#she gets long pigtails and little antennae ribbons

[lucydoodlessometimes]

what once was in darkness, is totally different in the light...

"Courage in me" screenshot redraw ft. my personal ladybug redesign!

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

And if this world won't write me an ending

How can I write love into reality?

(read tags for tws)

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

Marinette woke up, and she was a normal girl, with a normal life.

She got ready like every other normal girl. She would tumble out of bed, eat a banana, brush her teeth, do her homework minutes before she had to leave for class, do her hair…

She hummed to herself as she brushed her hair, forcing it into her signature pigtails, tying little ribbons around them and smiling at the way the bows bounced, at the way they stuck up like miniature antennae.

She turned her head to the side, her mouth opening, ready to ask for another opinion…

But there was no one there.

Of course there was no one there. Why would there be someone in her room?

She shook her head to herself, frowning, feeling lonely for a reason she couldn’t quite place.

Her phone buzzed. She pulled it out, expecting a text, and a tiny gasp left her when she realized that it was her alarm going off.

She yelped and started scooping everything from her desk into her backpack, not even bothering to try and keep the papers unwrinkled, and rushed out the door, zipping it closed as she went.

She was late, of course, how could you expect anything different? She was always late, she always seemed to get caught up doing other things. Or, at least, that was what she claimed, terrible excuses spilling out of her mouth with reckless abandon so she wouldn’t have to admit the truth. Not because it was bad, just embarassing. In reality, she often found that time slipped by her for no reason at all. Sometimes, she wondered just how long she could go on, sitting and doing nothing, letting time pass her by.

The doorknob to the classroom clicked, and she was jolted back into her body at the unexpected sound. The door was new, or at least it was supposed to be, it had been destroyed recently, though she couldn’t exactly remember how. It shouldn’t have clicked – never had before – and she took this as a sign to pay more attention to her surroundings.

What was she thinking?

She shook her head to herself. There she went again, always thinking about something else.

She slipped into the class, sending her teacher a halfhearted excuse about her alarm that was only met with an exasperated smile, and then headed to her seat. She sent Nino a wave, and he glanced up from where he was totally not playing on his phone in the back of the class briefly to send her a smile.

She took her usual spot by Alya, and pulled out her things. Her eyes flicked to see what page of the textbook they were on, and it didn’t take long before she was dragged into the monotony of a normal school day.

Her fingers tugged on her earlobe as she listened to her teacher explain Shakespeare book #61255, playing with the place where she had had her ears pierced as a toddler, wondering why she was bothered by the fact that she hadn’t opted to wear any earrings that morning.

A boy with blue hair made his way into the room, and she swore for a moment that her heart might just beat out of her chest.

She had been dating Luka for ages now, but he still gave her butterflies.

How could he not, when he smiled at her so dopily? When he took the time to give her a quick kiss before taking his usual seat in front of her? When he made bunny ears behind his sister’s head just to make Marinette smile?

Of course, he could definitely try putting in the effort to get to school on time, but she didn’t mind. She, of all people, could not judge him.

Not for that, at least.

She watched him, a smile playing across her lips. He was much more interesting than her literature lecture. She rested her head in her hand.

Alya punched her in the shoulder, and Marinette looked over to see her making a gagging gesture.

Marinette snorted. “It’s payback.”

Alya grinned. “Oh, yeah? For what?”

… for what?

Marinette looked at the seat in front of Alya for a second. It was just Juleka.

As always.

Except… Juleka hated sitting up front. Almost as much as Nino did.

Why was she sitting there? Because of Luka? Luka could have been convinced to sit in the back, he shouldn’t have cared…

She was starting to feel a little sick.

“For being evil, of course,” Marinette decided.

Alya laughed a little, rolling her eyes with a fond smile tugging at her lips. “You need to work on your comebacks.”

She searched through her pencil bag, in search of that singular red pen that she had to use for corrections, only to pause. Because it had a strange set of lines written into the inside of the canvas. And that, on its own, didn’t mean much. If you leave pencils in your pencil bag, it is pretty much inevitable that you will get some marks on it… but these lines were too dark, too deliberate.

They spelled something:

WRONG.

A minute shiver ran through her.

It was undeniably her own handwriting, though it looked rushed, frantic. Like that time she had realized ten minutes before class had started that an essay was due and had spent the next several minutes frantically scribbling down anything she could think of. But why would she have done this?

Why was that in her pencil bag? Had she gotten too sleep-deprived one day and, in a fit of rage over getting a bad score on something, scratched it in there? She didn’t think she would do that, but what other explanation was there?

What was wrong?

She could agree that something was off. She had felt strange all morning. But what was it?

A hand wrapped itself around her wrist in a vice grip, and she suddenly became all too aware of Luka’s face, so close to her own. He was her boyfriend – was he? since when? – she should be happy about this, but she couldn’t bring herself to be anything but utterly terrified. Her stomach twisted, bile rising in her throat.

Blue eyes were just a smidge too sharp as he stared at the word. His gaze cut to hers, and for just a second she realized that his face looked wrong. That his eyes were pupilless, yellow things, and if she really concentrated she could see two tiny clocks dancing in the irises, ticking down time she didn’t have.

“I have to give it to you, Marinette,” Luka said, his lips curling into a wry little smile that made her feel like ants were crawling up the back of her shirt. “You really are… smart.”

She tried to pull away from him, but his hand held tight.

She screamed, but no one seemed to hear, and she was left to try and wrestle away from him. But her body didn’t feel like her own, and she felt weaker than normal, and everything was wrong, and she knew, somewhere, somehow, that it was all for naught, anyway.

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

Marinette woke up, and she was a normal girl, with a normal life.

She got ready like every other normal girl. She would tumble out of bed, eat a banana, brush her teeth, do her homework minutes before she had to leave for class, do her hair…

She tilted her head this way and that in the mirror, looking for a hair out of place. She couldn’t see the back of her head, so she wasn’t sure how that looked, but the back of her head was the epitome of ‘out of sight out of mind’ in her not-so-humble opinion.

She nodded once to herself, deeming herself ready for the day.

And then glossy lips pulled into a frown.

When had she put on her clothes?

She squinted down at her usual outfit. She swore she hadn’t yet changed, she certainly wouldn’t fall asleep in jeans no matter how tired she was, she should not be in her clothes yet.

She… must have forgotten. Done it without thinking, as one normally does with things you do habitually. Like putting on clothes.

Except, Marinette put a lot of thought into her outfits. She was a future fashion designer, of course she put time and effort into looking good. It only made sense.

This… didn’t.

She ran a hand through her hair, pushing her bangs up and out of her eyes.

And then she headed to school. The traffic she sprinted past wasn’t quite as congested as it usually was. Despite all of the slowed cars, she didn’t spot a single wreck to cause them. The tardy bell didn’t sound quite as needlessly loud and annoying as she rushed to class. The doorknob clicked more than it was supposed to when she finally managed to fumble her way into turning it, her sweaty hands sliding right off. Nino was in the back, and Juleka was in the front.

Everything was wrong. Just ever so slightly off.

She wanted to go home, but even her home wasn’t safe, because her parents hadn’t been behind the counter, serving customers, when she’d left. Instead, they were having a ‘lazy day’, the sign in the bakery window declaring them ‘closed’. Not a single person paid the sign any mind, nor were any of the other bakeries in the surrounding area more full than usual.

Her hands gripped her hair, pulling, almost tearing it out at the roots. Alya was trying to talk to her, asking what was wrong in that concerned tone she always used, but was this actually Alya? Everything else was wrong, why should she believe any of it was real? Maybe this was just more of an accurate ruse than everything else.

The door opened, and Luka strolled in, heading towards his – it wasn’t his – seat.

Their eyes locked.

Her heart thudded in her chest, beating against the bars of her ribcage, as if trying to escape.

Luka tipped his head back in a groan.

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

Marinette woke up and she was a normal girl, with a normal life.

One who smiled when she saw that a contact in her phone, labeled ‘bf<3’, had sent her a good morning text.

Only to find that the text didn’t have the usual paw print beside the words.

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

Marinette woke up.

And.

She.

Was.

A.

Normal.

Girl.

With.

A.

Normal.

Life.

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

Marinette woke up and hissed out a curse when she saw her alarm hadn’t gone off. She glanced out the window to check the time.

There was nothing to see out the window. Just a pure white expanse.

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

Marinette woke up and laid there, not wanting to get up, dread unlike any she had ever felt before clinging to her, dragging her back into her too-plush bed. She didn’t know why she felt this way, but she did, and she wanted it gone.

What she wanted didn’t matter.

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

And she woke up.

She always woke up.

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

Marinette woke up and she was a normal girl with a normal life. Her head was buried in her arms, trying to ward off the hot sun and the even more scalding metal of the table she was leaning against. If she wasn’t careful burns would form even through her long sleeves.

Not that this was the biggest of her problems.

Her problem was –.

A finger poking her shoulder relentlessly. She lifted her head just enough to glower at the offender.

It was Alya, grinning widely at her. “Hey, sleeping beauty, we were gone for ten minutes.”

We? Marinette thought, her mind sluggish thanks to a bone-deep exhaustion that was less than normal, looking around to find Nino and… Luka?

No. It shouldn’t have been Luka. Who was it supposed to be?

Who was he replacing?

Either way, he was – he was wrong, and dangerous, and she needed to run.

The world whirled out of color before she had even gotten out of her chair. The last thing she saw was his frustrated expression.

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

Marinette woke up to something touching her cheek.

She peeked an eye open and found Luka standing over her, offering a bowl. She rolled her eyes just slightly at the offered food, taking the silverware. She shouldn’t be handling the hot plate with her bare hands, but it wasn’t like it mattered.

Because she was a baker’s daughter, and her hands were already hopelessly covered in callouses. A few more wouldn’t hurt her… or, well, they would, but she didn’t care enough to prevent this.

And the burns would be gone by the next reset, anyway.

She pulled it into her lap and smiled when he took a seat beside her with his own meal. If it could even be called that.

“Oh, wow, thanks for the gourmet meal,” she joked, twirling the ramen around her fork.

She hadn’t eaten in so long. Even this looked like heaven.

She didn’t need to eat at all.

He took a seat beside her, chuckling lightly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and dragging her into his side.

She sunk her knife into his eye.

Her last thought before his soft expression fell away, disappearing with the rest of the world, was wondering why he had even given her the stupid knife in the first place.

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

Marinette woke up and –.

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

Marinette woke up.

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

Marinette was –.

What was Marinette again?

【H】⩇:⩇⩇【E】

【L】⩇:⩇⩇【P】

【M】⩇:⩇⩇【E】

Did it really matter if she woke up again?

She would always wake up again.

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

“Why?” Luka hissed, his fingers digging into her shirt, his nose so close to her own that she could feel his breath wash over her face. Despite the fact that he was practically panting in his rage, it was cold. “Why do you insist on making things difficult?”

She thought it over for a long moment.

And then she spat on his face.

“Spite.”

He lifted a hand to rub it away, scowling.

“We can keep doing this forever, you know. No one is coming to save you – they couldn’t even if they tried. Everything you do, every breath you take, that all belongs to me, and I can take it away.”

“Do it, then,” she said, and she couldn’t help the way her voice cracked just slightly when she said it. Not because she was scared, but because she was only a step above begging. “Just… kill me, if it’s so difficult.”

He set his jaw.

And then he sighed, his forehead coming to rest against hers.

“I just want us to be together. And happy. Don’t you want to be happy?”

“I… I want to go home. That will make me happy.”

He closed his eyes, and he looked much more human like this. With the clocks in his irises hidden by long lashes.

It didn’t last long. He opened them again, a steely look on his face.

“We will be happy, I promise.”

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

【H】⩇:⩇⩇【E】

【L】⩇:⩇⩇【P】

【H】⩇:⩇⩇【E】

【L】⩇:⩇⩇【P】

【H】⩇:⩇⩇【E】

【L】⩇:⩇⩇【P】

【H】⩇:⩇⩇【E】

【L】HELP【P】

【H】HELP【E】

【L】HELP【P】

【H】HELP【E】

【L】HELP【P】

【H】HELP【E】

【L】HELP【P】

【H】HELP【E】

【L】HELP【P】

【HELP】HELP【HELP】

【HELP】HELP【HELP】

【HELP】HELP【HELP】

【HELP】HELP【HELP】

【HELP】HELP【HELP】

【HELP】HELP【HELP】

【HELP】HELP【HELP】

【HELP】HELP【HELP】

【PLEASE】PLEASE【PLEASE】

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

Marinette woke up, and she was a normal girl, with a normal life.

Well, she wasn’t, but there was no point in saying otherwise, anyway.

[fuyu-mayoi]

Opinion on the Tokyo Mew Mew 2022 Promo Visual

You may not know that I am a huge Tokyo Mew Mew fan. Worry not! Now you know it. 😌This is my partial personal opinion on the promo. If you like, let me know what you think too.

General picture: I can't call myself neither a hardcore fan of the costumes' restyling, neither an opponent. The time passes, and so does the fashion, I understand that the changes are inevitable. Anyway some of the supposed "embellishments" are sort of frilly. I liked the cleaner old fashion, it had soft curvy lines. The new one is heavier and sharp, there are triangular laces everywhere. The classic chokers have now a ribbon insert, this one adjustment has my approval. The ensemble is a 50-50.

Looking at each Mew :

Ichigo - cute, the darker hair color raises up her appeal. Her skirt is an air-baloon, less mature and sweeter than the original, I love it.

Minto - Odango + wavy hair down, she gains a 💯 plus score. She doesn't differ a lot from the 2002 version, never change a winning team.

Retasu - My little girl what did they do to you???? What's with that flat skirt?? Where are your antennas? Why is her corset light green???? What's that mint colored thing behind her neck?? Another ribbon??? I disagree with this treatment.

Purin - her jumpsuit has become a skirt. Ok, I can live with it. Also her orange is less brownish and more bright. 4 long braids and two upper pigtails decorate her haircut. No short hair anymore in this anime. I accept what they offer.

Zakuro - so so. Now when you try to change perfection, this is what you get. Long long LONG hair (and is that a short fringe? Perhaps it is the perspective). A big no no for the pink ribbon, it's an eyesore.