#oh and Luka got the opposite treatment

[theboredhooman]

probably unpopular opinion but while the animation for season 6 is pretty good i find the redesigns were atrocious 😭 photo for reference and more thoughts under the cut because spoilers

they did so many of them dirty...like Zoe girlie what HAPPENED dear god 😭 okay harley quinn

also alya and Sabrina for some reason I just do not like how they look. like at all. also rose that hairstyle....I get it's to better show her cancer but like.....what did they do to you 😭

do NOT get me started on Adrien hsdjkeuwirjskhfskjhgjak

yk what maybe its the photo. I haven't watched illustrhater yet so maybe it's fine and all the posts I've seen just have poorly taken photos. 🫠

[chicoriii]

Season 4, Episode 4 - Mr Pigeon 72

I have no idea where to start. This episode has some good things and some extremely stupid.

Marinette isn't still completely fine, but I prefer when she deals with it through being hyperactive than being a whining crybaby.

I know people don't agree with me, but personally I don't buy the whole revealing identity to Alya. It's not a problem with Alya herself, I would say the same about every single character who is not named Alix Kubdel at this point of the story. I haven't written anything in my post about Gang of Secrets, because I thought it would be undone in some way at the start of the next episode. The creators did nothing to explain why revealing identity of Ladybug to anyone was super dangerous and would result in a catastrophe in seasons 1-3 and the first two episodes of S4, but it's magically fine in episode 3. Only Alix made sense to me, as she will be the rabbit Miraculous holder, so she is destined to discover identities of everyone sooner or later and Marinette is aware of that. While it's not necessary to learn identity of anyone to other temporary Miraculous wielders, including Alya. Also that reveal hasn't been foreshadowed in season 3, while the show usually does it, especially if it's about something as important as that! More, in late S3, it's been shown that Alya still can't resist to not talking about Marinette's love life with Nino, despite she asked her to not do it. Now the girl, who is overly excited about superhero stuff, has no problems with even accidental revealing anything to Nino or someone else. She's even "stealing" Bunnix line that she's great at keeping secrets (sorry but you, the creators, haven't shown us that she's indeed is before!). This is why I think that reveal hasn't been planned before they started writing season 4.

But okay, I can deal with it, even if I don't buy it, but things these happened in Mr. Pigeon 72 are even more inconsistent with previous seasons. I have been worried about it, so it doesn't surprised me. For some reason Guardian related-things that have been kept in a secret before from everyone minus current Guardian and the future Guardian, are now fine being done in front of Kwamis (remember, they haven't been allowed to learn about making potions before!) and a civilian who is just a temporal Miraculous holder, not someone who is supposed to be trained to be a new Guardian. You can say - new Guardian, new rules, but why? Marinette has been portrayed as someone who respect authorities, she has never questioned any Fu's rules. It wasn't even said in the episode that she's going to change the rules. I hate that the writers don't even bother to explain us what's going on. Probably they don't bother about consistency, they think the audience is going to be too excited about Alya knowing Ladybug's identity and helping Marinette to question anything about it? How Alya could be allowed to learn the Guardian secrets? She is just best friend of the protagonist, she is not one of the main characters to get that special treatment. I makes zero sense to me. Especially since Su-Han will be introduced in episode 6 and he should help Marinette with understanding the Grimoire, Alya isn't necessary here for any other reason than fanservice.

In my opinion the way how they discovering how to make charms that protects from akumasitation was the most stupid thing that happened this season and one of the most in the whole show. Marinette who is the new Guardiand and portrayed as someone extreme intelligent and creative couldn't find the solution for days, but Alya with zero training magically discovered it in a few hours at worst. And when she told her the solution in not even very clear way, Ladybug did it immediately with no effort. That was so anticlimactic. At least the animation was fine, but other aspects of it was just a big disappointment, and I was looking forward for it. Thank goodness it's just the beginning of the season, I hope later important events of the season will be better written and portrayed.

Also I find it absurd that Rena Rough is walking with a page from the Grimoire like it's just an ordinary book and she's talking about it in front of a random civilian, like things that are written there are nothing special. She or Ladybug are not careful about Miraculous lore anymore. Not to mention that they are giving hints that Rena is very close to Ladybug in public, suspiciously close. And now with them being too careless, that's not hard to suspect that Rena Rouge is someone very close to Ladybug, maybe even as a civilian. Shadow Moth knows Rena Rouge's identity, and it's easy to him to learn who is Alya Cesaire's best friend if he doesn't know it yet, after all his son is in the class with her. Marinette has always been super careful and serious about her duties before, why that sudden change with zero explanation? It's just very out of character to her in my opinion.

I didn't like the akuma battle either, it's now the worst fight of the season in my opinion. It was so short and felt very lazy. I only liked that Plagg got some action and interaction with Ladybug (though it should be suspicious for her that he managed to reach to her that fast). He should be aware now that Alya knows Ladybug's identity but he acts like nothing happened. Not a word about it being unfair towards his kid or something, weird.

Thankfully the rest of the episode is generally more or less fun to me. It was nice to see Marinette and Kagami interacting again. I loved Kagami in the episode, although it was a bit weird to me that she isn't seemed to be affected by her breaking up with Adrien. Like her crush was very shallow, so she managed to recover herself from it very quickly. While it's been shown that Luka is hurt, despite Lukanette always seemed to be much more shallow than Adrigami in my opinion. But maybe it's because she's so down to earth, so being less emotional makes sense for her character. I liked how her attitude was opposite to Marinette's hyperactive: "No, I don't want to be in a relationship with Adrien again, he disappointed me, just let me live!!!". And she's another character who said that Marinette and Adrien are made for each other. I'm not surprised that Kagami sees it now when she tried to be with him and that didn't work. She's observant, sees more than many other characters. It seems she's an Adrienette shipper now. It's also good that her issue with Adrien wasn't resolved that easily and too fast. They need more time, but I'm sure they will be friends again.

So, we've gotten shirtless Adrien. I remember seeing a tweet of Thomas in which he answered to a question if there will be a beach episode and he said we will get something similar. I wonder if he meant this episode. Oh, they just remembered that Adrien is supposed to be allergic to feathers. It seems Adrien has allergic reactions only when it's somewhat related to the plot. When it's not, he's completely fine.

The reference to the famous Umbrella Scene™ out of nowhere in a random episode? It probably means something. I can see "reverse crush" supporters interpreting it as a proof to their theory, especially since this time Adrien did something clumsy and Marinette is laughing because of it (actually both of them). Or maybe because it's the first episode of season 4 with Marinette and Adrien interactions, they decided to be that much gracious for Adrienette fans, to compensate lack of it in the first three episodes. Oh wow, Marinette managed to propose spending more time together to Adrien without stuttering. Probably because she has done it spontaneously. Marinette is the most nervous when she's planning and thinking what could go wrong too much. This time she had no time to it, so it went more smoothly. It's like they building development of their relationship, but it didn't seem in Guiltrip (that's episode 11 chronologically) that something changed.

Seeing screenshot above, you can easily imagine how great friends they could be, being very comfortable around each other and laughing together, if not Marinette's anxiety. We need Adrienette development so much to get more moments like this.

Oh and I just realized that it's also one of the veeeeery few episodes with no real Ladynoir at all (the only other one I remember is Style Queen). So if there was no Adrienette it would be an episode without interactions of two main characters at all (although we almost got Ladrien). It could be another reason why this episode is that nice for Adrien and Marinette ship.

After seeing overly excited Marinette dancing in the rain, I can't believe she can manage completely give up on Adrien. It doesn't look like this at all.

Also we've seen three photos of Adrien wearing THAT scarf. It could not mean nothing different that foreshadowing that he's going to discover the truth about it somewhere this season. But I have no idea what Ladybug's mask with shining eyes could mean.

I don't know what to think about the episode. Despite absurd Guardian-related things, I still liked it much more than Gang of Secrets, but I have no idea if I generally enjoyed it more than other episodes of this season or not. At least it's an episode without stupid drama, which is amazing.

---------

I'm currently less active on social media, because my internet connection is very unstable, it often works very slowly to the point I'm not patient enough to visit Tumblr. Also I block spoiler tags again, because I don't want to see spoilers from the episodes those are going to be released very soon, as I feel that they reveal too much to me once more. We're currently in a marathon of the new episodes and since watching them is the more more enjoyable, the less I know about them, I decided to try avoid spoilers as much as I can. The only bad thing is that I can't be read discussions about the new episodes, reblog them and adding something from me until Optigami will be aired.

[miraculouscontent]

“Truth”-related asks:

Anonymous said:

I just watched truth and man, we didn't need any of that... I'm so tired...

Anonymous said:

Me after reading that summary: We coulda had it aaaaaaaaaaallllllll, decent wri-itiiiiiiiiiiiiiiingggggg

Anonymous said:

oh. lukanette breakup. how surpri— oh wait, no it wasn't.

bunnybunblitz said:

Me, skimming your summary of truth: life is a nightmare life is a nightmare life is a nightmare abort abort

Anonymous said:

Truth was a living nightmare, and that's the truth!

*defeated sigh*

Anonymous said:

The way all that just make me start disliking Adrien so hard wow I have enough of him so hard can they get ride of him for one damn episode?

Anonymous said:

Wow! Writers got on completely new level. They somehow made people to be annoyed with Adrien, even without putting him in episode.

My meme image of “I’ve had enough of this dude,” about sums it up.

It’s almost impressive???

Anonymous said:

I have the impression that you should slowly gather materials for "Treatment of Marinette S4"

You know, when you’re right, you’re right.

Anonymous said:

Hey there... Got a lil rant, I hope you don't mind in sea of anons you're probably getting. I guess if show didn't treat Marinette as their favorite punching bag and lukanette as a thing to get over with to be back on love square bullshit I wouldn't be this salty. We all knew lukanette isn't a endgame, but we actually care about Luka ans Marinette as characters and as a couple, and we knew there was a break up brewing.

But I mlb writers for setting things up, canonizing them over provocative tweet and leave them to dust right at the beginning of s4. And, oh sweet irony as they kinda accidentally made Lukanette totally better than love square (let's be honest if they knew what they were doing we wouldn't get any breakup from narrative and character development standpoint),,, because their heroine for once is loved and appreciated but that's another discussion and they hate that for her. Also, thomas arstruck can suck my toe.

I don't know what's your opinion on soulmate and destiny thing, but I'm totally in opposite. I remember The Good Place (love the series btw!) quote about how soulmates are made with love and nurture of people and not some cosmic forces. And to see how show is pushing for Destiny ™️ I'm kinda disheartened. But I guess I never really liked love square execution in the first place when it turned out that Marinette is butt of the crush joke for 3 seasons and there's 0 development from that. Like Thomas, that's not funny running gag. Thanks for reading! Hope you're doing well!

Thank you for the rant, and I agree!

It’s so strange how all their attempts to push for the love square just push me more towards Lukanette. How do the writers do that???

Anonymous said:

Yeah that point where she exclaims Luka in shock just angered and confused me. She LITERALLY transformed because Luka was akumatized. And her being shocked is only there to get her under the truth spell.

This episode is held together by knots and strings at this point.

Anonymous said:

Wow, "Ladybug likes Chat Noir humor." Then why every time Chat Noir makes puns, Ladybug looks like she wanted to strangle him on spot.

Ladybug = us

At that point, they should’ve just said, “[The writers] like Chat Noir’s humor.” Like--writers, please don’t use Ladybug as a tool to simp for your sunshine boy, it looks really pathetic.

Anonymous said:

Based on the ellipses you used I'm guessing you're not a fan of Jagged talking about the "Guitar is my only family" song.

Oh, no actually... I mean, I do because it’s there to torment Luka, but the ellipses was because of the intentional pause in the episode. Jagged was looking sympathetic

Anonymous said:

Truth was awful, the only good thing we got out of it was a Lukanette date (yay :'D) and we got to know Luka's father (although we all been knew).

Honestly if we could find a way to edit it so Luka and Marinette properly kissed then we’d just chop it out of the episode and call it the only canon thing.

asexual-individual said:

So, given that "Truth" didn't introduce the protection charms, I'm going to take a wild guess that they're not introduced until after "Gang of Secrets", meaning that Marinette won't get any close friends that it's safe to tell her secret to.

I was legit so sure that it was a guardian benefit and now I’m just left confused/curious about what causes CharmBug. Like, what, do you get CharmBug by purifying your one thousandth akuma???

Anonymous said:

I am absolutely positive no one quality checks these episodes before they’re sent out. Ladybug getting caught off guard on Luka being Truth even though she knows he was akumatised, and the horribly upbeat music playing as Marinette lies in bed absolutely defeated is so bad there’s no way this was double checked before it was sent out to TV stations

At this point, I’m convinced that they don’t care and are jamming through episodes as fast as they possible can.

cobraonthecob said:

I'm willing to bet that the writers go through critical and salt blogs just to see what the fandom's thinking, and then they think we're serious and they sprint with whatever we say.

guys please reconsider and also lower your alcohol levels

Anonymous said:

It was awful in general, but why add the paternity thing in the break-up ep? It detracts from, well, everything else and makes obvious they are copypasting fan theories instead of thinking of plot points.

I really do think they knew that Luka being upset over Marinette’s secret wasn’t enough to akumatize him so he needed something else.

Anonymous said:

Let me get something straight: The episode was explicitly about Marinette going on dates with Luka and that they were together. Yet Juleka is once again part of the shipping squad with obligatory "Marinette is only weird because she's with Adrien"-theories, and she's totally cool with that?

Yup! :3

guys I just adore mob mentality, did you know.

guys--

Anonymous said:

Ok, but the fact that everyone considers Marinette’s crush on Adrien to be her big secret is stupidly unrealistic. They KNOW they’re all aware of it - the girl squad even figured it out by themselves before they were told and think it’s totally obvious (as long as you’re a girl cause guys are clueless about feelings right). As far as they’re concerned it’s not actually a secret so they SHOULD be spilling the things they think only they and Marinette know. I mean, I can think of dozens of possibilities for Tom and the rest of the girls already, but Alya?

We had a front row seat to the damning secret Alya knows from back in season 1, but I guess asking this show to acknowledge continuity is too much. Still, the episode could have been so much more interesting if Alya had said, “Marinette’s the one who really gave Adrien the scarf for his birthday, but he looked so happy thinking it was from his father that she couldn’t bear to tell him that Gabriel hadn’t actually gotten him anything.” (I suppose reminding people of that wouldn’t fit into the writers’ poor attempts to make Gabriel sympathetic though 🙄).

Lol, just imagine the entire battle being sidetracked by Luka being brought to tears by how selfless and sweet his girlfriend is while Shadow Moth is too distracted by how this will ruin his reputation to get him back on track.

JKHJDSKGFSG

YES.

ALL OF THIIIIIS.

THIS IS AMAZING.

Anonymous said:

Marinette deserves to tell Luka she's Ladybug and have some support on her side tbh, it's disgusting to see the writers breaking up clearly the only thing that brings her joy and peace currently

HONESTLY.

And judging from that one trailer, she IS going to tell someone her secret and it’ll probably be freaking Alya; you know, the girl who blabbed about her Adrien crush to Nino and is thus THE LEAST TRUTHWORTHY PERSON. (”bonus” if it’s before the amulets)

I’m having nightmares already about Alya distrusting Lila because Marinette is Ladybug and not because Alya believes in Marinette. DX

Anonymous said:

Now that it’s been confirmed (in the worst way possible) that Jagged Stone is in fact Luka’s (and possibly Juleka’s?) father, how would you handle the whole mixed family aspect considering Jagged and Anarka’s relationship, Jagged and Penny’s, Anarka and Penny’s, Jagged and Luka’s (and Juleka’s?), and Penny and Luka’s (and Juleka’s?)? Topics like mixed families and family relationships are something that needs to be handled sensibly and sensitively given how it hits home for a lot of real-world people. Since we obviously can’t trust the ML writers to handle such topics the way that they deserve to be, how would you go about it knowing what we know up to this point about each character on their own and how they interact with one another?

Luka and Juleka were “accidents,” but Anarka kept it a secret from Jagged since Jagged was already hyped up to go on his next tour and Anarka knew their relationship was crumbling (possibly he already dumped her as his guitarist and she was annoyed about it). Jagged eventually learns that he has kids and is hesitant towards the idea, but because of him doting on Marinette (who’s the same age as his kids), he opens up to the idea.

Anarka and Jagged in present are mixed between tolerating each other for the sake of their kids and being chaotic best friends. The bad blood died out a while ago and there’s occasional tension but because Anarka is a single woman not interested in Jagged and Jagged is single with a possible thing for Penny, they make it work

Anarka and Penny have an awkward relationship. Penny wants to schedule time for Jagged to hang with Luka and Juleka and Anarka is confused at the very concept of a schedule, like just take them whenever okay??? isn’t it easier that way??? and Penny is like, “...oh, I guess so?”

Jagged and Penny, it depends on if they’re in any sort of relationship. If they’re in a relationship, Penny is either open to the idea of him learning to be good with kids if she’ll eventually want kids with him, or mixed because these are another woman’s kids and it’s really awkward. If they’re not in a relationship, then Penny could also be mixed since she’s crushing on him but I could also see her either finding it sweet that Jagged wants to hang out with his kids or finding it a hassle to schedule them in.

Jagged and Luka is rough. Luka has so many conflicting feelings on his idol ending up being his father. Jagged will probably even comment on Luka’s shirt + necklace and all of Luka’s merch in an attempt to bond but that kind of comes off desperate/awkward and Luka’s not about that life. I could also see Luka taking all the stuff down and swapping out his shirt, but being hesitant to remove the necklace because it’s a gift from Marinette. He might try to wash off the signature. He knows it’s not Jagged’s fault exactly but Anarka seemed to have bad blood with him and even if they get along now, Luka’s bitter. Jagged meanwhile wants to connect with Luka because hey musician energy!! but is gonna mess up a lot and say a lot of awkward things. Marinette will probably have to be a middle man between the two because it’s easier for them to talk with her around.

Jagged and Juleka don’t have a significant relationship at first. Juleka never care who her father was and she wasn’t crazy about Jagged Stone like Luka was. Jagged does try to connect with her but they clash majorly due to Jagged being so “loud” and Juleka being so quiet. Jagged will see it as a huge accomplishment the day where Juleka says something coherent (i.e: not a mumble) to him.

Yeah though, keep in mind for all of this that I’m not a family relationship kinda girl, so this isn’t my forte (I’m probably the most sympathetic to Jagged out of the whole fandom; not to say I agree with his actions but I have a history of hating babies and children, so not cool of him if he ditched Anarka but like, I get it, doesn’t make him better but I get it from a non-realistic standpoint of “ew, parenting”).

Anonymous said:

You know what? Imma gonna ignore canon for a bit more than I’ve been doing. The only thing I take away from “Truth” is that Marinette loves Luka and Tikki looks adorable in hats. That’s it have a good Saturday! 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

Anonymous said:

If there’s one small detail that I thought was genuinely cute this episode, it’s Tikki posing in the mirror with her little hat collection.

Ahaha, those are good takeaways!

And yes, Tikki looked good in hats, but at what cost. (guys, where’s our jealous Tikki episode where Tikki is jealous of the attention Marinette has to give the other kwami wait no they’d just make it Marinette’s fault go back go ba--)

Anonymous asked:

Am I the only on squicked out by how Adrien acts all noble and claims he would never force Ladybug to tell him anything, but when it becomes apparent that he has to ask her a question before the akuma can he goes all ‘what are your three favorite things about me?’ :3c I mean, he had decent amount of time to think up a bunch of innocent questions that couldn’t hurt her in any way like ‘what is your favorite color?’ or ‘do you like cookies?’ or even ‘what’s the capitol of France?’ But instead he basically demands she compliment him. Coming from a guy who spent most of the last two seasons refusing to take ‘no’ for an answer that’s a bit… icky.

THIS

He could’ve phrased it in any way and he used it to get compliments from her. :|

At least Ladybug asked a legitimate question about how he felt about her guardian status.

Anonymous said:

I had this idea for an episode: Luka finds out that Marinette is LB because he is in danger. Let's say he gets yeeted off a building by an akuma and Marinette (in her civilian form) jumps after him, transforms while Luka sees it (he's shook, obviously), she grabs him and saves him from falling. I think that would be pretty epic, do you think you could write a one-shot based on that idea if you feel like that? I would forever be thankful. Have a nice day!

I like the idea, though I feel like that’s been done a lot before in identity reveal fanfics.

Anonymous said:

You know, despite them all getting interrupted, I thought the attempts at Lukanette dates was really cute. Luka picking up Marinette from school, the two trying to see who is the biggest jagged fan, getting ice cream at Andre's, it's really cute! I only wish Hawkmoth and the writers weren't such dickheads.

It’s so adorable!

Like--show, you aren’t doing a good job at getting me off the Lukanette train.

Anonymous said:

Are you sure the Lukanette breakup wasn't Marinette's fault? I mean, the episode frames it like she's refusing to tell the truth, even if it's for a good reason.

I’m not sure when I said that the episode didn’t frame it as her fault?

Things are ALWAYS Marinette’s fault, it’s literally a rule of the show.

Anonymous said:

You know the truth episode actually gives more reasons for lukanette in my opinion based of its description you said. Luka is ridiculously understanding and also almost manages to fight off hawk moth as well as taking probably a week at least for him to get to that and yet he, while he’s upset, still tries to be there for marinette. Also makes the relationships she has with her friends and family worse if the secret they think she has is that she likes adrien while dating Luka.

YES!!

And oh my gosh, I feel the friends and family comment so badly. Just throwing it out there, maybe you guys don’t actually support her???

Anonymous said:

How do you feel about Luka having no negative reaction to this whole "Marinette loves Adrien" thing? I understand that he isn't exactly the jealous type, but still, it seems weird to me that he just accepts it while Marinette is dating him. I love Luka a lot, but in this situation his reaction was just so unrealistic...

Honestly, I find it really interesting. Plus, it’s Truth who’s being told those things, not Luka, and Truth has other priorities.

And--I mean, I’m positive that Luka got into the relationship knowing that Marinette wasn’t completely over Adrien. She wanted to see if they’d work and he wanted to date her. It’s both of them being a little selfish in a way and I like that.

That’s why I think he doesn’t have a big reaction to the Adrien call. He seems amused more than anything, and Luka is empathetic also so he knows not to take Marinette’s stammering/mistakes to heart because she doesn’t mean them. We already had evidence of that in “Desperada.”

writingamongther0ses said:

Even if Lukanette had stayed together, I have a feeling Alya would complain that it's not Adrien...which could lead to a character growth opportunity for her when her complaining leads to Luka getting hurt when he overhears and becomes an akuma. But that's too interesting.

Interesting character relationships??? In THIS show???

never

Anonymous said:

After watching Truth the only thing I can feel at the moment is bitter. Not angry, not sad, not disappointed. Just bitter.

Bitter’s a good way of putting it, yeah. *sigh*

Anonymous said:

The fact that the second episode released managed to get a bingo really says a lot about how predictable the show's garbage fire writing.

I KNOW, RIGHT??

I knew the Lukanette episode would be a big card filler but DAMN.

Anonymous said:

I hated all of Truth, but perhaps the worst part was how hard they tried to remind you that, no matter how much of a good time Marinette and Luka have together, it's Adrien who Marinette will end up with in the end. From Alya rudely insinuating "girl, you're acting stupid, is Adrien at your house?", to Luka receiving a PICTURE of Adrien from a kwami, to Marinette talking on the phone with Luka while her Adrien pictures are in the background, to Marinette CALLING LUKA ADRIEN, to Truth demanding that people tell him Marinette's secret, only for them ALL to say "She's in love with Adrien Agreste.".

It's absolutely anger-inducing because it tries too hard to let the audience know to forget about Luka because Adrien is lurking in the corner and he and Marinette are endgame. The fans are right, Luka IS a second choice, but not in the way they think. Luka's a second choice, not for Marinette, but for the Miraculous Ladybug world. for the WRITERS!!!

But what bothers me the most is that everyone saying that Marinette loves Adrien is accepted as truth even when Marinette herself says she's over Adrien. Her words are ignored, how she feels is ignored, because everyone else(including the girl squad, when they're supposed to be her "friends") tells her that she's supposed to be in love with Adrien, and so she "has" to go along with it because ENDGAME. It's the show saying "stupid naive Marinette, you're too immature and dumb to know how you really feel, let someone else do the thinking for you!"

Meanwhile Adrien moving on with Kagami is accepted even when he still flirts with Ladybug(and forces her to build up his ego when he asks her what she admires most about him; I know it was a spur of the moment thing, but meta-wise, it was obvious love square pushing.), because "he's trying to respect her feelings and date someone else!" It's one of the main gripes I have with the show: that teenage girls are too emotional and confused to know what they really want, but teenage boys are mature and rational enough to make up their minds about who they love without holding any animosity towards anyone.

The all-white, all-male writing team pushes the Chinese girl's feelings aside and forces her to hide and erase them if they're not want they want her to feel, while the white boy gets congratulated with a pat on the back for doing the bare minimum and always, ALWAYS, takes the moral high ground(even in superhero form when he's supposedly goofy.). When she's the lead.

"Luka's a second choice, not for Marinette, but for the Miraculous Ladybug world. for the WRITERS!!!“

LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK

It’s just tiring. It’s not even me being sick of the love square, but it being forced into everything when it’s not even relevant. The episode strategically throws more and more of Marinette’s Adrien crush (I did the math, I know this) into the mix and it provides nothing but the same tired jokes. Heck, they keep leaning on the lucky charm Marinette let him borrow (not GAVE, let him BORROW) back in Season 1 because they basically have nothing else to go off of.

[findermao]

midori finds some veggies

Content Warning!

Major discussions of cult, depictions of harrassment, as well as heavy mentions of cannibalism, mutilation, violence, bullying, child abuse, and depression.

Location: World

Season: Summer

Translator: A

Proofreader: B

Custom Field: C

CustomField: D

Midori: nom nom nom nom veggies

oh anzu san!

Mao: hi midomido pspspspsps anzu’s about to marry someone

Midori: nom[1]

Midori punches wall

Midori Cries

Natsume: s̸̙͗o̷̮̾ ̶̐͜a̴̗͛n̷͍̊y̶̥̍w̸̜̋à̷͔y̷̞̒s̴̬̐

Tsukasa: Hello I'm 𝐉𝐞𝐟𝐟 𝐁𝐞𝐳𝐨𝐬

← previous | next →

World

Contains mentions of Tsumugi Aoba.

Location: Mars

Season: Winter

Time: Morning

Hinata: Yet I feel like all this trouble is kinda endearing.

Yuuta: Ehh? Aren’t you always making exaggerations, “Hinata-kun”? Now that’s a good one!

Mao: But—I think I agree with you, too. Days like this are tons of fun. ♪

Hinata: Ah, lookie, lookie! Those clothes on display over there, though—[2]

Afterwards, “we” had fun shopping all day long.

From here on out, we may get in many more disagreements, and maybe even fight…

But right now, we’re very comfortable—with this “humanity” of ours!

prev - next

Sayo: Thanks for your help today.

Hajime: Good work

Luka: Thank you for your hard work!

Michitaka: Good work!

Sayo: Now, what should we sing for the cover song we talked about at the end of practice?

Luka: Everyone at FYA'M' said they'd already decided theirs

Rin: Good work--

I'm surprised that they chose Tentai Kansoku

Hajime: I don't know why, but Maito and Akki thanked me

Hajime: ...Why?

Rin: How the hell would we know? Lol

Azusa: Relax a little, okay? The disinfectant’ll string just an itty bit~☆

Kana: …Nngh!?

Azusa: Azusa told you to relax, didn’t she~? ♪ There we go, all done~☆ 

You handled the pain really well~! Good girl, good girl ☆

Kana: You’re my underclassman, aren’t you? So cheeky!

Azusa: Eheheh~, sorry ♪ 

Now to bandage it all up~, and we’re finished with the treatment ☆ Now you can show off your sparkling smile again ☆

Kana: Ugh! I can’t smile knowing that I just got hurt when there’s gonna be a practice match soon! 

Damn you, Nekozuka… 

She must have skipped mopping the court! I slipped on the dust and fell because of that! Oooh, oooh, ooooh!

Azusa: Luckily it’s only a scratch ☆ 

Azusa: Eheheh ♪ They really are “similar”, even if they seem like opposites at first~☆

TL Notes

Midori says nom in a sarcastic way. like, reeeealy sarcastic. you can see how hes crying in the next cg. like just read the story you'll see

Tetora is an earnest, hard-working guy. His ultimate goal is to become a “man among men,” which ends up being much less clear-cut as Tetora’s journey of self-discovery continues. His idea of what a “manly man” is often influenced and shaped by his idolization of Kuro. The traits Tetora tends to point out as being manly often include physical strength[1], cool-headedness, determination[2], as well as honesty and ability to care for others. He notably values certain skills that are traditionally associated with femininity, such as cooking[2] and sewing[3].

Project: SEKAI

Rui: Okay... I think I have everything I need for today.

Oh, I could use those lights for the final scene too.

Hehe. Time to put on another fantastic show!

Location: Wonderland SEKAI

Tsukasa: Argh!

That flash of light... What was it?!

Nene: You remember now, don't you, Black Knight? You used to wield your sword to protect people, to keep peace.

Emu: So those shinies were his memories coming back? It looked so pretty!

i7

Nagi: Please excuse me for resorting to forceful methods.

Minami: ..mm! nmm!

Nagi: Please do not raise your voice. I will remove the gag if you will promise me that. Please nod if you agree.

Minami: mmph.

Nagi: ….

Minami: -haah…. Where did you begin following me? Rokuya-san.

Nagi: Why don’t you try divining the answer?

Minami: You’re not the most forthcoming person I see. Well, this is just perfect. I was hoping to speak with you as well.

[ellawritesficssometimes]

Just a Tat Too Much (FrUK One-Shot)

Summary: FrUK ONE-SHOT- Arthur runs a tattoo parlour, one that he's very proud of. If only he didn't have to be outshined by a flamboyant, over-the-top flower shop across the street. Don't even get him started on the insufferable git who runs said shop. (Punk! Arthur). Fic Exchange with browsofglory :)))

Word Count: 6214

Let me enlighten you with a tale of just how shitty and ironic my life is. My college years had brought me unprecedented wonders; I excelled as one as the top students in my business school. Unfortunately, this endeavor had also entailed the acquirement of a rival, Francis.

Francis was a stuck-up Frenchman who I could only handle in small doses before having to suppress the urge to throttle him. He was arrogant, nosy, and knew just how to get under my nerves. He was bright and lively in both appearance and personality, whereas I preferred to wear dark colors and drink bitter tea to match my cold, 'soulless' heart. We were like day and night, if you want to get figurative with the descriptions.

For some reason, Francis found our differences to be part of some bigger picture. A picture where we would someday be lovers. I humored Francis in our final year of college, teasing him on occasion, but never really taking him seriously. In all honesty, I thought that I would never see him again after we had graduated.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

I branched off to open and run a brand-new tattoo parlour of my own. All was swell and business was booming until a certain effeminate fiend from the past conveniently decided to open a flower and chocolates shop across the street from me. For those of you who are slow on the uptake, that effeminate fiend was none other than Francis. He followed me everywhere in college, so it was really quite foolish to have believed that he wouldn't have done the same in the workplace.

My shop looked utterly ridiculous next to his. Where my parlour was dark, gothic and, full of blacks and shades of crimson, Francis's shop was a hue of rosy reds and pinks, smiles, and sunshine. The folks leaving his shop would gawk at my parlour in horror – admittedly, this was one of the most amusing parts of the job – taking in the skulls, crosses, bones, and demon decorative designs as if they just seen the gates of hell.

Nothing felt better to me than watching 'ordinary' people get flustered over my shop and those who worked in it. So what if we had more piercings, scars, and ink on our bodies? I've often been mistaken for a demon or Satanist, as absurd as that may seem. Perhaps the pentagram designs on my arms didn't help with that impression, but what can I say?

I didn't give a rat's arse about what people thought of me. I owned my business, and I would conduct it however I pleased to. I didn't have to worry about 'being unemployable' because of my tattoos; my work life revolved around them. The only people to please were my customers; certainly not a snide Frenchman who thought that he could woo me over to the 'vibrant side of life'.

I had taken the early morning shift today, which meant that I wouldn't be dealing with too many customers. Most people came to the parlour at night, especially when they were drunk. Who was I to refuse service? Money was money, and even if the tattoo a customer had chosen was ghastly and horrid, as long as they signed the release forms, my workers would happily adorn them with their mid-life existential crisis tramp-stamp. We did offer tattoo removal services, after all. One drunken mistake could easily be rectified with a fat wad of cash!

Oh, don't give me that pissy look. Yes, yes, I recognize that I'm a complete asshole. Get over it, darling. It's a brutal world out there. A gentleman's got to survive somehow.

Currently, I was sprawled over the glass front counter, face cupped by both hands. I began to bite off the black nail polish from my nails, knowing that I had a long day ahead of me. I looked outside the window, spotting a little girl peering inside my shop. I shed her with a cryptic grin, revealing the fake pair of fangs that my co-worker Vlad had insisted that we all wear. Apparently, it added to the 'aesthetic' of the parlour.

The little girl licked her strawberry ice cream cone, green eyes wide with curiosity. Curiosity quickly became terror when she spotted me grinning at her. "Hullo, dear," I mouthed, running my tongue over my lips.

"Big bruder!" the little girl gasped, dropping her ice cream cone on the pavement, the ribbon in her hair flying behind her as she ran away in the opposite direction. "There's a mean monster who wants to eat me!"

I chuckled to myself. "Monster, huh?" I mused. "Well, that's certainly a new one."

Pleased with causing childhood traumatization so early in the day, I went back to lounging lazily on the front counter. Usually by now Francis would have visited to tease and/or flirt with me. Just what was he up to today? Oh well, can't say that I cared all that much.

BRING!

I looked up, expecting to see said Frenchman, only to scowl when I realized that it was my half-brother, Alfred. The oaf looked absolutely miserable. His wheat-blond hair was sticking up more than usual, his blue eyes puffy and wide with fear. He reminded me of a cornered animal who had nowhere to go…the defeated expression on his face was concerning.

He was wearing a Hawaiian print blouse that was tucked into a hideous pair of quesadilla print leggings. Yes, you heard me correctly, leggings. The guzzler hat that he wore on his head made me roll my eyes so far back that I was nearly blinded.

The twat had gotten black-out drunk again.

"Artie! Artie!" Alfred wailed, running towards me, figurative tail hanging between his legs. "I fucked up, man! So bad! So fucking bad!"

I jumped a little when Alfred slammed his massive hands on the counter.

"Get your filthy hands off the glass!" I snapped. "I just cleaned it this morning. And you know how I don't like talking to people until I've had at least three cups of tea in me!"

Alfred gave me an incredulous look. "Dude! I know you have no soul, but could you at least pretend to be concerned for your little brother?!"

"Oh?" I hummed, crossing my arms. "And why should I be concerned? What could you have possibly done that's bad enough for you to abandon your pride and come crawling to me for advice?"

Alfred whimpered, looking like a vulnerable five-year-old child. "Okay, first, screw you. Who shit in your morning bowl of blood of the unborn? And second, I got drunk…"

"Congratulations, twat-face," I scoffed. "I think the quesadilla-themed leggings already made that obvious enough. What are you trying to do? Protest Trump's wall by ignorantly perpetuating harmful stereotypes? Oh, and very funny."

Alfred sighed, still too intoxicated to come up with a clever rebuttal. "Look, you jackass," he scowled. "I really do need your help."

"Whatever happened to 'I'm fine, Arthur. Stop worrying. I'm not going to party in college. Stop sticking your pasty finger up my butthole?'" I smirked.

"Okay, Christ!" Alfred cussed. "Do you always have to be right?"

"I wouldn't have to be right all the time if you hadn't grown up to become such an insufferable moron," I retorted, only to falter when Alfred leveled me with an unamused glare. "All right, all right. I think you've suffered enough. What happened? What did your drunken arse decide to do last night?"

Alfred pushed himself off the counter, turning his back to me. He pulled down his pants before I even had the chance to say anything. "Just look," Alfred whined.

I covered my eyes, nearly knocking over my mug of tea. "Fucking hell, Alfred!" I snarled. "You could have at least warned me!"

Alfred stifled a sob. "Just look at it, will ya? You can lecture me later."

This job didn't pay me enough for what I was about to see, or rather un-see.

Through the spaces of my fingers, I peaked at Alfred's bum. There on his right cheek, was a palm sized tattoo of an eagle.

"Did you see it yet?" Alfred asked, no doubt on the verge of bawling his eyes out from the shame of his drunken mistake.

"Just one moment," I bit my lip, suppressing a snicker. I pulled out my phone, snapped a quick picture, and saved it to drive. "All right, I've seen enough." Hello, new Christmas cards…

Alfred pulled up his pants and turned around. It was a good thing that no people were outside to witness this potential, not to mention unwanted, flash. "So," he said, his voice jittery and nervous. "Can you fix it?"

"Fix what?" I asked, despite knowing exactly what he meant.

"You know," Alfred whispered. "Remove my tattoo…?"

"Do you have a spare three grand lying around?"

"Arthur!" Alfred shouted.

"Fine," I relented. "You can come in tomorrow at 8. Lukas will be working then. You might need several laser treatments though…"

"Why can't you do it?" Alfred blushed.

I shook my head in disbelief. "I've seen your bum enough times when I changed your diapers. You've really pushed it this morning."

Alfred sighed, bowing his head. "I wanted freedom for this country, not an invitation for guys and gals to grab my ass," he muttered.

"Please," I grinned, hoping to cheer up the poor sap. Being sad didn't suit him. "The only time your butt is ever free is when you've had an unhealthy dose of Chipotle."

Alfred laughed, only to have his stomach growl, and loudly at that.

I shook my head in disbelief, opening the cash register to pull out a twenty. "Go get yourself some breakfast," I scolded, reaching over to ruffle his hair. "Mum isn't going to be very happy if she finds out that you've been skipping out on your classes again."

Alfred's expression brightened considerably. "Does this mean you won't tell her about the tattoo?"

"Of course not! She already doesn't approve of this parlour. The last thing I need is for something to justify her prejudice."

Alfred skirted around the counter and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. "Thanks, Artie!" he exclaimed, bellowing into my ear loud enough to cause my piercings to rattle. "You're the best!"

"Sod off, and go brush your teeth!" I grunted, pushing Alfred's much taller and heavier person away. "I can still smell basic bimbo and tequila on your breath."

"HAHAHA!" Alfred cackled, blowing me a smug air kiss before opening the parlour's front door. "Nice one. And thanks a bunch. I'll remember this the next time you're looking for an excuse not to come to a family outing."

I smirked. "You know me so well."

Alfred said his goodbyes, slamming the door shut, despite how many times that I've told him not to do that.

With the parlour empty again, I took a relaxing lunch break, enjoying the silence save for the rock metal softly playing in the background.

The sound of voices outside the parlour a half hour later prompted me to eavesdrop – I looked down so that they wouldn't catch me staring. I had very little entertainment during the day. The only interaction I could count on was an infuriating visit from Francis. Uh, not that I wanted the frog to visit me…of course not!

I stand corrected. Francis's moronic friends often visited me too. Except usually they were with Francis, not alone like they were now.

"But I don't want to go in," Antonio whined. "He's rude, and I don't like him."

"Stop being such a little bitch, Toni," Gilbert deadpanned. "We're doing this for Franny. Sometimes you've got to take one for the squad. Even if it means dealing with a scary, grumpy old man hiding in a 20-something-year-old-body."

The hair on the back of my neck prickled.

Okay, ouch.

Us 'demons' had feelings too, believe it or not.

"Fine," Antonio pouted.

BRING!

Gilbert and Antonio strolled into the parlour, pathetically forcing grins on their faces.

Antonio's green eyes widened into saucers when he spotted the iron maiden prop lying on the wall to their right. His tanned cheeks flooded a faint pink as he nervously twirled the cross pendant wrapped around his neck. He was a very devoted Catholic.

Gilbert pulled up his sunglasses, nestling them in his chalk-white hair. "Arthur, mein sassy man. How goes business these days?" he asked, his crimson red eyes nervously flitting around the parlour.

"No business during the day, I'm afraid. Just nights," I mused. "Unless you two are interested in getting some tattoos?"

"Dios mio!" Antonio swore, jumping back like a spooked cat when he 'accidentally' poked and prodded at a mechanical skull prop. He hadn't been expecting it to shout: "The power of Satan tempts you!"

I pulled out a notebook, grabbed a pen, and crossed off a tally:

Antonio shits his pants for the 47th consecutive time upon touching that skull prop.

Poor bloke keeps forgetting about what it does.

While Antonio motioned the sign of the cross, Gilbert walked over to the front counter. "And what if we were interested in getting tattoos? What would you say to that?"

Gilbert leaned a friendly arm over the counter, causing me to pull back in disgust. I fancied my personal space, thank you very much. "I'd say you were lying," I answered, narrowing my eyes at the German in suspicion.

"On the contrary," Gilbert smirked. "I hardly have any brows as it is, being an albino and all. Perhaps I'm in need of something more…prominent…"

I caught Gilbert looking at my eyebrows. "Is that a crack at my eyebrows?" I leered, gritting my teeth.

"Nein, nein!" Gilbert waved his hands back and forth. "Your brows are glorious, truly," he winked.

I gave Gilbert a sour look; I didn't believe him at all.

Antonio yelped when Gilbert grabbed his arm and pulled him over to the counter. "Stick to the plan, and stop fucking around," Gilbert hissed through his teeth.

"You said we would get ice cream," Antonio whimpered, his mood reminding me of a puppy who had just been kicked in the stomach.

"Hmmph," I crossed my arms. These two were definitely up to something.

"So…" Gilbert drawled, his voice cracking awkwardly. "Those are some cool drawings you got there," he remarked, pointing behind the counter.

I glanced over my shoulder at the various drawings that were pinned up on a clothing line.

"Indeed," I hummed, winking at Antonio when I caught him childishly ogling at my gages. "Those are custom tattoos that clients draw up for us."

An awkward silence fell between the three of us.

Antonio's attention span was quick to fall elsewhere. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "That's a cool design!" He gestured towards a drawing of a crystalized rose.

Gilbert and Antonio exchanged suspicious glances.

Gilbert's cheeks spread into a shit-eating grin. "I never took you for a flower person?"

"I'm not," I huffed.

"But, you draw them on people? Surely you must like them?" Antonio asked.

"Ja, what's your favourite?" Gilbert chirped.

"I already told you, I'm not fond of flowers," I deadpanned.

Antonio pursed his lips. "How about chocolate? Your perfect idea of a date? Are you a top or bottom? Favourite sex pos-! Ay!"

Antonio yelped again when Gilbert elbowed him in the rib-cage. "Haven't you ever heard of being subtle?!" he spluttered.

"Oh, so that's what this is all about?" I rolled my eyes. "Well, you can tell that disgusting amphibian jerk friend of yours that if he truly wants to know the answers to those questions, then he can grow some balls and come here himself."

"So, you do like him!" Antonio exclaimed, beaming from cheek to cheek.

I picked up my favourite pen, which was styled as a decapitated finger. "I'm about two seconds away from shoving this down your happy-go-lucky throat," I warned. "Now, if you two imbeciles aren't here for tattoos, quit wasting my time and get the hell out!"

Antonio's eyes watered. "Okay," he sniffled.

Gilbert wrapped his arm around Antonio. "You monster!" he scolded. "You know how emotionally fragile he is. He doesn't like to be shouted at."

"Not my problem," I said, sticking up my nose.

"Lovi yells at me all the time," Antonio moped as Gilbert led him out of the parlour. "Why doesn't mi tomatito like me anymore? Am I not husband material?'"

Gilbert consolingly rubbed Antonio's arm. "Of course not. You're perfect husband material. Some people just don't appreciate how sweet and adorable you are."

I ignored Gilbert when he looked over his shoulder to glare at me.

When the front door shut, I drummed my nails against the counter, a devious smirk on my face.

I wonder what Francis would do next? After all, it was always good fun to make him flustered.

I had that pretty boy wrapped right around my finger.

…

I didn't have to wait long before Francis strolled into the parlour, his face smug with an infuriating smirk. He was wearing an open collar white blouse, loose denim capris, and his hair was kept in loose blond curls that fell to his shoulder. I felt a nerve in my temple twitch when I spotted the bouquet of roses that he had tucked under one of his hairy arms. He was like Gaston from Beauty in the Beast, save for the muscles, but was twice as grating and arrogant.

The heels of Francis's dress shoes clacked obnoxiously loud as he pranced over to the front counter. The smooth, purring tone of his voice did absolutely nothing for me. Nothing. "Would you like to explain to me why poor Antoine is sobbing? Or rather, explain to me what you did?"

My nostrils flared; the scent of Francis's rose perfume was suffocating. "He came here on his own free will. It's not my fault that he's a sensitive twit."

Francis rolled his eyes. "Oh, mon Dieu. That attitude is exactly why you're going to end up alone in life."

"The bouquet of flowers you're holding points otherwise," I huffed, lazily puffing out a few strands of fringe from my face.

Francis's expression lifted. "Does that mean you'll actually accept them this time?"

"Sure," I smirked, grabbing the bouquet of roses from him. "I'm always in need of something to burn. I can't have people finding out about the corpses we have stored in the back."

"Haha," Francis laughed dryly, placing on elbow on the counter. Shrewd blues eyes were met with an unforgiving forest of green. "Very funny. Let me guess, as soon as I leave, those will be going in the waste bin?"

"Hardly," I answered. "I forgot to get my mum something for Mother's Day. These should do just fine. Thanks, truly."

I was hoping that Francis would have given up and left by now.

But, oh no. No, no, no. Francis was just as stubborn as I was, remarkably.

Francis's eyes widened as we watched me tuck the bouquet in a cubby underneath the counter.

"You dyed your hair pink!" he blurted out.

I raised a heavy brow at him. "Why, thank you Captain Obvious. Oh, relax, it's just the tips."

"Wait!" I fumed. "Why am I telling you to relax?! It's my hair, I can do whatever the hell I want with it!"

I felt my face flush. Unfortunately, I wasn't wearing any concealer or foundation today.

Francis gasped, and in a blur of blond hair, he was suddenly behind the counter, looming over me. "Why?" he whimpered. "Why do you taint your natural beauty with these crude, unnatural colours?"

I grit my teeth. "I'll have you know that-! Oi! Geroff!"

Francis cupped my face with two warm hands, tilting it to the side as he shamelessly inspected me further. "Pink hair? Thick eyeliner? And is that a new brow piercing? Tsk! Tsk! And what is this?"

Francis used one hand to tug at the fish-net long sleeve shirt that I was wearing as a bottom layer.

I growled lowly under my breath when Francis let go of my face, instead opting to grab my right hand. "What am I, a bloody zoo animal?" I snapped. "Is it really that shocking that I have a different sense of style from you?"

Francis ignored me completely. "At least let me trim your nails. Hmmm. Or perhaps those unruly eyebrows of yours…"

"I'll h-have you know that I do in fact trim my eyebrows," I spluttered, feeling my face redden further. There was always something about Francis that caught me off guard and I hated it. I hated how warm his hands felt; how gentle his touch was; how he hummed softly under his breath when he was around me. He was a familiar face that intruded my personal space as if it were child's play.

But, for reasons inexplicable, I let him.

"All right, all right! That's enough groping out of you!" I huffed, shoving Francis's eager hands away from me.

Francis pouted, but gave me my space nonetheless by walking over to the other side of the counter, where he damn well belonged.

I sighed, knowing that he was expecting me to fill the gap in our conversation. Honestly, he could be such a child sometimes. "What did you come here for?"

Francis met my gaze, lips puckered in a stubborn grimace as he spoke. "You know why, Angleterre," he muttered. "I think we'd make a wonderful couple."

"That's why," he grinned, his expression suddenly becoming excited again. "I've come here to prove once and for all that I'm serious about you."

I bit my thumb, a nervous habit of mine. "Oh?" I asked, feeling as if I had just been winded. "And how are you going to do that?"

Damn him for making me feel this way. We've known each other for so long, and yet now he'd rendered me completely speechless. There was something about him today that was different, I could sense it. Behind the teasing look on his face, there was solid determination. And, to be perfectly honest, it frightened me terribly.

I didn't let many people this close into my life. Why Francis stuck around after all these years still boggled my mind. Being rude was a defensive mechanism. I hurt others before they could hurt me. Francis, however, was one of the few people who bit back with insults of his own. I never knew what to expect with this man. Perhaps that's why I was so afraid to let him in…

"I came here to get a tattoo!" Francis declared proudly.

I blinked several times, contemplating his words. Then, like the emotional porcupine that I was, I went on the offensive. I would call Francis out on his bluff. Surely, he didn't actually intend to get a tattoo…right?

"Oh God," I feigned shock. "You're not serious, are you?"

"Of course I am!" Francis chuckled, azure eyes burning holes into my own. "You're stubborn, and this is the only way to make you believe me."

"Fine," I relented, smirking as I bent down to grab a stack of freshly printed release forms. "What would you like? Do you have a drawing for me to imitate? Or perhaps, you'd like to pick a design from our catalogue?"

I licked my lips, waiting for Francis to cave. So far, he wasn't budging. I'd make sure to change that soon enough.

"How about I let you pick one for me?" Francis suggested, batting his lashes. "I'd like one on my forearm, just like you," he purred.

"I don't see how this is proving anything," I muttered. "Give me your arm."

Francis let me take his right arm. It took an immense effort on my part to keep my hands steady as I pushed up his sleeve.

"Pity," I remarked, running my fingers over the smooth skin of his forearm. "I can hardly imagine tainting such pearly white skin with permanent ink."

Francis wavered. "Well, as they say," he smiled weakly. "Lovers should be willing to dedicate their body and soul to their partner…"

"Did you just imply that I'm your partner?" I asked, biting the inside of my cheek. Bloody hell. The cringe was just too strong for me not to be embarrassed. How could he be so brash and open like this? If I wasn't so perturbed, I would have felt admiration for him…

"Surely, you'll have to go out with me after this, non?" Francis smiled, his eyes filled with strain.

I couldn't bear to look at him, otherwise my own bluff would be called out. Instead, I poked and prodded at his forearm with my nails, making sure to dig them in occasionally. "Those are some bold words," I smirked. "Perhaps we should match that with some even bolder tattoos. I know the perfect design for you!"

"Sign those forms, I just have to get the machine ready," I smiled, baring my fake fangs.

I plugged in the chord for the liner machine, the familiar hum of the monstrous contraption sounding like music to my ears. From the corner of my eye, I saw Francis fill out the release form, his entire body stiff and his face paler than milk.

Satisfied with his reaction, I turned around, determined to make him sissy out before it was too late. Francis was merely trying to impress me. I was going to make him crack. He cared too much about his appearance to willingly let something blemish his 'flawless' appearance. "Done already?" I asked.

Francis weakly nodded his head.

"Well then," I drawled. "Roll up your sleeve. I was thinking of giving you a skull and roses tattoo. Just like that one," I pointed to a drawing hung up on the wire behind me. "It's one of my favourites…"

"H-how wonderful! I'd love that!" Francis just about squeaked, his lips trembling. "It'll represent my 'dying' passion for you~"

Cheeky bastard.

We were both too prideful to give in to the other. At least, not yet anyway.

I grabbed Francis's arm again. "Jesus Christ!" I exclaimed. "Loosen up, will you?"

"D-desole," Francis apologized.

I shook Francis's rigid arm, but his tense muscles refused to uncoil themselves.

We both fell into a stubborn silence as I marked up his arm with a fine sharpie pen, sitting him down in a chair.

"You know," I mused. "It's not too late to change your mind."

"N-non!" Francis refused. "I want this…I want you…"

My face burned again. Thankfully, Francis was looking anywhere but me.

I grabbed the inking pen. "Last chance?" I taunted.

Silence.

I clicked a button, causing the pen to vibrate.

"I'm really doing it."

"O-Oui, I know."

"It's going to hurt…"

"Love demands pain sometimes…"

"Here it comes."

Francis swallowed heavily. "I can't wait."

I brought the vibrating pen closer and closer to his forearm, my eyes flickering towards Francis. The Frog was showing no signs of backing out. He had his eyes shut tight, his jaw clenched in nervous anticipation.

Damn it. This has gone too far.

I turned off the inking pen. "For fuck's sakes, Francis," I deadpanned, letting go of his arm. "Did you really think I'd force you into getting a tattoo that you didn't want? You bloody, stupid, stubborn bastard."

I despised how I had been the first one to give in.

Francis slowly opened his eyes, breathing for the first time in what must have been minutes. He muttered something in French, most likely a prayer of gratitude, before he fainted, his head lolling against the back of the chair.

"Fuck," I cursed.

I grabbed the bouquet of roses he had given me, sticking them under his nose. "Here Frenchie, Frenchie, Frenchie," I cooed. "Here's your daily fix of flamboyance and sunshine."

No response.

I quickly lost my patience.

"Come on you effeminate scoundrel, wake the fuck up already!"

I then took it upon myself to slap his cheek, scowling at the roughness of the stubble peppering his jawline.

Francis spluttered awake. "Q-quoi? What happened?!"

"You wanted to get a tattoo, I called out your bluff, and then you fainted," I muttered bitterly, crossing my arms.

Francis's cheeks became pink. "Oh," he murmured. "That sounds like something I would do."

Francis stood up, wobbling to the side.

I grabbed his arm, steadying him. For someone so thin, he sure did weigh a lot. "What the hell do you think you're doing? You need to sit down and wait until the dizzy spell passes. And lay off the wine and bread, will you? You're not going to stay thin forever," I grumbled.

Francis laughed, shrugging of my arm. "Silly Arthur, I'll be fine. My pride is what needs to be salvaged. Besides, wine and bread is good for the soul. I won't ever give up those luxuries, just like I won't ever give up on you."

I watched him in stunned silence as he staggered towards the front door. "I'll be back, Mr. Kirkland. You can count on it."

"You're never going to leave me alone, are you? Idiot."

Francis chuckled warmly, sending chills running up my spine. "Oui. Not once have you ever said that you didn't want me. It's only a matter of time before you realize that I'm the one you need."

"I-! Just wait a minute!"

BRING!

Francis left the parlour, leaving me speechless once again.

I cupped my flushed face, burying it in my hands. "Damn him. Fuck me," I cursed.

I paused, realizing the double meaning of what I had just said. "FUCK!"

…

Lukas came in a few hours later to take over my shift.

"Arthur?"

"Wot?!"

"Why is your face so red? Do you have a fever?"

"No, why do you ask? And what's that smug look on your face for?!"

Lukas sighed, an unreadable expression on his face. "Looks like that Frenchman finally got through to him," he muttered to himself.

"Wot was that?!"

"Nothing."

…

One week later…

I was beginning to grow worried. I hadn't seen Francis's ugly amphibian mug for close to a week now. Don't get me wrong; I enjoyed the quiet. But, I couldn't help but wonder: What if he did decide to give up on me? Had I really been that awful to him?

I couldn't explain it, but I felt empty. As a man of routine, I expected things to run according to schedule. So when they didn't, I felt…off.

As if the God's were testing me, seeing how long my patience would wane, a familiar face in an unfamiliar get-up walked into the parlour. My jaw dropped, and I burst out laughing.

Francis had 'gothed' up. His blond hair was replaced with a black wig, making his blue eyes appear to be sharper than before, despite the copious amounts of eyeliner and eyeshadow that covered his eyelids. His shallow, slender nose now had a ring embedded at the tip of it, with plenty of other lip piercings to complement it underneath. His face was much paler, so pale in fact that I suspected him of wearing face makeup. His lips were painted a matted black, tight and held in a firm 'stoic' grimace. For his outfit, he was wearing a graphic Metallica t-shirt, tight black skinny jeans, and matching combat boots.

"Dear lord!" I guffawed, wiping tears from my eyes. "Did you just come back from a ritual of sacrificing virgins?"

Francis's 'stoic' expression lifted, his painted lips curling into a predatory grin. "What, do you not like my outfit?"

"Of course not!" I wheezed, bending over to clutch my rib-cage. "You look bloody ridiculous."

Francis furrowed his brows. "I don't understand? I'm dressed just like you?"

And then he became angry.

"Mon dieu! You're impossible to please!" Francis snapped, raking his hand through his fake black locks. The piercings were also fake. "It took me several days to make myself look like…like this!"

I faltered. "No one asked you to do this for me."

"But I wanted to!" Francis threw his hands up into the air.

"Sorry to shit on your emo parade, but not everything can go your way, you know," I smirked.

"I dyed my hair for you!"

Oh bollocks.

My mouth parted open in shock. Francis's hair was the thing most dear to him. "Francis," I began, swallowing heavily. I was still stunned that he had taken things this far. And what for? To impress me? To win me over?

"Don't tell me that dye's permanent," I croaked, biting my lip. I felt downright awful.

Francis groaned, looking up at the ceiling. "Oui, it is."

I left the front counter, walking up to him. "You're such an idiot," I scoffed. "I don't even use real dye."

"You don't?" Francis asked.

"My Mum would disown me," I smiled weakly. "She's an uptight and traditional sort of person."

"Oh," Francis breathed, winded by his own shock. "I see…"

"Well fuck," I placed both hands on my hips. "What now? This is quite possibly the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me."

Francis finally met my gaze, hope sparking in his eyes. "Really?"

"Yes, really," I huffed, thoroughly embarrassed to be admitting something so personal. "Now can we get back to the part where I lecture you for being an idiot?"

"Oui," Francis bowed his head.

In response, I reached over and placed my hand over the back of his head, ruffling his hair lightly.

"You looked better before," I said gruffly. "If I can't spell it out to you, then I'll just be outright with it. You don't have to change anything about yourself to please me. I wouldn't have kept you around if I hadn't liked you. Likewise, you don't have to prove anything to me. The fact that you stayed all this time is enough proof in itself."

"Arthur...?" Francis looked up at me finally.

I sighed. "Fine. I'll go on a date with you. I've finally succumbed to the realization that I'll never truly get rid of you."

Francis squealed, surprising me when he pulled me into a hug. "Oh, mon petit hedgehog!" he cooed. "So you do have a heart~!"

I awkwardly patted Francis's back, blushing furiously. "Yes, yes. I think that's already been established. Now if you could please remove yourself from my torso and let me breathe, that'd be very much appreciated."

Francis pulled away, straightening his posture as he beamed down at me.

"I'll go pick up a packet of hair dye from the drugstore. It's painful looking at you like this," I muttered.

Francis cupped my cheek, batting his mascara coated lashes. "As a true French, I'll do anything for love. Eh, perhaps I did go a bit overboard with this look though…"

I leaned into Francis's touch, sighing contently.

As an Englishman who worshipped clever wordplay, I couldn't dream of missing out on this opportunity to make a good pun. "Just a tat too much," I mused. "Now c'mere, you. Let's rub off that lipstick of yours."

Francis and I exchanged smirks before he bent down and kissed me.

Although the smudge of his lipstick on my lips wouldn't last, his unconditional love had forever marked a place in my cold, bitter heart.

Tattoos weren't the only things that could be permanent, after all.

~The End

A/N: Make sure to check out browsofglory’s one-shot. They’re an amazing author :D You can find their one-shot here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12592784/1/Arthur-and-Francis-Go-to-Couple-s-Therapy

Thanks again. Have a great day/ night :D

[3one3]

The Sequel - 813

Working Posture

André Schürrle, Juan Mata, other Chelsea/BVB players, and random awesome OC’s (okay they’re less random now but they’re still pretty awesome)

original epic tale

all chapters of The Sequel

“Hey. I didn’t think you’d wait up,” André remarked with cautious optimism when he padded into the bedroom at home quite late on Tuesday night, after his team’s DFL Cup snow-day make-up match.

“Shhh.” His wife was sitting up in bed with her computer, and she peeled the comforter down to reveal the platinum haired child sleeping on her underneath.

“Why isn’t he in bed?” the player whispered, pausing at the door to his dressing room.

“He didn’t feel well.”

“Oh.” At least she’s talking to me, he thought as he ducked inside to put his bag down and take off some clothes. That’s an improvement. Christina hadn’t spoken to him since he accused her of “saving it” for Juan- “it” being her appetite for sex. He slept in a bedroom at the opposite end of the house that night because he didn’t even want to be near her, and then remorse set in on Monday morning when he realized she’d already worked out and headed to the barn before he woke up. She didn’t even send him a text that day. He only knew she arrived safe in London because she posted a picture of an extravagant looking drink at Daphne’s. Just as there was no “good morning”, there was no “goodnight”, no acknowledgement on Tuesday morning, and no “good luck” ahead of his match.

Choosing between anger and disappointment was no easy task. He went to bed angry after their fight, and woke up sad. He got angry about the silent treatment, and went to bed feeling sad that Christina wouldn’t talk to him all day. Then he was angry again when the silence continued in the morning, and really sad that she couldn’t even see fit to wish him well for the match when she found out that he was starting. André scored a goal, and it was one that mattered too rather than an inconsequential one in a 6-goal rout. He was elated, until he saw that his girl wasn’t among the people who sent him messages of congratulations. The anger was inherent throughout that time, and for weeks and months before that. It was really just the level of disappointment that waxed and waned. When he missed her and longed for her companionship, he got sad that things weren’t right between them anymore. When he didn’t need her for anything, there was no other emotion to shove the anger to the side and that was the one he felt most strongly. He wasn’t sure when he got home if he was angry or sad. There was the silent treatment thing, but then there was also his desire to share his other emotions, tied to the game, with someone who cared. He missed sharing, and he finally had something good to share.

“Do you want me to put him in the crib?” the BVB man questioned the girl with her hair clipped to the top of her head and a pen between her lips. She shook her head. There was an empty glass on her nightstand, which she couldn’t reach from where she was sitting anyway, so he asked if she needed anything. Again she shook her head. It was clear her attention was on the computer. It was difficult to read her since she wouldn’t speak. Is she mad at me? Is she trying to ignore me without being childish about it and completely refusing to interact but hoping I’ll get the message and go away? Or is she just very into whatever she’s doing? Should I get in bed? Should I sleep in the other room? To answer any of those questions, he needed to first decide what he wanted. He needed to decide if he wanted to be able to sleep next to her, or if he preferred to just go spend another night alone and wait for her to come around on her own. Maybe we can’t upset each other if we sit in the same bed but can’t speak? André decided to get into bed- carefully, of course. Christina’s reaction was a surprise.

“Nice goal,” she said quietly before carefully leaning over to kiss his cheek. A little notepad slid off the MacBook Pro at the same time. What she had on the screen was actually more relevant to him.

“Where are you going?” he asked, unable to keep a hint of whining out of his voice. She was looking at Google Flights.

“So...um...we’re gonna go to the Global Champions Tour rounds in Mexico City and Miami after the World Cup in Omaha. I’m looking for a place to hang out between the World Cup and Mexico City since there’s three free days and I don’t think I want to spend them- Well, actually- I think I’m gonna bring Lukas with me now since I’m going to be gone longer, so I don’t know if I want to have him in Mexico City for extra days when we could visit someplace better on the way, like Austin. Miami is easy. We can go there early, no problem. He loves the beach.”

“You guys are leaving for three weeks?” he asked with a blend of disbelief and disappointment.

“Yeah...I think it’ll be good for...me...and I’ll be home for three and a half weeks after that.”

“You hate it here that much that you think going away forever is good for you? Or you just want away from me?” His follow up question was completely flat. It was a little louder than the conversation up to that point though, and Christina recognized that they were headed in a direction that would only get even louder.

“I think I should take him to bed before we get into it,” she sighed.

“Or we could just not get into it. We don’t have to have a fight about everything. You can try just talking to me, and being reasonable.”

“I’m not the one raising my voice.” She pushed the computer and the pillow it sat on further down her legs, and then reached under the blanket to rub Lukas’ back above where her other arm was around him. Juan took her to his dad’s restaurant that morning to see how it was shaping up and to make an early lunch out of the executive chef’s “menu research session”. They got to try all of the food the kitchen staff was experimenting with as they finalized their first menu. Then she flew back, exercised 4 horses, and went home to spend the rest of her day with Lukas. Despite it getting easier to make decisions about what she wanted and needed, it was not easy to reconcile how those decisions would affect her son. Even if she somehow grew to loathe his dad, she couldn’t get comfortable with taking him away, or sharing him across borders. It was very tough for her to reconcile that two years earlier the thing she wanted most in life was to raise a wonderful kid with her wonderful Schü, and in the present time she was worried that they couldn’t even spend a day together.

“You promised that you want to give us a chance. This isn’t giving us a chance. How can you see how much better everything is when we’re together if we still aren’t together?”

“Nothing is better when we’re together. We’re worse when we’re together.”

“You know what I mean. You know we have to give it time.”

“How is giving it time going to help when the more time we spend together the more we fight? Where is this magical crossover point where time together goes from terrible to great? How long do we have to suffer first? Is there a date I can put on my calendar?”

“Why don’t you just say that you don’t want to be together anymore and you want to go back to London and be with Mata?”

“I don’t want to be together anymore and I want to go back to London and be with him.”

“What?”

“I want to be with him. Right now, I want that. I do. It’s true. In some ways, I feel like I’m already with him. But I want to give us a chance. I want to see if you and me are still what I want more.”

“Then why are you leaving instead of using the chance?”

“Because I need a life outside of you and me and me and him. I need to build a structure that can stand on its own, so when the two of you fuck me up it doesn’t ruin my entire life.”

“So...this is a competition now? You want us to compete?”

“Not at all. I love you, and us at our best is still the best thing I’ve ever had. I want to know if that’s a thing of the past, or if our best is yet to come. We’re a long way from our best. We’re unhappy. I can’t be unhappy forever, babe. I won’t do that to myself. That’s what my mom did. If we can’t be happy together again, then I’m going to be with the person I’m happy with. I know that’s hard to hear. It’s hard to say. It’s not romantic. It’s just...the truth. It’s not you versus him. It’s you and me versus ourselves. I’m not sitting here waiting for you to prove anything to me. You and I have to work together to see if we’re still capable of making each other happy.”

“I’m happy that you think it’s a problem with both of us and not that I don’t love you, because that’s an argument I’ve heard too many times and I can’t handle that again, but I don’t see how you’re “working together” if you’re not even here, Prinzessin.” André had a lot to take in at once and not much time to figure out how he felt about each thing. It made him crazy to hear his wife say she actively wanted to be with Juan, and that in that moment she did want to leave him and go be with the Spaniard, and that he made her happy, and she even thought she already was with him in some way. He was furious about it, and heartbroken. The only thing keeping him from exploding was not that his little boy didn’t feel well and was trying to sleep, but that the grown-up person inside knew he gave Christina permission to have any kind of relationship she wanted with Juan, and he was capable of seeing their situation from her perspective. There was no denying that she was unhappy. There was no denying that he could have done better and done more to stop the trend in that direction and get things turned around. He thought it was nothing but understandable that she would gravitate toward the thing that provided relief from her problems and her disappointments. There were occasions in their past in which he thought she manufactured excuses to ignore the good thing they had together in favor of exaggerating the significance of Juan’s feelings for her. It wasn’t like that anymore. She didn’t, in his eyes, deliberately blow up their happiness in order to explore happiness with someone else. Christina was just searching for happiness and grateful to take it wherever she could get it.

That wasn’t all his fault, and he knew that too. That she acknowledged her role and didn’t just try to blame him for it meant a great deal to him. But understanding the angles of the situation didn’t make it easier to digest. He wasn’t happy either. He was just done with thinking he could ever find happiness elsewhere. He had those spells. He had those times when he was so angry and disappointed in Christina’s behavior that he thought he might be better off with someone else. He did leave her for 6 months, after all. The German just never let himself get all the way to “I want to be with someone else”. He always still wanted to be with her, if she could only change.

“You said a while ago that I’m never okay if things are up in the air with Dirk, and I think that’s right. What if I can’t be happy with you because I’m not okay with where I’m at with him, and I’m not getting to a good place with him because of all the drama with you? I think I just need to get out of this negative feedback loop...get away for a few weeks and just focus on myself,” Christina explained with sympathy. She wouldn’t look her partner in the eye though, and that concerned him. “Remember last year when I took him and Nicky to Asia for three weeks and I wasn’t speaking to you or Juan when I left? He made his big comeback, and I started to feel better, and by the time I got back I was good with all three of you again.”

“I get the thinking in that idea, but I don’t get why it’s impossible for you to be happy here, with me, if you aren’t winning everything with Dirk, when you say you’re currently happy being with Juan. Is it just me you can’t be with when you’re not the best in the world? I don’t understand that,” he shot back, a little cold. I want to believe her, and she’s really just making an argument I already made to her, but I told her she couldn’t be happy about anything if she wasn’t happy with the damn horse. She’s saying she’s fine when she’s with Mata. What sort of sense does that make?

“Happy with him is relative.” She scratched at her neck and alternated between pretending that required looking at the ceiling, and looking down at Lukas, who was falling off the side of her thigh and drooling on her BALR. t-shirt, which was the least baller thing imaginable. “I don’t suddenly become carefree and overjoyed with life when I’m with him. I still have the same issues inside. What I don’t have is the antagonizing and petty fights and inability to connect. Look, I don’t want this to turn into me listing all the things I appreciate about him, or that he does and you don’t,” she sighed. “But I told him the same thing. I told him I can’t be good with my riding with him right now either because if I just gave up on you and me and said “Okay, I’m with Juan now,” then I would be horribly heartbroken and upset and I still couldn’t ride. I told him I’m choosing Dirk right now, and actually I told him I’m thinking about going to a lot of shows after the three and a half week break- like, a lot, a lot of shows- like only one week off between the beginning in May and the announcement of the Olympic team at the end of July- and he said I can’t do that because it’s not giving you and me a chance to find out what we’re all about now. He’s not lobbying for himself. I wasn’t telling him “oh I can’t be with you right now either” and he was trying to say I could. It wasn’t like that. He wants what’s best for me because he believes that’s the best thing for him too, so...I don’t know. Anyway. It’s not just you. I need to go away and focus on myself and my horses and my riding for a little while so that I am the best me I can be and thus the most ready and open and capable of being a good partner. It’s like...how you have to rotate crops. If you grow the same crop on your plot of land over and over, it strips the soil of stuff and then eventually you can’t grow on it anymore, so you have to plant a different thing now and then. I want to plant my career for three weeks and then see if our relationship re-grows after. God, that sounds cheesy,” the rider cringed.

“I guess I understand that, but are you saying you want it to be like that Asia trip, and you’re not even going to talk to me? You’re going to take the baby away and just be completely alone for three weeks? I don’t want to say that everything that’s good for your career is automatically bad for mine, but how is it fair to me that I have to suffer by myself and-“

“No, babe. No.” Christina shook her head emphatically to deny the allegation that she wanted to be alone for three weeks. That wasn’t what the agenda was about. “We’re gonna talk every day. I’m not trying to cut myself off. I mean, I don’t want you complaining every day that you wish I were home, because that isn’t going to be helpful, but I’m not looking to be completely apart like that,” she chuckled quietly. They’d been speaking in normal indoor voices and it was evident that Lukas was down for the count. He wasn’t going to wake up. “And if you don’t want him to come with me for the whole trip then that’s okay with me but you’re the one who has to tell Espen she has to fly across the globe with him by herself. I would be fine with not having him in Miami, for example, because I imagine there are some preeeeetty good parties that week, but at the same time, he loves the beach so...I dunno. Whatever. I was never going to bring him to Omaha in the first place, so maybe they can just meet me in Mexico. I’m negotiable. Whatever you want.”

“I’m going with the national team next week, so I’m not even going to see you. We have a match the day you leave,” André mumbled absently, mentally reviewing the calendar. “I won’t see you for a whole month.” This wasn’t how this was supposed to go, he thought. Now we live together in the same country and somehow we’re together less than before.

“Did you talk to Bierhoff? I thought you said you didn’t think you’d get called up.”

“He called me today.”

“Oh. Well congratulations. That’s good, right? Jogi still loves you.” That also means I’m alone for a week when Juan has nothing to do, Christina realized. Juan already knew he was not going to be on the list of players called to play for La Seleccion announced in a few days. A week when I’m supposed to be preparing for a World Cup Final though. Althoooouuuugh...the horses are leaving several days before me. Would it be horrible of me to go to the beach with Juanin for a little and then fly to Omaha from there? Then Lukas could stay here...

“Jogi is too invested in me to back out now. He’s going to call me every time as long as I’m fit. It saves him the trouble of having to break in someone new.”

“Oh come on. That’s bullshit. You’re also one of his most experienced players, your minutes per goal is among the best in the team, you’re a good guy he trusts, and you don’t make problems in the team. Don’t act like you’re included because Jogi Löw is lazy. He is the least lazy man on the planet.”

“Yeah,” Andre yawned. “I’m going to go get some of those chocolate covered almond butter balls, unless you ate them all.” I’m turning into a girl. Upset? Emotional? Chocolate. I need something sweet though, because I think she just tried to be fake sweet right now and I almost fell for it because I need sweet.

“I forgot we got them. I made peanut butter banana ice cream for Lulu Schü, if you want some...” His wife meant she made something that sort of looked like ice cream but without any cream. Her husband was tempted to tease her and imply that her dessert was probably the reason Lukas didn’t feel well. Instead, he volunteered again to take him to his crib, and she relented. The baby got a goodnight kiss, and Christina got a sort of solemn and sad look as his dad lifted him from her lap. Her whole idea about shutting out her broader reality to insulate herself from the hard stuff and focus on her riding was something that often applied to her relationship with her son. She had to actively instruct herself not to think about him when she went away, or she’d miss him too much to ever enjoy whatever she went away to do. Being with Juan, for example, required ignoring the little hole inside that was usually filled with the joy and satisfaction of taking care of Lukas and getting to know him as he figured out who he was. Missing him somehow always caught up with her when she got home, and she kind of retroactively experienced the bad stuff she refused to go through while she was gone, so she just wanted to be with him. It was totally fine with her that he couldn’t sleep and wanted to stay with her. Missing his bedtime was great. Mommy was happy to have a few extra hours with him.

She made a note on her to-do list to talk to Espen about them meeting her in Mexico, and closed out the rest of what she was doing on the computer. There was no point in making further plans until she knew who would be where, and when. The other “kids” in her life were not invited on the North American trip. Tom was still interviewing people to fill the other groom/property manager role, so Kyle would need to be home to take care of the horses and help ride the 4 horses Christina was leaving there. Stefanie didn’t want to spend the money to go to the World Cup Final just to spectate, and there wasn’t much value in shipping horses over there for her to do the 1* classes offered at the Tour events. Those two locations were really popular and the 40 slots open in the 5* classes would definitely be snatched up by riders at the top of the Longines ranking. She was nowhere near the top 100.

“Want one?” The BVB goalscorer returned with a coffee mug with three of the bite sized chocolate covered balls, and one already in his mouth. He was trying to chew, talk, and take his pants off all at the same time. His girl waited until he got back under the covers with the mug on his chest to help herself to one of the treats, and much to his surprise, she molded herself into her traditional position at his side to eat it, with her head on his shoulder. It was her turn to mumble through a mouth full of food.

“Thank you for listening and understanding and not making a fight.”

“You’re welcome. Thank you for explaining and being honest.”

“Welcome.”

“Thank you for watching the match tonight. My first thought after I scored the goal, besides “Thank God, finally,” was hoping you saw. I was so relieved.”

“I always watch.” Can goals change people, the rider wondered. Does relief change your whole vibe? His aura is so much calmer right now. I just gave him bad news, and told him I want to be with Juanin instead of him right now and I already told him it’s because of Juanin and not because of him, and he’s eating snacks and thanking me for watching him play football. If he didn’t score that goal, would we be shouting at each other right now? Would he be tucking himself in down the hall?

“Do you want to watch something right now?” André, indeed sort of too light of mood for the situation, reached for the TV remote on a pillow behind Christina, and since he had to reach around her to get it, he used that as an excuse to close her in with his arm and rest his hand on the top of her hip while he turned the TV on. “What about an old movie or something?”

“Too pumped to sleep?” His armrest knew the adrenalin spike of a much needed goal could be hard to come down from, and also that her husband had very little interest in old movies unless they were overtly in-your-face funny. They put him to sleep.

“Between the match and hearing my Prinzessin tell me she wants to leave me, you could say-“

“I didn’t mean it that way,” she interjected almost sheepishly. “I don’t want to leave you.” The armrest also behaved like an overly affectionate octopus, negotiating more of her body onto his and nuzzling her face into his shirt as if she could burrow beyond the cotton. “I just want to wake up and feel good more days than not, and go to bed feeling good, and for a while now the only good days are with Juan. I don’t want to leave you. I want good days with you too. They just...don’t seem to happen right now. I don’t think you’re having any good days either, regardless of me.”

“The last really good day I had was Valentine’s Day. Can you tell me what a good day with him looks like? What makes it good? Is it what you do together?” André squeezed the remote again to turn the TV back off. “Is it how he treats you? The places you go? That you don’t have Mausi with you to worry about?”

“It’s none of those things. That’s what’s so difficult about all this. It doesn’t matter what I do with him, or where we are, or who’s with us. It’s not like I enjoy hanging out with him because he fawns over me and puts his coat down over puddles so my shoes don’t get wet. I hate saying this to you, but he’s Happy Place-little-™ right now.”

“My current Happy Place™ is Mausi, and you when you’re asleep and can’t do or say anything I hate,” he smiled above her head. I’m teasing her, but it’s also the truth, he reminded himself. I know what she means with this term. She has used that term forever. She means the person who makes everything okay, and helps her relax, and who she can be completely unguarded with. We’ve always been that for each other. I don’t think she even recognizes that she is usually the Happy Place thing for me way more than I am for her. I think she’s split that between me and him for a long time.

“I’m sorry.” Christina aggressively rubbed the footballer’s stomach and side, from waist to chest. And she really was sorry. His comment was as harsh to her ears as anything she’d said to him was on his. No matter how many bad days they had, the rider had no will to hurt him, or exact revenge. “This is nice right now though, isn’t it?” she asked, trying to lift the mood. “Talking without getting upset.”

“If you’re not careful, I might think you’re only nice to me when I score goals, pretty girl.”

“I think you’re just more reasonable and calm about things when you’re not on edge about not scoring goals...”

“Is that your way of telling me I have to go away for three weeks to work on myself too?”

“Are there any football camps you can go to?” the Bee’s warm little appendage chuckled. At least he gets it, she thought. We have to be okay with ourselves before we can be okay together. “Also, has anyone pointed out to you that you and Thomas Müller have the same number of Bundesliga goals right now?”

“No.”

“Thomas Müller the actual human, I mean, not the goldfish.”

“I assumed you meant the human.”

“Thomas Müller the goldfish needs a bigger bowl, by the way. He’s growing again. Do you think we should get him a bigger home and maybe a friend?”

“I guess.”

“Want to find a fish store tomorrow? We can take Lulu Schü.”

“We’re going to end up coming home with a huge tank and a school of fish, and then every few days for a while you’re going to tell me how you had to skim a dead one off the top or wash it out of the filter.”

“You say that like you’ve heard my childhood fish tank stories.”

“Juan Mata is not the only guy who listens to your stories.”

“I know.”

The final points made in the goldfish exchange were exemplary of the couple’s inability to stop provoking one another. André didn’t have to bring up Juan, and Christina didn’t have to let that he did change the tone of the casual conversation. When she told him she knew Juan wasn’t the only one who listened to her, she let her voice sink, and with it went the small moment of Pax Schürris. She could have laughed it off, or ignored it. Instead she got quiet. They were equally culpable, at least that time, for their seismographic waves of peace and war. They were equally aware of it too.

“Sorry,” they told each other in near perfect unison some 90 seconds after the atmosphere between them bottomed out. One spent the reflection period rubbing some t-shirt between two fingers and staring at it, and the other spent it trying to bite a torn cuticle and staring at the blank TV.

“Why are you sorry?” the blonde questioned with surprise.

“Because I know you weren’t even trying to be a jerk and I reacted like you were doing it on purpose anyway.”

“It wasn’t a good way to joke.”

“It’s way past my bedtime...” the darker haired one announced, causing the other’s hopes to deflate a bit. Now she’s going to roll over and pat the blanket down around her so it’s like a protective bubble and that’s the end of trying to be normal tonight, he lamented inside. She’s like Jelly Bean. If you smack him for something then he doesn’t trust you for the rest of the day. That’s what she says about him anyway, he recalled. The anecdote came from an afternoon when he and his wife were having lunch together in her office and Stefanie came in to ask if Jelly Bean could have a few ml’s of a sedative called Dorm to get through having his feet trimmed because he bit the blacksmith and tried to kick the door to the storage room by the crossties where the guy’s truck pulled up for him to work. Christina readied the injection and it took quite a few tries to get the horse to be still so she could give it, and André asked why she didn’t just yank on his face or smack his butt and tell him to knock it off the way she did with the others. Jelly Bean would never be bitten twice. She told him that the animal wouldn’t trust you again if you hurt or scared him, maybe for a day, maybe for a week. It was an issue for him under saddle too. He didn’t trust Stefanie if she rode him to a terrible distance. The player felt his wife exhibited some of that behavior too. If he cut her or implied that he might, she moved a respectful distance away.

“Okay,” he said, thinking she was asking him to let go of her. He removed his arm from around her back, and expected her to sit up from his shoulder and chest. That wasn’t what she wanted.

“Will you be big spoon or are you not ready to sleep yet? We could angle a little so you can see the television if you want to watch something. The noise won’t bother me,” Christina pointed out, hope in her voice. Her partner felt a great deal of relief. It wasn’t on the same level as breaking a goal drought but it wasn’t that far off.

“Sure, Prinzessin.” Gimme, gimme, gimmie, he thought greedily while he waited for his girl to pick the ideal spot and position. He even held his arms out behind her, where she couldn’t see, like he was getting ready to capture something and squeeze it to death.