#i love tension so much and it is maxed out here bless you

[mehwaight]

QUALITY CONTENT

Nuff said

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

“Inherited Demons” pt 25

Demon yandere ateez ot8 x reader: focus on San (slight Mingi)

“Inherited Demons” Masterlist

“Hobbies of Obsession”

word count: 4.4k

An: this gets a bit spicy <3 also, a nice little dip into a few of our beloved boys’ hobbies hehehee -insert evil laugh here-   also setting up for the next chapter, now i really wanna know who you guys think it is- or how you think this is going down. Or maybe- what will dear Auntie say?

warnings:  this is still a yandere story, so some obsession, STALKING, and general creepiness is bound to happen. comfort, heavy sexual themes implied, some sexual touches and dirty talk, and marking ;) this chapter is heavier in their obsession and yandere side, with a bit of manhandling, strong language, and some angst. Read at your own risk and enjoy

Taglist: message me or ask to be on it

@layzfeelit  / @candypop1611 / @hwaightme-recs /  @actuallyalien / @youngestdelacour  /  @knucklesdeepmingi  /  @watamotee33 /  @izuijin  /  @tiny-fantasies   /  @dream-in-progress    /    

Any and all feedback is appreciated <3 these writings do not represent Ateez in any way, shape or form, just the self-indulgent writings of a delulu atiny ^^’

Keep reading

[fanfictionismyaddiction]

Dummfucks of the Grid

word count: 760

Pairing: Lando Norris x reader

Summary: After a disappointing P6 finish at the São Paulo Grand Prix, Lando Norris finds comfort in his girlfriend Y/n's fierce support as she playfully criticizes the other drivers and team principals

______________________________________________________________

As the door to Lando’s driver’s room closed, the noise of the paddock celebrations faded into the background. Lando sat on the couch, his head in his hands, feeling the weight of finishing P6 after a race that had promised so much more. The disappointment was palpable, especially with Max winning again.

Y/n moved swiftly to sit beside him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders. “Hey, Lando, P6 isn’t the end of the world. You gave it your all out there.”

He sighed, his frustration evident. “Yeah, but I wanted to do better. With Max winning again, it feels like I keep falling short.”

“Falling short?” she echoed, shaking her head. “You didn’t just fall short; you navigated a field of absolute clowns out there! Let’s talk about it. You know I’m here for you.”

Lando raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Oh? Care to elaborate?”

“Okay, first off, Max. He drives like he’s playing Mario Kart and thinks he can just take everyone out with a blue shell! I mean, does he not understand that sharing the track is part of the job? It’s like he thinks he’s invincible! It’s ridiculous!”

He chuckled, a small smile breaking through. “That’s a good way to put it.”

“And then there’s George Russell, who finished P4 today. Honestly, he acts like he’s the golden child of the grid. ‘Look at me, I’m so talented, watch me throw my weight around!’ It’s like he forgets he has to race, not just pose for the cameras. Every time he gets near you, it’s like he’s trying to play bumper cars!”

“True,” Lando said, laughing harder now. “I can feel the ego swelling every time I see him.”

“And don’t even get me started on Leclerc! He’s out there racing like he’s auditioning for the role of ‘Most Likely to Crash Into a Wall.’ It’s like he has a special talent for making the race more dramatic than it needs to be. How does he always manage to be on the brink of disaster and still finish? Is it a gift or a curse?”

Lando nodded, now thoroughly entertained. “He does have that knack for drama, doesn’t he?”

“Absolutely! And then we have Carlos Sainz. I mean, bless him, but he’s trying so hard to keep up with Leclerc that it’s like watching a puppy chase its tail. Poor guy looks so lost sometimes, you just want to give him a treat and a pat on the head! But he gets a pass because he’s your friend.”

“Right? Carlos is actually a good guy,” Lando said, shaking his head, amused.

“And then there’s the team principals!” Y/n continued, her passion bubbling over. “Christian Horner thinks he runs a royal court every time Max crosses the finish line. ‘Look at my king!’ as if it’s not a team effort. And Toto—he’s not innocent either. He struts around like he’s the head of a fashion show! Honestly, if I had a dime for every time I’ve seen him making dramatic hand gestures in the pits, I could fund a whole new racing team!”

“Okay, that one’s a good point!” Lando laughed, feeling the tension ease with every word.

“Seriously, I would fight every one of them for you if it came down to it. Size doesn’t matter when you’re this passionate!” she declared boldly. “I’d take on Max, George, and anyone else who thinks they can just push you around out there!”

“Y/n, you do realize you’re only 5’6, right?” Lando replied, grinning. “How are you going to take on all of them?”

“I may be small, but I’ve got a big heart and a bigger mouth!” she shot back, her eyes sparkling with defiance. “Just imagine me storming the paddock like, ‘Back off, or I’ll unleash my fury on you!’”

“Please don’t start any fights in the paddock,” he said, his tone light but earnest. “I love your spirit, but I’d rather not deal with the fallout. I need you here, not banned.”

“Why not? It would be entertaining!” she countered, smirking. “I’d tell them all off! ‘Listen up, dummfucks of the grid, stop getting in my boyfriend’s way!’”

Lando laughed, the sound genuine now. “You really are something else. Knowing you’ve got my back means everything.”

“Absolutely! If they try to block you from winning, I won’t hesitate to step in,” she said, snuggling closer.

“Just promise me you won’t do anything too crazy,” he replied, a grin spreading across his face. “I love your fierceness and protective side, but let’s keep you in the paddock, okay?”

[logansargeantsbabymom]

Too Good To Say Goodbye pt8

Logan Sargeant x Fem!Reader, Lando Norris x Fem!Reader

A/N: First I wanted to say thank you to everyone for all the kind messages I've been receiving, I keep rereading them and tearing up. It lets me know that there are genuine people in the world and that I can take a few days or a week to finish a request. Sorry this part took a bit longer due to the short break I took, I'll try my best to get the request I have out in a timely manner!

warnings: cursing

part 1 I part 2 I part 3 I part 4 I part 5 I part 6 I part 7 I part 8 I part 9 I part 10

Follow my instagram account (THATS STRICTLY FOR THIS BLOG) for updates on when i post and fun stuff like that!

Instagram

F1 Masterlist

A drive to Lily's that normally would've taken 25 minutes depending on traffic only took Lando 10 and I think the way he is flooring it right now has been the fastest he's ever driven in his life. I mean anyone could've easily mistaken him for Max Verstappen in this moment and rightfully so, my bastard of an ex-boyfriend and baby dad is an absolute dick for what he just did.

I get being upset that I'm pregnant and that my boyfriend right now is treating me 10x better than you ever will but actually spoiling the gender for us AND spoiling the fact that I'm carrying twins is on another level of insanity.

When we dropped Yelena off, Lily had told us she wasn't going to be expecting a baby pick up anytime soon. Which by the way, God bless Lily for just being able to drop whatever she had planned for today to be able to watch my kid while Lando and I dealt with baby daddy drama.

The blaring sound of a ringtone is what yanked me from deep in my thoughts. I picked up the phone to look at the caller ID before answering and placing it on speaker "Carlos, now is really not a good time". I said while running a hand over my face to try and ease some tension building up.

"Logan's at my place." Lando's knuckled gripped the steering wheel tighter at the mention of his name.

"Why is he there and why does he need to have a conversation with you present?" I questioned

"He told me to tell you and Lando to meet him here to talk to you but wants me present and he thinks Lando is going to kill him." Carlos started, doubt coating his voice as he talked.

"I FUCKING AM" Lando screamed as he pressed down on the gas pedal harder.

I’ve seen Lando upset and even angry before but what I was seeing from him right now wasn’t either of those, this was pure hatred. Lando was seeing pure red in his vision as he was driving, almost hit a pedestrian (who shouldn’t have crossed but people don’t pay attention to signs).

Now that Lando knows he has to book it to Carlos’ place instead of Logan’s he makes a sharp turn, which could’ve easily flipped the car if you weren’t as much of a skilled driver as Lando is.

"BABE! I KNOW YOU'RE MAD AND ALL BUT DON'T CRASH THIS CAR AND KILL ALL 4 OF US!" I screamed as I grabbed ahold of the center console

Something about the fear in my voice as I screamed at Lando seemed to get through this barrier of red he had coating him and he seemed to ease up on the steering wheel and drove a bit more safer.

-

Arriving at Carlos house, we were greeted with Carlos standing out front. Lando and I got out of the car and started making our way to the front door of Carlos' luxurious house while Carlos started walking towards us, meeting us halfway.

"Ay, I talk to Logan. He meant no harm pero I think he did. He is in the living room." Carlos said as he patted Lando's tense shoulder before turning his attention to me. "I'm so sorry Logan did what he did. I feel so bad but just know that I'm here for you with whatever you need." Carlos added while he pulled me into a hug.

I've always loved Carlos' hugs because of the level of comfort they always brought was just unmatched. If you're sad, have a Carlos hug, if you're happy, have a Carlos hug, if you don't want a hug, have a Carlos hug. Moral of the story: a Carlos hug can fix everything. Well, almost everything.

"Thank you Carlos, I really needed that hug. I just-" The sound of glass breaking is what caused me to stop mid-sentence and I turned to look over at my boyfriend, only to find him no where in sight.

My heart dropped to my feet when I was met with no sign of my boyfriend and all I could hear from a distance was arguing. Carlos wasted no time in spinning on his heels and running into his house and into the living room where all the arguing was taking place.

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY IN YOUR MIND, YOU THOUGHT IT WAS OKAY TO SPOIL A FUCKING GENDER REVEAL BY POSTING IT ON INSTAGRAM AND ON TOP OF THAT SPOILING THE FACT THAT WE'RE HAVING FUCKING TWINS!!!" the voice of Lando booming louder as I inched closer to Carlos' living room.

"I DID IT BECAUSE YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME! YOU TOOK MY BABY, MY LIFE, MY GIRL, YOU TOOK IT ALL! I HAVE NOTHING TO LIVE FOR!" Logan shouted in rebuttal, his face contorted in a way I've never seen before and his skin as red as a tomato.

When our eyes locked, I could see Logan's eyes soften but when he opened his mouth to say something, Lando cut him off.

"I DIDN'T 'TAKE' YOUR GIRL, I SHOWED HER WHAT IT'S LIKE TO LIVE IN A HOUSE WHERE SHE DIDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT DOING SOMETHING WRONG WITH HER EVERY MOVE. I SHOWED HER WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE IN A HAPPY AND HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP, I SHOWED HER WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE LOVED BY A REAL MAN! I SHOWED HER EVERYTHING YOU COULDN'T AND YOU KNOW WHY? BECAUSE YOU'RE A COWARD!" that seemed to set Logan off because the second the word "coward" came spilling out of Lando's mouth, Logan lunged towards him in an angry manner.

Before they could make any type of contact, Carlos was in the middle trying to set some type of boundaries between them.

"YOU GUYS ARE NOT FIGHTING IN MY HOUSE! LOGAN, OUT NOW! BEFORE I CALL THE COPS!" That seemed to be enough for Logan to walk away but not before stopping in front of me, his face so close to mine I could feel his breath against my skin.

"I hope I never see you again until your fucking funeral, slut." Logan walked away brushing his shoulder past mine as he did.

I knew Logan felt some type of way towards me since I left him while I was pregnant and refused to give in to all his promises of being a better man for me but hearing those words coming out of his mouth hurt. I always hoped we would be able to work it out for the sake of Yelena but after what he said, I don't know if we can, even if I wanted to.

Everything after what Logan said was blur, I don't remember him leaving, I don't remember Lando running after him and Carlos after Lando, but more importantly, I don't remember my legs giving out under my weight and me collapsing to the ground.

All at once everything started to hit me like a semi-truck. The pain in my knees after the fall, the ache in my heart but also the excruciating pain in my abdomen.

"BABE?! BABY ARE YOU OKAY? CARLOS GET THE CAR STARTED! WE HAVE TO TAKE Y/N TO THE HOSPITAL!"

-

The whole car ride to the hospital had to be the worst 15 minutes of my life. Every bump or sudden brake of the car increased the pain in my abdomen by 10. At one point it literally felt like there was an elephant sitting on me, restricting my oxygen intake.

When we finally arrived, Carlos quickly parked in front of the ER doors before rushing inside. Less than 30 seconds after running into the hospital, a group of doctors and nurses came running outside with a gurney.

Seeing them, Lando swung the car door open and quickly got out, allowing them better access to get to me.

Getting transferred from the back seat of the car to the gurney hurt just as suspected but they quickly rushed me in so they could evaluate my symptoms to tell me what's wrong.

No matter how much pain medication they gave me, the pain was still too much to bear.

"Do you want us to give you something to sedate you?" The student doctor said. She sounded genuinely hurt at hearing how much pain I was in.

"YES! PLEASE, I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE!" I screamed and I watched as she grabbed the vile of liquid.

Just as the student doctor was done giving me the sedative, I heard the doctor come in.

"So, unfortunately I've got some ba-AH NO! WHAT DID YOU GIVE HER?"

"I- Uh, Gave her a sedative?"

"YOU'RE NEVER SUPPOSED TO DO THAT WITHOUT CONSULTING ME! THE SEDATIVE IS GOING TO DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD!" that was all I heard before slipping into unconsciousness.

-

After I fell unconscious and was of no use, my doctor made his way to the waiting room to have a talk with Lando in order to figure out the steps going forward.

Once Lando locked eyes with the doctor, he shot up from his seat "Doc, how is she??" Lando asked as he searched the doctors face for answers.

"Unfortunately your girlfriend has a rare condition that affects the babies called Monochorionic Twins, which is where the babies share the same placenta and amniotic sac which can cause tangling of umbilical cords, imbalance of nutrients, blood and problems to other vital organs. Your girlfriend also has a history of major bleeding, vomiting and dehydration during pregnancy which also puts her at risk. We have to operate to save them, the babies have a 25% chance of survival and would have to be in the NICU for many months whereas your girlfriend has a 75% of surviving with minimal damage to any part of her reproductive system. " the doctor started, he tried to look and sound as sympathetic as possible.

"What are you saying Doc?" Lando asked, his breath and hands shaky and his knees trembled beneath him.

"You have to choose who we save, your babies or your girlfriend."

-

Again, thank you guys so much for the overwhelming amount of support I've received in the past few days. I appreciate and love each and every single one of you guys and I hope you enjoy this part.

Unfortunately this series is coming to an end soon but I really don't want to say goodbye to it yet.

taglist:

@luckyladycreator2 @itsmiamalfoy @jeffs77 @ilivbullyingjeongin @forevercaffeinated-lee @daemyratwst @gulphulp @callsignwidow @f1wintermoon13 @teenwolf01 @victoriassecret101 @hiireadstuff @formulaal @eddieharrington @kazza72584 @zabwlky1999 @dark-night-sky-99 @rougekiki @xoscar03 @jess-wither @bountychanti @dhanihamidi @Ggasly.p @tellybearryyyy @a-panseuxalmess @love-simon @tallrock35 @iiaik0ii @Milkyymelanine @ilovsyou3000morgan @styl1shl1v

[agentnico]

Challengers (2024) review

That’s one way of engaging me in sport I guess.

Plot: Tashi, a tennis player turned coach, has transformed her husband from a mediocre player into a world-famous grand slam champion. To jolt him out of his recent losing streak, she makes him play a challenger event -- close to the lowest level of tournament on the pro tour. Tensions soon run high when he finds himself standing across the net from the once-promising, now burnt-out Patrick, his former best friend and Tashi's former boyfriend.

It’s safe to say this movie has blew up the internet. Zendaya with her major fan-base starring in a threesome tennis flick that’s brought to you by the director who revealed Timothee Chalamet to the world in that queer flick that featured the infamous peach scene? Now that’s quite the selling pitch. Naturally the result is a box office success and a movie that is already taking the top spot for the most memeable motion picture of the year. And I get it, this movie is definitely provocative enough and has enough sexual tension in it to excite any viewer. I’ll refer to my friend’s Letterboxd review for this movie with him saying the following: “I’ve found recently that hormones in films plays a factor in how much I like the film and this film is very horny”. Right, let’s not delve too deep into my friend’s evident sexual frustration, but he is not wrong that this movie reaches peak horny levels. Every scene is imbued with the steamy appetites of its central trio of characters. Like damn to these people want to f*ck hard big time! This should not come as a surprise though, as this follows a very similar formula to Luca Guadagnino’s other films, stoking the appetite of the youth to provide an open forum for unbridled desire to let loose. Call Me by Your Name, Suspiria, Bones and All, A Bigger Splash - every single one of these features tackles themes of sensuality and elegance. You know exactly what you’re getting into with a Guadagnino movie and Challengers is no exception.

That being said, with Challengers the actual narrative serves itself perfectly for a trashy B-movie experience, however it is thanks to Guadagnino’s directorial prowess that the film rises above that and becomes a truly cinematic experience. This thing looks great, and I don’t mean due to the lovely actors present, but the camerawork and the scene framework. The way the sweat drops off people’s faces in slow motion and the camera lingers on their stoic yet thoughtful facial expressions to the impressive tennis match scenes with a particular impressive sequence involving the scene being shown for, the perspective of the tennis ball which….I don’t know how the hell they managed it but that was awesome! Also need to mention the great techno score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross that creates an unlikely pairing in electronic dance music and classical, with the result really amping up the energy of every moment. Honestly from a technical standpoint this movie is a marvel.

In regards to the narrative that is where we start running into some trouble. For starters this movie did not need to be over 2 hours. The story was simple enough to shrink down to a 100 min max run-time, but instead the film opts to really dial in on extended pointless shots that linger way too long, so much so that I noted multiple audience members looking at their mobile phones to check the time. Secondly those excessive time jumps. Telling a story in a non-linear fashion can be a useful story-telling device, but here it was used way too much that it became distracting. Like there was a time jump back and forth every 5 minutes, with some jumps sprawling 13 years, which made it really difficult to get engaged in certain moments. Speaking of the 13 years, bless Zendaya’s heart but as much as they tried to age and de-age her through hair and make-up, she never looked older than 19 years regardless of the time era. For all of the film’s technical achievements you’d think they’d put more effort in the make-up department.

As for the actors, whilst I admire Zendaya for tackling such a meaty and, dare I say, challenging role, I feel like she’s too young in her acting career to be able to fully perform a weathered, jaded, cynical, ruthless and calculating character like Tashi. It seemed for the most part she relied on having a resting scowl face, but otherwise I found it actually hard to believe any of her chemistry with her male co-stars. As for the male co-stars, out of this love triangle it was in fact the queer relationship that really popped. Props to Mike Faist (who was a highlight for me in the recent West Side Story remake) and Josh O’Connor whose chemistry was through the roof! The way they looked at one another, to the churros to the way O’Connor smoothly moved Faist’s stool closer to his with his foot…… they can say they are best friends all they want but we just know they are both aching for those benefits! Again it’s how strong of performances these two give that hinders Zendaya who is nowhere close to their level.

Challengers overall is an entertaining enough youthful erotic crowd -pleaser that from a filmmaking standpoint looks fantastic, however due to the narrative structure and Zendaya’s arguable miscast this movie falters. That being said to Tom Holland, dude, I’ve seen your social media posts about being excited to support your girlfriend and going to see this movie, but dude, I bet your cried your eyes out after. Spider-Man - she ain’t coming home!

Overall score: 6/10

[alearicci]

second chapter. max verstappen x oc

"I'm tired. I'm fucking tired, Ashlyn," Max said, sitting down on the bed next to the his girlfriend. There was a note of impotence in his voice. Did he think a few years ago that it would be so difficult for him to win one race after another? That it would be so hard. And it's not even about the strength of rivals or a bad car. It's all about people. No matter how hard he tried to show that they had no effect on him, his heart ached unpleasantly from everything that awaited him every day. Fame sometimes has a bad effect on the humanity inside you. You try to be strong, show the best results, fight honestly for the title... and you find yourself face to face with people . There are those to whom Max is insanely grateful - his fans always support him, arrange various events, draw posters of support. Recently he heard a song on the street, a very funny song. There was something like that tu-tu-tu-tu Max Verstappen. He still sometimes hums this melody to himself, as if supporting himself. But there are others. Aren't they called haters? Such people whistle after you, write unpleasant comments. "What a blessing that Max didn't get on the podium. We need to celebrate this, dudes", "Poor Max. It serves you right", "I wish you were eliminated in the first round." At first it seriously upset him, but now he just laughs and thinks how pathetic they are. Stupid idiots who were offended that he overtook their favorite team by car, for which they had been rooting almost since childhood. Such people don't even stand next to him. Someone even called him a villain. Max once laughed and said, "Well, then I'm the most beautiful villain in the world." He didn't consider himself evil. Only sometimes he got angry if his rivals couldn't see beyond their own noses or when he made a stupid mistake. Monster Max, oh my God, save yourself. If you don't know personally, then don't judge publicly. Since childhood, he dreamed of becoming a Formula 1 racer. He wanted to win, to drive at great speed, to overtake rivals. He did everything possible and impossible to get behind the wheel of a racing car. And his dream came true. Thanks to perseverance and the desire to act. He was considered a young talent, a Red Bull star. Great hopes were pinned on him. And he justified them. Became the best. He showed everyone his trademark smile from time to time. He was turning into a robot. Only his family and girlfriend brought him back to life. Max met Ashlyn Skyler at a party he attended at a friend's request. He immediately singled her out from the rest. Her smile stunned him. A few days later, he decided to write to her on Instagram and arranged a meeting. And it so happened that she was with him almost from the very beginning of his career in Formula 1. She was with him for better and for worse. She was always there, gave love and tenderness, was present at every race and watched the car with the number 33, and later 1, with a rapid heartbeat. She watched her beloved. She rejoiced at every victory and podium, she cried because of every failure and every defeat. And now, having heard a rare confession from the mouth of a racer, she is trying to cope with herself and not cry. She loved this man and felt very sorry for him. And he doesn't like self-pity. The man looks at her for a few more seconds, and then quickly takes off his T-shirt and settles on his beloved's chest. He hugs her tightly with his big arms and nuzzles her neck, inhaling her native scent. When Max lies down on her, Skyler does a little head massage, trying to relieve tension. She kisses him on the forehead and continues stroking his hair.

"It's all right, baby. We'll manage. There are two free days ahead, and then you will have to return to training. I'm here, remember that.

- I love you very much.

- I love you even more.

- That's not true. I love you more. And don't argue with me.

- I'm terribly scared. What are you going to do to me, Your Majesty?

- Mmm.

Max smiles slyly and pulls away a little. He puts one hand on Ash's soft cheek and pulls her closer. He touches his lips to hers, kissing her gently. How many kisses there have been over the years of their relationship, but there has never been such a kiss yet. In that kiss there was all the pain, all the love and all the desire to be with each other. They loved each other and continued to be close, no matter what. They enjoyed every day spent with each other. They were happy to be together. And no one could make them think differently. Max loved Ashlyn, Ashlyn loved Max. They went through all the difficulties together. Finally breaking away from such sweet lips, Verstappen lies down again in the place where he was quite recently. He is silent and enjoys the warmth coming from the girl. The warmth of the house. Ashlyn was the whole world to him, and he wanted to keep that world. Therefore, at first Max did not want to advertise their relationship, he met Ashlyn secretly. He was afraid that the bad words would reach her. But about two years ago, they appeared together at a party on the occasion of Max's victory at the annual competition. Since then, they have not hidden that they are dating, and Ashlin is part of that limited circle of people who are allowed to see the rider himself before the race.

- Do you remember that we have to go for an interview tomorrow?

- Max... "We"?

- Damn, didn't I tell you? Sorry, baby. We were invited to some show where we will talk about you and me, within reasonable limits, of course. If you don't mind, I'll cancel it.

- Okay, Max, I agree. Only then you will need to choose some suitable outfit for you.

- The clothes that suit me are a red bull jumpsuit. Will you wear this?

- No, I'll go in my house clothes. I just have a T-shirt with your image on it.

- Oh, no, girl. Let's put on our robes. The presenters won't mind much, will they?

- I think, nevertheless, they will object.

- OK. Then you'll have to dress up in a suit.

- Classic suits suit you like hell.

- And the dresses suit you very well.

- Really?

- Yes. Especially the one I took off you last night.

- Shh, Max.

- Not shhh. You'll definitely be better off without him ;)

[lightly-lumiere]

Consider an angsty Harringroveson post-s4 au where everybody lived.

Steve, Eddie and Billy got together after the whole Vecna/Upside Down mess is solved. They’re quite happy with the three of them, supportive of each other and their unique traumas, although Billy struggles a just little bit more (i.e. literally being possessed, the much heavier scarring, tw: Neil). They take interest in each other’s passion, they do cute things together, have an amazing sex life, all the good stuff.

When the Party and everyone is hanging out though, Billy still feels like he doesn’t really fit with them. Always hovering on the outside, not really knowing what to say in conversation, no one really engaging with him. Most are still a little bit wary of him, don’t really know how to talk to him after everything that happened. Once the throuple is revealed to everyone, Billy immediately gets the sense that everyone (with the exception of Max and El probably) doesn’t really like him with them. Something to the effect of - “I get Steve and Eddie, but why him.”

Maybe almost everyone shovel talks Billy about hurting Steve and Eddie, making him extremely anxious about fucking up the relationship. Everyone else seems to think that he will. Steve and Eddie only get shovel talked by Max. Maybe there are occasions where Steve and Eddie are invited to things together, and Billy who knows when he’s not wanted doesn’t insert himself. He finds himself alone more and more. Maybe sometimes people outright forget that he is part of the relationship too. And Steve and Eddie, bless them, all this goes over their heads because they are blinded by the love of their throuple (cheesy I know), and just think that Billy needs alone time or just doesn’t want to be around people.

All of this makes Billy feel really sad and anxious, constantly asking himself when Eddie and Steve are going to drop him. Makes him insecure about his scars and all his baggage. And because it’s Billy he doesn’t know how to express how he feels or even begin to talk about it.

One night, the whole gang is at Steve’s house, having a get together. After half an hour of no one speaking to Billy and him not knowing how to start a conversation with any of them, just quietly ups and leaves to Steve’s bedroom. All of his bottled up feelings come flooding out and he starts to cry and break down. He collapses against the bed and sits on the floor. He tries to be silent, because for all his sadness he doesn’t want to mess up the evening for everyone.

Downstairs, a little bit later, Max notices they’re one head short and that Billy isn’t there. She’d picked up on the tension that the gang had when Billy was around and she’d tried to make him feel better in her own way when she could. They hugged a lot more now. She discreetly goes to where Eddie and Steve are sitting, dipping her head between them from behind. “Billy isn’t here.” She whispers and the two boys perk up immediately, looking slightly wide eyed around the room and sure enough they can’t find a curly blonde head. The rest are distracted enough that Steve and Eddie slip out and run upstairs, where Max said she thought she heard a noise.

They find Billy still in the middle of his break down. They immediately scoop him up into a hug on either side of him and hold him as he cries. Steve and Eddie sort of look at each other wondering about what’s happened. When the tears have dried up sometime later, they ask him.

“What happened Bills?”

“It’s nothing, I’m sorry.”

“Hey no, you don’t have to be sorry and it’s clearly not nothing.”

“You can tell us, it’s okay.”

And so he does.

Not sure how to end this but in my mind they figure it out and work on it together with the three of them :)

[also disclaimer: I don’t think the kids and teens would do this intentionally or maliciously. Also this is fiction, if you like certain characters and don’t like others that’s fine! I’m not gonna tell you what you can and can’t like]

[dakotacrisis]

Topsy Turvy

Hyper-fixation has been activated! Who needs to work on their wips when they can start something else entirely? Hahaha...it’d be funny if it wasn’t true.

Anyhoo! Saw this cute comic by @hannahyonana and my goblin brain latched on and wouldn’t let it go. So I give you this unofficial expansion of this wonderful comic. In short: these children are disasters in more ways than one.

---

Two weeks. That is how long Adrien would be gone. Two long and painful weeks without seeing his face or hearing his voice. Pictures and videos were well and good but they were no proper substitute for the real thing.

Marinette came to the train station to see him off and steal a few more blessed minutes with him before he departed on his work trip/vacation. She had tried to convince Alya and Nino to come so she wasn’t totally alone with him but they already had plans. Marinette hadn't heard about any plans before this so she could only assume this was another Alya scheme to give Marinette a chance to confess.

Marinette had thought about it. Telling Adrien how she felt would get a lot off this nervous tension and anxiety off her chest. He didn’t even need to respond or give her an answer. Just having him know would be enough.

But could she do it? She had tried countless times before to no avail. What made this different?

Adrien and her walked along the platform full of people bustling to get here and there. Marinette gripped the box of macarons her parents made for Adrien behind her back.

The Gorilla took Adrien’s luggage and carried it onto the train. He looked back to see if Adrien was following.

"You go on ahead, I want to say goodbye real quick." Adrien ushered his bodyguard away. The Gorilla looked between them and with a curt nod of his head disappeared inside the train.

Adrien turned back to Marinette. His hair was stylishly tousled and his smile bright and beaming. Could the boy stop modeling for even a second? How was anyone meant to keep their wits about them with that thousand watt smile?

"Thanks for coming to see me off, Mari." Adrien said.

"Of course," Marinette replied, shuffling from foot to foot. "Even if you're only gone for two weeks…"

She brought the box out from behind her back and held it out to him. "Also, this is for you from my parents. A little something to snack on during the ride."

"What! That's so sweet! Literally." Adrien took the box with glee. "Be sure to give them my thanks."

"I will,"

BEE-BOOP!

The pair looked up at the sudden sound.

"Oh, that means it's time for me to go," Adrien said with a small shake of his head.

Gone again. In just another minute he'd be out of her reach once more. Even after all this time saying goodbye felt so hard. He was only going to be gone for two weeks! He was gonna come back! Why did it hurt so much being away from him?

That familiar weight settled on her chest. So many feelings left unspoken. Secrets she was dying to share. It felt like they were smothering her.

"Before you go," Marinette halted him before he could enter the train, "I have something to tell you."

"Oh yeah?" Adrien tilted his head like a curious little puppy. Why did he have to be so cute? Marinette was sweating he was so cute. Or maybe that was just her inner terror at what she was about to say.

"Well I--you see--I…" Marinette stammered and lost her nerve, "I uh, make sure to send us pictures."

"Of course!" Adrien responded with glee. "Alright well, see you later, Marinette."

He turned to get on the train and Marinette’s heart sank. Another chance at happiness, wasted. Perhaps it was for the best.

She forced her feet to move, to carry her from this painful moment. When they did though they didn't back away. They surged forward. She was barely aware that she had reached out for Adrien until she grabbed the back of his shirt.

"Wait! That's not it!" She proclaimed loudly. Her nerves came out in the shakiness and desperation in her voice. She kept her eyes shut tight. Afraid of what she would see if she opened them.

"The truth is, I'm in love with you!" She  blurted out. She let go of his shirt, her hands fisted into tight balls by her side as she quickly explained, "I'm not expecting a reply. I know you don't like me back. But have a nice trip!"

She turned on her heel and fled. Tears of anxiety or fear stinging her eyes. The last thing she heard was Adrien calling out for her to wait. Once she was far enough away she risked a glance back and saw Adrien’s face staring out the closed door in shock before the train pulled away from the station.

She stared at the now empty train track for a long time before it truly hit her. She just told Adrien she was in love with him. He was going to be thinking about how she told him she loved him for the next two weeks. Then she was going to have to face him knowing all that when he returned home.

Marinette whipped out her phone and called Alya. “I did something stupid and I need help.”

---

Adrien pulled himself away from the train door and sat down in his seat. Marinette’s parting words echoed in his ears. She loves him. She is in love with him.

When did that happen? He knew they were friends but he hadn’t expected her to be in love with him. Marinette…

He glanced down at the box in his hands. Something small and sweet to take with him. A reminder of home. A reminder of someone petite and kind that just spilled her heart out to him on the train platform.

She said she didn’t expect a response but he felt like he owed her one. She had also said she knew that he didn’t like her the same way she liked him. While it was true that Adrien’s heart had belonged to Ladybug for as long as he’s known her he did feel a warmth around Marinette. Was that love? Or was it just friendship?

Nino had a crush on Marinette. Maybe he would know. Adrien pulled out his phone and hit Nino’s number. “Hey, I’m on the train heading out but I had a question about Marinette.”

---

“Oh dear,” Alya shook her head, she covered the receiver of her phone so Marinette couldn’t hear. Not that Marinette could hear anything over the sound of her own panicked ramblings. She turned to Nino on the couch with a sly smile.  “Marinette just confessed to Adrien before he went on his trip and she’s freaking out.”

“Wow, good for her, do you think Adrien will respond?” Nino asked.

“No idea,” Alya shrugged, “It’s a good thing we left them alone though. Marinette finally got the guts to say something to him.”

“Speak of the devil,” Nino held up his phone where Adrien’s contact picture flashed on the screen. He hit answer. “Hey dude, what’s up? Miss me already?”

Alya went back to listening to Marinette and trying to calm her down while Nino talked to Adrien. The both of them were panicking messes as they ranted and lamented at their respective best friends over the phone.

“I don’t really know what to tell you about your own feelings, dude,” Nino told Adrien, “Yeah I had a crush on Marinette but it only lasted a week. That’s kind of how it is with most of the people from our class.”

“What?” Adrien said.

“Yeah, literally everyone has had a small crush on Marinette at one point or another growing up. You’re like the only person who hasn’t. Which is weird considering how much she dotes on you and swoons around you. Did you really not know about her crush until today?”

“No!”

“Ah...then again you have been head over heels for Ladybug I don’t suppose you would have noticed anyone else unless they confessed to you point blank.” Nino said. He had thought that Adrien’s crush on the spotted hero of Paris was something that had been waning recently once he had agreed to go out with Kagami. But when they broke up it had returned full force.

“Marinette, hold on a second,” Alya shushed Marinette on the other line and turned to Nino with wide eyes, “Did you just say that Adrien has a crush on Ladybug?”

“Uh yeah? Why?”

“What’s going on?” Adrien asked.

“Alya is--”

Alya snatched the phone out of his hands. She held up the other phone with Marinette on the line. “Girl, I know you are spiraling right now but I am gonna need to call you back. I swear I will only be like ten minutes max. Goodbye.” she turned to Nino’s phone, “Now you, pretty boy, I’m gonna need you to repeat that for me.”

“That I have a crush on Ladybug?” Adrien answered timidly.

“How long has that been a thing?”

“Since she first showed up in Paris. Why?”

Nino saw the calculations going off in Alya’s head as she processed this information. Had she not known? He was sure she had to have known but apparently that wasn’t the case.

“Adrien, listen to me very carefully,” Alya said, “You are going to want to accept Marinette’s feelings.”

“Listen, Alya, I know that you are her best friend but--”

“No buts, Agreste!” Alya snapped, “Really listen to me here. I know that you have feelings for Ladybug. Who wouldn’t? She’s amazing but she’s also a superhero with a secret identity. Do you really think you can take Ladybug out to the movies or invite her home for dinner? How are you gonna call her? How do you plan on making that work?”

“Well I--”

“Moonlight rendezvous over the rooftops of Paris sound fine and dandy but you know what else is nice? Marinette. Tangible and readily available with romantic feelings already pre-downloaded in her core. You already call her our Everyday Ladybug. What more do you want?”

“I see your point. But that situation is a little more complicated than that.”

“No it isn’t. Do you not think Marinette is great?”

“She is. She really is.”

“Do you not think she is cute?”

“She is very adorable and attractive. I will confess to that.”

“So if Ladybug wasn’t a thing then would you consider dating Marinette?”

“I mean I guess. But Ladybug is still real and she owns my heart. I can’t just give up on her that easily.”

“Adrien, I do not know how to tell you this but you are not giving up anything by dating Marinette. She is every bit as amazing as Ladybug and you would do well to remember that. As a wise man once said, “far better than any dream girl, is one of flesh and blood, one warm and caring, and right before your eyes.””

“Did you steal that from The Little Mermaid?”

“Not the point! Just think on it. You have two weeks before you come back and make a decision. I suggest you use the time wisely and really consider what I’m telling you. I’m not just saying this because Marinette is my best friend but because I know deep in my gut that you two were made for each other. The only one that doesn’t see it is you.”

“You think we’re made for each other?” Adrien’s voice was soft and quiet. It made Alya’s heart melt.

“I do. I think that you two would make each other so incredibly happy.” Alya sighed, “But no pressure or anything. At the end of the day it is your heart and your choice. I’m just asking you to look at all the possibilities before you make a decision.”

“Okay, I’ll think on it. I promise.”

“Good. Now I gotta call Marinette back before she worries herself into a human pretzel. Bye.” Alya handed the phone back to Nino. She dialed Marinette back and wandered into her room for privacy.

“Why did you hang up on me?” Marinette asked. “I am having a crisis here!”

“Girl,” Alya’s face broke into a grin that would put the Cheshire Cat to shame. “You are not gonna believe this. Adrien’s had a crush on you this entire time. Or rather, a huge, massive, fanboy crush on Ladybug that is.”

“WHAT!”

*Two weeks later*

Well that was the longest two weeks of Adrien’s life. He had done what Alya suggested and really thought over his feelings for Marinette and Ladybug. The more he compared them the more he realized how alike they were. He knew he called Marinette their Everyday Ladybug but he hadn’t realized how true that was until now.

His heart belonged to Ladybug but he would be lying if he said he didn’t feel anything for Marinette. Adrien knew that through Alya and Nino’s eyes the answer was obvious. Marinette was their friend and classmate and she was so much closer to them then Ladybug. But they didn’t know that Adrien was Chat Noir. They didn’t know that he had a direct line to Ladybug. They didn’t know he had this already huge connection to her.

So what was there to do? Have a happy civilian life with Marinette and stop his pursuit of Ladybug? Or let Marinette down gently and keep trying to make things work with his Lady? He needed to come to a decision quick since his train was getting closer to the Paris station. What if Marinette was waiting out on the platform? What was he going to tell her?

The train came to a screeching halt that flung everyone forward. What in the world was that? HE scrambled to the window and saw the leg of a huge a robot. An akuma.

He was thinking up an excuse to leave his bodyguard when the roof of the train was ripped off. The giant robot looked in and reached out its hand and started grabbing random people and dropping them into its mouth.

He had to get out of here and transform! He made a bolt for the bathroom but the robot got him first and lifted him off the ground. He struggled to get free but he was no use against thousands of pounds of metal and magic.

“Oh no you don’t!” the robot’s arm lurched away from its mouth. Ladybug stood on a nearby building with her yo-yo drawn tight to keep the robot from dropping Adrien down its gullet. “Rena! Now!”

Rena Rouge leapt out from behind Ladybug and pounced at the akuma. She dug her flute down between Adrien and the clamp holding him captive. With a large heave she pried the clamp open enough for Adrien to wiggle free. She reached to grab him but at that moment the robot had broken free from Ladybug’s hold and the pair of them were thrown off.

“I got ya!” Ladybug swooped down and grabbed hold of Adrien. Rena was quick on her feet made a safe landing down on the ground.

They landed on a nearby rooftop for Ladybug to deposit him. “You okay?” She asked.

“Yeah, never better,” Adrien’s heart was beating wildly in his chest.

“Good,” Ladybug looked back at the akuma with a small frown, “I gotta go take care of this guy but you should be safe here.”

“Alright,”

“By the way you’re really cute and I think we should go to a movie sometime. Bye!” Ladybug said quickly and leapt back into the fight.

“Wait! What?!” Adrien shouted after her but she was already gone. He was so stunned that by the time he remembered he was Chat Noir and should be helping Ladybug and Rena Rouge had already defeated the akuma.

The miraculous cure swept across the city and Adrien was deposited back in the fixed train in his seat like nothing had happened. Well this got a whole lot more complicated!

---

(Part 2)

[goggles-mcgee]

Too Late: Alya & Nino (commission for miner249er)

Fourth chapter of @miner249er ‘s commission

Chapter Summary: The truth is harsh. Teens are harsher.

Previous Work

Last Chapter                          Next Chapter

Truth.

As an aspiring journalist it was something Alya strived for. It was the most important thing she could give the people who followed her so diligently. She thought she had been giving them that. She had been so good about giving them the truth, her truth, and Ladybug’s truth in the past, she foolheartedly believed she was continuing to do so despite taking shortcuts later on in the road. Why didn’t she fact check herself? Why did she throw that very thing in Marinette’s face? What kind of reporter was she? What kind of friend was she? The answers were all around her and yet she still wasn’t ready to face them head on. There was still that voice in her head that was telling her that this was all Lila Rossi’s fault. 

But is it? Alya thought as her and Nino ate together at her house, the TV on in the background. At first it had been on the news but Alya was done with the news for a long while, all it had been was coverage of The Protector and Nino had immediately taken the remote and changed it to cartoons. This was hitting him hard, harder than Alya had expected if she was being honest. When they found out Ladybug and Chat Noir had, in fact, not defeated The Protector and instead the akuma, that Marinette had gone missing, it hit the class hard. Hard because they learned the truth about Lila in that time and that had been rough to work through. Then they had to come to the realization that they believed Lila over Marinette, the sweet, kind, selfless girl that had all at one point been friends with. 

Then the lies got to them. It poisoned them. That’s what Alya had written on her blog anyways. They were victims of a silver-tongue and they had paid the price, one they had not been prepared to pay for. Their friend was missing, had been missing and they couldn’t do anything. Alya had been searching through as many local papers and news around the world for any clues if Marinette had possibly gone to those places. Everything was coming up empty. She had even made a separate website along with Max all about Marinette and what had happened, she left ways to reach her and her classmates in case anyone had any info. Nino said they should have added Tom and Sabine’s information as well but Alya was too scared to ask them if they would be okay with it, last time they had all been at the bakery the tension had been palpable. 

They weren’t banned like Nathaniel had worried they would be but every time they went in with their families, because that was the only time they went in there, it was always awkward. Tom and Sabine were much too nice to ban them even if they felt like they deserved it. How did everything go so wrong? Even school wasn’t as fun as it had been. Walking into their classroom was like taking a walk of shame, people from other classes, even teachers just stared at them. Some even glared. Then there were the whispers, Dieu the whispers, they followed them everywhere not just school, but they were the most prominent there. Her, Nino, and their classmates would find notes in their lockers, none were really threatening but they tore at her heart all the same. Things like, ‘You’re the reason she’s gone,’ or, ‘Are you guys proud of yourselves now?’ ‘Were the lies worth it?’ ‘You traded in a gem for fool’s gold.’ ‘What a reporter you turned out to be.’

All the notes hurt. That was the truth. That last one? She had found it in her locker this morning and it burned. Alya had been bullied before, she never liked to think about it, who would? But she was and she had to acknowledge it because she had told herself she would never allow herself to be bullied again, and most importantly, she would never turn into a bully. Wrong. She was wrong, and it wasn’t the first time she had been made aware of this since everything happened. Since everything changed. It was a blessing that Nino and her were still together, he never partook in the “tough love” the class had been giving Marinette before she...before she had been akumatized. Sure he didn’t stop them, and that was bad, but he didn’t go out of his way to not invite her to things until she stopped being “jealous” and started acting like the bigger person. Nino wasn’t the one who ignored her text messages, which now that Alya read them, were pretty telling that her friend had been hurting and she had only made that worse. 

“What are you thinking about babe?”

Alya looked up from her half eaten bowl of soup to see Nino gazing at her in concern. “Marinette.”

“Oh…” He breathed out as he put his spoon down and looked down at the table before placing one of his hands on hers and giving her a small smile. “Everything will be okay Alya. Someone will find her and then she’ll be back home.”

Empty words. Empty words fed to him too much from adults who didn’t have any updates on anything. “You don’t believe that. And even if she did...who's to say she would even want to talk to us!? What’s to say that anything would be better? We would still be seen as the bad guys! We will still all have to eat lunch at our houses or the park just to avoid the stares and the whispers and the tossed trash our way and the “accidentally” spilled drinks!”

Alya had never understood just how much their class had been living in its own little world. Not to say they were completely unattached to the rest of the school, Alix, Nathaniel, Rose, Chloe, and Sabrina were in the art club (the art teacher and the rest of the club had made a mural of Marinette without notifying them or asking for their help. Everyone is encouraged to leave notes about Marinette on the mural. The art room even has a chair decorated in honor of Marinette that no one else can use. That was announced very pointedly Alix later shared.), Rose was in the scrapbooking club (no one asked to use her materials anymore like they used to), and Max was in the gaming club which Marinette had helped him set up (people weren’t showing up lately.) They weren’t kicked out, but they were reminded of Marinette all the time,it was like everyone’s way of punishing them. It had never occurred to any of them how popular Marinette was.

So popular that the whole school seemed to hate them. Even Mlle Mendeleiev seemed to be harsher than normal and that was really saying something, it would seem like she had a soft spot for Marinette. In their class everyone avoided Marinette’s seats in class, Alya had to step up as class representative but the silver lining was that Nino had stepped up to be her deputy. Though another negative was the fact Nino had stopped making his music and taking DJ gigs. At first he hadn’t said anything to her or their friends, Alya found out because of Chris actually, but then her and Adrien confronted him and he broke down. He cried and he didn’t stop for a long time, but when he had calmed enough to talk he pulled out old pictures of him and Marinette, told them stories about how they had grown up together. It had made the pit in Alya’s stomach grow, she had just been thinking about her and how much she blamed herself and how much she missed her best friend, she hadn’t even thought how this was affecting Nino.

“I...I need to believe it Alya. I need to. Because if I don’t I will break apart. Mari...Marinette and I were best friends in l'école primaire. I never thought she would ever not be a part of my life. Then the whole Lila thing happened and I turned into a coward again, like I had with Chloe! No, worse than a coward! I don’t even know what I would call myself but I know I can’t call myself her friend.” His voice rose the more he spoke and near the end it cracked. 

“Nino…”

“No. I know that’s the truth! And I know, I know that things at school have been rough. Hell, they’ve been awful, everyone sees us as these villains in some trashy young teen novel when all we’ve done is make a mistake! Yes. It was a big mistake but it was a mistake nonetheless but we’re...we’re kids dammit. We’re just kids.” Alya felt tears race down her cheeks as she saw her boyfriend break yet again, his cheeks wet with his tears, his voice choked with his guilt. 

“I know. I just...I just want her back. I want everything back. I don’t know how many times we have to apologize to the school, but they’re not even the ones that need to hear the apologies! The one we need to have hear us isn’t here and…” Alya could feel herself breaking but she tried to hold on. Nino needed her to be strong. Her class needed her to be strong. Her family needed her to be strong.

“I can’t take the stares! Or, or hear Rose’s cries that she tries to hide from us. Mylene hasn’t been eating and I know she thinks we don’t notice and Adrien, god Adrien. I’m trying to hold it together because my bro is falling apart at the seams! First Marinette gets...gets fucking akumatized, then his dad and Nathalie get taken to the hospital from some supposedly random attack but it’s pretty obvious it was Mar-the akuma’s doing, his mom freaking pops out of nowhere but of course that can’t just be a good thing because everyone has to talk about how his dad and Nathalie were probably Hawkmoth and Mayura! And I’m over here trying not to think too much about all that because it makes actually too much sense, but then we find out that Marinette was most likely Ladybug! LADYBUG!” He lamented, not bothering to hide the fact he was crying, more like sobbing. It just made Alya cry more.

“I...I wanted the truth for so long, but not like this. Not like this. I...I know this makes me sound like the worst person on the planet but I kind of wish stupid Gabriel Agreste wasn’t Hawkmoth because then I could be akumatized and maybe I could be some kind of time-travelling akuma and we could go back and fix everything and school wouldn’t be hell and the twins wouldn’t act like they had to walk on eggshells around me all the time and my dad wouldn’t look like he’s always so disappointed in me and my mom wouldn’t look at my with only pity in her eyes and Nora would talk to me and Marinette would be back!” Alya sobbed out. At this point her and Nino had moved from their seats to the kitchen floor and were huddled together hugging each other for comfort. 

The two just sat there soaking up whatever comfort they could and dreaded the time that passed. For each minute that passed, was a minute that brought them closer to having to go back to school. Alya didn’t know if she had the strength to go back and deal with everything, she didn’t know if Nino could handle it either, but she knew her mother would be by any minute to give them a lift back to school. If there was a way she could just finish school online, Alya was willing to do it, but her father wouldn’t ever allow it. He had put his foot down, Otis Césaire was mad, then he was disappointed and he thought it only fair that Alya face her peers and continue on at Françoise Dupont. It didn’t feel fair, it didn’t feel fair at all, it felt like punishment. Hadn’t she been punished enough? Even in sleep she wasn’t safe, all she dreamed of was Lila and her making her act like a puppet. She would see puppet her do all these things to Marinette and she would wake up in sweat and tears.

“Okay I’m here, I hope you two are ready to head ba-” Alya looked up to see her mom standing there staring at her and Nino, her mouth agape. “Oh Alya...Nino...How about I call the school and tell them you’re not feeling good? And I’ll call your parents Nino.”

Alya was going to respond, she really was, but when she opened her mouth nothing came out but a choked off cry and nod. Nino nodded as well as he took in a shaky breath. “Th-Thanks, Mme C.”

“Nino, you know I told you to call me Marlena. Now you two go rest in Alya’s room while I make those calls. Then maybe I can get the rest of the day off and-” 

“No manman. Things...things are already bad enough, don’t make it worse by not going back to work. I don’t...I don’t want to be the reason why you get fired.” Alya mumbled as she and Nino got up off the floor.

“Oh...Oh my little one, that won’t happen. And if it did, not because of you. Never. Don’t you think that.” Alya’s mother breathed out as she pulled her daughter into a hug before taking her daughter’s face in her hands and doing her best to wipe her tears. 

“Papa and Nora would! Nora still won’t talk to me and Papa only looks at me like he’s disappointed he ever had me!” Alya cried out before she could stop the words from coming out. Her mind completely forgot that Nino was standing right beside her until she felt him hold her hand and give it a squeeze. 

“Your Papa is just being stubborn, but you listen to me, he could never ever be disappointed in having you. You are our daughter. You made a mistake yes, but I know you know you made a mistake and that you are sorry. Your Papa will realize that. He just needs time. And Nora...she just needs time too. I just think she doesn’t know how to handle everything and that she’s mad that she couldn’t protect you sweetie. She’s always been the protective older sister, and this was something she couldn’t protect you from herself. They’ll come around. I’m sure.” 

“If you’re sure manman…”

“I am. Now you kids go relax. I’m going to take the rest of the day off and go to the store for dinner ingredients, I’ll be back soon. I know things are hard my little Melusine but they won’t always be like this.” With a kiss to her forehead and a swift hug to Nino, Alya’s mom left the two teens in the family apartment.

At first they just stood there in silence and sniffles, but Nino made the move to put their plates in the sink and rinse them out while Alya gathered their schoolwork back into their bookbags. Then they  made their way to Alya’s room and kicked off their shoes before sitting on the bed. Nino nudged Alya who looked at him in confusion until she saw him give her a crooked smile and open his arms which she fell easily into. She took off her glasses and placed them on her bedside table while she felt more than saw Nino take off his cap. For a while they just sat there in the quiet of the moment and Alya was content to do just that, to just have a moment of peace, but she slowly pushed away and reached for her remote to turn on the TV and quickly pulled up Netflix. Her mom wanted them to relax so why not fry their brains with some television. 

“Anything in particular you want to watch?” She asked as she settled back against Nino.

“As long as it has nothing to do with school or superheroes...I’m good.” Nino responded with a hollow chuckle. 

“I’m glad we don’t have to go back too…” She murmured, “Should we...tell the others?”

“Probably. But if I’m being honest I don’t really feel like talking to them and them asking how we are and if we’re okay when they know we’re not. I just. I don’t think I could handle that. Not today.” 

“I get it. Sometimes I feel like everyone else even blames me for what happened. Like... Like it was my responsibility to not fall for the lies and to warn them. Like my word would have made a difference! Mari...Marinette’s didn’t so why would mine?” Alya huffed as she scrolled through all the movie and show choices and tried her best not to cry again. 

“If they blame you then they need to blame me too and blame the people in the mirror. We all fell for the lies. Sure you’re the budding reporter, but the blame could just as easily be pushed onto Max who is so smart he created a living AI. But we have no one to be mad at but ourselves and we can only do that for so long.” Nino sighed as he held her closer and kissed her temple. Alya relished in the warmth of it all. 

“When did you get so wise?” Alya teased softly.

“When I decided to rewatch Star Wars. But no seriously. If anyone in class bothers you please tell me because we should be sticking together not at each other’s throats.” Nino stuck out one hand and Alya slid her hand into his.

“Cross my heart and hope to die. I will. And you’re right, we do need each other, especially now, especially at that school.”

“Especially at that school, yeah.” He laughed out. “We’re going to get through this. I don’t know how, but, we are and we’re going to do it together.”

Alya smiled wryly before she looked up at Nino and it slipped into a real small smile. “Together.” She agreed softly.

Last Chapter                             Next Chapter

l'école primaire - elementaryschool

manman - Haitian Creole for Mother

[wishful-soda]

Okay, hello. So I read the chapter once last night, died bc it was so good, went to bed to process my thoughts, woke up, read it again because it’s SO good, and then dug out my bluetooth keyboard so I didn’t have to type up all my thoughts on my phone screen. HERE WE GO (Chp 15 spoilers ahead):

#1: OH MY GOD. The chemistry between these two is insane. You have me BLUSHING as I read. At one point I had to put my phone down and do a lap around my living room because I was on fire 🔥🔥🔥 And obviously the scene in Horner’s office was chef’s kiss/flawless/hot/insane, but… BUT the alley scene?!?!?! The tension. The teasing. The trust. The honestly. The CASUAL INTIMACY/TOUCHING!?!? These two are so in love. Like Daniel might be part Australian, part Italian, part American, part whatever else he wants to say, but SotD Daniel is 100% simp and I LOVE it.

#2: I am, at my core, a Sharl Leclerc girlie. I will go to war for him. BUT because of YOU I am ANNOYED with him. I know he is trying to help and he’s so sweet, but if he does not stay in his lane, I will lose it. However, I have faith in him. Also, you write these characters so well! The little details you include? Immaculate. Like when Charles was talking about the cherries and just pauses like, “…they are a fruit right?” I could hear the exact way he would say that because it’s so on brand for him. Same with Max, Dan, etc. Your characterization is always on point.

#3: Charles calling Denial - oops typo, i meant Daniel - out in front of Max? Daniel not even caring about keeping appearances any more because he’s so jealous. Her forgetting she’s supposed to be cuddling Charles because she wants to touch Daniel so bad? I am begging them just to get their shit together, but I can’t even complain because it’s SO SO SO good.

Thank you for once again blessing us with this chapter. I have more thoughts but I’m getting too worked up as I go through everything again.

I do have a question: do you have a rough outline of the rest of the story/do you know how many chapters it’s going to have, or are you just kind of going with the flow? Everything has been so well built and I KNOW you have a few more twists and puzzles pieces to include, and I’m just so grateful to be along for the ride.

Anyway, happy race week, you’re a star, and I love you. Okay byeee!

-💖

Okay first; I love the fact that you had to go and pull out your bluetooth keyboard so you could type up your thoughts, seriously. I love you. 

#1. I cannot tell you what a compliment it is to hear that you had to set your phone down and do a lap because it means you were FEELING IT. And like what I want the most when I write. For the reader to feel the emotions and feelings. If it doesn’t make you feel then I’ve failed (in my mind) so it’s like you’re telling me I nailed it and I”m just 😭😭😭

#2. I’m cackling at you being a Sharl girl and being annoyed with him. “If he does not stay in his lane,  I will lose it.” GIRL YOU’RE KILLING ME 😂😂😂 Also I really appreciate that you notice the little moments of characterization because those are my favorite things to write and the things that I really adore!! I really love being able to hear a character say that in my head!  THANK YOU BBY

#3. DENIAL 😂 I’M - girl omfg. I can’t even tell you how much I love drink her naturally gravitating towards Dan and Charles trying to herd her back to him but it’s like herding a cat. She doesn’t even realize it either, goodness. 

No, thank YOU!! For reading, for all your thoughts, they make my day and are seriously like such a huge part of why I write. Hearing what you loved or how things made you feel is so incredibly exciting to me, so THANK YOU!!! 

Lastly; Yes I do have an outline! I made an initial outline before I ever started writing (and spent way too long on it LMAO) and I’ve been following that since. I think I’ve mentioned it on here before, but my initial outline was 10 chapters (JOKES ON ME). I’m still hitting the main points I wanted to hit, but now my outline is much more in depth, breaking it down chapter by chapter and then scene by scene. However; it’s also not rigid at all, it changes and shifts and things get moved or pushed or dropped to add something else. I use erasable pens for this reason 😂 If you ever want to see my mess of a notebook, just lmk 😘

HAPPY RACE WEEK, YOU ARE A SHINING ANGELBURST STAR AND I LOVE YOU.

[bixisarusher]

Bix Reviews: Call Me Kat (Season 1, FOX 2021)

I thought a lot about how I feel about this show, and there are lots of words, so it’s gonna go under the cut.

In summary: I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as I hoped to, and i discuss why I think that was. BUT there are great things in this remake, and I want to name them as well!

There are two ways to look at Call Me Kat: As it’s own thing, and as a Miranda remake. As a Miranda Hart stan, I’ll have a lot more to say about the latter, so let’s start with the show itself.

On It’s Own

That felt appropriate, nvm me

It’s a cute show. It’s not a groundbreaking concept, and it’s not re-inventing the genre, but it has some really good things going for it:

Kat is happy and confident in her quirks, but doesn’t have it all together - so she has room to grow and is very sympathetic, all the while encouraging the viewer to celebrate their own quirks. Lovely! Also Mayim is a treasure and it’s great to watch her perform.

The show openly discusses “taboo” topics, like using anti-depressants and their side-effects, freezing your eggs, comparing yourself to a hallucinated version of your crush’s ex...  The show isn’t a trailblazer, (partly because there have been many great shows in the last couple years) but I thinks it’s awesome to see them further treading out the ground and normalizing these topics.

It has a nice set of characters that go through their indepent stories, I found myself excited for any new episode and enjoying the varying storylines. (Most of them Randi.)

And, although the last episode dragged it right back into the romantic territory, Kat has a genuine friendship with Max and I value that a lot. Neither of them harbours secret feelings, instead they are open and honest about it. The only thing they overdid here was to have an exchange of “Do you remember, when we were in college together and [blank] happened?” in at least every other episode.

Another thing on the down side: Neither the writers nor Mayim seem to fully know what to do with the fourth wall breaks. I don’t mind the thing, it just doesn’t feel fully rounded out - like how much they want to use it, what purpose it really has, ...

I think it’s due to the circumstances of the filming (pandemic restrictions and all), but more on that later. So much for the show itself.

As a remake

First of all: Do I love Jim Parsons for looking at this absurd british gem of a TV show and deciding “the world needs more stuff like this”? Absolutely! Because I agree! There were two or three moments that leaned on Miranda a little too much for their own good, but overall: it is content inspired by Miranda, but neither correcting, it nor copying it. More power to this concept.

More power to celebrating the silly joys in this live, to celebrate not being normal, more power to amazing friendships and women who find their own path. Call Me Kat does all of these things.

However, it doesn’t quite live up to it’s Mothership. Let me elaborate.

There is a myriad of reasons why Miranda works and I will not attempt to list them. However there’s one thing that does stand out to me in the original, and that I really miss in the adaptation: Miranda didn’t just write “a plot” and salt it with “a few jokes”. She carefully built tensions and different storylines to culminate together. Sometimes it’s a funny word that the character hears in the first act, and later nervously blurts out in the wrong moment. Sometimes it’s a parade of characters she met through the episode that all meet in one spot at the end. Or there is a throw away comment in the beginning of an episode that sets up a revelation toward the end.

I could swarm you with examples, a good one is in 1x03 Job: trying to impress Tilly, trying to deny waitressing, and then: the multiple “You weed in a ball pool?” and Gary in uniform walking in right on time to sell the lie about being an undercover commander. Another one of my personal favorites is in 2x04 A New Low, when Miranda in the end tells Gary that he lost her trust, and he’ll “never get to see her naked sweep” - and then he find’s the portrait Tamara did of Miranda’s “naked sweep”. Just hit’s right.

That is a testament to how well crafted the episodes are. In Call Me Kat? All Nighter and Gym had moments like that, and Double Date very early on set up Kat’s dream to use the sound system, but it just never reached that same level of mastermind.

But, in defense of CMK: Miranda was crafted over ten years with a full of 20 episodes airing (21 if you count the radio series) and the cast worked together a good year before they filmed the first series of 6 episodes. Compared to that, work on Call me Kat started around 2018, the cast was assembled in the first half of 2020 and started shooting in late October. They then shot 13 episodes in their first season. (which is more than half of the total episodes of Miranda, just saying) Sources: english wikipedia articles for Miranda and Call Me Kat, as well as Mayim’s Youtube. (Jep I did research for this.)

Also the CMK episodes were written and directed by a variety of people, while the Miranda episodes have all been at least co-written by Miranda Hart and all except for the last two were directed by Juliet May.

These are - as much as I as a humble consumer with a bit of wikipedia knowledge know - basic differences about how shows are made in the UK vs. in the US, and neither formula is any way of guarantee for the quality of the final product. However I think somewhere in those facts is the reason why the Miranda ship feels a lot more in shape and ... coherent. The pilot that we know and love is the fourth time they recorded the script, and I don’t even want to know how many times the script had been edited in between. The cast knew each other well, the material had been tested in front of multiple audiences. Call Me Kat had neither of these luxuries. On the contrary, CMK has been put together under restrictions due to the pandemic.

So on the one hand, I am majorly grateful that this show even got to see the light of day! That means that a full cast and crew had jobs in these trying times, and it means that we were provided with good entertainement.

On the other hand, the circumstances are showing in the final product. The cast had an awkward chemistry with each other, and the comedic timing, though not horrible, could have been a lot better.

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I think studio audiences can be a blessing. There is something about the actors having a genuine connection to real time observers that helps me as a screen audience connect to it. And for this staged multicam show that includes glances at the camera? I think a real audience would have grounded the concept. And it would have given the team a direct feedback as to which moments were working comedically and which weren’t.

What I’m trying to say is: they had big shoes to fill, and the odds were not really in their favor, and so it doesn’t really hold up in comparison.

That’s sad. But that doesn’t mean that it’s a horrible show. As I said in the beginning, I love that this show is done in the spirit of Miranda, even if it’s not just as good.

I have no idea how the show’s chances are to get a second season. If they do get renewed - I’ll keep watching.

-----

Now, let me finish with a few gifs that I feel like they can be applied to the whole “they remade Miranda and it went both ok and less then ok but at least the word is being spread, right?”-situation.

because Kat/Max is good but could anything ever be Miranda/Gary?

Not really...

ok that one’s a bit rude. but you thought it, too.

Jim turning in bed at night overthinking if Mayim was the right choice. But she was. Much like Stevie was for Miranda.

Honestly a very good part of the remake is Mayim and Cheyenne performing together! I personally think this moment above is responsible.

Trying to match the CMK characters to the Miranda characters like: I thought Phil is supposed to be the Customer but turns out Phil originally was supposed to a Phillys? So Phil is Stevie, but then who is Randi? Tilly? So many questions.

And with that, dear Caller, back to you.

[saeyoungs-sunflower]

yo!!! what are the rfas nighttime routines with mc?

Welcome back to another episode of ‘Sunny is drinking alone and decided to get her shit together and do some requests’ (I am a horrible influence, if you are under the drinking age please be responsible). Anywayyyy here ya go anon! I very well may read this back in the morning and edit it again but will let you know! <3

***

RFA nighttime routines with MC

Zen:

❤︎ Zen’s all about a pamper y’all

❤︎ he wants to stay looking fresh and healthy but bbygirl he also wants to make sure you’re well looked after

❤︎ is it even a nighttime routine if you don’t have an elaborate hour-long skincare regime?

❤︎ well yes Zen not everyone is as extra as you like you might as well be chewing gum

❤︎ if anyone actually gets that dumb joke then i am so sorry but also you get 10 points

❤︎ whilst i don’t imagine Zen to usually be that tired in the evenings, his muscles are always tired after a show/day of rehearsals

❤︎ so he would have a bath but he also gets home pretty late and doesn’t wanna faff around ya know?

❤︎ so shower it is

❤︎ oh you think that because he’s a grown ass man that he could be away from you for like 10 mins to shower on his own? well you thought wrong

❤︎ actual puppy

❤︎ sometimes it turns into ~sexy times~ but most of the time he just enjoys the intimacy/closeness and enjoys it when you take care of each other

❤︎ and boy when you shampoo his hair he literally turns to putty

❤︎ when you get out of the shower he L O V E S to do your hair

❤︎ king of braiding

❤︎ but he L O V E S it even more when you do his hair

❤︎ pretty sure you heard him purr once

❤︎ then he sneezed lmao

❤︎ you’re both pretty much out as soon as you get into bed but you always fall asleep in each others’ arms

❤︎ to conclude: nighttimes are about taking care of each other

Yoosung:

★ so this man FINALLY got his life together once you started dating

★ you helped him find his motivation and drive again so it’s actually a pretty production evening most of the time

★ your goal is to get everything done early on so you can relax properly later

★ soon as you both get home? homework/work straight away

★ you also try to make a habit of cooking dinner together every night

★ but you know how it is sometimes you just wanna order a takeaway and that’s chill too

★ do what you gotta do boo

★ once you’ve finished dinner aND DONE ALL THE WASHING UP (don’t you dare leave it until the morning Yoosung i see you), you play LOLOL together !!!!

★ he found that it was SO much more rewarding to play once everything he needed to do was done, and he didn’t have that horrible nagging guilt whilst he had down time

★ then all that’s left to do is get ready for bed !!

★ …

★ …Yoosung?

★ GO TO BED FOOL

★ “mC oNe MoRe gAme” “you said that an hour ago.” “i MeAn iT tHiS TiMe”

★ EVENTUALLY you drag him to bed but he’s always grateful when you do because he only realises how tired he is when his head hits the pillow

★ and he also gets  s n u g g l e s  so it’s always worth it

★ to conclude: nighttimes are productive but also relaxing

Jaehee:

☞ this poor woman works so hard

☞ even when she quits working for Jumin and you guys open the coffee shop, she still always pushes herself to the max

☞ ya girl gets tired

☞ so you know what that means

☞ BUBBLE BATH TIME

☞ some things only bubbles can heal

☞ wow what that’s so deep Sunny ah yes wasn’t it thank you Sunny aren’t i inspirational yes you are Sunny

☞ you two always go a but overboard with the bubbles lmao but this woman only deserves the best o K

☞ similarly to Yoosung’s, you guys like to get everything done that needs to be done before you relax, so once you get out of the bath you can do whatever ya want!!! how swell is that!!!!

☞ usually end up watching a movie/one of Zen’s musicals because why not hmm?

☞ Jaehee likes to get an early night, so y’all are all snuggled down and ready to sleep at a reasonable hour, ready for your shift in the morning

☞ on a serious note, this woman is pretty affection starved so you make it your MISSION to shower her with love before she falls asleep

☞ i’m talking kisses, cuddles, the whole shebang

☞ when you’re cuddling you like to have a good gossip about the RFA and all that and you always end up all giggly and it’s just the best

☞ to conclude: every night is like a teenage girly night in that she never got to experience

Jumin:

♚ although he doesn’t like to show it, he’s always exhausted after work

♚ he has a lot of pressure on him and he constantly has to be focussed and alert, so by the time he’s walking through the front door he’s running on very little energy

♚ therefore he appreciates a quiet night with the love of his life <3

♚ of course, every night you have a nice meal and a glass of wine W I N E and chat about your day

♚ Jumin has learnt to appreciate the smaller things in life after meeting you, so he adores listening to your voice as you talk about what you got up to that day during dinner

♚ you could be reading the phone book out loud for all he cared, he just loved listening to your voice

♚ he’s usually too mentally tired to do anything like reading in the evening, so most of the time you end up either watching a film or cuddling on the couch

♚ you have enlightened him to the concept of slouchy clothes

♚ yes, Jumin Han has learnt to appreciate joggers and a hoodies what about it?

♚ honestly just the sound of Elizabeth purring and your breathing is enough to bring his stress levels to 0

♚ he’s tried meditation, he’s tried mindfulness, but nothing was as healing as having you in his arms whilst you stroked his hair

♚ after you’ve done the essentials like showering and brushing your teeth and all that jazz, you get into bed and just talk

♚ normally you end up talking about your future, and he goes to sleep every night dreaming about the life you will have together, and then wakes up every morning excited to make that life a reality

♚ to conclude: nighttimes are for recovery and comfort

Saeyoung:

☀︎ honestly? every night is different lmao

☀︎ Saeyoung is a spontaneous guy, so no evening is the same when you’re with him

☀︎ which is amazing, because it keeps things exciting and fresh !!

☀︎ however, there are a few things that don’t change

☀︎ like fAMILY DINNER Y’ALL

☀︎ every. night. without. fail.

☀︎ it’s SO important to you guys that you have time to catch up with each other and make sure that Saeran feels a part of the family because sometimes he likes to hideaway and doesn’t know how to include himself

☀︎ so dinner time is the family bonding time, and then you go back to doing your own thing

☀︎ do you find brushing your teeth boring? do you wish you could make it more fun? do you have a energetic red-head in your life?

☀︎ well then LISTEN UP

☀︎ TEETH BRUSHING DANCE PARTY

☀︎ EVERY. DAMN. NIGHT.

☀︎ like is said, this man keeps you on your toes lmao

☀︎ is this a bathroom or a nightclub the world may never know

☀︎ did someone say cuddle monster??

☀︎ because that’s Saeyoung lol

☀︎ idek why but i always imagine Saeyoung to be very physically affectionate, and not necessarily in a ~sexy~ way

☀︎ he just really appreciates physical contact

☀︎ it grounds him and reassures him that you’re really there and really love him

☀︎ I AM SO IN LOVE WITH THIS MAN IT’S A HUGE PROBLEM

☀︎ to conclude: every night is exciting and spontaneous, there’s never a boring night with Saeyoung

V  / Jihyun:

❁ V is also a man that appreciates a quiet night in

❁ he’s had so much chaos and drama in his life, that quiet domesticity is utter bliss to him

❁ evenings are typically spent in a companionable silence whilst you do your own thing

❁ reading, drawing, whatever! there’s just something so comforting to him about being with you, without even needing to talk

❁ music has become an VERY important part of your lives

❁ we all know that Jihyun is a man who appreciates the arts, and music is no exception

❁ he’s had a stressful day? he’s feeling overwhelmed? put on some soothing music and you can actually see the tension melt away

❁ always trying out new recipes for dinner

❁ most of the time they turn out delicious, but some are just complete abominations i am so sorry

❁ but really? it doesn’t matter because you made them together and you had a good laugh about them

❁ one thing that you recently started doing was reading together in bed

❁ and i don’t mean reading two separate books oh no no no

❁ i’m talking the same book

❁ what a plot twist

❁ every night you take in turns to read out loud to each other

❁ it takes a while to get through book this way, but it also mean that you both appreciate every damn word because how could you not when they’re coming from the literal love of your life??

❁ to conclude: nighttimes are spent in quiet bliss

Saeran:

☽ every evening begins with a walk

☽ it’s a must

☽ Saeran just l o v e s nature, and it’s the perfect start to a relaxing evening

☽ Saeyoung picked up on the fact that you both like evenings to be a calm time, so when you two get home he tries not to be too crazy

☽ but we all know this bitch is out of control so it doesn’t last long lol

☽ Saeran secretly finds it so entertaining but bless he would never admit it

☽ Saeran finds a pleasure in the ordinary

☽ he has never experienced ‘normal’, so he finds so much comfort in everyday activities such as washing up, cooking, setting the table…things like that

☽ he hasn’t had much time to form his own hobbies/interests, and is still experimenting to find things that he enjoys

☽ so he loves watching you do your hobbies

☽ it really doesn’t matter what it is, he just finds watching you concentrate on something you care about so fascinating

☽ often you will offer to teach him and share your interests, and his face always lights up when you do so

☽ this precious boi i cry

☽ he just loves to learn i C R Y

☽ when it comes to showering and all that, he prefers to do that alone

☽ don’t get me wrong, he adores you and cherishes every moment he spends with you

☽ but he’s easily overwhelmed and needs time to himself

☽ it’s also important to him that he’s able to care for himself, so something as simple as washing his face on his own helps him feel like he has some control

☽ to conclude: nighttime is the time for self-care and exploration

***

Thank you so much for the request, anon! I hope these were what you were looking for. Have a wonderful day💛

[wheremyscalesslither]

Cw: alcohol

Tl; dr: i love honey and brewing my own mead has helped me have a more positive relationship with alcohol. Oh and cool biology stuff relating to fermentation.

Can i actually just share my excitement for a moment though? I have always loved honey, (except for clover honey). It's one of my top favorite foods. On trips I had to seek out and buy different honeys because each one tastes different based on the plants visited by the bees in that location. Sometimes places would also have unique flavors as well- im thinking of white macadamia nut honey, which was from bees that lived on a macnut farm, or mesquite honey, which is light, golden, and nearly transparent with the distinct taste and color of a freshly bloomed mequite flower. Buying honey from reputable, small scale businesses, also helps support local communities but ive noticed many local honey businesses also rescue bees too, so they arent unnecessarily killed out of fear, but rehomed and curated so the animals are healthy.

One day a friend bought be a very expensive tiny glass of mead at a Renaissance festival, knowing my love for honey, and i could have sworn the Dionysus himself opened the clouds to reach down and hand me this blessing. Granted, now i know it was just overpriced Chaucer's which is widely regarded as the worst mead. It sparked an interest though, and i began to seek mead breweries and enjoy their products.

See, alcohol has been a point of tension for me. Ive definitely abused it in the past, particularly to help aid in my crippling social anxiety, combat boredom, and distract from pains only the soul feels.

Mead became an interest though. I have never felt like I want to drink mead to get drunk. I've had the opportunity, definitely. But instead, my focus is on the mead itself- sweet/dryness, flavors, and dare i share the most bougie thing that ive ever said: even mouthfeel 🤣 I want to drink to admire the work put into it, rather than use it.

Then one of my friends (Patrick Rösch if youre still there 😢) mentioned my broke ass didn't need to buy the $80 bottle of mead from Superstition Meadery, even though its pretty damn delicious, but i could spend about the same amount and make my own mead. It wasnt until like 2 years later i decided to give it a go, and what's really awesome is how much biology is tied into it. Like duh youre having yeast eat sugar and pee out alcohol. And it all just makes sense.

There are different yeasts that have different requirements- alcohol tolerance, which is the amount of alcohol they can withstand before they slow or altogether stop metabolising sugar and turning it into alcohol. Temperature range in which the yeast starts to become stressed and make your mead taste all weird. Nutrients- organic or inorganic vitamins where depending on when you use them in your yeast's life, can be essential or not have any effect at all.

My first batch is going well, despite not turning out like the recipe said. When you start getting into mead, nearly everyone recommends using a calculator online that just straight up tells you how much of each thing to put in and when. These calculators tell you what to aim for to produce the sweetness and alcohol content of your mead. I used True Love Honey's Desert blend which is my favorite honey of all time, and apparently has a much higher sugar content than your average honey. What i was aiming for and what i ended up getting were wildly different. I used lavin 71b yeast, a favorite strain suggested to beginners, with a wide temperature range which was essential, because i knew it was going to be impossible for me to brew at the typical low temps yeast needs to thrive. My room averages at mid to high 70s, and most yeasts are very strict with max temps being like 68°F.

Now heres the more technical stuff.

I was supposed to start off the batch with a specific gravity reading of 1.153. Once i mixed my ingredients, according to the recipe, my SG actually started at 1.172 which is significantly higher. The potential issue with this is that the yeast wouldnt be able to keep up with the sugar once it hit 14% abv, leaving me with excessive sugar and high SG. If the yeast keeps up, which the strain i got has been noted on occassion to keep up to 20% abv, im going to have a really alcoholic mead 😅

Today, i hit 14% alcohol in my 2 week old batch. So the yeast will either stop working or keep going 🤷‍♀️ guess we will see tomorrow.

I also taste it every time i take a reading. Its fucking delicious, if you dont mind me saying. It does have a strong vinegar smell, and slight vinegar aftertaste thats barely distinguishable. This could mean i accidentally introduced Acetobacter in with the yeast, or it could be caused by the yeast strain still working to process the sugars, which should go away with time. Only time will detemine if either is concern! But im not worried. This has been so much fun either way.

[khaleesiofalicante]

Γεια σου!! Ειλικρινά έχασα τα ίχνη των γλωσσών, οπότε θα χρησιμοποιήσω αυτές που έχω σχέση με τους χαρακτήρες. Απολαύσατε τις διακοπές σας;💙💙

Here it was okay-ish. There was tension and it was a little cynical all the toast and shit, but the food was great :)) I was also tempted to come out just to see the chaos but never mind😂

Anyway, I'm excited to read this chapter!!!

Clary being so done😂

Jace knowing her menstrual cycle is so cute for some reason 🥺🥺

David slowly taking more role as head of the institute!!! Yess

Jace @ Raziel is a mood

Oh.. So Selena is at the Silent City...

YESS LEXI CAN FLY!! FUCK YEAH

Simon and Clary's influence with Jace and pop culture is prime content

Just here hoping Lexi will be alright...

"Selena, who was the gentlest person he knew. Selena, who only ever tried to help." Uhg, I want to protect her so bad!!

Clace are both smart idiots and I love them

“Putting up with your parabatai’s horniness is part of the oath,” Jace said with a chuckle. “Deal with it.” (Yeah, this is canon)

Hdidhdisk David!! And Chopin!!! 💙💙

Herondales won't be allowed in the Silent City in the future generations😂😂

"Jace would only ever see David as his baby." My heart, my soul🥺🥺

David saying "Papa" and "Mama" is so beautiful

My boy is so wise and sexy ngl

He tries to be there for Selena and I love him

“Tout ira bien, papa,” Hsjdnkdndkd I cant-

"The sense of being Jonathan Wayland – not Jace Herondale." This is too much. Hold on a sec

✨PARABATAI✨

Literally everyone voting for Anjali being the Inquisitor. THATS WHAT MY QUEEN DESERVES

Ok, but Alec is the coworker and father-in-law of Anjali and honeslty I dont know what to feel😂

Oh fuck. More problems...

They. Are. The. Cutest. Those are goals💙💙

MY QUEEN IZZY IS HERE YALL

"For shadowhunters were more likely to be hurt by other shadowhunters than anyone else." Shadowhunters are the reason their problems exist smh

"The two of them looked up at that. At Alec. Their brother. Their leader. Their rock." LIGHTWOOD SIBLINGS. LIGHTWOOD SIBLINGS. LIGHT-

What are they talking about???

Shut up Jace, you love Simon!!

🥺🥺🥺Izzy!! (just like someone said she would feel!!)

If everyone had the braincells she has, the world would be better

Honestly those siblings are the dead of me💙💙 (the way they are idiots for their families😂)

You have no idea how Jace taking therapy brings me joy🥺🥺my baby has come so far!!

I love Doctor Myeong!! When can I get an appointment??

You can’t help anyone if you don’t help yourself first,” THIS

Sometimes, Jonathan, it is the most self-sufficient who require the most help,” she smiled. “Because they have no clue how to ask for it.” (I'm a witness of that!!)

Ok, but all of this scene is soo amazing. Wow

Will Selena talk to Magnus maybe??

Brother Enoch is soo done and I cant blame him😂😂

Selena🥺🥺🥺

"Jace remembered Selena running to the greenhouse and making a flower bouquet for Brother Enoch to thank him." Bro. Bro. She is so soft why???

She loved Michael. The way Jace can see so much of him in her jdjdnsksns

“Love didn’t hurt you,” Jace whispered. “Someone who didn’t know how to love hurt you" (I love him so much)

“But whatever happens, don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid, Selena. Don’t be afraid of love.” WHY IS THIS SO GOOD ADVICE WTF?? Also the parallel with “To love is a privilege and to be loved is a blessing.” sjhdjdhdisj I cant 💙💙💙

Max being jealous omg 😂😂

"Mama, Jace thought. What a beautiful word." Soft dork💙💜

I'm loving this Jace and his children advice and bonding💙💙💙

I hope Coraline answers...

✨CLACE✨

He has come so far I'm so proud and happy!!

"It was okay. He was okay." Ok, omg that was just so emo and cute. Like... I'm still worried for the kids but Jace has come so far I am really proud and I hope things get better. Love him💙💙

Αντιο σας!! Τα λέμε σύντομα ;)

(Also, I have been loving all the snippets. 10000/10) <33

GREEK LOOKS STUNNING. (I think you used it before but wow)

I'm sort of (?) in a holiday phase I think. So, it's nice.

I hope you are well. I hope Raziel and Max (lmao!!) are doing well too.

Reading your thoughts always gives me so much serotonin. Thank you 💙

[krispydefendorpolice]

Miraculous Future (1)

The Class Picnic/Saturday Afternoon

Happy Holidays. This is a gift fic for @a-marlene-s for the SSMariBat secret Santa arranged by @eve-valution. You left your wishes pretty open, so I’m hoping I came up with something to interest you.

For the rest of you freeloaders (that’s meant as a tease) I’ve been seeing a lot of talk lately about there being too much salt: class salt, Alya salt, Lila salt. If you feel that way back out right now cuz that’s what this is. (Not sure how you feel on the salt issue a-marlene-s but I got the impression that you would appreciate a salt fic). That being said I’m not sure I managed to do the salt issue justice (any feedback on that would be appreciated. Was it salty or just ho-hum?)

Enjoy!!

Next Masterpost

_________________________

Ms Bustier’s class had already started to gather for their year end class picnic in the park across from the school. Since they were now in Lycée instead of Collège, and this was the last time they would have an end of year event as they were graduating, they had agreed that anyone who was dating could bring their partners with them if they weren’t in the class.

Marinette sighed as she pulled her phone from her pocket to check her messages again. Adrian and his boyfriend were running late from his photo shoot ending late. His last update was the last message in her cue. Marinette was just thankful that she had Kagami and Chloe to keep her company while waiting for her friend and her boyfriends, who were also running late, to show up. Marinette scowled when no new messages were there.

Marinette scowled when other kids in her class were making those oh so obviously secretive looks at her before whispering to each other and laughing. She knew it was because the boys were running late. Lila had made a big deal in class the day before about how she was so sad her boyfriend wasn’t going to be able to come to the picnic because Damian Wayne was in Japan for some business or other with his fathers company. Lila had made an offhand comment that she felt so bad that she couldn’t show Marinette what a healthy relationship was like since Marinette was such a call girl. The rest of the class had puzzled over the comment until it had clicked with someone and asked if she had a ‘sugar daddy’.

Marinette and Chloe had stared at the class in disgust because for the last two years Marinette had been in a steady relationship with Luka Couffaine, not that the class knew that as they had never asked, not even his sister was aware of it. The rest of the class had accepted Lila’s insinuation as gospel because they always did and had laughed at her. Some had made bets on if Marinette would bring one of her ‘customers’ to the picnic as a stand in boyfriend.

She kind of preferred it when the class was ignoring her like they mostly did day to day for the past two years. It was only when Lila though Marinette’s notoriety might be in danger of being forgotten that she would come up with some new scandal or action Marinette was supposed to have done to further isolate her from the class. There was the supposedly stolen field trip money in 2ème (10th grade) that had miraculously turned up in the principal’s office, the allergy scare in 1ème (11th grade) and now a sex scandal? Really? Couldn’t the girl keep her stories straight? Or at least to a consistent degree of escalating badness?

Her parents had stood by her and tackled the school issues with her. They couldn’t pull her out as the school the best one academically in the district and they couldn’t afford to send Marinette to another school in a different district so they did what they could to ensure she had minimal harassment from the school itself. But unfortunately they couldn’t tackle the class relationships in the same way.

So Marinette was left in the class with Adrian and Chloe. She had gotten over her crush on Adrian and had become an honest friend with him. After he saw how her relationships with her classmates were being affected by the lies he had tried to stand up for her. His father nearly pulled him from class but Adrian had fought it and threatened to quit modeling if his father pulled him from school. Since the brand was currently dependent on Adrian’s representation Gabriel had left him in the class with the understanding that he had to suffer whatever happened now.

Marinette had raged against Gabriel’s callousness when it happened and made sure her and her parents provided the love and support Adrian needed to get through the class issues when they eventually turned on him too. Adrian worked on creating positive friendships with Marinette and Kagami from his fencing class. When Kagami had started dating Chloe, Marinette and Chloe had a sit down discussion on their past issues to get it resolved since so many of their outing were now spent as a group and they didn’t need their issues causing tension. It had been a blessing as Chloe had become a great supporter in the class and once the class had voted Lila as their new representative (Marinette had declined running that year and every year since) she and Adrian had helped Marinette start up her new online business: MDC Designs.

It replaced the web business Alya and the girls had helped her set up as she had been flooded with negative character reviews (not even design or business reviews) from her classmates that she’d had to shut it down.

It was through MDC Designs that Marinette and Luka had met their boyfriend, the actual, Damian Wayne. Marinette had gotten a commission for Bruce Wayne, who was recommended by Jagged Stone. Marinette was hired to make a suit for an upcoming Gala event. He had been so impressed that he had immediately hired her to make suits for his children who had flown out for the fittings. Luka had gone with her when she did the fitting for Damian Wayne and when he had asked her out after it was over she had initially declined saying that she was dating Luka.

Damian had looked at Luka and said he wouldn’t object to taking him out too. He left his personal number with Marinette and let them know if they would both be interested he would love to take them out.

Luka and Marinette had discussed it and decided that it would be interesting to talk to the young man some more. The date had gone well and they initially did a long distance communication exchange as Damian was finishing up classes in America. He had spent most of the holidays and many weekends in Paris getting to know Luka and Marinette. Just three months prior they had decided that they liked the arrangement and wanted to make it official that they were all dating.

So why was Marinette alone with Chloe and Kagami to help her deal with her class? Because Adrian got delayed at his photo shoot and his boyfriend was picking him up while Marinette’s own boyfriends were delayed by Damian’s business meeting.

I’m going to kick their asses for leaving me alone with the class, she thought to herself. She knew she wasn’t exactly being fair. They had expected that Adrian and Jon would be able to join her before the picnic started but then they got delayed and she was left alone with a class that had spent the better part of the last two years pretending she didn’t exist when they weren’t spreading lies about her.

It had hurt at first when the class had started isolating her because of Lila’s stories. She had known most of the class for years before the Italian joined them. Most had been witness to her actually meeting the celebrities Lila lied about but no one would listen to her when she told them about the lies. Lila had used their disbelief to insinuate here and there that Marinette was jealous, she was a bad friend, she was getting in trouble with the law and doing bad things like drugs and staying out late.

Eventually Marinette stopped trying.

Since she was currently on her own and still on the outs with the class, Marinette stood at the edge of the group with Chloe and Kagami and people watched. This was the end of their school careers and everyone was preparing for the next step in their lives. Mari listened as Alya was boasting about how Lila was going to get her an internship at the local news station, Rose, Juleka, and Ivan were making a demo for their band that Lila was going to get to some music studios for possible contracts while Nino was hoping for an in at the movie studio. Nathaniel, who had stepped away from Lila and the class but didn’t get involved with Marinette, was going to get his comics published with Marc. In fact the first book would be available at the end of the week.

It was pretty clear from listening to the class who was still in camp Lila and who had left. Camp Lila had big dreams with no actions taken to reach them, while those who left had plans in the works and were achieving steps towards their dreams. Max had an internship at a a robotics company after his last robotics competition. Kim was in training with an Olympic trainer, while Alix was entered into the local x-treme sports competition.

Marinette checked her phone when it dinged to let her know she had a new message.

Adrian: We’re just wrapping up. Jon and I will be on our way.

“An update from Adrikins?” Chloe asked.

Marinette relayed his message. “At least we’ll have some back up soon.”

The girls watched the group the class made. Every so often one of their classmates would look at them but would quickly turn away when they caught the girls looking at them.

“Do you think they’ll ever find the missing brain cells?” Chloe asked when the third classmate in a row turned so fast they nearly gave themselves whiplash.

Marinette shrugged, she had gotten over their ditching her with a good therapist and had found some honest friends in Adrian, Kagami, Chloe and Luka who supported her.

Marinette pulled out her phone when it dinged with Luka’s ringtone. Many of her classmates phones were ringing at the same time.

Luka: Check the news

Marinette clicked on the link he sent with the message. It was a live news report from an American news site. The reporter was relaying the events of children popping up around the world with stories that they were...

“MOM!!” “MAMAN!!”

The class turned as a group of children came running up to them. A few broke off to go to Nino and one went to Alix. The rest swarmed around Marinette, Chloe and Kagami. The smallest girl jumped and Marinette struggled to stay standing under the unexpected weight.

Four more children joined into a group hug around Marinette, while one had wrapped herself around Chloe and Kagami and two almost adults came behind the herd with a toddler that was reaching for Marinette with whines of “mama”.

A set of twins were glued to Nino while an older girl stood next to them glaring at Alya and Lila in turns. Nathaniel had a small girl hugging him and even Alix had a pair of boys holding her hand and staring at the group.

Most of the kids were staring at Lila in fear and horror and hiding behind the class.

“What’s she doing here?” the older male teen asked looking at Lila who was standing in the larger class group.

“The better question is what year is it McGinnis?” the girl pushed the toddler into the boys arms before smacking him upside the head. “You’re Marinette Dupain-Cheng correct?” She addressed Marinette.

“Um, yes,” Marinette tried to answer before the kids around her tried to pull her attention back to questions about Papa Luka or Daddy Adrian and where they were.

“Gosh, Marinette how can you have so many kids calling you mom? Didn’t you listen at all during Ms Mendeliev’s sex ed lecture? Or couldn’t you keep a guy interested?” Lila asked in a sugary sweet voice.

“Ignoring the terrorist in the room for the day,” the boy interrupted, “what year is it for you right now?”

“20XX,” Marinette answered before Alya exclaimed.

“How could you call Lila a terrorist? She’s done so many amazing things and so much good. Where do you get off doing that?”

It was the girl that answered. “You’re Alya Cesaire?” she asked, and after Alya nodded she continued, “Well, considering we come from 20X15, 15 years in the future, and after Hawkmoth and Mayura were captured and stood trial with one Lila Rossi of France, pretty goddamn easily Ms. Tabloid reporter. It’s standard modern history and taught as part of the third grade curriculum of the super-hero acts.”

“Lila is from Italy. Her mom’s a diplomat,” Rose said.

“Actually, she’s not. She was born in Rodez, France. She’s a French citizen and her parents are not any kind of diplomat. If I remember correctly her mom’s a paralegal at one of the more prestigious law firms and her dad is working as a teacher at Ecole Primaire Rue (primary school).”

“That’s a lie,” Alya yelled.

“Why would we bother lying about her?” The teen boy asked.

“Besides I did my final report for retired or inactive heroes on Ladybug and Chat Noir,” the second oldest girl said. “Hawkmoth’s defeat was a major reason why they retired and the trials were broadcast on national television. Ladybug herself testified to Lila’s actions and she had video evidence,” she stressed the two words, “to support her testimony and disprove all the lies that had been posted on the tabloid blog ‘The LadyBlog’.”

The second oldest boy recited, “Lila Rossi was held for assisting in the insa, inta...”

“Instigation,” the oldest boy supplied.

“Instigation,” he repeated, “of 33 Akuma attacks from the period of 20X-2 to 20X2. After the heroes Ladybug,”

“CHAT NOIR!” One of the younger children interrupted,

“Viperion.”

“Abeille.”

“And Ryukou.”

The boy nodded and continued what he was saying, “as well as the emergency miraculous users Bunnx, and the Rooster, took down the terrorist known as Hawkmoth, and his assistant Mayura, later investigations turned up and proved the knowing and complicit actions of Lila Rossi.”

“In addition, Lila Rossi was taken to court for over 80 acts of fraud, slander and libel against well known individuals including but not limited to Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, the Prince Ali of Achuu and members of the Wayne family.”

In the middle of the class group Lila flushed as she had just been telling the others how she was dating the youngest Wayne son.

“You’re lying,” she argued. “There’s no way you can prove any of that. Marinette must have paid you to say all that. She never liked me since I showed everyone how she’s a bad influence.”

“Believe us, or don’t, it doesn’t matter to us. Our future is set and nothing we do today is going to change it. This is a fixed event after all.” The oldest girl said before turning her attention to Marinette “Marinette have you heard back from Damian or my Dad yet?”

“Your dad?” Marinette asked because she hadn’t been able to figure out exactly who any of the kids around her were yet though she could make some good guesses.

“Bruce Wayne,” she answered.

“Not yet,” Marinette said. “I just got a text from Luka about a report before you all ran up to us.”

It was Max that interrupted with a question, “Are you saying you’re from the future like the other kids that the news is reporting are turning up all over the world?”

The class looked at Max who turned his phone for the others to see the same news report that Marinette had been watching a moment ago.

They were reporting that children were appearing from 15 years in the future near their parents in the present.

The second oldest boy, who had green eyes and darker skin was the one to answer, “Obviously. How else would Maman have a child who’s nearly ten years old calling her mom? Did you truly lose all ability to think for yourself? I thought Papa Adrian’s stories were exaggerated because of the liars presence.”

“Thomas,” the older girl chided.

Just then Marinette’s phone dinged with a new message.

Damian: Has anyone come to you?

Marinette: Like half a dozen kids calling me mom? Not at all

Luka: Half a dozen??!!!!!

Marinette: There are at least 7 more here but they apparently are kids of some of my classmates.

Damian: My father is sending a couple cars. Have all the kids and any of the would be parents that are going ready when they arrive.

Marinette: If you’re going that route you’ll need to send someone to round up my classmates. They don’t listen to me anymore

Luka: Damian’s on the phone with Bruce. He’s trying to see if he can get one of the other boys to help

“Hey, Chloe,” Marinette said, “can we round up the kids. Dami’s trying to get his father to send a couple cars to pick us up so that we can get this situated.”

“I don’t see why not. I’m sure daddy would be okay with putting up a few kids in the hotel until we can get them back home,” she added eyeing the kids with Nino and Alix. “I’ll call ahead if you want to take them there Lahiffe, Kubdel.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.” Nino said a little overwhelmed with how the kids were clinging to him and glaring at Alya.

“What’s with all the kids?” Adrian asked walking up to the group with Jon Kent in tow.

“PAPA!” “DAD” the kids around Marinette yelled and swarmed around Adrian and Jon. Jon in good humor picked up one of the smaller boys and carried him on his shoulder.

“Damian, was able to call and give us a heads up on our way over to expect something. Just not so much something,” Adrian said when he reached Marinette with a kid of his own hanging on his arm.

“I’m so glad he was able to call you,” she said sarcastically. “It’s not like his own girlfriend is stuck in the middle of this madhouse,” she finished as she began to round up the kids and guide them towards the curb. She could see cars with a familiar English butler stepping out parked in the street.

“Hey Alfred,” the oldest teen boy called with a wave. “Alright Litter bugs let’s move out.” He said helping to get the kids moving towards the car.

Marinette froze, “What did you call my kids?”

“Litter bugs?” He said confusedly, “It’s what you call them in the future since there’s so many. And it helps to keep things organized at the family’s Christmas party and get togethers.”

Marinette turned on Adrian furiously. “What did you do to get our kids called by THAT!!” She yelled at him.

Adrian smiled nervously, “Well my Queen, technically I would argue that I haven’t done anything...yet.”

“I will gut you for this Agreste!”

Adrian wisely grabbed one of the kids in front of him and ran to the cars yelling over his shoulder, “Come on kids, before mama kills papa.”

———————————————

I hope this was enjoyable. And the ending got some laughs. I know it nearly killed me when I reread it to check for edits. So, I got the Litter bugs idea at the end of my rewrite (this went through at least two different versions in my head before it got written) and I sorta remembered that mama cats are called ‘queens’ and I looked it up and its true. I think Adrian would totally be the idiot to pun off this.

This AU is based on (edit: @vivilakitty recognized the premise of their story idea. I knew there was another more headcannony take on the future kids story but I couldn’t find that original idea in my likes. I hope I can do it justice.) and the story/ideas from @snowhirl who got their idea from @multishipper1needshalp and Maribat by @ozmav. I loved the idea when it first came out but had no real motivation to flesh it out in my own way so also: Thank you. A-Marlene-S for the motivation to get this down.

Also this is a part one, the whole idea gave me so many ideas that my first draft was a whopping 2,831 and this is technically only half that idea and comes in at a total of 3,133 words. So before I post the conclusion on how the kids get home and answer some questions like: why are Marinette’s kids calling Adrian and Jon dad and she’s saying ‘our kids’? How did the kids come to the past anyways? I want to know if anyone is interested in a slice of life take on how the kids get by in the present? I may end up doing it anyways but if anyone else is interested that’s more motivation for me to do it. (Send me a comment or an ask if that works to keep me motivated. I’ll wait until 1-5-20 before posting the next bit either way so please if you are interested let me know.

@a-marlene-s @eve-valution @multifandomscribette @mochinek0 @zebrabaker @northernbluetongue @bluerosette23 @g-arya @thepeacetea @vivilakitty @actualaster @galahadwilder @del-phin @sassydepression @mindfulmagics

Ps if you want to be tagged for part 2 or removed from the taglist let me know that as well.

[flammeusarch2]

k hear me out, five times kissed but for red and her kids :sob:

wow okay alright five mother - children moments under the cut!

ONE. she's been away from the compound for three years, motherhood ending up taking her whole time in a way she would have never expected --- not that she minds, she's been waiting for liv so long than now she couldn't imagine a life without her in it. walking hand in hand along the concrete path, gaze moves on the novices training on the grass, their attention swiftly moving in their direction to wave good morning. taken liv in her arms, red waves back, thin smile on lips at the thought of times when she was with them. this used to be home --- but now it isn't. liv's arms round her neck, small fingers playing with strands of auburn hair. soft kiss is pressed on the child's forehead, wider smile tugging at corner of lips. " would you like to play with a toy sword, baby? " this is not a life she wants for her kin, but then again is always better to start them somewhere, right?

TWO. there are times when her smothering side comes out way too much than intended, namely this morning when ant has come to her in tears, begging her to drive him to school. he doesn't want to tell her the reason why, but she can figure out that those classmates who began picking on him for his glasses --- as if these days most people didn't wear them anyway. lips curl in sympathetic smile as she pulls her child close in a hug, soft kiss pressed on the top of his head. " i will drive you to school, but just for today. " finally comes declaration, reassuring smile given as hands rub his shoulders to ease some tension away. " but if they come at you, tell them that your mamma's afraid of no punk and will fight them. "

THREE. red can see so much of herself in liv, sometimes to the point it almost scares her --- if there's so much of her personality then there could be her immortality too somewhere, and the sole thought scares her more than she could ever voice with words. body leans against door frame as she listens to her daughter practice italian for her trip abroad, until red finally ealks behind her, hands combing hair in smooth ponytail. " ciao bellissima, che studi? " * comes inquire, icy eyes catching glimpse of her book pushed in her way as she leans in to press a kiss on liv's cheek. " always studying, my future president. " fingers brush among sandy blonde strands once again. " dinner is ready my love --- dad made lasagna since you're on your italian kick. "

FOUR. sometimes she wonders if her son was blessed or cursed with all of hers and max's deep awareness of feelings, if there could have been a way to ease him into not being drained by everything around him. books she's reading is left on coffee table, attention all settled on the way ant is playing on the ground with moose and benvolio. " are you alright my love? " her son turns around, shrugs a little and comes back to play fetch, but she knows better --- her son might have her eyes, but that thin veil of melancholy is all max's. arm extends to touch ant's shoulder, small smile given in his direction and it's all that takes for him to get up and cuddle by her side. pulling him close in her embrace, hand pushes away strand of hair from covering his eyes, and kiss is pressed on top of his head. " would you like to talk about what's bugging you? " no answer comes, only her son holding onto her tighter for comfort. " okay then, we can stay here in silence until you feel better. "

FIVE. movie time is always expected in their household, saturday night being the only moment the whole fsmiky is gathered together. red doesn't even mind watching cartoons or the same disney movies over and over --- time spent with her children is always special and cherished. liv's resting against her shoulder, and kiss is pressed on top of her head as red tucks her closer under the blanket. in between her and max, ant's already long passed out and snuggling his teddy bear. movie brought to pause, red watches as max pulls their son in his lap, cuddling him close to ease his sleep. leaning towards them, lips ghost on ant's forehead before fingers brush hair back in place. smile is given in direction of her husband, loving gaze can't even begin to describe the happiness she's waited for so long, and finally earned at last.

[miximax-hell]

Happy Goku Day, everyone!!

I checked and, miraculously, I still have followers on this blog. In fact, I’ve gained some since the last time I posted, for some reason! I’m not going to question it, though. Just... bless. But, hey, long time no see! As usual!

This time, I’m going back to my roots. The first drawings I posted on this blog were meant to show my love towards original Raimon, and it’s never a bad time to remind you all that I still adore these kids. Especially now that my friend @dust-monsters-under-my-bed​ has reminded me of them. Go check her art, btw! She’s not very active on Tumblr, but you can find her art on Twitter right here: https://twitter.com/rachelmonart

Anyway, she’s watching Inazuma Eleven for the first time and she’s made me think again about how much love these kids deserve, BECAUSE THEY SURE GOT NONE FROM HINO. DAMN YOU, HINO. So, today, let’s talk about the one and only IE character whose feet are classified as mass destruction weapons, who decided to borrow power from someone who will make you all question me, my logic and my tastes: Yamhan (or, as he is known in the west, Tiencha), THE FUSION OF YAMCHA AND TENSHINHAN FROM DRAGON BALL.

Introducing ShoYamHan! More on him under the cut.

So, first of all, how have you all been? I suppose many of you, like myself, are being told to stay at home to fight this situation. I salute all of you who do your best to stay safe and not help spread anything. It’s a very necessary fight, even if it can be boring at times. Many of us have friends or relatives fighting on the frontline, though (unless you yourself are the doctor or nurse friend!), and we hopefully know that staying at home is a small price to pay.

As for me, I got a job in December and lost it last month, so... yeah. It’s not been great. Still, something I’ve been working hard on for a while should be released soon and that’s so exciting! MY NAME WILL FINALLY BE ON SOMETHING’S CREDITS AND I CAN’T WAIT FOR IT TO BE UP.

But, anyway, back to business!

Rachel suggested I talk about the reasons behind this particular miximax, and considering it makes for a perfect parallel with my first posts, where I talked about the reasons behind Max’s and Kageno’s miximaxes, I’m all up for it! But, this time, I will have to do something new: explain WHO THE HECK YAMHAN IS. So let’s start with a picture of this handsome devil.

As most of you hopefully know, this project is about miximaxing Inazuma characters with video game characters. No anime, movies or anything else. Only and exclusively video games. Dragon Ball has probably spawned all those things, but it started as a manga, so you’d be right to think it most definitely does not qualify for this project. And, indeed, Dragon Ball doesn't. What DOES qualify, however, are Dragon Ball characters exclusive, or first introduced, in a video game. And that’s exactly the case we’re dealing with here!

Growing up, I loved Dragon Ball games. Even before I watched the show properly, in fact! I would go to my friend’s house, who was a fan of the show, and we'd play the Dragon Ball Budokai games nonstop with absolutely zero regrets. Those were some great times. And once I came to know the source material, the game that blew my mind the most was Dragon Ball Budokai 2. Was it the best one? Not necessarily. Is it my favourite? Not by a long shot. Still, it was the most creative! Most games follow the story of DBZ, which, obviously, is always the same. But Budokai 2 wasn’t afraid to do new things. Its story mode resembled a tabletop game and it was more than happy to deviate from the source material in some really fun ways; most notably, with exclusive fusions.

Budokai 2 introduced us all to Yamhan, the fusion of Yamcha and Tenshinhan, two long forgotten characters in the series, as they (and especially poor Yamcha) didn’t do anything especially relevant past... well, past the original Dragon Ball. As a champion of the unloved, that blew my mind. There were other fun things in Budokai 2, but what fascinated me and stayed in my thoughts for years to come was Yamhan. It was just such a cool concept. Two underdogs who had fallen into obscurity fusing to create a much greater warrior!

Of course, Yamhan isn’t the only videogame exclusive characters in Dragon Ball. He isn’t the first, nor the last. Yamhan isn’t the strongest, nor the weakest. But I haven’t played FighterZ nor Fusions (yet), nor pretty much any game that wasn’t on PS2 or GBA. And even if I had, I doubt Android 21 or any of the HUNDREDS of combinations available in Fusions would captivate me and my imagination as much as Yamhan did back in the day. Yamhan was a fusion, which is something that has always fascinated me to begin with. I MEAN, THIS ENTIRE BLOG IS ABOUT FUSING CHARACTERS, SO I THINK IT’S PRETTY OBVIOUS LMAO But he wasn’t just one among hundreds. He was this very specific, never-seen-before, cool as heck and usable fusion. Like, wow. That was wild for me. Sign me up, man.

But, you know, I try not to let that sway me too much. Of course, I wouldn’t likely pick a character I hate for a miximax, but, still, my preferences aren’t everything. And choosing Yamhan begs a question that I have already alluded to: if Yamhan isn’t the strongest game-exclusive DB character out there, then, why him? Well, the answer to that is related to the biggest problem posed by the sheer concept of miximaxing with a Dragon Ball character:

Power escalation.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Goku is, pretty much, the strongest character that has ever played the lead in any manga, and one of the strongest fictional characters ever, period. By the end of the Dragon Ball Super anime, he has EXCEEDED THE POWER OF MANY LITERAL GODS AND IS (or has been) A CANDIDATE TO BECOME ONE. You may prefer One Piece, or Naruto, or anything else, but few things reach the astronomical, reality-bending scope of Dragon Ball. Not to say DB is the best series--I’m just saying that it’s so out of control at this point (and I love it). But, of course, the stronger Goku is, the stronger the villains need to be, and Goku ends up becoming EVEN stronger than said villains. Rinse and repeat dozens of times until you can make an entire universe disappear by raising your hand.

Now, imagine applying that out-of-this-world power escalation to a context where the power balance isn’t so outrageous. For example, Inazuma Eleven.

Goku wriggling in his sleep is more powerful than Zeus, and an accidental sneeze would smash all of Ixal Fleet to smithereens. Do you see what this would do to the balance? It would ruin it completely, as anyone who miximaxed with Goku would be immediately a one-person army able to defeat ANY opponent--and if the opponent were to be EVEN GREATER than Goku, well, the rest simply wouldn’t stand a chance. Ever. Remember: the point of this project isn’t to create perfect and unbeatable players, and I’m not trying to prioritize anyone or make them noticeably stronger than anyone else just because I happen to like X more than Y. That completely ruins the tension and the fun (and my attempts to create justice in this unfair universe). The point is to come up with a balanced team full of players with strong points, but with flaws, too, that complement each other when they play together against stronger enemies.

So, if we go with Dragon Ball, and I love Dragon Ball WAY too much to not include it in this project in some way, we have to be careful and avoid overdoing it. Balance is key. And now that you know why I didn’t just choose the fusion between Beerus and Whis or something crazy like that, I’ll move on to explain what makes Yamhan a very interesting option. I SWEAR THERE ARE SOME ACTUAL REASONS.

First of all, the very concept. You know, Yamcha and Tenshinhan fused to created Yamhan, and now, Shourin is fusing with a fusion. That’s just... hecking cool. I won’t lie--my preferences towards Yamhan didn’t tip the scales towards making this happen, but my preferences towards FUSIONCEPTION totally did. XD But there’s more, thankfully.

From the very beginning, I knew I wanted a fighting game character to miximax with Shourin because it fits his theme best. I’m not big on fighting games, though, so it was quite tough. Especially because just any fighting game wouldn’t do it. Shourin is a martial artist. As I mentioned at the very beginning of this post, his feet are his weapons. His entire body is a weapon, really. If I were to suddenly miximax him with some character who wields a sword or an axe, for example, it would be a complete disservice to Shourin. Original Raimon members don’t have much going on for themselves, and I’m going to cut or ignore the ONE thing that makes one of them special? Not in a zillion years. Shourin needs to fight with his body. That, of course, cuts many characters already: pretty much the entire roster of Soul Calibur, many members of Mortal Kombat, many from games like Skullgirls (which I still want to try to represent here in the future, because @lumaga worked on it and it makes me happy just because of that), etc. For a very long time, I considered someone like Ryu, from Street Fighter, but then it hit me: I have never played Street Fighter and I don’t want to include him just because I know what a Hadouken is. It’d be... cheap. And fake. Thankfully, as I also mentioned earlier, I played LOTS of Budokai back in the day and I am an actual fan, so I don’t have to pretend to know what the heck I’m talking about. XD And, thankfully, most of the characters in DB games fight with their bare fists and legs, so they perfectly fit my needs. Yamhan is, of course, no exception.

Now comes my favourite reason to choose Yamhan and not, well, literally any other DB game-exclusive character. And that reason is style.

Remember that power escalation thing I mentioned earlier? Well, it’s epic, but it comes with a big disadvantage: power ends up becoming much more important than skill. Early Dragon Ball was very focused on fighting styles. There was an ongoing feud between the Turtle School and the Crane School, who taught different martial arts to fight in different ways, and there was a big plot involving which one was superior. It wasn’t just about who was strongest, but about who fought better. With time, that disappeared, though. Even though battles became flashier, aerial and more spectacular, they were much more indistinct. Sure, there were gimmicks like “heh, I have a tail and I will sometimes hit you with it,” or “I will try to hit your face with the palm of my hand instead of my fist for some unspecified reason,” but that isn’t... much. You just see very fast people avoiding equally as fast punches to the face. And Goku, the main character, only shows some style when he adopts a fighting pose BEFORE fighting. Once the punches start flying, it’s all a race to see who can hit the other the hardest in the gut to make them spit blood. Cool nonetheless, but still.

Ironically, though, it’s two of the least relevant characters who never really lost those styles that made them unique when they were first introduced to the series. And those are, of course, Yamcha and Tenshinhan.

Yamcha joins the Turtle School and learns techniques as classic as the Kamehameha, but he had his own style way before that, based on attacking and tearing enemies apart like a wolf would. This is best represented by his signature move, the Rougafuufuuken or Wolf Fang Fist. He never drops this style, but instead builds up on it through his training to make it even fiercer.

Tenshinhan has different things going for himself. First of all, he is a hybrid between a human being and a civilization known as the Three-Eyed People, which grants him powers such as growing extra arms from his back or dividing in 4. Not just moving so fast that it looks like there’s four of him, but ACTUALLY dividing into 4 separate bodies. In terms of skills, he was a Crane School student, but when he realised the wrong of his master’s doings, he decided to start training and developing on his own. Basically, a path that mirrors Yamcha’s, but both lead to unique fighting styles unlike anyone else’s in this universe. And, most importantly, none of them depend on appendixes that are always there, like the aforementioned tail, so they totally work for us here!

Shourin is a proper martial artist. He wouldn’t want to make himself crazy strong as much as he would like to refine his technique and learn new moves and tricks. Martial arts are about discipline, self-control, skill and protection. He would take a cool-ass combo based on a wolf’s moves over earth-shattering strength any day of the week, hence why the fact that these two have so many techniques to offer is so appealing.

Finally, and probably least, is the design idea that immediately came to my mind when I thought of a miximax between Shourin and Yamhan. Historically, I have had to work with characters like Fudou, who are usually mostly bald and they miximax with someone with hair, thus making for some very... difficult things to figure out. But the idea of miximaxing Shourin, who is mostly bald, with Yamhan, who is ALSO mostly bald, was just golden and too good to ignore. And the fact that Yamhan has three eyes GIVES ME AN EXCUSE TO ADD A THIRD CROSS-SHAPED EYE ON SHOURIN’S FOREHEAD. IF A MIXIMAX BETWEEN BALD PEOPLE WAS GOLDEN, THIS IS OUTRIGHT PLATINUM.

Shourin would've probably looked a lot less like a joke if he had had hair covering his entire head or if I had at least given him proper eyes... but that would no longer be the Shourin I love. Not to mention that it’s very likely that Shourin willingly shaves his head to begin with (even if the ponytail ain’t doing him any favours--but that’s just Inazuma logic, so let’s not look too much into it), just like Tenshinhan or Krillin do, so he would probably be happier to keep that, uh, advantage. Relative advantage, but still.

As a side note, though, we can’t forget the balance. When Yamcha and Tenshinhan fuse, they undoubtedly become the strongest human being in the DB universe, overcoming the one who is usually strongest: Krillin. A fusion is always greater than its parts individually, and Yamcha and Tenshinhan aren’t so far away from Krillin to begin with, so that’s not even a question. Regardless, they still don’t have that overwhelming and surreal strength from other characters, so we still don’t get into absolutely OP territory. Yamhan is strong enough to provide Shourin with a power that can make a real difference without completely putting him above everyone else.

Sadly, Yamhan doesn’t really have a backstory, as he’s a game-exclusive character that, honestly, was probably only there for a laugh. That means there is no deep connection between them. We can, however, make obvious connections between Shourin, an aspiring martial artist whose dream, as stated in IE2, was to study at Manyuuji (Kogure’s school) for their focus on martial arts, and is now trying to become stronger to protect what he loves, and two skilled warriors who have been training nonstop under different masters and on their own for basically their entire lives to keep becoming stronger and more skilled in order to defend what’s precious to them and, simply, to be the best version of themselves they can be. Upon seeing such dedicated warriors and artists, Shourin would undoubtedly want to learn from them and, if necessary, borrow their strength too.

Or he might just fanboy and ask for their autographs, honestly. I sure as heck want Yamcha’s. And his baseball card.