#I THOUGHT I WAS DONE THINKING ABOUT HIM. THEN BAM. WHOLE ASS ESSAY???

[unisongakikoeru]

the twins may be figaro's fated pair, but figaro isn't theirs, as they are each other's fated pair before anything else. and this is figaro's tragedy

(under cut because it got way too long)

he never knew what was love, not until he met the twins, and it left him with a way too idealistic idea of it, and way too high expectations about it. the twins are each other's number one, absolutely favorite person, no matter what. even when snow killed white, he tied white's soul to his, forcing his ghost to remain in this world, because one living without the other is simply an unbearable thought, almost impossibility

and now, what figaro desires the most deeply, is to be loved. but as i already said, his view of love is based on the one the twins showed him; he wants to be someone's absolute favorite person, someone with who he could stay forever and ever, because living without the other would simply be impossible. which is quite unrealistic, right? yet he still clings to that belief, maybe as a way to cope with all of the losses he experienced in his long life. but now he's terrified of getting hurt again, thus he distances himself, leaves first before the other can, a defense mechanism

the most glaring example is with faust; he saw love in faust, and maybe, just maybe, hope for the stable life he always desired. but there was alec, and figaro noticed that alec was faust's favorite person; that no matter what, faust'd never forget alec, even after the painful betrayal that made faust do a whole 180°. so when he thought everything would be okay for faust, he left. but it did not end up being okay, and figaro destroyed everything in his selfishness of not wanting to get hurt

and even now, now that he's surrounded by people he loves that love him back, his deepest desire is still left unrealized; the twins have each other, oz and arthur have each other, lennox and faust have each other, rutile and mitile have each other, and despite having become their new father figure after their parents death, figaro knows very well he could never, ever replace tiletta in their hearts. they're still the closest he has to experience the love, the stable life he wants though; thus putting on his innocent figaro act, wanting them to see him in the best of lights, to see him as a genuinely good person, even though he knows very well he's rotten to the core, his shameful past being impossible to fully throw away after all. but it's still not enough for him, it's still not what he truly desires the most

and this is why figaro garcia will die from lack of love

[p-artsypants]

Bad Day (1) Morning

Marinette was Ladybug! This was Adrien’s luckiest day ever! Except it wasn’t, because all his good luck was used up in one go. Turns out this might be the worst day of his life.

Ao3 | FF.net

Part 2

I’m still working on Longest Night. This was just supposed to be a one shot, but it got out of hand. There should only be three chapters. Crack, Angst, Fluff, in that order. 

Also, this story is super gross. Because 14-year-old boys are super gross. 

--

“Pound it!” Ladybug and Chat connected fists after a job well done.

His ring beeped right on schedule, having used his cataclysm earlier than she had used Lucky Charm.

“Go ahead, I’ll take care of the victim.” She smiled so politely and rested a hand on his arm.

He nearly swooned.

“Go!” She chided with a laugh.

He blew her a kiss as he departed. It was an early morning, just before school. Early enough that classes probably wouldn’t be cancelled. The akuma had been a quick run, though the time he had intended to use for studying in the library was gobbled up instead. Oh well. That was the whole point of studying, staying ahead so when the akumas overwhelmed him, his grades didn’t suffer.

The courtyard was still relatively empty, as there was still a good twenty minutes before classes started.

He rushed to the bathroom, keeping a careful eye on the students, though no one noticed he was there.

He took the first stall, and his transformation fell just as he cleared the door.

Plagg fell in his hands, immediately begging for cheese.

Adrien laughed and gave him a little wedge. “There, I have more in my bag, but I have to go while we’re here.”

“Go? Go where?”

“You know…go.” He gestured to the toilet. “It’s poo-thirty.”

“Aw man,” Plagg whined. “Couldn’t you hold it until we got home so I can leave the room?”

“Don’t be such a baby.” Adrien chastised, dropping Plagg in his pocket. He undid his buttons, dropped trou, and let nature take its course. Aimlessly, he scrolled through the Ladyblog on his phone while he did his business.

Then he noticed that the door was slightly cracked open.

“Oh narts, this the stall with the bad lock.” He sighed. Reaching his leg out, he toed the door, having it hit the jam and rebound back, opening wider. Adrien groaned, “Plagg, can you—“

“Nuh uh. I’m not coming out until you’re done with your disgusting human behavior.”

Adrien rolled his eyes at his ridiculous kwami. Oh well. It was still early, and he’d be done in a minute. Surely it was no big deal?

Except someone was running towards the bathroom.

And then running to his stall.

Into his stall, with their back to him.

A gorgeous back, with an adorable butt, covered in red and black, and hiding. Then, there was a flash of pink, and the red and black gave way to a dark gray jacket and soft pink pants. An outfit he had seen nearly everyday.

He choked on air, wanting to say something, and also very aware of the fact that his pants and boxers were around his ankles.

Not how he imagined the reveal would go down at all.

So he simply held his breath, vying his time.

She didn’t wait long, only a couple seconds really, it had just felt like an hour being in that space with her. As she left, he made eye contact with her kwami.

She saw. She saw that he saw.

Then he was alone again, his eyes staring forward, unseeing.

Marinette.

Marinette was Ladybug.

Beautiful, sweet, kind, and righteous Marinette was his Ladybug. Of course she was! It made perfect sense! They had the same eyes, the same black hair that shined blue in the light! The same laugh! Oh it was perfect!

It was—

Oh no.

He had to tell her. But she HATED the idea of him knowing her identity! Hated anyone knowing!

Why did it have to happen while he was on the can?

How was he supposed to explain this without completely embarrassing both of them? It was completely unfair!

“Sorry Marinette I saw you detransforming while I was dropping off the Cosby kids at the pool, sorry!” Like that was a good option!

But then again, he was finding it too hard to be upset about it when the truth of ‘Marinette is Ladybug’ reverberated in his head.

They’d work it out. Somehow. But now he just had to get through the day without melting into goo around her.

Maybe he’d turn on the Chat Noir charm.

No, that’d be too suspicious.

“Are you gonna poop or what?” Asked Plagg.

Adrien scoffed at him.

Then his kwami chuckled, lowly, manically.

“What are you up to, you little creature?”

“Oh, I’m not up to anything. I just had…a premonition, if you will.”

“Care to enlighten me?”

“Do you feel lucky?”

“What kind of question is that?  Uh…I mean, I just found out who the love of my life is, so…yeah?”

“The luckiest you’ve ever been?”

“Yeah, in a way.”

“That’s what I thought.” Plagg snickered again.

“What?”

“Oh nothing…really. Just that…I have a feeling you used up all your good luck for the day.”

“What? Is that a thing?”

“Just hurry up and finish. Nasty boy.”

Rolling his eyes at his kwami, Adrien finished his business. Afterwards, he left his stall just as Kim came in.

“Yo!”

“Howdy!”

Kim took his stall, and Adrien went to wash his hands.

“Holy shit!” Kim shouted.

A bad feeling settled in Adrien’s stomach. Did I forget to flush?

Ah, it was probably no big deal.

He finished up, and went into the locker room, where Nino was putting his stuff away.

“Hey man,” Adrien greeted pleasantly.

“Sup dude! If I had known you’d be early, I would have waited out front for you.”

“Oh no, no worries. I’ve been here for a while. Needed to use the library.” That had been the initial plan, before the Akuma had struck. So not a complete lie.

“For the essay?”

“Yep.”

“I haven’t even started, dude. I mean, I have a topic idea but..” Nino went on, but Adrien’s mind had begun to wander.

Back to Marinette.

His lady.

His bugaboo.

He giggled.

Nino frowned at him. “Dude, what’s so funny about the holocaust?”

Adrien’s eyes widened. “No no I wasn’t—no, sorry. I was listening! But I was also thinking...uh, so you’re doing your essay on the holocaust?”

“Well, I’m thinking of doing a comparative piece between the holocaust and...”

And he was off again.

Not that he didn’t love Nino immensely, but this was the biggest revelation of his life! He wasn’t going to pay any attention to anything for the rest of the day.

Oh how badly he wanted to sit behind Marinette, so he could stare at her all day.

A little creepy, but cut him some slack.

“…it’s not really comparing the Holocaust to country music, but it’s finding similar themes, you know? Is that the dumbest idea you’ve heard?”

“Yeah…” Adrien said with a pleasant smile on his face.

“Yeah? My idea is dumb?”

“Sure is.”

“Well…thanks for that, I guess.”

“Hmm mmm…say Nino, is Marinette interested in anyone?”

Nino blinked a few times. “What?”

“I just thought you might know, since you’re dating Alya and all.”

Nino snickered. “Oh, I see what this is about. Finally got your head out of your ass, huh?”

Adrien blinked heavily at him. “W-what?”

“Oh come on. Everyone can see when you give her your patented ‘soft eyes’.”

“My what?”

“You know, you get this dopey smile on your face, and then your eyebrows turn up and your eyes get all misty, and then you look like you’re going to cry.”

“What! I do not do that!”

“There was a spider on Rose’s desk, and Marinette gently scooped it up and put it outside, even though she’s scared of spiders too.”

Adrien’s heart melted. “Aw, she did?”

Nino snapped a picture on his phone. “Bam, heart eyes.”

Adrien narrowed those heart eyes into slits. “What’s your game, Lahiffe?”

“You’re in love with Marinette.”

Adrien blinked. “Yeah, I was getting to that.”  

Nino gawked. “You-you were!? You are!?”

“Yeah, I mean…I just realized it today. I thought I was in love with someone else, but…” Technically, he still was, but knowing that Ladybug was Marinette only made his feelings stronger and feel more solid.

Marinette was Ladybug!

Adrien then realized Nino was giving him a knowing look. “You’ve got it bad, dude.” He chuckled.

Adrien huffed and crossed his arms. “Well, are you going to tell me who she likes, or what?”

It was then that Kim came out of the bathroom, and made hard eye contact with Adrien. “I see you there. It’s on, Agreste.”

“What’s on?”

“You know Le Chien Kim doesn’t back down from a challenge!”

“What challenge?!”

“As if you didn’t know!”

“I don’t know!”

Kim just gave a smirk and walked out of the room.

“Uh, what the hell was that?” Asked Nino.

“You’re guess is as good as mine with Kim.”

“Fair.”

“So anyways...Marinette? Her crush? Help a guy out?”

Nino rolled his eyes. “Look dude, if I tell you, I’m dead meat, per Alya. But, you should absolutely ask her out. She won’t say no.”

“...is it me then? Does she like me?”

“Again, I’m a dead man. But her fondness for you surpasses ‘friendship’, ya dig?”

His lady liked him! She liked Adrien!

“God, you make me sick.” Nino chuckled. “You make sure to turn those soft eyes on Marinette. She’ll turn to goo.”

“Noted!” Adrien beamed. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go woo Milady.”

“Christ.”

Adrien haughtily tossed a smirk over his shoulder, and then turned to rush out of the room.

Only, Plagg’s premonition would come true. With a vengeance.

In one step, his shoelace broke and he stepped completely out of his sneaker. With the momentum he created in takeoff, he launched several steps until he collided his pinkie toe with the corner of the lockers.

Oh mama.

He was down.  

Clutching his foot like his life depended on it, Adrien dropped to the floor and let out a string of curses that would make Chat Noir blush.

“Oof, dude, you okay?”

Adrien couldn’t tell if he was laughing or crying.

But oh, did it suck.

“Let’s go to the nurse.”

“No.” Adrien wheezed out. “I’m good.”

“Like hell you are.”

“If I go to the nurse, she’ll call my dad, and he’ll pull me out of school for being in an unsafe environment. I’m fine!”

Though the tears streaming down his cheeks did not have Nino convinced. “Whatever dude. Let me help you get to class though, kay?”

Nodding through the pain, Adrien took the offered hand, and together they tottered to homeroom.

As they approached the room, they could hear Kim talking. Everyone in the school could hear him, he was so enthused.

“No, you guys don’t understand! It had to be at least two feet! The thickness of my arm! This thing was massive!”

Nino snickered, “What, did he take up fishing?”

“That’s not physically possible.” Said Alix, just as loud.

“Oh yeah? I took a picture! Look!”

There was a collective shout of ‘ew! Kim!’ from the class, when Adrien and Nino finally reached the door.

Everyone went silent.

Dead silent.

Adrien’s gaze drew immediately to Marinette—His Lady—only to see her avoiding his gaze, with a very red face.

Then he noticed that everyone was staring right at him.

“Uh…good morning?” He detached himself from Nino and used the desk to get to his seat.

Alix stood, and just started clapping.

This caused some of the others to start laughing.

“Uh…what’s going on?”

“Tch, like you don’t know.” Said Kim, in a way that inexplicably reminded him of an anime villain.

Adrien rolled his eyes. “I already told you in the locker room, I don’t know what the heck you’re talking about!”

“You, sir, are the Dump King of Collège Françoise Dupont! And I intend to dethrone you!”

Nino and Adrien looked at each other, and then at Kim.

“Dump King?”

Marinette had her head buried in her hands, unable to look at him. Whatever this Dump King thing was, it was bad.

“Yeah dude! I used the bathroom right after you and you left this massive turd! It was two feet, easily! It was standing up in the bowl!”

Adrien’s face burned, embarrassment outweighing the pain in his, presumably, broken toe. “Kim…”

“You’re so clean and perfect…you’d never leave a message like that unless it was a challenge! And I’m going to start eating fiber ASAP!”

Now it was Adrien’s turn to hide his face in his hands.

Nino clapped a sympathetic hand to his shoulder. “Oh man, you broke the number one unspoken rule. No pooping at school.”

“If we’re not supposed to poop here, why are there toilets?” Adrien whispered back, harshly.

“It’s not a hard rule, just a globally recognized one.”

“Now you tell me!”

“Oh don’t play all naïve, Agreste. I know what you’re about.”

Adrien trembled in front of the class, because now he had to explain to Kim, in front of all his classmates, and the love of his life, that that hadn’t been any kind of challenge. He had simply forgotten to flush. And he normally didn’t poop logs. Just, regular sized poops.

Oh man, if it sounded this terrible in his head, it would sound so stupid out loud!

His mind really had to have been gone if he hadn’t noticed he left that behind.

“Listen, Kim…” He began, sitting on the edge of the desk. “It’s not like that. I’m not the kind of guy that shits and tells.”

That was not the right thing to say as everyone erupted in laughter, and Adrien’s embarrassment only grew deeper.

Fortunately, Marinette was the only one not laughing, as she was probably reeling from second hand embarrassment.

Kim noticed, and draped himself over her shoulders. “Oh come on Mari! Everyone loves a good poop joke!”

“Yeah, when they’re five.” She muttered.

“You have to admit, Adrien is always impressive. Even his deuces are deuces.”

Shutupshutupshutupshutup—

“You’ve got to be a little impressed, aren’t you?”

Marinette finally met his eyes and he was fully prepared to cry at her sympathetic gaze. She smiled. “I’m just glad you’re healthy.”

What.

“I’m doing school under my desk today, thanks everyone.” Adrien withered and crawled under their table.

“Dude, come on.”

“Adrien’s not here right now, he’s at the humiliation station. Population: me.”

“Don’t be so dramatic sunshine, everyone poops.” Alya said, by way of consolation.

And it probably would have worked too. If it were any other day. But the day had just started and he was already overwhelmed. He was acutely aware of Marinette’s eyes.

Nothing was worse than being embarrassed in front of your crush.

Well, as Chat Noir, he always managed to embarrass himself in front of her. But this was different! He was Adrien! Embarrassing himself as Adrien wasn’t just bad for him.

It was bad for his father.

Oh no.

Could his father find out about this? He didn’t have a sense of humor, he wouldn’t find this funny at all!

“Adrien? Where’s Adrien?” Miss Bustier called in attendance. He had been so deep in his self loathing, he hadn’t even realized the teacher had come in the room.

“The Dump King is under his desk.” Called Kim.

“Dump…? Never mind, I don’t want to know. Adrien, please sit in your seat properly.”

Resigned, Adrien went to stand but hit his head on the table, eliciting a ‘ooo’ from the room.

Adrien sat in his chair, slumped in defeat.

Plagg vibrated in his pocket, barely able to contain his laughter.

The kwami was right, today was not going well at all. Despite the wonderful knowledge that Marinette was Ladybug, everything else seemed to go wrong.

He failed his physics test.

He, Adrien Agreste, top grade in Physics, Physic nut, had failed his test.

He just stared at the paper with growing horror. “Miss Mendeliev, there must be some sort of mistake!”

“Sorry Adrien, you know the rules, you don’t show your work, you don’t get points, even if the answer is right.”

“But—“

“If you find the paper you did the problems on, I will regrade it. But it will be a zero in your grades until then.”

Frantic, Adrien dumped his backpack out on his desk and began searching for the lost paper.

“Not right now, Mr. Agreste.” She said sharply.

Feeling small, Adrien gathered his supplies and stuffed them back into his bag.

During lunch, he was called back to the mansion, even though he had asked to eat with his friends. Though, this wasn’t that much of a disappointment, considering that he dealt with it fairly often.

As he left the school, he found Marinette waiting for him. Beautiful, sweet, understanding, and patient.

As he walked up to her, she stuttered and stumbled on her words. “H-Hey Adrien! I’m sorry about what I said in class. Not that I’m not happy that you’re healthy! I’m very glad you are! You look great! You always do! I mean—! I just wanted to say...I could tell you were embarrassed by Kim, but I’m sorry I didn’t say anything to help.”

Adorable. Simply adorable.

He realized that he hadn’t responded, and only continued to stare at her longingly.

“Marry me...” he sighed.

Her eyes blew wide as her mouth went slack.

Quick! Play it off!

“Mari! You Mari! Me Adrien! Yes, good! Thanks!”

Nice.

“Bye!” He damn near shouted, and he hauled ass to his car, limping with each step.

Plagg giggled in his shirt, and whispered up to him. “You’re such a dumbass.”

“Shush.”

After lunch, it was time for gym.

Which was a fun activity with a, presumably, broken toe.

“You going to be okay, dude?” Asked Nino. “You know, if you just show Mr. D’Argencourt your foot, I’m sure he’d let you out of gym.”

“I’m fine, I just…need to walk it off.”

Nino gave him a flat look. “You’ve been ‘walking it off’ for several hours already. It’s not getting any less purple.”

“I looked it up. There’s nothing they can do about a broken toe. They can’t set it or anything, so don’t worry about it.”  

At this point, Nino decided to officially give up. “Fine, suffer. Be my guest.”

Soccer.

It had to be soccer.

Why not tennis? Why not frisbee? Why not pickleball? Any game! Any other fracking game, except for the one that demands you use your foot the entire time!

Adrien reconsidered his life choices. “Excuse me Mr. D’Argencourt, I stubbed my toe really bad earlier. Can I sit out?”

Mr. D’Argencourt, shrewd man that he was, gave Adrien a once over and huffed. “If you must. You can sit with Miss Rossi.” He gestured over to Lila, who was beaming at him.

Adrien winced.

“How about goalie?”

The coach was much more willing to have Adrien participate and consented.

Whatever forces on earth that had been responsible for Adrien’s crap day came back with reinforcements.

On Adrien’s team was Rose, Juleka, Nathanael, Chloe, Sabrina, and Max. Against them, was Kim, Alix, Ivan, Alya, Nino, and Marinette.

Whoever picked these teams is a moron. He thought to himself.

Adrien, humble as he was, was an excellent goalie. Of course, he’d give the credit to his time as Chat Noir. The game was almost over, with the score tied 0-0. His team hadn’t gotten anywhere near the other goal, but Adrien hadn’t let a single ball in on his side.

His was bruised, battered, sweaty, and exhausted.

Of course, most of his teammates hadn’t even broken a sweat.

Marinette stood nearby, waiting for the assist to the goal. Of course, having her so close was immediately a distraction, and all of his attention was on her.

“You’re amazing,” she told him, adorable blush on her cheeks. “Sorry we’ve been so ruthless, you know how Kim and Alix are.”

He meant to thank her, to assure her there was nothing to apologize for.

But his brain decided to remind him, yet again, that he was talking to Ladybug.

“Thank Kay, you’re not apologize. Amazing, yes!”

Flawless.

Her eyes widened slightly. “Are you okay?”

A low whine came from his throat, as he felt the need to shrivel up and die.

“Hey Dump King!” Kim shouted, “Block this!” And he kicked, with all the power in him.

To Adrien’s credit, he did Block the ball, but it was with his face.

“Adrien!” A cacophony of voices called out to him.

He was on the ground, wetness on his face. And in too much pain to move.

“Adrien? Are you alright?” Marinette was above him, looking down at him with concern and so much love. “You’re bleeding.”

“Bleeding...” he swooned.

“Alright, alright,” Mr. D’argencourt shooed everyone away from crowding him. “What happened.”

“He took a ball to the face, and I think he hit his head on the way down.”

“How many fingers am I holding up?” The coach stated, holding up three fingers.

“Three.” Adrien said simply.

“Oh, he’ll be fine.” The coach said. “Will someone take Adrien to the nurse?”

Marinette opened her mouth to volunteer, but Lila shouted out first. “I’ll take him!”

Adrien used Marinette’s hand to climb to his feet, and then waved Lila off. “I’m fine, I can go on my own.”

Lila latched onto his arm. “Oh please, let me help you.”

“No, really, I’m—“ He sneezed, flinging blood right on Lila’s face and clothes.

She shrieked.

“Ah! I’m sorry! I didn’t know I had a bloody nose!” He cupped his face, not really doing any good. He turned to Marinette, “Does it look okay?”

“I mean, you’re bleeding, but nothing looks bruised yet.”

Lila weaved her arm around his again, and pulled him away from Marinette. “Come on, let’s take you to the nurse.”

As she yanked him down the hall, Adrien looked down, and saw an absolutely menacing look on her gaze.

But it was gone just a moment later as she smiled up at him. “It’s okay Adrien. Accidents happen.”

He wasn’t completely convinced.

The walk to the nurses office was quiet, and Lila departed just as they arrived.

The examination went smoothly as well. “Well, Mr. Agreste, you don’t have a concussion, and your nose will be fine. It might be a while before it stops bleeding however.”

“Will I bruise?”

“You might. But the skin isn’t broken, so makeup should be able to cover anything.”

He hated wearing makeup, but it was better than getting yelled at. He sighed. “Thank you ma’am.”

“But you can keep this icepack on it for a little while. That’ll help.” Gently, she molded the icepack around his nose, and placed his hand on it to keep it steady. He sighed in relief. “Um, while I’m here…” He reached down and took off his shoe and sock. “I stubbed my toe earlier.”

“Oh honey!” The nurse exclaimed. “Why didn’t you see me earlier about that!? Look at how dark it is!”

Adrien hunched his shoulders. “I just…Didn’t want you to call my dad.”

The nurse considered it for a moment. “Alright, I won’t call your father. But try to keep off of it, and ice it as much as possible. Alright?”

Adrien managed a smile. “Thank you.”

After about 15 minutes, when his face went numb, he gave back the ice packs and decided to head back to class, a wad of tissue still up his nose.

In the hall, he ran into Lila, her face clean of any trace of blood, and her shirt damp, but clean as well. “Hey Adrien!”

“Oh, hi Lila…” He greeted cautiously.

“Is your nose still bleeding?”

“Yeah, the nurse said it’s not broken though.”

“That’s good! I actually was on my way to the nurse’s office to give you this.” She held up a cylindrical wad of cotton, with a string on the end.

“Uh…what is it?”

“It’s for packing nosebleeds. I get them all the time, so I always have them handy. All you have to do is put it in your nose and leave it there for an hour.”

“Oh! Well…thanks! I…I just I’ll go put this in now. Thank you!”

“It’s no problem Adrien. I just wanted to make sure you were all better for our photoshoot this afternoon.”

A chill ran down his spine. “Our…what?”

“Our photoshoot? I could have sworn it was today?”

No. Today was Friday. He was going to Marinette’s for his first sleepover with friends! He made sure to clear his schedule! Quickly, he whipped out his phone and pulled up the spreadsheet with all his events.

Right there, in a block after school until late evening, a photoshoot was scheduled. Edited as of 10am this morning.

He growled in his throat, and then called Nathalie.

“Adrien, do you really think it’s appropriate to call during school hours?”

“I had today off from modeling.” He said by way of greeting. “I was supposed to hang out with friends.”

“Yes, you were. But your father insisted on a shoot anyways. But he made sure to get your friend Lila as a model so you wouldn’t feel too bad.”

“Well, as long as I can hang out with them afterwards?”

“No, your father wants you to come home tonight.”

“Why?”

“He just does, Adrien.”

Adrien hung up, angry, upset, frustrated.

“I’m sorry Adrien, I thought you knew?” Lila said, with her little sing song voice.

“Well, it was scheduled at 10am, so no. I didn’t.”

“Weird, I got a text about it. Sorry!”

“Whatever,” He huffed. He was done. This day officially sucked, and he’d find a way to cataclysm it right off the calendar.

Well, at least Lila had been kind enough to lend him this…thing. Whatever it was. He went to the bathroom to change out his tissues.

Yeah, he was still bleeding.

But the new cotton wad fit like a dream and he jammed it as far up into his nose as he could stand, and then went back to class.

Lila was already there when he returned, and Miss Bustier was in the middle of her lecture when he walked into the room.

She stared at him. “Oh…uh, glad to see you’re alright, Adrien. But…um…”

“Dude,” asked Nino, when no one else would, “why do you have a tampon up your nose?”

Adrien paled, considerably, “…this is a…?”

Nino nodded.

Kim burst out laughing first, and the rest of the class followed suit, while Adrien hid his shame with his hands.

Marinette, blessed, beautiful, and kind, did not laugh. Instead, she stood and went to him. ”Come on.” She grabbed his hand and tugged him along to the bathroom.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed Lila glaring at them, glaring at him, with a smile on her lips. It seemed she had changed targets.

She led him to the boys room, and opened the door. “Anybody in here?”

When there was no reply, she pulled him in, and steered him toward the sink.

“Go ahead and pull it out.”

He did, the bleeding starting up again.

“Sorry I just commandeered the whole situation, but I had a feeling Lila was going to be less than helpful.” She wadded up a ball of toilet paper and handed it to him. “Hold this to your nose for now.”

With the ball under his nose, he just continued to gaze at her. “No, thank you for rescuing me. I’ve never dealt with a bloody nose before.”

Marinette gave him this sympathetic little smile. “Well, lucky for you, I have. A handful of times.”

Adrien remembered a dozen or so times when Ladybug got knocked a little too hard and ended up a little bloodied.

“Here,” she took a strip of toilet paper and twisted it into a long string. “Now, you’re going to fish this up your nostril as far as it will go. It will tickle and be uncomfortable, but I swear the bleeding will stop in a few minutes.”

Adrien took the tissue and did as she instructed. He got the urge to sneeze again, but held it back.

“There. Now we’ll just wait a little while and see if it stops.”

“Thank you, Marinette. You really are our everyday Ladybug.” He kind of felt stupid saying so, but it was so true.

Marinette tinged a lovely shade of pink, flicking her eyes away from his. “You’ve been having a pretty bad day today, huh?”

He groaned and almost collapsed on the floor. “The worst.”

“Well, we’ll just have to make up for it tonight, right? I know. You versus me, Ultimate Mecha Strike 4, battle to the death. What do you say?”

“That sounds like so much fun! But…”

“But?”

“My father…he changed his mind this morning. I can’t go. I’m sorry Marinette, I really really really wanted to.”

She deflated. Her shoulders dropped, her smile faded, even the light in her eyes snuffed out. “Oh.”

He wanted to cry. “I’m serious, I’m really upset about this! I was so excited!” He choked.

The life came back into the girl in front of him, and she rested a gentle hand on his arm. “Hey, it’s alright. We’ll try again. If we’re persistent, eventually your father will have to let you go, right?”

Despite the optimism in her voice, Adrien could she she was severely disappointed.

Maybe she really did have feelings for him.

“We better get back. How’s your nose?”

He carefully extracted the tissue, only to find part of it still clean. “I think it’s good. I’ll just tuck a little bit in there just in case.”

“Good idea.”

“And...Marinette?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you. You’re wonderful.”

She blushed, and some of that light came back to her eyes.

[fandom-queenliness]

*Spoilers* Oni-Chan

Why just why. I have so many issues with this so I’m doing it how anyone would. A full-length essay dissecting everything I can from the subtitles. 

Be aware, I am not very pro-Love Square, and have a large number of problems with the shows writing/Adrien and his Nice Guy/Passive behaviour in general. 

Essay/salt incoming, you have been warned. Read at your own peril. 

For context, in previous episodes, Adrien has had little to no problem with Lila lying and has even gone out of his way so that she may continue lying. Kagami had about zero romantic interest in Adrien upon her first appearance in Riposte, which is, in my opinion, her truest representation. Marinette has been told to not be so jealous of Adrien multiple times, but the narrative has made it clear she has no control of her feelings when it comes to him. All of Adrien’s love interests (Chloe, Kagami, Lila, Marinette) generally all hate each other, are vindictive, cruel, petty and jealous. Adrien does literally nothing to stop them. 

First of all, they expect us to believe that Kagami is in love with the limp noddle that is Adrien? Get out. Just get out. In Riposte, I believe she had about no interest in him. She came here to fence and by gods was she going to fence. But Nooooooooo, Adrien just had to have another love interest, and no girl can be without someone to make her complete. What utter bullshit. I am so mad right now. 

Second, I’m glad that he’s finally taking a stand against Lila (though, still in a passive way. I’ll take what I can get). He’s cut her off, he’s yelled at her, scolded her. Now we just need him helping Mari taking her down, acknowledging his flaws, trying to improve himself, all while learning about boundaries and taking no for an answer. What a wonderful development of his character, Adrien salt is non-existent, the show is saved, the love square is trending. Oh wait, it is physically impossible for the writers to have Adrien improve because “he’s already perfect”. Ugh. 

Third, what a shitty reason to get akumatised. (I love Kagami btw). I mean, yeah, she can be mad, but really, over a guy. A guy who has already stated he likes another girl. (Chat had a good point, Lila and Kagami should have had Adrien’s input on his feelings instead of a game of tag around the city, but honestly does Chat even think of LB’s feelings? Does anyone, ever? A post for another day). But really a better reason could have been Kagami learning of Lila’s lying and Adrien’s passive-fucking-ness and how poorly it has affected Marinette, who Kagami was open to building a friendship with in Riposte. She could have learned what happened and felt betrayed because Adrien was not who she thought he was, and she becomes akumatised to seek revenge for Marinette and to confront Adrien without him being pulled away by his schedule. Bam we have character development and Adrien getting called out on his flaws, plus Marinette has someone standing up for her. So much better immediately. (Sidenote: Kagami’s whole speech about Adrien sucked ass I can’t believe a word of it. Just more of Astruc pushing perfect sunshine boy upon us.) 

Fourth, honestly fuck how Marinette behaved in the first half. I love my girl, she is awesome, but I am tired of her being so over the top and possessive of Adrien. Like, we get it, she likes him, but no girl - especially no girl who is as mature as the narrative is portraying her as - is going to stalk her crush and a girl all the way to his house. She has been told/told herself to stop being jealous in multiple episodes, but it’s undone by the next. Fuck that. Also, let her have some character outside of Adrien because honestly, I am sick and tired of him and how Marinette is made to act around him. So much of her development is around him and it’s not a good message for the age demographic this show is targeted at. It’s just terrible honestly. 

Fifth, KAGAMI CUT DOWN A TREE AND IT WAS AWESOME. SHE’S SO STRONG, I LOVE HER. *Swoons* 

Sixth, Lila had some good lies. Fucking finally. It was about time. I was worried she was incapable. And some back story on her? Wonderful, personally I can’t find an absent mother as a good excuse because the mother clearly loves her dearly but it’s nice, nonetheless. And Lila manipulating Oni-Chan? Great, just so glad that I can actually start seeing her as a threat to something other than the Love Square in canon. And that bit where Gabriel was clearly seeing her as a weapon/ally was like water in a desert, the plot is moving, hussah. God it was refreshing but we all know it won’t last. C’est la vie. 

Seventh, loved the fireman thing. Him helping Mari and LB? Adorable. Hated the reason why he helped Marinette, but it was cute how he comforted her. (Honestly I kinda wanted him to tell Mari if this guy was bothering her so much maybe she should let him go. Idk I’m just so fucking tired man). He can be added to the Marinette protection squad I love how he’s all about the safety. 

Eight, notice how Chat was whining about how no one fights over him. Are we really going there? Really. I just, Jesus. The boy is a model, famous, rich, and has girls and guys fawning over him as Adrien enough, which he clearly does not appreciate. Does he really want that as Chat, or does he just girls he can use to make Ladybug jealous, like dolls to be discarded when he is done? A question for another day. 

Ninth, Tikki finally gives Marinette some good advice but it’s too late and I’m already cringing over the whole trash bin thing. I just—*sigh* 

Tenth, Kagami’s costume? Hurts my eyes. The potential was there but it was wasted. I’m so sorry that Hawkbitch forced my girl to wear that. My poor sword lesbian. 

Eleventh, Adrien continues to be a passive bitch, letting Lila sneak around him room, ignoring Plagg’s warnings, and only getting truly upset when Lila manipulated him into leaving LB. I’m mad about that too, because like, sure he thought she was hurt, but couldn’t he have just set her down on a rooftop somewhere safe instead of the whole hospital bit? Btw, I love fireman guy seeing through Lila’s shit. “This is what you get for now wearing kneepads”. He is so concerned for safety. My boy. 

Twelfth, LB using Oni-Chan’s powers against her was beautiful. We stan a queen. So smart, so brave, I love her. 

Thirteenth, they really made Kagami idolise that fucking rose Adrien gave her. The rose Adrien originally gave LB, the rose he gave her before asking her out on a terrible date. The terrible date where he invited another girl, payed more attention to said other girl, and then made it clear to Kagami that he was using her as a rebound and he was still not over the girl who rejected him. They are really trying to make us believe Kagami the Queen loves this guy? Really? 

Fourteenth, the horn was hilarious. I wish she was stuck with it. Or at least LB video Lila lying and her horn growing. It was a beautiful thing. 

Fifteen I don’t get the whole “Chat ignores the Bien-Joué from LB to help Kagami up is Bad and Terrible”. Like, I hate the implications and subtext behind it. And the way LB deflated over it. It was unnecessary and jsut there to stir up trouble. Just… fuck that. 

Sixteenth, LB abandoning Lila to walk home was wonderful. I wish Mari was allowed to be like that outside of the mask and not get demonised for it. 

Seventeenth, Alya asking Mari why she’s not “keeping an eye” on Adrien and Lila and Marinette saying she “trusts” Adrien with Lila is weird for me. Cause it’s like she was saying it like she was Adrien’s girlfriend and was trusting him not to cheat. It was like she was already laying claim to a guy that she can barely talk to. In fact, they didn’t talk at all in this ep. Mari and Juleka had more exchanges than her and Adrien. Pshh. 

Eighteenth, Gabriel is a piece of shit. Not letting his son have friends. No wonder he’s like this. Plus making a deal with the bitch who feels so entitled to Adrien is a dick move. Fuck Gabriel and his candy cane tie. 

Nineteenth, Lila manipulated Natalie. What the shit. I’m impressed. I’m loving this whole thing. I’m really excited for Lila working with Hawkbitch. It’s going to be either really good or bad as shit. I am worried for Adrien. Just because I don’t like how he’s being portrayed doesn’t mean he should suffer at the hands of Lila. Also her mirroring Gabriel’s want to shield his son is kinda creepy and possessive. Ew. 

Twenty, Adrien: “Lila, you can count on me, unless you hurt the people I love”. Um, how about Marinette? I get you don’t love her romantically but what about your good friend??? Or do you just not care about her?? Throwback to Chameleon where Adrien decided keeping Lila from being akumatised mattered less than the truth and Marinette’s feelings. Yeah, he’s such a great role model and such a wise choice for a love interest. 

As you can see from the evidence, this episode sucked. Kagami and Marinette deserve better (preferably each other) and not the limp blond pasta sucker that is Adrien Agreste. Very sorry if you’re feeling offended by this post, feel free to rant and complain about it and me. 

[aelinbitch-archive]

You've probably said this before but what's your favorite aspect of the TOG series? I've only read like ten pages of the first book lol

aaaaa thank u for asking!! this sort of leads into something i’ve been meaning to talk about for a while so i hope you’re prepared for An Essay No One Wanted By Me. anyway this is a two-part answer, read below:

1. Aelin. Celaena. The main bitch, whatever you wanna call her lol. Without her I probably wouldn’t have cared about the series at all and wouldn’t currently be trapped in ToG tumblr hell reluctantly stanning a racist and homophobic series, but unfortunately when I was like twelve years old or whatever and read the first book I literally imprinted on Celaena like a baby duckling. To the extent that she became, like, the default avatar for all my maladaptive daydreaming and If I Don’t Project On Her At All Times I Will Die. It’s not like she’s the only thing I like about the series (I loooove a lot of the other characters, especially the gals, and the writing can be really great and engaging and cinematic) but Aelin has always been the supermassive black hole at the center of it all for me. I wouldn’t know how to even begin untangling her character from my psyche at this point. It’s honestly a little disturbing. Anyway. 

2. Part two is a quality of the series that I feel was unprecedented in its strength in the first five books of the series (ToG-QoS plus the prequel novellas) and really really disappointingly weak in the last two books (EoS-KoA). Like I said above, Aelin has always been my main interest in tog so I read and enjoyed the last two anyway, but I definitely felt the loss of this - “this” being the detail and attention paid to all different types of relationships between characters, and how rich and unpredictable those relationships were as a result. 

That sounds like kind of a broad, vague thing, but what I mean is that (in my opinion) rarely are romances and friendships and rivalries explored with such nuance, complexity, drama, and realism in most YA as they are in ToG. I remember reading Cassandra Clare’s books (lmao.) as a pre teen and loving those as well, but totally being able to predict who was going to end up with who, and finding the character dynamics to be pretty cut and dry. 

In ToG that’s not the case at all. Like, you’ve got Celaena and Sam, a really complex example of enemies to lovers to….. Tragically Dead Boyfriend Whose Demise Fuels My Guilt and Self-Hatred For Seven More Books, Lysandra and Aelin, two girls pitted against each other by their abuser who team up a year later to unlearn their internalized misogyny and kill him, and Aelin and Chaol, who… how do I even describe the ups and downs (and downs. and more downs) of their relationship. 

And that’s just three pairs! Pull the names of two characters out of a hat and I can almost guarantee essays worth of material could be written about them. Arobynn and Aelin? Aelin and Nehemia? Chaol and Dorian, as much as I hate both of them and feel that their relationship as been widely mischaracterized? All fascinating!!! No two people in those first few books are just friends, or just lovers, or just enemies. It’s always more complex, there’s always a history or tension or competing agendas or viewpoints that Fuck Shit Up. 

And benefit of that is twofold: one, everything that happens between the characters just…. lands so well. The betrayals and triumphs and losses and victories of The Assassin’s Blade and Crown of Midnight and Queen of Shadows (especially TAB) are fucking heart-stopping. It’s great character-driven entertainment!! Gripping and engaging and vivid to the point of being painful. 

And two, there’s no way to predict where a relationship is going to go. Aelin and Lysandra teaming up in QoS instead of returning to their rivalry? Who would have thought! Ansel and Celaena’s summer fling (they were in love. fight me.) ending like That? Holy fuck. Nesryn and Chaol breaking up in ToD? Oh shit! I fell for it again! Rowan and Aelin ending up together after everyone swore they were brotp in HoF? Hell yeah! Chaolaena seeming like endgame and then ending forever, with Chaol and Aelin realizing that the rift between them that began in CoM was something that would never sufficiently heal? Unprecedented. Fucking badass for a YA book to curve everyone like that. Tween me was shook out of her mind. 

(Important to note, though, that the downside of this style was that SJM couldn’t tell where ~unpredictable relationships and characters~ ended and fridging began, and as a result, not one but two woc were killed off to make white characters sad and it sucked beyond belief). 

Aaaaaand then QoS, the peak of literature, turned into EoS, and SJM just… gave up on all of that. I remember the first time Dorian and Manon met, and I was like oh, okay. So they’re going to end up together. And I was right. I remember that on this site, before EoS came out, before Lorcan and Elide ever fucking MET, people predicted the existence of Elorcan!! And they were right!! Like how fucking boring? Everyone is just paired off into completely predictable heterosexual ships and those are now the only relationships we get to read about (with a few exceptions, like Aelin/Aedion, Aelin/Fenrys, etc.). 

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: my least favorite thing about Manorian is not that I find the relationship to be shitty (although I do, I really do). It’s that Dorian is suddenly the only character Manon gets to interact with in any meaningful way. 

Like, are you kidding?! I want to read about Manon and Elide, Manon and Asterin, Rowan and Lorcan, Aelin and Lysandra, Aelin and Nesyrn, even if it’s not romantically (although some of them, like Manon and Elide, absolutely should have been, and the fact that not only was that ship very thoroughly sunk, but also they didn’t even get to TALK after QoS, felt like a real slap in the face to gay fans, but I digress), because those pairings previously had hella complexity and drama. But we don’t get to. 

And this trend that’s so painfully present in the last two books Sucks for two reasons: one, every relationship that isn’t romantic (which were previously some of the most interesting ones) is abandoned so that more time can be made for The Hets™ and two, the relationships that are romantic, now the only ones left, are totally fucking boring and predictable!! If two characters are interacting at any point (if one is male and the other is female, of course) then you know for a fact that they’re not only love interests, but endgame. 

And that makes me not care even when there is drama between them. Elide giving Lorcan the cold-shoulder for three hundred pages, and Manon and Dorian arguing, and Aedion being cruel to Lysandra weren’t compelling narratives to me like they should have been, because the whole time I was just thinking “but it doesn’t matter. I know it’s still endgame. There are no stakes here whatsoever; it’s a done deal.” Whereas Chaol and Celaena’s devestating breakup in CoM felt like (and was) suuuuper Real. An all-in bet on the wrong person. Crazy shit. 

And not that I think two characters should never have a happy ending together (I really like rowaelin and nestaq and I would have loved malide!) but imagine how much cooler and subversive and entertaining it would have been if Elorcan, which seemed soooo totally cute and endgamey and borderline like fanfiction throughout all of EoS just ended forever right there and then on the beach, with Elide turning to Lorcan and saying “I hope you spend the rest of your miserable, immortal life suffering. I hope you spend it alone. I hope you live with regret and guilt in your heart and never find a way to endure it” - and BAM. She never speaks to him again. He’s dead to her. 

I mean, talk about shock value! (See, Sarah, you can have shock value without killing of a person of color to make a white character sad 🙃). And I totally get that relational twists like that alienate fans more than just going the expected route and having them kiss and make-up does (I mean, the ending of Chaolaena in QoS certainly did, Jesus Christ) but I, Bella aelinbitch, personally live for that shit, and isn’t it only fair that all media cater directly and specifically to me? Lmao. But seriously, I do think it’s objectively more interesting, and that it keeps readers on their toes (I was on my ASS in EoS and KoA. Like. I was flat on my back sinking into the Earth). 

And there are still sort of… glimmers of the old way she wrote in the first few books, but it just feels like a tease rather than something that’s really explored and indulged in the way it was before, and it just ends up being more frustrating (like what was the point of Manon and Dorian not getting married at the end of KoA if I would bet my life savings that in World of Tog it’ll be confirmed that they’re either married or still together) and sometimes downright problematic? Like to return to a previous example, I think all the drama between Aedion + Lysandra was a result of Sarah’s previous (good) instincts to shake stuff up and complicate the character dynamics, but it backfires because when they end up together, it’s not ever… worked out? Or addressed? If you create really intense drama between two people, then that needs to show up in their relationship, no matter how happy they end up together. It doesn’t just disappear.

And despite the fact that her understanding of that concept (that shit between two people doesn’t just disappear like magic) is one of my absolute favorite things about the first few books, Sarah even went as far as to use the last two books to retcon some of the original complexity away, which makes me want to rip out my hair!! Like Aelin at the end of KoA just going “Love you Chaol and Love you Dorian xoxoxoxoxox best friends forever!!!” instead of having, like, any type of mixed feelings about the way these boys treated her? I mean, come on! 100 pages earlier Chaol was openly saying she should die instead of Dorian! Why is everything just peachy-keen instead of fraught with tension!! (I know why. I know. It’s because she introduced way too many characters/POVs/storylines as the series went on and didn’t know what to do with them all besides sideline the nonromantic ones and pair off everyone else boy-girl boy-girl down the line). Or if it has to be peachy-keen, why is the peachy-keeness never critically examined as, perhaps, a repressive mechanism for Aelin to avoid dealing with painful truths from her past? Now that would be interesting. 

(My ideal World of ToG would be just a transcript of the characters’ therapy sessions where Aelin realizes that her insistence that “Chaol and Dorian Are Her Friends!” is actually a way to keep herself safe emotionally and that she has plenty of reasons to hate them, and Lysandra realizes she should divorce Aedion lmao).  

Anyway tldr: The variety, complexity, depth, and unpredictability of the relationships in Throne of Glass was simultaneously the most realistic (sometimes relationships of all kinds fall apart or veer off in unexpected directions and love is temporary and the boy you met in the first chapter isn’t actually your soulmate and it doesn’t mean he’s a villain) and the most gripping and dramatic (I would have been totally chill if maeve and erawan weren’t a thing and tog was just like a medieval soap opera, that’s how entertaining the character dynamics were) thing about the series, and to lose that in the last two books because of Heterosexuality (and introducing too many POVs and not knowing what to do with them all)…. kinda devastating. 

This ended up being waaaaaay more complaining than it was talking about what I loved, but the only reason it bothers me so much is because it used to be so good!!! So just imagine the inverse of all the frustration I just vomited into this ask and you’ll have a good idea of how much I loved the series when things weren’t this way.

[justangrymacaroni]

Rachel Elizabeth Dare: An Essay

(a.k.a. a discussion of the portrayal of strong female characters and their relationship with fandom, canon, and a whole bunch of other shit i wanted to scream about at 1:50 am)

it really Rattles My Gears that a character as cool as Rachel Elizabeth fucking Dare is constantly thrown under the bus.

“Percy Jackson and Rachel Dare had a really genuine and cool friendship that became obsolete as soon as Rachel was no longer a potential love interest for him” -- @ofswordsandpens​ 

i’m gonna take it a step further and argue that Rachel stopped being a relevant character in the story as soon as she “lost” the role of a potential love interest. not to mention the fact that fandom seemed to collectively h a t e her ass because of that potential love interest. WHY THO? 

let’s fucking discuss.

unfortunately, no discussion about Rachel can occur without the mention of the ship of the century. percabeth. i’m going to assume that percabeth shares its origins with the pjo series itself, allllll the way back in 2005. (holy shit).

2005 fandoms were a LOT different than the fandoms we see today. remember, this was before DashCon, the Mishapocalypse, “fandoms grab your weapons”, and everything else that sort of.....gave fandoms a bit of a wakeup call. not that there was anything inherently wrong with it initially, but there was a shift.

2005 was before that shift.

the original pjo series percabeth romance followed a familiar young adult romance trope: boy and girl meet. girl is strong willed. boy is relatable. girl hates boy. they are thrust together through magical/extraneous circumstances. they become friends. then best friends. then hopelessly in love--BUT WAIT THE WORLD IS ENDING OH NO.

but what makes percabeth so popular? what makes it different from the other tropes we’ve seen? i think the answer lies in the characterization. sure, the tropes are there, but the characters sort of rise above them. annabeth and percy exist independently of each other. their relationship is healthy in that they are able to support each other without completely being reliant one another. 

but i think the most significant part of all this, especially in concerns to Rachel, is that annabeth and percy grew up alongside the readers. as the characters  aged, their actions and thoughts--a.k.a the writing style over time--became more nuanced. the stakes rose, the conflict became complicated. and their relationship progressed relatively slowly, meaning the ship had plenty of time to grow in canon and fandom.

enter Rachel Elizabeth Dare. her character at the very beginning didn’t have any obvious romantic implications. percy runs into her, they chat, there’s a monster, she gives him her number, and BAM. done. she’s gone until the next book.

but within that short amount of time, she is brilliantly characterized. her actions and thoughts are unique from what we’ve seen. she’s funny, demanding, sarcastic, and brave as fuck. 

next book comes out and “uh oh, she’s a love interest!!!! KILL HER BURN HER FUCKING ANNABETH AND PERCY ARE FOREVERWELHKWJGBKHWKJEK”

wtf.

let’s talk about annabeth and Rachel. i argue that fandom loves annabeth for the same reasons they hate Rachel.

she doesn’t put up with anyone’s shit 

annabeth: she’s tough and kicks ass!

Rachel: she’s mean.

she doesn’t put up with PERCY’S shit

annabeth: she’s so funny lol she’s the yin to his yang

Rachel: she’s mean and wrong for him.

she fights, even when people tell her no

annabeth: (example--not wanting to be given dummy questions from the sphinx) she’s smart and independent, she has her own mind and she uses it

Rachel: (example--flying into a demigod battle to warn the others) omg she’s a MORTAL why is she constantly bursting into this story? she’s annoying!!!

sadly, most of the reasons behind the fandom’s dislike of Rachel lie with her relationship to percy, in that people don’t want her to be in a relationship with percy.

but let’s fucking stop talking about percy FOR JUST ONE SECOND.

Rachel is an awesome character. she can see through the mist, and it’s because of this that she wants to learn more about half-bloods, not some hot guy she ran into once. like she says herself, percy was only such a fascination for her because he opened a door to an amazing world. she didn’t need him to be a part of that world.

(ok now we’re done talking about percy)

Rachel Elizabeth Dare has shown time and time again to go above and beyond what was needed from her. examples include walking into the labryinth to help some kids she barely knew, getting in a fucking helicopter and flying into a monster god battle, and allowing herself to be possessed by an ancient prophet spirit-ghost-thing.

she does all this because she wants to, because that’s who she is. she’s the girl that covered herself in gold paint for an art movement. she’s the girl who demanded to learn more about terrifying monsters and kids with swords. she’s the girl who threw a blue hairbrush at kronos.

not to mention how compelling her story is. a mortal who can lift a curse on an ancient prophet??? WHAT??? as soon as the love triangle is over, she’s gone. and i’m So Mad About That because she was so interesting! she goes off to private school while possessed, and thaT’S ALL WE KNOW????

it pisses me off how a character only seems to exist for a romantic subplot, but i’m used to it.

now, what’s really interesting is how this affects female characters in fandom. i can’t say male characters, because while they can be entirely subjected to this “i exist for the romance” trope--gayle from hunger games, bella’s high-school guy friend from twilight, hermione’s quidditch boyfriend holy shit i’m forgetting his name--when it comes to fandom, the girls are treated worse.

i’m going to cut to the chase and tell you why. internalized misogyny is a tricky thing. it can lead you to see a female character solely through her relationship to the male counterpart. it does not matter if she has wants, aspirations, or independent thoughts outside of that relationship. 

when it comes to shipping, she’s not even a character. she’s a threat. female characters are trashed mercilessly in canon and fandom when it comes to this.

look at mary watson’s and irene adler’s treatment in the johnlock fandom.

look at how lavender brown was viewed back in the old harry potter days.

look at all the dead girls from supernatural.

look at martha from dr. who.

skyler from breaking bad.

betty from mad men.

meg from supernatural.

rachel from glee.

guinevere from merlin.

mercedes from glee.

lana lang from smallville.

iris from flash.

terra from young justice.

and on and on and on and on and on

just. Yikes.

from now on, whenever i see a female character hated on because of whatever fucking “threat” she poses, i’m calling it the Rachel Elizabeth Dare Effect.

The Rachel Elizabeth Dare Effect: When a female character is treated poorly in canon and/or fandom, for reasons including any to all of the following:

-- she poses a “threat” to a popular ship

-- hypocrisy for hatred of traits (traits loved in one character but hated in this one)

-- a shallow refusal to see character outside of romantic pull/ties

-- pitting female character against another female character in a bizarre attempt to prove one is superior

not all of the ladies i listed strictly apply to the Rachel Dare Effect, but are worth mentioning because it brings up a topic that needs to be addressed in concerns to storytelling.

look. i love rick riordan’s stories and universe. the pjo characters mean a lot to me. i also love percabeth. do not mistake this post as a way to proclaim my hatred for certain characters and ships. that’s the exact opposite of what i believe. if you don’t like Rachel outside of the reasons i’ve shown above, then by golly, you do you. but this is about more than a personal preference.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare, and characters like her, deserve so much more than what fandom has thrown at them. please, take pride and care in what you write and read. it has a scary effect on young minds.