#special?

[sunnynwanda]

Wedding date: Part 3

Part 1    Part 2        Part 4

Villain’s determination is close to failing as the ceremony nears its end. They could feel the gazes directed at them the moment they walked into the church with their ‘date’. They were lucky the bride was about to walk down the aisle, so no one made any comments. The looks, however, said it all. 

The only people smiling from ear to ear were the bride and Hero. And if the bride's smile was understandable and expected, Hero was simply an idiot. An idiot with a survival instinct nonexistent in their system.

“Jesus, read the room, Hero,” Villain whispers, tilting their head to the side so no one can see their lips. Their jaw is tense, lips barely parting as they speak.

“What is it, honey?“ Their archnemesis is unfazed, still grinning like the Cheshire cat. Villain can’t decide if they’re oblivious, overly confident or plain dense. “Your grandmother seems nice - she winked at me when we walked in.”

“God, are you serious?” Exasperation laces Villain’s voice. They pinch the bridge of their nose with ice-cold fingers before speaking through gritted teeth. “Don’t let your guard down, Hero.“

“Aw, don’t worry about me,” Hero is serene as if they’re not surrounded by their rival’s entire family. This was a mistake, Villain thinks. Their hands flex anxiously, and Hero can’t help the fond smile tagging at the corners of their lips. “I’m your enemy, not theirs, remember? You’re the only Villain I ever battle.”

That’s news to Villain. News that makes something inside them flutter with joy. They suppress a growl of protest, closing their eyes for a short moment to calm the insects inside their stomach. 

When Villain finally speaks, their voice is small as they utter the only phrase that comes to mind. “Excuse me?” 

“All I’m saying is I’ll be fine as long as you don’t cause a riot, love,” Hero’s comment puzzles Villain further as they force their attention back to the ceremony, clapping along as the couple walks past them.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Villain can’t even remember who’s getting married at this point. The perspiration covers their forehead. What the hell is going on?

“We should move,” Hero prompts, nodding towards the exit. Villain’s eyes roam over the faces in the crowd as they pass them, searching for any hostility towards their date, but no one dares to look them in the eye. 

The reception hall is quite large, but the dim lighting creates a cosy ambience. Villain swirls the wine in their glass, trying hard to focus their attention on anything other than Hero’s palm spread on their thigh. The wedding’s been going smoothly so far, with only a few strange glances from their family members. So far, Hero’s managed to charm their way into every single conversation around their table of siblings and cousins. Disgusting. Cute.

Ugh, I hate you.  

Villain would sooner die than admit that having Hero next to them felt painfully natural. They were starting to understand why the city loved this bright-eyed puppy of a hero so much. Sunshine personified. Probably why they are the hero. Villain would very much like to slap that cheerful grin off. Probably why they are the villain. 

Deep in thought, Villain fails to notice that Hero has left their side and someone else has taken the place. 

“When I said fuck Hero, I didn’t mean it that way.” Villain chokes on their wine, head whipping around and eyes wide with terror. 

Then dawns the recognition. “Grandma!“

“But you do you, I guess...” Their grandmother ignores the plea completely, shaking her head with the slyest smile possible. “Or should I say, you do them?”

“Grandma, please,” covering their face in embarrassment, Villain presses their palms against their burning cheeks. Why is it so hot in here?

Villain wishes the ground to open up and swallow them whole. Or a bolt of lightning to strike them dead. Or a goddamn comet to crush the venue. Anything, really.

“I’m kidding, darling,” Grandma chuckles, pleased with the effect. “I’m glad you found someone who cares about you.”

“You think they care about me?” Villain can’t help the hopeful intonation, but they pray their grandma won’t notice. She does, of course, smiling from ear to ear and winking at someone behind Villain’s back.

“Can’t you see how their eyes light up when they look at you?" Grandmother doesn’t wait for an answer, standing up and placing a hand on her grandchild’s rigid shoulder. "Especially in battle."

Villain blinks, their gaze absent as they turn in slow motion. The ringing in their ears blocks the music, leaving them in a strange vacuum-like state. “Gran, you know who they are, right?”

“Hero, yes. So what?” Grandma asks, offering them a knowing smile. Villain’s concerns must be evident on their face since she continues almost immediately. “When did you ever follow the conventional ways, darling?”

She pats Villain’s shoulder before walking away and leaving them in the deafening silence of their thoughts. Villain can feel nothing but their heart beating hard against their temples and the walls of their throat. They take several deep breaths and squeeze their eyes shut to ground themselves, only to be reeled off into panic upon opening them and noticing Hero waltzing towards them.

Part 1    Part 2        Part 4

Masterlist

[layaboutace]

Season 1 Special Episode: Born Again

the instant rizz pouring off of the 10th doctor post regeneration

5/5

[dduane]

A brief moment of rationality from the bird place.

[great-and-small]

Apparently the local university’s undergraduate entomology course sends students to catch insect specimens at the same place I like to go birdwatching, which explains why I saw three enormous frat looking dudes with tiny bug nets and overheard one emphatically say “bro BRO I told you we already have enough lepidopterans”

[scuba-divers]

'fairies dont exist' WRONG❗❗cyerce elegans

[nariarts]

Spent a ridiculous amount of time last night obsessively editing my hand written zines in Photoshop to take away any tiny blemishes so they were definitely readable.

Whatever. Understand or don't.

[brainrotcharacters]

When irl pisses me off, I rewatch the Honda Odyssey scene to relax

[auschizm]

If you're autistic, your special interest is there to bring you joy and meaning, not to somehow become your "special autism talent" which makes up for you being disabled. Don't let ableists imply otherwise.

[jjian1002]

Chilchuck the struggling girl dad🥳

[californiastatelibrary]

[reblogforsamplesize]

🐛 caterpillar - the returning champion of the 2023 race at 41.6% of the votes

🐌 snail - runner up of the 2023 race at 38.3%, only 3.3% behind the caterpillar.

🪱 worm - placed last in 2023, with only 20.1% of votes

🪲 beetle, 🐞 ladybug, and 🐝 bee are new competitors!

[lieutenant-columbro]

[thepioden]

I see your "Laios is trans" but that dude is THE most apathetically agender person on the planet. Laios does not have time for gender. Laios does not even HAVE a gender identity, he removed it to make room for more Monster Facts.

[tactfullyinappropriate]

It's like we all collectively forgot as a society that friendship and just connection in general takes effort. Even if you meet someone you immediately click with, it takes hanging out about 20 times (!) to become friends. And guess what, some of those 20 meetings might be awkward or unimpressive.

We all want to reap the benefits (having a friend circle, having a partner, getting married) without doing the work (going to events, interacting with people, learning to handle conflict maturely, dating). Myself included. If I could, I'd never leave the house or go on another mediocre date again... except, that's part of the process.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, the cure to the loneliness epidemic is touching some grass and building tolerance for tedious in-person interactions.

[anna-scribbles]

so this summer i am nannying a 5 year old who loves miraculous ladybug (my dream) & every day she asks if we can play ladybug and chat noir at the park. these are some comics based on our various games<3

[unapologeticallydorky]

idk if anyone else felt this way, but in the Shapeshifter ep of Dungeon Meshi, it's treated like a joke that all the copies of Laios are super obviously not him, but isn't it kind of fucked up that Laios's closest companions don't seem to view him as... whole?

None of his companions had an accurate view of him as a person! One of the copies was a stupid, drooling mess! And on top of this, they all believed that because Laios struggles with social cues he wouldn't be observant to them as people. They just... fundamentally don't understand him.

I think the really accurate copies of the rest of the party was drawn from Laios's mind. His powers of observation and analytics are his strength, but that's not the same as being good with social cues.

Anyway. It made me really sad. I know his party cares about him, but it's so isolating to know your friends don't know you.