#honestly at this point I'm not sure if I need to use those spoiler tags but better safe than sorry eh

[rosie-b]

Married in Black (know that she loves you back)

AO3 link

When Monarch learns that Chat Noir loves Marinette, he jumps at the chance to exploit the hero's weakness, but after mutiple failed attempts to capture Marinette and hold her ransom for Chat's ring, he decides to switch tactics. Monarch creates an akuma that can summon anyone's future spouse, sure that finding out Marinette will marry someone else will break Chat Noir's heart, priming him for akumatization. But what happens when Chat Noir doesn't react the way Monarch expects?

Spoilers for Season 5 through E:9 Elation/Exaltation! You can use the AO3 link above or read the entire fic below!

Chat Noir has feelings for Marinette Dupain-Cheng.  

Ever since the evening he’d nearly akumatized Marinette, Gabriel had been trying to figure out a way to exploit the hero's uncovered weakness.  

If Chat Noir was in love with Marinette — although this was likely just another short-lived crush, like his affections for Ladybug — then there must be some way to twist his emotions and force him to give up his Miraculous for the sake of his super-fan! 

But no matter how many akumas Monarch sent after Marinette, he’d never been able to capture her for long. Most of the time, she was already rescued by the time Ladybug and Chat Noir even showed up!  

More surprisingly, Ladybug, not Chat Noir, was the hero who saved her the most often. Monarch’s akumas had overheard Chat Noir complaining about this fact to Ladybug too many times for him to miss that detail. It seemed that Ladybug was just too efficient, too quick; by the time Chat slipped away to transform, she’d already found Marinette and moved her to safety. 

Monarch hated to admit defeat, so he wouldn’t. But he would change tactics, and quickly!

Creating an akuma to directly attack Marinette would be too predictable, so he would have to try hiding his true goal inside of a more innocent-seeming akuma attack. After all, any akuma could be sent to target Marinette; it didn’t have to be someone who was specifically upset with her! Even if Monarch did choose someone upset with the baker girl again, he could just warn them not to go around shouting about how much they hate Marinette while they were akumatized this time.

In fact, if Monarch—

“Sir.” 

Nathalie’s voice interrupted Gabriel’s pondering. Sitting up in his armchair, he looked up at his assistant, a frown on his stern features. 

“What is it, Nathalie? I’m rather busy at the moment, as you can see.” 

Nathalie scrutinized the thin book dangling from Gabriel’s listless fingers. “Yes,” she said drily. “I see that. However, I need to inform you that your son is considering something important, and I think that, as his father, you should know about it.” 

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “He's considering something? Like finally getting an Alliance ring of his own?” 

Nathalie closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, knowing that Gabriel would chalk any strange reactions up to her poor health. “No,” she sighed, opening her eyes. “He’s considering pursuing another girl romantically. He’s quite serious about her,” she continued, feeling her heart sink as Gabriel’s fists clenched and the corners of his mouth turned further downwards. 

“A girlfriend? Is she one of those hooligans from that public school, or is she at least somewhat acceptable as my son's love interest?” 

Nathalie sighed, pushing up her glasses, and relinquished all hope that this conversation would go pleasantly. 

“Actually, she is, sir. Both from your son’s school and up to your standards of what a girlfriend for Adrien should be. It's Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” she said, and the book slipped from Gabriel’s fingers. 

“What?” 

“She’s one of his closest friends,” Nathalie said, keeping her composure cool and collected. “And you’ve admired her ingenuity in fashion design before. I think they make a good match for each other, a strong couple that you should approve of.” 

Gabriel waved a hand in the air dismissively. “No, no, no, I don't care about that; I'm concerned with something else!” he said excitedly, standing up and walking a few paces over to where Nathalie stood, supported by her leg braces. “My son is in love with Marinette Dupain-Cheng? The girl Chat Noir has a crush on?” 

Nathalie frowned. “Yes, but I think that Adrien stands a better chance of winning her heart. If you look at these pictures,” she explained, swiping through a folder on her tablet, “You can see that Adrien’s feelings of love for her seem to be reciprocated, even if the girl herself doesn’t know about them, yet. Adrien stands a good chance of stealing Marinette's affections away from Chat Noir permanently if we help Adrien woo her properly.” 

Gabriel’s mouth slowly stretched into a grin as he took the tablet from Nathalie, zooming in on Marinette’s face as she smiled bashfully at Adrien, unaware of the hidden camera. 

“Good, Nathalie,” he said, and paid no attention to the woman’s confused, exasperated expression. “Your information is quite valuable. Thank you for sharing it with me.” 

Yes, Monarch could make something of that little cat’s emotions yet. Gabriel could almost taste his long-awaited success... 

  __*__*__*__*__

  There was another akuma, once more originating inside Francois-Dupont's brick walls. 

But this time, Adrien noted with relief, the akuma was not targeting Marinette! 

“Congratulations, girl,” Alya said jokingly as she ran off with Marinette ‘to find a safe hiding place.’ “You managed to not make anybody mad at you today!” 

Groaning as her best friend laughed, Marinette turned the corner, disappearing from Adrien’s view as her voice echoed down the halls. “For the last time, that coffee I served was not too hot! Lila was just looking for an excuse to come after me with some new, villainous powers. And as for the other day, you know how Chloe is!” 

Agreeing with Marinette in his head, Adrien ducked into an empty classroom and transformed into Chat Noir. This akuma might not be targeting his just-a-friend (for now), but Adrien would do his best to protect her from it by defeating it as quickly as possible! Now, he just had to figure out which way Tell-Tale went.

Probably outside the building, he decided. Adrien had seen her ex, a boy named Ali Monpourchien, running outside as soon as the akuma alert went off. 

Ever since Lili Anger found out that he'd been cheating on her while they were dating and promptly broke up with him, Ali had seemed tense. He'd been expecting this akuma attack for nearly three days, knownig on some level that he deserved Lili's wrath.

And with Monarch's help, the newly named Tell-Tale would bring it to him, dressed in a high-collared black wedding dress, covered in lace and dripping with blood.

Just as he usually did with his minions, Monarch must have drained all the love from her heart, so she could be targeting anyone now! Chat Noir rushed through his transformation, hoping he'd be in time to protect Marinette (and everyone else) from this new monstrous akuma.

  __*__*__*__*__

  Tell-Tale did not want to target Marinette. She was a great class president, even if she wasn’t Tell-Tale's, and she’d had just as much trouble in the love department as Tell-Tale herself had, probably even more! 

But that’s just another reason to find her, Monarch’s voice whispered in Lili’s head as she stalked down the hall leading to the courtyard door. If you touch her with your bouquet, you can use the power of the Horse and transport her future spouse to her, revealing who is truly worthy of her affections! Marinette won’t be plagued by uncertainty anymore; don’t you think that’s beneficial? You’d be helping her, not hurting her!  

That’s true , Lili mused, and she took another step down the hallway, listening carefully for Marinette’s voice. Maybe this plan of Monarch’s wasn’t so bad, after all. 

Excellent! Monarch cackled to himself. Now Chat Noir will learn how fickle girls’ hearts are. When he sees that Marinette’s true love is not him, his heart will shatter! And then... I shall have a new akuma, one far more powerful than any before! I think I’ll call him—  

A small body slammed against Monarch’s akuma, breaking off his internal monologue as he looked to see which unfortunate student had run straight into the akuma they thought they were escaping from. 

“Oh! I’m so sorry!” the clumsy student apologized.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng looked up from the floor and gasped as her eyes met Tell-Tale's dark black ones. It was if her entire eyeballs had been subsumed by the pupils, leaving them an inky black that sucked up light like a black hole. Unable to look away, Marinette froze on the floor, sitting with her legs splayed uncomfortably.

“Hello there,” the akuma purred, bending down so that her face was eye-level with Marinette's. In the background, Alya ran around the corner, freezing when she saw what had happened to her best friend. “It seems you’ve taken another nasty spill, Marinette! But don’t worry, I’m here to make sure you only fall for the right guy from now on!” 

Tell-Tale reached out and touched Marinette with the bouquet she’d been carrying in her right hand as Alya screamed, throwing herself in front of Marinette to protect her too late. 

A red flash traveled up Tell-Tale's arm from the bouquet, racing along the lace covering her black bodice and circling around the jagged heart cut-out on her chest. 

“What did you do to her?” Alya screeched, pulling Marinette up and away from the akuma. She stood in front of her friend defensively, eyes searching the hall for a weapon to use. 

Touching her left hand to the glowing heart on her chest and draining the energy from it, Tell-Tale smirked at the two cowering girls.  

“Why, I found her future spouse for you,” she said in a sickly-sweet tone. “If I bring them to you, Marinette, you’ll never need to worry about falling for the wrong person! I know I did,” she growled, wrenching her hand away from her chest and throwing the energy gathered in it out into the air. “Voyage!”  

As Marinette flinched and Alya looked mildly interested, Tell-Tale continued, “But now, you will never need to worry about making the same mistake. Here you go, Marinette: one future spouse, specially delivered just for you! Now, I can’t waste all my time here,” she said, turning to leave through the courtyard door just meters away. “I have one cowardly ex to find and punish. But I wish you the best of luck with your husband!” 

Pushing the door open and walking through it casually, long, black skirts swishing behind her and leaving a trail of blood on the floor, the akuma left the building. Meanwhile, a blond man, freshly summoned through the space-time portal and lying on the floor of the school, began to stir. 

Marinette clutched Alya’s arm tightly, hiding behind her friend. “I need to go,” she whispered urgently. “Tell him I’m sorry, but I have to stop that akuma before she finds Ali!” 

As Alya opened her mouth to respond, a different voice cut her off. “You know where the akuma is?”

Hearing the familiar inflection of the speaker, Marinette turned red and let out a little eep! as Chat Noir jogged up behind her, having come back inside after an unsuccessful outdoor search for the akuma. 

Alya grinned and waved him over. “Marinette just got hit by the akuma!” she squealed excitedly. 

Chat Noir blanched. “WHAT?! How? When? Just now?? And you’re okay with this? Some best friend you are! Did you get hit, too, or why aren’t you more concerned about poor Marinette? Marinette!” he gasped as he rushed to the girl’s side, spinning her around by the shoulders and checking her over for injuries. “Are you okay?” he asked worriedly, concern swimming in his green eyes. 

“She’s fine,” the man lying on the floor said groggily. Pushing himself up off the floor and tossing his blond hair out of his face as he stood up, he reached up to adjust his glasses, found that they were not on his face, frowned, and squinted down at the group gathered in the hallway.

He was in his pajamas, and his features had changed somewhat with age, but there was no mistaking it. Marinette's future spouse, pulled through time and space by Tell-Tale's powers, was none other than Adrien Agreste.

Before the group had time to react, the akuma barged back in through the courtyard door, dragging her ex behind by his hair. The unfortunate Ali yelled in agony, his leg getting caught in the door several times as it bounced shut. Blood landed on his face as it dripped off the akuma's gown, falling on his crisp white shirt and staining it red.  

“Sorry, guys,” Tell-Tale said cheerfully, gesturing with the bouquet in her hand. “Monarch and I nearly forgot to check out who Marinette’s lovely future spouse would be for ourselves. Oh! That’s Adrien, isn’t it! I’d recognize that face anywhere after seeing it on the billboards so many times. Congratulations, Marinette, I know you’ve got a thing for him!” 

Lili turned to leave again, but Monarch's glowing symbol appeared over her face, and she paused to listen to him, sighed, and turned back around, frowning.

"Are you happy, Chat Noir?" She asked huffily, with an aggrieved air.

Towards the bottom of her black wedding dress, red blood slowly oozed from the picots of the lace and began to pool on the tile floor.

"Happy seeing that you've lost our dear Marinette, that is," Tell-Tale continued at Monarch's prompting. "Seems to me you lost her before you even began to woo her," she added in a low mutter.

Chat Noir blinked, breaking out of his trance-like staring at the older Adrien's features. He scrunched up his brow as he thought of how to respond to the akuma's question.

"Yeeees," he said unsurely, remembering that Monarch knew about his crush on Marinette, and so might be trying to target him through this. "I'm... devastated." Chat Noir clasped his hands together over his chest, playing up his supposed heartbreak.

Tell-Tale squinted at him. "Your ears are still pointy," she said. "According to the Ladyblog's cat section, that's how they look when you're happy. I think you've just been faking your emotions for Marinette," she said in a gossipy voice. "Trying to make Ladybug feel bad about turning you down before. You don't really care about Marinette, do you?"

Yes he does! Monarch spat in Tell-Tale's mind at the same time as Chat Noir spoke out loud.

"Yes, I do!" he insisted angrily, and Adrien, who had rubbed the rest of the sleep out of his eyes and was now standing at Chat's shoulder, facing Tell-Tale with the rest of the group, nodded firmly, supporting his apparent love rival.

Oh, now Chat's ears are back, Tell-Tale noticed. And his tail is lashing. He's finally mad!

"Well, if your affections for Marinette are not false," Lili found herself saying Monarch's words out loud as they appeared in her head, which felt weird, "Then do something to prove it! Perhaps the facts simply haven't sunk in yet.

"This is Adrien Agreste," Tell-Tale said, gesturing to the half-asleep man wearing red and black spotted pajamas. "He is Marinette's future husband. Him, not you," Tell-Tale sneered, and the blood on her costume dripped faster in response to her growing anger. Ali let out a complaining whine at the growing red spot on his shirt.

For a second, Chat Noir looked as if he might flinch back from the vengeful akuma as she glared at him.

But his back suddenly straightened, and he looked Tell-Tale in the eye and declared, "You're saying that like I should object to her future marriage, but Marinette can love whoever she wants! If that's Adrien, then I'm glad to step aside and let her have a happy ending. I'm not angry," he said, "Though I am hurt that I will lose her affections. But I'm sure that, in time, I'll find my own purrfect partner. Now, let's get back to the point — you're targeting Marinette again, Monarch, even though I warned you not to do that!"

Widening his stance, Chat Noir frowned at Tell-Tale threateningly and pulled his baton from behind his back.

"Take Marinette and Alya to safety," he called over his shoulder to his future self. 

Adrien nodded. "Don't worry," he said. "I'll make sure they're protected."

He turned to Alya, who was recording everything on her phone, and Marinette, who was in a state of shock and kept staring at Adrien's Ladybug-themed pajamas, glancing up once in a while to frown at Chat Noir with her brow scrunched up.

"Marinette," Alya said, nudging her. "We have to go with Adrien now! Come on, let's find a place to hide!"

Marinette's gaze snapped over to Alya.

"'We don't have time to waste talking," Adrien said, grabbing Marinette's hand and pulling her with him as he and Alya ran from the akuma. "Trust me, this akuma might not look like it, but Tell-Tale is a dangerous fighter when she puts her mind to it. We need Ladybug, and soon!"

Lips thinning into a line, Marinette nodded once and looked back to Alya. 

"I think we might need to split up," she said. "I have some questions for Adrien, and then, well.. you know," she explained, feeling awkward with the akuma's eyes still on them as they ran.

Looking slightly disappointed, Alya shot her friend a brief, reassuring smile. "I know," she said. "Don't worry about me, focus on what you need to do! Just promise to tell me about it all later."

"I will," Marinette said, waving to her friend as she turned the corner and pulled Adrien into an empty classroom with her.

"Now," she said, her face growing serious as she dropped Adrien's hand, "I don't know how much you know, but I don't think I could let you wear these pajamas without making sure you know what they mean to me. Not that they mean something too specific! Or that you need my permission to wear clothes! You can wear whatever you'd like! I just—" Marinette covered her face as a blush spread across it.

Adrien smiled comfortingly at her as she peeked at him from between her fingers.

"I know what you mean, little bug," he said, gaze softening as Marinette let out a little squeak. "Don't worry about how your question came out when we have other things to get to, and so little time! Chaton Noir is going to be caught off guard soon, and you need to be there when he does. Now, I know that you are Ladybug... and I know that you still love Chat Noir, too. I get it, he's a tough guy to get over! So before you leave, let me assure you that mini-Adrien, your Adrien, understands this, too. It's okay that you love Chat Noir, Marinette— just like it's okay that he is still in love with Ladybug, even if he doesn't know it."

Marinette stared at Adrien, her mouth open in a little 'o'.

"He still loves me?" Her voice was broken even as she looked hopefully into his eyes.

Adrien nodded, still smiling gently at her.

"And he always will," he confirmed. "I know it doesn't make sense now, but picking which one of us to love is not a decision you need to make. You see, it's just the same," he said, glancing down at his watch. "You love Adrien and Chat Noir, and so does Ladybug, because she's you. And I love Marinette and Ladybug, and so does Chat Noir, for the same reason! Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Marinette tilted her head, considering Adrien's words. Suddenly, she grabbed his right hand, looking over it for a simple ring she thought she might recognize.

"It's me, Milady," Adrien said, and Marinette gasped.

"It can't be," she said, thunderstruck. "It can't be! Why would you tell me this now, anyway?"

A surprised shriek echoed in the hall outside the classroom.

"Because that would be the sound of my wife arriving," Adrien said, and walked over to the door. "She's transformed, so don't worry about Monarch discovering our secret identities, but you need to hurry over there and help Chaton Noir! My Ladybug can help in the fight, but it's your Lucky Charm that will send us back to our proper time."

Dazed by the speed in which the reveal had come about, Marinette murmured her transformation phrase quickly and strode to the door, which Adrien held open for her.

"Since I'm currently stuck as a civilian, I'm going to stay here," he said to her as she stepped over the threshold. "I won't see you again until you send your older self back to me, so I wish you the best of luck! It's not going to be easy, but I promise that everything turns out well in the end."

Nodding, Marinette looked back at Adrien, still feeling a bit shell-shocked but knowing that she had to face the akuma again sooner or later.

"Thank you," she said, offering a small smile. Walking down the hallway with a firm stride, she hissed under her breath, "I cannot believe an akuma just revealed my secret identity to Chat Noir before I could! Tell-Tale had better watch out."

  __*__*__*__*__

  As Tell-Tale fought off Chat Noir and an older Ladybug at once, Monarch's voice growled in her ear.

This can't be happening! Chat Noir was supposed to be upset by Marinette's marriage! And if he was still in love with her, as he seemed to claim, then finding out he was doomed to marry the same woman who rejected him time after time should have broken him! Clearly, this is a marriage of convenience for them. It's more of a business partnership! Why isn't he upset??

"If you would shut up already," Lili responded out loud, which startled Chat but didn't faze the future Ladybug, "Then it wouldn't matter, because I could just focus on defeating Chat Noir, grab the ring off his finger, and force Ladybug to yield to me! But you keep on distracting me," she huffed as she took another blow to her arm. "Honestly, you couldn't even give me a weapon?" she complained.

Monarch glowered in his lair as he took the teen's scolding. What would you do with a weapon? he asked. You aren't a fighting akuma! Your whole thing is looking scary but pretty and showing people who their true love is! Occaisionally, I can lend you the power to physically summon a spouse or two, but that takes a five-minute recharge time. Honestly, the more I think about it, the worse this idea seems! I should never have akumatized you, Monarch fumed.

Scowling, nearly vibrating with rage, Lili ducked another attack from the future Ladybug and spun to the left, landing a right hook on Chat Noir.

I'll have you know I've trained in MMA for years now! she responded mentally to Monarch's complaints. I'm only not a 'fighting' akuma because you decided it was a good idea to give me a full-skirted dress! And I'm still holding my own even in that, so who says that I'm not a fighter?

Monarch's voice fell silent for a moment, giving Tell-Tale the chance to dive under Chat Noir's swinging baton and grab his leg, wrestling him down to the floor.

I see, he observed. You have my sincerest apologies for underestimating you. And a new outfit, as a symbol of my thanks and trust.

The black, lacey skirts vanished in a surge of purple energy, leaving behind a tight black suit with red accents, the bouquet and heart cut-out on Tell-Tale's chest the last remnants of her old costume. Even her eyes had changed, Lili's hazel pupils returning, and her hair had changed from an elaborate, curly updo to a short ponytail more practical for fighting in.

Chat Noir blinked up at Tell-Tale. "Hey, what happened to the akuma?" he called out, confused.

"I got an upgrade," she replied smugly. "And so will you, if you'd just hand over your ring! I'm sure Ladybug will prefer a scrawny, powerless boy to a cat with two black eyes."

Chat Noir blanched as Tell-Tale curled her hand into a fist, bringing it back to swing at his face.

Before she could test her new powerset, two yo-yos wrapped around Tell-Tale's arm, pulling her off Chat Noir and spinning her off-balance.

"My Lady! You're here!" Chat Noir said excitedly, pushing himself off the ground and shooting her a flashy grin. "Twice over! I must be the luckiest cat, getting to work with two Ladybugs again! Now there's the younger you and the older you— not that you're old!" he squeaked, ducking to the side as Tell-Tale backflipped away from future Ladybug's assault, nearly hitting him in the head with her feet. "At least, I think you're not! And if you are, then you look very good for your age!"

"Less talking, more fighting, Chaton," the older Ladybug huffed. "And, mini-me? It's time for that Lucky Charm!"

Minibug nodded. "Lucky Charm!" she called, catching a single rose in her hands. "Got it! But I think you already know what it means."

"You know it," the future Ladybug agreed, and threw her yo-yo around Tell-Tale's right wrist, pulling her down and backwards. "Chaton Noir!" she called. 

"On it!" he responded, avoiding Tell-Tale's flailing limbs and prying the bouquet out of her hands. Now that her outfit had changed, it was the only possible option for where her akuma could be, and the Lucky Charm seemed to confirm it.

"Cataclysm!" The deep red flowers of the bouquet blackened and crumbled, allowing a little purple butterfly to flap its way out of the sweet-smelling prison.

"Ughhh," Lili grumbled as Minibug caught the akuma. Her fight suit had vanished, leaving a normal-looking girl on the floor in jeans and a t-shirt. "What happened? I have a headache, and my arm feels like it's been ripped out of its socket!"

"Miraculous Ladybug!" was the response she got, and it was all she needed, though the sight of a second, older Ladybug waving goodbye before vanishing caught her off guard.

"Oh," Lili said, her face flushing pink. "I'm so sorry, Ladybug and Chat Noir! I didn't mean to get akumatized! I've been fighting my negative emotions off, but I guess finding an old bouquet from my ex this morning pushed me over the edge."

Walking over to Lili, Ladybug smiled reassuringly as Chat Noir helped her off the floor. "It's all right, we understand," she said.

"Yeah," Chat Noir agreed. "Everyone's anger gets the best of them sometimes. Get it? Anger? And your last name is Anger? I guess it only makes sense in English," he sighed as Lili and Ladybug shook theiir heads at his attempted pun.

"Your emotions aren't something to be sorry for," Ladybug said simply. "Are you going to be okay?"

Lili nodded, her face solemn and resigned. "There's not really anything I can do," she said sadly. "But I know I can handle this situation. I just wish I could make sure I never fall for the wrong boy again."

Chat Noir gave her a gentle smile. "I hope so, too," he said. "Everyone deserves to be with someone who truly loves them."

Lili's face softened as she looked at the two heroes. "Yeah," she said wistfully. "They do." Flinching at the sound of the schoolbell, Lili smiled nervously. "Well, I guess I'd better get back to class," she said, jerking her thumb backwards in the direction of her classroom. "I don't know if they'll excuse my being late just because I got akumatized."

"They should," Chat Noir said. "And if your teachers don't, let us know and we'll talk to them!"

Flashing a grin, Lili waved at Ladybug and Chat Noir. "Thanks, guys! Have a good day," she said, and darted off to her class.

The two heroes waved back, waiting for Lili to disappear around the corner before turning to each other.

"So, you're 'sure that you'll find the perfect partner?'" Ladybug asked, crossing her arms and raising a brow at Chat Noir. "I guess you being Adrien explains why you didn't look as heartbroken as Monarch seemed to expect."

Chat smiled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "I wasn't wrong, was I?" he asked, his smile growing fond as he looked at his lady — who was also Marinette! "In all honesty, My Lady, I wasn't really expecting to find out who you are under the mask today, but as soon as I did, I couldn't hide how happy I was! It nearly cost me my ring," he chuckled, remembering how aggressively Tell-Tale had fought while Chat was in shock and the future Ladybug was getting her bearings. "I was overwhelmed because, really, how lucky can one cat be? First I found out that I'd get to marry Marinette-you, and then I found out that you're not just the caring, talented girl who sits behind me in class, but also my amazing partner, who's actually been in love with me this whole time! I nearly swooned," Chat gushed, grinning widely.

Ladybug blushed furiously as her earrings beeped a one-minute warning. "Chat," she protested, raising a hand to her ear, "You shouldn't say such sweet things to me when we should both be finding a safe place to detranform!"

"Why not?" asked Chat Noir, leaning closer to Ladybug. "You were the one who started this conversation. We still have plenty of time... unless you plan to use it for something else."

Ladybug scoffed, turning her face away and trying in vain to look unaffected by the hopeful gleam in Chat's eyes, somewhat dampened by his partner's rejection.

"Like what? Come on, Chat," she said, and walked over to the courtyard door, holding it open for Chat Noir to walk through. "We should at least get outside before our transformations drop. You don't have much more time than me," she pointed out, and Chat's ring beeped in agreement.

Glancing down at it, Chat Noir looked surprised, but he smirked as he walked up the open door. "So, you do have some plans for our time together?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows at her.

Still blushing though her face had cooled down considerably, Ladybug offered Chat a smirk of her own. "Maybe I do," she said smoothly. "But you won’t find out unless you stop acting so catty and follow me!"

Shocked, Chat Noir's mouth fell open. "My Lady!" he gasped. "I can’t believe it! You— you—”

As Chat Noir clasped both hands to his chest dramatically, as if he’d been shot through his heart, Ladybug’s smirk faltered. Had she come off too harshly? She hoped Adrien knew she’d only been joking!

Suddenly, Chat grinned, looking down at Ladybug gleefully. “You punned! This day can't get any better!" he cheered.

Ladybug sighed in relief, letting go of the door to hook her arm around Chat’s as he stepped into the courtyard with her.

"I can think of a few ways to prove that wrong," she said, looking up at Chat with a grin of her own. "Beating me in UMS and Lila Rossi switching schools being two of them. But for me, nothing can beat finding out that you still love me! For a while, I thought I'd blown all my chances with you."

"Never!" Adrien insisted, vehemently shaking his head. "Milady, my father himself could tell me to give up on you and I wouldn't listen to him. You're my partner, my best friend, my future wife," he said, a blush prettily covering his cheeks. "I've always loved you, and I always will."

"And I will always love you, mon chaton," Marinette said, gazing tenderly into his eyes. "Now and forever."

  __*__*__*__*__

  "I may not know the first thing about this MMA fighting thing, but I'm certain that Ms. Anger was nowhere near as practiced as she claimed to be," huffed Gabriel as he paced in front of an exhausted Nathalie, who was sitting up in bed and patiently suffering through Gabriel's intrusion on her privacy as she worked on updating Adrien's schedule for next week. "Why else would she have lost even with her new suit? We had not just Chat Noir and Ladybug, but a future Ladybug, too, within our grasp! If Ms. Anger had actually made an effort, we could have—"

"Sir," Nathalie cut Gabriel off in a cold voice, "Ms. Anger is just a teenager. Are you even listening to yourself? All you did was change her outfit, not even granting her superhuman strength like you did with Anansi, and expect her to somehow overpower not one, not two, but three superheroes, one of whom has had more years of practice fighting with her Miraculous than even you! You can lour all you want to about the outcome of today's attack, and rightly so, but, Gabriel, you can not place the blame for your defeat on Lili."

"But that's not even the worst part about the attack!" Gabriel exclaimed loudly, pausing to take a sip from the coffee cup he was holding. "For a while, everything went to plan! Tell-Tale hit Marinette, and revealed her true love to the world! Chat Noir found out about it with no time to prepare for the shock... but he wasn't even a little bit hurt! If anything, he was excited! And then, when I had Tell-Tale summon his own future spouse, thinking he would finally show some disappointment, he was only surprised and confused to see Ladybug! And he got over it in a matter of seconds, and became nauseatingly happy, instead! I don't understand why my plan failed to work! I could have akumatized Chat Noir into Chat Blanc and won his and Ladybug's Miraculous by the time Adrien came home from school, but instead, he— he—"

Gabriel gestured aimlessly with his oversized coffee cup. Nathalie took it from his hands before it could spill over the edge and land on the white inner sheets of her bed.

"Of course, Chat Noir wasn't going to be upset after finding out that he's going to marry Ladybug," Nathalie said in a vexed tone. "Any fool could see that he hadn't gotten over her yet. And it turns out that he never will," she observed, looking back down at her tablet. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm a bit busy at the moment. But thank you for sharing your information," she said with a smirk. "It was very valuable."

Gabriel held back a scream of rage as his assistant took a sip of his coffee.

[astraariel]

scarlett love

pairing: sanji x fem!reader

summary: you forgot him, chose to let Sanji go, but was that enough? would the universe leave you alone and let you live in peace?

word count: 4.1K

warnings: cursing; spoilers (?) just mention of a character from the whole cake island arc, it’s a modern!au so I don't mention anything about the actual arc!

tags: angst; fluff; hanahaki disease; modern!au; reconciliation; second chances; unrequited turned requited; slight self-hate; happy endings

author’s note: okkkkay here it is. so many of you guys asked for it so here’s pt 2 to eternal snow! I initially wanted to post the mihawk fic first that i'm working on but I can’t finish writing it for the life of me so I decided to work on this one instead lol.

like I mentioned before, this is part 2 to this fic so obvi read that before you read this one!

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

They say people who have the surgery are doomed for life.

How could they choose to never love again; how could they deliberately go through with the surgery knowing they would never have those emotions again?

But in actuality, it was the choice of forgetting about that love. 

People don’t know the grievances and the strength it takes to choose to forget the love of your life. They don’t know the despair of being in love with someone wholeheartedly knowing they don’t love you back.

That you would never remember those emotions for whom you loved. 

You saw it as this: if you couldn’t live to love your person, you wouldn’t bear to love at all.

So in that way, you won.

You gained the power to no longer grieve for your love because you simply couldn’t remember him.

Since hanahaki disease was rare, there weren’t too many recovery patients to base knowledge on since many of the victims chose to die rather than to be saved. 

So you were honestly going in blind.

Nami would sometimes ask you if you could remember anything, a nervous look on her face, you knew she remembered your past love, but the doctor had told her to not mention anything to you in your recovery period. You think she asked out of curiosity.

Or maybe fear?

But every time you’d just tell her that you couldn’t, your head would hurt if you thought too hard and too long about who you had lost.

If you could remember specific memories, they weren't fully visualized, they were static, like when an old TV was out of range from the signal and would struggle to picture the channel.

All you could remember was his silhouette, his figure blurry and his name was always on the tip of your tongue but you could never place your finger on it. 

You remember during your first check-up, the doctor had asked you if you could describe your past love, 

“I'm not sure.” 

Your voice had been wobbly like you were on the verge of crying. Tears had pricked your eyes, along with the feeling of not being able to breathe even though those damn flowers were gone. 

Not being able to understand why?

That feeling went away a week later.

You laugh at yourself now, chiding yourself for being ridiculous back then. 

At what point could you have allowed yourself to be so deeply in love with someone that it was killing you? You could never understand. 

It was an absurd, abysmal idea that you had ever gotten to that point.

While the doctor said the following months would be difficult getting used to your new life of having one less emotion, you were fine.

It had helped that Nami had stayed by your side, and when she couldn’t Sanji would.

Sanji was an angel. 

He tended to your every need, always made sure you didn’t lift a finger even after you told him multiple times you could do it yourself. 

But he always reassured you he didn’t mind.

You were sad to hear that he stopped seeing Pudding. It was honestly too bad because she was good for him, he deserves someone who can love and care for him just as much as he cares for others.

Nevertheless, you were glad he was here for you. 

The sound of music playing softly in the background comforts you as you shuffle through your kitchen making dinner. 

You and Sanji have recently started having weekly dinners with each other, an idea he came up with.

“We can update each other about our lives, good ole fashion face-to-face interaction.” 

“I don’t think my life is going to change too much in the week we don’t see each other, Sanji”

The sound of the door ringing pulls you from your thoughts, drying your hands with a towel, you walk over to the front door.

The cool November breeze greets you as soon as you open the door, Sanji’s figure fills your view. 

The coat he’s wearing to protect himself from the wind encapsulates him in a way that makes you smile instinctively, you can see his red ears peeking from under his blond hair.

“Come in, come in, I was just finishing up dinner.”

“Oh, can I help you with anything else?” he offers while shrugging off his jacket and hanging it on the coat rack beside the front door. “Or are you not allowing me into your kitchen again?” he smirks toward you.

You roll your eyes and scoff, “It’s my turn to make dinner, you cook for a living, it's my time to shine now, dude.” He chuckles and begins to set the table for the two of you. 

The warm food fills the plate in your hand, placing it on the counter, you grab another plate. “So, how’s work?”

Sanji grabs both of the plates and brings them to the table, setting them down, he looks back at you. “Ah, the old man’s got me working late most days.”

You smile softly at the scene; since you can remember you and Sanji have been able to work in tandem. Back when Nami first introduced you, it was like a pull connecting the two of you, also guiding and leading the two of you in perfect harmony.

It was nice.

Finishing your dinner, Sanji grabs his cup, “That was delicious, thank you.” 

“Well I did have a decent teacher,” you say into the glass smiling, gulping down the liquid you set it back down and look at Sanji.

He goes to say something before he’s interrupted by a cough.

Sanji turns his head and coughs into a handkerchief he pulled from his pocket, he quickly wipes his mouth before looking back at you, “Sorry ‘bout that.”

Shaking your head in acknowledgement you begin cleaning up the dinner table. 

“Oh I forgot, I bought flowers, they’re in the living room let me grab them real quick.” Sanji stands quickly.

Turning, you watch him walk away, not catching the lone petal falling out of his pocket.

♡‧₊˚

Vinsmoke Sanji has done a lot of things.

Some of which he regrets, but others he stands by, but there was one that met both criteria.

And that was you.

He was glad he met you, that he was able to spend time being with you, loving you, and knowing that you loved him back.

But he regrets hurting you. He regrets letting himself be temporarily infatuated with Pudding. Sanji had laughed in the face of fate, and in return, he got what he deserved.

His impending end.

The petals had shown up the day you went into the hospital.

While you were given a second chance at life, Sanji had just signed his away. 

He remembers the memory of Nami telling him what had happened. He had it permanently seared into his brain, never allowing himself to forget the moment. 

Her eyes were red, face hot with anger when she pulled up to his house.

“You absolute idiot.” He hadn’t even fully opened the door before she was swearing at him, cursing him to the ends of the earth over what he had done. “You did this. You caused that pain…if I hadn't found her…,” her hands had started punching his chest. 

“She would have been gone, all because of you.”

A part of Sanji died that day. 

So when he got the same disease you had, he knew he deserved it.

Wasn’t it only right that he got the same death sentence that almost took you away?

It was slow at first, from what Nami had told him about your situation, Sanji knew this was how it started. 

The first few weeks were bearable, he could go about his daily life without causing any suspicion. No one would ask if he was okay or anything, just simply being able to cough into a tissue and discard it quickly.

Then the blossoms came.

After one terrible night of constantly coughing up blood and flower blossoms, Sanji did some research. He knew the full blooms were next along with the finishing blow of the roots. It had only been a month since you had your surgery, and yet his hanahaki was a lot more accelerated in comparison to yours.

A month since he had realized he was deathly in love with you.

But he could bear this burden. Who was he to complain about his death trickling closer than it normally should? 

Sanji remembered the moment he realized his disease would finish him more swiftly, that he was faster along than he typically should be; whether it was because the universe knew you could never love him back or it was simply his punishment for what he did.

Probably both.

Even though he knew he could easily fix the problem, he didn't have the right to get a second chance.

How could he? 

How long did you spend hiding your condition away, not even when he had broken things off, before then? How long were you hurting because you knew he was lying when he said he loved you?

The gall he would have to have to go through with the surgery? 

Absolutely not.

But deep in his heart, he also couldn’t bring himself to forget you. He’d rather be a coward and a liar than choose a life undeserving of him.

He would rather die than forget you, to never be able to love you again would be death itself.

He hated himself for what he did to you. The insolence he had to hurt someone as caring as you, why did he take advantage of that?

He himself every day.

If he had to live with constantly coughing up blood and bending over the toilet puking up flower petals just for you to live your life? Yeah, he could do that. He could live with the pain of knowing that you would never love him back.

That you could never love him back.

It quite literally was in human nature that he would never be saved unless he did the surgery, since you couldn’t even love anyone anymore.

Sanji’s hand lifts his handkerchief up to his mouth, his body heaving with a hard cough of petals.

He sighs.

♡‧₊˚

The TV light shines on both you and Sanji’s forms as the movie comes to an end, the ending credits miniaturizing as the screen recommends a shitty Christmas movie that has the both of you turning to the other.

“That was an unnecessarily long movie.” Sanji’s comment makes you laugh.

“Right? God, it was dragging on for a really long time.” Shaking his head he stands up to place the popcorn bucket on the kitchen counter. 

You follow him holding the cups that held lemonade two hours ago. “It’s getting late, I should probably go.”

“Yeah, probably, oh wait-I bought something for you, meant to give it to you when we had dinner at your place but I forgot.” Sanji’s voice trails as he goes off to his bedroom. 

You stand there for a couple of minutes before checking the time, “Yo, Sanji, did’ya get lost?” laughing to yourself, you walk over into the bedroom. Your eyes immediately meet Sanji’s form hunched over on the ground.

A gasp falls from your lips as you rush over to him. “Sanji, oh god, are you okay what’s wrong-”

You cut yourself off when you bend down to look at him, there you see a pool of blood on the hardwood floor, petals scattered around the scene with a full flower bloom sitting in his hands. 

“What?” you can’t breathe.

Sanji says your name but you don’t hear him, your brows knit together as you look up at him. “I don’t understand why are you coughing up petals?”

No? This couldn’t be happening.

Your heart breaks.

Who did Sanji love so dearly that he was cursed with the same disease that had you in its chokehold not long ago? 

You would never wish this on anyone, no one deserved to live through the hurt of having unrequited love.

“You weren’t,” he wipes his mouth, “you weren’t supposed to find out.”

“I don’t-why wouldn't you want to tell me? If anything, I’d be the only person able to understand. Sanji, who is it?” your eyes scan his face. 

Sanji’s ragged breathing fills the air between the two of you. “I can’t.”

You furrow your brows even more, shaking your head. “Please just tell me so I can help-”

“You can’t.”

“What do you mean, I can’t? You’re not making sense.”

Sanji closes his eyes. “It’s you.”

You stop breathing, the figure in your memory rushes to the forefront of your brain like a tsunami. 

In the past the figure was always blurry, never in frame in your mind, only being able to trace his silhouette, but now it was different. 

It was like he was right in front of you like you could smell him, feel his hands in yours, his warmth. Feel his lips against your lips when he-

“It was you.” your voice was quiet, “You were the one I loved.” 

His eyes snap at yours, a gasp falling from his lips.

“The person I loved so deeply… that it caused me so much pain.”

And there it was, the fog had been lifted.

“How could I have forgotten?” How ironic the entire thing was.

“Why would I ever forget about my love for you, Sanji?” you look at him, “What grief did you cause me?”

A tidal wave of emotions, affections, all poured out of your soul and into your memories. The months of coughing up petal after petal till they turned to full flower blooms. The fear that a root would pop up once you pulled your tissue from your face. 

The pain and the hurt that Sanji had caused you. 

The pain of knowing that he didn't love you anymore.

It all came rushing back.

“Why would you keep this from me?” you were getting angry, but was it for the right reason?

Hadn’t you done the same with him? Hadn’t you kept it from all the people you loved as well?

“You know why I went through with the surgery? It wasn’t Nami who made me, well not partially, but why I allowed myself to let her drive me to the hospital was because I didn't want you to suffer.” your eyes were burning, the tears threatening to fall.

“I don't understand?” Of course, he wouldn’t.

“You were obviously unhappy, Sanji. If I removed myself from the equation, it would solve everything and at…at first I thought dying was the solution I really did.” your eyes drop, “And maybe Nami finding me was a saving grace but, I originally wasn't gonna do anything.” 

“Week after week, Sanji, I was drowning. I wanted to yell at anyone who would listen and ask why I couldn't have anything, why couldn’t I be happy? That the universe had some sort of fucking vendetta against me.”

“So I decided to let you go, to choose to live a life of unknown heartache, and when I finally thought I had accomplished that. The universe just spits in my face by cursing you.”

“Don’t you see it? We don’t belong together, Sanji.” The anger was gone now, all that was left was emptiness.“We have the signs, we need to heed them and move on.”

Sanji says your name with a plea, but you ignore him. “Just get the surgery, stop hurting the both of us.” 

“It does us no good if you're dead.” And with that, you walk out of the bedroom and out the front door.

♡‧₊˚

The quiet murmurs of the newscaster talking about the weather for the week could barely be heard from the running water you were using to wash the dishes. 

You haven't seen Sanji in a couple of weeks, not since he announced that you were the one whom he was in love with. 

And definitely not since you remembered he was the one whom you had loved before.

And while at first, you were angry. Angry at him for lying and keeping such vital information from you.

It later turned to guilt. 

Guilt for getting angry at him. Guilt for causing him pain.

But it wasn’t your fault, it’s not like you chose not to love him, you physically couldn’t anymore. You signed that ability off months ago.

But you also missed him. Since you weren’t talking to him, you weren’t having your weekly dinners or your impromptu movie nights anymore.

You missed just talking to him. You missed the lame jokes he’d tell in hopes of hearing your laugh, that smile he’d get whenever he spoke about a new recipe.

You missed him.

But you were also confused.

After he had revealed that he loved you and you had remembered that your past love was him, it became too much for you to handle.

Glancing at the moon, you dry your hands on a towel and walk into the living room. The weatherman was currently informing you of a chance of rain tomorrow during the already cold late January weather.

Sighing you go to sit down before something catches your eyes. A picture frame that hangs on your wall glints as you walk toward it.

It was a photo of you and Sanji looking at the camera with wide smiles on display from Sanji’s birthday two years prior. On top of your heads sat a birthday hat colored blue for the sea theme your friends had thrown together as a joke for the blonde that year.

You remember how you felt that day, the anxiety of wanting to get Sanji the perfect gift and when he finally opened it, he had hugged you which had you blushing like crazy while you swatted his “thank yous” away.

God, where did this deja vu come from?

It was weird, you weren't sure what it was.

It felt like your entire being was full. Full of intense and overwhelming emotions, an emotion you shouldn't feel. An emotion that was eradicated from your life when you stepped out of that hospital.

But here it was, rearing its big ugly face once again.

For Sanji.

You stumble back as if you had been shocked with electricity. 

Looking around your apartment you close your eyes.

How could this happen? Why were you still being punished again?

You had endured the pain, chose to get rid of it and now you’ve been having to live with knowing that Sanji also was experiencing the exact same pain.

Sanji.

How could you have been so cold? Telling him to do the surgery? What was wrong with you?

You missed him. You missed your love for him. The feelings you’d get when he’d look your way. Sanji was your ambrosia and you needed him to survive.

But you didn’t miss how you felt when he chose another over you. Those feelings you wished you hadn’t remembered.

You weren't sure how you were still able to feel Sanji's love. But here you were.

An anomaly that you were. 

Guess that shows how deep your love truly was rooted.

How could you have allowed yourself to forget?

The drive to Sanji’s apartment was quiet, opting to not play music or turn the radio on so that you could think clearly with your new (re) developed emotions.

Pulling up to the driveway, you step out of your car. The jacket you have on trapping your heat from the cold winds of the night. 

The few steps to the front door felt like a lifetime. The moonlight provided a little comfort to your restless self.

Exhaling, you bring your hand to knock at the door, a small part of you hoping Sanji wasn’t home so you could go home and pretend like nothing happened.

The door swings open revealing Sanji. His eyes were wide like he couldn’t believe you were standing in front of him.

“Hey…can I come in?” you look up at him expectantly.

“Yeah, yeah come in.” Sending him a quick smile you walk past him and into the living room. 

He shuts the door and faces you, you turn and finally get a good look at him in the light. 

He looked worse for wear, his eyes had bags under them, a sign he hadn’t been sleeping if at all. Whether that was because of your argument or his condition, you didn't know. One hand was in his pocket and the other was fiddling with his handkerchief. 

“How are you…” signaling your hand at him, “I mean physically, how are you? What stage?”

He looks away, “well…I’m still living,” he chuckles quietly.

You sigh. 

God the two of you were truly messed up.

“It all came back.” 

“What?” he questions.

Your eyes begin to glaze over, “My memories, everything.” you wet your lips, “All of it, Sanji.”

“It just-all came back…on top of our argument, of you telling me you loved me.” Tears fell down your cheeks. “Of how I felt when you were-when you were with Pudding.”

He says your name.

“And I hated it, I hated remembering how I felt, Sanji. I remember pitying myself, wondering what I had done wrong, why you hadn’t loved me anymore,” he says your name again, “but I also remembered how I felt loving you.” you look up at him with your tear-streaked face.

“And I will never regret loving you, not then, definitely not now. I also don’t regret forgetting, because I understand why I did it. I loved you enough to be able to let you go. To be able to know you’ll live your life happily, whether that’s with me or someone else. I didn’t care. Just that you were happy.” 

“But I wasn’t-”

You cut him off, “I knew you didn't love me how I loved you, but I still knew you cared. So if I had died, even from death, I would have hated myself for hurting you. So I chose to forget.” you wipe your cheek, “I just wish you had never gotten that godforsaken thing as well.”

“Sanji I…I love you wholeheartedly. You encompass my entire existence. I live for you. Even now, when I didn't remember how I felt for you. It was there. My love for you was still inside. And it always will be. I think even if you hadn’t told me you loved me now, I would have remembered anyway. Simply because that’s who I am, I am my love for you, you consume my entire soul.” You probably looked like a mess.

“You look beautiful.” Did you say that out loud?

You smile softly, “So when you admitted that you loved me, that I was inadvertently hurting you, I couldn’t take it. I had been the monster I sought to eliminate. So I pushed you away.” you sigh, “I pushed you away because I didn't want to go through the same pain again. I was selfish if you had just done the surgery, I'd be able to forget about this again and you wouldn't even remember.” you walk toward Sanji. “I’ve learned that I can’t run away from you anymore. And I’ve realized that I don’t want to lose you again.” 

“So let me save you.”

Sanji’s face was red, his eyes were blurry with tears, his fist clenching his handkerchief filled with petals and blooms.

“I’m so sorry.” Sanji’s voice trembles, “I am so sorry, I caused you so much pain, if I could take it back I would. And I don’t even deserve you, I’m not worthy of your love, but if you allow me, let me make it up.” 

You close the gap between the two of you and pull his lips toward your own. They’re slightly chapped and both of your guy’s faces are wet but you don’t care. You feel his fingers carding through your hair, pulling you deeper. 

This kiss was different from any others before, this one was filled with desire and want but it was also filled with joy and love.

You were finally happy.

You pull away first, breathing heavily and your face flushed, “You already are.” 

“I love you so much, please never forget.” you wipe a stray tear, cradling his face. 

You want to commit this memory in your brain. No more forgetting, no more letting go. To make sure that for the night, no cough was to be heard, no petal was to be hidden, 

just two lovers finally with one another, forever.

[bloopitynoot]

Reading SVSSS: Chapter 7

For those who don't know, I am reading SVSSS for the first time and sharing my thoughts!

If you have not read it, there will be spoilers! Consider this a warning.

Also- if you want to follow along, I am aiming to post updates daily. You can find all the posts in the tag bloopitynoot reads SVSSS. You can also check out the intro post for context on my read.

A new day a new chapter! Today we get into the Water Prison. The real question: will Shen Qingqiu actually make it out?

No Charlie pics today, I have been abandoned at my reading/writing station, but I do have tea! Tea today is a blueberry jasmine.

Let's get into it!!!!

What the fuck?! Is this an acid lake? p89

Dang it really is crazy how after two accusations with zero evidence or proof that Shen Qingqiu actually did anything, he get's locked up in maximum security prison. p89

Right now I'm having war flashbacks from MDZS -> another protagonist out here doing their best with the rest of the world just making shit up about them for fun. RE: Little Palace mistress and her delusions of what SQQ did. She literally even says- he didnt say you did anything but I have a vibe. Like what? p91

We are gathered here today to all witness how Shen Qingqiu is once again refusing to acknowledge that he is indeed the Love Interest. Honestly, does anyone ever tell him? I live for the day the system changes his classification from villain to Love interest and actually tells him this. Idk if it happens, but now I need it to happen. Re: "what fit even less was the fact, in the original work, the Little Palace Mistress's refined iron whip had only been used for attacking love rivals" p93

Luo Binghe to the rescue!! p94 just catching that whip

Okay but when SQQ states that something is wrong with the script- is he actually on the path to understanding? or still clueless? I hope he sort of realizes what's happening, because dang this guy has 0 idea Luo Binghe would kill for him p95

OOP. "There is no need for Shizun to be so wary. If I wished to do something to you, I wouldn't need to touch you at all" p96

Re: point above about "is he understanding?" *deep sigh * SQQ has not learned at all and refuses to actively listen. He is still trying to follow the old script p.97. Okay but I do love how this guy is accidentally getting himself (in a weird way) romanced.

I honestly am pretty sure this is a dating sim XD "*to the system* Do you think we're playing a dating sim?!" p99

omg torture via demon blood is horrible. Like this is a worst nightmare, having little bugs in your organs NO THANKS. p101

I'm crying LOOOOOL two options; 1. the fake jade guanyin. 2. [Activate Small Scene Pusher] and gets his CLOTHES ripped off. Bro is now the lead in a period bodice ripper XD p102

*face palm* "Does it just take advantage of Luo Binghe's physiological disgust upon seeing a man's half-naked body?" p104. no my man, it is not disgust

oh no, giving him his outer robe made it more scandalous p104

RIP confirmed that that is the previous canon's sex robe p106

literally everyone has a feeling about what's up. Gongyi Xiao is eyeing SQQ, see's the robe and does indeed assume things about SQQ and Luo Binghe. How stupid is SQQ??? p107

Re: the note from Shang Qinghua to SQQ. Shang Qinghua is also an idiot, this guy had 1 job and that was to not fuck up the mushrooms. he goofed this exponentially. RIP those mushrooms. p109

Welp. Gongyi Xiao is realizing that Luo BInghe may not be as pure of heart as he thought p112

it's so much worse though- he really thinks that Luo Binghe assaulted SQQ and is now helping SQQ escape. p113

meanwhile SQQ is living in his own universe LOL no idea these are the assumptions. Also, IDK what's going to happen when Luo Binghe inevitably see's SQQ in Gongyi Xiao's robe. RIP GYX p115

Okay but SQQ I too would freak the fuck out if I had a walking/wake dream. Meng Mo's realm is no joke. p120-121

Dang Luo Binghe has become so strong. This dreamscape is insane. pp 124-126

again with the clothes ripping. I hope one day they enjoy this consensually. p127 (blessed be this canon for the fanfics)

in which SQQ does not realize that the fight in the dreamscape is indeed not a fight- it is most definitely foreplay. p128

I fucking KNEW IT Luo Binghe was NOT pleased with SQQ wearing Gongyi Xiao's robe. LOOOL. p130

but also I don't know what became of GYX but let's take a moment to remember him, I am sure he did not make it.

oh gosh more tragic SQQ backstory :( p132

I am glad I clocked it in the last chapter. Something was so fishy about the family that took him in and his "betrothal" my heart for SQQ :( :( :( p134

Okay get it Ning YinYing!!!! Re: her talking shit to and about Little Palace Mistress to her face! p138

yes she got slapped but still she did a pretty good job! and her sect siblings have her back.

That is it for today!!

Oh god. ofc we leave on a cliffhanger with a shady guy ready to super saiyan AND the next chapter is ominously titled "Death". I am not prepared for this!

[curioussubjects]

I just finished Veilguard, and...I'm really not sure how I feel about it?

All in all: good game, had fun, but still didn't quite hit some of the highs it wanted to hit and it's still not as good as DA2

(Spoilers galore below for everything)

The Good:

Pretty game is pretty;

Love the codexes, especially the ones written by companions or with their commentary;

Speaking of, the Mementos had so excellent tid bits of lore flavor to them, as well;

Regrets of the Dread Wolf was a damn good quest;

Some truly funny party banter;

I actually thought it was really easy to figure out who my Rook is as I played the game, which was much harder for me to do for my Lavellan in DAI;

And speaking of Lavellan, she was in character she WOULD say that she WOULD do that. Bless;

Everything about Nevarra and the Mourn Watch, I wish there was more content there because I was so into it;

Orb and dagger mage is really fun to play, which was VERY surprising considering I don't play close range ever;

I also really enjoyed destroying blight boils for some reason lmao;

Petting cats (they PURR WHEN YOU DO);

Assan <3;

Taash being so autistic;

Teia and Viago my beloveds;

✨Friendship✨

The Solavellan of it all;

And Solas, too. Love that sadsack disaster man;

Maybe this is super basic of me but I liked Varric's narration...idk it's comforting;

Honestly, just Varric in general was a bit safety blanket in a nice way for me because the game feels overwhelming at first;

There's no party like an all Dalish party!

Exploring -- loved finding all the fun details in each location, and I know I didn't even do enough in my playthrough;

I'm weak for stories about guilt, fear and regret. And I'm even weaker when those stories are so obviously about forgiveness and moving forward. Also love. Always love.

The Bad:

The pacing. I've said this before but DAtV could've used a more explicit arc structure or have quests note which level they're meant for or SOMETHING because some times it seemed I was doing quests too early or too late for when I was in the main story. I also thought events kept oscillating from happening too fast or too slowly, and it very much did get in the way of immersion;

The romance. Literally what are you doing Dragon Age that you fumble the romance. Granted, I only romanced Davrin so far, but I'm getting the sense from looking through the tag that maybe Lucanis' romance also feels a bit off? Honestly I have so many issues with the romance progression for Davrin that it's its own section;

I hope this is only a Veil Jumpers issue, but I thought Rook was so separate from the faction. I felt very little connection to them;

I've seen some people point out NPCs talk to Rook like they're a child, and while I don't really agree with that I do think Rook doesn't have enough opportunities to be knowledgeable in their own right. Especially annoying with a mage Veil Jumper Rook! I miss the Inquisition perk dialogue options that let my Lavellan be a smarty pants;

Holy overdesigned armors! Yikes!

Not all areas are as well developed as the others: Rivain is the most egregiously empty and underdeveloped, but I actually thought Arlathan Forest was super lifeless too. So was the Lighthouse! You get the early game discovery bit and then nothing ever again and it's like oh that was really it huh (and the stuff we did get was so good please more?);

I hate to say this but BioWare missed the mark with Rook's place in the group. The companions seemed connected to each other, yeah, but Rook was like some cross between group therapist and not-so-undercover boss. There was none of the warmth Hawke got from their companions (or the Inquisitor, for that matter!). The game really needed 1. a lighthearted party hangout cutscene and 2. companions coming together to take care of Rook (the fact this isn't even a thing in the romance is bonkers to me);

Taash's personal quest being about choosing between being Rivain and Qunari as if that's how culture works is Bad Actually;

The worst minimap I've ever seen in a game wow;

Also: give me back my beacon marker;

The gods were in a regret prison but what were their regrets exactly we just don't know.

The Bad (Romance Edition):

Again, the pacing! Incredibly slow to start (and not in a slow burn way, mind!) and then super fast in the last third of the game;

In fact, the romance seemed to be running on a completely different level than the rest of the story. The last romance scene was incredibly out of place tonally, especially.

The first two romance titles for Davrin are "Thrill of the Chase" and "Hot and Bothered"...and like WHERE????

Davrin never writes about Rook as a romantic partner or as if he has any concerns with the relationship...which we later find out he has, but was news to me;

Tbh, the romance felt like an afterthought. There were cutscenes that in any other DA game there would've been flirting options, for instance, but this time there was nothing (what do you mean Rook can't make a flirty comment when Davrin is shirtless working out with Taash? It's low hanging fruit!);

Not nearly enough flirty banter between Rook and Davrin, which is nuts considering their personalities;

I'm really super disappointed with Davrin's romance, which sucks because he's actually perfect for my Rook and I really like his character. There was so much potential for a really fun romance that was both tense and sexy, but also sweet. But no. Secret good Davrin romance that exists in my head save me.

The ???:

Southern Thedas got scorched when the North didn't how?

Please tell me who was catfishing Andraste;

Making enemies super aggro on Rook unless you specifically have companions taunting was very weird.

[sashi-ya]

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐋𝐚𝐰 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐒𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫? [a theory]

⬦ So, as many asked here is my theory! I've been thinking of this since i read Punk Hazard. Law has never been a pirate for me, nor a marine... so there had to be something in the middle and that is SWORD! Let's discuss the reasons! (Also please, be careful this theory is full of spoilers since I added the last pieces of info given in ch. 1080).

⬦ Disclaimer: Please, if you don't agree with any of the points stated we can discuss them but only if you do it respectfully and calmly. This is just my POV and take on the story. I might be wrong, or not. It doesn't matter, it's just a theory!. If you are gonna use this theory anywhere please ask me first. I'm tired of seeing my stuff on twitter gain endless likes for other to take the credit. Also, any other info you can share that you think I might have forgotter will be welcomed! ⬦ tagging: @thepoisonpoison ; @husband-in-law ; @akhlys-san ; @ruby-white-rabbit sorry for the delay! but here it is! :3

So! As I was waiting for the official release of ch. 1080 I didn’t write the theory sooner! I wanted to check if they had change something, especially the Rocky Port incident part! Apparently is all correct so here we go with my reasons for thinking Law is either a marine or a collaborator from SWORD!

Law was saved by a marine. This seems like a stupid and obvious point BUT is by far deeper than it seems; Cora lied to Law about being a marine because little Law was basically angry at them -but honestly, at everyone and everything in this world, too-. Now, we should recall properly who exactly was the real bastard that let the inhabitants of Flevance get sick and ultimately killed them: THE WORLD GOVERNMENT. Sure, the WG sent presumably marines to destroy the city; but… have you seen them? Cause I honestly we only saw people wearing the masks and suspiciously similar attires (not exactly the same) the guards of Punk Hazard wore (where do we see Law after the time skip? YES, PH. Remember there are no coincidences when it comes to ODA).

But, why did the WG sent those “marines” to destroy the city? Well, they couldn’t take the blame for exploiting the island for the amber lead KNOWING the people were getting sick because of it. But who cares about Flevance’s lives when such metal is used for… for… FOR WHAT, EXACTLY? Isn’t it toxic to touch? Then why the fuck do you need such metal? Ah… WEAPONS! But… who uses such weapons? For what?. All in all, who is the real bad guy here? the marines or the WG? Yes. Law is by far more intelligent than most of the OP characters, he can understand who to blame. And because of it there is another reason WHY Law would prefer being part of SWORD and it is because -as Kuzan says: Sword members are marines who give up their marine code and do not have to follow protocols nor -this is the most important one- they DO NOT respond to the WG. SWORD is the perfect alternative to both uphold the law while being against the fucking bastards at the same time. (refer to ch. 1080 during the mini flashback of Koby being in front of BB).

Also, Cora-san wasn’t probably part of sword (maybe it didn’t exist back then, this is my guess. In fact I believe it was formed right after Marineford) because he still used his marine code (01746). HOWEVER… DID HE GIVE A FUCK ABOUT THE PROTOCOLS? NOPE, HE DIDN’T CARE, HE WENT AND STOLE THE OPE OPE NO MI FOR LAW! Law has learnt a great example of real justice from a very young age.

2. The relationship with Koby and the Rocky Port Incident. What the actual fuck happened at the “Rocky Port”? we don’t know exactly, but Oda has given us 3 important pieces of information: 1. Law was the mastermind behind the RPI. 2. Koby became a marine hero after such incident. 3. Law became a Shichibukai after (do you believe in this? I don’t, exactly) giving 100 hearts from pirates to the marine. Who the fu- why? So, there is for sure a previous encounter -or a connection at least- in between Koby and Law. Koby, is with no doubt part of SWORD. Keep this in mind for later, we are gonna go back at this point but first let’s start back at Sabaody, please! Let’s go to point 3:

3. The relationship Law has with X-DRAKE (past and present) Who else connects with Koby? Yes, X-DRAKE!. Now, let’s go a little bit deeper (I know you, stop) about X-Drake and Law’s rs. If we go back in time to Vol. 51, chapter 498 “The Eleven Supernova” where we got introduced to them officially. First panel we see with Law:

So the first time we saw Law he is directly referring to Drake who -as many believe- he has left his spot at the Marine to become a Pirate. Interesting how Oda decided to introduce such important characters this way, right? Is not exactly that he is trying to portray a connection between them… 🤭

Good, good! Let’s go a little bit back in time now. Do you remember who Cora stole the Ope Ope no mi from? X-DRAKE’S DAD. Who at the time was the captain of a stupid ass pirate crew (Barrels pirates) that decided to sell the Ope Ope no mi to the Marine.

Uhum… yes. So, after the raid, both Cora and Doffy made a little bit of ruckus and ultimately the Donquixote family ended with Drake dad’s life. Little dino daddy (aka Drake) was able to scape just in time so he saved his life. AND Law’s life, too. Why? Because he was the kid Tsuru found and that was what the DQF heard through the radio! “a Kid had been found crying by the Marine” so, while Law was able to scape thanks to the sacrifice of Cora, he also got lucky that they found another kid. But, if it had been Law the one found by the marine… he would have been raised as one (as happened to Drake).

So, maybe at this point Drake didn’t know exactly who the other kid was, but, since he was raised by Sengoku and Tsuru* (*who now we know has a grandaughter that’s part of SWORD too) he probably learnt the real identity of Law back (or even before the introduction Oda give us at Sabaody).

UGH THERE IS A LOT, BUT WAIT WAIT, THERE IS MORE. And this is the main point: their interaction at Wano: WHEN DID LAW AND DRAKE SPOKE WHEN LAW WAS SENT TO JAIL TO TRADE HIS LIFE FOR BEPO, PEN AND SHACH’S LIFE WITH HAWKINS? Because BOTH fooled Hawkins into thinking Law was going to be in jail with no way of scaping. MANGA DOESN’T SHOW IT. ANIME EITHER. There is something previous hidden that has to be shown at some point! In Wano we have confirmation that Drake is no other than Koby’s superior in SWORD. Do I have to explain ANY FURTHER?

(also, I love Law but it was hella funny how XDrake to keep with the act hit the hell out of our poor doctor. We can say he is finally relieved of punching Law after what happened in the past)

4. Now, back to the Rocky Port Incident: IT HAPPENED AT DAMN HACHINOSU. This was only shown 3 days ago! While I was reading I passed the page and had to come back like WAIT… WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK? Cause LORD! Can you see the relationship? It’s crazy! For how long has Oda been cooking this? Isn’t a LOT of coincidences that Law didn’t know anything and was a simple pirate when he planned the “incident”??  which at this point -in my opinion- is no other than a lie they decided to show the world to undercover such growing Supernova! I strongly believe that Law had been contacted by either Drake or someone close to him to be part of SWORD and together they worked to bring the RPI alive. Now, we can either think 2 possibilities: 1. Law has already been at the New World (even before Luffy) because Hachinosu is there (and pretty close to Laugh Tale I might say) or 2. Because it is only stated as “the masterMIND of the RPI” he wasn’t there, but, he had planned it from somewhere else. I think both are interesting, both in any case had to be done with the help of others; aka SWORD or Marine. This has yet to be shown by Oda at some point for sure.

I’m sorry I can’t give more info about what exactly happened there because there isn’t any more than what I’ve already discussed.

5. PUNK HAZARD, Smoker and Aokiji.

Do you remember when Luffy was getting closer to PH that they received a call from marines asking for help? Do we have that clarify? Who the fuck called the Sunny? We don’t exactly know. And you won’t know until Law’s true nature is shown. What a coincidence… right? Law encountered Luffy and proposed an alliance right in the island where he was staying and to where Luffy was called in the middle of their route by random marines… 👀👀 INTERESTING, a shichibukai on an island that belong to the WG… Sure, he was there to start his plan to avenge Doffy, that’s clear. But I think there is more than we can already tell.

For me PH is no other than the first clear showing of the cooperation of 3 main forces in the universe of one piece (that sets precedent for future wars): MARINES (smoker), PIRATES (Luffy) AND… LAW’S SIDE: SOMETHING THAT’S IN BETWEEN: at that point he wasn’t a marine, but he was a pirate protected by the marine. Sounds familiar? Yes, pretty similar to SWORD. ➡ this is pure personal analysis of Oda’s writing style.

Please don’t forget Law telling Smoker about Green Bit! – this leads us to a new probable member of SWORD too! Smoker is a vice admiral who is kinda rebellious if you think about it! He wants to uphold the law and always be on the justice side… but is the WG always the “justice” side? Nope. (Smoker worked with Luffy twice)

The appearance of Kuzan – he was the one who saved Smoker from the sharp threads of Doffy’s attack. And Kuzan has been a repetitive character that’s -at least for me- appeared in very important moments of the story. Is not a coincidence that he appears at PH after Law tells Luffy to hurry the fuck up with the banquet.

And it’s not a coincidence that he has left the marine because of fighting against Akainu. WHY DID THEY FIGHT? Because IT’S CLEAR that both have different visions of justice. While Akainu believes justice is to be purely with the WG and hate pirates, Kuzan probably believes that justice is not about who you have on your side but to do the right thing. (Garp, KNOWN now as a member of SWORD did exactly that during God Valley)

This being said, let’s go for the next point:

6. Is Kuzan really a member of Kurohige’s crew? Is he a double agent?

Isn’t it quite sus that Kuzan is part of the BB crew and SOMEHOW Law encountered BB on the route he chose? (YES, LAW CHOSE THAT ROUTE. He used the lack of neurons of Kid and Luffy to make them pick the other two routes. Now, the fact that Kid encounter Shanks and it wasn’t Luffy is just for the sake of the plot, we know it Oda)  

My guess is that Aokiji is a double agent from SWORD acting like Cora with Doffy. BB is a stupid guy, he doesn’t even know shit about what sword is, so I strongly believe he doesn’t suspect anything. So, maybe, the plan was simple (sounds simpler than it’s done): Kuzan informed SWORD about BB setting sail with some of his generals from Hachinosu, leaving the island alone with a couple of them (Vasco shot, Shirui, Pizarro); Law will encounter BB and fight while Garp and part of Sword goes to rescue Koby at Hachinosu. (Don’t underestimate Law, so many people downgrade his powers when it’s not the case at all) – this is pure theory, of course.

7. DRESSROSA & SENGOKU. Besides the emotional panel of Sengoku teaching Law not to look for more reasons for love but just love, I am sure there has to be something else hidden. In any case, it is super important to address the way Law acts towards Sengoku (in manga, not so much in the anime); he is being absolutely respectful (and not “mean” like he is used to be with anyone) and I believe Law wanted to search for Sengoku for 2 reasons: one, the one we explicitly read: asking about the “D”. And, 2, to tell this man, who represented a paternal figure for Cora, about how and why Law’s saviour died. However… Why and how does Law know Sengoku was like a dad for Cora? HERE is the key. Who told Law such information? Law didn’t know exactly who was the man Cora spoke to through the den den mushi before going to find the ope ope no mi. (He only knew it was a marine, cause baby Law was pretty intelligent). Perhaps is a very VERY small detail, BUT, what if he knew because of Koby and SWORD? Wouldn’t be surprising, Law needs information and he gets it from somewhere we haven’t seen yet where.

8. Law’s character and backstory. This last point is more of a personal analysis about his personality and real intentions:

Law hates, despises chaos. He upholds the Law. (not a coincidence he is called this way)

Law never EVER shown desires to find the One Piece. Not even when he first set sail. In One Piece Novel: Law (canon) he states the purpose of his journey: avenge Cora-san. Law couldn’t stand staying at Mr. Wolff’s home without doing nothing to end with Doffy. When his trauma had been resolved (but not over) and he started trusting people again, he began learning more about surgery while gathering money and resources with Shachi, Penguin and Bepo at the city. Once he turned 15, Mr. Wolff gave him not only Kikoku, but also the Polar Tang…

The Polar Tang: NOT A PIRATE SHIP. HIS JOLLY ROGER HAS NO SKULL! Law is not a pirate like the rest, he is not ruled by piracy aesthetics.

His name has had already a lot of hints, let me show you: TRAFALGAR – Battle of Trafalgar: Britain vs Spain. SPAIN LOST – dressrosa/doffy lost. WATER LAW / WATERLOO – battle of Waterloo: last battle of NAPOLEON – Napoleon is Big Mom’s sword – who won against BM? Law (and Kid). WATER’S LAW – Who are the ones who uphold the law in the seas (waters)? Yes. Marines.

Bepo, Shach and Pen’s way of referring to Law: CAPTAIN! *use the marine sign* *all of them wear hats like marines* *all of them wear uniforms like marines*

Law’s “disgust towards pirates” in Wano, after stealing food for the people of Okobore town he says: “Pirates shouldn’t do such a good deed!” BUT LAW… YOU ARE A PIRATE, YOU ARE A DOCTOR, YOU HELP PEOPLE!

And, maybe, a lot more that we might have missed or aren’t still fully shown! I will add them here! :3

But all in all, I do believe he is in the middle; not a marine, not a pirate either. That’s why I think SWORD fits him best. We will see what Oda has in store for the next few years! I hope that it’s even more exciting than this theory!

[amelias-zelda-calamity-quintet]

Amelia's Zelda Calamity Quintet Resource List

Hi there, I'm Amelia (she/they). You may also know me as Hart or Echo (my old handle was echosound). This is a master post of links for my works as well as all the tags I use on this blog. This post will be pinned on the blog and I will update it as needed so check back if there's something new.

You can find my profiles here: AO3 - Wattpad

Expanding Hyrule Community Discord (16+)

Quick FAQs

Is this a main blog? This is a side blog, my main is @amelias-hart.

Can I draw fanart of your characters? Yes, absolutely. I should clarify. You are more than welcome to draw art based on the descriptions in my fics and the resources I put out for them. I work with other artists though for most of my character art. If you are going to use those designs, make sure you're familiar with their opinions on fanart.

What kinds of LoZ fics to you write? All of my fics are fully original legend and long form stories. My average chapter length is 3k and the shortest of my fics (not in a series) is currently drafting to be like 100 chapters.

How adult/mature are they? It ranges, but typically it's pretty tame. I don't really handle gore and explicit scenes, and I'm not a fan of dark fantasy generally as a writer. If fics are rated adult/mature, it's typically because the characters are largely adults.

Is there romance? We're on that Zelink train, absolutely! There are no explicit scenes, again, so the range here is fluff (GoS, RA) to some more mature flirting with some innuendo being about the most serious content (DAD). Maybe a more intense kissing scene once the slow burn gets through to that (MoaH).

How do you write so much? Autism baby. Got that clinical hyperfocus going.

Do I need to read your fics in a certain order? No, all of them are stand alone but they do share a linked timeline in the following: GoS -> MoaH -> RA -> CoL -> DAD (And honestly it's really just GoS and MoaH with any "serious" timeline lore connections)

What's the Convergence? To the previous point, it's referring to GoS any time it comes up. Really only a thing in MoaH and MoaH does try to explain it within the text.

Will add more as they come up. If it's not here, it's probably below. If not, send it as a reply or an ask and I'll add it!

Other Custom Tags List

#originallegends/#lozoriginallegends - Pending community tag for Legend of Zelda fics about original iterations of Hyrule. Check out @expanding-hyrule for more details.

#moahmemes - This is for memes and quotes redone with the MoaH cast for fun, mostly for character exploration and cause it's funny.

#moah worldbuilding - In character worbuilding snippets about various topics for the MoaH era of Hyrule.

Open Ask List

I'm always open to asks, but I have a few prompts I figured I'd throw out if y'all want ideas.

Web: Asks for an update to the MoaH Obsidian web

WIPWednesdays: I'll post a snippet of MoaH, very likely will contain spoilers for a later part/book than is out.

Star: I'll give ya a random factoid about something in one of my fics, you can add fic tags if you'd like a specific.

Character asks: I don't have art, but you can absolutely send in character asks for the cast. I love these, they're great character voice practice. Please keep to one question per ask, but you're welcome to send as many as you like.

Fic List

Goddess of Secrecy (Complete on Wattpad, New Edited Chapters On Wednesdays & Saturdays To Both) - #goddessofsecrecy, #gos, #gosspoilers

Hyrule has only ever dreamt of an end to the resurrection of Demise. With the returning of an ancient power, that dream could finally be fulfilled. Can the Hero of the Fourth Goddess save Hyrule once and for all?

Fic Links: AO3 - Wattpad

Mark of a Hero (Updates on Tuesdays & Fridays, 1 of 9) - #markofahero, #moah, #moahspoilers

Hyrule is at peace, or so the Royal Family would have its people believe. Something is afoot in the kingdom, and someone needs to do something about it. Least likely would be Marksmen Link Sayre- a mercenary and monster hunter doing his best to get by. Until a job goes wrong, and he gets roped into the secret plans of Hyrule's princess. Now Link must play the part of the Hero to dive deeper into the mystery, and maybe stumble into a legend of his own.

Fic Links:

Book 1: AO3 - Wattpad

Book 2:

Book 3:

Book 4:

Book 5:

Book 6:

Book 7:

Book 8:

Book 9:

Series Link: AO3

Arc Progress & Spoiler Reference

Character Reference Page

General Setting Resources Page

Restoration Age (Hiatus) - #restorationage

Hyrule has grown. The fairy tale kingdom that has endured for eons is no more. And while historians argue over what history needs to be preserved, Hyrule endures and thrives in the modern age. With the proverbial guide book gone, where will the kingdom go now? And what would a Hero mean for a country that no longer needs a Hero?

Fic Link: Wattpad - Not yet imported to AO3

Cinders of Life (Hiatus) - #cindersoflife

Hyrule has burned. No more is the vibrant kingdom that was once protected by the Hero. Now is the reign of evil, an evil without end. Hope is a word used without meaning, and hero is all but lost. Could one even stand if the people of Hyrule don't even know what they would be calling on?

Fic Link: Wattpad - Not yet imported to AO3

Day After Destiny (Hiatus) - #dayafterdestiny

Hyrule is beginning its new golden age. The king and queen prepare to hand their crowns to their daughter and her husband. It is a union out of legend, though legend is far from anyone's mind in Hyrule. For who would call upon ancient war heroes in a time of peace? The wars for Hyrule have been won.

Fic Link: Wattpad - Not yet imported to AO3

[underratedandoverit]

You Wanna Wish Away Your Sins (1/3)

After losing to Best Friends at Arcade Anarchy, Kip undergoes shoulder surgery. One person reaching out to him afterwards sends Kip spiraling, turning all the pain and suffering in him into… Flowers? Flowers growing in his lungs?

Kip Sabian/Chuck Taylor. Hanahaki disease. Angst. Hurt/comfort. Emotional hurt/comfort. One-sided attraction.

Marked Mature on AO3 for general content. Warnings for mentions of hospitals, surgery, medical stuff. Described feelings for choking and vomiting.

Other characters include Penelope Ford, Trent Beretta. Kris Statlander and Orange Cassidy are mentioned. Background ship of Penelope/Kris is heavily implied, but never specifically shown.

part 2 || part 3

On AO3

I reeeeally only wanted to start posting this after it was all done, but seeing how I'm two weeks behind on what I wanted the original publishing schedule to be, I need heavy motivation to actually finish this (its about halfway done as of posting this), so! Here's the effort to hopefully help with that! Cause I am planning on finishing this, I have full plans for all three chapters and the epilogue (that'll be tacked onto the final chapter), I just need the energy to realize that its worth finishing so.. I'm getting this up now. To maybe hopefully see its worth it and people want to see this through. Idk.

I have been thinking maybe this concept would have been better with another ship, but I started with this and its very fitting for them, and I need more of this propaganda in my life and seeing how I'm the only one making it… Yeah we're sticking to Kip and Chuck. Sorry not sorry. (also tag list might change a little as i post the rest, tho this should be it generally. i tried to keep it spoiler free for now)

@midnightpretenders0 @stormbornpirate @ss-trashboat

----------------------

Beep.

Kip tried to ignore the heart monitor to the best of his ability, and yet his brows furrowed, irritated, at the sound. The soft groan was barely audible in the hospital room that was empty aside from him, as Kip came to witness as he forced his eyes open, returning back to the real world from the sleepless rest he had been attempting to get for the last few hours.

Some would have guessed that sleeping would have been easier when you lost feeling from one of your four limbs, especially from the one going through the extreme levels of pain. But what those same people didn’t understand, was that the medication they put him under with, was amplifying most of his other senses to the point where it was almost painful to just even listen to certain sounds.

Beep.

Kip glared at the monitor, watching the little line on it beep an extra time, almost as if it was mocking him and the hatred raising his heart rate. Kip leaned back on the bed, turning away, eyes landing on the window across the room. The soft rays of sunshine indicated early morning hours, which wouldn’t have surprised him a bit. After coming to from the surgery Kip had been in various states between high alert and sleeping like a log, dozing off whenever he felt like it. Not that it mattered, they didn’t let him go home yet anyway, so he was just taking advantage of sleeping away as much of the irritation and pain he could while he was alone.

Beep.

Slowly Kip’s eyes dragged away from the window, landing on the little drawer next to the bed. Some nice nurse, was his guess unless it really had been Penelope, had left his personal belongings on it on a little tray. Honestly Kip was slightly surprised they had been just left for him like that, out in the open. While sure, he wasn’t sharing the room with anyone else, anyone could just walk in at any time while he was out cold and grab his wallet, keys, and phone and just bail out.

Or even worse, he himself could have used the phone before he was fully aware of himself and his surroundings yet, being under the influence of the painkiller and/or anesthesia. Almost as bad as some of his younger days of drunk dialing.

Beep.

Kip closed his eyes, inhaling deeply as he tried not to get irritated at the sound piercing his ears every couple of moments. As he calmed himself down, he slowly opened his eyes again, landing them back on the phone on the tray. He observed it for a moment, trying to count in his head how long it had been since he was wheeled into the operating room, how long it had been since he had last checked anything.

Really all he could remember was the little kiss Penelope placed on the top of his head, whispering him good luck before he was wheeled away from her too.

Beep.

Kip’s hand slipped away from under the thin covers of the awfully medical feeling blanket thrown over him, reaching for the phone. It was easier said than done to be honest, having to navigate the world now mostly with his non-dominant hand and everything. Kip fumbled a little, almost letting the phone slip from his fingers, letting out a string of quiet curse words from under his breath as he barely caught it again before it managed to fall to the floor, where he most definitely wouldn’t have been able to grab it without getting some help first.

With a sigh he lowered the phone into his lap, brushing a hand through his hair. Everything was just so bothersome and irritating to him, he could barely do things by himself. And every single little bit that he required some kind of help with, Kip hated even more. He understood the situation he was in, absolutely, but that didn’t mean that he was going to enjoy being so dependent on others when he could just as easily do all of this, and more, by himself before.

Beep.

His eyes landed back on the phone now sitting on the bed in his lap, the fingers of his right hand carefully drumming against the dark screen. It felt cold to the touch, clearly not having been turned on for a while or being held in a hand using it. Kip had no idea if there would even be any messages for him to return to, sure there were people like his family, friends, and co-workers who knew he was going through the surgery, but most people he felt like had already been in touch the day before, wishing him luck. He vaguely remembered Penelope telling him she would send him reminders about things he needed to take care of after surgery, but that was all he was expecting.

And yet, there was some sort of odd feeling of hesitation in him as Kip’s fingers kept drawing circles on the screen, only mimicking opening apps and scrolling through them.

Beep.

It was almost as if the sound was mocking him at this point, screaming at him to do something. Kip glared at the monitor on his side, eyes slowly returning back to the phone. He carefully took it back into his hand, weighting it for a moment, his thumb navigating on top of the power button almost on instinct. Kip barely stopped himself from pressing it down, taking a moment to ask himself if it was worth it.

As far as he knew, nobody was going to need him while he was gone. He was going to have to turn it on later to get in touch with Penelope about getting out of the hospital as she had promised to pick him up, but apart from that… Kip didn’t really know what to expect. On the other hand though, this kind of silence gave him a good chance to catch up on other important things he might have missed, if there weren't people he needed to get back to.

What could go wrong?

Beep.

Kip held down the button, watching as the screen slowly lit up, greeting him with the familiar opening screens. His eyes narrowed a little at the sudden bright lighting hitting him, but soon enough he was booted in, allowing him to adjust the screen brightness to his liking. Kip was still trying to get used to being awake and feeling like himself in his own body, and coming off from heavy medication, even if it had been a day since then, it was like a dark cloud hanging over him. He didn’t enjoy it in the slightest, but Kip knew it was a necessary step if he wanted to get through all of this. Unfortunately.

As he got himself back into his phone, Kip absentmindedly scrolled through some of the messages that were popping up little by little all over the place. Mostly it was just few remaining co-workers and friends that hadn’t reached out earlier wishing him speedy recovery and hoping that the surgery goes well, the usual things you’d message to someone you didn’t talk to more than occasionally but who you knew was going to go through something heavy like this and you had their contact info at hand. Kip scrolled through the well-wishes, smiling occasionally a little more as he watched the different names and profile pictures he recognized, wondering how many of these people actually cared or if this was just a cleverly arranged mass ruse so he would maybe feel a bit better after being under the knife.

And then.

Kip’s eyes locked onto one of the messages, starting with a word he didn’t expect to see.

‘Sorry’.

He didn’t notice his grip on the phone getting tighter until holding it actually hurt his hand, but Kip pushed the thought aside. Unblinking eyes stared at the phone screen as it burned the images of the words on his retinas until they were hurting too, but he was too deep in his own head to look away, to stop reading the message he didn’t think he would be getting. Not now, not ever.

Not from Chuck.

‘Sorry about your shoulder. Heard from Kris you were getting surgery. I didn’t mean to hurt you that bad. Hope you heal well. If you need something, let me know.’

Kip’s mind was nothing but static. The phone light hurt his eyes, his grip hurt his hand, reading and processing the words in his head. The pain shooting through him was almost comparable to the jolts he experienced going through the structure Chuck had thrown them both down to from the stage, only this one was even worse somehow.

‘If you need something, let me know.’

He didn’t read that right. He couldn’t have read that right. There was no way Chuck Taylor out of all people would say something like this to him. Or even text these kinds of lines to him. To Kip.

To the man that had been looking at Chuck from a distance with a mixture of interest and admiration for so long without saying any words out loud, without making any moves, without taking any actions to realize the thoughts and feelings he had. There was no way Chuck was doing this, offering help to him if he needed it, without knowing that there was something going on in Kip’s mind that he wasn’t sure was going to be able to handle daylight.

‘I didn’t mean to hurt you that bad.’

Chuck didn’t know Kip was already on his way out when Arcade Anarchy was announced. He had already been told he would require surgery on the torn shoulder, but this match was approved even with the ending spot as it wasn’t going to make his condition any worse than it already was. Kip hadn’t dared to say anything to the Best Friends, in fear that it would hinder their performance; he wanted them at their best, not feeling sorry for him, not trying to be careful with him. Miro knew, but he kept his promise and didn’t say anything either.

For better or worse, Kip wasn’t sure anymore.

Beep. Beep.

He finally tore his eyes away from the phone screen, letting it drop from his hand. Kip curled the fingers a few times trying to ease the pain, eyes blinking as rather painful tears stung in the corners of his eyes. He wasn’t sure if it was a sign of emotional distress or just a side effect of staring at the screen, but it didn’t matter to him. Whichever it was, he didn’t want it, and it was making him feel awful.

Beep. Beep.

Kip slowly looked over at the heart rate monitor, watching the little line make extra jumps and letting out more irritating noises than necessary. His eyes trailed one of the cords leaving from it, watching it being attached to his chest with a little patch. Kip snorted at it, turning away.

Stupid. It was all so fucking stupid.

Beep.

His eyes landed back on the phone, hand reaching for his face as he wiped away a couple of tears. He wasn’t sure why he got so worked up over this, it wasn’t like this meant anything. Chuck was just worried, offering him his condolences and a little help if he needed it, just like everyone else did. That didn’t mean anything, no more, no less, than that he was being a good co-worker. Not even a friend.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Beep.

Maybe that’s why he took it so hard, to be honest. Kip inhaled deeply, almost frightened over how shaky his breathing sounded. He hadn’t expected this to hit him so hard, but something about seeing Chuck Taylor out of all the possible people reaching out to him after hearing about the surgery just sent him spiraling. Short circuited his brain. His thoughts were all gone. Kip’s mind blank, nothing but a newly debuted white canvas ready to be painted on.

And the only visual that appeared on it was Chuck, the moment he held onto Kip seconds before throwing them both off from the stage.

The words he whispered to Kip when the camera was pointing the other way.

“Are you sure?”

Beep. Beep. Beep.

In that moment he had been, only for the fact that he knew Chuck would prevent him from hurting further. At least, in the physical sense. Mentally at that point Kip was already so far down the rabbit hole that it didn’t matter. He would have said yes. Not only to that, but to anything that Chuck asked him.

Was Kip sure? Yes.

Was Kip going to be okay? Yes.

Did Kip want him?

…

Yes.

Yes he did.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

He looked back at the monitor, watching the line make extra jumps again. It apparently wasn’t a concerning enough feature, considering how long it had been going on and not a single nurse had gotten in to even check on him yet. Kip understood it though, in a hospital full of patients in worse conditions than what he was in, he was merely a second thought to anyone passing by his room. He didn’t make a sound, he wasn’t in pain, he didn’t exhibit extreme amounts of discomfort.

At least, not on the outside.

Beep. Beep.

Kip leaned his head back against the propped up bed, eyeing the monitor. If he wasn’t thinking about the phone that was still quietly buzzing in his lap, his heart rate slowly went back down. Of course he couldn’t keep this up forever, eventually he would probably have to reply to Chuck, and who knew what kind of fresh hell of wounds that would open on him. How awkward it would make everything if he dared to actually take on Chuck’s own offering and ask him for any help. Of course Kip didn’t need to do that, knowing that Chuck hadn’t actually caused any of this like he was thinking that he did, but…

Maybe it would be a way to get a step closer. To spend time with him. To figure out if Chuck could possibly feel the same way Kip did.

Beep.

Kip closed his eyes, trying to focus on his breathing. It would be all fine, he lied to himself. It wouldn’t matter if Chuck said no, it wouldn’t matter if they became just friends. Another lie. Kip could live with it if he could just tell Chuck how he felt, and whatever came out of that was just perfectly fine with him.

Kip was such a masterful liar sometimes.

Beep.

He hummed at himself a little, obviously satisfied with the way he made himself at least on some level believe everything was going to be okay. A small smirk tuck the corners of his lips, but Kip resisted it, thinking it was a step too far. He allowed himself to be proud of himself in this situation, but showing it outwards was a little too much.

Instead he yawned, followed by a cough as Kip could feel something scratching in his throat.

Beep.

He tried to gently cough it out, only making the scratching worse. Kip opened his eyes, glancing around him, trying to see if there was even a cup of water somewhere close by, but no such luck. Instead he coughed again, the burning in his throat just growing stronger and feeling grosser the more he tried to physically force whatever was stuck in his airways out of his body.

With a few more coughs the feeling was turning unbearable, Kip rather violently jerking forward as he coughed loudly, hand flying on to cover his mouth as he could feel something dislodging in his throat, attempting a forceful exit out of his mouth.

Beep. Beep.

Maybe he wasn’t as over the side effects of anesthesia as Kip thought, or nausea was a side effect of the painkillers. As the thoughts raced through his mind, Kip tried to keep his mouth covered by his hand, eyes shooting around his limited moving space, trying to find something he could safely vomit into. He could feel another scratch on his throat, knowing that he just had to take it and let it all out, Kip shoved the phone from his lap to the floor in a semi panic, barely hearing it landing with a loud thud before he allowed his insides to empty themselves into his lap.

Beep. Beep.

With his eyes closed to bear the pain, Kip could feel the burning in his lungs, but it all felt different than usual. It was an odd sensation, it felt more like something was scratching and crawling its way up his lungs rather than his throat, pushing painfully out of him rather than flowing in the liquid form like usual. It still burned, but in a softer, almost calming way compared to what Kip knew it should be.

Fearing the mess he had made, Kip slowly opened his eyes, thinking that he might have to call a nurse over to help him out, as much as he hated it. But instead he froze in place, eyes widening in shock as he tried to process the small pile of purple shaded rose petals sitting on his lap instead.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Kip carefully reached a hand towards the petals, shaking fingertips tracing along one. It felt soft, like it was freshly plucked from a flower, the kind of fresh petals you’d spread on a bed for a romantic surprise to a loved one. But the moment was nothing but romantic, it was surprising for sure, but it was more making Kip internally freak out than giving him any sentimental feelings over the sudden pile of petals in his lap.

They had come out from inside of him.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Kip had no idea why. No idea how. He could feel something crawling in his throat again, letting out a soft cough, watching a single petal flowing out of him, landing on top of the pile that had already formed.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Kip’s hands slowly grabbed a hold of the petals, squeezing them in his fists. He froze for a moment, feeling the soft petals against the palms of his hands, against his exposed skin, almost tearing wounds onto him despite their petite appearance.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Kip screamed.

[bnomiko]

Spoiler-free Nocturne ramblings

(Guess everyone's all worked up about Castlevania again because "Under the Milky Way" gained like 28 kudos and 1000 hits in 5 days, yay : D )

Just finished watching Nocturne. I have thoughts, but in the interest of keeping things SPOILER-FREE (because yes I got spoiled on things because people can't bother using a spoiler tag, thanks a lot you wankers), I'll keep this as vague as possible.

Olrox: far and away the best character thus far. I can see why everyone's hot and heavy for the guy already, and the smut fics are apparently already rolling in. I would not be mad if they simply shifted this to Castlevania: Olrox and sent everyone else home. More, please! How about some merch too? I'd buy the shit out of it, dude is straight up hot.

This is not my Richter. I expected this:

... and got this:

(Yes that's Joseph Joestar, not Richter. The point is, sexy brunet hot-headed asshole vs. plain white bread. Richter needs more asshole points, less nutritional void.)

Since Richter is 19, that'd make Maria 12, going by the Rondo of Blood timeline (apparently she's 16 in Nocturne but she doesn't look it). For those who get why I brought that up, marinate on that, y'all. A very long marinade, maybe another 5, 6 years...

I... actually don't mind Annette. I didn't know how I'd react to her, but I have no complaints.

I rather like Edouard.

I noticed Mizrak right off the bat. Thought to myself, now there's a cutie. I'm not the only one who noticed ^_~

Um, trying to figure out how to word this without doing a reveal ^^;... Thanks for throwing us a bone, sorta, on what's probably the most well-known Castlevania threeway relationship prior to the animations? Is that vague enough?

Uh.... honestly don't have much opinion on anyone else. I predicted a much higher body count by this point and people I thought would be dead aren't, and vice versa, but I'm sure the numbers will start climbing next season.

Things I wish would've happened:

A little closer compliance to game lore, as Richter has a good amount of game lore to reference. If they skip the entirety of the SotN storyline I think that'd be a mistake since it's obviously the best-known game of the franchise.

I'm not necessarily mad at the throwing away of the Vampire Killer's special clause (that only direct line male descendants can use it) as it's patriarchal and outdated but I would've liked to seen mention of that not being the case, first, before it got flung out the window.

A LOT less crying. I know Alucard was a faucet in the original animation, but the crying jags in this are ridiculous. I'm pretty sure even the horses were crying. Tera running off sobbing like an anime girl, complete with hands over her face? Ugh. Everyone just standing around and watching Annette cry her heart out, without even a hand on the shoulder in sympathy? Uggggh. No those aren't spoilers, as everyone cries at least twice, if not more.

Original animation vs Nocturne, and the lack of camaraderie and banter:

I guess what I miss most in this series so far vs the original animation series, is the lack of teamwork and camaraderie. Trevor, Sypha and Alucard were yes, forced by circumstance, to stick together, rely on one another, and build up a rapport (they spent the majority of S2 locked in the Hold together), to the point that they could work as a team without having to verbally communicate. There was something really refreshing about that, ya know?

The protagonists of Nocturne thus far... mostly do whatever they want? There's so little interpersonal dialogue. The only character relationship thus far that feels organic at all is the one that started as straight up sex - there's an honesty to that, at least.

Also I miss the banter, a lot more than I thought I would. Even with a serious storyline I like a bit of humor in my shows / stories. How else would we have learned that Sypha has icy cold feet, Trevor can't fucking read, or Alucard is triggered by the word "the"? I came away with zero new trivia factoids about Richter, Maria, and Annette.

[planeoftheeclectic]

Oh boy, this is about to be a blast from the past. Thanks @skarabrae-stone for the tag!

Rules: Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass this onto other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💖

So I only recently started writing again, meaning I've only got 2 works that are from the last decade, but honestly I'm still very fond of those older ones; they do an excellent job at being what they are.

Doing the no pressure tags above the cut because I don't know if that messes them up: @stonemaskedtaliesin, @zyrafowe-sny, and @firecoloredwater, plus anyone else who sees this and has written something! Hyping yourself up is good practice!

Columbo: Turnabout's Fair Play | 19k (Incomplete) | T | Columbo x Ace Attorney set between AA3 and AA4

Summary:

Technically speaking, Mr. Wright, this isn't my usual beat. But Detective Gumshoe - you know Dick, right? - I owed him a favor, see? And it had been a slow week, so I figured I'd look around, see if I could give the guy a hand. Real stand-up guy, he is, we could use more like him. And anyway, I know you're a real busy guy Mr. Wright, so I'll make this real quick, get out of your hair. I know you and he were real good friends, so I'm sure this is a difficult time for you. Oh, uh, just one more thing Mr. Wright. Why were the two of you such good friends again?

As I say in the dedication, this is the idea that helped me break a very, very long dry spell, so it has to take the top spot for that if nothing else. @stonemaskedtaliesin had introduced me to Ace Attorney, I had introduced them to Columbo, and at some point they went looking to see if there were any crossovers and were disappointed to find none. They come tell me this in discord and I, like a fool, say:

"Well, actually, it makes sense there aren't any. I mean, they're kind of contradictory worldviews. The whole point of Columbo is that he always gets the right guy, and the whole point of Ace Attorney is that the police never get the right guy."

Fortunately for all of us, I continued:

"I mean, for it to even work you'd need some kind of convoluted setup - maybe that would stop the AA police from just arresting someone immediately. And who would be the killer anyway? Well, ok, there's an option there, but who should they murder? Maya? That'd be mean, but that's the obvious choice. Hmm...nobody likes him, I could murder him, but how--oh."

And at that point I stopped talking because the end of this story materialized in my brain and I wanted to make sure it was a surprise. Spoiler culture may be overblown, but murder mysteries are an exception, I feel.

Anyways, if you're a fan of either series, enjoy gen fic, like seeing characters get what they deserve, or just want to see Columbo at an anime convention, this is the fic for you! From a writing standpoint, it's been really fun to experiment with a very limited POV, to try to mimic the feel of a television camera. And of course, Columbo's dialogue is a joy to write. (As you'll see later, dialogue is one of my strengths)

Song of the Peregrine [Podfic] | OG fic is 39k (Incomplete) | T | Chrom/F!Robin but honestly it's mostly gen | Kid Icarus Uprising x Fire Emblem Awakening

Summary:

There were reports of something in the skies of eastern Ylisse. Something with wings as black as pitch and eyes as red as rubies. Dark Pit has no clue where he's managed to land himself, but it turns out that Pit and Palutena don't have a monopoly on annoying. He can leave these humans anytime he wants, and he will. Soon. Any day now. If the Shepherds have it their way, that day won't come any time soon. (In which Dark Pit ends up joining the Shepherds, and the world tilts.)

The original fic is @stonemaskedtaliesin's, but I like to consider myself its honorary godparent. We've spent a lot of time worldbuilding for it, and it's so good you guys. It's going to be amazing. There are long term plans.

I started the podfic because I wanted to listen to it as I fell asleep. The audio quality is definitely shakier in the first couple chapters as I figure things out, but it's been really fun learning new skills and doing lots of fun silly voices.

...still need to finish editing chapter 5.

Anyway, blanket recommendation to go read this if you know anything about Kid Icarus (Fire Emblem is a bonus but not necessary, iit's pretty well-explained in-story) and if you like podfic, hey! You're in luck! Fun fact: this is the only Awakening podfic as of right now. Yes I'm also surprised. Maybe if I ever finish this one I'll set out to try and change that. goat milk and oats Grima would be so much fun to voice.

Warrior Cats Smoofs | 8.5k | G | Gen | Warrior Cats

Okay I'm kind of cheating here but that's going to be a theme for these last few answers. I wrote these over a decade ago with my best friend at the time. She had internet, I didn't, so we had a joint account on the Warrior Cats Wiki and the Warriors Fanfiction Wiki, which are both Fandom now I believe. I archived them to AO3 because of that, and because even years later they would occasionally get a new comment from someone who really enjoyed reading them. And, as I said, I'm still very fond of them. My handle on most of the internet still comes from these stories and that account. They are simple, silly, dialogue and stage directions only parodies, and they were a blast to write. I still remember the melody we came up with for the ending jingle. I'm pretty sure these guys (plus the playwriting class I took) are a big part of why I tend to be very dialogue-heavy. I like fun purple-prosy descriptions, but sometimes a few spoken words can convey a whole lot of actions. Show Don't Tell taken to the extreme, I guess.

I'm pretty sure The Library was our most popular one back in the day (to the point we made a sequel)! The Auction was the first (though doesn't hold up quite as well...lol they're all 15 years old anyway). I'm very fond of Christmas Caroling because all the lyrics are singable and that is my PET PEEVE IF YOU'RE GOING TO DO IT THE METER HAD BETTER BE RIGHT OR AT LEAST CLOSER THAN A CATHOLIC HYMN. Most of all though, I'm fond of all the memories these have. I don't know where Moss is now, but I hope they're doing well. It is also fun to see where I've come from over the years - like I said, upon reflection it makes sense that I tend to default to pretty dialogue-heavy.

The Palutena Trap | 4.7k (Incomplete) | T | Gen (past Palutena/Medusa | Kid Icarus Uprising

Summary:

Kid Icarus meets the Parent Trap.

That's it, that's all I've got.

Ok now this one is cheating because it's not published anywhere yet except in snippets on tumblr. This was actually conceived at almost the same time as Turnabout's Fair Play, but I'm trying to only focus at one at a time, so this one won't properly see the light of day until TFP is finished. (We're getting there! We're almost at the end of Act 2 out of 3!!) That does mean that I'm going about writing it in a very different way - there's going to be lots and lots of editing once I finally set down to publish this. Which is probably for the best - I'm sure there are bits of tfp that would be better if I wrote the whole thing and then went back to edit.

My favorite part of this story is still the normal-people jobs I've given everyone, since this is technically a modern AU. We have an investigative journalist who lives on a yacht, mob boss, butler who's retired MI6, and front woman for a punk band which is actually a front for an eco-terrorist group, for example. I talk more about this story here and here. Aside from that, my favorite thing is exploring the relationship between Dark Pit and Lady Palutena, and between Lady Palutena and Medusa.

The former gets off on the worst possible foot in canon, and it's only ever obliquely addressed, so it's a lot of fun to play with and extrapolate from. In this version, Dark Pit is a child whose mother gave up everything to do with him (and said some pretty nasty things in the court record). So that's where we stand: how do you reckon with that? What does it mean that you still want some kind of relationship, or at least answers? What is family and blood, in the end?

The latter relationship is one that's...well, I wouldn't say it's canon, but it's definitely canon-compliant. It's rather like Narumitsu, in that I look at it and go "hm. whatever is going on between those two, they're not normal about each other." This is true in canon, and if anything it's less true in The Palutena Trap, since despite the name the story is not about getting the parents back together so much as reconciling a mother and son. But the more this idea ferments in my brain the more I want to have some kind of meeting at the end. Maybe it goes badly, maybe it goes less badly, but I have this mental image in my head: Imagine the messiest divorce you've ever seen. Ugly, dragged through the papers, all kinds of legal issues, you part ways never to speak again. You hate her guts, and you can't go a month without thinking about her because she's always got Yet Another Stupid News Article coming out. You find out your kids have been playing some switcheroo on you, and when you meet her again you're coldly civil, both of you clearly holding yourselves back from starting a slugfest in the local forum, and then you see: she's still wearing your wedding ring. The one you picked out, the one you put on her finger 14 years ago. I just. IDK they're not normal about each other and the complexity and ambiguity of it compels me.

Vaguely Remembered 2nd Grade Writing Assignment | like 2 pages maybe | G | Gen | The Land Before Time

Alright this one's definitely cheating but this has already been a lot of reminiscing about the past, so here's a toast to the very first thing I ever wrote: an adventure story starring the main cast of The Land Before Time. All I remember about it is it absolutely sucked to get started but once I did it was longer than it needed to be and I used the word Petrie-ball™. Yes, including the ™. The Petrie-ball™ was how they solved the big obstacle, I think. Like I said, I don't remember much of it, but I remember how proud and happy I felt when it was done. So here's to you, long-forgotten fanfiction adventure story. Here's to the first of many, with many more to follow after.

(Also, if you want to see more of TFP, Palutena Trap, or Peregrine Podfic, you can bother me in a few hours for WIP Wednesday! If you want more OG Peregrine you have to bother @stonemaskedtaliesin instead. Actually, make sure you do that, I know they've got chapter 8 waiting in the wings and I NEED to see how that scene with Pip and Lissa plays out)

[chibiseakraken]

I have seen this quite a few times and honestly gone back and forth on whether it is anything or not. I like the idea of the T hand signal as being a time out, Aziraphale mouthing a message to Crowley being a callback to 1941.

Here is my phonetics analysis. I'm sorry if it is super long winded. And, I hope it has not been too affected by other analyses I've read. I tried to approach it without bias, but that is impossible at this point.

[TL;DR phonetically there are a lot of clear "ee" mouth movements preceded by consonants, ending with a popped "p" in a very short phrase. It is very likely he says "We need help", or he is just fidgety and tense.]

Aziraphale is tense and that affects the way he holds his face and speaks. He is also fidgety. This is why I dismissed this at first. But, it really does look like he mouths something. In choir, if you want a specific tone you would think of a certain vowel and if he were singing he would be using "ee." This, I would guess, is because he is excited/tense. This clouds the view of some mouth movements and thus the ability to lip read.

That being said, I think I see his lips come together in a brief pucker for a "wh" sound, followed by a distinct "ee". Next looks like a bite down of the teeth, which could be a hard "N" followed by a longer "ee". If there is something after this, I do not see it. What I see next is a light bite down and release, which is likely a "T" (could be an "S" too but that usually requires more forward lip).

The next is difficult for me to read. This is the part that very biased. I believe I see a "heh" because his mouth stays open after the end of the last unknown vowel, but I see a burst of air and jaw movement. The lighting and his semi-clenched teeth make it hard to see his tongue. So, what happens next is difficult to make out. After that I see a clear ending, which very likely could be a hard "p". I see his lips come together and pop as only a "p" can.

I've seen others say it could be "We need time". I don't see how those mouth movements he made would work with that sentence.

Edit:

This hidden message also goes in line with what I read in the book Crow Road. I won't post spoilers here, but the ending would be similar if this were a hidden message. I am fairly sure I have seen others mention this under the crow road/good omens tags.

So, those are my thoughts. Thanks @kimberleyjean , for asking me!

Baby made their first .gif, yes yes, thank you i am proud of myself for braving technology!

What is everyone’s take on what he mouth’s here? To me, and have it be known I am incredibly bad at lip reading, it looks like:

“We need help.”

It also looks like he’s miming a ‘timeout’ signal.

please discuss and let me know your opinions lovebugs! and no, there is no dialogue that takes place during this gif if you’re unfamiliar. all these mouth movements are *silent* 👄

[mauannacreates]

My progress update: February 2023

Hi, welcome to the first day of March! I can't believe it's already March...

Well, I wanted to write some sort of extended progress update on what is currently happening so far.

Writing

So, what I’ve completed for writing this month, is I did majority of my character profiles that I’m writing for this book at least. I’ll admit, the character profile list I’m using is from Abbie Emmon’s NaNoWriMo. And honestly, I find it largely helpful and goes deeper into the character, their goals and the relationships between other characters (Which, I’ll be honest, is probably one of the many reasons that it’s taking quite some time to complete.) In addition to trying to complete twelve different character profiles with some of them halved as some of the characters aren’t going to show that big of an appearance as some of the others and also going a bit extensively into it.

And in addition to it, I think I also promised that I wanted to do a scene list. And my definition of it is essentially, how the place looks like, what it feels like, how does the scene change throughout the story and perhaps some history of sorts. I’ll be honest, I haven’t worked on it much, if at all. The most I did is create a file with some outline of the places I wanted to talk about and that’s it. So, I still need to go into detail about those places. And I was really looking forward to starting back up with the story, being like, “Hey! I’m back! Let’s get those thoughts rolling and start over again!” But, at the same time, this is one of the things that I want to get right. I am not too sure if some of the places was consistent throughout the whole story and I want to at least have some outline for it.

So, if I were to say an approximate date, even if something is going to sway in front of my doorstep, I want to start editing the draft at the 15th of March at the latest.

Reading

Last month I didn’t do as much reading as I would like. I borrowed and reserved a bunch of books to the point of now having some books that I have to hand in very soon, which I think there is two in my library list at the moment that has other people reserving that book, so I’d have to return two of those books soon and one that has been extended at least once. I now have seven books left. So I guess it’s not that bad, as long as I can read it whenever I can.

The current book I’ve just finished reading is Twisted Hate by Ana Huang. I was so hooked into the book to the point of squealing. There may have been some people that were looking like why I was squealing, but I swear. The rivals to lovers romance looks pretty good from what I’m reading. They say they don’t like each other, but come on! Why are you noticing details on him and then saying it looks bad! Or from a distance, saying that girl looks beautiful, only if you didn’t know her. 😂 I’m not going to reveal all the spoilers, but I swear… it’s adorable.

But yeah, I’ve been reading books, learning from them, some great like this one. Others, weren’t as good. Some of them, felt like they were spoon feeding me information when it didn’t need to be told. Others used redundant dialogue tags or did other things that may have not been appropriate to the situation. Unless, that is the character's way of expressing themselves, sure. But it seemed weird to me. And even though I haven’t read as much as I did last month, it was cool to learn from every book that I’ve picked up. Even if some of them weren’t as I was anticipating.

What I'm looking forward to

Well, I’m really looking forward to be creating more stories like for flufftober and perhaps other stories or plans that I’d create in the spur of the moment. Or perhaps memes or dialogue prompts that I could create for my characters. Or even drawing some of my characters a bit more, even the ones that I’ve mentioned but never even shown a drawing of (Zev, Snippy and Snappi comes to my mind.)

Yeah, and I’d like to thank those who has went and liked and reblogged the stories and drawings I’ve created. I am really grateful for the attention its gotten within the past month. 😁

[bloopitynoot]

Reading SVSSS: Chapter 12

For those who don't know, I am reading SVSSS for the first time and sharing my thoughts!

If you have not read it, there will be spoilers! Consider this a warning.

Also- if you want to follow along, I am aiming to post updates daily. You can find all the posts in the tag bloopitynoot reads SVSSS. You can also check out the intro post for context on my read.

Heading into chapter 12!

It's been an absolute day at work, but I got to do a lovely walk with a friend afterwards AND Charlie decided to grace us with his presence (very briefly for head pats).

Tea today is peppermint! Dinner break midway through this little chapter was congee and I was very pleased with it- photo further down lol.

Let's get into it!

OMG I knew that the Dew Lake snake man would be back! I did not think they'd be here as a "handsome young man" though. I fear that Shen Qingqiu is absolutely fucked LOL. p265

oof. and now I feel like we are entering the territory for daddy issues. We have Luo Binghe's father's right hand man introduced pp266-267

Well. at least if he is likely going to suffer, the plot holes will be filled. thank you system for the points. p267

wait. Could Zhuzhi-lang be an ally? or will this guy brutally die later? (do not actually tell me this, I'm just planting my speculations). my thoughts are he could be an ally because SQQ DID save him and give him an unexpected boon by mushroom bod. but also, if Luo Binghe see's SQQ being close to another demon that man will surely murder the other demon. p268

WHY SO MANY SNAKES??? I hate that so much! p270

All I'm seeing from SQQ is kink shaming. This guy has got to stop yucking other's yums. First with the necrophilia now he's anti demons fucking snakes. it's the panicked "way too fucking hardcore" for me p271

SQQ: can you handle the snakes pls? Zhuzhi-Lang: nah they like you. p272

okay, but why is he asking for women? is it to do with the snakes? or is it because he is having a sexual crisis and needs to reassure himself?? p273

they're really going to this brothel? p274

LOL even the brothel ladies sing (very uncomfortable but I guess they enjoy it) love songs about Luo Binghe and SQQ's tragic love story p276

AHAHAHAHA SQQ's "summary" of their story on page 277 has me absolutely dying XD

Ah! that's why the women and the brothel -> the wine! p278

Cultivation wise I do really love that SQQ can just pick up any fan and start cultivating. that is honestly the coolest part of his cultivation. I love it so much. p279

LOL he really just made the snake pass out, rented a sword (idfk WHEN but he did) and dipped from the entire situation. p281

SQQ: this is a later problem, byyyyeeeeeeee.

I stated I would have congee pic earlier and here is me delivering on that. It's pork congee with eggs, tofu, pork, green onions and an ungodly amount of chili crisp.

I'm slowly turning this chapter-by-chapter read into a stay at home mom's recipe blog. I am not sorry.

That's a wrap for chapter 12!

Okay so thankfully nothing terribly tragic happened this chapter. It does feel like a big set up though so I am a little nervous about that.

AND. He still has all of this demon blood in him so he really is fucked. He may have escaped for the moment but I see all of the demons coming back for him.

We'll see what happens next chapter!

[phoebe-delia]

i'm ready now

My dearest, darlingest Lyssa @written-in-ash, when this fic was written, you were waiting on some big news. Now you've gotten it, and I couldn't be prouder of you. I would've been no matter the result, because my pride for you is static and eternal, but I am over the moon for you.

To celebrate, I have written the songfic that was, honestly, a long time coming. Since I first heard you liked "Friends" by Chase Atlantic, I knew I was going to write you a songfic for it; it was a matter of time. And I think this is the perfect occasion.

To avoid spoilers, I'm going to put the warnings in the tags, but Lyssa, I hope you enjoy this fic written especially for you. I tried to stay really close to the overall theme of the song, and I hope I did, but with, well...a little bit of a twist that I think you'll like.

(And btw I wrote that author's note before you got the result. And didn't have to change a word. I'm so fucking proud of you. Enjoy.)

I knew you'd say yes.

You didn't have much of a choice, though. My request, so innocuous and easy, wasn't one you'd deny, not in front of other innocent, unknowing eyes. And you, ever the proper, pureblood, would never betray the manners with which you were raised in front of polite company.

Still, you could've made your excuses, could've excused yourself to the loo, or gone home early—done anything other than take my proffered hand and let me lead you to the dance floor. But you did, and you can't deny the rekindled magic when your fingers brushed my palm, moving easily to your rightful place in my arms.

This is where you belong—where we both belong. Dancing, moving together as one. Right here, with me. Away from those who would poison your mind against me.

You dared to relegate me to their status, once. How funny, now, because you'd never look at them with the same heat in your eyes, the same passion. Only I can elicit that in you, but worry not, my love, for it is mutual; always mutual. And now I think it was necessary, that distance you put between us. We needed to pull apart for me to realize that I'd do anything to put us back together.

Perhaps they're jealous of me—of us. That I'm the one who gets to share a part of you that they never will. My place in your life will forever be different than the one occupied by anyone else. You are mine, you always have been; I'm granting your greatest wish, fulfilling your highest potential: allowing you to belong to me.

I see him, the worst of them all, in my peripheral vision. Now is the moment I’ve been waiting for. I spin you out, making sure you’re a safe distance away before I draw my wand and point it at him—him—in the corner. I don’t need words, not for this, just a flick of my wand; I have the power and intention strong enough to send a stream of green light in the direction of your 'friend' Zabini where he lurks smugly in the corner.

You step back and I can almost see the wheels turning in your mind as you flick your eyes between where Zabini is now collapsed on the ground, surrounded by concerned partygoers, and back to me. I expect to see anger, disbelief or even fear reflected in your eyes; I expect to have to justify it to you, to explain myself.

But instead, you lace our fingers together and pull me close, whispering in my ear. "I'm ready, Harry. Take me home."

I knew you'd say yes.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hi!

I'm here for a pretty stupid thing actually but I've always found it annoying to do: summaries for fics. I never know how much is too little, how much is too much, or if what I'm putting is going to make people think “wow this sounds interesting” or “wow what a shit, keep scrolling”

Do you think it is better to make a summary as such, or include some lines from the story? Idk, any advice would be appreciated

Thanks for taking your time to read!

Hugss🥰

Hey Nonny!! *HUGS*

Ah, the bane of all writers... the blasted summary to describe your story in as little words as possible to get people interested. The LITERAL very last thing you have to do on a story. Always a fun time.

And it's daunting and can feel very overwhelming, because, just like in advertising (my professional background), you have a TINY window to grasp people's attention and make them WANT to click on your fic to read. As an avid reader of fanfic, I do have my own preferences on what I look for... but as a professional, I think I can offer some wisdom in this part here, for a change. PLEASE KNOW that this is different for EVERYONE! These are just some things I picked up in my 20 years in advertising, and applying it to – what is essentially – a "classifieds" board for stories.

Attention-Grabbing Title – Not PERTINENT, but the average reader is more likely to continue reading what you have to offer if your headline is interesting. Even one word ones can grab attention. Something whimsical or metaphorical to your story is always a winner.

Short and Concise Description / Call to Action – One to two sentences is an average attention span before someone gets bored and moves on to the next post. You need to entice someone into reading MORE of your summary in those first two sentences, if you have a long summary. Start your summary with the subject of the story. ie. "John has a problem: he's well hung." That example right there will entice someone to read your summary further.

Grammar Check your Summary – BECAUSE the summary is a representation of what's to come in your story, make sure you get that summary spell-checked or beta'd with your beta. It's a small thing, but it can help bring people in, and especially if you're trying to appeal to a language that you're unfamiliar with. Your beta can even help you refine the summary so it's more attention-grabbing.

Rate Your Story – "Not Rated" stories have a lesser chance of being read than something rated. Doesn't matter what it is, just put a rating there. At least, if people are doing a ratings filter, then you will show up in a search result.

If You're Writing a WiP, State the status of your story at the end of your summary. Many people such as myself don't want to start a WiP without the certainty that it will be done. Stating something like "Story is finished, new chapter every Friday" is a GREAT way to get engagement on your story, AND generate excitement and buzz for it from the day-oners. THEY are your advertisers. A LOT of people like the suspense of a week-to-week model... it's why syndicated television is still alive! A lot of our Fandom authors do their stories this way, working on chapters weeks in advance while posting chapters "approved". It gives YOU time to write and proof, while also having a Live / Active WiP Story that will keep people coming back.

So yeah, those are some tips from an advertising standpoint.

As a reader, though, my PERSONAL interest in a fic is based solely on these 4 things:

The Ship Tags – use "/" (slash for Slash-fiction) for romantic and sexual relationships, and "&" for platonic/friendships or non-sexual relationships. I, for a fact, DO filter stories by the ship tags FIRST, so I'm sure other people do too. Make sure that you use them.

The Story Tags – Ao3 has spoiled us with these!... List relevant tags, tropes, Universes, and genres that pertain to your story... these are what help get your story found in the search algorithm. Don't write "tumblr-style tags" (ie. "this story took way too long") into this field. It is a big turn off for many people (myself included), AND it fucks with the Ao3 search results. Use author notes or descriptions to write your Tumblr-style musings! The tags should ONLY contain content within your story that may appeal to people OR help trigger/content warn against stuff. Yes, I understand that many authors poo-poo on "spoilers in tags", but in all the years I have been reccing fics, I have NEVER ONCE been told that people don't like how meticulous I tag everything I rec. A LOT of people will use those tags to filter OUT stuff that they personally can't read or don't like. Apart from the summary, the Tags are VERY important, AND it can help you come up with a more interesting and short summary that doesn't need to be descriptive. Use the suggested tags that Ao3 offers when you start typing – these are tags, I believe, that have been used frequently on the site.

The Summary – I KNOW it is legit the worst thing to have to come up with, but your story has a higher chance of being read if you stick to writing a concise summary as I've pointed out above. Some people also may choose to use an interesting blurb from their stories as a preview, which some DON'T like, but it's honestly better than nothing. I know for a fact that I have skipped over stories that don't have SOMETHING in the summary box NOR any tags. I know this isn't what you want to hear, Lovely, but put something here, even if it's just "A literal fuck-tonne of porn without plot" (I give authors permission to steal that pun, LOL).

WiP or Not – This is one of those "gamble" things. As I mentioned above, some authors do a week-to-week advanced model for their story chapters, while others "post each chapter when done". The latter tends to wind up with stories in limbo. PERSONALLY, I don't read WiP's for the simple fact that I get confused REALLY easily on plot lines when I do – I like reading one whole story in one go. But PLEASE don't take this as the golden end-all/be-all. This is a personal preference, since I read a LOT of fics and I have very little time these days to do it. Some people love WiPs. A good way to indicate that you have a story plotted out, but is NOT a week-to-week model? Add the Chapter count, rather than leaving it as "?". People are more likely to follow your WiP WITH a chapter count, since it gives the illusion that you have a rough draft written out and you know how long it will be.

So yeah! I hope this helped you out a bit, Nonny. Sorry it's so long, but I thought with how long I've been reading fics and with how picky I am with fics, these tips would be helpful for you. Again, at the end of the day, it's ALWAYS up to personal preferences of the readers. And don't take it personally if you can't "get an audience" right away. Just be yourself, write because you LOVE writing, and you will have a fruitful and enjoyable time publishing your story!

If any experienced authors in the fandom want to add their two cents from a WRITER'S perspective, please do! <3

[after-nine-at-the-oasis]

Okay so uh yeah had to stop watching clips of the episode because I was about to lose my mind again but uhhh yeah! Still stressing horribly about Paul :))) Glimpsed 3x10's Summary but I'm still stressed xdd

And no I don't know why I capitalized "summary" lol 😭.

Anyway yes AHHH help me 😭😭😭 I'm not ready and this episode absolutely destroyed me - also clearly they were trying to make us think it was current day at the end with "In honor of mom" but still it destroyed me either way 😭😭😭

So yeah!!! I fear for Paul :DD buuut still wish I hadn't gotten any spoilers lol. Knowing me I'll probably forget anyway, hopefully lol.

But, those were the final thoughts, now it's time for the. . .

REVIEW

This episode destroyed me. Absolutely. I literally can't sit in my feels for too long because it's s o d e p r e s s i n g. Plus, I'm trying to forget the slight spoilers I got, and thinking about 9-1-1: Lone Star will only make that harder xDD. But, I will endeavor to try to at least make a worthy review here.

And quickly, too, because I'm tired and even MORE emotionally drained now lol.

But, yeah. This episode was absolutely heartbreaking. But still, it remains - or probably will remain, at least - one of my favorite episodes. It just has such good moments, and it's honestly just straight up beautiful. No matter how sad it is xdd. Yep, no fancy words this time, just: sad. It's sad. Let's accept that xDD. 9-1-1 Lone Star is sad. Sometimes, honestly, a lot of the time. This episode was sad. Really sad xdd. But sad nonetheless.

And yeah, I agree with what I've seen people saying - Nancy and Tommy were being good friends by checking on him - checking on him by checking on that, the medicine count. I hope he doesn't find out and get angry at some point, that if he does find out, or even just figures, he understands. And it's just so sad, but I honestly kinda get it. I've never been addicted to drugs or anything so drastic, but there are things that I just continually. Do. I know it's wrong, and I do it anyway. Especially after something bad or stressful. So while it's nowhere near as severe or significant, I can kind of understand it. No matter how much I hate that he has to go through it. So, yeah, it hurt, but it touched me.

Now, I don't deserve this 😭😭😭😭. Those flashbacks literally killed me, I can't. It just hit me so hard, and it h u r t s. I was crying in the first scene because of the whole situation and also thinking about losing people I love, but the last flashback scene, the last time I cried, it was just because she cares. So much. And I want someone who cares about me like that. I know I kind of have that, but I want it for sure. And even though she knows he doesn't like it, she's doing what's best for him, because he needs it. And she's letting him go. Letting him make this choose on his own, because he's strong, and he can do it. He can do it without her.

And now, she's gone.

It just really hurt me and I love it and I don't think I'll ever get over it 😭😭😭 :'(((( :')).

And even just the little bit we saw of them, though we saw more of Tommy and Nancy, the 126 is amazing. I just- I love them all so much. They're family, and they love each other <3. I truly believe that, and I know they do too. Because it's true!! Just one example is the flowers Grace sent. All of them - it's amazing. Beautiful.

ALSO I JUST REALIZED THAT IT'S EPISODE EIGHT LIKE WE KNEW THE 8'S AND THE 12'S (WELL PROBABLY BECAUSE WE DIDN'T HAVE A 12 FOR SEASON 1 BUT MAYBE IT'LL HAPPEN AGAIN AND WE'LL KNOW FOR SURE) ARE R O U G H AND TARLOS EPISODES MOSTLY 8 BUT HOPEFULLY 12 TOO (WHAT I LOVE PAIN XDD NAH I ACTUALLY LOVE TARLOS, LOL) BUT DAAAANG I FORGOOOOOT!!!! NOT TILL I SAW A GIFSET COMPARING THE TWO (2X08 SORRY FORGOT 1X08 EXISTED FOR A SECOND LOL) JUST SOME PARALLELS AND LIKE AHHH I WASN'T PREPAREDDDDDDD BUT I LOVE IT THANK YOU!!! HELP ME XDDD.

Anyway, lol, I'm fine. Not really, but, I'm fine xDD.

By the way, I will from now on be using the tag '911 lone star', because it's easier and seems to be in more popular use :)). I might still use '9-1-1 lone star' sometimes, but if it's one of the situations I'm sure I will continue to have where I only tag two tags, the show and my personal tag for it, then I'll probably just use 911. Just so you know!! And also because I often forget or don't have the time to tag spoilers lol. Anyway! Yeah xDD.

So! Yeah. Overall, I loved this episode. Like, it broke me and barely rebuilt me, at least back to level where I was, but I adored it. It was wonderful, and it was beautiful, and even though it was horribly sad, it was s o. g o o d. I just- I really loved it. Thank you, for this amazing episode. And thanks to you guys, for following this :)). I'm sure I'll thank you again as time goes on, lol, and probably at the finale, but still <3. For this episode specifically, and all it's pain, but also still amongst every other episode and all the stuff they had going on lol. Thanks. I loved this episode. Despite its sadness, or maybe even, probably honestly, in part because of it, it's definitely one of my favorite episodes.

So yeah!! I absolutely loved this episode. This has been my review of. . .

9-1-1: Lone Star, Season 3, Episode 8: In the Unlikely Event of an Emergency

I may have loved this episode, and I'm sure I'll love the next one too, but I am scared. Excited though!! See you next week for my review of. . .

9-1-1: Lone Star, Season 3, Episode 9: The Bird

See you then!!!!

[thefanficmonster]

I'm so happy you like the idea! Your first three words are: Rattle, Candlelight and Corset.

Oh this is gonna be interesting 🤭

Regretting

Pairing: Chris Redfield x Female OC (taken in by the Winters family as a daughter of theirs basically)

Warnings: Swearing (No Spoilers for any games don’t worry😊)

Genre: Romance, Fluff

Enjoy the mess my brain’s produced. Love, Vy ❤

“I have several questions surrounding this bullshit event!“ Gwen shouts from inside her room where she’s been getting ready for the past hour with the Captains of the BSAA keeping a watchful eye outside her door, making sure she doesn’t get any ideas of running away.

“I have as many as you do, trust me on that one.“ He replies, readjusting his tie. He hasn’t found himself in a three-piece-suit in a long time, all’s been soldier get-ups, bulletproof wests and combat boots. Truth be told, it’s not that he doesn’t want to dress nicely, he’s just rarely had any occasions worth dressing up for. Lord knows he’d be at home in this very moment, seated on the couch with a cold beer bottle in his hand. So to make the truth truer - he actively avoids places and events that would require him dressing up. It’s simply a hassle in and of itself, but dealing with the people at the even - that’s what he’s most bothered by.

“You cannot expect me to believe that’s the truth!“ Gwen shouts again, the sound of shuffling accompanying her voice. 

“Leon said it was important, Jill backed him up and you know I rarely get a say when the two of them partner up to support one another.“ Chris says, sighing while reaching for a cigarette before withdrawing his hand, remembering he didn’t take his pack with him on purpose. Claire says he needs to break the habit little by little so, in order to give her peace of mind, he does try whenever she’s looking. However, when she turns away, he’s quick to light a cig, almost as quick as a dying man getting connected to life support.

“You, Leon and I have very different definitions of the word ‘important’.“ She sasses back, her voice now being the only sound coming from the room which is a sign Chris cannot decide the meaning of - is she almost done? Is she starting over with everything? Either way, he doesn’t mind. Running late to the gala the mayor’s throwing is not particularly bothering him, he actually prefers it.

What’s been bothering him is the fact that he’s found himself impatient of something else. Impatient of seeing her - not that he’d ever admit it. Him and Gwen have been friends for quite some time. Well, they did get off on the wrong foot, but were quick to arrange a relationship alike a friendship and function without wanting to gauge each other’s eyes out. Somewhere along the lines they became actual friends without even noticing.

Gwen Winters had every right to be suspicious of Captain Chris Redfield. Not that she was always wary of him or anything - seeing as how him and her ‘parents’ are friends, she never thought twice about the guy. However, when she expressed interest in joining the BSAA and earned herself a scoff from him, she was rather pissed. Being the main chemistry project of an asshole with a saving-the-world complex back in Raccoon City, it’s safe to say she got some above average strength to her name. And that’s putting it mildly. Being rescued from that lab by Leon and getting taken in by the Winters family, she’s developed her own hero complex, the need to save those who can’t save themselves always dwelling within her.

And so, despite the amusement Chris showed when she brought up the idea, she became a BSAA soldier. 

“I think we established that on your very first mission, soldier.“ Chris chuckles, recalling that first mission he was so opposed to, mostly because Gwen was tagging along at her request and the allowance of Leon. He was very fucking afraid they’d have to carry her dead body out of there but the action was quick to turn the tables on him - having Gwen save his life more than once. What surprised him most though was her humbleness about it. She didn’t rub it in or nag him about having proved her point. She was just glad they had all made it out in one piece and that struck him with a whole new intensity. Almost like a wake up call.

The door beside him suddenly swings open, causing him to abruptly straighten up from his leaning position, shooting a look at the doorway from which emerges Gwen. Or at least he believes it’s her. Had he not known she was the only other person in the house at the moment, or had he seen her passing by on the street he wouldn’t have recognized her.

And he’d have every right not to: this must be the first time she has worn a dress since prom - if she even wore one then - and the same probably applies for the make-up she’s put on. It’s not much or anything, in fact the only reason he’s noticed it is because he’s so used to seeing her make-up-free face. So much so, he’d recognize even a drop of foundation if she applied it. And oh boy, is he whipped by the sight. He can lie all he wants and to whoever he wants to, but he cannot lie to himself. Especially not when his jaw has fallen to the floor, his eyes have grown wide and his heartbeat has picked up noticeably.

If Ethan could hear at least half of what Chris is thinking at the moment, he’d be as good as banned from the Winters home forever.

When Gwen’s eyes meet her Captain’s, she can’t help but smirk, “What is it, Cap? I exchange the bulletproof vest for a corset and you suddenly don’t recognize me?” She asks, raising a teasing eyebrow.

He knows it’s wrong, for so many reasons: He’s her captain, she’s his soldier; She’s an adult but he’s still significantly older than her; She’s the ‘daughter’ of a friend of his, to make matters even worse - It’s so wrong yet he can’t get the thought out of his head. It’s not just now, it’s something he’s been struggling with for quite some time. He’s constantly haunted by her: the sound of her laughter, her smile, that focused frown that appears every time she is looking at a map or a new case, analyzing its every detail, the twinkle in her eyes whenever she gets told she’ll be going on a mission and that same sparkle growing brighter when she returns from it having successfully completed it.

It’s all overwhelming, and in the nicest, wrongest way possible.

“Honestly, Winters, seeing such a shift does rattle a person. Especially when I haven’t seen you out of a soldier’s uniform for years now.“ He comments, his eyes traveling up and down her body on their own accord, despite his best attempts at keeping his gaze on her face.

She laughs, “Can’t really go to training in a dress and high heels, you know. If I had more opportunities, the dresses in my closet wouldn’t be covered in spiderwebs.“

“Duly noted.“ He smirks, offering the young lady his hand as he leads her down the stairs, “I could help you out with that.“

She frowns, pausing mid-step, “Oh no, no, no no. If what you have in mind is a bunch of charity events, you better get that thought out of your head. A bunch of rich assholes drinking champagne, really not my scene.”

Chris chuckles offering her his arm as they walk out the front door to where he parked his car upon arriving at the Winters home, running into Ethan, Mia and their five year old daughter, about to head out for the night. He won’t complain about the lecturing he received, he deserved it after all. It’s a miracle the two even agreed to let Gwen accompany him, not that they could stop her either way seeing as how she’s an adult woman who’s more than capable of making her own decisions.

“No, no, I know you hate those events. I do too.“ He says, oddly timidly as the two get seated in the car. “I was thinking more along the lines of...“ He contemplates how to say it without making the rest of this night awkward, or mess things up with Gwen in any way. She means a lot to him and he’d hate to lose her over his complicated feelings he wishes he could control. “Dinner under candlelight, maybe?“

He’s as stiff as a boulder, tense and expecting something, anything. Literally anything, even outright rejection would be better than silence. Regardless of her answer, he’s gonna regret this move later when Ethan hears about it and goes to kick his ass.

Out of the corner of his eye, he catches the slight shake of her head, a blush evidently appearing on her cheeks, visible even in the dim light in the car. A small smile graces he features as her hand travels to his which is nervously resting on the gear shift. “Sure, I’d like that.” She says, her smile growing wider.

There’s that same twinkle - the sparkle in the eyes of a soldier willing to fight for the greater good, putting everyone above herself. And, on his hierarchy, she’s number one.

“I’m glad.“

Chris Redfield has regretted many things in his life and will probably regret even more in the future. However, he was a fool to think he’d regret this decision - one look at Gwen’s eyes and all regret was erased. All ass-kicking he might receive for it seems more than worth it, looking at it from the perspective of this very moment.

Then again, Captain Chris Redfield has never been a stranger to a little ass-kicking.

Thank you so much, Anon for this super fun challenge! I hope to receive more three words to turn into fics cause I really enjoyed this experience 🥰