#luckily this is tumblr and nobody knows what they’re doing

[alaskannymph]

I made the tfp autobots into WoF dragons a while ago, here is a nearly fully rendered Optimus! Sea/Sky

[kharmii]

Honestly, you’re one of the few sane people regarding the staggering levels of radical leftism. The self-hating, disembodied and suicide-glorifying part of young adults who are supporting Jihadist terrorism in the name of “”resistance”” is disturbing, especially coming from queer and/or white people with their “I’m a good person!” mind virus. Because the “good people” program is all Covid was about after that first year, and it’s all the Pro-Palestine crowd is about, too. I’ve yet to see one peaceful “protest” where they’re not parroting “From the river to the sea” not caring that they’re literally calling for the death of all Jews (or maybe they do know), or not use slurs, or glorify Hamas, or congregate in front of hospitals. None of those things are what mentally stable people do. I thought the dehumanization of non-Covid vaccinated people was bad, but this current level of hatred towards Jews is on another level.

Another thing I'm sick of is the 'Jewish people/white people are evil colonizers!' crap. First of all, Jewish people were trying to move into their ancestral land, and Palestine didn't exist until the 1940s. The Muslims did to the Jews what they do to anybody they conquer where they breed themselves to a majority, then start exterminating non-Muslims. They will do that in modern times until they succeed or are driven out of a place.

Only white people are expected to 'give back' land they settled, but Muslims are allowed to move around, run sex grooming and slave trades, and exterminate non-Muslims in lands they settled TO THIS DAY. White people in South Africa are still considered 'colonizers' even though they settled it in 1652, and I mean settled, not colonized. Just because other races happened to live around South Africa, doesn't mean they were necessarily in the land that white Europeans settled. Eventually they moved in when farming and modern medicine were introduced that allowed humanity to explode in numbers well beyond what would have been possible without European intervention.

-But anyway, did I ever post my covid testimony here on Tumblr? In early February of 2020, my mom and brother got really sick on their way to a hotel on vacation. They felt like they had a really bad flu for a few days. They had type B blood, so they think it might have been undiagnosed Covid because that blood type is supposedly weak to it. Since then, nobody in my entire extended family was ever proven to have it because most of us are reasonably healthy and have good lifestyle choices.

A month or so later, the government forced the kids into in-home learning, and everything got locked down. My workplace had us wear masks, but after a week, maybe 2/3 of coworkers in a sixty-person office stopped giving a shit and wouldn't wear them. Management didn't push it because we were getting a lot of call-offs from people (pretending to be) afraid of Covid. Luckily by then, I worked in a Democrat run state but was able to move over the border into a saner Republican run state where I enjoyed a much cheaper cost of living due to the tax burden being way down. I wasn't able to get a job there, and I was forced to commute an hour- but I did the best I could with my circumstances.

When they talked about the vaccine, my mom told me not to get it because she remembered that back in the 80's they came out with a vaccine for Swine Flu that killed more people than died of the actual flu. My hardcore Democrat grandmother got it and, while she didn't die, she got really sick from it. -So I took that advice and said that I'd wait until the vaccine was out for a while until I got it. After all, Covid only seemed to kill like a tenth of one percent of old fat people over 80, so I wasn't panicked enough to run right out and get an experimental vaccine.

Since I lived in a Republican state, my kids and siblings still in school had to do the in-home learning for a few months in spring of 2020, but by fall, they were back in school with masks. People were allowed to choose to have their children still do in-home learning, but they weren't forced to. In the Democrat run state, kids were forced to do in-home learning for over a year. The teacher's union there fought for it because they wanted to not have to work and still get paid.

Most churches did Facebook live the summer of 2020, but we were back in church in most places by fall of 2020.

-And speaking of, they paid people to sit on their asses and not work for a year! In my place of employment, we were severely short staffed because most of the black women with kids took off and got paid by the government. All the men of any race and all the white women with kids stayed at work, and luckily, we had the majority, or nothing would have gotten done. There were offices with a higher percentage of people not working, so they were like ghost towns. For that year and long after, nobody was allowed to take leave unless they had FMLA. I personally went to work and sent my kids to normal school because I wasn't going to subject them to life locked in my house with no friends and social life and fresh air.

When the vaccine came out, a bunch of my coworkers went in a big group right out to get it, and that's even before they threatened to fire people for not getting it. Since my place of employment was so short staffed, they were one of the few who wouldn't push us, but I knew of several other people who were scrambling to get medical and religious exemptions so they could avoid being forced.

The funny thing is that all the coworkers who got the vaccine got really sick the second time they got the shot. Most -if not all- got Covid every year since. Some of them got long Covid and ended up forced into retirement. I'm one of the few people in my workplace who, despite not wearing masks and getting shots, has never had Covid. Some people would get the shot and still get Covid and then still wear the stupid mask, as if it were a stupid virtue signaling political statement. I quipped that I wasn't going to get the vaccine because for all I knew, it caused people to get Covid. Aren't vaccines supposed to prevent you from getting the thing that it's made to vaccinate you against? It's utter shenanigans.

Then there's all the other weird stuff around the Covid scam, like how my great uncle died of a heart problem that made it so someone found his dead body in a shower. Doctors told him his problem was so bad they couldn't treat it because he would just die on the operating table. His son had to fight to keep 'Covid' off his death certificate as cause of death because hospitals were putting it on there every chance they could. Every person who 'died of Covid' meant they were getting additional government funding.

There's also the 'died suddenly' conspiracy theory that I think might be true. Even though I don't know anybody who died from Covid -just people who got the really bad flu- I do know of reasonably healthy middle-aged people who dropped dead for seemingly no reason, like a female nurse here and a male basketball coach there.....

[eleccy]

erhem. consider. kristoph gavin with munchausen’s syndrome by proxy

klavier was routinely sickly as a child but nobody could ever figure out why. little did they know that kristoph was slipping minute amounts of household cleaning chemicals into his drinks for years - his earliest formative experiences covertly poisoning somebody.

it takes years for the amounts to accumulate enough to manifest in symptoms but luckily the lasting effects for klavier are minimal. he gets a malignant tumor excised from his stomach then goes to europe to study the next year because his parents believe the clean air over there will be good for him. klavier improves enormously but no one puts two and two together that it’s because he’s separated from kristoph for the first time. but, there is more to be discovered...

if you’re not familiar with the whole munchausen’s syndrome by proxy premise, it is a psychological disorder that causes sufferers to insist that their chosen victim is severely ill (which, they’re not). it usually also involves convincing medical personnel to perform unnecessary procedures and most times, the sufferer is the one making the victim sick.

anyways so time goes on and eventually kristoph finds a new victim in his employee, apollo. apollo is confused as to why he starts having all these weird symptoms like throwing up, feeling shaky and numb, odd fevers that come and go. but he never makes the connection to his boss.

another aspect of munchausen’s syndrome by proxy is the desire for attention and sympathy which i definitely feel like kristoph could get himself into. he starts showing up at all of apollo’s medical appointments and insisting that his assistant has to have the best of care. the staff are practically falling all over each other to meet with kristoph’s demands because after all, he’s an elite and a learned man and there must be something here worth pursuing. kristoph can be extremely convincing so i feel like he would play this part so well that even apollo is sure that something is gravely wrong with himself. over time he starts to become convinced that it may be hopeless. he starts writing out a will for himself.

kristoph just says what symptoms he fears apollo is going to develop, and it happens, which only leads everyone involved to believe in his words even more. but he’s the one poisoning him. so of course, he would know exactly what apollo is going to develop.

the only thing that can stop this is phoenix and ema coming forward with raw evidence and atroquinine tests that show beyond a doubt that kristoph has been poisoning apollo. obviously apollo is so shocked, so angry, he doesn’t believe it all at first and continues to insist that it’s something else, something that’s killing him, but eventually klavier comes to him and tells him his story and they both fully realize that they’ve been victims the whole time.

the scariest part of this though is that when klavier and apollo go to confront kristoph about this, he categorically denies the allegation and is disgusted when klavier and apollo try to contest this with evidence. and that’s when apollo finally realizes that his bracelet has not. moved. because kristoph isn’t lying, he’s just completely and totally, genuinely unaware that he’s been behind these poisonings. just like his black psychelocks blind him to the facts of his motive behind killing zak gramarye.

👁👄👁 

this is some of the scariest shit i’ve ever written and i should make this into a fic for halloween

original tags on this bc tumblr hates me

#kristoph gavin #aa4 #warnings: disturbing #warnings: abuse #my true crime ass has been going way too far down the youtube rabbit hole #but this is a disorder that typically is more correlated with women #but is something that i one hundred percent believe kristoph could have #and he may actually have it canonically just based on like #the way that he talks to klavier and talks OVER klavier in 4-4 #insisting that klavier cant make his own decisions and doesnt know what hes talking about etc #fuck. i scared myself

[nightwings-circus]

DC Masterlist

(not my image. any images, gifs, and art are the right to the original creatpr.)

* = smut. 18+. Blogs with no age that are completely blank will be blocked.

I have made it VERY clear any blank blogs or minors will be blocked. Disrespecting that boundary is gross and if you do that you need to evaluate your decisions.

ABSOLUTELY NO REPOSTING ALLOWED. Do not reupload my content on any other sites/accounts under any circumstances. I will block you and report you and warn others about it.

my DC Masterlist :) all of my fanfic is here! updated when new fic is posted

Jason Todd (Red Hood)

Fluff:

- Polaroid

Jason Todd x fem!reader

Synapses: random as fuck story Inspired by some dialogue prompts and a tumblr post about a jl couple going as other jl couples for halloween (i cannot find it for the life of me I'm so sorry). Angsty jay. lots of random filler but I really wanted to write it, and i kinda wanted to turn it into a full story at some point. If anyone wants to be apart of a tag list let me know :)

word count: 1,181 words

- Gasoline tears

Jason Todd X fem!reader

Synapses: fluff and angst, also arguing. obvious language warning, also some light smut, no actual sex just some pretty heated make out sesh.Jason has been working on his bike a lot so you've been spending time with his brother Dick, cue to a heated debate followed, a lot of possessiveness and jealousy followed by some sexy making out.enjoyyyyyy!

word count: 801 words

- This is what falling in love feels like

Jason Todd x fem!reader

Synapses: after a smoke sesh reader can’t help but admire her handsome vigilante boyfriend

Warnings: mentions of smoking weed, some making out (nothing too steamy), mentions of feelings of panic (very very brief)

Smut:

- Animal i have become *

Jason Todd x fem!reader

Warnings: heavy smut, Pollen, biting, choking, Dom! Jason, pet names, lots of praise, needy Jay, HEAVY SMUT. It’s pretty steamy folks.

Synapses: Jason was out on a routine patrol and left you at home, but he comes back sprayed with pollen and oh so needy to fuck you into oblivion.

word count: 1,408 words

- Boyfriend *

Jason Todd X fem!reader

Warnings: SMUT. 18+ only. Minors and blank blogs will be blocked. Oral (M! And F! Rec.), full sex, pet names, cheating.

Synapses: Dick leaves you alone at a Wayne gala for a certain outlaw to snatch you up. Loosely Based off the song Boyfriend by Dove Cameron

word count:

- Third times a charm *

Jason Todd X fem!reader X Dick Grayson

NO BATC*ST.

Warnings: 18+. Absolutely no minors or blank blogs. You will be blocked. Pure smut: oral (M! And F! Rec.), unprotected sex (be smarter then them), threesome, choking, fingering, slight BDSM undertones I guess?. I think that’s everything

Synapses: After Jason catches you and Dick in the act, tensions are high. They’re even higher after Dick catches you and Jason only a few days later, the third time however, is a night none of you will ever forget, especially since it’ll determine who gets the girl of their dreams.

Word count:

- the cat and the bird *

Jason Todd X fem! Reader

Warnings:Smut!!! 18+, light(?) Gun play, penetration, caught in the act, some light fluff after if you squint. Pet names.

Synapses: a patrol leaves Jason frustrated and on edge, and Alley-cat (y/n) has to help him cheer up, one way or another.

word count:

Shorts:

- comfort cuddles

Jason Todd x fem!Reader

Synapses: jay has a few days without patrol and comes to hangout with the reader, but reader is so tired they can’t get out of bed. Luckily jay swoops in to save the day with some much needed (on both ends) cuddles

Word count:

- So long farewell

Jason Todd x fem!reader

Synapses: nobody is safe from a heated argument in a relationship, especially not you and Jason, but will it be okay this time?

Word count:

- Husband zoned *

Jason Todd x fem!reader

Synapses: jason comes home from a long patrol and you decide to play a fun little joke on him, what comes next is a shock.

Dick Grayson (Nightwing)

Fluff:

- New recruit

Dick Grayson X fem!reader

Part one | part two | part three

Synapses: you’re a former member of the league of assassins, and now you’re the newest member of the titans. You meet a lot of new faces, but the leader, Dick Grayson, catches your eye.

Smut:

- One knock away *

Detective!dick Grayson X fem!reader

Warnings: 18+, smut, handcuffs, dom!Dick, praise, implied pain k!nk, pet names (baby, darling, doll, sir a couple of times), thigh riding, all the good horny shit.

synapses: you're the newest vigilante in town, though some people aren't huge fans of you at the moment. when a knock disturbs you and a cop enters your house for questioning connected to the new masked crusader; you meet detective Dick Grayson, formally anyways.

word count: 2,016 words

- Stuck together *

Dick Grayson X fem! Reader

Warnings: smut. Oral (m! Receiving), I think that’s all? 18+

Synapses: you get stuck in an elevator with your least favourite person Dick Grayson and the tension finally gets to you guys 👀

- Third times a charm *

Jason Todd X fem! Reader X Dick Grayson

NO BATC*ST

Warnings: 18+. Absolutely no minors or blank blogs. You will be blocked. Pure smut: oral (M! And F! Rec.), unprotected sex (be smarter then them), threesome, choking, fingering, slight BDSM undertones I guess?. I think that’s everything

Synapses: After Jason catches you and Dick in the act, tensions are high. They’re even higher after Dick catches you and Jason only a few days later, the third time however, is a night none of you will ever forget, especially since it’ll determine who gets the girl of their dreams.

[tofuiharbinger]

-Tales of Baby Tofu-

Alternate Title: Impostor AU… but it’s all according to plan… 

AU: Mama Tofu

Genre: Brainrot

Word Count: 870 words

WARNING: Possible OOC, underlying cult themes, gender neutral reader, identity theft(?), kidnapping, word vomit, unedited writing, second post on Tumblr

Description: A new opponent appears! Celestia arrives, demanding the divine presence of its Creator. However, it seems that they are not yet aware of who Baby Tofu is…

Misc: Inspired from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. If you’d like, you are free to write my ideas into a proper work if you can credit me. Interaction appreciated! (But please do not disclose my existence to Shiro)

-Brainrot Commence!-

Allow me to set the scene. It all starts as usual. Mama Tofu and their child are both isekai’d into Teyvat. (Was it Albedo or Truck-kun? We shall never know…) Of course, Baby Tofu is thrilled with being thrusted into their beloved video game, and Mama Tofu’s stunned at how quickly they “adapted” with their unfamiliar environment. The two journey to Mondstadt, Baby Tofu fusses over their favorite characters and food, the crowd rejoices at the Creator’s return (alongside an unforeseen successor?), etc etc. But when word ascends to Celestia? They are baffled. 

It’s widely known that Celestia is the “heaven” of Teyvat, or at least a place for the gods. So why were they not the first to welcome the Creator? Why is their Grace not where they should be; pampered, protected, and reclaiming their rightful place on the throne!? It’s humiliating and equally puzzling, thus why they must seek out their Grace for their holy guidance! (That’s a lie, Celestia just wishes to hoard the Creator to themselves, like any other worshipper)

Luckily for the acolytes, the Creator had actually departed for Liyue, while their child had remained in Mondstadt. Apparently, their Grace had been eager to see “their man,” (A/N: Read my previous work to know who ~) though Baby Tofu appeared strangely unhappy with the idea? Oh well, nothing they couldn’t assist with! After all, it’s their newfound duty to care for the biological descendant of the All-Mother.

...Until the heavenly troops of Celestia storm the city, ignorant to the fact that the true Creator had traveled elsewhere...

Now, as endeared as the Mondstatians are with their little Mini-Creator, they’re not quite at the stage where Baby Tofu and Mama Tofu are of equal priority. The former simply hasn’t been present in any ancient documents or records, hence why nobody had any emotional attachment to them until recently. Thus, with hearts full of pity, they immediately cling to the Mini-Creator, pleading with them not to leave them so soon. At least permit them to demonstrate how much they’ve missed them over the eons! Despite that, Baby Tofu isn’t so gullible, they know that they’re pretending to be their own mother. 

‘It’s for the best’ the acolytes attempt to soothe themselves, while the Mini-Creator is escorted away. They were entirely unprepared; to protest against Celestia’s advances would be equivalent to a death wish. Besides, abandoning the real Creator for an impromptu war would be so cruel…

Yeah, that’s what they keep telling themselves. 

Mama Tofu is livid once a messenger delivers the news some hours later. They knew it. Their child should not have been entrusted to some strangers they encountered by chance, despite how friendly they seemed to be with each other. Teyvat itself trembled with fear totally not because a certain incognito god is responding to their wrath as they storm out of the teahouse, halting only when they realize they know absolutely nothing about “Celestia.”

Evidently, nobody considered how… forgetful(?) the Creator would be regarding knowledge about their own domain. They must’ve lost their memory, they reason. During the time they were recuperating and fighting cosmic battles (or however the stories excuse their absence), they must’ve sacrificed their recollection of Teyvat! How noble! How tragic! How… inconvenient…

With the Mini-Creator gone, there’s no easy method of re-educating their Grace. Let alone asking them how they could aid with rescuing their baby from their captors. 

Which results in a comical scene.

-Baby Tofu, in the Celestial Palace, at noon-

“Alright, you’re in some holy castle… temple… whatever, and they think you’re your mother.” They exhale shakily, pacing around the marble floor in a trance. 

“Meaning… if those fanfics have taught me anything… there should already be evidence on what the ‘Creator’ was like…” They conclude, collapsing onto their lavish bed with an exasperated groan.

“Think like momma, think like momma…”

-Mama Tofu, in the Jade Chamber, also at noon-

“Alright, you’re on a glorified floating island… spaceship… whatever, and your child has essentially been kidnapped.” The Creator murmurs, hand frantically shooting up to graze at their hair.

“Meaning… according to those people… they should be up in ‘Celestia’ or wherever that is…” A crazed breath escaped from their lips as they shuffled through the many incomprehensible books on their shelf (unfortunately for them, English literature does not exist in Teyvat).

“Think like the whelp, think like the whelp…”

If the Teyvatians somehow manage to overthrow Celestia (which they likely will, since the universe itself bows to their wishes), the deities residing in it will rush hurriedly to their Grace. They might weep or they might beg, but they remained determined to properly crown the “Creator” as the sovereign of Celestia. In their blinded eyes, they see the revolt below as heresy; an army of conceited, faceless organisms desperate for the attention of their Grace. How relatable, yet how utterly disgraceful. 

Consequently, when they finally seize the central palace, the archons rush in to find a paralyzed Mini-Creator, hunched over a dying figure. When Mama Tofu scurries into the haze and embraces their child again, they’re immediately bombarded with questions and frenzied tangents on what the heck happened. In response, Baby Tofu tentatively faces their mother’s followers again and whispers;

“...I’m… the ruler of Celestia…?”

(A/N: Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk)

[huge-enthusiast]

MIRACULOUS FIC RECOMENDATIONS!! (Part 2)

You can find part 1 here.

The first one was really popular! So I decided to make a second part.

The rules are the same:

All of the fics will be rated Teen and up audiences or lower. Also if I don’t put the author’s tumblr is because they didn’t put it in the fic or/and I couldn’t find it.

The only thing that changes is that I would be putting the pairing in the description of the fic.

Without further ado...

Written in the Stars by Boogum (@botherkupo here on tumblr!)

Pairing: Marichat and Adrienette.

He was the god of destruction. She was a princess whose kingdom had been prophesied to fall. To save her people, she became his wife. To save him, she would have to do the impossible. The castle has secrets, the gods are watching, and time is running out.

Chapters: 37/37

TW for mild violence.

Arrange marriage, God AU. While I'm making this list, I still haven't finished the fic, but I had to recommend it because is THAT good. The way I gasped out loud while reading some of the plot twists. The worldbuilding is so good, and even if you aren't into AUs that deviate a lot from cannon like me, I 100% reccomend it.

Need a Lift? again by Boogum.

Pairing: DJWifi

Getting stranded on a foreign planet sucked. Luckily for Nino, his rival was willing to give him a lift home. Unluckily for Nino, she was beautiful and funny and he might just be in love with her.

Chapters: 1/1

Space Bounty Hunter AU! Really sweet and funny. If you are into flustered!Nino then this fic is for you.

hey, you by peachcitt (@peachcitt here on tumblr!)

Pairing: Adrienette

“Have you ever had a dream about someone that changes the way you think of them?”

or Adrien has a dream about Marinette.

Chapters: 1/1

Okay so, peachcitt is one of my favorite ml writers. Everything that they write is sooo good y'all, and i'm already a sucker for adrienette, so I cannot recommend this fic (or any of theirs) enough.

double dare again by peachcitt (I told ya!)

Pairing: Ladrien (with lots of sided ladynoir)

“Don’t ever do that again,” Marinette says, maybe a little too emphatically, and Adrien looks at her, his expression quiet. His cheeks, Marinette notices, are a little red.

“But I wanted to save you,” he says.

or Ladybug and Adrien can't seem to stop running into each other. (whether that is on accident or on purpose is nobody's business but their own, of course).

Chapters: 30/30

This was a ladrien june fic! Every chapter corresponds to the day's prompts but it also continues a story. If that doesn't make you want to read it then I don't know what it will. I fear fanfic writers, they're insane.

(not) so much by therentyoupay (@therentyoupayfanfiction here on tumblr!)

Pairing: Marichat and adrienette

(The claws are sharp, but the host of Destruction—for all of his loudmouth chaos and lack of reserve—is paradoxically careful.)

Chapters: 1/1

In which Chat Noir pays a visit not long after Marinette has made a pretty difficult decision, and they accidentally make a routine.

Prompt: Marinette gives Chat a hickey. Adrien has a suspiciously similar looking hickey the next day at school...

Gotta be honest with y'all, I did not expect this fic to be as good as it is. The adrienette has everything a stablished!Marichat should have. Marinette conflicted with her feelings? Check. Adrien being a hot mess bc That's My Girlfriend But She Doesn't Know That? Check. Them being absolute idiots? Check. It's good!

Doctor, Doctor, Give Me The News (Your Lips Is The Only Cure I Could Use) by BreG21.

Pairing: Adrienette

Rainwater sloshed up from the pools they had made on the sidewalk and coated his jean pants with every step he took. He couldn't bring himself to care.

He sniffed away some of the water that dribbled down his matted head. "Yeah?"

He paused as if to consider his words while Adrien stared down at him, so lost. "You weren't wrong when you thought you knew. A part of you wanted it to be her, but it was too perfect, you let the illusion fool you because how would you get that lucky. But trust me, Adrien. You weren't wrong."

He wasn't wrong? What was he not wrong about?

You weren't wrong. You want it to be her.

And it finally clicked as a small gasp wisped past his lips. He wasn't wrong.

In which, Plagg falls ill, and with Fu gone and Ladybug being the guardian now, has to go find her civilian self-even with the knowledge that she might not like that-is shocked to realize that even with having the kwami that was supposed to embodied the very being of bad luck, Adrien could conclude the very opposite of what he had thought for so long.

He was so very lucky.

Chapters: 1/1

I screamed so hard while reading this fic. It's just one of those who gets the characters right. Do you like a good reveal? Go read this now.

Operation Mega Sleepover by InTheWild (@smellerbeee here on tumblr!)

Pairing: Adrienette

When Alya and Nino drop out of their long awaited mega-sleepover at the last minute, it leaves Marinette and Adrien alone together for the night. An Adrinette one-shot with lots of fluff and sleepover shenanigans.

Chapters: 1/1

I just,,, I love adrienette fluff so much,,, I love them,,,

You, Me & A Little Bit Of The Future by joonapeach.

Pairing: this is a fortunate case of all lovesquare shenanigans™

Marinette expects some disaster on her first outing alone with Adrien.

She just doesn't expect that disaster to be her future self passing off a baby for her to take care of with Adrien.

(Alternatively... two idiots obliviously in love cooing over their daughter while acting like they have no idea whose kid this is.)

Chapters: 1/1

I think the description says anything that it needs to be said. It's really sweet and funny and I love how they just change their minds so quickly and get emo for literally nothing. Peak shakesperean dumbasery.

The entire Marry That Girl series by Miraculous_Max (Maximilian_Alexander).

Pairing: Adrienette

Let’s say Marinette has a special sketchbook. This sketchbook is filled with drawings of their future house, of Adrien as an adult in multiple occupational settings, of Marinette and Adrien’s wedding, and most importantly, their future children.

Let's say Adrien found this sketchbook.

Works: 8 (All are 1/1 chapters)

Just realized how this list exposes me as number 1 adrienette sucker... oh well. I love how Adrien doesn't feel weirded out by the intensity of Marinette's crush. He likes it! He's as weird and romantic as her! That's one of the reasons I love the lovesquare so much and it makes me happy to see that everyone is in the same boat with me.

Strenght by 11JJ11.

Pairing: Adrienette

Marinette knew she was much stronger than she looked thanks to being a hero. So when her class had an arm wrestling contest she knew that she could beat all of them with ease, but she wasn't expecting anyone else to come close.

Chapters: 1/1

Good ol' accidental reveal feat. the entire class shenanigans. I, once again, screamed for an adrienette fic. Who could've thought.

Super Fan by Taliax.

Pairing: Ladrien

It was a good thing Alya was holding the phone and not her, because it would have slipped from her fingers and shattered. How had she not noticed? She had been there, and somehow she’d missed her crush looking at her like she was an angel sent from heaven.

Forget the perfume ad. This picture was going to be her new desktop.

(In which Marinette realizes that she and Adrien might both be obsessive fans.)

Chapters: 1/1

Canon divergent from after Gorizilla. They're so dumb. That's my opinion on this fic.

How to Kiss Your Crush in Five Minutes or Less also by Taliax.

Pairing: Ladrien

He just needed to know if Ladybug needed Chat Noir. He didn't expect to learn just how much she wanted Adrien.

This would be the best five minutes of his life, if he didn't expect her to forget it.

Chapters: 1/1

CW for making out.

Set during Desperada. I promise there's a happy ending. Also Luka is there for some reason, felt really bad for him.

Laying Down the Rules: The Gabriel Agreste Clauses by LadyKae

Gen

Adrien leaves the manor on a dark and stormy night and seeks sanctuary at the only place he feels safe: The Home of the Dupain-Cheng Family. When Sabine learns why her dear boy is fleeing to her home in the middle of the night, she makes a personal visit to one Gabriel Agreste.

There's more rules in play, but not for Adrien and Marinette.

Chapters: 1/1

This is just Sabine going to beat the fuck out of Gabriel and it's really satifying ngl

4am. by hannieks

Pairing: post-reveal lovesquare

In which Adrien has the cat tendency to wake up their owners at stupid o'clock, and Marinette just wants to sleep. Cuteness ensues.

Chapters: 1/1

Really short but really sweet. If you like Adrien acting like a cat then you would like this.

Can I Date You(r Character)? by midnightstarlightwrites (@midnightstarlightwrites here on tumblr!)

Pairing: Adrienette

Adrien turned to her, something unreadable in his gaze. “Are you ok with this?” he asked.

And what a loaded question that was. Was she ok with it? Was she ok with the one guy she couldn’t seem to get over in real life kissing her in a game of Dungeons and Dragons? When she put it like that, it seemed a bit silly to get so worked up.

It was just a game...right?

She was ok with it, right?

“Sure,” she lied. “I’m ok with it.”

When Adrien's character falls in love with Marinette's, they decided to date in-game. What could go wrong?

Chapters: 7/?

THIS ONE IS SO CUTE. You want to scream??? Read this.

two idiots and a hamster by Boogum (again) and carpisuns (@carpisuns here on tumblr)

Pairing: Adrienette

How do you hide your superhero identity from your roommate? (spoiler alert: badly)

Chapters: 5/?

Once @anna-scribbles described this fic as "is literally the closest i’ve ever seen a fic come to matching the energy of canon", and I couldn't have described it better.

And that's all for now! Next time I will probably make an only DJWifi list since I've been treating them so dirty lol.

[kaebedom-me]

You ask and you shall receive lmao

Can I request nsfw poly!Ch💙ya with childe and Kaeya both being mermaids. Reader being male or gn, whichever is easier for you. If this is too specific or you have any like questions or smth, just DM me!

if nobody got me in my inbox, at least i can count on tumblr user 0 miles away [crying emoji]

forgive me, if i ever seem like im repeating myself a lot because i forget what i've written but here goes!

they're mermaids from different waters,,,

childe's from the colder or freezing regions of waters since he's from snezhnaya

kaeya's from the abyss waters. he'd be the most beautiful most fucking terrifying mermaid you've ever seen because he comes from the really deep seas. so yes, his fins look like those nightmare-ish deep sea creatures

hhh FUCK it's so scary and sharp and long!! but when the moonlight hits it juuust right, his tail looks like the night sky and it's so pretty it could bring you to tears

kaeya's tail is so long, much longer than childe's but childe's is stronger and faster

mermaids from the snezhnaya waters are known for their strength and speed but since childe enjoys fighting and all he's extra stronks

kaeya moves slower, isn't as strong but that's ok because he usually blinds prey with his beauty. that and i also feel like he can paralyse and poison his preys

if you could leisurely explore the deep sea, you still wouldnt be able to see kaeya a lot because he hides himself away from other creatures, if he needs to hunt, his tail would be out and that's pretty much all you'd see

so people think he's a serpent or a really long kind of creature

childe hunts with his bare teeth and hands lmao why use weapons and be classy when you can tear thru your prey amirite

childe is friends with kaeya because one time he swam down so deep he happens across kaeya who was chilling out of his hiding spot for once

hh I'll do your request before i get carried away because hdsdfdh chxxya???? MERMAIDS?????

i think childe is a little bit like Ariel, curious about humans (curious to see if he can fight them) (spoilers: yes and he'd win)

kaeya's more indifferent to them. they're not particularly fascinating creatures, nor are they nutritious to him. they don't offer him anything but he won't harm them

so i like to think childe's the one that introduces you to kaeya

it takes forever to convince kaeya because kaeya doesn't care for humans shdffdfh

but when he does meet you, he enjoys your company :)

i was never a monster fucker but something about kaeya and childe just,,,,,, [eyes emoji]

so anyway it doesn't matter your gender, i just want you to know that being in a sexual poly relationship with them can be summed up as "Too Many Dicks"

they each have two like sharks :)

childe's is thicker and sturdier but kaeya's longer :)

that's four fucking dicks dude tf

there's also a lot of tail, there's only two but because kaeya's so long it feels like a lot

kaeya wrapping his tail around you while he's fucking you [eyes emoji]

for my breeding kink fans out there, i like to think when they ejaculate it's like a slimy substance but when they want to breed they'd pump eggs into you for you to incubate

they're also bigger,,,,

cuz my size kink said so. they're bigger, not quite foul legacy big but they're almost as big as a shark uwu

this is MY AU I DO WHAT I WANT

but right, poly relationship

being in a relationship with two mermaids is sometimes a struggle since not being able to breathe underwater and all but that's ok because they can come hang with you on the shore

reverse little mermaid where you become a mermaid at the end because you love they [bottom emoji]

oooo but say you're a marine biologist or a marine researcher or someone that just likes the sea and is around the sea a lot, so you'd stay near the water so they can come visit you whenever they want

sometimes they take you away to nice caves so they can cuddle you and not be seen by other humans

childe likes to bring you things that he finds, like pearls or pretty shells

kaeya told him specifically to bring those because otherwise childe will 1000% bring you dead fish that has a bite out of it because he hunted it just for you LMAO

if you like seafood though it wouldn't be a problem

kaeya once he warms up to you is the clingiest mother fucker, he will not let you have alone time, he constantly has his tail around you so he can steal your body heat

since he's down in the depths a lot, heat sources are lesser to come by, so when you become his, you also unintentionally signed up to be his personal heater HAHAHAH

he's not cold he just enjoys feeling your warmth

but lmao since they're mermaids they don't know about human mating, you'd have to teach them

imagine very scary very intimidating mermen learning about foreplay and aftercare

luckily for you, they're perceptive and learn quick

also they care a lot for you uwu

imagine stripping for the first time, and they ask you why you only have 1 penis, where do they go?, isn't mating specifically for breeding? humans do this for fun?

childe gets addicted to sex after the first few times because you opened his eyes to something for pleasurable

he tells you after the first time y'all had sex, "I understand dolphins now" HAHHAHAHAH

kaeya's a little reluctant at first because just why? but he too lowkey gets addicted to sex uwu

but generally, it's a very sweet relationship, they try their best to take care of you

childe's usually very eager to bring you to cool places he's been so he can show you cool stuff

and kaeya just likes to be in your company

[lafayetteworld]

Robin 2021

Okay, so it's been a while since I've been actively posting on tumblr, mainly because I haven’t had time. That being said, the commentary I am about to make on the Robin 2021 series is not meant to offend anyone and while I am particularly critical, I also acknowledge that some people genuinely like it/prefer the direction its's going in. And that's fine. But I did want to break down why I feel the current series is just 'meh' to me at the moment and it’s not necessarily because Damian is potentially being shipped with a newly introduced character.

Please be aware, that there are lots of spoilers. 

So, to start off, I am a big fan of the older Batman and Robin (2009) series, where Damian had partnered up first with Dick and later Bruce (2011). I do no think they are flawless, certainly. I think, in particular, the Nobody plot - excluding of course the interactions between Batman!Dick and Robin! Damian which are gold - was very good. In just a handful of issues, I think we were offered a great insight into Damian's character and how layered he is. 

My first thoughts when I heard about Robin 2021, based on the announcement: Damian will follow his own path, for some reason he retains the Robin moniker which is weird but okay, it does seem like something he'd do I suppose. He will participate in mortal kombat-sort-of-tournament, which will showcase his abilities and in the process, 'he will seek his own destiny' (which I believe was a line used in the actual announcement). The reason he wants to win? Initially, it appeared to be only because he wanted to prove to be the world's best fighter -- which by the way, how is only a tournament of this level only coming up now? Anyways, ignored that. Not a big deal. The idea of watching Damian fight different opponents was appealing either way.

The art of those comics is perhaps nowhere as striking/appealing as Robin 2021 and there's certainly not as many elements to it, but there was just something about it. I stopped reading comics after, for reasons I can't recall but I do remember finding out that Damian was killed off sometime after. I was super heartbroken over it but luckily I found out about it right around the time DC decided to bring him so really I had to wait a short while to see the little shit being Robin again.

I am not as familiar with the arc on Alfred's death but I know Damian watched what was basically his grandfather figure die in front of his eyes. How it was addressed after was rather poorly and that's a discussion for another time, just as it is that hot mess of Gleason's Titans.

 My hopes may have been too high in thinking we will be offered the introspection we'd seen in Batman and Robin, or him deciding what type of vigilante he wants to be. Like who remembers Damian admitting 'sometimes I don't know who I am or what I want' or him saying he does not wish to be like Nobody. That was so poignant.  

First issue of Robin 2021 was a disappointment. I know that there's a lot of damage to the character that had to be addressed but why did he die from like the beginning? Why is it the first thing we see is the author's OC defeat him? I mean, we really didn't need that to find the tournament's rules. Anyway, I was so sold on the art that I could have overlooked all that, except then the art became inconsistent so.....

Do I think Flatline's design is awesome? Yep. Do I like that she is potentially a badass female fighter? Sure. Do I like her abilities? Somewhat? They haven't been explored that much. But to me, having an OC appear out of nowhere and kill the character I was hoping to watch mature/develop is a bit underwhelming. Then, we start getting references of how poetic it is that Damian may fall in love with the first girl that kills him. I thought it was funny at the beginning but subsequent issues only seem to point that actually, the author does want to use Flatline/romance in this journey of growth that Damian is undergoing. I mean, we really shouldn't be romanticizing that she killed him? The girl is serious about winning too. That she caught him off guard is actually rather awesome but I don't think it had to mean anything more than Damian meeting a potentially dangerous fighter and that he needs to be less reckless.

Damian is a pretty complex/difficult character with a lot to figure out. Why does he need a girlfriend? Why can't he have friends that helps him grow or mentor figures? Him and Rose have such a great dynamic, for example.

I see a lot of people saying 'well, he's a teenager boy so it's normal'. Yeah of course it is. But why can't it be the opposite? Damian isn't a normal teenager. Out there, may be teenagers who feel the same. They don’t care about this stuff. 

It is so frustrating, and underwhelming. Not because there's anything wrong with Damian having a crush. Not because there's necessarily anything wrong with Flatline. But because there's no need.

Why is it just because he's a teenager he has to have a romantic interest? If romance is introduced in a plot, surely it doesn't have to be just because 'he's a teenager'. And if he does, why does it have to be an OC that hasn't been explored very well? Flatline could be a seriously cool character without needing to be a romantic interest for Damian and vice versa, Damian has so much to figure out on his own. So for me it's not the shipping that’s an issue, it’s the reasoning and how it may perpetuate clichés when there’s other angles that could be explored. 

Also, why the hell is Alfred used to drive Flatline's likeability? If Alfred is Damian's guilt manifesting, then that's actually Damian thinking that?

'I like this one, Master Damian.'

Seriously. I really hope we end up finding out that was tied in with Flatline's ability or something. So, Williamson won't explore Damian's guilt over Alfred but he'll give us a panel where Alfred (or a manifestation of him) is basically giving his thumbs up for his OC. That doesn’t sit well with me. Not so early in the series, anyway. 

Why is this whole manga thing keep coming back? Yes, Damian reads manga. I loved this addition and I think it's great that Williamson actually brought it in. The fact that it was Flatline who found it seems cliché. And no, I don't think it's a parallel between the shojo manga characters and them two. I really hope that particular manga has a deeper meaning than that. The fact that we keep seeing the blood sprayed (or is it cuts? not sure) on it does seem to hint at that.

There were some good moments. Damian and Dick. Basically every single interaction between Damian and Ravager. The whole Damian and Conner could have been developed better, because it seemed rather sudden they had a heart to heart when Damian can be such a distrusting little shit. Damian reuniting with Goliath.

Why is it that we're five issues into this series and it's all over the place? I don't dislike it. The art is great, although there's so many inconsistencies. But it's been super hard to feel in any way about it other than just 'meh'.

Issue #6 was boring. I didn't mind Flatline and Damian analysing other fighters, it was interesting actually, but that it's still being framed as heading towards a romantic relationship is so.....well, eugh.

Overall, I just don't feel there's enough...substance? Damian does interact with a wide variety of characters and there are a lot of things going on - batfamily searching for him, Ra’s Al Ghul (which was funny yet so odd the way he was characterized), the whole tournament and magic island, so on.

Flatline is not the issue for me, but rather one part of why the series has not managed to appeal to me. I do feel there's a bit too much of her. Or rather, there's not enough of her as a character and too much of the whole 'they're teenagers so they'll have to end up having a crush on one another because he's a boy and she's a girl who literally stole his heart'. Like, I wouldn’t mind having Flatline or other fighters background explored, just to see the types of people they are and so on. 

I wish there'd more of Damian's inner thoughts too. If not that, then give us more fights. Not just snippets. It's a tournament. Let's see how badass they all are. Damian’s fight scenes in #6 were beautiful but brief. I hope the next issues will give us more of that.  As someone who does like Damian x OC fics, I can’t blame the author for wanting to hype their own OC, but I am also a great fan of friends to lovers, slow burns, friendships can be just as great as romantic relationships, of taking the time for mental/emotional growth. 

Anyways, if you've made it to the end of this commentary, I applaud you. Once again, if you do like the whole Damian x Flatline thing, that's cool. I don't, but I do understand to an extent why people find it appealing. And if you think the Robin 2021 series is amazing, then I am happy for you -- I wish I could be this enthusiastic about it.

P.S just saw the cover for issue #7 or is it #8 ? I think I may cry.

[fuckyouquiznak]

Dream's past

(pretty long but this is Tumblr, am I right?)

Puffy is the captain of a pirate ship and has two children, Cornelius and Tobias (yes Dream with horns is my kink + I am not over the name Cornelius Dream used during one of Karl’s tale).

Cornelius is the elder one, around six years older than Toby, and he loves the sea and the pirate life. He is a sunny kid, always smiling and telling jokes. Everybody in the crew loves him.

He and his mother are really close. They share the same kindness and curiosity, which makes them always ready go on adventures. Cornelius also loves his little brother, Toby. They haven't a dad, so he acts very protective and defensive around him. They are an happy family.

Until one day everything changes.

***

The ship docks at a strange place. A creepy island maybe, dark and mysterious.

Cornelius is told to stay on the ship because it might be dangerous, but he is too curious to stay still. He is grown up after all, he can handle an adventure. Moreover he is sure the island is hiding a secret. A treasure? A temple? He needs to know.

When nobody is watching he sneaks out of the ship and goes exploring on his own. But then he'll eventually find something there, something wicked and scary. Maybe it is just a cage... something Cornelius is not supposed to open. But again how could he know? And there are voices... they tell him to free them... (dreamons or maybe even DreamXD?)

And you know what they say... "curiosity killed the cat". Excepts Cornelius doesn't die. As soon as he opens the cage he hears a loud and shrill scream and then everything goes black. He wakes up a little after, but nothing has changed. Or at least it seems so.

He grabs his things and quickly comes back to the ship, pretending nothing happened.

***

However after a couple of days things get worse. Now the voices keep visiting him, especially during night. And he doesn't feel alright.

His mother thinks it might be just fatigue or scurvy. But Cornelius doesn't tell her about the voices and the cage. He stays silent even when he sees a white stain growing on his hand.

It can't be that bad, can it?

***

After a week or two Cornelius is not getting better: his head spins, his heart hurts and the voices keep being louder and louder in his mind, till he passes out.

When he wakes up the ship is burning. He has a lighter in his right hand. Fire starts spreading everywhere and the crew panic, trying to stop it with water. But it doesn't work. It's too late.

Cornelius stares at this hands horrified. He doesn't remember anything. Why is he in the middle of the fire? What happened? He cannot breath and closes his eyes. "Let it be just a dream" he prays "He can't be me". His voice cracks, noticing the white stain has grown all over his arm. (imagine it like Ranboo’s left side... these two are connected)

Puffy quickly reaches him and helps him get out of the cabin. They are both burned and covered in ash. Toby cries and squirms in his mother's hands. "It'll be ok" she says culling the baby too calmly to be in a middle of a fire. "Cornelius, you two will take the lifeboat". Cornelius hesitates. "What about you?" Puffy smiles back at him, her cheeks buried in tears: "A captain never leaves her own ship, duckling.. I've got responsibilities here".

"What about us? Mom you don't have to this" he prays, his voice broken. He doesn't want to leave his mother...

But she doesn't listen.

"Take your brother away from here. Row till you find a coast, then ask for help, ok? I'll find you both eventually. I swear" Her smile is weak and tired. They both know it's a lie. They will never meet again.

Puffy gives Cornelius a compass. "Will be together again" she promises. "Do it for Toby".

Cornelius grabs his little brother and finally leaves. He doesn't have the bravery to hold his mother one last time.

(Puffy will actually survive, but she'll forget everything)

The rest is like a memory.

He manages to reach a little beach a couple of days after the accident. When they touch the ground Cornelius collapses. (Tubbo, Puffy and Dream would have scars and marks after the ship break)

***

The following months are horrifying.

It's cold and desolate where they landed. Nobody is willing to help, mainly because they're scared of Cornelius' white mark.

He can't blame them anyway. There's something wrong and scary inside him. They had found a village at some point, but Cornelius had one of his episode and burned down the place.

Toby cries all the time. He is hungry and, most of all, he misses mom.

The voices are not helping.

Cornelius can't keep him anymore. It's already difficult being alone out there. He can't... he can't let his brother live in misery like this. And what if has an episode close to him?

When they reach a wooden house in the middle of the snow (SBI house of course), Cornelius is sure it's time.

He leaves Toby out of the house, with a letter that says: "Save Toby". He has seen a woman doing that with a blonde hair baby a couple of months before (Tommy’s mother y’all).

The owners seem fine. Cornelius had watched them laughing and eating all together next to the fireplace a couple of times. He is sure they could give Toby the love and the warmth he can't provide him. He'll be safe there.

He gives the compass to Toby, just in case he'll need it one day to find him. It's hard, but it's the only choice. They can't be together.

As soon as his brother walks away, Toby starts crying louder. Cornelius does the same. For a moment he even thinks about turning around and take him back. He doesn't want to leave him: he is the only family he has left. But he is doing the right thing, he tells himself. He needs to be strong. For Toby's sake.

The first one to notice the screams is Wilbur, who jumps out of the door worried and scared. He looks at the baby on the top of the stairs and then looks directly at the tree Cornelius is hidden behind.

Philza exits a few moments later. He grabs the baby softly and he looks up to the sky where is crawls are flying. "There's someone" Wilbur whispers, pointing at the tree. Philza stops him and gives him the card. "Whoever left this baby here has a reason, Will".

Cornelius keeps crying. He wishes he could be there too. But the thing that is growing inside him... he is not sure he can handle it.

Techno is out in the forest eventually. He sees Cornelius. "Have some food, nerd", he says, before leaving him with a potato.

***

Cornelius stays close to that house anyway. At least he can keep an eye on Toby from there. He has found a nice spot, next to a cage. It's not that much, but he can't complain.

Toby is growing fast, even if his horns haven't shown up yet. Cornelius likes to watch him play outside with the other blonde kid, Tommy. They seem to get along well. He is as happy and carefree as a child his age should be.

Cornelius instead is sicker than ever. The white stain is growing on his skin day by day. His left arm, part of the chest and even his eye, now red, are surrounded by that. He doesn't know what to do. The voices keep him awake almost every night. They whisper something about "Dream".

Sometimes he wishes he could think about his mother, but the voices are louder than his thoughts. He can't remember her, nor his past life.

The stain is slowly erasing his memory. He is afraid one day he'll even forget Toby.

***

He meets Sapnap when he most needs a friend.

He hasn't talked with someone for ages (except for Techno who sometimes leave him food), so he is not sure he can remember how to do it, but with Sapnap is easy and comfortable.

He saves him from a spider.

Sapnap is scared and lost in the forest. Cornelius happens to be right next to him when the monster comes out. He grabs his sword and kills it.

"Woah, dude you saved me!" Sapnap says, jumping around. "What's your name?" Cornelius hesitates. It's been so long since someone called with his name. He can't really remember it. Was it something with a C? Maybe. Why can't he remember?

"I think it's Dream" he lies, feeling his skin burning. The other one however doesn't seem to notice it. "That's nice, mine is Sapnap! Do you live here? All alone?"

Dream nods, still unsure he should trust or not this new guy. He stays in the shadow. Sapnap smiles. "Dope! I wish I could have an house just for myself" then the smiles runs away from his face "I actually came here to do that... I got into a fight with my dad. Do you have parents?"

"I don't"

Sapnap laughs a bit. "Me neither actually.. Bad is my guardian to be honest. But he is a great guy, really. It's just... I needed space, you know?" Dream is sure he hasn't understood a word of what this kid has said. Bad? Guardian? Space?

"Not really" he answers, lighting a fire. Sapnap immediately steps back, and Dream realises he has finally seen his face. Now he'll go away too, he reckons. I'll be alone forever.

However Sapnap's smile grows bigger then ever. "Whoa that's sick" he screams "I mean in a cool way, dude. Loving your style".

Dream blushes. "I... don't really like it"

Sapnap raises his eyebrows, sighing. "Maybe my dad could fix it"

***

Bad has never been so worried in his entire life - which is a looooong life.

Sapnap wasn't in his bed this morning. He really thought he lost him for good after their last fight, but he luckily came back safe and sound.

He even made a friend.

Bad was so angry, but the happiness of holding his child again was bigger then every other feeling.

"Does it grow?" he asks, touching Dream's face. The kid nods uncomfortably. "Your left eye.. was it green before?" He nods again. "Do you have memory loss?" Dream hesitates. Bad writes something down.

"Well, Dream, I can't erase the stain. What I can do is preventing it from growing bigger. Your memory is damaged, so I can't fix it, but form now on you should remember things more clearly"

"What does that mean?"

"It means I can't give you back your memories, but you can make new ones"

Dream stares at his feet. He is sure there was someone important in his life before worth to remember.

"It'll hurt a bit"

***

"You can stay here if you want" Bad says.

The "operation" went pretty well. Bad and Sapnap offered him to stay with them as long as he wants. Dream is glad. He likes it here. It feels like... family. The voices are gone. Is he really free?

Sapnap enters the room with a big smile. "Dream, I made you something! I know you have to wear bandages everyday, because the mark is still there – Dream touches is face - so my dad and I came up with this little idea" Sapnap hands him a mask.

"It's easier to take off. I drew the smile"

Dream feels his eyes burning. No one has ever done something like that for him. A gift! "I like it. Thank you Sapnap"

“Don’t worry! That’s what friends do”

[misterewrites]

Secret Agent Bard (Welcome to the Underground!)

Hello everyone! E here with a new chapter of the underground! Woo! I hope you are all doing good and staying safe.

So I actually have more to say today! That's a trip. I’ll have an author’s note under the line. 

So that's it for now. Stay safe, take care of you and your loved ones, stay out of trouble, wash your hands, wear your mask, get vaccinated if you can and push to release the vaccine world wide cuz we're all in this together. Have a great week and thanks for reading. I appreciate it and feel free to tell your friends, reblog, drop likes and feedback i love it all. Bye for now and enjoy!

If you want an easier place to read the story cuz tumblr sucks sometimes here’s a link to the chapter https://archiveofourown.org/works/27814297/chapters/79541746

The First Chapter: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27814297/chapters/68094967

and since you made it this far here’s a link to all my stories!

https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrE42/pseuds/MrE42

Byeeeeee!

Author’s note:  Today’s work will be a little different as there will be singing. The chapter with the bard is gonna have singing? Go figure haha So if you see a sentence in Italics, that means someone is singing. Bold and italics represents various people singing as a group. The song in question is called twiddles. There's different versions of it but the one I chose is from the misbehavin maidens. Great group but all their work ranges from innuendos to straight up not safe for work so listen at your peril. I have now completed my responsible adult duties haha. here’s a link to the chosen song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS1-_fKF5ug

Summary: Oliver has quite the task ahead of him as the group splits to achieve their goals. Leading Sel and Flora, the young bard will have to think quick on his feet to ensure this mission is a success. Luckily he's an old hand at this. Ironically the one person who could distract him may make a surprise appearance tonight.

-----

Oliver stood quietly, arms crossed and his mind thoughtful as the group prepared to go their separate ways. While ideally nothing would go wrong, that was a childish belief: Every person and robotic being here knew safety was not guaranteed in their line of work.

Even the old man knew the risks.

Oliver hated doing nothing. He thrived when he was busy, focused on whatever task required his attention whether it be being a better bard or upholding the Choir’s values. Too many ghosts and regrets lingered on the edges of his mind and he found the best solution was to simply keep occupied.

But that was his coping mechanism, not everyone else. He knew better than to rush his team: The party would last at least another few hours and beside the goal of getting Sel to the third floor, there was nothing else to do. No information to gather, nothing to review. Let them have their moment, it was good for morale.

Terri and Flora were sickeningly adorable: Hands clasped tightly with Terri tearfully asking her girlfriend to not poison everyone. Flora gave a halfhearted promise while as they shared a tender kiss. Terri noticed her less than enthused tone but refused to press the matter further.

Tyrell stood awkwardly to the side, his face twisted in a strange mixture of sick and excited. He fidgeted with something in his pocket, seeking comfort from whatever lay within. Given the shape of the bulge and size, Oliver guessed it was a knife.

Sel stood nearby, motionless in the shadows of the alley. They hadn’t moved in some time though he suspected the automaton was simply waiting for the next phase of the plan.

“Alright” Oliver spoke up, his voice firm yet gentle “Times up. You have your assignments?”

Uneven murmuring responded.

“Let’s go.”

Oliver, Sel and Flora went down one end of the alley, Terri and Tyrell disappearing in the opposite direction.

-----

It didn’t take long for the trio to find the main streets of the Merchant Ward and make their way towards the Brambleoak banking office. The crowds weren’t as thick as they had been during the day but Oliver knew everyone out and about did so with a purpose.

“Bard.” Flora asked without warning, breaking the awkward silence “Question.”

“Answer.” Oliver cheekily replied.

Flora glared.

Oliver coughed “Yes?”

“You are a First Chair Soprano correct?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Yet you are so young. How did you manage that? I thought First Chair ranks were only reserved for experienced or particularly skilled members. You don’t seem to be very magically powerful.”

Oliver paused for a moment, trying to best answer the question.

In a way Flora was correct in her assessment: He wasn’t particularly powerful as a spellcasting bard. Unlike Flora who clearly committed herself fully to nature and thus druidic magic, Oliver had only recently thrown himself into the magical arts.

Unless you were a wizard who studied the secrets of the universe with a very intimate and well versed knowledge of magic, most spellcasters drew their power from sources of existence: Clerics from their gods, Druids from nature, Warlocks from something beyond mortal existence yet not quite a deity, sorcerers because a family member fucked around with pure incomprehensible concepts. Magic was the fabric of the universe and the more you threw yourself into a source of power, the more the source threw itself into you, guiding your hand and your spells.

Of course each, wizards exempt, were limited in their spellcasting options. Clerics were powerful holy/unholy practitioners but couldn’t command plant life to save their lives. Druids were in tune with nature and the weather and all the lovely flora and fauna but ask them to superimpose an image onto something and they’d give you a dumbfounded look. Warlocks kinda just do whatever their sugar patrons felt like lending.

Magic bards drew their power from the arts: Drawing, singing, poetry, even witty and funny satire. Bards were in tune with life, with existence. Art could heal, could hurt, could make you feel happy and sad. It could make you feel like a whole new person or perhaps take you to a time and place you’d forgotten. Bards sung the song of life and Oliver was no exception.

However, Oliver still wasn’t sure what he could do exactly. His magical muscle was average on a good day and he could only cast a few spells before needing a good night’s rest. The basic healing spells and comprehension language he cast earlier today had taken a good chunk of his energy but he relied more on his wit than raw magical strength. He discovered creative and useful ways to cast his spells like amplifying dissonance noises to distract and disorient foes or temporarily place another person’s image over himself. Magic was as much about creativity as it was skill, pushing the limits of what you can do with your particular brand of spells.

“I’m clever.” Oliver answered honestly “The whole magic of the arts is new to me but I’ve been in the Choir for a long time now. I used to be Tenor like Sel here but more fast talking than breaking and entering. I guess they carried over my old position into my new one.”

Flora nodded, satisfied “That answers much. How long have you been a bard?”

“Few years now.” Oliver checked the street sign to ensure they were on the right path “The magic part is going on 3 years.”

“I see.” Flora scratched her chin “I’ve been a druid my whole life so it is a strange concept to be so new to the spellcasting arts yet hold such a high rank.”

Oliver gave a casual shrug “Not sure what you want me to say. We’re here by the way.”

The bank looked as unkempt as Oliver had remembered: Faded, peeling green paint with gaudy gray stone pillars. Two guards in green uniforms stood in front of the massive reddish brown doors that led into the bank.

“Lea’s mercenaries.” Sel pointed out “They are not letting anyone in.”

“Correction.” Oliver brushed off nonexistent dirt from his washed-out outfit “They’re not letting nobodies in. Luckily tonight we’re somebodies. Follow my lead.”

Oliver let out a tense breathe before strolling forward, his mannerism cocky yet unsteady. He reached the top of the steps when two sharp looking blades reached out to stop him.

“Halt” The elvish woman spoke with a hint of irritation “You lost?”

“Not at all!” Oliver beamed with a smile that was too wide to be natural “I’m here for the party. There is a party inside no?”

“No” The human man spat out.

Oliver gave a forgetful grin “Oh? I could’ve sworn Brambleoak was having some sort of charity event tonight. I’d show you my invite but I think I misplaced it.”

The elvish woman sneered “Right. How convenient for you having lost your special one of a kind invite.”

“Pfft.” Oliver scoffed “Special one of a kind invite? Reiner hands them out like candy. Probably find one in a gutter nearby.”

The guards shared an unspoken understanding with one another.

“Well.” The human began “Let’s pretend that is true.”

“It is but go on.”

The human’s eyes narrowed “Why should we let you in? You dress rather poorly for someone claiming to be in Reiner’s usual circles.”

Oliver let out an exaggerated gasp as he puffed out his chest “Do you know who I am?”

“Umm no.”

Oliver growled unhappily, his fist clenched tightly within his pocket “I am rich! I AM POWERFUL! AND I DEMAND ACCESS!”

As quick as lightning, Oliver flung a handful of gold coins towards the pair. The two reeled back in surprised as the money clanked onto the smooth marble floor. A moment hardly passed before the guards were shoving the loose coins into their tunic pockets like hungry dogs. They straightened up, eyes alive with greed.

“Of course sir” The elvish woman bowed her head in apologize “Deeply sorry for that.”

“Please go ahead.”

Oliver gave a self satisfied nod before moving past the pair only to stop as he heard the sounds of swords scraping each other. He turned backwards to see the guards barring access to Flora and Sel.

Flora looked back and forth between the guards, her eyes calculating and cold. Sel stood still but clearly at the ready for any sort of trouble.

“They’re with me.”

The Elvish woman shook her head “We said we’d let you in. These two? Definitely not Reiner’s usual prey.”

“They aren’t” Oliver admitted “But I need them.”

The human turned to him, suspicion in his eyes “Why?”

“She…” Oliver pointed lazily towards Flora “Is my street doctor.”

“Street doctor? As in….?”

Oliver gave a cheery wink “The fun kind.” And for give measure, he added a weak shiver to his act “Ugggggh I feel cold, are you cold? It’s cold.”

Before anyone could say anything, Oliver began shaking. He rubbed his hands for ‘warmth’ while swaying back and forth.

“Uh oh.” Flora spoke dully, pushing past the guards and holding Oliver steady “He’s crashing. I need to give him his umm medicine.”

“Medicine?” Oliver repeated, his voice soft yet manic “Yes medicine. I need it. I NEED IT!”

Folks began to turn their way, the guards shifting uncomfortably under the sudden attention they were receiving.

“And this one?” The Elvish woman gestured to Sel.

Oliver began to rock back and forth, his voice a harsh whisper. “Guard. Guard. Guard guard guard guard.”

The human threw up his hands in defeat “Bah! Get him in there and fixed! Any trouble and I’ll personally come over to beat your asses.”

“Thank you sir.” Flora murmured through gritted teeth. She guided Oliver and Sel through the doors and into the party within.

Flora sighed as Sel cracked the tension out of their fingers. Oliver straightened up, wiping the sweat from his brow.

True to his expectations, the bank had been altered to be suitable for a charity event: Torches lined the walls, casting the building into a bright light. The desks normally found on the floor were gone as to allow a more spacious setting. Oliver counted a handful of guards scattered about, wandering about for any sign of trouble. All except for the lone guard beyond the empty elevated platform who stood in front of the stairway to the upper floors.

“What now?” Flora asked

“Split up. Sel stay close to the door, Flora and I will figure out a distraction.”

“Sounds good.”

And without another word, Oliver was swallowed whole into the crowd.

-----

It had taken an hour for Oliver to figure out what kind of distraction he would need.

The patrols themselves hadn’t been very difficult to plan for: They would move randomly about, keeping an eye on the party and each other. He counted about 6 of them total and each one of them was easily starstruck. At the sign of any disagreement, they would swarm in groups of three and quickly threaten any troublemakers into compliance. However, upon meeting anyone with even the smallest bit of fame, they would subtly motion to each other and make their way as one to the person in question, hoping for a glance or the chance for an autograph.

So the floor guards were no problem but the one standing watch over the door was much more difficult. Evidently Lea was smart enough to give the most important job to the most responsible of his idiots. The stairway guard or Stairy as Oliver labeled him, would not budge at the sign of any trouble. Loud arguments, agitated party goers, a waiter being tripped (sorry it was for science buddy). None of these would pull him from his post. Celebrities wouldn’t either. Any time his buddies motioned to a famous person, he would shrug his shoulders and stay put.

Oliver was beginning to wonder if Flora needed to poison Stairy until he noticed something about half way into his observations: Stairy was a music lover. Specifically a cute girl music lover.

His gaze would wander every time he caught sight of a pretty girl who happened to be too close to him. Oliver wasn’t sure at first so he decided to test his theory. With his pocket change lessened, Oliver noticed how often a girl would catch Stairy’s eye. His attention didn’t shift when they fell in front of him, obviously in distress, or walked slower allowing him to enjoy the view longer but Oliver caught him smiling and tapping his foot when the odd girl would sing. He even staggered away from his door a few steps at a time before catching himself and returning to his post.

So the best distraction would be a girl who could sing and have some level of fame attached to her name.

Oddly specific and Oliver hadn’t the slightest idea how he was going to mange that. He was attempting to solve this puzzle when something caught his ear.

“Get off me you mulched dirt licker!”

That rather unique set of cursing could only mean one thing: Flora.

Oliver turned to where he last spotted her and found the young druid being hassled by a tall man in an elegant uniform.

Oliver noticed the guards were looking about, not yet spotting the commutation but aware something was going on. He needed to act first if he wanted to stop Flora deciding to kill everyone in the room.

The bard quickly slipped into the crowd, darting and weaving between any and everyone he could. He saw Flora slip a small vial into her hand as the man towered over her.

“I jus wanna dance.” the man’s words slurred out of his mouth “A pretty thing like yo shou wanna dance”

Flora’s eyes narrowed angrily “For the last time you dried poop stain, LEAVE ME ALONE!”

Flora pulled back her hand, prepared to throw the mysterious vial at the drunk’s face.

“Whoa!” Oliver cried out, tightly grasping onto Flora’s wrist “What seems to be the problem?”

“Nothing I can’t solve on my own.” Flora coldly glanced towards the drunken man.

“One sec.”

Oliver eyed the man carefully, absorbing every little detail he could.

He could see the muscles strain against the fabric of his light green tunic so this man worked in something physically laborious. The sheathed sword on his belt weight seemed to throw him off balance with every step. His gaze was unsteady and Oliver could see his pupils dilating wildly.

So this man was physically fit, armed with a sword in a charity event for the rich people and wearing light green tunic while currently drunk.

“You should leave her alone” Oliver said, sarcasm dipping from each word “You are so not her type.”

“So?” The man hiccupped “What’s the big deal?”

“So she’s got a girlfriend you idiot.” Oliver gestured with his hand “Besides you should go before your boss Lea gets here. I’m betting he won’t be happy one of his undercover mercs is currently drunk on the job. Of course I could always tell your captain what’s going on. That’s him over there right?”

Oliver gestured to the closest guard making his way towards the trio. He didn’t look any different than any guards but Oliver noticed his green was a shade darker than the rest. Lea probably used different hues to signify rank in his mercenaries.

The drunk’s face paled as he fidgeted nervously. He rose his hands in surrender, eyes darting between the two “Sorry.”

“Any trouble?” The captain approached, his hand tightly held around the hilt of his blade.

Oliver beaned cheerfully, trying his best to pull attention away from the fuming Flora “Not at all my good sir. This man simply mistook us for someone else, correct?”

The drunk nodded slowly “My bad. Forgive my intrusion.”

The captain gave a cold smirk “Apologizes. Mikey?”

The drunk flinched “Yes sir?”

“A word in private. Now.”

Oliver let out a sigh of relief as the captain dragged Mikey away..

“You should’ve let me poison them.” Flora muttered darkly.

Oliver scratched the back of his neck tiredly “Night’s still young. Still might get your chance if I can’t figure a way past Stairy.”

Flora tilted her head quizzically “Stairy?”

“The asshole at the base of the stairs.” Oliver answered absentmindedly as he spotted a familiar streak of platinum blonde hair among the crowd of strangers “And I just figured it out. Can I trust you not to poison everyone here?”

“You have an hour. I get bored easily” Flora swirled the sickly purple liquid in the vial threateningly.

“You and me both.” Oliver patted her shoulder before chasing down his perfect distraction.

-----

Oliver’s heart began to thunder loudly in his ears, a nervous and uncontrollable energy overtaking his resolve. The mission was important but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t happy to see Maria today.

Maria Thoreau was the daughter of a powerful, influential family. The Thoreau’s were more concerned with their standing in high society than any virtuous endeavors and thus each one of their children was trained from birth to excel in their chosen field. Maria’s older brothers were an aspiring politician and merchant respectively.

Maria’s path was to be a well famous singer and patron of the arts. She wanted nothing more than to sing for the people. Unfortunately, her father only saw a chance to further the family’s good name and tied his desire for power with her passion and dream. It was bittersweet really but nothing much could be done about it.

Yet.

Maria knew Oliver as a musical rival who thwarted her group’s attempts at winning local competitions which in turned derailed her father’s plans. So needless to say she was less than thrilled when she caught him making his way over.

“Ollie” she forced a smile while her hazel eyes narrowed, peeved “I’m surprised to see they let you into this exclusive event.”

Oliver gave a cocky shrug “Well your beauty caught my attention and I couldn’t resist trying to figure out a way in.”

Maria’s cheeks burned a pinkish hue.

Maria was the same age as Oliver with short, tastefully cut dark brown hair. A single streak of platinum blonde hair hung off the side of her face, giving her such a cute look. Her clothes were practical tonight since she wasn’t performing: A simple white blouse with a long flowing dark blue skirt that went all the way down to her feet. Her shoes were sensible dark blue flats designed for comfort over style.

Maria coughed into her hand, willing her blush away.

“So.” She cleared her throat “Is this your sad attempt to throw me off my game? You won’t win the next competition. We’ll be dealing with professional judges this time.”

Oliver’s eyes widen in false surprise “There’s a competition here? Fancy that. I hadn’t been made aware of that but since we’re both in town, why not have a round two?”

“Oliver….”

“I mean” Oliver went on, pretending not have heard “You are a much better singer solo than with those harpies you’re forced to keep around.”

Maria glanced to the side timidly “Don’t be absurd, the Melodic Maidens are a perfect, well oiled machine.”

Oliver scoffed dismissively “I suppose they’re nearby, listening in. Hardly leave you alone, don’t they?”

Maria opened her mouth to respond when a shrilly voice cut in.

“What do you know you two bit hack? How much did you bribe the judges last time?!”

Oliver gave a strained smile as the rest of the ladies forced their way into view.

“Lilly, Filly, Sally. You suck.”

The triplets snarled in unison, openly glaring at the bard.

Lilly, Filly and Sally were Maria’s chains: They were as much there to further her career as they were to report back to daddy to ensure the errant daughter stayed on course.

As triplets, they all shared the same features: Three pairs of dull green eyes and long messy black hair. Even their clothing were the same with each wearing a strapless dress that showed way too much skin and skirts that were way too short. The only reason Oliver could tell them apart was due to their preferred colors: Lilly in a shade of pink that was bright for her skin tone, Filly with a pale ugly yellow and Sally in seas of dark red.

The trio surrounded Maria, their arms embracing her in an uncomfortable hug. Maria bit her lip, trying to hide her uneasy.

“Still wearing that tacky outfit huh Ollie?” Lilly eyed his faded clothing distastefully.

Sally let out an unfriendly laugh “Ollie always looks like trash. Not even prize money could buy an ounce of class.”

“Actually” Oliver brushed his shoulder dismissively “Class is cheap. No amount of money could buy an ounce of character. You can blow hot air at me all you want but nothing in this world could ever change the fact that the three of you are bitches.”

The trio clicked their tongues disappointingly, their normally plain faces twisted into unflattering visages of rage while they screamed as one.

“HOW DARE YOU INSULT US?!”

“YOU ARE SUCH A POOR TACTLESS MAN!”

“YOU FUCKER!”

Oliver casually waved his hand “All bark and no bite. I’m supposed believe you’ve gotten any better in two months? Last time I checked I won the last competition.”

“OH YEAH?!” The triplets yelled, furious.

Maria threw a suspicious glance Oliver’s way “Girls, I don’t think…”

“Come on Maria, we don’t want to have to tell daddy you backed down from a challenge.”

A shiver ran down her spine, the fight draining out of her face. Oliver felt a tinge of guilt but said nothing as the girls took their positions.

Maria paused for a moment, her breathing slow and calm. The murmur of the crowds grew louder and louder upon the recognition that the ladies nearby were the Melodic Maidens.

Maria pivoted on her heels, a bright warm smile gracing her lips. Oliver could feel his heart skip a beat at the sound of her soft, airy voice beginning to sing

“Oh you hear a lot of stories about the sailors and their sport” Maria gave a playful wink his way. His cheeks burned brightly at her playful banter.

“About how every sailor has a girl in every port”

Maria twirled, her steps mischievous and alluring as her dark blue dress chased after her. She gracefully held two fingers aloft for everything to see, her smirk cocky and assured.

“but if you added two and two you’d figure out right quick”

Maria backed up as the triplets step forward to join her, the group made whole and ready for the chorus.

“It’s just because the girls all have a lad on every ship”

Maria turned to throw a sultry look towards her rival bard but instead of finding a dumbstruck Oliver, she found a smiling one. His gaze was gentle and loving as if he was seeing utterly beautiful. A small smile was tugging at his cheeks. Maria could feel her heart thunder in her ears as, without warning, Oliver gave a thumbs up and mouthed an appreciative “Thanks” before ducking into the growing crowd.

“And it’s twiddley idle idle idle, twiddley idle aye.”

What was once a spattering of folks formed into a massive gathering. Most of the party goers and guards had come over to catch the free show the girls inadvertently given and thus all focus shifted onto them. What was an attempt to show up Oliver ended up being a very unnecessary showcase.

“It’s often times a man will leave you broken with dismay”

Boy was Maria feeling that dismay right now.

-----

Oliver’s plan worked: Stairy hadn’t been to resist the siren call of a beautiful woman and her singing. Luckily the harpies hadn’t ruined it with their imperfect pitches. Stairy hadn’t taken more than a few steps when Sel slipped in behind and began working at the door. It took a moment but one blink later and the automaton vanished out of sight.

Oliver let out a sigh when a hand gripped his shoulder tightly.

“Hello sir.” A guff, low voice in a less than friendly voice “Might I have a word? You’ve been acting rather strange all party long.”

Well fuck.

[indecentpause]

@lowslore just put out a post asking, questions various and sundry about writeblr’s wips, and, since I am sick and my tooth is broken and I need to distract but can’t think clear enough to do real writing! hello! hi! here I am, thank you my friend for throwing this out in the ether. :)

Some of the questions were (the bolded bits)

- if we haven't really interacted before, what's it called and what's it about?

It’s called The Princess and The Pirate! it’s about two royal siblings (Savitri, she/her, 21, and Rakhee, e/em/eir, 10) who are imprisoned by their despotic aunt so she can become queen when their parents die. Rakhee, while imprisoned, befriends the Queen of the Mice, and after some time all the mice in the palace band together to heist the two out of there. They’re on their way to their Grandmother’s home country to find safe haven, when their train is hijacked!! They are recognized by description and kidnapped, by a gruff band of pirates turned bandits after their airship was shot down. Luckily for our two heroes, the captain has a soft spot for misfits and runaways, so she agrees to take them under her wing to the border, where they will separate and never see each other again. Of course things are never really going to be that easy, though.

- what's one really cool thing that you've JUST managed to FINALLY figure out and you really wanna tell someone about it?

I’ve been playing with this idea for a few months now but just recently solidified where I’m going with it. Aguri is transgender! She is Rakhee’s age (10) and some Changes she Does Not Like are beginning to happen, earlier than Captain Daoyun and Mama Bear expected them to, which is why they’re making a detour on their way to get Rakhee and Savitri to Beijiya. Gender is not a big deal in this world, people are who they are, and nobody bats an eye at people who are not cis or binary. It’s just a thing that happens sometimes. BUT that doesn’t mean Aguri doesn’t still want to change her body, so the little pirate band are on their way to meet with an Alchemist friend of another of the pirates who I have not introduced on Tumblr yet.

Alchemy is supposed to break things down to their most pure, distinct selves, so it’s perfect for gender transition. Because your youness is in your heart and your mind, not your body. And while gender identity is not something people judge, she still wants the body she wants, and the younger one is, the less painful the change. They just thought they had more time to get her there.

- what are three cool facts about the main character?

Rakhee has eight limbs!! Four are perfectly serviceable arms that are pretty well placed on eir sides, and e also has two extra legs, but they are very tiny and they don’t work for anythin. But they are not harmful and they don’t get in eir way so e’s like yeah no surgery that would hurt thank you.

E can talk to animals, Disney Princess (or rather, Pirnni, as e is not a girl) style. All animals can speak to humans, but they only choose to do so when they are sure those humans are listening. Rakhee just listens really close!

Eir favorite food is potato and pea samosas. E is not vegetarian but e doesn’t like cured meat products. Too salty. But after being locked up and eating nothing but rice for a year, e is still so grateful to have anything else e will shove handfuls into eir face.

- what's a really niche little detail you think is rlly cool but it might be just in there for you?

Rakhee was actually a pair of twins in the womb, but one cannibalized the other, and e became one person, but not completely, hence the extra limbs. I don’t know if this will ever come up in canon but that’s why e is that way :)

And ofc anything else you wanna yell about!

Rakhee is already friends with The Queen of the Mice, and through the token she has given em, can call a favor from any mouse in the five kingdoms. But e is very adept at making friends, and e DOES talk to animals, so. let’s say e has more than just a colony of mice and a ragtag group of bandits on eir side by the end. :)

Taglist: @drippingmoon @hauntedluminarybbq @abusedbookshelves @viskafrer @thelaughingstag

[fallenhero-rebirth]

Brain update

First, let me say that this isn't about what anybody has done. My reactions are not in proportion to anything that has happened, and might be considered odd, weird and sensitive to people involved.

So let me explain.

I'm an Aspie (what we call ourselves in Sweden), on the autism spectrum. Yeah, might have guessed that from the story I'm writing, Sidestep is not the only one trying to figure out how people work.

Over the years I have built up an arsenal of knowledge and analysis to be able to pretend to be neurotypical, something that I can manage alright most days, but which breaks down once you get to know me better. I'm open with this at my current job, and luckily both my bosses seem to be okay dealing with open communication and just telling me what I need to do.

It was not always like this, and that is one of the reasons why I had a breakdown and needed to get off discord/tumblr.

Back in the late nineties, I had finally got my dream job. I was a product developer in the food industry, part of a rather small department of middle-class academics. I was the new hire, everyone else had worked there for years, and things were going well. Or so I assumed. I got cool projects, got along well with one of the sales people, and well, my boss was weird but bosses always are.

Three years later. Our parent company wanted to sell us off, everyone was starting to get worried about their job. We tried to expand into things were weren't equipped to do (you don't bring spices into a fruit jam line, will be hell to clean) and while I did the projects, I also raised an (in retrospect) too big stink about the fact that we were wasting time developing things we couldn't produce without expanding. My boss (who I had learned was a devout christian) started to get really weird, I got called in and he wondered if I was a member of a cult (I was often wearing a headscarf at the time because pressure on my head is good for stress relief). I also got told off for wearing army boots to work (we had lab shoes in the lab), because (I kid you not) if we had danish visitors to the lab (we didn't have visitors) they could be offended since they had once been occupied by Nazis. Yes, at the time I was an Antifa metalhead/satanist, it was a very volatile time in sweden and nazis were everywhere. Now they're a political party, go figure.

It all came to a head when I was confronted with a folder one of the secretaries of the department had where she had written down every odd and strange thing that I did, and there were a lot of accusations of things I quite frankly blocked out. Around this time I was suffering from bad burnout, had memory loss, my hair was falling out and I lost two bikes because I forgot where I parked them. All because of workplace hostility.

So for the first time ever, I went to the company doctor, who immediately sent me on a one month sick leave, and gave a reference to a therapist. When I went and told my boss, his reaction was "It can't be anything at work," in a dismissive tone. I wrote my resignation right then and there, left the building, snuck back a Saturday to clean out my stuff so I didn't have to meet anyone. Luckily I was backed up by my union, so I got unemployment despite quitting, and the therapist helped me get back on my feet and hook me up with some antidepressants.

Still, I was a wreck for years.

At the time, I had NO idea I was an Aspie. It weren't talked about, the only thing I knew about Autism, was from the various portrayals in movies, and well, in the nineties you can guess. Rainman pretty much was it.

What destroyed me the most was not that people disliked me, I didn't like them either, we didn't have anything in common, and middle-class people always scared me. No, what broke me was the fact that my system failed.

See, I had built up myself over ten years into someone I wanted to be. Smart. Capable. Metalhead. Researcher. Activist. I thought I knew the rules. How to interact.

It turned out I knew nothing. People had been talking behind my back for years, and I didn't know. Getting annoyed by my ticks, and I had no idea. Nobody ever brought anything up to my face until it exploded one day out of the blue. This is why I have ranted about anons on this tumblr. This is why I have been so openly against passive aggressive posts and bullying, especially the anonymous kind, because it destroys people and I don't think the people who does it knows the impact they can have. I hope they don't.

I have never gone back to the lab. I can't. I'm having heart palpitations just thinking about it when I'm writing this. I retrained. Became a machinist. Back to the working class I came from. Eventually started writing.

And this is exactly what these last months have felt like.

I thought I understood things. I was pretty open with being old, an Aspie, not understanding memes, or humor, or tik tok, or certain aspects of people's behavior like jealousy, but the problem with joking about this is that it's so easy to take as just a joke. That I'm just making fun of myself (oh it's that too). I got advice from some of you, which I ignored, because I thought that I could be different. That there was no danger in getting close. That I could be just another voice in the crowd. An occasionally evil avocado. That this couldn't blow up in my face, that everything was cool.

And then it did. And I was wrong. And the talking started, and things were coming out that I had no idea that was going on. That I was being held responsible for. Opinions that were spoken in my name. Events I was supposed to have been aware of and supported. All of a sudden I was omniscient, aware of the true passive aggressive meaning of every reblog, aware of every post in every room in the discord I wasn't even running. Wasn't even a mod on. All of a sudden I had power, and I had used it to hurt people. The people I cared about. Everything I wrote was taken in the worst possible way, twisted into things I never meant, and the more I tried to talk to people, the worse it went.

Look. I know this was at heart a war between people that just doesn't like each other and the things they do/the ways they behave. I'm still not entirely sure who's been involved, and I'm not interested in finding out. I tried to build a supportive space, reblog everyone's art and fics, encourage people to make their own things, get a kofi, get some money, make some friends.

And herein lies my problem.

I thought I understood how to be, and now I don't. I have no idea who hates my guts and who doesn't (well, except some who has very vocally let me know). I can't trust anything. I can't trust anyone. And it sucks. Someone I trusted stabbed be in the back because they were convinced I stabbed them in the back and that sucks more than I can describe. Every time I make a comment on AO3 or twitter it's after psyching myself up for half an hour, and I'm usually a wreck afterwards, because my brain doesn't know if they hate me too, and if I am imposing on them and making their day bad.

So yeah. I need to figure out how to be. How not to have a nausea attack every time I accidentally click open tumblr from pure reflex, looking away from the screen just not to see how may messages I have.

I never wanted to be the aloof author, but maybe I have to be. The question is if I can. I have been told I can't comment on pics or fics, because then I have favorites. And that makes people jealous. And it makes people think I take sides. I have been told I can't be on the discord, because then I will be held responsible for what the mods do there, and everything that's said even when I'm not around. I should apparently have someone manage the tumblr, it's not something that I, an author should do.

I now understand the authors who just stay away and remain distant, because people give themselves the power to write the narrative for you.

Part of me wants to tell people what I've told my current bosses, don't assume, just talk to me. I don't pick up/do passive aggression, I don't understand hints, I have trouble with nuance, I don't listen to gossip, I don't interact enough to know anything that's going on. Just ask before assuming.

Except that right now I can't. I can't talk about any of this. It's too close. It sets me off. It's getting better, sure, I'm on medication again, but the smallest thing still can ruin my entire day. I have no idea how long it will take me to recover and come back to some semblance of normality. I'm not posting this myself (my partner does). Writing is going well, because it lets me not be myself. I need those walls again. The therapy of writing about pain.

I'll rebuild them. I'm not entirely sure who I'll be on the other end of it. We'll see.

I have consciously not spoken about any details because those could be misunderstood, this is not a passive aggressive callout to anybody. I have no hard feelings towards anyone, I am not angry or upset, just confused and sad. I am truly so very, very, very sorry that I've hurt people, both by action and inaction. It was never my intention. I will do my best to do better in the future.

Still working on how to do that.

[mrs-nate-humphrey]

This is totally cool, lol! That's why I tagged you, I like different perspectives 🥰 and I adore lesbian Jenny

I've been thinking a lot about Jenny's character and sexuality lately since I'm in the middle of rewatching the show. I totally agree that she's attracted to women and most times she pursues guys it's mainly to increase social status and not because of genuine interest. Nate always felt different to me, though. Like, the two times she really pursues him is in season 2, when she's being homeschooled and trying to make it as a designer, and the end of season 3, which is after the whole Damien drama and she's just looking for someone who cares about her and respects her (I know you said once that it doesn't even feel romantic here, which I also agree with, poor girl just needs a connection). I do really see how it can be interrupted as comphet, though. Like she feels like she's supposed to be attracted to Nate because who wouldn't be?

I think the reason why I lean the other way is probably just projection. Jenny's been my favourite GG character since I first watched the show when I was 12, partly because I relate a lot to her, and since I'm bisexual... Add that plus the fact that I totally have had a crush on Nate and of course I'm gonna ship them. I've been relating to Jenny even more this time around cause I dropped out of school this year, so her season 2 arc really hit close to me. So this made my jenate feelings come back tenfold and also made me that much madder at Rufus, lol. I just wanted to go through the screen and shake his shoulders like "There are other paths than the one you want your daughter to have, not everyone has to go through life like society expects you to let your daughter carve out her own unconventional path you fucking idiot!" Luckily my parents have been way more supportive.

Mainly I just see Jenny as bi with a strong lean towards women, but I like to think about lesbian Jenny, too. It wouldn't exactly be the first time I had contradicting headcanons.

I don't know I just think it's really cool that different people can have such different interpretations of the same character. I think that's what's so interesting about fiction, to see how we view things differently depending on how we view and relate to things based on our own experiences. Tumblr can be so focused on hating people who disagree with you, but I like following people with different opinions, it helps me understand people better.

Yeah, I'm glad you tagged me!! back in November, some anons were mean to me about shipping Jenate (me??? who literally does not even - anyway) and ever since then I've been trying extra to ensure that Jenate shippers feel welcome on my blog - you may already know this, because I've brought it up before, but I'm saying it here to let you know that every time you tag me in your Jenate edits I get so happy that you're sharing something you're so passionate about with me!! I'm also a big believer of like........ making the content you want to see (a big part of why I even learnt to gif is because nobody was giffing Dan & Nate, and I was like...... that's the content I need, so if it's not already existing, I'm gonna make it happen!) so regardless of my feelings it's always so cool to see the way you conceptualise JN + their feelings re: each other, and your choice of scenes + lyrics (??? I'm not actually familiar with where you got the words for your edits, they're likely songs I haven't heard, haha) is just so interesting & good!

OH my full Jenny & Nate feelings are a lot more complicated than just comphet on Jenny's part. I feel like..... neither of them was romantically/sexually into each other? and that is kind of the appeal to me? I've always interpreted Nate's interest in Jenny during the s2 arc as sort of like - everything in his life is so unstable and undetermined, and here is Jenny who is so clear on who she is and what she wants, and he admires and respects that, and he wants to be there for her and support her, so when she kisses him he just sort of lets her take their dynamic wherever she wants to? that is very much the vibe I got. You already know how I feel about lesbian Jenny, I mean, you quoted my meta right back at me :'))

but I DO agree with you that Nate is different from the other guys to Jenny. JN have this really specific kind of honesty to them - well, when Jenny wasn't spiralling and trying to get power and acting out, and when the writers actually cared? I still think that NJ had the potential to be a SOLID dynamic but the writers made it sorta unhealthy on the show :(( - but I've spoken abt moments like in seventeen candles and the empire strikes jack before, where they're both able to be emotionally vulnerable around each other in ways we don't see them be with anyone else. I've even compared that to what I like about Derena, whom everyone knows I ship in every possible way, haha. But there's something about characters who trust each other and allow themselves to be honest with each other in ways that they wouldn't otherwise EVER be - especially with characters like Jenny & Nate who have spent so long trying to seem fine and okay even when they're really not.

I honestly really like the idea of queerplatonic Jenate - they're life partners, they're each other's rock, they're each other's person - but it's not romantic OR sexual - and for Nate & Jenny, whose adolescence has involved navigating other people sexualising them so much + not having the best track record with romantic relationships - for them, I feel being qpps gets REALLY interesting, because you get all the perks of a relationship without the romantic/sexual obligations? (obligations isn't the best word, but i don't know what else to use here? LOL) and that's something i love to explore.

I feel like book Jenny was bi! The way she gushed about Nate, whom she canonically had a crush on, and the way she gushed about Serena were EXACTLY the same. Also YES I love multiple headcanons always, it's a lot of fun seeing people explore that!!! I know people who have aroace readings of Jenny, or aro lesbian / ace lesbian readings of her, and I find that really cool, too!

I also definitely get you about relating to Jenny a lot, and feeling that kind of connection. It's similar to how I feel about Dan, and .... explains a lot of my contradicting dair views, actually. A few years ago I had a seriously intense crush on a girl who was... a lot like Blair, in many ways. I spent a ridiculous amount of time writing poetry about her, etc etc, but I never actually acted on it. If she'd fabricated schemes that involved us kissing, though..... I don't know. I don't think I would've denied it if I'd felt like I actually had a chance. I think we just had a case of bad timing, & I like to think in another universe, maybe we were actually together for a bit. I'm glad that your parents are supportive of you and better than Rufus! <3

I think that's what's so interesting about fiction, to see how we view things differently depending on how we view and relate to things based on our own experiences <- THIS exactly! this is a big part of why that "proship" is in my bio. like this is exactly what it means to me and how I conceptualise & understand it!!! Like you, I also like engaging with people who have different understandings and opinions of the characters -> it definitely helps you make new friends you would otherwise not meet by staying in your bubble, & from a fandom point of view, it also helps you develop a more nuanced understanding of a character. Some of the best written Jenny Humphrey I've read was in Jenate fics - and I've had people who don't even ship Blenny tell me they liked the way I wrote Jenny in my post canon blennyfic, so... idk. it's loving Jenny hours - each and every single iteration of Jenny!!!

[goldenchan-fx2thepeacock]

Don’t Go Running Off Into Danger, Even If I Do

Randon idea for a DP (Danny Phantom) GF (Gravity Falls) crossover. I’ve been browsing Tumblr tags for way too long and whatever. This, unlike the neighbourhood phantom fic from earlier, will have multiple chapters. Also, Danny is sixteen and Dipper and Mabel are fouteen.

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

Chapter One

The fight with Skulker was a long one. Maybe that was an understatement. Sam and Tucker were both out of town and he was stuck with Wes and the ghosts alone. Well, Wes wasn’t exactly an issue, but if he somehow got proof, Danny would be in a pickle. He set down in the alleyway and stared at the tattered remains of his jumpsuit. Whatever. Street clothes Phantom would have to do for now. Danny sighed and the glaringly visible binder. At least Skulker hadn’t seen. With a twirl of his fingers, the tattered jumpsuit becam a pullover hoodie with the Phantom logo and ripped jeans. Once the clothing change was done and it didn’t seem like anyone was watching, he transformed. As his luck would have it, he heard a gasp. Luckily, it wasn’t someone he knew. 

~~~~~~~~~

Mabel and Dipper had just moved to Amity Park to live with their Aunt Molly. Dipper was excited because he’d heard that there was a lot of paranormal activity here. Mostly ghosts but still. What he wasn’t expecting was to see a boy with white hair wearing a black sweatshirt turn into one with black hair and a red tee. Both he and Mabel gasped. The boy cursed under his breath and turned around. “Oh thank god. At least you aren’t anyone who knows me. Welcome to Amity Park!” The boy seemed stressed.  “What was that! That’s so cool!” Dipper said excitedly. “Listen, I’ll tell you, but you gotta promise to keep it a secret. What do you know about Amity so far?”  “Just that it’s a hotspot for paranormal activity, nothing like Gravity Falls, but alot happens here,” Dipper said and pulled out the journal to write info down. “I don’t really know what Gravity Falls is, but Amity is a hotspot for ghosts. Mostly cause my parent made a portal in the basement of my house. So, you know nothing about Danny Phantom?” “I think I might’ve heard rumours on the street?” Mabel says. She was staring at the boy. Great, a new crush.  “Well, Danny Phantom, who just so happens to be my alter ego, goes around dealing with the ghost threats and making sure Amity doesn’t get completely destroyed. My name’s Danny Fenton by the way,” “Don’t you think that’s kinda obvious?” Dipper scribbled a picture of Danny into the journal. “Nah. Even my own parents don’t know, and they’re the ‘leading experts’ in the field of ectobiology and ghost hunting,”  “The what now?” Mabel said. “Study of ghosts. Heck, the portal wouldn’t even be open if I hadn’t half died when turing it on,” Danny laughed. “You died?” Mabel stared at him. “Yes and no. Nobody knows Danny Phantom is only half ghost except fucking Vlad and the rest of the ghosts,” “Who’s Vlad?” Dipper was curious. “Ah, Vlad Masters. Mayor of Amity Park. Pretentious billionare. Creep trying to get into my mom’s pants. Oh, and Plasmious on the side. Could you believe that my parents created two half ghosts?” “We let a dream demon into our world a couple summers ago,” Mabel said. “Mabel, that violates the Never Mind All That Act,”  “He’s been through weird stuff too!” “I mean, I fought an all powerful ghost king that sucked Amity into the Ghost Zone,” “Fair enough,” Dipper conceded. Danny looked down at his watch.  “Listen, I’d love to stay and chat, but I’m gonna miss curfew. And Skulker needs to go home before he figures out a way out of the Fenton Thermos,” “Wait! Where can we find you?” “Look for the big glowing FentonWorks sign. It’s impossible to miss. And don’t mention the Phantom thing to my parents. They want to rip me apart molecule by molecule as is!” “Are you sure that’s enough direction?” Dipper was skeptical. “You couldn’t miss FentonWorks if you wanted to,” He laughed and ran off. Dipper had half a thought to follow him, but they had to get to Aunt Molly’s. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny ran to FentonWorks. He probably would’ve flown if he’s though of it or if he wasn’t concerned about getting caught. The kids weren’t from Amity at least. He managed to get in just as his curfew alarm went off. “Daniel, you almost missed curfew!” his Mom said. “Yeah, but I didn’t!” Danny said triumphantly. “No, I suppose you didn’t,” She sighed and went back to whatever blueprints she was drawing up. If it mattered, he’d find out. Once he was certain she was distracted, he went down to the lab and stuck the thermos in the attachment.  “Dann-o! You catch a ghost?” Fuck. Danny turned to his dad. “Nah. But I left my thermos out accidentally. I put it in just in case someone caught one with it,” He was getting way too good at lying.  “Oh well. It’s good to see you got back in time,” Dad pulled Danny into a bone crushing hug. “Dad! I gotta get my binder off before you can break my ribs!” Dannt squeaked out. “Oh right. Sorry Dann-o. Go get changed,” Dad put Danny down and gave him a slap on the back. Ow. Danny rushed upstairs. He wrangled the binder off and flopped back on the bed once he put his shirt back on. Jazz poked her head in. “Hi Danny!” She said cheerily.  “Sup, Jazz Spazz,” He sat up. He had a burn on his thigh from the fight. “Keep in mind only you can call me that. Finally catch ‘Ghost X’?” She said. Danny snorted.  “I’m going to kill you if you call Skulker that seriously ever again. Yeah, I caught him. A couple of newbies saw me transform though. Now I have to explain stuff to them so they keep my secret,” “Well, at least they won’t tell!” “Jazz, always looking on the bright side,” Danny pretend narrated. They both giggled.  “Well, Mom and Dad are gonna be out giving protection to the people tonight,” “Planning sesh! Yes. I can fix the jumpsuit,” “Oh geez, what happened to it?” “Just got shredded. Skulker didn’t see anything, but still,” “Oh. I’ll get the sewing supplies,” She walked into her room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dipper and Mabel walked into Aunt Molly’s house.  “Hey kids! Glad to see you got here in one piece!” She rushed over to them and kissed their heads. “Yup. We’re here. Hey, Aunt Molly, do you know where FentonWorks is? We met someone who said they lived there today,” Mabel said. “Oh, that eyesore. Nothing against Jack and Maddie, but they could really use some decorating help. Who did you talk to? Jazz or Danny?” “Does everyone in town know them or something?” Dipper was shocked. “Well of course. Fenton tech is the best protection from ghosts other than Phantom,” “Well, it was a guy, so Danny I’m guessing,” Mabel said. Of course it was Danny. “Ah, Daniel. Poor kid. Dash Baxter needs to leave him alone. Runs at the sight of a ghost. If you ever need to get to his place, I can give you a ride,” Molly sighed. Dipper would’ve thought more in depth about it if there wasn’t a loud knock on the door.  “That must be the Fentons. I forgot it was safety tech day,” She opened the door. A man in an orange jumpsuit came in. He was massive. But the black hair and blue eyes were recognizable. A woman came in behind him. She was in a teal jumpsuit.  “Jack, Maddie! Come in. These are my neice and nephew, Mason and Mabel,” “Can you call me Dipper?” He turned to Molly. “I thought you would at least introduce yourself formally,” Molly sighed.  “Ah, new kids. Remember kids, if you see the menice of that ghost boy, you stay clear. Town might make him out to be a hero, but he’s not!” Jack said. Dipper and Mabel exchanged a look. Poor Danny.  “Alright, that’s not why we’re here. Do you want a ghost shield to keep the kids safe Molly?” Maddie pulled out a strange contraption.  “You know, that doesn’t sound like a horrible plan. I don’t know why you bother with yours when you have a portal in your basement,” “We close the portal most times,” Maddie seemed offended.  “Oh well. I’ll take a few lipstick lazer and wrist blasters with that,” Molly placed the contraption on the shelf and Maddie pulled some lipsticks and weird blaster thingies out of her bag. The Fentons left. “Don’t listen to them about Phantom. They have prejudices against him for no reason. He’s saved our town too many times to count. The least they can do is stop threatening to dissect him!” Molly scoffed. Dipper went pale. But he didn’t have time to think about it. They had school in the morning.

[giuliafc]

Caught in the Loop

Read on Ao3 || FFN || Wattpad

Chat Noir bets to Ladybug that he loves the girl behind the spots, no matter who she is. Ladybug bets to Chat Noir that he's only her partner and best friend, she doesn't love him 'that' way. What happens when they accept to get caught into a spiritual 'loop' , living through many alternate realities to prove that they're right and win their bet? They end up losing it, of course. They lose *ROYALLY*. Lovesquare identity reveal with a twist!

Written for the March 2021 Writer-Artist Collab! Collab with ThatCattyCatCult (tumblr.com) here on Tumblr :)

Written by JuliaFC

Part of the March 2021 Writer-Artist collab for the Miraculous Fanworks server. The art in the story has been made by @TheCattyCatCult

Betas: KhanOfAllOrcs, Agrestebug, Etoile-Lead-Sama, Malauu-Ladynoir, Genxha

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by (c) Thomas Astruc; TS1 Bouygues, Disney Channel, Zagtoon, Toei Animation. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

oOo

Part 1 - The bet

“Pound it!” Ladybug and Chat Noir’s gaze locked as they fist bumped after the latest akuma attack.

The fight hadn’t been that hard and they still had a couple of minutes to spare. Luckily, because the students of Françoise Dupont didn’t seem to want to let them go; Alya especially was pressing on their ribs like a thorn.

“Can you spare a word for the Ladyblog?” she asked excitedly, while plenty of other voices came from everywhere and nowhere, “Please, Ladybug, can I have an autograph?” “Chat Noir! Chat Noir, please smile at the camera!” The warning beep of their Miraculous rang worryingly unheard in the confusion.

“Sorry, guys, but we need to go,” tried to say Ladybug before being wrapped in yet another hug for a picture by yet another student. “Yes, it’s time to s-cat…” But the students still didn’t seem to want to let them go. Eventually the beep became stronger and Chat Noir grabbed Ladybug bridal style and, using his baton, he lifted both of them up and off from the crowd.

“As we said already: sorry, guys, we need to go!” He jumped out of the way, to then fall unnoticed in front of the door of the locker room.

“We don’t have time to find a place to hide!” said Ladybug worriedly.

Chat Noir sighed. Out went his chance of pretending that he didn’t know the school. “Come with me, there’s a place that I know.”

He grabbed her hand and dragged her away (just in time, because the locker door opened as soon as they moved and Chat Noir didn’t want to know who the student that had just come out of it was). He ran with her and reached the side of the library, quickly opening a closet door and disappearing inside it with her, closing it behind them. He had just done that, that in a flash of green and pink, their transformation fell. They could only turn around and stand back-to-back, their hearts racing in their chests. Tikki and Plagg came out of their Miraculouses with a twirl and fell into their hands.

“Gamin, that was close,” said Plagg panting.

“I need food, *burp*!” Tikki burped purple bubbles. “Whoops, sorry,” she concluded.

Marinette reached for her little purse and took out a macaron, which she handed to her little red friend gently. The kwami picked it up and started chewing on it with a thankful gleam in her eyes. On the other side, Plagg was doing the same with a slice of cheese.

“I’ve never seen this closet, Chat Noir,” said Marinette, sitting down on the ground, immediately imitated by her partner behind her. She pulled her legs close to her chest and rested her chin on her knees.

Chat Noir fell silent for a long time. A suspiciously long time. After an even longer time, Marinette cleared her throat. “Elementary school, huh?”

Chat Noir was silent again. Only after a little while did she hear him say shakingly, “I had to say something.”

Marinette’s heart pounded in her chest. Was he admitting it? Was he a student at Françoise Dupont too? Marinette knew that she shouldn’t ask this information. She really shouldn’t, because it could jeopardise his identity, but she didn’t think before connecting her brain to her mouth. “So that’s why Plagg was here.”

She felt his head shoot up behind her and rest against the back of hers. “Careful, M’lady. Tikki was here too.” Her heart started pounding in her chest. Shoot. After all her hard work during the Kwamibuster’s fight, it only took one sentence to blow her carefully crafted cover.

She chuckled dryly. “So what? It’s a big school, there are hundreds of girls and boys studying here, Chat Noir. It’s not as if you’re sitting in front of me in class.”

Tikki facepalmed. Why did Tikki facepalm?

“I could,” came his voice from behind her back.

Her dry chuckle turned into a laugh. “Yeah, right… that would be close to impossible. Just think about it!”

“Why? Who’s sitting in front of you? A girl?” he asked. She didn’t like the tone of doubt in his voice as he asked that. Nor did she like the fact that he sounded as if he was genuinely interested and inquiring.

“Chat? We shouldn’t have this conversation. It’s already dangerous enough that now we both know that we attend the same school. It’s too dangerous to reveal our identities while Hawkmoth is still around.”

She clearly felt him tense behind her back. “Why is that, Buginette? What would change? You already know the identity of all the other holders, and you also have the entire Miracle Box hidden somewhere. If Hawkmoth gets his hands on the Miracle Box we would have a really hard time fighting against a whole team of superheroes. It would be dangerous anyway. What would change if we knew each other’s identities?”

Marinette sighed. His words rang true to her and she couldn’t deny that she had thought about it a few times and had always come to a similar conclusion. What was it that was wrapping such fear around her heart when she so much as considered the idea of revealing her identity to him? “Please, Chat, you know we can’t.”

She felt him crouch over himself. “It’s just… frustrating. We were talking about it the other day, Plagg and I. He was also there saying that because you’re the Guardian I should know who you are and you should know who I am. What happens if he’s sick, M'lady? Or if anything happens to me and I can’t return my Miraculous to you? The Black Cat is a powerful weapon in the wrong hands. You can’t afford to lose it like Master Fu did with the Butterfly and Peacock.” He said all of that in just one breath, or at least Marinette thought he did, because there was no pausing in between his words, it was all coming out at once.

“Wow, you have really put some thought into it,” she concluded.

She had to admit that what he had said again rang true to her. She knew that kwamis could get sick. Tikki had been sick once, after all; Plagg could be next. And the time Tikki had been sick, she had had to take Marinette to the Guardian. What if Plagg was so out of it that he wouldn’t be able to tell Chat Noir where to go?

“You know, Chat Noir has a point,” said Tikki in a very low voice. Marinette looked at her warily.

“I know, Tikki.” She sighed and hugged her legs more tightly, frowning looking at the air in front of her face. “I know, you’re right, chaton.” She heard his loud gasp from behind her and added quickly, “However… even though I know you’re right I still—I still can’t get myself to do it.”

“But why? Why, M’lady? Why don't you trust me? I know I’ve been a bit unreliable when you left for New York, but I had been forced to go myself. And beside then, did I ever give you any reason for—”

“No, you didn’t, Chat,” she interrupted his ramble. “And I know you’re right but…” She felt her throat clenching shut and tears starting to prickle at the corner of her eyes. “I don’t know what to do. The truth is that I’m scared. I’m terrified to change our balance. We’ve worked so well as a duo up to now, if we reveal our identities and the balance changes…”

“What would change? We would just put an unmasked face and a name in the equation. Why would it change anything if I think of you as Ladybug or... Marcelline or Martha or Marvel or Marinette?”

Marinette gasped so loudly that she had to move and peeked quickly by opening a small crack on the closet door to make sure that nobody had heard and was going to open the door on them all of a sudden.

“Are you okay?” asked Chat Noir. “Did I say something wrong?”

Marinette blushed crimson even though she knew that he couldn’t see it because he was back to back with her. How did he still remember the only slip up she had ever had about her identity, that first day when they faced Stoneheart? “Uh, no, you didn’t say anything wrong. You’re right.” Her breath caught. “I-I m-mean ,y-you’re r-right in y-your theory…”

She felt Chat Noir scratch his head. “Yeah. What else could I be right about?”

“N-nothing…”

It was Chat Noir’s turn to gasp. “I got your name right, didn’t I? Your name is one of those!” She couldn’t avoid tensing up and that was all he needed to confirm his suspicions. “M’lady, you know that, whoever you are, I would love you regardless.”

Marinette chuckled. “You always say that, minou, but would you really?”

“I swear I would! That day when we faced Stoneheart, when you spoke with Hawkmoth the first time, I saw the way you put your fears aside and faced that monster all by yourself. I heard the way you spoke to reassure the people of Paris that we were going to protect them, even if we both didn’t have a clue how things would have worked out. You were so brave, so passionate, so fierce, so compassionate, so… amazing. I felt something break in me and next thing I knew I was head over heels in love with you.”

“Chat, I’m not fierce and brave in real life!”

He grabbed her hand with his and Marinette jumped a little for the skin to skin contact. That time when the faced Knight Owl she had touched his naked hand, but it hadn’t felt half as intimate as this. “I’m sure that you are, Buginette.”

“And… I could be very ugly. Very fat. I could be a boy for all you know.”

“You wound me, M’lady. I’m not that shallow. I fell in love with the girl within.” Then he fell silent for a long moment and Marinette could feel the mad beating of her heart right into her ears. “And you can’t be a boy.”

She tried pulling her hand off his grip but he didn’t let her and started moving his thumb on her bare skin. This caused Marinette’s heart to do funny things in her chest but when she felt how tensed his shoulders were behind her, she realised that probably it was the same for him too.

“You got me,” she said softly. “I’m not a boy.”

“That’s good, because I’m not into other boys, as far as I know.”

Marinette giggled. “Well, after all, you only flirt with girls.”

More silence wrapped up the secluded room. “Can I ask a question?” said Chat Noir’s voice from behind her.

“Yes?” she tentatively answered.

“Why have we started talking about my feelings for you?” He paused significantly. Marinette felt her heart skipping a beat. “I mean, we were talking about revealing identities and you not wanting to do it. Have you caught feelings for me finally, M'lady? Are you afraid I wouldn’t love the girl behind the mask?”

Marinette’s heart did again some funny things in her chest as he said so. She gulped awkwardly. “N-no, I told you I like another boy. That hasn’t changed, Chat.”

She felt him slump his shoulders behind her. Her lips curled in a small smile. “Then why? Why does it matter to you if I would love you without the mask?”

Marinette sucked her breath in. “Uh. I-I d-don’t know. It just b-bugs me every time you say it.”

“Was that a pun, M’lady?” He chuckled.

“Of course not! It really annoys me.” She raised a little her tone of voice as she felt blood rushing to her face again.

“But why would it bother you or annoy you if you didn’t have feelings for me? You know what I think?” He poked her in her back with his elbow until she ‘mh?’-ed dubiously. “I bet you’ve developed some feelings for me and you just don’t want to admit it!” She could nearly hear his smirk.

“Not going to happen, minou. It just annoys me when you say it. As if you could just look at me detransform and accept whatever would come in front of your eyes. I bet that you wouldn’t love EVERYONE who could appear behind the Ladybug mask. There must be someone you would rather be me than anybody else.”

“Wanna bet? Such a shame that there’s no way that I can prove to you the depth of my feelings for you, M’lady or I definitely would.”

“You’re right, there’s no way to prove who would be right or not. I would love to prove to you that I’m definitely not having feelings towards you. You’re just my best friend, chaton.”

She heard Chat Noir behind her take some breath in, as if he was about to answer. But as he did that, they heard someone cough politely, so they both turned towards the origin of the sound and saw Tikki and Plagg looking at them with a gleam of annoyance in their eyes.

“Actually, there would be a way,” deadpanned Plagg.

“But it’s something that hasn’t been done for a very long time, nearly a millennium,” warned Tikki.

Plagg folded his paws to his tiny chest. “Yep. But it has been done and it’s possible, Sugarcube.”

Both Marinette and Chat Noir looked at their two kwamis in amazement. “What are you talking about, Plagg?” asked Chat Noir eventually.

Tikki sighed. “There’s a very, very ancient spell that hasn’t been used for nearly a millennium. It was mostly used for training purposes. Training of our holders.”

Marinette squirmed a little her eyes and looked at Tikki. “What do you mean, Tikki?”

“It’s called ‘the loop’. It’s yet another power that you get when you combine our Miraculouses.” Plagg looked at Marinette very seriously. “It’s not the Wish. It doesn’t change reality for real. It just wraps you two in a loop to learn a lesson.”

“Or to get clarity on a doubt,” concluded Tikki. “It was used solely for spiritual training.”

“How does it work?” said Chat Noir. Tikki sighed.

“You unify us and then ask for the loop. The loop creates a, well, loop, that creates in your mind a repetition of events that can bring clarity in your doubt.”

Plagg continued, “Basically it creates new realities, but only in your head. Since there are no consequences for anybody, as it is only in your head, it is not forbidden in the same way as the Wish.”

“Are you sure it won’t have bad consequences like with the Wish, Tikki?” asked Marinette. “Master Fu has always warned me not to unify you and Plagg.”

“It won’t have consequences that can change the balance of the universe, so in that sense it’s not a bad thing. But it’s still something you should consider very carefully,” pressed Tikki. “It could lead to you two understanding each other’s identities.”

“How?” asked both of them at the same time.

Tikki sighed. “You will understand if you decide to take on the loop. But one thing you need to remember if you do so.” Both teen agers looked very intently at the red kwami. “This loop creates entire realities in your head. You will be unconscious in this world and won’t be able to wake up until in your heart you will get clarity on whether you won or lost your bet. You will be bound in the reality you’re exploring and will have to take any difference between it and the “real world” as fact and just go with the flow. Don’t resist them or the loop won’t work.”

“I don’t know,” sighed Marinette. “It sounds so complicated.” But as she said that, she felt an elbow poking her ribs.

“Come on!” said Chat Noir. “Are you afraid of finding out that you are indeed in love with me, M’lady?”

She sucked her breath in. “No way! Maybe you should be afraid to find out that there’s no way that you can love just blindly whoever it is behind this mask!”

Chat Noir folded his arms on his chest. “There’s only one way of finding out!”

Anger started pooling into Marinette’s heart. Anger and a feeling of competition. Competition because she was being challenged. And she wasn’t the type to give up a challenge without a fight. She would prove to her kitty that she was right.

“Okay then. Give me your ring.” She distinctly felt Chat Noir gulping next to her. She presented her hand to him, expecting him to put the ring in her palm immediately, but the boy hesitated.

“What are you waiting for, Chat Noir? Christmas?”

She heard her partner breathe in to start talking at least four times. But he didn’t say anything and eventually, she felt the heaviness of the Black Cat ring on her palm. With a little sigh, she wore the ring on her own finger, watching as it changed from black to pink.

“Don’t worry, chaton. I will give it back to you,” she said calmly. Then she looked at the two kwamis in front of her and said it firmly, “Tikki, Plagg, Unify!” The two creatures got wrapped in a flash of light and their bodies merged together. Marinette looked down, as the light was very strong and hurt her eyes and heard Chat Noir gasping. “What is it, minou, if you can’t take it, don’t dish it out.”

He sniggered next to her and tsk-ed a couple of times. “Let’s see how cocky you are after you wake up and you realise that you’ve lost, Buginette.”

“Likewise, Chaton!”

When Marinette looked up, she couldn’t avoid widening her eyes. In place of Tikki and Plagg there now was a different kwami. A kwami that brought back memories that she would have preferred to keep buried into her subconscious for the rest of her days. It was a cat-like kwami, but its piercing blue eyes were the same shape as Tikki’s. It was completely snow white with black spots in the places where Tikki had her spots, and antennae at the front of its cat ears.

“I’m Chaoss. Who summoned me?” it said, its voice deep and strong. It sounded a voice too powerful for coming from a kwami that was a mixture of sweet Tikki and goofy Plagg.

“W-we’re the wielders of the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses,” she heard her voice saying without almost realising she was actually saying it. “We want to ask for the loop.”

“Do you know what you’re going to face?” the kwami asked. Its gaze was deep and stern; it didn’t have any of the softness of Tikki or the playfulness of Plagg.

“Tikki and Plagg have told us something about it,” said Chat Noir. Marinette had to force herself to keep her eyes trained on the white kwami, because she hadn’t expected Chat to speak and she had nearly—nearly—turned her head towards him instinctively.

Chaoss’s gaze pierced through their very soul. “I’m amused,” it said with a smirk. “This is going to be great fun.”

“W-what do you mean?” asked Chat Noir, his voice having lost all cockiness all of sudden. He sounded scared. Marinette had to yet again bit her lower lip very hard to resist the urge to turn around to look at him.

“You will experience a series of realities related to your heart’s inner desire. Don’t look at me like that. This is why the loop has only been used for spiritual training. Your inner desire, Black Cat, is to prove to your Lady that your feelings for her are strong and that you love the girl behind the mask truly, no matter who she is or what she looks like.” The kwami smirked and Marinette assumed that Chat Noir must have nodded because Chaoss was looking at him directly when it continued, “You will face exactly that, Black Cat. Are you ready to face the consequences of your choice?”

“I am.” Chat Noir sounded so sure of himself that Marinette’s heart sank. She wasn’t sure at all. All her cockiness was only due to her competitive spirit and now that the possibility of the loop had become real, she didn’t feel confident anymore at all. That and the fact that Chaoss looked really creepy and was digging up memories in her heart that she really wished she had forgotten about.

But she couldn’t give it more thought, because Chaoss’s gaze locked into hers and her whole back tensed.

“And you, Lady Luck.” Marinette blushed crimson, she didn’t know why. “Are you so sure that your feelings towards him are only platonic?”

“Y-yes.”

The kwami’s gaze was so stern that Marinette felt as if it burned a hole in her soul.

“Are you certain that you wouldn’t miss his flirty ways and his puns if he didn’t use them anymore?”

“Yes!” That was much easier to say.

“Funny you say that,” smirked the white kwami. Marinette frowned. “You told him so many times that he’s irreplaceable, right?”

Marinette’s frown deepened. It was like talking to an old friend but to a new person at the same time. “Y-yes?”

“If he didn’t flirt with you and didn’t pun, wouldn’t he be like a different person?” The white kwami gave her again a look that seemed to be piercing her whole soul.

Shoot. She hadn’t thought about it in these terms. She didn’t know what to say and couldn’t bear to hold that icy blue stare, so Marinette lowered her gaze and flushed pink.

“Tell the truth, M’lady, you would miss my puns.” Chat Noir elbowed her jokingly.

Marinette groaned. “No way! I just wis—” but the second she said the word, a red gleam flashed through the white kwami’s icy gaze.

“Enough! Don’t say the forbidden word. Remember what you’re doing, Lady Luck.” The kwami’s voice was so deep and cavernous that Marinette was left terrified.

“I-I’m s-sorry,” she whispered. She flushed crimson. She was the Guardian of the Miracle Box. She was wearing the two strongest Miraculouses in the world, unified. She had nearly inadvertently made the Wish that would change reality. Oh she was SO not ready for this responsibility!

She felt a tight grip clench on her throat and tears started to worm their way out of the corner of her eyes, but before she could utter even one strangled sob, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Once again, he was at her side. He believed in her. He wanted her to feel his support. Her heart swelled for the gratitude that she felt towards the boy next to her. She nearly (again, so nearly) turned towards him, but she refrained from doing so at the last second.

“Tikki and Plagg were right. There’s so much chaos inside your soul that you need the loop to gain clarity and order. Order will make you stronger.” The white kwami started floating higher.

“I thought your name was Chaoss?” asked Chat Noir. “And you want to make order in our souls?”

The little white kwami sniggered. “Yes, Black Cat. There’s no Order without Chaos. There’s no Creation without Destruction. Chaos leads the way to Order in the same way as Destruction leads the way to Creation. Two parts of a whole. You need chaos to create order. You need death to allow life. Creation left alone would eventually produce death.”

“It kind of makes sense,” said Chat Noir.

“In a very twisted kind of way, yeah,” continued Marinette.

Chaoss smirked and flew again higher than their heads. “Good. You don’t need to understand it all, Black Cat and Lady Luck. But there are a couple of things that you do need to understand, and accept.” It turned towards Chat Noir. “You, Black Cat.” Chaoss paused significantly. “You will see many different realities in the loop. One of them will be real.”

“Wh—” started Chat Noir, but Chaoss’s cold gaze turned sterner.

“I won’t say. The first one? The last one? Any one in between? You just need to know that one will be the real deal. I will leave it to you to decide what to do with that information, and with what it will mean to you.”

Then, Chaoss’s gaze moved to Marinette and she couldn’t avoid gulping dryly. “You, Lady Luck.” The white kwami closed his electric blue eyes and sighed before opening them again.

“Your challenge will be different, but no less difficult. Maybe more difficult, in fact. The realities you’ll explore don’t exist. None of them exist. But they exist within themselves and within themselves the people who live them are real. Don’t fight them, or the loop won’t work. Remember that they may be alternate realities to this one, they may not exist, but they are still related to, and very much linked to this reality. You can think of them as ‘what if’s’. You will see, and experience, things that will surprise you. You may be shocked at some points, or feel as if you want to rip your heart out of your chest. But don’t fight the reality. Live it as if it were real. There’s a lesson in each and every of them, and the lesson is true.”

Marinette closed her eyes shut and breathed heavily before nodding. When she opened her eyes again, Chaoss was staring at both of them, a wide smirk on its lips.

“This will be fun. Not for you, but it will be fun.” The kwami flew higher. “Ladybug. Chat Noir. You called for my power and you asked for the loop. You’ve been informed of the consequences of your request. Are you ready to begin?”

Marinette started feeling hot. And cold. And hot again. Her frame was shaking so heavily that her teeth started chattering. “Y-yes.” She nodded a couple of times, as if trying to convince herself that it was okay, even if it wasn’t. She heard Chat Noir say the same thing, with a voice as shaky as hers.

“Good. Get ready to both lose your bets, kids. See you next time!” Marinette widened her eyes. What made Chaoss so certain that they would both lose their bets?

“Wait!” she shouted, moving a hand forward as if trying to stop the white kwami, but the creature’s eyes started gleaming and its body pulsating. The darkness of the room was lit up with a spark of pure energy and Marinette had to close her eyes shut because the brightness was nearly hurting her pupils. She felt as if pulled up by a strong wind and then pulled back down again, almost feeling like falling.

Author's Note

Hi there!

This is my effort for the March 2021 Writer-artist collab. It's an idea I had for a while, and when the artist I was paired with showed some interest on it, I thought 'why not', so here it is! Hope you'll like it :)

In the next chapter, we start getting into the loops. I can only tell you that it will be quite an experience, for both of them. Chaoss wasn't kidding!

I hope you will leave me a comment. What did you think about Chaoss? Chapter 2 isn't written yet, so I don't know when I will update, but you know the drill. I tend to prioritise the stories that receive more feedback, because I feel I let down less people ^^. So if you want to know what happens next and what will they find in the loop... subscribe, comment, put the story in your favourite, leave a kudos... not only it cheers me up, but it also makes me more eager to dedicate my nights to write rather than to other menial activities (like sleeping for example!)

Last but not least, as usual, if you read this and you’re not part of our wonderful Discord server already, but you enjoy reading, writing and talking about Miraculous, please join our Discord server, Miraculous Fanworks (for people on FFN, discord dot gg slash mlfanworks). See you there soon. Not sure when I will update this story but it won't be too long! Promise!

[saladejin]

Call An Uber? | 05

BTS x Reader | idolverse au, uber driver!Reader, translator!Reader | Fluff, flirting, super slow burn, angst and hurt/comfort, mature themes and eventual smut

Summary: Your normal life with a normal, yet inconsistent job gets drastically changed when your dreams come true. Sounds boring right? What happens when all of this occurs, but you’re still doing something you love AND getting a large sum for it? Now there’s something to think about, and it’s definitely not what you’re thinking.

Warnings: Mild swearing

Word Count: 4k 

< masterpost >

A/N: Hey there tumblr readers! This story might not seem all that angsty or plot-heavy in these first few chapters, but I promise it builds into it. I apologise for all the slow burn, I just can’t help myself ^^;

»»————- <<prev | next >> ————-««

       Getting home after the calming car ride seemed a tad anti-climactic. Weariness from the day piled high onto my shoulders, and as I threw my bag into the corner of my bedroom, I all but flopped onto the bed unceremoniously.

The small apartment wasn’t much, but it was enough to sustain me. The landlord was polite at least, and the rent was luckily just within my budget for now. It consisted of a small kitchen and a cosy living room all in one tiny, yet open space. A door led into the one and only bedroom of the apartment, which was also lacking in spaciousness, but it wasn’t as if anyone else was living here. All in all, it was adequate despite not really being something I was used to.

Laying silently on the bed allowed my thoughts and memories from the day to shroud my mind. I remembered how helpless and overwhelmed I’d been feeling when escaping into the carpark of the building, and how my responsibilities had come crashing through like swelling waves of inky ocean water. 

Feeling lost was one way to describe that moment, but Yoongi had consoled me to a point where I felt stable and supported. Even if he didn’t mean to show it directly, of which I wasn’t so sure, his way of letting me know he cared hadn’t been lost on me. I was usually good at noticing these things, so it was surprising to see that he wanted to show the gentle side of him tonight. I guess I really was finding out how these boys lived. I was seeing their thought processes with my own very eyes, something vital that was missing in my connection with them before.

Things were happening quickly, but I was ready to let them happen with welcoming, open arms. I was going to absolutely thrive in this new lifestyle, so why let stress weigh me down like a pile of bricks? I just wouldn’t let it.

Rolling over to smooth down the pale bedsheets with my fingers, I couldn’t help but let my mind drift to the sharp eyes of Yoongi, the dazzling smile of Jimin, Namjoon’s dimples…and just all seven of them. I needed to let them know how their fans felt, and I needed them to let me know if they had any doubts about their popularity and future. This could be one of my purposes, and a goal combined with many, many ARMYs. If I had the chance to console them, just like Yoongi had with me, then I would jump at the opportunity with no malignant intentions. I only wanted to help them and share with them the happiness they had given me throughout the years. To groove out their misgivings and straying negativity that allowed unnecessary stress and anxiety to build.

This was my purpose.

~

The days scorched hotter and hotter, meaning another short meeting for us at the firm. Nobody wanted to stay inside a sticky office filled with the sounds of stuttering air conditioners and electric fans, so Bang PD let everyone go home earlier than usual. When I say earlier, I mean mid-afternoon anyway, so it’s not like it’s actually early.

I’d finally started out with my new job, and so far things had gone swimmingly. The staff were continuously friendly, and the workload was nothing too devastating. Since the company had been a little short on multilingual interpreters, the amount of language related jobs had been growing over time. I could have been overwhelmed, but instead it was somehow smooth sailing from the get-go.

Things were going splendidly, but I wondered about what was going to happen with my Uber job. Would I just stop? It wasn’t like I needed the money from it now, so what would even be the point of it? Meeting new people from all cultures and backgrounds wouldn’t even be an issue at all. Maybe, just maybe the idea of giving up my job as a glorified taxi driver was an imminent one.

~

The office had been bustling today, but I knew it was because everyone was focused on preparing for the upcoming BTS concert. One of the company’s translators held out some papers from where he sat in his wheeling chair. “(Y/n)-ssi, could you please drop these down to the stylists? I translated the articles like they asked, so they’ll want to have a look as soon as possible.”

“Of course. I was about to bring them some coffee anyway. They’ve been working tirelessly,” I smiled at him and grasped the papers. It seemed the marketing management had wanted select articles about their fashion sense, hair styling and makeup to be translated from various languages.

I scurried to the kitchen area where I’d already started on the coffees. Someone had graciously told me how most of the stylists liked their drinks, and I knew they would need it after how much they had been testing makeup supplies and hair products downstairs. I shuddered at the thought of having my fingers sticking together from the amount of hairspray circulating the room.

The basement was pretty much where everything happened. Practices, auditions, coaching etc. You name it.  After dropping off the notes and coffees, I was showered with gratitude from the stylists and was shocked to see just how tired and worn-down they were. The thought that something big was about to happen caused excitement to curl deep within the pit of my stomach.

Maybe there’ll be new hair colours soon?

“No worries, make sure you get some rest!” I reminded them before letting the door to the changing room click shut.

I was right about the hairspray thing, it was seriously suffocating in there. At least they had some air vents open for ventilation, but I felt bad for those kind-hearted men and women. They would most likely be staying there way into the hours of the night too.

I began to walk back towards the elevator, but my eyes were caught by a bright light flooding from one of the main practice areas. One of the doors had been left wide open, and I glanced inside to see a very expansive room enclosed by pure white walls. The floor was made up of tawny brown floorboards, or maybe vinyl, I wasn’t quite sure. I think it had only recently been renovated.

“(Y/n)? Hello!” a clear and high-pitched voice made me jump in my skin. I looked further into the room to spot Jimin resting in one of the black, wheeling chairs of the studio area. His fading blonde locks had been swept back completely, and I could tell he was tired and sweaty from practicing.

To his left was Hoseok, who seemed distracted until Jimin’s exclamation, and the last person in the room was none other than a certain Kim Taehyung. As soon as the youngest of the three found out I was hiding in the doorframe, his eyes blew wide.

“Hey Jimin, Hoseok-ssi and Taehyung-ssi,” I bowed, as was the custom, and made my way into the room. You really had to spin around to take everything in, it was incredibly large for a practice studio.

I turned when I heard footsteps and was greeted by a very bright and bubbly Taehyung.

“(Y/n)? Ah, it’s so great to meet you finally!” He bowed also and I instinctively reached out to shake his hand, smiling once he brought both of his warmer ones together around my own.

They’re so big, what the hell.

Ripping my line of sight away from his long fingers, I glanced behind him to see Hoseok making his way forward too. “Hey there! I’m also glad to meet you (Y/n).”

I exchanged similar greetings with the fiery red-head, but stepped back when Jimin intervened with a low-pitched whine.

“No, no.” He ran forward and grasped his two bandmate's shirts gently to pull them away. “Don’t crowd her, we’re all smelly from practice!”

His disgusted expression made me grin again, and I shook my head. “Don’t worry about that, a little sweat won’t kill me.”

Hoseok laughed while playfully batting away Jimin’s hands. “Sorry about that, we are kind of gross right now.” He started airing out his shirt rapidly while strolling over to where three water bottles rested along the wall. I noticed that they were the only people in the room and puzzled over the thought. they were usually here with a manager or something, weren’t they?

“What were you guys practicing? And where are the others?” I queried, and watched as Taehyung flashed me a boxy grin. Jimin just groaned and ran his fingers through his hair yet again.

“We’re practicing for the concert, but I only came a couple of hours ago, the others are just at home I think,” Taehyung explained, patting Jimin’s back heartily. “Jiminie and Hoseokie-hyung have been here all day. They’re so fit!”

I glanced over at the two dancers as Hoseok jumped over to tickle Tae lovingly, Jimin just smiled at their loud antics. I was beyond surprised, as none of the members even seemed too tired. They were simply out of breath despite the sheer amount of exercise they’d undergone.

“That’s amazing! You all have so much energy to be able to practice so much.” I earned all of their attentive gazes, Hoseok instantly gracing me with his own beaming smile.

“Thanks! We’re just having a little break, but we’ll start again soon. Would you like to watch?”

My heart almost leapt out of my chest at the thought.

“Would I? Of course I’d love to watch you guys dance.” I clapped my hands together in excitement, eyes bright and shining with an uncontrolled delight. This made Taehyung reach forward with both hands to make a 'flower' under my flushing face.

“How cute!” He cooed, and Jimin pulled him away again. An eye-smile was stretching across the shorter boy's face in the most endearing way possible. Hoseok laughed, following with a “very cute, very cute” and ran off to start the music again.

All three of them were in light clothing, but Hoseok was wearing a white short-sleeved t-shirt while the other two adorned button-ups varying in style. All three wore long black Puma pants, most likely because of the ambassadorship they were part of.

“Ah, I don’t want to mess up in front of (Y/n),” Jimin tilted his head and looked at me with a somewhat pained expression. When I raised my eyebrows at him, he pouted and shook his hair out of his downcast eyes. I felt like I needed to step in.

“Jiminie, you’re an amazing dancer, you’d even make messing up look good. Plus, it’s only practice.”

“Yeah Jimin-ah, she won’t mind,” Hoseok helped me out and as the music started blaring from the speakers again, the rapper jogged over to jab Jimin teasingly in the side.

From the words of encouragement, Jimin brightened and smiled in my direction again before joining the others with a serious glint in his eye. I sat against one of the pristinely white walls to watch the action unfold before me, knowing I was about to witness something magnificent. Taehyung started moving his hands and bobbing his body to the beat in that hilarious way he usually did in mock dance practices, and I couldn’t help but snort in amusement.

“Oh, Taehyung is improving! It must be because we have a lady in the room,” Hoseok teased and shook his head, breaking out into chuckles when Tae moved to hit his shoulder in protest. His bashful smile switched focus to me, and I nodded my head in approval.

“I'm loving the skills though.”

Suddenly, the starting track for ‘Fire’ began rumbling loudly through the speakers, and my ears perked in recognition. Was I actually going to see this performed in front of me? I knew this dance all too well from the countless videos I’d seen.

“Are you guys ready?” Hoseok hollered into the open space, and I watched them line up a few metres back from the large mirror. They must’ve been planning to perform this at the upcoming concert, but I wasn’t sure why they needed so much practice seeing as they literally performed it at most live events.

I suddenly threw my cardigan across the room and jump to my feet, rolling up my sleeves in determination. I didn’t even care if they thought I was the strangest person in the world right now, because this was ‘Fire’. “I’m so joining in!”

As the first ‘bultaoruene’ resonated against the pale walls, I ran into the middle of the room and launched straight into the first part of the dance. Despite wanting to come across as serious, I couldn’t keep a cool and collected demeanour and opted instead to laugh loudly. The others were no different, and as my arms started moving wildly, Jimin fell to the floor in a breathless wreck. Hoseok exaggerated his surprise by cupping his hands around his mouth and cheering me onwards while Taehyung mimicked him with his own loud whoops. All three ended up on the ground as I continued to dance, biting my lip to feign seriousness.

I didn’t try to replicate their dancing, as I knew I couldn’t reach their level, but I still shook my hands rapidly and squeezed impassioned eyes to parody something that resembled it. The music stopped, and I fell to the vinyl floor as well, my breathing shortened due to how much I was cackling. Hoseok had stumbled over to pause the track, and I could hear him suffering just as I was.

“Oh my-Oh my God that was great. Did you learn the whole thing?” he gasped out, making his way back over to where I was sitting with my head pressed into the cold floor. My whole body was shaking and erupting with shamed giggles, and when I rolled over, I hid my face in my hands to stop the embarrassment from showing.

“I’ve seen it too many times to not dance to it.”

“I was not expecting that, you have to dance with us, I’m begging you.” Taehyung ran over, his deeply toned sentence breaking up into various airy chuckles. Jimin was the last to get to his feet, but his face was completely reddened and his hair was even messier than before.

“We’ll teach you the rest. I think we’ve practiced the actual dances enough for today, don’t you think hyung?”

Hoseok exhaled loudly, his eyes crinkling with his smile after regaining his composure. 

“Yes, you’re right. And the newest member of the dance line needs some instruction.”

I was still on the floor, but at the agile dancer’s statement I fell over again. Taehyung and Jimin both smiled at the sight of my pained expression.

“Guys, I wouldn’t be able to dance the whole thing properly, let alone with phenomenal dancers like you right there.”

“Thank you for the compliment, but you are going to learn this. No buts.” Taehyung held out a helping hand, and I grasped it to help me get back on my feet. I then turned to Hoseok.

“Okay sonsaeng-nim, where do I start?”

All three boys laughed again, and Hoseok straightened himself, puffing out his chest to seem scholarly. Taehyung pointed towards him with a grin that only widened.

“Hobi-hyung is literally everyone’s dance teacher, he’ll make sure you get it perfect.”

At this, the greyish-brown haired boy rushed to line up beside me and looked sideways expectantly. Jimin , but chose not to line up. I nudged Taehyung into a straighter position with my elbow as Hoseok began pacing in front of us, massaging his chin with two fingers thoughtfully. He lowered his voice to sound gruff and strict, and I had to blow out my cheeks to keep it in.

“First lesson of the day, the chorus choreo.”

“Yes, teacher,” Taehyung and I recited in unison as if being scolded. Jimin nearly fell over again until Hoseok waved his hand dismissively and the whole act was dropped. I fell into the boy beside me, suddenly embarrassed once more, but not being able to contain myself any longer. Taehyung patted my shoulder comfortingly while stifling his own noises.

“Honestly, we weren’t joking about you learning the dance though,” Hoseok started and meandered over to grasp both my forearms, tugging on them to lead me forwards. I groaned and sent a look that screamed ‘help’ towards Jimin and Taehyung, but they both just snorted.

I internally cursed Jimin for betraying me like this. I’d thought he was my friend.

“Jimin-ah, Taehyung-ah, you’re going to help too.” Hoseok beckoned them over, and I could only grumble in more complaint.

“Okay, just get Jimin to show me some steps and I’ll see if I can do it properly.” I straightened my arms, which were still being pulled by Hoseok, and tapped my feet a couple of times to get ready. The red-haired dancer eventually dropped his hold, but looked down at his hands as if he’d touched something strange and foreign.

Jimin nodded at my request, and I paid close attention as he lined up in front of the mirror and ran through the starting choreography to the chorus. As both he and Hoseok showed me a slowed down version, I managed to get it all memorised. Taehyung clapped his hands to congratulate me, but his face fell when the phone in his pocket started buzzing incessantly.

“Sorry guys, it’s my turn to help Jin-hyung with dinner tonight. I have to go,” Taehyung fake sobbed, and I watched as Jimin went along with it to hug him comfortingly. Hoseok pretended to cry as well, and I couldn’t help but think this whole scene looked like he was about to be sacrificed to the Devil or something.

“Bye (Y/n), I hope I’ll see you soon,” The lively boy called as everything returned back to normal, and I couldn’t help but revel in the easy-going atmosphere surrounding me suddenly. I hadn't even met two of these people yet, but somehow I'd managed to skip past all the initial awkwardness of first meetings.

“Of course, definitely soon!” I vowed, and the singer left while grabbing one of the sports bags that rested by the door, continuing to walk backwards and wave rapidly. He was just too cute, and the way his eyes glimmered with hope just before he left was etched deeply into my mind. Even long after he was gone.

“We’re fine to teach you something, before we have to go anyway,” Hoseok turned back to us, and I almost face-palmed at the thought.

“Please don’t waste your time, I don’t even have a dancer’s body,” I spoke, my voice drawling out in protest.

“(Y/n) you do! Even if you were playing around before, you could still dance,” Jimin fought my statement, and I scoffed at his widened eyes. He was seriously against people belittling themselves.

“Plus, everyone gets better with practice,” Hoseok joined in, nodding his head cutely as he slammed his hands onto his hips. Jimin ran through the dance again, and I sewed their teachings together to try and copy him. I was shorter and had a different body shape to both dancers, but it wasn’t too difficult to try and alter the moves to accommodate for that. It was safe to say I actually ended up pretty proud of the outcome.

“I just don’t like how I can’t flow properly when I come up from the first move,” I grunted, trying out the steps again. Jimin hummed considerately before moving to stand behind me.

“Move your hands super quickly, and maybe keep this arm up so it’s easier.” He lightly grasped one of my forearms while I stayed frozen in position, and I actually saw in the mirror how it could help me. I was very much aware of how gentle his touch had been and how close his body was to mine. It didn’t help my racing thoughts when his warm puffs of breath made the hairs on the back of my neck tingle.

“And since you have to move your feet soon after, maybe don’t put so much weight on them beforehand,” Hoseok chipped in, and moved my other arm down so I could focus on my feet this time around. He’d been firmer than Jimin with his touch, but the singular fact that both of them had touched my arms in the span of a minute was enough to leave me breathless. I followed his instruction and gulped when the dancer’s lips quirked up into a knowing smirk.

The fucker knows what he’s doing.

“See, speed it up and try it now!” Hoseok bounced to get on my other side while Jimin stood and watched his partner offer his own extra tips. I found out just how useful a wall-sized mirror was when learning to dance, and when complimented by Hoseok’s timely sound effects, it wasn’t hard to get down the moves.

“Pa, pa and... boom! See, you have it. You’re a natural.” Hoseok reached up to exchange a sharp high-five, and I complied before covering my face again. This was almost too embarrassing. I just knew how badly my cheeks were flaring with flames of blazing pink.

“See hyung, I told you she was cute when she blushed.” One of Jimin’s fingers came to poke my cheek, just like he had done that one time in the car.

I reeled away from him. “Ah, don’t tease me, how rude!”

Hoseok and Jimin chuckled, and I heard the older dancer agree with my words in another fresh bout of mockery. “She’s right Jiminie, don’t embarrass her too much or she might just faint because of you.”

I growled, and they both stifled their laughing.

“As if I would faint, it’s not like I’ve never received a compliment before.”

“Ooh, cocky.” Hoseok tilted his head back and I smiled as both boys shook their heads at each other with crossed arms.

“Hey!” I pushed both of them away using their broad chests, scrunching my face up. Knowing it wasn’t convincing in the slightest, I inwardly cursed my continuous failure to hide emotions.

“But seriously, she has that natural aegyo,” Hoseok pointed out with wide eyes. Jimin’s jaw slackened in surprise before he agreed wholeheartedly.

 “I’m leaving, before my face burns clean off,” I then announced, pointing an accusing finger at the two chuckling dancers who were making their way over to gather their belongings and drink bottles.

 “Remind me to never be alone with you two again.”

“But (Y/n) …” Jimin licked his lips and smiled sweetly. “We’re not making any promises.”

The duality of this man truly scared me.

“Whatever, I should actually get going though,” I noted forlornly, not continuing to joke even though I really wished to do nothing but. The boys both nodded with their spirits also seeming to dampen slightly, but Hoseok lifted his head to smile with that signature sun-like glow of his.

“It was really fun to dance with you, please consider learning with us again (Y/n).”

“It sounds like you’re trying to sell me something, but sure I’ll think about it.”

Jimin erupted into giggles and slapped his elder on the shoulder before curling into him, just like he usually did when he laughed really hard. Hoseok merely pressed his lips together and tilted his head to seem hurt.

“Please do,” he agreed in a broken whisper, but I steeled my throat from letting anything close to laughter escape its clutches. I would be here for way too long if I couldn’t control myself.

“Okay bye!” I shout, listening to their farewells before ducking out into the chilled hallway.

Time had seriously flown by, and I remembered that I would have been home hours ago if I hadn’t been so severely side-tracked. I sighed with weariness as I finally made my way towards the steel doors of the elevator, listlessly passing a trashcan full of several empty coffee cups.

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tagged: @l4life​, @joyful-jimin​