#put more emphasis on her injuries for... reasons :)

[obsidian-vineyard84]

A redraw of this post! Finally, redrew it with updated designs :D

[vividraft]

hellooo, can i pls request some separate hcs with jiyan and jinhsi where their s/o somehow injured their knee and trying to hide it but in the end, they found out about it?

lol i injured my knee so might as well request for some comfort XD

thank you so much! 🙇🏻‍♀️💖

being injured and hiding it ! *ੈ✩‧₊˚

⇢ ˗ˏˋ characters: Jinhsi, Jiyan

⇢ ˗ˏˋ readers gender not specified !

⇢ ˗ˏˋ important note: I didn't read that you requested hcs, so now there is hcs for Jiyan ans Jinhsi, but Jiyan additionally get's a little scenario hehe !

⇢ ˗ˏˋ a/n: thank you so much for your request! It was my very first request and I really really hope you enjoy this

masterlist

Jinhsi: 

You guys were on patrol together, clearing out Tacet Discords near Jinzhou

Jinhsi noticed you were already acting weird before you even met up to get started together

but she really couldn’t put a finger on what it was

so she tried to brush it off

emphasis on tried, because she really couldn’t

when watching you fight, your movements seemed sloppy

until she finally brought it up to ask you if you were feeling okay

you couldn’t bring yourself to lie to her. not now not ever

so you tell her how you injured your knee fighting some Tacet Discords the day before

and as much as you try to convince her that you’re fine, you can keep going, and that you’ll walk it off, she insists on heading back with you

she does end up having to drag you back to Jinzhou

then when you guys are back, she makes sure your injuries are treated well

and she pampers you until you are back on your feet (and can walk without limping) 

in the end she makes you promise to always tell you if you’re unwell 

Jiyan: 

Jiyan was supposed to go on a trip with you, which you did 

but you ended up encountering some Tacet Discords, and during the fight you get separated 

separated for just a second but you manage to get your knee hurt

you try to brush it off as nothing but when you find yourself unable to walk without limping, you are faced with an internal conflict 

you really don’t want to be a burden to Jiyan, so you tell him you’re okay 

but Jiyan notices. he notices everything 

so you guys walk a little, you trotting behind him with a limp, hoping Jiyan won’t notice 

and yet, despite all your efforts, Jiyan ends up confronting you 

and even when you continue to tell him that you’re fine and can keep going, he sweeps you up in his arms to carry you back to Jinzhou 

he isn’t mad at you, but he is worried about you, and your self neglecting habits of forcing yourself beyond your own borders when you’re clearly injured

but of course you do end up apologizing for lying to him

he is just glad that he gets to make sure that you’re going to be okay

bonus scenario !

Jiyan was basically right around the corner. You both were traveling together, fighting off some tacet discords, when you were separated. There was only one last Flautist left, and you were just about to tear through it with your sword, when you felt a sudden pain against your knee. 

In the last second, you were able to defeat the Tacet Discord, before it could follow up with a second attack. And it was also right second before Jiyan came dashing around the corner. 

“You okay?”, the question wasn’t asked because he suspected anything, it was more genuine worry about your well-being. Just how Jiyan was kinda always worried about you. 

There was a throbbing pain in your knee, which hurt when you stood. Or walked. It hurts no matter what. But you didn’t join Jiyan traveling just so you could be the reason to head back to Jinzhou on the first day. 

“Of course I’m okay! The fight was a breeze!”, you forced a smile on your face, even though you felt bad for lying to Jiyan. You suddenly forgot how you would have answered his question even if you were okay. 

Jiyan wasn’t blind. He could see the twitch in your eyelid in your forced smile. Yet he wasn’t going to pry. 

“Ookayyy. Come on. There might be more Tacet Discords ahead”, you nodded and wanted to follow up behind him. That was until you took a step, and the pain really hit you. Now, whenever you walked, you limped. 

You tried your best to hide your limping, but you were significantly slower than Jiyan. 

And Jiyan noticed. He noticed from the beginning that something was off. He definitely watched you like a hawk. 

You were way too busy trying to pretend like everything was fine, and trying to keep up with Jiyan, that you didn’t even notice that you guys were walking in a circle, suddenly back at the place where you were originally injured. 

Your knee was swelling up a little, and Jiyan noticed even before you. 

“Is there something you’re not telling me?”, Jiyan stopped walking, turned around and crossed his arms right in front of you. Unfortunately for you, because you were mid limp. 

“Uh… no what- what would there possibly be… are we in the same spot as we were 30 minutes ago?”, the realization that you were in the same spot painted confusion on your face. 

“Do you really think you can just lie to my face? I noticed you were injured when we were standing in this very spot. Now don’t deny it”, you couldn’t tell if Jiyan was actually angry with you or just concerned. And you weren’t about to push it any further. 

“Okay, okay, yeah some Tacet Discord gave me a direct blow to the knee and now it hurts a little, but it’s totally fine! I can keep going, no need for a break or anything!”, you were frantically waving your arms around, trying to signal that you were fine. 

Jiyan wasn’t having any of it. He merely sighed before swooping you up into his arms. 

With a yelp you tried to fight yourself out of his arms. 

“If you want me to head back, I can do it on my own! I can still see Jinzhou from here”, you argued. But Jiyan shook his head. 

“I need to make sure you’re being treated properly for your injury”

What followed were long moments of silence, while the air was filled with worry, and regret from you. At some point Jiyan suggested giving you a piggyback ride instead of carrying you bridal style, and you now wrapped your arms around him. 

The sun was slowly setting, and you knew that Jiyan’s trip had to be postponed for a few days at least. 

“Hey Jiyan…”

“Hm?”

“I’m sorry for lying to you about being injured. I should have just told you and headed back”, you apologized, hiding your face in the crook of his neck. 

“Don’t apologize, I understand your actions, and I wouldn’t have taken this trip without you anyways. Besides now I get to make sure you’re injury is being handled well”, Jiyan reassured you. 

“I love you too”, you smiled.

[redwineconversation]

I'm scared about the future and I want to talk to you (Lyon roster thoughts)

Look at me branching out from using Taylor Swift lyrics. Everyone is capable of growth.

Or are they? Not if we look at Lyon's roster as of today, and it's something I want to talk about.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - I positively hate the argument "we need to give the academy kids a chance so we can see what they can do." No, we don't. It's not up to Lyon to give academy players a chance, not if they want to be a competitive UWCL team. The two cannot go together. You cannot be both a development club and a UWCL contender. I can drop the bar even more - you cannot be both a development club and a title contender.

Titles are won by experience. They are won because players have been there before and they know how to win, they know how to deal with pressure and expectations and everything that comes along with playing in a high-stakes game. Those very same high-stake games are won by players who already know what it takes to win. They know because they have been there before.

Academy kids have not.

It's just such a weak - and borderline offensive - argument to say, well they've showed what they can do in training, they should be able to get some game minutes because of that. Why? If an academy player "shows interesting things" in training, what is to say they should play in a competitive game and be a difference maker? We've already had this conversation, we already know what happens when academy kids are put in a high stakes game with actual consequences, and the answer is Lyon loses the game.

In order to be the best you have to be able to compete, and academy kids just aren't on the level yet. Now, could they be in the future, maybe. Sure. But it's not up to Lyon to find out if an academy kid can or cannot make it, not if they want to win titles. As I said, you cannot be both a development club and a title contender. If you accuse me of being too harsh - go on, find me a team who has won the UWCL with a focus academy players. Find me a team who wins their league by putting an emphasis on academy players.

The lack of competitive recruitment is genuinely concerning to me. It's borderline a professional foul to have let a player like Leuchter gone to PSG. Losing Cascarino to the San Diego Wave is understandable because of Cascarino being on the record of always wanting to play overseas, losing Mbock to PSG and pretending that Sylla, arguably the most injury prone player bar Christen Press, is a suitable replacement is not.

Lyon is one injury crisis away of being forced to play in a back three because of Carpenter having no genuine competition/rotation at RB, Renard and Gilles' covers being Sylla and Sombath, and Bacha being mentally on a different team and/or Svava being, well, Svava. How that doesn't give more people sleep paralysis is beyond me. If we thought September - December 2022 was bad, that makeshift back line of 2022 will seem elite compared to a worse case scenario with the current team.

The midfield is also a genuine cause for concern. Marozsan is still with the team for reasons no one quite understands. Van de Donk for all intent and purposes is most likely gone in 2025. That brief hour when there were rumors of Majri going to Inter Milan was the best hour of my life, the rumor being shut down was the worst emotional crash I've had in a long time. Mendy is an academy kid. Horan is coming off arguably her worse season. Dabritz, when fit, is an incredible player, the issue is she is injury prone. Damaris has yet to play an entire season without being injured.

And I don't care what the Twitter fan girls say, Benyahia is not Lyon's savior. Did she have a good season with Le Havre? Yes, she did. But again I cannot for the life of me understand why people are so eager to pretend that Le Havre was not in a relegation battle for probably 80 percent of the season. Saving a team from relegation does not automatically transform you into the Savior of Lyon's Midfield.

"Oh but we need to give her a chance to see what she can do!" Do we though? I understand the state of Lyon's midfield is dire - I think any real Lyon fan can and should admit that - but that does not automatically mean she should saunter into a starting lineup. Lyon is not (yet?) Le Havre. The standards and expectations are not the same. One good season in a relegation battle team does not, or at least should not, translate into an automatic starter position.

The attack isn't much better. We don't know when we will get Hegerberg back. Chawinga has to learn an entirely new system. Diani's head space is a work in progress. My stance on Vicki Becho is well documented by now. Le Sommer has talent but not speed. We need younger talent in front line, we needed a player like Leuchter and instead let her go to a direct rival. Liana Joseph might have talent but we are back to where we started: Lyon cannot afford to be both a development team and a UWCL contender.

if Michele Kang wants Lyon to succeed, she needs to put an actual emphasis on recruiting top players. But in order to do so, she also needs to remember Lyon exists.

Right now Lyon is in a crisis with a mediocre coach who seems content on coasting with players he doesn't know what to do with. Not that it really matters, anyway - Lyon doesn't even have a home stadium yet, so maybe fans won't even be forced to witness a catastrophic self-implosion anyway.

[uwukillmenowowo]

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐓𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥 [Tokyo Debunker X F!Reader]

[ 2 | Not Home] 『🏠』

Key's for the story: Insert - Narrative - And then she stared at her reflection in the mirror [Insert] - Author speaking - [Eyyy there- wazzup readers] "Insert" - Talking - "Hey there!" [But can also be air quotes] 'Insert' - Thinking - 'Dame he's cute...' "Insert" - Whispering - "I- I messed up..." [But can also be an emphasis on a word/phrase, or flashback] (Insert) - Inner mind..? - (Deadass doesn't know how to explain it here) *Insert* - Action - *Sighs with their head down*[INSERT] - Magic - [OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!] or [IGGNAIM!]

𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫: [ 1 | Red Train] 『🩸』

━━━✦❘༻🔮༺❘✦━━━

[Book 0] The Academy of Ghouls

[Chapter 2] I'm Not Home... 

━━━✦❘༻🔮༺❘✦━━━

{Your POV}

~~~~~

"...line"

"We will soon be arriving at the final stop, Shimbashi Station"

"Huh..?"

I was jolted back to consciousness by a familiar announcement. I was back in a normal train car. For some reason, daylight was streaming through the windows. "Still no other passengers... But everything else seems normal...?" I questioned aloud. "Sorry, but I'm still here." I screamed in shock and threw my hand at whatever was around me until I heard a loud slap.

"I-Itai!" The stranger groaned. "AH! I-I-I'M SO SORRY!" I yelled and raised my hand to his cheek. "You're not injured are you? I didn't hit you too hard?" I tried to stand up to help him but the world tilted as my leg buckled beneath me. "Ahah- Careful. I'm okay. You didn't hurt me. But you don't seem to be uninjured." I hummed and winced at the pain in my right leg.

"Oops... Looks like we got a civilian injured. I probably shouldn't mess around with that out here." He then looked up at me and smiled softly. "Sorry. I'll do something about your injury after... so let me clear out your head first." I raised a brow as the man suddenly lit up a match. I was about to ask why he lit it up but he spoke first, "Do you know what this is?"

I hummed as the white-ish blue flames flickered on the match. I was about to respond but suddenly the man blew out the match... 'Huh?????' I was very confused so I blinked twice. "A match..?" I answered unsure. "Hm? What's that?" He asked me as he tilted his head. "You... You asked me what I thought it was, didn't you..?" I became more confused. Was that match supposed to do something. "Huh? Did you have your eyes closed?" I bit my lip and he took another match out of the botter he was holding and lit it with the striker strip.

'Now that I got a closer look... the match and that bottle have a hit of magic aura around it...' I sucked in a breath and the man held the match to my eye height. "Could you look at this fire for me?" I nodded and stared at the fire. 'This is definitely magic. But how? My home never had magic before...' The man stared hard at me with a furrow in his brow as though he didn't like that response. "*Whew*" He blew out the match again.

'What is this supposed to do? Sure it has magical properties... but what are they supposed to do? I was curious now.' "Umm..." I stammered. "Yeah?" The man hummed as I watched a bead of sweat fall down his face. "That flower thing, uhh- Taiga... the man with red hair, the red outside, the fog, the train changing- What was all of that?" 

The man suddenly gasped and took a step back. "The matches... They don't work on you..?"

I gave a confused hum. "Are you talking about the matches in that bottle?" I pointed at the bottle in his hands. He slumped his shoulder defeatedly and shook it. "Bingo. You're putting me in a tough spot, though... And you're injured. Guess we should go back to the academy." I giggled, thinking he was joking. "Haha! An academy? What? Do you have an academy that specializes in dealing with monsters like that flower lady?" But what shocked me was that the man just gave a hum.

'He's not serious... is he?' I thought as the smile disappeared from my face and I stared at him wide eyed. 'PELASE DON'T TELL ME IT'S LIKE NRC! I'VE ALREADY DELT WITH TOO MANY PROBLEMS!' A buzzer sounded in the train car, and the doors slid open. "Can you stand?" He asked me and I nodded. I slowly stood up. I leaned against his shoulder for balance, and we stepped through the door.

"I had a bad feeling when I heard Taiga was heading this one. Glad I cordoned everything off,." The stranger seemed like this happens everyday and pulled out his phone to make a call. "Here, lean against this wall while I make this call." I nodded and used the wall for support as the stranger made a call. "Hello? Yeah, slight emergency. No, not Taiga... well, kind of him, I suppose. We've got an injured civilian, but the matches aren't working. About the same age as me? Yeah. Female. Uh-huh. Right. One sec."

The stranger looked to me and smiled softly. "Sorry, What's your name?" I hummed and looked back at him. "My name?" The stranger nodded. "Yeah, they need it for paperwork. Could you tell me your name?" I sighed and smiled back, thinking that he was calling a clinic. "My name is [Y/n] [L/n]. Feel free to call me [Y/n]." The stranger nodded and made an okay sign at me. "It's [Y/n]. Yep, yep... Got it. Thanks, sorry again about that. I'm Haku Kusanagi."

Haku put his phone away and turned back to me, sticking out his hand for a handshake. "Nice to meet you" I smiled back and shook his hand. "I'm really sorry, but I'm going to need you to come with me." I asked, "To a clinic..?" Haku shook his head. "No, I'm not taking you to a clinic."I gave a confused look and Haku scratched the back of his neck, looking sheepish.

"Sorry to throw this on you all of a sudden. Of course you're freaked out." I chuckled but internally I was laughing so hard. 'Freaked out?! From That?! Even RSA could be more scary than that!..... Which is not a good thing...'

"I wish I could explain everything to you now... but it'll all make sense once we get to the academy." I paled when he mentioned academy. "What academy..?" I asked. "Darkwick Academy." Haku mentioned while smiling.

I flinched. 'Darkwick Academy..? I've.... never heard that name before.' I check my phone, maps, calendar, all the apps that tell me the time, place, and other stuff. 'Darkwick Academy... these weird stuff that I've never delt with till now (besides at Twisted Wonderland.)'

No.... This... I thought.... 'This isn't home...' I thought. 'The... The dark mirror didn't send me back home...' I thought in panic before I took in deep breaths to calm myself. 'I've been in this situation before! I can handle it... I'll... I'll be fine...'

But Haku seemed to mistake my panic for something else. "I swear I'm not shady. Look." Haku pulled a card out of his jacket pocket and placed it in my palm. The front of the card blazed, revealing fold lettering and a photo of the man standing in front of me. "Haku Kusanagi, Hotarubi House, Third Year..." Haku smiled and nodded. "That's me. I'm a student there."

I then gasped a little. "What..? I-Is Taiga also a student there..?" Haku chuckled. "You catch on quick. Well, anyway... that's the deal. Let's get going before that cut gets any worse." It might have been my imagination, but the supportive hand on my back seemed to hurry me along.

But at the same time I felt as if my chance to find my actual way home has been sealed away from me...

𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫: [ 3 | Stars] 『⭐』

[fictionkinfessions]

i’m a linktype of a character who isn’t neccesarily a villain, but is often portrayed that way, because my abusive partner is a more popular fan-favourite. and, yes, she was abusive, too. they paint me as the only one who did anything wrong in the relationship when, really, the toxicity was mutual and reciprocated. i understand and agree with the fact i hurt her - i made some bad decisions. but she hurt me, too, and nobody seems to acknowledge that in favour of viewing her as their woeful innocent blorbo whom i unfairly wronged. sometimes in toxic relationships, there isn’t just the ‘victim’ and the ‘abuser’ - sometimes both parties are victims and abusers in their own right. it isn’t black and white.

for context: i was forced into a death game orchestrated by people who want to see people suffer for their own perverse entertainment. in this death game everyone was pre-assigned a ‘soulmate’ to pair with, somebody who shared injury and death, a two birds with one stone mechanic. i went around looking for my soulmate the entire session, i asked everyone i met if they were the ones, but i couldn’t find my soulbound. eventually i learned the reason i couldn’t find her was because she was in our world’s equivalent of hell risking our shared life by needlessly putting herself in danger - emphasis on needlessly because there was literally no reason to go galavanting through the most perilous places she could find on the first day other then thrill. especially without considering it wasn’t just her life she was putting in danger. do you know how terrifying it is? to feel immense pain ripple through your body without warning at any moment but there’s nothing you can do about it because it’s not technically yours (yet it hurts you anyway?) it hurt it hurt so bad and it hurt worse because i’d been being so careful for her - i hadn’t even been risking getting a splinter because i hadn’t wanted to hurt her and she did not seem to share that sentiment. she didn’t care her self-destructive recklessness was hurting me too.

i decided, you know what? screw fate. i want to be able to forge my own destiny - i want to be able to choose who i think is right for me and chose who i want to be with for myself. i want to have the freedom to make my own choice regarding who i want to spend the rest of my life with instead of having it arranged for me by ‘fate’; aka the people who put me in a death game and defintely don’t have my best interests in mind. so i did. i met somebody and i love them a lot! /p. we weren’t ‘soulmates’ - but does it really matter? we love and care for each other, we’d die and kill for each other, i don’t care if they aren’t ‘who the universe had in mind’. they’re mine and i’m theirs. besides, my ‘soulmate’ had already done the same thing and had teamed with someone else, so it’s not like i was ‘cheating’ when a) if i was, they’d cheated first and b) we hadn’t even met i’d hardly consider us to be in a relationship. i made this very clear when i cut her off.

she ended up going insane from the loneliness. she blamed me because i’d ‘abandoned’ her and ‘made her’ that way. had i though? i didn’t make her kill all those people - i didn’t make her do anything. she’s responsible for her own actions. all i did was decide what i’d wanted for myself and that i didn’t feel comfortable in a relationship with her. she hadn’t respected any of the boundaries I’d put in place and ended up harassing me and my partner. from there, things escalated - we both started hurting ourselves to hurt the other (though by far, she was worse with it). we both did a lot of shitty things to each other. and i acknowledge that i did a lot of shit things and hurt her! i acknowledge she’s not an evil person, just a hurt person who lashed out because of it. but so am i. she hurt me, too, but she never acknowledged it or took responsibility - she never apologized. i’m not an evil person, either, i’m somebody who was also traumatized and because of it made bad choices that hurt others, just like her, and yet i don’t recieve the “ooooh poor baby it wasn’t their fault they were just scared and scarred!” treatment she does, because she’s a fan favourite, so the fandom blorboifies her. it just makes me so frustrated to see source me portrayed as toxic and abusive and the villain when it was so much more complicated then that. she was just as toxic and abusive to me as i was to her. people just choose to ignore that fact to make her look better. yes, she was abused. but she was also an abuser. she abused me as much as i abused her.

if any pearls see this i just want you to know. i am sorry. i am sorry i hurt you - i am sorry things didn’t work out between us. i’m sorry for what we become. but i hope you’re sorry, too, i hope you can acknowledge that we were both in the wrong. i hope you regret what you put me through - that you understand that you hurt me too. that i’m still recovering from what you put me through.

but i hope that this gives you closure. i hope you get better. i hope you heal.

- ✨scott smajor, source: double life smp

x

[gamesception]

lets read rgu chapter 10

So we ended off chapter 10 at the party from anime episode 3, only instead of Nanami’s disintegrating dress gag, Sionji shows up to try to kidnap Anthy and or murder Utena outright, something he didn’t get around to until like episode 9 in the anime.  I’m not even sure how this is going to end...

But I probably should have guessed it would end the same as Sionji’s episode 9 outburst, with Touga jumping in to protect Utena & getting hurt.

So we really are just doing the episode 9 thing, only without the weirdness of the whole dueling ritual falling apart and/or skipping to the end/the castle collapsing/Anthy returning to her coffin when Saionji forces events out of order.

In the anime that whole situation was explicitly set up by Touga to manipulate Utena’s feelings.  Here at least for the moment it seems like Saionji was acting on his own and Touga’s self sacrificial heroics were at least partially sincere.

I know Saito wasn’t working with a full summary or script, so this might be accidental rather than a deliberate move, but if it was intentional it strikes me as a good call, plot wise.  For one, it’s more believable for Touga’s eventual win if he has more time between his injury and the duel, for another the manga wants to put deliberately more emphasis on Utena’s relationship with Touga, and moving this moment much earlier in the plot helps enable that, giving Utena a reason to look past his playboy reputation and red flag behavior to this point.  This also effectively combines Saionji’s second duel and later rampage, saving some time.

At the emergency clinic Utena, Anthy, and the student council gather to wait on news of Touga’s condition, and, us, what are you doing Juri?

Um, I’m not sure what’s going on here?  Is Juri trying to warn Utena not to fall for Touga’s act?  Or... please don’t tell me she’s jealous?  If manga Juri strays so far from her anime characterization that she has a thing for Touga, I’ll be sorely disappointed.

Juri’s introduction is pretty hostile.  Miki by comparison seems much nicer, and sticks with the anime’s conviction that dueling over Anthy is wrong, a conviction I’m sure will prove every bit as fragile as in the anime.

Wakaba also shows up, which is nice, but we really only get her being possessive over Utena.  That was part of her anime characterization, but we’re still missing the more fun & funny aspects of her character.

The student council talks to Touga, & it’s not terribly clear if his actions towards Utena were sincere or not.  Apparently they discuss what to do with Saionji off panel, because the next scene is Juri and Miki confronting Saionji:

2 week suspension?  He attempted to murder another student in public with dozens of witnesses and severely harmed the student council president in the process.  In the anime he was expelled, and there were no independent witnesses there?

Anyway, Saionji argues he shoudln’t be punished for hurting Touga because Touga had interrupted a proper duel, but nobody buys it - Touga had to step in as student council president since it wasn’t a duel, just one student attacking the other.  Saionji counters that Touga only stepped in because he’s smitten with Utena, which Juri objects to, and...

“compared to you who loves Touga”?  Please, please don’t be going there.  Please let this either be a mistranslation, or Saionji being an idiot who doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

I don’t have much to say about the rest of the chapter.  Utena brings flowers to the clinic for Touga and Juri mocks her for it.  Juri and Miki talk about Utena while fencing.  While playing baseball utena knocks a foul ball into the fencing room and Juri catches it on the point of her sword...

That’s kind of cool at least.

The chapter ends with Utena and Juri staring each other down, but I’m still just distracted with dread over the direction the manga seems to be taking one of my favorite characters.

[rebrandedstoryline]

Rebranded - 10.7 - Briskly Woven Lies

Ayala and the animatronic put together a (hopefully) convincing lie to keep everyone safe. Sun and Moon are uneasy.

Word Count: 1,790

It should go without saying that Moon did not react well to being informed that Ayala’s friend, Logan, would be paying a surprise visit. Specifically after having been informed that Ayala had gotten hurt and that her car was going to be out of commission for a while. 

No sooner had the words left her mouth, had Moon more or less flown into a state of rage. Those pointed narrow rays which had emerged briefly during the morning confrontation, emerged once more. Thus establishing that his security protocols had become fully activated in response to his agitation. 

Thankfully, he did not actually attack the woman again. 

As upset as he was, he also knew that causing any additional damage would be liable to get them in trouble. 

Though, Sun still found himself standing between his brother and the equally upset Ayala, just to be safe. He naturally wanted to try and mediate the situation.

“H-how much time do we have?!...” Sun blurted out, staring at Ayala with concerned eyes as she stood safely on the other side of the kitchen counter. During Moon’s little fit, she had tactfully put physical barriers between herself and him. 

Her expression was a mix of unease and agitation.

“An hour or two...” Ayala responded, speaking surprisingly quietly, almost uncertainly. Her answer did not appeal to Moon, who growled rather loudly.

“Will he be here in an hour, or in two?!” Moon questioned, clearly wanting to have a proper estimate on how much time the three of them had to sort themselves out. How much time they had before an additional prying mind showed up to question the situation. They hadn’t yet had time to put together some sort of story - at least not one which would casually explain away the woman’s injuries.

“I don’t know!” Ayala retorted, waving her arm in the air beside her as a show of emphasis. “It depends on a few factors! Like traffic! Or whether or not he speeds...” She added, somewhat elaborating on what she meant. 

Not that the animatronics could fully understand what she meant. They more or less knew what traffic was. 

Not so much what “speeding” meant, at least in this context.

“Why would you even bring us up?!” Moon questioned her again, somewhat attempting to put the blame on her for the situation. Not wanting to accept that this was probably an inevitable circumstance, considering all that had transpired as a result of the night before.

“Now, don’t you go snapping at me about this!” Ayala barked back, pointing a sort of accusatory finger in Moon’s direction. Despite being afraid, she was not going to sit idle and let the animatronic bully her in a fit of anger. “Need I remind you that this situation is just as much your fault as it is mine! If you hadn't attacked me last night, we wouldn’t be in this mess! My car wouldn’t all fucked up and neither would I!” She snapped, making it perfectly clear that Moon was not blameless in the situation. 

The only reason that Logan felt the need to rush out was because she was hurt. She knew that. She also knew that there had basically been no choice but to tell him that she was injured. One way or another she would have had to come clean about it. 

Not that Moon seemed accepting of this fact at all, as was noted by his obvious preparation to spit out a retort. He may very well have been about to remind her to watch her language. However, he was quickly silenced by his sibling. 

All Sun needed to do was motion with his hand for Moon to be quiet, and the hostile animatronic obeyed.

“Look! N-none of th-at is important right now! What are we going to t-tell your friend?! Does he know we’re here?!” Sun stepped in with questions of his own. Questions meant to steer the conversation back on track. Ultimately, it didn’t matter how they had come to this point. What mattered was making sure that they regained some control of the situation in order to assure everyone’s safety. 

His intervention seemed to get through to Ayala, at least. She whined a bit to herself, rubbing her eyes with her injured hand.

“Yes, he knows you’re here. I told him that you were delivered while I was away, and that I’d forgotten about it. I didn’t go into detail but I told him I was hurt, that my car was fucked, and I’d need some help getting a replacement.” Ayala explained, pretty much summarizing to the animatronics what she had told Logan. Which had been a purposefully vague explanation, all things considered. 

Still, her words only coaxed a worried noise out of Sun.

“Does he... Does he know that Moony...?” Sun began to ask if she had mentioned that she was hurt because of Moon or not, but he trailed off before completing the sentence. Surprisingly not because of a voice box malfunction, but because he was simply afraid to ask.

Ayala sighed, shaking her head.

“No. I told him that I had an accident. I didn’t give any specifics as to how.” Ayala replied, glancing between Sun and Moon. She almost seemed worried that they wouldn’t believe her. 

Then her eyes appeared to focus on something entirely unrelated to them, though it was hard to tell. She wasn’t exactly making eye contact with either of them, but each brother seemed to believe that she had simply locked eyes with the other. Her eyes became furrowed, as if in concentration. 

Still, her response did relieve Sun, at least somewhat. It was good that she hadn’t said anything that established that she had been hurt by either of the animatronics.

“Sun. Grab that suitcase there.” Ayala suddenly instructed, pointing to a specific suitcase. Sun, for what it was worth, immediately did as she requested - though he was very clearly confused. “Good. Now take it to the top of the stairs. Then push it down.” She added, which only further confused the animatronic.

“Er... Why?...” Sun inquired, absolutely befuddled by the sudden change in focus.

“I just put together a story that should explain how I got hurt. But we need to make it look real.” Ayala explained, her tone calmer now but incredibly stern. 

While this still left Sun a bit confused, he did as he was told. He carried the suitcase up to the top of the stairs, put it down, then pushed it over the edge of the first step. 

The large plastic object went toppling down, snapping open in the process and spilling its contents everywhere. The plastic did not crack, but dented somewhat in a few places as it fell. 

Now, Moon seemed more confused than irritated. What would making more of a mess do to be of help? 

Without saying a word, Ayala began to gather all of the spilt objects to put them back inside of the now very broken suitcase.

“... Ayala?...” Sun called out to the woman quietly, timidly, even. He was unsure as to what she was doing. Unsure as to whether or not he needed to help her with what she was doing. 

The woman continued to clean up the abruptly made mess.

“Okay. This is the story.” Ayala uttered, continuing to sort of just haphazardly shove all of her belongings back into the suitcase. “You two were delivered while I was out of town. The company that sent you was able to get you inside with my help.” She gathers up all of the larger items. Clothes, mostly, and she begins to cram them into the empty container. “I came home. I was tired. I forgot that you two were here waiting for me. I got my luggage out of the car last night. I was bringing this suitcase upstairs, when you two came out of the first room to greet me. I freaked out for a second, and wound up falling down the stairs with the suitcase. When I fell, I cut my hand on the suitcase, banged up my arm, and dislocated my shoulder.” She begins to collect other random items off of the floor. A hairbrush. A toothbrush. Sanitary products. Anything within immediate reach. 

All the while she ignores the pain in her shoulder.

“You two brought me to bed and looked after me all night, unaware of the fact that I’d forgotten to shut my car door after I’d brought my groceries inside. Moon never attacked me. It was all an accident.” She gets everything back into the suitcase, and attempts to close it. Due to the suitcase being broken, it will not stay closed. The lid will not latch. So the lid pops back open. She leaves it alone at that point. “I woke up this morning and tried to leave to go to the hospital. That’s when I discovered my car torn up by a raccoon, and that I couldn’t drive it. After that, I went back inside to take a shower to try and calm down. That’s when I checked my phone, saw all the missed calls, and responded to Logan.” She explained, fully laying out every detail that she could think of. Because she had to be specific. All three of them needed to be able to tell the same story. If they could just keep things concise, then they could probably convince Logan that it was the truth.

“... Do you think that story will work?” Sun questioned hesitantly. He didn’t like the idea of having to lie, but he also understood that it would be better than telling the truth. 

As Ayala had said this morning, most people would not be so forgiving of them if they had been the ones attacked. Ergo, if Logan was so protective of her, then he probably would not be so forgiving of Moon for attacking her. 

Which would lead to all sorts of problems.

“Look. It's the best story I can come up with. Sooner or later Logan is gonna show up. No matter what, I’m hurt. I can’t guarantee he’ll buy it. But if I can just get him to accept it, that’ll be our best bet.” Ayala replied, attempting to calm down Sun while also remaining brutally honest. 

Logan might not believe the story at all. But if she was convincing enough, then she could at least get him to go along with it long enough for her to come up with a better explanation. One that he might believe. 

Sun and Moon found themselves sharing uncertain glances. Neither of them could think of a better story. So they would just have to go along with whatever Ayala said to her friend.

[izzieislandheart]

I think I reblogged this before, but I'm reblogging again for emphasis on that last bit: YOU DON'T GET TO MAKE OTHERS HOMELESS TO MAKE THE UNIVERSE YOUR SAFE SPACE. Yes, I said it louder for the people in the back. I have an anxiety disorder that doesn't make any of my triggers fun because I see something that sends me into a panic attack, the trigger goes away, I get myself evened out again, and three days later, at 2 AM, I'll fucking REMEMBER it and go into the spiral all over again. THIS FUCKING SUCKS. I get it. I'm in therapy because of it. I was on medication for it until the meds stopped doing anything. I am 110% not going to be the person who's like, "YOU NEED TO STOP INCLUDING PICTURES OF A HAND ON FIRE OR A DESCRIPTION OF A HAND ON FIRE EVER AGAIN," just because I was personally in an accident that resulted in my hand being on fire and me being traumatized by it, to the point I get anxiety tremors just fucking thinking about it to type this sentence. I HAVE TO HEAL. Aside from a raised scar, my physical injury is long since healed. I still have to be able to cook food. I still have to be able to go near campfires or light a candle or put out a candle. It would be rad if I could one day do those things without shaking so badly that I AM going to get burned again just from being too unsteady around flames. MY healing means I have to be able to talk about it, I have to be able to vent, but I also have to be able to SELECTIVELY do it when I want to. I see GIFs of people on fire, even that "funny" one people use for utter disasters, and I scroll unless I feel like I can deal with it at that moment. I generally don't watch horror movies at all anymore, but I intentionally avoid ones like Christine and Firestarter. (For the record: I watched Christine when I was a kid and ended up kind of apathetic about it. The book was better. :p Just not interested in a rewatch because the fire scenes stand out in my memory, I'm guessing for a reason. I also watched Firestarter as a kid, and pretty much the only scene I can remember is where she sets her mom's hand on fire while her mom is washing dishes.) Every person's healing journey is different. If I wanted a life devoid of fire, devoid of seeing fire, devoid of reading descriptions of someone being burned, I could totally curate my life to create that life for myself - but, the key here is that I'd have to CURATE it. I'D have to take responsibility for blocking out all the references, for never using fire sources again, for never going to parties or outings where someone has a campfire, fire ring, or barbecue again. I CANNOT and WILL NOT expect the rest of the world to stop using fire because of my trauma. There has been an ass ton of research poured into what separates humans from other animals. Historically, points like "we have emotions" or "we use tools" have fallen short. The point that struggles to find good, repeated examples in other species is our ability to use our emotions, tools, and critical thinking skills to radically change our environment AND avoid parts of the environment we don't like. A bird can make a nest (change their environment), but they don't have a good way of blocking other animals from raiding the nest; rabbits can make concealed, underground burrows to protect their young, but they don't have a good way of preventing collapse or flooding due to nature. WE can. We're not perfect, but we do it a lot more successfully than any other species when we put our minds to it. However, we did not just demand of the universe, "I want to live in the vacuum of space; accommodate me!" We curated that experience. Curate your world however the hell you need to, but don't expect others to also live your life in your world. You don't know what they're going through and what they need because you are not them. Don't like, don't read. Keep scrolling. It's not about you.

Ok I want to say something controversial

But you are responsible for your own safe spaces. You can block tags, block words, block people.

“But i thought fandom was supposed to be a safe space” —yeah you have to curate it.

Unfortunately one persons’s safe space may be another persons’ trigger. That’s ok. Simply block them, block the tag, block the word etc. They can do the same for you.

Maybe I’m just out of touch, but I’ve been around since the days of “don’t like, don’t read” and that’s a good philosophy. If it squicks you, scroll past. If it causes you anxiety or upset, block! Plenty of people are responsive if you ask them to tag an upsetting trigger. And if they’re dicks about it, block em.

[narcoticwriter]

The Genshin Impact Cast & Their (Alleged) Crimes

You read that right. I'm going down the list of characters that are out and leaked/announced as of the date of the 2.7 livestream. This will include criminal charges, civil charges, and (of course) war crimes. I'm not sorry about this at all.

For legal reasons, if it wasn't obvious, this is a joke.

Before we move on, all of them will be slapped with aggravated assault preemptively because this is how the game works in general, but I will put this charge in some descriptions for emphasis.

(Thanks for the stroke of inspiration. You know who you are LMAO.)

Albedo: First-degree murder and unlawful experimentation as if Mond found out what freaky shit he was doing, he'd be mobbed and killed.

Aloy: Trespassing (do I tack on illegal border crossing too-)

Amber: Arson (unintentionally), civil misconduct, negligence

Arataki Itto: Disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, aggravated assault (that one time), vandalism

Barbara: Disturbing the peace (but not really lmao)

Beidou: Tax fraud/evasion, piracy (obviously), open container of alcohol (this is seriously a charge), probation violation, (legal) racketeering, smuggling

Bennett: Negligence, personal injury, the Torts law would have a ball with this kid

Chongyun: Trespassing, disturbing the peace (the ghosts would sue due to the yang energy)

Diluc: Willful killing, taking of hostages, willfully causing great suffering, extensive destruction and appropriation of property, killing a man already down (legit war crime), vigilantism, homicide, kidnapping, grand larceny, attempted involuntary manslaughter (there's more but this is getting long)

Diona: Malpractice, attempted poisoning

Eula: Disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace (Mondstadt hates her enough to waste tax dollars on this)

Fischl: . . . Indecent exposure (people really didn't like her in the lore)

Ganyu: I mean, if you wanna count war crimes from 2000+ years ago, I could tack on willful killing and the criminal charge of aiding in that regard, but other than that, she's pretty clean.

Gorou: Willful killing, aggravated assault, voluntary manslaughter

Hu Tao: Disturbing the peace, solicitation, harassment, kidnapping, attempted murder/burial of someone who is alive

Jean: Child labor maybe? Perhaps. Yeah. A charge of child labor is fair. And maybe a child soldier? They aren't in a war, but hilichurls are hostiles, right? Is solitary confinement considered child abuse-

Kaedahara Kazuha: Treason, espionage, rebellion/insurrection, inciting a riot/rebellion, civil disorder, illegal border crossing

Kaeya: Perjury, conspiracy, extortion, white-collar crimes, unauthorized disclosure of classified information, forgery, bribery, willful endangerment

Kamisato Ayaka: . . . I've got nothing. Literally nothing. I can't even put legislative misconduct, aid in a crime, or even complicity. She's innocent.

Kamisato Ayato: Extortion, racketeering, aiding and abetting, fraud

Keqing: She could get some class-action suits and some charges in terms of running the workplace, but other than that? No.

Klee: Arson, involuntary manslaughter (?), disturbing the peace, crimes against wildlife

Kujou Sara: 'Legal' extensive destruction and appropriation of property, 'legally' willfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial, 'legal' deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement

Kuki Shinobu: She actually tries to drop these charges. She went to law school, for goodness sake. Is being a lawyer a charge?

Lisa: Cruel and unusual punishment, use of torture, speculative disclosure of classified information per according to the Heavenly Principles

Mona: Tax evasion

Ningguang: Collusion, market, and price manipulation, monopolizing, and perhaps she'll also be held liable for whatever Beidou or Yelan does as she works with them

Noelle: If her scaring off Snezhnayan diplomats could be a charge for treason somehow, then sure

Qiqi: If she's technically not alive, does the law apply posthumously? Even if it does, she's done nothing wrong except maybe trespass on Jueyan Karst

Raiden Shogun: In the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Section 8, Paragraph 2, Points A, B, and C, I list off the following: (A) I, II, III, IV, VI, VII, VIII, (B) I, II, III, IV, XII, XIII, XIV, XXI, (C) III, IV

Razor: Is he even under the jurisdiction of the law?

Rosaria: Homicide, assassination, voluntary manslaughter, vigliantism, familicide

Sangonomiya Kokomi: Willful killing is a thing and she absolutely incited rebellion too, totally guilty, but despite being in a war, she didn't commit that many obvious war crimes besides those.

Sayu: Negligence, liability

Shenhe: Voluntary manslaughter, first-degree murder, aggravated assault

Shikanoin Heizou: Petty thievery, liability, negligence, bribery, misconduct

Sucrose: Aiding and abetting in unlawful experimentation

Tartaglia: Wanton murder, enforced disappearances of persons, torture, wanton killing, extortion, grand larceny, terrorism, intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population, threatening public officials, the entirety of Section A of the War Crimes clause (it goes on)

Thoma: Illegal immigration except the Kamisato Clan renders that nonexistent, so he's innocent

Traveler: Over the implied longevity of their existence, it is my personal belief that they have collected war crimes and criminal charges like Pokemon and have caught them all (but I'm not going as far as anything sexual or domestic because that's a line I won't cross)

Venti: Gliding under the influence, open container of alcohol, grand larceny, disturbing the peace, public intoxication

Xiangling: Crimes against wildlife, speculative intentional poisoning (contested), malpractice (?)

Xiao: Manslaughter, first-degree murder, willful killing, torture (of the psychological variety)

Xingqiu: He could be slapped with a harassment charge if Chongyun cared to bother, but some vigilantism is a thing

Xinyan: Disturbing the peace, indecent exposure (the majority of the public really seem to hate her)

Yae Miko: Mostly extortion, but if she wanted to run a pyramid scheme, so could do so with wild success

Yanfei: The one prosecuting the cast

Yelan: Extortion, kidnapping, solo racketeering

Yoimiya: Negligence, damage to public property, unintentional arson

Yun Jin: The only thing I can say is that I don't know what an opera singer would do that's illegal or anything that she'd do personally that would be illegal

Zhongli: Is it terrorism if he's the ruler that allowed it? Is it treason? Can he even be held to a variety of war crimes? All I know is that the charges of negligence and liability law against would be downright criminal in of themselves.

Bonus - Paimon: Harassment. That is all.

---

If you wanna slap some more charges I may have missed or even debate some of them with others, go ahead and go ham.

[goblinmatriarch]

Flufftober Day 7

So for Flufftober, for reasons that I cannot articulate, I’m only doing fandoms I don’t generally write, by which I basically mean no drarry. I’m literally just scrolling through netflix and my bookshelves going, “uhhh what do I know well enough to write about real quick” which is how we ended up here, a solid 14 years after the show ended, and even 6 years since the sequel aired (what? no! surely it has not been 6 years?), with some Rory/Paris pre-slash.

Gilmore Girls

Paris had to drive out to that ridiculous little nowheresville town with the fantastical name, again, because Louise’s house was under renovation, again, which at this point Paris was pretty sure was code for illegal activity, and Madeline had entirely ignored all hints and outright demands to offer her house. Paris’s house was certainly not an option; the very thought of perfect little Rory Gilmore seeing Paris’s immaculate home was enough to set her teeth on edge.

And then, of course, when she got there, Rory’s mother was all warm and friendly and insisted on making Paris feel “right at home”, like that was something to aim for.

And then, Louise had called to say she couldn’t make it, and she hadn’t even had the decency to speak to Paris directly so Paris could berate her into coming after all. Instead, she’d left a message with Rory Gilmore’s irritating mother, who delivered it casually, like it wasn’t a massive betrayal.

Madeline hadn’t even bothered to call with an excuse.

So that left Paris and Rory to do the project alone, which was fine, of course; Paris could put together an A-worthy group project in her sleep. Having Rory involved wasn’t even a hindrance, the way Madeline and Louise were. She contributed a few decent ideas to Paris’s overall vision, and she could be trusted to deliver her assigned duties appropriately, with little oversight. Paris usually ended up writing Madeline’s and Louise’s contributions over again anyway.

But then that meant that she and Rory finished early, and while Paris had absolutely no desire to linger in Magical Starry Land or whatever, she had even less desire to go home early. What if her mother was still there? What if her mother tried to talk to her?

That’s the only reason Paris lingered at the door, of course. She drew out their conversation about History class for so long that Rory started looking concerned, like she thought Paris might have suffered a head injury or something. Paris was just about to leave, really she was, when Rory’s grinning harridan of a mother practically forced her to stay.

“Oh gosh,” Lorelai said, in the most obviously fake way imaginable, “I just remembered I’ve got that thing tonight, Rory, so I can’t do our movie marathon!” She affected a disbelieving expression that made her look like a gaping fish.

Rory glanced sidelong at Paris and uneasily asked, “What thing, Mom?”

Lorelai waved a dismissive hand and doubled down on the very apparent lie. “The thing, Rory, just a thing. So anyway, I can’t make it, but” – here she tried to look as though she had been struck by an idea, which was obviously an unfamiliar expression for her – “maybe you and Paris could do it instead!”

She turned to Paris, beaming, like this was something everyone could be thrilled about, rather than a fate worse than death.

“What do you think, Paris? Fancy Marilyn Monroe and cross-dressing?” Lorelai did a weird little jig and looked very pleased with herself.

Paris weighed her options. On the one hand, more time spent with the insufferable Rory Gilmore in her happy, whimsical home, watching films that were most likely terrible and eating cheap garbage. On the other, a solitary meal prepared by the family cook, maybe some time with her book on the Ottoman Empire, and then early to bed.

It would probably be rude to refuse.

“Sounds…lovely, Miss Gilmore.” In vengeance for being coerced into staying against her will, Paris made sure to imply with her tone that it would not be lovely, at all, and also to put the slightest emphasis on ‘Miss’.

Lorelai seemed entirely undeterred. Probably she hadn’t even noticed; she didn’t seem like a woman who picked up on nuanced snubs. “Great,” she basically shouted, even as Rory gave her a desperate, pleading look. “You two have so much fun!” She grabbed her coat and strode briskly past them to her car, then turned over her shoulder and shouted, “Rory, there’s money on the table for snacks and takeout. The movies are next to the tv.” She got into her car – a Jeep, for pete’s sake, was anything in their lives practical? – and before she pulled out of the drive, she beeped the horn twice and yelled, “Have fun, you two!” out the window.

And then she was gone.

Rory turned reluctantly on her heel to face Paris. “So…” she began.

“I don’t want to be here any more than you,” Paris snapped hastily.

Rory blinked, and then those big, wet, doe eyes of hers sharpened. “Well it’s my house, Paris, so I actually do want to be here, but if you want to leave, I’m not keeping you.”

Paris looked down at the ground, then set her jaw forcefully and peered up at Rory. “Fine,” she said, “but I’m choosing the movies.”

She stalked past Rory back into the house. From behind her, she heard a sarcastic, “Be my guest.” Or it was probably supposed to be sarcastic, but in Rory’s Disney princess voice it came out all sweet and welcoming.

***

Two hours later, Paris had to admit that Rory and her mother might be onto something. Some Like it Hot was actually really interesting; much less vapid than she’d expected. And twizzlers were a revelation. Paris reached for another one.

Rory’s eyes flicked over to her, then back to the screen where Marilyn Monroe was playing the ukulele. “Those make a decent straw, you know,” she told the screen.

Paris crossed her eyes to look at the twizzler currently in her mouth, then looked back at Rory, wide-eyed.

Rory looked over again, then burst out laughing. Paris bristled, but Rory was already apologising. “Sorry, sorry, it’s just, you look so…” she giggled again.

Probably all the sugar had gone to Paris’s head. That, or she was suffering some kind of contact witlessness – maybe the air in Shooting Star Fairysville carried an airborne virus that reduced critical thinking. There had to be some explanation for the fact that she crossed her eyes again and waggled her head so the twizzler wobbled absurdly in front of her face. 

Rory’s laugh was bright and surprised, and Paris’s whole body flushed with an awful hot, nauseous sort of feeling that she did not care for at all. She scowled and ripped the twizzler out of her mouth.

“We already have straws, Gilmore; why would we need to use candy?”

Rory was still laughing. “Whatever, Paris,” she said. “You weirdo.”

Paris was aghast, but before she could protest the accusation, Rory flopped backwards onto the couch, pressing their shoulders together. Paris went very still. 

She could shove Rory off, she supposed, but she was technically in Rory’s home. On Rory’s couch. Probably it would be rude. She kept her eyes fixed on the screen and tried to follow the plot, which somehow kept eluding her. The credits rolled, and she was still unsure if Jack Lemmon’s character was going to marry that rich guy or not.

Rory yawned and stretched, losing even more structural integrity and drooping further, so she was practically in Paris’s lap; was propriety not even a thing here in Hollow Heads Full of Stars Town?

“D’you wanna watch another?” she slurred sleepily. She blinked up at Paris, and her eyes were just so blue it was ridiculous. “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is pretty good, and ‘Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend’ is iconic.”

Paris considered. Her parents would definitely be out for the evening by now. She could shake the dust of this podunk town off her shoes and be home in time for a book in her own bed.

Rory’s body was warm against hers. Paris couldn’t help noticing the way the light from the tv reflected off her eyes and mouth. 

“Fine,” she said, aiming for caustic and missing by a mile. “But I want more twizzlers.”

[miss-kittyy]

Rewriting Briarlight and Longtail’s Deaths

So I am disabled, like very disabled, I am %50 of the teenagers ever diagnosed with my special combination of pain disorders, and I also unfortunately hyper fixated on warrior cats, which is bad news for me because warrior cats is super ableist, and to add insult to injury, the fandom can also be pretty ableist.

My biggest problem with the majority of “anti-ableist” AUs is that they “fix” the ableism stemming from the narrative and able bodied characters by making the disabled character less disabled, this so bad for many reasons. I’ve talked more about in other posts. The justification that real life disabled cats are less doesn’t make it not ableist, since when was warrior cats meant to be realistic? If you’re making an au where the disabled cats function like actual disabled cats you also have to make all the cats genetically accurate, and retcon Lionblaze lifting a tree.

My problem with warrior cats is not that the disabled characters cannot become full conventional warriors, I’d like it if they got to choose what duties the perform instead of being crammed into the medicine den, but I don’t care about Cinderpelt not being able to complete a marathon. Most of the fandom seems to think the issue is that the disabled character are not useful enough, instead of the way that able bodied characters deny of them agency and make remarks like “you wouldn’t want to return to a life like her’s would you?”. Disabled people do not need to be “useful” to be worthy and empowering.

It’s very obvious that most of the fandom just wants the disabled cats to be more palatable to abled bodied people, so I’ve decided to make my own rewrite instead to hopefully make myself feel better. A lot of these things are inspired by my own experiences and not every disabled person is looking for the same things in representation, this is totally self indulgent.

The goal of this AU is to highlight the many unique and valuable aspects disability and how being disabled does not infringe upon anyone’s worth, ever.

- Longtail doesn’t die in the storm, Briarpaw is still injured, but he’s found besides her, trying his best to help her cling to life.

- after Briarpaw begins to recover he stands up to Millie and other cats insulting her quality of life, he says her journey will be hard, but it is one worth taking.

- She asks him why he’s an elder, and he decides to request to have his warrior ship restored as Briarpaw is dreading the life of an elder.

- On his first patrol the cats accompanying him insist on speaking to him in an incredibly infantilism tone, and whispering amongst themselves over what he can or can’t do, without consulting him,

- He initially gives up on patrolling after that insufferable experience.

- Briarlight begins to create marks and blobs on the wall of the medicine den using crushed up dead herbs she asks him to retrieve some berries for her, and he complies.

- Jayfeather shows him how he navigates the territory with the help of some of the sighted cats, and Mousefur is quick to volunteer as his guide. He finds her company surprisingly empowering. He realizes that it was not his blindness which was limiting his abilities, but the other cats attitudes.

- Mousefur and Longtail return with mouthful of berries and herbs, Briarlight describes to him what she’s drawing on the side of the den and he helps he mound the materials into paint.

- The cats begin to pop into the medicine den to see Briarlights painting and soon Jayfeather has to kick her out occasionally so they’d stop crowding him, she’s given the walls of camp to decorate instead.

- She begins to illustrate Longtails stories of the old territory and Bloodclan, and this new form of storytelling becomes a tradition amongst Thunderclan.

- because more young cats are aware of the clans history it becomes harder for the dark forest to recruit them, unfortunately, Blossomfall’s resentment towards her sister means she never cared to listen.

- Ivypool is still recruited and trained like in canon, given her relationship with the dark forest was much more emotionally charged and manipulative than just plain lies.

- at a gathering Longtail meets Grasspelt who inquires about Briarlight, Longtail is surprised about how little he knows as the she-cat had mentioned how well they got along as apprentices. Despite Millie nagging him not to tell him the truth about her daughter he does anyways, but puts much more emphasis on how well she’s doing than Millie expected. Grasspelt thinks this sounds really cool and decides that he is going to see her and her paintings, and that nobody can stop him. Longtail makes sure to put any opposing cat in their place, but Briarlight is a very respected Clanmate, so most warriors don’t say anything.

- Briarlight is nervous and doesn’t want to come out of the medicine den at first, but when Grassheart darts into the den holding berries and flowers for her to paint with she quickly warms up to her visitor.

- Grassheart is happy to tell Briarlight that he’s never been able to be a “functioning” warrior, and that he has always imagined that his spirit is shaped different, the medicine cat says his body is normal, but he’s never been able to keep focus in a fight or react as quickly as he should be able to while hunting. (He’s autistic because I say so)

- As dusk nears he’s visually hesitant to return to Riverclan and when Longtail inquires on why he says that he hasn’t felt so “here” for a long time. On the way back he wanders off and comes back with a chipmunk, when returning to Riverclan territory his father, Mintfur, is shocked to see his catch. After talking with his family a bit he realizes that it was the noise from the river that was making him so tense and dissociated, Brackenfur, who was escorting him, notices that he keeps rubbing himself on the ground and wincing.

- For the next couple moons Grasspelt returned to Thunderclan to bring Briarlight plants that only grow in Riverclan territory, he begins trying to fish from the quite lazy stream in their territory and soon both him and Briarlight have got it down.

- Longtail notices the sadness present whenever Grasspelt left and exclaims that it’s rather stupid that he’s living somewhere so unsuited for him just because of words long repeated.

- Grasspelt confesses that he feels the same, but knew he wasn’t supposed to say anything. Briarlight tells Longtail that her and the Riverclan warrior had been thinking of each other as mates for moons.

- Longtail accompanies Jayfeather to the next half moon meeting where he proposes his addition to the warrior code, “no cat should be confined to laws which harm them due to an inherent physical or spiritual difference.” (Cats don’t really know how brains work, so they see mental disabilities as a difference within a cats spirit)

- A moon later the leaders meet to discuss this proposition, it is accepted and Grasspelt makes the journey to Thunderclan for the final time.

- Grasspelt is renamed Grassspirit when becoming a Thunderclan warrior, unlike prior renaming of disabled cats this is a celebration.

- Grassspirit spends most of his time taking care of the elders and kits, he’s incredibly compassionate especially with kits and is able to solve many problems within the nursery.

- When twigkit and Violetkit arrive in Thunderclan Briarlight and Grassspirit help raise them, after Violetkit is taken Briarlight and Twigkit paint her on the side of Thunderclan camp.

- Briarlight still gets sick and her illness progresses without any treatment, Grassspirit notices her trying to hide it and when Longtail finds out he’s very upset. Jayfeather frantically treats her, expressing his frustration that she didn’t tell them sooner, the second Millie steps out she breaks down and explains that she just wanted to deal with it herself, and perhaps if she were successful Millie would finally treat her like an adult.

- Longtail gives Millie a stern talking to, he tells her that Briarlight is a warrior of Thunderclan and as her clanmate she should show her some respect.

- Millie is inherently very reactionary, as she had not realized the full extent of her suffocation, but eventually after a couple moons her and Briarlight begin to rekindle their relationship, like adults.

- Blossomfall sees how Brairlight wasn’t basking in their mother’s attention like she imagined, and feels the urge to seek out an actual sisterhood after ignoring Briarlight for moons and moons.

- Briarlight isn’t really mad at her sister, and understands why she felt the way she did. Jayfeather suggests that Blossomfall help Briarlight with her painting, Blossomfall seems put off with the suggestion of being her sister’s assistant.

- The interactions that follow are less than ideal, Blossomfall commends Briarlight’s able friends (Thornclaw, Poppyfrost, Alderheart, etc) for being so nice to her, as if that’s not what friends do. She seems very sad the entire time, sighing when her sister dragged her legs around with her mouth to sit more comfortably, even though she was completely fine. When watching her paint she comments that it’s good she has “something to keep her busy”, and finally she expresses her view, of Briarlight’s injury and her (Blossomfall’s) suffering being all worth it because of her talents, as if her life was not worth living to begin with.

- Briarlight tells her that if that’s truly what she wants she’s going to have to put more effort into understanding and respecting her way of life, and that she won’t apologize for their mother’s actions.

- When Blossomfall has her kits they take a liking to Auntie Briarlight, and Blossomfall seems to have reflected on their past interactions, trusting her sister to watch her kits. Briarlight teases a bit, a subtle way of telling her not to rush things, but they do begin to feel like something close to sisters.

- Right before Briarlight’s Nieces and Nephews are made warriors Longtail dies of Greencough. Throughout the entirety of his sickness he kept his sense of humour, his mean streak, and his immense love for what he had made of his clan.

- At his vigil Grassspirit began whaling like a bird in new-leaf, he insists that the vigil is too sad, and that Longtail wouldn’t want everyone moping around, for Starclan’s sake, his life was good. Standing amongst them, Longtail’s spirit can feel every cat in Thunderclan standing around him, singing the song of a life well lived.

[cantareincminor]

I was going to write a reply but realized it would be too long to fit in that little bubble so here we go with the reblog!

I agree that Yor is more likely to make the first move for the reasons you stated! I also agree that full intimacy should happen after the identity reveals.

As to why Endo has not advanced their physical relationship at this point, I imagine from a cultural perspective Japanese and Asian dramas in general just don't place the same emphasis on jumping into bed together or going from 0 to 60 really fast. A chaste kiss or holding hands can count as a huge deal. As Americans or Westerners I think we're oversaturated with media where physical relationships progress really quickly and often way before any emotional connection forms, which may shape our expectations of non-Western fiction in a skewed way. (Take my opinion with a grain of salt it's been a long time since I watched any Asian dramas.) Finally there's the fact this is shonen (mostly anyway) and most of the popular shonen titles barely feature a kiss until maybe the very end.

As to how Yor and Loid's physical relationship might unfold, I doubt it will happen organically like them just taking a walk and Yor summoning up the courage to ask for kissing practice. It will probably be due to some external instigation, and I hope that it will be a serious one since we've already had several false starts due to gags like Yuri's visit, Fiona's visit, the drunken night out with coworkers, etc. As much as the "one of them comes home injured" trope is done in fanfic, I think there is some merit to it. So far this has happened seriously twice--for Yor, on the cruise. For Loid, with the mole arc. Both of them hid their injuries and near-death experiences from each other, but were shaken up mentally and had to stop and question their own motives and behavior.

I am hoping that the next time one of them gets hurt on the job, it won't be something they can easily conceal from the other. They might be bleeding profusely or burned or caught in the act of stumbling home. Without enough time to prepare an alibi and put on a happy face. Emotions will run high as the fear of losing each other, of not knowing why the other got hurt, and wondering if all the excuses they've been fed previously are true, all come together. This will be even more poignant if Anya is involved -- say the person gets hurt trying to defend her from someone trying to reclaim her for Project Apple (but they may not be aware of who it is, just that someone dangerous threatened their daughter). This is the kind of scenario where I can imagine Yor reaching for Loid, and Twilight not having the mental fortitude to resist, and they share their first real kiss and moment of vulnerability. But they won't go all the way until their secrets are revealed--they both value each other too much. It's not just Twilight feeling guilty for using Yor and lying to her about his identity. It's Yor feeling guilty that her husband doesn't know she's an assassin with a kill count in the hundreds!

It could happen many other ways! I also want to mention that their relationship so far has been progressing slowly and steadily with only a few hiccups to set them back. Endo jokingly puts in those relationship counters like "Anya and Damian friendship -100" and stuff like that, but with Twiyor I feel like it's +10, -1, +5, -1 continuously. The latest "setback" was Twilight sort of trying to distance himself from his family after the mole arc, but honestly he hasn't really done much to turn his family away, it's all in his head. Yor seems to be creeping closer and closer to him at least in her thoughts, most recently with the romantic movie she watched.

I think it would be majorly counterintuitive for Endo to suddenly throw in a "-100" event like Yor being tasked to kill Twilight, or Twilight doing something that betrays her in an obvious way. It could work, but it would take a huge amount of skill. It would have to be the equivalent of Martha going off to war and disappearing, which effectively doomed her and Henry's relationship. Then again...as I think about it further, maybe this is what's going to happen. A major soul-crushing event is going to happen to drive them apart. And at their low points, Martha and Henry might even give the two of them advice on how they handled their own pasts and the regrets they may still harbor. (I really really want this to happen lol...Twilight lacks mentor figures and is such a lone wolf lost in his own head, it would be amazing if he got a pep talk from Henderson or even from Sigmund Authen!) And at the pivotal moment when one or both of them may give up, they will decide to give each other a chance. They will reverse the doomed ending of the Martherson saga. In fact I think that outside the anti-war purpose of that saga, its other main storytelling purpose was to prepare readers for a similar wedge to come between Twilight and Yor one day. But they will have the chance to choose differently--they have Anya as the binding force between them, after all.

Thanks for inspiring this essay from me OP!! And keep on writing, you're amazing!

Hi everyone! I wanted to once again talk about more of my opinions or I guess, preferences, for the twiyor relationship. I’d like to hear yours as well!

*remember these are my opinions! I don’t want to offend and I want to hear yours! You may think I’m wrong, but don’t hate me for it please 😭*

*a bit nsfw talk. just a sentence or two*

Similar to my post on Loid saying ‘I love you' first, I do think Yor should make the first move. A handhold, a hug, a kiss, I’ll take whatever as long as it happens! (Please Endo I’m begging)

I’d love for them to have another sweet moment like the park bench. A lovely discussion, physical contact of some kind that moves them forward. And then I’d like Yor to ask Loid to help her practice kissing. 😘 😘

Who do you think should make the first move and what do you want it to be?

I think it has to be Yor because Loid is just not going to make a move. He respects her too much, he’s afraid, he did it once in bad faith and was correctly rejected, either way he just won’t. Which makes me wonder, why hasn’t something happened yet. They’ve been married and roommates for almost 6 months maybe? That’s a long time to live with someone in close proximity who’s insanely attractive. And I don’t have a doubt that they’re attracted to each other. I think, for both of them it’s a fear thing. Fear of rejection, of not being good enough, of not being allowed to or crossing boundaries they shouldn’t. Fear of rocking the boat and screwing up what they have. And probably a mix of denial. But I believe they know they feel something for the other. There’s no obliviousness, they feel deeply and I think Yor is insanely emotionally intelligent. And we give Loid too little credit as well! I think he can properly analyze his feelings (when he wants to lol)

If their relationship progresses, and Yor asks for kissing practice, things might get a little more physical. And while I was once of the opinion that I might like this to happen before the identity reveal, I am now of the complete opinion that it absolutely, under no circumstances should. They can kiss and make out and hump and long for each other and want each other so bad. But they won’t go all the way. I don’t think Twilight will let it happen. No matter how much he may grow to love her and want her, that is a line he will not cross. Not with Yor. Not with her. Because he loves and respects and cherishes her too much, he doesn’t want to crush her and break her heart more than he already has to.

After the reveal? They can have all the angry, emotional, passionate make up sex they want. Once Twilight confesses? They can have the tender, still crazy passionate lovemaking.

So that’s it. After writing all this, I realized I should’ve just written a fic and hoped people would like it 😅 and maybe I still will! I’m not confident enough in my abilities to write a long arc right now though. 😭

And I would really like to hear what you think as well! Why hasn’t anything happened? (other than Endo’s reluctance to move that plot piece forward right now)

Would you like them to, well, bang before or after the reveal?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Finally I want to thank you all again for the nice comments and follows and such. I had a hard day, feeling unloved and unwanted and uncared for. Weirdly, seeing likes and reply’s and new followers here and on twitter helped me 😅 I may never be anyone’s favorite anything, but I am.. something. I’m here. And I’m happy I’m here and reaching out to you more. I hope you feel the same. ❤️

[rainbow-arrow]

Something Bad is going (or Has) happened to Luka Couffaine

 a theory!

Listen. Few love Luka Couffaine as much as I do. And there’s been a Good Deal of foreshadowing that something Bad is going to happen to him. Or, since we already have episodes 16 and 18, something already has. It begins in season four, and I think, most accurately, his downfall begins after Wishmaker. 

My theory here is that something bad happens to him in season five, and I’m predicting it’s going down Episode 15, which is ‘Intuition’, named after Sass’s powers, iconically, the only miraculous he ever used (he should’ve gotten one in the kwami swap i will die on this hill, regardless of their reasoning). As of right now, all we have of this episode is the name and the rest is mere speculation. Could happen later, could happen not at all (doubtful), but this is what I’m predicting, and if I am wrong, well, I’ve been wrong before lol.

This ended up a Bit longer than I anticipated, with the pictures (there are pictures for evidence under the cut lol i’m not one to do a CHUNK of text) and ngl overwhelming number of ominous signs pointing towards him, so it’s under the cut. I do also acknowledge my biases- I think he’s a much more main character than the creators are allowing him to be. In my defense, I love him?

Now, when I say something bad, I’m preparing myself for them just killing him (they wouldn’t, right?) but it could be a vague injury or sending him away, just something that keeps him off my screen, which is, arguably as bad as death? The thing is, everything points to something ‘vague bad’, and from that I can’t predict more, so I’ll keep it vague.

Season 4, Episode 22- Ephemeral

Ephemeral is the First Time we get to see him after discovering their identities in Wishmaker (a moment I have written separate essays on before). As far as I interpret the episode, his initial plan is to tell Marinette he knows she’s Ladybug (eventually) and accepts he’s instead going to ‘know’ Chat Noir’s for everyone’s benefit. 

I’ve written other posts on the Importance and Luka’s positioning in Ephemeral (and how the whole thing could’ve been solved with a simple conversation or. believe it or not. the Truth), so I’m not going to say much here, but the One point to be considered is:

It’s not safe for one person to know both Ladybug and Chat Noir’s identities.

Which is why she can’t know his, and he can’t know hers. And Luka finds himself knowing both. From this very moment I knew something bad was doomed to happen to my favorite blueberry. He got put in a bad situation after, honestly, a very bad season for him. 

Season 5, Episode - Determination

 This one is. A Reach but someone rb and tagged one of my posts so I cannot just move on from this. We know there’s a Viperion wax figure, we see it covered and also lined up to fight (BUT THEY DOn”T aCTUALLy FIGHT HIM), and he’s just straight up not included on the poster. Seeing the wax figure it’s clear that they Know of his existence, but he’s just...not there.

Some attempt at foreshadowing? I personally, do not know, but have been, without my consent, told it might be. (don’t write bible spoilers in the tags of my posts i read them okay???????) I am simply acknowledging this.

Season 5, Episode 12- Perfection

Luka has been in two (2) episodes so far in season five (LESS THAN WAYHEM MAY I ADD), and Perfection he’s bARELY there. (in his defense if I was in his exact situation, I would Also keep my distance), but he Is playing when Adrien’s singing, and they focus on him....at an interesting point.

(first. funny bc he was silencer lol) First for real. Lukanette fans are always allowed to mourn the ridiculously short dating time on my posts- the emphasis on him and Adrien using the melody talk that’s taken verbatim from Wishmaker is also another essay for another time.

Second, he knows. Which, in general, makes most of his appearances in the show post Wishmaker (only twice in season five so far) hilarious, but in this situation, why they chose to emphasize him on the heart beating line. The silence one I get, but why would they linger so long on such a line? Foreshadowing. that’s my answer. They’re going to kill him. /j

I could also point out how far apart he stands from everyone but I’m also aware his animation budget is like $5 and half a pbj so I’m not looking too much into that, but here:

Season 5, Episode 16- Protection

This episode is the first After when I think things are going to happen, immediately following Intuition, and Luka is...very oddly not there.

It’s clear they had Every Intention of Luka being there when they planned this date, even including him in the comic, but he was replaced by Nino at last minute (Luka and Nino are the same person truthers really got a +1 on that line lol), which is...a choice but more on that never.

Luka was obviously abruptly replaced, which continues to lend to the idea that something in the immediate past (previous episode- oh! That’s Intuition!) and based on the leaked ideas I’ve stumbled across for episode 14, I really don’t think he’s in that one. 

What gets to me in this scene is that, yes, they’re uncomfortable (with every right to be), put on display by their friends, but they look at each other right when they say his name. Like they know something happened. This scene adds more fuel to my ‘vague bad’ idea than straight up killing him (they wouldn’t), where likely, Ladybug and Chat Noir know More as to what happened (as well as Juleka, but she has no reason nor desire to speak up regarding her brother).

The Tweets

I, cannot for the life of me find the tweet that this is originally mentioned in (in my defense i did screen shot it and i have over 1200 images in my miraculous folder, but it might be in my screencap folder? we’ll never know). But I do have the Gloob post regarding it:

[translation: who was that phrase for? ‘Your heart has been broken, you will never use the power of second chance again’]

Oh, he’s never gonna use the power of second chance again, that’s for certain, but I do have reason to believe it’s not because they don’t get the miraculouses back (haven’t read the bible spoilers on that I’m just assuming that’s how it all ends), it’s rather that he doesn’t get to use them.

Luka has a lot of potential built up as being so important to the plot, with the ideas of the four being foils to each other (Kagami is getting plenty of screentime for this (in a good way)), but because he knows. I can’t fathom when this is going to play out, or why they would make him know unless something important comes from it. Then again, between seasons they could’ve just changed their mind about his role in the show (*cough* the Couffaine’s always *cough*).

Then again, they also could have them find out each others identities before Luka gets/wants to tell them and then it’s just a waste but. I’ll write another essay on that if it happens.

I keep saying ‘I can’t believe they’re going to kill Luka Couffaine’ to prepare myself that something Very Terrible is going/has happened to him, but I honestly don’t believe that Fully. The people I have discussed this with have all, for the most part, agreed they’re likely going to send him away at least until the end of the season, and with this idea there’s so many different reasons they could use. Go on tour with Jagged? Sure. Let him learn more about being a luthier? I could see that. Study abroad? I’m still confused as to what type of school he actually goes to but why not. Something involving Monarch based on that last idea? God I hope not, but it’s a reason.

also, since I began working on this, this was revealed:

Which is something I personally have been saying this whole time, but also Big Yikes, I’m just worried for my favorite blueberry. I hope he’s okay.

[heretherebedork]

I think for the Gram backlash, it comes for multiples reasons. I believe some viewers are not so keen on straight couples in BL, because they are already everywhere so if you also put them in shows where the emphasis is on queerness, some are not going to be happy. Even more if it takes screentime and take away the possible development of a mlm couple. The other reason is Black and Gram are canon in the novel and this spoiler spread in the fandom so the fact fans were expecting. I remember, fans saying that gram kissed eugene the first time to kiss Black through her. It also mean they replaced a gay couple by a straight couple even if there are already 2 mlm pairing. Last, the whole friendship dimension, eugene is black ex girlfriend so he kind of break the code and gram didn’t give a toss about Black when he was at his lowest just because of a girl. Him pushing black when he kissed eugene even when she responded to the kiss and he is not eugene boyfriend.

I mean, absolute truth.

I didn't even care much about Gram until the started to change and grow apart from the gang. I was never a hug fan or really cared. He was... fine. A cute friend, a possible third pairing, it was all good and it sounded interesting and the idea that it was book canon made it even better.

And then we got... this.

Look, I am not truly invested in them as a romantic pairing. But I was deeply invested in them as a friendship. Gram seemed like the most natural way to show us more of Black's human side and to let us see how he did care about people.

And we got... none of that. We got Black trying to protect Gram from him wanting to show Eugene affection (showing that he does care about Gram and his feelings) and we got Gram and Eugene showing at least some worry about Black during/after his collapse.

But we got nothing else.

We didn't even get a moment of hesitation or worry when Gram found out Black had literally been replaced for weeks and that's just... unimaginable.

I do think that removing a canonical queer couple specifically to replace them with a non-canon het couple that also includes a lot of nice guy behaviors like not accepting rejection and hanging out with people just to get closer to a girl really added insult to injury and make it even worse. Because this all retroactively paints Gram as a bad friend and a liar who only did what he did with Black and the gang to secretly spend time with Eugene.

I wouldn't have been mad about GramEugene if it hadn't been done by erasing Gram's friendship and closeness with Black and replacing that with Gram wanting to be close to Eugene. That was what drove me to where I am on this. Because between erasing a canonical queer couple and turning one half into a Nice Guy, they also took a friendship I was sincerely excited for and just... threw it out the window.

[after-witch]

Take Flight [Yandere Nikolai Gogol x Reader]

Title: Take Flight [Yandere Nikolai Gogol x Reader]

Synopsis: You’re a fantastic actress when you’re on the stage. But your captor isn’t fooled when there’s no stage magic to hide your real feelings.

For request: request for anything with BSD!Gogol please!

Word Count: 1772

notes: Yandere, kidnapped, noncon implications, implied torture/physical abuse

You look so beautiful when you’re immobile. Especially when you don’t know what you’ve done to deserve it, when your eyes are widened in fear, your mouth whimpering behind the tight cloth gag; your mind no doubt racing, searching for what you’ve done and why this is happening.

You look especially beautiful when he opens his coat and pulls out a few tools. He deliberately lays the hammer on the far end of the table, next to your feet. Now that makes you beautiful, as you cry out as much as possible behind the gag, some drool making its way past the increasingly soaked cloth your chin. Your muffled “no” is music.

He hates to clip your wings like this. But it’s only temporary. And, really, you’ve brought it upon yourself. Not by acting up--oh, no, definitely not that. He smiles to himself as he thinks about what a good birdie you’ve been lately. How obedient. How submissive. How sweet.

It took a lot of effort. A lot of punishment. A lot of pain. But on the surface, you’ve transformed into the sweet swan that he’s dreamed about keeping in a gilded cage. Literally and otherwise. Of course, he’s not that easily fooled--he knows you still hate him, fear him, on the inside. No matter how much you embrace him or let him have his way with you, no matter how much you try to please him with words and kisses, you’re still fighting him in your heart. Beating against your cage with your wings when his back is turned, as it were.

And you know something? It’s just not good enough. His life is already a game of duality. And he wants only a singularity with you, a single reality where you are broken and his for however long he wants to keep you. What would be the point of throwing you away when you’re still fighting him?

And thus, it’s only fitting that you’re currently bound to the table where you’ve received your other punishments. He’s not much of a cleaner, and there’s still the odd blood stain lodged in the wood grains. A handy table with straps on each end that keep your wrists and ankle immobile. He’s even given you a pillow, because why not, why not?

It’s easier when you’re tied up to see the real you underneath, the desperate, terrified person that only wants to stay alive. That only wants to avoid pain. The remnants of blood stains underneath you are a testament to that.

You do put on a good show, otherwise. But not quite up to par, he admits, hence his critical review. If he was a theater critic, he might call your efforts “valiant, but not worthy of the highest acclaim.” Or perhaps “They clearly need a little more time to develop, but it’s a good effort.”

You can kiss him. You can perform for him. You can let him touch you and hurt you, when he wants, without complaint. But you can’t hide all of the little things that give you real state of mind away. The way your jaw trembles ever so slightly when you stand up on your toes (so precious) to give him a kiss. The quarter-second that your eyes drift away before you tell him you love him, you adore him, you never want to leave him. The slight hint of revulsion, always covered with a smile in an instant, when he enters your cage at night. 

Did you think you’re fooling him? He hopes you did. He loves the idea of snatching the rug from underneath your feet, nimble as they may be. You’re good at acting on the stage--he could wax poetry about how ethereal, how in-the-moment you look when you’re dancing; when you’re practically flying across the stage, your tulle skirts swishing and the thin soles of your shoes slapping against the hard floor.

But when you’re off the stage? The magic is lessened. There are no stage lights to cover up your occasional tired expression, no swelling music to add emphasis to your movements if they become too strained. No stage tricks to hide your face from the audience for a moment of reprieve. It is no good, after all, for Odile to seduce the prince with her arms, her legs, the fierceness of her fouettes--if her face gives away that she finds him repellent.

Without the trickery of the stage, you give yourself away. Which is one reason why he’s decided to be oh-so-cruel to you today. The other? He’ll never tell you. Maybe you’ll guess it someday, if you happen to glimpse the expression he holds as you pirouette across the stage, no limits, no boundaries, only the music and the motion and the buzz of the audience to lift you up high.

But, he muses, picking up the hammer--the noises you’re making, oh, how fun!--it’s time to get back to the task at hand.

“Or at foot,” he says, giggling. But you don’t get the joke. He approaches the head of the table and your muffled pleas grow louder. They’re so soft, so confused. What did you do? What did you do? Please, please, please. He’s heard it all before, but it’s still enjoyable to take in. Like a comforting book.

He trails a gloved finger along your cheek, spreading your tears around like a child tracing lines on a foggy car window.

“I know you want to fly away from me.” He keeps his tone light and teasing. You immediately shake your head in denial, and Christ in heaven is that fantastic, the way you want him to believe you no longer desire escape, no longer desire true freedom.

He tuts at you, wagging the tip of his gloved finger in front of your face before leaning in closer. “If I let you fly away, would you still be my pet? If you fly away on your own, would you be free?” It’s rhetorical, and your expression betrays your lack of understanding behind his words.

He does want to hear your voice behind the gag, so he swiftly undoes the tight knot and tosses the soaked fabric aside.

“Please, I love you,” you say immediately, voice weak and pleading. “Nik--Nikolai, I don’t understand. What did I do wrong?” You hesitate for a moment, but then you continue. “I’m so sorry, whatever it is. I must have… disappointed you.” You lower your eyes and the downcast expression, the defeat in your gaze, makes him wish he had a camera on hand.

You’re so submissive. It really is beautiful. But you’re submissive because you want to avoid being hurt. You’re submissive because he’s got a hammer resting next to your precious feet and you don’t want him to lift up that hammer and bash your bones until they break.

Where’s the fun in that?

He hums to himself as he begins a deliberately slow walk back to the end of the table. He trails his fingers down your body and enjoys the sight of little goosebumps rising on your flesh, enjoys the way you squirm, just a bit, when he pokes at your sensitive side.

When he picks up the hammer, you begin to babble. The words aren’t important--he’s listening to the tone, the way your voice is thick with sadness and fear. Please, no, don’t, I’ll do anything; all words that run from your mouth like water through a stream. He ignores them and instead holds one of your feet still with his hand. There’s a power in your feet, thanks to the years of dancing and even more years of training. He thinks about taking that power away. About what that would mean. About what it would do to you.

When he rubs the end of the hammer against the top of your foot, you groan, a guttural sound of pure horror. The sound of someone whose entire reason for living, whose heartbeat, rests on the ability to dance. 

Your breath is sharp and scratchy when he suddenly lifts the hammer up and brings it crashing down on your ankle--where it immediately compresses and squeaks, high and childish.

It’s rubber. It’s a rubber toy. Nothing more.

Your breath comes out in short, harsh puffs. He takes in your expression, which is at once horrified and confused and relieved and even a bit angry.

“What--”

His sharp, pleased laughter interrupts you. And when he laughs, you laugh, just a little. He’s surprised that he can’t tell if it’s a genuine laugh of pure relief, an attempt to mimic him to stay in his good graces, or a sign that you’re losing your mind. Maybe it’s a mixture of all three.

He wastes no time in undoing your straps, and he pulls you into a sitting position. Your entire body is trembling, an adrenaline crash turning your legs to rubber as he helps you to your feet and loops your arm around his shoulders for added support. 

You don’t even have time to process the fact that he didn’t hurt you before he starts leading you out of the room and back to your pretty little cage and your pretty little bed. He drops you on the bed with a flourish, and you bounce slightly on the mattress--face still in shock, still processing.

“That was fun, right?” he says, voice once again teasing. “Now let’s play a little more.” He begins undoing his belt buckle, and what would have been the normal flash of revulsion on your face is replaced by something new: relief. Relief that you can dance? Relief that you didn’t earn any new scars, any new injuries, any new pain? He’s not sure that the exact reason matters. It’s something new, and it’s a step closer.

He grins and begins making quick work of his clothes. You’re already on your knees in front of him.

Relief, after all, comes in many forms.

[fridayturtle]

Miraculous Ladybug Rewrite/au

So uh about to post art for it so I figure I should post about it for the main long-term plot differences and premise difference. The main difference is instead of Master Fu only losing two miraculous, he loses all of them EXCEPT the ladybug, cat, and turtle. The main goal isn’t just to defeat hawkmoth, but to find and get all of the miraculous back to Master Fu as asked.

Overall premise differences:

Marinette's characterization is a bit different here, she's generally much more reclusive and only talks to Alya, and even then they're not the closest. She's only really close with family. She's more intensely bullied by Chloe.

Both of them were tested and chosen by their kwamis, not really master Fu, who's going to be a bit more of a mess in this au (he never got proper training afterall)

Both Chat Noir and Ladybug have contact with Master Fu fairly early on and equally

The miraculous cure has a time limit. It can only fix things for a few hours after the damage is done. (Chat Blanc's timeline chaos, for example, could never be fixed in any shape or form by the miracle cure.)

There's a secret society and research hidden from the public on the miraculous

As a result they do have to fight other miraculous holders every now and then, mainly in S1 (like the bee, the snake, and pig miraculous)

Not all of this is villainy, it's sometimes people trying to be heroes. Ladybug and Chat Noir try to teach others that not everyone should, or can be a hero though.

The Agreste family and Graham de Vanily family are all villains here working together

Emilie (Still kinda dead here) and Amelie have heavy involvement in the secret groups researching miraculous

Same miraculous for Nathalie and Gabriel, Amelie gets the mouse

A LOT of Amelie manipulating Gabriel

unfortunately going with sentimonster adrien in this au (which is the reason he's excluded from his family's villainy)

This is already a lot, the other big details are eventual fox holder Felix and eventual butterfly holder Emelie. Gonna put it under read more since it's already a long post, but here's the rest of main differences that happen.

Warning this gets long rip

This is pretty much a S2 Rundown:

Amelie using the mouse miraculous to spy on ladybug and chat noir (it's easy when you're small and everywhere to use it to spy)

Lila in S2 has the real fox miraculous, and in the fight against ladybug, she loses for Hawkmoth to come in and get it at the end (his first physical public appearance)

He then gives Felix the fox miraculous

Felix pretty much becomes a phantom thief with it called the Phantom Fox as a result lol. He steals jewelry across Paris (a chance to get the missing miraculous, and also enjoy a fun hobby of his)

Honestly he's just out here to waste so much of Ladybug and Chat Noir's time because it's fun for him (really big stunts of stealing stuff and just being a public bother, but Master Fu has emphasis that someone with a miraculous has to stop him lol)

Adrien's family is all together a lot but exclude him constantly despite a lot of episodes being him trying to impress them

Felix almost gets caught and revealed. Gabriel realizes how if he's caught there could be an investigation, and even worse, he could be mistaken for Adrien even if the miraculous is only taken for a minute.

I hate to make it edgy (this goes in with a later plot point though) but as a result Gabriel harms Felix pretty badly. Still personally debating what kind of injury or the specifics, but to the point where he has some facial injury to not be mistaken as Adrien, and for Felix to not be as casual when using the fox miraculous. After that, he stops making public appearances too (Adrien is told he went back to London for study-related reasons) and is slightly mute at times. Gabriel lies to Emilie that it was Ladybug and Chat Noir's doing to Emilie, causing her to start having actual resentment to them.

I know canon is going otherwise lately but Gabriel is fairly unaware about miraculous research and the potential of it. His goal is just to sacrifice Adrien for Emilie to come back to life, nothing bigger

He starts actually using Mayura and Amelie offensively in what would be S3. Happens pretty similarly to canon honestly with how Mayura is used, except for the main climax:

Gabriel does win one day

During this Gabriel, Marinette and Adrien all get to know each others identities (no one else)

They lost outside of the mansion but he takes Adrien back for his weird sacrifice thing and so that he can see Emilie the second she awakens

Even though wearing multiple miraculous is supposed to be hard in canon Hawkmoth wears all four lol, so in this au he's only able to wear two at once without hurting himself. So once in the mansion he's not wearing the butterfly and peacock

This clown gives them to Nathalie to hold onto

Gabriel dies instead of Adrien (woo!)

Because Adrien's right there he's able to take back the ladybug and cat miraculous

For clarification no Emilie doesn't notice she's out here dealing with way too much after being resurrected and having her husband die for her (and almost kill their sentimonster son )

Society is aware of their failure, the Agreste family is looked into, and they weren't able to miraculous cure the casualties or destruction away this time

It's not exactly. hard to steal from a sick woman. so Felix steals the butterfly and peacock miraculous

So it's generally a really big loss for Adrien and Marinette. They know each other's identities which is nice sure sure, but due to the major loss, disappointment in them from society, and the hurt Adrien feels a lot of the time spent is in somber comfort of each other instead. They're not sure what's going to happen next, so they keep their identities secret from society. They just have each other now.

Everything after is, well. even more different from canon because I went feral. Basically S4:

Ya'll know how I mentioned Marinette is a lot more reclusive? She's still bright as ladybug, but this effects that too. She really refused any interviews or explanations on herself or miraculous in the past, and now that really screws them over. A lot of distrust from society because they have no statements from her to know what's going on.

Amelie is so glad Gabriel died lmao, fake mourning for Emilie's sake though

Emilie created Adrien to just be her child, but not a full person. The fact he's in school, has a free will, and a life outside of her? Kind of kills her. She doesn't know how to interact with him really.

She falls into a similarly reclusive state to Gabriel when it comes to him with a bit more awkward-try-hard parent moments. She was ready to *own* a child not be an actual parent lol

Amelie gives Emelie the butterfly miraculous, and keeps the peacock for herself.

Because of the evidence of harm on Felix, during the investigation of the family they realize he has the fox but the family is able to plea that he was forced against his will and traumatized from it. (Amelie might be faking this, but doesn't know how true it is)

This is all just set up in episode 1 and the feelings happening throughout the season. Actual Stuff that happens though?

Emilie and Amelie make a plan to "adjust" the world they're in. Neither of them like how things have ended up for their sons, Emilie has been dead for a while and is bad at adjusting herself to the changes around her, so they may as well.

They just need for Emilie to play the hero and Amelie to play the villain to do that.

Nathalie isn't arrested, but is suspected so this is a pretty good pass for Amelie to use the peacock as long as she's hidden while using it. She makes sentimonsters that terrorize Paris.

Emilie meanwhile uses the power of the butterfly to become the supposedly-hero "The Monarch", who gives civilians the power to become heroes based on their passions or drive to defeat sentimonsters.

The Monarch just straight up contacts and makes a ton of interviews on the news. Explaining the miraculous, saying she's a member from the society researching miraculous who Felix gave the miraculous to (and why secret identities are important but she'll reveal that much), and bringing all that jazz that to light.

In contrast to LB and CN, she keeps saying how anyone can, and should be a hero.

Sooooo much passive aggressive shade on LB and CN during these lmao

A lot of her discussion about them is how they're just kids, "not trained or prepared", how she's the one not sure how they got the miraculous which is suspicious of them, with a lot of fake sympathy towards them too. (Mainly being it's not their fault, with her stating they were bound to fail eventually given how they are)

She does actually reach out to the folk she makes heroes to train and discuss things with them. A lot of it is honestly lowkey manipulating and trying to be a parental/role figure towards them while using them though

She especially reaches out to people who've tried to be heroes before and have some issues.

Like Chloe, reasoning LB and CN were wrong, how she's wrongly judged by society, how she deserves better and another chance, trying to be the kind figure Audrey isn't, etc.

The heroes don't always come after LB and CN. It's just The Monarch tells them to exclude them at best because they can't be trusted, and sometimes they *happen* to try and capture them because hey, maybe that'll impress The Monarch. And she doesn't really stop them from doing that lol

Felix is now using the fox miraculous pretty much 24/7. The police revealed the Phantom Fox was him and some info about what happened to him anyway (Not that Marinette trust that)

It's true the group of heroes The Monarch makes start off good but it starts to become an extreme "justice" group that'll get more intense over time, punishing whoever they see fit.

This ended up being so. So overly long so I'm gonna end it here since I have art and some more writing to show for the rest of it, but yeah. Just a big list of stuff about my au/rewrite, sorry it's kind of a mess but I'm having way too much fun with it.