#like i get why they kept her because someone needed to connect the events back to the first movie

[livvyofthelake]

perhaps final destination 2 was just really bad. jj criminal minds you just did not give what needed to be gave…

[reiding-writing]

hiii congrats on 2k!

could I please have a second hand book with our dearly beloved cold reader? I'm thinking maybe she gets too drunk and Spencer has to take care of her? but I'm cool with anything!

love ya ❤️❤️

TALKING FISTS — SPENCER REID!

alcohol and a short temper don’t mix, who would’ve thought?

spencer reid x cold!reader | fluff? | 1.2k | cold!reader masterlist

WARNINGS | intoxicated!reader, fem!reader, reader punches someone and instigates a fight, mentions (but it doesn’t actually happen) of throwing up, reader is a bit of a twat as per usual

a/n — a bit of a different way for spencer to ‘look after’ our beloved cold!reader, but i think this is accurate to what would happen if she actually got super drunk 😭

main masterlist. | 2k book fayre !! | event masterlist.

Spencer knows you’ve had too much when he has to physically stop you from fighting someone.

Realistically, you’d had too much four drinks before that, but with the way Morgan was feeding you shots it was kind of hard to keep track.

It had been a long week, and you were in no mood to entertain anyone. Still, somehow, Garcia had convinced you to go out for drinks with everyone after a particularly difficult case.

You weren't the kind of person to get swept up in the camaraderie, but every now and again you gave in, and in this case specifically, you felt like the weight of the last few days might lift with a strong enough drink.

As the night wore on, you found yourself knocking back one drink after another, not even sure why you were still there.

Maybe it was because you needed to feel something other than the exhaustion that had taken up permanent residence in your bones.

Or maybe it was because Spencer kept looking at you with that concerned, too-perceptive gaze of his, like he could see right through your icy exterior.

You weren't sure when the tipping point happened, but somewhere between drink four and drink five, you became more irritable than usual.

The alcohol loosened the tight grip you usually had on your temper, making you feel even more impatient, even more annoyed at the crowd around you.

Someone bumped into you as they passed by, spilling a bit of your drink, and that was all it took to set you off.

“Watch it.” You snapped, your voice sharp.

The guy turned around, clearly drunk, and rolled his eyes. “Relax, it's just a drink.”

You stood up from your chair, your movements a little unsteady but your glare deadly. “I said, watch it.”

The guy laughed, looking you up and down like you were some sort of joke. “What, you gonna do something about it?”

Before you could even think about backing down, your fist connected with the side of his face.

It wasn’t a hard punch—not enough to seriously hurt him—but it was enough to shut him up.

Or at least, it should have been.

Instead, in the midst of the widened eyes and the gasps, he turns back towards you, chin cradled in his hand, and sneers.

“You wanna start something? Don’t think I won’t hit you back because you’re a fucking girl—”

Suddenly, there were hands pulling you back, the noise of the bar amplifying as more people got involved.

You were distantly aware of Spencer calling your name, trying to calm the situation, but your blood was boiling, and the alcohol made everything feel disconnected, like you were watching yourself in third person.

“Okay that’s enough—“ Spencer's voice cut through the haze, sharper than you were used to. He was beside you now, his hand on your arm, pulling you out of the fray. "Come on, we need to go now."

You wanted to protest, to rip your arm out of his grasp and tell him you didn’t need help, but the room was spinning, and you couldn’t seem to form a coherent sentence.

Spencer’s grip tightened, and before you knew it, he had steered you out of the bar, away from the chaos you had started.

The cool night air hit you hard, making you stumble, and if not for Spencer’s hands steady on your shoulders, you probably would’ve fallen over.

He guided you carefully towards a bench nearby, and you collapsed onto it, Spencer crouching in front of you with his brows furrowed in concern.

“Are you okay?” He asked softly, his voice soothing but full of worry.

You tried to wave him off, but your hand felt heavy, like it wasn't really yours. “I'm fine, Reid,” you slurred, though the words came out much less convincing than you intended.

“You’re definitely not fine,” Spencer said, a small, exasperated smile tugging at his lips despite the situation. “You just punched someone. In the face,”

You blinked at him, your brain struggling to process. “He was being a dick.”

Spencer sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I’m not saying he wasn’t, but you don’t usually… you know… punch people.”

You leaned back against the bench, the world still tilting slightly around you. “Maybe I should punch more people.”

He chuckled softly, shaking his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Then, his tone softened. “Let’s get you home.”

You were too tired to argue, and when Spencer helped you to your feet, you leaned on him more than you intended.

He was warm and steady, and you couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of comfort in his presence, even though you had spent so much time keeping everyone at arm's length.

Spencer wasn’t someone you ever imagined being close to, but in that moment, you were grateful for him.

The cab ride back to your apartment was quiet, with Spencer making sure you didn’t fall asleep or throw up on the way. When you finally stumbled through your front door, he guided you to the couch, sitting you down gently.

“You need anything? Water?” He asked, glancing around your apartment like he was looking for something that might help.

You groaned, resting your head in your hands. “Just… leave me alone.”

Spencer didn’t move. He stood there, awkwardly, clearly debating whether or not to listen to you. Eventually, he sighed and grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen, directing it into your unstable hands and carefully pushing the bottom of the glass upwards to direct it towards you lips.

“You’ll thank me in the morning,” he said quietly, and you could hear the hint of a smile in his voice as you reluctantly took the first sip.

And then it wasn’t so reluctant, and you downed the whole glass.

That seemed to satisfy Spencer enough for one night.

“Get some sleep okay? I’ll call you in the morning,”

“Whatever,”

Spencer presses his lips together in the hint of a smile as he turns to leave, content that you’ll be able to take care of yourself from here.

“Night,”

Spencer lets out a breath, fondness escaping through the cracks of his mouth. “Goodnight,”

[gangplanksorenji]

Kinknuary Day 14: Hate Sex

Pairing: IVE Gaeul x Male Reader

Word Count: 4,294

[Kinknuary Masterlist]

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Acquaintances, not even a dent but it’ll be hard to deal with but when you’re close with someone, you’re damn sure it won’t be ephemeral and will hold a grudge against you and that’s the last thing you want to see with someone you’re deeply close with.

Yet you eat your words and face that greatest fear of yours, on the verge of breaking apart and cutting connections yet you won’t let that happen even though everything’s falling apart, slowly…

“Gaeul—let me explain—”

“I fucking heard enough—get out of my place or I’ll do it myself!!” Gaeul’s grits her teeth as her words are laced with venom, aiming to faze you out yet it didn’t bother you to fight and to try and enlighten her with the right reasons and brush off the infuriating side that she involved herself into.

“Gaeul, please—it wasn’t much of a thing—we weren’t even close enough and it’s just a friendly approach—” 

“Yeah I know, dumbass—it’s just a friendly approach but it’s not that what makes me furious…” Gaeul clicks her tongue, faces you as she drops her bag onto the floor, giving you a cold stare that sends shivers down your spine and then inching closer towards you with her intimidating glare still painted on her face. “It’s the fact that you kept ignoring me all the time until t-this moment—why?”

You can see Gaeul getting melancholic as the emotions inside her are finally rising up within her veins, making her shed a tear because of all of the grudgeful events that have been happening until this day.

You weren’t ignoring her completely and you never did—it was just her sensitive and manipulative personality that you made yourself to distance away from her but not completely and it’s also the fact that you’ve been showing an interest to a girl that you’ve been captivated right from the start you met her and wanted a better connection but of course, Gaeul will make a hindrance because of her intense anger and jealousy over you. You love Gaeul, but in a way that’s maybe unorthodox and platonic for others but you didn’t care—you love her and you love the relationship you have with her for years, even though it’s not going over the limit but sometimes, she’s just being over the limit and you’re not liking it.

“Gaeul—just please, it’s not about that fact—”

“Then what?” Gaeul inches closer towards you, her eyes are now gleaming with her own tears due to the weightful emotions she’s experiencing, as it streaks down her cheeks and makes her makeup start to become a ruined mess. 

Your heart drops with her current gloomy state as you can feel the sincere sorrow in each of her words. In each word she expresses, it makes up for the poignant feelings she felt because of you and it’s breaking you slowly. You never wanted her to be like this, but here you are, locked with frustration and regret and there’s nowhere you can do to escape—technically, you can but you don’t want it to provoke her further and let this be the day to end your friendship with her.

You’d be with her until the end of time and you’ll let her know that yet this will be a challenge and you’re willing to endure and take it over.

“It’s about the fact of—” Silence ensues as she interrupts your further attempts of explanations as she latches her lips onto yours immediately and instantly, you became intoxicated with her scent that you fell under her spell, further reciprocating the kiss as she grips onto your collar tightly to further deepen the torrid kiss that she initiated. As much as you want to pull out and talk about the situation better, you can’t help but further need the taste of her luscious lips as your hands roamed around her back and played with her hair which tightens her grip onto your collar even more. Not so long after, the kiss came up to a close as she pushed you harshly and then glaring at you, starting daggers towards your heart.

“You know how much I hate you whenever you kiss me, right?”

“It w-wasn’t even—”

Gaeul chides you as she can sense the uneasiness in your eyes, and she took that as an opportunity to let you feel her wrath. Now pinned against the wall and frozen on the spot, Gaeul half-squinted her eyes as her voice tends to curse you and its tone is evidently made to faze you and all you can see is her small figure falling down on her knees, and gripping harshly onto the hem of your pants.

“Gaeul, c-can we just talk about this—”

“Shut the fuck up and just lean down on the wall.” Gaeul’s hands finds its way onto the buttons of your pants as she starts undressing your lower half and with that in mind, you know what Gaeul wants and further retaliation will just not work but rather put gasoline into the flames of anger. You just let her get what she wants as you will also derive pleasure from it but you know Gaeul’s going to put your life in misery within this given moment as you momentarily prepare for this.

“You know that I’ve been so fucking stressed lately and then you, added to that shit I’m going through—well, don’t worry, I’m going to use this delicious dick just for myself.”

Well, if this is how she’ll handle the situation, then so be it. With your defenses slowly becoming useless and deemed to be out of bounds, you take shallow breaths in order to prepare on what you’re about to tackle and ruthlessly, Gaeul yanks off your boxers out as she’s met with your erect length, constantly throbbing since the time she probably kissed you intimately. Unlike what you’ve fantasized or experienced with her, she eyes your cock like some sort of meal, not like something she’s been wanting for a long time as she spat all over your length, and stroked it starting from the base up to your engorged tip.

“Don’t call my name or touch me, because if you do, I’m going to really punch you, I swear to fucking god.”

She can’t be bothered with anymore foreplay as the hunger inside her took over and planted small kisses within your tip, and then sucking half of your length with already a ridiculous pace that inevitably lets out a series of ethereal moans coming out of your mouth, voicing your satisfaction. It’s obvious how deprived she is with your taste as the constant slurps on your shaft and her greedy pace of bobbing is a strong evidence, concluding to a fact she definitely wanted you yet anger and jealousy took over her that she became a different person.

Now, taking your whole length is each bob she does, more broken moans escape your lips as it forms symphonies for Gaeul to hear yet she doesn't care—all she wants is the taste of your cock and to fulfill her own needs. She didn’t mind the gags she does whenever your head hits the back of her throat as she continues to suck every inch of you like she’s been starving for weeks and with her current pace, you can’t help but writhe as you hands unable to find a leverage to fight the sudden peak of pleasure. You can’t help yourself and Gaeul know you can’t handle her properly, as she increases the quality of her oral expertise all over the length of your shaft and the inevitable comes, your hands finds its way onto Gaeul’s dark locks in which, she didn’t like and immediately, she pulled out of your length as the multiple connections of her saliva onto your shaft makes up the mess that made your arousal skyrocket.

Gaeul’s furious at what you’ve done and won’t let you get away from it as she snarls at you, her anger streaming over her like a hot kettle. “What the fuck did I just say? Are you that fucking stubborn??” 

Of course, the question is rhetorical and all you know is that you’ve fucked up with the wrong person. With Gaeul’s ice-cold glare towards you, it wasn’t going to long for a punishment to be ensued as her dainty fingers found its wall on your sensitive balls, and cups it gently. It was a rush of pleasure whenever she does that yet it was quickly changed when she wrapped her fingers around it, making it a makeshift cockring that definitely puts more salt onto the wounds—it’s a little painful yet it stimulates you even further as she continues her oral masterclass, slobbering all over your succulent shaft like there’s no tomorrow to see.

She maintains the ridiculous pace onto your whole length as her soft, warm cavern which is her mouth makes up for the constant pain she’s doing onto your sensitive balls, further unlocking your masochistic side. She shows no mercy and sympathy as she uses her mouth to further derive her wants as she can’t get enough and resist the taste of your length yet even with all of the great things that have been happening, it will all soon come to a halt as she pulls out and catches her breath desperately.

“God—you're glad your cock tastes fucking delicious and I can’t resist this—shit, be grateful because this could’ve ended worse.”

You’d want to argue with her on that scope, but you'd rather not, not when her rage is boiling hot and she wants not yet attended to its fullest. Further continuing her great expertise, she delivers such an incredible pace as her other hand grips onto your thighs for a leverage on a better job and sucking you off. Every thrust she does is genuinely making you brain being fried down into shambles and when forced herself onto deepthroating you, she crossed the line as you can’t help but cry on how great her throat feels, yourself getting weaker with her own spell. It didn’t take long before she ejected out due to her multiple gag reflexes and god, once you look down, you can’t help but feel more aroused with the sight of face sullied with her own makeup, saliva and her disheveled hair.

“I’m g-going to suck this dick until you cum deep down my throat, do you understand?” You nod eagerly as she smirks as strokes your saliva-sheathed length and mutters more commands, “Don’t you dare hold back and be a good boy for me.”

You won’t let her down and will deliver up to her finest desires as she latches her lips onto your engorged head, collecting the copious precum that has been leaking out and then eagerly shoved down your whole length for the umpteenth time in her throat and ensued with a rapid pace. It was breaknecking as the copious drool stained her hands still gripping onto your balls, onto your thighs and some dripping on the floor and it’s just a great element to further ignite the essence of an incredible oral session. She can sense how close you are due to you needy moans and the constant throbbing of your shaft and with profound knowledge, she further doubles her efforts as she needs to taste every drop of your succulent, creamy semen that she’s been addicted to and there’s no way you’re going to last long. Given the fact that she’s been giving you the euphoric experience you’ve had for an undeniably long time now, you’re not able to savor the moments you’d want to as you can feel your loins acting up and hell’s about to break loose for you.

“Gaeul—I’m g-gonna cum…”

Gaeul took this as an opportunity to show how she’s more deserving than anyone and how you could never find someone like her. She didn’t even bother responding by words, but rather, her own, frantic actions as she plunged her throat deep down as she gags and you finally, let out the pinnacle of paramount bliss—shooting streak of thick, creamy semen down her throat as she gags in every spurt, but fight through it because she wants to take it all and not waste a single drop. She successfully did it, given on how great she takes your cock and suddenly, your seed instantly disappeared and is now treasure down to her stomach as she hummed in satisfaction because of your delectable load.

“Can’t get enough of this cum of yours—fuck, it’s so delicious.” Gaeul shares her satisfaction with the flavorful taste of your semen as she averts her eyes towards you, still with a cold glare as she stands up and lets you know about something you’ll never forget. “I guess she can’t do it like I do, hm? Like I said, you’re not gonna find another one like me.” Gaeul, still fueled with her rage, stands up and commands you to lay down on the couch in which you find it puzzling as you’re genuinely confused on why she’s acting like this.

“Gaeul—please, can w-we just talk about this?” Your pleas doesn't let Gaeul distract herself onto her desired prize as she’s still not done with you and would rather hear your moans than your annoying voice pleading for something better.

“Maybe we’ll fucking talk if you dumped another load, now inside my cunt.” Gaeul retorts as she pushes you off the couch and you land with a thud, her not minding if you were alright or hurt because she’s feeling selfish due to her anger blinding her and her animalistic desires that unleashes the devilish side of her. With still your length being full-erect despite your already-impeding orgasmic trance, Gaeul eyes on it as she pounces on your lap like a bunny, hopping onto its favorite meal: your length, still wet with own saliva as she strokes it furiously in order to maintain the libido inside you. 

“Ga—Gaeul, I c-can’t take it anymore—I’m too sensitive!”

Well, she completely ignored your pleas and with that, she completely uses this as her own advantage as she toys with you, further pumping your throbbing length with feverish strokes in which you respond with whimpers due to your sensitivity.

“I don’t care—don’t tell me you don’t want this, asshole! Bet she can’t make you whimper like I do, hm?”

As much as you want to retaliate and stop this madness, you can’t help but feel utter pleasure and pain whenever she strokes your entire length as her touch is your kryptonite, and it will always be that way. Having enough of giving your shaft such pleasurable strokes, she strips her clothing one by one while still pouncing on your lap and with the sight of Gaeul’s slender body on display, your shaft can’t help but twitch because of how hot she is. Given her graceful and quick movements, she removed all of her clothes in quick succession yet she needed to hop off on your lap to strip her lower half and after removing it all, she quickly pounced and teases her lower lips onto your tip. The both of you moaned in unison because of such a great feeling coursing down your veins with your bodies clashing against each other yet Gaeul is growing impatient, opting for the climactic prize as she eagerly plunges herself onto your entire length. 

After she impales herself with your raging rod, such sultry and sexy moans escape her lips as she misses the feeling of your dick inside her tight, velvety walls. She ensued a moderate pace as she greedily grinds her hips onto your length, withdrawing with only the tip inside and then slamming her hips back, filling her up to the hilt which made her moaned incredibly loud and you, groaning your satisfaction out as your sensitivity slowly dissipates as time goes by and with her rapid thrusts on your shaft. 

You know how incredible it feels everytime Gaeul rides you as she always brings her best, hopping and clashing her hips in contact with your body harshly as she brings the peak pleasure that you’ve always loved. Even though you know how she’s becoming selfish and using your body just for her own gratification and her needs to be fulfilled, you can’t still help but notice how she’s reconsidering your own pleasure as her movements laced with finesse and the peak-quality of her thrusts against you is a strong evidence.

“Yeah—see? You can’t think about her right now, don’t you? Yeah—because you can’t help but get so fucking turned on with my pussy, hah—that’s why, you prick!”

Gaeul growls at you as she uses your shirt as the leverage to further ensure a breakneck pace and to further fight the intense pleasure that’s been coursing down her veins since the start she rode you. You could feel her wetness in every thrust she does on your shaft as rivulets of her own nectar overflow around your shaft and stain the couch—and here comes another event where the both of you will literally stain and destroy another couch because of both your filthiness. The wet squelching of her shaft sends your brain into a stimulation that further makes everything better yet it’s becoming way too pleasurable that you’re starting to have your mind clouded with only the gripping walls of pussy that puts you into a hypnotic trance.

“Gaeul—p-please, if w-we can just talk—”

A smack resonates around the room as she slapped your face with anger still boiling within her as you feel a sting yet it didn’t really hurt you because she didn’t bring much power onto that smack. As how your previous attempts of persuading her onto talking to you in a better way possible concluding onto a major fail as everything was deemed useless against her, you’d just keep your mouth shut and relive and cherish the pleasure that she’s been delivering as you totally succumb onto your own needs too, groaning in pleasure and moaning to voice out how good she’s riding you even though she doesn't acknowledge your sincere compliments towards her—even with her holding a deep grudge, you know that deep inside, she’s deeply flustered because she knows how your compliments literally fuel her do more and makes it more endearing.

The sight of Gaeul’s cunt constantly engulfing your entire length as she creams all over it, her perky mounds jiggling in every time she gyrates her hips and her expressions and moans that contains pure lust and wants—even though she’s suppressing the sounds that’s coming out of her mouth and trying her absolute best to make up a stern and intimidating look, she can’t help but let her true self out as the pleasure is making her give in to her true feelings and putting her hypocritical demeanor into its demise—is so arousing that you’d literally want to take a picture or a video just to save it and possibly even jerk off to it on your free time but of course, you’d probably just conceal everything and let both of your eyes only be the ones to see this filthy masterpiece.

With her given pace, Gaeul can’t help but just lure in to her own carnal desires as she’s coming near to her own promised land, drawing herself closer onto her rewarding trance as the constant pulsations of her pussy and her juices spilling out of it as the evidence of her nearing high. Knowing about this, you thrust yourself upwards as surprisingly, she didn’t bother to stop you but even encouraged you to do so and with her final oscillations, she’s going over to the line and all will break loose.

“God—I’m going to fucking cum all over this stupid cock—shit, it f-feels so—ahh—good—gonna cum!!”

It just took a single scream from Gaeul as she creams all over your throbbing shaft, her juices spilling out and making everything on its vicinity wet and it’s further worsen when she pulled out of your length, spraying her liquid nectar all over your abdomen, your shaft and on the sofa. She falls limp on the sofa as she catches her breath, regaining herself some energy from the enervating orgasm that sends shockwaves throughout her body as euphoria takes over her. Still having some of her energy left, she chides towards you to do something as she complains on how your cock can always make her cum hard.

“Gosh—glad I can only feel this cock ‘cause—fuck, this cock makes me cum so fucking hard I fucking love it… Now will you fuck me? Be sure to finish in me ‘cause I want that load deep inside my cunt.”

Her sinful words makes up for the sudden loss of tempo as you stood up from the couch and without any question, Gaeul positions herself where her freshly-fucked cunt is all on display, all for you to take with no-return and to end what she started a while ago. Your hands then grabbed her hips as her flexibility was tested, her legs now rested onto your shoulders as you immediately plunged your length back into her wet folds and then mustered a ridiculous pace in which she always loved. There was no more foreplay as it was out of the equation as both your needs should be attended as soon as possible yet Gaeul isn’t a fan of what your hips are capable of doing.

“Come on—fuck me harder, come o-on—oh fuck!”

Gripping her hips harshly enough for a bruise to form, you ensued more power in each of your thrusts as she moaned in need with your utter harshness, treating her body like a ragdoll as every plummet your hips do meant to break her in half and turn herself into a mess, uttering such lifeless syllables full of lust and greed. Even with your breakneck pace, Gaeul can’t seem to be impressed with the way you’re treating her as she complains again, fury taking over her and making her boil.

“I s-said—fuck m-me harder—oh shit, just like-fucking-that you stupid asshole!!”

You then fuck her with a pace imaginable, your hips mustering up a velocity that no one can comprehend as you let your pent-up anger inside fuel the rapid thrusts that’s bound to break her apart and possibly, to fuck out the anger she’s feeling and to succumb onto her wanton needs. 

It may seem impossible on this given moment but being derived to fulfill each other’s needs is the best way to end this even though her rage for you is still deep within her—you just hope you can fix this in a better way possible but for now, you’ll just dig yourself closer to the rabbit hole, a hole closer to your own lustful desires and to succumb onto it,

There’s no way Gaeul can’t tell how closer you are on reaching your own, long-awaited high as you gave her cunt the last, ruthless thrusts that made her cry due to the intense gratification she’s feeling as she close her eyes and lets her senses gave her the better stimulation than ever before. Without holding back, you announce your near orgasm to Gaeul and she took this as an opportunity to fulfill her needs as she sexily moans for you for further encouragement and it’s not going to be long before you reward both yourselves.

“Fuck—I’m gonna cum inside y-you, Gaeul—shit, g-gonna cum!!”

Now with her legs repositioning to hug your waist and to further lock your whole length to be buried deep inside her, you groan with the tightness her walls are making as you bury your shaft more, filling her up to hilt and shooting down multiple spurts of your treasured seed right onto her womb. Your thighs quiver when you deliver her your semen as at her end, she became enervated due to the exhaustive session of sex and the mind-boggling stimulation that made her brain go haywire. You kept buried in her until your orgasm impeded, and then, you pulled out to admire the mess you’ve made between her legs and as expected, the both of you fell limp onto the couch. With enough courage, you asked her something and anticipated a better approach yet you’re still met with something else you didn’t like.

“Now, can we talk?”

Gaeul rolls her eyes as frustration is still embedded within her, but you can see it being lifted by a little due to the faint smile she did after receiving a warm load deep in her cunt. “I’ll go and clean up first.”

Having a little faith, you let her do what she wanted to do as she stood up and a visible struggle was evident when her legs became a little wobbly due to the intensity of your pace and hers earlier. You ensued on helping but she brushed it off and said that she’s fine and she can help herself up.

But there’s maybe a single thing that Gaeul can’t withstand nor do against it as it’s inevitable for her to resist and put a sleep onto…

“Hey…” Gaeul stopped as she called you, and you were fazed by it but you brushed it off as responded to her.

“What, Gaeul?”

Gaeul sighs as her stern glare still shoots daggers at you, but her tone is now softer than what it was before, “Come and join me in the shower, then we’ll talk right after.”

Yes, her weakness is literally you as you’re insatiable for her. Guess what? There’s maybe another chance to clot what has been wounded and fix what has been broken but you could never be so sure but that? That’s a sign of mending and that alone gives you hope for the better…

[deliciousangelfestival]

The Malicious Daughter is Back! - 2

Character : Bucky Barnes x Female!Reader

Summary: It's just a business marriage. Bucky thought it would be easy until he encountered the stepsister of his fiancée. She turned his world upside down.

The Malicious Daughter Is Back! Series Masterlist

Main Masterlist || Support : Ko-fi 🙏🏻

Thank you to everyone who has read this chapter. Leave a comment and Reblog, please. I'd love to hear your thoughts. ❤️

“Cassy, pardon my eldest daughter. As a mother, I admit the mistakes and the shame you've witnessed today.” Genevieve clasped her friend’s hands together, her demeanor polished yet tense.

She couldn't ruin Victoria and Bucky's engagement because of you. She had worked hard to persuade her husband to connect with the Barnes.

Juliana looked at Genevieve, noting how she was swallowing her pride—a remarkable feat for such a proud woman. She gently patted her friend's hand. “It’s alright. Every family has its own troubles.”

Genevieve's face brightened upon hearing that. She placed a hand on her chest. “Oh, what a great friend you are. I’m so glad we’re going to be in-laws.”

Victoria felt a wave of relief wash over her. Your attempt to ruin her future hadn't succeeded.

Bucky and his mother, exuding an air of sophistication and wealth, got into their Rolls-Royce Phantom. Juliana's movements were graceful, and her every gesture was a testament to their family's high status. Still silent and composed, Bucky followed her, his mind racing with thoughts of the day’s events.

In the quiet ride, Bucky's mind kept replaying the events of the day. His fingers touched his lips.

Someone had touched his face and kissed him.

He hadn’t vomited or fainted.

He would have to see the doctor tomorrow.

“Are you alright?” Juliana looked at her son, noticing how unusually quiet he seemed. He hadn't shown any reaction when she saw him get so close to you. Compared to Victoria, she could see Bucky's face turn pale.

Bucky murmured, “It's strange.”

Then he looked at his mother. “After what we saw today, do you still want to keep the engagement going?”

Juliana tilted her head and crossed her arms. “We need their money. I thought being in-laws would benefit us, but I'm starting to have second thoughts. We'll see.”

She asked, “What about you? If you don't like it, we can stop the wedding.”

Bucky hummed, his eyes looking out the window. “I don't know.”

Right now, all he needed was an answer to why he didn’t react when you kissed him.

He grabbed his phone and started typing, his fingers moving quickly over the screen. “I want you to search for someone.” Then he clicked send.

Within a minute, his phone vibrated with a message: “OK.”

Bucky leaned back in his seat, his fingers lingering on his lips, his mind racing as the car smoothly glided through the city streets.

💋💋💋💋

Inside the bedroom, Bucky emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, water droplets glistening on his six-pack abs and muscular chest. His dark hair was damp, and he exuded a fresh, clean scent.

He had spent an hour in the shower, trying to wash away the sensation of Victoria’s touch.

Then he heard his phone buzz again. It was the information he had requested about your background.

He quickly put on his pants, then sat on the edge of his bed, his body still slightly wet, and started reading the message, his eyes scanning the details intently.

The story unfolded: you are the child of the first wife. After your mother's death, your father, Jonathan, brought another woman and her daughter into the house.

It turned out that when Jonathan was drunk, a woman took advantage of the situation. That woman was Genevieve, and her daughter was Victoria.

You hated your stepmother and stepsister, becoming a rebel. You caused chaos at home and were a troublemaker at school, until the day you were finally kicked out of the house.

Bucky read on until he reached the part about your occupation. His eyes widened in disbelief, and he stood up abruptly. “She's what?!”

🎒🎒🎒🎒

“RINGGGG!”

The bell's sound echoed throughout the entire building. It was supposed to signal the students to enter their classrooms. But they didn’t. They continued smoking, sitting on the floor, or sleeping.

This was a common sight at Granite Hills Reform School, where problematic, delinquent students from all over the country were gathered.

“Tuck. Tuck. Tuck.” The sound of something hitting the floor echoed in the hallway. Students who were still lingering started to head into their classrooms. The sound served as a final warning for them.

They didn’t want to have a problem with the person responsible for the noise.

“It’s time to enter the class, you lazy pricks. Why the heck are you guys still here? Are you discussing the solution for world peace?” You tapped a baseball bat on a locker door, addressing the final-year students who were still acting tough.

The students who had been acting strong before began to back away. One of them pulled a friend away from starting a fight with you. “Let's go. Didn’t you hear she fought two students who weighed like sumo wrestlers?”

“It was her? Damn. No wonder she broke her left hand.”

You watched as the last group of students left the hallway. Now it was empty.

You entered your classroom. Your students were already waiting for you, looking attentive and ready.

You sat on your chair and rested your leg on your teacher's desk.

Pointing at one student, you said, “Andre, prepare the TV.”

“TV again? When can we study?” Jimmy, one of the students, complained.

“Now you want to study? Fuck. I don't get paid enough for this,” you retorted.

“Grab your phone and look for 'To Kill a Mockingbird,'” you instructed.

“We didn't use the book?” Jimmy asked.

“What's the point? You're going to throw the book away,” you replied.

The other students agreed with your reasoning.

“Read two chapters, and I will ask you questions,” you said.

The students in your class started complaining amongst themselves, but you didn't care.

After a while, you announced, “Time's up,” and began asking questions.

You got up from your seat and walked around the class, your presence commanding attention. Then, you picked unlucky student Jimmy.

“Who is Scout Finch, and how does she introduce herself and her family in Chapter 1?” you asked.

Jimmy gulped nervously. “Scout Finch is a local shopkeeper who lives alone and has no family.”

“WRONG,” you declared bluntly.

“Miss, I know the answer,” Andre raised his hand eagerly.

“Give it to me,” you commanded.

“Scout Finch is the young narrator of the story. She introduces her father, Atticus Finch, her brother, Jem, and mentions her mother’s death,” Andre confidently answered.

You snapped your fingers, a smirk playing on your lips. “That's right. Bravo.” Then, you pulled dollar bills from your pants pocket and handed them to Andre.

“As a reward, you could skip this class, buy a coca-cola for you, and grab a coffee from the cafeteria for me,” you said.

“But… I'm diabetic,” Andre protested.

“A mineral water for you then,” you replied dismissively.

Andre rolled his eyes and left the classroom. As he headed to the cafeteria, he never imagined that the hallway would be empty and the dirty graffiti gone.

All of this has happened since you joined this school, and the crime records have also decreased significantly.

You were scary as heck, but you had made a change in this school.

As Andre returned to the class with the drinks, he saw someone who seemed out of place entering the building.

He looked the gentleman up and down. This man seemed to embody the type of person he wanted to become when he grew up.

“I'm looking for Miss Sinclair,” the man asked Andre with a deep voice.

Andre raised his eyebrows, taken aback. “My teacher?”

💋💋💋💋

Back in the classroom, you sat behind your teacher's desk, still asking questions while waiting for your coffee. You rested your right arm behind you and propped your legs up on the desk again.

Finally, Andre entered.

“Finally—" you began, but your words stopped short when you saw the person behind your student.

“Whaa—Andre, did you bring your master?” Jimmy asked, starting to laugh. “Hahaha—oh.” He realized he was the only one laughing in the class.

Andre handed you your coffee. “Here's your coffee, miss. This gentleman is looking for you.”

“Oh, you have a gigolo, miss?” Jimmy quipped.

You looked at the guest while sipping your hot coffee. “The outfit he's wearing from head to toe is worth more than your net worth, Jimmy.”

Other students murmured while Jimmy asked, “Should I become a gigolo too?”

“What are you doing here?” you asked Bucky.

“I want to talk to you,” Bucky replied.

“I don't have time,” you retorted.

“Is this how you talk after you stole a kiss from me?” Bucky's words hung in the air.

“Oohhh…,” the students murmured in surprise, their voices echoing in the classroom. Seeing their intimidating teacher talking to a man who looked prosperous, and she stole a kiss??

“RINGGGG…”

“Get all of your asses out of this room,” you commanded sternly, gesturing for the students to leave.

“Awww,” the students started complaining, reluctant to leave as they wanted to see what happened next. However, they eventually relented and filed out of the classroom, grumbling as they went. In a short moment, the classroom had become empty.

“Is this how you talk to your students?” Bucky asked, a hint of amusement in his voice, observing your interaction with the students.

“They're not students, they're devil spawn,” you replied with a wry smile, leaning back in your chair with a sense of satisfaction.

“Pfft…” Bucky turned away his face, trying his best not to laugh. Now, he realizes entirely that you're different from all the women he's ever met, especially Victoria.

“So why are you here? Is it because I kissed you without your consent?” you asked bluntly, raising an eyebrow.

Bucky cleared his throat. “Ehm. Partly. And I want to talk to you about something else. Please,” he replied politely, his demeanor surprisingly calm despite the situation.

You raised your eyebrows, not expecting him to ask so politely. He didn't seem mad, even after you kissed him. You were starting to feel like Bucky was too good for your stepsister.

Author Note: I have so much fun writing this chapter 😂

Taglist:

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Author Note: Hey friends,

If you've been enjoying the content, I've set up a Ko-fi account.

Your support through tips would mean the world and help me keep creating.

Only if you feel like it!

Here's the link: Ko-fi

Thanks a bunch for being fabulous followers!

[arlana-likes-to-write]

Lightning Bug - Chapter 23

Masterlist

Warning: sleep deperivation, a form of self harm, gay panic

Word count: 2.3k

The ringing of a bell announced your arrival at Lucia’s store. “I’ll be right with you,” her voice traveled from the back of the store.

“Take your time; it’s just me,” you called out and headed to the history section. You wanted to add supplemental reading on the topic you and Vision started. He said you would have to complete a project so you thought it was a good idea to get head start. You enjoyed your lesson with Vision as he taught you about early civilizations in India. After your time with Vision, it was straight into the training room with Maria. She was…intense, for lack of a better word. She discovered your limit and pushed you to reach past it. It made sense why she was Nick’s right-hand woman. You were thankful for the peace of Lucia’s shop.

“Hello, mjia,” Lucia said, holding a stack of books. You took the top few from her.

“Hi, how are you?” You asked and began to put the books away. You missed working here, the mundane action and it was an excellent way to shut your brain off.

“Busy since my best employee left me for the Avengers,” she teased and returned to her desk. You rolled your eyes and followed her with the books you picked out in your hand.

“I was your only employee, senora,” you said. “You may need to hire someone.” She mumbled something in Spanish you missed. You bite your lip as you grab a notebook from a pile on her desk labeled ‘free.’ “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course, child,” you sighed, handing her the books you wanted to check out.

“Have you noticed anything weird going on in the neighborhood?” You asked. She looked at you curiously.

“Define weird,” you took the books from her and placed them in the bag you brought.

“Like people going missing and talking about me.” You quickly summarized. Lucia sighed, doing the sign of the cross across her chest. You should have kept your mouth shut.

“I noticed some regulars that usually show up on Tuesday meetings haven’t been around,” you frowned. Every Tuesday night, Lucia held events for people experiencing homelessness in the community. You could study, get help with resumes, or have a quiet place to be.

“I’m guessing the police don’t care, right?” She nodded. That was typical. The NYPD never cared about you or the others who lived on the street. “Thank you. If you hear anything else, let me know.”

“I will, but be careful,” she said. “I fear something dark is coming our way.”

*

You took the notebook from Lucia and threw the bag onto the floor. With a sigh, you climbed into bed. There was so much information running through your head. The weird warning by Caesar and Lucia noticed people disappearing. What was going on? You began to write everything in the notebook and how you were connected to all of this.

None of it made sense. You were a nobody. People recognized you because of your appearance or saw you as an easy target. You were someone now because the Avengers took you in. You bite the end of the pencil. If it had to do with the Avengers, why target you?

“Miss. Y/n,” Friday said. “Just as a reminder, you have a meeting with Mr. Stark and Mr. Banner.” You sighed and stood up, placing the notebook underneath your pillow. The last thing you wanted was to have a math lesson, but you packed your bag and headed for the lab.

*

“Is everything okay?” Pepper asked, causing you to look up from the tablet you were working on. After math, it was your internship with Pepper. Math was well math. Bruce and Tony made it enjoyable, but you still needed clarification. Once you were done, you stopped in the kitchen for a snack and walked to Pepper’s office. She explained that your internship would include a lot of the work you were already plus attending some meetings to take minutes and designing presentations. “You’ve been oddly quiet.” You sighed and tapped your thumbs against the screen.

“I went to see Lucia, the owner of a bookstore I used to go to a lot,” you started. “She said many of the regulars that go to weekly events haven’t shown up. No one knows where they are,” she frowned and closed her laptop.

“Have they reported it to the police?” You rolled your eyes with a huff.

“The police don’t care about us,” you admitted. “Besides, it’s hard to report a missing person when people come and go so much. There was a guy named Larry; he would disappear for 5 months, then come back and act like nothing happened.” The CEO sighed, folding her hands on top of her desk.

“Well, I’ll talk to Tony. Maybe he can put some pressure on the local police.” You stared at the CEO, blinking once, then twice. You weren’t sure what would come of it telling Pepper, but getting the Avengers involved was not it.

“Tony probably has other things going on,” you said, trying to deter from involving the billionaire. “More important things.” You added to prevent her from asking him.

“The Avengers are here to help people,” she stated. “Especially those in our backyard,” she smiled and reopened her laptop. “Do you care about this?” You were a little surprised by the question. You nodded; even though they weren’t the nicest to you, they were still people. And these people had someone who cared about them. “Then it’s settled. I’ll talk to Tony tomorrow.” You smiled.

“Thank you, Pepper.”

“Don’t mention it,” she smirked. “Now, get back to work,” she teased. You giggled and got back to work. If the Avengers were involved, you could get more than answers on where all these people were going. Could you figure out what else was going on?

*

You stared up at the ceiling, hands behind your head and music softly playing from the Walkman. Dinner was filled with questions about your first day of ‘school’, then Natasha and Wanda ensured all your homework was done before you went to bed. However, sleep was not going to happen. You couldn’t turn off your brain. You kept reliving the past few days. Turning off the music, you quietly left your room. Once again, your socked-covered feet led you to the training room. Like clockwork, you uncovered the machine and ensured empty batteries were ready to charge.

You faced the machine head-on and felt the electricity dance around your fingertips, but you refused to release it. Inside, you let the electricity grow and felt the warmth that radiated off of it. For the longest time, that warmth scared you. You associated that warmth with a punishment, but now you like it. It was another reminder that you were free.

You shot your hand forward and released the charge until the batteries were full. You repeated the process until your body began to feel tired, and your mind was blanketed. You knew you would sleep through the night.

*

Unfortunately, you felt stuck in a cycle. Classes, training, homework, and your nightly visit to the machine so you could get sleep. Was it healthy? Yes? At least you weren’t yourself. You were depleting your powers to force your mind into a dreamless sleep. There was no danger to your hippocampus, and you used your powers to help others.

On the fifth day of this self-made schedule, you were running on empty. Every word Vision was saying about the ancient world wasn’t registering. Your brain was mush. “Miss. Y/n,” you jerked awake at the conversation change. The man was smiling. “That’s the third time you’ve fallen asleep. Is the caste system of Ancient India not entertaining enough for you?” He teased.

“No, it is,” you defended. “And you are doing a great job. I just-“Vision chuckled, closing the book. “You are mean.”

“Go get some rest,” he said. “I’ll speak with the others and cancel your lessons for the day.” Oh, you could give him the biggest hug.

“You are amazing,” you shoved your books into your backpack. “Thank you so much!”

“Your health is more important than a civilization that’s been long gone,” you giggled, thanked him again, and took the elevator to your floor. It was thankfully empty as you made a beeline for your room. Throwing your backpack on the ground, you flopped onto the bed and fell fast asleep.

Persistent knocking on your door woke you up. You groaned, rubbing the sleep out of your eyes. “Come in,” you called out, not bothering to sit up. When the door opened, you saw America walk into your room. You rolled over to make room as she ran and jumped on your bed.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi,” you closed your eyes. “I was sleeping.”

“I know,” she giggled. Unbelievable. “But you’ve been so busy we haven’t hung out, so when Vision told me you were excused from your lessons, I came running,” you opened your eyes, and her head was turned to look at you. “Hi,” America smiled.

“You are a dork,” you said, rolling on your back and ignoring how your stomach flipped. “So what do you have in mind?” The bed shifted as you heard her get up. She grabbed your hand and pulled you into a sitting position. The smile she wore now was bigger, a little mischievous. “America,” you said slowly.

“Do you trust me?” She asked. You sighed, nodding your head.

“Yeah, I trust you.” She jumped from your bed and crackled your knuckles. Oh boy. Her eyes began to glow a light blue, a similar color and look to your electricity. You scrambled off your bed as she punched at your wall. A giant star formed, matching the style of some of her clothes. What surprised you was you saw people walking around - going about their day-to-day life as if a star wasn’t right next to them.

“Is this a portal-”

“To the multiverse?” You nodded. “Yeah, it is,” she held out her hand. “I did ask if you trusted me.” You laughed, took her hand, and allowed her to pull you through the portal. It closed behind you, and you were on a sidewalk similar to New York City. Nothing seemed out of place.

“Are you sure-” You saw cars flying in the sky. Your jaw dropped. “How is this possible?”

“It’s the multiverse, silly,” she dragged you down the sidewalk, where you saw inventions from every sci-fi book you’ve read - flying cars, hoverboards, and hologram phones. “Christianity never existed here,” she pulled you closer so she could whisper. “So the Dark Age never occurred, and humanity is 1000 years more advanced.”

“This is-” You were struggling to find a word to describe everything happening around you.

“I know,” she squeezed your hand. “It’s kind of crazy, but you get used to it.” You were curious to know if you would ever get used to it. “Let’s go get some food and explore.”

While you ate ‘pizza,’ you were curious if they called it something else here; America gave you the rules of multiverse travel. The biggest thing was not to cause an incursion - when the boundary between two universes erodes, and they collide, destroying one or both. When asked how to avoid that, America said it occurs with prolonged travel within the multiverse. “So we won’t stay long,” she took your hand and rang out of the restaurant.

Something about spending time with America outside the tower was different. She was always smiling around the others, but her smile was unlike her usual smile. It wasn’t as large and softer - she seemed happier. Was it because she was using her powers so freely? Or was it because it was just you and her? No team. No prying eyes. But no, you couldn’t think like that. America deserved someone better than you. Someone who wasn’t broken, scarred, and haunted so profoundly by their past. It was unfair to her.

“Y/n!” She yelled your name, and suddenly, her body crashed into yours, and you began to fall. Your back never made contact with the concrete sidewalk instead you saw the outline of her star as you fell into another timeline. You knew something was wrong by the way America held onto you; bruises were going to form on your arms.

Each time you expected to stop falling, the ground never came. Your stomach was flipping as you flew between different portals. It was never-ending as the world kept changing around you. For a split second, it was black and white, then hand-drawn. Were you in a jungle? You weren’t sure, but you wanted it to stop! You felt the grip America had on you loosen as she pushed you forward.

Time slowed down as you flipped through space and headed toward a portal. “America!” You yelled for her. It was impossible to control your body as you flew through the portal. You expected to keep falling, but your back hit a hard wooden floor - the air was knocked out of your lungs. Coughing a few times, another portal appeared above you, and you rolled out of the way before America landed on you.

“Thanks for breaking my fall,” she groaned. You sat up, rubbing the back of your head. The world was still spinning, and you felt sick to your stomach.

“Where are we?” You were sitting at the bottom of a tall staircase. The floor was wooden with a circular design, and you liked the blue. You saw a few areas to sit at. America sat up quickly, eyes wide and the color draining from her face.

“The where is subjective,” a mysterious voice said. “But I do know you are in a lot of trouble.”

_

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[wolfjackle]

Today I needed to get out of the house for a number of reasons, mostly related to current events.

I hadn't slept well, mostly because I live with my Nana and she doesn't realize how loud her TV is when she falls asleep. Usually I can sleep through it, but not last night.

So I stayed in bed later than I like to. Woke up at a reasonable enough time, but stayed in bed on my tablet and phone for a while trying to fall back asleep before giving up on that.

And I really needed to get out of the house.

So I drove the thirty minutes or so to a hiking trail I like. There's two places I can park, and I chose the one that gave the longest walk. Didn't arrive until about 3 in the afternoon.

Well, where I live, it's full dark by 5:30. I knew I'd be cutting it close. But I wanted to do the full walk. All the way to the beach. Sit by the waves for a few minutes after some time alone in the woods.

It was glorious. I didn't care that I was wearing jeans and sneakers. That sand got all over me.

But, like I said. This was the long walk and you can already see night is setting in from the picture. I still had about a 2 mile walk through the woods to get back to my car.

Gorgeous woods, let me tell you. But still. It's getting dark fast.

I realized I probably messed up when I saw how dark the path was getting. When the sun was no longer visible above the trees.

So I sprinted down sections of the path until I was out of breath. Do you know how long it had been since I'd sprinted for no real reason but to do it? It was so much fun. I started by trying to get to the car faster. I kept going because it made me laugh.

There was no one around. The birds were singing their evening songs. And I was running down the trail in the growing dark.

The moon, visible the entire walk, kept getting brighter and brighter. Only half full, but shining bright enough to help with the setting sun.

I get near the end of the trail. The sun has fallen below the horizon, but you can still see it's light just above. And across from it shines the moon. It was breathtaking.

And standing on the edge of the water was another person. They don't see me, but they're watching the sunset and I want to pause and watch as well.

So I called out. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

She's surprised, but happy, to find someone else out just enjoying nature and a sunset. We watch together for a few minutes. Casual conversation about the view and the place we live. Compare different walks and places we like to go.

Then I go out on another limb. I say, "Current events are making me rethink some life choices."

Two hesitant sentences confirm we're both scared of the future with a Trump presidency. She's 84 and looks back on the past and is ashamed that this is what she's left with. But she grieves with me for being young and having to navigate the world we're about to enter.

Not in so many words. We talked around the issues mostly. Just wanting to luxuriate in a beautiful sunset, the knowledge that the ocean is unchanging and eternal, and that there will be life after this, no matter what happens.

But our anxieties sneak in.

As we walk the quarter mile or so back to the parking lot, it gets darker and darker. But the moon is bright enough to reflect of the water and cast shadows if you look.

(My phone brightened the photo. It was so much darker in person. And the moonlight reflecting on the water so much more beautiful.)

An owl hooted in the distance; she couldn't hear it (she spent time in an orchestra sitting next to the tympanis).

We never exchanged names. I considered it. Considered saying "I'm Wolf, by the way." But I didn't. I'm not sure why. And I'm not sure why she didn't either.

But it was beautiful. Standing next to a stranger. Watching a sunset. Discussing the big topics. And the small.

I spent maybe half an hour with her, but I don't think I'll ever forget it.

Nothing was fixed. The world is too big for that. But that moment of connection? It helped. It really, really helped.

[liffy-feelin-jiffy]

Team Blue headcanons!

Goggles

His real name is John, taking inspiration from the promo character he’s based off of.

Major ADHD. He isn’t diagnosed, but he knows because his dad who also has ADHD saw the symptoms in him.

He’s bi! Both bisexual and biromantic. He later finds out he’s polyamorous because he has a crush on more than one person.

He’s been in a relationship before with this one girl a while back. (His team did not like her very much) Things actually lasted for a while between them, but not too long before the beginning events of the manga followed, she just left him out of nowhere. It busted him up a little at first, especially since the girl said “I just don’t wanna be seen with an idiot anymore”, but he got back on his feet fairly quick thanks to support from his friends and family. And while it also made it slightly more difficult to for him to feel confident in trying to form relationships again, he kept telling himself that the only thing that mattered was that he found someone who would love him for him, through and through.

It still bothered him, though. For the longest time he kinda felt worried about going into another relationship because he was afraid that they would leave him for the same reason his ex did. It’s why it took so long for him to confess his feelings to his crushes

Adopted by octolings—and I don’t mean like adopted by octoling troopers or some wild au plot shit, I mean he was just adopted by a sweet octoling couple who wanted to have kids but struggled in trying to make their own for a little while so they just adopted him. However, years after they adopted him, they eventually tried again and brought two little octoling twin girls into the world! They’re 6 years younger than their inkling brother and they liked to hang around in Inkopolis Plaza by the shops while he participating in turf wars. (They had to conceal their tentacles and hide their eyes because their parents are worried about how they’d be treated by the public) Goggles loves his entire family to pieces 💕

He’s a total mama’s boy. Whenever he’s feeling sad or clueless about anything, she’s the first one he goes to, even if he has to search an entire college campus to find her (she goes to college as an undergrad). She lets him cuddle with her and lean on her shoulder as he gets to vent about whatever’s going on in his life, and he also likes to ask for her advice because she’s pretty smart. Yeah, his dads always there whenever he needs him, and he doesn’t mind dad hugs and advice from his old man, but he and his ma just have that unspoken connection. But her comfort and advice is all under one condition: he has to help her with math homework (she’s confused with the kind of math those damn professors teach. Goggles always knows his way around that stuff somehow.) Plus, whenever she says is law to him; he always listens to her before he listens to dad.

Yeah, he’s seriously good at math for some reason. He’s also pretty good at explaining it comprehensively, too. Also, fun fact, back when he was in elementary, he got a perfect score on his math test that teacher thought he cheated and he was getting investigated by the school for so long until they couldn’t find any evidence that he did cheat. His teacher refused to give him a 100%, so they just gave him like an 80%. Goggles still has dreams over trying to plead his case over his perfect score and it often ends ridiculously before he wakes up. He’s probably never gonna get over it.

It didn’t take that long for him to find out he was adopted, as he know two plus two does not equal triangle. All that mattered to him was the fact that he loved his family and they loved him

Speaking of his family, they had to let Army live with them for a while since he got kicked out by his grandfather (who’s an asshole) and that’s how he and Goggles got closer together. They ended up renting an apartment together in Splatsville for a short time until they both found more permanent options for themselves

He is pretty much as stupid as everyone says he is, but he’s also pretty clever and creative once you get to know him. He gets a little bit street smart as he gets older

He’s the kind of guy to eat the chess pieces when you’re not looking, baffling the smart guy (either Army or Specs)

He’s a really good guy and he’s one of the kindest people you’ll ever meet, but he’s not afraid to rock your shit if it comes down to it. He doesn’t ever like to get into fights and avoids them when he can, but if you push enough of his buttons then you’re leaving with a dislocated beak and a black eye I can guarantee you that

Continuing off of that, bro is BUILT. He curls his bicep and it be pointing to the sky I tell you. It’s shine could take down a plane good grief. He can pick all of his friends up at once and hold them over his head. They call him the brawn’s over brains of the group. He loves to use his strength to pick up his boyfriends 💜🧡💚

You wanna know who his boyfriends are? He’s dating Rider, Army, AND Skull. How did a dumbass score a triple set of Inkopolis elites? He’s just got that ADHD rizz! (I’ll explain the skullamigorai dynamics in a different post)

Stoner. Ever since he turned 18, his parents revealed their secret weed stash and he never went back 😂. His folks are really chill and he smokes with them from time to time. He also like to invite his friends over to hit that za. He only smokes as long as his little sisters aren’t home. It’s so funny when he gets stoned like he just gets up and walks around, giggling. He also loves cuddles very and he’ll either cuddle with his parents or his buddies. If he’s smoking alone then he gets sad because he feels lonely.

He’s really physically affectionate; he hugs literally everyone he knows. He loves picking up his teammates and swinging them around in a hug. Bobble laughs so hard, Headphones giggles adorably, and Specs demands to be put down while failing to suppress his big ol grin. After the battle against the X bloods, Goggle went to surprise hug Vintage, and to everyone’s surprise, Vintage just… got all teary eyed (bro was going through it. He needed that hug)

While I think he would like AJR & Saint Motel’s music, he’s absolutely NUTS for indie music artists. TheLivingTombstone has to be his number one favorite artist. Also Ink Theory and Yoko and the Gold Bazookas

He and Bobble can communicate without having to communicate (it’s telepathic I tell you)

He has this issue with hearing things correctly and often has to get people to repeat themselves when they say something. Often times he misinterprets what they say and responds quite inappropriately, and in turn he makes himself look like a nut head. His friends, parents and sisters understand but he gets a little bummed when other people give him a hard time for it. He can’t help it :(

He also has this volume issue where he ends up speaking too loud or getting excited or wild when he’s talking about something. Sometimes even he realizes he gets WAY too loud and covers his mouth. He also gets a hard time for that, too. Give him a break

If you ask him for a hug he will squeeze you till your bones pop

Great friends with Prinz! He sees him like a little brother. Same as Emperor, except he sees him more as a big brother. Emperor likes to call Goggles his little pogchamp even though he doesn’t know what it means. Goggles loves it

He has a bed in a nook! It’s very cozy

Knows some martial arts like Jiu jitsu, kickboxing and judo, thanks to Army! Although his dad is the reason he does kickboxing. They even have a giant punching bag in the garage!

He’s the kind of guy who gets hurt all the time and boasts about his scars. “This is where I nearly tore my arm off by jumping over a fence!” “BRO???”

Specs

His real name is Spencer

Also bisexual and biromantic

The tip of his tentacles are purple in battle because purple is his original ink color

Arab ethnicity (why? Because I said so. Free Palestine btw)

He had a teeny crush on Emperor during the king cup arc, but he thought “naaaah he’s way out of my league” plus, he already had eyes for someone else…

After the ranked battle cup, he and Emperor actually started spending more time together as amigos. Emperor invites him over for tea, Specs would invite him and Prinz over for family dinners—which they always attended—and just enjoyed hanging out with Emperor and Prinz in general. Their mother scares the living hell out of him, but she’s polite to him. Specs’ own parents are intimidated by Emperor and Prince, but quickly grew to like them after they’ve seen how well mannered and friendly they are

He’s had a crush on Headphones for almost his entire life since knowing her. He admires her courage, strength and determination to protect her team. He often had fantasies of her being his knight in shining armor (ooooh~) but he never tried to push it further because he always believed she would never reciprocate his feelings. (Plot twist, she likes him too! Bobble and Goggles are just waiting until they start dating)

LOSER IN LOVE! LOSER IN LOVE POINT AND LAUGH HAHA 😂😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😆😆🫵🏻🫵🏻🫵🏻🫵🏻🫵🏻💥💥

He’s definitely done some second hand embarrassing things to try to impress Headphones. He tried to pick up rapping just to try to “acquire the hoes” (he still kicks himself for ever saying that) and he sounded like a politician with dementia when he performed. Somehow, that made Headphones think: ‘I NEED THIS BOY LOSER EVEN MORE 😫😫😫😫😫’

People often mistake him for being a book smart nerd, when really he’s more of a street smart prep

Dude can cook like a mother. He has recipes of all his mother’s, grandmother’s, and great grandmother’s finest dishes. He also shares some of them with Army in exchange for baking and curry recipes from time to time and they become cooking/baking pals

He’s self conscious about a lot of things, but he does his best to stay determined because he knows his team needs him. He’s not self conscious about his leadership, that’s for sure!

Eats breath mints, why? Because you never know 😁 (they’re also tasty he thinks)

Has a lot of inside jokes relating to Goggles, and vice versa. They insult and call each other everything under the sun and they both find it hilarious. Headphones is concerned and Bobble just shakes her head and laughs

He tried to skateboard once and he fell and nearly broke his ass. He still has that skateboard in his closet, he just fears it

He’s grown up with a lot of sisters in his household, so he’s the most empathetic towards the girls towards a lot of stuff; especially their periods. Sometimes he has some pads or pain pills stored in his locker as backups for the girls, which are usually alongside other medical supplies he keeps just in case of emergencies. It also may or may not be how he found out Aloha was trans… 😂

He’s easily intimidated by anyone. Aloha and Snorkel were playfully teasing him one time in a flirty manner and for some reason his mind registered that they wanted to kill him and hide his body 😭

He got a hit of weed once and he passed out. He vowed he’d never do it again, but every so often you’ll see him in the floor with a blunt in his hand and Goggles teabagging him with full disrespect

He’s an electro swing and jazz fan. Just you wait until he hears electro waltz and he starts kicking his shoes off (Le Monde anybody?)

Mofo can run in heels. CLACK CLACK CLACK

He knows just a little bit of tap dancing. He’s also taken part of a few one act plays in school. Theater kid at heart he is I know he is.

He was almost inspired to make a manual of his own like Army has. But then he realized it would probably be a little too much.

Academically he is rather smart and he is a pretty good tutor, but he’s only below Headphones and Army in terms of academic intelligence

He definitely lost a spelling bee and never got over it

Emperor got him obsessed with country movies and shows. He loves to binge watch them whenever he can

Headphones

Also taking inspiration from the promo kid, her name is Kaori. Last name is Cephalo

Omnisexual with a stronger preference for women, but she happened to like the biggest man loser in the world (affectionately)

Her eyes are orange and so is the tip of her tentacles during battle, because orange is her original ink color

She and Specs have spent the most time with each other as kids, and it’s one of the reasons they’re so in love. Everything they do and say is just so common to each other and they can read each other like books.

She really likes sitcoms and romantic comedies. She loves inviting her friends over to watch with her whenever she can. Specs almost always shows up with something for everyone to eat that he cooked from his family cookbook.

She and Specs have kids; Goggles and Bobble

Headphones was surprised when she got to know N Pacer and realized how much of a nerd she was about some things. They grew a lot closer over tea parties, which Skull and Half Rim were invited to.

She always needs sweetener in her tea or coffee. She also likes flavoring in her water. Her favorite flavor of water is mint leaves with frozen peaches

Everyone often thinks she really mature, when really she’s just waiting to get super duper silly (brace yourself amigos)

She’s generally very nice, and somewhat tolerable towards others, but if you piss her off in some way then she’s gonna get you. You can’t run far and you can’t hide. She will absolutely make you an example not to cross her or her team.

Literally whenever one she sees of her teammates down in the dumps or looking hurt, she’s the first to go up to them and ask “are you ok? Did someone do this to? Give me names, I’ll take care of it.”

She loves cosplaying and making outfits for costumes. Comic cons are her havens. She’s one of the reasons Goggles went strutting around as the Snatcher for Halloween while his sisters went as Hat Kid and Bow Kid. She also loves to wear Victorian and medieval century gothic style dresses, especially to tea parties!

Despite loving frilly dresses, she most likely to wear a tuxedo to prom. She just found herself to look so dashing in one (and Specs is certainly not complaining!)

She and Specs went as a knight and shining armor and a Prince. She is very knight coded to me

She had to have a crush on Skull after they fought and defeated his team. But then she found out he was gay and was all like “Drats, I should’ve known!…. Anyways, I’m sure that Goggles is a teeny bit fruity and he’s currently single, so lemme know if you want his number-”

I know she also had to have had a crush on N-Pacer, but it died down when she realized that N-Pacer just appreciated having good friends for once and Headphones didn’t wanna spoil that for her. She did indeed take one good look at Pacer and think ‘HOCHI MAMA’

She likes music by my chemical romance and punk rock in general. She also enjoys jazz, especially modern pop song jazz covers and she likes to dance to them. She’s got a record player that her uncle gave her as a Christmas present and she loves playing songs on it. She loves to play music and dance around with her friends, especially Specs.

Bobble

Her real name is Bonnie

Autistic blorbo squambly

The tips of her tentacles used to be lime green because it was her original color. But they’ve faded out overtime because she preferred having her team’s color as her regular hair color!

Glitter in her hair glitter in her hair!!! ✨

Japanese ethnicity! She’s knows some Japanese too. She likes to speak it whenever she’s super excited about something.

Aroace flux and she’s in a relationship with 8-Bit (8bibble fans where y’all at)

She has red eyes under her closed peepers. They’re the reason she keeps her eyes closed because she used to scare a lot of kids and get shunned by adults when she had her eyes open. She’s also worried it’s the reason her parents abandoned her

Also yeah btw she lives in foster care. Her parents gave her up when she was young, just not too long after she met her teammates. The orphanage she grew up at had nice staff but she was often lonely when she didn’t see her friends. Other than her eyes, she has no idea why they left her, but she does her best to not let it bother her

She often gets mistakes for Goggles’ sister, and it always makes her laugh. She often wishes she and him were siblings so she could share his nice family… but even then, she kind of doesn’t want to leave the orphanage because she’s seen as a big sister figure to all the young kids there, and she doesn’t want to leave them. They way she sees it, Bobble is the person to them that she wishes she had in her life when she was younger

Has a bunch of vocal stims, one of her favorites is when she’s hopping around in circles saying “adjoop adjoop adjoop!” In this squeaky little voice. I love her

Sometimes Goggles like to join in on her stimming while Specs and Headphones watch them fondly :)

She’s the baby of the team. Specs will let her sit in his lap in squid form while he’s reading, Headphones like to groom her hair and paint her nails as Bobble kicks her feet, and Goggles like to haul her over his shoulder and carry her around while she laughs like like a little girl.

She thinks Rider gives the best head pats. He’s also like a big brother to her! He’s very protective and never minds at all even when it seems she’s bothering him.

Super duper besties with Gloves! He won her over the moment he bought her a panini when she forgot her wallet and now she’ll sometimes cling to him like a monkey. Gloves loves it 😄 They also bond due to their similar sexuality and romantic attraction preferences (they’re both aroace, except Gloves is more sex and romance repulsed while Bobble just doesn’t really ever see anyone that way, but she’s still open to establishing a relationship!)

Mask thought she was unbearable at first, then just two days later and he developed a big fat crush on her. He eventually got over her and just remained friends, but bro has a soft spot for her, no matter what they say.

Same way with 8-Bit, except she had the balls to confess her feelings to her… in a peculiar way that is:

“WHY ARE YOU MAKING ME HAVE A CRUSH ON YOU?!”

“You have a crush on me? Cool! Let’s go on a date!”And they fell in love lmao

Avid my little pony fan. Pinkie pie is her favorite.

She’s a very good artist with a very unique art style. She even does commissions online for a decent amount of money.

She’s weirdly into the horror genre. She loves watching VHS horror and playing scary video games. She can be watching a movie, unflinching at all the gory scenes, while her teams looking at her like 😟 She would’ve LOVED the Walten files if it came out during her time

She always likes to go as something morbid for Halloween. She went as a headless woman once! (Thanks to Headphones’ help for putting the costume together)

She will want to give you a kiss if she sees you feeling down. It’s because she always asks for kisses from her friends when she’s feeling down and they make her feel better. She will also give you kisses if you ask!

She’s the person you go to if you’re feeling down. She hold you and cuddle you and let you cry into her shoulder for as long as you need. She does it all the time with the kids at the orphanage. She’s also a good caretaker if you happen to be sick and bedridden, mostly because she’s had plenty of experience with having to take care of all the other kids at the orphanage.

She likes to listen to LoFi music or any soft video game soundtracks (Undertale/Deltarune/any of that stuff). It helps her fall asleep and strengthens her focus for when she’s studying.

Obsessed with animated tv shows. Those are literally the only shows she watched on tv. She’ll mostly watch stuff that she’d seen during her childhood like maybe TMNT 2012, My Little Pony FIM, Ninjago, Steven Universe, and any modern animated shows that happen to have more defined lore and story. She would absolutely go insane for Rise of the TMNT and I know she would get her entire team to watch the show with her. Same with Lego Monkie Kid (I still need to watch that show)

Wanna know a secret? (She has depression!!!) no, I’m not inserting this headcanon on her because of edgy purposes or as a lazy attempt to make her character structure seem more “interesting”, but I just feel like that there’s so much that’s going on in her life that she chooses to bottle up because she doesn’t wanna bother her friends about it, but in turn, it just makes it all worse and eventually it all crumbles down when she can’t help but cry due to all the stress and built up emotion she’s been hiding away in herself. This girl needs a fucking hug a fucking forehead kiss lord god. No, she’s not suicidal, she just needs someone to be honest with. Probably the first person (or people) she will eventually be honest with is 8-Bit and Mask. When her team finds out what’s going on, you can imagine they’re surprised to say the least, but they do what they can to help little sister- I mean their friend.

These are prone to be updated because ideas be booping around in my head like the dvd player logo.

Also remember: you’re not inclined to agree with my headcanons, as these are of my own ideas and opinions and I just feel the need to express them because I think they’re fun. If y’all like to ship any of the characters I headcanon as siblingish or vice versa, then that’s okay! As long as you enjoy it! Ngl I’m also interested in your headcanons, so if you would like to add some of your own then lemme hear em!

And in case anyone is interested, here’s my head canons for their voices!

[worriedvision]

Maybe the "When was I supposed to find out? When it was too late?!" Prompt with Albedo. Like reader says that to him after a misunderstanding with Mona or maybe even Sucrose since the windblume event is going on

Gender neutral reader angst, Sucrose is basically the supportive friend of readers and it's Mona where the misunderstanding comes in.

--

You were hanging out with Sucrose, enjoying lunch together when the topic of Albedo came up.

"I haven't been able to find my boyfriend...Do you know where he is?" You ask, Sucrose letting out a thoughtful noise. "Usually we spend more time with each other, but I've not seen him in the last week..."

"Well, I think he's working on a commission. If you want, I can show you where I last saw him." Sucrose suggests, you nodding. "L-lets finish this first though." She states, looking down at her plate.

--

You hear Albedo talking to Mona, someone you didn't know especially well. You did, however, know that she was a very attractive woman, and the fact Albedo could have been spending time with her gave you a bad feeling. They were talking to each other, clearly sorting out some sort of arrangement, and you were hoping to wait until their conversation was complete to see him again.

But then you heard Mona say something that concerned you.

"It's a date, then." She states, nodding before walking back to her home. You look at Sucrose, hoping for some sort of reassurance that this wasn't actually what it sounds like. Unfortunately, the look you received was one of pity.

Albedo was finishing up his packing, his plans for illustrating Mona's readings in place and ready to be discussed further.

"When was I supposed to find out?" You ask, storming up to Albedo. "When it was too late?"

"I'm afraid I don't know what-"

"You and Mona! Mona said you two had a date, I heard it!" You exclaim, Albedo still processing what exactly this meant for them. He understood that with Mona, she sometimes said a meetup was a date, even if it was purely friendly and nothing romantic ever occurred on these meetups.

"It all makes sense now. I feel so silly, all of this festival, I was trying to distract myself because I knew you kept your work to yourself." You shake your head, clenching your hands. "I should have connected the dots sooner."

"I can explain." Albedo starts, Sucrose not entirely sure which friend she was to support in this case given the lack of context. "Please, take a seat."

"And listen to you elaborate on you realising you could do better than me? No thank you." You huff, walking back to the city gates as Sucrose, looks between you both before sitting with Albedo.

--

"The Great Astrologist, Mona Megistus, requested that I illustrate some of her works." Albedo starts, Sucrose looking at the papers he was pulling out. "We decided on what pieces to do. The 'date' was purely business."

"Oh..." Sucrose lets out, unsure what she should do in this case. "If you don't mind me asking...Why has this taken over a week?"

"It didn't." Albedo simply states. "The week was mainly spent on looking after Klee, and entertaining the guests from Sumeru. You were there yourself, you know I wouldn't dare cheat."

"In hindsight, I should have told them about the week..." Sucrose trails off. "Maybe I should have dragged you along to some of our chats."

"No, that was entirely my fault. I ought to schedule these dates. Admittedly, I have a habit of getting caught up in a research topic that takes my interest." Albedo tuts.

"Do you want me to say anything to them?" Sucrose asks. Albedo shakes his head no, causing her confusion to come back.

"I need to be the one to explain this. If you would be alright with being there as well, I would appreciate that."

[iantimony]

twosday

we've got a two-weeker! last week I kept going "ah, I should write my Tuesdaypost", and then it was Saturday. so. ah well.

listening: back on an Astonishing Legends kick! listened to the 2 parters on bloodfalls and The Entity(tm).

Hypoxia - Thomas Giles and the album 'Pulse' that it's on.

the album 'I Will Write Your Song' by Matt Duncan. I should have listened to 'Soft Times' because the songs I have listened to that I like are both on there.

my roommate (listen, I don't live with her any more, but we share pieces of each other's souls so I am going to keep referring to her that way) also got me on these two songs that are major bops. good for Moving and Grooving.

Vois sur ton chemin techno remix by BENNETT

Pedro by Jaxomy

reading: literally so many academic papers. see the misc section.

watching: did a lot of youtube the past two weeks, just gonna post some highlights. a bunch of swell entertainment, not gonna post any one of her vids in specific.

how I reduced my screentime by 80% by reysu: something I've been grappling with is Ough, Too Much Screen, especially considering my day-to-day work is all on the computer too. did implement some of these tips, not sure how much it has helped me considering most of my screentime is on discord and messenger which I don't really want to totally disconnect myself from the same way I have on instagram/fb/etc without too much issue.

the importance of real things by Ted Kutina: I love you physical media

you can't fit your personality in an airport tray by Katie Robinson: some commentary on Style and Personality. not sure if it's just the period of time I grew up in or just something about me inherently or what but I never really had too much issue or thought with the idea of Finding My Style, I just don't buy clothes if they don't spark some joy or serve some purpose.

home organization for chaotic people by Caroline Winkler: found her channel as I overthink exactly where I want to hang up my wall art. she's an interior designer type but I was uncomfortably called out about how she talks about how she used to save every little scrap of anything that someone she loved may have touched out of a sense of guilt. I never really connected that to guilt, but, like, yeah. el oh el. made me think about some of the things I keep around and why.

fall reset guide (that'll actually help get your life together) by morgan Evelyn Cook: really loved the idea of a "morning menu" to replace the idea of a morning routine with.

playing: the biweekly dnd as usual. I have dropped the in-person game I've been playing in for now just because I am stretched too thin. I know this doesn't count but boy have I been thinking about minecraft. need her fr

making: I volunteered to do some drawings for an event my university is hosting in January that I will not be sharing on here because it will make me even more doxxable than normal. this has taken longer than I thought! I am more out of practice painting than I'd assumed so that hurted a bit, and one of the drawings was originally going to be a block print but I rapidly realized that an ink drawing would probably be easier and faster. neither of them are done yet but I have til Friday I think.

anyways I am back in pottery!!! I have made Two ramekins, Two failed ramekins that are teacups now, and a plate! I have never done a plate so that was a cool new thing to do. the real trick was to throw it on a bat and then put the bat in direct sunlight for like an hour before cutting it off.

eating: uhhhhhhh nothing notable really, lots of easy food and trader joes frozens right now because ough. oh wait I tried this bean soup that someone recommended. I forget who. it was. fine. idk it's just beans and garlic so it was just kinda underwhelming. I did get to use my immersion blender tho so that's fun. I have a different bean soup that I will hopefully make and try this week.

misc: dude writing my prelim document is SO SCARY. the introduction specifically is kicking my ass because it's like, "synthesize these papers you've read (and some of which you haven't, oops) into a coherent backstory for why the work you're doing makes sense and is important, for a field you're not technically trained in. also don't make it sound too similar to the thesis of the guy who was working on this project before you. good luck!!"

here is some astronomical happenings in The Corn. see you next week

[emilykaldwen]

how do you make a original character for a fanfic?

Anon, I'm sorry for delay in answering this but you see, when you dropped this into the inbox, I legit sat up and went 'My Time Has Come'. You can ask my citadel girlies (gender-neutral) about my passion for character creation because I like to smack them in the face with it (affectionately) on the regular. And here's the thing, I'm nowhere near the Word on how to do this. In fact, I am genuinely surprised to have gotten this ask. So thank you? I'm glad you like my writing!

There's like, five million ways I could do this sort of breakdown, touching on internalized misogyny and why we connect with the media we do and how this all ties into our mental health at the time but I don't think that's what you're asking about, so I'm gonna pull back on myself and talk about how I create original characters for Fic.

I feel like character creation, especially in fanfic is such a nuanced discussion that I don't think has really been talked about but we'll be here for 84 years if I launch into this now.

ALL OF THIS IS MY OWN OPINION. I'm just a rando on the internet and have my own approaches and opinions on things. If you feel like I'm specifically calling you out, I can assure you, I'm not, and I will not entertain people getting snippy at me because they want to be offended because they think I criticized them personally on the internet.

SO! HOW DO I CREATE AN ORIGINAL CHARACTER FOR FAN FICTION?

Questions, my friend, and the most important one is:

Why am I creating this character?

You need to be honest with yourself. Only yourself. Not the answer you think people will want to hear, or the one that you'll be least embarrassed to share. There are no wrong answers here, creativity comes from so many places within us. THIS SETS THE EXPECTATION.

Why am I creating this character? Is it because you have a crush on the actor? Is it because you want to be the pretty princess and have everyone fawn and fall in love with you? Is it because everyone is stupid in this story and someone needs to clean up the mess? Is it because you see a gap in the story that you feel should be told? All? None?

(In my opinion, the only 'wrong' answer is that you're creating a self-insert avatar to punish yourself. I've been there. It was not a great place, but I wasn't in therapy at the time. I eventually got over punishing myself in fic form)

For me, character creation comes from trying to add something to the story. The existence of my character should have interesting ramifications through the story. For me, if I'm going through the trouble of creating a character that fits into this world, I want them to have effect and change. There should be change. If nothing is changing in the story, then I'll just go read/watch the source material than sit around making someone who basically boils down to a spectator of what's happening.

Characters in our stories are real. They are living and breathing.

Example 1: I have an OC, Myranda Greyjoy. Instead of flying to Storm's End, Aemond flies to Pyke and brings her back to King's Landing. You know what that means? Vhagar doesn't go chomp on Luke, and Luke likely makes it back home unharmed or stays the night at Storm's End until it's safer to fly. So that means blood and cheese doesn't happen, and the war doesn't kick off immediately (which follows canon in terms of Luke's death being the trigger for blood and cheese which in turn means no one is gonna back down).

Example 2: In one of my original drafts of The Maiden and the Drowning Boy, Abby was at Harrenhal when Daemon took the castle (in Fire & Blood, this happens before Storm's End). In the book, Aemond is sent to Storm's End to treat with Borros, but if I kept this event in the fic, it would be in character for Aegon to mount Sunfyre and grab Aemond to go fuck Daemon up because his wife, the Queen, is being held by the enemy. Now, while this is super interesting, it had the potential to cut the dance of dragons down real short and quite frankly? I didn't want to deviate too much from the original dance in terms of some major events because that means that i have to come up with all of that stuff too. My ass doesn't have time for that. (but it's a cool idea)

Okay, so you know why you're creating your OC for whatever reason. Here's the next thing to understand:

CREATING YOUR CHARACTER/STORY FOR POPULARITY/VIRAL/EVERYONE MUST READ THIS IS ONLY GOING TO LEAD TO HEARTBREAK.

You've heard it time and again: write for yourself! and you're like the fuck does that mean asshole? I know, I know! And I really have to thank the AO3 Subreddit for helping me clarify what this means and how it impacts me.

Engagement is Down across the board, across all fandoms. It has nothing to do with you as a writer, it has no reflection on the quality of your work.

Comments are rare. Sometimes they never happen. It fucking sucks. I hate it. I've heard friends go into the lack of comment engagement. Validation is nice. We thrive on it! It feels so good to be told how awesome your work is, what people connected with, etc.

You cannot write for the comments. You cannot write for the external validation. You cannot maintain a sense of stable mental health if you are focused on the feedback.

So find your people.

I found mine! I've been working on my fic since NaNo in November 2022 and am only just now getting ready to start publishing, and I wouldn't have made it if it wasn't because my fic made my one friend happy. Now? I have a handful of people that I've cultivated real friendships with that support and cheer me on just as I support and cheer them on. They're my audience. Everyone else? Are fantastically appreciated extra dessert.

(Perfectionism is a real thing that so many of us actually do struggle with and if you're not meeting the specific standard that you think you should be meeting because you're a better writer than that super popular fic, you are going to make yourself miserable)

So what does this all boil down to?

YOU ARE ENOUGH.

You do not have to put some deep political dramatic plot scaffolding around your story in order for your OC to be taken seriously and so you can be 'allowed' to have your OC and the canon character hook up. This is YOUR story. You get to write what you want! You get to see how this story will go!

but if you want people to be receptive to your OC and the story at large, then you need to work on making your character living and breathing in the story.

Rattle test! Have a few friends who are trusted to talk through your character and plot and make sure they aren't afraid to ask the hard questions.

Me: Should Jace accidentally punch Abby in this scene cause she tried to get between them Me and Friend at the same time: Aegon would kill him, let's not do that.

I had another possible plot line where this other character was flirting with Aegon. It sounded cool in my head! but talking through it, it just really didn't work out or make much sense.

Anyway, I can go on and on about this subject, and probably write a whole thesis on this delving into how character creation in fan works should be an act of love, not self punishment, and how internalized misogyny plays a huge role in why people are usually averse to reading OC fan fic (in that I mean, the OCs often hate other women, are 'not like other girls' but everyone loves them, etc).

It's hard creating OCs to get people to read them. There's a ton of people out there who simply will not read OC work on principal.

But a final note:

Original characters =/= Reader Inserts. By that I mean, the whole reader fic genre is written specifically for the reader to imagine themselves in the situation. Original characters may be an author insert, but they are not the reader cipher. also original character =/= author insert either, but also you should be totes honest with yourself if you are writing your own insert. It's not a bad thing, it just gives your expectations.

[eldritchamy]

I’m like 77% sure that Ash is the protagonist of Uneiverse so I’m here to ask — why her? What makes her a good protagonist? Like why does the story follow her instead of someone else?

This is an EXCELLENT question. Thank you so much for asking it.

One of these days I'm gonna have to think of a working title for the first book set IN the Uneiverse so it's easier to talk about. I've had a few working titles but one of them might actually get used so I can't really drop those. For now let's call it Story Mode.

Story Mode, in the strictest sense, has a bit of an ensemble cast. There are four characters in sort of a Major Protagonist role, and around 3-4 other Supporting Protagonists, depending on how you define them based on the amount of influence they have on wherever the finalized version of the plot ends up. I have strong ideas in terms of narrative structure and general Major Events, but there's a lot of connecting tissue yet to be decided.

You're not wrong to think of Ash as the most central protagonist, though. The narrative does basically frame her as such.

There are several ways I could answer why.

She's based on my first (and by far favorite and most heavily emotionally invested) DND character. The entire concept of the story sprawled out from basically alternate versions of her story as I imagined it without the limitations of tabletop rules. The story exists because Ash is the character I imagined the story for.

Ash has some ... complicated connections to the plot that are hard to explain without saying more than I want to. The tl;dr is that there are things happening in the Uneiverse, and Ash has the most reason of all of the characters to be drawn into those events, based on both her personality and her personal connections to the world around her.

If the story WASN'T following her, it wouldn't be the same story.

Whether she's a "good" protagonist is really more up to reader interpretation. I think she is, and I want her to be, but there's whatever work I put into the story, and there's how any potential readers will respond to it.

I think she's got potential because of how deep the brainworms have been digging for the last two plus years. I think about her CONSTANTLY. Different situations she could find herself in, how she might react to them based on changing circumstances, different ways SPECIFIC CONVERSATIONS could go based on how she relates to other characters and information, etc.

I've never had a more complete sense of who a character is than I have with Ash. I know her whole brain. How she sees and interacts with the world is just innate to me at this point.

That helps a lot with figuring out how a character moves through a story. She's easy to write because I know exactly how she'll behave.

Additionally, she's COMPLICATED. She has two things she wants very much, and those things are contradictory, which is good for driving character growth and conflict.

about 15 years ago, her mother (an extraordinarily powerful angel who was a very devoted and loving parent that Ash had a good relationship with) just didn't come home one day. And Ash is desperate to know both HOW and WHY. Her mother wouldn't have just left. And the thought of what could have KEPT her from coming home is a point of both intense curiosity, and fear.

Ash wants, more than ALMOST anything else, to just have a quiet and peaceful life with her wife. And other partners.

That ALMOST does a lot of heavy lifting. But there is a straw for this camel's back, and that straw is curiosity. She can be drawn OUT of her safe zone if you dangle the right thread in front of her. And that is critical to ... basically everything that happens.

Why does Ash have such an intense need to feel safe and stay out of danger? She spent her whole life with people she thinks are more capable and powerful than her (honestly, she's not wrong). First with her mother, then with Aria, an enormously powerful witch (specifically nature-based magic, so functionally similar to a high level druid) who became her girlfriend and eventually wife. Her most significant partner OTHER than her wife is their mutual girlfriend Cass, who is a very powerful vampire assassin that used to be in a bit of an adventuring party with Aria a few years ago. Lailah, Aria, and Cass are three people that NOBODY fucks with.

And therein lies the problem.

Ash has always felt PROTECTED. And that had the consequence of making her feel exposed without it. She feels like she NEEDS protection, because she never learned how to be the strong one. She has a lot more going on with her magic than she really acknowledges, but she's never felt like she was capable of protecting herself. There's always been someone there for her. One of her most important traumas/personality flaws wasn't formed by BAD relationships, it was formed because of GOOD ones. She does have some pretty rare and potent magical abilities, but because her social circle consists of ridiculously overpowered women, she doesn't really notice as much how she compares to the average person, especially given how she uses those talents.

She has this weird, almost paradoxical thing where she definitely feels like she's cleverer than most people (she is), so trying to call her out for being more capable than she thinks (she is) doesn't really WORK because she partly DOES feel that way, but she has a blind spot that's really hard to point out to her, and she just insists that she's not as powerful as other people she knows (which is hard to correct her on because she's not really WRONG, she's just comparing herself to the wrong people, because her wife is Superpowers Georg and her girlfriend is the most powerful vampire in the world, and her mom was a LOT more powerful than any angels she's ever heard of or been able to find books about).

There are reasons Aria is that powerful. Secret reasons.

(It's trauma.)

Cass is another DEEP point of interest for me (and may get her own book that's a much lower stakes young adult vampire romance novel, set in her backstory, nearly 130 years ago).

Her tl;dr is that she got super duper murdered by noble/mob family drama (basically, her dad sucked), and someone close to her who found out about the plot not-soon-enough had a naughty naughty ancestor who dabbled in some naughty naughty magic, and that person used a spell she didn't fully understand to "not let Cassandra die". What was meant to be a protection spell ended up being a LOT more powerful than she knew (for several reasons), and it created a kind of loophole in the universe that protected Cass from death, and raised her as an unusually powerful vampire.

Basic elevator pitch lore? She died. Her body no longer has life energy of its own, but she can survive by feeding off the energy of others. That energy is best transferred to her through blood, which is basically a magical substance that binds a soul to a body. The spell used to save Cass basically FUSED her soul to her body, (trapping that body in a state of immortality) and separating the two would be EXTRAORDINARILY difficult. The spell requires energy to maintain the link, which is why she needs blood. If she takes in more energy than she needs, she can basically store a reserve of magic energy that will be used as needed to fuel various powers she has. If she keeps well ahead of her needs (she does), hunger isn't an issue unless she REALLY pushes herself and spends a ton of energy.

Her body is more or less unchanged from the day she turned, including the basic needs of a human body. She still eats and sleeps and breathes like everyone else. If she forces herself to go without those things, she can do it, but that causes her to burn through energy a lot faster, which would make her need to feed a lot more. There are limits to how much she can feed AT ONCE, because there's only so much blood you can put in a human stomach before you're gonna throw up, so burning through way too much energy too fast is not a good idea. In practice all it means is she can hold her breath for a really long time if someone tries to, like, use a gas grenade on her.

There are other things about the kind of magic used that influence the exact mechanics of it, but that's the basics. She also doesn't burn in the sun, there's no holy water or crucifixes in this world but if there were they'd have no effect, a stake to the heart is just a stab wound that itches a bit longer (and only because of splinters), etc. If there's a hard limit to what her body can't survive, she hasn't found it yet. Decapitation would probably do it, but she hasn't been eager to try that. The biggest threat to her so far has been starvation, and she only got close once, under very unusual circumstances.

After 5 paragraphs of Cass you'd probably assume she was one of the Major Protagonists, but she's actually one of the minor ones.

Central cast:

Ash

Aria

"Maze" [pending finalization]

"Nat" [pending finalization]

Ash is really the first to get pulled into the Main Quest. Aria gets involved by association, then gets pulled into the Main Quest a lot harder around what you'd probably think of as Act 2. Maze and Nat get a similar invitation to the Intro Quest Sequence soon after Ash (Ash and Aria are probably chapters 1 & 2, chapter 3 & 4 are most likely Nat and Maze).

Cass is kind of a recurring support character who shows up to help at a few critical moments.

Ally, same thing.

Ella, a character tied to Cass' backstory, will likely make the fewest appearances as a supporting character.

There's more going on that I cannot be specific about.

Structurally, I expect chapter 1 should be an introduction to Ash as a person and her place in the world, as well as some insight into what kind of story this might be. Chapter 2 connects her to the world and establishes her conflicting interests (comfortable home life vs. curiosity and pulling threads). Chapter 3 introduces Nat and some interesting bits about the setting, which hopefully drives reader curiosity. Chapter 4 should be an introduction to Maze and the relationship between these two characters. I expect chapter 5 will probably be the four coming together for the first time and getting the plot moving more significantly. Cass might be introduced around chapter 6 or 7, and then some real interesting shit is gonna start happening, and everyone is gonna realize how much Bigger the Main Quest really is. The introduction to the first "god" character (a vast understatement) is likely what really kicks off act 2, and suddenly the stakes are a LOT crazier.

You will NOT be hearing much, if anything, about Act 3. The last quarter of the story lives in my head rent free. I'm very excited about the central ANtagonists.

Thank you so much for this question!

Please ask me more.

[greenconvor]

Oh Hello ! I actually loved so much that theory, about Mother Koril, how can Yord and Jecki be alive. I don’t know if you will, but can you please tell more about that theory…? Thank you for reading this ask !

Of course!

My thoughts on Yord and Jecki returning hinge on two things:

1) Their bodies being left untouched on Khofar

2) The Empire’s horrifying use of Luminara Unduli’s remains

It’s long been a concept within the fandom that a Jedi’s unique presence in the force can linger in objects of importance even after the Jedi has departed (typically with a lightsaber or equally personal item). Thanks to Rebels we know that this is applicable in canon to, at least, the Jedi’s own corpse. It’s the entire reason why the Empire kept Luminara after her death: to lure Jedi like Kanan who can still sense her presence into their trap.

This effect is likely why Jedi host funeral pyres for the fallen. Burning their last connection to the material world lets their spirits fully return to the force. But since Jecki and Yord don’t get this, their spirits are still partially attached to their bodies. Thus, even though the two are certifiably dead, some part of their individuality remains intact.

So, if the twins could reverse the ritual, undoing their Mothers’ manipulation of their life essence, and transfer it into Yord and Jecki, that could potentially be enough life force to heal the two Jedi’s injuries and kickstart their bodies—kinda like an electric shock. Suddenly, that part of the spirit lingering on the physical self is linked to a living being. It becomes an anchor, drawing the rest of the spirit that had drifted into the cosmic force back in and effectively bringing the two Jedi back just as they were before.

As for Mother Koril, I just feel like there’s so much potential for her character: powerful, protective, an aggressive demeanor that turns downright hostile to enemies. Then add on top of that the tragic backstory of losing her wife, daughter, and coven to the Jedi she already holds so much resentment against. The perfect set up for an antagonist, really.

The last we see of her, she’s escorting Mae out of the room for Aniseya and Osha to talk, but while Aniseya is willing to let go of Osha, I can’t imagine Koril ever accepting the possibility. She holds her children to a high degree of expectation, exhibiting a more controlling parenting style than Aniseya seems to have adapted. Which is not a bad thing, as we see Aniseya soften her disciplined approach when need be to cheer up the girls and Koril harden Aniseya’s leniency when need be to make the girls focus. It’s a balance.

But take the balance away and things change drastically. She wants revenge, but a witch without a coven cannot procure much power. However, a lone Sith can. The slippery slope down the dark side would be too easy for someone mourning as her. Especially if, say, she didn’t know right off the bat that Mae had survived.

I think the decision to use a double layered disguise like puppet Sith Master Qimir came later. If she’d known about Mae immediately, I doubt even Koril would have had it in her to keep herself from her daughter. So, after the massacre she leaves and recreates her identity through Darth Smiley. At some point she returns to visit Aniseya’s resting place and comes across Mae who had run off to find Osha after the fire and had been living by herself on the planet since. So she makes her plan and takes in Mae, training her without anyone there to hold her back. Then, because she’s protective and smart and doesn’t want her daughter going off throughout the galaxy unsupervised, she comes up with the idiot traveling companion, finding Qimir. Enter, the events of The Acolyte.

However, Koril does genuinely love her daughters. So when she sees them in the process of unraveling their very existence, she hurries to stop them, not leaving their side even if it means losing her own life as well.

Not sure if this is what you were looking for, but here you go! Thanks for the ask, I love talking about theories :)

[a-very-very-complex-situation]

Pains Growing Part 1 Uninvited Guest

*So you never met my neighbor's daughter. *But please don't despair *Because the time that you meet her... *... Is fast approaching. This is a work for people who have read Growing Pains by theveryconfusedartistsart-blog Events will not make sense unless you have read that.

It had been a year since the Barrier was broken, and so far, everything seemed to be going well for everyone, not entirely as perfect as some would hope, Suzy had no real expectations for what to expect on the other side of the Barrier... Still, it was not as bad as it could have been. At least in Suzy's opinion. Suzy hadn't had much to give up and leave the Underground. A home in Waterfall that packed up and left far quicker than expected. Suzy saw the sky and just squinted at it. The only odd thing that stuck out was her neighbor. Suzy didn't really know her all that much. She was a clam monster... and that's it really. She offered to watch Suzy constantly and managed to connect with Suzy's family after leaving the Underground. That's where events began to fold in... Today, Suzy was brough to the park. She didn't know why. She didn't really know a whole lot about the surface. Wearing a striped shirt as Monster tradition. A rain jacket in case of any sudden water falling from the sky. Styling herself a ponytail. and the plainest jeans Suzy thought to herself. "Man... my style rocks." Suzy could feel the gentle breeze as she stepped on the grass. Holding her hands out to feel the sun shining down on her. The park looked endless from her view. Clam girl kept her eye on her. Ensuring Suzy had supervisor at all times as she explored. Suzy didn't have much in her pockets. Some chalk. A _____. Some spare G. The usual. "Suzy! Are you having Fun?" Clam Girl asked checking in on her. "...Yes." Suzy nodded as she rested on the cloth blanket they had brought, holes and patches and all. Suzy didn't have much to ponder on. She had her life in the Underground. Now she's here. End of story. Yet something always nagged at her. Itching at the back of her head. A main reason why Clam Girl was so entrusted with Suzy was that she had managed to get through to her after some apparently intense nightmare or night terror. Suzy didn't recall it at all now. It always annoyed Suzy whenever it was brought up she needed the lights to stay on to even want to sleep. She wasn't like that now and she was intent on proving it. She was trying to integrate in surface life. Visiting the Library a few times. Being enrolled to surface school was entirely Clam Girl's idea. Suzy didn't object to it. Anything to get away from the same day to day. Looking out to the field of grass made every problem feel so small. Suzy got up. No internal monologue in her head and no reason to focus on the past. She had a park to explore. Eventually Suzy made her way to a tree. A large magnolia tree that overlooked the quiet park. It was tall and lanky and drew her attention. As Suzy approached the old tree. She spotted holes in the dirt. Odd holes. She counted them out. Six to Seven odd holes in the dirt. If Suzy didn't know any better she'd think some plants just got up and left. Suzy looked around for anything left behind as a sign for what happened here. Looking up she saw a beehive in the magnolia tree. She thought about throwing a rock at it. Then she thought again at the image of Clam Girl worrying over her. Kicking a rock instead as she made her way back down the hill. Clam Girl was still there. Having lunch ready for them both. "I brought everything I could think of for this." Suzy quickly bit down on a sandwich. Clam Girl slowly ate her own sandwich. "I hope you meet some friendly people at that school Suzy. You could use a friend or two. Fate brings people together." Suzy nodded along as Clam Girl talked and talked. She had learned to tune most of her words out as the free food was far better in her opinion. "I hope you meet someone wonderful there." Clam Girl looked at Suzy. "Sure... sure..." Suzy nodded along. By the time they were done. All that was left was a spare egg. There always was. Suzy received the egg! ... Suzy returned the egg to the basket. "So... find anything unique out there?" Clam Girl asked. "Just some holes." Suzy replied as she felt the wind breeze.

The birds were chirping. The sun shinned down on their small outing. Flowers bloomed. "We should be getting ready for your first day." Clam Girl spoke after a while of silence. Suzy shrugged as she went along with it. Holding Clam Girl's hand as they left the park. Looking back at the Magnolia tree that grew smaller and smaller as they got further away from it. Suzy wasn't sure what the future had in store. She just took one step at a time. Walking with the hand she held on to.

[guardianoftheearth]

Don't leave, not now. -NessPoo fic I made today

Step. step. another step. another step again. Run. Keep on running. We're almost out. That was the only thing in the young boy's mind. his friends out of their breath, they kept on running, and running, and running, and then, Yes! Light!

The four of them raced towards the exit, exahusted after the hellish fight marathon that was the ancient pyramid of Scaraba. The heat of the outside, as unbearable as it was, was heavenly. Not because of the feeling, but because, finally, they could rest... kinda.

The boy in red cap took a huge breath, in and out, his entire body sweaty and ruined, some broken bones here and there, but it was alright, they were alright, all was alright. But only a thought, a single thought raced in the boy's mind that cancelled his joy in a moment. 

"The eye... W-Where's the Hawk eye!?"

He searched in his backpack, on himself, on the sand, even under his cap, but nothing. He looked behind him, seeing two of his other friends searching relentlessly for the artifact. The one in the pink dress was breathlessly searching in her purse, and the one with the thick glasses and huge bowtie in his toolbox.

It wasn't long before the third friend, dressed up in his now iconic karate gi, opened his hands, showing the ancient item that they so desperately needed. It, fortunately, remained in his safe clutches all along.

The boy screamed, running towards him at the highest speed his broken bones, the sand and his chubby legs could permit him, and hugged tightly his beloved friend, some tears of joy and fear coming from his eyes, he still needed to fully process what just happened from the moment they took the Hawk eye, to the chase, to the exact moment in which they were now.

Not a single word was needed, the friend just put an arm around the young leader, and let him have his moment. He must've been so scared.

While he waited, the unusually dressed friend took a water bottle from his purse, the last one he had, and drank it all down on one go. The boy stopped whimpering as he felt his physical pain getting washed away. He gently detatched from his friend, sniffing, and immediately looked up, his lucid eyes meeting the other's stoic, yet gentle ones.

"Feeling any better, Master Ness?"

Polite and composed as usual, as if nothing happened. Man, this guy had an internal strenght that was genuenly scary sometimes, not that he seemed too happy about it tho...

"Y-yeah.. a bit... thank you, Poo..."

The moment tho, was cut short, as a small wind hit everyone in the face, forcing them to close their eyes to prevent any sand going in their eyes. The sound accompaining the wind, unknown to most of the team, made the martial artist alert, his head pointing up as he saw something, no, someone, coming from the sky. Standing gracefully on his tiptoes, dressed up only in a long and intricate leaf poncho of sorts, with a single, long stick to support him, a very, very old man, appeared in front of the group.

"And... you are...?"

The friend with glasses started, not bothering with being polite for just how stressed he was, but still having the willpower to put his hands behind his back, like a villain of some kids cartoon. Unfazed by the remark of the inventor, the men pointed straight at the prince, who, despite not showing it, was sweating.

"We meet again, Prince Pù, Or should I say, 'Rai Ranma'."

The boy was confused, who was that man? why did he refer to Poo as Rai Ranma? and most importantly, what did he even wanted? His questions were barely answered, as his friend, reluctantly, started walking towards the man, weakly holding the young one's hand for as long as he could, before the last two fingers connecting them separated. The breath got heavier, faster, both unable to say a word. The prince eventally reached the man, his expression as blank as he could, as he was always taught to be, for everyone's safety.

"The skies foretold our encounter, it is time for you to live away from your friends, and learn the way of the Starstorm. Do you understand?"

The boy gasped, desperately reaching for his friend, who solemnly looked down in understanding, his eyes closed as he listened to the speech.

"... there's only one answer. Its what you must do, even if nor you, nor your dearest one want it."

He continued sternly, as if reading in the two's minds. The prince turned around, facing his 'master', his soul getting immediately crushed at the sight of him on the verge of crying. He took the boy's hands in his, holding them as if it was the last thing he would ever do, and gently rubbed his thumb on the surface of the smaller one's hand, as if to reassure him.

"It is important that I study and learn the way of the Starstorm, it will be must helpful to us..."

The prince stated, his eyes serious but tender under those thick, black eyebrows, as he tried to find the correct words to reassure his precious red capped friend, who did his best to not bust into tears here and there, he despised goodbyes.

"... Once I learn it, I will meet up with you, Ness. Trust me... I'll come back. It's a promise..."

The boy nodded, sniffing and rubbing his eye to dry away his tears. It was so damn much for him to handle, first he was running for his life, and then the person that he had so much admiration for was being brought away from him. It hurt, it hurt even more than it actually had to.

Eventually, the two separated once again, the martial artist gently letting the baseball player's hands go, as him, in response, reluctantly stepped away, just enough to give his friend enough space.

"The reunion will depend on Rai's efforts, until then, you must have patience and faith in your friend."

The man tapped the sand two times with his stick, as the prince walked right beside him, his gaze still posed on Ness, who couldn't stop looking at him back. The wind started to slowly build up again, the impossibly long ponytail of the prince flowing with grace and beauty.

"Farwell."

And with that single word, the two disappeared right in front of the three, who sadly waved goodbye at their friend, hoping to see him again, as soon as possible.

[milarqui]

Scarlet Lady: Riposte

Directory | Vanisher

Ever since he learned that Tikki was riding the rich girl's bag, Plagg now would spend most of the time Adrien was in class with his oldest friend.

And today, they were checking a video on the new heroine.

“Her name is Marigold,” Tikki said, as Marigold showed off her spinning top to the journalists, while wearing a very forced smile.

“The Bee Miraculous, huh? Bold choice using Pollen,” Plagg replied. “She's not exactly discrete. And that's coming from me.”

Tikki crossed her arms and closed her eyes.

“I, for one, have total faith in Pollen to keep a low profile!”

“Greetings, noble kwami of Creation and Destruction!”

“AH!” both Plagg and Tikki exclaimed at the sudden appearance of the one they were speaking about. However, as soon as they recovered, Tikki flew to the newcomer, all worried.

“Pollen! Now that you're out permanently, you need to hid yourself to protect Marigold's identity!” she warned Pollen.

“Well, it's not like we can rat out our holders since we can't even say their names,” Plagg contested. “It's probably fine.”

Then Pollen turned to the open part of the bag and pointed at Marinette.

“So I shouldn't tell you that she's my Queen?”

Pollen blinked as Tikki hugged Plagg, crying so much the tears felt more like a waterfall coming from the kwami of Creation's eyes.

“What is wrong?” she innocently asked, confused about Tikki's reaction.

“I'll tell you later,” Plagg replied, giving Tikki a few pats in the back as she bawled.

SO UNFAIR!

As she recovered from her little stint with yet again losing on her fated partner, Tikki decided to sit with Pollen and explain the rules, so something like this wouldn't happen again.

She also decided to ignore how Pollen had managed to find a loophole around the prohibition of telling someone else about their partner.

“Rule 1: no outing other holders, even to other heroes. Hawkmoth is not above mind control.”

“Oooh.”

“Rule 2: no taking holders to meet the Guardian unless it's absolutely necessary. The less people who know where he lives, the better.”

“Oooooh!”

“Rule 3: no going to the Guardian yourself unless your holder is unable to transform. It's dangerous to be away in case of emergencies.”

“You're so thorough.”

----

Back at school, people were still getting used to the surprise event of the year: Sabrina had finally ditched Chloé. Despite how badly the Mayor's daughter treated her 'friend', she had kept coming for more, so finding Sabrina actually had a limit was a bit of a shock.

However, for most of her classmates, it was simply a moment to help Sabrina enter in a healthier relationship – and the one person that had already connected with her and helped someone else do the same was ready to get on her case.

“Yo, Sabrina!” Alix greeted the bespectacled girl. “How's the 'single' life treating you?”

“Oh, Alix!” Sabrina replied. “I'm still getting used to it...”

“If you want to do someone's homework, I volunteer!” Lila said, half-joking, only to get a deep jab in the ribs from Alix.

“Lila, no,” she admonished the Italian, before turning back to Sabrina. “You ever been to roller derby? I'll introduce you to my team.”

“Um, maybe I should...” Sabrina replied. She had never been into sports, mostly because Chloé wasn't interested in anything that made her sweat, but perhaps this was a good way to show how thorough her splitting was.

“Ew, all that sweating?” was Lila's honest answer.

Not that Alix minded. She was certain she would get hooked once she tried it.

----

“Looks like Sabrina's doing okay,” Marinette happily noted, before she turned to the other side of the split, who was murderously glaring at the school bulletin board. “Chloé, however...”

The girl roughly slapped the board, right under a paper that said 'Chloé Bourgeois' BFF Tryouts!' with way too many hearts, and which had several lines for signups – all of them completely empty.

“HEY! Why hasn't anyone signed up for my BFF tryouts?!”

“You threw my watch into the street?” Alix fired.

“You locked me in the bathroom?” Juleka pointed out.

“You made Mylène cry,” Ivan reminded her.

“You suck,” Nathaniel sentenced.

“Oh, who asked you?!” Chloé yelled.

You did, everyone else thought, before someone else slapped another paper on top of Chloé's.

“Hey!” Chloé yelled once more. “Who do you think you–?”

“The school bulletin is for school news only, Mlle. Bourgeois,” M. D'Argencourt stated, glaring down at the girl, who realized that this was an adult she couldn't browbeat into submission – so she left, huffing all the way like a train, shortly before the fencing teacher did the same.

Curious, Marinette approached the new poster, which Adrien was looking at with interest.

“'Argencourt School of Fencing tryouts'?” she asked Adrien, who smiled at her.

“Yes, we have a spot open. Are you interested?”

“Yeah, actually! It could be useful!”

I could actually learn to wield Venom with that!

“Useful for what?” Adrien asked, a bit surprised, and she looked aside.

“N-Not for any... you know, particular reason,” she replied bashfully. Much to her surprise, Adrien actually accepted the answer, and began to tell her about what she should expect in the tryouts.

----

The day of the tryouts, Marinette felt ready. She had read on fencing rules since the poster came up, and she had also practiced some moves she had seen on YouTube, so she was as prepared as one could be. After putting on the fencing suit and picking up a fleuret, she came into the gym, where she found an unexpected visitor.

“Oh! Marc! What are you doing here?”

Marc Anciel was one of Aurore and Mireille's classmates, and he was a kind, gentle soul that liked to write both poetry and prose. He tended to keep to himself a bit, but she knew he was trying to come out of his shell and become more sociable.

“Oh, Marinette!” he said, standing up, his book in his hands. “I'm getting references for writing fight scenes. M. D'Argencourt says it's fine as long as I'm not disruptive.”

“Hello, everyone! The darling of Paris has arrived!”

Ugh, Marinette thought. It's like Marc summoned her, or something.

“Mlle. Bourgeois, if you are only here to serve as a distraction, then you may leave,” M. D'Argencourt warned her, while Adrien gave her a half-glare as she turned to the stands with a groan.

“Then why does he get to be here?!” Chloé shouted, pointing at Marc. She jumped in between them.

“Hey! He has permission!” she defended him.

“Marinette,” Marc whispered.

“Huh?”

“I'm non-binary.”

“Oh.” That explained a lot. And it also made her feel bad, because she kept using the wrong pronouns to speak of Marc. She turned back to Chloé. “They have permission!”

----

With Chloé finally out of the way, the tryouts began, and M. D'Argencourt bid Marinette forward, as her name had been the first in the list.

“To earn the only spot on the team, the neophytes will execute a succession of assault against the elders,” the teacher explained. “Take place!”

“Well, Marinette, are you okay with me?” Adrien asked, smiling, as he prepared for their bout.

“Only if you promise not to go easy on me!” she replied, returning the smile in challenge before lowering her mask.

“ALLEZ!”

Quickly, Marinette lunged forward with her foil and aimed straight at Adrien's chest. As she did so, she was also aware of Adrien's weapon attacking her, but she deflected it.

And the tip of her weapon touched.

“HA!” she said.

“WHOA!” Adrien replied, shocked.

“WHOO! Get her, Adrichéri!” Chloé cheered.

Both of them rose their masks, and Adrien gave Chloé a disappointed look.

“Chloé, loud cheering is very disrespectful during bouts. And Marinette got the point.”

“HMPH!”

Clearly, Chloé hadn't wanted her to win. Was there a way to rub her victory into Chloé's face without looking like a jerk?

“Fencing Master D'Argencourt, I want to get into your school!”

Everyone turned to look at the sudden appearance. She was already wearing the fencing uniform, along with the mask, so it was impossible to see what she looked like, but Marinette thought she was probably Japanese, based on her accent. The way she held herself, though, it was clear that she was practiced in the sport of fencing.

“Looks like another disrespectful person has shown up,” M. D'Argencourt noted.

“Wow, what a noisy show off,” Chloé commented. Marinette didn't comment on how much of a hypocrite Chloé was, so she settled for giving her a withering look.

“Very well!” M. D'Argencourt said. “Defeat one of my students and I'll consider your admission.”

“Very well!” the mysterious girl replied. “Then I shall challenge your best combatant!”

The fencers looked at the girl as if she had grown a second head.

“Uh, you... you don't have to...” one of them said, but M. D'Argencourt silenced everyone.

“Adrien, please give a lesson of modesty to our visitor,” he ordered, and Adrien nodded.

“Yes, Master,” he replied, lowering his mask. Alright, Agreste, don't screw up. Marinette is watching!

----

The bout began, and quickly Adrien realized that this girl was very good at fencing. She had probably trained for years, like he had, to reach this level of skill. He couldn't afford to hold back!

The first time he was able to touch her, he felt the tip of her foil hit him on the chest.

Both machines blared at the same time.

“Simultaneous! No touch!” M. D'Argencourt stated.

Returning to their positions, the bout continued. When he lunged, the girl did so at the same time, and as he twisted to dodge the foil, he noticed she was doing the same.

“Abstain!” M. D'Argencourt ruled.

“Grr!” the girl growled. “I propose we do this the traditional way! No machines! We'll have more freedom!”

Marinette ignored Chloé yawning beside her, clenching her fists as she silently supported Adrien.

“She just gave up an impartial judge!” Marc pointed out, as Adrien accepted the additional challenge and unhooked his suit.

“ALLEZ!”

Immediately, the challenger tackled Adrien off the mat.

“HA!” she shouted.

“OOF!” Adrien complained, stepping back as he avoided the challenger's wild slashing.

“Whoa, where are they going?!” Marc wondered.

“HA!”

“AH!”

“She shoved Adrien off the mat!” Marinette called out. “That's a corps-a-corps, halt the bout!”

“This is real fencing!” M. D'Argencourt exclaimed. Marinette turned to look at the man.

Are you sure you are a fencing instructor?

“I can't see a thing!” Chloé complained.

“Me neither,” Marc agreed. Marinette quickly ran for the stairs.

“THIS WAY!” she said, following the dueling fencers towards the sound of clashing foils.

“Is that all you got?!” she heard Adrien exclaim, and she finally found them at the library.

“They're really going at it!” Marc exclaimed, and suddenly it ended.

“THERE!” both of the fencers shouted as their foils hit their rival's chest.

At the same time.

Or, at least, that was what it looked like.

“The librarian's gonna kill them,” Marc said, as M. D'Argencourt ran into them.

“Anciel! Who struck first?!” the instructor shouted, pointing at Marc with his finger. “I need to know!”

Marc covered himself with his book.

“Eek! Abstain!”

“Mlle. Dupain-Cheng!” He did the same with Marinette.

“Well, Adrien left the mat which is a penalty but she made physical contact so–”

“Not what I asked!” M. D'Argencourt interrupted before turning to the third witness. “Mlle. Bourgeois!”

“Adrihoney, obviously!”

“Excellent! A clear victory in honor of the D'Argencourt School!” the instructor said, proudly.

Marinette just gave him another look.

“Seriously?!” That's all that it takes for you to proclaim victory?

“Chloé, are you sure that's what happened?” Adrien asked in an exhausted voice.

“It's fine,” the challenger said, offering her hand to Adrien. “The referee made his decision.”

“See? Even she knows to listen to her superiors,” Chloé crowd, ignoring as the challenger approached her.

She sure paid more attention to her as the foil in her hand got stabbed into the concrete floor just a couple of centimeters away from her foot.

Marinette quickly got rid of her fencing uniform and ran after the mysterious girl, along with Adrien. Both of them had the same thing in mind, as she began to take off her mask.

“Wait!”

“Let's have a rematch! I think you touched first!” Adrien said.

“And even if you didn't, you're the most skilled person who tried out!” Marinette reasoned.

“No need,” the girl said, finally taking off her mask and turning around – to reveal that she was a beautiful Japanese girl with dark bluish hair just a few shades away from Marinette's, brown eyes and even a smattering of freckles across her cheeks, which gave her a more juvenile appearance. Marinette and Adrien felt their cheeks blushing. “You won. In my family, there's no such thing as second chances. Sayonara.”

And she got into the car.

Shit, she's cute, both of them thought.

Until they realized that the girl was getting away. They had to act quickly!

Adrien dragged Marinette to his car and opened the door so she could enter first, before getting in as well.

“Follow that car!” he ordered his bodyguard, who silently nodded as he started the vehicle.

----

“HEY!” Chloé shouted as the car with her Adrikins and Dupain-Cheng sped away after that peasant's own. “Why are they so obsessed with this nobody?!”

“I don't think obsessed is the right word...” Tikki noted, already fearing what was likely to happen.

“An Akuma!” Chloé cheerfully shouted.

“Oh no...”

“Oh YES! It's Scarlet Lady time!”

Tikki moaned.

“I don't get enough cookies for this.”

----

She tried to call her mother. Even if she would only berate her for failing to join the fencing school, at least it would mean she worried.

But, just as expected...

“Of course, she doesn't answer...” she said, huffing as she hung up the phone. And then she noticed something else.

An ugly black butterfly somehow squeezing into the car through the door.

“... more importantly, what the hell is that?!” she wondered, as the butterfly flew towards her sword and somehow fused with it.

“Riposte, I am Hawkmoth.”

----

“She's the only child of a prestigious fencers' family...” Adrien noted as he checked his phone: while the girl hadn't mentioned her name, the markings on her car had allowed him to learn that she was Kagami Tsurugi, the daughter of Tomoe Tsurugi, whom he had heard something about.

“That explains why she took it so hard,” Marinette answered -

SLICE

– as something suddenly split the car they were riding in half.

“AH!”

“WHA–?!”

Both of them were thrown off their seats as the bottom of their half fell and began to skid off the blacktop. They quickly worked to cover their heads to avoid injury, but they were still sure they were going to get bruises from rolling about.

And then someone landed atop the car.

“You offered me a rematch! I've come to accept!” a familiar voice said. It belonged to someone who was entirely covered in silver, from the helmet to the shoes, in armor that resembled that of ancient samurais. The only splashes of different colors were the eyes and a circular crest in the center of the forehead and the guard of her sword, both of them red.

It was clear that Kagami had undergone the same thing as so many Parisians in the past months.

“Oh no, she's an Akuma!” both of them exclaimed.

“Not so fast, Chrome-Dome!”

Both of them sighed.

“Scarlet Lady!”

“Even worse!”

The Akuma attacked with her sword, slicing at Adrien even though he and Marinette were standing close.

“Look out!” he shouted, pushing Marinette away as he jumped as well.

“Ah!”

When Adrien was able to look, he realized Marinette was gone.

“Marinette?! Where are you?!” he screamed, scared for her. He knew he had made her promise not to get involved in Akuma fights, but... he couldn't help it.

He couldn't see that Marinette had snuck into a nearby alley.

“I'm sorry, Adrien,” she whispered, “but this is Marigold's chance!”

“At your command!” Pollen cheered.

“Pollen, BUZZ ON!”

----

“This won't take long!” The Akuma announced as she sliced off the ad tower Scar was standing on, forcing her to jump off.

“RUDE!”

“Geez,” he said. Unfortunately, he had to agree with the Akuma in this instance.

“Um, Adrien Agreste?”

He turned to see it was the new heroine.

“Marigold! Have you seen–”

“Don't worry, I got your friend to safety,” Marigold quickly replied. “But now it's your turn sinc she's after you!”

Marigold was so distracted that she hadn't noticed the approaching danger.

But he did.

“Look out!” he said, hugging Marigold and tackling her out of the way of the Akuma's sword, attached to its owner as it slammed into the ground. He felt a sharp pain in his ankle as he moved so fast, but he thought it was worth it.

“Ah!” Marigold yelled in shock, before regaining her composure and throwing her spinning top to the top of the building, taking advantage of the Akuma being distracted by her sword being stuck to get away.

“Hey, wait for me!” he heard Scar yell as Marigold carefully let him on the ground, and he grabbed his ankle, feeling for the source of pain.

“Are you okay?” Marigold asked, clearly worried.

“I rolled my ankle...” he replied. Nothing that wouldn't go away without some repose.

“You got my Prince hurt?! I should fire you, you wanna-bee!” Scar shouted. He was about to turn to her and yell to stop calling him 'her Prince', but Marigold's utterly distraught face distracted him.

“I can't believe you got hurt protecting me when I should be protecting you!” she said, covering the sides of her face. “I am so sorry, Adrien! But I promise we'll keep you safe and save that girl!”

“Mhmm,” he said, noncommittally.

But on the inside, he realized something.

If Scar had been the one he saved and got injured for, she would have probably been making excuses about why she hadn't done anything – and that was if she just didn't go and become even more of an abhorrent admirer.

But Marigold... she had just admitted fault and strove to do better.

His respect of the new heroine rose.

----

As she hugged her Adrikins and put his hand on her head – he could be a bit less enthusiastic about how hard he was doing that – she heard an unwelcome sound.

“Apparently, I need to explain the rules,” the akumatized chrome-dome said, angry. “You're not allowed to run away.”

She couldn't allow this peasant to harm her Adrikins beyond what the wanna-bee had done!

“Come, my Prince, I'll take you far away from this dangerous girl!” she declared.

When there was no following comment from Adrien about him wanting her to get him away, she turned – and saw that the new-bee had not only bailed out on her, but she had also stolen Adrien from her.

“HEY!”

“What did I just say about running?!” the Akuma shouted, but she didn't care.

She had to find her Prince!

----

Marigold, as it turned out, chose to bring him to the Louvre Museum – particularly, the Tutankhamun exposition that was still running (and he had yet to see an inkling of whether Plagg was right about the statue!).

And, unfortunately, she picked a rather distressing hiding place for him.

“Sorry, this might be uncomfortable for a while, but you'll be safe,” Marigold apologized as he held the empty sarcophagus open. “It'll be okay. Chat Noir will be here soon.”

“Chat Noir?” he asked. He had expected her to say she'd solve the problem soon, or something like that.

“Yeah, don't you know?” She winked at him. “He's the real hero of Paris.”

And she carefully closed the sarcophagus.

Alone and in darkness, he felt his fear grip him, but as Plagg silently came out of his hidey hole, he managed to control himself.

Okay, just for that, I'll forgive you for locking me up in here, he thought, his respect for Marigold growing.

“Claws Out!”

----

Armed with a foil she had finagled somewhere in an exposition on sixteenth century France, Marigold began to make her way to leave the museum and find Riposte –

“Hey, Bumbling Bee!”

“Scarlet Lady?!”

“Where'd you hide my beloved?!”

Ignoring the fact that Adrien seemed to dislike Scarlet Lady just as much as Chat Noir did, she realized something.

“But if you're here, that means–”

“WHERE IS HE?!” the Akuma shouted, landing into the corridor.

Yeah, Scarlet Lady was oblivious enough to forget the Akuma could follow her.

She covered her face, because right now, she really, really didn't want to look at the idiot.

“Oh my gawd, you're so stupid,” she complained.

The Akuma wasn't up for any bantering, and chose to attack Scarlet Lady, who tripped and crawled back as fast as she could.

“Ah, help! Not the hair!” she shouted, covering her face to avoid seeing the sword coming closer.

“Scarlet Lady! Chat Noir!” Marigold said, and Scarlet Lady uncovered her face to see Chat Noir parrying the Akuma's weapon with his own.

“About time!”

Chat Noir ignored the heroine: he was used to her 'style' of thanking people for helping her (which meant not thanking people at all). So he turned to his other partner.

“There's a fencing tournament at the Louvre and I wasn't invited?”

“Well, don't take so long at the vet!”

“Pft!” he snorted. Finally, he had someone willing to trade banter with him!

“No matter how many you call, I'll vanquish you and become the best fencer!” the Akuma declared, clearly uncaring about those who faced her.

“I think we left fencing behind a long time ago...” Marigold noted, remembering the Akuma's attempts at making lethal attacks.

The two of them promptly moved away, not eager to test the lethality of being hit by such a sharp weapon.

“I think getting close to her might be impossible. And suicidal,” Marigold said as she walked down the stairs.

“I think so, too,” Chat Noir agreed. “Looks like a good time for a Lucky Charm, Scar!”

“AH!”

Scarlet Lady promptly landed on the ground, face up, between the two of them. At the top of the stairs stood the Akuma, who had clearly thrown the former down with a swing of her sword.

“I'm doing this because I want to and not because you told me to,” Scarlet Lady claimed, groggy from the pain of hitting the cold, hard marble floor. “Lucky Charm...”

This time, the Lucky Charm was larger than the norm, which they instantly recognized.

“A radiator?” Chat Noir asked, standing to defend Scar and Marigold from the approaching Akuma.

“I've got it!” Marigold exclaimed. “But I need your belt!”

“My belt?” he said, shocked. He was surprised by the request... but he had promised Marinette he'd give her a try. “Okay, I'm trusting you!”

Turning to hand her the belt that acted as his tail, she answered by giving him the radiator. It was sturdy, but light, with a large space running through the middle –

He understood what Marigold had planned.

“En garde!” he said, as the Akuma stabbed with her sword – only for him to catch the sword with the radiator as Marigold jumped over him, belt in hand.

“PRET...”

Marigold ran the belt around the sword's guard, preventing the Akuma from trying to pull away, while Chat Noir began to twist the radiator around –

“ALLEZ!”

And with a mighty pull, the sword blade snapped, freeing the butterfly.

----

With Kagami now recovered from her Akumatization, Marigold took it upon herself to calm the girl down.

“Everything is okay, it's over,” she told her, smiling.

Kagami lightly blushed, although she wasn't sure of the reason.

Behind her, a more acrimonious encounter took place.

“Great, she's dealt with, now where's Adrien?!” Scar shouted, ignoring her earrings beeping as the countdown got closer to an end.

Chat Noir gave her the look he would give to someone he considered an idiot.

“Do you really want the cameras to catch you detransforming?”

“STOP TRYING TO DISTRACT ME!”

The obvious didn't work. Appealing to her flaw would, though.

“So you don't care if they catch you with that messed up hair, then?”

“NOOOOO! Don't look!” Scar screamed, shouting all the way to an empty corridor, while he looked at her in satisfaction.

Although he was reminded that he also needed to show up, before Marigold tried to find him in the sarcophagus. He said his goodbyes to the girls and ran towards another corridor, going a way around as he detransformed and returned through the corridor for Egyptology, finding Kagami and Marigold.

“Marinette should arrive soon, please wait for her,” Marigold said, and he felt like cheering up.

“Ah, sure,” Kagami replied, clearly a bit insecure over the entire thing, and he took that moment to call her.

“Pst, Marigold,” he whispered. She had sharp ears, as she was able to hear him, and she approached him quickly.

“Oh, there you are! Thank goodness, are you okay?!”

“Yes, thank you,” he said, scratching the back of his head. The Cure had even healed his ankle. Not that he'd want to tell Scar that – who knew what else she'd try to pull over it.

“So, what'd I tell you? Chat Noir really saved the day, huh?”

Yeah, she was nothing like Scar. He smiled at her.

“Just Chat Noir? You should give yourself more credit. I saw how helpful you were.”

“Helpful?! Really?!” she said, blushing.

Cute.

It reminded him of Marinette, in fact, which added to the cuteness factor.

----

Marigold had to leave, unfortunately, but promised to return whenever there was another Akuma, and he was left with his rival, who was holding her phone while her foil that had been the focus for her Akumatization laid on the ground, repaired by the Cure.

He grabbed it and offered it back to its owner.

“I'm sorry–” both of them said at the same time, but before they could do anything else, something interrupted.

“GUYS!” Marinette said, hugging both him and Kagami at the same time. “I was so worried! I'm so glad you're safe!”

Adrien just enjoyed the feeling of being hugged by Marinette.

Kagami... well, she wasn't sure of what to think of the cute pigtailed girl suddenly hugging her out of nowhere.

“Sorry, sorry! It's okay now!” Adrien said to calm his friend down, prompting her to realize she had acted too fast, so she let them go and presented herself to the other girl.

“Oh, right, I'm Marinette!” she said, offering her hand, which was awkwardly shaken.

“K-Kagami...” the Japanese girl returned.

----

The best things about Chloé's hair being a mess were two.

The first, that it made for a better, more comfortable hidey hole.

The second, that it kept Chloé from interrupting Marinette and her friends.

Chloé's vanity may have been an irritant, but times like these, it proved to be useful.

----

Seeing that she had managed to make a connection with Kagami, Adrien let her do the talking.

She was much better at this than him, at least.

“Please don't quit fencing! M. D'Argencourt would be crazy not to take you after how much he was drooling over that match!”

Kagami looked aside, sad.

“And yet, this isn't what your friend saw.”

Marinette felt disgusted and made a face.

“Ew, gross, she's not my friend.”

Kagami let out a little snort, which broke through the image of stoicness she was trying to express, which somehow made her shine.

“Alright, alright,” she said, turning to Adrien. “Prepare yourself for a rematch.”

“Yes!” he cheered.

“And I hope to see you there, Marinette,” she added.

“Yeah!”

----

As they returned to the school, Marinette decided to ask.

“So, are you going to go to Françoise Dupont?”

Kagami shook her head.

“Actually, I've started at Collège blah blah blah.”

“Oh!” She had heard of that place. “Our friend Ondine goes there! They have a sporty focus, right?”

“Correct.”

Marinette could actually imagine Kagami wearing that school's uniform. It would look good on her.

----

As Plagg munched on his delicious cheese, he had something to ask of Adrien.

“Hey, you realize, by giving the spot to the sword lady, that you gave up a chance to be on a team with Pigtails, right?”

He silently laughed at his kit's face. Of course, he didn't know he was already on a team with Pigtails, but it was funnier this way! The reaction when he learned that Marigold was also Pigtails would be hilarious.

For the moment, he would settle for his expression when he realized he had lost the chance to spend more time with the girl.

“Hngn!”

And there you go.

----

Captain Hardrock

@zoe-oneesama Kagami debuts! Let's hope the next sword thrust goes for Hawkmoth!

Well, this was the other girl's beginning in the story, ready to make an impact as Adrien and Marinette's friend instead of the former's love interest and latter's rival!

Sorry for the lateness, I've had a long week, between my family visiting and me moving to a new home, which was a mess and a half that was fortunately solved soon.

Next time, Captain Hardrock and the debut of Marinette's other potential love interest, Luka!

[luvp-music]

finding ‘father’ [Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE Chapter 4/OC Stuff] | MASSIVE SPOILERS

tw// violence, vulgar language, yomi hellsmile being an asshole AN: This work is accompanied by artwork that will be posted later. It is OC x canon events, so please excuse any altering to the canon there may be.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Sachika’s brain went static the second her eyes saw pink. Usually by now, she would only see red, and rage. Although her emotions should have gone haywire, and she should be going berserk, she was free. Was it because of the effects of the lab? Was it due to the help of Desuhiko’s Disguise having a lasting effect? Was it because of Yomi Hellsmile in the lab behind her? Was it because she still needed to keep a lasting impression on the other agents? Or was it…

…because Yakou Furio was bleeding out in front of her and she couldn’t do anything?

She felt powerless. She had one goddamn job after doing everything for him, and she failed. Everyone failed.

Sachika could only stand there, frozen. Even as Yuma ran out, shouting for the Chief to respond, she couldn’t do anything. Even as the Chief spoke his final words to Yuma and her both, her vision was white, her body couldn’t move. She couldn’t even recall if she was breathing. The world was set in slow motion. The world was moving faster. The world stopped. It kept going around and around in circles in her mind and nothing could ever seem to stop it.

Then the chilling voice of Hellsmile spoke up, saying, “Huh? What’s going on here?”

That was when she seemed to snap back into reality, screaming at Yakou to wake up, to tell her what the hell happened, and WHY he would let something like this happen. Yuma left her be to plead with Yomi to treat Yakou’s wounds, only to be blamed for it all. Within a blink of an eye, Yuma was being held with his arms behind his back, begging for someone, anyone to do something. All the while Sachika was attempting to stop the bleeding.

“--…a pitiful, fitting end for an unjust life,” he spoke, “And in front of his precious girl, too. You’re sick. Arrest this fucker we caught red handed.”

Don’t call me that. You have no right to call me that. You have no idea…

Walking over to her and the chief’s body, Yomi grimaced to himself, “Why the hell would I help worms like you? …”

Once again, his voice faded out of Sachika’s reality, before the stomping of his heel on Yakou’s face snapped any form of resistance she may have had.

“STOP!!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, beginning to claw and throw her fists at the man, “Get your fucking hands off of him!!”

Yomi was quick. Almost too quick. Within a second, he had grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her so she couldn’t move.

“Aw, how cute. Daddy’s little girl is defending him until his final, dying breath. It almost makes me sick,” he sneered, spitting on her face before throwing her onto the ground.

Sachika resorted to kicking when she couldn’t move her upper body, being pinned down by Yomi. There was something so wrong about this entire scenario. Why was she fighting for her life next to Yakou’s bleeding body? Against the head of the Peacekeepers no less? The rational part of her brain knew he had no time left, there was blood everywhere. But he had to be saved. Yakou Furio was all she had in this hellhole known as Kanai Ward.

What came next moved far too fast for anyone to keep up. Yomi’s fist connected with Sachika’s face. Once. Twice. Three times. Four times. Five– she stopped counting. She couldn’t feel her face anymore. Yomi was so satisfied, finally beating both of his least favorite people in Kanai Ward to the ground, screaming profanities and threats all the while. When he was satisfied with Sachika’s bloody nose and bruised skin, he continued by grabbing her head and neck, pounding the back of her skull with the hard, marble floor of the lab. Her ruby blood spilled out onto the floor, she couldn’t feel her head, she was getting dizzy, she was going to pass out, she was going to pass out, she was going to–

Right on que, Halara and Vivia came in, dealing with any Peacekeepers that were keeping Yomi company. The next few seconds were like a dream. With every blink of Sachika’s eyes, one Peacekeeper was on the ground. Yuma and Fubuki were running hand in hand away from the scene. Yomi was running away.

Yomi was running away?

Yomi was running away.

No matter how much she wanted to duplicate herself and catch the bastard, the pain in her body and head was too much to push through. The only sense she bothered keenly using in the moment was her hearing, which only worked so well.

“You think – carry her?”

“I’m not – built – drop her –”

“It’s either – to die – . I’m – take the Chief.”

With that, Sachika felt herself being carried before she felt a sigh where she thought her shoulder was. Looking up through swollen, beaten eyes, she saw Vivia, one of the only close friends she managed to make through this mission.

“Stay awake, now. It’ll be a hassle if you pass out, too.”

She couldn’t refute his statement. She couldn’t do anything, really. All that came from this mission down to the lab was sadness, pain, and unneeded death. Looking down at her bruised, bleeding body, her mind began to wonder. No matter how many thoughts appeared in her mind, there was only one feeling she had: numbness.

Figures. She lost a mother, and now she has lost a “father”.