#oc: marjolaine

[themostimportantnight]

Crafted my first ever Cats OC last night, OH EM GEE.

LORE TIME!!!!!!!!!

BACKGROUND: Her name is Marjolaine (full legal title: Marjolaine the Painterly Cat). She's a Turkish Van, owned by a well-known artist. Marjolaine herself is very passionate about art -- specifically, painting -- and has a real penchant for running around in any colourful liquids she can find and using them to jazz up her surroundings. She is covered in unnatural pink and yellow patches as a result of her escapades. As a Turkish Van, she is quite a fan of bathing (a regular occurrence, given her hobbies); she loves seeing the paint from her fur swirl around in the water, and has been known to splash around just to see her makeshift watercolours fly around the room. Her owner is often out and about, leaving Marjolaine to her devices most of the time. Not liking to be lonely, she tends to turn to painting when she needs something to entertain her (much to her owner's amusement); and when she can, she runs off to the junkyard to mingle with the other jellicles (she spends quite a lot of time here, as her owner is more often than not out of the house). If you find ankle-high splatters of paint on any surface in the area, it means Marjolaine has been around. It's never hard to track her down, for her paws are always leaving trails of paint behind her.

PERSONALITY: Marjolaine is confident, eclectic, and often off in her own world. She considers everything around her a canvas, and has a hard time understanding when others get upset with her for painting things without permission. Her buddies include Jennyanydots (who often asks Marjolaine to paint certain things that really need sprucing up, just to keep her out of trouble), Mistoffelees (who she considers to be an excellent muse given his sparkly fur and knack for posing), and Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer (with whom she often gets into trouble -- they stole her trademark hat for her, and she appreciates the freedom and fun of their antics; they're often hesitant to bring her along with them, however, due to her paws always having paint on them). Munkustrap understands that Marjolaine requires constant outlets for her creativity, and likes allowing her to decorate any particularly drab things in the junkyard (as well as helping out with props and costumes whenever he heads a production for Old Deuteronomy). The older cats find her charming, if not a little hard to understand. She enjoys listening to Gus and Skimbleshanks, as their stories inspire her artwork; she often asks Bustopher Jones to bring her back any leftover sauces he may have so that she can paint with them, though Jones rarely entertains this idea; she finds cats like Old Deuteronomy and Grizabella fascinating to ogle, as she rarely sees other cats with fur as long as theirs.

LIKES: Painting, swimming, exploring, novelty DISLIKES: Strict rules, sitting still, others not understanding her

THAT IS ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you actually read all of that, I think you're pretty neat

[celemee]

For @defaultjane's prompt "Campfire", Leliana x female Tabris, past Leliana x Marjolaine. PG-13.

-------

Kallian stirs long before Leliana rises from the bedroll. No matter how quiet her lover is, life in the Alienage has forged her a light sleeper. She opens her eyes just enough to see the blurry outline of the campfire, dimmer now than when they retired.

It's been around three hours, Kallian guesses, and three more before they ought to rise, but Leliana needs her moment.

Surely enough, she unwraps an object rolled into a scrap of linen. Leliana stares at it for a long, quiet moment, locked in her thoughts. Tears in her eyes, Kallian imagines, though she can't see. A quick movement soon confirms her suspicions; Leliana wipes her eyes.

An unnamed something tugs at Kallian's heart, as so many times before, and she's rising before she's realised it. Saying nothing, she settles next to Leliana, offering a smile. A rarity on her lips, reserved only for a few souls in this rotting world.

"I'm sorry," Leliana says softly, blinking away tears.

Shaking her head, Kallian looks down to the item in Leliana's hands: an arrow, its blade still stained with blood.

Marjolaine's blood.

"It's not every day you kill someone you love," Kallian whispers, mindful of keeping this between them.

A beat passes and Kallian can't quite tell where it will go, but at last Leliana reacts. She lets out the barest of scoffs, as if exasperated.

"I loved her once," comes the melodic voice, a hint of frustration present, "but you're the woman I love now."

Kallian's hand finds Leliana's; she gives it a light squeeze in lieu of the words that refuse to come out, but are true all the same. Instead, she says; "You don't need to be over her."

Leliana squeezes back at this, a sigh escaping her lips. Relief, perhaps. Kallian was never good at this — the whole comforting thing, the feelings talk — but with Leliana… things just seem to go right.

"Come on, you need some rest," Kallian says, not long after Leliana's rested her head on her shoulder. It seems criminal to make her move, but Kallian needs her awake and alert tomorrow. And the next day. And the day after that. For reasons she can't say, but trusts are understood nonetheless.

Leliana nods, smiling. Carefully, she wraps the arrow inside the linen and Kallian makes no mention of it. Won't ever try and part Leliana with it, or anything else she holds valuable.

In time, perhaps this will set her apart from the woman who used and discarded Leliana like a broken weapon, even if her lips will never unseal for the things she wants to say.

Perhaps, Leliana will stay.

[consistentlyamess]

Wild Sweetness ⎮ Prologue

[1.4K]

pairing(s): luca x fem!oc MJ

summary: MJ has just settled in after opening back up a bakery in Chicago when some unexpected news

warnings: not much so far, takes place after season 3, 18+ , MDNI, swearing, eventual smut, second chance romance, pining, slowburn, flashbacks in italics, lmk if i missed anything!!

A/N: heeelloo!! this idea has been sloshing around in my head since i watched season 2 and started working on it while waiting for season 3. comments, likes, reblogs are appriciated as always or just come chat at me! And as always 💜💜💜 TY for reading!!!!💜💜💜

Fic Masterlist I Previous Chapter I Next Chapter

‘Well, well, well, look what rhubarb season dragged in!’ 

‘Morning, MJ’ Marcus greeted with a big, bright smile.

‘Please, say, you have some coffee for me!’ 

‘Not even a ‘good morning’, damn, you must really be tired.’ 

‘I’m sorry, I stayed up reading again and drank two glasses of wine, so now I’m tired and also a little hungover because somewhere between re-opening the shop and last night I also became an old lady.’ Marcus laughed and shook his head. 

‘You’re not an old lady, but you do need to get out more.’

‘Weird, I don’t remember asking that coffee with a side of unsolicited advice.’ 

‘Careful, chef, you might not get the coffee either if you keep being a smartass.’ Marcus quipped back with a cheeky smile but also handing her the takeaway cup.

‘Oh, you’re a godsend, my friend.’ She took a sip and sank deeper into her place behind the counter for a second. ‘So, what's the agenda today?’ 

‘You said it: it’s rhubarb season. And we’re changing the menu.’ 

‘Excellent! Let me grab my jacket and we can go! Lucy’s is already on the fresh croissants.’

‘Hi Lucy!’ Marcus bellowed so she can hear him in the back.

‘Morning Brooks!’

‘Still no first name, huh?’ 

‘Told ya’, you gotta earn it!’

‘Be nice Lucy, I’ll be back in the afternoon!’ 

‘Got it, chef!’  

Marcus and Marjolaine (just MJ for him and most) have been doing this routine for almost a year now. With a changing of seasons came the changes of the menus and so they went out looking for inspiration. And that looking always started at the fresh, seasonal ingredients. Rhubarb was one of MJ’s personal favourites and she couldn’t wait to indoctrinate the young pastry chef. Managing a bakery could become a nightmare sometimes but having someone like Marcus, a soothing, calming presence was something she couldn’t have imagined her life without at this point. The first time Marcus wandered into the shop, they were barely open. Chairs were missing and wires were hanging from the walls but MJ set up a little stand outside. First he thought it was a little weird, operating on half-capacity, if that, but while he was drinking his coffee he asked her and it turned out to be quite the trick. 

‘Look, we've been at this for months now, right? Renovating, drilling, sawing, equipment coming in, equipment breaking, equipment coming in again. We tore down a fucking wall for crying out loud!’ She threw her hands, for emphasis and Marcus started to suspect that maybe this flare for the dramatic was some kind of common theme with people who were brave - or crazy, jury’s still out - to open a restaurant. 

‘Tell me about it.’ He said, reminiscing about Fak and Richie screaming at eachother. 

‘Right, and they know nothing about who I am, what we’re gonna do here, we’re just annoying and inconvenient as fuck. So, I thought, let’s just show them! The kitchen is almost up and running, I can also do some of it at home, some french press, some fresh pastry, bamm, nice neighbourhood bakery girl!’

‘Allright, I see you, nice bakery girl! That’s actually pretty fire.’ 

‘Well, why thank you! And while we’re at it, can I ask, where this inquiry is coming from.’ 

‘Oh, shit yeah, sorry! Hi, I’m Marcus, I work at The Bear, just down the block and I’m the pastry chef there.’

‘Sussing out the competition. Clever. Hi, Marcus, I’m Marjolaine. Yes, it’s a french name, no you don’t have to say all of that every single time. Some people call me Margie, some call me Margot, anything goes. And this place here’ she said, gesturing behind her like a circus presenter ‘is going to be the Wild Sweetness, bakery and breakfast place.’ 

‘Wow, that’s a lot of info in one breath chef.’ 

‘You don’t have to call me chef.’

‘I have to call you something, till I figure out my name for you.’ 

‘I just gave you like 4 options.’ 

‘Yeah, I know, but I want something original, welcome you to the hood properly.’ 

‘Yo, boss!’ 

‘One sec Tony! Duty calls Marcus but thanks for the chat, I hope I’ll see you around!’ 

‘Bet! Come check out The Bear sometime!’ 

‘Will do!’ 

And from then on it became a habit. Even after the Wild Sweetness opened properly, Marcus almost always started his day there. It took him about 3 weeks to come up with MJ. ‘The hair and the whole vibe. There’s something very MJ-ish about you. Comic book MJ, not movie MJ.’ 

She took it as a compliment and got to be known around The Bear as just that, MJ from the bakery. 

‘Do you have any ideas yet?’ she asked as they were walking to the market. Well, the first market that is. There was a whole routine now to the whole operation. Start at the Sweetness, since MJ was renting the flat above the bakery, but Marcus insisting that no, you’re absolutely not firing the coffee machine just for this, i’ll grab it on my way, check Frank’s, two streets down, he usually had one or two rare fruits or a new guy bringing homemade jam, so it was always worth a try. Also Frank was a staple of these mornings, in and of himself. Without fail, without a hitch greeting with a gravelly and grouchy ‘You kids are goin’ to be the death of me I swear, who wakes up like this, ass crack of dawn on a Saturday, unbelievable! Now, come on in, I got somethin’ to show you.’ Rough cut man with a thick Chicago accent, who was a real fiend when it came to very niche, hearty jams. After Frank they usually headed for the markets, browsing for hours, trying some things then getting some lunch. 

‘I’m not sure yet. A compote feels too on the nose. Rhubarb and strawberry, while a classic for a reason also feels played out. Something about, like. a deconstructed rhubarb crumble keeps popping up in my head but nothing else.’

‘Ouh, I like the sound of that. Have you talked to Carm about it?’ 

‘Not really, he’s been in a mood lately.’ 

‘Lately? I feel like he’s always in a mood.’ 

‘Yeah, fair enough.’ 

‘What’s been going on? He’s still in over his head?’ 

‘Yeah, I don’t know, I feel like he’s just, I don’t know, like he’s just stuck. He thinks that pushing himself harder is always the answer, you know?’ 

‘Yeah, I know people like that.’ 

‘Yeah, and you just can see that he’s not getting enough sleep, not talking to his people, meanwhile Nat is home with the baby, and I get it, failing is not an option but he just doesn’t need to throw a fit over how tape is cut, you know?’ 

MJ snorted a laugh. ‘Yeah, I get you. And yeah, if being hard on yourself worked, it would”ve worked by now, right?’

‘Fuck, yeah, exactly.’  

This morning in particular has been a little slower, a little quieter than usual. Marcus talking about Syd in a hushed tone while they walked from stand to stand, one she recognized immediately. She wasn’t going to meddle. Not in this anyway, but she felt for the young chef. A crush that was going nowhere. There was something so brave and defiant about the whole thing though. Holding those feelings, stepping back and still trying, still keeping an eye out for when maybe his number gets called. But it was also noticeable how he got a little quieter, a little more soft-spoken since his mother passed. 

‘You guys had that tiramisu on the menu a while back, right?’ MJ asked while looking for some peaches. 

‘Yeah, we did.’ 

‘Well, how about something in that direction? Maybe not mascarpone but something with heavy cream, make it light, little lemony, infuse it with rhubarb, ladyfingers soaked in strawberry liquor, something like that.’

‘Okay, throwing this out like it’s not a big deal. That sounds pretty fire actually.’ 

‘You give me too much credit, it might not work.’ 

‘Maybe, but you always set me on a good path, even if it’s not, like, perfect.’  

‘Allright, now you’re just sucking up.’ MJ said with a small laugh. 

They keep browsing and first she doesn’t even notice that Marcus gets lost in his phone for a minute.

‘Oh, shit!’ he exclaims, so suddenly startles her. 

‘What’s up?’ 

‘Yo, this is so cool! You remember that pastry chef I staged with in Copenhagen?’

‘Luca, right?’ 

‘That’s him! He’s coming to town! He’s taking a sabbatical and he’s coming here, to check out the restaurant and shit, yo, this is so cool, you guys can finally meet!’ 

‘Well, how about that.’ 

[tacktheyak]

and here’sssss @themostimportantnight’s fabulous oc, marjolaine the painterly cat!!

[griffongrey]

OC Tag Game

Round two! I did one for Solona, here, and then I got sidetracked... Very sidetracked. And then I forgot. Oops! Tagged ages ago by @dialmformud and @lottiesnotebook :)

Aldric LaPointe

General

Name: Aldric René LaPointe

Alias: N/A

Gender: Male (cis)

Age: 45 during Veilguard. He was 20 when Clarel recruited him to the Wardens, 26-ish when he transferred to Ferelden, 34 for the Adamant fiasco, and 40-ish when he recruited Aline.

Languages: Orlesian and Trade Tongue

Sexual orientation: Gay. So very gay lol

Occupation: Warden-Lieutenant of Orlais, previously Senior Warden of Ferelden. (Same rank, it's just that Ferelden calls it something different for some reason.)

Favorite

Color: Burgundy or a rich navy blue

Entertainment: He really enjoys live music, especially in a pub setting where people are encouraged to join in. His first boyfriend was a bard named Sorrian, so he's got a soft spot for musicians.

Pastimes: Mainly stuff like hanging out and shooting the breeze with friends, pub games and friendly competitions, sex, things you do with other people.

Food: He has a massive sweet tooth, so pretty much any dessert would count. Especially a) anything with chocolate mousse, and b) any form of dough/pastry saturated in some sort of syrup, like baklava or basbousa.

Drink: Can't go wrong with beer. But also, he has a huge weakness for hot cocoa spiked with amaretto and an obscene amount of sugar. He has a lot of fun with that at Satinalia parties :)

Have They

Passed university: No, only because his parents couldn't afford to send him to Fancy Orlesian Noble University (a fact they tried desperately to hide from their fellow Fancy Orlesian Nobles), and he refused to join the chevaliers for the Academie education.

Had sex: Very much yes

Had sex in public: He lost his virginity to a bard in a comte's coat closet, so... Yes.

Got piercings: No

Got tattoos: A stylized griffon sleeve on his left arm, plus a smaller griffon (bc you can never have too many griffons) on his chest that he uses as an excuse to keep his shirts unbuttoned daringly low.

Ever been heartbroken: Yes, plenty of times. The first was when he ran away from home at 19 yrs old with Sorrian, the same bard he lost his virginity to, because he needed to escape his arranged marriage and Sorrian needed to flee his bardic master (Marjolaine). They sort of fell apart a few months later, and Aldric went on a depressed booze spiral until he was recruited to the Wardens.

Are They

A cuddler: Oh, he's a huge cuddler.

Scared easily: Not particularly anymore, but then again, he got pretty good at fighting through the fear and using it to make him fight harder. Most often, he's scared for his friends and fellow Wardens' safety.

Jealous easily: Nah, he's got room in his heart for everyone, and he's not going to get upset with anyone for doing the same.

Trustworthy: Absolutely.

Family

Parents/Close relatives: To say he isn't close to his parents is an understatement. They wanted him to be the LaPointe family's ticket back into high society by marrying a wealthy, socially superior comtesse. Their refusal to see him as his own person rather than an asset of the family drove him to elope with the first boy he fell in love with. He hasn't spoken to either parent in person since he left, and he didn't find out his father had passed until years after the fact, since his mother had no idea where he was in order to send him the news. She would have been horrified to learn he was in Ferelden.

Siblings: None

Children: No biological children, but he's basically adopted Aline Thorne in all but name. If you try to point that out to either of them, they'll laugh at you, though. Sure, he loves her, she's his legally-adult gremlin protege, and he's her annoying old Warden-Lieutenant recruiter. Obviously. Don't read into the fact that they'd do anything to protect each other.

Pets: A mabari he got when he transferred to Ferelden. Her name is Adrienne, and she's the bestest girl who's so so smart, and he spoils her rotten. She and Barkspawn have puppies together. After Solona called dibs on naming one of the puppies Schmooples III, Aldric named another Adalla for Loghain.

[chocochipbiscuit]

Hello hello! How about 10, 11, and 27?

10) Is there a character or ship you’d love to write for, but haven’t yet?

I have so many!!! I am a multishipping fiend and there are so many I think would be fun to write for!

An incomplete list, by fandom:

Dragon Age: Sigrun/Velanna, how can I love this ship so much and yet not written a single thing for it? Also Sigrun/Nathaniel/Velanna is closely tied for OT3 of my heart. And take this with a very large grain of salt because yes it's unhealthy as fuck but also it would be so interesting, I think Leliana/Marjolaine is a ship with real teeth!

Mass Effect: Lexi/Drack!!!! Also Jack/Zaeed (not so much as a 'deep undying romance' sort of ship and more as 'hey let's blow off steam' and getting prickly-tender with it), Liara/Karin Chakwas (LOOK I think there's something to be said about how Liara is relatively young for her species and Karin is older and the vastly different perspectives they would give one another!), and uhhhh this is gonna be kind of a weird one but I still have a soft spot for the asari florist/vorcha assistant from this fic I wrote way back and even though it's an OC / OC ship I still have strong feelings about them.

Fallout: Nisha/Mags, problematic raider wives! Also Preston Garvey/Madison Li, Madison Li/Virgil, Preston/Madison/Virgil (look I think Dr. Madison Li deserves a very nice time bossing around men who adore her), Piper/Strong (Piper is very adventurous! Strong is down to clown! they could catch feelings!)

Horizon Zero Dawn: Petra/Vanasha, Vanasha made a big deal about how no one ever made anything for her before the little child-emperor and Petra would happily make lots of things for a pretty lady! Also just. MMF. They're both incredibly gorgeous and my heart goes wibble for them.

I originally started writing on a kink meme so I'm usually pretty good at taking a random ship idea and building something around it, but these are ships that rotate in the back of my mind!

11) What makes a fic ‘successful’ in your opinion?

If I liked it! :P

Legitimately, I'm used to writing niche fics, often with niche kinks, for smaller or less active fandoms. (I have literally written the first fic in a fandom for two different fandoms in the past year.) I don't really go in expecting kudos/hits, etc (and actually have them disabled so I can't see those stats) but having a nice comment or being able to yell about it with a friend makes it all worth it. <3

27) Are any of your stories inspired by personal experience?

Entire stories? Not really. Aspects of a single story? Yes.

I write a lot about food, sex, and the way intimacy intersects with violence. I write characters of color, often Chinese-American, often queer and attracted to women. That's my background, the lens through which I see the world and also a context for the kinds of things I want to see more of in fiction.

More specifically, I was a Chinese-American essential worker during 2020 and I don't write a lot about COVID-19 in fanfic because a) most canons don't deal with 'real world events' anyway and b) I need a level of escapism. But that fear/longing for touch translated into The Poison Girl of Vault 101 even though I wrote the first draft in 2019 and it felt too raw to post until the end of 2023. The unnamed protagonist of Monster Girls Like You also shares that fear/longing for intimacy and some of the messy feelings of being considered 'essential' but also endangered during that time.

Some of the ways that food and culture are spread or appropriated, which cuisines are considered 'elevated' or humble, are also in A Most Edible Thistle. I was specifically thinking about the ways that certain cuisines were seen as 'cheap' or 'unrefined,' like food court cuisine and the way that translates to cultural cachet, or the circumstances around waves of immigration to the US. About the luxury of what gets called 'fusion cuisine' vs 'inauthentic' recreations of a perceived 'ethnic' dish, and how food may change across a diaspora or the availability of ingredients.

(All of which is rather heavy to put into a very silly romcom fic about artichokes, but there was definitely intent in talking about how Orlais takes ingredients from across the empire and uses them in dishes that are deemed pleasing to the Orlesian palate.)

OH SHIT THIS GOT HEAVY UHHH ALSO Those Who Hunt Monsters was inspired by visiting Lake Tahoe with my family, lots of great hiking and outdoorsy things that Cassandra also loves in this fic! And Anything Worth Doing was fun to write because it's a divorce fic! And yes it's also a getting together fic for the main ship but it's also a divorce fic which fandom doesn't really engage with a lot I think and as someone who is also divorced myself I wanted to write about some of those messy feelings and the fact that the end of one relationship doesn't mean the death of all possible future relationships!

And On the Edge of Forever was in part because I wanted an excuse for characters to put cute glow in the dark stars on the ceiling, just like I had when I was a kid. :)

Thank you for asking, I had fun answering!

(Questions are from this fanfic/author ask game!)

[psalacanthea]

If I ever decide to do a full fic before posting again I think I will pull out my Iron Bull's Chargers first job fic. It involves an Orlesian bard OC that happens to be Florian's bastard. Marjolaine is in it. I like Marjolaine.

[mapsofnonexistentplaces]

✨ for dalisay and any other ocs you'd like to talk about :-)

✨- How did you come up with the OC’s name?

ok so for nearly every character my process for coming up with oc names is just looking through lists of names respective to their ethnicities and noting down names that catch my eye. i think for dalisay it was instant without much competition because i think the name has a very pretty sound….

lightning round for other ccs character names i don’t think i’ve talked about before. uhhh mazin’s a name i wanted to use for a character for ages was the name of someone i knew. somsak i partially picked because i was deep into hy.lics when i first made him and the shortening soms held significance hah. demeter and ulises i vaguely chose on a whim cause i thought itd be cute if they had matching greek origin names. olzhas i found really cool as a name since it was one of the first times i’d seen the zh digraph in a name and i didn’t know the sound existed outside of romanian before. isel i thought had a very cool meaning (sole/alone in nahuatl) and later i retconned it into being a shortening of marisela which is just very euphonic. marjolaine i very specifically sought out like, a french plant-based name for and i liked the complexity of it. valerie i picked to riff on her whole valentine’s day theme since they have the same shortening of val. faris is another arabic name i’ve wanted to use for ages for a character so he got it. 👍

[themostimportantnight]

Random fun fact about any oc of yours?

So far, I've only posted about one of my OCs (Marjolaine), but I've also got another Cats OC named Morturoy! Maybe I'll post about him soon :)

FACTS!!!!!!!

Marjolaine's name came from the credits of Side Order (Splatoon DLC); it reminded me of cats like Jemima and Victoria, who have pretty human names

I imagine her owner's apartment to be full of plants and sunlight, all the time

She was originally gonna be super fluffy, and I don't remember why I changed that

I've got a bunch of non-Cats OCs who I haven't posted about -- I've got a story in the works with a few of them, so maybe they'll see the light of day if people are interested :D

[ladypurplejanewrynn]

Another WoW OC as the miraculous hero. This is Marjolaine @valthevigilant OC as the turtle hero.

[ortegatrash]

Don’t think I’ve drawn the puppets before but here they are!)

Eden (Mikael’s puppet): Claims his parents were hippies. Also answers to Rapunzel. Since he tries not to wear all-black like in his actual body he goes for soft comfy cat jumpers and cat tshirts.

Marjolaine (Aran’s puppet): Obsessed with France and French stuff and thinks it’s super romantic, would be crushed to see the reality. Posts  a e s t h e t i c  photos on instagram and all selfies of her have her doing the peace sign.

Simba (Léon’s puppet): Dresses in shiny black leather, looks like a nice young man until he talks about something psycho with a happy smile. Sweet tooth. May or may not be a split personality planning a coup.

[consistentlyamess]

Wild Sweetness ⎮ Chapter 2 - Broken clock still keeps the time

[2.5K]

pairing(s): luca x fem!baker!oc MJ

summary: she's been dreading it but hiding or running are not options anymore and she'll just have to face the music

warnings: still not much, swearing (?? not even certain, just making sure) takes place during and after season 3, 18+ , MDNI, swearing, eventual smut, second chance romance, pining, slowburn, flashbacks in italics, lmk if i missed anything!!

A/N: heeelloo!! I CAN'T FUCKING BELIEVE I'M DONE WITH THIS!! this idea has been sloshing around in my head since i watched season 2 and started working on it while waiting for season 3. comments, likes, reblogs are appriciated as always or just come chat at me! (English is not my first language, sorry for the typos and shit!) And as always 💜💜💜 TY for reading!!!!💜💜💜

Fic Masterlist I Previous Chapter I Next Chapter

London, 5 years ago

‘You’re late. Again.’ Marcie said with a stern, looking-over-the top-of-her-glasses face. 

‘I know, I’m so sorry, it’s been a busy week.’ 

‘It’s always a busy week, darling. You know the books ‘ll be here, even if you don’t rent them. That’s the beauty of a library.’ 

Marjolaine gave her an unamused look back.

‘But it’s not the same tho. When I have them with me, they make me feel safe and I know I can just pick them up, whenever, or not pick them up, and yes, maybe there is some guilt when I bring them back unread, but I can deal with and you know I’m not in the business of buying new books, just willy-nilly and-’

‘Alright, alright, alright. I get it but you still have to pay the late fees.’ 

‘Oh, Marcie come on-’

‘Absolutely not, missy!’ Marcie  started with a strict tone that even surprised her. ‘I’m sorry sweetheart, but this would be the third time in a row and Tilly was already looking at me funny the last time I did it.’ 

‘Fiiine, I’m sorry Marcie, you’re still the best, even when you don’t put up with my bullshit anymore.’ 

‘Flattery will get you nowhere with me. But thank you. It’ll be 10 pounds.’

‘10 pounds? Jesus, Marce, how did that happen?!’ 

‘Darling, you had 10 books, and you’re a week late!’ 

‘Can you write it up for me?’ 

Marcie and Marjolaine whipped their heads at the same time, the voice coming from behind Marjolaine.

‘Oh, that’s-’ 

‘I’m still making up for being a dickhead, please, let me.’ Luca said with a lopsided smile that for some reason striked her as being a little shy.

‘I-’ she wanted to argue, to not accept it cause it somehow felt like losing this argument. But she didn’t argue. It might have been because it was late and she was tired. Or it might have been because the douchebag was surprisingly endearing at this later hour, with a warmer demeanour than the first time. His hair was a little wind swept, his cheeks got pink from the cold outside, his wool coat made him look cozy and, well, for lack of a better word soft. It made it a little harder to be angry and grumpy with him. ‘You know what? Fine. Just this once.’ 

‘Very generous, thank you so much!’ 

‘You’re welcome!’ 

‘Well, alright then! It'll be 10 pounds.’ 

‘10 pounds, really?!’ 

‘Hey, don’t back out now or you’ll never get rid of the douchebag allegations!’ 

‘Okay, okay, you’re right. Here.’ He reached into his pocket, pulling out a couple notes and handing the exact amount to Marcie.

‘Thank you, I’ll go um, process these.’ Marcie said. 

She didn’t have to process anything but she was too old not to notice when two people needed to be left alone. 

‘Giving it a reread?’ Marjolaine gestured toward the book in Luca’s hand. It was the ‘Kitchen Confidentials’. 

‘Well, at the risk of scoring even more douchebag points, I’ve never read it, actually.’ 

Marjolaine gasped with a theatrical outrage.

‘How dare you? Our lord and saviour Anthony Bourdain is an absolute gem and I’m very disappointed.’ 

‘Was very aware of that possibility but honesty still seemed like the better option here.’ 

‘Commendable.’ 

‘Not so commendable that I haven’t seen you in the Mimosa yet, on the other hand.’ 

‘Keeping tabs on me now, pastry boy?’ 

‘Pastry boy, really? I just paid your late fees, ‘knight in shining armour’ would be a lot more appropriate.’ 

‘Don’t push it, pastry boy.’ 

‘You know what? It’s a step up from douchebag, I’ll take it for now.’

‘For now?’ 

‘I think you’ll change your tune when you come to the Mimosa and check out my seasonal dessert. It’s a particularly good one in my opinion, but I might be biased.’ 

‘Alright pastry boy, I might just take you up on that offer.’ 

‘Good. I’ll see you there then bakery girl.’ 

Chicago, Present day

‘Hey, J!’ she suddenly heard from behind her back. ‘Thought you quit.’ She always found it kind of funny and somewhat endearing, Carmy’s constant need to shorten everything. Everyone already called her MJ, but apparently for the busy chef, even that was too long. 

‘Yeah, well, I thought so too.’ They both chuckled as they exhaled the cigarette smoke.

‘Rough week?’ 

‘Something like that.’ Carmen nodded. That was also something she appreciated. That all-knowing nod, that tells you ‘I understand’ and ‘I know what it’s like’ and ‘Hang in there buddy’ and ‘I’ve got my own shit but I’m sorry’ at the same time. For a very quiet man Carmen Berzatto  could be an expressive one, she found. 

‘You?’ She asked.

‘Yeah, can’t really remember the last time I didn’t have a rough week.’ 

‘Fair enough. So much for the restaurant industry, huh?’

‘Yeah, yeah, definitely.’ They stood next to each other for a while, in silence, smoking their cigarettes, contemplating almost palpable between them. In the beginning she found these moments uncomfortable, almost unbearable. With Sydney, with Marcus, with most people really she found her cadence quickly and smoothly. Not with Carmen though. He was this weird dichotomy in her eyes, so loud, commending, almost aggressive in the kitchen, particularly with Ritchie, but then so soft spoken and quiet, almost stumbling when it came to any human connection that went beyond a stern ‘yes chef’ or a wired ‘heard’. 

‘How’s the, uhm, the bakery doing?’ This didn’t phase her anymore either. The way sentences came out in bits and pieces sometimes. 

‘It’s doing okay. Kind of. Our heads are above water now, so that’s good.’ 

‘That’s fucking great J. I mean it, really. I would give so much right now if our heads were above water.’ 

‘Well, you can always tone it down with the Orwellian butter.’ 

‘Hey, leave the butter out of this.’ 

‘I’m just saying! You’re trying to build something amazing but you seem to be missing the fun of it.’

‘I think I keep missing the whole concept of fun.’

‘Oh, cut the shit, dude!’ 

‘What?!’ 

‘Look, you have very big watery blue eyes that match perfectly with the whole ‘woe-is-me’ shit you got going on but you act like you don’t know what you have to do and that’s just shitty. You know exactly what to do. You need to feel the joy of this, you have to be able to have fun, to laugh with them, to laugh at yourself and the fucking dystopian butter.’ 

‘Yeah, well, I don’t fucking know how to do that, J! That’s the whole point!’ 

‘That’s why I said figure it out! Try, fuck up, then try again. Isn’t that what you do with everything? Go to a pottery class, try yoga, make model trains for all I care, I don’t know! But you have to figure it out because if you can’t laugh at yourself, you’ll burn this place to the ground, drag everyone with you and drive them crazy in the process.’ She bummed out her cigarette on the heel of her shoe. ‘I gotta go, but I’m here, Carm, for anything you need. Just pull your head out of your own ass for two seconds and look around. Noone wants you to fail.’ MJ leant over and planted a kiss on his forehead. 

‘Yeah, yeah, go fuck yourself!’ 

‘Love you too!’ MJ shouted back, throwing up a middle finger over her shoulder as she walked away. She knew he would never agree with her. She knew he would never go this far. But she knew it would stick with him. She knew it could move something. Maybe just a little bit, maybe just enough. Her therapist will probably give her some grief, for her unstoppable saviour complex, but what the hell. She needs to live a little. But she was also uncomfortably aware that her unsolicited advice and need to solve everyone’s problems was probably a symptom of avoiding her own little pebble in the shoe that’ll take shape in an annoyingly charming British pastry chef a lot sooner than she would like. Even if it’s been almost two years.��

***

‘Hey, boss’ Sophie lilted with a tray full of goodies. ‘How are we doing today?’ 

‘Hey, Soph’ she said, a little frazzled. ‘Yeah, we’re, uh, you know, we’re good.’ She glided through the small café area, barely looking up. She could feel Sophie’s inquisitive eyes on her back still but couldn’t really do anything about it. She was too hot and bothered. ‘How are things here? Did we, uh, did we get the replacement for the fucked up egg order?’ 

‘Yup. And they threw in a little extra too for the mistake.’ 

‘Great! Traffic okay? No hiccups?’ 

‘Yeah, bit busy but nothing we haven’t seen or can’t handle. Tony was a little late but we didn’t stack much on, so we caught on really quickly.’ 

‘Wonderful, superb, great. I’m not even needed here anymore.’ 

‘Hey, look at me!’ Sophie said, placing a hand on her shoulder. ‘You’re needed, we love you, and today will be fine. And if at any moment you feel like you just want to go home, that’s also fine. Just say you have a headache and I’ll cover for you.’ 

Even the possibility of a quick escape took a little tension out of her neck. She exhaled and lowered her head for a moment. 

‘Thanks Soph. I would really be in the shitters without you, you know.’ 

‘I mean.. You totally could, but please continue!’ 

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ 

‘I’m just saying! You’ve been a mess in the past couple of weeks but you never once let that affect anything in here. You caught the wrong egg-order, you fixed the ovens, you did all of it. You could totally do this on your own.

‘I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not.’ 

‘Me neither.’ 

‘Lovely talking to you, as always Soph. I’m gonna go get changed and get into it now, okay?’ 

‘Sure.’

Her skirt rode up too high but she didn’t have time to go back and change, her earrings got caught in her apron, and the bus was late. She was not having a good day. She considered putting on makeup, but she never does, there’s no point to it in the heat and grease of the kitchen. But then not putting it on might seem like conscious non-effort and she didn’t want to give that impression either. So, instead, she opted for putting on nail polish. Only to change her mind halfway through, being already late and ending up with nails painted only on one hand. And of course she decided to start with her worse hand. Terrific. Talking to Sophie only calmed her down so much. 

Despite the obvious nerves after a short adjustment period the day went on deceivingly quietly. There were even some moments when she could’ve sworn she was being calm and she wasn’t scared, like, at all. She left her phone in her locker in order to avoid even the temptation of looking at it, checking the notifications constantly, god forbid texting Marcus with a funny meme or a cooking video, just to prompt some info out of him. And this was exactly how the day eventually caught up to her. It was almost dark outside, which was prime ‘let’t-grab-a-coffee-after-work’ hours and the bakery was the busiest it had been all day. Some days, like this one, even the morning rush couldn’t beat it. 

‘Hey, MJ!’ 

‘Yes, Sophe!’ 

‘Lucy wants to talk to you in the back, we ran out of cherry compote and I think one of the blenders broke.’ 

‘I’ll be there in 10, put a post-it on the fridge and make sure you absolutely can’t fix it and if you can’t fix it, there’s backup in the storage room. Don’t tell Nate!’

‘Got it, thank you chef!’ 

‘I hate it when you call me that.’ 

‘No, you don’t!’ 

This is how it went and although being stressful, these were the moments she really got to see why she was doing it all. Seeing the staff work together in a harmony and synchronicity that almost resembled a carefully put together choreography, seeing the smiles and hearing the compliments of the customers with her own ears, those were exactly why she was doing it. And even while managing the place, she never would’ve given up actually working on the ground. She never wanted to become one of those managers who get so caught up in paperwork and the mundane stuff they forget what it's like to do this everyday, she didn’t want to fall out of touch, ever. 

As the clinging of the glasses, scraping of to-go paper bags and beeps of the cash register continued she was feeling in her element. The cacophony of her favourite place lulling her into an easier groove; saying hi to the regulars and giving out orders, she didn’t hear the little bell above the door jingle. The end of the day's closing routine already in the back of her mind she barely paid attention to who came in and who left.

‘Hey, MJ, look who’s here!’ Marcus’s voice echoed through the place and she immediately felt like her blood didn’t just run cold but practically froze in that moment. 

‘Georgie?’ And there it was. The all too familiar voice, the accent, the nickname noone really used anymore. She knew it was coming and it still caught her off-guard. He always had this effect on her after all. She wanted to smooth her apron down properly but her hands were full with a crowded plate. Feeling a little light-headed she still turned around. Seeing him in the flash nearly propelled her to have an out of body experience. 

‘I’ll take this.’ The world was going all blurry at the edges, Sophie taking the tray out of her hand, giving a small squeeze to her upper arm, almost feeling like they were happening in another universe. 

The seconds kept passing by while neither of them moved. And apparently Luca wasn’t doing much better than her. He couldn’t move. He knew he was still standing in the doorway, he knew Marcus was staring at him, he knew he was starting to draw attention, but he simply couldn’t move. She looked different. Little calmer, a little older, her hair was shorter and a new colour, he hadn't seen this one before but it was definitely her. Apron, nametag, tattoos peaking out from under her clothes, a tight lipped smile and a small wave from behind the counter. He saw her lips move and although he couldn’t hear it, he knew that it was a breathy ‘hi’ she let out when she wasn’t sure, when she didn’t want to be too loud. 

‘Wait, what’s happening?’ Marcus said, looking back and forth between the two of them. ‘You guys know eachother?’ 

Luca opened his mouth and tried to say something but nothing came out. It seemed like both of them just got locked in place. She was quicker than him, once again. She moved, seemingly floated out from behind the counter. The whole thing made him dizzy. Because she was different. Because she was the same. He could still read her, oh, so easily. Because she smoothed out her apron, tucked her (shorter) hair behind her ears with both hands, because she was twitchy and he could tell, she was nervous too. Because he knew how easily he could’ve been able to calm her down. 

‘Hey.’ 

‘Hey.’ 

[apparentlyantelope]

The first ever concept sketch of my Shal’dorei, Marjolaine!

[veryimportantsparkles]

This is supposed to be a fully grown adult Tidge, but I wasn’t sure how to make an adult design for him because his species just kind of...looks like this.  I haven’t done as much detailed xenobiology for Rrigs as I have for other species, and part of the joke is that they’re impenetrably alien to everyone else.  On top of that, Tidge is on the tall side for a species that’s shorter than most, so even next to other Rrigs or next to humans it’s really hard to get a sense of scale.  Well, here he is.  An adult Tidge.

[mapsofnonexistentplacesremade]

Can’t believe I never asked before. Which of your ocs would wear a korn t-shirt and which wears a limp bizkit one

very serious question. marjolaine and beatrix i think

but i had to expand upon it this is my favorite joke to make