#I uploaded this from my dumb tablet

[bbq-ishere]

erm what the sigma

[aetherdoesthings]

hanahaki!reader x arlecchino

forethoughts: omg aether finally uploads?!?!? apologies for the long break; i was getting my life together, because there's a lot going on in my life right now all at once. nevertheless, this was inspired by my previous work of hanahaki!reader x nico robin, but with arlecchino because of @edgeray's idea! thanks buddy, couldn't have revived my blog without you. also i'm sorry if there are grammatical mistakes or errors, i wrote this at 2am at a sudden burst of inspiration and motivation.

notes: modern setting, y/n and arlecchino are famous actresses, fem!reader, gentle!arlecchino, hanahaki au

“And how long will filming take?” You sighed, biting down on a hateful tone as you looked at your assistant.

“Roughly a year, Ms. Y/N.” Your assistant replied, clicking a few buttons on her tablet.

“How much is Furina offering to have me star in it with her?”

“$10,000,000 Mora, Ms. Y/N.”

You chewed on your bottom lip, despite your makeup artist’s ‘friendly reminder’. That amount could be worth the turmoil and agony to have to be in a constant space with… her.

“Arlecchino has already signed on board to the project. Ms. Furina is waiting to hear from you.” Your assistant looks up at you. “Surely you would not pass up a deal like that just because she is in it?”

“Shut it, Navia.” You scowl.

Navia laughs. “I jest, Ms. Y/N. What about Arlecchino do you dislike anyways? I heard she is kind and respectful.”

“Yeah, like that gives you a golden star.” You rolled your eyes, finishing your glass of wine. It wasn’t that you disliked or loathed the actress. You respected her upbringing and career and found honor in being in the same tier as her. But something about her rubbed you the wrong way. Every time you watched one of her press interviews or promo videos, your stomach would feel ill, hollowing itself out and making your legs kick in the air like a kid on Christmas. Simply sickening and rotten. And now you were to do an entire movie with her. 

“Hmn, fine. I’ll take it.” You sighed, leaning back on your couch. All for the Mora. All of the Mora. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s just one year. You survived with lousy and inadequate ‘colleagues’. Certainly you’d be able to survive the bane of your existence.

“Y/N. I’ve heard so much about you. It is a pleasure to finally meet and talk to you in person.” A familiar voice you only heard from behind the screen was now playing behind you. You turned your body, a curt smile on your face as you faced the disgustingly tall and surprisingly built woman (that looked so much bigger than what you saw on a screen), a dumb, cute and sweet grin plastered on her face. You acquiesced her offer, shaking her hand.

“And I share the same sentiment as you do, Arlecchino.” You smiled as politely as you could muster, suppressing your inner self and pummeling it for the sake of face. “I look…forward to working with you.”

Arlecchino’s lips turned into a thin line, her crimson eyes boring into yours, as if peering into your body to find that soul she tortured with just her appearance. You kept your smile, withdrawing your hand. “How was your flight here?”

Shock and surprise pierced that air tight smile of yours, allowing it to falter for a second. “I beg your pardon?”

“How was your flight?” Arlecchino repeated her question, an amused smile on her stupidly perfect and gorgeous face.

“It was… good.” You stammered, folding your arms.

Arlecchino chuckled. “Vague but straight to the point.”

“I prefer things to be like that.”

Arlecchino grinned, placing a hand on your shoulder. You had to bite back a shriek or gasp, nails digging into your palm as you tried to remain a smile. “Let us go to rehearsal, hmn? I’m certain Furina is eagerly waiting for us.”

A blockade started to emerge in your throat, your nails drawing blood as you nodded your head. “Sure, yeah, yeah. You go on ahead. I need to do something real quick.” You said, hoping Arlecchino would buy it.

“Alright then.” And she did, that lovely gullible soul. The minute Arlecchino walked out of earshot, a violent cough erupted from your throat, causing you to double over until it subsided. Looking down, you noticed a lone cherry blossom petal right by your feet. You massaged your throat, hoping to alleviate the sudden pain. Had that petal been there all along? But you were standing on open land without a tree in sight. Furina’s movie synopsis did not mention any cherry blossom trees. Surely, you couldn't have coughed up a petal. No, you did not cough up a petal. That stuff was out of the movies, not in reality. Your mind recalled back to an old movie you shot once, about the protagonist suffering from something called hanahaki disease, where the victim would cough up petals because of their love for someone. The protagonist was lovesick and had their eyes set on the other character, but died because the other person did not return their feelings. This wasn’t happening to you. Yes, the movie was based off of a true story, but certainly not. You were certain you were hallucinating. 

“Y/N!” You heard Arlecchino’s voice call your name from afar. 

“C-Coming!” No. You had to get yourself together. Come on, this was Arlecchino. That… elegant, beautiful, eloquent asshole who you always watched from afar but never had the chance to be with up close. But now you could. And this was how you reacted? Your stomach churned, as you swallowed anymore nonexistent petals down into your vat of acid before making your way to everyone.

Filming wasn’t too bad in the first few weeks. You and Arlecchino were to play star crossed lovers, and all that was scheduled was basic exposition. No petals came up, which supported your case that you were just hallucinating and definitely not a fictional disease. Until it came to the more intimate scenes.

“Alright, and action!” Furina exclaimed. Arlecchino’s character was pinning you to the wall, her finger on your chin.

“Did you really think you could hide it from me?” Arlecchino’s character sneered, her eyes boring into yours, her lips getting dangerously close.

“I-” You ducked your head in time to not cough into Arlecchino’s face, bringing a hand over your mouth as you coughed loudly, the air escaping your body as you wheezed. 

“Cut! Everyone, take ten!” Furina yelled, and the crew murmured and resetted everything because of your sudden cough.

“Are you alright?” Arlecchino placed a hand on your shoulder, rubbing small circles in an effort to comfort you, her voice soft and gentle. A complete contrast of her character she portrayed. That did not comfort you at all, rather stir up a bubbling feeling in your lower parts, warmth rushing to your face.

You balled your fist, nodding your head as you forced yourself to meet Arlecchino’s eyes. 

“I…” You stammered, words suddenly disappearing from your brain, as if Arlecchino was sucking it out with that crimson glow, radiating with warmth and concern, the grin on her face dissipating the moment she saw your soul momentarily leave your body.

“I-I’m alright. I-I’m so sorry.” You regurgitated. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“That’s alright. Do you need some water?” 

“That’ll… That’ll be good.”

Arlecchino nodded her head, patting your shoulder as she asked a staff member to grab you some water. “I’ll go talk to Furina for you. You just rest and recover, got it? I don’t want my acting partner to be ill.”

Oh, your acting partner already is ill. A voice inside of you replied back. 

“Right, yeah. Thank you so much, Arlecchino.” You exclaimed, smiling back.

"Always, Y/N." Arlecchino walked away, waving her hand. "Get well soon."

The crew was busy packing everything up and preparing everything for tomorrow. Arlecchino was talking to Furina, most likely going over tomorrow’s shoot and your cough. As everyone around you was moving and busy, you were escorted away into a car, which drove you back to the makeup trailer. Alone in the backseat, you opened your fist, staring at the item in the dead center of your palm.

A goddamn cherry blossom petal.

No. This can’t be happening. What the heck is happening?! You forced yourself to breathe, staring at the curled petal. Why was this happening? All you did was be in close proximity with that damn Arlecchino, which made your heart flutter and start to drum, your stomach churn and mind go fuzzy, legs limp and-

No.

No.

You did not have a crush on Arlecchino.

You could not have a crush on Arlecchino.

You were colleagues. Workers. She was the winner of multiple awards, she was the one who the paparazzi could never get a picture of, she was everything and you… you were…nothing. Nothing compared to what Arlecchino had done. 

Yet you were here, forced to work together with her and even have to do intimate scenes with-

God strike me here and now. Or make me go into a fatal accident. You silently prayed to anyone who was listening. 

Arlecchino would not be the reason you coughed and hacked up flower petals.

You refused to believe those soft crimson glow in her eyes she always had with you, those thin lips that always curled into a smile when you walked in the room, and those fingers that found a way to your shoulder, or cheek, or your waist would be the reason why you were coughing up petals, just like-

Hanahaki. The word taunted you. No. That couldn’t be. 

You refused to believe you had fallen in love with Arlecchino, let alone die because of it. No. As long as you could breathe, you would not let yourself be a victim of love that you will never receive and have. 

Arlecchino was going to be the reason the newspaper headline would read ‘Y/N FOUND DEAD IN HER BEDROOM FROM HANAHAKI DISEASE’ and lead numerous people to speculate who your Romeo was. 

But in that ill state you were, a tiny part of you was at ease with that scenario.

[necrofuturism]

If you're feeling hopeless right now, please watch Drawfee.

If you're not familiar, Drawfee is a comedy drawing show like Whose Line Is It Anyway but with a digital tablet, a stylus, and four amazing artist hosts. Nathan Yaffe, Julia LePetit, Jacob Andrews, and Karina Farek regularly create some of the most entertaining videos and streams featuring fan prompts+challenges and their resulting chaos.

No matter how varied and messed up the drawings get, Drawfee episodes have always shared one thing - unwavering and vocal support for the trans community. Honestly, it's my #1 source for content-based happiness where I feel repeatedly seen and safely reflected in their humor.

Besides that, Drawfee regularly fundraises for LGBTQ+ causes, and its hosts have independently fundraised for the PCRF.

Finally, Drawfee is so encouraging for art! Being an artist myself, Drawfee has always reminded me that while art may be silly, it isn't useless. It may not be serious, but it is important. In a time where art is repeatedly devalued and disparaged, Drawfee is there to say that Art is a central and vital part of community and we all need it.

They have a HUGE backlog of episodes, so you won't run out of things to watch anytime soon. Also, they stream on Twitch and have an extensive archive of livestream VODs if you need some long-form unedited nonsense.

You can join their Patreon for free to get updates on fundraising, live shows, and learning opportunities! Drawfee regularly has live classes for certain tiers of support, but every drawclass is eventually posted to the extra channel linked above. There's something for everyone at any skill level, and even if you don't do digital art I promise you can apply drawclass lessons to a wide range of media and your own personal work ethic.

As a bonus, Jacob and Julia host a regular game stream on Wednesdays and Sundays called SecretSleepoverSociety, which is equally supportive and and cozy especially during stressful times. They also have a huge archive channel on YT in case art isn't exactly your thing or you just want a break from the normal Drawfee shenanigans.

Nathan also streams on Nathan'sOtherShow and Karina can sometimes be spotted in the wild in vtuber form with Onsta! (fellow artist and friend of the show)

Pictured here: Porfo, the official unofficial Drawfee mascot riding a majestic winged Jacob Horse

While the usual Drawfee end catchphrase is "We're Sorry!" I'm not sorry at all for sharing this source of joy with y'all. I hope it helps bring you some laughs, love, smiles, and support now and in the future.

✏❤🖊

[sanest-bsd-delegate]

HEYY 🤭🤭 CAN YOU PLEASEE WRITE HEADCANONS FOR DAZAI WITH FEM S/O WHO IS CHILDISH (IN A CUTE WAY NOT ANNOYING) AND SARCASTIC BUT SHE IS SECRETLY REALLY EMOTIONAL AND OVERTHINKS? Only if you are comfortable and have time ofc i understand if you dont write it 💞

A/N: Hi hi I seriously dont know if the request is made twice, but I have already uploaded a post with same req. Cause you reqested headcanons sperately with a specificed character, guess ill make an exception *wink wink* [on a side note i think i was high writing this, but i would just post this cause i find it funny asf]

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐬 [<--- Uh the already done post? idk]

Dazai:

Okay so both of you are just childish. Kunikida gave up 😌 😌💅

Naur I think he might have those moments when you both will be holding hands and swinging it and then he would remove his hands swiftly and give you a moment to question all your life choices😔 

Low-key I think he loves to see you overthink only for him to kiss you and hug you. He is your little Red flag

BUT HE IS A RED FLAG-😔💅

👁👄👁

eitherways🤠

you both will be having karaoke night at the ADA office and Kunikida [😔] will burst in to see two psychopaths wrapped in blankets singing their heart out with the only source of light being from the tablet screen-😃😭

IF he was in his emo pm era, I think he might as well as gaslight you /hj [HE WAS REDDER FLAG THEN HIS ENEMIES BLOOD]💀😭

BUT BUT BUT ENOUGH WITH DAZAI😭

Your litle sarcastic soul really be wounding his ego, pride and body

Imagine one moment he is asking if you wanna join him to take a swan dive off the roof and you will ask him if he forgot to take medications or you did😭

don't question my sarcastic references

BUT OHNO 😔 

IF HE USES SARCASM

you are dumb cant even difference that😔😔 

Your food is half burned? he says that what he needs? you overthink😭😭

HONESTLY LISTEN LIKE HEAR ME OUT

HE would be more happy to eat poisoned food😨

but then you have to slap your boyfirend/husband because he cant die alone yet🤠

welps he loves you 8ft under shawrties🤠🤡👹💅

so stop overthinking and let this man give you kisses💅

cheeks? *kiss.* forehead? *kiss*. Lips? *mwah mwah kiss kiss*<333

😌

DAZAI LOVES YOU AND THATS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW👹👹

[😔where is this man irl? he can be a red flag and ill gladly have my mental health destroyed by him]

[siremasterlawrence]

Based on a true experience

I loath humans in general especially after all of my many various experiences this one in particular I am so lucky to get revenge on him.

I found out his exact address buying a new brand edition of a iPod staring to erase the entire iOS programming than started to begin uploading it.

The despite it all the device completely lit up in glowing ray of pure white washing up his screen as the tablet erases it into a blank tablet.

I laugh taking a plug placing it into the iPods base pod the device rares on with a newly designed logo then begins to spiral out of control.

A quick switch goes off in my head as I am beginning to program this Apple iPad to be the perfect enslaving gift for the helpless evil humans.

Very unexpected the device does reach his new apartment but some random guy who happily smiles creepily giving him the mini package.

He signs for it giving him a weird look than he closes the door and starts to shake the device to see what’s inside it flew from his hands.

The device rips through the paper package turning on as it spirals on pulling his ugly and underserving attention hogging ass to

a stand still.

His arms the size of weights yanking him to the floor as if he is a dumb fuck which he is now a total idiot as I have expected for a bit now.

“You bastard! You are not amazing just a chump.”

“A asshole to the extreme on all levels”

“You literally decide I am awful just but one conversation and meet.”

“You don’t even meet so fuck you “

“I will make you pay like everyone else “

“Grab your jacket “

“Your keys”

“Pick up the pad and place it on the table”

He mindless exits the apartment building as he exits the staircase walking down to the isle to the front door he walks to the front of his home.

He watches as man enters locking him from the inside of the gate he can’t escape the facts I bestowed on him as gasoline is pours everywhere.

The man lit a match scratching on the box side then throw a few across the room as they breakout in a fire the two men run from the area.

“Say goodbye to your old life”

“Fucker”

“Nothing to say huh?”

“Come on punk ass”

“Get in the car “

“You are all mine”

“You will never knew freedom again”

“You will feel pain and suffering “

“You will be treated the same as you have treated everyone else.”

“You will feel the pain of others”

“This will be great”

“Mwahahahahaha.”

The end

[elstreem]

Aroace colors Inkling I made in Procreate for practice!

I've been trying to figure it out so I'm not making any good art to upload yet. This is the first thing I made that looks ok, and it's still pretty rough compared to what I usually do.

My experience working with an ipad below because wow that got long.

My dad got me an Ipad to replace my 2014 Samsung Galaxy because it's getting some battery issues but uh...I haven't used an Apple product in forever. It's been two weeks and using an ipad still feels like someone sawed off my hand and stapled it back on :') I think it's a combination of having to learn to use new hardware and software, but it's been so tough trying to make digital art on this thing.

I wish I could use Medibang since it's what I'm most used to, but for some reason the pen I'm using won't register pressure with Medibang, so I have to use Procreate. I changed the pressure settings to work with Procreate, but it's still weird and hardly works the way I want it to, so I'm not sure if it's something with the 3rd party pen I'm using, or something else. We did order a paperlike screen so hopefully that fixes some issues for me. I never had to use one for my Galaxy even though it had a glossy screen cover, but its stylus and the pen for Ipads have different tips and it's not easy using the pen to draw.

I had an easier time working with my wacom and CSP, but then again CSP and Medibang have similar layouts so it's not too difficult to adjust. Procreate is nice, but it's so different from what I'm used to that it feels like I'm arguing with someone just using its basic functions lol. I found the default brushes so difficult to use, too. My dumb monkey brain isn't flexible enough for this thing.

Kind of a rant, but it's just me complaining and it's a matter of my getting used to it. I did manage to make this, so hopefully I can consider Procreate as my next tool, But in the meantime, I still have my Galaxy and Medibang on it, so that's still where I'm mainly working. I reserve CSP for really big digital works or more complicated paintings since...it's a hassle setting up my pc and wacom tablet lol.

[erythristicbones]

.

[callmearcturus]

==> You have three doors

DOOR ONE: Reading Homestuck using the Unofficial Collection

Pro: Everything is immaculately preserved at the highest quality. Official HS took beautiful animations and turned them into 360p fuzzy horseshit. UHSC has everything in HQ.

Pro: Navigation controls. I set everything to "auto open pesterlogs" and then use arrow keys to go to the next page when I'm done. Very smooth experience.

Pro: You can fucking mod out the worst slurs from early Homestuck, which is a relief.

Pro: It maintains the browser games as well as the incredible formatting tricks of Cascade, A6A6I1 and others.

Pro: It's literally officially endorsed by the creator as The Way to read HS.

Con: Windows and Mac only, not mobile, unfortunately.

Con: No matter how many times I read the explanation for First Time Reader Mode, I'm always still a bit confused.

Con: The Troll quirks.

DOOR TWO: Experiencing Homestuck with Lets Read Homestuck

Pro: The entire comic read to you, with matching visuals, is really a fucking treat and probably the most low effort way to experience it.

Pro: CANNOT OVERSTATE HOW FUCKING GOOD THE ACTING IS SOMETIMES. OFTENTIMES. Duckum's Rose performance is more deserving of oscars than most shit I've seen get awards. Karkat's performance is always a delight but the emotional rollercoaster of Murderstuck? Holy shit. Also I did not like Terezi until LRHS, now I love her.

Pro: Sometimes, Homestuck is hard to read. Making sure you find every secret in every walkaround? Trying to figure out what the trolls are saying through their quirks? Oh my god the fucking SBaHJ interludes? There are parts of the Meenah walkaround I totally missed bc I could not parse the quirks. LRHS makes it a complete and total non-issue.

Con: In my opinion, it takes them a while to find their footing. Act One is just kinda rough. Act Two is better, but things become fantastic pretty much as soon as Duckums takes over as Rose.

Con: It's not complete. LRHS is up to the Trickster Arc deep deep deep in Act 6, so they're nearly there, but the last 15% of the comic, you have to read yourself.

Arc, what the fuck: I have all of LRHS ripped as MP3 so I can listen to it like an audiobook. Lemme know if you want the files.

DOOR THREE: Official Homestuck Website

Pro: It does work on phone and tablet.

Pro: You can pair it with the HQ upload of all HS Flashes and have an okay time.

Con: The walkarounds are removed. The entire game of Jane's land is a fucking YOUTUBE VIDEO. The special effects for Cascade and A6A6I1 and even the stupid horse segments are gone. The entire gravity of the Retcon is removed. They couldn't even fucking preserve Gamzee's dumb potion shop bit. What the absolute fuck.

Con: EVEN THE FUCKING UPLOADS THEY DID LOOK LIKE HORSESHIT. Compare the official intro of Rose's world to a reupload of the original flash. How the FUCK was this allowed?! Who OKAYED this?!

This is garbage. Homestuck is a multimedia experience of prose, text, music, animation, interactive storytelling, and Viz Media fucked it.

The choice is yours. I suggest Door Two, but I'm a podcast person before everything else. Door One is a very very good door once you get going. Door Three is if you HAVE to use mobile. but please, fuck, use the All Flashes video, I'm begging you.

OH BUT WHATEVER OPTION YOU CHOOSE: stop at Act 7 or Credits. Do not read the Epilogues or the post canon stuff.

[megatenfanfromhell]

Birth by Kazuma Kaneko

About: When starting his illustrations he will start on paper, then eventually scanning his work onto his computer.

The first subject of the drawing Kaneko made was Demi-Fiend as he was the main focus of the piece. He will often draw the “essential” or main focus of the piece first. After that he begins drawing the demons, ignoring what sticks out. 

Due to the limitations of his computer at the time he would split the image into four parts as the image can take up to 100-200 MB of RAM, keeping in mind that at this time computer RAM was just now hitting a gigabyte in size allowing Painter to run smoother. Since Kaneko doesn’t have to meet many deadlines for several pieces of work he will often take his time and add many details to his art.

The tools Kaneko used for the works is as follows:

Software: Painter 6, Photoshop 6.1

Hardware: PowerMacintosh, G4/450 Dual, memory 1024MB (equivalent to 1GB)

Tablet: WACOM intuos2 i-620

(Source: Interview scan and translation by dijehtranslations.)

Mod thoughts:

I... REALLY love this artwork, it’s one of my favorite pieces created by Kaneko, specifically the limbs as odd as it sounds. The way he tends to draw characters, around the time of Nocturne and Persona 2 duology look like a porcelain dolls. His digital work is gorgeous and I love it, I can’t get over it!  — Luna

(Artwork Scan taken from Larrue’s Kaneko Artwork Folder, the High Quality version can be found here.) UPDATE 6/19/2023:

So... Larrue’s Megaten Archive is gone. I tried to find why but there was nothing but he mentioned that someone uploaded his stuff to the Internet Archive. I am too dumb to find it. Luckily I have saved his Kazuma Kaneko art folder! So now you can get the image here.

[hayjeon]

Tips on creating fun fanfic headers!

i had so much fun writing the fanfic writing tips yesterday and i got a few more questions about header-making, and so i decided to make one more of these! i hope these tips help somebody out there! hope you enjoy :) 

p.s. these tips won’t require any hard editing skills or photoshop skills, nor any expensive tablets/apps! 

typically i spend around ~5-10 min creating one header, and that’s either after i think of/finish a fic. i have so much fun doing it and sharing it with you that i figured i’d share how i do it! 

why headers? 

as I talked about in my fic tips, one of the most eye-catching things about fics are headers. when i’m scrolling through a rec page, my home page, a tag, or even someone’s masterlist, i’m immediately drawn to well-made headers. that’s what captures my attention, and then i’m more drawn in by the content. so, you can say that headers is your own version of an ad for your own fic, or an extension of it (like the cover of a novel!) 

if you were writing your own book, imagine how much time you’d spend figuring out what you wanted your cover to look like. i try to have as much fun and invest as much time making my own headers because it’s just the cherry on top to my finished product :) 

disclaimer: BUT HEADERS ARE NOT NECESSARY/DO OR DIE! if you don’t feel like you want to do this, then keep writing! its ok! this is just a suggestion. i’ve seen plenty of well-written fics without headers at all, so don’t beat yourself up over not having one/not wanting to do one. this is truly just a fun, extra kind of thing, and only keep reading if you want to learn how i do it! :) 

tips for people who don’t want to make headers: if you still want something to make your fic stand out, use gifs! i use them in my drabbles a lot! this will at least give ur fic a lil boost! 

how to find pictures

I typically use unsplash, which is a free website in which photographers upload their HQ pics for free use. the pics are really high quality, typically stock photos, and don’t have any logos on them like other ones on google. unfortunately, you won’t find any pics of the members or anything, but you’ll find beautiful stock photos of typical scenes like “ocean scene” or “desert scene.” I found the stock photo for cut me open (shown below) on that site by just looking up “medical” or “doctor”. 

i used to use google a lot and just use keywords like “desert scene HQ” and edit the search settings to deliver HQ pics, and a minimum # of pixels, but unplash is definitely better in terms of quality, more aesthetic photos, and no logos/watermarks. 

on some occasions, i will screenshot some scenes of youtube videos, turning up the quality to 1080p or 4k and zooming in so that the pixelation is as crisp as possible, and then editing it later to look good (which i’ll explain in a second!) 

the above photo was a scene from the specific characters from the drama, “100 Days My Prince” that I screenshotted from a youtube video that TvN uploaded, recapping the drama. I cropped it just right so that their faces were left out, which i’ll also mention soon! 

things to look for when picking pictures: 

you want the picture to reflect a specific motif/theme from your fic! if its a moody fic, then try to find a moody scene that you can edit with filters/lighting to look even moodier; or if the characters’ jobs are a big portion of the fic (like cut me open/doctor theme) try to look for stock photos with that shown very clearly!

make sure its high quality: tumblr really dumbs down the quality of the photo when uploading it, so try your best to find something with a lot of pixels in it so that when you start editing, you don’t sacrifice too much of the quality already

try to look for something simple/clean: a picture with too much subject (ie. people in the background, or too much detail) may end up taking away from the main point of your header, which is your title. so find pics without too much clutter! 

try to make sure its landscape: which will help during editing to save some of the quality better. 

editing your pictures

now that you have a specific photo you want to use, now its time to edit! I use VSCO CAM (free app) and my own apple photos cropping tool for faster crops. 

crop/adjust: if your picture is too large/wide, crop it to at least a 16:9 ratio. i’d say aim for skinnier if you can, so that you don’t take up too much space (especially if you’re planning to add headers to your masterlist). also crop out any faces, any clutter, any unnecessary details, so you have a nice, clean slate to work on when adding text. 

contrast/sharpen/clarity/white balance/etc.: i’m not gonna give you a lesson on photography, but i’ll tell you I learned like 80% of everything that i know just by fiddling with it on VSCO! So just try it out and play with the app, see what you can make of it. i’d say a rule of thumb to follow is that you want happier fics with a brighter tone, and moodier/angsty fics with a darker tone so that it can reflect the nature of the fic further, without saying anything! 

if you wanna be extra af like me, then go a step further and photoshop your pics. this one is a good example; when i screenshotted this scene from another youtube video for my fic One Year My Love part 2, i was specifically looking for a scene that would showcase the ornate/regal details of their clothing/environment in contrast to part 1′s modest clothing/scene (the first header in this post). 

i found this scene, but actually, this scene portrays the Crown Prince and the Princess, not y/n. So, the actors weren’t smiling at all! They were actually frowning at eachother in this scene, to portray the tension between the two characters and their marriage. 

So, I took the extra step, adjusting the pic with VSCO so that their shoulders/chins were at the same level, cropped off their faces up until their lips, and then used the adobe photoshop free app to photoshop their lips to be SMILING at eachother!!!! subtle, but important! 

call me crazy for taking that much time but i’m so proud of how it turned out and i loved every second of making this one. that way, this scene makes it portray the happy ending for Jungkook and y/n! 

adding text to your header

you can use any app out there, but i really like Font Candy! I actually ended up buying the 2$ version of this and never regretted it, but you can actually find a lot of their basic fonts on the free version; I tend to use the fonts: OSTRICH SANS, BEBAS, TREND, and INTRO the most! these are pretty clean-looking, block letters that look good whenever i put them as my titles. 

I love this app too cause you can easily control the spacing between letters to make them take up more space, add shadows, or even make them contrast their background using the overlay feature; like this one i made for wildest dreams (see how the text changes depending on what part of the photo its on? amazing! it’s literally with a click of a button!!)

And i’ll always add “written by HAYJEON” or “by HAYEJON”, space it out, and add it somewhere underneath as my own branding.

orrrrrr 

if you want to be more creative, you can even go a step further and use whatever you have on hand to enhance whatever you’re trying to portray. 

for this one, i ended up finding this amazing photo on unsplash and i thought it would do a create job of portraying the “movie-set” quality of what wildest dreams is going to be about. this stock photo had someone else’s names on it, so i used my ipad, and used instagram to just erase the existing writing with the color of the background, and then wrote in my own title and url with my own handwriting/apple pen!!! 

i thought this was pretty cool because it’s like wildest dreams is its own movie/has its own movie set, which, once it’s out, you guys will see that it’s supposed to be! 

saving/uploading

this is pretty easy/obvious, but i figured i’d mention it. all the apps i mentioned are available on the appstore, and they will save directly to your photos. after doing that, i’ll just upload them into a special folder i have on my google drive so that when i’m finished writing a fic on tumblr using my laptop, i can easily download the photos without sacrificing quality. easy! 

and that way, i can save them forever; even if i have to delete them from my computer, i can always redownload them! 

side note: making text separators

i just recently started doing this, but ever since tumblr took down their text separators, i’ve just been cropping the bottom like 5-10 pixels of the header to use as my text separators! (with my laptop)

i saw some other writer doing it and thought that it looked better than what i had used previously (a cropped photo of a random line i found on google); i found that doing this tied my fics together a little better and just looked better aesthetically; 

so there it is! hope you enjoyed! :) i would love to see what other tips you guys have been using, feel free to send me an ask or reply to this post; and if you end up using any of my tips, please let me know! I love to hear from you guys all the time <3 

lots of love, especially during these times, 

hay <3 

[katsuukiwii]

Proud- Levi X Reader Chapter Five

Chapter 5: “Everybody Hurts” Chapter Warnings: Language, Depression, Death, Non-detailed vomit, Gore, Past Levi X Petra, Angst, Fluff at the end A/N: based off of this song uh...yeah! ALSO THE NEXT CHAPTER IS FINALLY THE START OF THE HALLOWEEN PARTY SO THATS COOL

Uploading Schedule

Levi wakes up, his head pounding, his palms sweaty, burning hot but freezing cold at the same time. “Another nightmare...God.” He puts his face in his hands, regaining his thoughts. He stands up, walking into his bathroom and splashing some cold water on his face before going downstairs. 

Suddenly, Hanji’s voice speaks up, “Yo Levi! Why are you awake? Go lay back down.” Levi shakes his head, “I can’t. Every time I close my eyes I can see her…” His mother, Kuchel. He loved his mother dearly. Then the wreck happened.

**Flashback**

Screams are heard as the car starts to flip over. A semi truck couldn’t stop soon enough, causing a collision. 17 year old Levi reaches over, grabbing his almost 5 year old brother from his seatbelt, shielding him with his own body. He feels something crack when he hits the car ceiling. He cries out in pain, and suddenly everything goes quiet, it all stopped. Levi opens his eyes, still covering Liam, staring up at the back seats he was once sitting in. His voice is quiet, and weak, “Liam? Mom?” Liam shifts in his arms, looking up at him and he sighs. He’s safe. Then he notices he got no response from his mother. He decides not to look yet, and kicks at the window, breaking it. He moves out carefully, making sure not to hurt Liam. As soon as he gets out he sits on his knees, pulling Liam in front of him and checking him over for wounds. They’re both panting heavily, “Okay. Thank god you’re okay,” he hugs him close, “I’m gonna go check on mom, okay? Stay here.”

He crawls over, his legs work, but it’s extremely painful to use them. The peeks into the window and his eyes widen:

His mother lays there, bloody with her eyes still open. A large piece of metal was stuck in her shoulder, and it looked like her neck was broken. Her once flowing, raven hair was now in a tangled mess, her beautiful cream colored skin now blotched with dark purple bruises and crimson blood. Levi tries to scream, to make any noise, but nothing comes out. The only thing that comes out is a gag as he doubles over, vomiting at the sight. He wipes his mouth with his sleeve as Liam starts to move over to him. Levi rushes over, turning him around to keep him from seeing his mother. A few people pull over and get out of their cars, checking out the scene and calling an ambulance. One girl with ginger hair gets out of her car and runs over to them both. “Holy shit… Are you guys okay??” That girl was Petra.

They got to the hospital, and it was revealed that Kuchel was in fact dead. They all took it hard. Mikasa visited them in the hospital, making sure they were both well taken care of. She stayed with the boys until Levi turned 18 and decided he could handle himself (and Liam).

**Flashback over**

A couple months after that, Levi and Petra started dating. It didn’t work out, they remained friends, but they were better like that anyway. Hanji gives him a look of pity, walking over and setting him on the couch, “Levi, I know it’s still scary to think about. Would you like us to stay a bit longer?” The raven shakes his head, and Hanji rolls her eyes. “At least take your antidepressants.” She walks into the kitchen, getting a cup of water and grabbing a dose of the pills. 

…

Liam rubs his eyes, hiding them from the light peeking in from his window.  He stands up, sleepily walking down the steps, seeing Hanji and Levi turn to him. He waves to them, smiling. “Good morning Aunt Hanji, good morning Papa!” Levi smiles, picking him up and hugging him close, placing a kiss on his cheek, “Good morning, Liam. Are you hungry?” Icy blue eyes try to blink the sleepiness out of him as he nods his head. Levi sets him on the counter, “Okay then! What do you wanna eat?” 

Liam smiles reaching up with tiny arms and hugging him again, “Can we have ice cream!” Levi cringes slightly, “We’d have to go to the store first. You know I need my special ice cream. I can’t have milk.” As, yes. Being lactose intolerant was great. Hanji blurts in, “I saw an empty bag of goldfish crackers by the way!” Levi looks at her, “Yeah, but I took one of my tablets before. So now my stomach only hurts a little bit.”

Hanji shakes her head, “You still shouldn’t eat them. Cmon, let’s go get ice cream. I know what flavor Win-Win likes.” Levi looks at her, smirking, “Is it cookies and cream? If you get what I mean,” he winks, and Hanji smacks his arm, “That’s naughty! He likes strawberry ice cream!” Liam grabs his coat, still in his pajamas. 

…

They had finally got their ice cream, Liam bouncing happily in the backseat while Levi drove. Liam wasn’t dumb, he knew his brother enough to know what was going on. He was happier than usual, which meant Liam had to cheer him up. The only time he did that was when he was feeling “sad” as Levi called it. Hanji told him it was something more, but he didn’t need to know about such things yet. So, Liam accepted that, and tried to help out his Papa! Hopefully he’d start feeling better soon

[berjhawn]

In My Head - Ch. 1 - In My Dreams

Warnings: arguing; bad language ; break ups

Pairings: Geralt X Reader x Bucky ; Bucky X Reader x Geralt ; Geralt x Reader ; Bucky X Reader

Summary: Girl dreams about boy, girl meets boy, chaos ensues.

A/N: I hope you enjoy this short little series. I love the witcher so much that i have bought the games and even the books so i can learn all the lore. please let me know what you think. I’ll be uploading a part a day until the end should be at most 10 parts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Walking into the meeting room I look around to see that we were being joined by Wanda, Steve, Vision, Tony, Thor, and Doctor Hank Pym. This was definitely a strange group of people for a mission briefing. After greeting everyone I sit down beside Bucky. He offers me a smile as he wraps his arm around the back of my chair. Steve starts, but for some reason I can’t focus.

The words Jaskier said were filling my head causing me to doodle on the tablet in my grasp. Geralt saw someone in his dreams as well… Who did he see? I pushed away the hope that it might be me. After all these years I really needed to find a way to relieve myself of these dreams. I needed to move on.

“(Name)?” I hear Steve call my name and my eyes shoot to him.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t really paying attention.” I confess going to set the tablet down on the table only to have Steve grab it and look at the screen.

“Who’s this?” Steve asks his eyes studying your drawing.

“No one,” I reply.

“That’s him.” Bucky adds causing me to turn and glare at him. “That’s the man she sees in her dreams.”

“You told him?!” I accuse making Bucky roll his eyes. “Of course, you did, I forgot you two are connected at the cock.” I hear a snort from the other side of the room and turn to see Tony covering his mouth as he tries not to laugh.

“(Name), he’s one of he reasons we are having this meeting.” Steve announces making my eyes widen slightly at him. I glance back at Bucky to see him glaring at me. “Tony, Hank, and Wanda; think there is something about the connection between the two of you. They want to do a few tests to see if we can’t possibly find out what is really going on here.”

“You want to run tests on me? I’m not all that excited about that, but okay. That explains why the those three are here, but what about Thor?” I ask looking to where he sat in the corner silently swigging from his beer. He stopped mid swig when he heard his name.

“We have reason to believe that this place in your mind is real.” Hank interjects pulling the attention towards him.

“Really? Why do you think that?” I ask leaning forward against the side of the table.

“We found some old Hydra documents,” Steve starts.

“And?” I ask getting annoyed they wouldn’t just beat around the bush.

“They were filled with information on this place in your head.” Bucky adds from behind me causing my heart to race.

“So, you mean to tell me that I’m not crazy? That place… is real?” I inquire hope and anger filling my chest. Faint memories of being sent to an asylum forcing their way into my mind. I shove them away as a folder is set down in front of me. I look at everyone before I reach out and taking the folder flip it open. I glance down and as I read, I notice that a lot of the information they had was for making Witchers.

“Does the information there mean anything to you?” Steve asks and my brow furrows.

“They wanted to make Witchers, which is practically impossible, especially here. How did they even know about them?” I ask as I look through the folder trying to find the answer.

“What’s a Witcher?” Wanda asks leaning forward on the table.

“A Witcher, is someone who has undergone extensive training, ruthless mental and physical conditioning, and mysterious rituals; in preparation for becoming an itinerant monster slayer for hire. They used to take orphan boys and train them. Almost all of them died.”

“Damn,” Wanda replies her eyes glancing up at Steve’s.

“Almost… how many survived?” Steve asks and I shake my head.

“Not sure, Geralt is the only one I know of; but he always mentioned that there were others when he talked with Jaskier.” I answer still reading through the stack of paper to find out how they had gotten their information. “Why doesn’t it say where they got their information?”

“No one knows.” Steve answers making my eyes meet his. “That’s why we need your help.”

“What kind of tests were you talking about before?” I ask leaning back in my chair.

“We want to hook a machine up to your head, one that will find the frequency of the universe your friend is in. Then, when we match it, we want to send you along with someone else to find out if there is anyone else there who has a connection other than you.” Tony replies dumbing it down for me.

“So, assuming this all works, who’s going with me?” I ask looking around the room.

“I will.” Bucky says from beside me and I shake my head.

“No, you won’t.” I argue causing him to lean towards me his brow furrowed.

“(Name),” Bucky starts only to have me hold up my hand to stop him.

“You can’t go, if they are right and there is a person who had a connection with someone in Hydra then they know who you are.”

“They’ll recognize him.” Steve adds and I nod.

“As much as you want to go with me you can’t.” I conclude making anger fill his eyes. Bucky opens his mouth to argue but instead scoffs and pushing himself from the table storms out of the room slamming the door behind him.

“I’ll talk with him later.” Steve sighs as he sits down in his own chair. “Do you have any suggestions on who would be able to go?”

“Well to be honest you can’t go because all of Hydra knows your face,” I start making him nod. “Tony can’t because honestly, they would kill him. Sorry bud.” I add making him smirk. “Hank, no offense but you’re too old.”

“None taken,” Hank replies giving me a nod.

“Honestly the only ones that could go with me are Wanda and Thor.” I state my eyes finding Wanda’s.

“Okay, I guess that settles it.” She replies looking over at Thor.

“Another grand adventure.” Thor adds a smile on his lips.

“Okay then it’s all settled. (Name), you’ll go with Tony and Hank to get the machine and coordinates set up.” Steve announces and I nod.

“I just have one thing left to do first.” I add shooting Steve a knowing glance.

“We’ll meet you up there.” Tony says and I nod.

Walking out of the briefing room I make a beeline for the gym where I knew he’d be. I hear the loud smack of flesh against leather and I know he’s there, and he’s pissed. I see him before he notices that I’m there. The rage radiating off his body is tangible. Taking a deep breath, I walk over to him and clearing my throat hear him let out a heavy sigh.

“I don’t wanna talk.” Bucky says his eyes narrowing on the punching bag in front of him.

“Bucky, I don’t wanna fight.” I say causing him to scoff.

“Could have fooled me.”

“I know you want to go with me, but if you do, we won’t find out what’s going on,”

“Oh, come on, (Name),” Bucky yells finally turning towards me. “Just be honest, you don’t want me to go so you can be with him.”

“That’s not true James. I love you.” I state reassuring him of how I feel. Then I let out a heavy sigh as I continue, “I won’t lie and say I don’t have feelings for him cause it’s true. I do; but… do you really think so little of me? Do you think I would go there just to cheat on you?”

“No, do not put this back on me.” He argues his eyes narrowing at me.

“Please, just listen to me.” I beg and he shakes his head.

“No, do not use your powers on me.” He yells taking me back.

“I would never do that!” I yell out angry tears filling my eyes. “Not to you. Never to you.”

“(Name),” He pauses his eyes turning sad. “I think we should take a break, just until you can figure your feelings out. I can’t keep living like this, wondering if you truly love me or if I’m just a replacement for some dream guy.”

“James Buchanan Barnes, I love you. I want you.” I say emphasizing on the word ‘you’.

“I wish I could believe you.” He concludes turning from me and walking away.

I stand there staring off after him as my heart breaks. He didn’t believe me. Did he not want me? I understood how he felt about it all but did he think that as soon as I got there, I would just run to find Geralt? I most likely wouldn’t even meet him. As much as I would want too, I would complete my mission.

Choking back sobs, I reach into my pocket and pulling out my cellphone call Natasha. She answered on the fourth ring.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Can I stay with you please?”

“Of course, you okay?”

“I’ll explain when I get there.”

Will Continue - 

[silvia7272]

6 ~ The Second Akuma

So, I think I’m going to have to upload this one before the salt SongFic because it has one spoiler that will make sense if I upload this before the SongFic.

The episodes Timetagger, Chat Blanc, Felix, Loveater and Miracle Queen will not happen. If you haven’t guessed. I might add more but I’m not sure, I’d have to go through each episode. Also, I don’t really care what happens in season 4 I’m going by my ideas.

Word Count: 4361

Tags: @queenmj10, @fangirl39, @animegirlweeb, @northernbluetongue, @daminett4life, @raisuke06, @indecisive-mess-named-me, @luleck @themamaravenclaw, if you wish to be tagged all you have to do is say. Sorry, it's different but this was the reason I started posting in the first place.

***

The limo was a first for our sliver-eyed hero. She was used to being on foot or using her ‘special’ transportation, and a limo was too big to construct. Instead, she looked out the window, she could see so many different sites she hadn’t seen before, she so had to take her newfound friends there, until she remembered that they had probably already visited.

“Rosina, do you have any idea why Father invited you? Not to be rude but Father never invites any of my friends, he’s normally too busy for this, but now it seems different.” She looked back at him and he did genuinely feel confused, but then she saw something else.

Fear…

She wondered why he would think that, but then she remembered what Chloé had said.

“He’s Adrien’s Dad and a famous fashion designer. He never lets him out of the house except for school, photoshoots and fencing lessons. He doesn’t even allow his friends to come over and visit”

“I’m as much in the dark as you are, but don’t worry Adrian, no matter what happens, we’ll get through it together, so there's no need to worry” He looked almost hopeful, just how bad was Gabriel she mused?

Until the limo stopped.

“We’re here”

The door opened courtesy of the Gorilla with Nathalie by his side. She looked around, amazed by its structure and area.

“Wow, this is like, two houses stuck together” Nathalie and the Gorilla gave questioning looks while Adrien was gently guiding her towards the door.

“Sensational, it looks even bigger on the inside. I’ve never been in a house so big”

“I appreciate the compliment Miss Scoats” They turned to see the famous fashion designer before them.

“And I’m pleased you came on such short notice” He held out his hand, shocking Adrien the most, he’d never willingly made contact with anyone, not even him.

“It wasn’t a problem Sir. I just hope I haven’t done anything that would damage my image. I am confused about why you decided to invite me, however”

“Let us discuss matters privately” He started walking towards the room he spent most of his days in, Nathalie followed despite the privately being said, and Adrien was about to be whisked away by his bodyguard. That was until he felt a tug on his arm.

“I’m sorry but I would feel a lot more comfortable with Adrian with me, Sir.” You couldn’t tell if Gabriel was annoyed or considering it but nodded after a moment.

Adrien, however, was glad he was included, plus he didn’t really want to be spending all his time in his room when one of his friends was downstairs, the last time his friend had a meeting with his Father… It didn’t go so well.

“It’ll be alright” He squeezed her hand comfortingly before they made their way inside.

“By your indication, you don’t have any idea why you’re here?” They both nodded as Adrien spotted Nathalie on her tablet, it looked like she was pulling something up on the screen in front of them.

“There was something that had caught my eye when it showed that my Son was included in this video, does this jog your memory?”

“Our fencing match? I remember Alya posted it on her blog” Adrien reasoned with himself while Rosina was still confused.

“What's a blog?”

“Ahem, I have to say I’m quite intrigued by your impressive set of skills. And I’m willing to make an offer.” They both looked surprised, well more Adrien than Rosina.

“If you will become Adrien’s bodyguard where our other cannot, to protect him in school hours, your payment will be substantial. With the rising activities of Akuma’s I wish he would be protected more than I’m able to give him.”

Adrien.Exe has stopped working.

Was this?

Was this his Father’s way of providing him with another friend?

So, the gods did love him, he knew his Father cared about him, he knew it.

Now he wouldn’t be alone as much, he could spend time with one of his friends.

“I’m sorry Sir but I can’t” Her head lowering into a sort of bow.

And then he stopped again.

Why? Why couldn’t she stay with him?

All he wanted was to hang out with someone.

“Why not?” Gabriel’s voice was callous. And Adrien really hoped Rosina would be emotionally strong enough to withstand an Akuma.

“I-I mean I don’t need to be paid, I already have enough money as it is, and I still need some time for my friends and Aunt, plus I wouldn’t want to agree to something without Adrian’s approval. I’m very sorry Sir, I hope you haven’t wasted too much time with me” She didn’t want another decision to be forced on Adrian, he had all his choices made for him already, he didn’t want him to resent her, plus she kinda wanted to leave and be with Marinette, Chloé and Kagami. It was hard enough getting here in the first place she didn’t want to make them wait anymore.

“Wait, Rosina, I don’t mind, I really wouldn’t mind having a friend near me. I think it would be good for me someone as strong as you. And I’m sure Father won’t mind you having as much free time as you want. Right, Father?” He turned and prayed to whatever god was out there now. He felt happy when Rosina wanted his opinion, it felt nice someone wanted him to be heard rather than someone speaking on his behalf. But he hoped his Father wouldn’t mind.

“Really, I was really worried, that and I don’t work so well cramped inside all the time, would there be a way to have some lessons outside? At the park perhaps?” She wondered out loud, it was like all of Adrien’s prayers were being answered right now, Father would have to let him go outside for Rosina’s proposition. Wait, could she read his mind? He’d have to get his foil hat from his emergency box.

“I believe there are some aspects I can negotiate on, but is this a deal?” His hand was still stretched out.

“Of course, although there was something else, I’d like to mention” Gabriel was getting a bit restless here, how many times would she add to her previous comments?

“What would that be?” Everyone sans Rosina could tell Gabriel was getting mad, there weren’t a lot of hints, but they were there.

“I was wondering if I could help Adrian with his languages?” He rose an eyebrow, even if he wouldn’t have believed she had super fencing skills he couldn’t place her with being multilingual as well. There had to be a test.

“Is that so?” Adrien paused, if he had to guess that sounded German, and then the panic-struck in, he was testing her! Oh no, there was no way he could be this lucky in a day, maybe it was his destiny to be alone.

“Of course, Sir,” They all seemed surprised.

“That wouldn’t be all you know would it?” He switched again, Italian?

“If not, I would be Trilingual but as I said I’m Multilingual” Her smile never wavered.

“Impressive, a number of all the languages you know will be helpful” He ordered, but Rosina didn’t seem to mind.

“Of course, Sir: Morse Code, Binary, French, Italian, German, English, Mandarin, Russian, Japanese, Arabic, Latin, Spanish and Thai.” They looked at her in disbelief while she rubbed the back of her head.

“I travelled a lot when I was younger, and Aunty still makes sure I remember all of the languages on top of… Other things.” She seemed to trail off, Gabriel and Nathalie noticed but either didn’t care or didn’t comment.

“Then I suppose I can allow this to happen, now Adrien, if you would like to show our guest around, I have some important matters to attend to.” He couldn’t keep the smile off his face.

“Of course, Father, c’mon Rosina I’ll show you the dining room first” He offered his hand out as they walked off.

***

“And that’s how Rosina became my tutor/bodyguard” All of Adrien’s friends were on his computer screen, looking ecstatic.

“That’s great dude, at least now you’ll have some company.” He nodded.

“Wow Rosina, thanks so much for doing this for Adrien, that’s so nice of you” Rose praised as our red-haired heroine rubbed her head again.

“I didn’t really do anything, Mr Agreste was the one who gave me the offer, I don’t even get why though.”

“But don’t you see? This is perfect, with you having to spend more time with Adrien that means we’ll all have to spend more time with you. And that means we’ll all soon become closer friends” Lila presented the idea as they all praised her like they had become accustomed to.

“Plus, whenever me and Adrien have our photoshoots, I’m sure I can tell all of you the location of where we’re stationed. That way we’ll have more time to hang out outside of school. Wouldn’t that be amazing?”

“Lila I can’t believe how smart you are, why didn’t any of us think of that before?”

‘Because you’re too dumb’ She wished she could’ve retorted but held her tongue.

“I don’t know, I don’t think my Father would be too happy about that.” He grimaced; he would hate to see his Father angry.

“Oh, don’t worry Adrien your Father loves me, I’m sure he’ll let it slide. And besides, after the many times you’ve had to cancel on get-togethers don’t you think it's fair?” There it was again, the disappointing stares of his classmates. Why did it hurt he wondered?

“Fine, I’m sure he won’t mind, I hope.” He muttered but no one heard that part. Except for the girl next to him.

“And don’t worry girl, we haven’t forgotten about you, how about we all go out to the arcade next week?” This worried the girl. A, she didn’t know how her other friends would react, B, her Aunt had made it clear they needed to find the Trinklets and C, what the hell was an arcade?

“I’m sorry guys but I err already promised to hang out with Mari and Chlo, we’re bound to have a sleepover at one point I just know it.” God, she looked adorable, they really wished they didn’t have to ruin their image of her ‘friend’.

“I hate to tell you but there is an 83.98% that Marinette will cancel on you?”

“Why?” She tilted her head.

“Because she’s always flaky, she’s never where she says she is, I’ve checked too. It's one of the reasons why we aren’t friends. Plus, both of them are just as bad as each other, Chloé would bully all of us constantly, but because her Dad is the Mayor of Paris, she was able to get away with it. She’s never been punished. Just ask Sabrina” It was then she noticed the ginger held a worried expression.

“It's true, I was always there for her beck and call and I could never have any time to make any other friends, she pushed them all away, but please Rosina, don’t fall into the same trap I did, everyone forgave me before it was too late, and I know they’ll forgive you too. Don’t fall for Chloé and Marinette’s lies”

Rosina paused, she felt a new emotion in her, but couldn’t place it, she was normally always excited and happy, why did she feel the same feeling of when Chloé and Marinette were arguing in that supply cupboard on that trip? Why did they have to be so mean to one of her first friends? What was the reason?

“I hate to put this short, but I think me, and Rosina should start studying now.”

“Ok, we know how your Father can be, we’ll expect your answer at school ok girl, please come to your senses” They all hung up.

“Why are they so mean to Mari?” She whispered this to herself. But Adrien was able to hear it.

“Hey, don’t worry about it, it will all work out in the end. We’ll all become friends just like the old times… Just as soon as Marinette apologises.”

“Apologises? What for?” Adrien winced knowing he’d have to tell her the truth.

“Lila is lying to everyone for attention. Marinette and I are the only ones who know about it and while she wants to call her out, I think we should let her have it her way. She’s not hurting anyone, so I don’t understand why she won’t take the high road?” Now Rosina was just confused. Unless you had to lie for certain situations, her Aunt always told her lying was bad, why did he have to overlook it?

“And I know it’s a huge favour to ask you, but do you think you could overlook it as well? I would hate it if you became despised because of this. Please?” He put his hands together in a praying position as she stared at him.

But before she could answer, Adrien got a notification, and he knew what that type meant.

“Oh no,” He took his phone out to see what type of Akuma he would be facing off today.

“What is it?” Rosina looked puzzled and Adrien was quick to understand why.

“Oh right, this is your first Akuma attack right?” She nodded and Adrien sighed, how was he going to get away now?

“You should stay in the bathroom, it’ll be safer” Before he could retort she was already pushing him into his bathroom. And with her out of site Plagg flew out.

“Well now looks like you’ve got yourself another friend huh? How many girls are in your corner now?” Plagg snickered out as Adrien rolled his eyes.

“There's no time for that, now Plagg! Claws Out!”

“I should be getting paid for thiiiiiiiiisssssssssss” But as he was transforming, he could’ve sworn he heard his bedroom window open.

But he paid it no mind, it must’ve been something else.

***

“Well, Bugaboo what seems to be the situation?” He seemed to slip right in the battle while Ladybug swung her Yo-Yo around to avoid a blast.

“I told you before, stop calling me Bugaboo!”

“You know you love it M’Lady” He winked as he blocked an attack on his end whilst Ladybug rolled her eyes.

“So, what seems to be the situation? Another love Akuma perhaps?”

“In your dream’s Kitty, their actually called SleepSis. Make sure you don’t get hit or you’ll end up as a sleeping statue. The more statues the stronger she gets” They were back to back as they awaited her next attack. She seemed to attack from the shadows, but her next attack would be unknown to the two superheroes.

“Ladybug! Watch out!” It was a familiar voice, more so to one than the other but familiar all the less.

It had looked as if the voice had stunned the pair as she mysteriously hit one of the blasts away.

“Are you ok Ladybug? I really hope I wasn’t late to the battle” She worried as Ladybug approached her.

“Its fine, Chat Noir only just got here as well” Chat blinked, hadn’t he seen her before?

“Hey, haven’t we met?” He scratched his head as all three had to defend themselves from the Akuma.

“Yep, I’m Crisono Tassa, I’m new and here to help. I wish we’d met under better circumstances. Oh, and by the way, I love your ears, are they real? Can I touch them pretty please?” Now, why did that sound so similar?

“Crisono you need to focus; this is your second Akuma battle and they’re all different.”

“Ok Ladybug.”

“Wait wait wait. You seriously can’t let her stay Ladybug? She’s just a civilian, she can get hurt. I’m sorry Crisono but you have to leave” He wasn’t usually the stern one, but Ladybug wasn’t being reasonable.

He saw how they both glanced at each other before continuing on, did they just ignore him?

“Don’t worry Chat, I thought that too, but she is a capable fighter, I’ve seen it myself” He didn’t want to believe it at first but if his Lady did then so would he.

“Okay, then I hope we get along Crissi” He was able to place a kiss on her hand as Ladybug had to yet again block an attack.

“Chat! Focus!”

“Ok ok, so what's the plan then M’Lady?” To make up his mistake, he then blocked an attack that was meant for Ladybug.

“I think her mask is the Akumatized object, I need you to distract her while I sneak up and take it”

“Sure thing, but I will need my cat nap soon” Ladybug groaned at his joke, while he heard Crisono giggle.

“At least someone appreciates my humour, well shall we go Crisono?” He offered his hand out, she inquisitively looked at it before smiling.

She pulled him along instead, Ladybug couldn’t help the little bit of laughter she let out. She called out her Lucky Charm only to be given two planks of wood. She looked around but couldn’t find anything with her Ladybug vision. Did she have to wait? But for how long? What did she have to do?

Meanwhile with the adventures of Crisono Tassa and Chat Noir.

“This isn’t how it works but ok” She laughed as she threw Chat across the street.

“Hey, I’m not just some ragdoll you can throw. No matter how far you throw me I’ll always come back”

“Really? But what if I threw you out of Paris? I say I can beat SleepSis before you can run back here” The attacks were getting more and more havoc as the two newly acquainted heroes teased the other.

“How dare you two treat me like a joke, I’ll show you the real power of SleepSis”

“Then show us your power, I wish to see what else Hawkmoth can do” A pink mask appeared on her face but before Crisono could register that, she became the more prominent target.

“Hey, I’m here too! You want a piece of me!?” Chat would be lying if he said he wasn’t at least a little bit worried about the newbie. He was still ever so slightly mad that Ladybug knew about her and didn’t tell him about it, but maybe there was a reason for that. He tried to apologise but couldn’t find her anywhere. And besides, his Lady would tell him eventually, they were partners.

Right?

“C’mon, just a little further.” His ears picked up to Ladybug, ahh the sight could put his mind at ease. The love of his life, he would do anything for her. To admire her beauty was something he could do forever.

“Chat lookout!” His Lady’s voice was captivating as well. He would’ve continued his thought process until he was unpleasantly shoved aside.

He expected to be able to joke about not paying attention since she had stolen it, but he didn’t. because his Lady wasn’t the one in front of him.

It was Crisono.

And she had been hit.

***

“Crisono!” Ladybug had to stop her plan as a fear of dread kicked in. She heard Chat shout out her friend's name and panicked when she saw Crisono on the ground.

“Oh no,” But then something happened, her vision was showing her a plan.

The wood.

Her Yo-Yo.

Chat Noir’s Baton.

Rosina and her Sabre.

“Chat I’ve got a plan. Grab Rosina and come back” She blocked some more attacks as she was in SleepSis’ vision.

Chat did what he was ordered, and they made their way onto a building.

“I’m sorry M’Lady, she took the hit for me”

“Its fine Chat Noir, we’ll sort this out together I promise.” He smiled at that as he helped Ladybug with whatever her plan was.

For the time being, SleepSis was trying to track the fellow heroes down, but she couldn’t find them.

“Hurry, Ladybug’s time limit will be up. Find her immediately!” Hawkmoth ordered.

“Yeah yeah I know.” She heard a thud behind her and released an attack which made contact. She smirked in victory, but it vanished as she saw what she hit.

“Damn it, Ladybug using you as a shield was clever. But don’t think it will stop you from winning.” She looked up to see Ladybug and Chat Noir giving a smug look. That wouldn’t last.

She jumped to meet them but was stopped, by… The redhead?

“What?” She was being moved by Ladybug like a… Like a puppet?

“It won’t be that easy SleepSis” She was controlling Crisono almost perfectly, SleepSis was on the edge.

“Chat now!” What? Wasn’t Chat with- No he’s gone! Where is-

“Gotcha -Grabs The Mask- Cataclysm!” He destroyed it making the woman become De-Akumatized.

“Time to De-Evilize!” She did her usual routine as she cast the Miraculous cure over Paris. The ones asleep awoke and continued on their day as it had become the norm.

“Crisono are you ok?” She awoke to the worried voices in front of her, they were surprised when they were trapped into a hug.

“The plan worked, oh how wonderful” They smiled. She must’ve been aware of what was happening.

“Sorry about that Crisono, I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again next time. I’m paw-sively sure of it” One groaned as the other giggled softly. The duo stuck their hands out, signalling for her to join.

“Like this? I’ve never done a fist bump before?” Chat would’ve been shocked until she uttered a Faa Lalalala. He gasped as he held her hand.

“You’ve watched Big Hero 6 too?” She had to shake her head.

“Sorry, I overheard some children do that to each other, is that not how normal fist bumps work?” He was slightly deflated but maybe he could get her to watch it, he wanted to hang out with other heroes now and again damn it.

“Ladybug what do you think, can it be an extension to our routine? As our newest friend, it would be nice to change some things. It would be a cat-astrophe to say otherwise” She rolled her eyes before nodding.

“Sure, but I’ve gotta go, Bugout” She swung her Yo-Yo away as Chat Noir blew a kiss in her direction before turning to Crisono.

“So how did you meet Ladybug? And how come you’ve decided to come to Paris? Are you going to help us with Hawkmoth?” She nodded to the last part.

“My Aunt said we’re going to stay here till Hawkmoth is defeated, plus it was our next location anyway. We travelled around the world, defeating crime. France just so happens to be next.” He would’ve asked more questions, but he remembered his Miraculous time limit and had to get going.

“Sorry if I stay then the cat will be out of the bag, Cya next time” He was about to take a leap.

“Wait?” He stopped to be polite, but she could see it couldn’t take long.

“Err, did you mean it when you said I was your friend?” She pushed her index fingers together, seemingly looking nervous.

“Of course, a friend of Ladybug’s is a friend of mine. I hope to see you next time” He had to quickly leave but he waved goodbye.

‘A new friend and a new hero. What else can happen?’

***

“Claws In” He made it back.

“So, what happened out there, you seem happy now?” When their chosen transforms, their Kwami is unable to see anything that happens outside, all they can do is concentrate on giving their special power when the time comes.

“I saw Crisono again, and we’re friends. She likes my puns as well, maybe we can hang out after battles?” He seemed as giddy as a kid on Christmas.

“Ohh so it looks like another type of cheese has entered the fray. Huh~”

“Plagg” He wined. Seriously why does every girl he meets have to become a love interest; it was getting annoying?

“And besides, she’s just a-”

He opened his door.

“Ahhh, ouch, boy did that hurt.”

“Friend?” He only questioned himself as he saw a figure come tumbling through his window. Not that he was one to judge, he would sometimes trip and fall onto his floor. He was glad that at times like that no one could see Chat’s accidents.

No, he was questioning the fact why Crisono was in his room in the first place!? Did she follow him and now she knows who he is? Did that mean he’d have to give up his Miraculous? No, anything but that, he’d rather have Lila’s clinging onto his arm than give up his freedom.

“Ah, Adrian it is all safe now, Ladybug and Chat Noir have defeated the Akuma. You have no more reason to fear, should we get back to our lessons?” Ok, now he was confused.

“R-Rosina?

“Yes? Is something wrong Adrian? Do you need to lie down?” It clicked.

“You’re Crisono Tassa!?” He exclaimed, no wonder he liked her, they were already friends.

“Oh no I forgot to switch out of my costume again. Oh, Adrian please don’t tell anyone, my Aunt will kill me about this mistake, I know exactly what she would say too.”

“H-Hey don’t worry about it, I promise I won’t tell another soul” He held out his pinkie, but she was puzzled.

“Why are you showing me your pinkie? Is it hurt; do you require medical assistance?” He laughed nervously, and people thought he was sheltered?

“It’s a way to signify a big promise, if we cross our little fingers together, it means we’ll remember/keep it forever.” At least, that’s what his Mum used to say before…

“Ohhhhh I see now, ok.” She made her first-ever pinkie promise while they smiled. Oh, the happiness radiating off the two newfound friends. And since Plagg was hiding somewhere else in the room, he was able to see who it was. And knew that he would just have to see that old Lady soon.

.

.

She still owed him that cheese. He would never forget that.

***

Hazar. The 6’s chapter is complete, please don’t worry, the SongFic will be out afterwards, at least it should be. I needed to make it clear that Plagg now knows who Crisono was. You can decide how I’m going to use that in the next SongFic.

I hope you all enjoyed this and stay tuned for the next one, I know it may not be what you lot wanted but I had to get info out somehow. Plus, this is my main story. Cya later.

Also 100 Followers? Thanks so much guys I’m so happy.

[bugaboowritings]

Date My Best Friend, You Dumb Cat - Superhero Accidental Reveal Fic

Alya Found Out Adrien's Secret and is MAd that He Isn't Doing His Homework

So... I had this piece in my head since I saw that old Instagram post about Alya and Adrien being partners for a school project and that comic about Adrien and Alya having an accidental Reveal when their glamour dropped. 

May make this a series.. Also have this same thing but with Chloe - Check them out! ( 1 ) and ( 2 )

And then with Marinette/Ladybug and Adrien - ( 1 )

Two months, one week, three days, and seven hours since the new semester started. 

Two months, one week, and twelve hours since Miss Bustier assigned the first group project.

Two months, one week, eleven hours, and forty minutes since Alya Césaire and Adrien Agreste were randomly selected to be partners.

Four minutes after that, Alya teased her best friend mercilessly if she wanted to trade partners. 

Two years, six months, two weeks and twenty-three hours since Ladybug and Chat Noir first appeared in Paris.

Two years, six months, and three weeks since Alya met her best friend, Marinette Dupain-Cheng on the first day of school in a new town. 

Two seconds since she discovered Chat Noir’s identity. 

Two years, six months, and two weeks since Marinette confessed to Alya about her crush on a certain blond she thought Marinette strongly disliked. 

Seven seconds since she found out about Chat’s secret identity. 

Two years and five months since Alya decided to investigate the real-life superheroes patrolling the city. 

Eleven seconds since the mask and the magical spandex fully disintegrated off her skin. 

What happened only moments ago played as if someone clicked freeze-frame on this point of Alya Césaire’s life as her miraculous glamour dropped. 

Leaving Alya Césaire in the cold alley as Rena Rouge vanished into thin air. Ending the superhero illusion when her suit reached its five-minute limit.

The dazzled Lady-blogger watched the little coy Fox God of Illusion twist their expression in amusement. The corners of their mouth turned up in a sharp smile, playfully flicking their tongue at their user. 

“Oh, this is going to be fun explaining to the Leader Lady.” 

-

“You’re-! ADrienN!” Alya choked.

 “How- OH MY GOD! You’re- Oh my god!!” She stuttered, barely grasping what was going on as she tripped over her words while the fatal conclusion hit her gut. Her stomach felt hot and twirled in knots. Her cold, clammy hands traveled to her curls, locking her fingers in her hair as she pulled strands away from her face. Not believing what she just witnessed. 

  Alya swore on this day that she went brain dead before her eyes widened and readjusted to the dark atmosphere. Without her mask, Alya was left without her magical night vision, forced to focus on the scene organically while her glasses slowly dipped off the bridge of her nose. 

 The gears clicked and ground in Alya Césaire’s observant mind, jumping faster to conclusions than a gun could fire a bullet into a clear sunny day. Pinning ideas and theories then shuffling around clues that could make this sound believable to herself. Even as she sat there, sitting in the middle of the alley-way trash bin, watching the aftermath of the Miraculous unfold. 

 GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

   Of course, she JUST HAD to make the grave mistake on dropping into the same alley that Chat Noir did.

   AND OF COURSE!!-, she did it without thinking it through! Not while the adrenaline levels spiked up in the blood in her veins, giving her this deadly sense of invincibility. The same feeling that made her fearless when she leaped over buildings and dropped from heights that could kill her and her courage.

   However, in the heat of the moment, there’s no time left to worry when her necklace gave an urgent beep. Alya remembered thinking that she had more time to spare, yet the second she blinked -her orange suit was already peeling off her body. Causing her to lose her footing in mid-air which led to one of the most ungracefully landings she has ever made. Drawing blood as she scraped her hands hitting the brick wall and almost breaking her neck if she hadn’t landed in the stuffed dumpster or pushed her feet under her weight to cushion her fall. Her sweatshirt returned back on her body and her hair was no longer crimson red, but tree bark brown with fading colored tips. 

Then with a loud THUMP, BOOM, and CRASH, a commotion that surely woke up the surrounding neighborhood and scared off any stray cats in the area, the two heroes fell out of the sky and landed into their civilian selves. 

Of course, Alya didn’t realize she wasn’t the only one that crash-landed in the alley until it was a second too late to do anything about it. 

  Untangling herself from the garbage-bins tagged with graffiti and unsettling stains, Alya puffed and huffed, holding her breath to trap the last bit of fresh air she had stored in her lungs. Only to gasp for air, not because of the grime and disgusting odors around her but she noticed the glow and gleam of green and black across from her. 

  Alya swore that she covered her eyes, for her sake and his- but she recognized that voice as it groaned. Along with those familiar orange shoes that kicked up and around, same with the sweats with a familiar logo stitched on the side. 

The Gabriel Brand. 

Gabriel Agreste. 

THE Gabriel Agreste. 

One of the top lines in fashion.

Practical clothing but at expensive prices. 

A-And that! What he was wearing was part of a new street-wear! One only rumored to exist and if so- it wasn’t hitting the stores for a figure of a few months!! (Thank you, Marinette for your vast knowledge of fashion and launches and your endless rambles about them.)    

Yet, how could-!? How could this sly cat have access to the brand or rumored collection!? How could this leather-wearing flirt have the cash to have anything with the Agreste brand on it?

Was he some sort of business partner? A loyal customer with benefits? Heir to a company that has ties with the Agreste? New money or old?!

No- that can’t be right. Gabriel wouldn’t just hand off his secret collection unless…Unless it was someone worth giving to. 

It wasn’t until the infamous cat raised his head up in a moan that Alya Césaire, local Lady-blogger, saw his face, Chat Noir’s face, without the mask. 

As ungracious this whole situation was, this seemed like the only right way to figure out the kitty’s identity. 

All thanks to a series of unfortunate events and some bad luck. 

Something totally on-brand for him. 

 The blond brushed his hair with the tips of his fingers before lightly rubbing the sore spot over his neck. Rocking his head back and forth and around to alleviate the stinging. His forehead wrinkled as he groaned once more, knitting his eyebrows together. All before opening his acid green eyes wide at the reporter when she released the breath she held in. 

  Adrien Agreste being this cocky superhero that swirled and twirled about the city- the same one that wore a bell and slick black leather- explained so little and left so many questions unanswered.

 It did, however, explain the little details that she looked over when it came to Adrien Agreste. How he jumped into action when he heard the Akuma Alert, how he didn’t run for his life but quickly claim that he needed to go to the bathroom when a giant semi-monster or Akuma loomed over the city, how he seemed to be a true Ladybug Stan since the beginning it all- even when Paris was barely getting used with their new super-reality, how he checked with Alya after almost every blog post if she uploaded something during school hours, the quick comments and awkward praise given about his alter-ego when the Miraculous Duo came to be the topic again in the lunch table. 

The Lady-blogger knew that Chat Noir playing offense when Darkblade came to claim Paris could be a clue, how Chat Noir knew where to take the students when evacuating the school after a nasty Akuma attack when he ‘supposedly’ never been there, and then how Chat Noir called everyone by their name when it was the first time her classmates even had the chance to see him in person and not on a news-recap. 

 Why Adrien had to miss the grand installment of the Miraculous Duo Statue in the park, but he never really missed it because he was THERE! Chat Noir was in her classroom and she didn’t even-!!

Alya gasped. 

“Our project is due before 12!” Cupping her mouth before throwing her hands out to the blond. Yanking him out of the trash by the collar of his jacket.

“Why are you here and not finishing the first draft?!”

Adrien Agreste, still pressed up against the alley wall with his back supported by day-old trash, digested Alya’s words before rolling his eyes. A snarky reply slipped his mouth as he shifted his body into a more comfortable spot after getting squashed in the tight alleyway. 

“An evil super villain possessed a child, Alya. I have priorities.” 

  “And our grade isn’t!” 

Adrien tucked his legs under himself as a cat kwami popped out of his light blue jacket. Struggling to get on his feet from the buzz sensation in his legs after his fall, resting his hands on the dirty concrete before showing more of his superhero persona.

“Again priorities, Alya!” He uttered, ruffling his hair as he took their current situation in. 

Stretching his arms as he stood up to his full height. His hair, messy and tangled, suede one side to the other as Adrien shook his head. 

“I can’t leave my Lady alone when a crazed toddler is on the loose.” 

----

Who would have guessed? 

That the Cat with the dangerously charming grin was the same boy that can’t go out with his friends if work intervened or when his dad flatly said no to his face through a tablet held by his black-suited assistants. The guy that would merciless flirt with the red heroine (he still drinks respect women juice tho) was outside of the world of superheroes and villains, a guy that never went out on a proper date with anyone before. 

God, this would surely make a great article. 

Alya Césaire had uncovered one of the biggest secrets in Paris, all in a matter of some lucky seconds. Not because of her totally-awesome journalist skills, but all because of dumb luck. 

Wait-.

She just lost her secret identity too. 

--Ladybug is going to kill her.

Alya got sick and pale when she thought this situation over, not with her Lady Blogger brain, but with her superhero ego. Forgetting how her project was late or the fact if she didn’t return home quickly her family would worry if they didn’t find her in bed at this hour. 

Ladybug is going to kill them.

 No-... she gonna take away their miraculous FIRST so they then don’t have a chance to fight back and THEN kill them. Most likely after her speech about breaking the most important rule of being a superhero. 

“Keeping your secret identity a secret.”

Alya groaned into her hands as the memory of Ladybug’s lectures and advanced fighting skills played in her head. 

She is so dead.  

Letting that fact sink in before taking in a big deep breath. 

“It’s fine,” she can work with this. She can bounce back. She can just explain this to Ladybug without losing her chance at being a Miraculous Holder. It’s gonna be fine- 

Parting her hands from her face to see Ch-Adrien pull out a little container of cheese for the black kwami nagging and floating by the blond’s head. The tiny god grinned as it nibbled (inhaled) on that snack as it hovered over his Chosen’s shoulder. 

Alya screamed in her palms once more, making her peace on earth.  

---

Alya thanked Adrien for the slice of cheese. Handing it to Trixx to get him ready for another transformation. The duo decided that it was better to wait it out for their Kwamis rather than try to walk home in the middle of nowhere in the dead of night. 

Once Alya came over the shock of finding out Chat Noir’s identity, she bit her tongue before asking any questions. Taking in what was behind the mask, a good observation was key for a reporter since that can tell more than questions itself could.  

His hair was different, it wasn’t the right length (when thinking of his magical alter-ego). Nor did it curl by his ears, but it still had that ‘swish’ and ‘fluff’ texture. His eyes were still that acid green color but seemed more on the light shade and looked more ‘natural’ and ‘safe’ compared to the huge, glowing cat eyes he had before. The same eyes that scared criminals in pit black or lit up a night sky. His face’s silhouette matched the pictures of the hero’s. His jaw was the perfect shape and his height was exactly the same, give or take the added milometers from his boots. Yet, it seemed so weird to see this. 

There, Chat Noir peeled away left Adrien Agreste. Laying against the tagged-up walls and using the crunchy trash bags to break his fall and now as bean-bag chairs as he laughed at something his Kwami whispered. 

“You’re Chat Noir.” 

It was the first sentence she said without coughing or yelping. Scaring Adrien to just hear Alya speak in her stern tone, ruining the silence he thought they (unspokenly) agreed to keep. Nevertheless, Adrien should have known that the quiet could only last for a while before Alya recovered and spit questions with a blink of an eye. 

It was too good to be true if he thought they could just forget about this and walk away. 

 The golden boy bit his bottom lip in what seems to be a mixture of shame, embarrassment, and a dash of amusement. Giving Alya a shy smile before shrugging his shoulders. 

“Guess the cat is out of the bag,” Adrien, no, Chat Noir grinned.

 The Lady-blogger had to stop the burning need to deck him so hard. 

 A thin, yet toothy smile appeared before losing it when Cha- Adrien’s kwami, a tiny grumpy cat-god with two white-ivory fangs that stood out in contrast with his deep purple fur, asked for more cheese before showing the rest of his sharp teeth in an attempt for a wide innocent smile. 

It was terrifying. 

“GOD!” Alya cried, rolling her eyes as her fox kwami fled to talk to Chat Noir, wait no, Adrien’s kwami. Still not over that her classmate was part of the Miraculous Duo. The reporter gasped for air even harder as she reached another conclusion. 

“I knew it was you! AH! Ha! I knew it in the beginning!” Alya uttered, switching from frustrating sounds to a laugh that made Adrien question the report’s ability to handle and process all this before Alya pumped her fist up before cursing the universe out loud. Her painted nails rubbed circles on her temples while she munched on this memory in her own flashback. 

“I-urgh! I knew! I knew you looked too much like Chat Noir, too much to call it ‘chance’. But no!- Marinette brushed me off. Telling me ‘That’s too good to be true!’- and now!” Tossing her hands out to the blond and his kwami. 

The undeniable evidence that landed on her plate. 

“Here you are! Both Chat Noir and Adri-“

A cold hand cupped on Alya’s mouth. Stopping her from shouting even louder or even finishing her sentence.  Pushing her back to the old brick wall. 

The Lady-blogger instinctively fought back, her hands reaching for the fingers over her mouth, but she stopped herself before she scratched the blond or bit his hand (or worse, spit in it). 

“Alya,” Adrien hushed. “I know that you know this- but you can’t tell anyone about this. Living or dead- Not a soul, not in any journal entry, not on your blog or to Nino, ever. Not even to Marinette.” 

Alya nodded at the sudden serious tone. 

“Bad enough that Hawk Moth is still out there with his eye out for our heads. If you or I get akumatized it’s gonna be game over for Ladybug and Paris. You understand that, right?” 

Alya shoved his hand away. 

“First off, your hand smells like Camembert. Gross.” 

“Second,” she sighed. Letting her fingers press against the creases of her forehead before sliding down to her cheek. 

“. . .Does Ladybug know?” 

Adrien’s fingers tugged on his hoodie string as he nibbled on his lips. His nose crinkled in dissatisfaction. 

“We planned to reveal ourselves when Hawk Moth’s gone and defeated . . . “ 

“How noble.” Alya snorted.

Before Alya could ask anything else, Adrien beat her to the punch. His voice filled the air as cars in the background beeped at each other at the late ride home or to work. 

“My turn with this interrogation.” Moving his face a little closer, Adrien Unaware-of-Boundaries-Because-He-Was-Locked-In-A-House-His-Whole-Life Agreste frowned.

 “What do you mean by ‘I knew it” and how does Marinette think- wait, does she know that you’re Rena? Alya did you-” 

Alya pushed Adrien a step off before rolling her eyes. 

  “Of course not!” She scoffed. 

“I tell Mari everything, but - But Ladybug trusted me with the miraculous and I kept my secret and promise  to her.” Twisting her leg in anxiousness before quickly commenting, “ Well it was a secret before THIS happened.” 

----

~Study Session at the Library. Be here by 2

~Same table as always

Adrien clicked on the message, typing out a quick response and a time change. Sweeping his hair back, happy with what he wrote after rewriting twice and finally pressing send. 

-2:15, but I’m still in the locker room. I’m there by 2:30, tops. 

Alya hummed as she saw the little dots on Nino’s phone before disappearing again and then reappearing with a new message. Huffing through her nose before typing a response back. 

~It’s due this week and we are out by 3:45. 

Adrien pulled his clothes from his locker before hearing the soft buzz of his phone in his gym bag. Groaning in defeat before typing out a dull reply. 

-K. 

---

Peeling another sticky note to add to the right corner of the book, not before uncapping her thin felt-tipped marker as Marinette scribbled a slanted question. Looping her y’s and not paying attention to the clicks towards the table since it could just be Rose asking for another pen from Alya. However, a chair scraped across the wooden floor and a gym bag thumped on the ground which sent vibrations up the table. Making her jump, pulling back her hand before she accidentally drew a huge line down the page of her textbook. 

“Thanks for organizing this session, Alya. I’m glad that we managed to meet up even with my schedule.” 

Marinette continued to scribble in her sticky notes. Her handwriting got sloppier as she wrote faster. Her anxiousness escaped from her in her blush and in her quick penmanship. Exhaling sharply, catching Nino’s attention only to lose it as his dirt-colored eyes noticed his best friend. Tugging his headphones off his ears. 

“Dude, nice to see you finally make it to one of our ‘nerd meetings’.” 

“Hard with my Father and all my tutors back home. Are you gonna finally let me play Mega Strike on your phone or wait until your phone is at 5 percent like last time?” 

“Adrien, it was one time!” 

“SHH!” the librarian hushed. Quieting the boys and they slowly mellowed in their chairs. The librarian broke his stare and returned back to the paperwork on his desk. The boys broke their silence and the tension in the table as they couldn’t help the chuckles that came up their lips when they looked at each other. Bring back that light environment when the boys nudged each other playfully. Chuckling under their breath as Adrien set his pens and books out from his school bag. 

Marinette tried her best to keep her eyes on her paper. She can’t be blushing and rambling like she always did. But God, this was gonna be so hard to do since old habits die hard. As hard as she gripped her pen while she carved the words on her notebook page. The music in her earbuds crashed with her emotions. The lofi beats weren’t calming her; it just made her feel like she was on the wrong station. Debating to switch her playlist to something quicker and louder to make her concentrate on her work and not on something more captivating. . .

WAIT,,, NO!!!! BAD MARINETTE! Don’t think that- he is just a friend!!

 Pushing her earbuds in her ear deeper in hopes to drown out his laughter. Her finger swiped across stations and then deciding on to Jagged Stone’s new single. Killing the urge to stare at the model or steal looks at him, but surely looking at him couldn’t hurt-

GOD! WHY DOES SHE HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS!? 

They’re just friends. And “just friends” doesn’t mean that you should stare at each other’s eyes. “Just Friends” means just friends especially when one of the friends looks like a certain blond and is potentially dating someone else-

A pink pen rolled over her notebook. 

Is that- a Ladybug pen?  

Marinette tugged on the wires of her earbuds, letting them fall off her ears and pausing the first verse of Jagged’s song. 

“Ah-could you guys pass me my supplies?”

Marinette’s blue eyes finally did the thing she prayed she wouldn’t do. 

She looked up. 

There, Adrien rushed to pick up his pens, pencils, markers, and highlighters as they rolled off the table. Nino was already crouching down, grabbing the ones that fell under his chair’s legs while Alya picked up the ones that came her way. 

“I didn’t know they sold ladybug stationery?” The lady-blogger grinned, twirling the pen between her painted nails. Wiggling her eyebrows at the flustered blond who try to brush off her looks with an eye roll. Hoping that if he ignores the blush that came up his face, they won’t comment on it. 

“It was in a pack, Alya.” Adrien bit his lip, reaching over to snatching the pen back from Alya. Only to miss her hand completely as she pulled back her arm in the last second. Teasing Adrien with the pen, holding it out of his grasp. Tossing it to Nino when his fingers reached a little too close to the pen. The boys rough-house a minute before earning themselves another scorning from the librarian. 

Over the last two years of going to public school compared to the first day he tried to sneak through the front gates, Adrien Agreste would have died on the spot if he got scorned by an authority figure other than his caregiver, well ‘care’-givers, at Françoise Dupont High School - but with time, Adrien Agreste mellowed into the new role of Adrien, the student. 

Just the student. 

 A different persona from the one that lived at home and bloom when entering school grounds. Adrien would say that he’s more care-free and open than before as he learned how to sneak out and what buttons to press when joking with his closest friends. Like how Nino always fell for the “What’s that?” trick- no matter what or how Kagami liked puns even if she frowned or how Marinette would shot a sarcastic remark if given the chance (so Adrien tried his best to set the joke to hear Mari’s slick comments which often ending with an innocent smile before walking away). 

So it wasn’t unusual for Adrien to act like this, like a teenager and not some super famous model. Just a student who was currently blushing in embarrassment due to his Ladybug stationary. 

“They’re nice.” 

The study group turned to the peep in the corner. Marinette swiped her thumb over the magical ladybug clip on the pen.

 It felt heavy and good in her hand, it had nice weigh to it. All with a slick design that didn’t seem cheesy or cheap. It’s hard to make polka-dots work nicely, but who would know right? 

 “I’m more of Chat Noir fan though.” A small smile slipped out as she spun the pen in her hand one last time. Her face softens as she thought about her partner and how cute it would be to have his cartoon face on sticky notes if it didn’t add to his ego.  Marinette finally passed the pen to Adrien who unconsciously held out his hand when her hand went out to him. 

“Cool,” Adrien answered. Not knowing what to say without giving himself away or boasting about the Miraculous Duo without sounding stiff or awkward. 

That little moment was gone as a voice cleared the air. 

“So you’re a cat stan now?”

-------

“I didn’t know you dig that type of leather, Mari?” Alya purred as she grinned a little too hard as her joke, causing her cheeks to squish the edge of her amber-colored iris. Narrowing her four eyes at her clueless friend. 

“I’m not- why are you making it sound so weird?!” 

“I’m not!” 

“Yes. Yes, you are.” Marinette rolled her eyes before shaking her head. Quickly stepping down the stairs with the reporter on her heels. Blowing her bangs out of her eyes, reminding herself to trim them when she gets home or when she’s free by this weekend. 

“And-stop looking at me like that, Alya!” 

“I wasn-” 

“I can feel your laser vision from here.” 

“Okay, fine! I give, Mari. I can’t lie to you no more.” Throwing her arms around the designer’s neck and tugging her near. Marinette pulled her legs under her before she choked herself with Alya’s hold. 

“The truth is- I’m setting you up with a superhero, but can’t unless I absolutely know that you’re into them.” 

“. . . .what?” 

-------

[kittinoir]

Echoes of You Ch. 10

Read on Ao3

Chat Noir stifled a curse as his toe caught on a loose shingle and he nearly toppled right over the edge of a roof, straight down into the street below. He caught himself at the last moment and used his momentum to swing himself back up. He started running again, scowling at the stupid mistake, but then, he was making a lot of those these days.

He’d been careless, and lazy, and…and irresponsible. That was how he’d gotten into this mess, and that was why he still hadn’t been able to find her. 

This, he thought as he glanced at the pink sketch book in his right hand, at least he could do right. He’d recognized it at Marinette’s instantly, but when he’d tried to return it at the Gardens, she and Alya had disappeared. Not really a surprise, he guessed; Alya probably had some story to upload to her blog.

A small part of him had been flattered when he’d picked up the book and saw sketch based on his suit, but he knew better than to read too much into it. After all, he had the same assignment. There weren’t exactly tonnes of them to choose from. He’d been marginally surprised she hadn’t chose to use Multimouse for inspiration, but then, she technically didn’t exist. Besides, only Chloe would be vain enough to design something based on herself. Well, and he’d be lying if the thought hadn’t crossed his own mind. He’d quickly dismissed it, however, in favour of a more personal design concept based on - and, in his heart, dedicated to - his Lady.

Marinette’s design was beautiful. Simple, but his guess was that she hadn’t gotten very far on it when she’d been interrupted. He’d thought about letting ‘Adrien’ return it but didn’t want to imply that he and his alter ego had been at the same place at the same time. Her name, however, was written in graceful cursive on the inside flap, giving him the only reason he needed to drop by.

He had to be careful, though. He couldn’t afford to make any more mistakes. One had been enough, and it had cost him everything. He couldn’t put Marinette at risk as well. She’d already warned him once at the studio when Scream-ripper had attacked. ‘Do I know you’? She was clever, pretending  she was nothing more than some passing civilian to him where Hawkmoth could easily observe him. After all, no one was safe while Hawkmoth was free. He wished he’d been able to protect Ladybug half as well as Marinette protected herself. 

Which was why, he decided as he swung around a chimney, he would leave the sketchpad on her balcony and leave. No contact was probably safest - even if he did want to ask her how she was holding up. She’d seemed so scared a few weeks ago. He’d never admit it, but seeing that had left him a little shaken. Marinette always seemed like one of those people with an iron-core. He’d never seen her like that before, and he didn’t like it. Of course, Ladybug had been that way, too. Was that why she hadn’t trusted him with the Miracle box? Had he put too much pressure on her? Made her think she couldn’t rely on him?

Maybe, he thought, as he landed on Marinette’s roof and leapt for the chimney. Maybe.

And then panic turned his thoughts to dust in the wind, because there on the balcony, sitting in the chair with some tea and her tablet, was Marinette.

She glanced up at him, face going as red as his felt. Thank god for the mask.

“You weren’t supposed to be here,” he said intelligently. Luckily for him, she laughed, the sound like music to his sensitive ears. 

“I live here,” she said. “What are you doing here?”

At least she didn’t sound angry about it. More curious. It made him smile, but then, she always did that. 

“I have something for you,” he said, accepting defeat and dropping down to the balcony. “Not quite a glass slipper but…” He held out the sketchpad, and as she lit up, he was suddenly glad she’d been on the balcony.

“I can’t believe you found it!” Marinette exclaimed, standing up to take it. She quickly flipped through the pages, as though making sure an errant smudge of dirt hadn’t found its way on to one of the pages. She paused on the sketch clearly based off his suit, at once noticing his scrawled note in the margins: ‘Chat Noir Seal of Appur-oval’. She ran a finger over the signature, and he nearly purred, as though she were running that finger over his bare skin. 

“I can’t believe you made the trip, either,” Marinette said, placing the book carefully on her chair. “You must be pretty busy, what with saving Paris and all.”

Chat Noir tried not to let her words affect him, but some of his chagrin must have shown on his face because she immediately frowned. “Never too busy for a fellow teammate,” he said easily, forcing a grin. “It was the least I could do, especially since I’m the reason Multimouse only got one shot.”

But Marinette’s frown only deepened. “Multi…mouse?”

“Yeah,” Chat Noir said, swinging his tail super-casually in one hand. Totally normal conversation. Totally normal conversation he was not taking advantage of because his Lady had disappeared. “That was what you called yourself, when Ladybug gave you the Miraculous, right?”

“I…guess it was,” Marinette said slowly. She looked like she was about to say something else, but her face abruptly smoothed, replaced by an easy smile. “Yeah. Don’t sweat it; whatever happened was probably my fault, not yours.”

Suddenly Chat Noir found himself struggling not to pour his heart out to this girl, to not ruin everything he’d worked so hard to maintain over the past year and half. But what was even the point? His Lady was gone, leaving him to pick up the pieces of his own mistake with a partner who was doing her best but was still inexperienced, and a guardian who was even less forthcoming than Fu had been, something he hadn’t even imagined could be possible until it happened.

And that was why he never should have come here. He was blurring the lines, between his civilian life and his vigilante one. And he was putting Marinette at risk - just like he’d done to his Lady.

“Chat Noir?” Marinette said before he could make up some lame excuse to leave. “If we were teammates once, then… well, to me, that means we’re friends. If you need help, or just…a place to rest for a little while? You can always come here.”

Her kindness was the final nail in his coffin, the reason he teased and joked and flirted; because he knew if anyone was ever genuine with him, it would break his heart. She was breaking it now. And now he had to break hers, too.

“Thanks for the offer, Mousinette,” he said, wincing internally. Dumb. So dumb. He had never sounded dumber. Mousinette. He should cataclysm himself right now.  “But like I said before, damsels to rescue, Ladies to save. I’m fine. Although,” he said quickly, struck by inspiration, “Can I ask you a few questions about when you were Multimouse? I know Ladybug swore you to secrecy, but of course, the cat’s already out of the bag.”

“Uh, sure,” Marinette said, biting her lip, “But - ”

“Great!” Finally, a possible lead! He should of thought of this sooner. So dumb! And if this one didn’t work out, there was always Nino, Alya, and the others. “When Ladybug gave you the miraculous…she was suited up, right?”

Marinette frowned, then nodded. “I guess…?”

“Yeah, I guess she would have to be,” Chat Noir agreed. That would have been too easy. “Any chance Ladybug might be someone you know? Maybe a friend?”

Marinette seemed taken aback, but she shook her head. “No, Chat Noir, I swear, I have no idea who Ladybug is, and if I did, I’d never tell anyone.”

“No, no, I know you wouldn’t,” Chat Noir back peddled quickly. “I just thought I’d ask since I was here. We protect each other, that’s…that’s all.”

Marinette nodded. “I get it,” she said sweetly. “You’re a team.”

“Yup,” Chat Noir said as though chewing glass. “Me and her against the world. Thanks, Marinette. I won’t keep you. After all, it’s a school night.”

“No problem,” Marinette said, turning around for her book as he deployed his baton. “Thanks again for returning this. I swear this book has half my life in it.”

Chat Noir froze. “That book…?”

“Yeah,” Marinette said, thumbing through the pages one more time. “It’s practically a scrap book of my best work.”

“Right,” Chat Noir said, the muscle’s in his back tensing as he prepared to leave. “Thank you, Marinette. You’ve been a great help.”

“Me?” Marinette asked. “You’re the one who brought my sketchpad back.”

“Good night.” He left without more of a goodbye. There was no time. There never really had been, not for feeling sorry for himself anyway. Not when his Lady was out there waiting for him.

But he’d been honest thanking Marinette: she had been a great help, in reminding him of one very important detail that he’d forgotten until then, that Salem had withheld from him, thinking he’d be too distracted or disinterested to pursue it.

The Miracle Box didn’t come without instructions. 

[bojik-ivanov]

The drawing in my life

I drew like everyone since I was little, but I left it when I saw that it was nothing talented.

In high school I drew again when I liked "Anime", but everything was worse, it was nothing good. I left it completely.

I was never good at it and considered myself a disaster, but it would be for 2017, by inspiring me to draw again with watercolors; Limited to landscapes and flowers. That gave me encouragement because although it was a disaster it made me happy to see that I could produce something small; that and the encouragement of my friends to continue practicing.

With the premiere of Cuphead I saw the effort they can put to what you like, I was inspired and decided to return to draw characters too, and it was ... a disaster. I really got discouraged, the confidence gained with watercolors vanished. So I left it.

But… arrived Villainous (Villanos) a series of short films that I loved and when I saw chapter of "Ok KO Let's Be heroes" I loved Boxman, he was so dumb, so funny, with funny phrases and aesthetically adorable. I ended up watching the whole series as far as I was going, which was chapter 41 of "Villains' Night In" and I wanted more, but there was nothing more.

And naturally I loved the Boxman and Venomous couple, I went into Tumblr and there wasn't much, so by December 2017 I had already started drawing from them. It was so disastrous, but I was encouraged to see that the series had so many drawing styles, and that it might not seem like it, but I could keep trying and the course of the year 2018 I dedicated to upload my drawings more than anything as a reminder that I should keep trying.

At this time, I was encouraged to use down, tempt, watercolors and even to draw in digital. The latter something totally new to me.

So little by little I kept trying in my free time and drawing is something that I love. But I had to leave it in mid-October 2018 (in the middle of inktober) because my health began to resent, I associated drawing in my notebook those days when I got sick. I got very sad because the theme of that year was Boxman; I made it the center of all my drawings.

So by December 2018,  I had a surgery (appendicitis). I could not write or anything because I felt a lot of pain, I really regretted, the drawing had become, part of my day to day and I wanted to return. My only encouragement was to see ok ko let's be heroes and Villains (Villainous); my distractors when they had to suture me once more and during the painful cures.

When I recovered at the end of January 2019 and that was when I could draw again, I could move. So I continued practicing and encouraged me to buy a graphics tablet, and today I still practice.