#I’m not credible please don’t bully me

[lilyevansreincarnate]

(SPOILERS FOR LONGLEGS, PLEASE ALSO DO NOT GET ANGRY AT ME THIS IS MY PERSONAL OPINIONS)

So the movie was um interesting to say the least, personally, I thought it was good. It built up a steady feeling of dread and made the whole setting feel uncomfortable and stuffy, the first half was good. I thought it was setting up the story to have an incredible meaning and insanely cool symbolism but then it got just a bit silly.

Longlegs - nic cage’s character - was from what Id heard somewhat of a mystery. He wasn’t in it very much, that being important to the story. HE WAS IN IT ALL THE BLOODY TIME I had to see his pasty face every two seconds. I think he had the buildup to have explained trauma that led him up to doing these things, possible religious trauma from a parent resulting in his obsession with stealing youth as his was but no. Just a satanist with a t.Rex obsession.

Next, I want to talk about Lee. She’s a cool character, sure, but how did she have this intuition about everything? A point of her character was that she’d been made to forget these specific points so that her mother would be able to assist longlegs in his killings but no, she has this weird psychic shit that leads her directly to longlegs with little to no injures on her part. I mean, sure, she got threats and it was a bit unnerving but in plot points he hadn’t killed anyone to directly connect with her - obviously her mum being an accomplice to the murders and longlegs visiting her as a child was his connection to her but what connection led her to have the obtuse psychic visions?

I really want to talk about what the title is meaning and what ‘longlegs’ actually refers to. So, obviously, longlegs has this fascination with satan. He believes that murdering these people will somehow bring him closer to Satan? Or resurrect him somehow maybe, and when he visits Lee as a child he says “it appears I’ve put my longlegs on today” so either he’s making the situation far more creepy by acknowledging the obvious difference between their heights as she’s a child and he’s an adult, a gross joke, or, he’s relating himself back to Satan because he somehow believes he’s Baal who is a Christian demon who was ranked as the first and principal king of hell, he is described as white and pasty with a low raspy voice - which is an accurate description of Nic cage’s character - who is incredibly tall. Now the character longlegs’ height isn’t talked about in great detail it is only mentioned when Special Agent Carter says to Lee “a tall man with pale skin visited you as a child, didn’t he?” near the end of the film.

And, at the end, we see Nic Cage - who had before been taken into custody after being found very easily and then had repeatedly slammed his head into the table in front of him until his nose cracked open after saying “hail satan” - unharmed and smiling and he winks and blows a kiss at the camera. In media, this is usually a “I’ve won” type of shtick but he hadn’t?

The point of the murders was to complete this satanic triangle to bring himself closer to Satan - as he believed. But, once he’d got so far and had the mother and father killed the little girl hadn’t died. The entire point is the little girl in the family has to die but she hadn’t. So, the triangle wasn’t complete. He had lost, in terms of relativity so why did he wink and blow a kiss? It felt as though the film had several things that were to be built up in to a metaphor or something symbolic but they’d forgotten to finish it. Several things just making no sense and strings left dangling.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the whole way they had so many hidden things in the movie was incredible and the architecture having small satanic symbols, the devil constantly being behind Lee was very cool and the whole ‘the man downstairs’ thing was very interesting to me but yeah, just wasn’t for me. Might rewatch it, see if I like it any better.

Overall, the movie was fine. It had the potential to be very very cool and a fantastic horror film but it felt as though they’d built up this whole world and then left it incomplete, simply it was bad writing. It got a little predictable and it felt like the writers realised this so they just did tons of stuff that made no sense to make you sit there and wonder ‘well, what the fuck was that for?”

[bunbeeplays]

The Lemon Legacy: Generation 1, Chapter 67 - Late Night Venting

After another day of recovery, Ophelia is suddenly woken up by a call from Hilary. Xander had told her that Hilary and Hector were spending that day settling things for the divorce, so why would Hilary call to chat at 1 AM? If it were an emergency, wouldn't she call Xander?

Ophelia keeps her voice down, but Xander sleeps like a rock.

Ophelia: Hilary? Is-

Hilary: Ophelia, can you… can you please come to the restaurant? I need to talk and you're the only one who'd understand.

Hilary sounds on the verge of tears.

Ophelia: I'll be right there.

Ophelia throws on some sweats, leaves a note for Xander and teleports as fast as she can to the restaurant. She finds Hilary upstairs at the bar.

Ophelia: Hilary? It's me. Are you alright?

Hilary: I'm wearing a base game sweater. Clearly I am not alright.

Hilary downs her nectar like she thinks someone will snatch it from her.

Ophelia: I didn’t mean to start all this.

Hilary: You didn’t start anything, Hector did.

Ophelia: I could have left.

Hilary: Don't let that man place the blame at your feet.

Hilary finishes her drink.

Hilary tries to make another drink, but a cocktail is much more complicated than pouring a glass of nectar.

Hilary: Watcher damn it! Xander makes this look so easy!

Ophelia: Forget the drink. Let's sit down and talk.

Ophelia: I’m really sorry.

Hilary: You didn’t-

Ophelia: I know I didn’t do anything wrong. I do, deep down. You didn’t either, though. I’m just… I’m sorry this happened to both of us. It sucks.

Hilary: …I’m sorry this happened to both of us too.

Hilary: I do owe you an apology. I didn’t step in as soon as I heard what he was saying to you. I’ve always considered myself a feminist, and yet I just stood there and let that man treat you like trash. It's one of the most cowardly things I've ever done.

Ophelia: Xander told me you were in shock and, after the week you've had, I believe it. Your body was probably just focusing on keeping you from completely losing it. For what it’s worth, if you interrupting meant I didn’t get to slap that jerk, then I’m glad you didn’t.

Hilary genuinely smiles for the first time in days.

Hilary: You know, when we first met, I wasn’t sure what to make of you, Ophelia, but you’ve proven to me time and time again that you’ve got a good head on your shoulders, and an even better heart. I’m so happy Xander has you.

Ophelia: That means a lot. Xander's told me lots about you. Like that time you told his bully you were an undercover cop that was going to arrest him cuz being a little jerk is illegal!

Hilary: I can’t believe he remembers that!

Ophelia: The kid peed himself! Pretty memorable!

Hilary certainly appreciates the distraction, but a question Ophelia asks catches her off-guard.

Ophelia: Any chance you’re hiring? I’m kind of out of a job right now.

It’s lighthearted in nature, but just reminds Hilary why she was trying to drink her woes away.

Hilary: You don’t need to worry about being blacklisted, dear. Any ounce of credibility Hector has is going out the window when the news spreads through the Grapevine Gossip interaction. People won't care about his opinion on the weather, let alone you.

Ophelia: Are you sure? I mean, it’s my word versus his and he’s a big deal around here. I know a divorce doesn’t look good for a man in the wedding business, but people get divorced all the time.

Hilary: Trust me, proof of his true nature will be made public soon enough.

Hilary: I’m sure Xander told you I spent today settling the divorce with Hector.

Ophelia nods.

Hilary: He finally confessed something to me. Do you want to know why he did what he did?

Ophelia: Uh, because he’s a slimeball?

Hilary: Yes, that too. But he told me that he had nothing left to lose, he considered it his ‘last hurrah’ before his life changed forever.

Ophelia: What the hell does that mean?

Hilary sits in silence. It looks like the thought of whatever she’s trying to say makes her physically ill. Ophelia allows her the time she needs to tell her.

Hilary: The day the kids and I left for the funeral… Tiff told Hector she’s pregnant.

He wouldn't… Would he?

Ophelia: I… She could be lying to get back at you for firing her. Maybe her garbage husband is the father!

Hilary: Ty is infertile. He can’t be the father… Even if she was lying, Hector admitted to sleeping with her. The pregnancy just worsens it.

Hilary: He's going to marry her, make 'an honest woman' of her. Maybe he's doing it because it looks better to the public than having a baby mama. Maybe he really does love her. That's what he told me, at least. That I basically pushed him into her arms.

Ophelia: What a douche. I'm so sorry. I can't imagine, but you know what? Those two deserve each other. This probably isn't what you want to hear right now, but you're so much better off without him. You didn't push him away, you threw out the trash.

Hilary: Deep down, I know this divorce is for the best, but… I’ve never been so scared in my life. I have to take over my parents’ restaurant, which just lost a good chunk of catering gigs from La Coppia Serena, and now I have to be a single mother? I don’t know how I’ll do it.

Ophelia doesn't know what to say but tries her best.

Ophelia: I know how. You’ll do it because you’re a strong, brave, amazing woman. Taste of Tartosa is already the best restaurant in town. Now that nothing's holding you back, you can focus on making it even better. If you need help, you know Xander and I will do what we can. We love spending time with the kids, so if you ever need anyone to keep an eye on them, call us. Whatever you need, we’re here for you.

Hilary can’t put her gratitude into words, so she doesn't try. She just lets Ophelia hug her. The two silently hold each other, trying their best to let the hug heal some of the pain they've gone through.

For the first time in a while, things feel like they're going to be okay.

By the time Ophelia gets home, the sun is out. Xander is waiting for her on the couch, having found her note. He wants to know what Hilary said, but she doesn't tell him much before falling asleep on his shoulder.

He pulls her closer and allows her to rest. She earned it.

[wibble-wobbegong]

Hey!

I know we have a ton of theories and have done a ton of digging and have a ton of evidence. And that’s great! Everyone in the tag is ver observant and have pointed things out to me that I would never have noticed on my own, and for that I am extremely grateful.

However, I find that it’s too much for me to summarize. When asked “why do you think they’ll put Will and Mike together” by the ga or told “no, Mike is straight,” I struggle to explain myself and compile the evidence into a short, sweet, understandable, convincing summary. My scrambling and incoherent babbling takes away from my credibility, which makes the person I’m speaking to much less likely to believe me. It’s frustrating and makes me feel like people think I’m crazy or don’t have a solid basis, even though there is evidence.

I’m asking around the blogs for some advice: could you please provide a short, understandable, convincing argument so that I could thoroughly and clearly express my thoughts and the evidence?

I know this is a hard ask, since, as I said, there is much evidence to chose from. Please don’t feel like you have to answer this right away!

With love,

digestionsack

The one I typically go with is that if Mike isn’t queer, he’s a complete flaw to the theme of the show and the narrative is totally fucked

You can’t write a story about how the underdogs finally get their victory and make one of them a rich, able bodied, straight, white kid who’s biggest problem is Typical ST Trauma. You can’t write a story where every single character from the party is somehow isolated or bullied for the thing that makes them different and yet Mike has comments made about his face once in S1 and never let it be addressed again? These characters face issues due to their status as outcasts constantly, it makes no sense for Mike not to have to consistently deal with some sort of problem throughout the entire show. He’d be the odd man out. He’d be normal. Comic books and DND aren’t what set these kids apart. They’re on the lowest ranks of society. That’s what makes them different.

If Mike is nothing more than normal, then he doesn’t fit. Lucas is black. Dustin is disabled. Max is poor. El is rejected for her inability to fit into society (autism coded ngl). Will is gay and poor. And Mike is… a loser?? It just doesn’t make sense. When you consider that whatever difficulties these characters face are constant throughout the show, and Mike continues to have major arcs with Will every season and romance is his main plot line, him being queer makes the most sense. It causes consistent difficulty. It sets him apart from the rest of society. It fits the narrative and the theme.

Mike is a total flaw to the story if he isn’t queer.

that’s the argument i use when people really don’t wanna cave but like you said there are a thousand ways to go about it lmao

[darkwebclaires]

Do not fall for the bullshit on the blog @one-more-breath he’s a narcissist who’s lashing out at me for leaving him & pretending he was abused. The family cat thing is a lie, I was with him when his sister texted that they were going to put the cat down & he didn’t even care. I didn’t make him cut off his friends and family. I spent a lot of time with his family when we started dating actually, we were over there for dinner and family movie night and holidays! But once they started holding my self harm scars against me & accusing me of faking my chronic illness/disability, I wanted nothing to do with them. I made it very clear that he could spend however much time he liked/wanted with his family, but he could not expect me to keep showing up places where people don’t respect me, so I cut off any relationship I had with his family. As for his friends? They were misogynistic and the whole group bullied me for a year while my lovely ex never stood up for me, even though they were racist and terrible to him too. He finally left his friends on his own free will after there was a final straw with their unkindness & insensitivity. AND he found out after that one of the boys had fucked his 14 year old sister as a freshman in high school when this boy was 18 and a senior, which is legally statutory rape. Now my ex is saying it’s not a big deal because this guy only raped his sister two or three or four times & he’s changed since then (which, wow, really??? You’re on the side of a pedophile and a rapist??) but previously my ex HATED the boy who raped his sister and filed multiple CPS reports (all on his own) to get this boy in legal trouble for raping his sister.

I have PTSD from a prior abusive relationship & sexual assault, this boy is just copying word for word what I have said about my experience with PTSD (nobody is safe, I can’t trust anyone, I’ll never be able to scrub you off my body, etc.) and pretending this is his OWN experience with “PTSD” and an “abusive relationship”. I have audio recordings of him screaming and yelling at me during arguments, and multiple times when I tell him I’m scared of him and scared he’s going to get physically violent with me because of how volatile he gets when he’s angry. Do not fall for his lies. He’s just mad because I left his sorry ass for being a porn addicted loser who loves jerking off to animal porn (he LOVES being a dog fucker specifically) and hid his “addiction” from me for most of our relationship & was a consistent liar about his porn use. He treated me like an object and kept fucking me even though I cried every time and it was so painful I had to go to pelvic floor therapy for vaginismus. He refuses to do anything he doesn’t super incredibly strongly want to do, I wouldn’t be CAPABLE of manipulating someone like him. Trying to get him to do something he didn’t want to do (like even just going to Target with me) was like arguing with a brick fucking wall.

He didn’t lose himself. I BEGGED him to go make new friends, get out of the house and participate in his hobbies. He just wouldn’t do it, claimed he didn’t know how to make friends, but magically once we break up he’s made a whole new friend group & apparently it’s all my fault because I didn’t let him have friends! BULLSHIT. He knew I was going to accuse him of being abusive and of isolating me from people I care about (yeah that’s right, I know you’re trying to fuck the cousin I no longer speak to because of the fact that she wants to fuck MY EX) and he wanted to beat me to the punch and accuse me of being abusive first to ruin my credibility.

ALSO important to note- I haven’t spoken to him in WEEKS. I haven’t seen him in person in almost a MONTH. The “get out of my head” “you’re suffocating me” “you’re strangling me” “please stop” is ALL PERFORMATIVE. I was MORE than willing to drop things and leave it the fuck alone and move on from his abusive ass & instead of leaving me alone, he complained about me TO OUR UNIVERSITY and dragged me into a WEEKS long torment process of fearing he was trying to get me kicked out of school & back and forth with our title IX office letting them know I never did any of the things he accused me of. He doesn’t want to let me go or whatever the fuck else, he wants to drag this out as long as possible to torture me! Oh and he still has my nudes he won’t give back!

His post about staying away from alcohol because he’s scared of being an addict & scared of the razor he uses to shave is BULLSHIT. He stays away from alcohol because he’s 21 and can’t buy any, the last alcoholic drink he’s had was two Smirnoff ice red white and berry I left in his refrigerator. Meanwhile, I drank through a liter of vodka in one week and a handle in another two. I’m drinking HEAVILY and consistently because of what he did to me & how he continues to treat me, even without direct contact. He’s not scared of his razor, he’s never cut a day in his life. Meanwhile I have approximately 70 cuts running down my thigh & across my wrist and forearm because of how he’s tormented me & that’s the only way I can manage the abuse he put me through. I was two years clean from self harm before he started getting involved in my life and now I haven’t been clean for a year and a half. He’s not the victim.

He distanced from his family & friends willingly, and now that I left him for someone who behaves like a grown adult man (and not a child that I have to raise) and someone who doesn’t consistently cheat on me with animal porn and isn’t a liar and takes care of me and respects me, he’s throwing a fit and trying to rewrite history running back to mommy and daddy and all his pathetic old friends to cry that he was abused, he never would’ve said those things to them if it wasn’t for me. He HATED his mom. I have an audio recording of him SOBBING about the idea of being remotely like his father. He had TERRIBLE family relationships (except for his little sister! He did want to fuck her for a couple years, and tried very hard to! Lied to me about that for two and a half years of our relationship too!) he wasn’t abused, he’s just angry that I wouldn’t settle for a porn addicted emotional abuser and I left him for a real man who’s actually good for me.

[taechaos]

Blackmail

pairing: bully!Jungkook x nerdy!fem!Reader

genre: drabble, smut, college au

synopsis: Jimin offers you information on Jungkook, but your friendship is misconstrued by Jungkook who ends it singlehandedly with one video of you professing your love to him between moans.

warnings: dubcon, fingering, degredation, mild squirting, manipulation

word count: 2.8k

a/n: jealous kook doesn't realize he's jealous. this part is a bit extreme, so beware ><

One doesn't come across someone like Jungkook every day. It's fate that you met him in your first year of college, extending to your second where he grows closer to you; fair, it's clear that he only intends to use you for his academic success, but you've deluded yourself into thinking you're in love with each other. Growing up, you only had your dysfunctional family to teach you about how to love, how to think. As long as Jungkook needs you, he will love you, and you’re willing to do anything to be with him, only him. You need him to live.

Birds sing in the background as you lay on your stomach on the grass of the yard across the campus. It’s sunny and breezy, the perfect spring day as you work on Jungkook’s research paper due next month. You compiled multiple credible sources in a separate file to create an outline for his essay the moment he forwarded the assignment to you. You want him to praise you, pet your hair, kiss your cheek for starting so early so he can turn it in before anyone else. He would be proud, flashing you his pearly whites and adoring eyes. The reward motivates you to work harder and you’re relentlessly skimming through articles while counting down the minutes of Jungkook's lecture. He'll be outside with his friends in 7 minutes.

With a bad childhood, you don’t care to befriend many people. You only have a few friends to keep you company and you’re socially awkward outside of that group. You’re content, so you steer clear of boys who try to sabotage your relationship with Jungkook. Jimin, however, doesn’t get the memo.

Typing away on your laptop, a shadow looms over you to give you a break from the sunlight. You glance up and stop swinging your legs absentmindedly when you recognize the shadow; it’s a boy with frames and a tight collar adorning his neck.

Park Jimin is a typical nerd whereas you’re more of a closeted nerd. When you’re in love, you usually put more effort into your appearance to impress the one on your mind, but that doesn’t work with Jungkook. It’s always other men giving you their attention through second glances, and that includes Jimin.

“What do you want?” you rudely greet. Jimin is ruthless with his attempts at pursuing you; he’s the perfect gentleman, and often volunteers to do group tasks with you. He is never mean to anyone, and has a squeaky clean reputation, but his only flaw is that he can’t take a hint. You don't bother being friendly to him because you don't want friends.

"I want to know why you look so happy," he bends over to curiously glance at your screen, "while doing homework?"

You slam the monitor closed to stop his ogling. "You wouldn't get it. And stop watching me," you sternly say.

"What's your secret?" he grins and sits down on the grass next to you with crossed legs. His upper body serves as a shade and you stop squinting.

"There is no secret, I was just in a good mood until you came along." You're not upset, but you don't want to lead Jimin on and he won't leave unless you blow him off.

"Thinking of Jungkook?" he teases with a mischievous smile.

"Are you stalking me?"

"No, you're just too obvious," he chuckles, but the sound is strained. You don't notice his melancholy as he continues, "You were doing his homework again?"

You shift on your propped elbows a little uncomfortably. Jimin doesn't need to know what you do in your free time. "Yes," you answer anyway.

"You know he has daddy issues?"

Your eyes round as your discomfort dissipates instantly; he's piqued your interest. "Really?"

"Yeah, he has a tough exterior but he's actually a real softie."

An involuntary smile carves on your face before it falters as you ask, "How do you know this?"

"We went to high school together. I can tell you some stories if you want," he boasts when he realizes he has your attention. The context makes his heart sink, but when he imagines your lovesick grin is directed at him, it fills him with joy.

"Tell me, tell me! Please."

"Weeell," he draws with a lopsided grin, "don't tell him I told you this, but he used to hate girls. I don't know if he still does, but back then he couldn't even stand talking to a girl."

"Why?" your eyes are wide with interest as you whisper.

He shrugs, "No idea, but he hit a girl once when she wouldn't stop clinging onto him. Not like drop-kick her," he laughs, "he just shoved her on the ground. Be careful with him, okay? He can be very aggres-"

"You guys forming a nerd club now?"

You gasp when you hear Jungkook's voice. When you look up at him, he's almost glaring as his eyes flicker from you to Jimin. You're gleeful at his approach, because he never comes to you unless it's about a new assignment. It flutters your heart to see him without any papers in his hand.

You don't take his subtle insult to heart as you immediately respond, "No, we were just talking. H-Hi."

"Pull down your skirt, you look like a whore. I can see your panties all the way from the gates," he seethes in distaste. You instantly sit up with a blush and tug your skirt down to your knees. He looks back at Jimin who's glaring at him under his lashes, "The fuck's your deal?"

"Nothing," Jimin grits. Although he hates Jungkook's guts, he's too smart to fight a lost cause. He has his own set of muscles, but it isn't enough. It's best to accept defeat now.

"Did you start on the paper?" Jungkook asks you.

"Yes, I-"

"Good," he cuts you off and crouches to peck your lips by pulling the back of your neck. You're stunned when he pulls away and nonchalantly walks off to his friends.

Jimin follows him with his eyes and mutters under his breath, "douche."

Your heart is racing and you clamp a hand over your chest as a lovestruck smile spreads across your face. You know this is your end of the bargain, but it never fails to shrivel you up in delight.

"Are you two dating?" he mumbles as he pulls on the grass with a pout.

"Something like that," you exhale as you caress your lips.

It’s become routine to link up with Jimin where he reminisces his high school memories and you don’t doubt a single word he says unless it sheds a bad light on Jungkook. You’ve learned so much about him in the past few days, and you’re eager to know more. He likes energy drinks to this day, he was athletic in school and often got into fights. He began interacting with girls when he entered college, as Jimin says, “only for a quick fuck.”

Though it hurts Jimin that you only talk to him for information on Jungkook, he can’t bring himself to care when you hang onto every word he says with a glint in your eyes like you’re doing now.

You're sitting in the bustling cafeteria across from Jimin, sipping on a homemade strawberry lemonade from your thermos, and you don't notice Jungkook glancing at your table every now and then. It is the first time he doesn't feel your heavy gaze on him. Jimin does notice however, because he is facing him every time he receives a threatening ferile look.

"He could become a lawyer with how much he blackmailed the teachers to give him a good grade," Jimin tells you as he glances back and forth between you and Jungkook. "He's quite dangerous, you know. He's manipulative, a liar and has no empathy-"

"He's clever," you counter defensively, "he knows how to get around the system."

He makes a disgruntled noise from the back of his throat with a grimace. "I don't think the judge would listen to that."

You laugh at his comparison of the conversation to a court hearing. Jimin can be funny sometimes, and you have to admit that he's not that bad of a friend either. You've come to enjoy his company without the topic of Jungkook the past few days, but talking about him is always appreciated.

"Are you the judge then?" you cheekily ask.

"I might as well be, since I'm not biased like a certain someone," he teases with a grin.

"A lawyer has to see the bright side of things, but if I was the prosecutor, I wouldn't tell you that your lecture is in five minutes."

His smile falters as his eyes widen; you remember his schedule? He ran late for a lecture yesterday, but he’s in disbelief that you reminded him today. "Th-Thanks," he breathes as he packs up his belongings before giving you a curt, shy nod. His heart pounds when he walks away, and he resists the urge to look back at you.

It's a good idea, because that's when Jungkook settles down on his former seat.

"I'm thinking you might be forgetting who you belong to," he starts as he gets comfortable on the stiff chair. You instantly smile at his appearance.

"No, I'm very well aware of it." Your tone is high-pitched in excitement.

"It wasn't a question."

"Oh..."

“You talk more than you work,” he observes with a quirk of his brow. “One would think another nerd would be a better influence on you.”

“I work at night,” you defend worriedly, “I promise I’m not slacking off. Can I get a kiss please?”

You’re so adorable when you’re needy. He hides a smirk with a bite of his lip; he thrives from your loyalty to him, but he knows Jimin is a threat to it. He wants you to stop talking to that freak, and he justifies it as a concern for his grades. “I’ll kiss you when you’re not procrastinating. Do you think you deserve even a pat on the head?”

“I do! I’m halfway done with the research paper, please Jungkook,” you beg pathetically, “I-I’ll show it to you, I have it with me right now.” You start unzipping the case of your laptop until he holds up a hand for you to stop.

“You’re going to read it to me, but not here.”

When he stands up, so do you in a haste. He leaves the cafeteria with you hot on his tail, almost jogging when his strides are much bigger compared to yours. You resemble a clueless lamb following a lion, desperate to hold his claws with your hooves. You don’t know where he’s leading you as you walk down the halls until you stop in front of a door. You’re about to freak out when he swings open the door, but you realize the lecture room is empty.

“You want me to read here?” you inquire meekly. It’s a little intimidating to do it in complete silence, because you have a tendency to stutter when reading out loud and you don’t want to embarrass yourself in front of Jungkook where no one can talk over you. 

“Yup.” He snatches your laptop case from your hand with the handle, and roughly opens it before placing the device on the front row wooden desk. It’s a large hall, and the desks stretch out to the half of the room. You’re feeling stage fright for no particular reason; it feels like reverse claustrophobia. “Open the document and give me your phone.”

You don’t question him and hand in your phone before going through your files on the laptop. Jungkook is looking through your contacts and grins when he finds himself saved as: the love of my life ♡. Jimin is saved by his name, and he finds his WhatsApp through his information below. Once he opens your empty chat with him, he switches to your camera and pushes your back so you’re bent over the desk. You sharply inhale and ask, “Kook?” 

“Don’t get distracted now,” he lightly scolds and starts pulling down your pants. You stopped wearing skirts after the incident a week ago to appease him. You stammer with your back arched, and your ass is on full display for him. It’s humiliating. “Start reading.”

“H-Humans are- Jungkook?” you warily look back at Jungkook when he slides the slit of your panties to the side.

“Are you slacking off?” he condescends. 

You bite your lip anxiously and continue reading, “Humans are social animals that n-need social interaction,” Jungkook spits in his hand, “the extent of our social relationships is the most important predictor of h-happiness.” You squeal when you feel wet fingers graze your folds, but you know better than to stop and ask what he’s doing.

“Continue,” he coaxes softly as he brushes his fingertips over your pussy lips. 

“Um, o-one of the main reasons our brains have developed the way they have is so that we can be social,” you speak between shaky breaths. Your cheeks are tinted crimson with embarrassment from his touches; why is he pleasuring you when he specifically told you, you didn’t deserve any? “Being happy a-all of the time is neither possible nor desirable.”

“Is it now?” He slips a finger in your cunt and you involuntarily let out a cry as you push your body forward. You don’t notice him holding up your phone behind you while slowly sliding his finger in and out of you. His saliva is mixing with your arousal as you answer in a gasp, “Yes.”

“Tell me why.”

“B-Because negative feelings are natural. When it comes to negative feelings, the most important thing to remember is to learn,” you pause to exhale with quivering lips, “to control certain potentially harmful thoughts.” You whine his name when another finger is added to your heat. You’re moving your hips back and forth until he slaps your wet folds as a warning. “Sorry,” you peep and continue in a breath, “Happiness all of the time entails epistemic irrationality.”

It’s difficult to keep your eyes open when you just want to indulge in his thrusts, but you’re encouraged to stop reading when he doesn’t comment on your moans. His pace is quickening and you chase his fingers with your hips, cum dripping down his wrist as you mewl.  

“You enjoying yourself, whore?”

You nod and whimper, “So much.” You’re clutching the edge of the desk as he fingers you with fervor.

“And you're my girl?” 

“Yes, all yours, I love you so much,” you pant, not stopping for a moment to question his words. He has a full view of your sopping wet cunt on the camera, and he lightly blows on you, making you shiver. He’s recording you confess your love for him while getting fingered.

“Only me?” he presses.

“Only you, Jungkook, I love you more than anything,” you slur as you start to feel a knot in your stomach.

“Then pee.”

“Wh-What?”

“Touch your clit and pee.” He removes his fingers from your clenching hole and takes a step back. “Prove your love to me.”

You mourn the loss of his hand while staring wide-eyed at the floor. You’re contemplating his demand as your hand slowly reaches down to your clit. Is he asking you to squirt? Your breathing is shallow as you near your climax, and you still don’t know if you’ll go through with his requirement.

It drips out in tiny drops as you come undone, moaning as clear liquid spills out of you for only a few seconds. 

“Good girl, my good little girl,” Jungkook whispers as he intently watches you humiliate yourself in the name of love. You’re twitching and trembling in shame when he stops recording you and sends it to Jimin without a second’s waste. “Are you okay, baby?”

You hum with a pout as you collect yourself by standing up straight, a sway in your posture. 

“Give me your panties, you’ve made a mess on the floor,” he chastises as he holds out a hand. You slip and step out of them before giving it to him. In return, he passes your phone before feigning a gasp, “Shit, I think I sent Jimin a video of you when I was trying to forward it to my phone.”

Your mouth falls open as heat consumes your entire being. “H-Huh?” Tears brim in your eyes almost instantly; your heart is pounding from anxiety.

“How will you ever look at him now,” he empathizes with a fake frown. “He must think of you as such a slut now.”

“Let me delete it,” you panic as you open your phone. “Wh-Where is it?”

He motions you to give him the phone and opens WhatsApp after. “He’s already seen it.” There are two blue ticks under the message.

“No, no, no,” you pull your hair in agony with a whimper. You quickly put your pants back on and cry as you do so.

“I guess that’s the end of your friendship,” he raises his eyebrows to himself without a hint of sympathy.

“What do I do?!” you wail and fling your hands in stress.

“Avoid him. I’ll make sure he won’t leak it.”

He steps forward to lean in your face intimidatingly. “And don’t talk to him ever again.”

You don’t exactly have a choice now, do you? 

[ravennm84]

Marinette Family Court Reveal

After the overwhelming resonse I received from Marinette Family Court Circus, how could I not write a sequel? This story focuses more on what was going on with the class and what they’re seeing on the news. There will be some salt coming, so have a glass of water on hand. Anyways, Warm-Fuzzies and please enjoy!!

The class was in a state of shock. In the span of 24 hours, there was so much joy and tragedy. Gathered at Alya’s apartment, they watched TVi news as Hawkmoth and Mayura were unmasked as Gabriel Agreste and his assistant, Nathalie. The class was in an uproar for a while, wondering if Adrien had been involved.

Lila shed tears, real ones, at the loss of her modeling job and the chance to keep Adrien as a trophy boyfriend. Now, he was useless to her. Anything to do with him would be toxic to her reputation, her only chance was to use her tears and claim that she’d had no idea that he was involved in such things. That he must have been trying to use her to get close to her mother to have international backing. Luckily, her classmates were such sheep that no one questioned what she said. They just comforted her, even ignoring the announcement of Adrien being exonerated of any charges, beyond a reasonable doubt, a few hours later.

The following day in class, Mme. Bustier came in and announced that not only had Adrien been pulled out of school for his own safety, but Marinette would not be attending for a while. “I’m afraid that she was in a terrible accident and has been put in the hospital.”

“How bad?” Alya asked, standing from her chair.

“She’s alive, but I’m afraid that her parents and grandmother were killed in a fatal car accident.”

From there, gossip flew all around the room. How bad had it been? How hurt was Marinette? Do you think the accident was Marinette’s fault?

What?

They weren’t sure who asked that question, but it brought up other things. How she’d been acting strange the past few months. The way she’d distanced herself from everyone in class. How she’d been bullying Lila when she thought no one was looking. Always calling Lila a liar even though she had no proof. It was clear to everyone that she was a troubled girl, but the idea that she’d caused the accident and killed her parents and grandmother? That didn’t seem like the girl they knew.

Still, they weren’t sure. So, no one really reached out to her in the hospital. No one called or went to visit to see if she was alright. Except Lila, she put the fear of her bully aside and went to check on her, only to call Alya crying an hour later.

“I don’t understand why she hates me so much.” Lila sobbed on Alya’s couch and the spectacled girl rubbed her friend’s back. “All I did was tell her that I was worried about her, but she yelled at me and told me to get out of the room. But I can’t blame her. I think she’s just scared.”

“Of course she’s scared, she just lost her family-”

“No, she killed her family!” Lila stressed, looking freaked out. “She admitted it to me, like she didn’t think anyone would believe me! She said she distracted her father while he was driving and caused the crash since they were starting to get wise to how she really is, and that her grandmother was just ‘collateral damage’. I didn’t think anyone could be so cruel!”

Alya was in shock. She hadn’t thought that Marinette, someone she used to think of as a friend, would ever do something like that. Especially to her own family. But… Lila had never lied to her, why would she start now? “Do the police know about this?”

Lila shook her head. “I’m not sure. But I do know that she’s talking to a lawyer, she’s probably going to get her inheritance and disappear before anyone figures out what she’s done.”

“Don’t worry, girl. I won’t let her get away with this.”

“What are you going to do?” Lila asked, her voice trembling.

“Whatever I need to do to get justice for Tom and Sabine.”

~oOo~

To say that the reaction Alya got from the Paris Police Department when told them that she had a source that Marinette had killed her family in order to collect her inheritance and disappear… it hadn’t been well received. Officer Roger came to the interrogation room personally, seeing as how she was in his daughter’s class, as Alya sat with her extremely angry parents.

“Do you want to explain why you just tried to file a false police report?” Officer Roger asked her.

“It’s not false! I have a source.”

“And who might that be?”

She hesitated at that, Lila had begged her to keep her name out of it. “I’m not really comfortable saying.” 

“Then how exactly did this source of yours, gain this information?”

Thinking it over for a moment, she decided that was okay. “It was someone that visited Marinette, she admitted to my source that she purposefully distracted her father while he was driving and caused the crash.” When Officer Roger looked even angrier, she knew that must have been right and he didn’t want to admit that he’d been wrong.

At least…

“Mlle. Cesaire, as this has been made public knowledge, allow me to tell you exactly how wrong your source is. Firstly, Tom Dupain was not driving the car, Gina Dupain was driving. As for Marinette causing the accident, that’s also untrue. Street cameras confirm that four university students ran a red light and struck their car. The driver of the other car even confessed to having been drinking and causing the accident.”

Alya was in shock. Tom hadn’t been driving and Marinette hadn’t caused the accident… that would mean…

“Hate to break it to you Mlle. Cesaire, but whoever your source is has lied to you and caused you to be charged with filing a false police report.”

All the way home, Alya’s parents were scolding her for even thinking that Marinette could do such a thing. “She has always been such a good friend to you, and don’t think we don’t know about all the times you had Marinette watch Ella and Etta while you went off on dates with Nino. I bet you never even offered to pay her for babysitting the girls, did you?” Her father snapped as he parked the car outside their apartment building.

“And what about all the dresses and handmade gifts she gave you, some for no reason at all. Did you ever even thank her for those? And still, you accuse her of killing her entire family and almost getting herself killed for money? Why would you ever believe that?”

Seeing no reason to keep it to herself anymore, she told them. She told them how Marinette seemed to change when her new friend, Lila, came to school. How she had been calling her a liar just because she was jealous about the glamorous life she lived, the celebrities she knew, and her crush on Adrien. How she kept on accusing Lila of lying and faking injuries, even to the point of hurting her when Marinette threw a napkin at her and strained her sprained wrist. And then, when Marinette had been expelled, how she had accused Lila of being behind the whole thing.

When she was finished explaining, she thought for sure that she’d convinced her parents. Then she saw the looks on their faces.

“Alya, at any point, did you ever look up any of Lila’s claims?” Her mother asked in a slow, even voice.

“Now you sound like Marinette!”

“You do not talk to your mother like that!” Her father snapped before taking a deep breath to steady himself. Even without Hawkmoth around, it was difficult for people to express themselves as they used to. “Alya, I want you to take out your phone and look up any articles that have to do with Jagged Stone and Lila Rossi.”

Realizing how upset her parents were, she did what her father told her, knowing that she would find the proof in a couple minutes and they would see that Marinette…

Her phone read 1 result found: the Ladyblog.

Confused, she looked up any connection between Lila and Bruce Wayne. She said that she was practically a member of the family and that she and Damien Wayne were…

1 result found: the Ladyblog

Her hands were beginning to shake as she did her search for Lila and Tony Stark, that had to be true! She had talked about meeting him over video chat in class and how they’d talked about…

1 result found: the Ladyblog

Search after search, it was all the same. Lila and Clara Nightingale, Lila and Prince Ali, Lila and XY, Lila and the Avengers, Lila and Ladybug: 1 result found: the Ladyblog.

“I-I don’t understand?”

“Did you, at any time, check your sources before posting them?” Her mother asked, but Alya didn’t answer. She’d thought that Lila’s word had been enough, but… “This Lila girl has been lying to you, and apparently she’s been bullying someone who you used to think was a real friend. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

And she really was. She’d turned on Marinette, accusing her of being a jealous bully that had killed her own family, all on the word of a liar. So when her parents grounded her and told her that she was to shut down the Ladyblog, she didn’t argue. The blog was so full of lies that she would never be able to use it as a credible source for work experience in the future, if she even had a future in journalism anymore.

~oOo~

The next day at school, Alya could barely lift her eyes to meet anyone around her. Her mother said that she should be ashamed, and she was. She was ashamed, mortified, depressed, and all together hating herself after spending the entire night thinking of all the cruel and terrible things she had said to and about her former friend. She wasn’t going to delude herself thinking that she and Marinette could ever be friends again, she didn’t deserve her after throwing her aside for a bunch of fake stories and glittery lies.

But there was still one thing she could do. It wouldn’t make things right but it would probably be something Marinette would have done if she could have. So Alya got to class early and connected her laptop to the overhead projector. When everyone, barring Adrien and Marinette got to class. She got down to business.

“Everyone, I’ve got something very important to tell you, it has to do with Marinette.” She could already hear the murmurs around the classroom, Lila must have messaged them the lies while she’d been at the police station. “I want to start by saying that we have been misinformed. After speaking with the police and doing a ton of research, I can say with close to 100% certainty that Marinette never bullied Lila and that Lila has been lying to us since she got here.”

Before Lila could say anything, Alya brought up her first powerpoint slide. “I did a search last night on all the connections that Lila’s told us about with Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, Bruce Wayne, Tony Stark, Prince Ali, and many others; and they all came up the same thing” The slide showed a screen shots of her searches, showing the only result being the Ladyblog. 

“Lila also told me the other day, how she went to visit Marinette and she confessed that she distracted her father while he was driving to cause the accident and kill her family so she could collect her inheritance.” Alya switched slides to the news article on the accident. “Yet the police report, traffic cameras, and witnesses all claim that to be false. Marinette’s grandmother was driving. The other driver admitted to running the light and causing the accident. And seeing as Marinette has never hid her dislike of Lila, it’s highly doubtful that she would even let Lila into her hospital room, let alone tell her something like that.”

The class had been staring at the slides in a state of shock until Alya finished speaking. Then all of them were whipping out their phones to do their own searches. Lila looked to be in a state of panic, unsure if she could bring anyone back to her side after showing all this evidence and everyone suddenly looking things up themselves.

“Oh, and Lila,” Alya said in a slightly sweet voice that made the italian glare. “So you know, my parents grounded me when the police charged me for filing a false police report after what you told me. They also decided to call the embassy to talk to your mother directly. I hope you at least get into as much trouble as you tried to do to Marinette.”

The girl didn’t want to stick around to find out, she was about to run out of the class but Mme. Bustier entered a second later and told everyone to take their seats. Lila tried to get herself excused multiple times, but the teacher just said “I understand that you must be upset by everything that has happened, but please know that you don’t have to leave the room to cry. This is a safe place again, and we are here for you.”

Before Lila’s 4th attempt to be excused, M. Damocles’ assistant knocked on the door and said that Lila was required in the office. The girl shot Alya an if-I-could-kill-you-now-I-would look before gathering her things and stomping out of the classroom. Alya hoped that she would never see the girl again. 

Then just before lunch, Markov came on and alerted everyone that the news was talking about Marinette. Mme. Bustier turned the projector back on and plugged Markov in. Sure enough, there was Marinette, looking much worse for wear. She was in a wheelchair with her right leg and arm in casts. They could see cuts healing on her exposed skin and she was much more pale than the last time they saw her. But what really caught the class’ attention, was what the bar read at the bottom of the screen. “Custody battle between Stark, Wayne, and Stone”.

The camera switched from Marinette to Jagged Stone. “Tom and Sabine were like family to me, some of the most rock’n’roll folks I’ve ever met. When I got the call saying that they were gone and Marinette had no one else, all I could think about was being there for the rockin’ little lady. She is the kindest, smartest, and most talented girl I’ve ever met. Whatever it takes, I’m going to do what I can to help her.”

Then the camera went to Tony Stark. “Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng were the kind of people others should strive to be; they stood up for what was right and let you know if you were wrong. I was on the receiving end of their lectures more than once, and they’re probably one of the reasons why I put on the suit over and over again. They helped make me a better man… and now they’re gone. I can never repay them for how they helped me, the least I can do is try to give their daughter a safe environment to heal.”

Finally, the camera came to Bruce Wayne and his sons. “I know the pain of losing one's parents when you’re young, it’s not something I would wish on anyone. But I had a support system when I was young, one of those people was Gina Dupain, a wonderful woman that forced me to see that there was still good in the world. She passed that goodness and strength to Tom Dupain and was lucky enough to find a good woman like Sabine. The fact that they are gone from the world… all I could think when I heard of their passing was how dark the world would become without the three of them. But there is also so much goodness in their daughter, Marinette. If I can have the opportunity; I just hope that I can do for Marinette, what Gina did for me.”

When the camera switched again, it came to Nadja Chamack, who looked a little teary eyed. “This story has been admittedly difficult for me to remain objective, as I know… knew the family personally. I do agree with Jagged Stone, Tony Stark, and Bruce Wayne in saying that Tom, Sabine, and Gina were wonderful people and it is a great loss that they are no longer with us. TVi news will continue to follow this story as it develops. Back to you, Alec.”

Mme. Bustier’s class watched the news in total shock. They’d had no idea that Marinette knew Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne, but how could they have forgotten that she knew Jagged Stone and Nadja Chamack. Hell, Alya had even watched Manon with her more than once. 

All the things Lila had promised them, Marinette probably could have done and more. She could have introduced Kitty Section and Nino to Jagged Stone and given them an in to the music industry. Computer programming and robotics for Max, there was no one better known in the industry than Tony Stark. Business and charities, an introduction to Bruce Wayne could have done wonders for Chloe, Sabrina, and Mylene. If Alya had even asked while they were still friends, Marinette may have asked Nadja if they were offering any internships at TVi for her. And even if her former friend didn’t have any obvious contacts in sports for Kim, or art for Alix and Nathaniel; with the way her name was getting out there with her fashion designs, she’d have probably made connections within the next few years.

A look around the room told Alya that the class was thinking the same thing. If they had just listened to their friend, instead of calling her jealous. If they had looked into a single thing Lila said instead of blindly following her. If they had even just gone to visit Marinette in the hospital rather than leave her alone during the hardest time of her life… No, they had no right to ask anything of her and all of them knew it.

Later that day, just before school let out for the day, Markov alerted everyone that Marinette was leaving the courthouse and the little robot was reconnected to the projector. What they saw was Marinette giving a small smile, her lawyer looking relieved, and the three men smiling fondly at the teenage girl. When the reporters started firing questions at them they were silenced when Marinette raised her good arm and motioned for everyone to calm down before pointing to Nadja.

“Has the judge come to a decision on the subject of custody?” Nadja asked, pointing her microphone at Marinette. Only to be answered by her lawyer, the bar listed his name as M. Contere.

“Mlle. Dupain-Cheng and I have presented a proposal to the judge, it has yet to be finalized but I will say that it holds potential.”

Marinette pointed to another reporter, who had been politely raising his hand. “Mssrs. Stone, Stark, and Wayne seem to be in high spirits, does this indicate that the final decision will allow for all parties to have interactions with Mlle. Dupain-Cheng?”

M. Contere kept a straight, professional face, but everyone could see the happy crinkle at the corner of his eyes. “Although I cannot, at this time, comment on the specifics of the proposal, I will say that it is in the best interests of my client.”

Marinette chose a young girl who looked a bit overwhelmed but smiled gratefully. “This question is directed to Mssrs. Stone, Stark, and Wayne. What kind of accommodations are you planning on making if receiving custody?”

The three men shared a look before smiling at the young reporter. 

“Anything Marinette will need to heal and make a future for herself,” Bruce Wayne began.

“And probably a bunch of things she’ll say she doesn’t need, but will end up giving her anyway, since she deserves everything.” Tony Stark smiled down at her, earning a you-better-not look from Marinette, and caused a few reporters to chuckle.

“All of us here see this rockin’ little lady as family, these custody hearings will make it official. I can say with great certainty that, no matter what the judge decides, myself and these two men will do everything in our power to help her in any way we can.” Jagged said, as he placed a gentle hand on top of Marinette’s head.

M. Contere pointed at a different reporter this time, and was visibly surprised by the question. “There has been a rumor going around that Marinette purposefully caused the accident to collect her inheritance, any comment?”

The three powerful men that were standing behind Marinette became visibly upset and Marinette began to cry. Before Jagged Stone, Tony Stark, or Bruce Wayne could advance on the reporter to demand where he had heard such a claim, their lead lawyers stepped forward. The intimidating force that the three of them exuded was enough that all of the reporters took a few steps back.

“That question is a blatant falsehood that was founded by rumor, not facts,” stated the Stone lawyer in a cold voice as he stared down the reporter who asked the question.

The Wayne lawyer continued, speaking clearly so no one would mishear or misquote what was said. “As stated in the police report and other sources, the accident was caused when a group of university students failed to yield at a red light and struck the Dupain-Chengs’ vehicle. The driver has already pleaded guilty to charges of DUI, three counts of vehicular manslaughter, and vehicular assault.” 

The camera panned over to Tony Stark’s lawyer, as he finished speaking quietly to the three men before turning back to the camera. “These comments have also come to the attention of the Paris Police Department, as someone attempted to file a false police report on the matter. After a brief discussion with Mssrs. Stone, Wayne, and Stark, they have agreed to work together, along with the PPD, to find the source of these rumors and see the individual brought up on charges of slander, harassment, and defamation of character; among other charges.”

“No more questions,” M. Contere said as he and the other lawyers escorted their clients away from the courthouse. The reporters tried to ask more questions, but were met with icy looks and ‘no comment”.

Alya couldn’t help but smile at that. After school, when Officer Roger came to pick up Sabrina, she would tell him exactly who her source was. She would tell who her “source” had been and all the things she’d said about Marinette since she’d started attending school. She would show him all the recordings on her blog before it was shut down and send him video copies of Lila’s interviews as evidence. If she was lucky, Lila would also be charged for slandering Jagged Stone, Tony Stark, and Bruce Wayne; as well as Marinette.

Again, Alya knew that this wouldn’t fix her friendship with Marinette, but it was also the right thing to do. And for the first time in a long time, she was going to be on the side of good.

Taglist:

@whydoexamsexist  @geekydragonyt  @thornalchemist23

@maribat-is-lifeblood  @ironspiderstark  @miyla-lokidottir

@futursworld  @luveverything12  @dreamkitty25

@smolplantmum  @imablinkmarvelarmy  @moonlitiiminie

@chez-pezeater

[mcheang]

Lila somehow comes to the conclusion that Mirleille is Ladybug and tries to blackmail her into playing along with Lila's claim of being BFFs with Ladybug.

Incorrect

This is a draft

As Hawkmoth’s ally, Lila did her job of trying to identify Ladybug. It’s a shame Alya had decided to stop helping once Marinette pointed out Ladybug wouldn’t want them to know or else she would have told them. And who are they to decide they know better than Lady Luck?

It was enough for Marinette to be considered a suspect. That self-righteous attitude, how she knew Lila was a liar. Hell even the pigtails were a dead giveaway.

But that was too easy.

If Marinette were really Ladybug, she would have exposed her by now. Otherwise what kind of friend would let Alya ruin her blog’s credibility. Granted Alya was too proud and stubborn to recognize her mistakes and listen to Marinette’s warning to check her sources, but Alya would have listened to Ladybug.

Nope. Whoever Ladybug was, she would not be a close friend of Alya’s.

Hmm...what about Mireille? Black hair? Check. Ladybug could be wearing contacts to hide her eye color. And her best friend wore pigtails... Aurore was a fan of Adrien, maybe Ladybug was so angry at Lila for trying to steal her friend’s crush.

That’s it, isn’t it? Mireille is Ladybug.

This revelation could not have come at a better time when Marinette demands proof that Lila is friends with celebrities. She was ready to call Jagged right then and there when Lila protested that Marinette is mixing her personal feud with Lila with her professional status as Jagged’s go-to designer. If she is so insistent, then why not have Alya ask Ladybug the next time an akuma shows up. Marinette had readily accepted. And now Alya is determined to catch Ladybug for an interview and end this feud between her friends.

Lila waited till Mireille was alone before she cornered her in the bathroom.

Lila: listen up, when Alya comes to interview you, I need you to play along like we’re besties.

Mireille: we’re not

Lila: who cares? What matters is what you tell Alya. And so help me, if you don’t lie, I’ll make your life at school a living hell.

Mireille: wow, you have serious issues

Lila: cross me and you’ll learn just how bad I can be.

Mireille repeated, “wow.”

And satisfied with Mireille’s wide eyes and lack of spine to stand up to her, Lila tossed her hair and left.

Lila did not anticipate Mireille telling Aurore that Lila was a psycho liar who threatened her. Aurore tells Mireille that Lila is the self-proclaimed best friend of Ladybug.

Mireille: if that’s true, I’ll eat my shoe.

Aurore: so what do we do? The people believe Lila’s stories.

Mireille: we get them to fact check, that’s what.

Aurore: Lila cries every time Marinette asks us to do that.

Mireille: then it’s a good thing we have our own followers. Come on, we have some typng to do.

Within the hour, it became known that Paris’ weather girls were questioning Lila’s claims and associations. They asked their fans if they could find any proof because they sure can’t.

This was enough to cause feedback on the Ladyblog, causing Alya to pale and gasp.

Beyond the facts that stated Lila was so not connected to any celebrities, some people had found out her bullying history and were spreading it.

Alya stood up and brandished her phone screen at Lila. “Care to explain this?”

Lila: Alya, I’m not Marinette. I can’t read your phone from my seat.”

Alya: my followers are posting evidence that there’s no way you’re friends with Jagged or Prince Ali. Instead you have a history of bullying and fraud!

Lila: what? That’s slander. Who’s behind this? Was it you, Marinette?

Marinette: i wish! All we need now is an akuma for Ladybug to be interviewed by Alya.

At the reminder, Lila and Alya forced themselves to calm down for different reasons.

Alya: I won’t need Ladybug’s statement now. My fans have provided evidence I failed to give.

Bustier: girls, please settle down. I’m sure we can resolve this peacefully.

Marinette: you know if Lila really wasn’t at Achu with Prince Ali, why wasn’t she at school?

Bustier paused. “Alya, please escort Lila to the principal’s office. Marinette, please call Mrs Rossi. The rest of you, please turn to page 76.”

Nino: you’re letting them deal with Lila? Isn’t that your job?

Bustier: well, Alya is the one with the proof. But fine, I’ll call Mrs Rossi.

At the end of the day, Lila was expelled once Mireille added her bathroom bullying account.

Now Paris knows Lila as the bullying liar. Good luck fitting in at her next school because Mrs Rossi still has work to do in Paris and she’s not letting Lila out of her sight now.

[diamaker-moon]

Moving Forward - Chapter 2

Chapter Two

First steps!

—————

It was more than what she had bargained. But she was lucky. Really lucky!

'Looks like lady luck finally gave me a good amount of luck!'

— previous chapter... —

Boxes. Boxes were everywhere!

Marinette admits that she'll miss her room. Her very pink room, her roof balcony, her loft bed, everything! But she chose this. She wanted to be far from Dupont from now. She didn't want to be reminded every day about what she has gone through in that school.

She was heavily guarding her 'sewing equipment' which was the disguise for the new shape of the Chinese Miracle Box, and a backpack that has Grimoire and tablet.

After her application for a scholarship was accepted, they got to move, her parents rented a moving van for all the heavy stuff. They decided to get her settled in during the weekend. The only thing she isn't bringing to the dorm was her vanity, desk and loft bed. It was a miracle that her chaise was approved to be moved into the dorm.

"Ready to go?" Tom asked.

He was emotional since his daughter grew up in front of him, but after hearing what she had to suffer from those people, he was supportive of her moving away temporarily. 

Marinette nodded. They both went down, where Sabine was waiting. Before Marinette entered the van, she glanced at her old school and smiled bitterly. All the memories she had created with the people she thought she trusted were being tarnished. All because of a lying vixen who has nothing else to do in her life and can't keep her mouth shut.

She missed the people she knew before. But that was before, this was now.

She entered the van, placed the pink carry-on and backpack. While Tom drives the van she was humming while thinking of the past.

Alya Césaire, the person Marinette thought that will always stay by her side. Her ex-best friend. Sure the girl has her faults, but Marinette treated her like a sister. They shared every secret (except her secret identity). When the liar came to Dupont, it felt like there was a spell casted in the school, Alya forgot the most basic rule in journalism. Fact-checking. It was a pity how the Ladyblog was now being slandered on how it became a tabloid. No one trusted it anymore. She felt a bit of guilt that when Alya finally finds out that the girl she claims as her 'new bff' is a liar, her credibility is already in the sewers.

Nino Lahiffe, Lê Chiến Kim, Max Kanté, Ivan Bruel, Mylène Haprèle, Alix Kubdel, Rose Lavillant, Juleka Couffaine and Nathaniel Kurtzberg, her classmates that knew her for years. The people she helped all the time. They knew her, but they also turned their backs against her. Marinette always went out of her way to help them, even when Ivan was the first Akuma victim she felt bad, so she wanted to help— and it got her to become the superheroine of Paris, France; Ladybug.

Lastly, Adrien Agreste, the person who said that was on her side, the only other person who knew about the liar but chose to be silent. Looking back, she was ashamed that she put the boy on a pedestal, but what irked her is his slight manipulation without even knowing. When they celebrated about Chloé leaving for New York, he unknowingly made Marinette guilty, even though he knew about Chloé's tormenting. And after finding out that he was Chat Noir, it angered her that the boy she trusted while in and out of the suit was the same boy who left her in the wolf's den.

"—ette? Marinette?"

That made Marinette snap out of her thoughts. She looked around then outside of the window and noticed that they were in a parking lot. Her father was nowhere to be found and her mother was calling her.

"Your father just went to get a luggage trolley for your boxes. Are you ready to meet your dormmates?"

Ah, yes. Apparently, she had dormmates, but she will still be getting a separate room inside the dorm. Marinette can only hope that the people here are not easily blinded by pretty words.

"Yes, Maman. I'm ready..."

This was part of her first step to a new beginning.

—————

The principal of Jeanne d'Arc l'Académie was a lovely woman.

She guided Marinette and her family towards the dorm building. She informed Marinette about her dormmates. There were a total of four other students in her dorm, she said they were friendly and hopes that they'll get along.

On the third floor of the second dorm building, she walked towards a door that has 'B315' on it, she knocked and we waited.

When the door opened, a tanned girl with blonde hair that was braided and had blue eyes opened it, she had a shocked look on her face when she saw the Principal, but when she looked around her mouth went 'oh'.

"Hi! Please come in, the other two went outside for a while, Fé is in his room reading." She said.

"This is Allegra Croix, the room representative. Here's a room card, keep it safe, but in case you lose it, file a report in the front desk."

The principal said before letting the other guy who had joined them at the school steps earlier help Tom to move her belongings, before leaving.

"Hi, I-I'm Marinette." She introduced herself while smiling, the girl smiled at her then waved.

"Come, I'll direct you to your bedroom."

They entered a room and Marinette felt herself freeze. It was almost identical to her bedroom at home. Keyword: almost.

The room had soft baby pink painted walls with gold designs, a twin loft bed (with a higher railing on one side), a huge L-shaped desk underneath, near it is a tall bookshelf, a vanity, a sliding door on the right with curtains, a bathroom on the left that is also connected to a small walk-in-closet.

Tom and a guy slowly moved Marinette's boxes and her chaise. While her mother was busy talking with Allegra, she made her way towards the sliding door and opened it, to see a small balcony. She was still carrying the disguised miracle box and wore the backpack on her back.

Tikki peaked out of the purse and was awed by the view. When she looked at her holder, she can see a small smile on her face.

"Guess this is it. A new beginning for Marinette Dupain-Cheng..." The girl said while looking at the scenery before looking at her kwami.

—————

After all the boxes, her parents bid a tearful goodbye for the temporary separation between them. Allegra also informed her about dorm curfews and toured her around the dorm. She also mentioned the soundproof feature inside the bedroom and the whole dorm, which shocked Marinette.

It was convenient for her. A balcony inside her room for sneaking in and out and soundproofed for the kwamis, was the best she could get.

She spent her time inside her room and organized everything, she already mentioned to Allegra that she might be stuck inside her bedroom for a while to get settled in. Closing the door and locking it, before turning the soundproofing feature on then letting the kwamis out of the box.

They helped her move stuff and get organized.

"Soundproof? What is that?" Kaalki asked.

"It's a feature that makes all noises inside this room stay here and will not be heard outside."

She looked around and smiled. Her computer has been set up, her sewing machine and other miscellaneous stuff were on top of the L-shaped desk underneath the loft bed.

The chaise was placed near the bookshelf and placed at an angle.

It felt home-y for her. As if she was back in her own room.

Meanwhile, outside Marinette's room, two boys entered the room.

"Hey, Al! Did the new student arrived yet?"

"Yeah, she did! She's been cooped up in her room, and getting settled in. Let's have dinner all together!"

The guy named Allan nodded and carried the grocery bags that were filled with both meal ingredients and snacks towards the kitchen.

When Marinette was done showering and changing to a comfortable but decent outfit, she heard a knock on her door. She opened it and saw Allegra.

"Hey, mind joining us for dinner?" Allegra asked to which Marinette nodded.

They went towards a small dining table next to the kitchen, where she saw three other guys. One was busy reading a book, while the other two were bantering. The girls sat down and that attracted the boys' attention.

"Hi...?"

"Hello! Nice to meet you! I'm Claude D'lleardo, at your service fair maiden!" The guy wearing a white and blue striped shirt said then playfully winking at Marinette, which made her giggle.

"I'm Allan Montgometry, Claude's functioning brain cell." A guy with dark skin and was wearing a green sweater, in Marinette's eyes, the guy reminded her of Nino Lahiffe.

"Félix Culpa, evening." The guy who was reading a book said that he had familiar blonde-coloured hair with blue-grey eyes.

"Nice to meet you all, I'm Marinette, hope we can all get along!" She said with a smile.

While eating she looked around the table and smiled.

Sure it was painful for her that the people she knew as 'friends' had abandoned her, she was also glad that there was an opportunity given to her to start a new page in her life.

She was leaning on the balcony railings feeling the cold night winds, not noticing a certain someone who went out on their own balcony.

Marinette smiled bitterly when she remembered the times when she and Alya spent the entire night on her home's balcony chatting through the night. All the slumber parties, either with the girls or only a few, she missed it.

It was an emotional day for her, moving away from her own home even when it was temporary still hurt her, to transfer out of Dupont due to incompetent educators, bullies and enablers, being abandoned and isolated by the people she used to trust.

She had her faults, especially when she became the Guardian, most of her schedule has been occupied but people in her class haven't been inviting her lately. Things will change, she didn't care anymore. She gave her all in the friendships she had built with that class only for it to be discarded like trash. If they don't want friendship with her anymore, then she doesn't need to give it to them.

She went inside for a brief moment only to come back with her diary in one hand, then a pen in the other. She sat down and started writing.

Dear Diary,

A lot has changed in a span of a week. Sorry if I haven't wrote in you lately, I... I've been quite busy lately, not only with that responsibility, but I recently transfered to a new school. Jeanne d'Arc l'Académie is a promising school! They prioritize the students talents and give them opportunities, I'm glad I had the chance to attend in this kind of school.

Part of my transfer, is me moving to a dorm. Since the school is quite far from the bakery, Maman and Papa asked me if I wanted to move into a dorm inside the school campus. They said it will be convenient for me and I'll be far from that class for a while. At first, I was hesitant, but now, looking back, I'm glad I did accept. My bedroom here in the dorm is amazing! Sure it's not an attic like the one I had back home, but it resembles my room, as if I never moved.

I also met new people today!

Allegra Croix, she was so kind! Allegra was the one who let me know all about the dorm, she toured me and mentioned the cool feature in this dorm and every bedroom, which is: soundproofing! Can you believe it, Diary?!

Claude D'lleardo, was a funny guy, he kind of reminds me of the old Chat Noir, who made me laugh. Then there was Allan Montgometry, he was also fun to be with! When he introduced himself, I giggled when he said he was Claude's brain cell! but he also reminds me of a certain someone from my old school...

And then there's Félix Culpa. At first, I thought I was hallucinating since he resembles him quite a lot, but when I looked at his eyes, I knew there that he wasn't him. He likes reading (I think? Since he kept reading during dinner).

I hope We all get along! Moving to a new environment is breathtaking for me. I can finally relax, without being on edge. I'm far away from that vixen.

You know, Diary... I kinda thank her... is that weird?

She may have threathend me about stealing my friends and ruining me, but she also showed me how people in that school see me. A tool. The vixen showed me how my old class used me to get free pastries from the bakery, I didn't even know that they were getting some and making excuses to my parents. They kept asking me to make things for them, without even paying me, even though they say "can I commision you?". And then all the babysitting duties from those two! I couldn't even say a word, next thing I know she was already running away! The vixen also showed me his pacified attitude in dealing bullies. I think he may be in a delusional state, that all things will resolve itself and it will all be back to normal.

They were all worst than Chloé!

I hope that me moving past that school will give me a new beginning, Diary! I promise to myself, I'll take care of myself this time, no more bending backwards just to appease people. I want to be accepted for who I am, not because of what I can give.

Oops! It's gotten so late, I didn't even notice!

Goodbye for now, Diary!

Marinette closed her diary and sighed, but she had a smile on her face.

She stood up and went inside her room, then locked the balcony. She looked around and saw Tikki eating a cookie on her desk. Marinette put her diary back in its box and claimed the loft.

"Goodnight, Tikki." Marinette said, her eyes beginning to get tired and get droopy.

Tikki stopped eating and zipped towards her chosen, then put a paw on her chosen's cheek.

"Goodnight, Marinette!"

—————

Félix Culpa was more of an introvert in the group. He liked to be alone most of the time. When Allegra, Claude and Allan, leeched onto him, he found it annoying especially with Claude, but soon he got used to it.

And now that they had a new dormmate, he observed her. She was reserved. It was as if she was holding herself back.

Standing outside on the balcony during the night was a leisure time for him. He enjoyed the quiet dark sky and the cold wind of the night. When he went out that night, he saw his new dormmate— Marinette was also outside. When he looked at her, she was staring blankly at the view. She then entered her room then went back out a few minutes after, with a pen and a notebook.

She sat down on the balcony floor since the railings are glass, he can see her writing down on her notebook. 

Marinette was pretty, her black silky hair that had blue reflections, she had those attractive bluebell coloured eyes, he also noticed a few freckles on both sides and bridge of her nose during dinner and her rose coloured lipstick with gloss.

He didn't know how long he was staring at her, the next he knew was she was already going back inside her room. So he did the same. He went on his computer and tried to find any social media accounts of his new dormmate, only to find a lot of articles about her.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, a young and budding designer that had made commisions for various celebrities, including Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, XY, and etc."

"Fashion critique, Audrey Bourgeois, has been impressed by a certain Marinette Dupain-Cheng!"

"Adrien Agreste modeling a derby hat won by Marinette Dupain-Cheng in a Gabriel competition."

"Kitty Section's debut outfits made by Marinette Dupain-Cheng awed the crowed!"

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, an aspring fashion designer is making waves in the world of fashion, can she overrule Paris' resident designer— Gabriel Agreste?"

 Those are only a few articles he had seen and read.

'So Marinette was an aspiring designer?'

He thought. Félix was impressed that at such a young age, she has already been featured and had worked with famous celebrities. Looks like he had underestimated the young teenager.

The last thought that ran in his mind before he drifted to sleep was, why did she transfer? Was she unsatisfied with her progress in her old school? Or maybe something happened?

'Who really are you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng?'

Chapter 1 — Moving Forward: Masterlist — Chapter 3

[mopillow]

Hi, I have a question about the last chapter of 19 days.

When She Li bump into Mo, he is covering his neck (I'm pretty sure the injury Mo gave him). But he seems proud of it in front of He Tian.

What are you thought on that ?

Hello Anon this is an interesting question we all know that HT usually keeps his emotions in control unless is a Mo related matter, She Li knows this too this guy isn’t dumb so of course he’s going to brag about it in front of HT now the question is why?? Well, remember this??

He was obviously looking for someone in that building but Mo knows how to hide from him so chances are he wasn’t looking for him after all what can Mo do by himself? We saw SL near HT’s apartment he probably knows they’re in good terms again, I don’t believe in coincidences do you? I don’t think She Li is acting for MGS, She Li is covering his wound and coughing because in my opinion he is trying to fool the teachers, he wants to make his case that he is the one being bullied, obviously Mo has more wounds but the teacher is not going to believe Guan Shan and after seeing HT pushing SL down chances are that HT’s credibility is also tainted so for me She Li is taking this opportunity to have MGS and HT exactly where he wants them, he saw an opportunity and he took it to bring chaos and despair, i love this bastard

I know lots of people hate him but I’m actually pleased that he’s not an idiot, he’s a great villain and I’m sure he won’t disappoint, please have tissues ready we’re gonna need them.

[thoughts-on-bangtan]

Hi! What are yours views on the recently released billboard article about bts? I assumed that people agreed on the fact that its was extremely disappointing and disrespectful towards bts but there are many ‘army’ blogs who are still defending that article

From anon: What do you think of the new Billboard article about the boys? 😓

I’ll be honest, I had a bit of a debate with myself if I want to post something about the article or not, if I want to draw more attention to it (like there’s literally anyone left who hasn’t heard about or read it), and if I want to get mad all over again. Since you’re reading this, we all know what conclusion I arrived at.

Usually I try to at least somewhat organize my answers to not jump around or angrily rant, but wow, I don’t know if I’ll be able to get that done this time so please bear with me this once. I’d also usually add direct copy+paste quotes and/or screenshots but I truly don’t want to give this article any clicks, or give that “journalist” and his writing even more direct attention, so this answer will have to do without them, I’m sorry. I’m sure you’ve all read the article, or at least seen parts of it, so you’ll know what I’m talking about in each instance.

You know, in all of this, besides the obvious awful aspects of it all, I also feel bad for the staff (not the Billboard journalist and the editors) involved in this, like for example the photographer who went in and took gorgeous pictures of the members, did his best working with them, only for said pictures to be forever attached to this dumpster fire. And the members who spent so much time during that photoshoot to get only the best results and yet, what does it even matter in the end. As well as the fact that they took time out of their busy schedules to meet the journalist, to answer whatever questions he had, to just end up having to read all...THAT.

As some pointed out, it is though very telling that none of the HYBE/BHM/BTS twt accounts have retweeted the Billboard twts with links to the article. That already basically tells you everything you need to know, as in, that the article isn’t worth our time and our braincells needed to read it.

After so many years I think most of us have come to expect basically nothing from interviews with literally any US publication, but especially magazines like The Hollywood Reporter (remember that mess?) and Billboard, and, well, the bar was in hell and yet they still managed to deliver a result that was, I think, one of or the worst article I’ve ever read on BTS. Especially since large parts of the article weren’t even about them? For a cover story about BTS, what’s up with the lack of interview, the minimal amount of quotes from their answers, the summarization of their supposed words, and the large focus on a “controversy” basically cooked up by haters on stan twt? And the “journalist”, who has shown in older twts that he has a negative bias toward BTS and ARMY, even taking direct quotes from stan twt accounts for western artists to illustrate his point, instead of, I don’t know, legit sources? Showing numbers or anything that would show credibility and a solid foundation for said argument? But instead it’s gossip and malicious accusation based on “I don’t like that this band is successful instead of my fave so I will accuse them of cheating while I ignore all the cheating my own fave partakes in”.

More below the cut:

Of course we were, once again, served the narrative that ARMY are just a bunch of manipulated teens which, let’s like talk about that for a second because there are a lot of layers to this and the further you look, the worse it looks for people like this journalist and everyone else like him openly shading ARMY. 

Let’s suppose ARMY really somehow were millions of girls ages 12 to 18 (who somehow have access to enough money to raise funds for music and also match BTS’ $1 million donation and spend money on so many different charity projects every year) and these journalists, most of them men usually above the age of 30, go around and basically belittle and “hate” on them. Do we see the problem here? The fact that in this case grown adults openly, in publications they are paid to write for, bully teenagers and kids simply because they don’t agree with the musician said teens and kids have decided to be a fan of and support. And because they are girls instead of soccer loving boys, as counter example.

A truly weird hill to be willing to d*e on just to make some kind of (negative) point if you ask me. 

Then of course there’s the whole thing that Mr. Journalist decided to go in with a narrative in mind and seriously sit down opposite Namjoon and basically ask him “hey, listen, what do you think about your crazy TEENAGE fans buying your music (truly the audacity, how dare they) and that they are cheating and manipulating the system? Like that’s not right, right?”. Bless Namjoon and his genius brain for being able to keep his cool and shut down that man with his amazing answer shifting the blame right back onto Billboard and how, if they don’t like people playing by the rules that they themselves have created, maybe they should look at their own system and reevaluate it instead of turning against and point a finger at BTS who, as Namjoon said himself, are simply an easy target because they are foreigners, because they sing in a language that isn’t English, and because they are Asian. And really, is there anything the US music industry hates more than foreigners, POC at that, being successful, or even more successful, than their industry supported artists? Don’t think so.

Also can we talk about how strange the argument of “bulk/mass buying” is when ARMY never goes over the limits Billboard themselves have set up, being four copies of a given song. If they truly were against people “bulk/mass buying” you’d think they would lower the number to one copy per person and that’s it, right, the way iTunes does it. And yet, they did not. Because “bulk/mass buying” is okay, just not when it’s ARMY and Bangtan.

Billboard: Buying multiple copies of the same song is bad and makes no sense. You’re cheating.

Also Billboard: Here, buy EIGHT copies of the same magazine, with the exact same contents but different covers, for $170+ in this neat little bundle.

Make it make sense, will you? Or at least be less obvious with what you’re doing.

It’s a problem when it’s done in a way that doesn’t benefit them, and the greater US music industry and their shady system, but when it does benefit them, it’s totally chill, easy, no problem? It’s so obvious, dumb, and kind of makes me want to laugh but also scream and/or knock my head against my table because it’s just so bizarre yet it’s treated like this all makes sense and is completely normal. And the sad thing is, it is normal. We, or BTS as umbrella term, are a problem because we get things done, we get achievements and #1s and numbers without giving in to payola, paid playlisting, bundles when they were still a thing, and without everything else the US labels do to push their artists into basically false fame. 

And that, ladies and gentlemen and nonbinary friends, is where the issue lies.

While talking about all of this among ourselves (as in ARMY at large) across sns, as well as taking into account some pondering by journalists questioning the intentions of the article, a thought arose and, now that I think about it, it sounds just too obvious and yet here we are. Voting season for the Grammys is coming up sometime soon-ish, and Billboard is one of the major publications that the voting members look at and read when considering who to give their vote to. Now imagine you’re a voting member who until this point had a positive, or at least neutral, opinion on BTS but on Monday you sit down and read this article? Would you still want to vote for an artist being accused of “chart manipulation” and supposedly claiming they didn’t actually want to do music in English but were forced into it despite originally saying something else?

No, right?

And that’s the point. 

This is nothing but a glorified smear campaign against Bangtan across lots, and I mean lots, of publications who picked up the narrative that this article presented and ran with it. The US music industry sees their success and feels threatened because they are showing that when you have true, organic success and a loyal fan following you don’t need any of the paid for tricks to achieve things, you don’t need payola, don’t need paid for playlisting on streaming websites, and don’t need US industry backing. You can do it all on your own, therefore these exploitative systems and institutions don’t make any money off of you which is obviously unacceptable. Even more so when you could actually win, or at least again be nominated, for what is regarded as the supposedly most prestigious music award, aka the Grammys. So, since they know they can’t get rid of ARMY, can’t discourage us from supporting BTS, they go for their image and reputation instead. And that’s what this article tried to achieve. Show that, wow, in the end all the “dark side of K-Pop” stories were true all along because even poor, poor BTS are puppets of their evil agency after all, are forced into things, and are used to manipulate their gullible teenage fans into throwing money at them and manipulating the charts.

How come we’re the only ones who see just how f*cked up all of this is? And the few journalists who are on our side?

Lastly, can we talk about just how weird the use of and the quotes themselves from the members were? Most felt not only out of place, out of context, but also so weirdly out of character some ARMY have started to question how much of their “quoted words” are actually theirs and how much might be, essentially, fabricated/twisted to fit the desired narrative the journalist had from the get go. I know a certain crowd, you know which one I mean, jumped onto what was said about the english songs but also especially the final quote from Seokjin at the end of the article that essentially boiled down to “we were so annoyed and overworked we said screw everything, especially our agency, and now we only trust each other” or something to that effect. Am I the only one who thinks that quote sounded nothing like something Seokjin would say? Yes, he’s said cheeky things in the past, he’s also said bold things, like his entire speech against sajaegi back in 2019, but each time he was polite and stuck to his manners while doing so, yet this? I don’t know, something about it just feels very off. Or JKs quote about how he sacrificed more than just his youth to be who he is now. While we know that is true, after all he became a trainee at a very young age and spent the better part of his teenage years as idol on stage, but has he ever spoken about that negatively? In such a manner?

Someone suggested that interviewers should publish transcripts of the original Korean answers and questions that BTS were asked in order to offer some transparency and also for us to know that what they are quoted saying are actually things they did say. I know that’s very unlikely to ever happen, just wishful thinking on my/our part, especially when a hit piece article is attached to it, but in moments like this, it really would be very helpful. For us, but also to add credibility to such articles and the context in which said quotes are used.

Now, for the ‘ARMYs’ who defended this article, to be honest, I’d very much question how much of an ARMY someone is when they can go and read this article and agree with it. How? I get that for some the things in this article played right into their manti agenda, but mantis aren’t ARMY. And the crowd who decided to, instead of blaming the journalist for the narrative he tried to push with all its negative implications, blamed HYBE/BHM instead? Are you serious? That isn’t how journalism works, or at least it shouldn’t be. HYBE/BHM can’t just go in and say “we don’t like this article, change it”, that’s not how freedom of press works, and also, do you realize how weird it is that you are blaming an Asian agency for a hit piece published by a western publication?

What was interesting though was that, as example, the online merch store Cokodive made a statement on their IG page in which they said the following:

So even they, who could’ve directly benefited from selling the magazine, decided that it wouldn’t be right because that article is a travesty. It’s a small thing in the grand scheme of things, yet it shows that it isn’t just ARMY who are being “sensitive little snowflakes who can’t take criticism” but also others outside the fandom who also see the disrespect within the article and its blatant negativity and lack objectivity.

Personally I saved the pictures but I refuse to give views directly to Billboard when it comes to the “Things you didn’t know about BTS” video as well as the behind the scenes clips of the members regardless of how beautiful they are. And I refuse to give their website and this article any more clicks than I already gave them while reading the article in the first place.

You can be critical of an artists success, you can wonder how they, specifically, managed to become as successful as they did, but what you can’t do is completely ignore shady practices of other artists while attacking those who don’t partake in any of them simply because they manage to fill stadiums and get #1s without those practices. At the end of the day, just like Forbes once said that BTS don’t need the Grammys but the Grammys need BTS, in the same way BTS don’t need Billboard and their shady articles and twts, but Billboard needs BTS for clicks and views and therefore revenue. 

As longtime ARMY it also saddens me having watched Bangtan become more and more disillusioned with the US market, as well as ARMY going through the same thing. Then again, like Namjoon said in the article, it isn’t their goal to become mainstream in the US, all they want is to have a big tour and that’s it. Nothing more.

As twt says: this article should’ve just stayed in the drafts.

[celticcrossanon]

Hi again l. Writing to you just makes me feel better so here I am again lol. As much as I try to stay away these two demons just seep their negativity into me. I read on lsa that apparently harrys goes harder tomorrow. I'm just tired. I was looking forward to coming home from work and watching the friends reunion. Now this worry in my stomach is not going away and I can't enjoy it. I hope I can concentrate at work tomorrow.

It's the lack of accountability and comeuppance. I know you said it'll be a rough ride but I wish it wasn't. I wish everything was made magically OK. I want Oprah and these other celebs to be humbled/humiliated. Ideally I'd love them to apologise. I want all of Harry and meghans lies to be torn apart. In my head I envision a weinstein like expose. How about exposing harrys infidelities too. I find it so hard to be gracious and go high when they go low. I really want will and Kate to fight back but I know they won't. I wish I had their strength. I want them to win the small petty battles as well as the larger war.

********************************************

Hello feelerthinkerdreamer :)

It sounds to me like you are at the end of your endurance for the Harkles. Please take a break. Don't read anything about them and don't listen to anything about them. Just cut them out of your life for, say, three days. It will be worth the effort.

HM the Queen is very well protected, so please don't worry about the Harkle revelations. They are going to be more of the same, all about how Harry was victimised by the evil BRF and how Saint Meghan saved him. It is all lies, and we know it is lies, so do whatever you need to do to let it go. Take comfort in the fact that this increase in screaming their story to the world means that behind the scenes the Harkles are being told NO, and they really don't like that.

It would be wonderful if everything would be magically OK, but unfortunately the world does not work like that.

Oprah may be humbled behind the scenes at some stage, but I doubt she would let it affect her public persona. As for the other celebrities - who is left? I don't see any big names coming out in support of Harry and Meghan, and if they do it just shows how deluded they are, so their words are worth nothing at all.

I don't know about a Weinstein-type expose, but I do know that at least two events will happen that will shatter Meghan's credibility in the public eye. One is related to the bullying accusations, and another one is related to her 'pregnancies'/children (and maybe how she treated the BRF as well). These will happen, and I expect at least one of them to happen in the next two months.

It is worth it to lose the petty battles to win the war in the end, and the BRF are definitely winning. They are going from strength to strength, just living their lives as per usual, while the Harkles fret and fume and yell on TV about how they are the ultimate victims.

If this is affecting you so much that you are unable to enjoy other things in your life (like the Friends reunion), then please just let it go. Have a shower and imagine everything about Harry and Meghan just sliding off you like dirt. It is not your battle to fight. The battle belongs to the BRF and they are doing marvellously. You can send them supportive energy if you want, but please try to detach emotionally. It just isn't good for you otherwise.

The Harkles will get their comeuppance. Some of their lies have already been exposed, and their credibility has gone down. This will continue to happen. Don't let the PR fool you. They have some interest at the moment because they are a novelty, but that interest is rapidly fading, and after that goes they have nothing to offer. By this time next year I can guarantee that things will look different, just like things are different to what they were a year ago. Just let go and let the universe do its work. Harry and Meghan are far less important than they would have you believe, and time will show this to everyone.

[ragnarssons]

people are fcking wild lmao. calling me a fake activist for not supporting aquaman 2 because of amber turd, saying “you don’t support the pocs working on it”. have you actually watched my blog? do you know my life? i’ve been out there on social medias, supporting ray fisher the whole way through, on instagram, on twitter. i’ve been out there, supporting EVERY. SINGLE. ONE of jason momoa’s projects whether small or big: heck, i’ve paid for stupid apple tv just to watch “see” and i’m among the only 30 people on this website knowing about this show! i’m even gonna pay netflix again just to watch “sweet girl” in august, i watched frontier back when it came out, i watched red road, road to paloma (jason’s movies) and all- HECK I BOUGHT HIS SHOES because i 100% support everything he does for environment and to stop single use plastic. don’t go around and pretend wb doesn’t KNOW what they’re doing by keeping amber heard on aquaman 2: there literally IS a petition to have her fired, with TWO MILLIONS SIGNATURES on it. watch the youtube comment section on every video with her, every aquaman-video related on youtube: THE ONLY THING PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT about this movie (and these movies) is her and how they won’t support another movie with her, and people have voiced it pretty openly. tons of aquaman fans 100% support jason momoa and love him as aquaman, they loved patrick wilson, they loved yahya, and NONE of us want the movie not to exist: WE JUST WANT AMBER HEARD OUT OF IT. that’s the thing: you want to be an activist for the pocs of this movie? well get her out of it, because they will LOSE by having her on it, and neither wb nor amber heard herself will suffer because of it, it’ll be the pocs i’m supposedly not supporting who will suffer the most. for everything they’ve heard from the public, wb KNOWS amber heard is the problem and the only thing people are opposing regarding aquaman 2. nothing else. fans loved james wan’s version, prefered it to what even zack snyder’s showed for atlantis in justice league. fans loved jason’s version of aquaman, he’s got nothing but praise for it. fans all want to see more of black mantha and mostly regretted him not being properly exploited as a villain on the first movie (since y’know, i’m part of the fandom, i actually know that). so no, me, not supporting a studio that has chosen to stand their ground and to stand up for a racist/abusive/homophobic b*tch (and yes, she is homophobic, don’t come at me saying she can’t be because she’s bisexual, there are proofs) who can’t even come at some locations to work (ie: australia), at the expanse of ACTUAL POCS (who will lose a lot of money, maybe credibility for working with her) is not me being a fake activist. yes, amber heard is NOTHING in this movie(s), that’s why it could be so easy to replace her. she’s just there, playing pretty while the actual pocs of this movie carry the movie (jason, yahya, james; all doing an amazing job that already HAS been tarnished by amber heard- as seen again, through social medias and and such). and again, that’s not adressing how she LITERALLY bullied jason momoa through the whole press tour, mocked him and his character and oftentimes said mera was the main character and “the hero”????? (again, everything is out there, on this thing called the internet, do your own research): some examples, her playing the victim because jason “tore her book’s last page” and how her and her fans literally called him an abuser and toxic for doing so, trying to have him cancelled. how she and her mob LITERALLY cyberbullied zoe kravitz (aka jason’s step-daughter, and also a poc) for talking positively about johnny depp. not even gonna talk how she openly mocks johnny depp (let’s still talk about him, no matter what, you are still ignoring THE AUDIO TAPES where she admits to being an abuser- and the other audio tape where we actually hear people - witnesses to the scene - say she cut his fcking finger!) on social media and bullies him (or anyone who stands up against her; even australia’s prime minister, while SHE is the one who comitted a crime in this country!), how, again, we have PROOF that she’s a racist: faked her activism for black lives matter, refers to latinos as “maids”, uses the n-word. PROOF that she’s homophobic: mocking johnny depp for running to his bodyguard, saying he should shag him and such. PROOF and TESTIMONIES that she’s literally The Worst to work with. PROOF and TESTIMONIES that she ABUSED her assistant and stole her r*pe story for clout. PROOF that she used sick kids for clout and didn’t donate ANY money to charities, even tho she kept screaming at the top of her lungs that she did, only to gain popularity and play the selfless victim even more. remember how she became the spokeperson for dv victims, even tho she was charged back in 2009 for abusing her girlfriend? (and again, we have audio tapes where she argues the difference between punching and hitting her husband, while drugging him with xanax but ok) please, tell me again how much of a “fake activist” i am for not wanting to support that woman and the studio that keeps a blind eye to everything she’s done, to her loved ones (yknow, the actual footage that shows that whitney, aka amber’s sister had been beaten by amber), to the public eye, and to her colleagues on the set of aquaman itself?

[discoveringmiraculouswriters]

@galahadwilder​ (AO3)

Galahad is a large poster on Tumblr (I’m actually surprised when I refresh my dash and the first post isn’t from him). On about 111 works total, he has 95 works for Miraculous Ladybug only! The others are mainly from the DCU. Many of them all are WIPs, but hey! Who doesn’t have WIPs?

Here’s my Top 10 (because I have to stop, eventually...)

Wisdom Teeth:  Words:7605 - Chapters:7/7 Summary: Adrien FaceTimes Marinette while high on painkillers after wisdom tooth surgery, and lets something slip that he really shouldn’t have.

What I liked: Marinette driving Adrien insane :)

Personal Space :  Words:6342 - Chapters:3/? - Updated:2020-10-25 Summary: Adrien Agreste was never taught to say no. Never allowed to have boundaries. So when someone finally pushes too far, Ladybug is left with a partner in pain, a crush in need of the kindness he’s never received...And a former idol she needs to murder.

What I liked: Marinette going into bodyguard mode, Adrien’s friends opened minds, DJWifi banter over the phone. Can’t wait for next chapter!

Inconceivable : Words:2537 - Chapters:3/? - Updated:2019-07-19 Summary: There are two things of which Gabriel Agreste is absolutely certain. The first is that there is no such thing as a soulmate. Everything he knows about both science and magic claims it impossible. The second thing is that his son somehow, infuriatingly, has a soulmate anyway.

What I liked: Gabriel POV, Gabriel actually having good intentions towards his son, Sabine plotting with him, credible explanations for canon

Notes to Self: Words:22911 - Chapters:16/? - Updated:2019-10-23 Summary: Adrien finds out midway through Oblivio that his assumption was wrong, and that Marinette is NOT his girlfriend. So he decides to do leave a message calling himself out for failing to properly appreciate the most incredible person he’s ever met. Now, having been confronted with his mistakes, Adrien has realized that he has a lot to make up for—and a girl who needs to know exactly how much she means to him.

What I liked: I think I’ve read this fic 3 times now, and can’t be bored of it. Adrien figuring out he was in love with Marinette from day 1, Oblivio-Adrien calling himself out, Tom and Sabine’s open mind about their super-heroing. Bonus: Kagami wanting a polygamic relationship and Adrien admitting looking at Luka’s butt 😂

Officiated: Words:7562 - Chapters:9/? - Updated:2020-04-28 Summary: The aftermath of an Akuma attack leaves Ladybug and Chat Noir legally married.

What I liked: mostly the originality of the akuma. The fic might update, but it also feels complete. You won’t be stuck on a cliffhanger.

Children of War: Words:8295 - Chapters:7/? - Updated:2019-05-03 Summary: Something dark is coming to Paris, and Master Fu has been lying to Adrien and Marinette. What happened to the previous Team Miraculous? And how did Marinette's aunt Bridgette really end up in a mental hospital?

What I liked: Gabriel’s intentions to save Paris, the integration of the Quantic Kids, the strong angst. Can’t wait for more!

Sick Days (series):  Works:2 - Complete: No Summary:  Adrien comes home after a long photoshoot to find Marinette Dupain-Cheng asleep in his bed, running a horrific fever. What is she doing there, and how did she get into his house without setting off any alarms? (And why does she keep mumbling his name?) / Marinette’s cold is passing, but the embarrassment is not—they may be dating, and they may be partners, but she still can’t keep it together around Adrien the way she can around his alter ego. Which is a problem, because he’s caught her cold—and the absolute lack of filter that came with it.

What I liked: the delirium shenanigans (read Out Sick by @sweetsweetsweetie​ if you like that too), the Dupain-Chengs actual A+ parenting. Please, Galahad, don’t abandon this fic!!

Wingman: Words:11211 - Chapters:10/12 - Updated:2019-08-06 Summary: Hawkmoth's Akuma have been acting strange lately--every single one has been an obsessive LadyNoir shipper, much to Chat's horrific embarrassment. Ladybug hasn't noticed, but Chat can't quite get over the fact that Hawkmoth seems to have redirected his supervillain antics to setting him up with the girl of his dreams.

What I liked: The humoristic scenes (Nath scolding Gabe was my favorite), Gabriel trying to parent properly, Nathalie caring for both Agrestes. “I swear this fic was supposed to be a comedy”

The shirt: Words:16503 - Chapters:20/? - Updated:2019-10-22 Summary: On a cold night in January, Chat Noir lends Ladybug his jacket--only to find Marinette wearing it to class the next day. And that's just the beginning of the trouble.

What I liked: the fluff over the fluff, Chloé working on her redemption, the post-reveal banter,  "Tell... my father... he's a diiiiiiick..."

We Break Things Down Just to Build Them Back Up Again: Words:7916 - Chapters:5/? - Updated:2019-11-05 Summary: Adrien promised he'd have Marinette's back, but no matter how badly she needs him, he won't take any kind of action to protect her—or, for that matter, himself. When Marinette discovers WHY he finds it so impossible to stand up to bullies, she resolves to put aside her crush to help him escape his abusive household. But the less she thinks about Adrien, the more she thinks about a different blond boy in her life—and the more time she spends taking care of Adrien, the more he starts to see her as more than just a friend...

What I liked: Marinette’s mom friend override, Adrien’s hurt to comfort (even though Chat’s part is yet to come), Tom telling Adrien he’s proud of him, and Adrien’s reaction to that just made me cry. I’m craving for moooooooooore!!!

Honorable mentions:

Moving Forward (series):  Works:2 - Complete: No (I already wrote a rec. about this one. Read it here)

I’m Your Heating Pad (And Other Uses for a Cat Boyfriend):  Words:3045 - Chapters:1/1

Memories:  Words:1110 - Chapters:1/1

Waking Nightmare:  Words:1667 - Chapters:1/1

The One I Depend On:  Words:1420 - Chapters:1/1

Next to me :  Words:3033 - Chapters:1/1

I know what you did in the cat-acombs : Words:4869 - Chapters:1/1

Stress Relief: Words:3407 - Chapters:4/?

It’s Just a Nickname:  Words:4552 - Chapters:7/7

The Future Lands Soft:  Words:6043 - Chapters:8/?

Overworked and Overwhelmed: Words:4628 - Chapters:1/1

All's Fair in Love and War (And Turnabout's Fair Play):  Words:4835 - Chapters:3/4

Futures Trading: Words:1651 - Chapters:1/1

Kitty Missed the Message: Words:3351 - Chapters:2/2

Broken Masks: Words:3320 - Chapters:2/?

We Are Miraculous: Words:6543 - Chapters:5/?

The Agreste Letters: Words:13809 - Chapters:14/?

Before and After: Words:21192 - Chapters:14/20

I���ve been reading non-stop since my previous Fic of the month special. I have many regrets in life, but reading Galahad’s fics wasn’t one of them!

Thanks for so much work and efforts! I really love the variety, originality and consistency between the fics, even if they have different stories. I really love the hurt to comfort too, and how many mental troubles and disorders are depicted. 

Please read, share and leave kudos on his works!

-----

If you know ML writers you’d like to shout out, or are a ML writer yourself, please contact me!! @clawsout83​

[haec-est-fides]

Sorry to jump into some Heroes of Olympus stuff when I’m trying to stay in my Trials of Apollo lane, but I said to myself that if I saw another post about Octavian that mentioned the pillow pet or the stuffed animals in general, I would snap.

Let’s clarify this once and for all:

It. Was. His. Job.

That’s it.

Of all the things to analyze about him or hold against him, this is the absolute lowest priority. The thing is, it keeps getting circulated (and therefore fixated on as a foundational part of his character lore) because haha funny joke. It’s an easy thing to bully him over when you remove its context (and associated dignity), and that’s exactly what the protagonists do.

Octavian: “You’re letting these intruders into the camp? Reyna, the security risks--”

Reyna: “We’re not taking them to the camp, Octavian. We’ll eat here, in the forum.”

Octavian: “Oh, much better. You want us to relax in the shadow of their warship.”

Reyna: “These are our guests. We will welcome them, and we will talk to them. As augur, you should burn an offering to thank the gods for bringing Jason back to us safely.”

Percy: “Good idea. Go burn your bears, Octavian.”

(The Mark of Athena Ch. II)

The main characters make the stuffed animals a joke so that they can ignore and downplay all of the very serious and relevant things Octavian says. (Which is some seriously bullshit behavior btw.)

As odd as it sounds, gutting stuffed animals is literally the defining role of Octavian’s job as camp augur. He divines the will of the gods / the future via “entrails”. (Sure, that should technically be called haruspicy rather than augury, but I digress.)

Octavian himself explains it to us when he mentions that the ancients used to use real animals, but that times have changed.

“Uh, hi,” Percy said. “Are you killing small animals?”

Octavian looked at the fuzzy thing in his hand and laughed. “No, no. Once upon a time, yes. We used to read the will of the gods by examining animal guts -- chickens, goats, that sort of thing. Nowadays, we use these.”

He tossed the fuzzy thing to Percy. It was a disemboweled teddy bear.

(The Son of Neptune Ch. IV)

A) This was a practical decision by Riordan to maintain an ancient Roman tradition and parallel Camp Half-Blood’s oracle while keeping animal sacrifice out of books for young readers.

B) Nowhere do we have any evidence that it was Octavian who made the choice to change the old tradition and use stuffed animals instead. We don’t know how long augurs have been gutting stuffed animals at Camp Jupiter. Besides, pinning that change on Octavian means that he stopped animal sacrifice, which uhhh seems like a good thing?

Further, I just saw a rather well-intentioned post about Octavian (shocker) that still mentions the stuffed animals as a sign of him potentially being psychotic. This is partly why I’m convinced that the whole issue has been circulating as a joke for too long and, worse, is just badly misinformed.

See, that post argued that Octavian believed he could tell the future by gutting stuffed animals. Key word: believed.

But the canon fact is that he could. Full stop.

Here’s how we’re introduced to him and his abilities:

Clouds swirled over the largest temple, a round pavilion with a ring of white columns supporting a domed roof. “I’m guessing that’s Zeus -- uh, I mean, Jupiter’s? That’s where we’re heading?”

“Yeah.” Hazel sounded edgy. “Octavian reads auguries there -- the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus.”

...

Above them, thunder rumbled. Red lightning lit up the hill.

“Octavian’s almost done,” Hazel said. “Let’s go.”

...

The kid at the altar raised his hands. More red lightning flashed in the sky, shaking the temple. Then he put his hands down, and the rumbling stopped. The clouds turned from gray to white and broke apart.

(The Son of Neptune Ch. IV)

As Percy says, pretty impressive -- especially if it’s somehow fake. How would he even fake that?! He couldn’t.

But, and here’s where our protagonists and their unreliable narration become the problem again, that scene is prefaced by what Hazel says on the way there:

“The camp augur we’re going to meet, Octavian, he’s a legacy, descendant of Apollo. He’s got the gift of prophecy, supposedly.”

“Supposedly?”

Hazel made a sour face. “You’ll see.”

(The Son of Neptune Ch. III)

We do not, in fact, at any point see anything that would warrant her “supposedly”. Hazel simply -- understandably -- hates and mistrusts Octavian because he’s blackmailing her.

The narrators routinely undercut Octavian over everything he does, because they’re biased. It’s no surprise that that mentality / perception had bled into the fandom, but we should be able to recognize that.

While lightning doesn’t happen every time Octavian does an augury, that doesn’t take away any of his credibility. (Personally, I think it would make sense for that to happen only at the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus.) The same goes for his trying over and over again, inability to foresee certain events, and multiple interpretations of auguries. Augury is supposed to work this way.

Another point that proves Octavian could tell the future is that his abilities falter after Python takes Delphi early in Blood of Olympus, just like Rachel’s.

Mike shifted his considerable bulk. “You sound certain. Has your gift of prophecy--”

...

Once Jacob had hobbled off, Octavian’s face clouded. “Mike, I told you not to speak of my, ah, problem. But to answer your question: no, there still seems to be some interference with Apollo’s usual gift to me.” He glanced resentfully at a pile of mutilated stuffed animals heaped in the corner of the porch. “I can’t see the future. Perhaps that false Oracle at Camp Half-Blood is working some sort of witchcraft.”

(The Blood of Olympus Ch. VI)

Octavian’s comment about Rachel implies that his abilities have only been faulty since the legion neared Camp Half-Blood. Ironically, Percy later blames Octavian for Delphi (and therefore Rachel’s abilities) no longer working. Their powers go out simultaneously because they come from the same source.

We also know that Octavian was blessed by Apollo.

“Apollo spoke to me clearly last year at Camp Jupiter! He personally blessed my endeavors.”

(The Blood of Olympus Ch. VI)

Even if that blessing had nothing to do with his prophetic ability, as it seems as if Octavian has been augur for more than a year, it’s significant in that it shows that Apollo recognized and respected Octavian as one of his descendants (before everything went wrong). Being one of the few people to have the power of prophecy would help gaining Apollo’s respect, imo.

TL;DR: The only reason anyone doubts Octavian’s abilities is because the main characters, who canonically hate him and who have made a game of bullying and ignoring him because they don’t like what he has to say, constantly demean and dismiss him.

I’m all for the various interpretations of Octavian that the fandom has made, don’t get me wrong, but I am so tired of the stuffed animals thing. Can we please put it to rest?

[jmoriarty-221b]

Ok so, I LOVE Tim Drake and yes I am, in fact, OBSESSED with characters who deserve better than what they’re given and thus turn towards the found family trope or the BAMF! tag while looking for fics to read about them

And I love crossovers where like, multiple Tim Drakes appear in one universe and then the Tim Drake of that universe gets them home or something

And there’s also the gremlin part of me that loves the revenge type fics, where Tim Drake decides to do better for himself during his Red Robin run due to how he was 1. basically called crazy by his older brother who didn’t believe him even though he had evidence that Bruce was alive, 2. bullied and lethally attacked by Damian, who never really got reprimanded for trying to kill Tim??? 3. lost his credibility amongst the entire (or most) of the hero community due to Dick spreading around the news that he believed that Bruce wasn’t dead

Also, the fics of Tim being transported to the Young Justice universe and actually finding a family within that world’s Batfam and being loved and appreciated *chef’s kiss*

So I love those, and it just came to me that it would actually be very cool if there was a fic where Tim kinda just ??? gives up on his world??? Like yes, he goes through his Red Robin run and yes he saves Bruce, defeats Ra’s Al Ghul but after that the Bats in his world don’t really notice him anymore, and he has basically no credibility among the hero community because even though he was right and proved he was right to the Justice League they had already spread that rumor and he’s not particularly trusted even after proving he was right and not actually crazy??? So he knows that the multiverse exists, because superhero shenanigans have happened back in the day so he’s aware that there are multiple universes, and he’s miserable in this one and no one has any real need for him and maybe he reflects on how similar his situation is to when he was little and had no one there for him and how he always wished to have someone who supported him, and he gets this idea of like, what if he leaves??? There’s nothing here for him anymore, so what if he goes to another universe where he exists and tries to help his other self??? And he does, and he lands in a universe that’s a couple of years in the past of his current universe so he finds out that this Tim Drake is still a kid but he does know about the Bats’ identities but his focus lines up more with the villains??? Like, yeah he likes the Bats but the villains are much more interesting to watch so OG Tim is just like “hey, I remember this being a passing thought I had one day, why not help Tiny Tim?” So Big Tim decides “fuck it” and meets Tiny Tim and they make like an agreement of sorts because OG Tim wants his other self to never go through the pain he went through and Tiny Tim is very excited to have someone else with him to help him out and actually Listen to him and wow I always wanted a sibling “you’re my older brother now so I’m your problem” and it just escalates from there??? Not in a bad and dark way but more like, OG Tim is ready to be like “Fuck Batman” and Tiny Tim is just like “Villains are so dumb, I could do better” and they begin to actually descend into a benevolent villainy and outsmart the Bats at every turn while remaining anonymous and it drives the Bats nuts because there is a new player in Gotham and they have failed to stop them meanwhile OG Tim is kinda living his dream of becoming a supervillain a la Catwoman (like yes, he will put Black Mask in jail but that’s just so He can take over thank you very much) and Tiny Tim is living his best life because he is not Bored anymore and outsmarting the Bats is actually a very fun pastime to have while taking over the world on the side so

Just, fluffy older sibling Tim Drake taking care of a younger version of himself in a universe that actually doesn’t suck ass and becoming a funky supervillain because they could definitely do it better and if his new mini me was planning to head down that road anyway then he needs to make sure he has supervision

Like, yeah they’re villains but more on a chaotic neutral scale and they’re not morally corrupt or anything, they just think that they could definitely do better than some of the villains out there so they might as well try their hand at taking over the world efficiently

Just, I’m not a writer but I have these ideas just randomly coming together every once in a while when my brain cell hits the corner of my brain just right like a windows screensaver and I just want to put them out there just in case someone who can actually write gets inspiration from these ideas

I’m not asking for a fic but if someone does want to write a fic based on this then they are completely welcomed to do so and please know that I would love to read it

So that’s that on my late night thoughts

[mcheang]

In another’s eyes

Inspired by https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13849241/1/Signed-Gifts

Basically Adrien finds Marinette’s signature on his blue scarf and connects the dots.

Adrien is hurt that Marinette let him believe his father gave him the scarf. He understands why but it hurts worse after all this time thinking his father finally gave him something new. It’s having new hopes crushed

He visits Marinette and gently confronts her over it, chiding her to tell him the truth next time instead of letting him believe a lie.

Frantic, Marinette wildly points out that he lets their classmates believe in Lila’s wild promises. How is she any different from him?

Pause.

Adrien never really thought about it that way. He just wanted his classmates to be happy. But if he told them the truth, they would be sad and Lila would also be angry at him and probably akumatized.

If he kept the truth from them, then wasn’t he being a hypocrite?

Marinette worried she said something she could never take back. “Adrien...”

He held up a hand, needing to think.

What was the Chinese saying again? “Do not do unto others what you don’t want others do unto you.”-Confucius

Well, Adrien wasn’t one to deny an ancient philosopher’s wisdom.

Adrien: no, you’re right, Marinette. I’m a hypocrite for scolding you for something I’ve done as well

Marinette: you haven’t-

Adrien: but i have. Please don’t sugarcoat this, Marinette. Don’t try to spare my feelings when the truth is more important.

Marinette was nervous and predictably, she rambled. “Well, if you are planning to expose Lila, you would also be in trouble because while i constantly doubted her trip to Achu, you were aware of her playing truant.”

Adrien paused and took a breath. “I know. And I’ll accept my due punishment. But what matters is making things right. We need to tell everyone that Lila is a liar.”

Marinette: but how? They don’t believe me. And who knows if they’ll believe you!”

Adrien frowned, thinking again. “Don’t you have Jagged’s number?”

Marinette: Yup. I barely got him to cease suing Alya’s Ladyblog for Lila’s interview. He doesn’t really follow her anymore.

Adrien: do you think he’ll help us expose Lila?

Marinette: we can ask. But I think it’s a safe bet. The only reason he didn’t go after Lila herself was because she up and vanished after turning into Volpina.

Jagged was thrilled to sic Fang on Lila

Marinette: we said expose! Not kill

Jagged: I never feed Fang rotten food. He’ll just sit on her or chase her up a tree

Adrien: thank you. I’m just worried Lila will be akumatized again, though. The last time, Ladybug chewed her out for claiming to be BFFs; though after hearing Lila pronounce herself a better self-proclaimed heroine, it’s not that hard to see why Ladybug was angry (Adrien may have been upset with Ladybug but I imagine he would try to justify her behavior later. seriously, who wouldn’t be angry after hearing Lila insult her like that? He’s not very sensitive to others’ emotions)

Jagged: you can’t keep everybody happy. And sometimes you shouldn’t. Some people don’t deserve to be coddled. And besides, once the witch is exposed, who is to say the others won’t be akumatized?

Adrien paled. He didn’t consider that.

Marinette: well, we could try to keep an eye out for akumas. And maybe even get the heroes to stand guard?

Adrien: good idea. But how to contact them?

Marinette: leave it to me. I’ve seen the heroes jump on rooftops plenty from my balcony.

Jagged: just say the word and set the date, and your uncle Jagged will be there faster than you can say ���Croc”

Marinette soon called Adrien and Jagged to tell them that Ladybug would be happy to stand by and even offer her own testimony that she is so not friends with Lila.

However, after hearing how Lila framed Marinette, Ladybug wanted Marinette absent in case Lila blamed her for Jagged exposing her.

Jagged: well, she’s not totally wrong.

Marinette: uncle Jagged!

Jagged: what, you did call me for this.

On the day of Lila’s downfall, school had just ended and students started heading home. Marinette was one of the first, having to work at the bakery. Chloé and Sabrina also left, not bothering to stay around and chat with the peasants.

To the lingering students’ surprise, a popular and familiar rock song began blasting into the air as a tour bus drove up to the school.

Jagged: hello Dupont College! Are you ready to rock!

Students crowded up and screamed.

Lila paled and could not escape the gravity of the crowd.

Jagged: now where’s my guitar? Fang, if you don’t mind?

Fang waddled up, guitar on his back.

Jagged: now Fang’s been with me since he hatched from an egg. And he’s the best pet a rocker could ask for.

Alya: what about your cat?

Jagged: cat? Since when did I own a cat?

Alya: but Lila said-

Jagged: who? Sorry miss, but I think you must have confused me with someone else.

A pause for the class as Jagged started playing a guitar riff.

While the crowd cheered, the class stared at Lila.

Lila: he doesn’t like his kitten to be brought up

Ivan: he doesn’t even know you

Lila: he does! Right, Adrien?

Lila glared at him meaningfully. But Adrien ignored her and just sang along. He promised to maintain a guise of friendship, but no more lies. Though if Lila was exposed, maybe their deal could be considered pointless now. Still...better not to antagonise her so openly.

Nino: you’re asking the wrong person. The only other people in class who can get close to Jagged are Chloé (same hotel) and...Marinette. That’s how she knew you were a liar!

Jagged: hey, what’s going on over there?

The student body turned to stare, annoyed at the interruption.

Aware of unwanted scrutiny, Alya quickly said, “oh, we were just having a priority one class meeting. Sorry! We’ll keep it down.”

The class dragged Lila off, and Ladybug secretly followed. Adrien reluctantly did so too.

Surrounded, Lila could not run away, so she burst into fake tears.

Lila: why are you being so mean?

Mylène: do you think her tears are real?

Kim snorted. “Doubtful. But I don’t think she’s worth bothering about anymore.”

Alya: what? She lied!

Kim: and we believed a con artist. But unless we lost a lot of money or whatever, what’s the point of doing this?

True. While Lila had promised favors, that didn’t mean the class had stop working hard on their own. And Alya’s credibility was also her fault for not checking her sources and getting more proof.

Alya huffed. “Fine! But she just gets away scot free?”

Max: unlikely. There is the matter of forging doctor’s letter and skipping school.

Lila: you can’t prove that!

Alya: I can just call your mother right now.

Lila: and tell her that you’re bullying me?

Alya: no, we are just going to ask her some questions. And if she was duped by you, too, I don’t think she can deny the truth if we walk up to her office and make a scene.

Adrien: is that really necessary?

Alya: Mrs Rossi must really believe her daughter. She may think us all bullies if we expose Lila but the presence of her colleagues will influence her. Besides, our questions are simple. Was Lila really sick? Was she at Achu?

The class dragged Lila to the embassy and made such a ruckus that Mrs Rossi came out, especially when she saw her daughter in the center of it all, yelling at them to be quiet.

Mrs Rossi was angry but answered their questions that Lila had never been sick or to Achu while Alya filmed her. But there was the akuma plague. At this, the class told her the truth and even her observing colleagues backed them up.

Lila was distraught. Where was the freaking akuma?

Ladybug was lounging on the roof, her yo-yo stuffed with butterflies. As long as she didn’t use her lucky charm, she was in no danger of detransforming.

When Adrien didn’t back Lila, she told everyone he knew she was a liar.

Adrien admits his faults and realized his lesson now. The class knew why Marinette kept the scarf secret so they could sort of understand why he wanted to keep everybody happy. He also was the one who got Marinette back into school, so they forgave him.

Lila was expelled once Damocles saw the footage and Mrs Rossi confirmed it.

Lila was sent to boarding school instead where everyone knew she was a compulsive liar. Nobody took her seriously there.

As for Adrien, he was always determined to hear the blunt truth, tired of being sheltered.