betray him.

Sitting up, you suddenly took notice that the vacuum sounded more distant.

“Hmm, seems the janitor went upstairs. See? They were wearing headphones.”

“Yeah, luckily it is Tuesday and not Thursday. They come in to vacuum the offices then and that would have put us in a very precarious situation.”

“Truly,” you agreed, sliding off his desk and reaching for your clothes. You dressed quickly, knowing that this was the opportunity for you to sneak out of the building. He was doing the same, gathering up his things.

You bent to pick up his papers and he waved you off, “I’ll do it in the morning. Don’t waste time.”

Shrugging, you straightened back up and went to go snatch your purse off the ground by the door. When you stood back up, Novak was by his desk, holding out a bill towards you.

“Take it.”

“Are you… paying me now?” you asked, unable to think if you should feel offended or amused.

Novak looked unamused himself and he told you firmly, “I saw you eating ramen in the dining hall.”

Realizing he was giving you grocery money, your annoyance melted away. You stepped closer, “You ‘saw’ me?” He said nothing and you smirked, imagining him watching you. You knew he kept an eye on you and happened to show up where you were at times. You had caught him before, giving him mischievous smirks across the green, across the room, to let him know you saw him. He had told you he needed to watch out for you, that you were at risk of being swept away from him. You had laughed when he told you that, but you knew he was serious; he had accused you once of taking a boy back to your dorms from one of your classes; he had seen the two of you leaving the student union, walking close together. He had been actually envious. You knew it was frankly unfair he would be upset about it if you had since he was married. But, you enjoyed the way he coveted you too much.

You still had not taken the bill – you could see it was a crisp hundred though. Squaring your shoulders, you asked, “What if I just like ramen?”

“I don’t care,” Novak stated. “You should be eating better. And I know the refund checks aren’t coming for another week.” You narrowed your eyes slightly, still not moving. You loved teasing him, knowing you could get under his skin. All that power was intoxicating at times. He rose his eyebrows and ordered, “Y/N, take it.”

Sighing dramatically, you said, “Fine” as you grabbed it from him. “Thanks. I’ll be sure to buy some broccoli and spinach to go in my ramen.”

“Y/N,” he warned, and you grinned widely at him as you stuck the money into your pocket

“Yes, dad, I’ll eat better.”

“’Daddy’”, Novak corrected you, his lip upturned into a small smirk.

You chortled and said, “Yes, ‘daddy.’ I’ll make sure to stay healthy for you.” You added playfully, “You know you’re only 35, right? I mean, technically, you could be a daddy but –”

“Enough,” Novak cut you off, ushering you towards the door. He needed to go with you to lock the building door behind the two of you. “They are on the next floor. We need to go before they come back down.”

As you opened the door, you smiled to yourself, knowing he did not want you to tease him for his kink. He followed at your back, locking the door behind you, and ushered you forward again in hushed tones. You smiled, feeling the danger of the situation. The two of you slinking around in the dark to escape the building, hiding your midnight tryst.

<> <> <>

Castiel texted you while you were in class, asking you to come to his office at 3:00pm. When you had seen the text, you were confused. It was the middle of the day, so unless he had gone off his rocker, it not a booty call. You did not have a class with him, so it was nothing to do with academics.

Walking across campus, you racked your brain thinking about what could be going on. His father was sick. You prayed nothing had happened with him, that would devastate Castiel.

You two had been seeing each other – still in secret, of course – for over a year and a half since that night escaping from the janitor. That put you at almost two years counting the time before then. What had started out as sex had blossomed into something deeper. The first time you had called him by his first name, it was real… the dynamic change in the relationship was real. The declarations of love came next. The two of you confided in each other, sharing intimate things. It was hard to explain to your roommate why you never brought anyone home from the bar.

Knocking twice on his door, he beckoned from the other side to come in. You moved into the office, cheeks flushed from the chill outside, hair windswept. Closing the door, you blurted out, “What’s up?” as you turned back around to look at him.

Your face fell for only a few seconds before you composed yourself again; he looked wrecked. His sweater was wrinkled – so unlike him – and he looked like he had not slept. You thought the worse, your mind going back to his dad.

“She knows.”

Forehead creased in confusion, you asked, chuckling nervously, “Am I supposed to know who ‘she’ is?”

“My wife. She knows. About us.” Your face fell immediately as the gravity of the situation fell on you. He exhaled shakily, rubbing his hands up his face roughly, pulling at his hair at the end. He shook his head and said, “She suspected something, she said. So, she looked at my phone.”

“She knew your password?”

Castiel shot you a reproachful look that made you want to recoil. “We’re married, Y/N. We know each other’s passwords.” The way he said it made it sound like you were stupid. “Not sharing that with her would have been suspicious.”

“Sorry,” you muttered, avoiding eye contact. “I just didn’t know.”

Castiel sighed again and said apologetically, “I know. I’m sorry. I’m just…” he trailed off. He paused before saying, “Thankfully she doesn’t know who you are. She didn’t see any of the pictures. And I don’t have your name saved as the contact.” You understood that; you had his number under an alias as well. “She just saw…. our texts. From two days ago. She didn’t even read them all… she said she couldn’t. She only saw a few. But… me saying ‘I love you, night’ confirmed everything.”

You swallowed sharply, not knowing what to say. He was waiting for you to say something though, he was staring at you.

“So. What happens?”

“I fix it. I have to… I can’t leave her, Y/N,” Castiel told you, sounding strained. He could not keep eye contact with you. You felt like you had been hit by a freight train, staring at him in shock. He exhaled sharply at your expression and said exasperated, “Christ, Y/N. Don’t look at me like that.”

“How do you want me to look at you?” you snapped, trying to hold back the tidal wave of emotion welling up inside of you.

“She told me she was pregnant!” Castiel barked, and then closed his mouth, knowing he was being louder than he should be. There were so many people in the building, including in offices nearby. You could not help your mouth fallen open though. They had been trying, but she had not gotten pregnant for years. “She was saving it. The surprise.” There were tears forming in his eyes as he shook his head, letting out a small laugh void of humor. “We’ve been trying for so long. And… it has to all happen like this.”

“’Like this’,” you echoed, catching his attention. “So, that’s it then? We’re just…”

You trailed off, not being able to finish.

Castiel stood up from his desk now, coming around it to you. His hands cupped his face and as much as you wanted to shove him away, you did not. You craved his touch, you wanted to be comforted.

“No. I mean, I don’t want that,” Castiel told you tearfully. “We just need to… back off for a little bit.”

“How long?”

“I don’t know, Y/N. I-I don’t know.” He looked at a loss. Choking back tears, you looked away from him. “Hey, look at me.”

Shaking your head, you shoved him away. He looked shocked, his jaw going slack. You wiped angrily at your eyes, trying to hide all evidence of tears threatening to spill over.

“No,” you told him angrily. “That’s not fair. You don’t get to ask me to just wait around for you to get your shit together.”

“Y/N, now don’t—” There was an edge to his voice, a switch in his demeanor. He was going to try to persuade you to be docile about it, as he always did, but you were not hearing it.

Turning around, you flung the door open and stormed out, leaving it open behind you. You did not know if he called out after you because all you could hear was a roar in your ears, just wanting to get out of that goddamn building and be back in your room.

~~~

CASTIEL FOREVER TAGS: @willowing-love @perseusandmedusa @greenappleeyes @afanofmanystuffs @earthtokace @shikaros-blog @marisayouass @splendidcas @stixnstripesworld 

#castiel x reader #au spn fic #au castiel fic #spn fanfic #supernatural fic #castiel fic #my shit

[slightlyrebelliouswriter23]

We’re All Mad Here | Jurdan College AU

Summary: It’s all for show, I tell myself. To see if I can make him flinch. It’s just a game of Russian Roulette, after all. Harmless, as long as I am the one with the gun.

Rating: T/M

CW: Very mild cursing. Zero explicit content but there is a fun little tease. It’s all very soft focus, though. Also, at the end, a brief flashback of Jude’s backstory in this fic which might be triggering for some. I’ve marked the start of her trigger with a ~~~ in case you want to avoid.

Part I    |    Part III    |    WAMH Masterlist    |    AO3    |    Fic Masterlist

Part II- Simmer

Unfortunately Attractive Dude leads me around the counter like he owns the place. If a stranger leading me into a back room is not alarming enough, the mirthful bound in his step makes me all the more suspicious.

I glare very hard at the back of his head and hope he feels it.

“Liliver,” the man says to the white-haired barista as we pass behind her, “Another hot chocolate and one large caramel cappuccino, extra shot, to-go. And make it snappy, we’ve got places to be.”

Liliver throws a sneer over her shoulder. “I’d make it much snappier if you said the magic words.”

“Oh, Liliver. Magic isn’t real,” he croons, “And we both know I’m above begging.”

Liliver looks like she’s considering punching him in the face. If it came down to it, I know I’m not above begging for that. Or cheering. Or joining in.

“Whip?” the man says.

I blink. It takes me a second to realise he’s speaking to me. “Huh?”

A wicked smirk settles on his mouth. “Do you want whip?”

I scrunch my nose.

“No whip,” he says to Liliver, backing toward a set of silver doors in the corner.

“Who puts whipped cream on their cappuccino?” I mutter.

“Weirdos, that’s who,” Liliver tells me. “Off his rocker, this one. Be careful around him.” I give her a conspiratorial smile. I decide I like Liliver.

I decide I hate Unfortunately Attractive Dude when, for reasons entirely uncertain to me, he gives me a shit-eating grin and ducks through the swinging silver doors. Against my better judgement, I follow.

Suddenly, I’m in a small kitchen where everything from the countertops to the large fridge in the corner is made of stainless steel. The air is cold and damp, like a clammy hand. An unsettling combination of wet rags and baking bread permeates the air.

The man busies himself, pulling various items down from shelves and out of cabinets.

“Are we… allowed to be back here?” I ask. He knows the barista, that much is apparent. But surely that doesn’t excuse customers from wandering back on a whim to use the kitchens as their own personal laundromat.

“One never needs permission to be anywhere if one never asks and is never perceived,” he muses. I shoot him an incredulous look and he laughs. “I work here.”

“In that?” I jut my chin at the man’s outfit. His jacket alone is garish. Paired with all the prim and tailored rest, it seems more like something strutting down a high-end runway than any work attire I’ve ever seen.

“No, of course not in this,” he scoffs. “Come sit.” He pats the metal countertop next to the sink before continuing his search, a flurry of black and red.

“Why?” I don’t try to hide my scepticism. Better he knows I am wary of him still than try to be accommodating and find myself axe-murdered.

“Because after I’m done with your shirt,” he says, pausing to look at me, “I need to make sure you’re not hurt.”

How poetic, I think, then narrow my eyes. I mislike the idea of this strange man inspecting an injury conveniently located on my cleavage.

“I told you,” I say, sliding my backpack off my shoulders and setting it on the floor, “I’m fine.” But when I peel out of my coat, a sharp pang shoots across my chest. I cannot help the wince that escapes.

Clearly not fine.

An arch of one dark brow tells me the man agrees with my unspoken thought. His oil-slick eyes rake over me once more, assessing. My traitorous heart does a little leap.

He pulls one shoulder into a half-shrug. “Company policy. Sorry.” His rings clang against the metal as he pats the counter again.

My teeth grit against the sound. “A likely story,” I grumble, though I am not sure he hears me. Already continuing his disassembly of the kitchen cabinets, the man does not respond.

I clamber up onto the counter with no amount of haste and sit begrudgingly amongst his collection of searched-for items: Dish soap, white wine vinegar, rubbing alcohol, a sponge, a large metal mixing bowl. He adds a first-aid kit to the growing horde.

I watch as he removes his many rings from moon pale fingers. They’re long and nimble, and I find myself wondering if he sews, as well. Or perhaps he’s a skilled pianist.

Warmth spreads across my cheeks. Then again, it’s probably a bad idea to think too much on his hands.

He flicks a handle of the faucet and tests the steady stream rushing out. Satisfied, he holds the mixing bowl under the tap.

“It’s my day off,” he tells me while the bowl fills.

“Fascinating.”

“It’s why I’m not in uniform.”

“You’re telling me you chose to wear this?” I wave a hand at his ensemble.

The man turns the faucet off, frowning. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” He places the bowl of warm water on the counter next to me.

“Your coat looks like a bathrobe.”

“I beg your pardon?” He presses a hand to his chest in mock offence. “This jacket happens to be a masterful work of art by a very coveted designer.”

I roll my eyes. He sounds like the most pretentious kind of asshole. If I hadn’t already decided whether to like him or hate him, this would’ve given substantial weight to the latter.

“Yeah, well, it looks like something an old rich dude would wear,” I say. “Probably while having a post-bath cigar and reading the obituary section of the newspaper.”

“Personally, I much prefer the comic section, post-bath,” he mutters, squeezing a dollop of dish soap into the bowl.

Somehow, I can imagine that. This odd man in a bath full of bubbles and oils that smell like the forest, getting out only when his hands go pruny to read the Sunday comics. Then I very much want to un-imagine that.

I shake my head. I need coffee. Now.

“Lucky for you,” the man says, ripping me from my internal spiral into damnation, “You get the privilege of wearing the old dude bathrobe. Give me your shirt.”

He shrugs out of the jacket and holds it out for me, his free hand waiting expectantly for a swap. Those coal-black eyes sparkle with a dare. It’s then that I realise: They are waiting expectantly, too.

As if he anticipates I will blush and ask him to turn around so I can change in some modicum of privacy. Like a good girl. As if he expects I’m the type of woman who is accustomed to gentlemanly behaviour from men.

Little does he know, I don’t much care for chivalry—and I am most certainly not good. If he does not want to give me the courtesy of privacy, then I will not ask it of him.

It is an effort to swallow my pride. With slow hands, I pull my blouse from the waistband of my skirt. I hold his gaze steady, out of spite.

Surprise steals across his face. It is there and then gone, brief as a breeze, and the only thing he yields.

As my fingers graze the top button, a little thrill runs through me. I must be mad for doing this. Between the interview jitters, my state of panic, and a desperate lack of caffeine, I must have completely lost my mind.

Or more likely, there was already something very wrong with me, to begin with.

Sensing my hesitation, the man’s mouth furls at the corners like unrolled parchment that reads: You won’t do it, in the looping, self-important scrawl I imagine someone like him must possess. That small smirk, the second dare.

I glare at his mouth. The first button is the hardest, but I clench my jaw and undo it; then the next.  

He tracks my every move from beneath the eaves of his thick lashes. The sight of him so suspended by the strings of my fingers makes my heart rush, and I am struck by a mix of irritation and dizzying lust.

Cool air pebbles the skin on my chest as I work. I take my sweet time about it. This prick wanted a show, so it’s a show I will give him.

My fingers move carefully down the line. Pulling my bottom lip between my teeth, I knit my brows in feigned concentration and pretend that this is nothing.

Even though my heartbeat is a war drum in my chest.

Even though his gaze is heady and my head is spinning with it.

Even though I am very glad this task does not require me to speak.

This is nothing. This is nothing but three more buttons. His breath hitches as my shirt falls open further. I am a matchstick under his flint-like gaze.

My cheeks blaze. I think about how every bit of this is his fault. I think about how I hate him and his annoying charm for tricking me into coming back here. About his paramour eyes, his satyr’s smile—I think I hate those things most.

Such ire grounds me.

I pop the final button, slip my shirt off one shoulder, then the other. The pale blue fabric pools at my waist, draping over the crooks of my elbows. A subtle shift and I’m pushing my arms flush against my ribcage, giving him the best view.

It’s all for show, I tell myself, over and over. To see if I can make him flinch. It’s just a game of Russian Roulette, after all. Harmless, as long as I am the one with the gun.

When I meet his eyes again, at last, every second of this humiliation is worth it. The man’s arms have fallen slack at his sides. His precious designer jacket all but forgotten, nearly grazing the floor.

Gone is the taunting smirk. Every sharp edge of him smoothed over by wonderment. Or maybe it is consternation.

Either way, I am plagued by the thought that I should very much like to see him dishevelled.

I should like to see him come undone.

I give a coy smile and bat my lashes mockingly. “Did you get a good enough inspection, doctor?”

To my delight, he swallows audibly. Opens his mouth as if to speak, then snaps it shut.

Maybe he needs a doctor, I think and give a little snort. With a roll of my eyes, I try to beat back the tide of my own desire.

I shove my wadded up shirt into his chest, unceremonious. “You’re drooling,” I tell him, my voice miraculously even. That seems to snap him out of it.

He blinks twice, clearing his throat. “Shouldn’t need more than ice and a bit of aloe,” he says, then takes my shirt in his free hand.

I snatch the jacket from his other and shrug it on. My arms slide easily into the satin-lined sleeves. It’s still warm and smells like him. A forest and something burning. I hate that I notice at all—that whatever odious perfume he’s wearing is something I’ve committed to memory. Most of all, I hate the shiver that roils up my spine because of it.

I fold my arms across my chest and risk a glance at the man.

He’s frowning at the bottle of white wine vinegar in his hands. The way he glares at it, you’d think it had committed some heinous crime. There is a slight tinge of pink on his moon-pale cheeks.

A trifle smile tugs at my lips. It’s good to know I get under his skin as much as he gets under mine.

“So,” I say, flipping my hair out from under the jacket, “How do I look?”

He glances in my direction, face unreadable. An unbothered sweep of his gaze. “Not at all like an old man in a bathrobe,” he says, opening the bottle.

With a flourish, he adds a splash of vinegar to the bowl.

“I should hope not,” I say, raising my arms slightly to examine the jacket. “I think I look like the finest baroque rug Insmire has to offer.”

The laugh that barrels from Unfortunately Attractive Dude is genuine. “I’ll pass your compliments along to the artist.”

“That wasn’t a compliment.”

“Nonetheless,” he says, “I suspect it’s as close to one as anything you usually give.” He reaches for my shirt and dunks it in the water. Immediately, a bit of the stain lifts away, turning the water a cloudy colour.

He’s not wrong, and it irks me. I shift my gaze back to the jacket.

All things considered, I’m shocked at how well it fits. It’s a little long, and the sleeves swallow my hands in a river of red and black fabric. But what I lack in height, I make up for in other things. The man is lean enough to where the rest of his jacket is filled easily by the swell of my breasts, the sweep of my hips.

“I’ll admit,” he says, swishing the contents of the bowl around with his hands, “It suits you. Might even look better on you than it does on me.”

“Really?” I gasp, a teasing thing.

“I said might,” he mumbles, stirring and pointedly not meeting my eyes. “Don’t let it go to your head.”

“Oh, I most certainly will.”

A small smile plays at the corners of his mouth, but he says nothing and adds dish soap to the bowl.

“You never told me your name,” I blurt. Mostly to fill the silence, but also because my not knowing is starting to get a bit weird.

He furrows his brows as if he’s never been asked the question before. Or he is surprised I even have to ask. Like I said. Self-important.

“I didn’t,” he says, smirking down at the bowl.

I wait. When he does not oblige me, I give him a stern look. “Is that information classified or something?” I ask. “Too personal? Because let me tell you, pal, you’ve seen me in my bra.”

“Yes. And?”

I almost cringe at the reminder. He has probably seen many people in various states of undress. I am no one special.

“And,” I say, pasting a sickly sweet smile on my lips, “I usually like to know the names of people who’ve seen me in my bra.”

“You say that as if it happens often.”

I narrow my eyes, ignoring the blush rising in my cheeks. “And you say that as if you mean to distract me.” He continues to work my shirt around with his hands, dutifully ignoring my glare. “Why won’t you tell me your name?”

“Because,” he says, voice contemplative, “I thought you already knew it.”

“Should I know it?”

He shrugs. “We’re in the same politics lecture. With Dulcamara. You sit in the back row every week.”

“So you’re stalking me.” I’m only half-joking. The other half is starting to get worried that maybe I will end up in tiny little pieces out back if I’m not careful. My eyes flit to the bouquet of knives at the end of the counter.

“No,” he says, adding a squeeze of rubbing alcohol to the mix. “I’m just good with people. And faces.”

While he stirs, I cock my head to the side, trying to dredge up his likeness from the faces in my memory. I’m quite certain if I had ever seen a face like his, I would’ve remembered it.

Though truth be told, Dulcamara’s lectures are the most interesting my department has to offer. I often do not notice the people around me.

“You really don’t know who I am?” He looks at me, brows arched in amusement.

I grit my teeth. “That lecture is one of the busiest ones. And why should I pay attention to the people when the lecture is far more—”

“Gripping?” His grin is a slash of white. “You’d certainly be the first to think so.”

“At least I think for myself,” I snap.

“A good quality to be sure,” he says. “But as driven a person as you are, Jude, I’d have thought you’d be more observant.”

My heart skitters to a halt. It’s one thing to know my face but…

“How do you know my name,” I demand, boring a glare into his skull. “You are stalking me.”

“It’s hardly stalking, darling, if neither of us has any choice in the matter of attending,” he points out. “Besides, it’s really hard to not know your name. Since you answer all of Dulcamara’s questions with such… thoroughness.” Some emotion I can’t quite read, settled so perplexingly between admiration and disdain, feeds his expression as he says this.

I am not entirely sure what to make of it.

But I do know what he’s said is true. I am usually the only voluntary participant in Dulcamara’s lectures. And I suppose if he knows enough about my track record for participation, he probably does go to Royal Greenbriar.

I’m weighing my options when Liliver careens through the door.

“Sorry ‘bout the wait,” she says, making for our counter in the back of the kitchen. She has two steaming cups in her hands, and had I not been sitting so high up, I might’ve dropped to my knees to kiss the ground she walks on.

“Busy out there?” the man-who-has-annoyingly-not-been-named mutters.

“You were at the tail end of the rush,” Liliver says, then frowns. “Though it doesn’t seem like you’re in much of a hurry here.”

She eyes the array of supplies, my shirt in the bowl of now-dirty water, her co-worker’s jacket on my shoulders. She says nothing. Only hands me one of the cups.

“One large caramel cappuccino, extra shot, to-go,” she says, giving me a wink.

I thank her and take a much-needed sip.

Liliver turns to the man. “And one hot chocolate for you, Your Highness.” She makes a mockery of a bow as she hands him his drink.

He scowls but grunts his appreciation, placing the to-go cup on the counter next to him. When he turns back to the bowl, the barista grins wickedly at me. I return it in kind. Yes, I very much like Liliver.

“Any luck with the stain?” she asks the man.

He fishes my blouse out of the bowl. “Don’t see how that’s any of your business, Lil,” he says, then shuffles over a few steps before wringing the fabric over the sink.

“As star employee, anything that happens in my kitchen is my business.” She offers a lewd waggle of her brows.

I take a sip of coffee to hide the blooming heat on my face. I was sure the door had been closed… Then, a small, dreadful thought bubbles to the surface.

Perhaps her coworker has a reputation for luring potential conquests back here. Perhaps he’s done this one-hundred times before, and Liliver has learned the basic machinations of it.

Though it’s doubtful anyone gave a show quite so revealing as mine. Also doubtful he’s had quite that many conquests, even with his considerable beauty. One-hundred is a very high number. Isn’t it?

Still, if I am correct in guessing his design, I vow to make the man pay in more than just coffee and laundering expertise.

“Need I remind you,” Unfortunately Attractive Dude drawls, “It is technically my kitchen always. So I am under no obligation to tell you.”

His kitchen? He’d been modest before, I realise, when he told me he works here.

“Not like you to pull rank,” Liliver huffs, affronted. “What’s got your panties in a knot, Greenbriar? Is it girl troubles? Because if it is—”

But I don’t hear the rest of what she says.

~~~A single word and everything becomes slow, slanting. I stare down at the tile floor. The world warps around me, as if held on the end of a bungee cord stretched taut, and I am about to be flung helpless back into the air.

Something in my stomach curdles. It has nothing to do with the coffee.

“Anyway,” Liliver is saying, her voice very far away, “You asked me to remind you if you’re still here that you have a meeting in ten minutes.”

I am still staring at the grout between tiles. At the grit there. The grime. My skin is awash with the slick feeling of it.

“Yes,” the man says in my periphery. “Thank you, Liliver.”

“For the record, I don’t get paid enough for this,” she says, and I have the vague sense she is heading for the door. “The personal assisting. The moods. The general… weirdness.”

His laugh is muffled, awful. Like the thud of marbles on carpet. “I’ll give you a raise, then.”

“It’s the least you could do,” she sings over her shoulder, and she’s out the door again.

Then, we are alone. But I am not here. I am sometime else.

I feel all that black water clapping at my ears as I swam that day. My lungs burning raw with panic and bile and sea salt. The boat, a little orange firefly flickering in the distance, appearing and disappearing with the rise and fall of waves.

The sea is a lady. When she swallows you whole, she does so without a sound. Drowning is always quiet. So is rage, which is an awful lot like drowning. Everything happens beneath, simmering to the surface like so many bubbles. They were certainly one and the same that day.

I think they are one and the same now.

Flame licks my face, static pricks my tongue. My heart thrashes slow in my chest, a kind of silent drowning. My head is swimming just as poorly. ~~~

When I resurface, I am met with only silence and that one word ringing in my ears.

Greenbriar. Greenbriar. Greenbriar.

☽☽☽☽☽

Last Part

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AN: Sorry for the major cliffhanger but the evil author in me had to *cue villainous laughter* 😈 so it’s been an age and a half since I last updated this fic, but here it is! Thank you so much for reading!! Hope you enjoyed :) If you did, please let me know in the comments, reblogs, my ask box/inbox. Even if it’s just a keyboard smash, it genuinely brightens my day to read.

I’ve been busy developing the plot for this one and let me tell you, there is SO MUCH to be revealed, I can hardly contain myself. No promises, but I’m about halfway through writing the next chapter so hopefully it will only take me one single age to post that.

If you’d like to be added to the tag list for all future updates of We’re All Mad Here (or any other Jurdan content I post), let me know via comment/ask/message!! Thanks again for reading! Back to the forest now. 

-em 🖤💫

Title Inspo: Simmer by Hayley Williams

Tag List: @the-mithridatism-of-jude-duarte​ @velarhysismine​ @knifewifejude​ @danieldesario​ @annihliation​ @wickedqueenoffantasy​ @not-tess​ @clockworkgraystairs​

#next chapter is gonna be a BIG reveal ngl #holy gods of elfhame give me strength to write it faster than i did this one #we're all mad here #wamh #ember writes #my writing #jurdan #jurdan college au #jurdan au #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #tfota #tcp #twk #tqon #qon #holly black #the folk of the air #the cruel prince #the wicked king #the queen of nothing #queen of nothing #cardan #jude #judecardan #jude x cardan #jude duarte x cardan greenbriar #high queen of elfhame #high queen jude #queen jude

[feverinfeveroutfic]

chapter sixteen: the three droogs

“There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening.” (one of many clockwork orange references)

“Isn't it fantastic?”

Belinda held up a sheet of pearly white stained glass about the size of a foot long sandwich from the shelf on the side of the room, and by the mere look on her face, Sam could see she was eager to make something out of it. The swirled milky grains shone in the overhead lights; Sam thought about the man in her dreams, and also of Alex, all by the very sight of it.

Class hadn't started yet and Marla hadn't showed up for art history earlier that morning but Belinda was eager to share some of what she had worked with over the summer term. As white as the little sliver in Alex's hair. As clean and crisp as the cool night of upstate New York.

Sam rested her chin in the palm of her hand. She sort of forgot what Alex's voice sounded like: she only knew it was so far removed from his face and little boy body. Belinda set the glass against the edge of the table and then leaned it onto the surface. She then ran her hand over the top of the glass.

“I love this opaque glass,” Belinda told her. “Back in June, I tried to convince Miss Estes to make a window comprised of nothing but this type of opaque glass.”

“And did you?” asked Sam.

“Nah, she was like 'it's too expensive, though!' But it's weird because I've been trying to make my window since August, and yet it's just on my own time, terms, and money. It just makes sense for me to do it. But she talked me out of it, though.” Belinda shrugged and returned her attention to the glass under her hand.

“Can I touch it?” Sam asked her.

“Touch it? Yeah! Besides, it's just us here.” Sam reached across the table and brushed her fingers against the edge of the glass. Indeed, it had such a rough texture and it made her think of the ridges on a piece of vinyl. Even with the glass upon the surface of the table, she couldn't hardly stop thinking about Alex and the little sliver in his hair, or the man in her dreams. She flashed back on what Cliff had said about his own hair and the little black streak on the side.

She thought of Cliff. She needed to see him again, given she only got to see him for the first day of school, but she knew they were in the studio at that point. All the way over in the impending darkness of Denmark. All he gave her prior to their leaving California was a phone call and a blow of a kiss.

“I don't know why,” she confessed to Belinda, “but when I look at this glass, I think of—this boy I met over the summer.”

“Oh?” She raised her eyebrows and gave her blonde hair a slight toss back from her shoulder with a flick of her head.

“Yeah, well—it's actually two boys, to be honest.”

“Oh, wow. My goodness.”

“They're both musicians—guitar players, actually. One's a bassist, the other is a straight up guitarist.”

Belinda rounded the side of the table so she could come closer to her. She folded her arms over the cold metal surface and brought her face closer to hers: Sam could smell the floral perfume on the side of her neck and her hair. She dropped her gaze to the serpent around her neck as it glimmered under the overhead shop lights.

“Care to share?” she asked her in a low voice.

“It's just us here,” Sam pointed out.

“Indeed, it is. We might not even have class today for all we know.” She shrugged her blonde hair brushed against her shoulders.

“Okay. Promise not to say anything to Marla?”

“Why not?”

“I just don't really wanna talk about it to her.”

“Hm, twisted. But—yeah, I'll keep it between us.”

“Okay. The bassist is Cliff, the guitarist is Alex.” She stopped herself when Alex's name slipped out. She never really met him, but at the same time, she and Belinda were still new to one another. She could keep it under lock and key with a fresh new canvas and yet she also had a means of sharing it with someone.

“Tell me about Alex. Start with Mr. Guitarist first.”

“Well, he's—really handsome. He's already going gray, though.”

“Older guy!” she declared.

“No. Young guy. Young boy who's already going gray.”

“Oh, my.” Belinda knitted her eyebrows together. “Young boy?”

“Yeah, he's—he's still in high school.”

“Does he like you back?”

“I dunno, to be honest,” Sam confessed.

“You should ask him,” she suggested. “Does he live in New York?”

“Out West.”

“Oh my god! Sounds like a pen pal type of thing. You should write to him and tell him via letter.”

“I could pick out some nice stationary and make it smell good,” Sam quipped. “Like spritz down the paper a little bit with some of my perfume.”

“Yes, yes!” Belinda's face lit up at the sound of that. “Make it sexy and sweet, too.” She flashed her a wink.

“Lead him into it nice and good. Or—you know—when I get to see him, I can lead him into it.” Belinda's eyes twinkled at the sound of that.

“What about the bassist now?”

“He's a classical cowboy,” Sam started.

“Classical? Like—with the moccasins and the spurs on his boots?”

“Nah, that's just what I call him. He learned classical music first, and then country music. Classical cowboy.”

“Wow. That's gotta be some good pickin' with his fingers.” Belinda winked at her a second time, to which Sam scoffed and rolled her eyes at that.

“It's just friendly between us,” she assured Belinda. “I also have another guy looking at me right now, too. I dunno 'bout that one.”

“You gotta have some conversation,” Belinda told her. “Even I can tell you that—” She lifted her gaze to the stairwell on the side of the room. “—and there's Marla.”

Sam looked over at Marla, who stood on the middle part of the stairs.

“Hey,” Sam called to her.

“Hey,” Marla retorted back to her.

“I'm gonna assume—just by the look on your face,” Belinda started, “class is cancelled today.”

“Yeah,” Marla replied with a nod of her head, and she turned her attention to Sam again. “You got any more classes today?”

“Just my writing class. It's way later today, though.”

“Okay. 'Cause Charlie's here—he offered to take us to lunch.” She nodded at Belinda. “Would you like to come along, Bel?”

“Oh, yes please. I got nothing else, so I might as well.” Belinda picked up the sheet of pearly white glass and carried it back to the shelf.

“He'll take us to the rehearsal spot given it's right nearby and then we'll get some pho or something. Aurora's there.”

“Aurora Borealis,” Sam declared as she picked up her things; Belinda doubled back and fetched her purse from the back of the chair. The two of them sauntered up the stairs and they followed Marla back outside. Even though it was nearly October, New York City still basked with lingering summer warmth and the sun still high in the sky; the three of them put their sunglasses on over their faces in unison.

Charlie had posted up at the curb, not too far from the front door. He had tied his thick dark curls back behind his head to accentuate the roundness of his face; the dark rims of his sunglasses shone under the midday sun.

The three girls congregated next to him: Sam lifted her gaze over to the trees across the street, and the leaves, which began to turn from that bright summer green and into a rich shade of orange. Some of them had already fallen off with the incoming autumn. She thought of that man, Dave, and the rift he had between James and Lars, and she wondered how he was doing back out West himself.

“So are we gonna walk or—?” Belinda asked him.

“We might as well,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. “Our spot is right up the street here. Aurora got something already.”

“Oh, goodie!” Marla proclaimed as she gave Charlie a kiss on the side of his neck as part of her hello to him.

The four of them strode up the sidewalk, towards the corner: indeed, Sam made sight of their rehearsal spot up the street. She adjusted the frame of her sunglasses before they crossed the hot blacktop and made their way up there. A slight breeze fluttered through her dark hair and it in turn sent a shiver down her spine. Autumn was upon them: a few dried leaves tumbled into the storm drain next to them, and she thought of little cups of hot chocolate and s'mores comprised around a fireplace.

Aurora stood on the doorstep with her hands stuffed into her black jeans pockets and her face pointed up to the sky. The midday sun shone upon her sunglasses and so bright that they could see her even from the street corner. Her jet black hair glistened as though it was soaking wet.

“Aurora Borealis!” Charlie called out and his voice echoed across the street. She lowered her gaze into their direction and she waved at them. Sam spotted a few bright purple bracelets on her wrist.

“You guys are just in time!” Aurora said once they came within earshot. “There's a bunch of pizza in here that needs to be eaten.”

“Oh, boy,” Sam remarked as she ran her fingers through her hair. Zelda poked her head out from behind Aurora: Sam almost didn't recognize her given she had combed her black hair back and soaked it wet for herself. “Oh, hey, Zelda!”

“Peek a boo,” she greeted them.

“Got the whole gang here, don't we?” Charlie declared.

“Indeed!” said Aurora, and she brought her attention to Marla and Belinda.

“Aurora, this is my friend Belinda,” the former introduced her. “She's a bit of a rocker chick herself.”

“The more, the merrier!” Aurora declared with her arms outstretched. “C'mon in.”

“Yeah, c'mon in, gang!” Frank called out from inside the building. The four girls filed inside after Zelda, only to be greeted by a bit of cool air from a fan on the window sill as well as the warm aroma of pizza, and Charlie shut the door behind him. Frank had set up a table and, indeed, a dozen boxes of pizza stood in a couple of columns on the surface: meanwhile, he had brushed his lush hair back from his face.

“Ladies first,” Frank beckoned them with a gesture to the stack of paper plates. The five girls were quick to serve themselves up plates of pizza and then Charlie and Frank themselves followed right behind them.

“Danny—Lilker—and I think Billy are both gonna be here soon,” Charlie told them. “And then I think Scott, other Dan—”

“Spitz,” Sam blurted out as she took two slices of pepperoni pizza for herself: she noticed a bit of mozzarella cheese in the crust.

“Mr. Spitz!” said Marla; she plopped down next to Frank.

“The amazing Danny Spitz,” Charlie continued as he took his seat next to her with his plate upon his lap. “Scott, Dan, and Joey are gonna be here like—any minute.”

“The dudes from Legacy aren't here, though,” Zelda told them.

“Legacy,” Belinda muttered.

“Our pals Legacy,” Charlie stated, and he crossed his legs and kept his pizza close to his body. And then his face lit up. “Oh! There's gonna be another guy here—a friend of mine.” He turned to his right. “I think I told you about him, Marla. Big John.”

“Oh, yeah, I think you mentioned him last week,” she recalled; Sam and Aurora took their seats across from them.

“I hope he'll be here because he's really cool—” He turned his attention to Zelda, who hovered in between Sam and Aurora. “—and he's a drummer.”

“Oh, cool!”

Belinda stood next to her and Marla turned her head a bit to see them right behind them.

“Have a seat, girls,” Frank encouraged Zelda and Belinda.

“I've been sitting for a long time,” the former told him.

“And I've been standing all day long,” said the latter, “I'm kinda used to it at this point.” Sam turned her head for a look back at her, just in time for a view at her pulsating her fingers.

“Holding glass and tools and stuff all morning long,” Belinda muttered, and her face lit up. “Hold Alex and Cliff on either side of you.”

Charlie gagged on his pizza and Zelda burst out laughing. Frank gaped at Sam and Marla and Aurora both raised their eyebrows at that.

“Belinda!” Sam snapped as she turned around a little bit in her seat so she could face her straight on.

“I'm so sorry—that just slipped out,” she said with a wave of her free hand.

“You told me you'd keep it a secret!”

“Sam, you haven't even met Alex,” Marla pointed out, horrified.

“Well, you should talk to him when you get the chance,” Belinda encouraged her. “Get to know him.”

“But he's sixteen, though,” Sam insisted.

“Seventeen,” Aurora corrected her. “His birthday was yesterday.”

“Wait.” Sam frowned at that. “What's the date today?”

“The thirtieth. Alex's birthday is the twenty ninth.”

“Aw, happy belated, Alex,” said Belinda as she raised up her cup of coffee. “Little Libra boy.”

“That's probably why he's so graceful with a guitar,” Marla suggested.

“Probably graceful with a few other things, too,” Frank joked, and that brought a laugh out of Marla and Charlie. Sam rolled her eyes and ducked out of the room with her plate of pizza in hand, furious. She bowed out of the building and back out to the street. If she could take the subway back to her place, she would do it. Just get away from all of them for a while.

But she had her writing class later on that day, thus instead, she stood at the curb and brought a hand to her face. She need not be seen by the people of New York City that she was about to burst into tears.

“Sam?” Belinda called out the door.

“Get away from me,” Sam barked at her. “No—get the hell away from me!” She stepped down into the dry storm drain. She was about to take a seat on the curb and eat her lunch alone.

“Sam, I'm sorry—okay? I didn't mean to do that! It just—it just came out of me.”

Sam whirled around so Belinda could see the tears in her eyes. Indeed, she saw tears in Belinda's eyes. She let her shoulders relax and she held her paper plate close to her chest.

“Why did you do that?” Sam demanded in a hushed voice. “Especially when you said you'd keep it a secret.”

“I told you,” Belinda insisted as she brushed away a tear, “it just came out of me. I thought it would make for a nice little joke. I'm such an idiot, I'm sorry.”

“It kind of was a joke, too,” Sam told her. “But it wasn't very good, though.”

“Well—do you like him, though?” Belinda persisted with a sniffle.

“Like him like him?” Sam raised an eyebrow, to which Belinda slowly nodded her head. “Belinda, he's still a teenager, though. He's a senior in high school. I'm twenty.”

“You know—my first crush was a dude in high school,” she told her as Sam strode on closer to her.

“And how old were you?”

“I was in middle school.” Belinda fetched up a sigh and slipped her fingers into her jeans pockets. “He was a sophomore in high school.”

“Yeah, but you guys were both around the same age, though,” Sam pointed out.

“You guys are around the same age, too,” Belinda said. “You're twenty and he's seventeen.”

“And how old were you?” Sam asked her.

“I was thirteen and he was sixteen.”

“Younger than us.”

“Younger than you. So do you like him?”

“I dunno,” Sam confessed.

“You dunno? What do you mean you dunno?”

“I just don't. Besides, I already have a bit of a crush on Cliff right now.”

“On Cliff! I've often thought about wanting to befriend him.”

“You should,” Sam told her with a wag of her finger. “Cliff is such a sweet heart.” Belinda brought her finger tips to her lips and Sam noticed some tears rested upon her eyelashes. She opened her arms for her: she only knew Belinda for a couple of weeks but she needed that, even if it was only with one arm. Sam held her plate of pizza right behind her blonde head.

“You know who else is a sweet heart?” she began with her face lowered down towards her ear.

“Who?” Belinda asked in a muffled voice.

“You are.”

She sniffled again and then she lifted her head from Sam's chest.

“By the way, I was just joking with Alex,” she assured Belinda, even though she had nothing else to fill in for herself. “Really, if anyone in here asks, it was just a little joke between us. It's nothing serious.”

And then Belinda nodded and showed her a little smile at that; the serpent around her neck glimmered with the light on the street.

“And promise me something,” Sam started again with her face close to hers. “Like—pinky promise me—” She stuck out her free pinky finger for her to hook up. “—that you won't tell anyone about this.”

Belinda linked fingers with her.

“Pinky promise.”

Sam leaned in to her face.

“I want to draw Joey in the full nude,” she whispered to her. Belinda raised her eyebrows at that.

“Really? Does—he know?”

“I've mentioned it before but I don't think he realized I was serious about it. I have my journal in my purse, though, if you'd like to see some sketches I made. But—I don't really want to share them with you just yet.”

“Why's that—” And then she stopped right in her tracks. “—oh, right.”

“Maybe when we get a moment, I'll show you.” Sam then held the plate before her. “But anyway, let's go back inside and clear the air in there.”

They walked inside in unison, and Sam kept her gaze fixated on Marla and the baffled expression on her face.

“We were just joking around,” Sam assured her as she returned to her spot.

“I had a feeling that was the case,” said Marla with a nod of her head. “She did that with me right before Charlie and I got together.”

“Except it was with me,” Frank recalled before he took a bite of pizza.

“Bel's just got this sense of humor,” Marla continued. “You mention a guy in your periphery and she'll wanna make jokes about it.”

“Did she cry when you didn't react to it well?” Sam asked her.

“I don't think she did,” she answered as she brought her slice of pizza up to her lips. “I think we just laughed about it because we both knew we were joking.”

Sam then turned around for a look back at Belinda, who stood right next to Zelda; she flashed her a wink before she took a bite of her pizza. Indeed, she never actually properly met Alex before, but her own thoughts began to catch up with her. But on the other hand, she never met him before. As far as she knew, he didn't know she existed.

And yet, she had Cliff and Joey by her sides. She needed not a third boy before her. She had to come closer to Cliff first, and there was no way she could forget about Joey, either. Two guys on either side of her. Add to this, she had Frank and Charlie before her as her good friends.

Alex lingered in the back of her mind, much like the mysterious man in her dreams. But then she recalled what Marla had said about those sort of dreams. Everything was coming together fine for her.

With nothing more, she took a bite of pizza, which was still warm even after she went outside.

“It's all coming together for us,” Frank proclaimed, and he brought his glass up to his lips.

“Another month and we're going nuts with the new record,” Charlie added.

“Coming and nuts?” Zelda cracked.

“Coming and nuts, exactly!” Charlie said with a straight face.

“All these veggies are about as fresh as that,” Aurora declared with a mouthful of bell peppers, and Sam couldn't help but laugh at that.

#might seem like filler but i assure you it's not the case #fanfic #fanfiction #anthrax fanfic #anthrax #chapter 16 #fever in fever out #fever in fever out fanfic #deadly nightshade #frank bello #charlie benante #oc tag #ocs #breather episode #also on ao3 #slow burn #writing #text

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans are Space Orcs “Climbing

Just a little something quick and funny for everyone this Tuesday morning. 

The desert planet was warm, as most desert planets are, but despite the dry heat, it was hardly comparable to an earth desert which could quickly take your life in under a day if you weren't careful. Honestly, he would have compared the weather to that of the Rockies in early August. Maybe 81 degrees tops.

The ground below their feet was covered by a strange purple sand, and the sky above was a dusky orange to match the orange rocks that lifted themselves high into the sky. There was no wind, which would have been a good thing, he imagined that the sandstorms here could be quite devastating. Despite the heat, or rather, lack of it in his opinion, the others weren’t doing so great. 

When he said others he meant their non-human counterparts, the humans were fine. This temperature was at the higher end of Krill’s comfort scale despite him being a creature that photosynthesized light. Sunny looked downright uncomfortable, which made sense her planet was comfortably tropical when it came to climate, and sky ash kept the sun from hitting the ground on most days out of the year.

The three of them and a group of marines were led across a thin dessert and up towards a small outcropping of orange cliffs. Commander Vir kept his eyes wide scanning the surroundings. One might have assumed he was looking for threats, and to the watching aliens, that’s exactly what it looked like. However, he was honestly just wishing he had thought to bring a camera. In that case he was going to have to attempt and draw this landscape later, not that he was all that great as an artist, but he was at least possible enough to make his ideas known.

Internally he was kicking himself.

By the time they reached the foot of the hills, Krill was lagging behind, and one of the marines had dropped back with an umbrella helpfully casting a shadow over the small figure. Sunny stood at his back like she always did. He doubted there was anything that could make her leave his side even if it meant hurting herself to do it, so he slowed his pace.

“Commander Vir, thank Sanctum’s rings you’re here.”

He stopped atop a bare patch of orange rock and bowed, “Councilor.”

The rundi woman adjusted her black robes and turned to look back towards the outcropping of rocks. Commander Vir could hear it now, a small voice shrill and defiant throwing curses at the gathered assembly members and their accompanying guard.

“What’s going on.” He wondered. Upon hearing his question, the assemblywoman motioned over one of the other delegates, the Gibb representative, who was looking both embarrassed and exasperated. Commander Vir could understand why, the Gibb must have had a hard few months with his countryman (the scientist) going off his rocker and capturing an entire prison only to experiment brutally on it’s inmates. Tensions were a bight tight between his species, and those from Earth and Mars. Commander Vir knew enough not to totally blame them. Their species were known for the commonality of mental instability, delusions, and psychotic breaks.

Statistically it wasn’t that common, but it was more common than it was even with humans, who were known to be highly mentally unstable.

“I am afraid,  the second Gibb representative, other than I, has experienced the reduction.” The Gibb’s five spidery eyes stared on glassily at the commander as he continued, “Usually we would just let him go quietly to return home in peace, but those circumstances remain difficult when his delusions have convinced him that he is a mighty warlord and we are his enemy. Even that would not be so much of an issue, but he has found himself  an impenetrable fortress.

Commander Vir was almost 100% sure that was exaggerated, but decided to keep his mouth shut first asking to SEE what the situation was before proceeding.

They walked up on the scene to the equivalent of maniacal laughter. He craned his neck upwards at the rock face.

“Look at you, you WORMS! You cannot DEFEAT ME!” 

He could finally see what the issue was now. The Gibb’s little fortress didn’t appear to have any doors that he could see. The only opening was at least fifty feet up the rock and about two feet by three feet. A hover craft wouldn’t be able to come near the hole as it wouldn’t be able to squeeze into the space between the rocks. Going in from above was also not an option since the cliff face rose to at least 100 feet in the air above that and was too rounded at the top to land a craft.

“See my impenetrable walls!” The gibb yelled, “Even against you humans I-”

“Are you kidding me!”

The gibb looked down in annoyance to being cut off. The entire delegation turned to look at the human standing with his arms crossed one eyebrow raised clearly unimpressed.

“You think you can challenge me human!” 

Behind him a few of the marines stood smiling clearly on the same wavelength as their captain, “I… well it’s not a challenge, but I’m seriously asking…. Are you serious?”

The gibb looked quite confused now, “I AM the end!”

“Well ok, sure you are.” The human said voice slightly exasperated as if he was talking to a small child, “In that case does The End or the lord of the rock face have any idea what a primate is?”

Seeing the confusion, the captain continued taking a seat on a rock as he began to unlace his boot, “Humans are primates, and so are monkeys. We share a common ancestor that lived in trees.” He flexed his fingers at the Gibb, “See these, hands used for gripping onto branches…. For climbing specifically.” He set his boot to the side, and the other marines began  following his lead rolling up their pant legs and lining up their combat boots in a neat row on the ground.

The commander lifted his foot, “See these, they are the exact same thing as hands, accept evolved for running. We used to use them to swing through trees.” He flexed his foot and wiggled his toes causing a murmur to rise up from the crowd, “I can pick up things with my feet.” He rolled up his pant leg, “So Here is what I am going to do. I am going to use my magic powers of hands and feet and drag your idiot ass back down here faster than you can say, oh yeah I probably should have known that humans were originally evolved to live in trees.”

Without prompting, the other humans came to join him at the base of the wall. Above them, the Gibb was spluttering angrily while the rest of the delegation looked on in mild interest. 

“But you CAN:T humans can already swim and run, you cant ALSO climb.”

The human didn’t bother to look up, instead reaching down to rub some of the purple dirt into his palms, “Don’t suppose you've heard the song. I can do what you can do but I can do it better? No, well same premise, I can run, I can swim, I can jump, with a little help I can fly, but since I forgot my jetpack at home, I may as well as show off some natural selection.”

The alien delegation watched in interest as the human gripped onto his first rok, and by an excellent show of strength, hauled himself up the wall. His other hand followed, as did his other two feet. The toes of his right foot probed the rock face gripping onto minute ledges in the stone just as his fingers did. The prosthetic, Drev-designed, foot struggled, but he made good time up the first few yards. 

A team of the marines went with him. A few of them scuttling up the wall like spiders.

At about 20 feet the assent grew more difficult, and it seemed as if there was no way to go, but the humans didn’t seem bothered. Gripping onto ledges and protrusions, despite taking longer to think their path through. Commander Vir had fallen behind struggling with his non-human leg.

Eventually he simply gave a curse, and a small blade snapped from the toe of the prosthetic.

He drew his leg back and slammed it into the stone soon overtaking the other maines as he was able to place a foothold wherever he pleased.

“That's hardly fair.” Ramirez muttered.

“Oh yes Ramirez, I am so sorry you have all of your legs. Let me cry for you.” The Commander muttered sarcastically as he clambered up the wall.

“That’s cheating.” Another human called

“No, I’m just evening the playing field for a cripple.” 

The council members below looked on in wonder and amazement as the humans, somehow, clambered their way up a vertical face speaking normally with each other as they did. As always, the leader of the humans seemed to have no concept that he was crippled.

Above the Gibb had gone quiet sinking further back into his hole.

The humans all made it to the top safely, and rather smugly, and with their superior strength, what little fight the Gibb could put up was lacing and rather pathetic. Two of the humans rigged up a rope to a steel hook driven into the stone, and the commander himself picked up the gibb under one arm like a troublesome child. From there, each of the humans clambered easily down the rope as if they were simply walking. Some of them chose to slide straight down, while others simply walked backwards down the face of the wall using the rope to support themselves at a horizontal.

Commander Vir only required the use of a single arm as he made his descent. And dumped the Gibb on the ground at the feet of the council rubbing purple dirt from his hands. He nodded to the council, and then just simply walked away nonchalantly to recover his shoes. 

The council thought it might be a good idea not to tell the humans how long they had been there trying to come up with an idea. 

It would probably be prudent to keep this little fiasco unknown to the public. If people knew that it had taken a one legged human, and his strange hand feet thirty minutes to do what the council had failed to do in days, than there might be some questions raised about their own effectiveness. 

#humans are insane #humans are space orcs #humans are space australians #humans are space oddities #humans are weird #earth is a deathworld #Earth is space Ausralia

[thespnfriends]

When A Monster Strikes- Chapter Three

*Disclaimer: We don’t own Supernatural, it belongs to it’s respective creators.* -TheSPNFriends

Pie and Magicians

   Jessica thought that all she'd have to do before leaving the two strange men in their vintage car was answer a question or two. Perhaps about any shady business going on around town or if anything super weird like if a tornado had touched down recently, which was kind of impossible.

   Jessica sent another text to Rachel but didn't receive anything. She was starting to really worry now and checked the time. The sooner she helped these guys, the quicker she could get to the police station.

   Personally, she wasn't sure if there was any shady business going on around town. She should have directed the two of them to the police station as well, but she somehow found herself in the backseat of their car and headed towards the town diner. The driver, Dean had said something about getting a quick bite to eat and she momentarily was dismayed. She really needed to get to the local police rather quickly.

   However, on the way to the diner, the man in the front passenger seat had introduced himself as Sam and told her that they were federal agents.

     After that, some of the worry Jess had disappeared. It was good that they weren't serial murders like she briefly thought but technically anyone could have the capabilities. The worry was minuscule until she saw a shotgun lying in the footwell of the backseat. She hadn't meant to find it but she had dropped her hairband and just stumbled upon it. She didn't want to mention the gun because they were agents and according to a lot of shows they sometimes needed a little extra protection so she acted like everything was fine. They should store it properly though if she was honest, anyone could find that and get hurt pretty easily.

   In retrospect...she probably shouldn't have based everything she knew about law enforcement on the tv shows she and Rachel binged.

   One question led to another and then another and then, of course Dean kept complaining about being hungry. Eventually, they made it to the town diner that was downtown and Jessica was an hour late for work. She had briefly texted a co-worker and said she'd be late due to family reasons but Jess had a feeling that she probably wasn't gonna make it to work any time soon if at all that day. She figured if she helped them then they could help her.

   Jessica put her fork down as she finished her pie. Dean had already started on his second piece and Sam sipped on a glass of water. Jessica worked out that he didn't seem to like sweet things but that was okay with her.

   "So you're saying that you work at a theme park dedicated to ponies and what's with this Comic-Con crap..?"

   "My Little Pony but honestly was that the only thing you got from the whole story?"She asked with a confused expression. "And it wasn't Comic-Con..."

   She sighed and tried again.

   "The guy in the costume. His name was Nick Jones, at least that is what he told Rachel. I didn't meet him personally... because I was busy trying to rid my clothing of pickle juice."

   "Look we're here to help-"

   "Dean, I think she's only teasing," Sam said and took another bite of whatever vegan food he had ordered.

   "No! No! It was actual pickle juice!" She exclaimed. "Never mind. I will spare you the details." Jessica tipped her nose in disgust.

   Sam stared at Jessica before he looked at Dean. His pie had fallen out of his mouth, back onto the plate during her admission.

   "Um, okay moving on. What happened after that?"

   "Well, I went home and proceeded to take multiple showers." She told them.

   "Did you see Nick after that?"

   Jess shook her head. "Well no. I was in the shower."

   Dean made some muffled noise behind his pie and she gave him a confused look. She didn't know why they were both acting like this but it seemed like they weren't taking her seriously.

   "I mean, after that day." Sam clarified.

   "No, I didn't. I went to work yesterday, had an overtime shift. Everything was fine until I got home last night. I figured Rach really wasn't feeling well so I was gonna make her some food but when I went to check on her she was gone. I tried to tell myself she was at the store or something but it was quite late when I got home, too late. I knew she was gone but I didn't know what to do."

   "Are you sure that Rachel didn't just leave?"

   "Yeah, Rachel isn't the type to do things like that. We've always been close, always vigilant. We tell each other everything. Anyway, I've tried contacting her but nothing. When she still wasn't back this morning...I knew something was wrong." She said to the agents as she wrung her fingers in her shirt. She knew she should have called the police or went to the police and now Rachel could be lying in a ditch somewhere and she had done nothing. Nothing to save her best friend.

   Dean cleared his throat once more and changed the subject. "So...Rachel and Nick, they seemed like they really liked one another?"

   Jessica nodded and tried to push those dark thoughts away. "Oh, Rachel. Yeah, she was totally taken by him!"

   "What?" Sam exclaimed and knocked over Dean's drink. Dean sighed and flicked him in the face before throwing down a handful of napkins to clean up the spill.

   "Jessica, do you have any idea where they would've gone?" Sam asked her point-blank as he sopped up the mess.

   "No...I have no idea. That's why I'm telling you all this."

   "But-" Dean interjected but was cut off before he could literally get a word in.

   "I meant that she liked him a lot," She started in a rather blunt manner realizing they misunderstood what she had said. She saw the brothers share a look as she handed them both more napkins to clean up the mess that was slowly taking over the table. "Anyway, I'm just worried because of that open case on the radio. The one about the different girls being kidnapped. I think it looks too convenient that Nick was here and the last girl taken was a state away. I mean Rachel looks exactly like those girls that were kidnapped and they haven't been found yet. Something just doesn't sit right with me." She took a breath and then a drink from her soda.

   "You think this guy might be the one abducting the young women?" Sam asked as he shared another look with Dean.  

   "I'm not saying that it's Nick...I just want to make sure it's not. Rachel's convinced he's the best thing since sliced bread. They're Penpals, she said something about them talking for the past year....but something feels fishy to me," Jess looked down at her phone. "I keep texting and calling but so far there's still been no response."

   "Well, there's not much to go on." Sam sighed.

   "Uh, other than the serial killer lead. I think it's pretty narrowed down here."

   "Sounds like this guy's off his rocker," Dean said with fries in his mouth. "Obsessed with ponies and potentially kidnapping girls." He shook his head and wiped his hands on a napkin as Sam and Jessica nodded in response.

   "So um, I know I should've probably gone to the Sheriff and I was on my way when I bumped right into you two but literally nothing like this has happened around here before if this is in fact what I think it is. The last major crime was a tourist running a red light and they didn't even get a ticket. Also after you introduced yourselves as feds I figured you could help me better than the local PD. So, uh would you guys be willing to at least see if anything is going on here?"

   Silence enveloped the group as the agents shared a look then Sam excused himself from the table and Dean followed him a few feet away. Jessica took the silence as a slight nope and looked back down at her deconstructed pie. She didn't even have the heart to finish it with Rachel in the wind. Looked like it was going to be a trip to the Sheriff after all.

   "Maybe we should give Cas a call? It's probably nothing, but what if it is?" He said in a lowered voice and watched as Jessica nibbled on her pie.

   Dean perked up at the name and then frowned.

    "Let's see what's what. If we have to call in the big guy then we will." Dean said rather quietly.

   "You think it may be a bust?" Sam asked. It wasn't uncommon that they had a non-monster case, it just wasn't their job.

   "It's looking like it, Sam-"

   A hush swept over the room as Jessica heard an odd sound, a fluttering noise like a bird flapping its wings. They all turned their heads to the empty seat beside her. Jessica's eyes immediately widened. Sat beside her was a dark-haired man and he was staring right at Dean.

   "How-?" She started with even wider eyes as she looked at the man in the trench coat.

   "Hello Dean, you called." A deep monotone voice filled their ears.

   The stranger turned to face Jess, his blue eyes filled up her line of sight and then said hello... and that's when she blacked out, but not before a single thought entered her brain.

   'Is that guy a magician?'

Previous:Chapter Two                                                          Next:Chapter Four

#SPNfic #spn #when a monster strikes #TheSPNFriends #supernatural #spn fanfic series #spnfandom #dean #sam #winchester brothers #cas #jessica coleman

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior 10/13/20: FREAKY, THE CLIMB, MANK, HILLBILLY ELEGY, AMMONITE, DREAMLAND, DOC-NYC and MUCH MORE!

It’s a pretty crazy week for new releases as I mentioned a few times over the past couple weeks, but it’s bound to happen as we get closer to the holiday movie season, which this year won’t include many movies in theaters, even though movie theaters are still open in many areas of the country… and closing in others. Sigh. Besides a few high-profile Netflix theatrical release, we also get movies starring Vince Vaughn, Margot Robbie, Kate Winslet, Saoirse Ronan, Mel Gibson and more offerings. In fact, I’ve somehow managed to write 12 (!!!!) reviews this week… yikes.

Before we get to the new movies, let’s look at a few series/festivals starting this week, including the always great documentary festival, DOC-NYC, which runs from November 11 through 19. A few of the docs I’ve already seen are (probably not surprisingly, if you know me) some of the music docs in the “Sonic Cinema” section, including Oliver Murray’s Ronnie’s, a film about legendary jazz musician and tenor sax player Ronnie Scott, whose London club Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club has been one of the central cores for British jazz fans for many decades.

Alex Winter’s Zappa is a much more satisfying portrait of the avant-garde rocker than the doc Frank Zappa: In His Own Words from a few years back, but I was even more surprised by how much I enjoyed Julien Temple’s Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan, because I’ve never really been a Pogues fan, but it’s highly entertaining as we learn about the chronically-soused frontman of the popular Irish band.

I haven’t seen Robert Yapkowitz and Richard Peete’s in My Own Time: A Portrait of Karen Dalton, a portrait of the blues and folk singer, yet, nor have I watched Marcia Jarmel and Ken Schneider’s Los Hermanos/The Brothers about two brother musicians separated from childhood after leaving their native Cuba, but I’ll try to get to both of them soon enough.

Outside of the realm of music docs is Ilinca Calugareanu’s A Cops and Robbers Story, which follows Corey Pegues from being a drug dealer and gang member to a celebrated deputy inspector within the NYPD. There’s also Nancy (The Loving Story) Buirski’s A Crime on the Bayou, the third part of the filmmaker’s trilogy about brave individuals in the Civil Rights era, this one about 19-year-old New Orleans fisherman Gary Duncan who tries to break up a fight between white and black teens at an integrated school and is arrested for assaulting a minor when merely touching a white boy’s arm.

Hao Wu’s 76 Days covers the length of Wuhan, China’s lockdown due to COVID-19, a very timely doc that will be released by MTV Documentary Films via virtual cinema on December 4. It’s one of DOC-NYC’s features on its annual Short List, which includes Boys State, Collective, The Fight, On the Record, and ten others that will vie for juried categories.

IFC Films’ Dear Santa, the new film from Dana Nachman, director of the wonderful Pick of the Litter, will follow its Heartland Film Festival debut with a run at COD-NYC before its own December 4 release. The latter is about the USPS’s “Operation Santa” program that receives hundreds of thousands of letters to Santa every year and employees thousands of volunteers to help make the wishes of these kids come true.

Basically, there’s a LOT of stuff to see at DOC-NYC, and while most of the movies haven’t been released publicly outside festivals yet, a lot of these movies will be part of the doc conversations of 2020. DOC-NYC gives the chance for people across the United States to see a lot of great docs months before anyone else, so take advantage of some of their ticket packs to save some money over the normal $12 per ticket price. The $199 price for an All Access Film Pass also isn’t a bad deal if you have enough time to watch the hundreds of DOC-NYC offerings. (Sadly, I never do, yet I’m still a little bummed to miss the 10Am press screenings at IFC Center that keeps me off the streets… or in this case, sitting on my ass at home.)

Not to be outdone by the presence of DOC-NYC, Film at Lincoln Center is kicking off its OWN seventh annual “Art of the Real” doc series, which has a bit of overlap by running from November 13 to 26. I really don’t know a lot about the documentaries being shown as part of this program, presented with Mubi and The New York Times, but check this out. For just 50 bucks, you can get an all-access pass to all 17 films, which you can casually watch at home over the two weeks of the fest.

Okay, let’s get to some theatrical releases, and the one I’ve been anticipating the most (also the one getting the widest release) is Christopher Landon’s FREAKY from Blumhouse and Universal Pictures. It stars Kathryn Newton as Millie Kessler, a high school outcast who is constantly picked on, but one night, she ends up encountering the serial killer known as the “Blissfield Butcher” (Vince Vaughn), but instead of dying when she’s stabbed with a ritual blade. The next morning Millie and the Butcher wake up to discover that they’ve been transported into the body of the other. Oh, it’s Friday the 13th… oh, now I get it… Freaky Friday!

Landon is best known for writing many of the Paranormal Activity sequels and directing Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones. Msore importantly, he directed Happy Death Day and its sequel Happy Death Day 2 U, two of my favorite Blumhouse movies, because they so successfully mix horror with comedy, which is so hard to do. That’s what Freaky is all about, too, and it’s even harder this time even though Freaky has way more gruesome and gory kills than anything in Landon’s other films. Heck, many of the kills are gorier than the most recent Halloween from Blumhouse, and it’s a little shocking when you’re laughing so hard at times.

Landon does some clever things with what’s essentially a one-joke premise of a killer in a teen girl’s body and vice versa, but like the Lindsay Lohan-Jamie Lee Curtis remake from 2003, it’s all about the talent of the two main actors to pull off the rather intricate nature of playing humor without losing the seriousness of the horror element.

It may not be too surprising with Vaughn, who made a ton of dramas and thrillers before turning to comedy. (Does everyone remember that he played Norman Bates in Gus Van Sant’s remake of Psycho and also starred in thrillers The Cell and Domestic Disturbance?) Newton is a bit more of an unknown quantity, but as soon as Tillie dawns the red leather jacket, you know that she can use her newly found homicidal attitude to get some revenge on those who have been terrible to her.

In some ways, the comedy aspects of Freaky win out over the horror but no horror fan will be disappointed by the amount of gory kills and how well the laughs emerge from a decent horror flick. Freaky seems like the kind of movie that Wes Craven would have loved.

I’m delighted to say that this week’s “Featured Flick” is Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin’s indie comedy THE CLIMB (Sony Pictures Classics), a movie that I have seen no less than three times this year, first when it was playing Sundance, a few months later when it was supposed to open in March… and then again last week! And you know what? I enjoyed it just as much every single time. It’s an amazing two-hander that stars Covino and Marvin as best friends Mike and Kyle, who have a falling out over the former sleeping with the latter’s fiancé, and it just gets funnier and funnier as the friends fight and Kyle gets engaged to Marisa (Gayle Rankin from GLOW) who hates Mike. Can this friendship possibly survive?

I really had no idea what to expect the first time I saw The Climb at the Sony Screening Room, but it was obviously going to be a very different movie for Sony Pictures Classics, who had started out the year with so many great films before theaters shut down. (Unfortunately, they may have waited too long on this one as theaters seem to be shutting down again even while NYC and L.A. have yet to reopen them. Still, I think this would be just as much fun in a drive-in.)

The movie starts with a long, extended scene of the two leads riding bikes on a steep mountain in France, talking to each other as Kyle (once the athlete of the duo) has fallen out of shape. During the conversation, Mike admits to having slept with Kyle’s fiancé Ava (Judith Godréche) and things turn hostile between the two. We then get the first big jump in time as we’re now at the funeral for Ava, who actually had been married to Mike. Kyle eventually moves on and begins a relationship with his high school sweetheart Marisa, who we meet at the Thanksgiving gathering for Kyle’s extended family. In both these cases, we see how the relationship between Mike and Kyle has changed/evolved as Mike has now fallen on hard times.

It's a little hard to explain why what’s essentially a “slice of life” movie can be so funny. On one hand, The Climb might be the type of movie we might see from Mike Leigh, but Covino and Marvin find a way to make everything funny and also quite eccentric in terms of how some of the segments begin and end.  Technically, it’s also an impressive feat with the number of amazing single shot sequences and how smooth some of the transitions work. It’s actually interesting to see when and how the filmmakers decide to return to the lives of their subjects – think of it a bit like Michael Apted’s “Up” series of docs but covering a lot shorter span in time.

Most importantly, The Climb has such a unique tone and feel to other indie dramedies we’ve seen, as the duo seem to be influenced more by European cinema than American indies. Personally, I think a better title for The Climb might have been “Frenemied,” but even with the movie’s fairly innocuous title, you will not forget the experience watching this entertaining film anytime soon.

Maybe this should be called “Netflix week,” because the streamer is releasing a number of high-profile movies into theaters and on the streaming service. Definitely one of the more anticipated movies of the year is David Fincher’s MANK, which will get a theatrical release this week and then stream on Netflix starting December 4.

It stars Gary Oldman as Herman Mankiewicz, the Hollywood screenwriter who has allowed himself to succumb to alcoholism but has been hired by Orson Welles (Tom Burke) to write his next movie, Citizen Kane, working with a personal secretary Rita Alexander (played by Lily Collins). His story is told through his interactions with media mogul William Hearst (Charles Dance) and relationship with actress and Hearst ingenue and mistress, Marion Davies (Amanda Seyfried).

It I were asked to pick one director who is my absolute favorite, Fincher would probably be in my top 5 because he’s had such an illustrious and varied career of movie styles, and Mank continues that tradition as Fincher pays tribute to old Hollywood and specifically the work of Orson Welles in every frame of this biopic that’s actually more about the troubled writer of Citizen Kane who was able to absorb everything happening in his own Hollywood circles and apply them to the script.

More than anything, Mank feels like a movie for people who love old Hollywood and inside Hollywood stories, and maybe even those who may already know about the making of Welles’ highly-regarded film might find a few new things to appreciate. I particularly enjoyed Mankiewicz’s relationships with the women around him, including his wife “Poor Sarah,” played by Tuppence Middleton, Collins’ Rita, and of course, Seyfried’s absolutely radiant performance as Davies.  Maybe I would have appreciated the line-up of known names and characters like studio head Louis B Mayer and others, if more of them had any sort of effect on the story and weren’t just

The film perfectly captures the dynamic of the time and place as Mank is frequently the only honest voice in a sea of brown nosers and yes-men. Maybe I would have enjoyed Oldman’s performance more if everything that comes out of Mankiewicz’s mouth wasn’t an all-too-clever quip.

The film really hits a high point after a friend of Mank’s commits suicide and how that adds to the writer’s woes about not being able to save him. The film’s last act involves Mank dealing with the repercussions after the word gets out that Citizen Kane is indeed about Hearst.

Overall, Mank is a movie that’s hard to really dig into, and like some of Fincher’s previous work, it tends to be devoid of emotion. Even Fincher’s decision to be clever by including cigarette burns to represent Mank’s “reels” – something explained by Brad Pitt in Fight Club – just drives home the point that Mank is deliberately Fincher’s most meta movie to date.

You can also read my technical/crafts review of Mank over at Below the Line.

Ron Howard’s adaptation of JD Vance’s bestselling memoir HILLBILLY ELEGY will be released by Netflix into theaters ahead of its streaming debut on November 24. It stars Amy Adams and Glenn Close, but in honesty, it’s about JD Vance, you know, the guy who wrote the memoir.  The film follows his younger years (as played by Owen Asztalos) while dealing with a dysfunctional white trash family in Middletown, Ohio, dealing with his headstrong Mamaw (Close) and abusive mother dealing with drug addiction (Adams).  Later in life, while studying at Yale (and played by Gabriel Basso), he has to return to his Ohio roots to deal with his mother’s growing addiction that forces him to come to terms with his past.

I’m a bit of a Ron Howard stan – some might even say “an apologist” – and there’s no denying that Hillbilly Elegy puts him the closest to A Beautiful Mind territory than he’s been in quite some time. That doesn’t mean that this movie is perfect, nor that I would consider it one of his better movies, though. I went into the movie not knowing a thing about JD Vance or his memoir but after the first reviews came out, I was a little shocked how many of them immediately went political, because there’s absolutely nothing resembling politics in the film.

It is essentially an adaptation of a memoir, dealing with JD Vance’s childhood but then also the past that led his mother and grandmother down the paths that made his family so dysfunctional. I particularly enjoyed the relationship between the older Vance and his future wife Usha (as played by Freida Pinto) earlier in their relationship as they’re both going to Yale and Vance is trying to move past his family history to succeed in the realm of law.

It might be a no-brainer why Adams and Close are being given so much of the attention for their performances. They are two of the best. Close is particularly amusing as the cantankerous Mamaw, who veers between cussing and crying, but also has some great scenes both with Adams and the younger Vance. The amazing special make-up FX used to change her appearance often makes you forget you’re watching Close. I wish I could say the same for Adams, who gives such an overwrought and over-the-top performance that it’s very hard to feel much emotionally for her character as she goes down a seemingly endless vortex of drug addiction. It’s a performance that leads to some absolute craziness. (It’s also odd seeing Adams in basically the Christian Bale role in The Fighter, although Basso should get more credit about what he brings out in their scenes together.)

Hillbilly Elegy does have a number of duller moments, and I’m not quite sure anyone not already a fan of Vance’s book would really have much interest in these characters. I certainly have had issues with movies about people some may consider “Southern White Trash,” but it’s something I’ve worked on myself to overcome. It’s actually quite respectable for a movie to try to show characters outside the normal circles of those who tend to write reviews, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the movie might be able to connect with people in rural areas that rarely get to see themselves on screen.

Hillbilly Elegy has its issues, but it feels like a successful adaptation of a novel that may have been difficult to keep an audience invested in with all its flashbacks and jumps in time.

Netflix is also streaming the Italian drama THE LIFE AHEAD, directed by Edoardo Ponti, starring Oscar-winning actress Sophia Loren, who happens to also be the filmmaker’s mother. She plays Madame Rosa, a Holocaust survivor in Italy who takes a stubborn young street kid named Momo (Ibrahima Gueye), much to both their chagrin.

I’ll be shocked if Italy doesn’t submit Ponti’s film as their choice for the Oscar’s International Film category, because it has all of the elements that would appeal to Oscar voters. In that sense, I also found it to be quite traditional and formulaic.  Loren is quite amazing, as to be expected, and I was just as impressed with young Ibrahima Gueye who seems to be able to hold his own in what’s apparently his first movie. There’s others in the cast that also add to the experience including a trans hooker named Lola, but it’s really the relationship between the two main characters that keeps you invested in the movie. I only wish I didn’t spend much of the movie feeling like I knew exactly where it’s going in terms of Rosa doing something to save the young boy and giving him a chance at a good life.

I hate to be cynical, but at times, this is so by the books, as if Ponti watched every Oscar movie and made one that had all the right elements to appeal to Oscar voters and wokesters alike. That aside, it does such a good job tugging at heartstrings that you might forgive how obviously formulaic it is.

Netflix is also premiering the fourth season of The Crown this week, starring Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth and bringing on board Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher, Emma Corin, Helena Bonham Carter, Tobis Menzies, Marion Bailey and Charles Dancer. Quite a week for the streamer, indeed.

Another movie that may be in the conversation for Awards season is AMMONITE (NEON), the new film from Francis Lee (God’s Own Country), a drama set in 1840s England where Kate Winslet plays Mary Anning, a fossil hunter,  tasked to look after melancholic young bride, Charlotte Murcheson (Saoirse Ronan), sent to the sea to get better only for them to get into a far more intimate relationship.

I had been looking forward to this film, having heard almost unanimous raves from out of Toronto a few months back. Maybe my expectations were too high, because while this is a well-made film with two strong actors, it’s also rather dreary and not something I necessarily would watch for pleasure. The comparisons to last year’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire (also released by NEON) are so spot-on that it’s almost impossible to watch this movie without knowing exactly where it’s going from the very minute that the two main characters meet.

Winslet isn’t bad in another glammed-down role where she can be particularly cantankerous, but knowing that the film would eventually take a sapphic turn made it somewhat predictable. Ronan seems to be playing her first outright adult role ever, and it’s a little strange to see her all grown-up after playing a teenager in so many movies.

The movie is just so contained to the one setting right up until the last 20 minutes when it actually lives the Lyme setting and lets us see the world outside Mary’s secluded lifestyle.  As much as I wanted to love Ammonite, it just comes off as so obvious and predictable – and certainly not helped by coming out so soon after Portrait of a Lady. There’s also something about Ammonite that just feels so drab and dreary and not something I’d necessarily need to sit through a second time.

The animated film WOLFWALKERS (GKIds) is the latest from Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart, directors of the Oscar-nominated Secret of the Kells (Moore’s Song of the Sea also received an Oscar nomination a few years later.) It’s about a young Irish girl named Robyn (voiced Honor Kneafsey) who is learning to be hunter from her father (voiced by Sean Bean) to help him wipe out the last wolf pack. Roby then meets another girl (voiced by Eva Whittaker) who is part of a tribe rumored to transform into wolves by night.

I have to be honest that by the time I got around to start watching this, I was really burnt out and not in any mood to watch what I considered to look like a kiddie movie. It looks nice, but I’m sure I’d be able to enjoy it more in a different head (like watching first thing on a Saturday morning).

Regardless, Wolfwalkers will be in theaters nationwide this Friday and over the weekend via Fathom Events as well as get full theatrical runs at drive-ins sponsored by the Landmark, Angelika and L.A.’s Vineland before it debuts on Apple TV+ on December 11. Maybe I’ll write a proper review for that column. You can get tickets for the Fathom Events at  WolfwalkersMovie.com.

Next up is Miles Joris-Peyrafitte’s DREAMLAND (Paramount), starring Margot Robbie as Allison Wells, a bank-robbing criminal on the loose who encounters young man named Eugene Evans (Finn Cole) in rural Dust Bowl era North Dakota and convinces him to hide her and help her escape the authorities by taking her to Mexico.

Another movie where I wasn’t expecting much, more due to the generic title and genre than anything else, but it’s a pretty basic story of a young man in a small town who dreams of leaving and also glamorizes the crime stories he read in pulps. Because of the Great Depression in the late ’20, the crime wave was spreading out across the land and affecting everyone, even in more remote locations like the one at the center of Dreamland.

The sad truth is that there have been so many better movies about this era, including Warren Beatty’s Bonnie and Clyde, Lawless and many others. Because of that, this might not be bad but it’s definitely trying to follow movies that leave quite a long shadow. The innocent relationship between Eugene and Allison does add another level to the typical gangster story, but maybe that isn’t enough for Dreamland to really get past the fact that the romantic part of their relationship isn’t particularly believable.

As much as this might have been fine as a two-hander, you two have Travis Fimmel as Eugene’s stepfather and another generic white guy in Garrett Hedlund playing Allison’s Clyde Barrow-like partner in crime in the flashbacks. Cole has enough trouble keeping on pace with Robbie but then you have Fimmel, who was just grossly miscast. The film’s score ended up being so overpowering and annoying I wasn’t even remotely surprised when I saw that Joris-Peyrafitte is credited with co-writing the film’s score.

Dreamland is fine, though it really needed to have a stronger and more original vision to stand out. It’s another classic case of an actor being far better than the material she’s been given. This is being given a very limited theatrical release before being on digital next Tuesday.

This might have been Netflix week, but maybe it could have been “Saban Films Week,” since the distributor also has three new movies. Actually, only two, because I screwed up, and I missed the fact that André Øvredal’s MORTAL was released by Saban Films LAST week. Not entirely my fault because for some reason, I had it opening this week, and I only realized that I was wrong last Wednesday. Oh, well.  It stars Nate Wolff as Eric Bergeland, an American in Norway who seems to have some enigmatic powers, but after killing a young lad, he ends up on the lam with federal agent Christine (Iben Akerlie from Victoria).

This is another movie I really wanted to like since I’ve been such a fan of Øvredal from back to his movie Trollhunter. Certainly the idea of him taking a dark look at superpowers through the lends of Norse mythology should be right up my alley. Even so, this darker and more serious take on superpowers – while it might be something relatively unique and new in movies – it’s something anyone who has read comics has seen many times before and often quite better.

Wolff’s character is deliberately kept a mystery about where he comes from, and all we know is that he survived a fire at his farm, and we watched him kill a young man that’s part of a group of young bullies.  From there, it kind of turns into a procedural as the authorities and Akerlie’s character tries to find out where Eric came from and got his powers. It’s not necessarily a slow or talkie movie, because there are some impressive set pieces for sure, but it definitely feels more like Autopsy of Jane Doe than Trollhunters. Maybe my biggest is that this is a relatively drab and lifeless performance by Wolff, who I’ve seen be better in other films.

Despite my issues, it doesn’t lessen my feelings about Øvredal as a filmmaker, because there’s good music and use of visual FX -- no surprise if you’ve seen Trollhunters -- but there’s still a really bad underlying feeling that you’re watching a lower budget version of an “X-Men” movie, and not necessarily one of the better ones.  Despite a decent (and kinda crazy) ending, Mortal never really pays off, and it’s such a slog to get to that ending that people might feel slightly underwhelmed.

Seth Savoy’s ECHO BOOMERS (Saban Films) is a crime thriller based on a “true story if you believe in such things,” starring Patrick Schwarzenegger as Lance, a young art major, who falls in with a group of youths who break into rich people’s homes and trash them, also stealing some of the more valuable items for their leader Mel (Michael Shannon).

There’s a lot about Echo Boomers that’s going to feel familiar if you’ve seen Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring or the heist movie American Animals from a few years back, but even with those similarities, Seth Savoy has a strong cast and vision to make more out of the fairly weak writing than another director might manage. Schwarzenegger, who seems to be pulling in quite a wide range of roles for basically being another generic white actor is only part of a decent ensemble that includes Alex Pettyfer as the group’s ersatz alpha male Ellis and Hayley Law (also great in the recent Spontaneous) as his girlfriend Allie, the only girl taking part in the heists and destruction. Those three actors alone are great, but then you add Shannon just doing typically fantastic work as more of a catalyst than an antagonist.

You can probably expect there will be some dissension in the ranks, especially when the group’s “Fagan” Mel puts Lance in charge of keeping them in line and Allie forms a friendship with Lance. What holds the movie back is the decision to use a very traditional testimonial storytelling style where Lance and Allie narrate the story by relaying what happened to the authorities after their capture obviously. This doesn’t help take away from the general predictability of where the story goes either, because we’ve seen this type of thing going all the way back to The Usual Suspects.

While Echo Boomers might be fairly derivative of far better movies at times, it also has a strong directorial vision and a compelling story that makes up enough for that fact.

In theaters this Friday and then On Demand and Digital on November 24 is Eshom and Ian Nelms’ action-comedy FATMAN (Saban Films/Paramount), starring Mel Gibson as Santa Claus and Walton Goggins as the hired assassin sent to kill him by a spoiled rich boy named  Billy (Chance Hurstfield) who unhappy with the presents he’s being brought for Christmas.

While we seem to be surrounded by high concept movies of all shapes and sizes, you can’t get much more high concept than having Mel Gibson playing a tough and cantankerous* Kris Kringle (*Is this the week’s actual theme?) who is struggling to survive with Mrs. Klaus (played by the wonderful Marianne Jean-Baptiste from In Fabric) when they’re given the opportunity to produce military grade items for the army using his speedy elf workshop. Unbeknownst to the Kringles, the disgruntled hitman who also feels he’s been let down by Santa is on his way to the North Pole to fulfill his assignment.

You’ll probably know whether you’ll like this movie or not since its snarkier comedic tone is introduced almost from the very beginning. This is actually a pretty decent role for Gibson that really plays up to his strengths, and it’s a shame that there wasn’t more to it than just a fairly obvious action movie that leads to a shoot-out. I probably should have enjoyed Goggins more in a full-on villainous role but having been watching a lot of him on CBS’ The Unicorn, it’s kind of hard to adjust to him playing this kind of role.  I did absolutely love Marianne Jean-Baptiste and the warmth she brought to a relatively snarky movie.

I’m not sure if Fatman is the best showing of Eshom and Ian Nelms’ abilities as filmmakers, because they certainly have some, but any chance of being entertaining is tamped down by a feeling the filmmakers are constantly trying to play it safe. Because of this, Fatman has a few fun moments but a generally weak premise that never fully delivers. It would have thrived by being much crazier, but instead, it’s just far too mild.

Malin Åkerman stars in Paul Leyden’s CHICK FIGHT (Quiver Distribution) as Anna, a woman unhappy with her life and inability to survive on the little money she makes at her failing coffee shop. When Anna’s lesbian traffic cop friend Charleen (Dulcé Sloan) takes her to an underground fight club, Anna her trepidation about joining in, because she has never been in a fight in her life.  Learning that her mother has a legacy at the club, Anna agrees to be trained by Alec Baldwin’s always-drunk Murphy in order to take on the challenges of the likes of Bella Thorne’s Olivia.

Another movie where I’m not sure where to begin other than the fact that I’m not sure I’ve seen a movie trying so hard to be fun and funny and failing miserably at both. Listen, I generally love Akerman, and I’m always hoping for her to get stronger material to match her talents, but this tries its best to be edgy without ever really delivering on the most important thing for any comedy: Laughs.  Sure, the filmmakers try their best and even shoehorn a bit of romance for Anna in the form of the ring doctor played by Kevin Connolly from Entourage, but it does little to help distinguish the movie’s identity.

Listen, I’m not going to apologize for being a heterosexual male that finds Bella Thorne to be quite hot when she’s kicking ass in the ring. (I’m presuming that a lot of what we see in her scenes in the ring involves talented stuntwomen, but whoa! If that’s not the case.) Alec Baldwin seems to be in this movie merely as a favor to someone, possibly one of the producers, and when he disappears with no mention midway through the movie, you’re not particularly surprised. Another of trying too hard is having Anna’s father Ed (played by wrestler Kevin Nash) come out as gay and then use his every appearance to talk about his sex acts.  Others in the cast like Fortune Feimster seem to be there mainly for their bulk and believability as fighters.

Ultimately, Chick Fight is a fairly lame and bland girl power movie written, directed and mostly produced by men. I’m not sure why anyone might be expecting more from it than being a poorly-executed comedy lacking laughs.

And yet, that wasn’t the worst movie of the weekend. That would be Andrzej Bartkowiak’s DEAD RECKONING (Shout! Studios). Yes, the Polish cinematographer and filmmaker who once made the amazing Romeo is Bleeding, starring Gary Oldman and Lena Olin, has returned with a movie with the onus of a premise that reads “a thriller inspired by the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.” No, I did not make that up. It mostly takes place in Nantucket, Massachusetts, which I guess is sort of close to Boston, but instead it focuses on the relationship between teens Niko (K.J. Apa) and Tillie (India Eisley), the latter whose parents died in a plane crash that might have been caused by a terrorist. It just so happens that Niko’s brother Marco (Scott Adkins) is an Albanian terrorist. Coincidence? I think not!

Once you get past the most generic title ever, Dead Reckoning is just plain awful. I probably should have known what to expect when the movie opens with Eric “Never Turned Down a Job” Roberts, but also, I strong feel that Scott Adkins, better known for his martial arts skills, is easily one of the worst actors ever to be given lines to say in a movie. And yet, somehow, there are even worse actors in this movie. How is that even possible?

Although this presumed action movie opens with one of three or four fight sequences, we’re soon hanging out on the beach with a bunch of annoying teenagers, including Tillie, who is drowning the sorrow of recently losing her parents by literally drinking constantly in almost every single scene. When she meets the handsome Eastern European Niko, we think there’s some chance of Tillie being saved, but it isn’t meant to be.

Part of what’s so weird is that Dead Reckoning begins in territory familiar to fans of Barkowiak’s movies like Exit Wounds, Cradle 2 the Grave and Maximum Impact but then quickly shifts gears to a soppy teen romance. It’s weird enough to throw you off when at a certain point, it returns to the main plot, which involves Adkins’ terrorist plot and the search by FBI Agent Cantrell (played by James Remar) to find the culprit who killed Tillie’s parents. Oh, the FBI agent is also Tillie’s godfather. Of course, he is.

Beyond the fact that I spent much of the movie wondering what these teens in Nantucket have to do with the opening scene or the overall premise, this is a movie that anything that could be resembling talent or skill in Barkowiak’s filmmaking is long gone. Going past the horrendous writing – at one point, the exasperated and quite xenophobic Cantrell exclaims, “It’s been a nightmare since 9/11... who knows what's next?” -- or the inability of much of the cast to make it seem like anyone involved cares about making a good movie, the film is strangled by a score that wants to remind you it’s a thriller even as you watch people having fun on the beach on a sunny day.

Eventually, it does get back to the action with a fight between Cantrell and Marco… and then Marco gets into a fight with Tillie’s nice aunt nurse Jennifer where she has a surprisingly amount of fighting skills. There’s also Nico’s best friend who is either British or gay or both, but he spends every one of his scenes acting so pretentious and annoying, you kind of hope he’ll be blown up by terrorists. Sadly, you have to wait until the last act before the surfboards are pulled out.  (Incidentally, filmmakers, please don’t call a character in your movie “Marco,” especially if that character’s name is going to be yelled out repeatedly, because it will just lead to someone in the audience to yell out “Polo!” This is Uwe Boll School of Bad Filmmaking 101!)

The point is that the movie is just all over the place yet in a place that’s even remotely watchable. There even was a point when Tillie was watching the video of her parents dying in a car crash for the third or fourth time, and I just started laughing, since it’s such a slipshod scene.

It’s very likely that Dead Reckoning will claim the honor of being the worst movie I’ve seen this year. Really, the only way to have any fun watching this disaster is to play a drinking game where you take a drink every time Eisley’s character takes a drink. Or better yet, just bail on the movie and hit the bottle, because I’m sure whoever funded this piece of crap is.

Opening at New York’s Film Forum on Wednesday is Manfred Kirchheimer’s FREE TIME (Grasshopper/Cinema Conservancy), another wonderful doc from one of the kings of old school cinema verité documentary filmmaking, consisting of footage of New York City from 1960 that’s pieced together with a wonderful jazz score. Let me tell you that Kirschheimer’s work is very relaxing to watch and Free Time is no exception. Plus the hour-long movie will premiere in Film Forum’s Virtual Cinema, accompanied by Rudy Burckhardt’s 1953 film Under the Brooklyn Bridge which captures Brooklyn in the ‘50s.

Also opening in Film Forum’s Virtual Cinema Friday is Hong Khaou’s MONSOON (Strand Releasing) starring Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians) as Kit, who returns to Ho Chi Minh City for the first time since his family fled after the Vietnam War when he was six. As he tries to make sense of it, he ends in a romance with Parker Sawyers’ American ex-pat and forms a friendship with a local student (Molly Harris). Unfortunately, I didn’t have the chance to watch this one before finishing up this column but hope to catch soon, because I do like Golding as an actor.

I shared my thoughts on Werner Herzog and Clive Oppenheimer’s FIREBALL: VISITORS FROM DARK WORLDS, when it played at TIFF in September, but this weekend, it will debut on Apple TV+.  It’s another interesting and educational science doc from Herr Herzog, this time teaming with the younger Cambridge geoscientist and “volcanologist” to look at the evidence left behind by meteors that have arrived within the earth’s atmosphere, including the races that worship the falling space objects.

Opening at the Metrograph this week (or rather on its website) is Shalini Kantayya’s documentary CODED BIAS, about the widespread bias in facial recognition and the algorithms that affect us all, which debuted Weds night and will be available on a PPV basis and will be available through November 17. The French New Wave anthology Six In Paris will also be available as a ticketed movie ($8 for members/$12 for non-members) through April 13. Starting Thursday as part of the Metrograph’s “Live Screenings” is Steven Fischler and Joel Sucher’s Free Voice of Labor: The Jewish Anarchists from 1980. Fischler’s earlier doc Frame Up! The imprisonment of Martin Sostre from 1974 will also be available through Thursday night.

Sadly, there are just way too many movies out this week, and some of the ones I just wasn’t able to get to include:

Dating Amber (Samuel Goldwyn) The Giant (Vertical) I Am Greta (Hulu) Dirty God (Dark Star Pictures) Where She Lies (Gravitas Ventures) Maybe Next Year (Wavelength Productions) Come Away (Relativity) Habitual (National Amusements) The Ride (Roadside Attractions, Forest, ESX) Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (Netflix) Transference: A Love Story (1091) Sasquatch Among the Wildmen (Uncork’d) All Joking Aside (Quiver Distribution) Secret Zoo (MPI Medi Group/Capelight Pictures)

By the way, if you read this week’s column and have bothered to read this far down, I think you’re very special and quite good-looking. Feel free to drop me some thoughts at Edward dot Douglas at Gmail dot Com or drop me a note or tweet on Twitter. I love hearing from readers … honest!

#Movies #reviews #Mank #TheClimb #Freaky #Fatman #Heartland #Mortal #EchoBoomers #VOD #Streaming #TheLifeAhead #HillbillyElegy

[lady-wallace]

Whumptober Day 4: Human Shield

Prompt: Human Shield

Fandom: Good Omens

Links: Ao3   FF.net

~~~~~~~

Demons had no loyalty to each other. Not really. Especially not when they had gone off their rocker and suspected you were working with an angel.

           Of course, the fact that Crowley actually wasworking with an angel, was friendswith one, actually, was beside the point.

           He had been called upon, as usual, to do the dirty jobs on Earth that none of the other demons wanted to do, so when one of their operatives had gone rogue, stealing some special artifact or something from Lord Beelzebub’s desk, (as what, a compensation for all the years he’d worked in Hell? Crowley didn’t know nor care) who was the one they sent after him?

           Crowley. Always Crowley.

           Of course, the thought of hunting down a rogue demon alone was even less fun than the thought of having a partner to do it with, so he went to see if Aziraphale would offer him help.

           And of course, Aziraphale had agreed, because the angel always did.

           Crowley had the feeling that the angel was starting to regret his decision by the time they finally got the demon cornered at a hospital.

           “I see they sent the snake after me,” the demon sneered. “What I didn’t expect was for your friend pigeon to show up.”

           Aziraphale straightened his shoulders as if indignant at the taunt, and Crowley fought the urge to roll his eyes. “Draco, it’s only a job. Look, just give me back whatever you stole from old Beelzebub and I’ll even let you go—say you escaped.”

           Draco laughed and held up his hand, snapping his fingers. Crowley and Aziraphale both flinched as a flame flared up in the demon’s palm.

           “I’m not going back. I’m going to do something that will get me a commendation like you, Crowley! I’llbe the new teacher’s pet down in Hell, and once I tell everyone about your angel mate here, I’m sure our positions will be reversed right quick.”

           Crowley gritted his teeth and glanced over at Aziraphale. The angel had a sword with him, if not his flaming one, but Crowley knew he had a few tricks up his sleeve. So did Crowley. He just didn’t expect hellfire to be in the mix—it was about as bad for angels as holy water was for demons.

           “And what do you think you’re going to do to achieve that, Draco?” Crowley asked.

           “I’m going to burn this hospital to the ground!” Draco said, the flame flaring a little higher in his hand.

           Crowley frowned. “Really? That’s it? You don’t get commendations for that kind of stuff, what’s that going to do?”

           “It’s evil,” Draco said.

           Crowley snorted. “Seriously? I mean, at least tempt someone into setting the fire for you. For Satan’s sake, and you wonder why I get commendations all the time—I have a little something called imagination.”

           “Crowley, don’t encourage him,” Aziraphale hissed.

           “We’ll see about that,” Draco said. “Just wait until I get a commendation and you end up in the dungeons!”

           “Alright, that’s enough, stop it,” Crowley said, stepping forward.

           Aziraphale got ready behind him, his sword held up, hopefully distracting the demon from the power he was gathering into his other hand, readying the take-down smite.

           “You know, it’s a shame you didn’t think of something a little more creative, might have been more tempted to let you go then,” Crowley said with a shrug. He glanced back slightly at the angel, and readied to spring to the side to avoid getting hit in the attack. Aziraphale moved to throw his power at Draco and Crowley made to dive to one side, but something snagged him and he was slammed back against Draco’s chest, spinning around to meet Aziraphale’s horrified face as he fought to pull his powers to bay.

           The angel cried out in shock as his powers exploded in midair around his hand.

           “Crowley!” he cried as Draco whipped up an ornate dagger—oh, so that was the doodad that Draco had stolen from Beelzebub—and pressed it to Crowley’s throat threateningly.

           “This will hurt him,” Draco said sincerely, pulling Crowley back tightly against him, one arm wrapped around his chest and arms, keeping them flush, Crowley’s chin tipped up to expose his pale throat to the blade. He was slimmer than Draco, but there was no way anything Aziraphale threw at them would miss him and the angel obviously saw that.

           “Let him go,” Aziraphale said sharply, taking a firm step forward with his sword raised.

           Draco pressed the dagger in just enough to break the skin and Crowley felt his blood drip down his throat. He swallowed hard, the knife bobbing. “Not another step, angel, or I slit his throat. Now you just stay where you are, and let me do what I came to do, then I’ll let both of you go.”

           “Not a chance,” Crowley growled and turned to Aziraphale, meeting the angel’s eyes over top of his sunglasses. “Just do it, angel.”

           “No, not while you’re in the way!” Aziraphale cried.

           Crowley wriggled, and tried to wink at Aziraphale, a plan forming. “Do it, Aziraphale,” he insisted. Trust me, he mouthed.

           Aziraphale pressed his lips into a thin line, but obviously figured out that Crowley had some sort of plan, because he started summoning the powers again. Draco laughed, and pressed the dagger harder against Crowley’s skin. “Looks like you two aren’t as tight as you thought.”

           “Looks like your grip isn’t either,” Crowley smirked and shifted to his snake form, slithering to the ground as Draco stood in shock. Crowley darted away and Aziraphale brought up his hand, launching his holy smiting power at the demon.

           Draco recovered all too quickly though, and brought his own hand up, summoning the hellfire and throwing it toward the angel and his power.

           Crowley saw this all happen in slow motion and made his decision in a split second. He launched himself toward Aziraphale, shifting back to his human form as he tackled the angel to the ground. On the way down, he realized his body wouldn’t be enough to shield the angel, and spread his wings as well, unfurling them just in time for the hellfire to explode over their heads.

           Crowley ducked, feeling the searing heat envelope them and hearing the scream from Draco as obviously some of Aziraphale’s power got through to him after all.

           It was over within seconds, but Crowley stayed there, panting, eyes squeezed shut, until Aziraphale stirred underneath him.

           “Crowley?” the angel asked.

           Crowley finally opened his eyes to see the angel’s worried ones staring back. Gingerly, Crowley straightened up, trying to ignore his singed back and wings. Hellfire didn’t hurt a demon unless you wanted it to. Nasty clause, that was. Luckily Draco hadn’t expected him to be in the line of fire, or he might have amped it up even more. Still, Crowley had gotten some minor burns all the same.

           They both staggered to their feet and Aziraphale looked over at the fallen demon. “Is he…?”

           Crowley went over and kicked Draco who groaned. “Nah, just down for the count.” He turned around to see Aziraphale staring at him with wide eyes. “Wot?”

           “My dear, you’re smoking,” Aziraphale said, striding forward. “Are you hurt? Oh, your wings…”

           Crowley glanced back at his appendages, still visible, and saw that they were indeed smoking, some of his feathers burned around the edges. “Ah, I’m fine, really, angel. You wouldn’t have been so lucky. I just got a little singed.”

           Aziraphale didn’t really look convinced. “That was still rather foolish of you.”

           Crowley shrugged. “We got him, didn’t we? Don’t worry about it.” He hauled Draco up to his knees and snapped a pair of handcuffs into existence, bending to gingerly pick up the special dagger, trying to hide a wince as he did so. “I’ve got to take him in now.”

           Aziraphale sighed, sheathing his sword finally. “I suppose you must, yes. Just do be careful not to strain yourself, dear. And come for a glass of wine at the bookshop once you’re done. I think we could both use one.”

           Crowley grinned. “Sounds good.” He kicked Draco and used his powers to sink into Hell the quick way. He sobered instantly, as he felt the stinging of his back and wings. It wasn’t bad, but the thought of what might have happened to Aziraphale if he had been a second too late? No, it didn’t bear thinking about.

           Crowley was perfectly fine playing the shield to Aziraphale’s sword if it meant keeping the angel safe. He’d never been much for swordplay anyway.

#whumptober2019 #no.4 #human shield #my fics #good omens #good omens ficlets #crowley and aziraphale #protective crowley #bamf aziraphale