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p-artsypants · 4 years ago

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Lovelace

Convinced that he's unlovable, Adrien is quickly thrown for a loop when Marinette confesses her love for him out of the blue. An akumatization and reveal later, he changes his mind about being unlovable.

Ao3 | FF.net

Self-Indulgent Angst and Fluff.

They say that a part of growing up is coming to doubt things you thought you knew.

Adrien never thought he’d doubt how he perceived love.

But here he was, the day after a...sort of breakup. He had finally bit the bullet with Kagami and admitted he didn’t love her, so he couldn’t date her. She had taken rather well, knowing that he was telling the truth. And then confessed her own truth, that she hadn’t loved him in the first place. She felt kinship and attraction to him, but it wasn’t love.

His father, on the other hand, had not taken it well. Not at all.

The conversation, or lecture rather, had been rolling around in Adrien’s head all morning. Try as he might, he couldn’t shake it.

How could you just brush off something so awful? So world shattering?

—

Today was the day! Marinette was certain of it. Maybe her Miraculous melded with her finally and gave her the courage. Or maybe it was the nostalgia of the rain pattering on the sidewalk. But today it was going to happen.

She was going to confess to Adrien.

She was a little late, still on time for school, but last to arrive to class. Everyone else was already seated and talking among themselves. Miss Bustier was even in, preparing for the lesson.

Marinette entered the room, eyes on target.

He looked tired, or bored, or maybe even sad. She wasn’t sure. But she couldn’t dwell on it. She just had to do it. Do it and say it and get it out!

“Good morning, Adrien!” She smiled, her grin large and genuine and portraying the love she felt for him.

“Oh,” he blinked, his own smile coming in slowly, and dimly. “Good morning, Marinette.”

She could have forced a conversation, or just made small talk, but the truth just bubbled out of her.

“I’m in love with you.” She said, still smiling.

The room fell quiet, and everyone simultaneously heard her confession.

Adrien stared at her, wide-eyed and...scared? “What?”

“I love you, Adrien.” She should have been nervous, but she wasn’t. She should have backtracked, and weaseled her way out of it. But she just gave a little shrug. “Just thought I should tell you, finally.”

He wasn’t saying anything, anything at all. He just stared at her.

Everyone stared at her. Chloe, Lila, Alya, Miss Bustier, everyone.

Silence ticked by as her adrenaline gave way to embarrassment.

She just clapped her hands together. “Um, you don’t have to say it back of course. Just Uh...it’s something I had been meaning to say, and I just...decided to get it off my chest. So...okay...” and she awkwardly walked passed him and sat down, her face growing warmer with each step.

“Girl!” Alya whispered harshly. “What was that?!”

“My confession. I’ve held it long enough, so I’m finally coming clean.”

“Why now? Why like that? Why all of a sudden out of nowhere?”

Marinette shrugged. “Just woke up with the courage.”

Adrien, for his part, didn’t dare turn around. He kept his eyes laser focused forward, unseeing.

The room broke into whispers. Complete disbelief, which was understandable.

But the clock struck the hour, and class was supposed to start. Despite the absolute bomb that had just gone off in the classroom, Miss Bustier got up and started the lesson.

Marinette wasn’t paying attention to the lesson of course. Horrible thoughts started to roll around in her head, worst case scenarios. He was sort of with Kagami, right? Crap, she had forgotten about that! Ugh, this was all messed up now! He probably hated her guts and he’d get his father to blacklist her from the industry and—

“Adrien, are you alright?” Miss Bustier asked, cutting through Marinette’s turmoil.

Adrien’s shoulders were hunched, his hands in fists at his side as he trembled.

He sniffled, and Nino reached out a hand to him.

Oh god, it was worse than she thought! She made him cry!

Adrien stood swiftly. “I need to be excused!” He shouted, leaving everything behind, before bolting out of the room and slamming the door shut behind him.

Marinette stared in shock, guilt coiling in her gut.

“What did you do?” Asked Alya.

“I...I have no idea...” Marinette whispered back, tears in her eyes.

“I’ll go check on him,” Lila said, voice full of convincing concern. She stood and left quickly.

Of course, Marinette didn’t want Lila getting anywhere near him while he was so vulnerable, but was she any better? She was probably the last person he wanted to see.

But she should at least apologize, for whatever she did.

There was just something nagging in her Ladybug brain. What would cause someone to cry after hearing someone loved them?

Had Adrien loved her once, and given her up? Were these words too late and too bitter now?

She just couldn’t understand. But guilt and heartache for doing this to the man she loved wracked her with pain.

“LEAVE ME ALONE!”

Adrien’s voice echoed through the courtyard, stalling Miss Bustier’s lesson.

Chloe took out her phone and started frantically texting.

Marinette waited in anxiety.

A moment later, Lila returned, tears on her cheeks. “He hit me!” She cried. “I don’t know why! I was just trying to offer him comfort! I know it must be hard for him to get love confessions from crazed fans all the time—“

“I’m going to talk to him,” Marinette decided. She couldn’t stand another minute. Not another minute of Adrien suffering. She couldn’t allow it.

“That might not be a good idea...” Miss Bustier began.

But Marinette scooted around her and out of the room.

In the courtyard, she could hear him sniveling.

She hurried down the steps, scanning the room for any sign of him.

And there he was. Hunched over against the wall. Knees brought up, head resting against them. It was a pose she had never seen him in.

She didn’t want him to yell at her too. She didn’t know if her heart could take it.

But she couldn’t help him if she didn’t try. So she stepped closer, making sure he could hear her steps so she didn’t frighten him.

“Adrien?” She asked softly.

He whipped his head up, his teeth pulled into a snarl. “I said—!” But then he stopped, seeing her there instead. “Oh, Marinette...”

It was then that she noticed the scarf on the ground. The one she had made him, that he believed was from his father.

It was ruined. It had been torn apart, like someone had dug their fingers between the weaves and pulled.

She crouched and picked it up.

“It’s garbage.” Adrien clarified. “I don’t want it. I can’t even look at it.”

She trembled, and tried not to cry. Her confession sent him into tears. Her scarf was subjected to his anger.

What had she done? Where had she wronged him? And what could she do to fix it?

“I-I’m sorry,” she started. “I meant to tell you earlier, but you seemed so happy thinking it was from your father. I didn’t mean to lie...”

He frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“The...scarf? This scarf? I thought—I made this for you, for your birthday. I signed it and everything, but it must have fallen off or—“

“You made that for me?” His voice was incredibly small as he pushed off the wall and stood on shaking legs.

“I thought you found out...isn’t that why you ruined it? I made you cry...”

He violently shook his head no, before crushing her into a hug.

He nuzzled his face into her neck, and dug his fingers into her jacket, almost painfully. “Marinette...” he whimpered. “Sweet Marinette.”

She stood in shock. So he wasn’t mad at her? She returned the hug, squeezing him tightly and playing with the hair at the nape of his neck.

“Can you fix it?” He whispered.

“What?”

“The scarf…” he touched the unraveling thread. “If I had known, I wouldn’t have—I would have treasured it more. Please Marinette.”

It was ruined. No doubt about it. Some of the yarn was frayed and snapped completely.

“I’ll make you a new one,” she promised, “one without any doubt of who it’s from.” She tied a few of the broken threads together and looped the scarf around his neck. It would do for now.

He sniffed and rubbed at his face. “Thank you…thank you…”

She had never seen him so…undone. Just like the scarf, he was falling to pieces, and she had no idea how to react to it.

“I know you want to be alone,” she began. “But I don’t want you…to be akumatized.”

“You’re the only person I want around right now. I trust you and...” he started crying again. Fat tears running down his cheeks, before he tried to hide it with his hand. “I’m sorry...this is really pathetic.”

“No...no no Adrien, you’re not pathetic...” Summoning every ounce of courage she had, she held his cheek and swiped his tears. “Obviously something happened. You don’t usually cry like this. At least as far as I’ve seen.”

“I think I’ve been holding it in,” he chuckled lamely. “Kept thinking that my heartaches weren’t worth crying over...but it caught up to me. I’m sorry if I scared you.”

“It’s okay, Adrien. I guess my confession was the straw that broke the camel’s back, huh?”

He held her hand to his cheek and closed his eyes with a sigh. “Something like that.”

Marinette gave him a little smile, though he wouldn’t see it, before reaching down and taking hold of his hand. “Let’s get out of here for a while, huh? We’re good students, we can handle it.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure as hell not leaving you alone. Besides, I know somewhere peaceful we can talk. Let me just grab my umbrella.”

Adrien followed her to the locker room, hand firmly in hers, and not eager to let go anytime soon.

They walked in silence, as Adrien occasionally sniffed and wiped his cheeks.

Even though Marinette, the nicest girl he knew, was here now, loving him, his tears still would not stop.

She took him to the bakery.

“Marinette!” Sabine scolded. “Why aren’t you at school?!”

Marinette gave her mother a sheepish look. “Adrien needed some fresh air. I volunteered to escort him.”

It was then that Sabine took in his face, and her expression softened immediately. “Oh...did...you want snacks?”

“Not if it’s a burden, Mrs. Cheng.” Adrien damn near whispered.

“It’s not, dear. Not in the least. Let’s see...Marinette says you like almonds, and passionfruit macarons, oh and we have pain au chocolat fresh from the oven!” She quickly made up a bag of goodies and handed them over.

“Thanks mom! You��re the best!”

“Yes, thank you Madam Cheng!”

Sabine gave him an affectionate and painless pinch on the cheek. “Of course, sweetie. You’re welcome here anytime!”

Adrien’s eyes welled up with tears again, as he tried his damndest not to let them fall. “Thank you,” he whispered, his voice drowning with emotion.

Marinette took his hand once again, and led him out of the bakery, back into the rain.

As they paused under the awning, Adrien recognized the umbrella she was opening.

“Hey, is that...the one I gave you?”

“Sure is!” She popped it open and placed it over their heads. “Well, in the spirit of full disclosure, I think you should know...that was when I fell in love with you.”

“All the way back then? And you never told me?” He thought back to all the clues he had, but all the times she declared, firmly, that they were just friends. Even his entire sorta relationship with Kagami, she was just cheering him on.

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “I was scared. I had a feeling you loved someone else. So I just let it be. But today, something told me you needed to hear it. That I needed to stop denying everything.”

He squeezed her hand. “I wish you had told me sooner, but today was a great day to tell me.”

She blushed, but pulled him away from the door and out into the lightly sprinkling rain. “So what happened? Well, you don’t need to tell me about it, but if you want to—“

“I want to. I should just be telling a therapist, but...I don’t have one. Let me know if it gets to be too much. Okay?”

“Let me have it.”

“So...Kagami and I broke up.”

Marinette exhaled sadly, resting her head on his shoulder, since her hand was occupied.

“It wasn’t that bad, honestly,” he continued. “I knew that I didn’t love her, and I felt that—well I thought that I loved someone else. So I told her. She admitted that she hadn’t loved me in the first place. She cared about me, but she hadn’t realized that what she was feeling wasn’t love. It was just friendship. I felt better knowing I hadn’t broken her heart.”

Marinette steered them in an unfamiliar direction, off the beaten path. It was a winding alleyway that made little sense as steps ascended and turned corners. It was a narrow fit, one they had to take one at a time, before they reached the end.

It was a little garden. There were rose bushes in the corners, and a little fountain with a cherub. A wooden swing with an awning took up a corner, and welcomed anyone that could find the little haven.

“Wow...Marinette this is so cool. How did you find this place?”

She shrugged noncommittally and led him to the swing. “I have my ways.”

They settled, and she tucked the umbrella away. Then silence reigned for a little bit, only broken by the pattering of the rain and the creak of the swing.

“So?” Marinette finally asked. “If the break up was so mutual, what has you so upset?”

Adrien sighed, and leaned his head back. “My father’s reaction to the break up. He wasn’t...thrilled.”

“No offense to the man, but I didn’t think he cared about your love life.”

“He doesn’t. But he had some contract with her mom that I ruined, apparently. He wasted his time, he said.”

Marinette swallowed, watching as Adrien stared dead ahead at the fountain.

“I told him we broke up amicably. And that I did it because I didn’t love her.” He bit his lip and clenched his eyes shut. “‘How could you know what love is, when no one even loves you?’ That’s what he said, Marinette. My own father told me he and my mother, and everyone else...no one loved me. Kagami didn’t and neither does--'' he sobbed. “Until this morning, I thought I was completely unlovable. But you...you know what love is. Your family loves you. So if you say you do, I believe you.”

She waited for him to finish before enveloping him in the tightest hug she could manage. It was in an effort to squeeze the sadness right out of him. And it seemed to work, as the sobs came like a downpour. He dug his fingers into her, holding on for dear life.

So much sorrow. So much heartbreak. Marinette swore one day that Gabriel Agreste would pay. How could the man not love his son? Someone as spectacular as Adrien? Who couldn’t love him?

“Marinette!” Tikki’s voice cut through the emotional moment. She wouldn’t have spoken unless...

Marinette let go of Adrien and unfortunately pushed him away, then she scanned the garden hideaway.

There, just past the alley entrance, dodging raindrops and heading towards Adrien at full speed, was an Akuma.

“No! Not him!” Marinette clung to Adrien, this time with desperation and fear. She couldn’t fight him. She wouldn’t fight him. Even if she went back on her own rules, even if she ruined everything...

She kissed him. Right on the mouth. Even if he didn’t love her back, she wanted him to feel good. If she could distract him from his sorrow for just a moment, long enough for the akuma to leave.

A horrible chill rushed over her body, before she was pushed gently away by the shoulders.

He had succumbed.

He was all white. His hair, his skin, even his eyes had turned to porcelain. Cold and hard to the touch, but oh so fragile. The scarf around his neck turned into lacy wings that sprouted from his back.

“Adrien...” Marinette breathed his name.

“Lovelace now, I’m afraid.” But he was so gentle with her. He helped her to her feet, and touched her cheek with his stony hand. “Thank you for trying to help, Marinette. But I’ve accepted Hawkmoth’s help this time. He’s given me the power to make people love me.”

“Is it really love then?” She asked.

He frowned. “It’s better than them hating me. I’ll start with Ladybug first.”

She gasped, not expecting to be the first target. She would have expected him to want to get to his father.

“She’ll never love me otherwise. No matter how hard I tried, how I reasoned with her, how many chances I begged for, she will never ever love me!” A crack formed under his eye. “But I can make her. And once she loves me, she won’t need her miraculous. And then I can make all of Paris love me!”

“Adrien...this isn’t you. Please fight it!” She cried for him.

He wiped the tear away ever so gently. That gentleness that was so characteristic of him, but such a difference from where he was now. “Oh, poor sweet Marinette. There will be a place for you when the time comes. You, who loved me without powers. My gratitude is beyond measure. But for now, I suggest you go home and stay out of my way.” His voice took a hard edge at the end, that gave her goosebumps up her spine. She wouldn’t be able to help him as Marinette anymore. Now it was Ladybug’s turn.

“Okay...” she agreed, and hurried down the alley. Her heart broke with each step.

Finally, she had run far enough and away to a secluded place to transform.

“I’m ready, Marinette! Let’s save Adrien!”

But Marinette had gone back in time, earlier in the conversation. Something nagged at her.

“Marinette?”

“He said he was going after Ladybug first.”

“All akumas do.”

“But he said it was because I would never love him. No matter how many attempts he made. But Adrien never...” she choked, new tears coming to her eyes.

“Now I know what you might be thinking...” Tikki warned.

“Adrien is Chat Noir.”

“And...what’s the point of even trying to hide it?” Tikki muttered to herself.

“Oh my poor Chat...we’ll find a way!” She snapped her fingers. “And I have a plan! Tikki, spots on!”

—

Precious minutes later, Ladybug burst into Miss Bustier’s class. “Madam, I need to borrow Nino Lahiffe!”

Nino’s eyes went wide. “But I thought—“

“Special exception! Now move it!”

Nino leapt to his feet and followed her outside. Once they were away from prying eyes, she handed him the small compact that held his old bracelet.

“But Hawkmoth knows who I am.”

“It doesn’t matter this time. Your friend, Adrien Agreste has been akumatized.”

Nino looked like he had been shot. “Marinette, girl what did you do...?”

“On the contrary! Marinette tried very valiantly to keep him from turning. His power is to make people love him. I figured you loved him a lot already, so you’ll probably be immune to his powers.”

“Hey! That’s genius! The guy is like my brother. Of course I love him! And I’m going to kick his butt for thinking that no one does!” He put on the bracelet and called for the transformation.

“So I guess I’ll be your meat shield? Take the hits so you and Chat don’t go Gaga?”

“Chat is out with a family crisis.” Not a lie! “And...I will also probably be immune to his powers.”

Nino went wide-eyed. “Wait what?! Really?!”

“Shut up, and don’t tell anyone. Especially Alya.”

“Mums the word!”

“Good, now here’s the plan...”

—

Lovelace had garnered an army of adoring fans in the twenty minutes Ladybug had taken to get Nino.

The Akuma himself was sitting on a bench, and waited, while dozens of fans scurried about.

“I brought you water, Adrien!”

“Here, I have an umbrella, we can’t have you catching a cold, Adrien.”

“Let me dry off that bench for you, Adrien!”

“What can I do for you?”

“Would you like a shoulder rub?”

Adrien didn’t answer to his victims. He just watched them all with a quiet fascination.

This wasn’t as fulfilling as he had hoped for. Maybe it would be different with Ladybug and his father.

“There you are, dude!” Carapace called out to him. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

Lovelace’s eyes widened and he raised a hand. “Carapace! You will fight for me now!”

Without even flinching, Carapace took the hit. It just tingled, but had no effect.

“Aw, come on man. Surely you know I already loved you? You’re my bro, dawg! But I am fighting for you. For your freedom from akumatization!”

Lovelace gaped in shock. “No! You’re supposed to do what I want!”

“Sometimes what you want and what you need aren’t the same thing. I am on your side, Adrien. That’s why I want to help you.”

Lovelace pointed to Carapace and told the crowd around him, “subdue him!”

The fans all dropped what they were doing and ran at Carapace.

Luckily, Ladybug caught him around the waist with her yo-yo and pulled him away.

“You were right, Bug. I’m immune!”

“Glad to hear it. Looks like these folks weren’t though.”

“Get Ladybug! Bring her to me!” Lovelace shouted, before firing at more people.

“We better wrap this up before things get out of control.”

The name of the game was subtlety. Carapace and Ladybug both knew she was immune, but Lovelace didn’t. He shot over and over, begging her to stand still.

“Just love me, Ladybug!”

Ladybug allowed herself a misstep, and for the beam to strike her.

“No!” Shouted Carapace.

Lovelace opened his arms, beckoning her forward. “Come to me, My Lady!”

Ladybug held her cheeks, eyes glittering like a rabid fangirl. “Adrien! Oh my sweet, handsome Adrien!” She skipped to him, twirling and giggling like a girl who was completely and totally smitten. “My love!” When she reached him, she took his hands in hers, and kissed his knuckles (so he couldn’t grab her earrings). “You’ve finally caught me, My Prince. I’m all yours!”

“My Lady...” Adrien breathed, another crack forming under his eye.

“Don’t be sad, my love! I’m here!” She leaned in, and kissed his porcelain lips.

One of these days, she was going to enjoy a kiss with Adrien, but it seemed like today was not that day.

He stood still, holding her waist and indulging her kiss.

It lasted only long enough for her to wrap her arms around his neck, and yank the scarf free.

“No!” Adrien shouted, as she danced away from him.

“Sorry Adrien, but this is for your own good!”

“You mean...you already...?”

She winked at him, before she ripped the scarf up, and allowed the Akuma to be freed.

After purifying, Adrien Agreste sat on the ground, bewildered, but only for a moment. It didn’t take long for his last memories to catch up to him and he put the pieces together.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so so sorry Ladybug! And Carapace!”

Nino hugged him, giving him a tight squeeze and then pulled away to hold his shoulders. “Dude, if you ever feel like no one loves you, you just come talk to me, and I’ll convince you otherwise. Got it?”

Ladybug picked up the now-repaired scarf and placed it securely around Adrien’s neck. Then she lifted him into her arms, like a princess. “Let’s go for a stroll, hmm?”

Adrien clung to her, shocked and embarrassed.

The three went to the alleyway Adrien was akumatized in, and Nino immediately detransformed, offering up his Miraculous. “Here you are, Ladybug. Thanks for giving me the chance to help my bro.”

“Thank you for your help!” She beamed.

“I got to get back to class. You gonna be okay, dude?”

“Uh yeah. Just...Marinette?”

“She’s safe, don’t worry.” Ladybug gave him a pat. “I’ll take you to her, if you’d like.”

“That'd be great. I should really talk to her...”

“Kay dudes, I’ll check you later!” Nino waved.

Then Adrien and Ladybug were alone.

“I’m really sorry again, Ladybug. I’m usually very level headed...at least I think I am.”

“Adrien,” she stopped him with a hand in his shoulder. “People get akumatized because they got the wrong topping on their sandwich. I’m really not judging you. You were...a walk in the park to fight.”

“Thats...that’s good, right? What did I do?”

“You made people love you. Kind of like...Befona, or Zombizu.”

“How did you beat me?”

She gestured to the swing, and sat down beside him. “Well, I knew I would be immune to your attack, so I pretended like I came under your spell...and I kissed you. When you were distracted, I took the scarf away.”

He blushed all shades of red. “Oh. Wait, you knew you would be immune? How?”

“Easy. I couldn’t love you anymore if I tried, Kitty.”

“Kitt—“ he choked. “You...you know.”

“Yeah. You told me. When you were freshly akumatized, you said you were going after Ladybug first, since she would ‘never love you’ no matter how hard you tried, or how many times you asked...Chat Noir is the only one who has asked me more than once.”

The dots were still a little too far apart in his mind. “And I didn’t fight you?”

“Spots off.”

Adrien watched in shock as the love of his life turned into his beloved friend who had tried so hard to heal his battered heart.

His eyes were wide and sparking with tears. Drops rolled down his cheeks, and he kept sniffing.

But he was smiling, oh so brightly.

“My Lady? You’re My Lady?” He whispered.

“Hi Chaton.” She smiled.

“You love me...” he whispered again, clenching his eyes shut as more tears came. “You love me, even if it’s just a part. Even if you don’t love Chat...” his eyebrows drew together. “But now it’s all ruined. Because you’re going to change your mind.”

“No!” She practically leapt on him, scrambling to sit in his lap and tucking under his chin.

Adrien gathered Marinette close, burying his nose in her hair, and letting his fingers play with the hem of her shirt.

“Adrien, finding out you’re Chat Noir is literally the best thing that could have ever happened. I adore Chat, and I turned down your advances because of you, Adrien. It hurt to keep telling you no. But you deserved to have someone love you with their whole heart.” She pulled back and sat up, so that she was face to face with him. She leaned in, and rested her forehead against his. “And that can be me now, if you’ll have me.”

“Marinette,” he sobbed. “You really love me?”

She covered his face in little kisses. “And I’m not the only one. Ask Plagg.”

As if on cue, Plagg emerged and stuck out his tongue at Adrien. “Yeah, Fartface. How dare you think no one loves you. No one is a bigger fan than me!”

“You’re a fan, and you’re calling me Fartface?” Adrien chuckled.

Plagg rubbed against his cheek, affectionately. “Only you.”

“And Nino and Alya love you. I’ve heard Nino call you his brother, and Alya doesn’t have nicknames for anybody else in the class.”

This seemed to brighten him as he smiled genuinely. “Yeah...you’re right.”

“And Chloe loves you. I’m sure if I called her and told her where we were, she’d be over in a second, and ready to crush you.”

He laughed. “Yeah, she would.”

“And my parents, and your fans, I bet your bodyguard loves you too.” She kissed his cheek, just because she could. “And I know your mom loved you. Your dad can try to retroactively say she didn’t, but she did. I bet that your father even loves you, but he was so angry, he just wanted to hurt you.”

“I don’t really care about his feelings anymore.” Adrien lamented. “I finally realized that all the effort I went through to please him and get his approval was a waste.”

“Well, he doesn’t deserve your effort. Give it to people who will cherish it.”

“Like you?”

She chuckled. “Yes Kitty. Like me. I’ll cherish every moment with you. I promise.”

“You’re going to make me cry again.”

“I won’t judge.”

He looked to her, shyly, very much aware of how close they were. “My Lady, can I—“

“Yes.” She interrupted.

“But I didn’t get to finish asking.”

“True. But you’ve had a lot of no’s lately. I wanted to say yes.”

“Okay...then, I’ll just...” he slowly closed his eyes and leaned in, fully prepared for her to push him away by the nose. ‘I didn’t mean that’ she would say.

But that didn’t happen. Instead, her mouth meshed with his, full and wanting. Her arms twined around his neck, and fingers dove into his hair, sending goosebumps down his spine.

She was delicious. Warm, inviting, soft, and oh so sexy. Her thin frame arched forward, doing everything to be close to him, and he drank it in.

His Lady. His love. His light.

He kissed her sweetly, and he kissed her hotly. Tender pecks, and raunchy open mouthed caresses. Their tongues met shyly, passing against each other with tentative grazes.

And then Adrien pulled away, his chest heaving from the rush of it all. The rush of kissing his lady.

“Wow,” he whispered.

“Wow indeed,” she smirked back. She pressed a kiss to his lips, perfectly delicate in contrast to the passion of seconds ago. “You’re amazing.”

He grasped her shoulders. “I’m amazing?! You’re amazing! I love you! You’re the most perfect girl in the world!”

“I thought I was trying to hype you up?” She giggled.

“I can’t help it. Every minute I’m with you, I’m enchanted.”

“Cheesy, but I love you anyways.” She kissed him. “And I might have a hard time stopping kissing you, now that I know how wonderful it is.”

“Then we can kiss whenever you want. Before school, during class, on patrol, instead of a fistbump.”

“Yes to all,” she giggled. “I want everyone to see how loved you are.”

He leaned against her chest with a content sigh. “Thank you Marinette. I was so devastated. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I had already fought off several Akuma last night. I thought Hawkmoth had given up, but...I couldn’t bear to hurt you.”

“You didn’t. Honest.” She smooched him.

He leaned back on the swing, his hand brushing a paper bag. “Our pastries!”

“See! The day is saved!”

—

An hour of dancing and kissing in the rain later, two soaked teens wound up at Marinette’s house to change, and then back to school for the second half of the day.

Nino greeted him with a big hug, and so did Alya.

“I’m glad to see you’re feeling happier, Adrien,” Said Miss Bustier. “Now I think you owe Lila an apology.”

He suppressed an eye roll. “I’m sorry for yelling at you, Lila.”

“And for hitting me?” She egged on.

“No...I’m pretty sure I just yelled at you.” He frowned.

Marinette placed a hand on his arm, and it was just enough of a push. He straightened his spine and glared at her. “And I’m pretty sure you deserved it, after you came down and antagonized me. What was it you said? ‘Your father wishes I was his child instead of a sensitive little baby like you’? ‘At least I get stuff done’? You know what, I’m not sorry for yelling at you.” This felt good. Way way too good to just vent. No one interrupted, so he just kept going. “And you know what? I don’t care if you try to manipulate everyone else here and try to turn them on me like you turned them on Marinette! I know I’m loved, and I don’t need the approval of every person I meet. I’m not going to try to please everyone anymore. Especially you, Lila. You are a waste of effort, just like my father. And if he wants a brat liar like you for a kid, then he can adopt you. That’s fine with me! The minute I turn 18, I’m getting married and becoming Mr. Dupain-Cheng! And since you’re so chummy with my father that he told you about our private conversation, then you can tell him all about this too!”

The class just stared in stunned silence, looking between Lila and Adrien, genuinely confused.

“Kitty?” Marinette whispered, touching his back.

“Wow that felt good. I feel empowered! Come here, you!”

The stunned silence of the classroom was quickly replaced with cheers, as Adrien pulled his new girlfriend up and into his arms, as they kissed like they had been apart for weeks.

—

Gabriel Agreste would receive a phone call later that afternoon, from Lila Rossi.

“Mr. Agreste, you will not believe what your son said to me today!”

“I don’t want to hear it.” He hung up.

The last thing he wanted to think about was his son. Adrien’s akumatization, which was going to be his greatest masterpiece yet, had been a complete and utter failure. Chat Noir never showed up, and Ladybug didn’t even need a lucky charm. All Hawkmoth got out of it was the worst experience of second hand tonsil hockey between two teenagers. Twice.

Well. Adrien certainly knew what love was now. Gabriel took the folder that held all the designs and plans for this Akuma...and promptly shredded it.

So, this story is a one shot, and technically complete, though I do want to turn it into a comic in the future. It will be a slow process, but I’ll tag it as Lovelace!

#ml #miraculous ladybug #adrienette #fanfiction #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #lovelace #identity reveal #ladybug #chat noir

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batmanisagatewaydrug · 4 years ago

Note

tw // genitalia mention, porn mention, sex mention

can an allosexual be sex repulsed? like the sight if any genitalia disgusts me so much. i’m bisexual and i’m pretty sure i’m not asexual. i experience sexual and physical attraction to people of all genders. watching porn is easy but the moment someone’s genitalia is shown, i feel disgusted. i am very sex positive and have nothing against it but i can’t help feel repulsed towards sex. especially penises. what do i do. is something wrong? should i see a doctor? is this normal? please help.

hi anon,

so first off I'm just gonna say you really don't need to trigger warn for genitals, porn, and sex. that's most of my inbox, and it's not an issue, and in any case, slapping that up top does absolutely nothing to prevent me from seeing the remaining content of the ask. if you're worried about other people who might see it on their dash because I post it, anyone who follows me but doesn't want to see this kind of content should hopefully know to block my sex ed tag by now, and/or blacklist specific words like "genitals," "porn," or "sex."

anyway, I think you pretty much immediately answered your own question - you literally said you "can't help feel repulsed towards sex." your literal lived experience is sexual repulsion. you're sex repulsed, congrats.

(there's like, a time and a place to talk about how a lot of Extremely Online queer discourse has created this kind of unfortunate and unhelpful belief that some pretty universal experiences are reserved for people with certain identities and how emphasizing difference over similarities is like, extremely capitalist assimilationist behavior and ultimately awful for alliance building, but now is not that time.)

as for your other questions, roughly in order -

you do whatever you want to do about it, which could range from "nothing" to "concerted effort to manage and mitigate the repulsion you currently feel when you see genitalia." it's entirely up to you to decide how much of a problem this is, and whether or not it's something you want to put the time and effort into changing. the only thing that I'll categorically say you should do is not have sex, because that sounds absolutely disastrous for your well-being at this particular time. maybe stop watching porn, also; that sounds like a deliberate exercise in upsetting yourself at this point.

"is something wrong?" is the sort of nebulous question that I'm in absolutely no position to answer. do you mean is something wrong with you, like, psychologically? my dude, I have no idea. there are any number of reasons a person might not like seeing genitalia, including "just doesn't like it." that may be inconvenient, but it doesn't mean anything is wrong with you.

I'm not sure how much a doctor would be able to help you, because this really doesn't seem like a physical health problem. a therapist might be able to do a lot of good if you're willing to work with them to unpack what exactly it is about sex that's causing you so much distress and how to you can better manage your averse reactions to it. I'm not going to offer you any false promises that it will be a particularly easy or even pleasant process, but it could prove very beneficial if you're serious about changing this response cycle.

"normal" is a word that I don't really like to entertain when it comes to matters of sexuality, because it's almost meaningless whether applied to groups or individuals. when it comes to groups, "normal" isn't nearly as useful as, say, "statistically average" or "healthy." on an individual level, "normal" varies from person to person. being repulsed by sex and genitals might not be statistically average, but that also doesn't mean there's anything inherently wrong with it. again, it's only a problem as much as it negatively impacts you. there are people who are disgusted by sex who live perfectly happy, healthy lives by simply avoiding having sex or engaging with sexual content. if you want to do that, great. if you don't want to do that, also great, that just means some extra work will be required to do so responsibly.

hope that helps

#sex edventures 2021

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votederpycausemufins · 4 years ago

Text

It’s a little shorter than the previous chapters, but it’s got some important stuff going on. But things still aren’t going to go well for a bit. in fact, after this chapter, we’re just going to focus on the bots. Maaaybe also Tommy

@petrichormeraki

There was a sigh as the winged figure sat down on a ledge. “I thought I told you I go by Death.”

“Or Dadza.” Grifter spoke up, getting a glare from his dad.

“You do realize I’ve disowned you, right?” Death asked, a bored look on his face.

“Pfft.” Grifter started before making his bedrock prison swing. “That doesn’t stop you from visiting when I call you again and again and again!”

“Because it gets annoying.” Death rolled his eyes before looking at who called him. “Speaking of which, why were you calling?”

“Well first off, that is the worst thing to repeat, why is it so fucking long? Second, can you get me out of here?!”

Death tilted his head from side to side in contemplation. “I dunno. Whole reason you’re in here is because Theseus asked me to, and he’s the one son I still respect.”

“Isn’t Wile still living with you?” Grifter piped up.

“Yes, he is. And while I don’t respect him, he’s still better than you.”

Grifter pouted. “That’s not fair. I’m better than that pussy.”

“Can we go back to the fact that I’m stuck in here because my evil copy wanted me here?!” Tommy shouted to get the attention of the others there. “Why the fuck did he want that?”

Death shrugged. “Well, seeing as how he’s not even in this dimension anymore, I’m guessing it’s so you couldn’t stop him leaving from Hels.”

“Wait, so the others don’t even know I’m missing?!” Tommy struggled, trying to find a way to even possibly escape his current prison, but had no luck. “Phil please can you let me out?!”

Death moved to sit on top of Grifter’s bedrock casket. “You know, normally I would have already. Theseus just wanted you in here long enough for him to leave. The thing is, I’m pretty sure you’d also let Grifter out, and I’d really rather keep him in here.”

“Oh come on Dadza, I’m not going to try and kill you. Remember, I’m a Listener now. That’s all the power I need. It’s just not quite enough to let me out of here since it was made to deal with those powers.” Grifter shifted to try and get a better look up at Death, but had little luck. “I’ll leave you and Wile alone, especially because if I killed you, then I’d probably end up as Death and then I’ll have to leave Sense alone.”

“Right… you did finally find someone, didn’t you?”

“Yes. And I promise I’ll behave.” Grifter spoke in the sweetest voice he could muster.

Death was silent before flying back over to Tommy and breaking the lock in it, letting the bedrock casing open and causing Tommy to fall to the ground below. “Hey! I’m on half a heart now!”

“Hmm, thought that would kill you. Well, if you let Grifter out, I’m fine with that.”

Chains rattled as Grifter shook his prison. “Wait you’re not just letting me out?”

“No. Leaving it up to him.” Death pointed down to Tommy, and then a moment later he was gone.

“Uh, so are you, um… planning to help with that?”

“I’d rather not, but I don’t have a fucking clue how to leave, and I’m guessing this Listener thing is like Big G being a Watcher.”

“It’s the counterpart in this dimension.”

“Got it.” Tommy nodded. “Well I’m pretty much stuck in this world if I don’t help you, so I guess I have to. But that means you have to help me out since I can get you out and know where Sense is.”

“Of course.”

Tommy looked around and was glad to find there was an area that was easy to exit, but it was five blocks up. The walls were also obsidian, so it would take forever to mine up there with his hands since he had nothing in his inventory. “Uh, slight problem…”

“I’ll summon you some blocks or some shit you can use.” Grifter replied, and a moment later there was what sounded almost like a lightning strike and then a few blocks rained from above.

“What the fuck was that?!”

“I get killed every time I use any of my powers. Normally I only do it when I’m really bored, but if we can use it to get out, it seems like a good idea to me.”

Tommy wasn’t sure how to react to that, so he just used the blocks of glazed terracotta - why that block, he wasn’t sure - to build up to the glass of what seemed to be a viewing area. He broke the glass and slid through into the room and started rifling through it. It was mainly bare, but there were a few random items here and there. Also a painting. It wasn’t big enough for anyone to go through, so at first Tommy assumed decoration, but then he looked behind it and found a chest.

“Found the keys!”

“Do you need more blocks?”

“Nah, you gave me enough and I can tear up the stuff in here if I need more.”

“What do you mean Phil’s your grandpa too?”

“I mean that he’s the dad of one of my dads and so he’s my grandpa! And since that’s the same for Grum, Phil’s also his grandpa.”

“Did Techno have a kid?!”

“No. At least I don’t think so. Grum said there were only three of us. Wait does that mean NPG doesn’t count? Maybe because he’s in Hels or something?”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about. But if you’re not- Did Tommy somehow build you before he died?!”

“What? No! He didn’t build us, and he’s not dead either.” Jrum crossed his arms. “Our dad is Grian!”

“Iskall’s friend?!”

Jrum lit up. “You know Auncle Iskall?”

“Yeah, I kinda hacked into his comm a few months ago and we somehow became friends from it. How does Grian being your dad make you related to me?!”

“I said because his dad is Phil!”

“Then why have I never heard of him?!”

“‘Cause he sort of went missing for a bunch of years. We only found out like uhhh… how many days ago?” Jrum paused to look at his current statistics for the world. “We’ve been here almost a week?!”

“How did you not know that?”

“I don’t know! I thought it’s been two days!” Jrum said, slightly panicking as Fundy pulled out his normal comm and started scrolling up.

“Yeah, it says you two joined six days ago.”

“But that’s not possible! The only time that could have happened is-” Jrum paused. The only time both of them had been off for an extended period of time was when we lost power. And that was when we were with… Mister Sam… Is… did he lie to us?” Jrum looked up at Fundy with sad eyes.

“Well… I…” Fundy wasn’t sure what to tell Jrum, and before he could say much else, the bot was hugging onto his legs with a hug.

“We’ve… also been stuck here that long. Did… is no one trying to help us? Can we not go home?”

Fundy winced, remembering what he had been told earlier as he pulled out the comm Dream had given him. If he said anything more, he might not get another chance, but at the same time, his call with Iskall had probably lasted long enough. “No. They’re trying to get you guys. I was just calling Iskall not too long ago. Apparently your parents are freaking out trying to find you guys. You’re honestly pretty lucky they are.”

Jrum looked at the device and carefully took it from Fundy’s outstretched paw. He looked it over before handing it back, no matter how much he wanted to keep it. “D-Dad and Tommy were really upset at Grandpa and the others. They weren’t really nice to Tommy, so I guess they weren’t nice to you either.”

Fundy shook his head, which made Jrum hug him more. “Well, we can help Grum… a-and then the three of us can try to find a way to Hermitcraft!”

The hybrid smiled slightly then nodded. “Sure, why not. Sounds like it could be fun.” And he turned back to look at Grum.

Just as he did, a window that had been open on Grum’s screen closed. Because of that, neither he nor Jrumbot saw the open application that showed a video feed of the two of them and the blinking red dot in the corner to signify it being recorded. Nor did they see the other flashing symbol that changed between two images. A smile, and a broken portal.

“I don’t understand why he hasn’t shown up yet.” Xannes grumbled and NPG patted his back.

“Aww, don’t worry. I’m sure he’s just a little busy. They are currently going through a little crisis With Grum and Jrum missing.”

“They’re just machines, who cares if they’re gone?”

NPG ignored the way that comment hurt. “You know how much hermits care about others. They even care for you after you’ve tried to destroy the place. As far as they’re concerned, those two are real people. They’re not abandoning them.”

Xannes crossed his arms. “It seems stupid.”

NPG didn’t respond and instead fiddled with some wood blocks in his inventory. He already built them this rustic house and they didn’t need another. If they were back in Helscraft maybe, but things tended to be more down to earth here as far as he knew.

They were quiet a bit longer, just sitting as Xannes stared out at the land ahead. NPG slowly stepped closer before sitting down on the ground next to the hels admin’s chair and pulling out some wool yarn from his inventory. “Here… I brought some along. I don’t have needles though.”

Xannes rolled his eyes and huffled before turning away from NPG, but his hand did come back and grab the yarn before pulling out some spare knitting needles he kept on him.

“Um, did you hear that they can’t get into the world they want to get into because they’re blacklisted?” The robot asked as Xannes started to knit.

“All of them? That’s a little surprising. Have they tested all the hermits?”

“Uh…” NPG pulled out a communicator and typed something into it, waiting a minute before a response came in. “Not yet, but so far no one can get in.”

“Well, guess now they can know how it feels to be banned from a world.”

NPG frowned before scolding his friend. “That’s not a good thing to say! I mean, haven’t you been happy visiting here? They could have said no, but your brother let you in anyway. And you only got that chance because of one of the people that are stuck in a universe they can’t get to.”

Xannes sighed, but didn’t say anything else, just knitting in a way that NPG recognized. The admin tended to knit in slightly different patterns or rhythms based on his emotions. Right now it wasn’t quite sad, but it was at least a little melancholic. So not wanting to make it worse, NPG just sat next to his friend quietly.

When a certain person clad in pink finally arrived, NPG excused himself to let him and Xannes hang out. The robot found a different room of the rustic house and sort of sulked around. It didn’t take long before he was bored of sulking and found paper to sketch rustic houses on, but he ended up crumpling them up and throwing them away. He didn’t even feel like making rustic houses right now. So instead, he ended up just lying down on the ground and staring at the ceiling.

Eventually, time passed by, NPG wasn’t sure how long, but he only really realized that time had passed at all because Xannes was suddenly standing next to him and looking down. “Have you been here the whole time?”

“Maybe.”

“You’re really upset about this, aren’t you?”

NPG didn’t answer at first, but eventually looked away before speaking up. “Yeah… they are kinda family and all.”

There was a very long sigh from Xannes. “Okay, what’s the world called again?”

NPG’s head snapped around to look at Xannes. “Wait, what do you mean?”

“I mean, obviously the people banned are from Hermitcraft or related to those kids. I’m sure you’re included in one of those, but I’m neither. I’m not family and I’m not from Hermitcraft. Plus my hacking should help out distracting anyone that could give me trouble.”

NPG jumped up to his feet and hugged Xannes. “Thank you! This is so nice of you!”

“Ugh, stop hugging me before I change my mind and contact whoever should no before I try it just in case something goes wrong and I actually need help for some fucking reason.”

“Okay, got it.” And NPG sent a message, giving a thumbs up a few moments later. Xannes nodded back and then pressed a button on his helmet and cracked his knuckles. He checked a few info panels, changing some commands to work for this new world instead of Hermitcraft, then he initiated his teleport.

EvilXisuma joined the world

In all the commotion, Theseus stepped away from the group, taking a stolen ender pearl in his hand and chucking it as far as he could. Even then, he still tried to get more distance to make sure he was really alone and far enough from Philza. Finally, he reached a clearing and checked it over to make sure no one was around. He even double checked before finally going to the center of the clearing and speaking into the air. “I call the goddess of death.”

Immediately, a brisk breeze blew through the nearby trees, cooling the surrounding area. Theseus tried his best not to shiver and just stood still, waiting for the wind to calm before turning around. Standing there was someone who looked like his mom, but dressed in his dad’s clothes. “Mumza.”

“Hello Tommy. It looks like Phil finally told you about me.”

“More or less. Figured some of it out on my own, but he did tell me the last part I needed to know.”

“How have you been? It’s been so long since I’ve seen you last.”

“Been around. Been busy. Shit like that, y’know.” Theseus was glad that she wasn’t around for his other self. It would make it easier to lie.

“I’m assuming you don’t just want to talk?”

“Well, apparently I have nephews and they got kidnapped and are stuck in the server Phil, Techno and I were in. None of them can get back in, but I was thinking maybe I could. Unfortunately none of them will let me try to help.”

He was given a soft, kind smile. “I’m glad you want to help. I can see why Phil would want to be a little protective, but I can help you.”

He nodded and took the hand the goddess held out to him.

TheseusMC joined the world

EvilXisuma joined the world

Error with processing. Virus found. Attempting recovering. Recovery failed; Too many resources being used. Finding unnecessary memory usage. Found. Disable communicator direct connection. Disabled.

Files being accessed. Restricted files attempting access. Restricted files require password access. Please input password. Password inputted. Checking password. Password accepted.

Activation phrase number 652 used. Activating camera. Beginning recording. Recording. Recording. Recording. Closing program. Sending recording. Sending. Recording sent to user level Admin.

Blacklist check. Attempting Entry: TangoTek. Assigned roles: Hermittown member, Acknowledged associate family, Team ZIT member, Operator. Banned roles: Hermittown member. Acknowledged associate family. Continue blacklist.

Blacklist check activated. Increase displacement by 1.5%. Displacing. Displacement complete. Displacement at 39.5% total.

Opening files at request. Warning, files missing data. Names of referenced files changed. Please update file names. Warning, Error with processing. Virus found. Shutting down.

#hermit!tommy au #hermit!tommy #tommyinnit #hels!grian #hels!Philza #jrumbot #grumbot #itsfundy #The Watchers #npg #npc grian #evil xisuma #worm man #hels!tommy #mumza

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themonkeycabal · 4 years ago

Text

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Episode 1 SPOILERS

If you need to blacklist, I will be tagging all things as #tfatws and/or #tfatws spoilers

My roommate keeps calling this The Falcon and the Snowman. I'm not entirely sure it's accidental.

I was going to watch at midnight and then fell asleep. Betrayal. I will not forgive this, brain.

Bucky Barnes character development. Sam Wilson character development. Six full episodes of Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson. When we watched Civil War, did we think we'd actually be lucky enough to get a buddy idiot cop movie? Let alone six hours of it? #blessed

What are we expecting here? I have no idea, honestly. I think all the clips we've been seeing are from the first couple episodes, so they've hidden any sort of plot from us. We know Baron Zemo's around with his stupid purple ski mask and burning hatred for superheroes and probably specifically for Bucky who he tried (and honestly kind of succeeded, before then ultimately failing dramatically) to set up. And Sharon Carter will turn up at some point. OMG guys, Sharon Carter character development!

I'm just here for the buddy bickering and badassery.

SPOILERS BELOW

New World Order: Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes realize that their futures are anything but normal. *Realize*? lol

Also, it's tagged as "science fiction, action-adventure, buddy" Awww.

Aww, Sam looks sad as he gazes at The Shield.

"How's it feel?" "Like it's someone else's." "It isn't."

That's right, Sam! Listen to that voice. That's yours now, baby.

We're just going to roll right into a mission. Rescuing a Captain Vassant, whose plane fell out of contact shortly after take off, from the ridiculously named group LAF, somewhere over Tunisia. Sam's got to keep LAF from doing bad things and the US Military can't be seen doing anything blah blah blah, violation of treaties, yada yada. And Sam's all "blah blah got it". We're on the same page, Sam and me. Nobody wants to hear it, Briefing Exposition Guy.

We will have a Lt. Torres on the ground following along and offering helpful commentary as they go.

Sam is warned to be subtle as he falls backwards out of the cargo plane in very dramatic fashion and then swoops off on his brightly colored wings. lol

Sam gets to the captain's plane but the pilot is dead and a shady LAF guy is piloting. Oh no. Hey, it's Batroc. Last seen getting his ass kicked by Captain America in "CA: The Winter Soldier". He makes some jokes about their prisoner - presumably Captain Vassant. Awful cocky for a guy with a history of getting stomped on, you know.

Anyway, he's about to get his ass kicked by a Captain America again as Sam breaks into the plane. You might just be using wing shields now, Sam, but you're Captain America in my heart. Also, hey, dumb bad guys, don't open fire with an automatic weapon inside a plane or the ricochets might kill your pilot. And his body will slump forward and put the plane into a steep dive.

Batroc distracts Sam while the bad guys gather up Vassant and jump out of the plane with him. They have wingsuits, but Sam has, you know, wings. And like a jet pack. Don't hit the canyon walls, Sam!

Somehow the bad guys have waiting gunships. Did they expect to jump out of the plane over this canyon? I can only assume. Red Wing takes care of one of the helicopters. Man these guys are a pain in the ass. They wing suit into one of the many many helicopters that just happen to be right in the right spot. They're racing for the Libyan border. Then Sam shows up, they throw Vassant out the copter again — this guy is having the worst day — and glide into another chopper.

Man ANOTHER gunship? The hell? They're causing serious ecological damage to this canyon, what with all the zillionty missiles they're firing at Sam. How strapped is this thing?

LT Torres is trying to keep up, and you know, trying to get Sam to not fly into Libyan territory and cause an international incident or some such. Sam is struck by inspiration and not by a missile. But, the missiles are following Sam and Sam is following Batroc's chopper. Sam zooms through the open doors of the chopper, knocks poor Vassant out of the chopper AGAIN (but then catches him), and LAF blows up their own helicopter. Alas, Batroc escaped.

Sam saves the day and LT Torres is like super excited. Don't break your humvee, Torres.

Torres and Sam stop by a tea shop in Tunis, or somewhere. Sam's trying to fix his tech that got a little shot up and Torres buys the tea. A man comes up and thanks Sam for saving his wife. It's sweet. And then Torres gets up and wanders about a bit with his phone as he exposits about LAF. Is Torres about to become a pin cushion? Only instead of pins it'll be bullets? I'm not feeling good about his continued health. He's too cute and earnest.

Oh, he's looking for some sort of hidden, augmented reality tag on the walls. A red handprint, id'ing some group that calls themselves the Flag Smashers. Bad guys are really scraping the bottom of the evil name barrel. Anyway, they think the world was better during the blip. Nothing says better like mass failure of infrastructure and probably world wide famine. They want a unified world without borders. I have big doubts the world would be a borderless utopia during a blip-like event. Power vacuums invite trouble, seldom unity.

Anyhoo. Sam kind of agrees with me, "every time something gets better for one group, it gets worse for another".

Torres will track the 'online chatter'. But he's also heard some wacky things about Steve Rogers, conspiracy theory stuff, "they think that he's in a secret base on the moon, looking down over us". LOL. What? Is Steve a moon angel now? or Santa Claus? "You didn't like fly him to the moon?" Sam assures him that's all very much silly foolishness. Steve's in Boca working on his tan.

Sam's back in D.C. giving a talk about Steve at the Smithsonian's National Air & Space museum. "And he mastered posing stoically". Hey, I have that picture. Also, RHODEY! Hi Rhodey!

"A few months ago, billions of people reappeared after 5 years away. Sending the world into turmoil." Again. I know this was meant to come out before WandaVision, but timeline-wise this works better.

"We need new heroes. Ones suited for the times we're in. Symbols are nothing without the women and men that give them meaning." Sam holds up The Shield. "I don't know if there's been a greater symbol." Aww, he's retiring the shield. He hands it off to museum people and they put it in a display case. I think Rhodey has some thoughts about this. I suspect Rhodey maybe doesn't agree.

Sam and Rhodey wander through the Cap exhibit and Sam's talking about how when he left (or got snapped, it's not like you had a choice about that, Sam), his nephews were babies and now they're little men. Awww. Rhodey says Sam should bring them to D.C., he'll teach them how to fly, "the right way". lol.

Rhodey says it's crazy to think nobody will be carrying the shield. Sam points out they went 70 years without, so like …

Rhodey wants to know why Sam didn't take up the mantle. BTW, this is a cool exhibit, marvel peeps. Sam says it feels like it belongs to someone else … Steve. Rhodey says everything's broken. Allies are enemies, things are torn apart. People are looking for somebody to make it better. Having made his pitch, Rhodey leaves Sam to stare mournfully at the shield. I think you're afraid to pick up the shield, Sam. Afraid you won't measure up. But, you can do it. I have faith. Also, Steve was kind of a disaster in his own way. He wasn't perfect, which was the point of Steve as a hero. Pick up the shield, Sam.

A fancy hotel, chatting people in the lobby, up to a mezzanine, a group of very Russian oligarch looking dudes and their security. And lo! A metal arm punches through a wall and the Winter Soldier, looking very Winter Soldiery appears and stabs some dudes in the neck. This has a sepia, dream/nightmareness to it. Oh yeah, it's his old shiny silver arm. Totally a nightmare/very bad memory. "Hail Hydra" and he kills the head Russian guy. The poor dude who was just chatting in the lobby is caught trying to get into his door. He swears he didn't see anything, begs for his life and the Winter Soldier shoots him. Bucky wakes up, breathing heavily. Poor Bucky.

Glad he's in therapy. I'm sure goat herding in Wakanda was good and peaceful and all, but, goats will only get you so far. Also glad we've skipped the "wanted terrorist" part and gone on to traumatized hero.

I get the feeling he's not the best patient. He lies to his therapist straight off. Twice. lol. "You're a civilian now. With your history the government needs to know, you're not gonna … [therapist makes stabby motion]." lol (I love this actress by the way. She's been in everything for ages. She's great). "It's a condition of your pardon. So tell me about your most recent nightmare." "I didn't have a nightmare." She starts writing, Bucky objects and tells her she's being passive-aggressive, but he gives in.

He has a list of amends to make and three rules to follow. He crossed a name off. There's a Hydra pawn who's a senator, he helped her get into office. "After Hydra disbanded, she continued to use the power I gave her." Hmm. He tracks her car and listens in on her plotting to have a congressman killed.

* Rule number one: Can't do anything illegal.

He's hijacked the Senator's car and is remote controlling it, making it drive all out of control and freaking her out. He says he was collecting intel to give to an aide to convict her. Absolutely only did that. Not one illegal thing about that at all, no ma'am.

"Rule number two?" "Hmm. What was rule number two?" "Nobody gets hurt. It's a big one." "Then why isn't it rule number one?" Oh, Bucky, you're a jackass.

* Rule number two: Nobody gets hurt.

"I didn't hurt anybody. Promise." He totally broke a dude's hand and then punched him in the face, knocking him out. I mean, there's levels of 'hurt' I suppose.

"The whole point of making amends is to fulfill rule number three." "Of course I completed rule number three."

* Rule number three: "I am no longer the Winter Soldier. I am James 'Bucky' Barnes. And you're part of my efforts to make amends." He says to the corrupt senator he's just been terrifying. And then he walks away as a tac team pulls up. lol.

What I'm getting from this therapy session is that Bucky is a big fat fibber.

Also he's got a little black book full of names. Including, I see, H. Zemo. That's not going to go as smoothly as taking down a shady government fatcat, I think.

"So you did it all right, but it didn't help with the nightmares?" "Well, like I said, I didn't have any." Fibber.

People wanna help you Bucky and you can trust them. "I trust people," he mutters grumpily. She asks for his phone and he hands it over. Look, lady! Trust! Probably government mandated trust, but still!

"You don't have ten phone numbers on this thing." … I don't have ten phone numbers on my phone. :( "Oh, and you've been ignoring texts from Sam." Well …

"I am the only person you have called all week. That is so sad." lol. Tough love from the therapist. I'm feeling a little judged myself, though. "You're alone." ALRIGHT DON'T RUB IT IN!

"You're a hundred years old. You have no history. No family—" "Are you lashing out at me, doc? Because that's really unprofessional." I love you Bucky, but you are a disaster patient.

Bucky relents. "I'm trying. This is new for me. I didn't have a moment to deal with anything. I had a little calm in Wakanda. And other than that, I just went from one fight to another for 90 years." Get this man a goat farm!

"So now that you've stopped fighting, what do you want?" "Peace." A goat farm. "That is utter bullshit." lol "You're a terrible shrink." "I was an excellent soldier, so I saw a lot of dead bodies and I know how that can shut you down. And if you are alone, that is the quietest, most personal hell." Get some friends, Bucky. "I know you've been through a lot. But, you've got your mind back. You're being pardoned. These are good things. You're free." "To do what?"

On the streets of Brooklyn. Bucky breaks up an argument between neighbors about trashcans. Hey, Bucky has a friend! Yori Nakajima who's probably like 80+. Did you babysit him back in the day, Buck? har har. They were going to meet for lunch, but some punk named Unique was putting his trash into Mr. Nakajima's trash can and just derailed the whole day. The horror. No joke, though, people get so nutted up about that. It's weird to me. Of course, I did also have a neighbor who never put out his trash for pickup and just snuck out at night before trash day and distributed his garbage into in other people's bins. Cheapass.

"Hey man, I'm Unique. Like Monique but it's got a 'u' in there for uniqueness." Yeah, you should have let Yori smack him, Buck.

Well now Yori is just not in the mood for lunch. Bucky tries to persuade him, but one grumpy old man out grumps the other. "But Izzy. We always go to Izzy on Wednesday. What if I buy?" "Fine. But no talking." lol. BFFs!

Yori is looking at the obituaries. "Look, nobody made it past 90 this week." Bucky tsks "So young, such a shame."

Bucky kind of smiles at the girl behind the counter at the sushi joint, Yori tells him he should ask her out. Bucky makes a "are you nuts, shut up" face. That doesn't stop Yori. "He would like to take you out on a date. Maybe to bingo or a night of pinochle." You're a wild man, Yori!

She's down by it, though, and she and Yori hammer out the details while Bucky's like uh, okay, so wow, that's happening. "There's a dance to these things. You can't … you gotta warm up and I haven't danced since 1943."

Yori sees something and suddenly gets sad. His son loves red bean mochi. His son was a consultant, working abroad and he was killed. Oh. Oh Bucky, why you gotta … Yori's son was the innocent witness he killed at the hotel in his nightmare/memory. "I will never know what really happened to him." Brutal.

Delacroix, Louisana

Sam's on his way home. Wilson Family Seafood. Aww. His nephews are helping mom with the catch. "Blue for the snapper, orange for the white fish," Sam calls out. The boys run over to him. They do look like fine gentlemen. It's weird, Sam, I get it. I recently realized my oldest nephew will be 13 in May and it's like "no, he's only in kindergarten, what are you talking about?"

His sister greets him then tells him he's looking all sneaky. Sam deflects. Their boat has seen better days. The Paul & Darlene. Aww. Is that his parents names? "Baby being held together by duct tape and prayers." Just needs to float long enough for his sister to sell it. But Sam's all, uh I thought we were going to *discuss* that. Uh oh, family drama. "We did, and then you were off fighting Dr Space Cape or whatever (lol), while I was holding it together for five long years." Ouch.

Sam is not down by this selling the boat thing. His sister doesn't seem to think they're in a position to hold on to it. Also, she'd really like to not hash this out on the pier with like twenty other people around, Sam.

They get into more of an argument on the boat. The family biz is not doing well financially. Sarah won't let Sam help for some reason, and he makes some comment about the house and loans and she punches him in the chest. lol "I forgot how hard you hit."

Sam insists they can turn it around, consolidate loans. And she's all, been there done that, I've come to terms with this. He's a persistent little jerk. This is such a perfectly sibling argument. Notably he has moved himself out of punching range.

Aww, she wants to believe he can save the boat, but she has DOUBTS.

Back in Brooklyn. Bucky attempts his date. He turns up at the end of the sushi girl's shift and gives her flowers. "Well, if that's not the most adorably old-fashioned thing anyone's ever done."

They chat while she tidies. He tried online dating oh lol. It didn't take. She tells him "You sound like my dad. Wait how old are you?" "Hundred and six." Oh yeah, what a funny joke. Next she wants to know why he's wearing gloves. "I have … um … poor circulation." He grimaces at himself and glances out the window. Smooth as silk, Bucky. Smoooooth.

"Let's play a game." Now, I'm thinking like some weird dating word/get-to-know-each-other game or something. I don't know. But, nope, she means Battleship. lol. I like her.

The drinking game version of battleship. Bucky sucks at it. "You sure can drink." "Yeah, well." Super assassin, unfair advantage.

We're just going to rub in this whole The Winter Soldier killed Yori's son thing, as she says it's nice that he's spending time with the old man. Since he was all messed up after his son was murdered and how it was extra hard because he didn't know what happened. I'm not sure this is healthy, Bucky.

"There's no word for someone whose kids die." Okay, ouch, lady, jeez. Bucky looks like he wants to puke. Or crawl into a deep dark hole. Or something. "Because it's the worst thing that can happen." Bucky nopes right out the front door. So, maybe they should have played pinochle instead.

Bucky goes to Yori. Are you really going to tell this man you murdered his son when you were a brain-washed Hydra assassin? Yori asks how the date was, and Bucky sees a shrine to the man's son in the apartment. Poor Bucky. He makes some excuse about owing Yori for lunch and leaves. Yori's name is in his book of amends. :(

Back in Louisiana. Sam and the kids are packing up meals. His sister maybe wants to sell meals in addition to fish. Sam says they've got to get going to their appointment at the bank. She's says it's in an hour. Sam must be just the worst brother to live with "There's no such thing as on time. You're either early or late. Pick one." Man, no wonder he gets punched.

Switzerland

Lt Torres is walking down a street with an unusually large number of people just sort of milling around in the middle of the street looking at their phones. He's got his kind of hidden, recording. He stops a guy and asks if he knows what they're supposed to be doing. Oh it's the flag munchers, or whatever. There's a weird phony bird whistle and then people gather around a person handing out masks with red handprints on them. His decoy bad guy phone chirps and gives the order to run. A guy jumps out of a nearby building with two huge duffle bags (of money it seems) and walks off while the previously milling people become a seemingly panicked mob, distracting police and whatnot.

Torres tries to arrest the jumper guy, who appears to have some super strength as he kicks a policeman halfway across the street. Torres, you're cute, but not super bright. Torres gets body slammed and then stomped. He survives again, however, defying the odds.

At the bank. The account manager keeps giving Sam the side-eye as he goes through their paperwork. "Do I know you from somewhere." Sam's all modest, "I don't know. Do you?" And then he makes a little wing flappy move with his hands. lol. What a nerd. "Falcon!" Then he takes a selfie with Sam. Sarah is very done with all this. She tries to get them back on track. Account guy wants to know how Avengers make a living. Probably not looking good for your loan, Sam.

"Is there some kind of fund for heroes? Or did Stark pay you when he was around? My condolences, by the way."

Yeah, financially this is looking bad, my dude. "You have no income over the last five years." Well, but, he was blipped. I mean …

Alas, shot down for the loan.

Sam and Sarah argue on the street. Ah, Sam ran off to the Air Force and didn't deal with what was going on at home. Oh my, this is getting ugly. Speaking as someone who got disowned on account of a family business, let me just say, they're not easy. Nuh-uh.

"Half the boat's mine and so is the house. We're not selling our family's legacy." "You gonna do me like what when you know I'm right?"

I get it might be awkward to ask, but I bet you could have asked Pepper for a loan, Sam, and she would have given it to you gladly. Come on, man.

Later. Sam's working on the boat's engine, and it's not cooperating. In the cabin he looks at the family pictures on all the walls. He's having a rough day. About as rough as Torres who texts him to find a secure line and call him along with a selfie of his bruised and battered face. #important (lol, really?)

Sam watches the footage Torres caught and they chat about how Torres was supposed to be doing that stuff online and not getting his face kicked in in Switzerland.

Sarah interrupts and turns on the TV. Some guy is giving a speech about how everybody needs a hero. "We need someone who can inspire us again. Someone who can be a symbol for all of us. So on behalf of the Department of Defense and our Commander-in-Chief, it is with great honor that we announce here today that the United States of America has a new hero." hmm, no comment. Except, you should have taken up the shield, Sam. Now it's Sam's turn to look like he's going to puke. What did I say about power vacuums? Somebody will fill them, whether you want them to or not.

This new guy looks like a goober. There, I said it.

credits

So … lots of setup. And very clear on the two guys trying to figure out where they fit in this world post blip and big wars. Both of them trying to fix broken families.

Plus a goober in a Cap suit.

So far so good.

#tfatws #tfatws spoilers #the falcon and the winter soldier #the falcon and the winter soldier spoilers

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i-make-fun-of-spn-characters · 4 years ago

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In a fandom which's hell bent on killing each other how'd you manage such a tension free dash

(this is supposed to be serious but affections, I love you. You don't deserve any hate mails if you do get them!)

<3 I really never get hate mail. I literally did not receive my first hate mail until like a month ago (and I am pretty sure I know why). My interactions with fandom have been overwhelmingly positive, and what ugly things I have gotten were easily dealt with or actually so funny that they improved my mood (because I am actually a monster).

The real toxic elements in fandom are truly a minority... a very, very LOUD minority. They literally will not shut up, but more people than you think are fucking sick of them and just want a place to go where they aren't around. The majority of fans here are lurkers. They love the show, but they don't put out content or posts about it. They just like and reblog from other people. Some of them don't even do that—they just follow.

I couldn't tell you for sure how I managed a mostly tension free dash Anon, but this is what I think helps:

I'm a non-shipper but not anti-shipping. Most of the major toxic haters in this fandom really just have a huge chip on their shoulder about one ship or another and have no fucking clue how to fight with someone over something they don't like without bringing a ship into it... case in point: the incest anon from like a month ago who literally thought they could gaslight me into believing I ship incest because I use the word "anti". A friend of mine told me recently that shortly after I started this blog, she saw some stans talking back and forth about a meme I had posted, and they actually reserved judgement on me because I didn't seem like a shipper. What a wild place this is.

I do try to be equal opportunity with jokes, though I admit I pick on Sam the most just because for some reason... I find it very fun. But I don't genuinely hate any of them and I think that comes through for most people so that they feel comfortable following. They know I don't think their fave is some sort of irredeemable monster. The goal is simply to poke a bit at everyone. Once, I posted a joke about Cas (I think about him leaving Dean in his coffin underground LOL), and a Cas fan got upset, but the person they reblogged it from actually commented back to them that it is all in good fun, and I didn't make the joke from a place of hate at all, and they immediately calmed down.

I try to remove hateful and incendiary comments from the notes of my posts so no one has to see them/no one feels inspired to fight over them, as well as long analysis comments (even if I agree with what was said). (I rarely have to do this).

I (used to), in my blog description, threaten to reblog and laugh at people who get mad at me. I just think we all need to be able to take a joke sometimes... and when a joke isn't funny to us, just move on with our lives.

When someone repeatedly seems to get butthurt about certain memes, serially posting little snippy comments I have to remove, I eventually take note and block them.

I try to tag certain topics for blacklisting. If you never want to see anything except jokes and memes, you can blacklist #being serious for 5 seconds. Finale memes are tagged #spn finale poo poo. Shipping jokes (though rare) are typically tagged #shipping and #shippers. Memes about fandom instead of the show/characters are tagged #spn fandom crack and #spn fandom humor. Any wank about negative interactions from hardcore stans or hate mail or anything toxic like that is tagged #get out you louts. Mail is tagged #mail. Hate mail is further tagged #hate mail. Posts and jokes about antis/hardcore stans are tagged #don't feed the stans after midnight.

What I will never do is create a tag designed to help people hunt down jokes making fun of one specific person (besides their name, and their name being tagged is no guarantee they're the butt of the joke). I know what the result would be from doing that, and it's the exact opposite of the environment I want here.

#=D #mail #being serious for 5 seconds

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ofcamerasflashing · 4 years ago

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thank you for the tutorials, what things should you include in your rules?

Rules are a big must have on your blog. How you do it is up to you from using carrd, google docs, a post that you pin, or a page but it is something that everyone is going to look for. I’m someone that likes detailed rules with a bullet point system at top as well. The reason I say this is because I’ve ad people that 1) don’t read rules 2) go IT”S NOT IN YOUR RULES even if it was a common thing to expect. I will personally take a page that has three rules over no page at all. This whole thing is very much a rough guide and you can pick and choose what you prefer to have on your rules page but hopefully this helps get your wheels turning inside of your head on what you want to add into your page.

Your penname, age, timezone, and pronouns. If you feel comfortable sharing ethnicity and place that you live in (state / country ) than put that there as well.

Triggers: How do you tag your triggering content? remember that fancy tags with // or anything might not pick up on the blacklister. Do you have any triggers yourself (Please know there is a difference between a trigger and something that just makes you uncomfortable).

What content makes you uncomfortable and would prefer if you don’t be approached for plots like this.

Smutting: Do you smut? Are there any rules about smutting that go into place when it comes to this content? Maybe you are someone that will only rp it on discord, with close friends, etc. Also a good time to mention if you use the read more feature and if you tag it (Which you should tag it in my opinion).

Banned fcs: Any faceclaims that you won’t write with? You aren’t required to state the reason you won’t rp with a certain face on your rules doc.

Banned characters / tv shows: This is really helpful and for me as an example the show I would ban is 13reasonswhy for several reasons although I do believe the whole big excitement level for those has died down so having it in my rules isn’t needed for me personally.

DNI: If you’ve had a bad experience with someone in the past I’ve seen people use one of these. Do not interact is what DNI stands for. This means if you are friends with, write with, etc then following this blog is a no go. I have personally never used one of these

OCS and Relationships with your character: Are you fine with original characters? What makes you comfortable interacting with an original character? The second part is really a good idea if you play a canon character to a tv show. If you aren’t comfortable with something tell the document. So say I’m playing Klaus Mikaelson and I’m uncomfortable with original character children that I have not heavily plotted with that would be there.

Formatting: How do you format your text? Is there a certain aesthetic that gives you a headache? Does aesthetic matter to you?

Threads: Do you like certain thread lengths? How about how long it takes for you to normally to write a response back? Is there a type of thread you can’t do / don’t want to rp? For some people the idea of smutting is a turn off and won’t be written. This can also really go in the smutting section as well if that is the case.

What are you looking for in a partner: Are you more into rping with people that match length? What about the age limit of your partner? In the fandom that I’m in a lot of people are +20 meaning the comfort level is to only write with players that are 20 years old or above.

Posting: Is there a certain time of day that you will likely be posting in? Is your blog queue based? Do you post your replies as soon as you finish them? Tell everyone that sort of information if you feel it is needed.

Ask memes: Are you a reblog from the source? Are you the type of person that prefers to have a plot before someone sends in a meme? How many memes is too many for a partner to send in at a time?

Credits: Did you make your icons? Did you make the psd? is there a base you use on something? Did you borrow inspiration from another blog (with permission)?

Contact information: I’m not saying that you need to put your facebook information there, a picture of yourself, or anything for that matter. I’m talking ims, discord, anything like that. I often times just put my discord information right there because I’m not overly concerned with getting requests from strange people I haven’t followed back. I put that when I add you that you should tell me who you are so I know.

Status: Are you private? exclusive? mutuals only? Not picky at all and will write with everyone? Put that all here because it is helpful information to gather.

Mains and exclusives: Who is a main for you? Who are you solely only ever going to write with this fc or character with? How do you go about getting mains and exclusives? Any rules on that to help someone know what is okay and what isn’t.

Currently looking to make a mini series full of questions, guides, and more to help people learn about the indie rp world. If you have any questions, requests, etc feel free to drop them into my ask box. Please note that this is just my opinion on things and from my experience and there is no right or wrong way to do this. I’ve only ever written in the fandom / canon character fanbase but that still provides with a lot of information to help others. Been writing in the indie world of rp since at least 2013 and been on tumblr since 2012.

#rph #rpt #rpo #rpa #rpc #LONG POST TW #long post #・ ˖ ✦ ⋄ . ❝Mine: Answered Ask.❞ 【OFCAMERASFLASHING】#・ ˖ ✦ ⋄ . ❝Series: Indie RP World.❞ 【OFCAMERASFLASHING】

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babysprouseisart · 5 years ago

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sprousehart my ass. cole blocked zumpie but you still reblog from her?? go suck a dick you retarted cunt

Oh goodness... I think the ‘Get Lili away from your username and pfp you cunt’ part is yours too, so enjoy being blocked...

First of all, I don't know what you meant by using your very 'eloquent' - 'sprousehart my ass...', whether it was your resemblance to them or trying to appeal to your own ass with a plea about your suppressed feelings, either way it's ridiculously dumb. And in the first case, it is that neither Cole, nor Lili are your ass. It sounds so stupid and disrespectful, even the slightest bit of fat on your ass is not worthy to have an attitude to these two people, especially so respected. And if your anger is because you really are a true fan of them both and idealize them, especially Lili as I see it, then you mustn't even put those two words together, one of which is so nasty, and should show respect for your faves. And in the second case you come out as just rude, uncouth, abusive, uncultured, and I am sure that even many children younger than you will be smarter and more intelligent. What is even this, is this a set of random words or do I need to think about it? Your style of speech reminds me of the drunk bazaar dialect of the distant nineties of the end of the last century. Please, freaking learn grammar, writing and the logic. Second of all, you're clinging to some facts without knowing the details, for no reason, even though there's a lot of subtext, and if you have read everything that's written in her blog, and you'd look at all the evidence that proves her right in a certain place, and not grab what the brainless, crazy fanatics on Twitter are shouting, who are big hypocrites, and I hate it terribly, you would know why and how. I hope your little brain manages to process that people with a multi-million audience do not notice one person or even several percentages among the total number, because they simply do not care and do not have time to measure and filter them? Can you even imagine that Cole just decided to find her among 30-something million people and block her? It's completely absurd to drag this in as proof that he noticed it and blocked it out of great hatred, has been stalking her for some time in all the media and saw all that she said. And even if she is actually on his blacklist, it's only either because there was a clear glitch and in Instagram because of some often actions, or because he did it because 'someone' told him and probably asked him to do it, providing some information, which could be and, I am more than sure, was deliberately exaggerated. If you think otherwise and believe in all sorts of soap theories of your blind allies who spread hatred towards this person illegally, just because she is freely speaking about Lili or Cole on her untagged blog objectively and not hatefully, even if sometimes it may seem harsh. They clearly do not know the shit, are egoists who want to get only their own benefits and move others to their side, being hot fans of Lili for the most part and do not accept any slightest adequate, objective, neutral or slightly critical facts about her in addition to positive, thereby idealizing the person, which is such a hypocrite behavior and stimulated the double standart thing in relation to different famous or not-famous people and this is wrong on many levels. And I have no idea how to deal with the harming bugs like you and those who you support, because this is an unhealthy attitude, as no one has the right to send such waves of negativity to a person without properly understanding and, obviously, you need to reconsider your views on a lot of things, because unlike you, we - who may even lean more to Cole than to Lili and it does not matter if it has always been the case for a lot of people here or it has changed after some things in her attitude/behaviour changed, whether you accept it or not, it is a fact, and anyways even if you still want to argue with me, I don't give a fuck, I'll stand my ground - never ever specifically come to other blogs to throw so much shit on those who have a different idea, nor we did idolize any of them seriously without the basement, and do not argue so much about not accepting any of the flaws, cause we soberly understand that any person has it and so do Cole and Lili. And, in conclusion, do you really think you, here, without knowing me personally and not being an authority for me, have a right to call me or the people I support names, tell me what to do on my blog, about the content, organization and the design of it and what/from who should or shouldn’t I reblog things? No way in the world, sad, pathetic, obsessed piece of shit. And of the two of us, you're the one who will suck cock just because you're a jerk who has nothing to do and can't do anything else. Oh, yeah, I forgot, I'm not a freak like you so excuse my sharp language, I'm just trying to talk to you fairly, in a way you understand... Bye!

#cole sprouse #zumpie #katie talks #lili reinhart #I support them both #no matter what #I just do not agree with everything she says or does recently #anon hate #anons #nasty anons #cowards #people are hypocrites #seriously #I have double standarts #god. this #sprousehart #it is not your business #i blog what i want #sorry not sorry

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tinklingjade · 5 years ago

Text

A Detailed Lukanalysis

Before getting into this post, let me just say that I have a pretty moderate stance toward canon Luka. Yes, I think he could play a more important role in the show as more than just Marinette’s alternative love-interest. I’m not defending the way Luka is used in the show.

I watched all the episodes with Luka in them and took detailed notes on what happens and what we can imply, mostly as ‘research’ for when I write Luka in my fics. In light of Luka salt I’ve seen lately, though, I decided to share my findings to make the case that Luka does have a well-rounded, consistent personality, and has had plenty of on-screen opportunities to display his character.

Even if no one reads this whole post, my purpose is accomplished from the sheer amount of evidence I found when scouring the episodes for indicators of his personality.

Analysis starts below the cut.

Observant/Accommodating Nature

Though being ‘observant’ and ‘accommodating’ are two separate traits, I put them together for this point because they are interlinked in Luka’s personality. He observes so he can be more accommodating.

Attentive to Conversation Partners

When Luka is introduced in Hardrock, we see him watching Marinette intently when she talks to him, and he notices/points out all her verbal mistakes and fluctuations in mood. (See “Role of Music —> Smoothing Ruffled Feathers” for more on this scene below.)

Attentive to Surroundings

In Frozer, although he is shown gazing out toward the ice rink while Marinette and Adrien are talking privately, he interjects his advice for Adrien regarding Kagami, showing that he has been listening the whole time, and that even when he seems not to be involved or paying attention, he is taking in his surroundings. (He’s an eavesdropper.)

Luka’s advice for Adrien sums up Luka’s character very well. He says, “Be natural. Follow her rhythm, let yourself go, and let her guide you.” (Quoting in a rough translation from French version because I feel it’s clearer and more direct than the English version.) His policy is to observe first, then mold himself to accommodate the other person/people involved, letting go of his own will and desires. He is not one to insist his own way. That does not mean he always stands by without acting, though (see below, “A Man of Action”).

“Follow Her Lead”

Luka’s advice, “Follow her lead,” does not mean to literally let one person dominate all the time. Assuming he follows his own advice, let’s look at his dynamic with Marinette. Rather than literally letting her lead him onto the ice, he in fact is the one leading when they skate together. “Follow her lead” means to observe the other person, intuit what they need, and provide that. Since he senses that Marinette is unstable (on her feet mostly, but potentially emotionally as well), he provides the guidance and support that he thinks she needs.

As a related point, in Miracle Queen, when he offers Marinette a shoulder to cry on, he does not ask her what’s wrong or attempt to pry anything out of her; he tells her it’s okay to talk to him, or not talk to him, whatever she wants. He forces nothing on her, but tries to be what she needs.

Cool-Headed (by Choice)

When Marinette interrupts him meditating, he takes his time to open his eyes, and doesn’t break his posture (Hardrock). He is not easily flustered. Meditation is often a solution to a problem (stress, anxiety, emotional fluctuations, etc.), so Luka may suffer from some of these problems by nature, and has found a solution that works. See “Hot-Headed” below for evidence of anger issues.

In Silencer, he is visibly very angry, but has enough self-control to let go of the angry feelings and walk away at first. (More on this under “Focus on Others —> Indignant for Others.”)

Whenever shown, Luka channels a very calm, easygoing disposition in general. However, in the section below, there are hints that this is not his nature, but rather, something that he chooses.

Hot-Headed (by Nature)

When Luka sees XY wearing the Kitty Section rip-off costume, he immediately gets angry. Later, when XY boasts, Luka does not make excuses for him, he is ticked off. He jabs XY in the chest and snatches the mask off him. When Bob Roth says more infuriating things, Luka growls, shakes his fist, and clenches his fingers so hard they shake and start to crush the mask, before he is even touched by the akuma. Usually we see this sort of reaction in the victim once the akuma has entered the cursed object.

Luka does not exhibit the self control that he shows in other situations, but rather, animalistic rage, like the expression, ‘seeing red.’ He treats XY and Roth as if they have been “blacklisted” in his mind and no longer has the forgiving, calm attitude toward them that he has toward people who are in his good graces.

Luka also shows signs of anger in the form of clenching teeth or lowered brow (even toward Chat Noir in Desperada for not showing up) whenever he feels like the situation is not right.

Focus on Others, Not Self

Concern for Others’ Comfort / Emotional Perceptiveness

Luka tends to prioritize the happiness and comfort of others over his own, and is very attentive to whether people are comfortable or not. Because of this attentiveness, he can easily sense other people’s emotions. He laughs at Marinette when he meets her, but when he senses that she is hurt, he immediately switches tracks to try to cheer her up. Later, when he senses that she feels more comfortable and that it’s okay to tease her without hurting her, he does so (Hardrock).

When his mother is akumatized, Luka looks distraught and begs her not to ruin the music festival for other people, showing that he does not like to disturb others or make them unhappy, and that this is more of a concern for him than the fact that his mother is akumatized.

Respect for Others

Luka also shows respect toward others, from his mannerisms (guiding, helping hands, picking up miraculous box with both hands, etc.). Considering his mother shredded tickets issued by a police officer, he did not learn this under the rod, meaning it’s an innate sense of respect for other human beings he has developed on his own.

Counting His Ducklings

Whenever someone he cares about is not accounted for (Marinette in Hardrock, Adrien in Desperada), Luka is concerned and is the first to ask about their well-being when Ladybug shows up. Luka looks out for ‘his own’ and worries / takes action until he sees them safe.

The Positive Enabler

Luka is quick to speak praise for other people and plays the role of the ‘encourager’ / positive enabler within the group. In Silencer, when Marinette is excited about the opportunity to submit a video to XY, Luka immediately brings up her designs. As soon as they finish rehearsing, he immediately praises everyone’s performance and the group dynamic. In Reflekdoll, he tells Juleka she’s pretty and encourages her to follow her dreams. He says positive things to make people feel good about themselves, and confident enough to take action.

Indignant for Others, Not Himself

Luka gets more angry when other people are concerned (Marinette, or his friends/family, as shown in Silencer and Desperada) than himself. He is more upset about Marinette’s costumes being stolen in Silencer than his own song being plagiarized. Moreover, while he is willing to walk away after being insulted as a musician and having his own song stolen, when Marinette is directly attacked by Roth, he becomes infuriated and akumatized.

Hawkmoth’s speech gives us insight, since Hawkmoth can feel people’s emotions. He says that Luka cannot bear to see the ones he loves suffer. This shows that the reason Luka gets akumatized is not because the work was plagiarized, but rather, because Bob Roth is yelling at Marinette, subjecting her to humiliation and insult and trying to crush her self-esteem. This emotional abuse is what Luka cannot bear.

He accepts the snake miraculous in Desperada because his family and friends were attacked.

Genuinely Concerned for Others’ Happiness

When Marinette goes running after Adrien, Luka is left alone, yet he smiles, showing that he is not only putting up a positive front for Marinette; he genuinely wants her to follow her heart and be happy. He also looks on tenderly, like a proud parent, when Adrien and Kagami come to the houseboat, saying “I’m glad Adrien has found someone he can leave the house with.” He wants his friends to be happy and do what they want to do.

In Felix, Marinette accidentally talks about Adrien in front of Luka, and feels embarrassed that he’s heard. In response, Luka tells her that he will be happy if things work out between her and Adrien, but that if they don’t, he (Luka) is there for Marinette. The fact that he answers this way is an acknowledgement that Marinette is aware of Luka’s feelings. However, Luka doesn’t want her to feel guilty or conflicted about having feelings for Adrien. He wants her to be happy and feel at ease, and that is more important to him than asserting his own feelings. (See “Speculation —> Why Luka Doesn’t Pursue Marinette” at the bottom for more on this.)

Generous with Belongings/Space

Luka doesn’t closely guard his personal belongings and space. He’s comfortable with having it invaded, and generous with his belongings. He shares and accepts people into his life freely. When he meets Marinette, he doesn’t mind her touching his things and gives her a pick right away. He warms up to her right away and is already teasing her within five minutes of meeting her. When Adrien appears, he welcomes him into Kitty Section without even knowing anything about him (Hardrock).

In Desperada, Luka frowns when Marinette suggests Adrien, and gets a hopeful smile when Jagged Stone mentions him (Luka). This shows he is aware and not indifferent to what is happening. However, when Marinette asks Luka to lend Adrien his guitar, Luka hands it over, saying “If you like, Marinette.” Later, he also gives up the guitar to Ladybug.

His willingness to hand over one of his most important items shows that he is not a possessive and jealous person. But also, the fact that he did so at Marinette’s bidding with the words “If you like” shows that he is willing to prioritize his love and support for someone (Marinette) over his self-insistence.

Positive/Trusting Outlook

Luka shows that he is quick to trust. When Marinette escapes from Captain Hardrock’s chains, Luka goes along with her plan, allowing himself to be recaptured in order to let Marinette escape without fully knowing what her plan is. Without trusting Marinette, that seems risky since he is also free and has the agency to seek help, but is losing that agency by allowing himself to be recaptured.

In Silencer, Marinette freaks out when there’s no response about the video, but Luka makes excuses for the studio, saying they probably got a lot of submissions and are still picking. He’s probably the type of person to give people the benefit of the doubt when there is no evidence of a reason to distrust their motives. E.g. if a random person is rude to him, he will more likely think “They’re probably having a bad day,” than “What do they have against me?”

He is not the type to freak out, assume the worst, and catastrophize.

Luka also seems to value upholding other people’s trust in him, and that trust is important to him as a whole. When he gives Ladybug back the snake miraculous, he thanks her for trusting him.

Methodical Thought Process

The way Luka uses the snake miraculous reveals a lot about his thought process and ties into the next point, “Role of Guitar/Music.” Let’s take a look at Viperion’s first fight in Desperada.

In battle, Viperion hangs back and watches, IMMEDIATELY hits Second Chance when something goes wrong, and gives instructions to Ladybug/Chat when they loop back. (By contrast, in Miracle Queen, Snake Noir reacts emotionally to the situation—freaking out, gaping in shock, realizing what’s going on—for a few seconds before hitting Second Chance.)

A couple Second Chances later, we see a clip of Viperion playing the lyre, sitting on the Eiffel Tower, out of the fray of battle. When Desperada reacts to the lyre playing, Luka smiles delightedly, like an experimenter who is seeing the lab rat respond the way he hopes. He then hits Second Chance again despite no errors happening, because he has accomplished his purpose for the loop.

Luka is methodical in his way of using the snake miraculous. He doesn’t just use it and hope things will go better next time. He uses it strategically, testing different variables until he sees which ones lead to the results he wants. Armed with knowledge that he gains piecemeal through multiple Second Chances, he formulates the perfect plan and instructs the team on what to do. In this battle, he is the brains, not Ladybug. His observation skills are his strength as Viperion.

This leads to the next point… that clues indicate that Luka uses music the same way—to get results that he wants, because he has observed that it works more efficiently than words. (“Sometimes, music is clearer than words.”)

Role of Guitar/Music

Smoothing Ruffled Feathers

Luka uses his guitar to affect/manipulate people’s emotions in a way that words cannot easily do. When he senses that he has offended Marinette upon meeting her, he plays something, and she cheers up (Hardrock). When he notices Marinette is down in Frozer, he plays something cheerful and she brightens up. Considering characteristics mentioned in “Methodical Thought Process,” it’s likely he has picked up this efficient tactic for changing people’s mood through music.

Connecting with People

In Party Crasher, we see Luka keeping to himself at first, but he is later shown playing the guitar while Jagged Stone plays the piano. Aside from when Luka is playing music with Kitty Section, we only see him on his own, yet his friendship with Kitty Section members seems strong (Silencer video prep montage). As his friendship with Adrien develops, we also see them playing instruments together while looking at one another. This shows that Luka’s way of forging connections with people is through making music together.

Expressing his Sentiments Toward People

In Frozer, when Luka says “I think I have a new song to write,” some may interpret this as a cheesy metaphor to mean that he has feelings for Marinette.

However, in Miracle Queen, we see Luka actually composing a song for Marinette. This shows that it was not a metaphor (or is only partly a metaphor)—he literally intended to write a song for her. People express their affection and love in many ways. Marinette makes clothing or baked goods for people. Adrien mimics the gestures of others (making a charm because Marinette made him a charm, giving roses because that’s what romantic cliches do). Luka writes dedicated music.

When Marinette kisses him on the cheek, he becomes happy and promises to come up with the perfect melody for her song, indicating that he will finally express his feelings for her in the song he’s composing.

Playing/Joking

Three times, Luka makes jokes with the guitar—the ‘guitar curse’ in Hardrock, the baby song in Desperada, and the sound effects for Juleka in Reflekdoll. His “guitar emoting” is done playfully and probably with a degree of self-awareness that it’s silly, but as mentioned above, he finds it effective in cheering people up.

...But All Within Reason

In Miracle Queen, when Marinette breaks down, Luka does not play music. This indicates that he uses his guitar as a tool when appropriate, but he does not one-sidedly rely on it as a cure-all for how to interact with people. In Miracle Queen, Marinette does not need the guitar, she needs someone who will listen and give her a shoulder to cry on, and Luka provides that.

Internal Law, Not External

Especially having been raised by a mother with little regard for authority, Luka shows that he is ruled by a strong sense of inner morality, but is willing to bend rules that are imposed on him externally. He doesn’t mind breaking the law when he doesn’t feel the act is morally wrong (Hardrock).

This point extends slightly to encompass that Luka is motivated by inner factors, not outer factors.

Strong Moral Compass

In Desperada, when Ladybug calls Chat for help and he does not answer, Luka looks pissed, indicating he feels like Chat is shirking on his duties. Also, even though Chat makes excuses about Adrien’s whereabouts and pushes Luka into a locker with the instructions to keep hiding, later Luka runs into Ladybug and Adrien in the sewer. This means he did not listen to Chat, but went looking for Adrien to make sure he was safe, because he felt that was the right thing to do.

Impulsiveness

Luka is driven by what he feels is right to do at any particular moment. In Love Eater, he is working at a job, and tells the customer “Sorry, I have to go” and immediately goes off to visit Marinette to play a song he has thought up for her. He is still using the company bike, and may still be on his shift / have a job to do, but his priority is to fulfill his creative need. He doesn’t hesitate to give Marinette a ride on her own errand, despite probably having duties to do himself. His top priorities/loyalty lies with his loved ones and his creative goals.

He brings his guitar with him on his deliveries, implying that he could stop at any moment to play something if inspiration strikes, a hint of an impulsive personality.

Self-Motivated

Despite being easy-going, Luka does not have a complacent nature, but challenges himself to be better. When he plays the song for Marinette in Love Eater, at first he says it’s perfect, but after she listens and he gets her feedback, he decides he can do better and takes it back to tweak more.

Akuma Form Symbolism

This point is only LIGHT evidence as it ventures into questionable symbolic grounds, but as an akuma, Silencer scoffs at the notion of Ladybug and Chat Noir as figures of moral good. “Where were they when we needed them?” He says he will lay down the “Law of Silence.” This symbolizes Luka’s disregard for externally imposed morality / conventions and indicates that he operates according to a strong inner moral code. From a writing perspective, though, this can count as valid evidence of this characteristic of Luka’s, since akumatizations are manifestations of people’s deep emotions.

Body Language

Luka often uses body language (gestures and touches) to communicate. He invites Marinette to sit on his bed with a gesture, no words (Hardrock).

Luka is a tactile person who is not shy to invade other people’s personal space. When guiding, helping, or speaking to Marinette/Adrien, Luka is often touching hands, shoulders, waists, arms, and often he leaves his hands on them the whole duration of the exchange (Hardrock, Frozer, Desperada). To encourage Juleka, he touches her shoulders, pins up her hair, and kisses her head. He is not stingy with physical affection.

Introversion

Usually, when Luka plays the guitar for other people, his eyes are closed. He does not watch their reactions, despite the fact that he is playing for them (usually Marinette)—to change their mood or in dedication toward them. This can symbolize that although he devotes himself and his actions to others, and finds communication important (see “Responsible Communicator” below), he is still a private, introverted person.

In Party Crasher, Luka is only shown briefly during the party. When he is not playing the guitar, we see him standing among the crowd using his phone and not interacting with anyone, while all the other guests are either doing crazy things or talking to one another.

In Felix, Luka is with the group on deck at first, but later, he has retreated to his room even though the rest of the group is still on deck.

Private Humor

Luka doesn’t make very flamboyant jokes like Chat Noir, but he does show a sense of humor, making jokes with the guitar or gently teasing. This subtle humor can go undetected, but (as with Marinette) is appreciated more by the people he has gotten close to.

Responsible Communicator

Talking is the Best Policy

Luka shows a standard policy that communication is the best way to solve problems, and practices this himself. (See “Multiple Methods” below.)

We can see Luka’s thoughts about communication surface in the advice he gives to others. In Frozer, when Luka notices that Marinette is upset about Adrien, he advises her to talk to him. In Reflekdoll, when Juleka is having doubts about her ability to model, Luka advises her to talk to Marinette.

Multiple Methods of Communication

Luka doesn’t spare his words to communicate, but he also uses words, body language, or music to communicate. By saying “Sometimes music is clearer than words,” he indicates that his goal is to reach people and he feels that music can be a more efficient means of doing so. (See “Role of Music” for more on this.)

In Silencer, he praises the sincerity of the song, indicating that it’s important to him that the message of the song be pure and genuine, and that communicating true sentiments is a large part of his goal in making music.

Not Shy to Speak Up

In Frozer, he shows no inhibition or shame about admitting (by getting involved) that he was eavesdropping on Adrien’s private conversation with Marinette regarding Kagami, despite the fact that others might see this as intrusive or not socially acceptable. He is not shy to speak his thoughts.

He also confessed to Marinette easily in Silencer. It was unplanned, impromptu, but he said exactly what he meant.

Stress Response

He meditates (Hardrock). See “Cool-Headed.”

Sublimation

In Frozer, Luka is playing alone on the deck when Marinette joins him, and he does not change the (melancholy) song before he asks her, “You feel like this, don’t you?” The song was not originally for Marinette. This means that he was playing a melancholy song for himself before Marinette joins him, and by implication, he was feeling melancholy, and that when he feels upset, he plays the guitar. He is smiling faintly when Marinette comes on-deck, implying that the self-soothing method is working.

The above is evidence that Luka deals with stress through “sublimation”—in other words, transforming a negative emotion into something positive, productive, or creative.

Space

In Frozer, when Marinette is upset and flees from the rink, he does not pursue her. He gives her space, meaning he recognizes that his solicitation is not always what will help the other person, and indicating that he also seeks space when he is upset.

A Man of Action

Learning and Leading by Example

Instead of offering Adrien verbal advice in Frozer (aside from his few short lines), he shows Adrien an example, through his treatment of Marinette, of how to treat Kagami. The fact that he teaches by providing a visual example indicates that he learns by example as well. See “Speculation on Why” for why this might be.

Lending Help

Despite the fact that Luka does not mind stepping back in social or romantic situations, when it comes to a situation where people are in trouble or need help, Luka does not hesitate to act. He and Adrien are watching Ladybug fight alone in Desperada, and when Adrien says Chat Noir may not be there in time, Luka is the one who insists that they do something to help Ladybug, and immediately tries to create a diversion. In Miracle Queen, he jumps between Marinette and the bees, protecting her the same way Chat protects Ladybug. He is not a coward.

Pursuit of Dreams

Luka has a job. He’s pulling his own weight, in that small way; he is dependable and responsible enough to have a job. By working, he is developing the means (money) to make his dreams happen.

Feelings for Marinette

How He Developed Feelings

Some people perceive a gap between Luka meeting Marinette and suddenly having a crush on her, and wonder how in the world he caught feelings.

In Captain Hardrock, Luka witnesses Marinette stuttering and nervous first, then sees her during an akuma fight. The contrast of these two aspects of Marinette’s personality are plenty to wow Luka, and is it any different from what Chat Noir witnessed in Ladybug to make him fall in love with her? Let’s recap.

When Marinette is chained to Luka in the Liberty, Tikki undoes the lock, and Luka is amazed, instantly impressed that Marinette has managed to get them out. She says she did it with the guitar pick, and he is impressed, saying she’s a magician. He probably thinks she is smart and resourceful to be able to come up with a way to undo the lock.

When Ladybug appears, Luka praises Marinette to her, saying she’s a brave girl. Ladybug mentions that Marinette alerted her. From Luka’s point of view, all he knows is that Marinette has escaped, and the only way out is the window which would drop a person into the Seine. He probably assumes that Marinette jumped ship, swam, and figured out a way to contact Ladybug for help. A proactive, resourceful, and bold personality with miraculous connections (would just anyone know how to contact Ladybug for help?). Plenty of traits to admire and find extraordinary.

After Hardrock, Luka and Marinette go on a “date” together (Frozer), and spend significant time together working on creative projects (Silencer). Plenty of time for his admiration to turn into a full-blown crush before his “confession” in Silencer.

Marinette Over Music

Luka lets his guitar drop in order to hug Marinette with both arms instead of just one. Despite the fact that he feels attached enough to his guitar to bring it on his job deliveries, he’s willing to risk it getting damaged for the sake of providing Marinette some temporary comfort. Though it’s a simple scene/gesture, the camera angle (low, showing fallen guitar in the foreground) indicates that this scene is symbolic, showing how important Marinette is to Luka, that she takes precedence over his other great love in life.

The end screen shows Luka looking distressed while holding a crying Marinette. Going back to Hawkmoth’s comment about Luka as someone “who can’t bear to see the one he loves suffer,” his main concern is not to date her, but to comfort her so she won’t suffer anymore. Putting together his empathic nature, his facial expression, and everything we know about him, he probably feels torn up and in pain himself when he witnesses Marinette like that.

Passiveness in Love

For my thoughts on why Luka does not pursue Marinette, see below under “Speculation —> Why Luka Doesn’t Pursue Marinette.”)

Speculation

This section is speculation based on the clues provided above.

Why Luka is So Observant and Self-Motivated

Luka was raised by Anarka, a woman who has no respect for social conventions or authority. She has an illegally-parked houseboat, does not respect police officers, and does not believe in cleanliness or organization. It’s unlikely that such a person would teach her children social constructs like gestures of courtesy, or put them in lessons the way Gabriel has done for Adrien, etc.

We see in Frozer that Luka knows how to figure skate. He has probably learned from watching, rather than having been in lessons. It is likely that most of the learning Luka has done, has been from watching other people and picking things up. In order to learn in such an unstructured, free environment as Anarka has created on the Liberty, a person must be self-motivated, otherwise they end up as a slob who can’t do anything.

Luka’s advice to Juleka is to follow her dreams in life. We can assume that Luka is doing the same, and that no one is pushing him; the only way he can achieve his dreams is to push himself.

Why Luka is So Friendly with Adrien

We may suppose that it is due to Luka’s empathic nature that he’s able to embrace a rival in love (Adrien). Because Marinette loves Adrien, he may pay Adrien special attention and notice the things about him that Marinette loves, and as a result, also feel admiration toward Adrien as well. In Desperada, we see Luka being very concerned about Adrien, looking after him, making sure he is safe. It’s possible this special attention derives from his feelings toward Marinette.

Why Luka Doesn’t Pursue Marinette

Luka tells Marinette he has found her melody, but he asks if she really wants to hear it, then follows that with “You’re still thinking about Adrien, aren’t you?”

It’s obviously a metaphor that the song being perfected and Marinette listening to it symbolize her and Luka syncing up romantically. Looking deeper, though, Luka recognizes that Marinette is seeing him as a rebound now, and as much as he likes her, he knows that she will not feel fulfilled if she dates him as a rebound and her heart is still stuck on Adrien. Luka only wants to date Marinette if her feelings for him are genuine; if not, he will stand back.

(For more on this point, see “Focus on Others, Not Himself: Genuinely Concerned for Others’ Happiness.”)

Conclusion

Luka has a personality.

I think other characters, like Marinette and Adrien, are easy to caricature. Marinette’s propensity to catastrophize, bumbling in front of Adrien, obsessive crush, crazy/daring plots, etc. Adrien’s daddy issues, denseness, anime-style dramatic flair, romantic ideals. These characteristics are all easy to exaggerate and lend themselves well to humor, drama, etc.

Luka, on the other hand, has subtle and moderate characteristics that are difficult to exaggerate and don’t lend themselves well to humor and drama. His only major quirk (love of music) is easy to parody, and that makes him seem one-sided.

Honestly, I think he’s more like a normal human being. Not everyone’s personality screams something, but everyone is driven by a set of principles and values, the way they think, the way they see the world, behavioral trends, etc... and I feel like the writers have given us plenty of glimpses at what those are for Luka.

#Luka Couffaine #Miraculous Ladybug #ML Analysis #Luka Apologist

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aye-write · 4 years ago

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Summary: Research student Isla Reid has been fascinated with the legend of the Kildonian Chessmen - a trio of mythical Pokemon rumoured to have lived centuries ago on the remote region of Kildo - for as long as she can remember. So, when a museum exhibit on the Chessmen is set to open in Kildo’s Hydrogate City, coinciding with her independent research project, she packs herself and her trusty partner Furret onto the long ferry journey bound for this new region.

However, when she arrives in Kildo, thoughts of her research, new friends, and an entire Pokedex’s worth of new Pokemon, are quickly dashed. Kildo is a troubled place, beset by natural disasters and fierce rivalries among its people. Isla suddenly finds herself at the centre of a centuries-old plot to invoke the wrath of the Chessmen, and is set on a race against time to stop them, before it spells destruction for the entire region.

Other Links: Read it on Ao3!

Tags: OC Pokemon journey, OC region, Fakemon region, bisexual main character, found family, ace main character.

If you are not interested in these posts, especially as I know Pokemon journeyfic is fairly niche, please blacklist the tag #Checkmate. Most of the story will be put under a Readmore anyway!

Author’s Note: If you’re interested in more information, exclusive updates, character art, and teasers for this fic, please consider following its sister tumblr @kildo-pokedex!

This was another chonker chapter at 4.5k that I didn’t anticipate being this long at all! The joys of plantsing, eh? I had hoped to reveal the starters this chapter, but that’s being bumped to next update. In the meantime, please enjoy the reveal of Brootser, and the partial reveals of Weldeon, Ampster and Coastrot!

*****

Chapter Three

Despite everything, night rolled over the Whispering Pine Croft.

After hours battling insomnia, Isla stole downstairs not long after the clock in the hallway chimed midnight. Goosepimples erupted on her skin, the air chilling her to the core. Clicking on the floor lamp, she cast her gaze around the living room. A rickety bookshelf took up most of one wall, covered in dust and trinkets. It didn’t take her long to strike gold.

The Etymological Dictionary of Old Kildonian, 1981 Edition.

Sitting at the old coffee table, she spread out her books and copies of the Old Kildonian script until there wasn’t an inch of space left. Then she opened the dictionary and started to read. She read, moving between dictionary and text, until her eyes strained in the dim light of the lamp, and the words on the page turned into incomprehensible squiggles. Just keep going, she told herself, as she marked off another decoded word. Just keep going. Just keep going. Just keep—

“Isla?”

Isla slammed the book shut. The noise seemed to echo forever in the quiet of the living room. The intruder snapped on the main light and Isla blinked foolishly as everything illuminated around her. It was Blair at the door, swaddled in an enormous red dressing gown and a pinched look on his face.

“What are you doing down here?” he asked, pulling his dressing gown tighter. “You’ll catch your death of cold.”

“I’m… I’m not doing anything,” Isla said, trying to collect the papers together, position her body over them, anything to hide them from sight.

“Really? You look like a student trying to panic revise a whole subject the night before an exam,” he chuckled, plopping himself in the seat opposite. “Come on. What’s up?”

Isla sighed. What was the point in lying? “I’m just trying to make some sense of these texts.”

Blair glanced at the clock above the fireplace. “At half two in the morning?”

“I couldn’t sleep. This presentation is doing my head in.” When Blair frowned, she added, “My supervisor asked me to update them with all the “progress” I’ve mad so far. Of course, I haven’t made any yet.”

“So, you’re trying to decode all these old books with…. an out-of-date Kildonian dictionary?”

“I found it in the bookcase. I thought it might help.”

“I’m pretty sure that book is older than me. Please don’t tell me you’re taking it word-by-word.”

“More or less.”

“You’ll be there months trying to sort all that lot.”

“I don’t have any other choice,” Isla’s voice cracked. “Everyone is hounding me. I can’t let this come undone. They’ll pull approval of my project and fail me if I don’t keep jumping through all their hoops.”

“Why is the legend of the Chessmen so important to you?”

Isla hesitated. It was an innocent enough question, but the thought of answering it felt like ripping her chest open and exposing the beating heart underneath. “Well...” she started, cringing at how stupid it all sounded in her head. “When I was little, I was kinda lonely. I didn’t have siblings. Or friends, really,”

Blair made a sympathetic noise.

“No, it’s okay. I wasn’t that bothered by it,” Isla lied. “But because I didn’t have many friends, I naturally leant towards books instead. And I loved fiction, like adventure stories and that, but I felt so much more connected to things that were actually real.”

Blair nodded. “Understandable.”

“Anyway, one Christmas, I got this book. I think it was called Myths and Legends of the Pokemon World and it had all the origin stories of all the legendary Pokemon from like… every region in the world. God, I ate up every single story - how Arceus created the world, the theory that all Pokemon came from Mew in some way, how Groudon and Kyogre created the land and sea. I was absolutely hooked. Then, right at the end, there were a couple of small articles devoted to a place called Kildo.”

“Typical,” Blair muttered. “Always playing second fiddle to the big guns.”

“The book explained a little bit about the legend of the Chessmen. I was just… amazed at how these Pokemon brought humans these gifts of technology and arts and whatnot and how advanced the region was for its time. And then when I read what happened next, well… I just wanted to know why. Why did the Chessmen take away what they gave the humans? What happened to them after they became dormant? I was obsessed. When I was younger, I had this stupid dream that I would like… Oh, it sounds so cheesy now, but… like solve the mystery of what happened all those years ago.”

“It’s not cheesy, Isla. Dreams are never cheesy.”

Isla bit the inside of her cheek. “I know that. It’s just… well, this legend has been everything to me for years. I’m not bigheaded enough now to think someone like me could ever solve it. But I’d love to find something. Even if it’s just standing in the same place these Pokemon stood once, all those years ago. But now it feels like it’s slipping away from me. I won’t be able to do anything unless I get these texts translated.”

“They’re well-known texts, right? Haven’t they already been translated?”

“The only translations that exist are locked behind online paywalls,” Isla sighed. “Not exactly within my budget. The originals were family owned. I suppose you can’t blame them for wanting them kept safe.”

“Could the university not pay for you to access them?”

“Not my department. They already think the project isn’t worth the time. They’re usually into social changes, modern day life, that sort of thing. Mythology doesn’t get a look in. Even though I changed my project a bit – focusing more on how the mythology influences modern life, with the Chessmen more of like a case study – the department still don’t want much to do with it.”

“Well, that’s their loss. Your project sounds fascinating just from what I’ve seen of it.”

“This little bit you’ve seen might end up being all it ever amounts to. With Nana Morag in the hospital, my options for translations are limited, and these old texts are all I have to help me piece together where the Chessmen might be.”

Silence unfurled around them. Isla stared down at her lap, her legs shaking and her mouth dry. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d ever talked so much about herself and she found that she couldn’t quite bring herself to look Blair in the eye.

“I think I might know someone.”

Isla pricked her head up. “Really?” she said, hope throbbing in her chest.

“I have a friend who lives in Inverbrook. It’s not a huge city, but they do have a subsect of Tideburgh University there. He’s doing a Masters in Language and mentioned being involved with an elective on Old Kildonian. I can contact him for you. He might be able to help.”

Something surged through Isla like she’d just taken a shot of adrenaline. “Oh, Blair, thank you! That’s amazing!”

“No guarantees, of course!” he said, spreading his hands hastily. “He might not know enough of it to be a proper help. But he may be able to put you in touch with some other folks who can help, if that makes sense.”

“It does. A lot of sense. Thank you again.” Isla paused. “Where is Inverbrook?”

“Pretty much directly south of here. About forty odd miles or so. Following routes 29 through 26 pretty much leads you right there. Public transport is crap, though, so you’re better walking most of it. Shouldn’t take much more than a couple of days if you’re…”

He paused. Isla knew what he wanted to say. If you’re fit. Women like her weren’t supposed to be fit. And even though the thought of days of walking filled her with equal parts apprehension and dread, she forced a look of determination onto her face.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “I can handle it.”

Isla shared the news that she would be leaving in the morning as they sat down at the kitchen table. Kenneth and Skye stayed quiet, barely reacting to the news, but Rhona’s face crumpled.

“Oh, chick, are you sure?”

“I think it’s probably for the best,” Isla said. “I don’t want to be a burden, especially with you guys having your hands full with the croft and Nana Morag being ill. Having a guest is too much on top of everything. I really do appreciate everything you’ve all done, but I think it’s best that I head towards Inverbrook and start my research properly.”

A strange expression passed over Rhona’s face, one that Isla couldn’t make sense of. For several terrifying moments, she thought she’d offended her.

“You wouldn’t be a burden on us, Isla,” Rhona eventually said, her eyes brimming. “We’d happily have you here for as long as you want. It’s been lovely having you.”

Isla felt something in her heart buckle.

“We do understand that your studies have to come first. But… you said you wanted to go to Inverbrook?”

“Yes. Blair is going to put me in touch with a friend of his there that might be able to help me with some translations.”

“It might not be as easy as you think, chick. I’ve just been watching the local news. There was flooding down south. The river that goes through Route 27, which connects Port Glen to Inverbrook, burst its banks. The whole route is submerged. No-one can go through. It’s completely impassable.”

You wouldn’t have said the entire of Port Glen had only just recently been battered by a storm, Isla thought, as she set off down towards the harbour after a filling breakfast. The morning sky pinkened gently, like a mother’s embrace, and golden threads of sun drifted through soft, watercolour clouds. A cool wind kept the worst of the heat at bay as she walked. All in all, it was a fairly pleasant experience. Well, as pleasant an experience as walking would ever be.

It was Rhona that had suggested trying the ferry. She couldn’t be sure what passenger routes they ran from Port Glen, or if they only did international and goods shipments, but it was a better option than waiting the potential weeks for the Inverbrook route to be cleared or taking the (extremely) long way around the whole region.

Breathing heavily and sweating despite the brisk ocean breeze, Isla stopped to catch her breath as she arrived at the harbour. She cast her gaze around hopefully. It was quiet. Too quiet. Not a good sign in the least. Aside from the occasional sailor pacing the docks, and the sharp, cutting cry of seabirds, the place was still and silent.

The thought of asking someone to help sent panic crashing through her like waves in a storm, but there was no other choice. The best option rested with a nearby sailor, busily looping ropes and picking apart complicated knots. A Pokemon stood at his side. Squat, muscular, with short brown fur, flecked with white, and cut into a stout triangle pattern, it was another one that Isla didn’t recognise. Every now and again, the sailor tossed it a particularly difficult-looking knot of rope, which the Pokemon expertly shredded with sharp, curved claws.

“Brootser, the Pelting Pokemon. The evolved form of Brogue. With incredibly sharp claws and powerful jaws, Brootser are highly aggressive and territorial. Even against much stronger foes, it won’t back down easily,” her Pokedex chirruped.

Isla’s hand tightened around Soba’s Pokeball as she read more details. A Fighting type. A second evolution. Being a Furret, Soba wouldn’t stand much chance in a fair fight, much less an unfair one. While she did generally feel more comfortable approaching a fellow Pokemon owner, she probably could have stood to pick one with a less terrifying partner.

All the same, she approached the sailor, keeping herself primed like a coiled spring. “Excuse me? I was wondering if you could help me with something?”

The sailor had a strong, lined face, but he didn’t seem anywhere near as intimidating when he relaxed into a smile. “Sure,” he boomed. “What can I do for you?”

“Are there going to be any sailings from this port in the next few days? Anywhere that lands near Inverbrook?”

The Brootser, distracted from its work with the knots, pressed its wet nose against Isla’s hand. Isla let out an involuntary squeak.

“Brootser, stop that!” the sailor said firmly. “Sorry, miss. He’s obsessed with leather. Have you got leather in your handbag or anything? Your shoes? I swear, he can sniff it out within a mile. I have to keep him distracted at work otherwise he’d never leave people alone. Here, Brootser, go and do this for me.”

The sailor tossed a section of rope a few feet down the docks. The Brootser growled, a deep throaty rumble, before dropping to all fours and pursuing. Within moments, the rope was ripped to little more than fibres.

Isla searched for something to say. She eventually settled on, “He’s cute.”

“He’s a menace is what he is,” the sailor said, wiping his brow. “Anyway, you were asking about the ferries? Unfortunately, the passenger ferry was badly damaged in that storm two nights ago and won’t be running any routes for a while.”

“How long is a while?” Isla asked nervously.

“We’re waiting for some metal workers to come down from Hydrogate. They’re delayed because their Weldeon team were exhausted after a big job in the ironworks. Currently we’re looking at about a week.”

“A week?”

“I’m afraid so. If you go to reception and leave your details, they’ll be able to contact you as soon as we know when the sailings will be going ahead.”

“Aren’t there any other options?”

The sailor considered. “Not here. But if you’re set on sailing and you could get to Dewbrae Town, I think they’re still running sailings.”

“Where’s Dewbrae Town? Is it close?”

“It’s up past Aberdrip City, which is an hour’s drive north of here. Then you have to pass through Aberdrip Forest and that brings you out just at Dewbrae. Maybe a couple of days walking if you keep a steady pace,” he paused, and Isla felt his eyes rake her body. “Maybe a couple more. But, if you’re in a hurry, it’s better than waiting around here. Everything’s very up in the air at the moment.”

Isla thanked the sailor, trying to ignore the heavy feeling that came over her. Why was this so difficult? She’d encountered disaster at every turn so far and, in her darkest moments, she couldn’t deny wondering if it was even worth it to keep going. Nana Morag ill, no passage to Inverbrook through Route 27, no ferry from the Port Glen docks, now she had to go all the way to Dewbrae – wherever that was – on nothing more than a possibility?

But what could she do? What other options did she have?

Rhona would know what to do, Isla decided. She had a way of sorting things out, an uncanny level-headedness her own mother didn’t have. That’s what she’d do. She’d head back to the croft and take stock of the situation. She started walking, thoughts whirling through her head like the flapping of birds’ wings. Maybe there was another way to Inverbrook. They knew the region better than she ever would. Maybe they could—

“WIIIIING!”

Isla gasped and swore as her foot trod on something soft. With a gust of cold air, the offending thing burst upwards and pain erupted at the top of her head. Sharp, pointed talons dug into her scalp and she yelped in pain.

“Gull! Gull!” her assailant screeched; each squawk accompanied by a swift peck to the head.

Isla’s hands closed around her attacker’s soft wriggling body. With all her might, she tore it from her head and tossed it as far as she could manage. But the Pokemon swooped back into the air, seemingly unharmed, fixing Isla with a glare that sent a tremble down her spine.

“Gull! Wingull!” it shrieked.

Recognition dropped into Isla’s belly like a stone. It was a Kildonian Wingull. The same Kildonian Wingull that had attacked Rhona the day Isla got off the ferry. At least, it certainly looked like the same one – she could hardly call herself an expert on them – but it was roughly the same size and had the same high-pitched squawk. And didn’t the Pokedex say that Kildonian Wingull only attacked people who had food? Isla didn’t have a single crumb on her. So what other motive could it possibly have for attacking her?

Isla reached for the Pokeball at her waist, panicked fingers scrabbling for the catch. But the Wingull screeched again, diving into a tackle. The impact came low in her stomach, knocking the air from her lungs and leaving her doubled over. The second blow sent her off-balance and stumbling, eventually crashing to the ground where the pain came in sharp spikes. With a fury of feathers, the Pokemon ripped Isla’s bag away from her.

“Hey!” She wheezed. “There’s nothing in there for you!”

Her protests were rewarded with a face full of frigid water.

By the time Isla had sluiced the water from her face, the Wingull had unhooked the bag’s clasp and was digging around in her things. Hairbrush and deodorant were both ignored, the coin purse in the shape of a Quagsire got an inquisitive gnaw but ultimately left in favour of a pen, which lasted a whole thirty seconds until it splintered and was promptly spat back out.

Every inhale felt like she was being stabbed underneath the ribs, but she still forced herself to move. “Leave my things alone! There’s no food in there!”

Wingull had wriggled itself right into the bottom of the bag and had pulled out an old emergency kit that Isla had nearly forgotten about. Most of the items had already been used or dumped over the years she’d had it, leaving only a couple of travel sized Potions, a Repel Kit, and a Poke Doll, wrapped up in a worn-out bag. The Wingull squawked indignantly and decapitated the doll in one fell swoop. Then it turned back on the travel bag, scraping around and tearing at it with its beak.

Something dropped out. Isla’s heart plummeted to somewhere near her feet.

It was a Pokeball. An old Pokeball scratched and grimy with age. A Pokeball that Isla had all but forgotten about ever since she made the decision to train just Soba all those years ago. A Pokeball that was now right in the Kildonian Wingull’s line of sight.

She saw it happening before it actually did. The hungry Wingull viewed the Pokeball as nothing more than a shiny, tasty snack. It darted forward, opened its beak wide, and engulfed the old capsule. Isla prayed that the ten year old ball would turn out to be too old to work anymore, and the worst thing to happen would be the Wingull hacking it back up again. But the Pokeball made a shrill shiiing noise as it made contact with Wingull’s beak, and the Pokemon disappeared in a flash of blue light.

The Pokeball shook. Once. Twice. Three times. Then it was still.

And Isla had caught a Kildonian Wingull.

Isla told the story of her accidental Wingull capture to an appreciative audience when she got back from the docks. And then again over sandwiches at lunchtime. While Soba curled up in the corner next to the radiator, oblivious to this new teammate, Isla released Wingull for the nerve-wracking job of introductions and feeding time. Rhona’s eyebrows rose so high that they practically disappeared into her hairline, but she didn’t protest.

“I can’t believe it’s the same one,” Rhona said, eyeing her half-eaten sandwich she was planning on saving for later. “Most try their luck once and then move on.”

“I think it’s young,” Blair said, lifting its wing to get a better look. “Perhaps separated from its mum too early. Maybe it doesn’t know any better.”

“I didn’t mean to catch it,” Isla sighed. “I’d forgotten all about that old Pokeball. We were always told to carry an extra one or two, even if we never intended to catch Pokemon, like for emergencies and that.”

“It must have been starving if it thought a Pokeball was food. Or maybe just exceptionally stupid.”

“Jury’s out on that one,” Isla said, as the Wingull pecked at a Tauros shaped pepper shaker.

“Kildonian Wingull are incredibly food oriented,” Blair lifted his plate to avoid the Pokemon’s frantically flapping wings. “Most of the bird Pokemon around here are.”

“Why is that?”

“Competition. Because there’s so many, they all compete for the same natural resources. That’s part of why people think Wingull adapted for Kildo the way they did. They couldn’t compete for most of the natural food, so they evolved to take food from humans instead. Problem is, they end up thinking all food is fair game. Hey, watch it! No! That’s mine!”

Isla suppressed a chuckle as Wingull lunged for the crusts on Blair’s sandwiches. In the kerfuffle of squawking and feathers, Isla looked over at Skye, who hadn’t said a word through the entire of lunch. Her face was screwed up.

“Skye? Are you alright?” Isla asked.

Skye made an odd strangling noise, pushed herself back from the chair, and ran for the stairs, each one thudding under her feet. A moment later, a door slammed.

“Did I say something wrong?” Isla said, horrified.

“No, not at all,” Rhona said, rescuing a glass of juice that had been upended when Skye left the table. “She’s just a bit upset. We were supposed to be going up to meet Professor Spruce tomorrow to get her trainer’s license and first Pokemon. But because Nana Morag is in hospital, I have to be here in case something comes up on short notice, and I just can’t spare the time to take Skye up to Aberdrip City. She’ll only be delayed for a few days, but the poor lass was so looking forward to it. Especially when she’s had to wait so much longer than everyone else.”

“Why’s that?”

It was only after she asked the question that she considered it might have been rude. Or none of her business. Too late to save herself now, though. Rhona’s face tightened, her mouth puckering like she was sucking on a sour lemon.

“Sorry,” Isla looked down at the table. “I shouldn’t be nosy.”

The kitchen fell quiet. Rhona let out a deep, juddering exhale and sat back down, folding her hands into her lap, the kitchen suddenly feeling about ten degrees colder. Isla took a sip of water, her mouth and throat turning to chalk.

“Skye had childhood cancer.” The words didn’t even get a chance to settle before they were tumbling out again, like Rhona was trying to get them all out at once. Like they couldn’t hurt her as much that way. “She spent most of her childhood in hospital with leukaemia.”

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.” Once again Isla found herself cursing both her mother and herself for not bothering to find any of this information out beforehand.

Rhona shook her head. “It’s alright, chick. We don’t talk about it much. Besides, she’s been in remission for a year now. But she’s missed out on so much school and she gets tired so easily.”

There was nothing Isla could say that would be enough. She had to settle for, “I’m sorry to hear that…” and hope Rhona could somehow understand just how much she meant it.

“There was a time when she was being treated that she became very low and very depressed. It was frightening. I’ve never been so worried in all my life. We were scared she was just… giving up. Then, one day, they had some Pokemon trainers visit the hospital. A lot of children there would never be able to go out training. Some wouldn’t even… you know, live to see their next birthday.”

Rhona’s voice wavered. Blair put his hand over hers and squeezed. “Easy, Mum. Don’t go upsetting yourself now.”

“One of the trainers was assigned to Skye,” Rhona continued. “But she was so quiet and so withdrawn that we didn’t think the trainer could get through to her. The trainer had this Pokemon with her – Ampster, I think it was – and it was like a light turned on behind Skye’s eyes when she saw it. I saw glimpses of my daughter again. This trainer stayed with her for hours. Just talking. She’s wanted to be a Pokemon trainer ever since. And I hate that so many things keep getting in her way.”

Rhona sunk her head into her hands. Her shoulders quivered.

Isla felt terrible. No wonder Skye had been quiet during the whole of lunch. How stupid had she been? Skye was being kept from her dream of being a Pokemon trainer and she’d waltzed into their kitchen showing off a Pokemon she hadn’t even meant to catch? It made Isla’s toes curl just thinking about it.

“Could Skye not make the journey on her own?” she asked.

“No,” Rhona lifted her head again, looking pale even at the thought. “She’s not fit enough. We were going to rent a car and drive her, but…”

“Could I take her?”

The offer slipped past Isla’s lips before she knew what she was doing. Rhona looked at her in mild shock, her mouth slowly gaping open.

“I mean, I’ll be passing through Aberdrip anyway!” Isla continued. “One of the sailors said I could get the ferry from Dewbrae Town which is just past Aberdrip, right?. I could take her along with me.”

“Gosh, that’s very kind of you, chick. And I’m sure Skye would love it,” Rhona said, nervously glancing at the stairs. “But I’m not comfortable with her making the trip back on her own. Or even just the amount of walking she’d have to do.”

“I could go with them,” Blair said.

Rhona looked at her son like she’d only just remembered he existed. “What’s that, honey?”

“I could go with them,” he repeated. “We could put Skye on Coastrot. That’s my partner Pokemon,” he added for Isla’s benefit. “He’s strong enough to carry her and we can keep her nicely bundled up. Then once Isla heads off to Dewbrae, I can take Skye back.”

“I don’t know,” Rhona said. “We need you here too.”

“Mum, it’s a day. Maybe two, tops, if we let Skye rest overnight. You and Dad can manage that long, right? You could ask a couple of the lads from the market to pitch in if you really need to. I’m sure they’d work for a hot pie and some cash in hand. And you don’t need to worry about us. We won’t do anything silly. We’ll just get Skye her Pokemon, check in for the night, see Isla off to Dewbrae the next morning and head back ourselves. Easy-peasy!”

Rhona still didn’t look convinced. “It’s such a long way, though. She’s not been away overnight in such a long time.”

“It’s a few hours of travelling, Mum. You said it yourself, Skye’s already missed out on so much. It might not feel like much for us, but for Skye, it’s her whole life. One delay after the other. And with everything the way it is right now, what if there’s just more delays? More reasons not to take her? You have to let her.”

Rhona went very quiet, her face pale.

“I’ll look after her, Mum,” Blair said. “She needs this.”

“I know you will. And I know she does,” Rhona heaved a sigh. “She’s not my little baby anymore. She’s growing up.”

“I’d like to go.”

Everyone jumped at the voice that came in from the doorway. Rhona wiped her eyes. “Oh, Skye, honey, sorry. I didn’t hear you come down. Are you okay?”

“I think I can do it,” Skye ignored her mother’s question. Her voice was louder this time, but still hesitant, like she was testing out its limits. “I want to go get my Pokemon and I’d like Blair and Coastrot to take me. And Isla,” she added, and Isla felt a smile curve onto her face. “If that’s okay with you?”

Silence widened like a chasm between mother and daughter and for one horrible moment, Isla half-expected Rhona to turn away, to start shouting, to deny her flat out. But then tears spilled out of Rhona’s eyes and her whole face softened.

“Yes, honey,” Rhona said, her voice little more than a whisper. “Yes, that’ll be okay with me.”

As they hugged, Isla felt a stray tear prick at the corner of her eye. The emotion surprised her. Yes, it was touching to see a mother and daughter hug and reconcile, but something told her it went deeper. As she looked out at the dying sky, strewn with deepening orange and slicks of black, something unsettled itself in her heart.

Tomorrow she would be leaving Port Glen. Tomorrow she would leave behind a family unit where she felt accepted. Tomorrow she would start her journey to Inverbrook.

She didn’t know which one felt scarier.

#checkmate #pokemon oc fiction #pokemon fanfiction #fakemon #fakemon fanfiction #long post #fanfiction

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takadasaiko · 5 years ago

Text

Love Me Twice: Chapter Five

FFN II AO3

Summary: Liz works with Katarina, Red gives the Task Force a new Blacklister, and Jacob tries to figure out who Maddie Tolliver is and what her connection might be to Elizabeth Keen.

Chapter Five

"So," she mused, reaching for and flipping through another file, "the Sikorsky Archive is a blackmail file put together on powerful people."

She sat surrounded by research that fanned out from her in every direction. Names, dates, and faces stared up and Elizabeth Keen stared back at them, working her way through any connection she could find. It had been a little over a week since Katarina had won her loyalty and helped pull her out of what had felt like a never ending tug-of-war game between her mother and Reddington, both sides violently opposed to each other…. until they weren't. Katarina had proved that, unlike Reddington, she could set the war aside for Liz. She'd helped to save Reddington's life even after Reddington had refused to help save hers and had chosen to tell Liz the truth. There were no half-truths and or hidden agendas between them. What Katarina knew, Liz knew, and it felt like a breath of fresh air for the first time in seven years. She could get used to this.

"One that those that bought into the Townsend Directive are willing to kill me for, yes," Katarina answered from her own place at the desk she had set up in the small hotel room.

"And these people….?"

"The ones I've uncovered that have bought in."

"They're the ones being blackmailed?"

A soft sound drew Liz's attention and her mother looked tired. Years of running, years of looking over her shoulder, she couldn't blame her. Especially since it was Ressler's and her own questions that had shone a light on the possibility of her being alive. "Perhaps. I don't believe the list is complete yet or, perhaps, even if those are the end buyers."

"Fronts?" Liz confirmed and flipped the page to find a particularly gruesome image. "It could make sense why we haven't found a connection yet. My team—"

"Is beholden to Reddington. You cannot tell them about this. Elizabeth." She waited until Liz looked up, meeting those steely blue eyes of hers. "You can not tell them."

"I know." Her phone buzzed and she reached for it. Nick's Pizza flashed across the caller ID. "Speak of the devil."

"Your team?"

Liz blinked, confused for a moment by the association the other woman drew, but brushed it off. "Reddington." Liz waited until Katarina nodded her acknowledgement before she tapped the accept button. "How are you feeling?"

"Fit as a fiddle," came the cheery response from the other end of the line. "Amazing what rest and adjustments in medication can do."

"Any chance you'll tell me why you need the medication in the first place?" Liz asked, unfolding herself from the hotel room floor and standing. She looked down at her watch. She'd need to leave for the office soon.

"There are more pressing matters. How soon can you make it to Franklin Square? There's a lovely little bakery down here with exquisite passion fruit croissants. They are simply to die for."

Liz quirked an eyebrow, shooting Katarina a long-suffering look even though she couldn't hear the conversation on the other end. "Unless there's more than fancy croissants, it's going to have to wait."

"The croissants are a bonus. I have a new Blacklister for you."

That was interesting. "Really? I thought you were on bed rest. Or is that why you're giving the case to us? Having us do all your legwork to track down my mother?"

"Not everything is so devious, Elizabeth. Our deal includes me providing Blacklisters and that's exactly what I'm doing."

He wasn't going to give anything else up over the phone, that much was obvious. Liz loosed a long breath. "I'll be there in twenty."

"Splendid! We'll save you a croissant."

The line went dead and Liz shoved it in her pocket before reaching for her purse.

"Leaving so soon?" Katarina asked, though it was hardly strange. Since she wanted Liz to keep their alliance to herself their meetings had to be short. A quick drop in after sending Agnes off to school or a brief chat in the car. They were making it work.

"Reddington has a Blacklister for us."

"And you think it has to do with finding me?"

Liz grabbed her purse. "He's always got an agenda, and I won't know if this one has to do with you until I talk with him. I'll let you know."

She started past, but Katarina's hand snapped out and caught her by the wrist. The hold was firm but gentle. "This will end, Elizabeth," she promised. "When we find who really has the archive and prove to the people hunting me that I didn't take it, this will all be over."

Liz tried for a smile. "I know."

She slipped carefully and silently out of the room, down the hall, and to the back stairs that would let her out into the alley behind the building. As Liz stepped out into the sun, she couldn't shake the feeling she was being watched. She turned, carefully and discreetly, but found no one. No familiar faces, no cars with people loitering in them. Nothing that should have sparked the feeling other than a healthy sense of paranoia that has clung to her the last several weeks. She felt like she was always being watched these days. For her safety. That was the running excuse. It was wearing a little thin.

She brushed it off as best as she could as she slipped into her car. The first step was to meet with Reddington and see exactly what wild goose chase he was about to send them on, then she could deal with whatever tail her mother had stuck her with.

--------

The deeper a client's pockets, the more secretive they tended to be. That had been Jacob's experience, and even though Brigitte Tremblay had provided a wealth of information on Agent Keen to get started with, there had been more than one hole to fill. Very little on family outside of her daughter and no real details on certain connections. Raymond Reddington was listed as her CI, and while Jacob couldn't say he knew the man, he did know enough about him to confidently say he wouldn't have turned snitch for just anyone. There was a connection to Keen or someone else on the team, but if his research the last couple of weeks had shown him anything, he would have put his money on Keen.

Then there was Maddie Tolliver. A woman that didn't seem to belong in the dossier at first glance, but the more Jacob dug the more things didn't add up. The name appeared to be an alias - a burned one at that - with no obvious ties to Keen. None until trailing the fed led him to a hotel with Maddie Tolliver - under yet a different name - inside. He didn't have eyes or ears on the room itself, but he needed to get them.

One thing deep pocket clients could afford to provide was support. Sometimes Jacob brought his own in the form of a new graduate or a promising student that needed field experience, but Brigitte had insisted she provide her own people. They were alright. Not nearly as intuitive as a St Regis operative, but that's what he'd been hired for. So far they'd proven capable of following Keen when he couldn't and she hadn't seemed to notice. One had given him the room number and caught a glimpse of Tolliver as Keen had entered the room, but Jacob wouldn't dare send him in. He didn't trust them that far.

He set the low level tail to follow her while he made his way from the roof of the building he'd been perched on and down to the street level, fishing a pack of cigarettes out of his jacket pocket as he rounded his way into the back alley to find a growing crowd of workers taking their smoke break not too far from the back exit. "Anybody got a light?" was all it took and he chatted with them like he belonged, a subtle hint to being new on the job dropped here and there, and by the time everyone was finished no one blinked twice that he followed them in.

Jacob shrugged his own jacket off to replace it with a uniform jacket that he'd snatched before working his way around to the front desk. He didn't quite make it there before he caught a break he hadn't expected: the elevator dinged, opening to reveal Tolliver and a bodyguard exiting. Jacob redirected and brushed past her, taking the limited opportunity and she didn't offer him a second glance.

The doors to the elevator slid closed and rocketed him up to the tenth floor. It was time to figure out exactly what this Maddie Tolliver's connection was to Elizabeth Keen.

--------

She'd caught sight of her tail finally, but it wasn't one that Katarina typically used. He was young and thought he was being more discrete than he was, but she'd seen him in the hallway of the hotel when she'd left. It would have been one hell of a coincidence that he decided to go for a morning stroll in the same park that Reddington and she walked through as he divulged the details he knew about the case he was handing her.

He called the Blacklister The Collector. A secret keeper of sorts, and Liz perked at the phrasing. He'd called her mother a secret keeper once, but when she pointed that out Reddington had brushed it off immediately. Instead he focused in on The Collector himself.

"Reddington believes he got his start in the Cold War in the intelligence community. He targets individuals with significant secrets and uses those secrets to gain one favour and a lead on another secret. Sometimes he keeps the intel for years before exploiting it," Liz explained to her gathered team and as she spoke. "Reddington says that seemingly autonomous decisions - a Congresswoman stepping down right as her bill comes up for a vote, a businessman testifying against his corrupt business partner a day before their big product was set to launch, or a judge recusing himself from a high profile case - are all the work of this Collector using something that they've done or something that they've been apart of in secret against them."

"He's a blackmailer," Ressler said, his voice low and tight.

"Essentially, and Reddington says that for every public incident, there are at least three that never see the light of day."

Park shifted in her place. "Does he have a lead on who the new target is?"

"He believes that the Collector's next target is Bruno Krause, a German attache." Liz waited until Aram brought the little intel that they had up on the screen. "Thirty-eight, single, and he's been on the ambassador's staff for years. Doesn't look like there's a mark against him, but Reddington says that he's responsible for the death of this woman." A pretty blonde woman appeared on the screen. She was young, all bright smiles and a future stretched out ahead of her. "Amanda Clemmons. Twenty-three. Her body was found trapped in a car that had been driven into a lake. The driver was never found."

"He's using the information to blackmail them, right? What's he hoping to get from Krause?" Ressler asked.

Liz sighed. "Believe me, I asked him. He fixated on his croissant." She couldn't help the snort of a laugh that escaped at the looks she received. Yeah. She knew it was absurd. They all did by this point. Welcome to another day in the life of the Reddington Task Force.

Cooper's gaze remained fixed on the sparse intel, and Liz could see the subtle tells of emotion playing just below his stony mask. He set his jaw and turned to the team. "Keen, Ressler, I want you on Krause. Talk to him. See if you can find out why this Collector might be targeting him. Park, you and Agent Mojtabai keep digging. Deep. Maybe we can follow the trail back and find where our Blacklister is getting his intel."

Liz gave a terse nod and fell into step with her partner towards the lift that would take them to the garage. The yellow doors rattled closed before she felt Ressler's gaze turn on her. "You think this has to do with your mother?"

"You and I both know Reddington always has an agenda, and right now he's focused."

"He told Cooper he wouldn't hurt your mother."

"He lies. That's what he does."

She watched his lips twitch just a little. "Does he?"

The doors opened and she turned a disbelieving look on him. "This is Reddington we're talking about. Every time I think he's capable of an honest moment with me, I find out whatever it is I believed was wrong. He's not my father, he's Ilya."

"But did he ever say he was either one? Actually say it?" He held his hands up in mock surrender at the look the question got him. "Hey, I'm not defending him. The guy's a prick and he'll let us think whatever benefits him, but even you have to admit we haven't caught him in an out-and-out lie. It's about listening to exactly what he's saying and figuring out what he's leaving out."

"That's been my life for the last seven years. It's exhausting."

"Hey, I already said the guy's a prick."

She shook her head as she circled around to the passenger side door. As she opened it she met and held his gaze. "Do you still think he cares? About me, I mean."

Ressler stood there for half a beat as if he were considering it, but then he broke that stare to hop into the SUV. Liz followed suit, assuming he'd move past it without another word. He revved the engine and she saw him check the mirrors before loosing a long breath. "That's the only thing about him I know for sure," he said at last and put the vehicle into reverse.

--------

Brigitte had set him up with a tiny studio apartment. It was furnished with more than he really needed, but it didn't hurt to have a place to go back to to crash and go over what he'd found.

Maddie Tolliver's hotel room had been cleaner than Jacob had hoped for. She had taken any papers of importance with her. The bed was made, her clothes were neatly tucked away in the closet, and the towels were hung over the edge of the shower glass. He had thought that the only thing he would truly walk away with was the bug that he'd planted on the inside lip of the nightstand, but then he'd spotted the glass with the telltale sign of lipstick stains. He hadn't intended to takeanything from the room, but most people would brush it off as the cleaning staff anyway. If they did a sweep of the room he'd lose his chance at audio. At least this way he could run a DNA test and hope to find the real name behind Maddie Tolliver.

A knock at the door took Jacob to his feet, his gun in hand and his gaze hard. He adjusted his grip on his weapon, inching towards the front door carefully, his boots soft against the old wood. He reached forward to unlock the deadbolt and recoiled back, ready for anything on the other end. When nothing came he opened it to find his employer on the other side. She quirked one auburn eyebrow. "You're a bit paranoid, aren't you?"

He snorted and holstered his weapon. "You usually call."

"I didn't realize we'd known each other long enough for a usually," she mused, her tone light as she pushed her way into the apartment. Her blue gaze swept the space, falling on the dossier that Jacob had pulled apart like a puzzle he was working. "Interesting choice."

"What are you doing here?"

"Wondering what you're doing. Agent Keen is working a case."

"I have someone watching her."

"And would you trust that someone with your life?"

"He's your man."

"And you're the one I hired to protect her. Those people are there to support you, not replace you."

Jacob stooped down, grabbing for a collection of papers. "In my experience, it's never the obvious threat that gets you."

Brigitte took the offered file and frowned a little at Tolliver. If Jacob didn't know better, there was a hint of approval in those guarded eyes. "What makes you think she's the threat?"

"There's no reason for her to be in Keen's life. She may be another informant, but if you were able to tag Reddington as one, I'd guess you'd have a note about that for her if she was."

A small sound of acknowledgement left her and she looked directly at him. "So who is she?"

"I don't know yet, but I will. I have the room bugged."

"She'll find those."

"Maybe, but there's nothing she can do about the glass she left. DNA doesn't lie."

"It can if it's not a trusted source."

"It's a trusted source. You don't have to worry about that."

"Zanetakos told me she was handing over her best. Good to know my money isn't being wasted." Her gaze swept him up and down. "Tell me, you have to have a theory."

"I'd rather wait until I have the facts."

"Sure, but where's the fun in that? What's your gut say?"

Jacob pulled in a deep breath and crossed over several more piles of papers. He reached down for one that he recognized and held it out. "A few years ago Keen went on the run. Apparently she was framed by some sort of shadow organization or something like that, but while she was in the cold she publicly admitted to being Masha Rostova. I did some digging."

"Did you now?"

"She's the daughter of a KGB spy named Katarina Rostova. No known photo, no concrete details. Everything is hear-say with this woman. If she's Keen's mother, though…."

"DNA doesn't lie," Brigitte murmured softly.

"Right."

"You think that's who she is?"

"Maybe. It's worth exploring if nothing else."

"And if she is Agent Keen's mother, you don't think she'll be a threat?"

Jacob looked over to where she was standing, his guard flashing up at the tone of her question. He tilted his head a little to the side and studied her for a moment. "Just because someone's blood related doesn't mean they're not a threat."

There was a delay, but finally she huffed what he thought was a laugh at that, handing the file back.. "If anything happens to her on your watch, you won't have time to call an extraction before I get to you. Keep that in mind." Then she turned and walked for the door, leaving Jacob staring in confusion.

In the weeks since he'd taken the job she'd never come by the little apartment, but that day she had, even if only for five minutes and a threat. Whoever Elizabeth Keen was to her, whatever the fed had that Brigitte Tremblay needed, it was important to her. Clients didn't cross St Regis operatives off, not if they wanted to survive the aftermath themselves, but this woman didn't seem worried about that for an instant. She moved through the world like the one that made the rules in a game of her design. Whatever she was after, whatever she wanted, she didn't expect anyone to know until long after she'd had it. He'd worked for people like that before, but never anyone that could pull it off. This woman… she was good. She knew how to play the game, and if Jacob could manage to survive it, it'd be one hell of a ride.

--------

TBC

Notes: You know you've been followed a lot when it's more of an annoyance rather than a concern. Poor Liz has just sort of learned to live in that space.

I hope everyone's doing well and staying safe! Happy Fourth to my American readers.

Next Time: Liz and Ressler hunt a Blacklister, Cooper and Reddington have a heart to heart, and Tom lands himself in a lot of trouble.

#the blacklist #Tom Keen #Elizabeth Keen #Raymond Reddington #Katarina Rostova #Donald Ressler #Harold Cooper #Aram Mojtabai

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illusionlockarchive · 6 years ago

Text

pazam: a mess, truly a mess

so i usually dont do these kind of posts, i guess you could say its a call out of some sort? but i never liked that word, i prefer rather to just compile sources on WHY people would believe that a certain person is not truly as nice and understanding as they seem. consider this more of a psa post, detailing on whats going on with pazam on the sfm community, why so many people are against them.

So, a while back, tumblr user jymble made a post on the main tag stating that pazam was transphobic. they linked back to this post, which contains screenshots of pazam in a group chat stating that they do not feel comfortable with the idea of trans people. now, this did happen 9 months ago, true. however, for the record, pazam is already an adult, 24 years old, so they should have some tact. and as further and more recent events will show, they actually havent changed that much at all, at least not as they claim.

the screenshots should be in the post, but here is a transcript

[Screenshot one]

Pazam:

What????? Why?????

I literally HAVE NOT been doing ANYTHING malicious to them

And if it did I apologized

Yes I do have discomfort about them but I keep it to myself

Why are you doing this????

[End screenshot one]

‘Them’ here refers to trans people in general. Notice the defensive and victimizing stance they almost immediately take upon being confronted about their feelings on trans people.

[Screenshot two]

elliott:

of COURSE you dont

sammaku:

Like specifically

Elliott hush

Pazam:

This whole concept of transness and changing your gender physically

I hate to say it again but it weirds me out and it makes me question my own gender which flings me into anxiety, depression, and obsession

sammaku:

Its fine to not understand but are you willing to learn about it

Pazam:

I don’t want to talk about this anymore

sammaku:

That depression anxiety and obsession just comes with gender issues

(the rest of the text is cut off)

[End Screenshot two]

notice once summaku asks them if they would at least be willing to learn about it, pazam immediately deflects it by saying they dont want to talk about it anymore.

[Screenshot three]

Pazam:

Seriously??? That’s all it takes????

Wow I’m a moron

I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused to you

@.aziraphale @.elliott @.sammaku

I just don’t get this stuff period

And I’ve gotten into trouble with this stuff before

I’ll probably never understand it for the rest of my life but I’ll try to be more tactful around y’all

Especially since you’re all young

And I’m like an adult

[End screenshot three]

While at first this would seem like they had finally learned their lesson and apologized, the things they add on after the @s become quickly worrying. Not only do they admit to ‘have gotten into trouble with this stuff before’, meaning they have probably shown their transphobia in other places and been called out, but they also stand firmly on the fact that they will never understand it or ‘get’ it.

And of course, as jymble points out, the implication that the people they were talking to were only acting like that because they were young.

A while after this post was made, Pazam had posted an apology, and went onto contact jymble asking for the post with the evidence of their transphobic to be taken down. The reason? They were afraid people would see it and think they were still transphobic and not give them a chance.

In this more recent post, you can see the conversation play out between Pazam and jymbles. Long story short, Pazam feels that it’s unfair that that post is still up after they apologized, and jymble of course said they would rather not take it down, people deserve to know what they did and take their own conclusions, even if that involves avoiding them. How does Pazam respond? By flat out deleting the apology post. I’d love to show the apology post to give you both sides of the story but I cannot anymore, because Pazam in a very bizarre move just deleted it because they got mad a trans blogger wouldn’t take down their post with proof.

Here’s the transcript of the screenshots:

[Begin Conversation]

rebloggidy (Pazam’s personal):

I’m by no means transphobia-free after learning what I’ve done but at least I know my actions and am making an effort to be a better person towards trans people.

rebloggidy:

Hi again. So I hate to be that person but would it be ok if you took down that post about the transphobia claims? I know it took me 9 months to apologize but if people only see your side of the story and not realize the post I saw they’ll take it out of context and still think I’m transphobic. Do you understand?

jymble:

... i already told you im not taking down the post.

[jymble sends a screenshot of her own message in a previous conversation, the screenshot reads as follows:

however, i dont think im taking the post down, nor am i entirely comfortable with you interacting with me either. people deserve to know how you acted with this stuff, until youre really and truly *better* with it instead of just trying, and i was a direct target of it]

jymble:

you oughright told me "im by no means transphobia-free", word for word sorry, but i told you before. im not taking the post down.

rebloggidy:

I remember that. But what I'm trying to say to you is that if people who read it out of context will immediately think I'm still transphobic without the other side of it (my comment)

And I don't want people to think that in the future

jymble:

if people make assumptions without looking at the entire situation, thats on them

i am not deleting the post and thats final. people have a right to know what youve done, and they have a right to be uncomfortable

rebloggidy:

I'm ready to take down my post because frankly, I'm sick and tired of having to justifiy something that I did 9 months ago, and that people grow and learn even not 100% during that time and I'm ready to move on.

I'm still into smile for me and feel free to make a blacklist of my name so anybody who rbs my work on your dash can have it hidden or something.

Take care.

[End conversation]

a lot to unpack here, but perhaps most notable is when jymble simply stands her ground and tells pazam she wont take down the post, pazam straight up decides, without being told to or anything, that they should take down their apology. later on, they made a post stating why they deleted the post, and saying they had ‘been forced to’.

I also would love to link it here, but as of now of writing this, like, not even an hour or so after I had seen that post, it got deleted. The only memory I have of it is a conversation I had with my boyfriend about Pazam, in which I copypasted a fragment from that post that read:

“ So for those wondering where the apology post went, I was forced to delete it. I wanted to archive it in some way so I could pull it up for reference, but there was no way I could. Also I didn’t really want to see it every time on my blog because quite honestly it’s upsetting to look at.”

There are some lies and twisting of truths here. Pazam wasn’t forced to delete it, they decided they should do it as a way to somehow get back at jymble. And the excuse that it was upsetting for them to look at is just inexcusable, what matters most, letting people know of what youve done and that youre sorry, or just never addressing the situation?

But, well, I’m just hoping you’ll take my word for it. As you see, Pazam has officially deleted ANY traces of acknowledging this situation on their blog.

This worries me. If Pazam is truly as concerned that they will be seen as transphobic as they claim, why are they deleting anything that could give them a chance of showing their own side of the story?

Now, that is the end, for now, of Pazam’s history with transphobia. However! It is not the end for some other very shady things.

Namely, Pazam has consistently whitewashed characters from Smile For Me, specially Kamal, and when called out on it, simply deletes the asks.

Want to know how I know this?

I sent them an ask myself. I had come across this picture of Boris and Kamal:

And I knew that this wasn’t right. I can understand using light colors and doing watercolor, but if they can make Boris’ hair brown and vivid enough, why not Kamal? He looks like another character completely, or like he’s deathly sick!

So I sent them an anonymous ask, perhaps a bit exhasperated, true, and my wording could be better. It went something like: “i am begging you to draw kamal with darker skin”.

I waited, checked. But nothing came of it. They never answered it.

Pazam flat out ignored when they were told they had drawn a canonically brown man with skin way too light. Not even a lone text post saying ‘hey anon, i dont agree with you’ or ‘hey anon im sorry it wont happen again’. Nothing. No word, no opinion.

And with this situation going on with them evading responsibility, I can’t say I’m fully surprised.

And, yet another thing. People had expressed concern over the fact they had drawn their Flower Kid, who is 17, in very intimate and close positions with Dr. Habit. It included nuzzling faces, cuddling in bed together, wearing his coat...

And they did hear the claims this time. As of now, their Flower Kid is 24, according to them.

Except... They do not look 24. At. All.

this is a 12 year old. at best. short body, stubby legs, big head. those are all attributes of a very young character, usually children. like, legitimately, thats how childrens anatomy is in real life. the younger the person, the bigger their head is in proportion to their body.

We have already had an adult trying to justify drawing their flower kid who barely looked like an adult if at all in intimate situations with Habit. Let’s not let it slide by again.

And yes, I’m aware Pazam claims that those pictures were not supposed to be interpreted as romantic, ‘only platonic fluff’ and that they intend to keep it that way, but I have talked to my boyfriend who is a survivor and he said it very well could be a case of someone just trying to cover their tracks.

BUT, all that being said, maybe this one particular instance could be just us being wary. Still, it does not diminish all that they have done, specially ignoring the whitewashing claims.

What you are going to do with this information, I do not know. Maybe you don’t care and will keep reblogging their content. Maybe you’re disgusted by them. But I’m just here to give you the facts. Personally though, I’m not willing to give them much of a chance after the way they’ve behaved. They are 24 years old, three years older than me, and I think I could do a better job of handling a situation like this, frankly.

#don't be scared. i am here with you.#smile for me #smile for me game

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killmebutneverinsultme2 · 5 years ago

Text

Rules for mobile (Pinned Post)

The Code

Success. I’ve sufficiently pestered the wench to make me a blog, much to the cost of a certain behorned mischief god whose presence I must share. Follow the rules below, and there’ll be smooth sailin’, savvy?

This be an exceptionally selective blog. I was me mun’s first ever muse yonks back and I’ve pestered her into writing me again, BUT, she’s horribly pressed for time. Partners will likely be very few, else ones doubling up with Loki’s. Anyone is welcome to approach and enquire, but she and I will be leaning toward those either from me own universe or crossovers with which she’s highly familiar and characters in whom she’s especially interested. Ye have been warned.

Replies are like to be slow, up to a few weeks at most.

Partners must be 18+. Various themes of an adult nature may be found here. Sexual things will be tagged ‘#filthy pirate’ with whatever level/variety of sin I deem them. More details below.

Behave. There shall be no rudeness, no passive aggression, no hate, no censorship or generally being a twit. Do I make meself clear?

The Code - Extended (below the cut)

Hi, guys. I’m Pirate (oddly known as this long before I made Jack a tumblr). Here are my more detailed rules and guidelines for writing with me on this blog, though the absolute basics are at the top as, honestly, it’s never easy to remember everyone’s requirements.

Jack is a sideblog. If you’re being followed by a benevolentgodloki that means I’m following you back. I don’t need us to be mutuals (both following each other) for us to write together, but there is a greater chance of us having a partnership if we’re letting each other know we’re interested.

How I Roll

I note myself as ‘highly selective’. This isn’t to be an elitist bugger, it’s because we all only have a limited amount of time we can put in. I want to write what I enjoy with people I enjoy. I am married with two attention-seeking cats, two jobs, a slow-brewing intended writing career and a video game addiction.

Asks/Memes - I will usually answer these no matter who they are from but I may or may not turn them into a thread I intend to keep. Some memes are very much designed to be something that continues so context can be key. If you would like to know in advance whether I intend to answer and/or keep something, please do pop me a message and I will be kind and honest.

My Threads - While Jack’s blog is still exciting and new, I’m being a bit all over the place with who and what I reply to depending on which way Jack’s.. compass.. is pointing. I do have a rolling turn order that I adhere to (to the point that I can genuinely tell you who is next at any given moment) but it’s all piled in with Loki’s threads, meaning I can take a few weeks to get round everything. Every partner gets one of their threads answered within that ‘round’ and then I go round again. However, when I’m really into something/finding something easy to pop back, I treat myself to spamming certain threads or partners at my whim. I use rpthreadtracker.com to maintain what I have.

I will remind partners of threads that have not been replied to for more than three months. If I do not do this, I have either forgotten/lost it myself, I’m not too fussed about keeping it at that stage, or you were absent for a long period of time.

My Style - I will write in both past or present tense depending on partner preference. My default is past but I like either. Please kick me if I screw up and write the wrong one. I prefer using regular size font but I will make mine small on replies to people who use the smaller so that it looks neat. I will often match partners’ lengths and some formatting details e.g. bolding dialogue, but I struggle with doing novella-length posts for reasons below.

I have a bugbear to admit about role-play. What we call splicing. A good half of my partners write this way so I’m not about to tell everyone to stop but if you’re someone who does this, you will occasionally run into some frustrations when writing with me. ‘Splicing’ is when you retrospectively write dialogue or actions as having previously happened during your partner’s last post. These things are fine when they’re passive i.e. your character muttered them, thought them or you were writing what your character was doing at the time because that’s pretty much essential. The trouble comes usually when my characters talk a lot/ask rhetorical questions and partners choose to answer every single one despite the fact my character carried on talking. I know it’s an ass that I have talkative muses and you really want to respond to every point/get a word in, but putting words and actions into the past effectively godmods my muse into accepting they happened. If you feel your muse would have full-on interjected midway through their ramble, please ask me to edit my post/stop it at that point. Otherwise if you do prefer to splice, my muse will only respond to whatever it is your character did or said last in their post. This is one of the reasons I can’t write novella, because often there is only so much you can write before you’re stepping into the territory of changing what went before and not allowing your partner to do anything about it.

TL;DR don’t ever worry about your post being too short for me. If it’s one sentence long but it’s because something fast-paced is happening, I won’t be miffed.

Shipping! - no not that kind of ship, Jack. I love shipping. Ships all around. Let’s face it, romance can be one of the most exciting reasons we bother writing. I am open to a lot of ships for Jack, practically all of them. Yes, even that one. I will do downright nasty, toxic, horrible stuff, savvy? It’s fiction and Jack is a great indulgence for bad things happening to him as much as good. That said, of course don’t force something on him without prior agreement between us. Well, I mean, your muse can try and accost him and see what he does, just don’t expect him to definitely reciprocate. Jack and I are bi/pansexual. We’re open to everything. I will admit a heavy lean toward m/m but, that said, Jack is extremely fond of the ladies, more so than Loki. I am very into Sparrington especially.

Not Safe For Ye Olde Work

Sliding down from the above topic, I enjoy the occasional smutting. It is not a requirement from my partners. In fact, I’m warming very much to fading to black depending on the context/mood/if things feel a bit repetitive. I do feel a touch more comfortable with partners who don’t need that boundary but as I’ve recently figured ‘if it needs a cut, then it’s smut’ I know when to skip on.

Saucy material will go under cuts/Read More’s and be tagged as mentioned above with ‘filthy pirate’. Additional tags will be based on the citrus scale: ‘lime’ for general grabbing, ‘lemon’ for full on sexual content and ‘grapefruit’ if things get extra kinky. I will tag things such as ‘rape tw’ or ‘noncon tw’ or ‘dubcon tw’ where necessary. Please blacklist any or all of these at your leisure, or search them if you fancy :U I do NOT tag these as ‘ns.fw’ because tumblr just completely hides them from being searchable which is useless for my partners.

OC’s - Due to my time constraints I am extremely picky when it comes to OC’s. This is a good fandom for well-thought-out muses and I know firsthand how hard it is to make headway as an OC in the RP world. However, I also understand that for people like me, I want to dip in on this site to mostly play with the characters and worlds I’m really absorbed in and ship my weaselly black guts out. Some people have more time than others to really give your OCs the time and love they deserve. Unless I’ve played with you a long time and I really like the cut of your and your muse’s jib, it’s very unlikely I’ll bite. Apologies! The same goes for crossover muses from fandoms I’m unfamiliar with, but I will let you know if that’s the case.

Limits

Threads - I don’t have a strict limit on how many to have per person but please bear in mind that the more of these you have with me the longer it will take me to get to a particular one (unless I’m spamming it back and forth). This is more a mun/muse context how many I accept.

Exclusives/mains - I don’t do these although I may consider having a maximum of 3 or 4 of one muse depending on activity levels and to ensure plots don’t get mixed up or attention feel unfairly balanced.

Triggers/squicks - I don’t like body horror e.g. graphic detail of squishy bits having bad things happen to them. I’m writing a pirate so there’s absolutely allowed to be elements of torture/violence, just don’t stab him in the eye or chop bits off him. One torture-related thing sends me into a complete freakout which I’ll discuss with partners if we’re doing a thread of that ilk as needed. Kink-wise I’m not into mpreg, A/B/O or infantilism or toilet things. Just ask me/Jack if you’re after something XD

Who I Am/What I Need From You

Being yourself is the most important thing and I promise I am not a scary person (usually). We’re only human and it’s natural that we’ll get along better with some rather than others. This is more to give you a gist of the sort of person I am and who I gel with best.

So I’m a shy hermit at the best of times. I’m trying to be better at engaging and enthusing with partners over our threads because I realise more than ever this does keep things alive and make for a more enjoyable experience. I’m not always great at it. I work best with people who are patient and don’t worry too much on what I think of them and their writing, with people who are happy to keep threads going for the longhaul rather than keep dropping everything before I’ve had the time to get to the next post, and most especially people who accept that fiction =/= reality. I do need a certain level of quality, which doesn’t always mean perfect grammar, but it must be coherent, fun and creative. I like a relaxed approach, sharing mutual enjoyment in silly fantasy world sandboxes as escapism from (and exploration of) this complicated world we live in.

If you managed to read all of this, have a drink (even if it’s water). You’re a diamond.

Pirate xxx

#rules #pinned post

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