#i dont really like the ending but. i got frustrated w the fic lmao

[lazaruspiss]

I neeeeed to know about the stephdick AUs or touch me till I vomit

Touch me ‘til I vomit: it's a spin-off/bad end version of the first chapter of I’m bad, he’s worse, we’re already dead! I actually wrote most of this version first, lol. it's pretty OOC for jason. it's just a "what if jason took advantage of/assaulted dick instead of helping him" scenario.

"Fuck me." Jason waits. He lets the words linger in the rancid air of this shithole bar within a shithole city. Dick is asking for it, desperate for someone bigger and stronger to whisk him away from it all. Too much of a coward to just admit defeat and shoulder the consequences, leaving all of the most important choices in someone else’s hands. “I could.” Each sentence. “But you’re drunk.” Enunciated, almost patronizing. “That would make it rape.” Dick seems embarrassed by Jason’s response, like a kid who fucked up a question that should’ve been easy for them to get right. It’s shockingly easy to play into Dick’s insecurities.

moving on, ohh stephdick my loves. i keep meaning to do more with them and my attempts always seem to fall by the wayside... (this got long lmao)

stephdick mob: one of those things thatre more au than fic, despite my attempts to try and just write A Story with the setting. the setup is that dick and bruce dont meet, and dick becomes a gangster ala that one alt timeline i can never stop thinking about. i think it was in trinity? anyways, dick fills this sorta "moralistic gangster" trope, where anyone in their right mind would turn and walk the other direction, but he wouldn't actually hurt anyone without a good reason.

steph is still a rough n tumble kid livin in a rough area. she gets threatened on the street one day and gets rescued by her hyperviolent knight in shining armor, and it turns into a bit of a sworn loyalty dynamic. she "helps" him without his permission until he caves and agrees to train her. time goes on, she makes her interest in him very clear, but dick doesn't want to be that guy, doesn't want to take advantage of her. very forbidden-romance-core where they both want each other but there's an unshakable wall in the way (dick's moral compass and/or personal trauma).

an idea that i had that i'm undecided on if i wanna use it: dick having been taken in/groomed/abused by zucco when he was first brought into the world of crime. itd be interesting, and itd give explanation for why dick worries about taking advantage of steph while being desensitized to all the criminal violence he does already. like, sleeping with your apprentice isn't really worse than the Many Murders and the Torture he'd be doing, but it could still /feel/ worse to him, esp if he has his own added history. that and it'd let me give him zucco based daddy issues. "im no better than him..." and all that <3

stephdick no capes: i'll be honest i forgot about this one. i had the mental image of stripper dick beating a man to death in a catwoman costume. you wouldnt think thatd come with a 10 step program but my notes beg to differ. like stephdick is a sideplot thing that doesn't even come up once in the main outline. it's like, past brudick and mostly sibling conflict/bonding.

bruce takes in dick same as usual

without robin dick is more restless w pent up frustrations/energy and bruce has to actually learn to take care of him

bruce starts to get... attached. affectionate. dick seems to return the sentiment. they kiss, and dick is in heaven- only to crash when bruce makes him promise to not tell a soul about this.

this is the biggest secret in their lives. dick becomes a teenager, goes to school, talks to peers, finds out one of their classmates was molested by a teacher. and talking to them makes it all click. he still doesnt say anything, but makes plans to run away.

jason. dick tells jason to be careful, lashes out at bruce and swears that if he touches jason he'll rain hell on bruce.

dick leaves at 16. bruce tells jason that dick is troubled, and always has been. don't worry too much about what he says, he had an incident at juvie (lie) and has been paranoid ever since.

jason buys it, and starts to resent dick over time. bruce is nothing but kind to him. even when he fumbles he is a loving and caring father to jason.

the neighbor kid misses dick and starts asking everyone about it, alfred, bruce, jason- he even hunts down barbara and dicks old friends. eventually jason tells him dick left, that he wants nothing to do with any of them anymore.

tim is stubborn. he wants to watch dick do his flips again. he searches and searches until he finds the club where dick works. dick avoids him for a while, but eventually gets the drop on him- given the camera and his job he assumes tim is either an extreme sex pest in the making or being paid off or threatened by one into stalking him. when dick realizes this is the neighbor kid he starts to think bruce put him up to it and is furious at the thought. tim insists bruce has nothing to do with it, but dick knows this wouldnt be the first time bruce made a kid lie for him.

eventually he gets frustrated enough with tims pestering and snaps, telling him about how bruce fell in love with him when he was around the same age tim is now. describes being held, tasting bruces mouth for the first time, tells tim he hasnt been a child since bruce wayne sunk his claws into him. tells tim to stay away from all of them if he knows whats good for him.

like wtf is wrong with me. i just wanted a scene of dick meeting steph while wearing leather and heels, why did it need this much backstory.

[angelicmark]

cw: um unintentional trauma dumping? idk i can't tell bc the stuff im talking ab is relevant to my ask but i feel like an attention wh*re for talking ab it at the same time im so sorry rip 😭 u dont have to post if this is too long but i just wanted to express how ur writing made me feel!

pls pls pls never take down tooth and nail... i fr loved every single word. every single word hurt me more and more (in the best way).

i was in a relationship exactly the same as the one you wrote and my mental health also plummeted due to unrelated reasons but the fact that my relationship wasn't working out started to take a toll on my mental health too. 2 yrs later is when i decided to stop listening to empty promises and insincere apologies, sometimes i wish i wasn't the bigger person and i sometimes wish i cussed them out lmao i honestly just wish they could feel the pain they caused me over the years but instead i decided to end things on neutral ground.

i related to this so much, what really fuckin got me was the frustration,, esp trying to figure out what to do. even if i don't regret leaving that person behind i can't seem to shake off how it effected me as a person, and left a bitter taste in my mouth whenever i think of love esp since i used to be a fairytale daydreams hopeless romantic type. it hit me so fuckin hard the way you described every single interaction made me wonder if you were writing this from personal experience. no need to share if you're uncomfy. if you did, then i'm so sorry you went through that, i rlly empathize with you & im so proud of where you are today; if you did not, then i greatly commend you and your ability to depict and evoke so much emotion into a bunch of text.<3

pls don't ever delete tooth and nail as i will be coming back to read whenever im in an angsty mood and feel like making myself cry,, bc stuff describing these exact events hurt me the most and sometimes you need a good cry yk? strangely they bring me a lot of comfort though, bc i feel seen. this did just that for me n so much more,, the feelings your writing expressed- truly beautiful, srsly well done. thank you for providing me w a lil safe bubble to sob simply bc i feel like it as well as the comfort and validation i feel after reading this.💛

oh wow, thank you for this message. it means a lot that you would open up to someone like me. most of my fics are based on my own events, so yes, tooth and nail is apart of my life as well. i struggled a very long time with communication with the person i wrote about. we broke up and then got back together. we needed concrete boundaries and we never had that until now. i understand just how you feel and where the frustration and hurt and pain truly comes from. i will keep it up forever just for you. thank you for reading it and telling me such personal details. thank you for the trust 🤍

[forever-lynx]

as long as he had eiji

pairing: asheiji

word count: 1754

angst with mild hurt/comfort

A/N: shoutout to the big motivator @emi-joanna 😌this one’s for you bestie

this was also meant for mother’s day yesterday but i had an essay to finish so i couldn’t complete it on time... well, it’s here now! i hope you enjoy

–––––––

The smell of pancakes flew through the air. Eiji wanted to make something simple this morning. He was exhausted from work; he was called in for extra hours in the past week to cover for his sick co-worker. Eiji was smiling to himself as he made the pancakes. Today was Mother’s Day and it reminded him of how much he missed his mom. He’d have to call his mom after breakfast.

Eiji inhaled the smell of his pancakes. He was an excellent cook, he knew; he had to cook for his younger sister back when he lived in Izumo because his mom would often be at the hospital beside his dad. Eiji grew melancholic at the thought of his dad. He missed his family more than anything, though he did not regret living in New York. He never would. It gave him the opportunity to meet his soulmate, the man he valued above all else. Speaking of which, he turned his head toward the couch his lover was asleep on. Ash was awake until late hours of the night in order to complete his business report. Ash was working incredibly hard in his new job. He truly valued it, and Eiji was forever proud of him for his hard work.

The two had not yet moved from New York. Ash had unfinished business to take care of with his gang which caused them to postpone their travels. It was unfortunate – Ash was really looking forward to seeing the place Eiji was born in, and above all he was looking forward to finally escaping the suffocating atmosphere of New York – but they had their aspirations, and it would not escape their grasp so easily. 

Eiji piled up the last bit of the pancakes on top of each other and placed them in the middle of the table. He walked over to Ash to wake him up. Ash’s nightmares still continued, unfortunately; though it was to be expected, two months was not enough time to heal from an incredibly traumatic event. And in Ash’s case, he was still dealing with the devils of his past. It pained Eiji; he wanted to be the barrier that protected Ash from all the hurt in the universe. Though as unrealistic as that may be, he was happy to be beside Ash, from now to forever. 

Eiji knelt beside Ash and kissed his cheek. 

“Aslan,” he murmured. “Breakfast is ready.” 

Ash grumbled, turning positions.

Eiji giggled, “Wake up you sleepyhead.”

“Fuck no.” Ash groaned.

“Aslan. You have five seconds to wake up or else I am flipping this couch.”

“I’d like to see your twink ass try.” 

“You are impossible,” Eiji said, grabbing a pillow from the other couch and hitting Ash with it.

“What the fuck– Eiji!”

“I spent ten minutes making pancakes, you are not going to let them grow cold and have all my hard work go to waste. Stupid American.” Eiji hit him with a pillow again.

Ash grabbed his pillow and threw it at Eiji. Luckily, the Japanese boy was able to ditch it. Eiji laughed and stuck his tongue out.

“Too slow.”

“Slow?! Oh, you’ll pay for this,” Ash threatened, lunging at Eiji and tickling him. Eiji erupted in a fit of laughter. The pillow fell from his hand as Ash continued to attack him with tickles. 

“Fine! Ah- you win!” Ash smiled in triumph. He got up and made his way to the table.

“Pancakes. Wonderful. Yours are to die for.”

“I am not taking compliments from a man who almost killed me with tickles.” Eiji said, sitting down. “Death by tickles, huh? Never tried that method before. Sounds lame.”

Eiji rolled his eyes. The lovers dived in, gulfing down their breakfast. They talked about their work and their plans for Izumo. Eiji was beyond ecstatic to have Ash see his home city. He wanted to introduce him to his neighbours and his friends. He couldn’t wait to take Ash to his old school grounds and the park where he learned how to ride a bike. He wanted Ash to see every little detail of Izumo and he hoped more than anything that his boyfriend would finally find peace. 

Once breakfast was over and Eiji had cleaned the table, he announced that he’d be calling his mom.

“It is Mother’s Day. It will only take a minute.” Eiji said. Though that wasn’t entirely the truth. His mother tended to stretch one minute long phone calls to an hour. “Take as much time as you need,” Ash assured him. Eiji smiled and went in their room for the phone call. He did not want to bother Ash when he had mountains of work to do.

Ash settled on his desk chair and stared at his laptop screen. Mother’s Day, he thought, how odd to dedicate an entire day for a parent. Who even came up with this shit?

Ash sighed and shook his head. It wasn’t worth questioning something as minor as this. He tried to focus on his work; he stared at the numbers before him. Unfortunately for him, he was unable to make out what they meant. He knew the formulas – he knew this job like the back of his hand – but his brain refused to cooperate. Weird, he thought.

Ash got up from his chair and made himself coffee. Perhaps he was too tired from the night before to even focus on his work. Of course, that was it. He simply needed to wake up and consume as much coffee and Monster Energy drinks as he could.

Ash sat on the couch with the coffee cup in his hand. He was staring at the blank TV screen, looking at his reflection. The more he stared, the more it felt like the person staring back at him was a stranger. Sometimes he would do this, staring at his reflection until he could not recognize the face. People would find this an abnormal activity, but not to Ash. He was used to questioning the person he saw in his reflection.

Eiji’s laughter erupted from the other room. Ash grinned slightly. Eiji loved his mom, Ash knew. They loved each other. Like a normal family. Like what he always wanted.

The thought hit Ash. He violently shook his head – why was he thinking about this? Yes, it was Mother’s Day, but it meant nothing to him. He never knew his mom, anyway. Why would he want to celebrate a day dedicated to someone who had abandoned him? He thought it was some sick humor. Mother’s Day was just for people to rub their healthy relationship with their mom on those who didn’t.

Eiji had once told him that his mom cared for him, which was why he was named Aslan Jade Callanreese. The thought of his mom caring for him made him laugh. If she truly cared, why had she left Ash with that bastard of a dad? 

Ash’s vision suddenly got blurry. He scoffed and wiped his tears with the back of his hand. He didn’t understand why he was wasting his energy dwelling on this. His mom had left him. Full stop. He had gotten over it.

Right?

Ash inhaled shakily. He hated to admit it but he always yearned for a mom who cared. He wanted to know what it was like to come home from school to the smell of freshly baked cookies and the happy humming of a mom. On nights when he could not sleep, he found himself yearning for the touch of his mom, a woman he never got the privilege of knowing. More than anything, he wanted proof that his mom had loved him. The feeling of despair that came with this thought was overwhelming. Ash was suffocating in the loss of someone he had never known. 

Ash’s head dropped in his hands. He allowed his tears to flood on the carpet below. His body was shaking with gloom, his world turning black. All these years he hoped it would get easier and it never did. It never would.

Ash heard Eiji’s footsteps getting closer. He immediately stood up and wiped his tears away. He didn’t want to ruin Eiji’s day just because he got sad over his mom. Eiji deserved to enjoy this day – he deserve to enjoy every day.

“My sister wanted to talk to me in the end… I had to tell my mom I had somewhere urgent to go to just so I could avoid talking to her,” Eiji said.

Ash let out a light chuckle; he was doing his best to act normal.

“Ah, I see you made some coffee for yourself. Good to know you did not burn the kitchen.”

Ash chuckled again, looking away from Eiji. As much as he tried to hide his hurt, Eiji always noticed. He always knew when something was off.

Eiji walked towards Ash and sat next to him.

“You do not have to tell me what is wrong, but is there anything I can do to help? We can go get hot dogs if that is what you want.” Eiji softly said.

Ash smiled, “No it’s- it’s okay. It’s just…” Ash hesitated. “It’s Mother’s Day…” Ash could not get the words out of his mouth. The tears seemed to be spilling back immediately. Stupid emotions, he thought.

Luckily, Eiji immediately understood what Ash meant. He always did. “Oh,” Eiji said softly. “I am sorry, Aslan. I should have checked in on you today before I did anything else.”

“No, it’s really okay,” Ash assured him. “It’s not a joyful day for me but you do not have to go through any trouble. Just wishing I had a mom to celebrate this day with, I guess.”

Eiji rubbed Ash’s back. “I am here for you, Aslan. We can take it easy today, if that is what you want.” There were no amount of words that would heal Ash’s hurt but he wasn’t going to leave his lover alone – he never would.

Ash stayed silent for a moment until he opened his mouth to say, “Can… can you hold me?” 

Eiji nodded, “Of course.” He hugged Ash; Ash buried his face in the crook of Eiji’s neck, letting the tears roll. 

The lovers stayed in silence. All Ash needed was Eiji to let him know it would be okay.  

This is okay, Ash thought. It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay… he kept repeating to himself, because as long as he had Eiji with him, everything was okay.

[faunusrights]

OFFAL HUNT REMASTERED LIVEBLOG // CHAPTER 18

IN THIS EPISODE OF ROBLOX OOF NOISE:

“Yes.” Glynda couldn’t hang up, not without: “I’m—I’m sorry. About what I—”

“It’s alright. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Okay—” The feed cut. Softly, Glynda said again, “Okay.”

GLYNDA DISCOVERS WHY BEING CINDER FALL SUCKS

do u know how hard it is to wake up and play animal crossing whilst knowing this chapter looms over yr shoulder,

OKAY HERE WE GO

She was fidgety; even Cinder mentioned her pacing, shooting a critical eye her way. Glynda sat, intent on stillness; moments later, Cinder mentioned her bouncing leg.

i LOVE it when a chapter calls me out just right out of the gate hahaha who gave u the right

"Really?" How long had they been doing that? How long ago had Cinder noticed? "Should I stay?"

cinder: maybe i should tell glynda abt that /see glynda pacing a dent into the floor cinder: ooooooor i could. NOT give her an excuse to bully them for something to do,

On her way down the street, Glynda couldn't help but stare at the car, its tinted windows revealing nothing within. As she passed it, she kept glancing over her shoulder, expecting an attack or something. But nothing came of it.

HJGDFSGSDFHKGHJDF GLYNDA,,,,,,,,,,, can u imagine being in the white fang, and sittin in yr fuckin. TINTED WINDOWED like BULLETPROOF CAR and yr sat on yr ass watching out for cinder “dumbass” fall and suddenly glynda goodwitch, The Top Bitch, comes out and starts GLARING YR CAR DOWN,,, like ah. i think she knows we’re here. hrm. hm.

i would just like. drive to mcdonalds and get some nuggies at that point.

She had a clutch of flash-images and a wash of emotions and impressions, the raw materials of memory, stored as-is without refining. She was quite used to that—most of her missions were hazy and rough in her memory, mere sketches of events.

i cant wait for glynda to become a vlogger if only so she can actually have physical proof of whatever the fuck happens whenever she goes out and about. get her a go-pro.

It told her: despite her restlessness, despite the arduous journey here, and despite the way Vale seemed to call for her from somewhere beyond the horizon, she felt quite content to be where she was.

the difference having a gf has huh,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, u got a whole ass home (being cased by the fang) a real nice city to live in (its floating and atlas wants yr number) a bunch of unread msgs (from a [redacted] who [redacted]) and its a nice day!!! its all coming together. but probably not for very long,

(i got very distracted at this point making a line graph for the animal crossing stalk market so here we go, x2 edition,)

That meant the nightlife would soon begin. She had never liked crowds; too many people, too much input at once. It was hard to focus, to be comfortable.

/chefs kiss

autistic glynda did u kno: id die for u,

Since she’d blocked Ozpin’s number, there was no chance of receiving anything directly from him—but there was still a moment of pause each time she checked her Scroll, as if expecting his smiling face to appear somehow.

OH YEAH LMAO SHE DID THAT SHIT HUH,,,,,,,,,, i still cannot BELIEVE that happened. GOD. cant wait for this to bite her entire ass right off her body,

By the time she reached the top landing, Winter had replied: “I wasn’t aware that you had additional support on this mission, Professor. I will need their full name and Hunter’s license number.”

To answer Cinder Fall and she doesn’t have a license, but she does have several warrants for her arrest felt like inviting Winter to question not only her integrity, but her sanity as well.

SDHGJFKSKGHDJFGJHDKF i cant say what makes this funnier because 👈😎👈 but HOHOHOHOOOOO could u imagine the fallout if she did just, say that shit. if we just went and fuckin said it like it was no biggie--

Finally, Glynda let her shoulders relax, exhaling deeply, like she would before rushing a Grimm. She wrote it plainly: “The clearance is for Cinder Fall.”

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

MA’AM WHAT THE F U C K

winter rn:

She’d just have to wriggle her way out of having to talk face-to-face, then return the game to a field she felt slightly more comfortable with: text.

okay this is so funny to me cause i just keep thinking of her sending ‘no reason’ to oz. a MASTER of textual conversion. un fucking PARALLELED in this field, UNRIVALLED,

Glynda tossed a look at the door as well, her mouth pulling into a line; what if Cinder came outside? What if—

Could Winter track her exact position using her Scroll signal? She minimized the projection of Winter’s face and hurried off in a random direction the instant she hit the bottom of the stairs.

i LOVE these two because this is the first time we’ve rly seen glynda like. Actively do smthng to defend cinder in this sort of way? she’s been pretty passivve abt letting cinder take the lead when theyre together but on her own shes thinking of all the contingencies to make sure winter cant find cinder and u know what. thats gay. what will u do for yr not-gf when yr talking to someone who would kick her ass in a hot second,

also im TAKING to grab choice lines here to comment upon but honestly this next section is SO GOOD that im rly struggling to find a line to encapsulate how much i am LOVING this convo. i cant say exactly WHY im loving it because again thats 👈😎👈 BUT KNOW THAT THIS IS VERY GOOD FOOD AND I AM ENJOYING IT. and im also enjoying this line a lot

Winter’s voice was decisive: “Professor, if you hang up on me, I am flying to your location—tonight.”

winter: if y’all dont shut the fuck up back there i am turning this car, city, and continent AROUND,

It was the same thing, over and over: people didn’t understand her and she didn’t understand them. It was an exercise in futility that only gave her grief. In the end, she gave up on trying to explain herself. She resigned to being wrong, to always being wrong, even when she knew she wasn’t.

OOF OKAY WHAT THE HELL IS UP W/ THIS FIC AND CALLOUTS. HUH??? ME BITCH!!! I FEEL THAT!! AND IT SUCKS,

/reads the next bit

oh are we donning our tinfoil hats? we’re donning our tinfoil hats.

It was so easy. Glynda didn’t stumble over her words even once; didn’t waver. She was built for doing harm. Her anger burned hot and clean; it excised all the hurt like a malignant tumor.

Maybe she really had learned something from Cinder—channeling her frustration, her guilt, her pain, all of it into anger like this was something Glynda was new to. But it felt good. She leaned into it, letting it take the reins; the distressing memories vanished like wisps of smoke, vaporized by the heat of her wrath.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS god this is. SO EXCITING. i also love it when ppl rub off one one another its my FAV thing in the WORLD and this anger is. WOO. this anger is. DANDY. its also a very short-term burst of pleasure glynda so enjoy that hollowed-out whoopsie feeling that i sure get when i Blow Up,

“She butchered my friend!” Winter snarled, the camera shaking as she slapped the desk. “She butchered my friend in the streets like he was cattle! And I have done everything in my power to help you! Everything! To keep her from doing the same to you, and you’ve blown me off or lied or—” Winter’s voice snagged. “And now you tell me—you accuse me—”

It was early evening in Umbraroot, but it must already be night in Atlas. The shadows revealed the unclean angles of Winter’s face: the bruises of exhaustion under her eyes, the lines of stress at the corners of her mouth.

im sorry im just copy-pasting wholesale at this point but OH this is GOOD. i cant rly explain. like. the difference-- because you’d think from the og version this is just a bit more flavouring right? its like getting a bit of hot sauce on yr chicken wings and yr like ‘okay it adds smthng but its not like a side meal’ BUT IT IS A SIDE MEAL this is like a whole basket of fuckin. cheese-baked fries. winter DESERVES this screentime she DESERVES to have presence in this fic and OH does she USE IT im LIVINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

Glynda wanted anger. She wanted fire and brimstone. She wanted a fight.

What she got was the glisten of tears on pale lashes. A hand covering Winter’s trembling mouth.

The ashy taste of remorse in her throat.

THERES THAT HOLLOWED-OUT WHOOPSIE FEELING!!!!!!!!!!!!! THERE IT IS RIGHT ON TIME. its like CLOCKWORK,

She didn’t have anything. Nothing against that. The possibility that Winter might truly care what happened to her had been so insignificantly small and easy to trample. She had forgotten about the losses Winter shouldered the moment Cinder had whispered inheritance.

it’s just like clockwork,

also this chapter feels lengthy but maybe its just cause i got distracted with animal crossing so ill have to do a wordcount check at the end

/checks

no its lengthy this is a thicc one,

“I know,” Glynda said. “I know. I know how this sounds. But she’s the only person who makes me feel like—like I make sense.” In her mind, Glynda lay in the darkness of Cinder’s bedroom, watching the glaze of streetlights along her lips as she said you.

you,,,,,,,,, we,,,,,,,,,,,, our,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, its all that gay shit,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

“If I’ve learned anything, it’s that Cinder Fall is a tremendous liar. She could convince you it is raining in Vacuo, given enough time. Two years ago, I was working on the Argus base, where I met her as a client; she told me she was a merchant seeking entrance into Atlas—she had all her documents in order, her entire persona set up, and she sold it perfectly. She was flawless—and all of it was fake. She gave me no reason to doubt her. She was—”

Winter cut herself off, abruptly. Then: “Once I was comfortable and safe, she burned down my office and murdered my friend.”

YES,,, SLOWLY THE LORE PIECES TOGETHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! winter is once bitten twice shy, but mayhaps we mean,,, once burnt,,,, twice shy,,,,,,,,,, hrmmmm,

Glynda told Winter everything.

OH MAN,,,, we’re really getting this messy fucking trio up in this bitch i am SO excited. i am THRILLED. here! we! go!!!!!!!!!! also i said it before but again im so glad winter gets to Be Here for this. sure this has nothing to do w/ her destiny or w/e but shes here now. shes in the uber. she waiting outside.

The dying potted plant Glynda had spotted last time on the back wall’s shelf had been replaced with a new one; this one’s leaves were beginning to shrivel at the ends.

dsfjhhkljsdf side note: is this like that scene in finding nemo where all the new fish see the niece and go ‘oh no we’re gonna die’ but instead its plants getting taken into winters office? they go ‘im sorry, mate, but once you go into her office, you come out TOTALLY dead,’

okay so this whole convo happened and if i try to pick one section ill end up picking it all AAAAAAAAAAAAAA im dying out here. WINTER BLEASE,,, BELIEVE THAT SOMETIMES CINDER CAN TELL A HALF-LIE. A SORTA-TRUTH. A SEMI-HEMI-DEMI HONESTY,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

How different would that mission have gone? How different would her life have been?

She found herself saying, “He had so many chances to tell me. Instead, he let me think I was reckless. That I was a danger to other people. I stopped working in teams. I didn’t have many people in my life to begin with, but afterwards was worse. He saw to it that he was all I had, and he let me think it was my fault.”

ROBLOXOOFNOISEDISTORTEDWITHDELAY.MP4

OOF!!!!!!! O O F!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! honestly OOF that shit HURTS BITCH!!!!!!! thats BANANAS. WILD. im also loving (hating???) the increase of painful glynda lore and honestly everyone feels like they have So Much More that builds them up and im THRIVING off it. im also suffering for it.

With the video feed closed, Glynda could see she had new notifications. Missed calls. From Cinder.

Glynda’s stomach lurched. She stowed her Scroll before she could think about them.

At the mouth of the alley, she could see the shape of Cinder’s apartment in the distance. She stood there for a long time, staring, uncertain what to do with her hands, unsure what to do with her heart. Her jaw flexed. She remembered the tears on Winter’s lashes. The friend she’d lost.

Glynda took her first step toward the apartment.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA and so the soft domestic shit ends. but nowhere near as explosively as id thought???????? HUH. H U H. must b because we’re gearing up for smthng honk honk honk

ANYWAY!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. this chap was SO good its astonishing (despite the [several] times i got distracted by animal crossing rip me). WINTER!!!!!!!! BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!! i cant believe this disaster trio is coming together. also cant wait for glynda to tell cinder the shit she just pulled. oh no,

(also the wordcount was 5,931. just in case u were curious)

[red-elric]

Each of the Sohmas as parents?

omgggg okay okay okay this is gonna get shippy yall lets go for it

kyo/tohru: single handedly the best parents of all of them, easily. these two struggled to get their shit together enough to confess but once they did??? babies were coming soon and it was no big deal (they are the only ones who can say this). they were the youngest parents, i think; i personally like the idea that they were planning on getting married right outta hs anywayyy but also got pregnant before the wedding oops O.O anyway everyone goes to them for advice bc theyre just. the best parents mfdahjfdka

yuki/machi: absolute disASTER parents but somehow ended up w a good kid anyway (mutsuki is a deLIGHT). they call kyoru like every other day trying to figure out how the hell to parent. kyoru invites them to dinner a lot just to check up on them. yuchi wasnt planning on kids i dont think--never once regretted mutsuki, of course, they love him to bits--but the idea of another one makes them go. hhhhhhhhhhh

haru/rin: fun dad/mom who wants to enforce rules but cant quite manage to to the T. haru is super great with the kids, probably plays super smash brothers with them, always the “safe option” but like, if they ever have any real problem they wanna talk about they go to rin, cause she always knows what to do to fix the problem. she gets a little frustrated sometimes w her chaotic family but also very easily gets overwhelmed by love for them!

akito/shigure: SHIGURE IS A GOOD DAD. he loves kids to BITS even if he suppresses it to look cool for a while; tohru and kisa are basically his daughters at this point (aside but im kinda writing a fic about this) and once he gets over his own ego hes the kind of dad to tease his kids a lot, but he gives really good advice at the right moments. for akki, kids is a terrifying concept, but its really good for her! she learns a lot about love when she has kids, about how not every love is twisted by abuse and romance and sex; interacting with her kids helps her figure out the joys of a pure parent/child relationship; im also sure shes happy raising a kid better than her mother did, even if shes worried shes going to mess it up.

hatori/mayu: hatori is an awkward dad but hes got a lot of love! his kids and wife tease him a lot but he takes things very seriously and is always willing to defend his kids, protect them if he ever needs to. mayu is the more hands-on of the two; she takes care of all the day-to-day, interpersonal stuff (its easy for her, shes really good at interacting with kids), but their dad is very important to them too, and they can tell he loves them!

kimi/momiji: parenting also terrifies kimi! but she’s actually quite good at it, once she gets into the swing of things. shes especially close with her daughter(s), they have that kind of “my mom is my best friend” thing going on, and it means a lot to her. momiji is the most charming dad ever, and makes lots of bad puns; hes also very approachable, loving family all around!

kureno/uo: these two dummies love each other a lot and have four kids, according to the discord! i love it anyway uo as a mom is a lot like kyoko, but w some more personal stories, of course; she keeps it real with her kids. kureno DOTES on his daughters but he is also kind of awkward lmaoo. its okay tho they can tell his heart is in it.

ayame/mine: these kids have the BEST dress up parties on the block oh my god!! this is also a very loving and open family, and tbhhh ayame and mine are both regina george’s mom (you know what im talking about). most of the couples are jealous of ayamine bc they never once! have a fight! bc aya somehow missed the “incapable of proper communication” gene that the other sohmas have!

ritsu/mitsuru: i put these guys on here because i wanna make it clear that i think theyre cute and forever couples but oh my god they would never have kids, too scary oml. once they get over their nerves a bit though, they visit the other couples’ kids a lot! they like to be the teasing aunts lmao, and they feel a bit more confident around younger kids owo

kagura/kunimitsu: is it just me or is kagura kind of a pta mom?? owo she has the best intentions i love her but shes v passionate about fighting for her kids. kunimitsu supports her in every way and is the much calmer, more rational of the two--but they both love their kids very much!

hiro and kisa: nah these guys are the kids they aint parents yet.

this was really fun! tysm for the ask; everyone, feel free to send me asks! owo

[blatherkatt]

i just started reading your blumenthal kids reunionfic and i LOVE IT! Its so good and so full of potential and angst and I LOVE IT!!!💞💞💞 The way you write Eodwulf is soooo good hes such a mess and so gay help him. and Astrid Omg... I cant wait for more of her i checked out some of your posts on here and shes just great??? You've clearly put a lot of thought into them with the child designs and stuff, did you have any major inspo for the two of them like songs or other characters and stuff???

hey tumblr dont…delete part of my answer what the heck

anyway!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH,,, ed ( @tactfulgrimalkin ) is the one doing the actual writing but we plan everything together and i edit and do artwork so he deserves lots of love for the great writing…i dont remember what else i had here before tumblr deleted it so i hope thats the gist of it 

eodwulf is a gay disaster of a bastard man and astrid is SO fun and im SO GLAD UR EXCITED TOO BECAUSE WE SURE ARE

anyway you just opened pandora’s box and i’m very sorry for the length of the rest of this answer but here we go prepare for some cursed content necessary to answer that question ( | ) w ( | ) it was a Wild Ride getting these two characters to where they are boy howdy 

so the thing is in order to explain how we created these characters i actually have to get into the origins of the fic on the whole because the two are inextricably linked, and also, the origins of this fic are incredibly cursed and you can send all ur hatemail right here go on blast us we’re ready 

but we were talking about caleb and how we’re both excited for whenever astrid and eodwulf turn up, and the thought came up for basically the rough skeleton of that scene in chapter 2: 

“hey how messed up would it be if instead of them both hunting him down like we’re expecting…one of them comes in with a huge savior complex and sincerely thinks he’s delusional and should still be in the asylum, how MESSED UP would that be” 

…and then shortly after that, this happened 

thats the cursed part dont say i didnt warn u but listen you know we’re right

also that pic of caduceus didnt exist back then i went back and got this screenshot just to share the curse with you all

ANYWAY

in classic us format we got carried away and eodwulf got slotted into the role of that scene in chapter two and his character was largely developed around that scene, like, what kind of person would still be clinging to caleb after all this time to that degree to make that happen? and what was come up with was an extremely avoidant person clinging to a fantasy version of things wherein they don’t have to fight

(eodwulf was developed into a Person before astrid, i should note at this point, and ed did most of that developing; i took point on astrid later on)

but around this time i went “screw it im gonna do some concept art we’re both in too deep now” so here’s some of that for u guys 

started with them all as teens and did a couple sketches as well as one of baby (well. teen. so baby) caleb/bren/we were calling him felix at the time as some of u probably already know 

first draft had astrid with longer hair than eodwulf lmao check this out 

flipped the hair length on those two which was for the best because at the time we were imagining eodwulf as a bit more mischevious which is another thing that got reversed over time now astrids the prankster and eodwulfs the overworked mom friend because bren takes astrid’s ideas and makes them SO MUCH WORSE but he still looks better with longer hair and then i played around w/ colors for a while and wound up w/ this

voila, the initial kid concepts, to which subtle yet vital changes were  made after time. if any of you are curious about if im frustrated that that’s still the best i’ve ever drawn eodwulf’s nose the answer is yes. yes i am. 

astrid’s hair is not messy enough, theres not enough freckles, and she does not look ready to fight the entire world for a dare. 0/10. 

anyway then i did adult versions which look WAY OFF NOW LMAO 

eodwulf with way too much beard, looking far too messy when he ought to look very clean so that he can hide how much of a disaster he actually is, and also a glimpse into the very boring Ice Queen/Heartless Bitch we vaguely had astrid as to start with. even more out of character tho is the earring, astrid as she is today would absolutely never tolerate an earring unless she absolutely had to, girl’s got sensory issues but she didn’t back then. ALSO STILL NOT ENOUGH FRECKLE 

anyWHO a while after this it was decided that eodwulf has ADHD, something both the authors have a whole lot of lmao, and that was the point where ed REALLY took off and developing eodwulf went out of control and we both went Well I Guess We’re Gonna Have To Write This At Some Point Now

and with that happening is when developing astrid took more priority i think, because man, at that point in the game she came way too close to that really  annoying trope that shows up in fanfic a lot wherein The Girl is A Bitch who is Getting In The Way Of ~*The Yaois*~ and thats like, thats bad. we knew from the outset we were absolutely not setting this up as a love triangle because we both hate those but even w/ her having no romantic relationship to either of the two, like…she was kind of just There and the one who was most loyal to trent (the only thing of her original characterization that really stuck, honestly) and sooo boring???? 

so like, and i say this honestly, i managed to COMPLETELY FORGET that “reverse sasuke” cursed comment from the beginning of all this and STILL go “well what if we made her more like caleb’s rival that’d be fun” 

and that’s how astrid sorta wound up accidentally morphing into the Scrappy Underdog of this anime trio and calling her a naruto analogue is extremely cursed but also not inaccurate tbh 

started out with the concept of her popping into bren’s window because she heard they were doing magic and wanted to learn it too and evolved from there; we decided that she was gonna be neurodivergent too but, hilariously, initially that she was “the best at pretending to be neurotypical” (WE COMPLETELY REVERSED THAT AND IT IS FOR THE BETTER. SHE’S SO MUCH MORE FUN NOW) and made her also autistic because it one meant she could be like SAME HAT at bren really hard which’d make her feel more like part of the group instead of just the odd one out, and two because it fits with the whole rivals thing

branching off of that we made her just. INCREDIBLY direct. like. astrid’s thought process is “how can i accomplish what i want accomplished with the smallest number of steps? what are the consequences of doing it this way? do i give a shit? no? im gonna do that.” 

(which is why she climbed a tree to get into bren’s attic instead of using the door because that way she just completely skipped having to convince his mom to let her in)

i cant get into it much here because so many spoilers and we’re gonna explore it all, but like, astrid’s backstory turned into this exploration of the intersection of sexism and ableism especially as applied to a medieval-esque society in which the word “autism” doesn’t even EXIST and in which a convenient double standard exists Right There in the form of bren and like,, its gonna be good guys im excited for it 

as far as characters tho she does also have just a touch of Vimes from discworld to her, albeit like, she’s lawful evil to his lawful good, but she’s got the same tendency to stick REALLY FIERCELY to the rules that she thinks are important, even when they inconvenience her, even if it’d be so much easier to bend them just this once 

and for songs i cannot link like any astrid songs because they all might accidentally give away so much BUT I CAN LINK AN EODWULF SONG 

this one was HUGE for him 

uhhhh i think that’s everything i can think of that we can say right now unfortunately so i’ll end this with a comparison to the current teen designs we have now that are being used in the actual fic, even tho im not fond of how bren came out in this picture, but like, for the sake of comparison 

lets see how far we’ve come 

I N C R E A S E    F R E C K L E 

[queenofthefaces]

rules: copy this post into a new text post, remove my answers and put in yours, and when you are done tag up to 10 people and also tag  the person who tagged you… and most importantly, have fun!

tagged by @jewpacabruhs

A - age: 17

B - biggest fear: uhhhhh having my parents find out some the shit i do on the internet probably? lmao but seriously probably like,,,,never finding love or a place in the world and just scrambling in a void of stress and loneliness until i die

C - current time: 4:17

D - drink you last had: the coke i took from the house of the person i’m dogsitting for

E - every day starts with: trying not to go back to sleep, grabbing my phone to mindlessly scroll for abt 2-3 hours, then getting up to shower

F - favorite song: uhh i dont really have fave songs ahsjdkfl but i really like gaga’s judas, adina howard freak like me, and fall out boy church

G - ghosts, are they real: yeah, ive never had an encounter but i think ppl got like, souls or smth that can stick around

H - hometown: dont really have one?? i was a military kid i moved around a fuck ton lol

I - in love with: fuckign idk the phone destroyer game? uhh these dogs im dogsitting? my new drawing tablet?

J - jealous of: i dont really get jealous tbh?? uhhh im jealous of ppl who have friends that arent MOVING

K - killed someone: not irl obviously lmaoooooo

L - last time you cried: we were on vacation and i was kinda unintentionally rude/blunt and my parents were embarrassed and my mom ended up yelling at me until i cried lmaoo it sucked bc i like RARELY cry

M - middle name: julianna, it’s derived from my great grandmothers name

N - number of siblings: i uhh only count 1

O - one wish: to finally date someone?? i dont think romantic love will like ~fix me~ or make my life better im just constantly craving the ability to BE romantic and im also horny hhhh

P - person you last called/texted: my mom texted me that she’s gonna come pick me up after shes done eating and i texted back “k” lol

Q - question(s) you’re always asked: prob things related to how “smart” i am?

R - reasons to smile: when ur playing w a dog and she stops to look back and make sure ur still following her, comments on ur fic, talking to ur friends and mutuals, finding new music from a band u like

S - song last sang: the icarly theme song w my sister lmaoooo

U - underwear color: UHHHH N/A

V - vacation destination: we’re goin to florida in a bit to visit family 

W - worst habit: im a bitch and i tend to be rude and blunt oops, i also talk over ppl, i tend to snap at ppl when im frustrated

X - x-rays you’ve had: other than my teeth none i dont think

Y- your favorite food: idk tbh rn im really feelin cotton candy blizzards from dairy queen

Z - zodiac sign: gemini

uhhhhhhh idk who to taggg so if u want to do this jus like,,,,,do it for me and tag me and ill add ur name to this post to make it look like i tagged u in the first place ahjdkflg im tired ajsdkfl

[ifdragonscouldtalk]

What happens when reioka and I talk

reioka: For real?! Tony's tiny, not person sized?! ifdragonscouldtalk: No XD hes person sized in the fic But it would make it funny Imagine bruce trying to find a needle small enough to get a blood sample reioka: I mean... ask a bird vet probably ifdragonscouldtalk: Tony hanging off Steve's pinky finger by his tail reioka: The idea is very adorable, if impracticle ifdragonscouldtalk: Bucky has a cat. The cat likes little tony. Tony does NOT LIKE the cat reioka: Awww. Wait like like "dinner" or like like "person!" ifdragonscouldtalk: We dont know. Tony screams when Cat gets within 3 feet. Steve keeps Cat out of the room now. reioka: Aw poor kitty lol Poor Tony "It's big! It's get sharps everywhere! EVERYTHING IS SHARP!" ifdragonscouldtalk: Bruce puts a filter in the tank. Tony doesnt like the filter. It swirls the water around and blows him away. Tony launches a war with the filter. Bruce is Not Happy. reioka: Smol Tony building tools with the rocks at the bottom of the tank, sacrificing one of his pieces of seaweed to tie them all together to fling into the filter and cause it to jam ifdragonscouldtalk: Hes smug af cuz he clearly Won until he sees Bruce's face o h s h i t reioka: Lmao does he even understand WHY he needs a filter Does he want to swim in his own excrement ifdragonscouldtalk: He lived in the ocean before reioka All he knows is before the waters were still and now they are Not He probably doesnt notice XD reioka: Lmao the waters were never still you water horse you were just too far down to notice

ifdragonscouldtalk: But ok tony getting so excited he flails around in the water and winds up tangled in seaweed He does Not Appreciate pepper taking a picture reioka: "Pepper I am suffering. This is abuse. I'm going to die here." "You are not going to die you dumb seahorse I won't let you." "*choking sound*" "...Are you crying--" Tony ducks further into the seaweed and mumbles no ifdragonscouldtalk: Bucky and steve storming in from opposite doors shouting whO MADE HIM CRY WHY "I'm not crying!" reioka: Lmao just the idea of them trying to threaten Pepper tho Like... what a death wish ifdragonscouldtalk: Im sobbing imagine some intern giving tony little barbie tools and shit and he gets so frustrated because "I know these are fake! They're plastic!" reioka: He lets go and they float to the top of the tank and he is at the bottom just glaring up at them like... "You've all betrayed me. I know they're plastic and I hate you." ifdragonscouldtalk: Im a g ine someone buying Real Seahorses and putting them in the tank and tony is so territorial and ends up actually just wrestling a bunch of them reioka: I just snorted water out my nose omg "MY tank. MINE. GET OUT." ifdragonscouldtalk: And the actual seahorses are just so curious about this Strange Seahorse They think hes just trying to bump bellies until he grabs ones snout and then theyre Angery reioka: OH NO What does an angry seahorse do [ifdragonscouldtalk sends a screenshot of seahorses fighting with their tails] ifdragonscouldtalk: Seahorses punch Tony with their tails. Tony wails. Theyre meanies. reioka: Wtf Tony you've got actual fists HIT 'EM BACK ALSO A TAIL What a whiny baby I love him ifdragonscouldtalk: Tony eventually emerges victorious They find them the next morning with the others cowering in the corner and the water very slightly pink Bruce is Not Happy reioka: Just name the entire series Bruce is Not Happy because that will probably always be his reaction to everything. ifdragonscouldtalk: Series starts Bucky -- hey yo stevie look at this weird fuckin fish i found Steve -- screams reioka: *snort* Everyone debates on whether or not he's technically a fish and he's just sitting there like "I'm a seahorse" but are you a FISH? "A seahorse." ifdragonscouldtalk: "What is your species" "Awesome" reioka: "What do you call yourselves?" "Our names? I'm Tony, in case you've forgotten." "No, I mean, as a group?" "A family? *gasp* Do you guys not have families, is that why you don't know?" An intern is crying in the background from the effort it takes not to laugh because Tony looks honestly distraught that they've never heard of a family. ifdragonscouldtalk: Oh my g od Good reioka: Finally "Tony. Tony. Are you a fish?" "I'm a seahorse." "Seahorses are fish." "Then I gotta be a fish." Bruce screams in frustration in the background. They've been at this for hours. God damn it. ifdragonscouldtalk: Shoulda just googled it Tony compliments Bruce's singing because he's a gentleman But secretly wtf sort of singing is that reioka: LMAO if the real seahorses are still in the tank, just whispering to them "Did you hear that? Do they draw mates with that? Horrifying." ifdragonscouldtalk: The seahorses just look at him Bruce screams again reioka: Bonus if Betty is there for some reason and comes to see what happened and Tony gasps. "It worked!" ifdragonscouldtalk: Im crYING Whenever pep walks in the room now tony screams reioka: Bonus points: Pepper knows why and one time she screams back and Tony ducks back under the water, covering his blushing face. God I wish I could draw Just seahorse Tony covering his face and Pepper laughing good-naturedly in the background ifdragonscouldtalk: Bucky and Steve spend the whole day trying to figure out why tony keeps blushing and why hes making a "mating hut" reioka: HAHAHA I wonder if Pepper feels bad for "leading him on" because come on, they don't--even have compatible parts, not even talking about the size difference ifdragonscouldtalk: Tony scoffs and says he knows and he was only joking and then literally just turns around and starts crying. Shes still standing there. TONY. reioka: TONY THE ENTIRE TANK IS SEE-THROUGH Aw now I feel really bad for him haha ifdragonscouldtalk: He'll be fiiiiiiine, natasha challenges pep to a fight on his behalf The fight pretty much entails nat biting and kicking peps hand with her tail, but w/e tony loves it reioka: "I will protect Tony's honor," Natasha tells everyone and then BITE BITE BITE Pepper pretends it hurts more than it does tbh Natasha beating the shit out of Pepper's hand Pepper wrapping it in bandages longer than strictly necessary because every time Natasha sees it she puffs up proudly and Tony looks pleased ifdragonscouldtalk: Tony still kisses all the band aids tho Cuz hes a whiny sweetheart reioka: Aw Natasha grudgingly tells Pepper she was a worthy opponent and Pepper glows for hours. ifdragonscouldtalk: Tony starts screaming at steve ans bucky instead reioka: One time when the humans go out for drinks Pepper gets sloppy drunk and cries and the others are like "What's wrong" and she's just like "God I just love these stupid fish so much" YEEE Are they smart enough to scream back or do they just get nervous because they think they've done something wrong ifdragonscouldtalk: Oh my God pep I bet bucky screams back just for the heck of it and steve shrieks cuz hes startled but tones takes it for a scream. Tony glows "I got /two/ human mates nat" She screams at hill just because she likes a challenge and human women are Cute reioka: Natasha is daunted but if they hurt Tony she's gonna fight 'em anyway lol Lmao does Hill scream back OH Hill doesn't scream back but Natasha's just like "aw yisssss motha fuckin challenge" Tony supports Natasha's endeavors even when he thinks she's out of her mind ifdragonscouldtalk: Tony is a Good Bro Tonys new mating house tho Its glorious Nat helps him with it Bruces like "what are you doing" and tonys like "showing off for my mates" "Who?" "Bucky and Steve. They didn't say?" Bruce is Not Happy reioka: It's a good thing Bruce doesn't have Hulk powers because I assume literally everything we've said so far would make him turn into the jolly green giant. ifdragonscouldtalk: "You guys cant fuck the seahorse. It is physically impossible to fuck the seahorse." Steve actually chokes ifdragonscouldtalk: Real question: is clint a seahorse or a human Because i can see him accidentally almost killing Tony and Nat on a weekly basis and them loving it but i can also see him convincing Tony to do stupid shit with him like rock their tank off the table Bruce comes in and screams so loudly and tony looks at clint and goes "wow he really loves you" reioka: On one hand: "You wanna try coffee?" *pours coffee directly into tank. Everyone hates him. Tony and Natasha have not stopped vibrating for hours. They could have died. "MORE COFFEE! MORE COFFEE!" they chant, banging on the glass. Everyone HATES him. On the other hand: "That box they brought in looks interesting do you think you can throw me at it." Tony puts his engineering cap on and Bruce walks in just in time to watch Clint fly out of the tank, screaming, and lands on a pizza box with a splat. ifdragonscouldtalk: Im vibrating desperately as i try not to laugh Clint: puts an entire bar of chocolate in the tank, its gone in two hours, Tony and Nat are simultaneously in immense pain and doing theur best to tear the tank apart Or Clint: challenges natasha to a fight and sends everyone running when he screams because "SHE WAS GONNA RIP MY TAIL OFF" reioka: Lmao beautiful "She wouldn't have ripped your tail off," Tony tells him soothingly as Natasha gives Tony her best wtf face and mouths "yeah I would." ifdragonscouldtalk: Either way bruce screams and tony thinks theyre mates. reioka: Tony, whispering: Bruce must really like you, he screams an awful lot. Clint, thoughtful: ...We could make it work. Natasha: I dunno he screams at a lot of people? Maybe he's not monogamous. Bruce: *notices all three of them staring intensely and is somewhat uncomfortable* ifdragonscouldtalk: Tony: maybe he's what the humans call a player! Clint and Nat: *gasp* Bruce: why tf are they glaring at me what are they planning now ifdragonscouldtalk: Imagine someone trying to explain to them that screaming =/= mating reioka: Tony: It worked for me??? In both cases??? Pepper's just not ready for children but I am and I understand that. Pepper: *spews coffee* Tony: But Bucky and Steve like me! :D Natasha: *smug* Maria likes me. *everyone turns to look at Hill* Hill: ...I have paperwork to do. ifdragonscouldtalk: Bucky and Steve nearly have a heart attack when bruce askes when they were planning to tell him about the children reioka: Steve: Tony, we... can't have children. Tony: D: you... you don't want children with me? Bucky: That's not it! We, uh... we're physically incapable of. Conceiving. With you. Tony: ...WELL. You can't help that you're barren. Steve and Bucky: *bug-eyed* Tony: Maybe I could talk to Natasha. The fry wouldn't be your biologically but it's the love that matters. Bruce finds Steve and Bucky crying later and he doesn't want to ask but he does anyway. "It's the love that matters," Steve sobs, and Bucky adds, "That's so beautiful, holy shit." ifdragonscouldtalk: Oh my g od If they did have children only one ends up having a normal name because bucky and steve are never quick enough to imprint on the fry reioka: Lmao LOL THE PREGNANCY Steve: So how many kids are we lookin' at, Bruce? Bruce: At least two dozen. Bucky: *faints* Bruce: Probably more. Steve: ...Can I afford that many children Bruce: GET OUT OF MY LAB. ifdragonscouldtalk: OH MY VGOD Pepper buys another bigger tank Clint and Nat start hissing at anyone who tries to touch tones except his mates reioka: Aw, little tiny ultrasound on Tony's belly! Bruce endures Clint and Natasha's biting with aplomb. ifdragonscouldtalk: Steve and Bucky both pass out minutes into the labor and continue to pass out every time they wake up till its over By the time they wake up the last time theyre already named - dummy, you, cutie, friday, toast, stan Nat names one Hill and Hill is her Best Niece reioka: Lmao "Why Toast" "Why not Toast? Do you not like it? Well it's too late her name is Toast." ifdragonscouldtalk: Steve and Bucky are crying. The seahorses think it's joy. Pep and Bruce are just patting their shoulders. Pepper thinks they shouldve seen it coming Clint names one Hawk just to piss ppl off reioka: Lmao Tony introducing all the fry to Steve and Bucky, "Children, these are your fathers. Steve, Bucky, this is" long list of names. They're never going to remember them all, they're terrible parents. Eventually Tony orders his children to tell them who they're speaking to because when they misbehave he wants to yell at the right one. "That's fair," the fry agree, and then start doing it for everyone except Pepper and Hill. reioka: Pepper: Isn't it... kinda cruel? Natasha: I heard a seahorse gave birth to fifty kids once. Some of them drift away because they're idiots that won't listen. One time my mom called me every name but mine. ifdragonscouldtalk: Imagine how much Trouble clint gets them into reioka: Clint: Do you think with all these seahorses we could tip the tank Tony: Do not tip the tank. Clint: I bet we could. Natasha: Do NOT Fry: *cheerfully* TIP THE TANK! TIP THE TANK! Tony: STEEEEEEEEEEEEEVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEE CATCH THE TAAAAAAAAAAANK ifdragonscouldtalk: Tony and Natasha actually screeching Bucky and Steve catch the tank but tony is sobbing and panicking because his cHILDREN ARE GOING TO DIE LIKE IDIOTS reioka: Steve: *angry* DON'T DO THAT TO YOUR MOTHER. Bucky: Steve, you shouldn't yell at the kids. CLINT YOU LITTLE SHIT. Tony: *sobbing, gathering the fry to him frantically* Fry: *feel terrible* ifdragonscouldtalk: Imagine them all going to the beach and all of them are hanging off Buckys hair and Steve is makin sure none of them drift away Tony is actually screeching in joy because a c t u a l s a n d Toast would prefer to be near Steve so she hangs on to his drawstring of his swimsuit Nat teaches Hill how to train and ride hermit crabs reioka: Tony: *cries* Look at my beautiful family. Bucky: Aw, doll. :) You don't have to-- Tony: MY FAMILY KICKS EVERY OTHER FAMILY'S ASS. Bucky: ...Doll. Steve: *laughs, chokes on sea water* ifdragonscouldtalk: Clint.... Challenges a blue crab,, to a fight Bruce has to save him reioka: Okay so hear me out -- Bruce and Betty are together but Clint just kind of gets inserted into their relationship because "I'm pretty sure he's lowkey trying to die" Bruce says and then Betty has a baby and Clint was like "Holy shit this thing is huge. I love her. She's mine now." Betty's amused. Bruce just sighs. ifdragonscouldtalk: G O O D Clint trying to get the baby to challege a crab to a fight reioka: Baby sitting on it and crushing it with her diaper. Clint: ...That works. Bruce: Stop trying to get our child to fight everything bigger than you, Clint! Clint: *starts crying* Bruce: Oh God what did I do Betty: *snorting, trying to get the crab to let go of the baby's diaper* You called her 'our' baby and he's included in the 'our' and he's happy you idiot. Bruce: Oh ifdragonscouldtalk: Natasha rides past on a hermit crab and clint starts blabbering to her and shes just like yeah? Can YOUR kid race hermit crabs Clint looks at Bruce and Betty. Bruce: No, our kid cannot- Betty: if you can find one big enough Bruce: BeTTY reioka: Betty: Oh my God Bruce he's never going to find a crab big enough. Bruce: I don't believe that. I believe he could find one. He regularly gets himself thrown out of the tank to steal my pizza. Betty: He's so tiny how much could he eat? Bruce: *stony silence* Betty: D: ifdragonscouldtalk: Ok but Bucky with seahorses just hanging onto his hair. Theyre everywhere. He looks like a seahorse tree. reioka: Pepper takes lots of pictures. Bucky loves them. He'd thought about cutting his hair at one point but now that he has become the seahorse tree he vows to only have it trimmed. ifdragonscouldtalk: A horseshoe crab scares one of the kids and Tony's just like im gONNA FITE IT and Steve is like nO reioka: Tony manages to knock it upside down but it's so distressed by it that he gets Steve to turn it back over and it scuttles away in the opposite direction ifdragonscouldtalk: Ok but also Clint and Tony and Natasha forcing pep to help them set up a 'human date' for Nat and Hill because yes reioka: Clint and Tony vibrating when they see Hill coming back with Natasha, ready to interrogate her on whether the date went well, but then Hill leans down and presses a kiss to Natasha's cheek (Well, her entire side of her head, but they intention is still there) and they squeal and then slap at each other to shut up because NATASHA IS BLUSHING OH MY KRILL ifdragonscouldtalk: G O O D Natasha is smug like "She's definitely my mate. She just hasn't done the ritual yet." Hill going to Coulson like "a fish is courting me" reioka: Coulson: Stranger things have happened. Hill: Not to ME ifdragonscouldtalk: Wwheezesx justin hammer,,, stealing them reioka: NOOOOO Can you imagine Tony, Natasha, and Clint trying to protect all the fry Trying so hard, but they all get taken anyway, and they know they couldn't really do anything against a human but they feel like they SHOULD HAVE ifdragonscouldtalk: Can you imagine,, tony breaking down,,, and justin trying to get them to breed. Cuz m e r m a i ds. And tony just telling him that if he touched the kids his mates would kill him reioka: Justin would probably curse himself for missing two seahorses But NAY TWO SUPER SOLDIERS ifdragonscouldtalk: ScReech can u imagine justin putting a little glowy tracking device in tonys chest reioka: Honestly I'm just imagining them all being so scared that their tails clutch at each other until they're just a big ball of trembling, teary seahorses WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT I love it ifdragonscouldtalk: When they finally do come it's actually Maria who gets there first and she scoops up hill and nat and holds them desperately Just nuzzling them Bruce finds clint actually sobbing Steve and bucky beat justin mostly dead reioka: GOOD He deserves it ifdragonscouldtalk: Tony clings to steves fingers and cries while bucky gets the kids reioka: Steve presses desperate kisses all over Tony's body but his lips glance over whether the tracker is and Tony wails in pain and Steve is horrified because oh God what did Hammer DO Bruce physically stops Steve from walking over and crushing Hammer's skull under his boot because he needs to know everything Hammer did

[taocastleprincess]

For the fanfiction questions thingy, Forget-Me-Not- 1, 2, 9, 11, 12, 15 (if that's not too many lol) and for the child Kiri fic you wrote for Eijiroctober (I'm sorry, I forgot the title)- 4, 5, 8, 13 (I just read it today and it was sooo cute X'D)

Forget-Me-Not

1: What inspired you to write the fic this way?

– i think “lyrical prose” is most effective in getting across intense melancholy or just intense emotions, in general. when i write serious fics (which is rlly rare lol) it’s bc i want the story/message to be really intense and meaningful and i feel like usual fictional prose falls short of conveying the emotions i’m trying to get across when i’m doing something serious. also, that specific story deserved a lot of attention to detail and word-choice (which is something i slack on if i’m not careful). also i feel like sometimes soulmate aus demand a different type of care when it comes to writing them.

2: What scene did you first put down?

– the drowning scene, because the entire foundation of the fic rested on the actual legend of the flower itself so i wanted to establish a certain tone.

9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

– mmmm, i debated whether or not to kill tooru off and end it with ojiro ending up in the same position she had always been in, like, as a “full-circle”/”plot-twist” sorta thing. but that felt needlessly dark/cruel to me. so i scrapped that idea like the same day it came to mind. i don’t like cruelty for cruelty’s sake, you know? there’s gotta be a lesson or a message worth sending. im probably being overdramatic, but it didnt sit well w me. like even typing this rn is making my stomach turn lol

11: What did you like best about this fic?

– this is weird, but i liked the descriptions. im rlly bad w descriptions, i think. i feel like i over-describe or i don’t do enough and then the background falls flat and i just get frustrated and quit for a few hours or so. but i think i did pretty well this time around.

12: What did you like least about this fic?

– I HATED HURTING TOORU I LOVE MY DAUGHTER SO MUCH SHE DOESNT DESERVE THIS. LMAO. but srsly that was the worst part, also, her personality kinda got diluted/erased for the sake of the narrative. i kinda tried rewriting it so she didnt feel so… different. that’s why i added the super small part about graduation to let yall know she wasnt ALL doom and gloom 24/7.

15: What did you learn from writing this fic?

– i learned that i rlly like ojiro and tooru’s dynamic. i drafted this fic before my other ojitooru fic for rarepair week and i was rlly excited to write them again bc theyre rlly so cute and they compliment each other SO WELL. like i enjoy alot of ships, but rarely do i think that characters compliment each other to the extent that ojitooru does. like you could drop them in any setting and you’d still root for them and get super good vibes. theyre the best. i love them. the truest otp lol.

Child Kiri fic

awww thank you! i rlly like that one so im glad other ppl like it too!

4: What’s your favorite line of dialogue?

– LOL. i always think babies/toddlers tripping over words is super cute

“Yamamoto has super-strength, Hiragi can bend metal, Wari uses tel— teli— te—““Telekinesis?”“That,” the boy huffs in frustration. Hanaki stifles a giggle and nods at him to continue.

5: What part was the hardest to write?

– Kiri’s mom’s dialogue/train of thought. not even because i had to make up a personality for her, but because I had to figure out what she was going to say as enouragement bc im horrible at giving meaningful advice/encouragement.

8: Did any real people or events inspire any of it?

– not really. i modeled baby kiri’s movements and actions after toddlers i’ve babysat before, but that’s it.

13:  What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn’t listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?

– i wasn’t listening to anything! and while i dont think that this particular song choice completely fits the specific background/tone of the fic, “Something Like This,” x The Chainsmokers ft Coldplay is a song that reminds me of Kiri and his insecurites a whole lot. that’s his Song. lol.

thank you so much for asking!!

[sadrien]

staos, ch5: panic! at the fake dating

on Ao3 | on ffnet 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

so....been a while, huh?

i just wanted to say that french paparazzi laws are totally different from this fic. they're actually incredibly strict, and the way the paparazzi in this fic act is more similar to the us, but still possibly kind of extreme? i probably should've googled that before using it as a plot point, but i didn't, and now it's a fairly major one, so i won't be going back and changing. i apologize for the inaccuracies!

shoutout to @reyxa​ for helping me with parts of this chapter and also thank you to everyone who hopped on when i was streaming! it was really fun and if people are interested, i'll probably do it again!

enjoy!

Adrien rests his forehead on the glass of his window and stares at the darkened city below him. He needs to move on with his life, but he can’t. Not yet. For now, he just needs to process this new information.

Marinette has a crush on him.

Fuck.

Marinette is great. Adrien thinks she’s great. He likes her a lot. Of course he does, he wouldn’t be planning to spend actual time fake dating her if he didn’t. But this— 

It is new information. And it adds a new layer of complexity to an already way too complex situation.

The universe is a dick.

Plagg cackles. “Man can you imagine how much she’d freak out if she realized she was fake dating you? HA sounds like a soap opera!”

Adrien groans and sits down on the floor. He needs some time to process this. If anything, he had been under the impression that Marinette was still uncomfortable around him because of the gum incident. The way she stuttered and got all blushy around him—

Oh.

“How didn’t I notice before?” Adrien mumbles. He hits his head against the glass in frustration.

“Careful there, you’re going to hurt yourself.” Plagg rests on the top of Adrien’s head and Adrien can feel him moving around his hair to make a nest. “And you didn’t notice because you were so caught up in Ladybug.”

Adrien sighs. “Now I feel bad.”

“Hey it’s not your fault that you don’t feel the same way,” Plagg says. “And it’s not like she actually told you about her feelings or anything like that. It could be worse. She could’ve asked you out. And you could’ve not realized what she was doing. You guys are hilarious to watch interact, I hope you know that.”

Adrien’s eyes go wide. “Holy shit,” he whispers.

“What?”

“I tried to set her up with Nino! Oh my god.” Adrien buries his face in his hands. “God this is so awkward,” he says, his voice muffled.

Plagg tugs on his hair. “Hey, stop that. It won’t be awkward until you make it awkward. Or more awkward than it already is.”

“I’m just supposed to act like everything’s the same?”

“Duh. Did you forget you’re both dating superheroes? Or at least pretending to be? Now’s not the time to bring up her crush.”

“You’re right,” Adrien admits. Plagg scoffs. “Of course I’m right. I’m always right.”

“No you’re not.” 

“I am this time.”

Adrien closes his eyes and breathes in the quietness of the house. He wishes he’d left a window open, just to feel the cool night air on his skin. It always keeps him calm and steady. His fingers are twitching to do something. He has the strong urge to create a flowchart or something, just to organize all the thoughts that are flying through his brain.

“Do you think she’ll come tonight?” he whispers.

“How am I supposed to know, kid?” Plagg asks.

Adrien shrugs. “You’re a god or something aren’t you?”

“If I could predict the future, we wouldn’t be in this mess. Trust me.”

Adrien laughs softly. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Yeah, so are you,” Plagg counters.

“No wonder we ended up together.” Adrien watches cars pass on the streets below him, small and and colorful, like toys. Everything is a game, life is a game, he just doesn’t know how to play it. “Do you ever think—”

“More than you do.”

Adrien rolls his eyes. “Do you ever think about how things would be different if someone else had gotten the miraculous?” His fingers find his ring and run over the sharp corners of it.

“Getting sentimental, are we?” Plagg teases.

“You say that like I’m not always sentimental,” Adrien says with a scoff.

“Alright well, you were always going to get the miraculous. Destiny and shit.”

Adrien frowns. “You believe in that sort of stuff?”

“I’ve lived a long time, kid,” Plagg says. “And the miraculous? There’s a reason for all of this stuff.”

“Does ‘this stuff’ include a fake dating disaster?”

Plagg snorts. “Definitely not. That’s your own fault, not the stars’. You made your bed, now you have to sleep in it.”

Adrien hums thoughtfully. Plagg isn’t wrong. He did get himself into this mess all on his own. He probably would’ve been better off just swallowing his pride and telling Ladybug he screwed up. But no, he’s here now and he has to deal with it.

“I’m not good at this,” he murmurs, more to himself than to Plagg.

“You’ll figure it out,” Plagg promises.

“I will?”

“Probably.”

Adrien sighs. “Great.”

“I’ll let you in on a secret,” Plagg says, patting Adrien’s head. “No one has any idea what they’re doing. Ever. People might have an inkling, but really, we’re all just winging it. Wing it until you fly.”

Adrien blinks. “That’s…surprisingly deep and inspirational.”

“Ew,” Plagg grumbles. “I take it back. Pretend you never heard me say that.”

Adrien smiles and rolls his eyes. “Heard you say what? I heard nothing.”

“Good.”

There has to be something good to come out of this mess. Adrien isn’t sure what it’s going to be, but it can’t be just a disaster. That’s statistically improbable.

Probably.

He finds himself listing the good, because otherwise, he’s never going to stop thinking about the negatives.

Getting to know Ladybug better.

Getting to know Marinette better.

He’ll finally find out how his dad feels about dating which…might not be a good thing, but at least they’ll finally have that conversation.

Spending more time with Ladybug outside of akuma fights and patrols.

Spending more time with Marinette alone, since before this, their only conversations were five minutes of stammering and he usually only hung out with her when with Nino or Alya.

?????

Profit

Adrien swears he was better at this optimism thing at some point.

Marinette wakes up and stares at her ceiling for a very long time.

She’s kind of scared to check her phone. But she does anyway, because she can’t just lock herself in her room away from the world for the rest of the time. Although that sounds really nice right about now.

The first thing she sees is a text from Alya, and her heart soars a little bit because she loves Alya and is so glad she has Alya standing by her in this. Even if Alya has no idea how convoluted this whole mess really is. It makes Marinette’s head spin a little bit, if she’s being honest.

From: the best™ To: partner in (phone stealing) crime      morning babe!!! <3      just a reminder that i love u a lot      ill see you at school w/ fists ready 2 fight off the haters and paps (ง'̀-'́)ง

From: partner in (phone stealing) crime To: the best™      Thanks al <3      Hows it looking??

From: the best™ To: partner in (phone stealing) crime      :(      dont look      ily but dont do it ill give u a recap @ school k?

From: partner in (phones stealing) crime To: the best™      That….isnt encouraging      Alyaaaa D’:

From: the best™ To: partner in (phone stealing) crime      im sorry :’(      but really      if u wanna look at stuff thats fine i just wanna be w/ u if u do      actually it doesnt have 2 b me i just want u 2 b w/ SOMEONE      theres some Bad Shit™      i dont want u 2 read it alone      itll either hurt u or ull hurt some1 else and as ur bff id like to avoid both of those things

Marinette sighs and puts her phone down on her stomach. She’ll respond to Alya in a minute or two, but for now she has to let herself imagine what kind of things people have said while she slept. She can definitely imagine. Imagining might be the worst possible thing she could be doing right now, but she has to wallow in her own thoughts for a little bit. People get death threats a lot on the internet, right?

“Tikki?” she asks suddenly as she sits up, realizing that Tikki isn’t next to her on the bed.

It takes a moment for Tikki to zip up to her bed. “Yes, Marinette?” Tikki asks with a cheerfulness that’s only a little bit forced.

“Do you think this whole fake dating thing is a mistake?”

Tikki blinks. “You know what I think about it,” she says after a long pause. “I think it’s overly complicated where it doesn’t have to be, and clearly it’s causing more harm than good. But if you’re happy—”

Marinette gives her withering look.

Tikki coos and nuzzles Marinette’s cheek. “You can stop whenever you want, Mari,” she reminds her softly. “If it’s not good for your mental health…”

Marinette sighs and looks down. “Yeah I just…I’m committed to this now. Or something like that. I don’t know.” She flops back on the bed. “I really didn’t think this through.” Her phone buzzes a few times on her stomach. “Is it important?” she mumbles.

She feels Tikki flip her phone over and hum. “It’s from your group chat,” Tikki says. “From Nino.”

Maybe it’s not super important, but it’s still probably something she should read. She picks up her phone and stares at the screen for a second before she processes any of the words.

From: ninope / the best bro / bae (biggest annoyance ever <3) To: what the happ is fuckening      first of all our gc name is now almost ironically appropriate

From: the best™ /  Alya / the babe with the power To: what the happ is fuckening      lmao

From: ninope / the best bro / bae (biggest annoyance ever <3) To: what the happ is fuckening      second are we going out for lunch today or nah

From: Adrien / my main man / sunshine To: what the happ is fuckening      Can we?      My dad is back in time for lunch and I want to stall

From: the best™ /  Alya / the babe with the power To: what the happ is fuckening      rip off the bandaid marsh

From: Adrien / my main man / sunshine To: what the happ is fuckening      Yeaaaah no thanks

From: Marinette / mari berry / partner in (phone stealing) crime To: what the happ is fuckening      Can we hide in the bakery/my house      I dont wanna deal

From: Adrien / my main man / sunshine To: what the happ is fuckening      That sounds perfect

From: ninope / the best bro / bae (biggest annoyance ever <3) To: what the happ is fuckening      thats cool with me my dudes      see you at school

From: the best™ /  Alya / the babe with the power To: what the happ is fuckening      im stealing baked goods      also @marsh i already told mari but i got my fists and am Ready 2 Fite (ง'̀-'́)ง

From: Adrien / my main man / sunshine To: what the happ is fuckening      Please don’t actually fight anyone Al, but I appreciate the sentiment <3

From: the best™ /  Alya / the babe with the power To: what the happ is fuckening      booooo i wanna fight      but ok fine      see u nerds in a bit!!!

Marinette forces herself to get out of bed and get changed. She feels like a robot as she gets ready, putting on her makeup and doing her hair more out of habit than anything else. She thinks that her emotions may have shut down out of instinct to protect herself, because she’s pretty sure that below the blank emptiness there is pure terror.

Yesterday, things had been bad. Now, people have had hours to digest the “Marichat” thing. On one hand, people could’ve calmed down. On the other, it’s had time to spread and people have had time to say things that are significantly worse.

She has a plan for telling her parents. And that plan is shouting out that she’s dating Chat Noir just as she runs out of the door for school and then sprinting away from her house so she doesn’t have to deal with it.

Perfect.

Adrien is surprised to find Alya and Nino standing in front of the steps of school instead of hiding out in the bushes. At least, he’s surprised until he steps out of the car and suddenly someone with a camera jumps out from the bushes and starts taking pictures.

Nino crams his hat on Adrien’s head as Alya grabs Adrien’s arm and drags him inside. Caught by surprise, Adrien is barely able to register what’s happening, let alone protest. Not that he would. He doesn’t want another picture of his face all over the tabloids. Don’t they have enough pictures to use from photoshoots?

“You could’ve warned me,” he mutters once they’ve hauled him inside. He hands Nino his hat back and smooths down his hair.

“Sorry, dude,” Nino apologizes. “We were caught up in planning how to get you inside.”

“I don’t think we succeeded,” Alya admits. “These guys are vicious.”

“They get paid to be,” Chloé snips from behind them. She studies her nails and leans against the wall. “They’re rats and it’s their job to be.” “What’s your excuse?” Alya asks.

Chloé rolls her eyes. “Am I taking him off your hands or what, Césaire? Don’t you have a different friend you’re supposed to be watching for?”

Alya’s eyes go wide. “Shit you’re right,” she mumbles. She pulls out her phone and sends off a quick text before dragging Nino back out into the fray.

“Why am I getting handed off to you?” Adrien asks Chloé.

“Babysitting duty,” Chloé says flatly. “I’m here to make sure you’re not being a dumbass.”

“I can take care of myself,” Adrien promises.

Chloé shrugs. “I know that. They both know that. But we also know you have a tendency to take what people say about you to heart, and—” she reaches over and plucks his phone from his hands, “we don’t want that.”

He opens his mouth to protest before he gives in and leans against the wall next to her. “People aren’t really saying anything bad about me.”

“Just your relationship.” Chloé flips his phone over in her hands a few times. “Besides, there’s no doubt that you’ll feel bad about what they’re saying about Marinette, despite the fact that none of that is within your control.”

“Of course I feel bad about what they’re saying!” he says defensively. “She’s my friend, why wouldn’t—”

Chloé gives him a look.

Adrien sags against the wall. “What’s that for?” he grumbles, casting his eyes to the floor.

She crosses her arms. “Adrien Agreste, do not tell me you’re that oblivious.”

He winces. “I might be.”

Chloé groans. “You aren’t serious.”

“Someone may have had to spell it out for me,” he admits.

“I hate you.”

“Fair enough.” Honestly, Adrien kind of hates himself for not noticing too. It’s only fair someone else hates him for it.

“No.” Chloé slips his phone into her pocket and grabs his hands. “You are not allowed to hate yourself for not returning someone’s feelings,” she says seriously. “You are not allowed to hate yourself because you didn’t realize someone felt something that you didn’t. Got it?”

Adrien stares at her.

“Got it?”

“Yes, mom,” he says, only realizing afterward how much those words sting both of them.

Chloé scoffs and drops his hands. “If you try to check any social media I’m taking this back and locking you out,” she says before handing back his phone.

“How would you lock me out?” Adrien asks, checking his notifications. He notices an email from Nathalie about lunch today and reminds himself to email her back with her plans before class starts. “I’ve never told you my password.”

Chloé smiles deviously. “I have my ways.”

Adrien narrows his eyes at her. “I’m changing my password now,” he announces.

“I have my ways,” she repeats.

“You know, between you and Alya, I’m starting to think that maybe I should just go back to writing letters and using carrier pigeons.”

Chloé snorts. “That would just make our jobs easier,” she points out. “You can’t escape it, Adri. Nothing is unknowable.”

He finds his thoughts going to Ladybug and brushes his fingers against his ring. “That’s what I’m worried about.”

Chloé grabs Adrien by the arm and pulls him closer as Alya and Nino drag Marinette inside the school. Marinette glances back over her shoulder with wide eyes, face pale as she stares at the paparazzi behind her.

“No damage done?” Alya asks Chloé.

“I know what I’m doing,” Chloé snipes.

Marinette takes a shaky breath. “Holy shit,” she whispers, looking to Adrien with wide eyes.

“You okay?” Nino asks, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She nods quickly. “Yeah it’s just— It’s been a morning.” She glances toward the door and lowers her voice. “I told my parents I’m dating Chat.”

Adrien notices Chloé’s eyebrows raise slightly as she leans the tiniest bit forward. She’d die before admitting that she’s interested in what Marinette has to say, so he’ll ask for her. “How’d it go?”

“Um…” Marinette tugs on a pigtail. “I don’t know?”

Alya frowns. “What do you mean?”

“I sort of—” Marinette takes a deep breath. “Okay, so I was running out the door because I was late—”  

“Typical,” Nino murmurs.

She flips him off as she continues her story. “And as I ran out the bakery I sort of just shouted ‘I’m dating Chat Noir bye!’ and left. So…” She meets Adrien’s eyes. “That happened.”

Chloé snorts. “Sorry,” she apologizes when Marinette glares at her. “But that’s one way to handle the conversation. By not handling it.” She tosses her hair over her shoulder. “Hope they don’t google it.”

Marinette goes pale.

“Smooth, Chlo,” Adrien mutters.

Chloé shrugs. “I wouldn’t google yourself either.”

“Why were you googling Marinette?” Alya asks, eyes narrowed.

Chloé hums and turns her attention to her phone, typing rapidly. “I’ll see you later, Adri,” she says, tapping him twice on the shoulder before walking away toward the locker room.

Alya’s phone buzzes and she purses her lips as she reads the newest message. “Right,” she murmurs. “Anyway, I hope your parents are cool with this,” she says, wrapping Marinette in a tight hug.

Marinette sighs and sinks into the hug. “No promises,” she mumbles.

By the end of the school day, Marinette is just about ready to sleep for rest of time.

Of course, Hawk Moth doesn’t work like that.

“You alright?” Tikki asks as she flies out of Marinette’s purse.

Marinette sighs. “No, not really. I just want to curl up in my room and stop thinking and experiencing life for a while.”

Tikki nuzzles her cheek. “We can do that after this, if you want.”

“I’d love that,” Marinette admits. “Spots on, Tikki.”

The transformation and magic washes over her, calming some of her anxiety and clearing her mind. She’s always able to think more clearly as Ladybug. Maybe that’s because she knows exactly who Ladybug is. She still has questions about Marinette.

Ladybug swings up to the roof of a tall building to get a better look of the streets. The akuma had gotten away while she’d been finding a place to hide and transform, and its trail of destruction is more minimal than most.

She squints in the sunlit as she looks around Paris. She finds a sign of the akuma, a car crash, and after checking to make sure the civilians are all safe and able to get out of their cars, she follows the akuma’s path from above the streets.

Ladybug’s breath catches in her throat as she sees Adrien duck into an alley, the akuma on his heels.

“Shit,” she whispers. She didn’t really want to be making appearances with Adrien as Ladybug, but like hell she was going to leave him cornered.

Ladybug swings down into the alley, wrapping her arm tightly around Adrien’s waist as she swings by.

Adrien yelps and throws his arms around her neck, burying his face against her shoulder.

“S-sorry!” she shouts, landing them on a roof. “The akuma—”

“It’s fine!” Adrien says quickly. “You were doing your job. Saving my life.” He glances over the edge of the building before stepping back, and closer, to Ladybug. “Thank you for that, by the way.”

“Of course. Doing my job,” Ladybug says. That was all. Nothing more. Of course.

“Uh…so how do I get down?” Adrien asks.

Ladybug hesitates. “I can set you down somewhere safe,” she says after a moment. “If you’re okay with that?”

Adrien nods and puts his arms around her neck carefully. “Is this okay?”

Ladybug swallows and tries not to think about how close they are. She can scream to Tikki later. “Yup, it’s fine. Hold on tight.”

Adrien clutches onto her tighter as she leaps from the building. She’s more careful with her swings than usual. Even when she has to swing Chat around the city she’s not this careful. Chat always lands on his feet, and he has the bonus of a protective suit.

Adrien has neither of those going for him and that’s kind of terrifying.

She moves away from the akuma, landing as lightly as she can in the first clear street. She makes sure that Adrien’s feet are firmly on the ground before she loosens her grip on his waist. “Are you alright?” she asks.

Adrien nods before his eyes go wide. He whispers, “People are watching,” and presses a quick kiss to her cheek.

Ladybug tenses, her cheeks heating up. She can see the people Adrien mentioned out of the corner of her eye, phones and cameras raised, all catching the moment.

More news for the tabloids. Joy.

She jumps away from Adrien as there’s a large crash somewhere a few streets over. Car alarms start blaring and she gives him an apologetic. “I, uh, I have to…” She motions toward the akuma hopelessly.

Adrien nods. “Yeah, I’ll… I’ll find somewhere safe.” He chews on his lip and glances at his feet. “I’ll see you later?”

Ladybug is barely able to nod, screaming to herself as she throws her yoyo and swings off to the akuma attack. Chat arrives on the scene only a few minutes after her, panting and apologizing for being late, saying that he got caught up in something on the way. Ladybug just nods and focuses on not grabbing him by the should and screaming that Adrien Agreste kissed her! Her cheek. But still! His lips touched her skin.

She would’ve forgotten the fist bump at the end of the fight if Chat hadn’t raised his fist first. She gives him a small smile as she bumps their fists together before she breaks off in a spring and swings off.

The moment she’s detransformed and in her bedroom, Marinette presses a pillow to her face and screams.

“Are you okay, Mari?” Tikki asks nervously.

Marinette lifts her head from the pillow. “Yeah I’m good,” she says before burying her face in the pillow again and continuing to scream.

Adrien Agreste is going to be the absolute death of her.

[sovtwords]

i just read you found me and bestie 😳 i sat here for a good three and a half hours and read the whole thing in one go AND IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT AND I LOVE YOU FOR IT !! kind of a rant ahead so i’m sorry in advance hehe

the whole story was so beautifully thought out and i absolutely fell in love w each person’s characterization. the time atsumu frowned when he saw lilies on mcs desk flew over my head but i later on noticed and gasped so loud my dog woke up LOL i just realized you never used y/n (right or did i just never notice) and i think you are powerful for that. it just gives the mc more freedom and room to be interpreted in whatever way while still maintaining a personality that fits the story. also himari’s my absolute fave and she’s best girl sorry i dont make the rules

in you should have found me my heart absolutely broke for osamu because it’s so clear how different the twins reaction would be depending on who got the girl. osamu was always a bit more selfless in general but in that fic the way it was established that even years later atsumu would still be affected by it just screams ab how different they really are. i hope osamu got a happy ending w someone he loves and loves him back, he deserves it

the whole thing was a ride, the way that there was so much push and pull and frustration made me scream omg. the situation with tomi was so stressful and nobody should have to go with that kind of abuse (bc it is abuse no matter how anyone looks at it! and i love that you recognized it as so) and blackmail. the fact that mc didnt blame atsumu for getting with tomi because she too was with someone else (fuck daishou and mika too lw i thought she was cooler than that 😡) so its nice that she didnt outright blame him, bc i sure as hell would LOL but anyway. the way that these two felt so strongly ab each other and were so patient and still loved each other thru all the shit theyve gone thru makes me so happy bc a love like that is so pure

high school tsumu was a little shit and he (respectfully) needed to get decked but the way that he learned and did better and even tried to make tomi realize that too was much needed and appreciated. the thing with this fic tho is that no one can really blame anyone for how they acted (except tomi and daishou like cmon man do better) bc its so raw and human of them. atsumu was young and in love but didnt know it and was terrified of what everyone would think of him, which is valid esp bc his whole life, people have been telling him that osamu is the better twin with a better personality and whatnot. and you cant blame mc for leaving bc getting bullied like that and having the one person you trust turn their back on you hurts

still my heart absolutely goes out to osamu. i saw somewhere that atsumu is the one who gets seen and osamu is the one who is liked, so they both have this underlying resentment (i dont think thats the right word. jealousy?) to each other. bc when you heard miya youd think of atsumu but once they got to know both twins, it’s osamu they like. i feel like osamu is more known as atsumu’s twin sometimes bc he’s just the one thats more out there, yk? but atsumu just being grateful for osamu made me so happy and osamu being happy for his twin and mc made me even happier even tho he was hurting inside. give him a happy ending im begging you my tiny heart hurts after you should have found me pls tell me he’s happy and moved on

also let’s all thank yuta for getting along w mc to begin w LOL he’s second best after himari 😌 bokuroo dynamic was a much needed addition and i love them more than anything, same vibes as hanamattsun like chaotic gay bros who’d tear down the earth for the ones they love 😪

i feel like i still have so much left to say but this is already super long and im sorry for that. you found me is now one of my fave fics (probs my fave atsumu fic i loved it that much) ever and im so grateful you took the time to write it. thanks for the journey and im looking forward to your fics (im gonna binge rn 😈) and future works! stay hydrated <3

BESTIE EYE- KASJAASUDFHYAS I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO START BECAUSE I'M CRYING

Firstly thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a long and detailed message with such kind words, i literally did not stop smiling the entire time I was reading it oml i was so giddy reading it

I'm so glad you caught onto those little tidbits i left in the story, i tried to have meaning in every tiny details so it makes me happy that you caught onto them! And you're right! I didn't use Y/N in the story at all, or any of my stories! I kinda feel at times using anything like Y/N or (name) feels a bit clunky? It kinda takes me out of the story, so I try not to include it in my stories at all, and either use a nickname or nothing! ALSO I'M SO HAPPY YOU LOVED HIMARI AND YUTA!!

Your analysis of how different the twins are and their dynamic with each other in not only HQ but my fic is just CHEFS KISS MWAH it's so good and you really hit the nail on the head. Like you said they're both winners in different ways; Atsumu is the star boy who gets noticed for his talent and charisma but Osamu is the better liked twin in the end because of his personality and calm nature. I think the twins are just so interesting to write about that way, how they love differently and approach life dasjfhasd will definitely write more with the two of them in the future

I really screwed over Osamu in 'I should have found you', didn't I? LOL I need to do my boy some justice in future stories i write, whether they're related to You Found Me or not. But rest assured he had a happy ending regardless of whether he's in a relationship or not! He's taking life step by step and finding success in his job and with his friends! <3

I guess the thing I wanted to focus on in this fic is that everyone goes through some sort of struggle in some way. Even someone like cocky, hotheaded atsumu feels the weight of pressure and to act a certain way because its expected of him. He may not have dealth with it well at first (he was a kid tbf!) but what matters is how he grows from the hurt and learns how to do right the second time. I am a sucker for 'right people, wrong time' tropes after all hahaha everybody deals with shit, so it's important that they all found someone to lean on

I don't ship much but Bokuroo is my SHIT i just love really stupid bros that are in love and every day is a wild ride, like matsuhana too ajhsdfhsd

Seriously, thank you so much for even reading my fic, let alone sending such a sweet message. I'm beyond happy that you loved it, and to call it one of your fave fics just makes my head explode LMAO

I do hope you enjoy the other fics (trash) I write, my mind goes in a million directions and I can only hope ppl understand what i write HAHAHA

THANK YOU SO MUCH MY LOVE, I HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY <33333