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wonderlandhatter · 4 years ago

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Will you read to me?

Pairing: Spencer x femReader

Summary: You're feeling unsettled after a case, so Spencer helps you get some sleep and get a smile back on your face.

Word count: 1863

Warnings: fluff (is that a warning idk), mentions of an unsub, feeling overwhelmed after an unsub touches you (just your hand and waist nothing in detail). Tiny bit of angst I think mostly fluff though

A/N: Ok so this is my first attempt at writing a fic, it ended up being longer than I thought it would be, anyways if you would like to give me some feedback that would be greatly appreciated, hope someone out there enjoys this, I really liked writing it. Ooh also if I missed any warnings pls tell me.

A/N2: Hey so my old account got deleted so I'm reposting my fics if you have a sec I would appreciate it if you could boost it so i can try and get to where i was, thank you.

It had been a tough case, especially for you, the victimology fit you in every way and so you had been used to draw the unsub out, nothing had gone wrong but you could still feel his hand where he had touched yours, his alluring presence was lingering around you , all you wanted to do was go home and shower this feeling off but first you had to get there.

Unfortunately, there was still 2 hours left in the flight. So, until you did get home you would settle for sleep hoping time would pass faster, though you just couldn’t stop your mind from thinking, well overthinking. Spencer noticed this and it hurt him to see you like this he himself knew nothing had happened but he didn’t like the thought that you had even gone near that creep, to think about what he would have done to you, if the circumstances were different.

He couldn’t imagine what he would do if something had happened, you and him were close, very close, you had first bonded when he noticed your Dr who coin purse on your first day at the BAU, he hadn’t gotten a chance to say anything because at that moment Garcia bubbled into the bullpen announcing that they have a case. but when he saw it again on the jet, he couldn’t resist but to ask if you like the show, you love the show and your face visibly lit up at the mention of it as did his, you both exchanged a few words before Derek piped in to ask if that was the show with the flying phone booth but before Spencer had the chance to correct him, you did. ‘well firstly it’s a Tardis which stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space, secondly it isn’t a phone booth it’s a police box.’ Once you finish you simply smiled at him but before he could answer you piped up again early. ‘ ooh ooh and do you want to know why it’s a police box’, Derek honestly couldn’t care less but he couldn’t bare to take away the joy in your face that was brought by this nerdy little show you clearly loved, Spencer might also have been giving him a look that said ‘don’t you dare say no’, so he decided to indulge you, ‘sure kid tell me why it’s a police box’. Spencer saw your face light up even more if it was even possible, and so you began’ So the Tardis is supposed to change in appearance depending on where it is because of a component that is called ‘the chameleon circuit’ but something happened to it so it no longer works and is stuck as a police box, its explained in the first Dr who series in an episode called An Unearthly child. Oh and…..’ by this time Derek has lost interest and was only half listening but Spencer’s full attention was on you as you talked about something that clearly brought you joy, at this point he decided to chime in and so you two spent the rest of the jet ride to wherever it was you were going discussing your favourite episodes, plots and Drs. And so, a beautiful friendship began to bloom.

As spencer’s memory of that day came to an end he couldn’t help but be visibly sad at how much of a contrast your feeling were to that day, there was no smile so big you had dimples no hands moving around animatically as you talked and no interrupting your own sentences as you thought of something else you thought needed to be said. And certainly, no you trying to convince him that David tenant was the best Dr. now there was only an uneasiness about you, you looked sad and in slight distress.

Spencer couldn’t keep sitting there doing nothing, he wanted to take those feelings away no, he needed to take them away, he wanted to go over to you and hold you, place you on his lap and let you bury your face into his cardigan like you had done so many times before on your movie nights, but that wouldn’t be appropriate while the entire team was around, and he didn’t want to make you feel worse by being so forward so instead he stood up from his seat opposite Derek and J.J and made his way to you on the sofa holding his book, you were sat in the corner looking so small, holding a now cold cup of tea.

Your mind was anywhere but there so it took Spencer calling your name quietly before you realised anyone was sitting there, and as you saw him all those bad feelings were drowned out by those of joy and love, they weren’t gone but their overwhelming words were dulled, Spencer just had that effect on you, you weren’t completely sure when your feeling changed from hey that’s my friend, to hey that’s my friend who I would like to kiss, marry, and have babies with. Maybe it was the day he showed you how to do physics magic, or the day he brought you coffee every morning for 2 weeks because he spilled one the previous day on your white shirt, or maybe the first time he hugged you, you knew he wasn’t big on hugs but after a tough case for everyone he could see you needed it and honestly once he was there holding you he never wanted to stop, after that he wouldn’t hesitate to hug you, you both waved it off as friendly but you both just wanted to be as close as possible, maybe when you came to terms with the fact you would both try your best to have physical contact with each other, be it holding hands or falling asleep on each other’s shoulder is when you knew you wanted a lot more.

You were brought back by Spencer’s voice, ‘are you ok’,’ ‘oh, ah yeah sorry , my minds just wandering I guess’ you said looking down at your hands feeling bad for lying, he clearly knew you weren’t he was a profiler after all, and as you stared at your hand you once again remembered his lingering touch on your left hand, before your mind could wander further Spencer held your hand ,he spoke up ‘ don’t think about him, I know that’s what your doing , but he’s gone now were he cant hurt anyone else, were he can’t hurt you’. You looked away from him feeling silly ‘I know that, I don’t even know why I’m acting like this it’s ridiculous honestly he didn’t do anything he just touched my hand and waist but the thought of his hands on me just makes me feel sick, it’s like I can still feel him and I just want to wash it off and that’s all I can think about every time I try to sleep, I just want to sleep and forget about it spence’ as you said this you subconsciously scratched the back of your hand where his had been, spencer took both your hands once again before you could hurt yourself, ‘hey y/n, it isn’t silly, after seeing the crime scenes and knowing what he did to those women it is perfectly reasonable to be feeling like this’ you nod at his words and lean your head on his shoulder as you take in his familiar comforting smell, ‘thanks Spence’ you hear him hum in response as his head leans on top of yours.

You sit in comfortable silence just being with each other not even realising he hadn’t let go of your hand, it isn’t like you had made a move to either, and neither of you were planning on it. The jet was silent as everyone was either asleep, or going through some files, it was peaceful, it was wonderful.

You were the first to break the silence ‘what are you reading’ , ‘Alice’s adventures in wonderland’, you looked up at him from your place on his shoulder with a soft smile and simply stated ‘that’s my favourite book, I have a copy in my desk right now’ , ‘I know, that’s why I’m reading it, ‘ his reason made your heart swell as he continued, ‘even though it Is considered a classic I’ve never actually read it, I must say I am enjoying it’, ‘how far along are you’, ‘about half way’. Truthfully Spencer could have been done with the book already even though he had started it at the beginning of the flight, however this book was different, this was your favourite, this one meant so much to you and so he wanted to take it all in, he wanted that feeling you get when you first read a line that impacts you, a feeling you only get once with that line, a feeling he was getting often in this book because he knew you loved it and so he loved it.

The silence was disrupted by a very large yawn coming from you, he must admit you looked very cute when you were tired (he may also love the fact you were wearing one of his cardigans that you had claimed as your, and you also had very cute sweater paws). ‘Here lie down’ Spencer said, you knew you wouldn’t be able to fall asleep so you asked, ‘will you read to me’ there was barely a beat before you felt the need to justify your request, even though you didn’t need to he would do anything you asked. ‘it’s just I don’t think ill be able to sleep, and your voice is very calming’, the last part you said quietly and felt a light blush on your cheeks, spencer simply smiled and simply answered ‘of course ill read to you’, and so you laid you head down on his lap and he began reading once you were fully comfortable, ‘would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’’ ‘’that depends a good deal on where you want to get to,’’ said the cat………’’ and so Spencer kept reading to you, an you kept listening, his hand made its way to your hair and began to play with it while your hand drew lazy nonsensical things on his leg , and as you heard the words you had read a million times before, and as the man you held so much love for played with your hair all your worries and thoughts melted away and you slowly let sleep take over , you felt conflicted as you didn’t want to miss this, miss Spencer’s voice recite something that meant so much to you, it was like hearing a completely new story, but at some point you let it take over and so you were finally able to sleep, Spencer never stopped reading to you or playing with your hair in fear of disturbing your peace, he was so happy there was a smile back on your face, he would read to you every hour of every day if it meant seeing you smile.

#spencer reid #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid fic #criminal minds #spencer rwid x reader

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malkumtend · 4 years ago

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Peace, Battles and Deals. (Baypaw x Dewpaw) - characters owned by @lonely-ghost-606

Just a short fic for my friend @lonely-ghost-606 (check them out if you haven’t already!) This story is based on their characters Baypaw and Dewpaw. You may recognise Dewpaw as the abused daughter of the tyrant VioletStar of Willowclan from Ghost’s “Cut the Cord” animatic on their YouTube channel. All you need to know in preparation for this fic is that she is abused emotionally by her mother and is consistently compared to our other main character Baypaw. Baypaw is the son of Cleopatra and Strongheart, leader and deputy of WaterfallClan. He is widely regarded for his strength, as was expected of him by his parents but they do love him, but he is secretly troubled by the growing tensions between his parents as well as emotions he feels he has to keep secret from his clan mates. WaterfallClan and WillowClan are bitter enemies due to tensions over water resources.

With all that said and done. Let’s get going.

I leave when it gets dark. It isn’t easy getting out of the den without anyone noticing, but I manage. Mother and father remain asleep as I quietly step past them into the dark. I can’t help but smirk when I see them asleep. The all-knowing, poweful leader and deputy dozing away while their son runs off, the clan would probably laugh if they found out. There’s a small pride that feels warm in my chest at the thought that I’m besting them in some way. But softly, I begin to take in the bizarreness of what I’m seeing. They’re so close. Silent, calm, asleep besides each other. Even with the noticeable distance between them, it’s still something. It’s better than… My smile drops, and I groan in irritation. I needed to get out of there.

Surprisingly, it’s even easier to get out of camp. The night patrol is nowhere to be seen and I never smell any WaterfallClan scent when I finally leave clan territory. I know I’m far away to be safe when the steady rush of water fades away, leaving me in the welcome silence of the night.

I sigh in relief, allowing myself a deserved grin. Though maybe, I think, it is worrying our patrols are so useless that they can’t keep a single apprentice in. Then again, I wasn’t just any apprentice. Thanks to my parents, I knew the territory like the back of my paw. I’d have to know that much if I was ever going to…

I shake my head again, this time growling, as soon as the unwelcome thought crawls in.

I begin to pace further from the camp. The moon is full tonight, lighting the forest as if it were my own personal guide. Maybe even the stars are being generous because they know who I am. I snicker a little. I don’t let my guard down, of course. I roll my eyes as StrongHeart’s voice fills my head. Never try to take comfort from being alone. When you’re alone, you’re at your most vulnerable. As if I would be so foolish. I know perfectly well to keep fixed for any possible fight; I was a Warrior after all. Besides, it was my enemy who would be sorry if they tried to sneak up on me. I wasn’t some soft apprentice; they’d soon find that out. If they wanted a fight, they’d better know to bring an army.

Still, I keep to the shadows, tasting the air every couple of seconds. After all, it would do no good if I got a few silly wounds. I didn’t want to make Cleopatra suspicious.

When I approach the river, I scent again for any WillowClan patrols. The stars knew those fox-hearts were always trying to take more water than they needed for that mange-pelt they called a leader. The thought of raking my claws on their pelts was definitely tempting, but thankfully, for them, they seemed to be sticking to their territory for once. The line between out territories was broad enough, so it was easy to make my way along without getting too close.

I just wanted to get out of WaterfallClan for a while. I couldn’t sleep and the thought of walk that could help clear my head of any ‘undesirable’ thoughts was too much to take. I’d have just been tossing and turning until some cat woke up and scolded me, it would be best to get out for a bit. It wasn’t like I had anything important tomorrow, just another training session then some hunting. I’d be fine, I could always pass through that stuff in my sleep.

Being tired because of a moonhigh walk sounded a lot better than being tired because I couldn’t stop thinking about the stupid stuff.

I only briefly take my head away from the trail beside the river, but I stop. Just a tree-length away, I could see what might have been a thousand shadowy shapes. They draped down, swaying in the light breeze, so close to the water they might have been stroking it in long green tongues. Behind them, I saw a thick, but stumpy, tree trunk that stood tall, holding its cluster of leaves that hung like thin claws. Willow trees. I’d never seen them this close. They weren’t typically found on our clan territory. And from what I could tell, this land wasn’t part of WillowClan either. I couldn’t catch their reek at least. I walk closer, admittedly a little in awe at how large the trees were. The leaves were soft on my coat and tickled slightly when I brushed past them. The soil was unusually moist and littered with light green leaves that flickered like stones in the small traces of light. The shadows themselves had an emerald sheen that was nothing else but alluring as I padded through the hanging shrubs.

The shrubs weave together as if they were linking tails, crossing their soft leaves, creating a small tunnel as I carry on. I can smell something new coming over me. Something floral, a lot of flowers actually, spicy and sweet. The dampness leaves my paws as I feel the ground become solid, yet smooth. The grass sticks up, fresh and sharp, but they feel like feathers as they brush my fur.

Slowly, the narrow tunnel widens as the willows jet back, letting the grassland expand in a luminous green. The colour is dim but almost blinding when it gleams in the dark. My jaw drops. I’ve never seen a meadow like this before on any hunting patrol. The grassland around WaterfallClan was typically wet and your paws typically sank into a gross coat of mud. But this was crisp, gentle, alluring even.

Approaching the centre of a small hill I can see more colours flash. Flowers, I realise. A wide array of flowers and herbs I hadn’t even seen in the medicine den. I take a light smell at the closest one, its orange petals wide and succulent with nectar, and I almost feel ashamed by the way the gentle aroma makes my pelt quiver.

I look up at the meadow and I’m suddenly smiling. Has anyone ever found this land before? The small prick of doubt makes me purr. It makes me think of how this meadow was mine. My discovery. My place. I am alone under the green sheen of willow, alone with the fresh grass and the delicate herbs. My head buzzes a little, and I am softly aware of my blood becoming warm.

And then I’m laughing.

Not the laughter I craft when I best an apprentice in training, or when a mentor compares their sulking student with me. All those times, I just laughed because I felt there was nothing else I was meant to do.

But right now. I’m laughing hard. Because the suddenness of the glee and the peace makes it so I can’t stop.

I start leaping across the grass, as if the indents of my paws in the grass will mark the meadow as my own. I’m careful to not displace any flowers as I breathe in the wave of smells that stroke my muzzle and vibrate in my throat. With no eyes on me, I relish for a moment. I could fixate on how my heart beats so loud that I can’t hear anything else.

Here I could just have some time to myself.

There were no apprentices I needed to fight.

There were no talks of war with some stupid clan.

There was no worry here at all. Just me. I could take this in all I wanted. And here, that peace wouldn’t be interrupted by the abrupt stab of an argument I’d be forced to witness.

I find myself at the top of the hill and then I’m rolling down, twisting through laughter and grass, letting the memories ooze like dirt in the soil. My throat begins to hurt a little, and my back bumps on a few stray mole hills, but I don’t care. Finally, I’m on my back, embedded in a nest of wildflowers.

There’s some pressing need inside of me to stay there, that everything will stay great if I don’t move. I blink up at the swaying willow leaves, dancing as if they were birds in the sky. My back feels warm, I’m pressing my paws into the flowers beside me, paddling in petals and nectar that don’t break under my touch.

Everything is just natural here. I close my eyes, not bothering to hide my purr. This is something I could get used to.

“What are you doing here?”

The voice is scratchy, intervening, rough and unfriendly. Worst of all, I recognise it.

Of course. My eyes open into the glare. Of all the scum, it would have to be her.

I’m on my paws before I know it, shaking away any traces of flower or dew. My muscles are stiff with adrenaline and panic. The scent of WillowClan immediately attacks me and I bristle with disgusted anger. But it’s the sight of her that makes me growl. She’s there, bristling like me, a treelength away.

When I’ve seen her before at four-trees, she’s always had that same unlikable aura that permeates around her now. Maybe that was why she was always on her own. Served her right for always looking so sullen and moody all the time.

Then again, that wasn’t a shock. If I’d been unlucky enough to be tortured with that thing as my mother, I wouldn’t be smiling either. I couldn’t help but hate her. She looked so much like that fox-heart it was impossible to like her.

There’s a mixture of hatred and confusion on her face. Honestly it might match her fur to some degree. The confusion sitting in the light violet-grey side of her face, while the anger storms in the darker shade that horrifically takes up the other side. I sniff, my anger growing. Her mother is definitely obvious on her.

“What are you doing here?” I demand. The beauty of the area darkens with her mere presence.

Her fangs glint in a crooked way. “I asked first!”

“Yeah?” I scoff, “Well you can answer first too!”

I hear her growl in a pathetic attempt of intimidation. “A long way off your territory, aren’t you? I could practically smell fish from my den.”

“Last time I checked, this wasn’t your territory either, Dew-drop.” I fuel myself on the way her fur spikes.

“Don’t call me that! We’re closer to my territory than yours.” She narrows her eyes even more. “Is WaterfallClan looking to steal more land? Why am I not surprised?”

Now I’m the one who growls. “You’re the thieves, not us! I was just going for a walk, and I certainly wasn’t looking to have anything to do with your worthless clan!”

As if to spite me, she just smirks at me. If she’s looking to get me mad, she’s definitely succeeding! “Don’t you think you should be walking a little closer to your clan? You’re lucky our patrols haven’t ripped off your fur for bedding yet.”

“Pfft! Why would I be scared of your clan?” I flash my claws at her, strengthening up in a way I knew was threatening.

I can see her jaw clench, but her smirk stiffens with another warning blink of her sharp glare. “Careful, mamma isn’t here to keep you safe, river-rat!” There’s a dare to her voice, almost like she wanted me to rip her to shreds. I must admit, with her fur on edge like that, she does look almost like a worthy challenge.

Almost.

“Heh.” I meet her dare with a step forward. “I don’t need back up for any of your scum.” I’m trying hard to scare her off. As easy as it would be to tear her apart, I really couldn’t be bothered. I came here because I wanted to relax. The sweet scent of the flowers wouldn’t be so appealing if they were coated in the stink of her blood.

But like the idiot she is, she takes another step forward. My teeth clench with aggravation. “Then why don’t you prove it if you’re so tough, big guy?”

Part of me wants to meet her threat with my claws. But I relent. I wasn’t as much of an idiot as she was. I didn’t need to get into some pointless fight over some Tyrant’s spawn. “As gratifying as it would be to put you in your place, I prefer an actual fight.” I inhale the fury that sparks on her face like the warm smell of prey. “I’d get a better battle out of a kit than you.”

“Coward!” She hisses. I scoff.

“Whatever.” I turn away from her, impatient to get back to the other side of the hill. “Do me a favour and keep away from me, eh? Smells better on the other side.” I’m ready to block out whatever stupid mouse-dung that she could come up with.

But she surprises me.

“Oh sure, I wouldn’t want to get in the way of your cuddle time with the flowers. Guess that kittypet blood really did make you soft.”

I’m not sure if it’s the fact that she saw what I wanted to keep secret, or the direct insult against my mother, but my blood is immediately boiling, and I’m suddenly sprinting at her.

I’m satisfied when I see a slight jolt come over Dewpaw as I rush at her. To her credit, she doesn’t run away. She pounces at me first, but that’s her first mistake. I slink down onto my belly, using my pace to push me underneath her as she whirls over my head. She doesn’t twist her body, so it’s easy to land a quick strike at her exposed side.

She yowls, landing on her paws with a grunt. She’s quick to turn back to me. “Lucky hit.” She hisses. I get into a fighter’s crouch, placing one paw in front, ready to hit, and one paw back in case I needed to change positions swiftly. I can’t help but laugh silently at how she immediately braces for another pounce; did they teach the apprentices anything in WillowClan. This was going to be easier than I thought.

I’m similarly shocked and disgusted by her idiocy as she pounces forward again, clearly wanting to land some swing at my chest. She was so obvious she may as well have been saying out loud what she was thinking. I just have to side step to easily dodge her and I do it again when she furiously swings at my legs. She’s getting frustrated and that’s her second mistake.

Frustration made you desperate.

“Missed again!” I have to sing when her paw whirls at nothing again, she actually almost loses her balance. I smile to myself. If I wanted to, I could have killed her at so many times during this pointless excuse of a ‘fight’. “If this is the best WillowClan can offer, I’m honestly sympathetic for you lot.”

She lets out a lungeful of air. “Shut up!” She screams. It’s working. If I make her angry, she’ll just get even more desperate, and will soon tire herself out. Then it’ll be easy to pin her. There wasn’t even really a need to mess her up, she wasn’t any kind of threat.

Her next two swipes are just as easily missed, and I’m able to jump over her when she pounces at me again. “Fight back!” She demands.

“Nah. This is more fun!” I take a moment to laugh to myself as she pants in exhaustion.

And that was my mistake.

Because with a surge that wipes away all her exhaustion she darts forward and when I pounce to my side, she instantly follows me with a twist of her body that catches me off guard. Before the smile can leave my face, I feel her paw pound against my cheek. Hard. The following swift hit is just as painful.

I catch my feet well, but the shock makes my heart pound. My teeth ache from the hit, but I keep that hidden. How had she been able to turn like that when she was so tired? And she was tired. Darting a look at her, I can see her fur poofed out like she was ready to drop there. But her paws remained stoic, and her legs didn’t quiver.

And she was smiling. Smiling in a proud way that made me glower.

“No.” She spat out. “That was fun.”

Okay. I admit my foolishness to myself and curse it. No more taking it easy.

I wait for her to obviously lunge at me again, and this time I don’t dodge her. I take advantage of what I’d seen before. My paw swings down onto her back, dizzying her. She met the ground, this time her legs buckling. She tries to get up quickly, but I don’t give her the time.

My paws are on her back before she can let out a grunt. My back legs rest on her spine, and one fore paw presses hard on her neck. She writhes around, screaming bloody murder, but I’m not giving her the chance this time.

“Give up.” I offer mercifully.

Her response would have made a prophet gawk.

I groan and slip off for a moment so I can wrench her onto her back. My paws find her chest again and I’m holding her down once more. But this time my forepaw is on her neck. “I could kill you.” If I wanted, my claws could unsheathe and that would be it for her.

Her eyes meet mine and the defeat I expect is muted. The fight lingers and holds there, stubbornly refusing to expire. She doesn’t stop writhing. Irritation is beginning to replace my anger. What was with this molly? Didn’t she know when she’d lost?

Under my paw I can feel her ferocious growl. “Then why don’t you try it?” I can almost see my shocked reflection in her fangs.

Apparently not.

I could have put an end to her right there. It would have just taken a spasm in my paws.

But she’d called my bluff.

I groan again. What a pain? I didn’t want to kill her; I didn’t really even want to hurt her. I’d already won. There was no point in doing anything drastic with her.

Besides, she’d already ruined enough. I’d come here to avoid this very kind of situation. But I’d let her pull me into her stupid mindgames. This realisation just adds to my irritation, and my desire to beat her dwells a little more.

Eventually, I’m too annoyed to hold her down anymore. I push myself off her with a huff, glaring at her as I smooth down the ruffled patches of fur. “Like I’d start some war over you.” I hiss.

The look she’s giving me is both smug and furious. She gets to her paws quickly, as if she couldn’t remember how badly she was losing. Maybe she was that stupid. “What’s the matter?” She spits, “Too afraid to finish a fight?”

I’m too angry to let her provoke me. “That wasn’t a fight.” I meow. “That was a beating.” I wouldn’t even say I was taunting her there, but her claws flex again. A voice warns me that she’s dumb enough to lunge at me again.

By some miracle however, she’s smart enough to just let out a bitter hiss and remain where she is. “That mark on your face says otherwise.”

I’m confused for a moment, then I hear the small droplet of blood hit the ground beneath me. My eyes widen. She had her claws unsheathed? Fox-dung, she hated me that much? I growl, I hadn’t bled in a fight for ages. The last thing I wanted was for her to do it.

“Lucky hit.” I reply, “You were the one pinned down, not me.”

As I wipe a washed paw across the wound, I await her response. It doesn’t come. My lips purse, and I turn, half-thinking she was planning some cowardly attack. She’s sitting down, glaring at the ground. There’s something dark mixing with the clear anger on her face. It’s similar to the face she usually has at the gatherings.

I snort quietly. Whatever. Like I cared! What ran through her head was nothing I wanted anything to do with. As long as she kept her distance, we’d be fine.

My stomach sinks a little. There wasn’t really a reason to stay here anymore. Whatever peace I’d wanted to gather was gone now. Plus, I’d have to think of some excuse for how this stupid cut got on my face. The only good thing was that she’d have to find an even better excuse for all the dirt and bruises that stuck to her pelt.

I groaned, it still wasn’t like her problems did anything to quell mine. I began to pad back home again. The stink of WillowClan and blood was mixing in my head and it was slowly making my blood run a horrible cold.

“Where are you going?” I hear her shout behind me, like I was doing something wrong. “We’re not done.”

“Yes we are.” I say, not looking back. I wasn’t wasting any more time with her. “I’m going back to my Clan. Why don’t you do the same?”

“I don’t follow your orders!”

I roll my eyes. This crazy molly! “Fine! Do what you like then.”

It’s silent for a second as I walk up the hill. “You going back to your flower patch?” I can hear the smirk in her voice.

I turn back, my eyes trying to burn away whatever stupidity has seemed to overtake her. “You didn’t see anything?”

She laughs. Obviously pleased that she’s lured me back. “Oh, I think I did. And I think a lot of my friends would love to hear about what the strongest apprentice in the forest gets up to when he thinks no one’s watching.”

My face is a raging fire, enough that it would scare off any apprentice I knew. But she isn’t like them. Her blood is as cold as stone. Underneath my snarls, I am panicking, even if it’s just a little. “You wouldn’t dare.” My grit teeth don’t falter. “I bet you don’t even have any friends.”

Dewpaw’s head twitches to the side. “Is that a fact? Oh, then I guess you don’t have anything to worry about.”

The change is so strong we both notice it. The power shift. It makes my insides clench, while she straightens brightly. If I denied it, my clanmates more than likely wouldn’t believe her, but my parents would most definitely get suspicious, and worst of all Violetstar would use any rumour she could against WaterfallClan. And regardless of whether it could be proven or not, that would only heighten the tensions between our clans.

“You rat.” I hiss, I’m ashamed of how soft my voice sounds.

She shrugs, “Yeah, it’d be pretty embarrassing for you, wouldn’t it?”

I take another step forward, “Are you trying to get yourself mauled?”

“You can do what you want, I’ll still get away. By the next gathering everyone will know.” She warns. I stop in my tracks as I sense she’s about to run.

I have to try and keep calm. If I act like I don’t care there’s still a small chance I can throw her off. I wave my tail at her dismissively, “No one in my clan will believe you. And if you think I care one bit what your kind thinks of me, then you’re a real mouse-brain.”

“If that’s the case, then go ahead and get gone.” The way she says it, so sure of herself, admittedly makes me feel ill.

I don’t move. I can’t move. I feel like prey cornered onto a cliff. Every thought I try to make just makes my heart race all the more. In her eyes, I can see she isn’t seeing what everyone is meant to. She’s seeing something else. Something vulnerable. The parts of myself I love and hate so much. I haven’t felt so pathetic for so long.

I look up at her. Her eyes are narrowed and her lips are thin. Thinking. Probably figuring out what kind of blackmail she can use to torture me. My paws are shaking either from anger or humiliation. I don’t want to know which. I think again how I could easily silence her if I wanted to.

But she’s caught me. She knows I wouldn’t do it. She can see it in the way I stupidly bite my lip. I sigh, defeated. I have no choice but to await it.

“Tell you what,” I brace myself as she starts, darting a look of hate her way. She doesn’t flinch. Her mind is made up. “If you tell me what you’re really doing here, I’ll keep your little secret.”

I stiffen, trying to make sense of what I’ve heard. She can see I don’t trust her. “What?”

“You heard me. I don’t think your deaf.”

I unlatch my jaw, “I was just out on a walk.”

“That’s nice.” She says smoothly, “Now how about the truth?”

The fire smokes in my throat again, choking me, blazing in me. “Why do you care?” I force out. There’s no point in lying to her. Apparently that Tyrant blood had decided to give her mind reading powers.

She just shrugs, her tail waves impatiently.

I want to scoff and storm away, but that would do no good. She’s unnaturally controlled right now, nothing like the rushing, impulsive fool I’d fought just a few moments ago. Her eyes patiently lie on me, her claws tapping the ground like a waiting mother. Her aura of smugness makes me want to vomit.

Instead, I think up the closest thing I can think of that will make the truth yet hide the worst parts.

“I… I just wanted to find someplace to relax okay?” I force out roughly. She waits still so I go on a little more. “Training wears me out a little, alright, of course I need to unwind a little sometimes.”

She raises a brow rigidly, “Why not do that at your own clan?”

I blink quickly to hide the voices and images that flash over me. My eyes find the ground, still straight enough to look strong. “It’s more… relaxing on my own. No idiot’s gonna bother me here.”

Or so I thought. I keep that part shut. She doesn’t.

“I thought the same when I came here.” Her snicker makes me growl. “Oh relax, don’t be such a stick in the mud.”

“That’s rich coming from you.” I mutter, glancing back at her. I’m sick of this now. “There, I told you why I came. Now will you keep your mouth shut?”

She must see something I hate because she’s smirking again. Don’t kill her. Don’t kill her. Not yet.

“So, you come here because you wanted to relax with some flowers?” Her voice is more questioning than unkind. It doesn’t stop me from groaning.

“I wasn’t looking for the flowers.”

“But you were resting in them?”

“I could have rested anywhere!”

“I could hear you smelling them. You were purring.”

Oh for the love of- “Look we had a deal; will you keep quiet about this or do I have to make you?” It comes out of me too hoarse to be threatening.

Her chest settles down softly, the stiffness in her eyes has faded, replaced by something I can’t describe. She’s laughing, but it sounds different. “Relax. I’ll keep your secret.”

I’m just about to let the silent relief come to me.

“But, in exchange for keeping your other secret, I want your help with something.”

Something in my chest explodes. A thousand dark voices are screaming somewhere in my chest. “What?!” I yowl. “What other secret?”

“The reason you’re hear of course!” She smiles at me, mockingly sweet. Her eyes gleam like a fox’s.

Starclan, whatever I did to deserve this, I repent my sins. I will literally grovel for hours at your mercy if you’ll kindly make her drop dead, right here.

“You slimy little-”

She raises her paw at me, waving my threat away. “Yeah yeah, let’s get to the point okay? If you want me to keep quiet about that, you need to do something for me.”

I run my paws into my eyes until I see spots. My claws are digging into my fur, desperate to latch to anything that resembles flesh. I should have known she’d trick me like that! “And what it that?” I speak like I’m vomiting out smoke and mud.

When I look at her, anticipating her smug exterior, my anger gives way to surprise. Her paw is covering her mouth like she was hiding a scar of some kind. Her eyes are wistful, darting to the sky as if the trees would speak for her. And there’s some kind of darkness on the patches of fur below her eyes.

I edge back, my mouth opening. Was she blushing? My heart begins to pound and I can feel some kind of tremor in my tail. Just what the heck was she going to ask me to do?

“I… w-want you to t-train here with me.”

I look away then back at her. I try to find any difference on her exterior. The only thing I can see is that she’s blushing harder! She was being serious!

“Say that again?” She wanted to train with me?

“I’m not saying it again!” She snaps, her hostile glare coming back like it belongs there.

“Why on Silverpelt would you want me to train with you? Better yet, why the heck would I ever come back here just to train with you?”

She huffs, her ears digging back. “One – I’ll keep your secret if you do. Two – if you do it, that means after we’re done you can go back and sniff flowers all you want.” She ignores my hate filled face. “And three…” She loses her breath, trailing away with a bitter mutter.

“What?”

She forces herself to look back to me. “I need to train. It’s… hard training back home. I’m sick of losing to the likes of you.”

I resist the urge to snap back at her. I’m genuinely put off by how odd she looks. It was like she was doing everything she could to avoid my eyes. “Why can’t you train with your clanmates?”

“I would if I could. But they wouldn’t dare try and take me on seriously.”

“Why?”

The anger on her face is morphing. Her eyes darken and her breath shakes as she hisses. “You know why.”

Once again, she looks similar to how I’ve always seen her. And now I can recognise the look that makes her fur slacken and her teeth clench. She was miserable. I just needed to look at her, look at who she was, to see why.

“Okay.” I sigh, finding myself bored. “So why do you want my help?” Something clicks in my head that makes me chuckle. “Is this you willing to admit I’m better than you?”

She twists up, her tail lashing, but a fake grin on her muzzle. “Well, you’ll certainly do.” She looks away again, her façade morphing into a neutral expression. “I just need to fight with someone who I know won’t go easy on me.” I snort. That would certainly be me. “Whatever training I can get, I’ll take.”

“Hm.” I mutter quickly, “Well you’ll have to keep looking. I don’t want to train with you.” Coming here for the sole purpose of fighting with some cat I hated was actually more that the exact opposite of what I came here to do. I wasn’t going to help my enemy get better. Spending time, no matter how forced it was, with her was worse than any punishment I could imagine.

“I don’t want to particularly want to train with you!” She exclaims angrily, then glowers to her side, her whiskers drooping. “But I don’t have a lot of other choices.” Light blue pupils swipe back at me with an ugly sneer. “And neither do you, if you want me to keep quiet.”

She has a point there. But I’m still not convinced she’ll stick to this deal. Besides that meant I would have to come out here when she wanted me too! “I’m not risking getting caught for you.”

“Just lie and say you were going for a walk. I’ll be sneaking out too, you know. You’re not the only one making a risk here.”

“What happens if I can’t turn up because I’m caught? You’ll just go back on your deal because you thought I was dodging you!”

“Well, would you?”

Probably. It just hits me then that I’ve told her a plan I could have taken. I growl weakly. I wasn’t thinking straight at all around this pest.

“How about this then?” She says, her tail waving along the grass. “If one of us doesn’t turn up that night, the next night we’ll catch up from there, and if you don’t show up that time, then I’ll let slip your little secret.” She snaps. “At least then I’m giving you a chance then.”

Giving me a chance? I would have been doing it because of her! “Am I supposed to be grateful to you for that?”

Her tone is blunt. “Yes.”

And now she’s looking more like her mother. My claws want to scratch at the ground. This wasn’t fair. I still had more to lose than her if I took part in this stupid deal. The situation cuts into me deeper and deeper with each passing thought. Surely there had to be something I could use against her. I think for a moment and find myself leering at her.

“What if I told everyone how you asked another clan cat for training help? What if I told them why you didn’t want to train with your clanmates?” I spit at her, feeling the tide slowly ease off me. She had secrets she had to keep as well.

Her eyes fill incredulously, but it’s just for a moment. She soon shrugs. “Then I guess we both lose, huh?”

Horror overtakes me again. My tongue trembles on my jaw. Was she really not fazed at all? If she didn’t care then there would be no point in telling anyone. I begin to feel disgusted by the fact that unlike her I have a reputation to keep. I try again, scowling. “You really want your mother finding out about that?”

She laughs. It’s dry. Toneless. Unreserved. But she actually laughs. “That’s my problem, not yours. You’d be surprised how little difference it would make.” She sniffs, staring coldly at me. The weight of her words hangs in the air, but it gives her the control she needs. Her eyes light with evil amusement as she watches me splutter.

She really didn’t care.

My breathing has become audibly clear with panic. Everything seemed to press into me like a swarm of badgers. But more than anything it was the powerlessness she had talked me into. That was it. She’d just had to lure me here and now I was shaking like some kind of frozen elder. I think of what Cleopatra or Strongheart would do if they could see me like this in front of an enemy.

They might actually join together for once just to scold me. Like normal parents.

I don’t know why but Dewpaw doesn’t look like she wants to laugh at me. She stares at me, awkward and confused. I don’t want to think how I look. If I do, I might actually feel tears fight to come out.

I hear her cough absently. “Look, all you have to do is come here and train with me for a while.” She says, I hesitate to call the tone soft. Soft didn’t match her at all. “After we’re done, I’ll leave you alone and you can relax all you like. And I’ll keep quiet about it.”

I glance at her, stonily. She sighs. “Okay. I promise I’ll keep quiet about this if you train with me. Swear on my clan.” She brushes her paw over her heart like some silly kit. “It means we both get what we want. I get to train, you get to do… whatever you want, okay?”

She’s watching me mull over her words. I’m desperate yet reluctant. I can’t help it. This has stormed over the land like the rush of the waterfall. Truthfully, I knew I didn’t really have a choice. I couldn’t let her get loose with what she knew. I look over her, her toned, but unimpressive, muscles. I could just tell that training with her would be a fool’s errand. There was no way she would beat me, even if she did learn how to properly move in a fight. I’d just end up beating her every night.

Somewhat of a pleasant idea, but not enough for me to want to sneak off every night.

But I suppose that what I want doesn’t really matter. The only want I could sustain was her silence.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. My lips thin as I consider this. I’d get some time away from WaterfallClan, and it wasn’t like I’d have to spend all night training her. I’d just battle her, say some light moves that wouldn’t make her too powerful, and then maybe she’d finally be satisfied to leave me alone. If I was being honest, the very fact she would want to train with me was a sign enough that she couldn’t afford to be picky.

My eyes go to the corners. She’s still there sat down. I can see an impatient frown on her muzzle. I can see her tail thumping crossly on the ground. But most of all, I can see the vague, lightless hope in her eyes.

Something inside me gives way and I let out a sharp groan. “Fine. I’ll do it.”

She perks up, her chest puffing out with a meow. Quickly a frown comes to her though, and we resume glaring at each other. “Okay, great. Guess that means your secret’s safe.”

“You make sure it is.” I hiss at her. Just because I’d agreed to help her, it didn’t mean I had to be nice. She wouldn’t be, I knew. “Unlike you, I have a reputation to uphold. So, keep it shut that I go here!”

She rolls her eyes, “Whatever. Sure thing, flower-patch.”

“Don’t call me that!”

“I can’t make that promise.” Her eyes flash at me mischievously, a playful way that doesn’t match her at all. I have no control of my eyes as they widen. “You keep yours and we’ll be just fine.” She says. She turns away from her, tail swaying to and fro in a manner of goodbye. “I’m going. We’ll meet here tomorrow night.”

My fur thins down, “Tomorrow?”

She looks back, one eye widened, the other mockingly drooped halfway. “What? You got a date or something?” The half-opened eye winks at me as a cool grin forms on her mouth.

Against my will, I flush a little. In the emerald night, her fangs glint like arrowheads under the water. My silence is telling; the way my eyes are trying to make her erupt into flames are even more so.

“Didn’t think so.” She purrs. I watch her as she walks away, still racing from the embarrassment of this night. “Have fun!” She calls back to me. I scoff at her poor mockery.

It was a mocking call, right? Of course it was! Best to return it. “Hope those scratches make your clan suspicious, Dewdrop!” I hiss at her back.

“These things?” She doesn’t turn back but I can feel her holding back a snarl. “Oh please, there so tiny I’ll just blame them on playing with a kit.”

The tight rage in my chest keeps me quiet enough that I don’t respond. Her tail lashes again, swift and seamless. See you tomorrow. It might mean. I don’t really care if it does or not. She gently disappears under the willows until she’s nothing but a shade of the night. Soon, I’m alone again.

I can’t help but feel like I have to grunt. I still can’t believe what I’ve agreed to. How a journey for a night of peace could go so wrong? I make my way back to the untrampled flowers, breathing them in to quell the ill density in my stomach. This is what I was here for, and I was alone like I wanted, I didn’t need to think about her anymore.

But she’s really ruined my night.

Because she’s worked her way in. Either because of her words or the battle she forced out of me, but I can’t stop thinking about her disgusting grin or her rough laughter. Instead of the flowers sweet nectar, I smell her damp, earthy scent, clouding the area like a toxic fog. I try several different patches and at least a hundred breeds that I’d never seen before, but it remains lingering around me like a rogue in my camp. Unwanted. Dangerous even.

I cannot repress the thoughts, and soon enough I’m too sour and angry to want to stay here anymore. I don’t even think I want to come back. But I have to. My paws cut away at the ground in anger. Why did she have to ruin everything? I exhale through my nose. There was no point looming on it, that was probably what she wanted.

But even that doesn’t stop it. Even after I’ve left the area, even as I find my way back to clan camp, and even as I’ve creeped back to my nest and curled down to sleep again, that image remains. Her looking back at me, smiling smugly, white fangs shining in my head.

I cover my eyes with an internalised, hateful groan. This was not what I expected to fall asleep to. AT ALL.

#Baypaw #dewpaw #bayleaf #dewshade #waterfallclan #willowclan #lonely ghost 606

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thetsxshibiscusanon · 4 years ago

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Thomceit Hamilton AU Cast

Alrighty, here it is- the post about my Thomceit Hamilton AU that I took like three days to write, hoo boy-

Okay so, this is just the cast of the AU and also just going into some ship ramblings because if I got into the whole thing now, we’d be here for days- so let’s get on with it!

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The Sanders Sides Characters Roles

~Just to clarify, I’m doing this TS Universe by TS Universe, because there’s a LOT of characters in both fandoms, so the cast are gonna be updated with each reblog~

Alexander Hamilton: Janus

Why? Well, the colour theme’s for the album match Janus’ general colour aesthetic, Janus is all about taking that chance no matter what and Alex is all about not throwing away his shot, both have got that lawyer association aaaaaaaand I’m just kidding, I wanted to make a Thomceit Helpless animatic in the August of 2019- I never had any plans for this thing, it just happened.

But yeah- dramatic snake boy lawyer meets dramatic Founding Father lawyer-

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The Schuyler Sisters:

Angelica: Roman

Roman just radiates fabulous, feminist, older sibling vibes- just imagine him in Angelica’s dress but a bit more red and you’ve got it down!

Satisfied also radiates Roman vibes- the pink-red colour scheme, the sacrifice, the longing and pining- it all works so well for him! I can also imagine him in Congratulations- especially with the lines ‘He doesn’t dignify schoolyard taunts with a response!’, ‘...Sacrifice?’ and ‘Eliza~ is the BEST thing in our lives!’ especially since I’m making Thomas Eliza here, because, in some cases, it really parallels what actually happened in the series:

Roman sacrificed the thing he most wanted (Janus/the callback) for Thomas (Eliza/his core) because he wanted what was best for him and what was right for him- and in both cases, he was wrong! My boy either doesn’t get to chase his dreams and feels miserable about it, or he gets cheated on and feels miserable about it- there’s no winning here! (Can you tell that I felt no remorse whilst writing this? /hj)

Also, I thought the line 'He doesn’t dignify schoolyard taunts with a response!’ didn’t really apply to Janus when I initially made this, but HOO BOY was I wrong-

Eliza: Thomas

Can you tell that Thomceit is my favourite ship? No? You can’t? Well I’m just about to take off the blindfold you’re wearing and talk about much of an amazing husband Thomas would be-

First though, I have to say, Thomas gives off such Eliza vibes on his own anyways- cinnamon bun that needs to be protected and has gone through a lot? Uh, yes!

Thomas would absolutely be the type to fall head over heels for a cute guy he saw across the room (I mean we all saw FWSA, right?). He'd see Janus and be all 'Wait, frick, handsome boy- what do I do- ROMAN-' and I love that so much.

Ironically though, Hamilton was the one who really fell hard, historically at least, so the fact that in this AU Thomas falls like Eliza did but in the 'canon' Janus and Hamilton are both the actual simps is hilarious to me-

He would totally be the supportive partner he was always meant to be- assuring Janus everything will turn out fine and being sweet and caring like he always is.

On the flip side. Thomas is probably one of the only characters who would actually bite back when cheated on too. Patton is a great option for Eliza, but because Patton is associated the most with nostalgia as a character, I don't think he'd be burning any letters any time soon, he'd hold on to those memories- but Thomas would probably burn the letters as soon as he got the chance, in order to try and forget everything- to burn all the memories. Also, I just wanna see Thomas raging at Janus in First Burn- can you imagine how badass he would be? The passion and fury radiating from him in that song would be just *chef's kiss* incredible!

And here's the strongest argument I have: Eliza is the person who tells the story, of Hamilton, of the soldiers, of Washington- and who is responsible for telling us what goes on in the TS Universe?

Thomas.

I rest my case! (There wasn't one to begin with but shhhh)

(Also, Hamilton and Eliza had 8 kids, and we all know Thomas is the tired mother of 6 children-)

And Peggy (hah): Remus

The main reason for this is, as I'm sure you can guess, because I made Roman Angelica. I mean, how could I not make Remus Peggy? I do have some legitimate reasons though.

Peggy has always been given the chaotic younger sister energy in the fandom, basically the Gen Z child- and Remus embodies Gen Z's chaos perfectly, it's honestly kind of scary. Remus would absolutely be the sibling who's just there to vibe and cause chaos, but would totally be there to help if you wanted it.

The problem here, is that Peggy is constantly asking about the girls' father in Schuyler Sisters, and worrying about consequences- which is not a Remus thing at ALL, but I can imagine Remus asking those questions like '👀 So what's the dealio?' And then being delighted at the responses that come from the others like 'YEAH- Let's break the rules!'

Peggy was also very good friends with Hamilton historically, and we all know Janus and Remus are best friends (that's not canon, but it is now)!

So- Peggy and Remus! Let's go!

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The Hamilsquad (Sides! Edition):

Aaron Burr: Logan

Logan is the most logical (hah) character to play Burr in my opinion:

Burr kills Hamilton, and Logan is probably the only Side who could actually defeat Janus in some way (Logic overcrowds the lies and reasons its way out of them), and if having a presence and some control got Janus to sink down, then what would happen to Janus if he Logan had full control?

Logan, like Burr, wants to be in the Room Where it Happened- he wants to be listened to- that's self-explanatory, but what gets interesting to me is the waiting ideology both of them have.

We all know Burr waits for opportunities- he had a whole song on it! But what people tend to forget is that Logan has also waited for chances and holds back opinions- the best example would be in LNTAO, where he admits to Thomas that he's been holding back his opinions for far too long and that he doesn't think people take Thomas seriously enough.

That 'wait for the right moment attitude' is instilled in both of them- and while Janus also partially has that attitude, he's also got a 'Leap for the chance and take it' attitude- which is why I can imagine him telling Logan 'You get love for it, you get hate for it- you get nothing if you wait for it' and 'What do you want Burr?'

He'd be the one to ask 'When are you finally going to take a stand and say "I want to be heard?" When are you going to take the chance?'

John Laurens: Virgil

Virgil's role as Laurens is mainly because of symbolism- the idea that you had these two great friends who were in it together, and one of them left (either this life or the Others) and that tore them apart in one way or the other.

Also, Laurens and Hamilton were hiding something- those letters said A LOT, and Jan and Virge act like two ex-boyfriends, like what is this-

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Theodosia Sr.: Patton

This may just be my Logicality heart screaming, but I think this makes sense- Theodosia always gave off a sweet, soft motherly energy even though we never see her on screen or hear her voice. From what he heard about her, she seemed to be the loving mother character (Eliza was more the loving wife and widow figure, but she did have motherly traits for sure), and we all know Patton would rock the loving mother figure role- there isn't really much more to it.

----

I think that's all I can really say on the Sides characters' roles! There's gonna be more to this but this is a lot as it is, and I wanted to get this done ASAP.

So ye! I hope you enjoyed reading this and are looking forward about what's to come!

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benmcm18 · 4 years ago

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Group 7 Independent Project!

Pre Production -

This is the second time I’m working with Group 7. It is truly an honour to be surrounded by such talented people. We have learnt from last time and we thought it would be interesting to switch up the roles. Here was what we ended up with:

Director - Jack

Cinematographer - Bonnie

Producer - Heather

Production Design - Ben

Editor - Heather

Writer - Tom

Here were also the tasks we sorted ourselves:

Write a 1-page proposal (synopsis and directors statement) - JACK (13th May)

Make the movie - Jack

Make a plan and a schedule for your work - Heather

Create a mood board (Each character) - Ben

Create a sonic world for the film (no dialogue / no voice-over) - Heather and Ben

Cut together a series of still images or sequences of footage to create a 2min film - Heather

Record some sound effects using objects you have in your room/ house - you can record on your phone. - Heather and Ben

Source and use sound effects and Atmos sound on Freesound. - Tom

Make a storyboard + animatic - Bonnie

Source footage - eg shoot, take stills, source stills, or work with stock footage from Film Supply to envision your idea - Bonnie

Shot list - Bonnie

Scriptwriting and development - Tom

Present it at the crit - receive feedback - Everyone

Write a short critical reflection on your blog. - Everyone

Songs - Everyone

As Production designer I had to create a mood board. We had discussed in meetings what aesthetic we wanted to go for and I believe we ended up with a mixture between films like “Moonrise Kingdom” and “Fight Club”. Either way, these were two of the films I took inspiration from when working on the mood board of the film.

Additionally, I had to think of the costume for both actors. For the man I chose to instead of having major differences in the two separate costumes to instead change them subtly to give a feeling he is still grounded in reality. So that means I added the glasses, changed the tie and gave him a watch to switch up how he looked. The Imagination costume is inspired from Ewan MacGregor’s character in “Big Fish'' we wanted to give him a full blue costume originally but I realised fairly soon that that wasn’t going to happen. So I adapted and decided to use his ties as a means of stating which reality he was in. When he is in the “dream world” he has a very colourful yellow tie but when he returns to his office I believe we went with a black/red tie.

For the woman, I chose to give her a very colourful look. This was purely so she could match the imagination around her. I discussed with Bonnie about possibly putting flowers in her hair but for some reason we couldn’t find anything. In regards to the rest of her costume I gave her shades so that there would be a physical separation between the two. If he can’t make eye contact with her how is he supposed to connect.

Overall, I’m very happy with the costumes and for a first attempt I’m actually quite proud.

Finally, set design. I had recently worked on a project called “Pied” where I had to create a whole set for my actors. That was pretty much my crash course for this independent project. Using the knowledge I can gain from creating that set I tried implementing it into the office workspace and the picnic arrangement. I’m happy with it but it will honestly be down to you to decide if I did a good job. If I could mention any little “fun facts” about what I did here would be a few:

I used a ping-pong table as the walls splitting the workspace

I tried spreading the food along the picnic like a wall that separated the two of them.

There is a jar of pickles in one of the shots. I don’t know who would bring a jar of pickles to a picnic but I thought it would be funny

On the back wall of the office there is a bunch of hidden Easter eggs *HOWEVER* David’s massive head covers them up!

In regards to how the other team members did. We developed the script ideas until we landed on this one. Jack had a great idea about filming some really nice shots of food. We were actually quite a big fan of this idea. I just thought Heather’s idea would allow us to experiment more.

Tom then wrote a (very) detailed script in collaboration with Heather, Bonnie drew a genuinely fantastic storyboard (she is too hard on herself haha) and Jack prepared for the shoot. One issue that presented itself fairly soon was the fact we had two actors on set. However, our Producer (Heather) handled it like a pro and we managed to get the all clear. Overall, a very hardworking start with the promise of Bonnie doing a short animation for the storyboard. (I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing it)

Production -

The shoot day was very fun. We all arrived at 11:30am and we made our way over to the location. Originally, we had planned to film on top of a hill however, things quickly changed and Jack said there was a fantastic path to film on. I was fairly set on the hill idea (As I had imagined the scene being somewhat similar to the UP opening montage) but he said it was a better location and I trust him.

So this is where it got a bit funky. It turns out the location had been converted into a dirt road since the last time Jack had been there. This was a bit demoralising as we had carried a lot of props out but luckily we had seen a location closer to the beach that could possibly work and the rest was history. That very location near the beach ended up where we would film.

With Jack directing and myself on camera we began to make our way through the storyboard Bonnie had devised. I have to be honest there were parts where we deviated from what was on the storyboard: For example, there is a section where he falls over however it didn’t look natural so we thought of another way to film it. This was where I got a bit carried away with VFX. In the long run I’m pretty sure everyone is happy with it but I wasn’t too sure at the time.

Jack did well as a director, he worked well with David and Kady especially when it came to movements of the actors. There isn’t any dialogue in the scenes so it's mainly physical language instead of verbal. My only advice for Jack would be to do a bit more research on the project before going onto the shoot because there were parts of the shoot where actors would ask questions about their character and I wasn’t confident he knew the answer.

In regards to me, I find it very hard to create something someone else envisions because I’m used to directing and filming projects on my own. I definitely think I improved on this project and having the storyboard and detailed script was a big help. I also felt I should have been more prepared as it didn’t look very good in front of the actors with me fiddling around with the camera because I had set it up in the wrong position.

Overall, I think it was a very fun shoot and it went pretty smoothly. You're going to hit speed bumps on the way but I believe Jack and I handled them well.

Oh also, forgot to mention that I had to also record sound and label all the audio and footage for Heather (why do I almost call you Clair XD) It didn’t take as long as I expected and was actually somewhat therapeutic if you can believe haha.

Post-Production -

The post production process has been going well. We have plenty of time until the deadline and we have already got a very solid draft edit so I’m not worried. I just kind of want to get it finished.

First and foremost, Heather has been doing a fantastic job editing the video. She works efficiently, takes feedback on board and seems to me to have a very solid feel on the fundamentals of editing. Looking at the edit now, there are definite issues but nothing that can’t be solved in 10 minutes. It’s clean, fluid and most of all enjoyable to watch. I’m worried without a synopsis people might not get it but I guess you could see it as “up for interpretation” haha!

Before I talk about my role in the Post-Production process, I just want to mention who else is working on the edit as well. Bonnie is planning on adding some very small animations to the edit to give it that feeling of “not-reality” I think this is crucial because without the animation in the shots. When the man defies the laws of physics it will seem really strange. I believe Tom is doing sound, I’ve supplied them with plenty of audio from on set and am free at anytime to get more for them so it will just be down to when it is completed, I have faith that Tom will create something really special with the Sound design as he will probably blend the sound of the surrounding nature with cold office sounds. I’m excited.

Now onto the part I play. I offered to do the VFX for the film and I’m very happy with them. It’s nothing incredibly tedious to create. It’s very basic motion tracking and keyframing but I think using it in small doses works well and with it accompanied by the animation and sound it will take the film to new levels of quality.

I’m just going to talk about the final VFX shot as it was the most challenging (but fun) part to work on. First, I had to figure out how I was going to get the image of Kady onto the wall without printing her because I realised I would be able to match up the shots if I had just zoomed out from an actual image. So I went for a bit of green paper. I motioned tracked it through After Effects and then played with the colour so it matched the scene. I then added an artificial zoom in Premiere and I got the final result. Now, it is not perfect in any means. I wasn’t able to track back any further than I did so the image in the paper actually moves but with the help of Heather and the use of changing aspect ratios I think it really works. I guess we will have to see how people respond.

So that is about everything on the project. I will be back to reflect next month on the finished project. Hopefully it turns out okay. Hopefully, it doesn’t turn into a train wreck. I’m sure it won’t :)

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bb-ma-2 · 4 years ago

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industry feedback

Sabrina Cotugno responded, but as our correspondence occurred over a period of a week and several days, I didn't post all the feedback I received immediately. I believe we're done for now though, so here's what they've said:

March 23: "—Okay here’s some notes!! I’m feeling pretty tired right now so hopefully this makes sense!! —I’m interested to see where this story goes! The characters all have nice clear personalities, Agatha in particular is super charming. The glitch is an intriguing concept as well. —You introduce the setting twice—first in the initial establishing shots, and then through the main character’s eyes after she wakes up. I’d cut the first establishing shots and, instead, open nice and close on our main character. Only when she looks out at her surroundings do you cut wide to reveal the location. This way the audience is more in the character’s head, since we’re discovering the wider world at the same time she is. —On pacing: I’m working on the assumption that this is the beginning of the story. Disregard this is we’ve had previous time to get to know the characters and rules of the world…. But IF this is the beginning: You’re introducing a lot of unusual and interesting ideas that need a bit more visual explanation. I.E.: —What are the flowers growing out of the main character’s eye? What’s going on there? Is this a new thing for her? I admit at first I just thought some flowers had fallen onto her face, and it took me a while to realize they were a consistent part of her design. We see her interacting with them and trying to pull them out a few shots later, but that interaction is interrupted by: her reaction to the world around her and her reaction to the person with the bucket. Because it’s interrupted by that stuff, it’s difficult to clearly establish this important part of her design. I’d step it out like: —She notices the flowers. What the fuck?! She sits up, tugs at the flowers. They won’t budge. She gives up. THEN…. —She looks out and notices her surroundings. Big wide shot! Reveal the world! —Then, we get a nice close-up on her to see her clear reaction to her surroundings. —And then, in theory, she notices the bucket person? Honestly, I’m not sure if we need this character here? We meet them later anyway, and I’m not sure what they’re doing out in the wilderness. It took me a while to realize that the bucket character and Agatha were two separate characters. —Agatha throwing her skull as protection is really fun—is there a way to introduce the fact that she can detach her skull earlier? Maybe have her play around with her skull head in her introductory scene? —Here’s the most common storyboard note I give, it’s: switch up your medium shots. You’ve got several minutes near the end of JUST medium shots, which can feel repetitive and jump-cutty if used too frequently. Look for shots that are more about broad physical motion and turn them into wide shots. Look for shots that are more focused on facial acting and turn them into close-ups. —For your over-the-shoulder shots: as a general rule you don’t want the focus of the shot to be the over-the-shoulder character—because they’re turned away from camera, we can’t really see them properly. For instance, when the main character (Exa?) introduces herself, she states her name while facing away from us in an over-the-shoulder—which feels odd because she should be the focus of that shot. I’d swap that shot out for an over-the-shoulder from over Agatha’s shoulder or a single shot on Exa. oops, I meant "Disregard this IF we’ve had previous time to get to know the characters and rules of the world…."

I think I'm a little confused as to the purpose of this animatic? You mention that it's going to be a pilot eventually, but I think we might have a different definition of 'pilot'.....

Questions on that are: 1) Is this the entire animatic or part of a larger animatic that I'm not seeing? 2) What is the purpose of this project? I understand that it's for your school program, but what is the goal here? Is this basically going to be a thesis film? Is it a portfolio piece to apply to future jobs? Is it something you're planning on pitching to a studio? (If the latter, people don't often pitch shows to studios using animatics--they're way too labor intensive! and usually you'd want to go through several rounds of studio notes before committing to a pilot script/board) 3) What kind of program are you in? Is it an animation program or another kind of graduate program? I ask because you seem not entirely confident in your professors' notes, and that may be a good instinct--animation is a really niche industry and there aren't many teachers who are really qualified to teach in this area er, or rather.... I don't want to say 'they're not qualified' but they may not have the specific expertise to really guide you to to get the specific skills/portfolio you need

April 6: --So, I would definitely encourage you to do a bit more research on animated pilots! Pilots are generally one full episode length--either the first episode or an early episode (say episode 4). --The job of a pilot is to convince the studio that they should greenlight your show. That's what sets it apart from a "teaser"--generally speaking, you want to clearly establish all the major elements of a show in that first episode. the Steven Universe pilot is a great example ("this is a show about a human boy with three superpowered moms. Here are their powers. Here's how they work. There's going to be music. There's going to be action scenes.") The pilot of Hannibal is also a great pilot (it takes time to clearly establish all the main characters, their dynamics, and the major setpieces of the show--the big, artsy murders, Will's "This is my design" schtick, Will and Hannibal's manipulative therapy sessions) --Ah hah, actually shoot, reading through your previous answer, it looks like you already understood that a pilot=selling tool. But to expand on that: you want to avoid teasing. Instead, you should be revealing and dramatizing. A lot of pilots will END on a teaser that hints at the overall season arc, but ONLY after spending the majority of its runtime answering the basic questions of "What is this story? Who are these characters? How am I going to tell this story? What sets it apart from other stories in this genre?" (Again, to use Hannibal as an example, taking full scenes to demonstrate how Will's "superpower" works, how the murders are more like art pieces than your typical grisly CSI murder, how Hannibal is depicted as more of an ally and friend to Will than an adversary..... these are all things that clearly explain, "This is what an average episode of this show will look like. These are the things that set it apart from other crime procedurals.") Right now in your pilot you're teasing a LOT about the basic premise of the story but have not revealing a lot of answers. Again, you can have one or two things teased at the end, but not at the expense of basic clarity--and you have to reveal enough of the story/world/characters that the audience could feasibly start guessing what the answers to those teasers could be. --I may have mentioned this before, but generally speaking individual creators don't make pilots on their own--they're much too expensive. Generally, you make a 'story bible' with art and writing that explains the basic premise of the show, the characters, and world, and then pitch it to studios. If the studio likes it, they will option the project and then give you the budget and resources to make the pilot at the studio --An exception would be something like Hazbin Hotel, but that basically required the creator to create her own studio, funded by a very successful Patreon, with her own full crew of animators working under her. Honestly I would only recommend this route if you are very business savvy and would also be OK producing the ENTIRE show independent of a studio (therefore rendering a pilot pointless) --So overall, I would recommend using this project as A) a personal project B) a portfolio to sell YOUR SKILLS as an artist for future industry jobs--storyboarding skills, 2D animation skills, design skills. However, I would say that if you want to use this piece as part of a storyboarding portfolio, I would recommend going back in and cleaning it up to industry standards--referencing currently working industry board artists for that level of clean (i.e. Steven Universe, Amphibia, Rise of the TMNT, etc.). The goal you want to reach is for the person reviewing your board to understand the story clearly without having to read the dialogue or ask follow-up questions. Hope that helps!!

I then had some questions to wrap up,

"1) Do you think that, as it is, it holds up better as a mock series teaser then? Basically stop trying to call it a pilot and own the vagueness/mystery of it. In other words, if it's not trying to be a pilot, do you think it works/is engaging?

2) I have a written 'project proposal' that I have to arrange with my professors, instead of trying to sell this as an "animatic for a pilot", would you recommend I change it to "story bible with animatic"? That seems like the right path to me at this point but I thought I'd ask

3) And finally... Would it be okay if I sent you a sort of update in a few months (june-july ish) to get your feedback again? By that point I'm hoping to have redrawn the characters (so they actually look like their references) and implemented the advice you've given me for the animatic. It should be the last time as my school year finishes in September, but I I completely understand if you'd rather not. like I said earlier I know you're very busy"

To which she responded,

1) Hmm, this is a tricky question for me.... I would say my primary issue goes back to the fact that it doesn't feel like a complete statement. I feel the text of the animatic would need to answer a few more questions before it could properly "tease" an audience into wanting to see more. I'd say your meat-and-potatoes questions are: What does your main character want/need? How is she going to achieve it? What kind of obstacles is she likely to face? What are her flaws as a character? How do they hold her back? How will the world of the story force her to confront and grow from those flaws?

And for this story in particular, I'd want to reveal enough of the world that I could begin to guess at things like: What is the glitch? What kind of world is this? Um, this is a little trickier to explain, but since this story exists in a fantasy world and there are SO many mysteries--what is the glitch? who is the main character? Is she from this world or another world? Is this world real or does the glitch indicate that it's a video game or something? Incidentally, these are the kinds of questions I commonly ask students who are working on their own original stories. I find those students often have pretty clear answers when I ask them, at which point I say, "Cool. Now put the answers in the board." I think there's a culture online of "don't be obvious" or "don't spoil the audience"--I would say, when trying to sell a new story to an audience, don't worry about that kind of thing. Be obvious. Keep in mind that many animated shows are only 11 minutes long, and in the age of streaming, most showrunners only have one episode to convince an audience to watch THEIR show and not the dozens of other shows that aired the same month, or thousands of other shows they could access via streaming. Don't worry about giving too much away! Be stupid and obvious!

However, I am aware that as a student you only have so much time until your deadline--if you're in a phase where you should be finished with pre-production and starting production, I would not recommend making major changes to your story--that will only cause you to rush through your work later. If you need to finish the animatic soon and start on animation, I would recommend ignoring my advice above and focus on producing the animatic you have currently at the highest quality you can. Even if it doesn't necessarily work as a selling tool for the story--which is perfectly fine, I would strongly recommend pitching to studios right after graduating anyway (studios are complicated and predatory to young artists, and I recommend taking several years to work within the studio system to understand how it works from the inside before trying to be a showrunner)--it can still work as a portfolio presentation piece if you take your time on your animation and go back and polish this board 2) Story bible with animatic should work! 3) Yeah, feel free to send an updated version! Though again I am wary of deadlines and am a little skeptical that giving feedback so close to your deadline would be SUPER helpful--I may only be able to give 'polish' notes at that point that you would still be able to implement By “text of the animatic” I just mean that when I flip through the storyboard, I can understand the answers clearly without having to ask questions or read about it in the action notes. Personally I don’t recommend using board notes/action notes/descriptions at all. The only time I’ve used those are when working with an overseas outsourced contract animation studio. The function of action notes are essentially insurance—the board should read clearly on its own, but if an overseas studio misinterprets the board, you can point to the action notes and say, “you should have done what was in the action notes. Because this was a mistake on your end, you have to fix it on your own time (rather than requesting additional money to pay for a mistake on our end)”. In any other case, action notes are redundant and should be taken out of any portfolio or presentation

It was overall incredibly helpful and enlightening, especially with what pilots are and how they work. Sabrina's really helped me figure out what I thought I wanted to do, and what I actually want to do. I'll elaborate on this a bit more in my essay and how I applied it to my animatic directly.

#00

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shitpost-tom · 7 years ago

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Eddsworld Theory

I have a theory about Tom.

I am unsure on how to word this to start soo.. Theory: Tom is actually a calm drunk and drinks to keep himself calm-ish.

I know this seems weird and unimportant, but hear me out here. During the period of what we call “Eddsworld Legacy” (the episodes after Edd’s death), the characters are changed from what we can refer to as “Personas” to “Characters”, because they wanted to separate the people from the characters (I swear I heard it in the Documentary of Eddsworld but I couldn’t find it- so just believe me here b/c I swear up and down that I remember that being said somewhere). Meaning, we can somewhat separate Eddsworld Tom from Legacy Tom (we can also separate them somewhat from the fact that during Legacy, Thomas had full creative control over his character (before the most he had was control over his lines I do believe)). So taking that into account, this means we can take what happened before Legacy as a grain of salt ( not everything though, as somethings haven’t really changed. Though you should take this theory with a grain of salt). Now that we have established that in this theory, I am not taking before-Legacy Tom into account, we can get onto why I am writing this.

First off, what made me connect some dots, were these lines from one of Tom’s posts:

To go over the information, he says that in his mind, Tom’s eyes are black because he shared a body with a demon- later stating it was specifically what he calls a “Rage Demon” (which is pretty important to the theory), that can take “full or partial control ... but could also be summoned with the right spell.” He even tagged it as “ew monster tom”, confirming that, THAT Tom is about what he means, or exactly what he means. The words “rage demon” caught my eye. Why? Well as we see in the episode(s) “The End” , the animatic has these:

(This is most likely a good sign of Monster Tom, as we can safely say that the demon sharing a body with Tom is some sort of weird cloud:

So having smoking eyes would make sense as a sign of the demon.)

I find these rather interesting considering the circumstances. Tord wants his old room back, Edd allows it, Tom states that, that’s his room, Edd says he can have his old one, Tom points their attention to the fact that his old room is now a swimming pool, he gets crushed by a sofa (again), and Edd joins in with Tord and says “classic stupid Tom”. Already he would most likely be under a lot of stress, but after Edd says “classic stupid Tom”, this is when Tom gets livid, and storms out of the house like we all know. One thing that we don’t see Tom doing in the episode, is drinking. Of course, there are large gaps/time skips, though I doubt he had time to drink then, as I do not think he even had his flask with him. An episode such as “Space Face”, we do see him drinking. Examples:

Tom brought a cup of cola out to Edd, and had a cup himself. As seen here, we can safely assume that it is some sort of alcoholic beverage (most likely Smirnoff).

Here we see Tom taking a drink right after shooting Matt with a laser. He seems to be very calm.

Here, Tom is seen drinking again, right before they are about to enter the trash disposal. He is seen holding the flask many times before this, but none actually showed him drinking.

Just in case my point wasn’t clear enough, here he is again. Drinking. This was after the montage, so it could be assumed he may have been drinking then as well. Or not. I am not sure how much a flask can actually hold, or what the bloody hell is inside of it.

At this point, the story takes a turn, and they are found to be falling towards earth. Tom is knocked out, seen here:

Tom see’s the danger, as seen here:

So, it might as well be safe to say that Tom would remember that the stick being shoved in his face by Matt, caused him to end up like the picture above. When Edd managed to stop the spaceship, Tom, like the rest of them, slams into the windshield, and we see Tom as awake again. Here, is when this happens:

This proves that Tom is quiet while drunk (at least most of the time), and that Tom knows when he is shitfaced. This is also showing that Tom doesn’t seem to be too terrible concerned about himself at the moment, as he is calm in a way. Though we don’t see Tom drinking that much throughout the episodes, it can be implied at times. Like in Power Edd, where the flashback shows Tom with a red cup, and red cups usually mean alcoholic drinks in the media. In Saloonatics, Tom can be caught taking out a flask and having a swig from it.

This could mean that Tom normally has his flask on him, though he is not seen drinking in the episodes a lot (I assume the actual reason is that they did not feel like Tom should be drinking at the time). One reason why he is not drinking some of those times, is because he may feel like he doesn’t need to, or because he may want a clear head (ex: Fun Dead). Seeing as he is seen drinking in a few episodes such as Space Face (part one and two), Saloonatics, and implied drinking in Power Edd, we can pick up small patterns (though these may most likely be just a coincidence). Tom either drinks for fun, or in situations that might make him angry (this may be a stretch).

One thing that the episodes with tom drinking, or implied drinking have in common for sure, is that Tom is calm. To a degree that is. He never seems really mad, or really emotional for that matter (though being really happy seems to be an exception to this rule).

Now that I feel I have provided enough evidence to give:

A.) Tom is a calm drunk (if such thing exists) B.) Tom tends to drink in situations where he may want to stay calm and happy.

I will go into how this may tie into The whole Monster Tom thing. As stated before, Thomas said that in his head, Tom was sharing a body with a demon that could take partial or full control of Tom whilst he was angry, and that could be summoned with a spell. The key phrase is “take partial or full control while Tom is ANGRY.” What isn’t Tom while drunk? Angry. He can be sarcastic or sassy, but he never fully snaps at anyone. He seems to have this “I honestly couldn’t care,” vibe coming from him when he’s not being sarcastic, or otherwise clearly caring. So I feel I have enough evidence to make this statement: Tom drinks to calm himself down or at least dampen his anger, because he rather not reveal that he shares a body with a demon that takes over when he is angry.

Summary: Thomas said that in his mind, Tom shared a body with a rage demon that could take partial or full control of Tom when he’s angry, or can be summoned with the right spell. Some episodes Tom is seen drinking, or it’s implied that he has been, or will be (it may also be implied that he carries his flask around with him), and when those moments (or episodes) happen, Tom can be described as “Calm”. Or at least not at the point of lashing out like seen in The End. Putting these things together, I have come to the conclusion that part of the reason why Tom drinks is because he needs to stay undercover, and not show that he shares a body with some demon.

(Honestly it probably would have been easier to just say what I thought and not go through all of this most likely useless work, b/c I have troubles putting my thoughts down sometimes, but I hope you get the point.)

((This can’t even really be considered as good enough ground because Monster Tom can’t be considered cannon unless the ones now in charge of eddsworld confirm it. So really, I guess this is more just some food for thought.))

Sources:

https://thetomska.tumblr.com/post/164676621268/why-are-tom-from-eddsworlds-eyes-black-or-would

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4q8QqrGnbM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy4ksRIwOzQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ux0ERfzDSU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ts8-ycqCik

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5oqqtWCJR0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbBI1dmJX9c

#Eddsworld Tom #EW Tom #Monster Tom #Eddsworld Theory

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bluriginals · 7 years ago

Text

Quest for the Northwest Review

@gfdeepwoods @mysteryseeker

Sorry to keep you waiting!

It's been a long time coming, but it finally came! Not only since the last Blu Blogs (all the way back in March; yikes!) but since I made the promise to provide a review of Quest for the Northwest for a member of its crew (all the way back in June). Now I know what you're thinking and I will tackle these thoughts in order of importance:

1.) What's Quest of the Northwest?

It's the first installment of Gravity Falls: Deep Woods, a fanimatic based series chronicling some adventures in between the normal episodes of Gravity Falls

2.) jesus /march/

yes i know i'm awful

3.) Someone requested you to review their stuff?

i know it's so exciting!

ok maybe none of you were thinking that but i was and it was so flattering and cool and stuffs

4.) Does this have anything to do with the Mystery Hut review?

Only vaguely; MysterySeeker (who I'm assuming is running the project) saw it and thought I was apparently good at this so they asked me to throw some of my...'me' their way.

5.) You promised this review in mid July and it's almost October. What do you have to say about that, HydroPants?

Uuuuuuuuh...there's my ride?

Now in my defense, the first part was released January 16th and the second Hirsch Day and that's a 5 month wait so if anything I'm like, 3 months fashionably early!

Read and weep, boys.

Alright alright, in all seriousness deepest apologies for me taking SO long to get to this. Getting that feedback on time is likely important for whatever you guys are doing with Deep Woods moving forward and it's just plain unprofessional. Really sorry to you all! But enough apologizing, let's get to the review of...

If you haven't already watched it, you should check out part 1 here .

As I stated before, I might not have known about this or looked into without my Mystery Hut review and as I stated there, I was really hyping that project up. Since then I've learned to abolish hopes/dreams and reject happiness, but the thumbnail did give a good first impression. It had a well-crafted quality to it and had been made specifically TO be the thumbnail. This really contributed to my gut feeling that Quest for the Northwest would really be something special. And let me tell you it is DEFINITELY really good. However, rather than talking about it on its own, allow me to spend the entire review judging it not only by its own merits, but by comparing it to Mystery Hut. Naaah, just kidding I'll leave that ol' coot alone. Before I we go in on the story, let's talk about the presentation. Oh my.

Presentation

This presentation is just /amazing/. It's really like taking a step back into Gravity Falls as if nothing's changed (as much as you can in an animatic sense). Starting off with the sound direction, Quest for the Northwest has a distinct element that truly gives it the GF edge any project attempting to emulate the original series needs: the music and audio cues. Brad Breeck's music fills the scenes it needs to and adds to the atmosphere so much. However we aren't dealing with Johnny Test or a 4Kids dub here; the fanimatic knows when to stop talking and deliver some golden silence.

This example from early in the episode where Mrs. Northwest discourages Pacifica from playing with the commoners utilizes sound cues in a way that emphasizes what happens in it

I can't think of a true example of silence off of the top of my head, and it's likely that many scenes use a more lowkey part of the OST, but that works towards the same objective: quieter, more somber moments that appropriately juxtapose the louder ones. It never feels like these silences are too long, awkward, or the result of someone flubbing a line or not being able to think up some dialogue to put in the place of said silence. Speaking of flubbing lines, there's basically none of that: the casting and voice direction are extremely solid. I feel as though some of the people from Mystery Hut (THIS AND TWO THINGS LATER WILL BE ONLY COMPARISONS I SWEAR) may be 'reprising' their roles in Quest for the Northwest (which will hence forth be abbreviated as QftNW) and if they are I gotta give some shout outs to them and the voice director because the delivery and inflections of every line are just right and more. You really get a sense of the emotions and mindset of the characters with every word they say and on the whole the inflections feel very reminiscent of GF. Dipper, Pacifica, Jeff and Preston while not perfect matches are honestly good substitutes and deliver every one of their lines the way you'd imagine the real VAs to. Soos is honestly spot on aside from not being as deep but the real star of the show is Mabel. Though she isn't a near perfect match like Soos, whenever I hear her voice actress speak I can actually feel those Kristen Schaal-isms in her; not just through her dialogue but how she says certain words and just her voice in general. There's even special attention to detail in some places like when Jeff's voice breaks when he's pepper sprayed and in some instances, you can even tell what a character is saying based on their mouth in a single frame.

You can EASILY tell that Jeff's saying something with an 'L' sound, and while you don't have to mark little things like this in boards unless they're really important, I appreciate it a lot.

The only gripes I have with the sound (and they're admittedly minor) is that I feel like Part 1 is a bit quiet, even at max volume and Snadger's hiss audio in part 2 is loud. Like, if you have it at 100% prepare to get that faux jumpscare chord feel. But these really are nothing in comparison to the great sound in this fanimatic.

Upon my first viewing of the episode I was blown away at how well-crafted and consistent the art was. I could NOT believe that there were that many boarders; 4 at most. But I found myself shocked to see a plethora of different artists names flash on screen during the credits (16 to be exact; 4 times as many as appeared). On the second viewing, I was definitely able to distinguish more than 4 styles, but 16 is still WAY more than I'd ever guess. It's just so consistently good, on-model, and expressive, its many artists are able to carry it together with pride.

This shot in particular is really pretty, so I wanted to highlight it :)

Sure there'd be occasional hiccups like Dipper and Mabel's heads being squarshed in some frames or the first portion of Jeff's beast slaying plot but you still get a genuine sense of effort from each and every frame/artist and (Mystery Hut comparison incoming) not ONCE does it ever stoop the low, haphazard inconsistencies and disregard of the Gravity Falls artstyle as Mystery Hut did. In fact, it goes so much further beyond that. Just...take a look.

(Nearly) Every. Single. Face in this project oozes with the Falls. I absolutely loved it and it was a pure joy to look at. Not a second goes where something isn't moving and it's in the best way: each frame is logical and compliments the one preceding and succeeding it. I can honestly imagine so many of these frames transitioning smoothly from one to the other in animation and this level of attention to detail and desire to express a genuine Gravity Falls experience is commendable to say the least.

They remembered dramatic, shading using close-ups and in some shots they even bothered to put in unique towns people that fit the style! Cute!

But the biggest thing of all that propels this to new heights artistically has got to be the understanding of the characters.

QftNW has such a great understanding of Gravity Falls' characters not only in how they talk but equally as important: how their physical body works in relation to other objects as well as themselves.

Dipper's (audience) right hand has such a nice depth to it and the way Pacifica's hair bends on the bench looks like it jumped straight outta the show.

But there's on example that stood out to me above the rest. Just...look at this beautiful 8 frame scene where Dipper and Mabel take off their Pacifica costumes.

Forgot how tumblr shrinks wide images like this, so here: bask in the full glory of these frames!

Whoever drew this is my Super Star, the 1-Up Boy (or Girl). It's on model, it understands how the individual 'pieces' of Dipper and Mabel work (hair, arms, face etc.), it has touches like their changing facial expressions and Dipper turning his hat forward. I just can't do it justice this scene is so /good/. MysterySeeker when you get to this, please give that boarder special shout outs. I love this scene so much aaaaaaaaaah

Alright that's enough gushing about the glorious art and sound. There's one last remark I'd like to make about the presentation. The episode managed to get in a special monochromatic full version of theme which is great, but in the end the episode totaled out to /27/ minutes. Now, if that's what they want to go with that's absolutely fine. Nothing wrong with having your Gravity Falls fan series run a couple over the normal limit. But if they really want to go for that Gravity Falls feeling they should cut 5 of those minutes.

Story and Characters

Quest for the Northwest's basic premise is that Dipper and Mabel decide to go out to a parade being held to honor the election of the holder of the best running gag, Tyler Cutebiker. However upon seeing a miserable Pacifica in the parade Dipper and Mabel (mostly Mabel) callout to her and try to get her away from the parade and by extent her parents. All isn't right however as with Jeff's role as leader being questioned due to his inability to find a new queen, the town's precious princess may find herself in more trouble than she's bargained for. The basic story definitely shows lots of promise, particularly in the idea of having an episode where the Pines twins both interact with Pacifica. But before we really go in on that let me talk about the structural elements that hold up this story.

As stated in the presentation section, the visuals here are on point and they really propel the episode forward with great action based gags, both subtle and dynamic. Jeff rubbing his eyes after being pepper sprayed and Preston's reactions to all of the filthy commoners being near him (Soos especially) added to the scene SO much.

Don't touch me, PEON. And on a similar note...

Don't touch me phone, PEON.

The characters aren't just moving through each scene as lifeless dolls, occasionally making flanderized quips that are supposed to remind you "YUP THAT'S THEM". That wasn't uh, that wasn't supposed to be a Mystery Hut sneak diss either I just wanted to say that the characterization is great. Speaking of that third Mystery Hut diss, it's finally time to get to it as we talk about the characterization. Mabel's characterization is MILES better than it is in Mystery Hut. There she was a spouting faux-Mabel non-sequiturs and generally being a flanderized nuisance. But here? Her dialogue isn't substanceless; it's endearing, and smart, and feels SO Mabel. And being that this is QftNW, it's not just her dialogue. It's her actions. How she moves and the things she does: licking the beard hair twice (and ultimately eating some at the very end), her "balloon sense" in scene 2, picking the cotton candy off the bench when they hear people calling for Pacifica and then sliding next to them when they look behind the wall.

It culminates into making Mabel feel well represented and because she's one of our two protagonists, it's pretty important to have her on point. And that my friends is that LAST you'll hear of Mystery Hut for the rest of this review. Probably ;)

I think that Pacifica was handled really well too! Some fans would've had her be a complete 180 from her appearance in Northwest Mansion Mystery, having her be all nice, and kind, and forcing Padippica down our throats in a way that feels unnatural, Pacifica still retains a lot of her personality. She's clearly only JUST learning to be better person and it's the gradual type of character development that I love to see.

Pacifica says "It's ok, most people are terrible at what they do." and not only is this a funny line but it feels perfect for a kid who's only steadily learning to drop her rich girl tendencies.

Sort of reminds me of the Steven Universe episode "Beta" where Peridot is showing Amethyst and Steven the Beta Kindergarten and making remarks about the gems that emerged there that really bring out her more Homeworld-like habits.

Jeff's pretty well-handled as well. Due to him being more of a recurring character in the series he's got nothing that really stands out but he's still well represented, especially in relation to the show. Basically all of his dialogue feels right at home with him. Though there is one action he takes in the story that particularly stands out, and that's retrying the Norman scheme from Tourist Trapped. I know this seems like the type of thing that'd I normally whine about and call forced reference/fan-pandering, but the way it goes about is such a unique parallel to Dipper and Mabel's encounter. The Gnomes are NOT the smartest creatures in Gravity Falls, so it makes perfect sense for them to double down on such a make-shift plot. It further expands on the parallel by having the plot fall apart very plainly. Him stumbling over his words, dropping the hand, and just coming on too strong coupled with Pacifica not buying it at any point and eventually fighting her way out is a serves as a smart subversion of Mabel's encounter with them, helps advance the plot in a unique direction. On the topic of throwbacks that brings us to Dipper and well...

For the most part I believe Dipper's also himself. At first I was thinking he was being a bit of a downer but honestly, it fits Dipper to be resistant against things like going to the parade. Him not thinking about Pacifica's huge milestone in Northwest Mansion Mystery (NMM) where she disobeys her parents is a little bit harsh but things really go over the edge when after the twins manage to get Pacifica off the float, Pacifica mentions that while appreciative, she doesn't want to be caught with them for fear of more punishment from her parents. Dipper replies to this by saying "See Mabel, she hasn't changed at all. And here I thought you were gonna start trying to break the world's worst chain".

Barring the fact that reprising the "world's worst chain" in the context of demeaning Pacifica comes off as absolutely brutal seeing as the line was such a landmark part of NMM (it was the thing that made Pacifica finally consider a change of heart), it feels very forced. Dipper didn't need to say something that cut so deep AGAIN especially after Pacifica saved ALL of their lives not out of obligation but out of wanting to do the right thing. And that's just the world's worst chain part; the fact that he says she hasn't changed at all? Way too much. And considering that she's just doing something as little as running away from a boring parade and not tricking Dipper into exorcising a ghost it was really unwarranted for him to go nuclear on her like that. Honestly this is the only instance of bad writing in this entire fanimatic. Like, Pacifica not wanting to consistently disobey her hella strict parents again makes sense. Has the Fear of God never been put into this boy by Mr. and Ms. Pines?

But don't let this minor blemish make you think it's NO good. The episode's writing is honestly SO good. And it's referential/injoke humor definitely isn't a hit or miss in most cases. You know, based on the fact that I gave 1 hit example and 1 miss example; I didn't want it to come off as QftNW being a crapshoot when it comes to reference jokes. It's very subtle but you can catch things like 'Dope Dog', an obvious reference to Cool Cat who we all probably know from YMS, Pizza Guy being jibbed YET again,

Shout outs to whoever boarded the first montage too btw

Alex Hirsch's face being on the TV and name somewhere else in the episode, the former Mayor's honorary statue and the fact that it has 2012 on it,

You guys KNOW they would've had to vague the date if this was a real episode.

And best of all Pacifica's response at the end when asked if she wants to visit the shack. If you don't get it, listen to how she responds to Dipper. You'll get it. QftNW is just plain good at balancing the worlds of emulation and fandom. I salute you fair fanimatic.

As you could guess from how much I've gushed about the characterization, the writing is a joy. The jokes are very much Gravity Falls and from start to finish this episode is doing its best to give you that feel when you have GF.

On first viewing this had me /ROLLING/, oh my god. What a great way to start off an episode.

And it keeps this kind of stuff up throughout its entire run. BTW shout outs to one of the guys who said "MS. NORTHWEST" while they were looking for her. This is so random but the way one of them said it honestly sounded like professional VA work. He knows who he is. Alright that's enough goofing around. How do I feel about the actual plot, the meat of the story separated from the writing/art framework? As stated before I truly believe this to be a great fanimatic. Its production efforts are high for a fanmade project and you can just tell lots of love and heart were put into every aspect of it. But if I'm being quite honest, I found the actual plot sort of weak. The writing itself was top notch so that did it a lot of favors but if you take a step back, you realize that not a lot really happens. Like, a lot HAPPENS but not a lot of substance happens. The episode deals with two primary conflicts: Pacifica trying to take a break from her daily routine and avoid her parents and Jeff trying to prove he's a worthy leader. Both are handled in a pretty straight forward manner: Pacifica avoids her parents all day and worries how they'll react, Dipper and Mabel come up with a valid excuse less than half way through the episode; Jeff tries to kidnap Pacifica, fails, the kids pity him and help him out by doing the classical costume farce and all is well. It's lacking the strong character plot (ex. Mabel questioning if she is a good person in Last Mabelcorn, Dipper confessing his crush in Into the Bunker, Dipper and Mabel wondering if Stan is really what he seems in well, Not What He Seems, Soos learning how to deal with girls/the fear of being alone in Soos and the Real Girl etc.) present in nearly every Gravity Falls episode. Even the segments within Bottomless Pit! and Little Gift Shop of Horrors managed to place some significant character plots that easily feel just as strong as the real episode's despite them not actually happening. Here minor conflicts arise, but they're never anything that hard to surmount or quite frankly, that interesting. After letting it sit with me for a while, I realized that

1.) The episode has two montages. Not that having two is some abominable sin they should've avoided at all costs, in fact montage 1 is great for giving an abridged showcase of the kids day together. Montage 2 on the other hand doesn't exist to parallel montage 1 (showing an advancement/decline), or show anything of interest in general. It's just your normal training montage. It has funny jokes but it seems sort of excessive. Montage 2's results are a total flop and result in them having to think up a b plan. The fact that montage 2 is ultimately not important isn't even lampshaded, in fact it's more played as unfortunate with how Jeff nearly cries. I'm not saying that montage 2's failure should've been played for laughs, especially since in episode the failure is punctuated by a gag, just that in the end montage 2 was a bit cliche and unnecessary.

2.) Pacifica's presence in the second half feels sort of extra and as if it's there primarily so we can get more Dipper, Mabel, Pacifica relationship-growing-time fanservice. Which is not to say that is at ALL a bad thing (the bit in the last scene before the credits scene is SO cute and not forced at all I love it), but when you're trying to write a good story, particularly a Gravity Falls one, having a strong central conflict to carry the episode is pretty imperative. One easy example I can think of off of the top of my head? There could've easily been parallels drawn between Jeff and Pacifica and the pressure from the obligations they have to their families. Jeff on his only simply isn't that compelling a character and making him into a compelling character that late into Gravity Falls isn't that beneficial. He isn't locked out of development due to being a recurring character, but having him have his own little arc that ultimately contributes to Pacifica's (a major character) would've been a better choice. There's obviously more than one way to do things, but that's something I thought would've worked out well.

3.) The title "Quest for the Northwest" doesn't reflect the episode's contents. Jeff's easily apprehended by Pacifica so there's no such quest to speak of and it isn't a clever bait-and-switch title like "The Ricklantis Mixup" because Pacifica defeating the gnomes on her own isn't the big bait of the episode, it's just a nice little parallel to Dipper and Mabel's encounter. Had it actually been about Pacifica being kidnapped and Dipper and Mabel going on a quest to save her whilst say, Pacifica decides to help Jeff out of pity after she breaks free on her own, eventually coming into her own as someone who's taking the first steps to being a better person, THEN it could've been called Quest for the Northwest. It would have the double meaning of not only Dipper and Mabel being on a quest to save Pacifica (the Northwest), but Pacifica being dealt her own 'quest' in helping Jeff out. But that's just me spitting out a specific theoretical I liked, there's tons of ways the title "Quest for the Northwest" could've been justified. The episode's plot just isn't one of them.

4.) Last and certainly least, the black eyebrowed Gnome who's clearly trying to usurp Jeff really isn't relevant. He's shown as the leader of this growing insurgence, but all he really does is talk mad game in two scenes and get absolutely destroyed in an admittedly funny scene. He didn't need to be his own character and the gnomes dissatisfaction could've been more properly represented with a mob rather than a man...urr, gnome. But really, this is a drop in the bucket compared to the bigger issues presented in #1 and #2. Had those been more refined this would just be an outlier rather than a cherry on top of a problem cake. A single layer problem cake mind you, but still a problem cake.

But enough of the negative: in the end Quest for the Northwest is a satisfying episode that captures the soul of Gravity Falls magnificently well despite its faults. An absolute must see for Gravity Falls fans, and if you for some reason read this review without watching it, check it out part 1 and part 2 here. There's plenty to see both writing, visual and gagwise that I didn't spoil, and honestly? Not seeing it is a disservice if you like Gravity Falls a lot. Definitely worth a watch. 8/10; MUCH better than Sonic Lost World.

th-that's my thing now guys. any time i give a number rating it's also quantitatively compared to sonic lost world u

Anyway enough of me babbling, if you enjoyed this fanimatic like I, you should check out their tumblr page for updates on whatever they have in the works . Pretty sure the next episode coming is being titled "Deep-Rooted Misunderstanding" so look out for that, cause I know I will! And while you're here, you might as well check out some of the rest of the this blog and see if you find anything you like. Stay tuned because next week, we're going to be talking about Sonic Forces and/or Mario Odysse-- on second thought let me not get back on my bullshit and promise next week, see you guys in june lmfao

#The Bluriginals Blogs #Gravity Falls #Gravity Falls Deep Woods

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luxuriant-starlight · 8 years ago

Text

I Won’t Say I’m In Love Ch. 2

whoop chapter two is here

this intro is rushed bc im tired af. if u want a more detailed one then check out the ao3 link.

anyways hope y’all enjoy

Summary: Marinette Dupain-Cheng is madly in love with Adrien Agreste who is Chat Noir who is madly in love with Ladybug who is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. After a sudden burst of confidence, the two decide to confess to their individual crushes, and both get rejected. Now Marinette and Chat Noir turn to each other for comfort- but soon realize they may be getting a little TOO close for comfort, and just end up trying to deny it, like the ridiculous losers they are.

Based on an animatic by @pepper-bottom, who you should most definitely check out!

Words (in this chapter): 4k (hol y shit)

[AO3] [FFN]

Chapter 2 - Marinette Throws Herself Into The Fray

That night, Marinette laid on her bed, staring up at her ceiling, replaying the events from patrol over and over again in her head.

No matter how she thought about it- no matter how she framed it.

She still felt like a total jerk.

Her body felt numb.

How could she not know? How could she call herself Chat’s best friend? How could she have been hanging around with him like three times a week every week for the past three years and not see it?

Maybe you’re just a shitty friend. Her heart suggested, bitterly.

Maybe you are just a shitty friend.

She sighed and groaned, sitting up and pulling her knees to her chest.

He had just looked so devastated. He practically ran away from her. As if...like...

Like I shattered his heart.

Marinette’s stomach sank even deeper.

“Marinette…” Tikki started, nuzzling into her cheek. “It’s not that bad.”

Mari groaned. “Yes, it is, Tikki!”

“He’ll move on. I’m sure.” Tikki reassured her, hugging her face as much as she could with her tiny body- basically, just managing to hold her chin and nothing else.

“It doesn’t matter if he moves on or not. The problem is that I- the person who calls herself his best friend - couldn’t see how he really felt about me. I teased him. I led him on.” She frowned. “And not just once! Consistently. For years!”

Tikki pursed her lips. “Marinette...I’m sure Chat knew what he was getting himself into. He knew the risks of confessing to you.”

Marinette buried her face into her knees, pulling them even closer. Tikki stroked a little section of her hair.

“Oh, Mari. It really will be okay. You couldn’t have known. It had been going on since you two met. You’ve never known a Chat that acted differently.”

“...Maybe you’re right.” She admitted, peeking her eyes out at Tikki from behind her arms. “But I still feel bad. What if he doesn’t wanna be my best friend anymore?”

“Of course he wants to be your best friend!” Tikki burst out, incredulously, but then took a more gentle tone. “Marinette, you two are meant to be best friends. You were chosen because you two are soulmates- romantic or platonic. Chat loves you. Not just romantically. He’d never stop wanting to be your friend just because you don’t share his feelings.”

Mari picked her head up, sighing.

‘Best friends. Always.’

She sighed again, sitting up. Tikki was right. Chat wouldn’t want to stop being her friend just because she rejected him.

“But I still hurt him.” She told Tikki, after a moment. “I still broke his heart.”

Tikki sighed, patting her cheek. “Humans are more relisient than you think. His heart will heal.”

“How can I possibly make it up to him, though?”

Tikki nudged her chin, making Marinette lift it to look at her.

“You can be his friend. You can keep caring about him, just like you’re doing right now.”

Marinette thought for a second.

“You’re right.”

Tikki giggled. “Aren’t I always?”

Marinette grinned, hugging Tikki closely. “Always.”

And for a moment, things seemed better.

Marinette laid back down on her bed, letting Tikki curl up on her pillow and rest.

After what could’ve been a few hours or a few minutes but just felt like an eternity, she was still awake- staring at her ceiling once again. She couldn’t sleep.

She turned onto her side, restlessly, and a picture on her nightstand caught her eye. It was a bunch of pictures of her and Adrien. One of those photo booth picture strips. They had taken it this summer when they went to the arcade. One of the first times they hung out alone, outside of school.

She and Adrien were a lot closer now. For the whole first year they knew each other, Marinette was more than a little awkward around him. She could barely speak a whole sentence in his presence. The crush she had for him was just too massive.

But that was three years ago. Now she was 18 and much more mature than her 15 year old self. She finally mastered speaking full sentences around Adrien- encouraged to do so by the fact that they begun hanging around each other a lot more as Nino and Alya began to get closer.

Being around two other friends while they spoke every single time they hung out eventually broke the ice. Turns out, they had a lot in common.

Now, Adrien was one of her five best friends (the friends being, in no particular order: Alya, Tikki, Nino, Chat, and Adrien). They hung out all the time. They played Mecha Strike and Mario Cart and Overwatch and a ton of video games together at her house like once a week or so. She spent lunch with him, Alya, and Nino like every day.

She took down her pictures of him. And his schedule. She changed her computer wallpaper to a picture of her and a bunch of her friends from class. Any pictures of Adrien in her bedroom were no longer magazine clippings or things she printed off the internet- they were pictures of them together. Laughing, smiling, having fun. All their memories together.

Yet, her feelings for him remained.

In fact...they intensified.

Marinette’s crush was no longer superficial. She didn’t admire him from afar anymore. She admired him up close now. No longer was he perfect in her eyes- but, rather, perfectly imperfect.

A total dork. She mused, a smile appearing on her face- only widening when she looked at the way he stuck his tongue out at her in the third picture.

A total dork that you adore. Her brain reminded her.

Yeah. She did adore him.

Chat’s face flickered in her mind again.

He had confessed to her. He worked up the courage.

For how long? Weeks? Months?

However long, he had done it. He had planned and plotted. She knew he had. She knew him and how he was.

It was the bravest display of emotion she’d ever seen. He was clearly torn up about it, but still managed to confess- even though he knew he might get rejected.

Even though he did get rejected. Her heart told her. By you.

Oh. Right.

Marinette sighed, rolling onto her back again. If only I could be that brave.

Her head turned towards Adrien’s photo again. In the last of the four pictures, he was holding her close, laughing with his arms wrapped around her. She was mid-laugh too, her cheeks red.

Marinette turned to the ceiling again, and closed her eyes.

She knew what she had to do.

She had to be brave.

---------

“Are you sure about this, girl?” Alya asked her, trying to catch up with Marinette’s fast paced walk into school that Monday morning.

“I’m sure.” Marinette told her. “I’m ready to tell him. I was thinking about it the whole weekend.”

She had had a whole long-ass conversation with Tikki about it the morning after Friday night (when Chat had confessed and she had made up her mind), and then had another again with Alya that Sunday, when she came over to help her and her parents decorate some flower shaped sugar cookies for Spring.

She was determined.

Alya raised an eyebrow, narrowing her eyes a bit. “I still don’t know what’s gotten into you.”

“Nothing has gotten into me.” Marinette lied. “I just feel like I’m ready to finally tell him. I feel bad keeping it from him.”

It wasn’t a total lie.

“Alright, then.” Alya replied, opening the door for Marinette.

When they walked into class, Adrien and Nino were already there, talking at their desks.

Marinette’s heart fluttered a bit in her chest, and tried to jump into her throat, but she swallowed in down, and walked with Alya over to their row.

“Hey, guys.” Alya greeted.

“Morning!” Marinette followed.

“What’s up, ladieeessss!” Nino greeted, grinning. Alya rolled her eyes.

“Morning.” Adrien seemed very...out of it? Marinette thought so.

“Are you alright, Adrien?” She asked, concerned.

“That’s what I’ve been asking all morning!” Nino exclaimed, looking irritated. “I’ve been trying to get him to tell me what’s wrong for like half an hour already.”

“I told you- nothing’s wrong.” Adrien assured him, then turned to Marinette, smiling softly. “I’m okay, Mari.”

“Are you sure? You don’t look okay.” Marinette furrowed her eyebrows.

“It’s fine. Honestly, I’m just out of it because I’m tired. My father’s had me working every night this week.”

Marinette didn’t buy it, but respected his privacy.

“Your dad is crazy!” Nino told him, huffing. “You’re 18. You should be allowed to take breaks and have fun.”

Adrien nodded and shrugged. “I guess.”

They all spoke for a few more minutes, mostly about how Nino had had a gig DJing a party downtown this weekend. They quieted down by the time their teacher had come in.

As the teacher started her lesson, Marinette stared at the back of Adrien’s head, thinking about how she was gonna confess. She was nervous but maybe for no reason.

She had been thinking this whole weekend about what would happen if Adrien rejected her-

Like you did Chat. Her annoying brain reminded her again.

Shut up. Marinette fired back.

- but what if he doesn’t reject her? What if he actually...likes her back? What if he feels the same and they go on a date and then a few more and then become boyfriend/girlfriend and then he proposes and they get married on a sunny Spring day in an intimate family affair and then they live together and love each other and have three beautiful children named Emma, Louis, and Hu-

Woah woah woah.

Chill, girl. You’re not 15 anymore. Stop with these crazy fantasies and focus on the task at hand. How are you and Adrien gonna ever get married if he never knows how you feel?

Marinette blinked, snapping out of it. She then ripped a paper out of her notebook and wrote Adrien a note.

‘Hey. I have to tell you something. It’s...kinda important. Can we talk after school?’

She slid the note under the desk, poking at his side with the corner of the folded paper.

Keeping his eyes trained on the teacher, he secretly grabbed the note, expertly placing it on his desk without the teacher seeing.

Marinette waited with baited breath.

After what felt like an eternity (but in reality was only 10 minutes), she felt a folded piece of paper poke her bare knee. She slid it onto her desk and opened it as inconspicuously as possible.

‘Of course Mari. Is after school good? :p’

The note came with a tiny doodle of a smiling snail.

She grinned. She adored this boy.

When he turned to look at her a few seconds later while the teacher turned away, she nodded slightly.

And now, we wait.

---------

After the final bell rang and Marinette was freed from the absolute sin formally referred to as chemistry, she stood by Adrien’s locker, waiting for him to arrive.

Her heart was doing flips.

She wasn’t so sure she could do this. Maybe it wasn’t too late to turn back. Maybe she should just tell him it was something funny and dumb like “you’re a dork” or “you got some updawg on your shirt” and leave it at that.

She felt her phone vibrate in her skirt pocket. She slid it out and read her latest text. It was from Alya.

‘You got this. I believe in you. <3’

Marinette smiled, her heart warmed by the text.

‘Thanks, Alya. You’re the best.’

And she was. Alya was such a good friend. Maybe Tikki was right. Maybe she really was lucky. Lucky to be blessed with such an incredible support group.

“What’s got you so smile-y?”

Marinette whipped her head up, locking her phone and sliding it back into her pocket, as Adrien stood before her- all sandy blonde hair and grass green eyes and soft spoken and-

Focuusss. Her brain nagged.

“A-Adrien! Hey.”

“Hey!” He grinned. “I asked you a question, you know.”

“Oh- oh yeah. Alya was texting me something sweet. About how I’m her favorite and whatever.”

Adrien chuckled. Her heart nearly melted.

“You’re everyone’s favorite, Mari.”

Marinette giggled, nervously. “I sure hope so…”

Literally, though…

“So, what did you need to talk to me about?”

Her stomach sank, but she willed it to work with her a bit.

“I...uh...wanted to know if you wanted to walk home with me.”

It apparently didn’t listen. Goddammit.

“Sure. I actually have time, for once. Just let me grab my stuff?”

“Okay!” Marinette replied, a little too loudly and a little too quickly.

I’m reverting. She panicked. Shit.

Pull it together, Mari.

“Ready?” Adrien asked her, after a minute, slinging his messenger bag over his shoulder.

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

---------

After a minute or so of feeling awkward, Adrien striked up a conversation, and she silently thanked him for taking the lead. They quickly started talking about some nerd shit- as two nerds like them might do.

“There is no way in hell that Ponyo is better than Howl’s Moving Castle.” She scoffed. “Sophie is so much more complex than Ponyo. Or Sosuke.”

“Howl’s good, but it’s no Ponyo!” Adrien insisted. “Come on- the story of a young girl learning to break free from oppression! Teaching a boy about true love.”

“It’s more of a child-like infatuation, if you ask me. Or a platonic love.”

Adrien huffed. “You just can’t appreciate fine cinema.”

She rolled her eyes and laughed, looking at him.

He was so… God, he was so attractive. He drove her absolutely crazy. Like she said, he had that whole sandy blonde hair and grass green eyes thing going for him. But not only that, he had this...sunkissed skin. Like Apollo himself descended from the heavens and personally blessed him to forever be a literal embodiment of sunshine. And his body, oh my god.

Back when they were 15, Adrien was a bit more lithe- thin and shapely, but still maintaining a fit form and an alright shoulder to waist ratio. It came with not only having barely gone through puberty, but having to keep up that stereotypical model look. But now that he was older, Adrien was more built- and encouraged to maintain a wholesomely sexy look instead of the boyishly handsome look he had had before.

And Lord, did it work for him.

He was still a little lithe, but had much broader shoulders. He wasn’t exactly dorito shaped, but definitely more manly- thicker biceps and more defined muscles. He could now fill in a shirt.

He ran his fingers through his hair, looking ahead, his green eyes intensified and brightened by the sunshine.

Marinette could’ve stayed just like that, staring at him- soaking in his beauty.

But then she saw it.

His frown.

And not just that, but his eyebrows. They were furrowed. He was thinking very deeply about something.

Marinette frowned right along with him, then stopped walking, placing a hand on his shoulder. Adrien turned to look at her, surprised.

“Okay, model boy. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Mari?”

She frowned deeper, putting her feelings for him aside to address him with proper concern. “You’ve been acting off all day. I know you. There’s something you’re not telling me.”

He sighed, looking even more upset. “It’s nothing.”

“Adrien..”

“What about you? You’ve been off all day, too. Don’t think I believe for one second that the real reason you wanted to talk after school was so I could walk you home.” He raised an eyebrow at her, crossing his arms, petulantly.

Her stomach sank, but she quickly shook it off and laughed. “Are you trying to change the subject? I asked you first.”

“I asked you second.”

They narrowed their eyes at each other.

“Rock, Paper, Scissors for it?” Mari asked, determined. She had to win.

“You’re on.”

---------

“Goddammit!” Mari cursed.

After three games of Rock, Paper, Scissors, she had lost. Twice.

In her defense, she had momentarily forgotten that paper beats rock. How does that even make sense?

“Ha! Now you have to tell me what’s on your mind.” Adrien gloated, sticking out his tongue.

Why am I so in love with this boy? Mari asked herself, even though she knew the answer.

“No. I changed my mind. I don’t wanna tell you.” Mari crossed her arms, pouting, and turning away.

“Oh, come on, Mari!”

“No!”

He placed a hand on her shoulder, gently turning her around. “You know you can tell me.”

Her heart skipped a beat. Or several.

Okay. Okay okay okay. I can do this.

I think.

“Alright...you’re right.” She confessed. “I do need to tell you something… kinda important. We should… maybe sit.”

“Okay.” He gestured towards a nearby bench, and they both sat.

Adrien looked at her, expectantly.

Her heart felt like it was filled with an icy cold fire.

“I know this is...sudden…” Marinette told him. “But…”

“But?”

“But… I really liked all the time we’ve been spending together, Adrien. I really like all your dumb jokes. I really like playing video games with you. I really like the way you scarf down all the food I give you, as if it’s the first time you’ve ever seen a chocolate croissant. I really like the way you ramble about things you really like…”

“Mari?”

“I really like... you, Adrien.”

“ Mari… ”

“No. More than really like you.” She closed her eyes, and let out a deep breath. “I love you, Adrien. Like. Really love you. Like. I’ve-been-madly-insatiably-in-love-with-you-for-the-last-three-years in love with you.”

Adrien looked floored. “Like...romantically?”

“Like, romantically.”

There was a pregnant pause. Marinette’s heart was beating so loudly, she could barely hear herself think.

After a moment, Adrien spoke.

“Marinette…” He sighed, eyebrows knit together. “The thing…. I had to tell you.”

“The thing?”

“The thing is…” He took her hands in his, looking apologetic. Oh no.

“ The thing is…. there’s someone else.”

Her heart sank. “Someone...else?”

“I confessed to her last night. She rejected me but…” Adrien sighed. “But I’m still in love with her.”

“In...love...with her?”

“I do love you, Mari. As a friend. And I love all the time that we’ve been spending together. You’re...an amazing person. An amazing friend. Beautiful and fun and smart and determined and wonderful. But…”

“But I’m not her.”

Adrien looked away, guiltily.

Of course.

Why would I… how could I even think that… a guy like Adrien…

Marinette stood, suddenly, letting go of his hands, staring at her feet.

You had better not cry. She ordered herself. Not in front of him. You had better save that shit for when you get home.

Her eyes welled up with tears anyway.

She tried to will them away. Don’t. Don’t humiliate yourself any further. You’d better not.

Her resolve melted when Adrien stood up and put his hand on her shoulder.

“Marinette… I’m so sorry.”

The tears just kept rolling down her cheeks.

“You’re sorry?” She laughed, numbly, wiping her face. “What do you have to be sorry for, Agreste? I’m the one who’s making you feel guilty for no reason.”

He pulled her in close, suddenly, hugging her tight. “I still hurt you.”

The tears kept flowing in his arms, staining his shirt. It just...wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair. She’d come so far. She’d finally gotten close to him. Finally got them talking to each other. Finally become his real friend.

Maybe Tikki was wrong. Maybe she wasn’t so lucky after all.

Marinette sobbed.

Adrien rubbed her back and held her close.

---------

He’d insisted on walking her home.

She tried to keep a brave face, but as soon as she got through the front door, she just pressed her back to it, slid down, and started sobbing again.

Her mother had heard her cries and immediately came rushing in from the bakery, a look of deep concern on her face. She helped Marinette to the couch and, there, Marinette had told her mother everything she could. How a “friend” she didn’t feel the same for confessed his love to her. How she had rejected him. How she had been inspired by him and confessed to Adrien. How Adrien had rejected her on the way home.

“Oh, honey…” Her mom held her close, letting Marinette cry on her shoulder. “Sometimes, it just happens.”

“I really thought we were meant for each other.”

“I know, I know.” Her mother sighed, stroking her hair. “I know it feels like the end of the world. But it’s not. You’re a bright, beautiful young woman. There are other things out there for you.”

Marinette nodded, gripping her mother’s dress harder, sniffling.

Her mother whipped up one of her favorite dinners that night- beef stew with carrots and potatoes. Warm and delicious, as always. Her father had pulled out his beat-up ice cream maker, as well- and made them homemade salted caramel ice cream.

It could’ve been delicious, but Marinette couldn’t say. She was too messed up.

Instead, she just ate small, slow bites, and felt the tears dry on her cheeks, staring blankly at the table. She just felt numb.

---------

After dinner, she had skyped Alya, and told her the awful news. Alya promised that they’d have a “Ladies Night” the next day- which basically just meant they’d get together and talk it out and cuddle and eat ice cream and watch the Real Housewives.

Marinette had agreed, gratefully- but aside from that, she didn’t really speak much either.

Tikki seemed concerned. She, too, spent a fair amount of time comforting Marinette- and at least made her clean the smeared makeup and dried streaks of mascara off her face. Her pores would probably thank her tomorrow.

After a couple hours, though, Marinette sent Tikki to bed.

“I can’t possibly sleep right now. It’s best you just go to bed now. I’ll lay down and try to rest in a bit.”

“Are you sure?” Her kwami asked, concerned.

“Yeah. It’s fine. I promise.”

Tikki didn’t look totally convinced, but gave in once Marinette put on her brave face.

“Alright...but you’d better be in bed by midnight! You do have school tomorrow, after all.”

“Yes, mom.” Marinette tried to grin. She wasn’t quite sure she got it across.

Tikki rolled her eyes and kissed Mari’s forehead before flittering off to her bed (which was essentially just a pillow and a small, hand sewn blanket hidden behind the staircase in Marinette’s loft bedroom).

After Tikki was finally fast asleep, Marinette sighed, walking out onto her balcony, her blanket wrapped around her shoulders and a cup of green tea that her mother insisted she drink in her hands.

She took a sip of the now barely warm tea and sighed again, staring across at the lights of Paris.

This is supposed to be the city of love.

She scoffed. More like the city of heartbreak.

Marinette laughed at her own bad joke, emptily.

She felt like a total idiot.

How did she not see this coming?

She sighed once more, shakily this time, and felt her eyes well up with tears again.

And once more, she sobbed.

Not the kind of sobbing she had been doing before.

Horrible, awful sobbing.

Marinette was devastated.

Three years she’s been in love with Adrien. Three years she’d… actually believed that they’d… get married. Have kids. Spend their lives together.

How stupid. She thought, bitterly, sinking down to her knees, gripping the railing with the hand not holding her now cold green tea. So stupid.

She pressed her forehead up against it, letting tears fall onto the street below her.

She just kept sobbing and shaking. So loud was her sorrow that she didn’t hear the leather-clad hero land on her balcony and walk towards her pathetic form.

“...Princess?” She heard a familiar voice ask.

She looked up to see Chat Noir, looking like he felt sorry for her.

Great. She thought, and just cried harder.

#ml fanfic #ml fic #miraculous ladybug #marichat #ladynoir #adrienette #i wont say im in love #my fics #fanfiction #ml #love square #mady writes #angst #romance

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