#sorry if perrin's anyone's favorite

[kevin-sedai]

With season two of Wheel of Time now over, which character are you most looking forward to seeing how their story has been altered by the combining of book 2 and 3 plotlines?

Probably Perrin! I liked how they had him already be with Avi, Chiad, and Bain, so I'm curious to see how they handle him going back to the Two Rivers, and if he goes back with either Chiad or Bain. I wonder how they'll handle the storming of the Stone since it looks like Gaul's been cut, so Perrin looks like he'll be more involved with the Aiel getting into the Stone

I'm also just interested in how they do Perrin in general. He wasn't my favorite character in the books, so I'm excited to see how they translate his story to screen to make him more exciting!

[xylodemon]

i've been skimming through The Great Hunt as i plot out the next chapter of my fic and i ended up having some Random Thoughts about the Show

(book spoilers under the cut)

what got me thinking was the Dragon Banner scene in TGH, particularly Mat's less-than-stellar reaction to finding out Rand can channel. it's a hard scene to read - even on rereads, knowing that Mat stops Being Like That fairly quickly - but it does help set up the fact that (nearly) everyone is going to be at least a little afraid of Rand moving forward.

i am, however, wondering if the show will skip all that, thinking that Mat staying behind at the Waygate is enough to put the necessary strain on their relationship. although... Rand defended Mat pretty vehemently in 1x07. it'll be interesting to see if Rand really isn't upset about it, or if he just snapped at Egwene in a "no one talks shit about my boyfriend bestie but me" kind of way.

while i was writing the last chapter of my fic, i rewatched the scene where Min tells Rand about Tam finding him in the snow, which got me thinking about them. i love Rand's screwy love-life, but in the books, Rand/Min is the least compelling of the relationships to me, mainly bc she spends so much of LOC/COS trying to make her viewing happen, regardless of what he wants (or says he wants). Show!Min's "ugh, you" reaction to him walking into the tavern makes me hope wonder if the show is going to rework their dynamic a bit.

Speaking of relationships, the show leaning into Moiraine/Siuan so hard (love it) has me curious re: what it plans to do with Siuan/Gareth and Moiraine/Thom. i have zero investment in either of those relationships, but Thom and Moiraine's feelings for each other are tied up with how the Tower of Ghenjei stuff plays out.

(not me maundering about stuff that'll be in, like, Season 10 or 11 when we're still waiting for Season 2.

back to Season 2: in the promo and the stills, Rand sure does seem to be channeling a lot. i wonder if he's going to skip the whole I'LL NEVER DO IT AGAIN I PROMISE stuff. likely, he starts off like that in 2x01/2x02 but gets "talked" out of it by "Selene." Rand traveling with her alone instead of with Loial and Hurin (RIP) has the potential to do truly bonkers things to their dynamic.

back to Mat (sorry i'm genuinely all over the place today): there's a scene in the promo that looks like he's being Healed, which suggests he's at Tar Valon. i'm wondering how he gets out. i understand that they're collapsing some plotlines from TGH and TDR, which would probably put Mat in the Tower while Egwene/Elayne/Nynaeve are at Falme. that means they won't be there to bust him out with Siuan's Black Ajah hunting letter.

Unraveling the Pattern on YT did a promo breakdown that's convinced me the Rand/Siuan meeting goes down in Cairhien. i'm wondering now if Siuan brings Mat with her. that would get him to Rand in time to go to Falme and blow the Horn.

Sadly, this could end up costing me two of my absolute favorite Mat sequences: his quarterstaff face-off with Gawyn and Galad, and the whole bit where he gambles his way out of Tar Valon.

(he still better answer the door naked when Rand saves him from the Darkhounds. that is peak comedy. PEAK.)

i'm probably not saying anything anyone hasn't already figured out here, but i'm thinking, since TGH and TDR are getting meshed, that Rand goes straight from Falme to the Aiel Waste. i've seen some speculation that Aviendha is the Aiel Perrin rescues from the cage, thus explaining why she's with him at Falme, but she wouldn't be the only Aiel around. i'm betting the show is altering the People of the Dragon prophecy so that it's about Falme (the Car'a'carn appearing in the sky???) rather than the Stone. Maybe Rand takes the Aiel with him when he goes to Tear and picks up his plot coupon Callandor.

okay, that's it. i swear.

[gunkreads]

I’ve been really pretty upset thinking about the show lately. In the most simple terms, it’s not my Wheel of Time. It’s got so little of what I love about the books. Most omissions and changes are justifiable with such a drastic medium change, but enough of them are just... incomprehensible to me that I’m upset about it. They focus on aspects of the story I’ve never cared about and spend a frankly insulting amount of time trying to make me care about them. It’s so painfully clear to me that the creators want to tell a different story than what I read in the books. The changes go beyond picturing things differently, going so far as to change the overall trajectory and tone of the story.

The reasons for these changes don’t matter to me, honestly. I could probably name you forty and almost all of them are valid in ways that do nothing to mitigate the feeling of emptiness the show gives me. I can’t watch it as an adaptation of Wheel of Time because it’s just... it’s got almost none of what I wanted! It’s got none of the feeling I have rereading Eye of the World. I don’t even want to list out all the things I’m sad about the show changing, but suffice it to say episode 5 was kind of the nail in the coffin for me feeling comfortable calling it a good translation of the story to TV. Episode 5 was fine, I guess, and had some stuff I really liked, but it just felt like. I don’t even know. Hell, I’m the world’s biggest fan of chest-thumping as a dirge; it’s my favorite funeral trope ever, but that scene did literally nothing for me. Felt hokey and too early.

I can still totally watch it as a completely new show that shares character names with one of my favorite book series, but on the whole, it’s just... it’s not Wheel of Time to me. Maybe it was too much to hope that I’d like it in that way. Watching the new episodes every Thursday takes effort because I have to work so goddamn hard to remember that it’s a completely different story. It’s not the same at all! My favorite characters are getting fucking shafted, the development I love in them is nonexistent, the worldbuilding that wrapped me in chains and threw me in the trunk for the whole 14-book ride is practically forgotten, they’re skipping over entire sequences that are so crucial to my desire to show my friends and family this show... It’s just painful. Eye of the World is nothing to me without Elyas, without Bayle Domon, without Mat and Rand performing their way to Caemlyn, without any mystery around Moiraine, without Perrin’s axe, without without without without.

And they scrapped all these incredible stories that give the world a real sense of adventure for a painfully cramped, overly-action-heavy, abridged version of all the meh parts of the book. Then, as if to add insult to injury, absolutely fuck the shit out of their runtime with a bunch of Aes Sedai bullshit during which you’d be forgiven for falling asleep. That Alvaro Morte, playing what should be a minor character, holds the screen better than anyone else in that setting is a testament to how poorly done that entire sideplot has been.

I’m sorry, I just can’t walk around acting like I’m happy with the trajectory of the show. I’m frankly kinda pissed about it. Fundamentally, this is small potatoes because it’s the opinion of one overly-critical guy who isn’t even paying to watch the show, but hey it’s my blog and I get to pick what to be mad about. I’m still upset. It’s just... I feel lied to about this being an adaptation. At best, it’s loosely based on the events in the books, and at worst it’s a mockery of them. So much is lost and almost nothing is gained.

go ahead hit me with that “don’t be a bitch and appreciate that we finally do have a show” or whatever; this means nothing to me. I never needed a show, but I let myself get excited that it’d be good. All that hubbub about building Emond’s Field from scratch, then we find out that they forgot to add the part where the show is fun to watch. Some things are better left unadapted, apparently.

[unforth]

hi, unforth! love your work, thanks for everything you do for the mxtx fandom! who are your favorite fanartists for mdzs?

Sorry it's taken me a few days to reply to this, anon! I've been busy, but also...this is such a hard question to answer, omg. Like, no matter how many people I list here, I'm positive I'll forget folks, because there are just. SO MANY. Amazing artists in the MDZS fandom? SO SO MANY? I can't even, there are so many people who I get excited when I see "oh THEY made a new piece!" So this is list is far from exhaustive, I'm sure I'm forgetting many wonderful folks, but my personal favorites are... First, my friends! @candicewright @alychelms @xiejie-liubo @aybara-perrin @sweetlittlevampire @cobaltmoony @iouii @wifiwuxians ...there are surely others but those are folks I'm either mutuals with on here, or with whom I chat regularly, and who's art I love. (if I left you out: it's not you. my memory is a sieve. asks like this are hard. absolutely no one is being omitted intentionally and I'm sorry.)

For other folks who spring to mind on the "omg they're amazing" list, hmm... @zazrichor @zelkams-art @joshua-beeking @hilluhri @theresa-draws @curiosity-killed @shuang-hua @sharpieshepie @no1rubbish @zeldacw @pakhnokh @silvysartfulness @hearteyeswangji @the-pudding-is-a-lie @yustinamishka @netamashii @kaileech @wingyenart @sheepandpencils @wildersfanart @artpatriarch @antaliasun @wrecklwj @lycorislilit And honestly, I could keep going and going, because like. I run an art side blog. I've seen literally thousands of different artists doing tens of thousands of pieces for MDZS fandom, and I love every single one in different ways. I adore art. Flat out. I always have and I always will. I actually hate singling people out, because I don't want anyone to EVER feel discouraged because they're not on a list like this. Everyone should feel supported and encouraged to know - if you create? I promise, I love what you create, and I want you to keep creating. These are just the ones that spring to mind and who caught my eye when I scrolled my list...but my list has 3,252 artists on it, and generally at least one more gets added every single day so like honestly. I could as easily pick 20, or 100, or 1,000, of my favorite stars in the sky, then really single out a list of my favorite artists. If you asked me this exact same question tomorrow I could list a score of completely different people and still be telling the absolute truth that they're also my favorites.

Thank you, artists everywhere - those in MDZS fandom and in every other fandom. I live and breathe your work. You make my experience of fandom better every single day, and I can't thank you enough.

[madraleen]

The Eye of the World - Robert Jordan 3,5/5 stars

More stars, jot-it-down-as-it happens commentary, and the character that I stubbornly want to love.

Eye: of the World. Rand: My sweet bumbling boy/5 Perrin: My wolf boy/5 Mat: I AM DETERMINED TO LOVE HIM/5 Egwene: Okay/5 Nynaeve: Feisty queen/5 Moiraine: Sorry, WHO are you?/5 Lan: Iiiinteresting/5 Character evolution: Honey, where are you?/5 Plot: Fine/5 Stakes: Eh/5 Epicness: Out of the charts/5 Magic system: I am compelled!/5 World: Big/5 Lore: Unevenly offered/5 Questions: Never asked, rarely answered/5

Commentary: -Okay, but straight off I’d be inclined to like anyone named “Prince of the Morning” and “Lord of the Dawn.” I have a feeling that over the series I'll cry for this person. -The writing FEELS epic, it gives me chills without knowing why. -The Wheel of Time is the last place I’d have expected to read the line “let out a breath he had not realized he had been holding,” but here we are. -Aw, Rand is so sweet, in a fumbling, clumsy, pure youngster way. -I love the “Light!” “Light shine on me!” “Light above” etc exclamations. -I haven’t had honeycakes but damn if I don’t want to find a recipe now. -Let’s take a moment to rejoice at Rand, the first protagonist I’ve seen who actually thinks “who ever remembered the exact words they heard?” -As I’m reading, I keep wondering, will I care for these people one day? Will I cry for them, grin with them, share their inside jokes, find comfort in their domestic moments? Reading a long series when you’re already familiar with the experience makes it all so meta. -Shadar Logoth is my aesthetic. -I kinda really like Nynaeve. -Part of me wants to bitchslap Mat, but part of me likes his pureness so much. -Mat’s holding a dagger you say. Hmmmmmmmm. -You ARE hinting that Rand channels the One Power, right? -I know I’m supposed to root for Rand/Egwene, but Perrin/Egwene sounds sweet tbh. -Oof, Rand on the mast speaks to my ship-stories heart. -“Rand would know what to do/Rand had an easy way with girls” ??? Perrin, my man, are you alright. -Undulated <3. -Hahaha, and Rand thinks Perrin knows how to act around girls, that’s adorable. -Oh hello, Rand’s sick after that ~fortuitous lightning, who would have thunk. -I can’t figure out if Mat will have a hero’s arc or a corruption arc. I like it. -Oh, but shut up, Rand is so tender with Mat. -Ah, shut up, Mat is gentle with Rand too, I hate them both (that’s a fair first step for me to soon be saying I love them). -Chapters 32 and 33 are legit my favorites, I love them. -I have an odd pull towards Mat, I could either adore him or hate him. For now, I’m cautiously doting. -I feel like Rand is the kind of guy whose every second word would be a variation of “fuck.” Not for any particular emotion, not even while raising his voice. Lost? Fuck. Bumbling? Fuck. Chased? Fuck. Idling? Fuck. -Yes, that’s exactly Rand and Mat, “sly” and “vicious” /sarcasm. -Mat sure is testing my patience. Rand is so patient and forgiving. All this time he hasn’t had one genuinely mean thought about Mat. -The stinginess of information pertinent to the story bugs me. Sometimes there’s no reason at all to delay the explanation, it’s not like it’s being held for a revelation or a twist. -Rand is so damn nice. So patient, so slow to anger, and when he speaks sharply he doesn’t mean to, he’s so n i c e. -I also wish you to travel with us, Loial. -Are you setting up Nynaeve/Lan? Is that what’s happening? -The Wheel weaves what the Wheel wills. -Lan, crownless king, let me introduce you to Aragorn. -Perrin is so “this might as well happen” that it’s actually endearing. -Just for once I’d like to know what these people are constantly muttering to themselves. -Good man, Mat, shooting things with your bow in the Blight. You’ve been so wearisome that now I believe in you out of spite. Congrats. -Okay, Rand is the one male Aes Sedai, Perrin communicates with the wolves. What’s Mat’s deal? Or was it the whole dagger thing? -See, that’s the thing. Mat and Perrin – and in their eyes, Rand, too – should be refusing to take a step further until Moiraine explains wth they did there, how they dealt a blow to the Dark One, why they can now leave as they wish. Not asking questions is believable for only so long. -If the last line of the book isn’t the last line of the first season of the show, they’re missing out. -What about Logain? Will we see more of Logain? That wasn’t all for nothing, right?

[old-crabapple-mckinley]

unfocused reaction to Path of Daggers

I finished Path of Daggers and hoo boy. not a lot happened. but kinda did. a bunch of stuff was set up for the next books but not a huge amount happened in this one. we're in the slog now babey!!

i can imagine reading this in like 1998 and being dissatisfied and having to wait another year for more story. i kinda feel like that and i can just roll on to the next book.

there were bits and bobs where i was interested, particularly about the aes sedai, but it seemed like this was the filler to get to the major plots later. which i get, but that basically happened for every single character and that's frustrating.

okay lets get into it story by story.

elayne, nynaeve & aviendha:

they use the bowl

they transport the kin and sea folk to andor and make a nuke accidentally

they travel to camelyn

very cool 7 second scene with dark friend reveal in the party

elayne claims the throne, nynaeve bones down but doesnt want anyone to know, aviendha is kinda there, birgitte is a bamf for takin all them arrows in the begining.

writing this out, i'm struggling to remember individual scenes with them, which is a bummer cos i like this crew a lot. the bowl was very cool in the beginning, the magic nuke was cool* how affected the plot later (*v confused as to what actually happened to the power here tho, they didn't explain it more in rand's part)

egwene, siuan, and aes sedai rebels:

they're on the move from salidar

egwene struggles to carve out her authority, siuan coaches her about amyrlin badassery

eggy asserts herself v publicly when gathering their forces with the nobles, declares war on elaida, all around wins

salidar forces move on tar valon (but doesn't show us the battle? is it over in the last chapter? i was confused), siuan tragically has fallen in love with gareth bryne (rip to moiraine), TUNE IN NEXT TIME FOR THIS PLOT.

This one had more meat than the other wondergirls, so i was into it, but it was a little slow in parts. i wish the siege of tar valon was something i got to see, cos if not, that fuckin sucks. its a huge moment and if its offscreen, im gonna be bummed. love siuan, but damn these romances.

honestly i wish that bryne and morgase would be reunited. that's a stronger plot for them than being paired off with the next person they see after breaking up. like morgase publicly shamed and exiled bryne while mind controlled! there's good story and character moments there. they had been together like 15 years! wouldn't morgase feel guilty and want to make it right? wouldn't bryne think something was fishy but was too hurt to trust her again? that's way better than having morgase rob a cradle and whatever bryne & siuan are doing. anyway.

perrin & faile:

get to where messima is, accidentally find morgase (comediè)

elayas comes back (tragediè)

meets messima for 1 scene

faile gets kidnapped by the shaido

oof this one. this was a lot of wasted time. that scene with messima should have been halfway thru the book, more drawn out, more drama! i don't get why people like elayas, perrin already accepted the wolves help at dumai's wells, it seems to me he has already come to terms with that, what is elayas bringing to the table. he felt out of place in the first book and here too. berlaine hate is tired, i don't dislike faile but jordan is doing everything he can to assassinate any of my good faith with her. come on.

rand and that whole thing:

he did something between getting ilian's crown and attacking the seanchan, but i'm totally blanking

kinda whiffed that attack on the seanchan

wtf is up with cadsuanne? she's kinda the worst

captured aes sedai swore fealty to him

very confusing end sequence where some ashaman tried to kill him?

honestly, im tired of rand's story at the moment. i get he's under stress, i get he's being forced to do things he hates, but i don't care about him. im sorry i tried! but i've realized im not reading the book for him, i have other favorites. a lot of it's the same angst and im ready for something new from him. the idea he wants to tap nynaeve to help him clean saidin is a neat idea. yes, do that. give it a rest lews therin.

the only parts i really liked, no reservations was the stuff in the white tower. Dark friends babeyyyyy!!

tl;dr lots of set up for next book made this one unsatisfying on its own. bits of cool stuff here and there, but overall a bit of a bore.

[deliriumsdelight7]

TMI ask about WoT: favourite male and female characters, favourite location in that world and if you were Aes Sedai, what would be your Ajah?

I love these questions. I don’t have anyone to talk WoT to, so I’m a bit rusty, but these questions have got me ranting. I’m not sorry.

For favorite male character, I have to go basic and say Matrim “I am no bloody hero” Cauthon. He’s the guy who loudly protests doing anything remotely heroic/dangerous, but he’s also the first person risking his life for others. Also I will never get over the phrase “sheep swallop and bloody buttered onions.”

Honorable mention to Logain Ablar, even though it sort of feels like Brandon Sanderson didn’t know what to do with him in the end.

Female character has to be Nynaeve. I know a lot of people hated her in the early books, but I always liked her, and I got why she was angry all the time. She could only access her power when she was angry, and she and her friends were in dangerous situations so she literally had to be ready to Hulk out at a moment’s notice. I totally bought this weird bracelet-and-rings thing based on the Infinity Gauntlet solely because it reminded me of her angreal. I also shamelessly worked her into my Dark One Belle fic under the name of Vivienne. Nynaeve is my girl.

(Also please allow me to climb on my soapbox with an unpopular opinion and say that Faile was not nearly as shitty a character as people say she was. She was given zero POV time in the earlier books, and all POVs in the books are incredibly biased, so we only get to see Perrin’s side of things, but when you consider her POV, I think she seems pretty damn reasonable.)

Favorite location is a tough one because RJ’s worldbuilding is top notch. Like, he goes too damn far with it, sometimes. Do I go with Cairhien with the fascinating game of Daes Dae’mar? Or maybe Ebou Dar with the duels and marriage knives (but also an incredibly problematic Queen)? I could talk about the fascinating culture of the Aiel Waste, which has to be some of the best damn worldbuilding in the entire genre of fantasy. Or I could speculate on a place we never got to visit: Seanchan, with its rigid social structure, strange creatures, and unfortunate use of slavery (which heavily inspired the Qunari culture in the Dragon Age games).

But honestly? In the end I am a very boring person who loves The Two Rivers. I am a hobbit at heart, and Emond’s Field is my Hobbiton. It’s a small, middle of nowhere farming town full of ordinary people who can do extraordinary things when things get tough. That will never get old for me. And I just love how it seems to represent different things to the Emond’s Field Five. Perrin and Nynaeve view it as a place to be protected at all cost. Mat misses it, but has no plans on going back because he can’t live the gambler’s life there. Egwene views it as a place she has outgrown. And Rand sees it as a place that represents his life before he took up the mantle of Dragon Reborn; it’s a place he never can return to, no matter how much he’d like to.

Finally, what Ajah would I be? Well, the idealist in me likes to think I’d be a healer of the Yellow Ajah. But let’s face it: I am a total geek. I’d be in the Brown Ajah, and my focus would be on stories and how they change over time and across different regions. That’s something I’ve always found fascinating. Also the Brown Ajah has my girl Verin.

Side note: I like to picture that maybe a few decades after AMoL, the Black and White Towers have maybe unified a bit, and the focus of the Red has changed back to its original purpose. Instead of just running around, Gentling male channelers, they could go back to stopping any misuse of the One Power. I think if the Red Ajah and the Asha’man kept each other in check due to their mutual distrust, they could help whip the rest of the White and Black Towers into shape.

[fridayfirefly]

Picture Perfect Chapter One: Photoshoot

Masterlist | AO3

Written for Adrinette April Day 20: Photoshoot

Summary: Marinette Dupain-Cheng's life was nowhere near normal, but she had everything under control. She had gotten over her crush on Adrien, started a semi-successful online store for her designs, and was thriving as Ladybug.

However, her control was anything but permanent. Just when Marinette was getting adjusted to her new normal, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity pulled her right into chaos. Suddenly thrust head-first into the social media spotlight, Marinette finds herself having to navigate the complex world of the Parisian fashion industry, with only her boyfriend, Adrien Agreste at her side. The problem with that last bit - the only reason that she's dating Adrien in the first place is as a publicity stunt, and if anyone finds that out, than Marinette could lose everything that she's been working for in the fashion industry.

In a new world of fake dating, photoshoots, and fashion shows, can Marinette become the picture perfect model that everyone expects her to be, or will she crack under the pressure and lose everything?

"Marinette, I'm not sure that this photoshoot is the best idea. What if you need to transform but can't because you don't have your earrings with you?" Tikki worried.

Marinette shrugged as she fluttered around her room, packing everything she would need for the day into her purse. "I already asked, and I was told that I would be allowed to have my purse with me at all of the shooting locations, as long as it was out of the way. I won't have my earring in, but I will have them close-by the entire time."

"I still don't like that you won't have your Miraculous on you. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Remember what happened with Reflekdoll. Remember what a disaster that was!"

"Mister Bug and I still defeated the akuma, even if I was Lady Noire during the fight. Besides, that won't happen again because I came up with a better solution." Marinette took the earrings out of her ears. "Instead of having them in my ears, which will get in the way of the photoshoot, I'll attach them to my bra. That way, they'll be with me, out of the way, the whole time."

"That makes me feel a little better," admitted Tikki. "Won't that be uncomfortable for you, though?"

"It might be a little uncomfortable, but it won't be unbearable. Besides, I'd do anything to help ease your worry.

"Thank you, Marinette."

"Your welcome." Marinette glanced at the clock on her wall. "Now, I have to get going. I don't want to be late to my very first professional photo shoot."

Marinette entered into the lobby of the Gabriel building with only a few minutes to spare. She spotted Adrien and walked up to him with a smile on her face. She had made progress in talking to him over the past few years - her first year of collège, she was a stuttering mess. Now, about to enter her first year of lycée, she barely stumbled over her words at all around him.

“Hey, Adrien. Are you excited about the photoshoot?” asked Marinette.

“Sure,” said Adrien. "How about you."

Marinette smiled. “I’m super excited. I’m getting an inside look at the world of fashion modeling.”

Adrien smiled back. “I’m sure someday people like me will be modeling your designs.”

Marinette flushed. “I can only hope.”

“You’re extremely talented, Marinette. I’m certain that someday in the future I’ll be wearing your designs at a photo shoot just like this one.”

In lieu of stammering out a 'thank you' to the compliment, Marinette glanced behind Adrien and saw that the director of the photoshoot had arrived. "Oh, Monsieur Perrin is here.”

“I’ve worked with him before. He’s one of my favorites. He lets the models call him Oscar.”

“Let’s go over before we get yelled at," said Marinette.

"Listen up, everyone," said Oscar. "I'm sure you all understand why you're here. Recent surveys conducted by Gabriel have revealed that the reason that the Gabriel brand isn't doing well with children is that it appears too polished to appeal to your age group. The "Not Just For Models" campaign is supposed to change that. By showing that Gabriel's clothes are designed for all people in mind - not just professional models - we hope that our sales will increase. Your class - sans Adrien - are the non-models of our photoshoot. So don't worry about being under-qualified - that's the reason why you're all here. Now, off to hair and makeup."

The class walked as a group to the building where the start of the photoshoot would be held. It was half indoors, half outdoors, with the whole next year of fashion involved. Adrien himself admitted that it was one of the largest photoshoots

"Bye Adrien," Marinette said as she entered the girl's dressing room.

"See you in a bit, Marinette," Adrien replied.

Marinette squealed as soon as she was out of earshot of Adrien. "I can't believe I get to be in the same photoshoot as Adrien. It's like a dream come true."

"You're totally going to kill it out there," encouraged Alya as she sat down in one of the makeup chairs.

Marinette sat down in the chair next to Alya. "I hope so."

"Hello, my name is Rosalie, and I'll be doing your hair today.

"Hi, Rosalie. My name is Marinette."

Rosalie reached to pull out Marinette's hairbows, and Marinette reflexively put a hand over them.

"I prefer to keep my hair up."

"It's alright if you want your hair to be up in the photoshoot, we were instructed to not do anything you're uncomfortable with. However, I do need to see what I'm working with."

"Okay," Marinette agreed as Rosalie pulled the hair bows out.

Soft, dark hair flowed down over Marinette's shoulders, but Marinette refused to look at it. "Your hair is very soft," commented Rosalie as she ran a brush through the raven-colored hair. Marinette kept her eyes trained down at her lap. She hadn't worn her hair down in public in years, not since Chloé glued Marinette hair to the back of her chair back in primary school. Chloé hadn't gotten in trouble, even though it was entirely her fault. Marinette had to cut off five inches of hair, and ever since then, she wore her hair up. Space buns, french braids, pigtails - the style changed, but her hair was always kept up, out of danger.

The sound of a squirt bottle interrupted Marinette from her concentrated ignorance. "This is just hair protection spray, to protect your hair from heat damage from the curling iron. Marinette kept her eyes down at her phone as Rosalie worked with the hair curler.

"Marinette, your hair looks so cute down," said Alya.

Marinette finally looked at herself in the mirror. Her sleek, dark hair flowed over her shoulders. She looked more mature - Chloé had always been critical of Marinette's pigtails, telling her that she looked like a toddler. With her hair down and curled to perfection, Marinette looked older, more like a university student than like a lycée student.

"It's... It looks really nice," Marinette admitted.

"Would you be willing to leave it down like this for the photoshoot?" asked Rosalie.

Marinette furrowed her brow as she thought it over. On one hand, she had sworn to herself years ago that as long as Chloé - or any bully - was in her class, she would wear her hair up, to keep it safe. She loved her hair too much to have to cut it all off again. On the other hand, her hair was beautiful, and she wanted others to see it too. She didn't exactly look like a model, but she looked much more model-worthy than before. Besides, did she really want her childish pigtails immortalized forever through the photoshoot? This was her chance to prove herself to the fashion world, she didn't want to look like an immature little kid. "I like it," said Marinette. "I think I'll wear it down for the photo shoot."

Rosalie smiled. "Wonderful. Now I'll move onto makeup, and then you'll go to wardrobe to get dressed and have any last-minute alterations made."

As Rosalie did her makeup, Marinette eagerly anticipated getting to talk to the designers of the clothes while she got fitted. Someday, she hoped that she would be a designer at a big photoshoot like this, fitting her creations to the bodies of the models so that the whole world could see her fashion creations.

"Hold still," said Rosalie as she brushed mascara onto Marinette's eyelashes.

More cream and powder was brushed onto Marinette's face until Rosalie finally instructed. "Now close your eyes and hold your breath while I apply the setting spray."

Marinette did as she was told, and felt the spray's mist hit her face. She kept her eyes closed as she waited for it to dry, then opened them back up.

"Done," announced Rosalie.

Marinette looked at her reflection in the mirror and gasped. She looked stunning. Dark eyeliner and pink blush - Marinette still looked like herself, but everything was enhanced.

"Alright, now off to wardrobe for you," said Rosalie. "If you need any touch-ups during the shoot, just come to me. I put some product in to keep your hair from getting frizzy, and the setting spray I just used should keep your make-up in place. Sound good?"

"Sounds good," said Marinette, hopping out of the chair. "Thank you, Rosalie."

"Thank you, Marinette, for being such a wonderful model. You have much better manners than most models I've had to work with. They complain about every little thing."

"I'm not really a complainer. I'll see you later."

"Bye, Marinette."

Marinette walked to wardrobe and found the garment bag with her name on it. She went to pull it off the rack when she was intercepted by a designer.

"No touching. Leave it to the professionals," the designer scolded.

"Oh, sorry," apologized Marinette, anxiety blossoming in her chest. She had just messed up in front of one of the designers - potentially one of her coworkers if all went well. "I don't know the protocol around here."

"Of course you don't, and you aren't expected to. We're well aware that none of you are trained models. Just follow our lead, and you'll do fine." The pep talk sounded rehearsed, but it still soothed Marinette's nerves.

"Okay. Well, I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

"Helena Benoit. You can call me Helena, I don't particularly care for formalities. In this setting. I'll be fitting you into your clothes today. Now, follow me back into the dressing room and I'll get you ready for the shoot."

Marinette followed Helena back into the dressing room. Helena pulled out of the garment bag a soft cable-knit taupe sweater, a black knee-length skirt, and a pair of black combat boots.

"The first segment of the shoot is for the autumn collection. We'll take the indoor shots, then move outdoors. Then we'll move onto the winter shoot, which will be taken indoors. To give the illusion of it actually being winter, we use fake snow and green screens, along with pink makeup on your nose and ears, to give the illusion of the cold. After that, we'll stop for your lunch break. The models will all go back to hair and makeup for touchups. Then we'll move onto the spring shoot, indoors and outdoors, then the summer shoot, indoors and outdoors. Last but not least, will be the shots for the formalwear catalog. All of the photos taken today will be used in the Gabriel catalog, which comes out every year on January 1st."

"But..." Marinette calculated in her head. "That's almost five months away."

"It takes a while to get the photos edited and to put together the catalog. There's the physical copy of the catalog, as well as an entire online catalog that has to be made as well. It's a very intense process. Rome wasn't built in a day, and all. For Gabriel, building Rome is a year-round process. As soon as we finish one year's Rome, the next year's Rome is there to take its place."

Marinette nodded her head. "I suppose that makes sense."

"Now get changed into your outfit. And don't you dare tear or stretch anything. If you have trouble getting something on, just call for assistance."

Marinette very delicately changed into the skirt and sweater. They fit like a glove, which made sense - everything had been made according to the measurements that had been taken three months earlier.

"Does it look alright?" asked Marinette as soon as she stepped out of the dressing room.

Helena circled her, examining it. "Everything fits, which is good. I don't think you'll need any adjustments. Now take it off - carefully - and try on the second autumn outfit."

The second autumn outfit was an off-white blouse, a charcoal gray cardigan, and a pair of black jeans, along with black flats and a silver necklace. Marinette knew that there was no way she would get to keep the clothes that she was modeling, but she desperately wished that she could. Gabriel was one of her favorite fashion brands, and the clothes were more chic than anything she ever made.

"How does it look?" Marinette asked.

Helena smiled. "It looks good on you, Marinette. Now come with me. It's time for you to see what modeling is all about."

Marinette followed Helena to the room where the autumn indoor pictures were to be shot. There were three different "rooms" if you could call them that. One was set up to look like a school library, one was a café, and one was a bedroom.

"Marinette," Alya called out. "Come over here and show everyone your new hair."

Marinette self-consciously reached for her hair but stopped before she messed it up. "Bye, Helena."

"Do you guys like it?" Marinette asked nervously.

"Like it? We love it!" cheered Rose, wearing an olive-green shirt, blue jeans, and a gray beanie.

"Your hair looks really cute down," said Juleka, her violet bangs pulled up away from her eyes. She was dressed in a gray sweater dress and black leggings.

"Marinette?" Adrien's voice asked from behind her. "I've never seen you with your hair down before."

Marinette turned around to face him, blushing slightly. "Surprise?" She said hesitantly. "Do you like it?"

"It looks... wow. It looks amazing. You should wear it down more often."

"Really? You think so?"

"I do. I think it looks really good on you. With that hair, you should be the professional model, not me."

Marinette laughed. "I would never make it in the modeling world. According to my very talented hairstylist, Rosalie, I'm not whiney enough to be a proper model."

Adrien winced slightly. "Trust me, Marinette, it would be a blessing to have less whiney models to deal with. I can't count the number of times that I've had a shoot postponed for half an hour because some model didn't like the way their hair looked or refused to let their designer make an alteration because 'there's no way I gained weight in the past three weeks'. It gets pretty exhausting. Having someone like you on set would be a breath of fresh air."

Marinette blushed even harder. "If you say so."

"Everyone gather 'round," Oscar announced. "Now that all of our models are ready, it's time to start the shoot."

"Good luck, Marinette," whispered Adrien.

Marinette smiled. "Thank you. I know you don't need it, but good luck to you too, Adrien."

Marinette's first experience in modeling was with Adrien, Alix, and Kim in the fake school library. Marinette was posed sitting on top of the table, with Adrien in the chair next to her. A prop textbook was laid out in front on Marinette, Adrien had his own prop notebook and pen. It was supposed to look like they were studying, which didn't make sense to Marinette. If she and Adrien were really studying, she would be in the seat next to him, not perched up on the table. Though she had to admit, it was better than what Alix had to go through. The way she and Kim were posed, Kim was "helping" her get a book off of a high shelf. Alix had already been scolded twice for scowling, and Kim wasn't making it any better, teasing her about her height every time Oscar turned around.

"Everyone relax, please release the tension from your shoulders, Alix. One... Two... Three... Hold your positions... One... Two... Three..."

Marinette kept a reserved smile on her face, trying to pretend that she was just studying with a friend. She kept in her mind that it was just any other day at school, even though it was actually August, and school wouldn't be starting up for another three weeks.

"Good. Kim and Alix, you can leave the set. Adrien, Marinette, you two stay there and I'll get some close-up shots."

Marinette breathed out nervously. Adrien put his hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner. "Don't worry Marinette. Just act natural."

"Just act natural," Marinette echoed.

"Alright. Marinette, you are helping Adrien with his..." Oscar flipped to the cover of the textbook. "Biology homework."

Marinette stared down at the textbook, gesturing at one of the diagrams. She kept a slight smile on her face, trying to convey that she enjoyed helping her friends.

"Marinette, tilt your body more towards the camera. Cross your legs at the ankles, not at the knees Adrien, eyes on Marinette. Good, good. One... Two... Three..."

"Alright, Adrien and Marinette, you two have good chemistry together. I want you two to stick together for duo shots, okay."

"Sure thing, Oscar," replied Adrien.

Marinette's brain froze for a second. She and Adrien had good chemistry together. She and Adrien would be taking pictures together all day. "O-Okay," Marinette stammered.

"Good, now you move over to the bedroom set. I'm going to take a few more pictures at the library. Then I'll move the camera over to the bedroom set. We'll do a group shot there, then a couple of duo and trio shots. Then we'll move to the café scene. Alright?"

"Alright," Marinette responded, still dazed from Oscar's comment. She hadn't quite processed the situation yet.

Adrien grabbed Marinette's hand and led her over to one of the couches by the back wall. "They have these here for the model breaks. You look like you might need to sit down for a minute."

"Maybe just a minute," agreed Marinette. "Do they have any water?"

"Yeah, they have bottles in the back room. I'll go grab one for you." Adrien disappeared through a doorway. Marinette collapsed onto the couch, sinking into the couch cushions. She was so used to things in her life turning out wrong, that she felt uncomfortable with the way that everything that day had turned out perfectly. Her hair and makeup looked perfect, none of her outfits needed altered, she got to be in pictures with Adrien - it was like a dream come true.

"Dupain-Cheng." Chloé Bourgeoise's nasally voice distracted Marinette from her thoughts. "You must think you're so special just because you get to take pictures with Adrien. Well, I'm sure that once Gabriel Agreste sees the final pictures, he'll be utterly horrified that Oscar put someone like you next to Adrien, an actual model. He'll have to redo the shots, and I'm sure he'll bring me in to retake them because Adrien and I are such good friends."

"Go away, Chloé," sighed Marinette.

"Oh, no. Am I hurting your feelings?" Chloé taunted. "You look utterly ridiculous with your hair down like that. You should go back to pigtails, that way everyone knows how childish and immature you are."

"Chloé." Adrien's voice was cold. "I think you should apologize to Marinette."

"Wha- Adrien, I didn't see you come back," Chloé sounded nervous. "I was just talking with Marinette and-"

"Apologize, Chloé. Then leave Marinette and I alone."

"I don't have to say anything to Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

"Now."

There was something in Adrien's voice, something hard and unyielding, that brought Chloé to stammer out, "I'm very sorry, Dupain-Cheng." She then scurried back to the other students without even a single backward glance.

"What was that all about?" asked Marinette, slightly concerned at Adrien's change of attitude.

Adrien flushed. "My Father has been training me to take over the company someday. He taught me how to do that - how to talk and make people listen to you. It's not something I would normally do, but I hate the thought of people bullying you. Especially after everything that happened with Lila..."

Marinette kept her eyes trained down at her hands. She was still upset about her near-suspension at the end of last school year. Although Marinette hadn't been expelled in the end, as Lila had come forward, admitting to having a "lying disease" (and Marinette still wasn't quite sure what caused Lila to come forward to the administration. At first, Marinette hoped that Lila had simply come to her senses, but Lila's grudge against Marinette hadn't faded in the least) Marinette still felt hurt by the fact that the administration was willing to suspend her on circumstantial evidence alone, without even bothering to check the video cameras.

"Here's your water, by the way."

"Thanks, Adrien," Marinette gave him a strained smile. "I'd just rather not talk about Lila." Marinette opened the bottle and took a long drink of water, careful not to smudge her lipstick.

"Could I ask you a question?" asked Adrien.

"Sure."

"How come you never wear your hair down? I've known you for three whole years now, and today is the first time I've ever seen it down."

"When I was eight years old, Chloé glued my hair to the back of my chair. I nearly ripped it all out of my scalp when I tried to stand up to go to lunch. It hurt so bad I sobbed until my Mom came to get me. My teacher had to cut my hair off to free me - I lost five inches of hair that day. I was traumatized, but Chloé didn't get in trouble. She never gets in trouble."

"I'm sorry that that happened to you," said Adrien. "You look very pretty with your hair down, by the way."

Marinette blushed, but managed to hide it with a well-timed drink of water. "Thank you."

"Adrien, Marinette, get back here for the bedroom photos," Oscar called out.

Adrien and Marinette got back to the bedroom set just as Oscar was posing the students for the class picture.

"Alright, the whole class is hanging out at Sabrina's house after school. Sabrina, Chloé, and Max, you three are all sitting on the bed, playing some sort of card game. Alya in the desk chair and Nino is sitting on the desk behind her. Marinette, you sit upon the windowsill, and Adrien, you stand beside her, you two will be talking to Alya and Nino, just having a friendly conversation. Kim, you, Nathanial, and Alix are all bringing in snacks. Ivan, Mylène, Rose, and Juleka, you four are on the floor in the foreground, working on homework. Is everyone in position?"

The whole class chorused "Yes" and Oscar started taking pictures. "Now remember everybody - you're happy to be here. Some smiles - not like you know your picture is being taken, but like you're having a good time with friends. Good, good. One... Two... Three... And I think we've gotten enough pictures of the whole group. Now I want Juleka and Rose, you two stay. Sabrina, Chloé, and Max, you three stay as well.  Everyone else can move on to the café set."

Adrien pulled out one of the café chairs for Marinette. "Take a seat. It'll take a couple of minutes for Oscar to get the shots he wants, and knowing Chloé, she'll cause as many delays as possible."

Marinette's lips twitched upwards into a smile. "Chloé does love causing problems."

Adrien sighed. "You got that right. I've known her for years - my Father despises her, but he has to stay in Audrey Bourgeoise's good graces if he wants anything positive written about him in Style Queen. So I have to suck it up and pretend to tolerate Chloé's presence."

"That sounds exhausting," noted Marinette.

"It can be. Usually, Chloé is somewhat perceptive of how far is too far, but around you, but sometimes I have to remind her of where the line is. I have to make sure she knows that our friendship isn't guaranteed. If she wants to be friends with me, she has to play nice with my friends, which includes you."

"I'm glad we're friends," said Marinette. "I'm glad that you transferred into my class, even if it means that you had to put up with Chloé."

Adrien smiled, and Marinette felt warm inside.

"It's a shame that Lila couldn't come to the photoshoot," commented Alya as she sat down next to Marinette. "It would be nice to have another experienced model around to give us pointers."

Marinette frowned, pretending to be upset. "It's such a shame that her vacation to the Bahamas couldn't be rescheduled."

Marinette was certain that if Lila could have found a way to lie her way back into the photoshoot she would have, but she had managed to lie herself into a corner. It started in January when Mylène scheduled their class to help build a new community garden months in advance. However, to gain Mylène's trust, Lila had already lied about being very involved in building community gardens and other green spaces. If she showed up to help build, it would be obvious to the whole class that Lila had lied about her extensive list of community service. So Lila created a week-long trip to the Bahamas, a trip that her mother refused to let Lila reschedule. When the news broke that their class was chosen to be the models for the new Agreste photoshoot, there was nothing that Lila could do. If she pretended that her vacation had gotten rescheduled, she would be forced to help the class build the community garden, revealing her lie about being an experienced builder. So Lila skipped the photoshoot in its entirety. Over video chat, Lila pretended that it didn't bother her, but Marinette could see the anger hidden in Lila's eyes. It angered Lila to no end that her lies had, for once, placed her at the disadvantage.

"Well, there will be other opportunities for Lila to model. Besides, the photoshoot is meant to feature non-models at the forefront."

"You're right," said Alya. "And I'm sure Lila is enjoying herself at the beach right now. I'll call her later tonight, but right now we have to focus on modeling."

Marinette nodded, a genuine smile on her face. Lila wasn't at the beach right now. She was probably holed up in her bedroom, fuming at the idea of Adrien at a photo shoot without her.

"On to the café shots," announced Oscar. "I want Ivan and Mylène on this side of the café table, and Adrien and Marinette on the other side. You four are on a double date."

"Ridiculous!" Chloé snapped. "As if Adrien would ever date someone as utterly lame as Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Put me in the shot, not her."

"Miss Bourgeoise," Oscar sounded fed up. "If you cannot behave yourself, I will have to ask you to leave the photo shoot."

"But-"

"Please cease your interruptions, and allow me to do my job."

Chloé huffed angrily but didn't speak another word.

"Alright, back to the shoot. Ivan and Mylène and Adrien and Marinette are all on a double date. Everyone make sure that your prop coffee is in front of you. You're all talking to each other, having a good time on your double date. Ivan, angle your body towards the camera a little more. Good, good. The date is going well, everyone is smiling. One... Two... Three... Excellent! Our couples look very lovely together."

Adrien and Marinette left the set as Oscar pulled Alya, Nino, Nathanial, and Alix up to be a part of the second set of photos, a group study session.

"Did you hear that," joked Adrien, "We make a lovely couple."

Marinette laughed, pretending that she found the concept just as ridiculous as Adrien seemed to find it. On the inside, her heart fluttered to a stop. Everyone seemed to see how well she and Adrien worked together - everyone but Adrien, that is. No matter what Marinette did, he only ever seemed to see her as a friend.

"I guess that means you're my boyfriend now," Marinette joked through the hurt. "And as my boyfriend, your first job is to go fetch me my water."

"Sure thing." Adrien started to walk away.

Marinette collapsed into a chair next to Alya as soon as Adrien was out of earshot. "Is it just me, or is Adrien possibly the most oblivious boy on the planet. 'We make a lovely couple.' He says it like it's the most outlandish thing in the world."

Nino shook his head. "Adrien is a little hopeless when it comes to romance. I'll try to talk some sense into him in the dressing rooms."

Marinette gave Nino a weak smile. "Thanks, Nino, but I'm beginning to think that this whole this is hopeless."

Alya gasped. "But you've had a crush on Adrien for three years. You can't give up now."

"I'm not giving up. I'm just changing my priorities. My friendship with Adrien is important for me, more important than my silly collège crush. I'll put our friendship first, and if that's all we end up being, I'll treasure our friendship more than anything in the world, the way I treasure my friendships with all of you."

"Aw, you're such a sweetheart, Marinette," said Alya, wrapping Marinette up in a hug. "And don't worry - I'll find you a rebound crush."

Marinette giggled, pushing Alya off of her. "No rebounds. I've had enough romance drama. I need a detox."

"What are we detoxing from?" Adrien asked, returning with water for all four of them.

"Social media," Alya lied, putting her improv skills to the test. "Marinette spent all day yesterday on Instagram when she should have been working on a new design project. I'm thinking we should all take a social media detox in September. New school year, new good habits."

"Yep," Marinette agreed. "If I'm going to have a new wardrobe made in time for the start of the school year, I have to stop procrastinating and start sewing."

"A whole new wardrobe. That's rather ambitious," Adrien noted.

"Now that we're moving from collège to lycée, I want a more mature look. No more glitter and sequins. I want to be taken seriously as a designer, despite my age. Plus, I'm planning on entering some of my creations into design contests. I have a whole notebook full of new ideas, I just need to get them off the page and onto my mannequin."

"Well, I'll check with my Father to see if we currently have any design competitions open to lycée students."

"Thanks, Adrien," Marinette said brightly.

"No problem. Anything for a friend."

"Children, listen up," Oscar called. "Everyone back to the dressing rooms to change into your second autumn outfit. Then we'll head outside for the outdoor shots."

"See you later boys," Alya said, grabbing Marinette's hand and pulling her towards the dressing rooms.

"Thanks for the water," Marinette called out as she was pulled away by Alya.

"I know you said no rebound boys," said Alya as soon as the dressing room door closed behind them. "But Nino has a really cute cousin named-"

Marinette shook her head. "No. I'm still not completely over Adrien. I'm just putting my crush on him on hold so that it doesn't completely ruin our friendship. He's into Kagami way more than me, anyway."

"Ugh, Kagami," Alya groaned.

"She's nice once you get to know her," Marinette defended. "Kagami just isn't great at communicating. She's very reserved."

Alya smiled. "You're too nice, Marinette."

Marinette shook her head. "You're too nice, complimenting me all the time. Anyways, no more boy talk, we have to get dressed."

Marinette quickly found Helena and got changed into the sweater and skirt. "Does it still look good?"

Helena pursed her lips. "I need to call someone in for a second opinion. I think your outfit could use an accessory or two."

Helena left the room, and Marinette used her time alone to get a good look at her outfit in the mirror. As a design exercise, Marinette wanted to see if she could predict what the designers would recommend her to accessorize with. Definitely gold over silver. Not a bracelet or watch, as the sleeves of the sweater would cover it. Maybe an earring and necklace combo. Small gold ring earrings, and some layered gold necklaces, perhaps with a simple charm like a leaf on one of them, to represent autumn.

"Let me get a good look at her." Marinette recognized the man who walked into her dressing room. Clément Devaux was the head of Gabriel's design department and one of Marinette's biggest inspirations. He examined Marinette for a moment, then responded, "I agree, her outfit could use an accessory."

Marinette took a deep breath, and without overthinking it, took her chance. "Could I suggest the accessories. I'm an aspiring designer myself."

M. Devaux looked at Marinette with interest in his gaze. "Let me see what you've got."

"Small gold stud earrings and three gold necklaces, layered on top of each other. The one in the middle should have some sort of small charm or design on it, to draw attention to it and the sweater."

M. Devaux nodded. "I like what your thinking Marinette. It was very similar to what I was planning, though I would go with small ring earrings, rather than studs. You have a good eye for design, for your age."

Marinette smiled at the praise. "Thank you. I actually won a Gabriel design contest two years ago. My hat was featured in his fashion show last year."

M. Devaux narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "You must be Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng, then. I remember your hat well - I designed the suit that Adrien wore while modeling it."

Marinette's eyes widened. "That suit was amazing. It looked so good on Adrien."

"Thank you for the praise, Mlle. Dupain-Cheng."

"You can call me Marinette," Marinette offered.

"I think I'll stick to your last name. We'll leave the first-name basis for when we're co-workers." M. Devaux smiled at Marinette. "After all, I believe that you have a lot of potential. You're talented enough to land a designer job at Gabriel after you graduate from university. I know for a fact that M. Agreste already has his eye on you."

"O-Okay," Marinette stammered, suddenly overwhelmed.

"I'm going to go acquire your jewelry. I hope you have a good rest of your day here, Marinette."

"Thank you," Marinette said.

Marinette overheard M. Devaux start talking to Helena as they left the dressing room together. "I do wish M. Agreste would consider switching models. I would much prefer to work with young Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng over that salope, Lila Rossi."

Helena came back a minute later with the jewelry and Marinette put it on. Helena helped her to get the necklaces to layer correctly - Marinette noticed that the design on the middle necklace was a gold oak leaf.

"Much better," said Helena. "Now off you go for the outdoor shots. I'm sure everyone is waiting for you."

Marinette hurried out to the courtyard, where the class was being posed against a stone wall. "Just pretend that you're talking to your friends - but don't forget to angle your bodies towards the camera so that we can see the outfits. Marinette, you go stand by Adrien."

Marinette quickly got into place next to Adrien. "It's a little warm for autumn clothes," Marinette commented.

Adrien tugged a bit on the collar of his sweater. "Well, the sooner we get done with these shots, the sooner we can go back inside, into the air conditioning."

"Everyone relax the tension from your shoulders. One... Two... Three... Good. You can all relax, except for Marinette and Adrien. You two come with me, and we'll get a shot under this tree." Oscar gestured to a big magnolia tree, branches full of white blossoms. There was a stone bench underneath it, covered with a dusting of white petals. "You two sit down next to each other. Adrien, put your arm around her shoulder. Marinette, hands in your lap, lean your head against his shoulder."

Marinette did as Oscar said, gentle setting her head against Adrien's shoulder.

"One... Two... Three... Perfect! You two look adorable together. Now I want Rose and Juleka."

Adrien stood up and offered Marinette his hand, pulling her to her feet. Marinette resisted the urge to stammer out her appreciation, instead responding with a curt, "Thanks." Why was it that as soon as she tried to put her crush behind her, the whole world - and Adrien himself - seemed determined to show her what a good couple they would make.

"Let me show you around the courtyard," Adrien offered. "It's particularly nice in the summertime."

"Sure," Marinette agreed, and they started along the stone path. It was a perfect summer day and the courtyard was beautiful. The air was warm and had the gentle perfume of flower petals. Trees full of flower blossoms, fountains with crystal-clear water, birds flying overhead - it reminded Marinette of why summer was her favorite season.

Adrien had a bemused smile on his face. "I always knew that Oscar was a bit of a matchmaker - he's tried to turn models into couples before - but this is getting a little out of hand."

"What do you mean."

Adrien looked incredulous. "Surely you've noticed that Oscar has been trying to set us up. He's been pretty heavy-handed about it."

Marinette shrugged. "I figured that he was just messing with us. I didn't realize that he had a specific goal."

"Oscar has tried to set me up with other models before. It's never worked, though. My Father would never allow it. I doubt I'll date anyone until I turn eighteen, and even then, it would have to be someone that my Father approved of. He's very protective, both over me and over the company's image."

"What about Kagami? Your Father seems to approve of her."

Adrien shook his head. "Neither of us are interested in each other romantically. Our parents wanted us to start a relationship, but it was mutually decided that nothing was going to happen."

"Oh." Marinette tried to turn the conversation back in a hopeful direction. "Maybe you'll meet someone at our new lycée. Someone who you like, and who likes you back. Someone who your Father approves of."

"Maybe," said Adrien. "It's a nice fantasy, anyways. And even if I don't find romance, at least I'll have my friends."

"Yeah," agreed Marinette. "You'll always have your friends."

"Marinette! Adrien!" Alya jogged down the path. "It's time to get changed into our winter outfits."

"Thanks for taking me through the gardens," said Marinette.

"Sure," said Adrien. "That's what friends are for."

The winter, spring, and summer shoots passed by in a blur, with Marinette and Adrien got placed together in all sorts of poses. Marinette desperately tried to push away her feelings towards Adrien. He had made it clear in the courtyard that he wasn't interested in a relationship with her. Even if he had feelings for her, his Father would never approve of someone as clumsy and plain as Marinette.

"Are you ready for the last segment of the photoshoot?" asked Alya as soon as they both changed out of their final summer outfits. "I'm excited to try on my formal outfit."

"Sure," Marinette said through a yawn. "I'm glad they're giving us an hour break beforehand, though. I need a coffee, and Oscar says that I should get my hair and makeup touched up."

"There's a café in the lobby of the Gabriel Building. I'll come with you and we can both get lattes."

"Sounds good," Marinette perked up. The girls made their way to the café, chatting about the photo shoot so far.

There was no line when they got to the café, so Marinette and Alya got to order immediately. "I'll have a cinnamon latte and Marinette will have..."

"A caramel latte, please."

As the girls waited for their orders, Marinette explained to Alya what had happened earlier in the dressing rooms. Marinette still couldn't believe that Clément Devaux thought that she had potential.

"Wow. Gabriel's head designer thinks that you're good enough to work at Gabriel someday. That's big, Marinette."

"I know," Marinette smiled. "This day has been pretty good for me, all things considered. I just hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying that."

The two girls finished their drinks and went back to the dressing rooms. Marinette glanced around, trying to find Rosalie to get her hair and makeup fixed up. Finally, she caught sight of familiar white-blonde hair. "Rosalie!"

"Hello, Marinette," Rosalie greeted brightly. "You look like you're due for a touch-up."

Marinette smiled. "Exactly what I was thinking."

Rosalie re-curled Marinette's hair, then re-applied Marinette's makeup for the formal shoot. "Now off you go, Marinette. I glanced at your formal dress a little bit ago - it's gorgeous. You should go see."

Marinette smiled. "I'm sure it's beautiful. Bye, Rosalie."

Marinette found her way back to her dressing room, where Helena was typing away on her laptop. "I'm back."

"You're five minutes late," Helena complained as she got the dress out of the garment bag. "I'll have you know, this dress took me weeks and weeks to make, so you'd better appreciate it."

Marinette's eyes widened as she saw the dress. It was a masterpiece of dark blue tulle, with delicate tulle flowers cascading down the front. "It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Marinette was awestruck by the dress. She put it slowly, carefully not to tear or stretch the delicate fabric. She was well aware that this dress was the most extravagant thing she had ever worn.

Once she got the dress on, Marinette didn't even stop to look at herself in the mirror.  "How do I look?" Marinette asked as soon as she opened the dressed room door.

Helena gave Marinette a rare smile. "The dress looks perfect on you. See for yourself."

Marinette turned to the full-length mirror, her eyes immediately fixated on the dress. Tiny pink and white tulle flowers decorated the left side of the dress, from her shoulder down past her waist. The dark blue tulle skirt flowed softly around Marinette's legs. The off the shoulder neckline completed the dress. Then, Marinette's attention turned to herself, rather than just to the dress. She had never considered herself attractive before, but wearing Helena's dress made her see herself in a new light. Her blue of the dress combined with Rosalie's makeup made her blue eyes stand out. The off the shoulder neckline revealed her delicate collarbones, and her black curls of hair flowed around her shoulders. Marinette was stunned. Although she still looked like herself, she also looked like a model.

"This dress is a work of art," Marinette gushed, smiling brightly at Helena.

"I'm glad you like it," Helena responded. "Now put on your shoes-" She gestured to a pair of dark blue stiletto heels. "And get back to the photo shoot."

"Thanks for everything, Helena. I'll see you after the formal shoot."

Marinette slipped the heels on and started walking towards the lobby. She was a bit wobbly in the heels at first, but it only took a little bit of practice before she felt confident that she wouldn't fall. The formal shoot was the only part of the photoshoot that took place outside of the Gabriel building. It was shot in Gabriel Agreste's own home, in his own ballroom, so Marinette's class would have to be driven there.

"Marinette, you look amazing," said Adrien, walking up behind Marinette.

"Thank you. You look great as well," Marinette complimented. He wore a dark blue suit with a dark blue bowtie, and his hair was even more tamed down than usual.

"Thanks. Do you know where Alya and Nino are? I was going to invite you three to ride with me in my car, on the way to the mansion."

"I think that they're in the lobby already. I didn't see Alya in the dressing rooms."

Once they got to the lobby Adrien found Nino and Alya, and all four went out to Adrien's car. Marinette complimented both Alya and Nino's outfits. Alya was wearing an elegant dark red gown, and Nino was in a black suit with a red bow tie that matched Alya's dress. Marinette spent the five-minute car ride examining the fabric and the stitching on Alya's dress.

"These dresses are gorgeous," Marinette sighed. "I wish I could keep mine, but wouldn't get much use out of it, even if I could. I'd be too afraid that I'd ruin it to wear it."

When they arrived at the Agreste Mansion, Oscar and the rest of the crew escorted the class to the ballroom. Marinette gazed around with wide eyes, amazed by the marble floor, the intricately designed stonework around the room, and the massive Cinderella staircase leading down into the room.

"It's a pretty cool room, right," said Adrien. "I used to come down here, when I was younger, and slide around the room in my socks."

Marinette giggled, "That sounds like fun."

"Everybody listen up," Oscar interrupted, "I'm going to come around and position all of you. Adrien and Marinette, you two will be coming down the staircase. Juleka and Rose, you two will be over by the punch bowl. Kim and Alix, you two will be..."

Marinette tuned Oscar out as Adrien led her over to the staircase. They got into position about half-way down the stairs, Adrien holding one of Marinette's hands.

"So what do you think of modeling?" Adrien asked. "Do you like it."

"It's a lot of fun, doing it with my friends, and I've learned a lot about fashion designing behind the scenes. I don't think I could do this every day, though. I've only been here for a few hours, and I'm already exhausted of being told that I need to relax my shoulders."

"It can get tiring, especially if modeling isn't your passion."

"I know that you're interested in biology and physics. Is that what you're passionate about."

Adrien nodded. "I never wanted to model professionally; it was always just a hobby for me. Science and technology are what I'm really passionate about."

"That's super cool. You should tell me more about it when we're not busy with the photo shoot." Marinette wasn't lying about her interest - she loved listening to her friends talk about the things they're passionate about.

The day had been going well up to that point, not a single thing to ruin Marinette's good mood. However, in Marinette's world, it seemed that no day could be perfect. "Everyone! I made it!"

Marinette froze. That was the voice of Lila Rossi, the girl who seemed hell-bent on ruining every one of Marinette's good days.

Lila walked down the stairs, brushing her hand against Adrien's as she passed. "The beach was a lot of fun, but the humid coastal air was causing my asthma to flare up so my Mother sent me home early. My plane just landed twenty minutes ago. I was exhausted, but I rushed straight over here so that I could support you guys at your photoshoot. It isn't over, is it?"

"Nope," chirped Alya. "You made it just in time to watch the formal shoot."

"Could I join?" Lila turned to Oscar with wide, pleading eyes. "Oh, please can I join."

Oscar shook his head. "We don't have a formal outfit for you to wear."

Lila's face fell, "That's a shame." Suddenly her expression brightened back up again. "I know! I could borrow someone else's formal outfit. Marinette and I are about the same size, and she's already had a chance to model today, so I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

Oscar hesitated. "I'm not so sure about that."

"I'm already a trained model." Lila pressed further.

"The color wouldn't suit you..." Oscar seemed reluctant, but Marinette could already tell that he was going to give in. Lila was going to wear Marinette's dress. She was going to take Marinette's spot next to Adrien. Tears pricked at the corners of Marinette's eyes. Lila always got her way, and Marinette always ended up miserable because of it.

"Wait!" Adrien interjected. "I don't think this is a good idea. The catalog wouldn't look right if we replaced a model in only one segment of the shoot."

"Don't you want me in the shoot?" Lila pulled some fake tears to the corners of her eyes.

"I just don't want my Father to get angry and fire you. Then we would never get to model together again."

"But-"

"Besides, you'll have loads more opportunities to model with me. This might be Marinette's only chance to experience it."

"I suppose you're right, Adrien." Lila must have realized that her manipulation wasn't going to get her any further. "I'll just support you all from the sidelines, all by myself."

Although Marinette held no fondness for Lila, she still felt a stab of pity for her. Pretending to go on a tropical vacation for two weeks meant that Lila spent the last two weeks locked away at home, lest her classmates find out she lied.

"I'm sorry about Lila," whispered Adrien. "I thought she was going to be nicer to you after I spoke with her last spring, but she doesn't seem to be getting better."

"What do you mean 'you spoke to her last spring?'" asked Marinette.

"Oh, I assumed that Lila had told you. That time she lied to Principal Damocles to reverse your suspension - it was because I threatened to end our acquaintanceship if she didn't."

"Really? You did that for me?"

"Of course. You're one of my best friends, Marinette. I don't want to see you get hurt."

Marinette's smile was so bright it must have lit up the room. "Thank you."

"Perfect, perfect!" Oscar interrupted. "Marinette, keep smiling like that. Adrien, keep your eyes on her. One... Two... Three... Perfect!"

Out of the corner of her eyes, Marinette caught a glimpse of Lila scowled by the punch table, filling her cup with the bright red liquid. However, when Lila turned around, her expression was serene. "Everyone, I'm sorry to say that I have to leave early. I forgot that I planned a dinner with Clara Nightengale tonight, if I remember, I'll ask for backstage passes for our whole class for her next concert. My memory has been on the fritz lately, ever since my last concussion, so I can't promise that I'll remember, but I'll try my best."

"I'm sorry you have to leave so soon," said Rose.

"Don't worry about the backstage passes." Alya set her hand on Lila's shoulder in a comforting manner. "You just focus on having fun with Clara."

"You're all too nice," Lila smiled, walking towards the stairs.

Marinette didn't recognize what was happening until it was too late. Lila walked up the stairs past her, malice in her eyes, bright red, stainable punch in the cup in her hands. Lila's foot caught on the step and the plastic cup went flying out of her hands.

Marinette tried to back up, but her three-inch heels combined with the steep nature of the stairs meant that she wasn't going to get out of the way in time. Her perfect, beautiful dress was going to be ruined. Adrien would be so disappointed. There was nothing she could do to stop it.

However, although Marinette hadn't reacted in time, Adrien had. He grabbed onto her shoulder and pulled her out of harm's way, catching her in his arms as she stumbled in her heels. Marinette looked up at Adrien. "Thank you," she whispered, her voice filled with emotion.

Adrien helped Marinette back up to her feet. "It was no problem, Marinette."

Lila's expression was consumed with fury at her scheme being foiled. In an instant, all of the menace in her face was wiped clean, replaced with guilt and remorse. "Oh, I'm so sorry Marinette. I'm so clumsy, my foot caught on the stairs. I hope you can forgive me for almost ruining your dress."

Marinette wouldn't be forgiving Lila anytime soon, but sometimes it was necessary to put on a performance. "No harm, no foul. Have fun with Clara Nightengale."

Lila tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace to Marinette. "I will. Don't you worry."

As soon as Lila was out of the door, Marinette released the breath she was holding. "I can't believe her."

Adrien sighed. "I can. Ever since she started modeling with me a few months ago, she's been incredibly possessive of me, to the point that I've caught her sabotaging her fellow models more than once. She's never been outright caught in the act, but she's grown a reputation in the modeling world. Still, my Father refuses to fire her."

"I didn't think that your Father would tolerate infighting."

"I didn't think so either, but he seems to be making quite a few exceptions for Lila Rossi. I wonder what lies she told him to get him on her side."

Adrien frowned. "I don't think she's fooling my Father. He's very skilled at reading people, and at manipulating them to do what he wants. I think he's using Lila to spy on me."

"Really?"

"I mean, I don't know for sure, but I can't think of another reason why he would make her a model."

"Adrien, Marinette," Oscar called out. "Get into position for the dancing photos."

"These are sure to be the last pictures of the day," noted Adrien. "Guess we'd better make them count."

All of the couples (as Oscar insisted on calling the pairs of students, even though a majority of them weren't dating) were instructed to do a simple box step, just so that Oscar could get shots of the outfits in motion. As they box-stepped in circles, Marinette and Adrien continued their conversation.

"So what are we going to do about Lila?" asked Marinette.

"I don't know. I've tried being nice, which didn't work at all. It took threatening her just to get her to get you unsuspended, but that still hasn't stopped her from being terrible to you. I don't know what else to try."

Marinette sighed. "We'll figure it out eventually. We might as well not ruin the end of the photoshoot thinking about Lila."

"You're right," Adrien agreed. "This is too fun to ruin."

His hand left her shoulder and instead grasped her hand as Adrien twirled Marinette. "Quit it!" Marinette giggled, "We're only supposed to be doing a box step."

"Keep that up, Adrien," Oscar advised. He circled them, the cameraman following him. "I want some action shots."

Adrien took Marinette's hand and twirled her. Marinette laughed as her tulle skirt twirled around her, tickling her legs.

"If every photoshoot was like this, I don't think I would mind being a model," said Adrien after they finished up. The cameras were being packed away, and the class was being herded back to the cars so that they could be driven back to the Gabriel building, to get changed.

"Today was wonderful," said Marinette. "And who knows, maybe someday I'll get another chance to model with you. For now, I think I'll treasure this one as my favorite photoshoot ever."

[ivanaskye]

WoT Reactions: Book 7, A Crown of Swords

Almost halfway through the series, and a lot is happening. Well, except for the parts where it takes forever for something to happen... while a bunch of other things happen. I think this is starting to hit the part of the series that many fans say is poorly-paced, and I can kind of see why...

That’s not why it took a while for me to finish this one tho, that’s mostly because I was visiting family for the holidays.

One of the main themes of this book is the many, many ways in which the Aes Sedai have horribly mismanaged basically everything due to being too strict (read: abusive) as well as too distrustful of each other. Which means that it turns out that there’s ALMOST TWO THOUSAND women trained by them who they’ve kicked out, which is literally more than the people they haven’t. Also some of them are older than they thought any Aes Sedai could get. Also the complete lack of sharing information between Ajahs or even sometimes between individuals within the same Ajah means no one knows anything EXCEPT the evil ones. Amazing.

Anyway, that’s all set to change now that the world is ending, so uh, that’s a plus? Lmao.

Character-by-character thoughts under the cut.

Rand

One of Rand’s most notable developments this book is having sex with Min, then completely losing his mind over it

It’s like. Min: rips off his clothing. Rand, for the next several days: I’m such a monster.

This is also why he flings Perrin against a wall

Bc obviously having SEX proves he’s a MONSTER

Thankfully this gets resolved in less than a week, but still

Also! He and Min VERBALLY confessed their feelings to each other! That’s the best progress this harem has seen yet!

God what else did Rand do this book. Oh right, teleport around a lot and get stabbed by Padan Fain and then let Sammael lure him into Shadar Logoth

Where Sammael “””dies”””

(I will not believe ANYONE in this series is dead until I have SEEN THE BODY)

Meanwhile he does a mercy killing of Leah, which hopefully has broken down his block against killing women, because there’s like, what, five female forsaken who are totally willing to kill him?

Perrin

Gets flung against a wall, leaves to do some other mission

Honestly I don’t have much to say about Perrin this book?

He and Faile still aren’t really communicating, for still-really-stupid reasons?

Sigh

Egwene

Still THE GODDAMN AMYRLIN SEAT

Finds out about Lan, sends him to Nynaeve

Not rly the most important character this book but I love her

Min

As mentioned above, has sex with Rand

Is also absolute MVP for actually communicating with him. And having something that resembles a brain.

Tells Cadsuane etc enough to prevent them from totally triggering his PTSD while trying to save his life

LITERALLY possesses half the braincells in this whole book

Also, total confirmation that Moiraine isn’t dead, Min thinking about how Moiraine being essential to Rand’s success is her ‘one viewing that hasn’t come true’

Birgitte

The other MVP, the only person on the planet capable of breaking down the communication barriers between Mat and Nynaeve + Elyane

This is because she is the only person on the planet who is from a time period (well, several time periods) with actual gender equality, including men and women not all automatically distrusting each other

Mat is shocked to discover he can think of a woman as a person

Nynaeve is shocked that Birgitte can think of a man as a person

A+, good work

Mat

Speaking of,

Maybe actually learns a thing or two regarding his sexism. Part of that is via a FRIENDSHIP WITH BIRGITTE, which I did not expect to become one of my favorite friendships in the series, but here we are

The other part is uh, the getting raped

And like, otherwise assaulted

A lot

By Tylin, queen of Ebou Dar

It’s a real bad time and I feel sorry for him

We leave the book with him being the last of our protagonists out of the city, not quite leaving before a war erupts there, I’m sure he’ll have a GREAT time next book,

Nynaeve

Despite Aviendha making her apologize to Mat, I don’t think she ACTUALLY admits she’s wrong any time in this book? So she’s still only done so once in the entire series lmao

A Mess TM!

Her block is broken now, thanks to a near-death experience WHICH WAS DUE TO MOGHEDIAN, meaning Moghedian is accidentally responsible for Nynaeve becoming more powerful, good job

Ok weirdly her relationship with Lan is actually... super cute in this book, where it WASN’T before, and I think the difference is the part where Lan longs for death even more than usual

You would think that wouldn’t suddenly make a ship cute

But you would be wrong

He’s HOLLOW and HALF DEAD INSIDE and somehow. It works? I don’t know man

Lan

See above

Elayne

More braincells than Nynaeve or Mat, which is to say, she has one (1)

Spends significantly too many pages flailing around looking for the Bowl, but hey, she+Nynaeve+Mat have finally found it, so at least THAT subplot comes to an end

Still needs to actually go be queen

Cadsuane

She’s no Moiraine, but I like her

Badass old lady who fears zero (0) things

Morgase

Still alive, BARELY

Has now been tortured, but OFF-page, which is a rarity in the Torture Porn Series

Also she had very, very coerced sex

Then the Seanchan show up in Amadicia and she’s introduced to something even more terrifying, the concept of slavery, and manages to escape with one of the suddenly-less-bad-seeming religious zealots

Moghedien, Galina

SPEAKING OF the concept of slavery,

Both of these are very evil people we don’t like, who this book now makes us feel sorry for by watching their torture and degradation

Which is very classic WoT

So that’s most of the characters I have specific thoughts on, but there’s something else I wanna say here at the end, which is predictions for the next book!

While I’m quite sure that Moiraine and Lanfear aren’t dead, I don’t think they’re coming back quite yet. For that matter, I’m not sure if Sammael’s probably-not-dead nature will be revealed yet

Instead, I think the main enemy next book is going to be the Seanchan, now that they’ve invaded two further countries

Maybe we’ll get to see Egeanin again???? Pls????

[misskriemhilds]

I posted 1,064 times in 2021

234 posts created (22%)

830 posts reblogged (78%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 3.5 posts.

I added 957 tags in 2021

#aes - 223 posts

#laugh tag - 195 posts

#my art - 165 posts

#doodle - 81 posts

#bloodborne - 73 posts

#touhou - 60 posts

#laurence the first vicar - 50 posts

#not my art - 40 posts

#ollie tag - 36 posts

#rambling - 34 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#ollie i am shocked! shocked that you are not a cat with a mordred cardboard cutout mask taped to your face whispering 'father i crave violen

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

little gave me a challenge so i have decided to take it

30 notes • Posted 2021-08-05 00:03:50 GMT

#4

Rand for the ask game?

favorite thing about them

can... can i just say everything? seriously. i think what i like about him is that he's one of the very few traumatized/mentally ill characters i've seen where he's not treated as anything more than a "poor uwu baby" - as in he actually makes some genuinely frustrating decisions that make you grit your teeth, but i found him really sympathetic because of it.

least favorite thing about them

rand please focus on taim being sus challenge.

favorite line

"if i could find a way to escape my destiny, do i deserve to?"

brOTP

i love platonic rand and egwene so much! ;u;

OTP

PERRAND PERRAND PERRAND SERIOUSLY THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS SO UNDERRATED EVEN IN A PLATONIC LIGHT WITH THE FANBASE I COULD GUSH ON AND ON FOR HOURS ABOUT HOW WELL THEY MESH TOGETHER AND HOW CUTE AND GOOD THEY ARE BUT ALSO THE ANGST WITHIN CANON TEXT TO ADD FLAVOR I JUST LOVE THEM SO MUCH THAT I HAD TO TYPE ALL OF THIS IN CAPSLOCK i'm sorry for scaring anyone

nOTP

i don't really have one, tbh?

random headcanon

he has long hair! like really really long. and it's super soft. he started out wearing it loose, but as time went on he started tying it back in a low-slung ponytail.

unpopular opinion

i mean he's already kind of a divisive character within the fanbase so the fact that i like him is an unpopular opinion in and of itself.

song i associate with them

"reach for the moon, immortal smoke" - fujiwara no mokou's theme by zun, the original version from touhou eiyashou ~ imperishable night!

favorite picture of them

34 notes • Posted 2021-07-19 01:09:10 GMT

#3

my renmerrys... they have spilled...

44 notes • Posted 2021-04-29 20:55:18 GMT

#2

ta’veren in a nutshell according to things said by a friend of mine:

rand: 

“he looks like the one guy who always comes into the store i work in high off his ass and buys doritos without saying a word”

mat:

“he looks like the one guy in my math class who would always try to  get out of trouble by sweet-talking the teachers”

perrin:

“looks like the barista at the local coffee shop who gave me a free croissant one time to be nice but taking free food made me inexplicably uncomfortable so i haven't been back since”

69 notes • Posted 2021-07-17 15:42:01 GMT

#1

ollie was very nice bc he made this meme for me and he was kind enough to grant me permission to share it with the world

224 notes • Posted 2021-07-24 00:35:43 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[wardenmages]

Romance OC Asks for Elissa and Teagan!!!!!!!!!!! 1,2, 4, 8, 11, 12, 24, 25, 30 (sorry you dont have to answer all of them i just love them so much??????)

hi i got distracted and then really excited and wrote A Lot, thank u for enabling me !!!!!

1. What drew your character to their LI and vice versa?

For both of them, I think it was just that they both saw that something needed to be done and just did it, regardless of their own needs or safety. Elissa really admired that he stayed in the village to help, even when he didn’t think there was any real chance of them surviving, he just stayed because it was the right thing to do. And Teagan honestly had no expectation that she would stay and help at all, let alone the lengths she went to for the village, and then for his family.

Aside from that, when they were flirting in the chantry, he was able to make her smile in a way she really hadn’t since Highever. It was easy to talk to him because he didn’t expect anything of her besides that she just be herself, and didn’t put any pressure on her to be something she wasn’t and couldn’t be. She was really depressed when they met and had really low self-esteem, but he believed in her. When she said she would defend the village, that she would save all of them, he believed her.

2. What was the first moment that they knew they were in love with their LI?

Teagan knew at the windmill, when he tried telling her to just focus on saving Eamon even if it meant abandoning everyone else, and she refused and promised to save everyone. “You are brave as well as beautiful, it seems” indeed, you giant dork

Elissa started off just having a pretty big crush. It isn’t until after the Landsmeet, back in Redcliffe. In my headcanon, he goes to her room that night to talk to her before she leaves to tell her how he feels in case something happens to either of them. He was just so respectful, didn’t condescend to her at all, treated her as an equal; on the eve of battle, when he could have done anything else, he went to talk to her. She’d never really had anything like that before with anyone.

4. Their favorite physical feature on each other?

She honestly really likes the beard. And the little braid in his hair. trespasser is a tragedy He likes her freckles, and how much shorter she is because she barely comes up to his shoulders and that’s Perfect Hugging Height

8. What are their most prominent memories of each other?

For Teagan, it’s the moment at the windmill. Second to that is after everything is sorted out and the demon dead, and she stops to talk to Connor and see how he’s doing and says that when she’s around if he’s worried or scared he can talk to her if he doesn’t feel comfortable telling his mother.

For Elissa, it’s when he tells her he loves her. Second, a sad one, is when she was forced to fight him in the castle and how scared she was of hurting him.

11. Do they have any inside jokes?

They both shamelessly think it’s absolutely hilarious that ~someone~ pinned Bann Perrin’s underwear to the chantry board in Denerim. Like, here’s honestly one of my favorite bits from my Inquisitor!Elissa AU:

“Josephine would never forgive me,” she laughed.

“She’d have to.” He kissed the top of her head again. “Who can say no to the most beautiful woman in all of Thedas?”

She shoved him playfully and snorted. “Oh, stop!”

“Or I could pin their underclothes to a Chantry board.”

“Teagan.”

Also, Elissa will never be over meeting his family in the Free Marches and hearing the “his Terrible Two’s lasted about seven years” bit, nor will she ever let him live it down.

And that everyone always thought Elissa and Alistair were together and were so confused when she and Teagan got married. They both think it’s absolutely hilarious. Alistair is her best friend but they were never a couple. Between the 3 of them, Alistair thinks it’s really funny to call her his aunt and Teagan encourages it and Elissa is Tired,

12. Do they have similar goals? If they clash, how do they deal?

Typically, yes. Like, when the mages left the Circles, they both agreed to offer to shelter the mages for the duration of the war, and help them relocate afterwards. They tend to agree on all of the little pieces of running the arling as well. Their biggest point of contention is her Warden duties, and how much she devotes herself to them. She feels like she has to commit herself to the Wardens more because of how she was recruited, but he would much rather she not have to go to Amaranthine so much, leave so much to search for a cure for the Taint, etc.

They argue about it sometimes, and tend to deal with it in-between arguments by just… not bringing it up. They both know they’ll never agree on it, and after the first several times, they know each other’s points and arguments already. If it’s brought up they still fight, but they try to just ignore the problem entirely and hope it doesn’t blow up in their faces.

Not long before “In Hushed Whispers”, they get into a fight over her going on her Calling (before she knows it’s fake). They don’t talk for a few days after that, and don’t make up until Alexius kicks them out, because Elissa has a complete breakdown. They kind of quietly agree to drop the argument until everything is settled and fixed, but never actually resolve it. When they find out the Calling is fake, she apologizes for being so impulsive about it, but they never actually talk about it after that.

24. Is there any moment that happens between them that you know happens and just makes you melt?

In general for their canon, just, them with their kids!! They weren’t sure they would be able to have any kids, and then they had 2! Elissa likes to watch him play with Lydia because Lydia is just so energetic all the time like Elissa imagines he was as a kid.

And he asks her to teach him the Thedosian-equivalent sign language so they can communicate during times she can’t speak (either autism-related or panic attacks). Because she mentioned how much it meant to her when her family learned and taught her so she wasn’t so isolated as a little kid, and he wants her to feel safe like that with him too. And then teaching their children, especially when they realize Aedan is non-verbal and has trouble talking, and make sure he never feels left out or isolated because of it.

I haven’t finished writing it yet but, in the Inquisitor!Elissa AU, there’s a point where she hits a really, really low point with her depression, and is honestly anxious that he’ll be tired of “putting up” with her, because she has…… a lot of crises in that AU. But he goes to Skyhold the first second he’s able to just to be with her and help her, and the one line I do have written is:

“I love you for you, Elissa,” he says firmly. “Everything. Even the darker bits. You have brought nothing but light to my life, and I will never regret loving you.”

and I scream on the inside every time I remember it and I’m the one that wrote it lmao

25. Share any headcanons about their relationship.

Related to the last one, when they go to Orlesian parties together, they 100% talk shit in sign language because they know it’s unlikely most people will understand them, and it pisses the Orlesian nobles off because they can’t tell what they’re saying. (and sometimes just talk casually about whatever while occasionally looking around and giggling to make people think they’re talking shit because if they have to be there, everyone else gets to be unhappy with them)

30. How does their love change as they get older?

Mostly, they start spending more time together than they do apart. They know if Elissa doesn’t find a cure for the Taint, their time together is limited, and they don’t know by how much. As time goes on, Elissa accepts that she probably isn’t going to find one, and decides it’s more important to be with him while she can. He stops fighting her on the Warden stuff so much because whenever they fight, it takes away from time together.

They learn each other slowly and fall into an easy routine, even when they’re not together. It becomes easier for Elissa to talk about her mental health stuff, and he learns how to help her, and they figure out what each of them need to get through her low points. When he needs space, she gives it. When she needs someone to talk her through a spike of anxiety, he’ll sit with her and listen and ask questions until she’s calm again. After the whirlwind chaos of the Blight, and that they married not long after the Blight, they take their time with everything. They learn to depend on each other, how to express themselves to the other, find each other’s buttons and how to avoid pushing them. Over time they start to just prefer being together quietly, rather than having to do anything; he would be just as happy lying in bed with her all day if that’s what she needs, and she likes just sitting with him and existing with him.

i love these dweebs so much thank u for letting me ramble abt them

[ivanaskye]

WoT Reactions: Book 6, The Lord of Chaos

You know, I found myself thinking at some point, somewhere around finishing this book. Who is the most unambiguously good character in this series? Is there anyone who’s just... a good person?

The answer I came up with is no.

A few people see themselves as wholly good and fighting for good; they are all religious zealots who murder regularly. Most of the characters... absolutely do not hold ideas such as ‘people dying is bad, as a rule’ or ‘people being able to choose things for themselves is good, as a rule.’

In fact, basically everyone is ruthlessly clinging to what little (or not so little) power and standing they have in an attempt to keep themselves--and for the better characters, the rest of the world--alive.

Which is an interesting thing to be true of almost an entire cast (exceptions are like... Min, Perrin maybe? But even they are more neutral than good, by most books’ standards.) And this in a series that I have absolutely never heard of garnering a reputation for being dark...

(Incidentally, in between books 6 and 7 I’m reading Sanderson’s latest, Starsight, and man the contrast is intense. Sanderson’s characters always have a strong moral dimension. Not in a didactic way, in an interesting and complex way where they often have to confront where previous conceptions of theirs have failed--but they still do, typically, fundamentally care about trying to do and be good, even when they disagree with each other on what that means.)

(Jordan’s characters, on the other hand, are an unsupervised dumpster fire of toxic compounds that, if the world is lucky, might be better than the portal to hell opening on the other side of the street.)

With that thought expressed, let’s go to the usual character-by-character rundown!

Rand

Aww, our boy has been complicit in his first warcrime.

Just complicit--I THINK some of the stuff at the end of that aiel-aes sedai-everyone in a 50 mile radius battle counted. But technically it was only his psuedo second in command who did it.

Still, we’re talking wall of dead bodies

I actually think his amnesty--allowing the existence of and even training other men who can channel--is a good idea. Even if they are going to go insane eventually. It’s not their fault...

Actually, speaking of insanity, it’s kinda fun how a lot of Lews Therin’s voice in Rand’s head is probably supposed to sound borderline incomprehensible, but here I am just like, “Hmm, sounds like a totally normal day with severe PTSD.”

Anyway he thankfully by the end of this book has two (2) whole people who are actually pretty unabashedly on his team--Min and Perrin. He even can actually communicate with Min!

Egwene

Okay, I was expecting her to be Amyrlin. Maybe not quite this quick, but from the time the Salidar Aes Sedai started talking about the ‘biddable girl’, I knew.

There was a point earlier in the book where my opinion of Egwene actually went down--that point specifically being her thing for Gawyn

who is a terrible person

Egwene, yOU DESERVE BETTER

Egwene he literally hates everything you stand for

Egwene Please

But now that she’s away from him and in a position of extreme power, her arc is just making me giddy

I’m glad she’s gone full torture on Moghedian before even Nynaeve. I expected that from her from the end of book 2.

She’s like “they may think I am just a figurehead but I am going to hold real power and they cannot stop me”

and they won’t

I love her-

Siuan

Maybe my current second favorite??? I have a type

I was NOT expecting her to get unstilled

Boy she Really has a unique character arc

That moment where she admits she’s friends with Nynaeve and Elayne??? Iconic

Also when she admits she didn’t like Egwene because Egwene is too similar to her. Yup.

also everyone just Dying whenever they realize the young-faced woman they don’t recognize is Siuan freaking Sanche

Mat

I wonder if he’ll ever... learn about not being a terrible person?

nah probably not

Nynaeve

she admitted she was wrong once

this is a revelation

she has never done that before

WHAT a disaster

Honestly, I was expecting that admitting wrongdoing would be the thing that broke her block, but it’s not gone yet, so who knows?

Also now that she’s unstilled and ungentled people, I fully expect her to end up bringing someone back from the dead before the series is over. Like Ya Do.

Elayne

One of the rare braincell-holders of the series, as always

although I don’t have that much to say about her this book??? for some reason.

Alanna

jfc woman you freaking bonded Rand against his will

please Do Not do that

Very impressive that the rest of the aes sedai are treating this as the serious consent violation it is tho!!!

Perrin

is there, has functions, actually comprehends that being around Rand might help Rand not get killed

Has that weird drama with Faile that honestly seems kinda contrived, especially since Faile doesn’t have a POV about it??? Idk man

The Forsaken (As A Whole)

A COMPLETE mess

More powerful than our protagonists, but maybe worse at certain functions??? for instance teamwork

Really taking that ‘evil competes with each other and doesn’t trust’ trope to the max

Honestly they’d have these dumpster fires in the BAG if they cooperated with each other, but no

I’d almost feel sorry for them if their level of evil wasn’t **so high**. 

Semirhage is fun because she proves Jordan had a torture kink.

Aaaaaand I think those are all the folks I have specific thoughts about! I’m less than halfway through this series. LESS THAN HALFWAY. There is so much happening y’all. How many war crimes next book? I’ll find out soon!

[ivanaskye]

WoT reactions: book 5

Oh gods, everything is happening absolutely all of the time.

So, like usual, I’m gonna yell about it character by character.

[[MORE]]

(Not that that readmore ever works...)

Rand

Oh, he is a mess.

Remember when Rand was kind of boring and ~just a guy~? Remember when he wasn’t ruling like three or four countries and having a hard time thinking about people in any light other than how he can use them? Remember that?

Because, boy, that Rand is gone

He is literally wanting to die by now

“I deserve death”

“Death would be better”

And this is only book 6 out of 14. Oh boy.

He still Can’t Kill Women tho

This is bad for everyone involved

Pls unlearn ur sexism Rand

Mat

The thing about Mat is that most of his personality traits are things I hate in a character, BUT his core trope is my favorite

He Knows His Past Lives

At least kinda

FORBIDDEN MYSTERIOUS KNOWLEDGE, he is all the other hims he once was

He’s still... Mat tho, desperately trying to run away

All he wants is gambling and casual sex

But NO he has near infinite battle tactics knowledge from 2000 years ago :| I’d feel sorry for him but also like. I do not.

Perrin

Literally not in this book lol, we’ll find out more about what he’s been up to next book

Egwene

Is going through character growth at 500 miles per hour and I’m here for it

That scene where she realized she was talking to Moiraine like an EQUAL. Aaa my heart.

Overrides Nynaeve’s temper with pure calmness

Oh boy I love her

Foreshadowing that she’s gonna be the Amyrlin has only gotten stronger. I feel this in my bones.

Moiraine

I was gonna try to go longer without talking about her, but....

....fuck you, Robert Jordan.

:(

:((

:(((

Okay, the last book and a half she has been displaying every death flag known to man and then some. So I’m not surprised BUT I do still want to cry.

Ofc she had that many flags bc she KNEW SHE WAS GONNA DIE

fucking

She is an archetype I usually HATE (keeps too many secrets) but I! Love her! She is (was) doing her best!

That all said, she might not actually be dead—Amys saying that Rand is a fool right after he says she’s dead + asmodean dying to a mysterious person who may just be Lanfear...

Cause how Moiraine died was tackling Lanfear through a mysterious portal

And now her presence “can’t be felt”

But maybe she’s just in some other reality? I hope?

:x

;-;

Elayne

There are exactly two brain cells left standing now that Moiraine is gone, and Elayne has one of them. (Egwene has the other)

She also uh. Does A Thing this book. But that’s better to talk about under another character’s heading-

Birgitte

Jfc I was NOT expecting what happened here

Tfw you’re in the True Dream World which also serves as an afterlife for perennially reincarnated heroes, which you are, and you’re not supposed to talk to alive people, but you do anyway, and then

Then you get killed, in the afterlife

And develop a fully formed body in the Alive World

And remember all of your past lives

But you’re like, dying

And maybe not in a returning-to-afterlife way

SO ELAYNE FREAKING BONDS YOU AS A WARDER.

Anyway I ship it

Nynaeve

If Egwene gets the award for fastest character development, Nynaeve gets... the opposite award

If anything, she’s getting MORE insufferable and also unselfaware with time

“It’s so great that people get to be around me, who is always calm and never yells at anyone at all!” she thinks. Multiple times.

I’m glad that with her and Elayne we finally got a bit of a Tel’aran’rhiod (True Dream World) training sequence—we hadn’t gotten to see that with Egwene

Meanwhile this book Nynaeve is the poster child for “how close to straight up torturing people are Our Heroes now”

(The answer: pretty close, by which I mean, yes definitely torture, but not the WORST torture. Yet.)

Egeanin

Where is she where is my child

Min

Spends most of the book Escaping with Siuan and Leane, plus giving the two of them a lot of weird looks

Her moment to shine is probably later

Siuan

Let me tell you, as of book 2 or 3 I did not expect her to outlive Moiraine

A Real Good Character

She may be stilled but she can still scheme and manipulate For The Side Of Good

Bonus side effect of not having magic: she is no longer bound by magical path to not lie!

“The Kid Gloves Are Off Motherfuckers” - Siuan Sanche, probably

Leane

Unlike Siuan, finds new purpose/reason not to commit suicide not in revenge but in. Flirting.

“Can’t want to kill myself if I wanna hone my seduction skills instead”

Real galaxy brain take there

I’m love her also

Aviendha

Ok I’m starting to like her now, mostly due to the Most Fanfic Sequence Of Events I Have Ever Read Including In A Fanfic

(That’s right: your fave fanfic could never)

To recap: Aviendha, sneaking into Rand’s to take a bath

Caught naked

Flips out, instinctively does something with the Power that almost no one alive knows how to

That thing being: MAKES A GODDAMN PORTAL

INTO A BLIZZARD

WHILE NAKED, MIND YOU, AND DRIPPING WET

Rand, being Very Concerned about this, grabs a bunch of blankets and follows her

She runs away

For a mile

In a blizzard

While naked

Gets to an iced-over river, FALLS IN

Rand, using the Power but also almost dying himself, pulls her out and wraps her in blankets

Makes a FREAKING HOUSE out of magic

Gets her inside

But That’s Not Enough Body Heat

Oh No He Has To Snuggle Her

Due to the powers of body heat, she retains consciousness

Then They Have Sex

Him, afterwards: oh fuck! We’re not even married! Fuck I guess we can quickly get married as soon as we come back!

Her: marriage whom

Also her, Who Has Just Had Sex With Him: also obviously I can’t marry you, you belong to Elayne

Functions? NO

Brain cells? ABSOLUTELY NOT

Thoughts? NOT EVEN ONCE

I love all these characters y’all