#still working on that animatic and im about half way done | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

askamnesiamoonjumper · 4 years ago

Text

🌙Au explanation/blog rules🌙

Welcome! this post functions as a basic tldr of the plot with links to the master post and mostly functions as a faq post

Under the cut you will find my au my hat game obsessed monkey brain made known as the Amnesia!Moonjumper au (lovingly referred to as a!au)

!!🌙I would suggest look at this before going forward🌙!!

🌙ask box is open! MoonJumper is available for asks!

🌙look at the masterpost please-

UPDATE: A!AU IS GETTING TURNED INTO A FIC SOON! SO KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED FOR THAT! ^^

(Proshippers get of my lawn)

anyway here we go:

🌙What’s the au about?

The au itself is centered on moonjumper and their struggle with the amnesia of their past before they died, plus him adjusting to life in subcon/outside the horizon and learning about how his magic works.

The found family dynamics formed of the characters is also a big player in plot, specifically the one between mj and hatkid, mj and snatcher, basically just a bunch of dadjumper/moonparent + snatcher moonjumper sibling indulgence lol

you’ll find losta angst here folks get ready to cry (but fr theres lots of tw topics later but specifically some later chapter go into dark stuff, ill tw everything when that chapter actually happens)

🌙Things to know about the blog:

-the au is post game

-Vanessas curse dlc is non canon because the au was made before it came out but the lore stuff that was in VC is canon (aka the curse magic/ability itself is canon to a!vanessa)

-M!anon is not allowed sorry

-no nsfw based asks please that’s weird bro- (though suggestive jokes are fine just yk don’t cross boundaries)

-no shipping unless specified

-the au has lots of hcs/backstories for characters I’ve made myself so even though the au is canon leaning most things are just my own original ideas ^^ I mean it’s not called an au for nothing lol but yeah basically just expanding on the og characters/info we have of them(plus some stuff from Shane frosts versions of the characters are used as some inspo too it’s a number of things lol)

-anons/askers are portrayed as dwellers (though will be replaced by other npc characters in any non subcon areas ex if they are in the metro the anons will be the cats or alps will be nomads etc)

🌙 “what should I do if I want to use your art for a pfp or post it somewhere else? Etc”

IF YOU DO ADD CREDIT (or ask first!) But Yes that is fine BUT JUST DONT STEAL MY ART!

🌙 “can I voice/dub your comics/fic/au?”

YES YES YES, i would love to help out too! ive done dub editing before and i love voice acting too so I have some experience, I would die on spot oml that would be so cool😭

🌙 “am I allowed to make image descriptions of your posts?”

YES! ABSOLUTELY! PLEASE DO!!!

I would do it myself but I’m really bad at describing things (theres a reason im a comic writer first and NOT a fic writer lol) so I’m gonna leave it to the people who are good at it and actually have experience...

🌙 “can I write a fic for your au?“

YESYESYESYES HOLY CRAP YES PLEASE SHAKING AND CRYING I AM BEGGING!!!!!! KILL ME ON SIGHT WHY DONT YOU?? YES PLEASE!!!!!!ASFHKPITWWHBSQP/POS

🌙 “can I make fan art/animation/comic/animatic etc?”

Ofc! Yes!!

🌙 “can I write a song/music for this au”

GRABS YOU OMG YES YES YES YES HOLY CRAPPPP THAT WOULD BE AMAZING??

🌙”is this a comic?”

yes! ...and no? its a comic yes! But some events later on will be shown without comics, such as drawings or fics or still frames with dialogue wrote under the post or maybe some animation etc etc its mostly a comic but sometimes breaks that format when it needs to (either if I don’t feel like drawing a full comic for a scene OR a full comic won’t be enough for a scene etc you get the idea)

EDIT the au has now been converted to a half comic half fic! So this is sortof half right now?

🌙who is the mun/mod?

my name is grace! Just a kid who thought way too hard about unimportant details if this game and made an au about it lol, my main is @gracebeth3604!

I tried to list as many fan content/faq things as I could think of but if there’s anything else you can think of just ask! please @ me so I can see Anything y’all make I would love it!

if one of y’all ever catch someone stealing my art without credit please lmk asap!

oh! And if anyone needs to know one of the characters pronouns ill be happy to let you know (seeing as a lot of them use they/them or different pronouns from their canon/cut character counterparts)

like I said earlier PLEASE check the Masterpost bc half of the art on the blog is just drawings/non canon stuff the Masterpost is really good for if you need to catch up with stuff in order

The blog is a big passion project thing so it’s not the best most amazing writing at all times and definitely not the most organized (especially seeing as it’s still my first time running a big story blog) so excuse that;;

but yeah that’s all have a good day!^^

-mun grace

#AskAmnesiaMoonjumper #AskAmnesia!Moonjumper #AskAmnesia!MJ #Important post #ahit au #ask blog #au ask blog #ahit #a hat in time #a hat in time au

35 notes · View notes

ualscout · 6 years ago

Text

Captain's Log: No One

I did roughly 8 hours of field research for this project. If that doesn’t show how hyped I was, I don’t know what does.

We were told to go to the British Museum to take notes and sketches of artifacts that interested us. We’d then incorporate our research into our first animatic by centering/including the artifact in a story. The British Museum is a pretty fukken big museum, host to artifacts from cultures all over the world. I was gonna be there a while.

My first area of interest was the Ancient Egypt section. Even thought it was packed, I took a lot of sketches and notes on stuff I could picture as the centerpiece of a story- a means of congregating or hosting. For instance, a lot of libations bowls that would be used by many people a day who visited a temple took my interest, or the towering sarcophagi that looked way too big for only one person. I initially didn’t want the artifact to become the character, but to assist the characters interacting with it. That way, I could tell a story around it.

My next stop was the Ancient Greece section. As a kid, I knew everything about greek mythos. It’s a religion not only with multiple gods, but fatally flawed gods is so interesting to me. I took a lot of notes, but most of the notes ended up being around the story as opposed to the aesthetic of the artifact. The Greeks shared an area with the Romans, so I took some notes there as well. I moved onto Ancient Asia. There was a lot of interesting material, I liked to look at the jade crystal carvings and imagine the cronch from biting down on one. They had interesting masks, but not too much stood out to me in there. As I spent more time in the museum, the more monotonous everything got. I don’t think it’s the cultures being repetitive, but it does show how humanity fixates on very similar topics, even beyond cultural barriers. Kind of like parallel evolution. Where I really started to find my spark was Ancient Europe and Scandinavia. Aesthetically and mythologically, I love vikings. Pagan traditions are really cool as well, it all just seems so foreign to me (we don’t learn much about it in American schools). Stuff was interesting me again, but nothing was really catching my eye… Until I was being ushered out of the museum at closing time. I saw a deer skull, the antlers still attached, with holes drilled in.

It was from Star Carr. Made of red deer skull, it served as a headpiece and is among the oldest evidences of shamanic religion. It seemed so unsettling in an ancient and earthy way on its own, the idea of someone wearing it intrigued me. Coming home, I started on three base ideas to bring into class. The first was using an ancient viking mirror as a gateway between an eldritch horror and a young adult who’s distant grandmother just passed away and received the mirror as inheritance… except the eldritch horror acts like an elderly guy with clearly racist beliefs but trying to seem like he doesn’t. They talk by fogging up the mirror and writing.

The second was two people arguing over who would win in a fight: a person on horseback or a centaur. Inspired by the fact that any times centaurs are featured in art, they’re always fighting a human. Even after writing a rough script for it, I don’t know who would win.

The last idea was using the mask I found. I liked the idea of it holding an ancient spirit tasked with protecting a humanity that has long since forgotten its existence. I also liked the idea of it being able to possess other living creatures. Not sure if I wanted it to be horror or not, but it would certainly be unsettling. You can probably tell which idea I went with.

Today, we wrote a script. This is the only area I have any expertise in. My script ended up being 10 or so pages of screen direction and character building, but I finished the dialogue as well.

The story follows three hikers who venture into some Scandinavian woods on a backpacking trip. Haak is the most serious and the leader, he has the most survival skills out of the group. Maya is the prankster of the crew, but is just as experienced as Haak. Robyn is the physically weakest character, often scared by everything and unnerved by the surroundings. The characters leave their car and enter the woods, but not before trying to make sense of the cryptic writing on the worn and torn trailhead. Robyn is the only one who seems to pay any mind to it. As the group start, a narrator that could be Robyn starts speaking about “tales for a trip through the woods.” The tips start out as actual advice one would use for a backpacking trip, like packing extra food and always having a map, but slowly get more cryptic and unsettling. The characters make their way through the assortment of settings in the woods, focusing more on the nature around them instead of what the group is doing. As the tips get more cryptic, saying stuff like “it may seem like the trees are following you, they’re just keeping an eye on you” and “be grateful you don’t know what’s under the dirt, pray you never find out,” the forest seems to retaliate against the characters. For instance, they get lost and double cross an area they’ve already been in, get haunted by the eyes on the birch trees, and more. Eventually, it all leads up to a normal bear attack being an Ursa Major, a bear with stars in its pelt and no need to hold a solid corporeal form. Haak and Maya get struck down by the bear after supposedly subduing it. As it’s coming for Robyn, Robyn backs up into the form that was following from beginning. The head is out of shot, but it puts a strange headpiece on Robyn, and allows Robyn to fight back against the bear. Once the fight is over, Robyn is faced with the ancient spirit who saved them- a towering, scraggly figure made of twigs and forest materials. It’s creepy to look at, and was framed at the start to be the creature tormenting the group. The creature reaches out and touches Robyn’s forehead, using their body to say verbally “no one believes in you, you should believe in yourself, too.” In Robyn’s voice. The next scene happens where the group dropped the car off, Haak blinking back to consciousness. Somehow, Robyn saved them, and Haak passes out again knowing they’ll be okay. Help arrives as Robyn looks back at No One for the final time as the spirit disappears into the forest.

The idea is how humans have interacted with and continue to interact with nature. The reality is the forest provides, but it does not protect. People putting faith in the old gods to protect them is a tradition long dead with history, but the idea of this god still holding onto life for the soul purpose of protecting those who may wander into its domain is a very human story, even if it’s behind a creepy mask with origins we don’t entirely understand. It’s inspired by my love of hiking and nature, I actually work in the summer as a camp counselor at a ranch that takes our campers backpacking on the weekends. Each of the human characters show some kind of recurring theme I see in the people I go on these hikes with, and some are named after them. I think drawing the sets and characters for this will be pretty fun, I look forward to it.

Character design is up next. I started with Robyn, the rest of the characters would follow in style.

I wanted Robyn to have a very childish look, but not dumb childish. Like a smart bookworm who has no idea how to survive outside a library, much less civilization. However, Robyn couldn’t look like they thrived in society either. They should be a shy nerd who’s out of their element everywhere, not just in the wild, which just makes being in the outdoors that much more terrible. I also wanted Robyn to come off as genderless so anyone could relate to them. The story isn’t about their gender or age (even though in cannon the characters are in college/university/living on their own, but the style still makes them look like children�� oh well) it’s about the forest and how they interact with it.

I had a hard time getting a grip on the style I wanted, everything seemed so forced and I was never happy with what I drew. I kept erasing and redoing and changing without keeping anything. About halfway through the day, I was still only half a character sketch page done and feeling quite hopeless. I realized I was trying to be perfect on a sheet that wasn’t supposed to be. It Sucked… but I figured out the style I wanted. The t-shirt and swishy basketball shorts is the epitome of beginner hiker attire. I stopped caring so much about the quality of the drawings and just started drawing action poses.

The next most important character would be No One. I had a lot more fun playing with No One’s design, probably because I didn’t have to make it look human. I wanted to make them look imposing, scary, but made of the environment. Like, with clothes of moss and litchin. Almost stitched together. I played with making them tall, wider, hunched over, in layers. The hardest choice I had to make was the horn shape. I pulled a lot of references from different horned creatures even though the original skull was a red deer.

Eventually, I came up with final designs for both. I made up Haak and Maya while storyboarding, their designs were simple and based on real people, like their personalities. No worries ‘bout that. Their character models followed the base Robyn’s exploration found.

Next, storyboarding. I spent so much goddamn time in storyboarding. Not too much happened, but I did like plotting out everything. I realized I can pretty easily plot out the setting and where the characters are in relation to each other then manipulate the camera as needed. Pretty nifty. The only problem is 1. Im bad at drawing and 2. Drawing the same thing over and over again kinda sucks. I spent a lot of time designing the varying backgrounds the characters would walk through and played with how the forest would interact with them. For instance, what if a path suddenly changed or wasn’t visible on the second cross through? What if you could see the reflections of eyes in the cave shadows before the characters entered?

The idea originally started over the summer. I was hiking through a birch forest and noticed the markings on the white bark looked a lot like eyes… what if they were watching while you passed by? I let this fuel my imagination and inspire the script. I liked playing with where mystery or malice could hide in the forest, which is a lot of places. Sure, people generally feel threatened by the animals, but the terrain is arguably more dangerous. I didn’t want to introduce a wildlife enemy until the climax, or it would just make it less impactful. If a wild animal is revealed to be evil, it gives another face to the force tormenting them, which takes away from the little cameo No One gets at the start.

Nothing really important happened over the storyboarding period. Just little epiphanies. I realized I got better at drawing the characters and much quicker at it as time went on. I spent a lot of time editing shots and order, which is why the storyboards are messy AF. Made me feel kind of self conscious because everyone at my table had works of art for storyboards, but whatever. They’re supposed to be tools. I also made the very stupid choice to go over every single goddamn board in digital. It was hell. Next time, I’ll probably do everything digitally…

Capturing audio was hard not only because of the location but because of the season. For instance, I need cricket sounds, nature sounds, car sounds (that I could control), and quiet crisp sounds. Too bad I go to school and live on a street that’s triangulated by a fire station, police station, and hospital. And everyone seems to be lighting things on fire, getting crimed, or dying.

I got what sounds I could, but I had a fun time recording with everyone. It was the first time the class was forced out of their comfort zones and made to talk to the people outside their tables. It was a welcome change and I met some cool people. We would talk about what sounds we needed in our stories and whenever we realized how to get that sound it was a group epiphany with excitement. Too bad nowhere in Camberwell is quiet.

Instead of having one of them narrate my lines, I just did them myself at home with my own microphone. It was just easier because I knew what tone I wanted this character to be. In terms of pitch, I just edited it in Audacity. The quality of it didn’t matter, because it wasn’t supposed to be exactly human. I played with it being lower pitched, but if I wanted to make it seem like Robyn was the real narrator, I would need it to be higher. It sounds pretty close to what I wanted- hollow, indifferent, but all-knowing and wise beyond the years the voice should belong to.

I knew from the start I wanted one of two songs in the soundtrack, even though Joe said no songs… sorry, but I envisioned it with this music, it wasn’t structured around it but it was structured with it. Both are the instrumentals behind the songs, so there’s no words, but I did make a playlist of music I wanted to inspire this animatic with at the start. Both songs were at the top. The first song is “Welcome Home, Son” by Radical Face. It’s got a steady beat, good organic guitar, piano, and what sounds like bells. It’s got a REI feel to it (and I’m realizing now that you don’t know what REI is, probably… but I’m keeping the comparison because it’s true) which is kind of like adventuring somewhere greater than yourself, understanding the greatness of it, being slightly scared of it. Like you’re on a quest with no destination. Like facing the mortality and insignificance of yourself in this vast and wondrous world, but instead of fleeing in fear or rejecting the fear, accepting it and finding a home in it. The background vocals add to the feeling of humanity that’s not quite ‘human’ but when tested it tended to mess up the dialogue. The sound of bells and wind chimes was nice, like a feeling of emptiness or forgotten home. Just all around a great song. Also there’s a wind sound effect, like it’s blowing through the trees outside the mouth of a cave. I just think it’s neat and put it at the beginning.

The other song was “New Slang” by The Shins. It has a similar feeling to “Welcome Home, Son” but not quite as adventurous. Much like the song lyrics say, “Gold teeth and a curse for this town were all in my mouth, only I don’t know how they got out, dear…” it’s about returning home with a bittersweet feeling, somewhere you don’t quite belong, but desperately want to. The simple guitar strumming and bass feel melancholy, and the calm electric guitar (never thought I’d say that pair of words together) just make it seem like an amble through the old woods in the backyard of your childhood home, visiting the old treehouse, and sitting in it alone as you remember back to when you weren’t alone in it and much smaller. The simplicity of the song adds less of a dramatic tone and a more organic and realistic one. It’s also more comforting than “Welcome Home, Son” due to less swells and changes in the sounds. It also has background vocals, but they’re much more human and less dramatic, they almost sound like a mourning wolf separated from his pack, but his calls go unanswered. The thing is the runtime is 1/2 that of “Welcome Home, Son”… The middle section, when edited, made up about 4 minutes.

youtube

I played with both and enjoyed both results a lot. The music starts as they enter the forest and the narration starts, following them as they go on their adventure. It’s supposed to show that time’s passing like a montage, but also ends up showing how the danger is real and haunting when Ursa Major awakens in the bear.

My biggest issue while editing the animatic was sound design after the music cuts out. It ends at the perfect moment and even follows the story beats of the end, but after that I just had the haunting silence of the forest and the sound of the nature around the characters in which I had to put a dramatic fight scene. I didn’t want to bring the music back until No One revealed themselves to Robyn to show the connection had finally been made, but the fight scene between Robyn and Ursa Major was so empty… It felt like I was just layering bear grunts and damage sounds over dynamic shots, but it wasn’t translating as tense, it was just awkward. I also had trouble with selecting what sounds were real. Robyn doesn’t make any verbal sound, the only sound to come from Robyn is their footfalls and how they interact with the environment. I should have made more steady rules with how Robyn and the other characters are present outside of the middle montage.

Actually while I’m writing this I realized I could restart the music and have it cut back out once No One takes back their face… fuck.

So, what did I learn from this? That I storyboarded way too fucking much and made way too many fucking characters. I was told all throughout diagnostic to be free and reach for the stars, especially in communication, but the reality is in trying to tell the story I wanted I ended up drowning myself in work.

I really loved writing this story, though. That’s my favorite part of anything. Writing is the ONLY skill I have over everyone else, and I WILL flex on everyone when I get the chance. It was just too big of a story for right now. I mean, I got everything from a single deer skull, it didn’t seem like much at the time… Maybe when I’m better at all of this, I’ll revisit it and make it more like I pictured in my head. I felt like epiphanies kept coming to me as I was writing the script, but as time went on and I had to plan it, I would get too caught up in the details. I love preproduction though. Like, a lot. That’s for sure my favorite part of making animation and film. Just figuring out where everything goes and how it all works together is just so satisfying and I really enjoy it. A bonus is it doesn’t have to look like Perfect Art, either. The fact that it doesn’t look perfect is one of my greatest insecurities, but it’s something I’ll have to get over, and it’s easier to get over it if it’s forgivable/expected. I know once we do actual animation, it’ll just be harder to make longer stories and I won’t know how to cut down on it all… but whatever. I’ve always had a problem writing too much, so that’s just something I’ll have to learn to manage. I’ll try and do better next time. I was really tempted to make this a comedy, like I always do, but I didn’t. I made something serious for once, and it didn’t end up as I imagined, but it got close enough.

That’s a victory Royale.

0 notes

luxuriant-starlight · 8 years ago

Text

I Won’t Say I’m In Love Ch. 2

whoop chapter two is here

this intro is rushed bc im tired af. if u want a more detailed one then check out the ao3 link.

anyways hope y’all enjoy

Summary: Marinette Dupain-Cheng is madly in love with Adrien Agreste who is Chat Noir who is madly in love with Ladybug who is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. After a sudden burst of confidence, the two decide to confess to their individual crushes, and both get rejected. Now Marinette and Chat Noir turn to each other for comfort- but soon realize they may be getting a little TOO close for comfort, and just end up trying to deny it, like the ridiculous losers they are.

Based on an animatic by @pepper-bottom, who you should most definitely check out!

Words (in this chapter): 4k (hol y shit)

[AO3] [FFN]

Chapter 2 - Marinette Throws Herself Into The Fray

That night, Marinette laid on her bed, staring up at her ceiling, replaying the events from patrol over and over again in her head.

No matter how she thought about it- no matter how she framed it.

She still felt like a total jerk.

Her body felt numb.

How could she not know? How could she call herself Chat’s best friend? How could she have been hanging around with him like three times a week every week for the past three years and not see it?

Maybe you’re just a shitty friend. Her heart suggested, bitterly.

Maybe you are just a shitty friend.

She sighed and groaned, sitting up and pulling her knees to her chest.

He had just looked so devastated. He practically ran away from her. As if...like...

Like I shattered his heart.

Marinette’s stomach sank even deeper.

“Marinette…” Tikki started, nuzzling into her cheek. “It’s not that bad.”

Mari groaned. “Yes, it is, Tikki!”

“He’ll move on. I’m sure.” Tikki reassured her, hugging her face as much as she could with her tiny body- basically, just managing to hold her chin and nothing else.

“It doesn’t matter if he moves on or not. The problem is that I- the person who calls herself his best friend - couldn’t see how he really felt about me. I teased him. I led him on.” She frowned. “And not just once! Consistently. For years!”

Tikki pursed her lips. “Marinette...I’m sure Chat knew what he was getting himself into. He knew the risks of confessing to you.”

Marinette buried her face into her knees, pulling them even closer. Tikki stroked a little section of her hair.

“Oh, Mari. It really will be okay. You couldn’t have known. It had been going on since you two met. You’ve never known a Chat that acted differently.”

“...Maybe you’re right.” She admitted, peeking her eyes out at Tikki from behind her arms. “But I still feel bad. What if he doesn’t wanna be my best friend anymore?”

“Of course he wants to be your best friend!” Tikki burst out, incredulously, but then took a more gentle tone. “Marinette, you two are meant to be best friends. You were chosen because you two are soulmates- romantic or platonic. Chat loves you. Not just romantically. He’d never stop wanting to be your friend just because you don’t share his feelings.”

Mari picked her head up, sighing.

‘Best friends. Always.’

She sighed again, sitting up. Tikki was right. Chat wouldn’t want to stop being her friend just because she rejected him.

“But I still hurt him.” She told Tikki, after a moment. “I still broke his heart.”

Tikki sighed, patting her cheek. “Humans are more relisient than you think. His heart will heal.”

“How can I possibly make it up to him, though?”

Tikki nudged her chin, making Marinette lift it to look at her.

“You can be his friend. You can keep caring about him, just like you’re doing right now.”

Marinette thought for a second.

“You’re right.”

Tikki giggled. “Aren’t I always?”

Marinette grinned, hugging Tikki closely. “Always.”

And for a moment, things seemed better.

Marinette laid back down on her bed, letting Tikki curl up on her pillow and rest.

After what could’ve been a few hours or a few minutes but just felt like an eternity, she was still awake- staring at her ceiling once again. She couldn’t sleep.

She turned onto her side, restlessly, and a picture on her nightstand caught her eye. It was a bunch of pictures of her and Adrien. One of those photo booth picture strips. They had taken it this summer when they went to the arcade. One of the first times they hung out alone, outside of school.

She and Adrien were a lot closer now. For the whole first year they knew each other, Marinette was more than a little awkward around him. She could barely speak a whole sentence in his presence. The crush she had for him was just too massive.

But that was three years ago. Now she was 18 and much more mature than her 15 year old self. She finally mastered speaking full sentences around Adrien- encouraged to do so by the fact that they begun hanging around each other a lot more as Nino and Alya began to get closer.

Being around two other friends while they spoke every single time they hung out eventually broke the ice. Turns out, they had a lot in common.

Now, Adrien was one of her five best friends (the friends being, in no particular order: Alya, Tikki, Nino, Chat, and Adrien). They hung out all the time. They played Mecha Strike and Mario Cart and Overwatch and a ton of video games together at her house like once a week or so. She spent lunch with him, Alya, and Nino like every day.

She took down her pictures of him. And his schedule. She changed her computer wallpaper to a picture of her and a bunch of her friends from class. Any pictures of Adrien in her bedroom were no longer magazine clippings or things she printed off the internet- they were pictures of them together. Laughing, smiling, having fun. All their memories together.

Yet, her feelings for him remained.

In fact...they intensified.

Marinette’s crush was no longer superficial. She didn’t admire him from afar anymore. She admired him up close now. No longer was he perfect in her eyes- but, rather, perfectly imperfect.

A total dork. She mused, a smile appearing on her face- only widening when she looked at the way he stuck his tongue out at her in the third picture.

A total dork that you adore. Her brain reminded her.

Yeah. She did adore him.

Chat’s face flickered in her mind again.

He had confessed to her. He worked up the courage.

For how long? Weeks? Months?

However long, he had done it. He had planned and plotted. She knew he had. She knew him and how he was.

It was the bravest display of emotion she’d ever seen. He was clearly torn up about it, but still managed to confess- even though he knew he might get rejected.

Even though he did get rejected. Her heart told her. By you.

Oh. Right.

Marinette sighed, rolling onto her back again. If only I could be that brave.

Her head turned towards Adrien’s photo again. In the last of the four pictures, he was holding her close, laughing with his arms wrapped around her. She was mid-laugh too, her cheeks red.

Marinette turned to the ceiling again, and closed her eyes.

She knew what she had to do.

She had to be brave.

---------

“Are you sure about this, girl?” Alya asked her, trying to catch up with Marinette’s fast paced walk into school that Monday morning.

“I’m sure.” Marinette told her. “I’m ready to tell him. I was thinking about it the whole weekend.”

She had had a whole long-ass conversation with Tikki about it the morning after Friday night (when Chat had confessed and she had made up her mind), and then had another again with Alya that Sunday, when she came over to help her and her parents decorate some flower shaped sugar cookies for Spring.

She was determined.

Alya raised an eyebrow, narrowing her eyes a bit. “I still don’t know what’s gotten into you.”

“Nothing has gotten into me.” Marinette lied. “I just feel like I’m ready to finally tell him. I feel bad keeping it from him.”

It wasn’t a total lie.

“Alright, then.” Alya replied, opening the door for Marinette.

When they walked into class, Adrien and Nino were already there, talking at their desks.

Marinette’s heart fluttered a bit in her chest, and tried to jump into her throat, but she swallowed in down, and walked with Alya over to their row.

“Hey, guys.” Alya greeted.

“Morning!” Marinette followed.

“What’s up, ladieeessss!” Nino greeted, grinning. Alya rolled her eyes.

“Morning.” Adrien seemed very...out of it? Marinette thought so.

“Are you alright, Adrien?” She asked, concerned.

“That’s what I’ve been asking all morning!” Nino exclaimed, looking irritated. “I’ve been trying to get him to tell me what’s wrong for like half an hour already.”

“I told you- nothing’s wrong.” Adrien assured him, then turned to Marinette, smiling softly. “I’m okay, Mari.”

“Are you sure? You don’t look okay.” Marinette furrowed her eyebrows.

“It’s fine. Honestly, I’m just out of it because I’m tired. My father’s had me working every night this week.”

Marinette didn’t buy it, but respected his privacy.

“Your dad is crazy!” Nino told him, huffing. “You’re 18. You should be allowed to take breaks and have fun.”

Adrien nodded and shrugged. “I guess.”

They all spoke for a few more minutes, mostly about how Nino had had a gig DJing a party downtown this weekend. They quieted down by the time their teacher had come in.

As the teacher started her lesson, Marinette stared at the back of Adrien’s head, thinking about how she was gonna confess. She was nervous but maybe for no reason.

She had been thinking this whole weekend about what would happen if Adrien rejected her-

Like you did Chat. Her annoying brain reminded her again.

Shut up. Marinette fired back.

- but what if he doesn’t reject her? What if he actually...likes her back? What if he feels the same and they go on a date and then a few more and then become boyfriend/girlfriend and then he proposes and they get married on a sunny Spring day in an intimate family affair and then they live together and love each other and have three beautiful children named Emma, Louis, and Hu-

Woah woah woah.

Chill, girl. You’re not 15 anymore. Stop with these crazy fantasies and focus on the task at hand. How are you and Adrien gonna ever get married if he never knows how you feel?

Marinette blinked, snapping out of it. She then ripped a paper out of her notebook and wrote Adrien a note.

‘Hey. I have to tell you something. It’s...kinda important. Can we talk after school?’

She slid the note under the desk, poking at his side with the corner of the folded paper.

Keeping his eyes trained on the teacher, he secretly grabbed the note, expertly placing it on his desk without the teacher seeing.

Marinette waited with baited breath.

After what felt like an eternity (but in reality was only 10 minutes), she felt a folded piece of paper poke her bare knee. She slid it onto her desk and opened it as inconspicuously as possible.

‘Of course Mari. Is after school good? :p’

The note came with a tiny doodle of a smiling snail.

She grinned. She adored this boy.

When he turned to look at her a few seconds later while the teacher turned away, she nodded slightly.

And now, we wait.

---------

After the final bell rang and Marinette was freed from the absolute sin formally referred to as chemistry, she stood by Adrien’s locker, waiting for him to arrive.

Her heart was doing flips.

She wasn’t so sure she could do this. Maybe it wasn’t too late to turn back. Maybe she should just tell him it was something funny and dumb like “you’re a dork” or “you got some updawg on your shirt” and leave it at that.

She felt her phone vibrate in her skirt pocket. She slid it out and read her latest text. It was from Alya.

‘You got this. I believe in you. <3’

Marinette smiled, her heart warmed by the text.

‘Thanks, Alya. You’re the best.’

And she was. Alya was such a good friend. Maybe Tikki was right. Maybe she really was lucky. Lucky to be blessed with such an incredible support group.

“What’s got you so smile-y?”

Marinette whipped her head up, locking her phone and sliding it back into her pocket, as Adrien stood before her- all sandy blonde hair and grass green eyes and soft spoken and-

Focuusss. Her brain nagged.

“A-Adrien! Hey.”

“Hey!” He grinned. “I asked you a question, you know.”

“Oh- oh yeah. Alya was texting me something sweet. About how I’m her favorite and whatever.”

Adrien chuckled. Her heart nearly melted.

“You’re everyone’s favorite, Mari.”

Marinette giggled, nervously. “I sure hope so…”

Literally, though…

“So, what did you need to talk to me about?”

Her stomach sank, but she willed it to work with her a bit.

“I...uh...wanted to know if you wanted to walk home with me.”

It apparently didn’t listen. Goddammit.

“Sure. I actually have time, for once. Just let me grab my stuff?”

“Okay!” Marinette replied, a little too loudly and a little too quickly.

I’m reverting. She panicked. Shit.

Pull it together, Mari.

“Ready?” Adrien asked her, after a minute, slinging his messenger bag over his shoulder.

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

---------

After a minute or so of feeling awkward, Adrien striked up a conversation, and she silently thanked him for taking the lead. They quickly started talking about some nerd shit- as two nerds like them might do.

“There is no way in hell that Ponyo is better than Howl’s Moving Castle.” She scoffed. “Sophie is so much more complex than Ponyo. Or Sosuke.”

“Howl’s good, but it’s no Ponyo!” Adrien insisted. “Come on- the story of a young girl learning to break free from oppression! Teaching a boy about true love.”

“It’s more of a child-like infatuation, if you ask me. Or a platonic love.”

Adrien huffed. “You just can’t appreciate fine cinema.”

She rolled her eyes and laughed, looking at him.

He was so… God, he was so attractive. He drove her absolutely crazy. Like she said, he had that whole sandy blonde hair and grass green eyes thing going for him. But not only that, he had this...sunkissed skin. Like Apollo himself descended from the heavens and personally blessed him to forever be a literal embodiment of sunshine. And his body, oh my god.

Back when they were 15, Adrien was a bit more lithe- thin and shapely, but still maintaining a fit form and an alright shoulder to waist ratio. It came with not only having barely gone through puberty, but having to keep up that stereotypical model look. But now that he was older, Adrien was more built- and encouraged to maintain a wholesomely sexy look instead of the boyishly handsome look he had had before.

And Lord, did it work for him.

He was still a little lithe, but had much broader shoulders. He wasn’t exactly dorito shaped, but definitely more manly- thicker biceps and more defined muscles. He could now fill in a shirt.

He ran his fingers through his hair, looking ahead, his green eyes intensified and brightened by the sunshine.

Marinette could’ve stayed just like that, staring at him- soaking in his beauty.

But then she saw it.

His frown.

And not just that, but his eyebrows. They were furrowed. He was thinking very deeply about something.

Marinette frowned right along with him, then stopped walking, placing a hand on his shoulder. Adrien turned to look at her, surprised.

“Okay, model boy. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Mari?”

She frowned deeper, putting her feelings for him aside to address him with proper concern. “You’ve been acting off all day. I know you. There’s something you’re not telling me.”

He sighed, looking even more upset. “It’s nothing.”

“Adrien..”

“What about you? You’ve been off all day, too. Don’t think I believe for one second that the real reason you wanted to talk after school was so I could walk you home.” He raised an eyebrow at her, crossing his arms, petulantly.

Her stomach sank, but she quickly shook it off and laughed. “Are you trying to change the subject? I asked you first.”

“I asked you second.”

They narrowed their eyes at each other.

“Rock, Paper, Scissors for it?” Mari asked, determined. She had to win.

“You’re on.”

---------

“Goddammit!” Mari cursed.

After three games of Rock, Paper, Scissors, she had lost. Twice.

In her defense, she had momentarily forgotten that paper beats rock. How does that even make sense?

“Ha! Now you have to tell me what’s on your mind.” Adrien gloated, sticking out his tongue.

Why am I so in love with this boy? Mari asked herself, even though she knew the answer.

“No. I changed my mind. I don’t wanna tell you.” Mari crossed her arms, pouting, and turning away.

“Oh, come on, Mari!”

“No!”

He placed a hand on her shoulder, gently turning her around. “You know you can tell me.”

Her heart skipped a beat. Or several.

Okay. Okay okay okay. I can do this.

I think.

“Alright...you’re right.” She confessed. “I do need to tell you something… kinda important. We should… maybe sit.”

“Okay.” He gestured towards a nearby bench, and they both sat.

Adrien looked at her, expectantly.

Her heart felt like it was filled with an icy cold fire.

“I know this is...sudden…” Marinette told him. “But…”

“But?”

“But… I really liked all the time we’ve been spending together, Adrien. I really like all your dumb jokes. I really like playing video games with you. I really like the way you scarf down all the food I give you, as if it’s the first time you’ve ever seen a chocolate croissant. I really like the way you ramble about things you really like…”

“Mari?”

“I really like... you, Adrien.”

“ Mari… ”

“No. More than really like you.” She closed her eyes, and let out a deep breath. “I love you, Adrien. Like. Really love you. Like. I’ve-been-madly-insatiably-in-love-with-you-for-the-last-three-years in love with you.”

Adrien looked floored. “Like...romantically?”

“Like, romantically.”

There was a pregnant pause. Marinette’s heart was beating so loudly, she could barely hear herself think.

After a moment, Adrien spoke.

“Marinette…” He sighed, eyebrows knit together. “The thing…. I had to tell you.”

“The thing?”

“The thing is…” He took her hands in his, looking apologetic. Oh no.

“ The thing is…. there’s someone else.”

Her heart sank. “Someone...else?”

“I confessed to her last night. She rejected me but…” Adrien sighed. “But I’m still in love with her.”

“In...love...with her?”

“I do love you, Mari. As a friend. And I love all the time that we’ve been spending together. You’re...an amazing person. An amazing friend. Beautiful and fun and smart and determined and wonderful. But…”

“But I’m not her.”

Adrien looked away, guiltily.

Of course.

Why would I… how could I even think that… a guy like Adrien…

Marinette stood, suddenly, letting go of his hands, staring at her feet.

You had better not cry. She ordered herself. Not in front of him. You had better save that shit for when you get home.

Her eyes welled up with tears anyway.

She tried to will them away. Don’t. Don’t humiliate yourself any further. You’d better not.

Her resolve melted when Adrien stood up and put his hand on her shoulder.

“Marinette… I’m so sorry.”

The tears just kept rolling down her cheeks.

“You’re sorry?” She laughed, numbly, wiping her face. “What do you have to be sorry for, Agreste? I’m the one who’s making you feel guilty for no reason.”

He pulled her in close, suddenly, hugging her tight. “I still hurt you.”

The tears kept flowing in his arms, staining his shirt. It just...wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair. She’d come so far. She’d finally gotten close to him. Finally got them talking to each other. Finally become his real friend.

Maybe Tikki was wrong. Maybe she wasn’t so lucky after all.

Marinette sobbed.

Adrien rubbed her back and held her close.

---------

He’d insisted on walking her home.

She tried to keep a brave face, but as soon as she got through the front door, she just pressed her back to it, slid down, and started sobbing again.

Her mother had heard her cries and immediately came rushing in from the bakery, a look of deep concern on her face. She helped Marinette to the couch and, there, Marinette had told her mother everything she could. How a “friend” she didn’t feel the same for confessed his love to her. How she had rejected him. How she had been inspired by him and confessed to Adrien. How Adrien had rejected her on the way home.

“Oh, honey…” Her mom held her close, letting Marinette cry on her shoulder. “Sometimes, it just happens.”

“I really thought we were meant for each other.”

“I know, I know.” Her mother sighed, stroking her hair. “I know it feels like the end of the world. But it’s not. You’re a bright, beautiful young woman. There are other things out there for you.”

Marinette nodded, gripping her mother’s dress harder, sniffling.

Her mother whipped up one of her favorite dinners that night- beef stew with carrots and potatoes. Warm and delicious, as always. Her father had pulled out his beat-up ice cream maker, as well- and made them homemade salted caramel ice cream.

It could’ve been delicious, but Marinette couldn’t say. She was too messed up.

Instead, she just ate small, slow bites, and felt the tears dry on her cheeks, staring blankly at the table. She just felt numb.

---------

After dinner, she had skyped Alya, and told her the awful news. Alya promised that they’d have a “Ladies Night” the next day- which basically just meant they’d get together and talk it out and cuddle and eat ice cream and watch the Real Housewives.

Marinette had agreed, gratefully- but aside from that, she didn’t really speak much either.

Tikki seemed concerned. She, too, spent a fair amount of time comforting Marinette- and at least made her clean the smeared makeup and dried streaks of mascara off her face. Her pores would probably thank her tomorrow.

After a couple hours, though, Marinette sent Tikki to bed.

“I can’t possibly sleep right now. It’s best you just go to bed now. I’ll lay down and try to rest in a bit.”

“Are you sure?” Her kwami asked, concerned.

“Yeah. It’s fine. I promise.”

Tikki didn’t look totally convinced, but gave in once Marinette put on her brave face.

“Alright...but you’d better be in bed by midnight! You do have school tomorrow, after all.”

“Yes, mom.” Marinette tried to grin. She wasn’t quite sure she got it across.

Tikki rolled her eyes and kissed Mari’s forehead before flittering off to her bed (which was essentially just a pillow and a small, hand sewn blanket hidden behind the staircase in Marinette’s loft bedroom).

After Tikki was finally fast asleep, Marinette sighed, walking out onto her balcony, her blanket wrapped around her shoulders and a cup of green tea that her mother insisted she drink in her hands.

She took a sip of the now barely warm tea and sighed again, staring across at the lights of Paris.

This is supposed to be the city of love.

She scoffed. More like the city of heartbreak.

Marinette laughed at her own bad joke, emptily.

She felt like a total idiot.

How did she not see this coming?

She sighed once more, shakily this time, and felt her eyes well up with tears again.

And once more, she sobbed.

Not the kind of sobbing she had been doing before.

Horrible, awful sobbing.

Marinette was devastated.

Three years she’s been in love with Adrien. Three years she’d… actually believed that they’d… get married. Have kids. Spend their lives together.

How stupid. She thought, bitterly, sinking down to her knees, gripping the railing with the hand not holding her now cold green tea. So stupid.

She pressed her forehead up against it, letting tears fall onto the street below her.

She just kept sobbing and shaking. So loud was her sorrow that she didn’t hear the leather-clad hero land on her balcony and walk towards her pathetic form.

“...Princess?” She heard a familiar voice ask.

She looked up to see Chat Noir, looking like he felt sorry for her.

Great. She thought, and just cried harder.

#ml fanfic #ml fic #miraculous ladybug #marichat #ladynoir #adrienette #i wont say im in love #my fics #fanfiction #ml #love square #mady writes #angst #romance

70 notes · View notes