#here's hoping their page works by launch day at least

[marlynnofmany]

Lookie what I got! The rarest of collector's editions, with only one in existence! (There's an @ symbol in place of a © on the title page.)

(There's only one because I fixed it after I ordered my proof copy.)

Someday this will be very valuable, for sure!

[deoidesign]

Thinks about my next series again... I drew the icon for it!

I'm planning to have it launched within a year! I'm hoping for summer 2025. I want to make a prelaunch page before Time and Time Again ends so people can subscribe if they're interested, but I'm worried the series return would be too early...

[emberwhite]

I spent the last 11 months working with my illustrator, Marta, to make the children's book of my dreams. We were able to get every detail just the way I wanted, and I'm very happy with the final result. She is the best person I have ever worked with, and I mean, just look at those colors!

I wanted to tell that story of anyone's who ever felt that they didn't belong anywhere. Whether you are a nerd, autistic, queer, trans, a furry, or some combination of the above, it makes for a sad and difficult life. This isn't just my story. This is our story.

I also want to say the month following the book's launch has been very stressful. I have never done this kind of book before, and I didn't know how to get the word out about it. I do have a small publishing business and a full-time job, so I figured let's put my some money into advertising this time. Indie writers will tell you great success stories they've had using Facebook ads, so I started a page and boosting my posts.

Within a first few days, I got a lot of likes and shares and even a few people who requested the book and left great reviews for me. There were also people memeing on how the boy turns into a delicious venison steak at the end of the book. It was all in good fun, though. It honestly made made laugh. Things were great, so I made more posts and increased spending.

But somehow, someway these new posts ended up on the wrong side of the platform. Soon, we saw claims of how the book was perpetuating mental illness, of how this book goes against all of basic biology and logic, and how the lgbtq agenda was corrupting our kids.

This brought out even more people to support the book, so I just let them at it and enjoyed my time reading comments after work. A few days later, then conversation moved from politics to encouraging bullying, accusing others of abusing children, and a competition to who could post the most cruel image. They were just comments, however, and after all, people were still supporting the book.

But then the trolls started organizing. Over night, I got hit with 3 one-star reviews on Amazon. My heart stopped. If your book ever falls below a certain rating, it can be removed, and blocked, and you can receive a strike on your publishing account. All that hard work was about to be deleted, and it was all my fault for posting it in the wrong place.

I panicked, pulled all my posts, and went into hiding, hoping things would die down. I reported the reviews and so did many others, but here's the thing you might have noticed across platforms like Google and Amazon. There are community guidelines that I referenced in my email, but unless people are doing something highly illegal, things are rarely ever taken down on these massive platforms. So those reviews are still there to this day. Once again, it's my fault, and I should have seen it coming.

Luckily, the harassment stopped, and the book is doing better now, at least in the US. The overall rating is still rickety in Europe, Canada, and Australia, so any reviews there help me out quite a lot. I'm currently looking for a new home to post about the book and talk about everything that went into it. I also love to talk about all things books if you ever want to chat. Maybe I'll post a selfie one day, too. Otherwise, the book is still on Amazon, and the full story and illustrations are on YouTube as well if you want to read it for free.

[scottiexmariee]

Pants

Pairing: Rafayel x Reader

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: Suggestive content

Masterlist

Prompt: “Explain why a character is not wearing pants in a situation where they definitely should be,”

“Nope. Nuh-uh. You are not depantsing me in the middle of the hallway,”

Note: I discovered this prompt while searching for inspiration and immediately thought of a Rafayel scenario. I laughed so hard writing this. I hope you guys enjoy!

The last few days had been…interesting, to put it mildly. 

Rafayel was, yet again, MIA in a likely attempt to dodge the launch party for his new exhibit. This wasn't a new thing. You were more likely to see a ghost than to see Rafayel at his own gatherings. It would take more than begging and pleading to get him to make even a brief appearance, and if he did show he would definitely just be complaining the whole time. 

Thomas, who was beyond done with Rafayel’s antics, had cornered you after work recently and all but got on his knees and begged you to intervene. 

“You’re the only one he’ll listen to,” He pleaded, his voice thick with exasperation and distress. “He has to at least make an appearance at this one. The President of a huge art museum overseas is flying over for this. This one is important, (y/n). Please talk to him!” 

Truthfully, you’d rather pull your own teeth out, one at a time, than try to convince Rafayel to do something he didn’t want to do. He was way too dramatic, and he had a nasty habit of being a bratty little fish boy when he was cornered. However, seeing Thomas so desperate stirred enough guilt in your stomach to have you reluctantly agreeing to try, despite the gut feeling that it wouldn’t go well. 

And it didn’t. 

You’d gone to his studio, only to find the door locked. When you retrieved your key ring, you were surprised—and infuriated—to find out that your personal studio key was missing. 

That little urchin stole your key back so you wouldn’t come find him. 

With a very long sigh, you trudged around to the first window you could find. If he thought simply locking the door would deter you, he severely underestimated you. 

Of course, the window was unlocked. He obviously hadn’t thought that far ahead. You climbed in, trying to swallow the burning irritation in your throat as you scanned the studio. At first glance, it appeared to be vacant. 

Your footsteps echoed off the high ceilings as you entered the room further. There was the usual disarray—paintbrushes scattered around, splashes of paint here and there, canvases strewn about—but no sign of Rafayel. 

A pink sheet of paper taped to his bedroom door caught your eye as you continued to sweep the area for him. You approached, only to find the most infuriating note you’d ever seen taped there. 

In Rafayel’s handwriting, three simple words were written boldly on the page, followed by several exclamation points: “NO (Y/N)S ALLOWED!!!!!!”

“You have got to be kidding me,” You grumbled, ignoring the childish note and pushing the door open. “RAFAYEL!! Stop hiding!!” 

Silence. 

You shut your eyes and took a steadying breath, trying to cool your rapidly accelerating frustration. 

If this man was flawless in anything, it would definitely be ‘getting on (y/n)’s nerves.’ 

“You’re going to give Thomas stress wrinkles!” You called, taking another slow step into the bedroom. You strained, trying to listen harder for any faint trace of sound, but there was still nothing. 

This was getting old. Fast. 

Just as you were about to leave to search a different area of the studio, the closet door caught your eye. It was typically left open, but it just so happened to be shut. 

Got you, you little shit. 

You crept up to the door, careful not to accidentally step on or kick anything in your path, simultaneously listening for any stirring or shuffling from the closet. The moment your fingers wrapped around the handle, you yanked the door open, eyes immediately landing on a startled Rafayel. 

“Seriously!?” 

He blinked up at you from his spot on the closet floor, his shock quickly morphing into brattiness. 

“There was a sign,” He said, his tone dripping with sass and irritation as he gestured toward the note he’d left on the bedroom door. 

“What are you, four?” You retorted, wrapping a hand around his arm and attempting to pull him up. “Handwritten notes aren’t laws,” 

He allowed himself to be pulled to his feet, but let out an indignant huff. “They can be,” He argued, pulling his arm away from you and crossing them in front of his chest. “I could call the police, you know. First, you’re trespassing,  and now you’re harassing me,” 

You pinched the bridge of your nose in irritation. 

“Rafayel,” You ground out, forcing yourself to stay calm, “What will it take to get you to go to the launch party?” 

He studied you for a split second before turning his head away. “Nothing, because I’m not going. Nuh-uh. Nope.” 

Your palm met your forehead with an audible slap. 

You were about to strangle him. 

“If you think I won’t drag you there unconscious, you’re wrong,” You warned, placing your hands on your hips. “You’re stressing Thomas out, and now you’re stressing me out. This one is really important, Rafayel. I will owe you one favor, no denials, if you go.” 

He turned his head just enough to cast a lethal side-eye in your general direction. This idiot was pouting. 

You mimicked his posture, folding your arms over your chest and raising an eyebrow at him. “Well?” 

He turned to fully face you. “Two favors,” He said, extending a hand for you to shake on the deal. 

You bit back a sigh and grabbed his hand, sealing the deal. While it did put you in debt, you had succeeded in getting him to go. Thomas, for once, would get to rest easy tonight. 

Rafayel, with a satisfied smirk, released your hand. 

“Favor number one, Miss Bodyguard, you’re coming with me,” 

As it turned out, the two of you would have been better off if neither of you had attended. 

It started off smoothly. Thomas had been tremendously grateful, nearly collapsing with relief when you showed up with Rafayel in tow. Rafayel mingled for roughly a half hour, and then essentially glued himself to your side when he decided he was done socializing. He’d nod his head in acknowledgment when someone spoke to him, but complain under his breath the second they were out of earshot. 

“Can we leave now? I’m tired.” 

“(Y/N), run away with me. This is awful,” 

“If I wanted to interact with people this much I would have been a cashier,” 

You eventually managed to find a table with some wine on it, and you happily indulged. Rafayel followed suit, retrieving a glass from the table and catching your arm with his free hand. 

“Good idea. Let’s go take a breather,” 

He lead you away from the crowds and the stragglers, all the way to a secluded (and nearly hidden) spot in the back of the building. 

That was when things started to go a little less smoothly. 

Instead of stopping to “take a breather,” Rafayel continued walking….right for the emergency exit. 

“Absolutely not,” You grumbled, digging your heels in and refusing to move any further. Rafayel looked back at you, confusion on his features. 

“I made my appearance,” He began, gesturing toward the door. “I never said my breather was temporary, or inside this building,” 

He turned again, hand still firmly clasped around your arm. 

Without thinking, you yanked your arm back in protest, effectively pulling an unsuspecting Rafayel back toward you. 

To your absolute horror, you heard the unmistakable sloshing of liquid in a glass—the wine in his other hand—and you realized, way too late, that you’d made a mistake. 

Rafayel froze, immediately glancing down at what used to be a completely white outfit. He turned, slowly, and stared at you in disbelief. 

Your eyes nearly popped out of your head. 

You had no idea how expensive that outfit was, but Rafayel wasn’t one to buy cheap clothing. You began to sputter, staring at the ridiculously huge red stain on his pants. 

“I—oh my god. I am so sorry. I can fix this,” 

Rafayel’s brain finally started working again, and his mouth started running. 

“Fix this?! Who are you, Mr. Clean?!” 

“Oh, I’m definitely leaving now,” 

“I knew I should have skipped town,” 

You began to panic. 

You dropped to your knees in front of him, desperately rubbing your sleeve over the stain. It did absolutely nothing. 

“Just…hold on,” You pleaded. 

“For future reference, you pat dry, not rub, you menace,” Rafayel sneered. “And that isn’t working. Let’s just get out of here—“ 

“Wait! A sink!” You called, eyes landing on sign for the bathrooms down the hall. “Rafayel, take these off,”

His eyes nearly popped out of his head. 

“What?!” 

Your fingers found the button of his pants, unfastening it before he could protest. 

“Most people would consider taking me out to dinner first,” He complained, staring at you incredulously.

“Shut up,” You snapped, tugging down his waistband. Thank god he wasn’t commando. When Rafayel realized you were serious, he caught one of your wrists, his eyes wide with panic. 

“Nope. Nuh-uh. You are not depantsing me in the middle of the hallway,” His other hand fumbled with his waistband, battling to pull his pants back up against your resistance. 

“Stop it! I said I can fix this! I can get this stain out if I do it now!” You cried out, swatting his hand away and fighting for control of his pants. 

“The one time you actually want me out of my pants, and it’s because of a stain?” He placed his hand on your head, desperately trying to push you away from his legs. 

You ignored his comment and the warmth of a blush creeping into your cheeks, the hand on your head doing nothing to deter you from your mission. Just as you thought you were making progress, a voice rang out from around the corner. 

“Rafayel? (Y/N)? Are you guys back here? It’s almost time for—“ 

Thomas rounded the corner, immediately stopping dead in his tracks at the sight in front of him. His mouth hung open, caught on the sentence he didn’t get to finish. His eyes flitted between you and Rafayel, and it was only then that you realized how horrible this actually looked. 

Rafayel, completely frozen, hand on your head, his pants halfway down his thighs. 

You, staring at Thomas like a deer caught in headlights, on your knees in front of Rafayel, quite literally halfway through the process of pulling his pants down. 

“This is why we should have just left!” Rafayel hissed. 

“This….looks way worse than it is,” You explained, rising from your knees and holding your hands up in a placating gesture. 

Thomas, bless his heart, looked like he was on the verge of a mental breakdown as he experienced several different emotions. 

Shock. Confusion. Disbelief. Exasperation. 

“I spilled wine on him!” You squeaked, wildly gesturing at Rafayel’s pants as he pulled them up. Thomas seemed to untense slightly as his eyes landed on the huge wine stain. “I was trying to fix it, but he was trying to leave. I swear,” 

“Yeah, so she manhandled me and tried to rip my pants off in the hallway,” Rafayel added bitterly. You shot him a glare. 

Thomas was silent for a long moment. After what seemed like several minutes, but was likely just a few seconds, he rubbed his forehead and sighed. 

“I have an extra pair of pants in the car,” He said, turning on his heel. “Stay.”

Thanks to Thomas, the situation was quickly rectified before anyone else saw something they shouldn’t have. 

Rafayel reluctantly stayed a bit longer, although the two of you were unable to look each other in the eye for the remainder of your visit. 

When the two of you were finally granted permission to leave by Thomas, you wasted no time. 

You climbed into Rafayel’s passenger seat, eyes fixed on the dashboard ahead of you. 

He started the car wordlessly, but you could feel him sending an occasional glance your way. 

After several minutes of silent driving, he finally spoke. 

“(Y/N),” 

You turned your head to look at him. “Yeah?”

Though his expression was neutral, you could see amusement twinkling in his eyes. 

“Next time you try to rip my pants off, can you make sure we aren’t in public?”

I truly hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it <3

[somanyratsinthewalls]

The Crew's Whore Part 6 (+18)

The Crew’s Whore (Part 6) (+18)

Summary: You are the former owner of the Grand Line’s most popular brothel. Your powerful fighting abilities got the attention of the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. He had asked you to join their crew but what would you bring to the team? Your battle skills were hardly comparable to many of the other Straw Hats… but you actually had a great talent. Your years working as a high end escort had prepared you to become the private plaything for this pirate crew. You joined the Straw Hats as their personal sex toy.

Pairing: Nami x Robin x Female!Reader

WC: 2200

TW: gossip, alcohol consumption, making out, lesbian sex, wlw, threesome, fingering, face sitting, ass play, squirtin! three girls, mild voyeurism, oral sex, Sanji having an aneurysm.

— —

It was growing late in the evening aboard the ship. The table in the center of your bedroom was littered with wine bottles and empty chip bags. Robin was laying on her back on the loveseat in your room while you and Nami were laid on your bed. You were on your stomach, propped up on your elbows facing Robin on your couch while Nami had settled against the pillows at your headboard. The three of you were all reading through the huge stacks of trashy magazines you had purchased at the last island. 

This was a guilty pleasure of yours. The life of a pirate isn’t exactly one that allowed many feminine wiles. Because of that, the three of you loved to splurge on girly gossip rags whenever you arrived at civilization. 

“‘Hot or Not? Marines’ I’m voting not.” Robin skims through the pages of the magazine and comments at the articles. “Oooh here’s one. ‘Who is Your Warlord Boyfriend? Take This Fun Quiz to Find Out.’ I hope I get Mihawk. He’s probably the least offensive of the bunch.” 

“Wait check how old it is, is Jinbe still in there?” Nami closes her magazine. Robin flips through the pages and settles on one. 

“Damn, this is only from a few months ago. Could you imagine if he was???” Robin chuckled. 

“We could never let him live it down.” You laughed as you flipped through your own magazine. “I’m sure he was quite the stud back in the day.” 

“I mean… if you’re into that!” Nami couldn’t help but let out a boisterous laugh. The three of you laughed together, there were at least 2 empty bottles hanging around your room from just this evening. You grab a handful of potato chips and shove them into your mouth. You take a gulp of wine to wash them down. 

“If Sanji knew we were having convenience store cinnamon buns and spicy chips for dinner, he would have a fucking heart attack.” Nami remarked with a smirk. 

“Doesn’t that make it taste better?” Robin smiles as she takes a drink. 

You both hum in agreement and raise your glasses to the middle of the room casually. 

“How exactly did you assure that the ever present cook would leave us alone tonight?” Robin looks up from her magazine quiz to meet your gaze. 

“I jerked him off before we left for town. 10 minutes in exchange for peace all night? An easy deal to make.”  You smirked. 

“Not in the galley though, right? ‘Cuz we like? Eat there?” Nami cocked her head at you, annoyed. 

“No of course not!” You shoot back and return to your magazine. “Not today at least.” 

Suddenly a pillow was launched at your head and you felt Nami next to you kick your shins. 

“Gross!” She half scolded half laughed at you. 

“Hey don’t look at me! Blame your cook for his appetite!” You toss the pillow back jokingly at Nami. 

“Honestly he’s been much more enjoyable to be around now that he finally has an outlet for his proclivities. I have to extend my gratitude!” Robin remarks. 

“No thanks needed, it’s what I enjoy doing. If it makes being around a ship full of sweaty men more tolerable, then I’m only reaping the extra benefits.” You smile and kick up your feet behind you. 

“OK I know I said I’d never ask about it, but like… there’s no way they can all make you cum, right? Like, most of them are certifiably stupid.” Nami asks, feeling curious after a few drinks. 

“Hah!” You laugh. “Not really at first with some, no. But… men are surprisingly trainable. Even the stubborn ones are very easy to bend to exactly how you like it.” 

“Ew sorry I asked.” Nami rolls her eyes and returns to her magazine. 

You chuckle and go back to reading the article ‘Latest Beauty Craze: Moisturizer Made From Sea King Semen. Would You Try It?’ You finish your wine and settle back onto the bed. 

“You know Franky’s dick vibrates, right?” You burst out into the silence. 

“AAAAH!” “Yes.” Nami and Robin reply differently but at the same time. Robin laughs and Nami contemplates killing both of you before she wrestles you playfully onto your back. 

“You are so nasty!” Nami huffs out from above you. 

“You have actually no idea how nasty I am.” You grin up at her before taking her by surprise and flipping your positions so that she was on her back with you hovering over her. 

“You don’t say? Maybe I’d like to find out why the freak cook likes you so much…” You weren’t expecting her to match your flirtatious energy so you were shocked to say the least. Suddenly the tides were shifted again and Nami flips you back over and straddles your hips. 

“I’d love to show you..” You look up at Nami with half lidded eyes, her hands pinning your forearms above your head. 

Nami leans down and kisses you, gently at first. You softly moan at the feeling of her soft lips on yours and she uses this opportunity to kiss you harder. Nami moves from your lips to kiss and bite at your neck while she yanks your shorts off your body. You gasp sharply at the cool air hitting your now exposed sex. Without reacting, Nami quickly pulls your sports bra over your head, leaving you completely naked on the bed. She hovers over your nude form with a wicked smile on her face. 

“Your turn.” You smirk and tug firmly at Nami’s top. She sits up briefly to remove her crop top and lets her breasts bounce freely in front of you. They were absolutely stunning. Your intrusive thoughts got the best of you and you buried your face between them, relishing in how the soft, plush skin feels against your cheeks. You placed a small kiss between her tits before you slide your hand down to cup her clothed sex. 

“Let me taste it.” You seductively whisper up at her. 

“You’re so cute, I’m starting to see why the boys won’t put you down.” Nami remarks at you before getting off of you to remove her shorts and panties. Snapped out of your frenzied foreplay, you both remember that you aren’t alone in your bedroom. 

“Care to enjoy her with me, Robin? You’re more than welcome.” Nami asks while fluffing the pillow laying under your head affectionately. 

“You girls look so pretty, I think I’ll just watch for right now, if that’s alright?” Robin winks at Nami and settles back on the loveseat. Nami winks back as she moves to straddle your face. 

“Hear that, y/n? Robin said we look pretty. Don’t you agree?” Nami teases as she lowers her slick pussy down towards your waiting mouth. You felt your cunt clench as you saw Nami’s pink lips glisten with arousal leaking from around her tight hole. 

“Mhm…” You reach your arms to hook around Nami’s thighs so she couldn’t escape your hold. “So fuckin’ pretty…” 

You pull Nami down to sit fully on your face and she shrieks as you begin to kiss and suck at her clit lightly. You pay sweet, loving attention to Nami’s sensitive bud as you knead at the soft skin of her hips and tummy with your hands. Nami throws her head back and moans, her long orange hair tickling your forehead. You spend what feels like both an eternity and the blink of an eye between Nami’s legs and you had barely noticed the pulsing throb of your own cunt. 

“Oh sweet y/n, you’re doing such a good job making her feel good. I think it’s only fair you get a reward too, don’t you?” You hear Robin coo from across the room on the couch. Suddenly you feel two slim fingers stroke up and down your wet slit teasingly. You groan into Nami’s pussy at the sensation. 

Once deciding you had received enough torture, Robin’s pointer and middle finger slip easily into your wet walls. She curls them gently to just barely graze your sweet spot and pulls back. She repeats her actions until you were whining and begging underneath Nami. 

“You focus on making Nami cum, sweetheart. Once you do that, I’ll let you have yours. 

*easy enough…* you thought to yourself. 

You slide your tongue backwards from her clit through her now dripping folds. Continuing further, you use your hands to pull Nami’s ass apart and begin licking at her tight ass. 

“HOLY SHIT- Y/n! What are you?!” Nami jolts and looks back at you. 

You look back up at her and rub small circles around Nami’s asshole. 

“If you trust me, I can make you cum so hard.” You ask breathlessly, so close to your own release you could taste it. 

“I… yes…” 

You smile and continue rubbing the tight hole. You return to suckling and licking Nami’s clit and slowly slip your thumb into Nami’s virgin ass. 

“Ah!” Nami shouts. 

You pick up your pace with your mouth and you can tell the woman above you is getting close. A few moments later you feel Nami’s body jerk forward and she slams her eyes shut. 

“Oh shit, oh fuck, fuck, shit, I’m gonna-  AH!” You feel Nami’s muscles tighten all over her body, inside and out. Droplets of Nami’s release splatter all over your face and neck and the feeling makes you groan and clench around Robin’s fingers. Nami collapses to the side of you with heavy breaths. 

“Wow you did such a good job girls! Now it’s your turn to cum, y/n. Would you like that?” Robin’s soothing voice reaches your ears. Now that Nami was off of your chest, you realize Robin never had gotten up, only using her Devil Fruit powers to play with your pussy from across the room. 

“Yes, fuck! Yes I want to cum, please!” You pant out, exhausted from being on edge for so long. You look at Robin with pleading eyes. You see she has hiked up her skirt and discarded her panties, using a hand to gently rub at her cunt. This hand was also soaking wet, so she must have just finished herself. Robin uses the fingers inside of you to hammer into your g-spot repeatedly, and another hand to push down on your stomach. 

“Shit, yes! I’m so close!” You cry out and writhe against the comforter. 

“Come on, give it to us.” You hear Nami purring up at you from her head now resting on your thigh. She lifts her hand and uses it to rub your clit in tight circles. The combined sights and sensations sent you into a brain melting orgasm and you feel fluids and tension leave your body. You couldn’t form words so you just arched your back and moaned at your ceiling. 

You flopped down bonelessly on your bed and caught your breath. “We should probably shower and change before bed, right?” Robin suggests as she stands up. 

“And we should probably sleep in my room… unless we want to change the sheets.” Nami looks at you and giggles. 

“Yes to both.” You throw a towel on and give one to Nami to wear to the bathroom. The three of you casually leave your room and head down the hallway of the ship to the bathroom. Upon exiting your room, you run into a certain ever present cook coming down from the kitchen for the night carrying a pile of folded clothes. 

“Oh, hey Sanji.” You all greet him in passing. 

“Y/n I took the liberty of doing your laundry today, shall I put it in your room?” Sanji smiles brightly at you. 

“That would be great, thank you Sanji.” You give him a kiss on the cheek as you enter the bathroom with the girls. You chuckle, remembering where your lips had just been. The three of you turn on the showers and strip down. 

“You know that skin cream article was actually really interesting, I think I’m gonna buy some.” Nami makes casual conversation as you all enjoy your showers. 

Suddenly you hear a man scream followed by the sound of a body hitting the wooden floor of the ship. The three of you look at each other. 

“Oh my god. My room! Sanji probably passed out!” You clasp your hand over your mouth. 

The three of you couldn’t help but burst out laughing. 

“Let’s clean the room and leave him there. That way we can gaslight him into thinking it was a fever dream.” Nami grins. 

“You’re a genius.” 

xx

[hagofbolding]

Call for Guest Art!

I feel weird doing this, but here goes. I'm calling for Guest Art to share between chapters for my webcomic, Fairmeadow.

I need to take a break between chapters to allow myself some time to heal from an extremely annoying RSI that's popped up. I have quite a bit of buffer built for Ch05 already, but I don't want to burn through it all before I can continue making new pages. Tentatively I hope to launch Ch05 in June, and could start posting some fun filler stuff by May 17. Sorry it's a bit short notice!

Details:

The pages I post are 1550 x 2440px, so your work will look best on this site if your canvas is proportional to that - or at least vertical.

Here's a Drive folder with character references.

If you'd like to entertain the idea of your artwork being printed in a Fairmeadow book one day, I'd recommend making it at least 6.5 x 8.5 inches and 300 dpi (we can cross this bridge when we come to it one very distant day)

Because of bizarre restrictions with my ad network, I can't post mature content. (Violence and non-sexual depictions of breasts ok, but no genitals.) So keep it in your pants but apparently go HAM on the bloodshed. That's the American way!

If you've already sent me fanart and want me to share it with this batch of guest art, reach out on social media / the comments section here / email and I will do so!

I'm really up for whatever and honestly would be incredibly humbled if anyone submits anything at all. Change outfits, bend genders, make up an AU, hit me with a fan theory, do whatever!

If you want to contribute, send your art to the.hagofbolding@gmail.com along with your social media handle/personal website for credit, along with any projects you'd like me to mention.

Thanks!

[soracities]

How do you keep track of all these places? Is it the Pocket function or something else? Even if I bookmark my frequently used sites I end up having too many bookmarks to be useful, forgetting sites, or having a bunch of tabs open.

Visibility, visibility, visibility!! I'm subscribed to a few of my most favourite ones--not too many because my inbox would be flooded otherwise and then I know I would not read anything--there's maybe 3 max but they're definitely the ones I enjoy the most and that will provide variety in terms of subject and length.

Otherwise when it comes to the rest I'm definitely not reading from these sites every day, and sometimes weeks go by where I'm not reading anything except for maybe the 2 or 3 of the essays I get emailed to me (if even that)--but I am a pathological tab hoarder because for me out of sight is 1000% out of mind: therefore, what works for me here is making sure the sites I enjoy most (and aren't subscribed to) are as visible and accessible as possible.

The best tactic for me so far is saving my most visited sites to the bookmarks toolbar instead of some hidden folder, so that I always have a "homepage" of sorts for random readings no matter what site I'm actually on or what I'm doing. Additionally, instead of keeping multiple tabs open for days on end, I've started to actually move the links onto my desktop background so that I see them every time I log in or minimise a window and can open them far more easily this way rather than trawling through the bookmarks folders. Two or three years ago I also started making sure I printed every essay / article I enjoyed or didn't get a chance to read as a PDF to save to my computer: I can't always get to things immediately so this helps if the link dies before I can read it / paywall goes up, or even just as a more intuitive method for me to keep track of things I want to read (and also because I have limited space for all the shortcuts on my desktop--when I say I hoard tabs I truly mean it: this tab is one of, like, 20 right now, not counting the ones across 2 browsers on my phone or the ones that restore everytime I launch Firefox).

Also, I've been plugging it into every conversation ever since I downloaded it but Notion is really good for this kind of organisation, at least for me. Along with the above I have a Notion page where I keep a list of these journals / websites (links included) so that even if I'm not on my computer, I can browse without needing to rely on the reminders I've set up on it. I never bookmark things when browsing on my phone so when I find an article I really enjoy and want to save, I copy the link to a separate Notion page where I keep a list of essays / articles I read on the go, including any screenshots of passages that struck me most (this is also a great method for random articles I come across unexpectedly, either in my own readings or through friends).

So yes, really, visibility is the key thing for me and maximising that visibility as much as possible. Interestingly, when I do that it is a lot easier to actually remember these sites themselves, and get to a point where most of them are already circling about in the back of my head because I'm so used to being reminded of them. It's definitely not a perfect method, but I've tried to build in various failsafes and backups for myself so that I can manage to read something at some point, eventually without too much frustration or hassle. I hope some of these help you too, anon x

[polutrope]

Prompt from the List! 2.0

Curufin (of course)

Himring, post Nargathrond BS

12. enduring grief and anger in silence

Thank you 🥺

So, um, this didn't really go the angsty direction you may have been expecting with the prompt, but I was highly influenced by my recent recollection of this Shibboleth passage.

Curufin and Maedhros and alliances. 480 words. On AO3.

It had not taken long for Curufin to map out the geography of his grief and anger; to flatten it into something he could observe, plot battles upon, or roll up and shut away in a drawer. In this, at least, he would not be his father. He would not be overcome by ugly, consumptive passions.

Unlike Celegorm, who raged and railed and put himself in the way, Curufin patiently endured the distrust of his lord and brother. Maedhros could not drink forever from the font of Maglor’s hope. That font, Curufin observed with the benefit of the distance that Maglor’s simmering resentment set between them, was running dry. 

While Curufin waited, he directed his mind to other things. In these, he was like his father. To the improvement of their weaponscraft, the tools that they would need to launch their great assault upon the Enemy. But to finer things, also; to adornments that Maedhros would say they do not need—yet is not the strength of the Noldor held and guarded in their gems? 

Yet it is none of these pursuits that Maedhros at last takes note of. It is a misplaced page of runes; a draft of a treatise on the Dwarvish tongue. 

“This is yours,” his brother says, not a question. He sets the paper down, then seats himself, one leg crossed over the other. Curufin cannot recall the last time the Lord of Himring sat in his presence. “How did I not know you were familiar with the Dwarvish language?”

Because you never cared to know, Curufin does not say. He replies coolly: “The Khazad do not lightly share the secrets of their tongue with those of alien race.”

“And yet they shared it with you.” It is not said with cruelty or skepticism, merely curiosity. 

“They did.”

Maedhros rises and draws in a long breath, working his jaw around his next words. After they are spoken, Curufin knows that the words he had considered, the ones he could not yet speak were, ‘I forgive you.’

What Maedhros does say is: “Do you know the paths to Belegost?”

~

The Dwarves keep their cities in the mountains well hidden, especially in these dangerous days, but Curufin remembers the way. The rising sun slants through a splinter in the rock, its sharp beam illuminating the figure on the great stone-hewn throne of Gabilgathol. 

Curufin bows and greets the king in the manner and tongue of the Khazad. 

A twinkle of recognition alights on Azaghâl’s brow, and he addresses Curufin by the secret name he was given here, long ago. “And what,” he says next, “brings an old friend through danger to our halls?”

“I come,” says Curufin, “on behalf of my brother the Lord of Himring, whom you also knew of old, to renew that friendship and make alliance against our common foe.”

[theskeletonprior]

Update: December 21st

It's been a minute! The holiday season is well and truly doing what it does, but I press on. I'm gearing up for more Write Time, which I'll do (modified) in January. This time, I'm taking a look at what I can expect from my schedule, and adjusting my target based on how many writing days I actually think I'll have through the month. Today, I'm hoping to knock out at least one commission, and speaking of, I am still open. I've got three more weeks of no work, and there's an upcoming payment issue for the work I will get in January, so things are about to become quite lean for me. Every bit, and every boost, helps! I'm also getting ready to open up my Game Master page on Start Playing, but I think I won't launch until the new year. All I know is I can't go back to customer service, and I'll run like hell to avoid it. Wish me luck! And have a wonderful holiday, in case this is my last update before the end of the month. I know this time of year is a challenge, and my hat is well and truly off to you in these cold days of toil and relentless consumerism.

Taglist: @alexanderflowerbird @void-botanist @ceph-the-ghost-writer @vacantgodling

If I've tagged you in error, do let me know, and I'll act accordingly. To join my taglist, let me know in the replies or in the tags of your reblog. Divider by @/strangergraphics, from this set: here. Thank you!

[femmefatalevibe]

What does a day in your life look like?

Hi love! Great question because it's equally mundane and exciting.

On Weekdays:

I usually wake up around 8 AM and immediately start brewing my coffee (I couldn't survive without my 2 large mugs of black coffee daily – it's my most productive addiction lol);

Do the whole bathroom/skincare routine, chug 1-2 large glasses of water, and change into my "workwear" for the day (I WFH, so that's usually some sort of black knit set or structured sweatshirt, especially on Fridays); Put on light daily makeup, brush hair, etc.

Read through a few newsletters to my shuffle or French instrumental music (Morning Brew, The Skimm, Business of Fashion, Glossy, among others but these are the daily ones)

Check my email and plan my day (use the Intelligent Change Productivity Planner): I own my own copywriting/editorial business, so I usually have a main task for the day, such as writing a web page, email series, blog post/article, creating a content strategy, press releases, etc. and answer my most important/urgent emails. I try to leave one admin day to deal with most of my contracts/invoicing/calls/Zoom client meetings per week

Some days, I have certain industry events (like press previews, brand or product launches, or shows/presentations during Fashion Week), so I account for those on the days I'm going! My clients are located all over the world (Milan, London, NYC, LA, Sydney, etc.), so most of my face time with them is virtual. Love to see them if they're in town, though!

After working until at least the late afternoon or evening (usually start around 9 am), I'll take a walk or do a pilates workout if it's raining. Then, shower to reset, and take care of any late-day emails or extra work I want to finish for the day before dinner, especially if I take an earlier walk

Finally, I'll change into sweats, have dinner, clean up, do my skincare, go on Tumblr/Pinterest/Insta/Reddit, etc. read some articles then journal and read a bit (unless I scroll on TikTok lol, which happens more than I would like!) with a cup of tea before going to bed. I'm such a night owl naturally, so I've learned to go with it (being in bed by 1 am is an accomplishment for me!).

On Weekends:

Sleep IN (earliest is 9:30-10 AM); Coffee because I'm an addict, whole bathroom/water routine, change into sweats, have a dance party while the coffee gets brewing lol, and read some articles to wake up. Then, it's either chores day – Clean for the cleaner, laundry, organizing, groceries, you know the deal or a free-for-all – going on Tumblr, Netflix, listening to Podcasts, journaling, reading, etc. and always a walk or light workout

** Obviously, I'm missing the meals here but for anyone struggling with an ED or food issues, please know that I DO have 3 meals a day and 1-2 snacks or 2 meals and 2-3 snacks a day. Fuel your body!

Hope this answers your question xx

[sayuricorner]

Rage-Jin - A Miraculous Ladybug X Magic Kaito story: Part 1

Part 2

Warning: English is not my first language so sorry if it’s confusing.

Warning 2: This one-shot content salt don’t like don’t read!

Hey everyone! ^^ Here's a reward for @lupsss1412 for her participation to my ML salt crossover contest on tumblr! ^^ She asked for a ML X Magic Kaito one-shot! :) This one-shot will consist of 3 parts, for now the first two parts are posted in waiting for the final part, hope you'll like it all! ^^

And as for @lupsss1412, thank you again for havin participated to my contest, I hope you like your reward! ^^

̎ -Don't be bemused, it's just the news ! In today's headlines, Le Louvre is organizing a big exposition for the discovery of a rare large red gemstone. According to researchers, this gemstone is nothing like any of the gemstones known to this day, there are probabilities that this gem is a new undiscovered kind.

There's also rumors and theories that this gemstone could be linked to some ancient myths, all of them talk about a red gemstone which could grant immortality. What a discovery don’t you think?! But are those rumors true ? And is this gemstone really the one cited in those myths? According to the team of scientists who are currently studying the rare gemstone there are no solid answers, merely a few speculations for now but maybe one day they will be able to give us a response. 

I am currently in front of the museum where, as you can see, everyone is working non stop with the preparations for the new exhibition of the gem! This event will take place in a few weeks, the date is yet to be determined but we hope it’s soon! Various guests have voiced their wishes to come as well as others who have confirmed their attendance, the list goes from world wide famous celebrities to avowed names in the scientific community! Also... huh ? What's that ? Is that... Fireworks ? In daylight? Wait ! They are forming a message ! This is incredible! Unknown fireworks have been launched, leaving a message from the one and only ….Kaito Kid !

For those who don't know who he is, Kaito Kid is a thief known for stealing priceless jewels ! His first heist, in fact, took place in Paris many years ago ! In his message, Kaito Kid announced his new heist will be the gemstone which is the center of the future exposition at Le Louvre ! From what the message say, the heist would happen the night before the day of the exposition.

What does the mysterious thief Kaito Kid have in store for this heist? Could this be a sort of return to his roots after almost a decade? And with our local heroes Ladybug and Chat Noir keeping the city from any crime, will Kaito Kid remain with the title of the world wide known elusive thief ? Only time will tell us, this was Najda Chamack reporting and now, back to the studios ! ̎

̎ Kaito Kid's new heist at Paris, all police forces on guard ready to intervene ! ̎

This was the headline which occupied all Paris's newpapers's first page for days. Kaito even spotted a man reading the article sitting a row beside him when he was in the plane, much to Aoko’s annoyance. 

To be honest, ever since he became Kaito Kid, he expected a lot of things, but going back to Paris years after his first visit with his parents when he was 5 wasn't one of them. 

But one thing pushed him, or rather Kaito Kid, to go back to the French capital after all this time. A certain newly discovered red jewel which news about it being the center of the new exposition at Le Louvre in France, or at least what jewel he thought it was.

There weren't any pictures of the gemstone yet, but the description and the rumors about it being a powerful stone from old myths gave Kaito big suspicions about the jewel, maybe this time this actually was Pandora ?

This could be the gemstone, but it could also not. The young man was awfully aware of that ,however it was better to be safe than sorry. He can't just let it be and give the organization the opportunity to get their hands on what could be the Pandora gem.

Also, he heard stories about Paris about a deranged man calling himself ̎ Hawkmoth ̎ who brought fear to their city by turning citizens into magic villains, with actual magic according to rumors, by using their negative emotions.

At first, Kaito didn't believe those rumors, to him the idea of true magic was laughable, after all, like his father always told him ̎ all magic had always a trick but a good magician never reveals them ̎.

Yes, the whole “Akako incident” with her being a witch proved him that real magic does exist, but there was a big difference between seeing an actual witch performing actual magic and finding rumors about the existence of a magical criminal who seemed to come right from a magical girl anime or a comic. 

But when Aoko showed him actual videos of those magical villains, he was forced to admit that those rumors seemed to be true. Unfortunately that meant the Organization wasn't the only threat Kaito had to worry about now, after all, with this gemstone at Paris and this villain in the same city and the rumors surrounding the gem about its potential powers... who could guess that this ̎ Hawkmoth ̎ wouldn't be interested into stealing this gem too ?

And speaking of Akako, when she notices his interest in the mysterious gem, the witch gave him a rather cryptic warning about it.

“-Having an interest on this gem can lead you to troubles, not directly from the gem but more from the city its currently located, the situation there is more than meets the eye and if you keep this interest for this gem, don’t underestimate the forces which are in play or else you could meet a unfortunate fate!”

Akako seemed really serious with her warning, however...

If this gem turned out to hide Pandora, then the situation could be more critical than he thought. Kaito knew that he, or rather Kaito Kid, must steal the gem as soon as possible.

So he searched for a way to go to Paris and organized his new future heist. Fortunately for him, as lady luck loves him, the solution came in the form of a student exchange program held by his school as a companionship with a school in Paris. Kaito didn't lose any second and registered himself to join the program, he thought this was the best solution to go to France. Soon enough he also found out that Aoko joined the program as well which meant that not only he would be able to do the heist and to enjoy his time in Paris with Aoko as a bonus.

So with a new found determination, Kaito settled everything and took the plane with Aoko for Paris. Of course, not before sending with Jii’s help, a little message from Kaito Kid to the Parisians.This in order to let all the city know that the magician thief's new heist would be in Paris.

Yes, everything was going smoothly and without any problem.

… Or this is what he thought.

The school Aoko and him were assigned to go was called Françoise-Dupont, they got a small tour of the school by the principal who introduced them to some of the teachers and show them most of the school while giving them a quick presentation and from what they saw the school seem not bad: most of the students and teachers were welcoming, the lessons seemed interesting, the school was near a lot of touristic places.

But then they met their new class.

The class seemed to be fine at first but things begin to do downhill very quickly, they barely introduced themself that a girl apparently named ̎ Lila ̎ begin bragging about having been in Japan and how she met a ridiculous number of celebrities, gaining immediately her classmate's intentions.

“ Welp… This is going to be fun! ” Whispered sarcastically Kaito in japanese, a small chuckle scaping him as he watches Aoko’s face turn in disgust at the sight of the girl

“- Kaito don’t be rude!” Aoko scolded him, whispering in Japanese as well, as well as delivering a small slap to his arm

“- Honnestly, if anyone is rude, and stupid, at the moment it’s this class!”  Kaito uses a hand to motion the whole class immersed in the green eyed and sausage hairstyle auburn girl that was still talking “ I mean come on, how could anyone believe that a 14 years old girl could have done all those things and know all those celebrities AND remain completely anonymous from any press or tabloid? ”

“- ... Okay you’re not wrong, “ Aoko concedes, crossing her arms and looking at the girl expectantly one of her eyebrows raising “ but still this isn’t a reason to give a bad first impression and who knows? Maybe they’re not that bad, so for once in your life, behave “Bakaito”! ”

“- Whatever “Ahoko” , I’m still standing on my point! ” Kaito answered her back while looking annoyed at the ruckus.

To Kaito it was surreal, it was obvious that all the things this girl was telling was nothing more than fairytales but for some reason this class was believing every single thing which was coming from her mouth.

If they were five years old he would have understood, very young kids tend to believe a lot of things, even the most absurd ones. However those were 16-17 years old teens who were supposed to have learned to be critical ! Seriously, just how gullible those people are ?

And the teacher, he thought she would say something to make her students calm down, but no...!

She was just standing there smiling at her students and at both confusing Kaito and Aoko, as if the agitation in the class wasn't happening. 

Strangely this display made Kaito give more credit and respect to his teachers back home, sure they had a hard time to stop the ruckus HE created when messing with Aoko, but at least they tried... Unlike this so-called teacher. 

This display of stupidity and incompetence wasn't even the worst in this whole situation. The worst of it all, was that since the school doesn't have any obligatory uniforms, Aoko decided to profit from it and to wear pants as well as most of the girls in the class. Almost all of them were either wearing pants, shorts or leggings, which meant no panty peeks for him !

Internally sighing, Kaito went to find a seat with Aoko, away from the ruckus. He scanned the room until his eyes traveled and found two seats in the back of the classroom beside a petite girl with dark blue hair and blue eyes who, unlike her classmates, was ignoring the Lila girl's blabbers and was more concentrated on something... she was writing ? Drawing maybe? In a sketchbook.

“This..” Kaito thought as he pulled Aoko along to their new seats  “is going to be a LONG stay...”

When Marinette first heard about the two students from Japan coming to Françoise-Dupont for a student exchange program, she got… mixed feelings about the whole thing.

A part of her was curious about those exchange students. After all, having students from other countries and learning about other cultures was always an interesting experience.

Adding to this the fact Chloe was among the students from Françoise-Dupont who joined the exchange program to go to Japan, giving to Marinette and the whole school some times of tranquility, this should have put the young girl in a very good mood.

However, another part of her reminds her about one annoyance who will more than probably turn this potential good experience into a succession of headaches and frustrations: Lila Rossi.

Ever since the Italian girl’s return, she had been lying non-stop to gain attention. With her classmates being awfully easy to falling for said lies, and seeming to have made their mission to make Marinette’s life a living hell by making everyone believe that she was an awful bully to the poor italian girl.

She tried to “take the high road” and ignoring her lies just like Adrien advised her to do, in hopes of Lila leaving her alone. This seemed the wrong approach now, as it had managed to create the opposite effect making Lila have the desire to torment her even more and see how far she could drag it. 

Marinette groaned, as if being the guardian of the miraculous box and dealing with Hawkmoth and his akumas weren’t enough.

Regarding the two exchange students, she believed there would be two scenarios that could happen: either they will fall to Lila’s lies and become another sheeps in the liar’s herd or they would not believe her and because of that Lila would try and make life hard for them.

But whatever the outcome could be, Marinette’s mindset was the same: she felt bad for those two students for having to go to the same school and being in the same class as Lila.

This feeling got confirmed seconds after the two students from Japan introduced themselves. Lila didn’t waste any time to once again spill stories about her having been in Japan in the past and immediately getting the class’s intention with Miss Bustier doing nothing to stop her, as usual, much to the two japanese student's shock.

“And believe me this is just the tip of the iceberg...” thought Marinette sighing, returning to her design, trying to drown the sound of the lies spilling from Lila’s mouth.

Yep, she really feels bad for those two.

Class passed without any ruckus, the classmates even getting to know more about the exchange students as it progressed. As the last bell rang Marinette could only hope to be able to get home peacefully after school, without any akuma or Lila’s shenanigans, and working on the commissions for Jagged.

“-Marinette? Please give a tour of the school to Aoko and Kaito, would you?” Miss Bustier asked her, well more like demanded her to do so, interrupting the young girl’s mental reflection as well as ruining her plans to walk peacefully home and have a nice evening.

“-Hum, miss? It’s not necessary we already got-” Aoko tried to talk to the teacher only to be interrupted.

“-Non-sense!” the teacher interrupted Aoko, a smile on her face “You only got a short tour of the school when you arrived! You should have had a complete and informative tour of the grounds and Marinette is the best student for that! And she’s our class representative and model student so it’s her duty!” Madam Bustier started pushing both teens towards the small blue eyed girl who looked very much resigned with her fate.

Any other person would had go explain to the teacher why they couldn’t do it this time and any other teacher would have been understanding and ask someone else, but if there’s one thing Marinette learnt after years of being in miss Bustier’s class is that when she wants you to do something you must do it and nothing you can say or do will change her mind.

So, with reluctance, Marinette just nodded at the teacher’s request and silently went back to her sketchbook under the glare of her classmates, Aoko’s uncertain look and Kaito’s pensive glance. Kaito mused if they were the only ones that could see how uncomfortable and sad the girl was.

And so, after gathering their things, Marinette went on giving the tour of the school to Aoko and Kaito. At first the atmosphere was awkward with Marinette being very nervous, stuttering sometimes and not daring to speak about anything other than talking about the school and Paris as if she was talking in a commercial or informative video.

Marinette knows she should say something, begin a conversation, or something like that, to break the ice and make both japanese students at ease. Especially after Lila’s “little show” in class.

But what could she talk about with them? She doesn't know them after all, is her discussion of common subjects okay? What if they get bored? Was starting with a joke okay?What if they end up finding her annoying? What if…

“-Hey! You’re alright?” A voice with a japanese accent interrupted her thoughts, a male one to be more precise.

The boy of the duo, his name is Kaito if she remembers well, with the girl whose name is Aoko were looking at her. Kaito, looked a little concerned about her, and worry was expressed in Aoko’s eyes.

“-O-oh yes I’m fine, I was just lost in my thoughts sorry!” Marinette nervously answered to the duo, her awkward laugh making it all worse when she saw both of them frown, glancing at each other and then returning their gazes to her. 

Kaito kept looking at her with a concerned face when, suddenly, he perked up a little bit. However, before Marinette could process anything it was gone, his face devoid of any emotion once again. Marinette looked at him confused, but before she could ask anything Kaito made a deck of cards appear from nowhere. Slowly he mixed them before making a perfect fan and showing it to Marinette, talking to her while his face remained stoic.

“-Come on, choose a card!” Kaito said not before watching Marinette’s hesitation, he let a smile form in his lips easing the little bluenette into taking a card from the fanned deck.

Marinette was now confused, what was he doing? A magic trick? Was this a joke? 

Seeing Marinette’s confusion and hesitation to take a card from Kaito’s hand, Aoko quickly  shakes her head, letting an exasperated sigh escape her lips. Aoko just knew Kaito would never let someone feel that down for so long, he would always do his best to make people smile. 

“-Sorry, Kaito tends to do magic tricks to people out of the blue, especially when said people don’t seem to be okay.” Aoko playfully shoved Kaito who just stuck out his tongue at her in return.

“-Oh… I see… Well, I guess a magic trick would be fun!” Marinette said with a little smile.

Marinette bit his lower lip, this could be either an elaborated prank or it could be genuine. Her instincts were telling her to go along with it but her mind was already forming a hundred scenarios where this would end badly. 

Taking a deep breath she threw caution to the wind, looking at the two people in front of her she decided to take a leap of faith and trust them.

Marinette looked at the cards, thinking for a moment before picking one of them and taking a peek at it. She was surprised as the card she drew was a queen of hearts.

“-Okay, now put the card back in the deck without showing it to me!” Instructed her Kaito with a little smirk, his gaze turned to the side with Aoko smiling at his antics

Marinette shook her thought out of her head while doing as Kiato had instructed, as soon as she put the card back, Kaito shuffled the deck once more. To Marinette's amazement, his card shuffling was very advanced, the kind of card shuffling she only saw being made by professional magicians or those videos from youtube.

Once his shuffling was done, Kaito taped the deck before fanning it in his hand, showing every single card to Marinette.

̎ -Now look at all the cards very well, do you see your card among them ? ̎ Kaito asked 

Marinette stared at the cards for a moment, before ending up frowning a bit and shaking her head. She had been sure her card had been there. Besides Kaito was wearing short sleeves now, there wasn’t a place where he could have hid it without her noticing, right?

̎ -No... The card I chose isn’t in the deck ... ̎ Marinette answered, very confused and amazed by the fact that the boy had such an amazing talent.

̎ -Hum... You're right, it looks like a card is missing... ̎ Kaito said, tapping his chin as he pretended to think before smirking once again. ̎ But by looking at it I can tell you where the card went ! ̎

The young man held out his hand and slowly directed it to one of Marinette's pant pockets, snapped his fingers and, to Marinette's surprise, she could notice something was there. When she reached inside the pocket she was surprised to find something, slowly she took out a card from her pocket. It was folded, but as she slowly opened it she couldn't hold back her surprise, it was the Queen of Hearts! The exact same card she took from the deck!

̎ -And here's our missing card ! So, is that the one you chose?” Kaito said while making the cards jump and do even more complicated stunts than before while winking at her. 

Marinette, too shocked to even speak, managed to nod weakly.

“H-How... How ? That was incredible ! How did he do that ?!” Marinette couldn’t stop her thoughts from running, she hadn’t seen him come near her, she didn’t even feel the weight of something else in her pocket until Kaito pointed it out. 

Kaito smiled in victory, he looked at the card, his smile stretched wider when he saw the wonder in Marinette’s eyes and her genuine smile.

̎ -Ah ! The Queen of Hearts “ Kaito’s smile grew even wider as he turned to his best friend “Hey Aoko ! If I'm not mistaken, in the language of the cards the Queen of Hearts symbolizes people with a good heart right ? ̎ He asked his best friend, who also nodded while rolling her eyes at his antics.

̎ -Yes, if I recall well, the exact symbolism is : ̎ The Queen of hearts represents sincere and loving women of tender heart. ̎  ̎ Aoko told Marinette with a smile, and shared her amused smile with Kaito.

̎ -Exactly ! And a queen with a tender heart... ̎ Kaito turned his hand upside down and quickly turned it up once again, a yellow rose appearing between his fingers  ̎ Deserves amazing friends ! ̎ He announced holding the rose towards Marinette who accepted it even more amazed than before.

She had received roses before, as Ladybug from Chat Noir, red roses, always as ̎ a proof of his love for her ̎, a gesture she at first didn't mind, even finding it adorable and nice. But the endless repetitions of those ̎ proofs of love ̎ from Chat Noir, at the most inconvenient time, despite refusing them over and over…made the gesture she once saw as something kind and thoughtful turn into a source of annoyance and frustration.

She couldn't even look at a red rose without thinking about Chat and his reckless behavior, or his constant declarations of love.

But this rose, this gesture, it felt different from Chat Noir's. Unlike the Black Cat hero's gestures ,which were pressuring love declarations and bothersome, this gesture felt nice, comforting and was a friendly gift. Slowly Marinette reached for the flower, the sweet smell filling her nose and the soft cold stem making her fingers clench more around it. 

Because she knew very well that yellow roses are the roses of friendship in the flower language, and Kaito had made his intentions clear while handing it to her. They wanted to be her friends, no ulterior motives.

Staring at the flower in her hands, the bluenette turned her eyes to the two japanese students, a smile on her face and tears already forming in her eyes.

̎ -Kaito, Aoko... Thank you it's- ̎ Marinette started to talk, her stutter gone and she could feel at ease but before she could continue someone interrupted her. 

̎ -Marinette ! What are you doing loitering around with the exchange students ?” the annoying voice of the liar interrupted her, she could feel herself tense as the italian came near her  “Aren't you supposed to give them a tour of the school ? You're not slacking are you ? ̎

… And here it goes, goodbye good mood.

Marinette couldn’t believe Lila would dare to come here to cause a scene. Right there, in the school corridors, Lila was starting to do her ̎ innocent act ̎, as usual, with some of the infamous ̎ akuma class ̎ following close behind her.

Marinette got a bad feeling about this...she took a step back, holding the rose closer to her chest.

̎ -I mean, really Marinette,” Lila kept on going with her fake sweet voice dripping with honey and venom “I know you haven’t been THAT reliable lately but you could at last be able to do a task this simple ! ̎ Lila dramatically sighed while shaking her head in disappointment with an evil smirk on her face.

Marinette, while trying to not be too upset about the accusation, then noticed Lila was walking toward the two japanese students, Kaito specifically. Both students looked disgusted and with a hint of annoyance in their faces. 

She got a REALLY bad feeling about this...

̎ -Kaito and Akako right ?” Lila turned to them, smiling as sweetly as she could and leaning into their space “I realized we didn't get properly introduced, I'm Lila and I hope we can get along ! However, I want to warn you, Marinette is not the best person to hang out with, she seems to be nice but in fact she's really mean and jealous. Especially with me and I fear she will only bring you trouble ! I know she's giving you a tour of the school and you're supposed to stay with her during the tour, buuuut... Once you're done with it, you two can hang out with us ! It will be really fun and I'm sure you'll love hearing about all the things I do and about the celebrities I’ve met during my travels ! ̎ The liar told to both Kaito and Aoko with a false sweet voice.

The two Japanese students looked at Lila completely unimpressed. Eyebrows raised and both crossed their arms over their chest in a sign of annoyance.

̎ -First of, it's ̎ Aoko ̎ not ̎ Akako ̎ ! ̎ Answered Aoko, very angry now with this girl ̎ and secondly, thank you for the ̎ offer ̎, but we don't mind Dupain-Cheng-san's company and unlike what you were thinking, she was giving us the school's tour, we just stopped for a little moment to talk a bit ! ̎ Aoko stated as a much annoyed Kaito nodded in agreement by her side.

Marinette was getting tense at the situation, if there's one thing she knows about Lila it's that the italian girl HATED IT when people don't do things her way and that is what the two japanese students were doing right now.

As for Lila, her smile became tense and her hands were twitching, it was barely noticeable but Marinette knew the signs.

Oh no…

̎ -O-oh ! It's very nice of you, but I don't think you understand !” Lila said trying to defend herself as more of their school students walked near the commotion she was causing “Hanging around with Marinette isn't a good idea at all, she can get very jealous and hurt others because of that and is a manipulator and I'm scared of what could happen to you if you keep being around her ! So why not hang out with me and the rest of the class ? I-I’ve gone to a lot of amazing places like Achu and personally know a lot of important and famous people, even people from Japan ! Like... Like... Oh ! Like the magician Toichi Koruba ! ̎ The liar nervously said while trying to keep her ̎ nice girl ̎ image.

This got Kaito's and Aoko's attention, the two were looking at Lila stunned before Kaito spoke.

̎ -... What ? ̎ Kaito asked in total disbelief, his gaze now firmly in the Italian girl, his fist clenched and shoulders tense. His voice came out relatively calm, but Aoko just knew how dangerous that tone was.

̎ -I happen to know Toichi Koruba !” Lila said, dismissing the cold tone of Kaito’s voice and confusing his disbelief for confusion “I met him 4 years ago when he had a magic show in Italy ! My mother and I were at this magic show and there was an accident, the bunny he was going to use for one of his magic tricks escaped, it was a real mess and the magic show was almost cancelled because of it ̎ Lila blaberred, not noticing Kaito's and Ahoko's faces becoming somber minute by minute.

 ̎But by chance, I found it wandering around and give it back to Mr. Koruba, he was so relieved and after the magic show he invited my mother and me to the best restaurant in Italy to thanking me for saving his show ! And during the diner I even give him the ideas for what is considered nowadays as his best magic tricks ! ̎ Lila commented as the classmates of the Akuma class surrounded her oohing and awing at the story.

̎ -Really ? That’s absolutely amazing Lila ! ̎ Alya told her awestruck by Lila’s supposedly feats 

̎ -You personally met Toichi Koruba, the best magician in Japan, even in the world? Oooh that's incredible ! ̎ Myléne praised Lila with sparkles in her eyes “My father once talked about him, you’re so lucky!” 

Marinette looked at her classmates now surrounding Lila, throwing praises at her, with an exasperated expression on her face. As usual they listen to her stories and believe her before regarding her with adoration, honestly this was really becoming old.

She then looked at the two japanese students and what she saw made her very tense.

She saw Aoko looking at Lila, scandalized, her mouth being covered by her hands and as for Kaito...

The young man seemed to be very angry, his hands clenched and his whole body was nearly trembling in anger. He was frowning at Lila, his eyes cold and his smile gone and if looks could kill she could bet that Lila would’ve dropped dead in that moment. 

This confused Marinette, what did Lila say to make them upset like that ? She tried to remember something that could’ve angered Kaito like that, that is when she looked at the rose and she realized something...

Lila pretended to have met Toichi Koruba, and if she remembered well Kaito's complete name was...

Kaito Kuroba... Oh no, could it be ?...

Marinette’s eyes went wide, she glanced around in panic. If those emotions Kaito was feeling were that strong Hawk Moth would never let such an opportunity pass. She could only stay on guard and pray it would all be resolved without it becoming a catastrophe. 

“Please don't attract an akuma, please don't attract an akuma, please !” Marinette begged in her head while searching for any sign of a black butterfly.

̎ -What the fuck is wrong with you ?! ̎ Aoko screamed at the liar, interrupting the thoughts and compliments of the classmates surrounding the italian girl.

This startled Lila a bit, who immediately tried to regain her composure.

̎ -W-what ? ̎ Lila asked, turning to see the furious Japanese girl “I-I just …”

̎ -I agree with Aoko ! What makes you think you can say things like that ?” Kaito interrupted  whatever the liar could be about to say to defend herself  “Because from what I heard, everything you are saying about Toichi Kuroba is nothing more than mere fantasies ! ̎ Kaito pointed out, visibly making his best to stay calm. 

Kaito’s arms were now over his chest, 

̎ -But-but it's true I really met and sympathized with Toichi 4 years ago ! ̎ Lila spluttered trying to maintain her lie, eyes widening in panic

Aoko narrowed her eyes on her, she could see the liar starting to sweat.

̎ -Oh really ? Then explain to us how you could have met him 4 years ago when he is supposed to have died 8 YEARS AGO ?! ̎ Aoko demanded, her voice rising as Kaito’s hand came to rest on her shoulder.

̎ -Uh... um... well... Oh !” Lila glanced around in panic “Now I remember, I in fact met him 9 years ago ! I must have mixed up with someone else I met 4 years ago ! Ah ah, silly me ! ̎

Everyone started to agree with her and comfort her until Kaito’s voice interrupted them.

̎ -If I'm not wrong you're 16 right ?” Kaito spoke, his voice cold and calculative yet it had a feral tone  “So, if you met Toichi Koruba 9 years ago then... that means you were around 7 during that time !”

Kaito smirked, and Marinette couldn’t help but feel shivers running down her spine watching how dangerous Kiato actually looked. Taking a step forward to the liar Kaito advanced, his eyes glued on the auburn Italian as she took a step back.

“You seriously want to make us believe that a 7 year old girl could easily have a full conversation with an adult, who she barely knew for only one day…” Kaito paused and chuckled, it was cold and it made everyone perk up “no, barely hours of one evening, and give useful ideas to a professional magician? ̎ Asked Kaito with a mocking yet serious tone.

Lila was now panicking, obviously not knowing what to do.

̎ -Hey ! Don't talk like that to Lila ! She did nothing to deserve to be treated like this ! And besides, what does this matter to you anyway ? ̎ Alya angrily interjected, jumping to defend her bestie.

This intervention was what got the domino effect going on. Quickly, the other classmates from the akuma class intervened too, looking at the two japanese students in anger. Most of them turned to scream at the duo.

̎ -Yeah ! Stop being mean to Lila ! ̎

̎ -She's an awesome girl, you have no right talk to her that way ! ̎

̎ -Bullies ! ̎

̎ -Who do you think you are ? ̎

Kaito stared at them with a stoic face. He approached them slowly, his steps calculated and with grace. 

̎ -It's matter to me when someone is slandering my late father's name just to be the center of intention ! ̎ Kaito exclaimed, his face never betraying his emotions, everyone who looked at him could tell how pissed off he was.

Many of the students that had wandered around when hearing the commotion, gasped and murmured about what just had happened, most of them angrily whispering about how horrible the Italian girl was.

This statement put the class in shock, and Marinette too. It was one thing to think about a possibility, another was having it confirmed in such a way. Especially when Kiato had revealed that his father was dead.

̎ -Right, as if I would believe that ! That doesn’t tell us you aren’t lying ? ̎ Alya asked while throwing at him an accusatory look.

The rest of the class agreed, trying to throw accusations at Kaito and Lila started her fake crying. Slowly moaning and lamenting herself about how those students could be so mean to her. 

̎ -Oh I can prove it to you, alright. ̎ Kaito answered, he walked slowly to Lila and lifted his hand to her ear. ̎-Ah ! It looks like you have something behind your ear ! ̎ And in a moment, a card appeared in his hand, much to everyone's surprise.

̎ -Look at that ! It's my ID card !” Kaito smirked while handing it to the Italian girl who was just  dumbfounded by the spectacle presented by the boy, yet his smirk was making her feel even more nervous “Can you read my name on the card please ? Please speak loud enough so that everyone can hear ! ̎

With a puzzled look Lila turned her intention to the ID card.

̎ -Uh ? Kaito K- ! ̎ The liar suddenly stopped, looking back and forth at the card and at Kaito completely shocked before continuing with a trembling voice. ̎ K-Kaito K-Koruba ! ̎

Kaito nodded, his smirk widening as he took back the card. The rest of the group were dumbfounded and barely able to process the information they had received.

̎ -There you go ! You wanted proof, well there's your proof !” Kaito exclaimed before clapping his hands together and smiling at the rest of the people  “Now if you could excuse us, Aoko, Marinette and I have a tour to finish ! Oh and before I go ! ̎

 The young man gave a hard look to the liar before pointing at her, as well as the rest of the class

“Never say any lies about my father or my family ever again ! I hate people who slander my family, especially to get attention ! ̎ And with those words, Kaito turned and left the shocked group and went back to Aoko and Marinette, the latter was shocked to the point she was speechless.

As for Aoko, she and Kaito exchanged one look before she nodded and turned to Marinette.

̎ -Come one Marinette ! We are going ! We have a tour to finish after all ! ̎ Aoko exclaimed, slowly reaching for her as she linked her other arm with Kaito’s “And we have to make sure that Bakaito doesn’t try anything funny!” 

Hearing that Kiato fake whined before shoving playfully his best friend,Marinette said nothing and just left the japanese girl to bring her by her arm with her and Kaito away from the class.

Her brain was disconnected and only one question was stuck in her mind.

What the heck just happened ?

̎ -How dare they ? How dare they humiliate me like that ? No one can talk to me like that, no one ! And where's Hawkmoth when you need him ? ̎ Lila thought seething, it was all crumbling down before her own eyes

After the shock passed, Lila excused herself from her classmates, saying that was so hurt by this obvious misunderstanding that she needed some time alone, another lie of course.

Currently she was in her bedroom, back at her home, grumbling in her breath and cursing against the two exchange students for the humiliation from earlier, cursing against Maribrat and cursing against Hawkmoth for not having sent any akuma.

Why did they have to expose her story ? Sure telling a story about some magician guy who she heard the name only one time without doing any research first hadn't been her best idea, but to the point those two losers ridicule her in front of her “fellow” classmates ? This was unacceptable !

They were going to pay ! They will understand who rules this school ! Who made the rules ! And they will have no other choice but to follow her lead or have their lives become a living hell !

After all most of her classmates and miss Bustier were stupid enough to believe everything she says without any question, so with some lies and a few fabricated evidence she could accuse them to bullying her and like she did with Maribrat they will believe her.

Maybe before that she could try something else first, like she could try to ̎ sympathize ̎ with this Kaito guy, with her good looks it will not be difficult, by charming him, telling him what he want to hear.

And once he is under her thumb, she could use this to turn him against this ̎ A-something ̎ girl with some little stories and act like the poor sweet girl who is bullied by his jealous friend.

After all, as they say, ̎ Divide and conquer ̎.

Ever since their first true ̎ interaction ̎ with Lila and the rest of the class, Aoko's and Kaito's opinion about them wasn't the best, and as days passed said opinion didn't change, in fact, it was even degrading.

Everyday at school, Lila would try to make life hard for them... Okay more for Ahoko, the liar would fabricate a good bunch of lies to accuse Aoko of bullying her.

Of course Kaito didn't believe it for one second, but the same couldn't be said for the class who jumped on calling Aoko a bully without any hesitation.

And things were not easy for Kaito either, for some reason Lila decided to set her sights on him and didn't miss one occasion to throwing herself at him, gripping his arm, trying to sweet talk to him and flirting with him while acting as a victim to him when she accuse Aoko of tormenting her.

As for the classmates... Kaito didn't even want to get to start on them, to him ̎ annoying ̎, ̎ stupid ̎ and ̎ sheeps ̎ would be the best words to describe them. That being the most simple yet derogatory terms he could muster.

̎ Nosy ̎ would also fit them, like this Alya girl who pretend to be a journalist and who seem to be determined to get every info from him about his family, his father and particularly about the latter's death.

And as he feared, the teacher, miss Bustier, was very incompetent.

She had no hold on the class, doing nothing about their behavior, especially Lila's, she even scolded both Kaito and Aoko when she noticed they weren't very much socializing with the rest of the class and why.

̎ -It's not nice to isolate yourself from the others like that ! They just want to know you and be your friends ! I understand as you're from a very different country and as such it can be difficult to adjust to the ways of another culture, but you need to make efforts too ! ̎ the teacher had once told them, very angry at their behavior

̎ -But miss what about Rossi-san ? You're aware what she does is also bad right ? ̎ Aoko had tried to reason with her, Kaito just wanted to let loose his prankster side so that they all could end up being traumatized for good

̎ -Aoko ! You and Kaito must understand that Lila has a bad condition, she can't help telling all those stories, there's no need to punish her ! You and Kaito need to be the biggest people here, just apologize to Lila and the class, be nicer with them and everything will be fine ! ̎ Miss Bustier told them, as if they would actually listen to such bad advice and obvious plan of manipulation.

Absolutely. Incompetent !

There was also a boy in the class, Adrien Agreste, who seemed to be okay but the fact every time the liar pulled a stunt to cause trouble he just looked at it while shaking his head gave Kaito doubts.

Well, at least Marinette seemed to have more brain cells.

To be honest the girl was rather nice to hang out and talk with, especially compared to the rest of the class, she was also aware of the liar's lies and tried to exposed her, without any success and ending up to be see by the class as a ̎ bully ̎ for tormenting ̎ poor Lila ̎.

Just like she was doing with Aoko.

So in the end, Aoko and Kaito hang out most of the time with Marinette.

Through the time they spend together, they get to know more about each other and get to talk about a lot of things.

They eventually talked about Kaito Kid and his future heist in Paris, Marinette confessed to them that she only knew the famous thief by name only, most of the celebrities she really know are in the fashion or music industry.

And after being explained, the young girl was having mixed feelings about the magician thief, on one hand she kinda get why Kaito Kid was popular with his gentleman thief persona reminding of a Arsene Lupin, but on the other hand he was still a thief and to the parisian girl looking up to a thief was, well, a bit weird.

A reflection that Aoko didn't miss to agree with, even expressing with eagerness her annoyance about the magician thief, with Kaito looking at her with a jaded look. Knowing the main reason why Aoko was like this toward his other identity was because of her father's obsession to arrest Kaito Kid and as such being the cause for his absence at home very often.

They also talked about Paris's ̎ akuma problem ̎ and Marinette give them more information about it.

Just like the rumors were telling, a villain named Hawkmoth use magic to use people's negative emotions to turn them into ̎ villains ̎ with magic powers and there's a duo of heroes called Ladybug and Chat Noir who always stop the attacks and save the day.

She also warned them to be careful with their emotions and to be on guard because people being akumatized happen very often and there's a high risk they end up in the crossfire of an akuma attack.

Crossfire which happened pretty quickly as Kaito and Ahoko ̎ met ̎ their first akuma in the form of M. Pigeon, an akuma who, according to Marinette, is a recurrent.

Both of them found a shelter to be safely away from the akuma when they noticed that Marinette was nowhere to be seen and they didn't have the time to try to find her when the city's heroes showed up to defeat the akuma. As well as the ton of pigeons interrupting their efforts to find the small girl.

This was something really shocking for Aoko and Kaito, sure they have seen some videos of akuma attacks, but to be actually face to one was something else... In the ̎ Oh my god ! This is terrifying, get me out of here ! ̎ way of course.

Was that the kind of ̎ troubles ̎ Akako warned Kaito about ?

Fortunately, the akuma was quickly defeated by Ladybug and Chat Noir and the two japanese students found Marinette safe and sound, although a lot farther than where they had lost sight of her.

According to the young girl, with the agitation of the attack she was separated from them but thankfully was able to find a safe place somewhere. Kaito thought he had seen her being nervous but it could be talked about by the nerves of being in the middle of the attack , still he tried to keep an eye open. 

This attack made Kaito thoughtful, if those attacks are that ineffable and happen randomly and whenever at day and night then he must be really careful when he will go steal the jewel as Kaito Kid.

After all, what makes him sure that someone will not get akumatized the night of the heist and will not attack him and the police during their rampage ?

So kaito prepared himself, planified everything for any possibilities, especially in case of an akuma attack.

Whatever those precautions will work or not he doesn't know, it could actually work as it can end up in a disaster, you never know with an akuma.

In any case as days passed, the night of the heist came and akuma attacks or not Kaito Kid was ready for the show.

“-My lady, do we really need to be here? This does not involve akumas after all, I don’t see why we should get involved!”

“-Chat Noir! Don’t forget as heroes we have the duty to protect the city from any kind of crime, by so akuma or not if there’s trouble we must be there!”

Ladybug and Chat Noir at the top of a building near Le Louvre, observing all the police officers gathered at the museum.

Tonight was the night of the infamous thief’s, Kaito Kid, heist at the museum to try to steal the gem and the whole police forces of Paris were ready to stop the thief and arrest him.

The heroic duo were also present, Ladybug had been preparing for apprehend Kaito Kid and, thankfully, tonight no akuma was in sight which give to Chat Noir and her a golden opportunity to stop the thief without any “complications”.

However, Chat Noir wasn’t very eager to participate in the whole thing, according to him, he and his lady helping the police to arrest a “petty thief” was a waste of time, that the police could do it perfectly without them yadda, yadda, yadda…

And he didn’t stop expressing his displeasure about it, much to Ladybug’s frustration.

“-I get it! But it’s just a petty thief! Why not letting the police handle it by themself and rather go on a date together my lady?” Chat Noir suggested with a flirtatious tone.

Ladybug threw him an exasperated tare.

“-Chat Noir, no, we will not because 1: Even if the thief don’t have powers he is still a potential threat to the town and by so as the protectors of Paris it’s normal that we are here just in case and 2: I already told you over and over that I love someone els-”

“-LIEUTENANT ROGER! LOOK UP THERE!”

The policeman’s scream bring the two heroes’s intention and the duo turned their gaze to the museum.

They were welcomed by a shocking sight.

Up there in the sky was a big white airship, flying toward Le Louvre.

And abroad said airship, proudly standing in his iconic white suit and cape was non other than Kaito Kid.

Going out of his shock, Roger Raincomprix picked up his megaphone to try to apprehend the thief.

“-Attention, attention Kaito Kid! You are surrounded and have no way to do your little heist! Just land your airship and surrender, the “show” is over!”

A few minutes of silence passed, several long minutes during which the airship just stay where it was not making any move to land or to fly away.

Getting impatient, lieutenant Roger warned once again the thief.

“-I repeat! Land your airship and surrender! If you do not comply, we will open fire against your airship to make you land!”

A few more minutes passed before the airship finally seemed to move to land and as soon as the airship touched the ground, Lieutenant Roger without wasting anytime rushed toward it and roughly tackled to the ground what seem to be Kaito Kid.

“-Kaito Kid aka “ The Magician Under the Moonlight”, you are under arrest for the thief aptempt of the new found gem!”

“-Hum… Lieutenant Roger?” One of the agents said, trying to get his attention.

“-You have the right to remain silent, anything you say may be used against you!” Recited Lieutenant Roger while putting a pair of handcuffs on the apprehended, not listening to the other agent.

“-Lieutenant Roger!” The other agent tried once again, without any success.

“- You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking to the police and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future, but quite honestly, with all the crimes hold against you it’s very unlikely that any attorney would be able to defend you in court!” 

“-LIEUTENANT ROGER!!!!”

“-WHAT?!” The Lieutenant, finally, turned his intention to his colleague, annoyed to be bothered while doing the arrest.

“-The… hum… “person” you are arresting… It’s not Kaito Kid…” The agent explained, embarrassed.”It’s a dummy…”

Lieutenant Roger suddenly stopped on his track, a long silence passed, the lieutenant digesting the information. 

“-A… What?”

He turned his gaze once again on “Kaito Kid” and to his shock, what he thought to be the infamous thief was indeed in fact a simple dummy which look like Kaito Kid.

The police officers barely had the time to wonder what was going on that the dummy’s head fall down from it body and inside said dummy’s body was what seemed to be sparks.

Sparks which are usually signs of a lighted fuse.

Now alarmed, the police officers who were near the dummy quickly back away from it while screaming in warning to everyone else.

“-HIT THE DECK! HIT THE DECK!”

Every police officer didn’t waste any minute and throwed themself on the ground far away as possible from the potential explosion, Ladybug and Chat Noir were also about to jump into action.

But what came next completely stunned everyone: instead of an explosion, big tray of lights were blowing from the dummy and were flying up to the to the sky with a piercing sound before exploding.

To their surprise, and relief, what was inside the dummy wasn’t something life threatening like a bomb but simply fireworks.

Said fireworks were so bright that everyone was blinded by them for a few seconds before realizing that the fireworks weren’t just exploding, their explosions were also showing symbols.

Some of the fireworks were exploding into the infamous Kaito Kid’s logo and others were revealing a message in big bright lights “ Welcome Paris “city of lights”! May the show officially begin! ”.

This made Lieutenant Roger clenched his teeth in anger, this thief had lured them and had the nerves to mock them!

“-Don’t let yourself be distracted! Kaito Kid probably profit from it and is in the museum! We must stop him from getting to the gem!” He yelled at his men with authority.

“-You!” He instruct to a group of police agents.”split into two groups and block all the issues possible, if Kaito Kid is indeed in the museum, he must not be able to get out!”

“-YES SIR!” The police agents replied before splitting to get in position.

“-Agent Marcel! Call the central! Tell them to send more back up!” Lieutenant Roger told to one of the agent who was near a police car.

“-Already on it sir!”

The lieutenant then turned to a few other police agents.

“-Agent Leroy! Agent Simon! Go to the room were the gem is exposed! Make sure that NOBODY SUSPICIOUS get near it!”

“-YES SIR!”

Meanwhile, both Ladybug and Chat Noir were looking at the police agents scattering around.

“-Welp! Look like they handle “purrfectly” the situation!” Chat Noir commented nonchalantly before being once again flirtatious with Ladybug.”So… How about we call it a night and go to that date my lady?”

“-Not the time Chat!” Ladybug groaned frustrated with her partner.

“-But my lady!” Chat wined.”The police is all over the museum and probably will catch up this thief in no time!”

But as soon as Chat Noir finished his sentence, the angry voice of the Lieutenant Roger draw the two heroes’s attention.

“-AGENT SIMON! I THOUGHT I GAVE YOU THE ORDER TO GO SECURE THE GEM WITH AGENT LEROY WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE?!”

Said agent Simon was looking at him completely confused.

“-I’m sorry Lieutenant Roger but I just get there with other agents who were called as back up as we were among the agents who were the nearest of Le Louvre! I wasn’t there before!”

The Lieutenant and some other agents were now looking at their colleague with wide eyes.

“-Hold a moment!” Lieutenant Roger ask with a trembling voice.”If you just got there, then who was the agent I ordered to go secure the gem with…”

Realizing he have been tricked, Lieutenant Roger was now frantically running to the museum while shooting orders to a group of agents.

“- YOU! COME WITH ME! WE MUST GO TO THE GEM’S ROOM RIGHT NOW BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!”

Meanwhile, the agents Leroy and “Simon” were guarding the gem.

“-Stay on guard, we don't know when Kaito Kid will strike!” Agent Leroy warned his colleague.

“Agent Simon” nobbed in agreement.

“-Agree! Who knows what that thief planned? For all we know, he could take us by surprise at any moment- Ah!!”

“Agent Simon” barely finished his sentence that he feel someone tackling him on the ground and was shocked when he realized that the person who tackled him was Lieutenant Roger.

“-What the? Lieutenant Roger, what are you doing?” He asked the lieutenant, completely confused about his actions.

“-Drop the act Kaito Kid! You thought you could fool us by passing for the agent Simon, but you were wrong!” The lieutenant stated proudly while making his best to keep “agent Simon” on the ground.

“-WHAT?! Have you gone crazy? I’m not Kaito Kid!”

“-Right, right! Keep on with your little masquerade all you want, it will not save you!”

“-There’s no masquerade! I. AM. NOT. KAITO KID! I’M THE TRUE AGENT SAMUEL SIMON! SO FOR HECK’S SAKE LET ME G-”

*BOOM*

The agent didn’t had the time to finish his sentence that he was interrupted by smoke bombs exploding and the room finding itself invaded by the smoke and blinding the police agents.

When the smoke finally faded away, the police officers got an awful surprise:

The showcase in which the gem was exposed was now empty, the gem being nowhere to be seen.

Completely confused, Lieutenant Roger frantically looked in all directions, trying to understand what was going on.

Someone stole the gem? How? He captured Kaito Kid, the gem was supposed to be secured! So why?

These were the questions which were endlessly repeating in the lieutenant’s panicked mind, until, by quickly staring at a corridor, he caught the sight of a white cape and a white hat.

And at the enter of said corridor was, on the ground, the police uniform of the one he thought to be the real agent Simon.

At this moment, things were now clear for the Lieutenant, he didn’t caught Kaito Kid, he never did, he and the rest of the police have been played.

“-That dirty thief! He tricked us!” Lieutenant Roger raged, while getting up and letting agent Simon go.

“-That's what I keep trying to tell you!” The poor agent Simon groaned at him while massaging his sore arm. He was sure he will feel the pain for at least a week.

“-There’s no time to lose! Kaito Kid had stolen the gem, we must stop him before he escapes!” Lieutenant Roger yelled, ignoring the agent’s remark. ”AFTER HIM!” 

The police agents all ran toward the corridor where Kaito Kid was spotted, the run led them into the Egyptian collection room looking for the thief.

“-LIEUTENANT ROGER! LOOK OVER THERE!” Agent Leroy exclaimed, pointing at the other side of the room.

Kaito Kid was standing there, looking at them with his iconic smirk.

A smirk which made Raincomprix even more pissed than he already was.

“-So, you thought you could fool us? Well, too bad for you but the game is over! You are UNDER ARREST!” The lieutenant screamed while charging at the thief.

Meanwhile, the other agents were looking at the scene, agent Leroy particuliary, found that something wasn’t normal.

Despite Lieutenant Roger charging at him, Kaito Kid stayed still, not moving a muscle, as if the police officers weren’t there.

As if he wasn’t real…

Looking closely at the thief, agent Leroy, his eyes wide, finally noticed what was really going on and tried to warn his superior.

“-LIEUTENANT ROGER WAIT! IT’S ANOTHER TRICK!”

But before the lieutenant could register what the other agent just told, he crashed into; instead of Kaito Kid, was in fact a projection screen and found himself trapped under the sheet.

The other agents rushed toward the lieutenant, who was groaning and screaming under the sheet while trying to get out.

“-Lieutenant Roger! Are you alright?” Agent Simon asked his superior.

“-HELP ME TO GET OUT FROM UNDER THERE INSTEAD OF ASKING STUPID QUESTIONS!” Yelled Lieutenant Roger from under the sheet.

Meanwhile, in the room beside the egyptian collection, Kaito Kid was listening to what was going on and judging by all the commotion, it’s mean they had fallen into his trap.

“-Look like my “surprise” for them worked! Though, it’s a bit disappointing, they were very easy to fool!” Kaito Kid commented before smirking.”Oh well, too bad for them but good for me!”

On this reflection, Kaito Kid begined to walk away to find an exit.

He then looked at the gem in his hand, it was big and covered the palm of his hand and, unlike what the media were saying, it wasn’t exactly red, it was more of a purple redish color.

Welp, now he has the gem, all he had to do is get out of the museum, put the gem under a moonlight to check if the Pandora is inside and get back to his hideout.

But his project was interrupted by an authoritative and feminine voice strongly resonning.

“-STOP RIGHT THERE KAITO KID!”

Turning around, Kaito Kid got the, not so, surprise to find in front of him the well known Paris’s heroic duo, Ladybug and Chat Noir.

“-Well, well look at that! Ladybug and Chat Noir! I didn’t expect the heroes of Paris to honor me with their presence!” The thief commented with a smirk.

The heroic duo looked as the thief was walking to them.

“-And I must say, it’s even more an honor to meet you Ladybug!” He said before avoiding a direct attack from the two heroes and taking Ladybug by surprise by abruptly getting in front of her, his smirk still present on his face. “And I see that your fierceness is as strong as everyone says and, if I may add, they forget to mention you were also very cute, ma Dame !~” Kaito Kid complimented Ladybug and even gave her a hand-kiss, much to the latter’s shock.

The shock passed, Ladybug found herself extremely annoyed by what just happened.

“- Oh great Kwamis no! No, no, please no! Not another Chat Noir! ” Ladybug mentally begged.

It was painful enough to have to deal with Chat Noir’s constant flirting, but also dealing with another guy’s flirting and who was a thief, a criminal? It was unbearable.

Someone else wasn’t happy with Kaito Kid’s flirting toward Ladybug, said someone being Chat Noir, he wasn’t only unhappy with the situation, he was angry and jealous!

Who does this dirty thief think he was to flirt with his Lady?

The cat hero quickly put himself between Ladybug and Kaito Kid, staring with anger at the thief.

“-You stop right now thief! Ladybug is the Lady of only one and that is me!”He told the thief while pointing his staff at him.”You had your fun, but now the show is over!”

The first remark made Ladybug clenches her teeths in frustration and was making her best to not snap at her partner that she wasn’t his.

It was always the same thing with him, Chat Noir can’t help it but trying to flirt with her and at the worst times… ALWAYS…

She was sick of it.

Kaito Kid just smirked further at Chat Noir’s outburst.

“-Really now? I think, on the contrary, that the show is still going on, in fact…” The thief looked at the two heroes with a confident look.”I think we just get to the highlight of the show!”

Ladybug and Chat Noir get on guard, ready for whatever Kaito Kid was about to do.

But the next thing he told them really confused them.

“-If I’m not wrong, in France you had a tag game called “Chat perchés” right?” He giggled.”Well how about we play?”

As Ladybug and Chat Noir were about to attack him once again, Kaito Kid opened up his arms and declared in a playful tone. 

“- Chat! C’est vous qui êtes! ”

Without any warning, the thief clapped his hands together and, to the heroic duo’s shock, a thick smoke came out and in no time invaded the whole room.

At first disoriented by what just happened, the two heroes quickly get a grip and Ladybug wasted no time and used her yo-yo to spin it around to get rid of the smoke.

But when the room was once more clear, there was no sign of Kaito Kid as if he vanished into thin air.

“-Where did he go?” Chat asked while he and Ladybug were looking frantically everywhere.

Turning her gaze to the ceiling, Ladybug froze when she saw one of the windows wide open.

“-OVER HERE!” She screamed to her partner, pointing to him the window.

Ladybug quickly acted, grabbing Chat Noir and thanks to her yo-yo made the both of them go through the window from which Kaito Kid escaped.

Once they get on the window, the duo spotted Kaito Kid escaping on a hang-glider and have gone after him through the buildings’s roofs.

But as soon as they were about to closing in on him, they notice to previously clear night sky being quickly covered by dark clouds and heavy thunders were roaming everywhere.

In the roaming of the thunders a how so well know evil laugh shrilled.

“- AH AH AH! CITY OF PARIS! I, CLIMATICA, AM BACK! AND I’LL MAKE PAY THOSE WHO MOCKED ME! LADYBUG AND CHAT NOIR, COME AND HAND OVER YOUR MIRACULOUS! AH AH AH! ”

Ladybug was internally panicking.

Of all the nights, of all the times an akuma could have appeared it has to be when she’s trying to stop another criminal and of all the akumas possible it has to be Climatica!

Why dear Kwamis? Why? What did she have done to deserve this? And what she should do now?

Recomposing herself, Ladybug turned her attention to Climatica.

As a hero and protector of Paris it was among her duties to stop criminals like Kairo Kid, but fighting akumas and stop them from hurting anyone was Chat Noir’s and her top priority!

With her newfound determination, Ladybug turned to Chat Noir.

“-Come on Chat! We have an akuma to take care of!”

“-WHAT? But my Lady! We can’t let this thief get away! Didn’t you say earlier that it was our duty as heroes to stop criminals like him?” Chat Noir asked shocked.

“-Yes, I did! And I want to stop this thief as much as you do!” Ladybug explained, trying to stay calm.”But defeating akumas is our top priority and right now an akuma is wreaking havoc and will hurt a lot of people, or even worst, if we do nothing! so we better intervene before Climatica cause even more damages!”

Chat Noir stared at Ladybug for a few seconds before smirking.

“-You know what? You’re right my Lady, fighting akumas is a top priority!” Ladybug relaxed in relief as it seemed like her partner was understanding the situation.”That is why I think the best thing to do is you go fight the akuma while I catch Kaito Kid! Like this it will be killing two birds with one stone!”

… Aaaannnd goodbye relief and hello high anxiety and frustration…

“-What? Chat, no! You know we must do this together! Please, we don’t have time for this, kwamis know the rate of the damages and victims Climatica is doing right now!” Ladybug begged his partner almost desperately.

“-Oh don’t worry my Lady, you’ll manage just fine!” Chat flirtatious told her his smirk still on his face.”And if anything “cat-astrophic” happen, you’ll have the miraculous cure will revert any damages! Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a thief to “cat-ch”! See you later bugaboo!”

And just like that, Chat Noir have gone in pursuit of the thief living a desperately frustrated Ladybug behind.

“-CHAT! COME BACK! PLEASE, CHAT!” She was screamed desperately at her partner but he was now far away.

Her fists clenched in frustration, she just wanted to scream at her partner’s behavior, to letting all her overwhelming feelings go without caring if the whole town hear her.

But she can’t do that, she had a her duty as a hero to accomplish, now was not the time to had a break down.

Calming herself down, Ladybug took her yo-yo and took the other way toward Climatica.

It’s time to defeat another akuma.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kaito Kid admit it, it was rare to meet someone this determined to capture him during a heist, even inspector Nakamori didn’t last that long during a heist, and with the japanese inspector’s history of his endless determination to arrest him that mean a lot.

Especially after a good chase through building’s roofs after his escape with a hang-glider.

But he didn’t know if in Chat Noir’s case this determination to catch him was based on impulsive recklessness or blatant stupidity.

The fact the cat hero’s partner, Ladybug, seemed to be nowhere to be found and the sound of the rampage of a potential akuma attack far away give him an idea of what Chat Noir was doing.

And if his theory turn out to be right, then it will be official: Chat Noir was an idiot.

“-Look at that, Chat Noir! Fancy to see you there! All alone! Shouldn’t you be with your partner, fighting this “akuma” who just appeared a few moments ago?” Kaito Kid asked him with an inquisitive tone.

“-Don’t get casual with me! You’ll- Wait a minute! How do you know about the akumas?” Chat asked shocked.

This make the thief chuckle.

“-Come on, I may be a thief but I’m a professional one! And as such it’s normal for me to get as much informations as possible about the places of my heist!” Kaito Kid explained with a smirk.”After all anything could happen, so it’s normal for me to be well prepared for my shows and fulfill my role!”

Kaito Kid then get a more serious expression and give the cat hero a judgemental look.

“-And on the subject of “fulfilling our role” I ask again: What are you doing here chasing after a thief when there’s an akuma roaming around and not helping your partner to fight said akuma?”

“-My Lady is perfectly able to manage akumas! She’ll be fine until I join her later! But first I’m gonna put a stop in your little games! And you can be sure that I have a bone to pick with you! No one had the right to talk to my lady that way except me!” Chat Noir hissed at him getting in position to attack.

Which was making Kaito Kid completely unimpressed.

“-So you’re telling me you left Ladybug to fight an akuma, which, if I remember well my sources, is considered as your top duty as heroes, just because of a matter of pride? You’re not really the sharpest tool in the shed about priorities when it came to be a hero uh?”

At this remark, Chat Noir began growling in anger.

“-I don’t have to get lessons about how to be a hero from someone like you! What does a criminal like you know about being a hero more than a hero like me anyway?”

“-... Well, what I’m doing is the opposite of what you’re supposed to do, that's true! But, let’s see…”

Without any warning, he dashed toward Chat Noir, the latter barely had the time to react that in a blink of an eye that the thief was at the other side of the roof.

The cat hero stared at him surprised before noticed he was holding something he didn’t have before and this something turned out to be his own staff and he finally realized Kaito Kid stole his staff.

“-You are inattentive…”

Groaning in annoyance, Chat Noir jumped toward Kaito Kid in a attempt to grab his staff back, but everytime he was about to get it, Kaito Kid counterattacked by using the staff to block and hit Chat Noir, the latter rushing to make another attack hit after hit without any success.

“-You act before thinking way too much…”

“-SHUT UP!” Chat Noir screamed at him, ready to attack with a “cataclysm”.

“-CATACLYSM!”

As he was aiming his attack at Kaito Kid when the thief suddenly get out of the way, deviating the attack’s target from him to the building next door which was right behind Kaito Kid.

Realizing what was about to happen, Chat got no other choice but to quickly throw his attack away to the least collateral damages, which happen to be a billboard.

Chat Noir winced at the damages, it was, thankfully, just a billboard but his actions almost resulted in a catastrophe and he know his lady would had be angry at him if she was here.

“-You are impulsive and reckless…” Kaito Kid commented from behind him with a judgemental look while tapping Chat’s staff on his shoulder.

“-You…” Chat Noir answered angrily before jumping at him and tackled him on the roof’s floor.

But just as he was celebrating for finally having immobilized the thief, he realized too late that what he caught was a dummy dressed as Kaito Kid.

“-And finally from what I see in the situation…” Chat lifted his head at the thief’s voice and spotted him at the top of a chimney with his staff.”You are awfully stubborn and not in a good way!”

“-I’m not!” Chat Noir furiously denied.

“-Really? Then tell me was Ladybug alright with you going after me and leaving her facing the akuma on her own?”

“-I.. Well… Uh… Most of the time it’s harder for her to fights akumas alone and… Well… She might have asked me to drop the chase against you and to come fight the akuma with her and… I… Might have not listened to her?” Chat Noir nervously explained before recomposing himself.”-B-But it’s okay! My Lady is perfectly capable to face this akuma, I’m sure she’s fine!”

Kaito Kid looked at him deadpanned before turning his gaze at something in the horizon.

“-Does she now? Because from what I see she seem like she need help!”

Following the thief’s gaze, Chat Noir found himself face to an alarming sight.

Near the Effel tower was Ladybug fighting Climatica, but what was alarming was that the heroine seemed to had a hard time to fight the akuma and it seem like the worst risk to happen if she didn’t get help and quick.

Chat Noir was now looking in panic, he didn’t expected this to happen, it wasn’t his intention to put his Lady in a such bad situation!

“-Look like you made a bad mistake! And if you do nothing about it I fear your partner will pay the price of your stupidity!” Kaito Kid commented.”But I’m sure if you go right now you could get there in time! But of course that up to you!” He concluded and throwed the staff at Chat Noir.

The cat hero catched his staff and looked at Kaito Kid puzzled.

“-So what is gonna be Chat Noir? Your partner? Or your pride?” Asked Kaito Kid with his arms crossed.

Chat starred at his staff for a moment, thinking, before he tightened his grasp and raced across the buildings’s roofs to his Lady’s side.

As he watched Chat Noir leave, Kaito Kid smirked before turning and leave in the opposite direction.

“-Good choice!” He commented.

He then starred at the sky and frowned at the now heavily clouded night.

The sky was clouded to the point that even the moon wasn’t visible and that mean he will not be able to check to gem to see if it was the Pandora or not.

Kaito Kid sighed at this inconvenience.

“-Well, looks like I’ll have to wait for a more clear night to check! Oh well, it’s just a little set back! The most important thing is that this heist is a success, as always!”

With these words, Kaito Kid jumped across the roofs and in no time, disappeared among the buildings, without any traces, all was left was the noises of the heroes against the akuma and of the police doing their best to find the magician thief, without of course any success.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TO BE CONTINUED

[melancholy-marionette]

The Shuddering Releasing Later Tonight (hopefully x3) - then I will go cry myself to sleep T_T

Sooo, I'm gonna do my best to still release my O2A2 project later tonight like I'd hoped to, buuuut, my PC is now defunct AGAIN >.< Firstly, *puts on happy face* meet Styx! Voiced by the incredible - Vivian Reed :D

Styx may have a feminine appearance with an androgynous (but feminine-leaning) voice, but, being non-human, doesn't actually have a gender!

Styx is the only entity you'll encounter in The Shuddering, and is almost a little too pleased to see you!

*reverts back to sad face*

Sooo, yeah, I currently don't have a working PC again T_T Thankfully, I was able to export builds of The Shuddering prior to it becoming unusable, but if there are any bugs, I won't have a way of fixing them :(

I'm now attempting to finish off the itch page & draft posts on the old potato laptop once again!

This is the 2nd new PC that's been sent to me after the 1st one was faulty and had to be returned, and as of yesterday morning, it is stuck in an endless cycle of BSODs with all different error codes. During troubleshooting, the memory diagnostics tool also flags critical errors with the RAM. The 2nd PC has been kinda dodgy since day 1 with it randomly failing to boot some days + audio crashing randomly and then refusing to play any media files with sound. It also hangs randomly when just browsing Windows Explorer.

I did contact customer support to try and get help with the issues, but they just told me to do a CMOS reset, which sounded terrifying >.< I don't wanna touch any of the components inside the PC cos I worry I would break them!

Since I was in the middle of otome/josei jam, I just left things as they were and did my best to put up with the weird crap going on with the PC, making backups each night out of paranoia. My hope was that I would make it through the jam okay and that maybe the issues would improve somehow. But nope, they just got worse >.< Now I'm stuck with a PC I can't even use. Sometimes it refuses to boot entirely, others, it boots, but then only stays on for 5-20 minutes before it dies again. I spent most of the day (and night) troubleshooting, but nothing helps.

Customer support says it's probably gonna be a case of sending it back again for repair... but I would really just prefer to have a refund at this point :( They've sent out 2 now that don't work properly. Why would I have any faith left that a 3rd would be better?

I just want my money back so I can buy a PC from somewhere else that might actually send one that works. Actually getting the company to refund me is going to be a battle though I imagine. One that I'm really too tired to fight :( I don't have a choice though because the stupid thing took me years to save up for, so I don't have the luxury of just letting it go.

I swear I should have just demanded a refund right away when the first one they sent me sounded like a goblin revving up a chainsaw was living inside the case as soon as you powered it on >.<"

Anyways, sorry, just needed to vent because I'm stressed and devastated at the moment by it all. It took so long to transfer all my files and stuff over, and I've lost a small amount of project data for both LOVESTARVED & The Shuddering :( My paranoia backups mean most stuff is safe for now, but it's still frustrating to lose anything.

Here's to hoping the poor potato can at least hold out to launch The Shuddering later! x3 But first, I need a big break because I feel sick at this point, haha.

[elizmanderson]

one more sleep 'til publication day

(the muppet christmas carol (1992) is my favorite christmas movie and one of my favorite movies and I make this reference literally every time there's only one more sleep 'til anything ever)

after a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day yesterday involving a dead phone and a dying car, today I woke up to some lovely reviews from folks involved with the Remarkable Retirement blog tour, like this review from Just Geeking By (which comes along with an interview).

two days ago, we started a StoryGraph giveaway. The StoryGraph is a Black-woman-owned alternative to GoodReads (which is owned by Amazon), based in the UK. from an author perspective, they've been awesome to work with: responsive to questions, quick to update book information, and frequently helpful in unexpected ways. like, this graphic for the giveaway came from them - all I had to do was add my cover! which, with release day tomorrow, is so helpful, because it cuts down on how much time I have to spend prepping marketing materials for social media posts.

you can join The StoryGraph here, and enter the giveaway here. we're giving away three (3) hardcovers. the giveaway runs through May 18 and is open internationally (except to countries not accepting post from the U.S.).

some folks preorders have started coming in - mostly from Amazon, which has been getting the print version out for the last two days. not sure why it's been going out early, but I love seeing pictures of Edna in the wild, like this one from a friend.

because I am an ADHD trash possum, I spent most of today doing last-minute preparations for tomorrow's in-person launch party at Gathering Volumes in Perrysburg, Ohio. I still need to print out bingo cards (sorry, Edna), but I have lil prize bags ready to go for bingo winners, along with bookmarks and stickers for everyone. I...kind of have no idea how many people to expect, it could be as few as 10 or as many as 30 or more than that, but I simply do not know. so I'm bringing some cake and a deli tray and hoping for the best lol. at least I know some friends are for sure coming, so it won't be a case of "author has launch event, author is alone except for bookstore employees who were scheduled to work that day."

(if anyone's in the general vicinity of Northwest Ohio, the bookstore's event page is here. launch is 6:30-8:00p.m. EST on April 21!)

(for everyone not in the general vicinity of Northwest Ohio, I have some virtual events coming up as well. virtual events - as well as buy links - are on my linktree!)

[duckprintspress]

Meet the Merch! Check Out the “Many Drops Make a Stream” Extras

It wouldn’t be a Duck Prints Press pre-order campaign if we weren’t offering some absolutely awesome extras to go with your book purchase! When we open pre-orders for Many Drops Make a Stream by Adrian Harley TOMORROW, we’ll also be offering some merchandise – and you’ll be able to choose to buy a package that includes merch, or you can mix-and-match to get exactly what you want, or you can get just the book, if merch is just really not your thing. (You can preview the campaign deets here).

Wondering who Droplet is and why there are so many animals? This is a good moment for a refresher on the Many Drops Make a Stream blurb!

A memory-stealing cult. The ever-watchful City of Eyes. Making small talk. Join Droplet as she faces all these horrors and more…

Vigilante shapeshifter Droplet has trained her entire life to take down those with more power than scruples, but she still makes mistakes. When a rescue mission goes wrong, a memory-stealing cult of blood mages escapes with kidnapped captives in tow. To save them, Droplet reluctantly teams up with the outgoing, tenacious Azera. Droplet knows better than to trust a human—she made that mistake once, and that person’s betrayal scattered her community across the known world—and she can tell Azera is hiding secrets behind her sunny smile. But if they can’t learn to work together, even Droplet’s own memories could be lost.

Shapeshift main character? A chance to show off lots of fun animal forms? Heck YES that’s the direction we went when planning out the extras!

So what have we got for you?

An enamel pin of Droplet mid-transformation from a tiger to her signature goose form, 2 in x 2 in/5 cm x 5 cm, with glitter in the background color, featuring art by Aceriee (Instagram | Tumblr | Twitter). (Manufactured by Alchemy.)

Goose!Dux, the Droplet books’ custom Dux, as a die-cut sticker approximately 3 in x 3 in/7.5 cm x 7.5 cm. Designed by Alessa Riel. (Printed by Vograce.) “Goose” is Droplet’s favorite form (for good reason!) so when Dux got decked out for this book, of course we designed a Dux-goose.

An art print of the front cover (8 in x 10 in/20.25 cm x 25.5 cm), featuring Roui Cris’s (Tumblr | Twitter | Artstation) gorgeous artwork of Droplet and Azera flying over Sacarus, the City of Eyes. (Printed by PrintKeg.)

Patreon-exclusive extra: a wooden coaster (4 in./10.25 cm circular) engraved with art TO BE REVEALED. (it. might be a goose. just sayin’. there’s a Theme.) The artwork is by Aceriee, and the coasters will be manufactured by E. Conway, who also works with DPP as an editor.

How do you get the Patreon-exclusive extra? Easy! You just have to do two things: 1. Back our Patreon at the $10/month or $25/month level; and 2. Support this campaign by buying at least one of the pre-order offerings.

We’ve also got some merch-related stretch goals – depending how much money the campaign raises, we may also make a bookmark featuring the front cover artwork, an engraved wooden pendant with the Eye of Sacarus (that’s the eye motif featured on the cover!), and a wooden key chain featuring Goose!Droplet. We really hope we’ll be able to make some of this merch, too.

There is only ONE MORE DAY until this pre-order campaign launches on the Duck Prints Press website. Are you excited? Cause we’re hella excited. <3

(btw, in case you’ve been wondering when tomorrow, I expect to make the shop listings live sometime in the AM, EDT, and to make all the related updates to the Pre-Order Page and announcements on our social media shortly thereafter. Also, hi, I’m Claire Houck/unforth, the book’s editor and owner of the Press. I’m handling our marketing for this pre-order campaign! Nice to meet ya. 😀 )

[malady335]

AO3 is down which sucks because I just want to post the new chapter of RTBitM that I should have posted days ago. Oh well, I’m building a website for reviewing movies and such. I might post the link here if I’m done and if AO3 is down for weeks I can make a page that is just for RTBitM if anyone is interested.

I’ve been slow on RTBitM these past few weeks due to a change in schedule and a desire to start writing original fiction. I don’t have anything done yet. I wanted to wait to announce it when RTBitM was done but due to the attack I guess it won’t hurt to mention it now. RTBitM will probably be the final long fanfic I write. I am determined to finish it before I begin really working on making original fiction. I might come back to my other stories for fun but I want to channel my effort into writing I can make more my own.

What I’ve started already is very adult medieval fantasy with an emphasis on goblins and orcs. This will surprise no one who has been reading what I write for a while. The difference being I can make the world myself so I don’t have to work in the constraints of LotR. That of course comes with it’s own difficulties but I’m enjoying them more than I thought.

When RTBitM is done(which I expect will have between 10-25 more chapters) I will mention this in the authors note. I will update and link to the site I plan to make for these stories when I finish writing them and set it up. I want to set up a mailing list, have several free shorts and at least one book done before I launch the website.

While I don’t expect to make a lot of money on such a niche I think it would be great to get some incentive to write more. I love writing, I love writing dark, adult and emotional material but work makes it difficult to write as much as I would like. So it would be nice if I could cut some of my time at work to focus on writing or even doing art for my writing.

I hope everyone is doing well and wanted to let you all know that as soon as the site is back up I will post the new chapter.

[nickgerlich]

When Life Hands You Lemons

The semester is starting to wind down these days, especially for my grad students, whose term lasts only 13 weeks. It may seem like it is long at times, but it really is fast. And like many other semesters before, we have been treated to some very newsworthy, sometimes amusing, other times anger-inspiring, events that cause us to stand up and pay attention.



Like the ongoing worries over TikTok and whether it should be banished not just in individual states and on their government-owned devices, but nationwide. Australia just announced its complete ban on government-owned devices. In the US, in a rather odd come-together moment for the Right and Left, there is momentum to ban it here as well.



It’s just that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has more ammo in its case. The top apps right now for lifestyle and video editing are owned by them: Lemon8 and CapCut. Take that, you pompous lawmakers. We’re not just going to roll over and die.



CapCut is a handy tool for creating the reels that users post to TikTok or elsewhere. I only learned about it this last weekend from my oldest daughter, who said that “everyone’s using it” at the digital marketing agency she calls her professional home. Me, I use Mojo, which, for all I know, could be owned by ByteDance as well. She says it is much better than Mojo. I messaged Oldest Daughter yesterday about CapCut’s owner, and I could almost hear her gulp all the way from Dallas.



And then there’s Lemon8, the new social media app that is designed to take on both Instagram and Pinterest. But in the case of Lemon8, it’s only new to the US. Launched in 2020 to little fanfare, ByteDance kept it in limited circulation until now.

And now we know why.

Lemon8 is not an exact Instagram clone, however, focusing—at least for now—on fashion, food, wellness, and travel, among other general interest topics. Like BeReal, it shuns pretense, and urges users not to stage photos like many we see on Insta. The site also encourages users to include direct links to where viewers can buy featured products.

My question now is whether a ban on TikTok would also include a ban on Lemon8 and CapCut. And even if it does, what’s to stop ByteDance from continuing to roll out new apps to dodge federal bullets? Will it boil down to banishing all Chinese-owned apps, like Pinduoduo and Shein? This could lead to war, you know.

Which makes me begin to wonder if all this pomp and circumstance, this drum-beating, is an exercise in futility. Short of erecting a massive firewall around us, like the Chinese do to keep out western media, there’s little that can be done. Worse yet, it leads to frustrations among the people, especially when we live in a place that espouses First Amendment rights and freedoms. Fire up the VPN, as I have said before, and hope you don’t get caught. I hear that Chinese citizens can be in serious trouble if they do so. The last thing we need is a similar clamp down.

The other part of me wonders how people can continue to absorb so many social media sites. I am not opposed to the development of new ones at all. It’s just that there are still only 24 hours in the day, and I have a hard enough time just attending to Meta’s Facebook and Instagram. I have work to do, you know. Heck, my LinkedIn looks like a ghost page. I guess if I were looking for a job, I’d hop on it.

All of which means we are continuing to slice the market into ever smaller pieces, and as long as it can be done profitably, new sites will continue to roll out. Stir on the controversy of Chinese ownership, and Ima gonna have things to write about for a long, long time.

Let the user beware. There may be someone in Beijing looking over your shoulder.

Dr “But Still I Must Check It Out“ Gerlich

Audio Blog