#take this my useless fashion designer teacher

[gdn019283]

I just thought about Arthur, Gwen, Morgana and Merlin going to fight, but dressing good for it (each one of them with their assigned weapon)

This could be set in whatever AU/Canon AU you’d like, where everything is good and these four fight together to unite the lands of Albion (basically my happy version of BBC Merlin).

See my vision.

They all wear long cloaks, with hoods that cover their faces and hair, including the clothes they wear under. The sleeves of their tunics are long, sort of under shirts made of linen, comfortable and flexible, no armour, to be worn under the cloaks, cut open at different points based on the weapons they use. Magic half protects them from the cold and the blows they take, blanketing them and securing them from their enemies. Their boots stretch until the knee and are striped, the trousers large and comfortable.

Each one of them has a colour assigned:

Morgana: white. It accentuates her dark hair, her appearance, that could seem innocent, but is actually fatal; three golden straight stripes descend over the front length of her cloak; the sleeves are round and half cut at the wrists; her boots are black; she wears a belt under the cloak where she can hide her weapon and pick it up easily; her gloves are black like her boots, wrist length, made of leather, simple; she still wears jewellery and a chain of metal around her forehead, with a white pearl in the middle of it, her black hair wavy and falling around and behind her shoulders, when she has council meetings, and tied up and in a braid when she needs to fight; she wears rings and bracelets. They decorate her fingers and wrists, two golden bracelet over her biceps, a long pendant made of a chain around her neck, that ends with a tiny, transparent vial where she keeps her favourite dried flower, round, five petals and of the same white colour of her cloak, the gift made to her by Gwen (I believe the flower is called, Oxalis incarnata).

Gwen: dark violet/light violet/pastel pink. I believe they’re her colours. Gwen is kind, and honest. Everything that she has ever made for herself and wore accentuated her character and personality as well, and the colour took a big part in it. It’s soft, and it resembles everything Gwen has ever been. Fierce, but vulnerable. A good leader. She has always ever been these two colours, and she wore purple the day she was crowned queen. Her cloak has drawings that she herself sewed into the fabric, of flowers and flying birds, intersecting one with the other, of a a white colour and with golden stripes painted on their wings and branches, resembling the one on Morgana’s cloak; her cloak and tunics are of a similar cut to the others, except that the sleeves are shorter and the leather gloves are longer, reaching her elbows, comfortable for her weapon, and of a deep brown colour, the same of her boots; her weapon is wrapped around her chest and draped behind her shoulders; she wears no jewellery; she keeps her hair short and curly, tied in a small bun behind the nape of her neck, two small strands cascading over her forehead.

Merlin: dark blue/light blue. These colours are his. A symbol, the same as his eyes, since he has always wore them as a shirt, that matches the colours of the tunic and the cloak over his body, cut at the shoulders, his shirt unlaced at the chest and ending on both arms with a bishop sleeve; his gloves are gauntlets and made of leather, the same colour of his boots, blue, but a lighter/darker tone than the one of his own cloak; his raven hair is longer, wavy, and ends at the juncture of his neck, untied; he wears a beard long enough to cover chin and cheeks; he needs space and air to use his weapon, long and sometimes difficult to manoeuvre, so his cloak is cut from the start of his thighs to his ankles; the fabric also has a golden circle sewed on the chest and the middle area, a line travelling and curving around its circumference.

Arthur: red, or what us fans usually describe as Camelot red. It suits him and it accentuates his hair. He has the golden Camelot dragon sewed at the centre of his cloak, a size big enough to be able to fit inside Merlin’s circle; he’s covered completely, has two holes just for his forearms, and a brown belt for his weapon over the cloak; his gloves are also gauntlets and of a golden colour; his boots are brown just like Gwen’s, meaning two things: Arthur belongs both to the Once and Future Queen of Camelot, and to his Court Sorcerer.

~

Their weapons:

Morgana: magic and knives. She has always loved them, always used them, and they’re easy to fight with, quick, the magic assuring her the perfect balance the moment she loses it, aiming a blow in the rare case she misses. She likes them, and they remind her of the gift Arthur had made to her during her birthday. The knives are decorated with pearls too, and they shine altogether whenever Gwen picks them up (Gwen creates the knives Morgana fights with without telling her).

Gwen: bow. She is agile, short, and quick. She has always run left and right to assist everyone in need, bringing and handling stuff in her hands, so she can manage a bow perfectly, shooting and fighting from afar. Arthur thought her how to use it, or maybe she learnt it by herself (or with Morgana). She makes her own arrows, that change based on what she needs to do or on her target. The bow has deep carvings in it on both the upper and lower limb, and the initials of her name. She made them herself, similar to the one on her clothes. The string of the bow can be heard only by Morgana every time Gwen shoots (Morgana secretly carved her initials too on the face of the bow, thinking Gwen hasn’t noticed).

Merlin: magic and a staff. His powers makes it float and appear on command, it channels his magic better, which could be destructive if managed alone. It glows and vibrates whenever Arthur passes by (Merlin blushes every time it happens).

Arthur: Excalibur. It represents the Kingdom, it’s the sword of the Once and Future King. It has the desired balance, has just the right hint of magic in it and the writing on the blade pulses a golden colour every time the weapon is in near proximity with Merlin. The sword reminds Arthur of him, and it’s never out of his sight (Arthur denies it each time his sword brightens up, cursing Merlin as he does so).

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for wanting to stay in an important team position?

(For reference: 🎮🎮🤖)

(Sorry for the long post and any bad grammar!!)

So i (16F) am in a robotics team at my school, we take part in a pretty big national and global competition called FIRST.

recently my team got through to national stages, which is a MASSIVE deal, not exactly an everyday occurrence.

Our robot requires two drivers, one for the main body, and one for the arm. The whole time we’ve had the robot working, i have been the arm driver (apart from a couple lunchtime sessions where other people tried it out briefly) and took part in the actual qualifying rounds. I’m also the CAD designer so i designed the claw part and know what i have to do to make it move in the correct fashion and not damage it. My friend Pen (not any real names ofc) is the main body driver and has spent so much time working on the robot no one is disputing her driving.

The problem comes in with two people - Plane and Bolt. I’ve never particularly gotten on with Plane, while ive been kind of neutral with Bolt. There’s no active hostile feelings with us at the moment, but they have been pretty aggressive to people in the past, gatekeeping roles and new people joining - they had a huge fight on the team group chat over it with my friend Keyboard. They also tried to stop Pen (who was originally doing software) and another person in our team (ill call her Remote) from being engineers, but im the end Plane and Bolt did none of the hard work, doing very easy things while Remote and Pen were left doing all the manual work on the body, while i attached the arm.

Both Plane and Bolt decided in the week before the qualifying event that they wanted to drive the arm, and that we should rotate at the event. Thankfully the supervising teacher got involved and told them no, i had put in the time, he guessed maybe they could try do some more practise before the national event. Me and Pen were drivers in that and are now in the top 19% of global drivers, which i am insanely happy about. Despite being ill the day of the event, Plane was the human player, which means you still get to be around the field while not directly touching the controllers or the robot, but can help.

The first session after the event, Plane comes up to me saying how badly she wanted to be the driver and she was going to put in the practise. I told her that I didn’t want to be mean, please don’t take this the wrong way, but it depends on what our teacher says, and really, it’s a matter of skill. Me and Pen have had the time practising together, it’s not a personal attack on you. The next event is only 8 weeks away (a lot of that is holiday) so im really sorry, but it’s not up to me. You’ll have to take it up with the teacher.

She was obviously not happy with this and walked out of the room without saying anything else. I’m panicking that I was too rude but she’s been far more aggressive to me before and I haven’t got super pissed at her for it?

The rest of the team apart from Plane and Bolt agree with me, and I really want to stay driver because honestly I enjoy it. It’s something im good enough at as well, and I don’t super enjoy just sitting in the audience feeling useless.

Tumblr, AITA?

What are these acronyms?

[officersnickers]

Ask meme: 🎨🎥❔ for your fankids

W-Which of all of them? 😳

Just kidding, I'm trying to make it as simple as possible and "just" do this with my four NER-fanchildren plus Minerva, because she always needs more love (from my side) too!

Milian

🎨 What is the exact shade of their favorite color?

Imagine polar lights – and then make them neon!

🎥 Do they have a comfort movie/show?

Milian‘s not the greatest fan of sitting around and „just“ watching shows or movies, but he thinks it‘s so funny how Sci-Fi works like Star Trek and Star Wars tried to predict the future and its designs. He watches them like you and me would see a movie to have a good laugh.

❔Give us a random fun fact! 

Despite having a ton of piercings, Milian only got one tattoo, the one on his right arm. He didn‘t enjoy the session that much, and in comparison to the sharp yet short pain of a piercing, the end result of a tattoo isn‘t worth it to sit through the tattoo session for hours. Patience isn't really his strongest point.

Luucy

🎨 What is the exact shade of their favorite color?

A warm, gentle Carmine Red.

🎥 Do they have a comfort movie/show?

Fairytale movies, especially the ones being handdrawn and with a lot of old charme. It doesn‘t matter they‘re mostly made for children, even as an adult, Luucy does enjoy them too.

❔Give us a random fun fact! 

During her time at the ballett boarding school, sometimes Luucy did train so hard her feet would start bleeding. She wouldn‘t mind the pain or feeling of her shoes being soaked, but her teachers were very furious about this. First rule of being a good dancer is to take care of your health, and if Luucy wouldn‘t look after herself, she wouldn‘t be allowed to stay any longer. From this point on, she would make sure her shoes would always be as clean as freshly fallen snow.

Athena

🎨 What is the exact shade of their favorite color?

Royal blue, with the slightes tint of purple.

🎥 Do they have a comfort movie/show?

Athena does enjoy various soap operas, but her favourite is definitely Swindling Passion; movies with a lot of romance and heartbreak (but in the end, also hearthealing) are something she does enjoy greatly too.

❔Give us a random fun fact! 

Despite being the shortest in her family, Athena actually got the loudest voice. She doesn‘t has to scream to get the attention of everyone, but if she wants to, she is always willed to make everyone become silent.

Jacob

🎨 What is the exact shade of their favorite color?

uRpLe

🎥 Do they have a comfort movie/show?

The first few years, he would never, ever admit it, but Jacob‘s just as much invested in Swindling Passion as Athena is. When he realizes it‘s useless to care about others opinions, he never misses one episode of the soap opera, always chatting with his sister about it.

❔Give us a random fun fact! 

Jacob got only one pair of glasses, but various temples, to match his current mood. He‘s usually not that interested in fashion, but it‘s fun to „decorate“ the most important piece of his outfit.

Minerva

🎨 What is the exact shade of their favorite color?

Pink. Period.

🎥 Do they have a comfort movie/show?

As a child, Minerva was somewhat obsessed with the puppet show „Bunny Brigade“ (yeah, you can see where I did steal this from…). Even as teen, she sometimes can find a good laugh in the childish show, and admires the toy animal of her favourite bunny maybe just as much as the owl plush she got from Gillian as baby.

❔Give us a random fun fact! 

She gets a meltdown whenever she comes near shampoo and/ or a brush. And no, it doesn‘t get much better the older she gets – despite this, Minerva still insists on having long hair. Emma will never get it.

~~~

Thanks a lot for asking, @thathilomgirl! It's always great fun to talk about ones OCs 😘

[ravennm84]

Serafina

Part 2     Part 3

Based on @unmaskedagain post “Marinette’s Haunted Doll” this is my take on the story and the kind of things Serafina would have done to get even. There’ll be three parts, and will hopefully be posted through the week. Blood, gore, and character death ahead. You have been warned.

She was seven years old when her Grandma Gina’s sister, Ramona, passed away. Marinette couldn’t remember ever meeting her. Her dad said that she was a very private person and didn’t get out much. Since she had never married or had any children, all of her relatives were asked to come over to the house and divide the property before the rest was sold and equally divided. 

While her parents had been in the kitchen, looking over some family cook books, Marinette had wandered around the old house until she came to a small room. It was full of spiderwebs and old toys, which greatly interested her. She spent a long time looking through the boxes and shelves until she found a locked chest in the closet. Remembering the key she had seen in a dresser drawer, she retrieved it to see if it worked. It was hard to turn, but she heard the click and was able to open the lid. Inside was a box with an envelope laying on top of it. Curious she opened the envelope and read the note as best as she could.

“If I’m dead, Serafina killed me.”

Tilting her head in curiosity, Marinette set the letter aside and opened the box. Inside was an old looking porcelain doll. It was covered in spiderwebs, the dress was old and ripped, she was missing a shoe, and the hat looked like it was stained with red paint. 

“Are you Serafina?” She asked the doll before carefully lifting it out of the box. “I don’t think you’re bad, you just look lonely. But don’t worry, I’ll take care of you!” Giving the doll a gentle hug, the little girl got to her feet and left the room and letter behind. Finding her parents, she asked if it was okay to take the doll home so she could take care of her.

Tom remembered seeing that doll when he was a kid and had always thought it was creepy, but if his little girl saw the good in it, he would trust her. And since none of the other relatives wanted anything to do with the doll, it came home with them. 

Once home, the little girl raced up to her room with the doll and immediately got to work. She threw away the old dress, hat, and shoe before cleaning away all the dirt with a washcloth and carefully combing out the knotted hair. Then Marinette got to work on making Serafina a brand new outfit with new shoes and a hat. It took a few days, but she was really happy with what she came up with: a pink Victorian dress with rose and pearl accents, a wide brimmed hat with maroon feathers, and maroon slippers that tied with ribbons around the ankles.

Proud of what she had made, Marinette held the doll up high as she twirled around her room. She had been interested in fashion and clothes for months now, and making the pretty outfit for Serafina was a lot of fun. If anything, it proved to her that fashion design was what she wanted to do.

“I hope you like your new clothes, Serafina. You make the perfect little model, so I hope you don’t mind if I make more clothes for you later on. I promise to only make you clothes that will make you feel pretty.” Giving the doll a kiss, Marinette placed her next to her computer before skipping down stairs for dinner.

~oOo~

Serafina had not been expecting this when the young girl, Marinette, had opened her box. It had been decades since anyone had shown her any kindness. For so many years, she had been passed from person to person, shoved into boxes and hidden from sight or attempted to be sold off. Serafina had had no choice but to punish many of her past owners, and she had not been lax with their punishments. 

But she didn’t feel the need to do that with Marinette, this girl was different. She wasn’t afraid of her. She didn’t scorn her and hide her away where no one could see her. No, this girl was kind and made Serafina feel loved; something she hadn’t felt in nearly a hundred years. Staying with Marinette, she knew that she would be happy. So, no one needed to die here.

And she was.

The porcelain doll smiled quietly on Marinette’s desk as the years passed, and felt more for this girl than she could remember with anyone else. She felt beautiful whenever Marinette used her to experiment with a new outfit before she would make a full sized outfit for herself. She had fun when the girl would sing and dance around the room, sometimes even picking her up so she could dance with her. She felt entertained when she would play movies on her computer, one time watching a movie about a haunted doll like herself; they didn’t watch much before she turned it off, but Serafina thought it was funny. Scratching people and leaving notes wasn’t scary, she had done much scarier things than that.

As Marinette grew into a teen, Serafina felt proud as she grew from a shy girl into a fearless superhero. Her owner had a lot of love and light to give, so it made sense to her that she became Ladybug. She also felt scared for the girl, not wanting to lose her to Hawkmoth, but silently promised her that if she was ever hurt, the people who hurt her would pay her back in blood.

Serafina was also aware of the tiny god that gave Marinette her power, just as Tikki was aware of her. No doubt, the god could sense the darkness that dwelled in her porcelain body, but realized that she cared for the girl and would not harm her. So the little god wisely said nothing, she would hate it if Marinette suddenly feared her.

After all, the three of them were happy and at peace.

Until the day Marinette came storming into her room, complaining about a girl named Lila. From what she could hear, this girl was a liar and was using her friends. Knowing how much her human cared for other people, that didn’t sit well with how it would affect her. Then she didn’t hear anything about the girl for months. But when she was mentioned again, it quickly got worse from there. 

Serafina heard about the threats, the lies, almost being akumatized, her crush Adrien telling her to take the high road, all of it. She watched as one by one, her friends turned against her. Bullying her while accusing her of being a bully until only three of her classmates remained. She knew that the teacher and principal were useless and even accused Marinette of being a problem, especially after the expulsion. Serafina had nearly enacted her revenge that day, but held back when she was reinstated the next day.

Nathaniel, Rose, and Juleka were the only people left that believed her or even bothered to try and help in her class. There was also Kagami and Luka, Juleka’s brother. Serafina would admit, that boy was sharper than most. When he first saw her, his blue eyes studied her intently for a long moment until Marinette spoke up.

“That’s Serafina, she’s been passed down through my family for a long time. She was in really bad condition when I got her and took a lot of work to get her fixed up, but it was worth it. She was my first ever model and I’ve never felt lonely since she’s been around.”

Luka looked back over at the doll and gave her a smile. “I can tell, I’d bet no one gave her the proper love or attention until she came to you. And I think, if she could talk, she would say that you kept her from feeling lonely too, and all she wants is for you to be happy.”

Serafina liked that boy, a lot more than she had liked Adrien when he had come to play video games. The boy genuinely seemed to care for Marinette. And even though he could somehow sense that she was more than just a doll, he didn’t spill her secret. Yes, she approved of this one.

And then, less than a week after she returned to school, came the worst day. They were taking pictures at the school and Marinette had worked so hard on a new dress; it was pale purple cotton with teacup sleeves, a tulip skirt and pink lace at the hem. It was so sweet and looked like she was going to a spring tea party. Then half way through the day, she came into her room crying. Her makeup was smeared, there were bruises and scratch marks on her arms, another bruise on her cheek, her hair was a mess and covered in dark blue paint. The same paint that covered almost half of the dress. Tikki was doing her best to comfort the girl as she showered. Marinette was unable to save her dress and ended up throwing it away before she cried herself to sleep on her bed. 

Serafina was angry, the kind of anger she hadn’t felt since Ramona had attempted to burn her in the fireplace… and that hadn’t gone well for her. Tikki flew over to face her. “I know what you’re thinking and I can’t condone you falling into old habits and killing her entire class. Despite how much they’ve hurt her, it would still break her heart if they all suddenly died.”

The doll actually considered that for a moment before picturing some very specific people. Lila, the liar that was trying to take away/destroy the person she cared about. Alya, the best friend that betrayed her, acted like a hypocrite, and took joy in hurting her. Adrien, the boy that not only broke his promise to help her as a civilian, but continually harassed her as a pseudo-hero. And finally, Hawkmoth, the person that was constantly putting her in danger. Everyone else that had harmed her would be punished, paying back the harm they had done to Marinette in blood, but those four would pay with their lives.

Tikki shook her head. “As angry as I am with Adrien, you can’t kill him. Marinette still has feelings for him and if he dies, she might never get over him. I can’t stop you from punishing them, but please try not to kill them. You know that she has a big heart and it would hurt her to lose any of them, so please keep that in mind.”

Serafina would have argued, but the little god was right. Killing around Marinette would only upset her. So she would do her best to punish them without killing them… although, accidents do happen. 

~oOo~

It was easy enough to sneak herself into Marinette’s bag the next day of school. It was even easier to select her first victims. One of her classmates, Kim, stole her backpack and dumped out all of her stuff, including her. The boy laughed about Marinette bringing a doll to school as he ran up the stairs to keep it away from her. It took little effort to make the boy trip, in full view of everyone that had been watching, and fall backwards down the steps. 

Serafina had landed at the top landing with a perfect view of the boy’s tumble, and it was oh so satisfying. She could see his knee bent in the wrong direction, a bone in his arm protruding from the skin, and blood dripping from the cuts and open wounds. But the sound was even better, all the cracking and popping of bone before he began crying like a little girl, begging for his mom.  Ah, she hadn’t realized how much she had missed those sounds.

When the principal came out to see what was happening, she hid her presence and let the principal trip over her and fall as well. He even landed on Kim, causing more injuries to both of them. She held back a laugh as the grown man wailed and cried until the paramedics arrived. Loading the two into the ambulance while one of the teachers called the Board of Governors. A representative, M. Rupere, quickly came to take over the principal’s duties while he was gone, and was surprised when a bunch of students tried to blame Marinette for the incident.

“And how is it her fault?” He asked the students that surrounded him. “Did you see her push or trip M. Le Chien or M. Damocles down the stairs?

“Marinette brought in a doll and Kim was distracted by it when he was going up the stairs, that’s how he tripped and fell,” Lila told him with tears in her eyes. “Then M. Damocles tripped over the doll and fell down the stairs too. It’s just like how she pushed me down the stairs last week and I hurt my knee. I think she’s actually trying to hurt people.”

The man looked at Lila for a moment before looking to the top of the stairs, but there was no doll there. Then he looked back at Lila with a stern glare. “Young lady, if you had been pushed down the stairs last week, you would have been severely injured just like your friend or M. Damocles. And whether or not it was Mlle. Dupain-Cheng’s doll that caused the incident or not, does not mean that she is at fault for the accident. To the principal’s office, right now. I think we should have a discussion as to why you are trying to blame another student for something she did not do.”

Totally shocked, the girl looked around to her followers for some support, but they were now looking at her with uncertainty. They had just seen two people fall down the stairs and receive severe injuries, so how was Lila walking around just fine without a scratch on her? Huffing in annoyance, Lila stomped her way to the office while the class stared after her, most of them noticing the lack of limp to her walk.

Serafina was pleased with how this was turning out, she had already punished two of the people that had betrayed Marinette and had begun sewing seeds of doubt with the liar. At the moment, she was hiding in the classroom, observing everyone so she could figure out the best way to punish them. She noticed Rose, Juleka, and Nathaniel sitting close to the girl and doing their best to comfort her. She also noticed Nino, a boy she had seen a couple of times over the years, casting looks back at Marinette. 

During the first break, the boy cautiously approached her, clutching his hat in his hands. “Hey dudette, listen… I, um, wanted to say I was sorry,” he said, having a hard time looking her in the eye. “After Kim fell, what that Governor dude said about Lila not being hurt, and the fact that I’ve known you forever. I felt so stupid. You would never push someone down the stairs or cheat or steal from someone like that. And I tried looking up Jagged’s discography to see if there was any mention of a song about Lila, and there was literally nothing. I tried telling Alya, but she didn’t want to listen and-”

Nino was interrupted by Marinette giving him a hug. Serafina smiled at that. The boy had thought for himself and admitted that he was wrong. He apologized and Marinette was willing to offer him forgiveness. She supposed that Nino could also be exempt from punishment, so long as he never betrayed the girl again.

Half way through the second lesson, Lila had returned to the class with two weeks worth of detention and had a meeting scheduled with herself, M. Rupere, and her mother at the end of the week. Serafina decided to let the girl’s empire fall before going in to completely destroy her.

During lunch, when all the students had left. Serafina got to work on punishing Mme. Bustier. She started by slamming the door shut, it made the woman jump and look around the room, but there was no one there. Then the giggling started, causing her to look around the room again. This time, she walked up the steps to see if anyone was hiding in the room, but she was completely alone. When she turned back to her desk, the papers she had been grading were torn to pieces. A bit panicked, Bustier tried to run out of the room, but the door was locked. As she struggled with the door, she heard the scraping of chalk and froze for a moment before looking at the board. Large words were scrawled in block letters: LIAR, ENABLER, MEAN, CRUEL, and the most frightening of all, YOU WILL PAY.

Bustier’s hands were shaking as she erased the words from the board, not understanding what was happening. Only taking a breath when the door opened and her students began to file in. Serafina quietly laughed at the teacher’s fear, she was another person that she would take her time in punishing. Payback for failing to help Marinette. For now, it was time to take out her biggest supporter. 

Again, it was much easier than it should have been to sneak herself in Alya’s backpack and go home with her. When the girl found her she sneered. “The klutz must have put you in my bag by mistake.” Then she smiled cruelly at her. “I think I’ll give you to Etta and Ella to play with before giving you back to Maribrat, maybe tell them that you need a makeover and give them some permanent markers too.”

Turning to take the doll out to her sisters, she stubbed her toe on her desk chair hard enough that she felt a crack and dropped back on her butt while hissing in pain. When she was finally able to think past the pain, she realized that she had dropped the doll and didn't see it on the floor. After wrapping her foot, she looked all over her room but couldn’t find it anywhere.

That night, things got… more than scary. Alya was absolutely terrified.

First, her computer turned on, on its own, and started printing off papers saying “YOU KNOW THE TRUTH”. She turned the computer off, only for it to turn back on after she’d climbed into bed and the browser pulled up past searches; specifically, the searches that proved that Lila had been lying. She had found that out after Lila had disappeared from school for months, but had kept to herself so she wouldn’t lose her credibility on her blog or have to admit to Marinette that she’d been right. Turning it off again, she’d decided to sleep on the couch when her phone suddenly let out a hiss and burst into flames.  

Letting out a shriek, Alya rushed to her door, and had just barely opened it when it slammed shut on her fingers, causing her to scream as she struggled to pull her hand free. She could hear her parents and Nora shouting on the other side of the door, trying to push it open, but it wouldn’t budge. Her head got fuzzy and she suddenly felt cold, she realized that she was going into shock. Her parents’ shouts became garbled background noise and Alya heard the sound of tiny feet running around the room. She tried reaching the light switch so she could see, but it was out of reach.

From the light outside her window, she could barely make out the movement of a small shadow, moving from one part of the room to another. Coming closer and closer to her with every sweep. Alya began tugging harder on the doorknob and her hand. She needed to get out. Something was in the room with her. She could almost feel the darkness creeping closer. It wanted to hurt her!

What happened next, Serafina couldn’t have planned better if she’d tried. Alya jerked back her trapped arm and the doorknob at the same time Nora threw her shoulder into the door as hard as she could. Sending the teenagers flying into her bedside table and her head hitting the corner with an audible *crack*. The doll smiled silently in the corner of the room as the paramedics were called and listened to her parents cries for their horrid daughter to wake up. They called time of death at 2:03am.

~oOo~

It was a bit more of a chore for Serafina to get back to the school, but it was still manageable as her mother had to inform the school of her daughter’s death and pick up her things. The woman had also noticed the information that had been brought up on Alya’s computer and thought that she had been up late chasing a lead. And as the lead had to do with the disturbing behavior of one of her daughter’s classmates, she thought it best to show the acting principal the information before taking her leave. 

Making her way back to the classroom, she saw that the news had spread already. Nino seemed to be hit the hardest, as it was his girlfriend, but he would get over it. Kim was still out of class, and likely would be for a few more days. Tikki saw the doll when she was peeking out of the purse and gave her a disapproving glare, but there was nothing she could do. And in Serafina’s defense, she had only intended on maiming the failed journalist, her death had been an “accident”.

When class let out for lunch, Serafina got back to work tormenting Mme. Bustier. Today, the door slammed and locked shut a few minutes after the last student left. The woman shrieked and was struggling to open the door when the giggling started again. Bustier started screaming for it to “go away” but the giggling continued. Turning back to the door, books began flying at her from all over the room, hitting her chest, back, arms since they were shielding her head.

Then the door opened to show a panicked looking M. Rupere. “I heard screaming, are you alright?” The red haired teacher looked extremely frazzled; her hair was a mess, eyes wide and dilated, and her hands were shaking.

“The books,” she said in a trembling voice. “There was giggling, the door wouldn’t open, and the books attacked me. And this was the second time!”

His eyebrows rose to his hairline as he stared at the woman. “Did you see who was throwing the books at you?”

Bustier shook her head in a frantic manner. “There was no one, the books just started flying at me after the giggling.”

Giving her a slow nod, Rupere gently motioned her to step out of the room ahead of him. “How about you take the rest of the day to recover? Some rest will do you some good.” 

To his relief, Mme. Bustier agreed and collected her purse before leaving the school. Looking around the room, he was confused to see all the books in place on the shelves. Curious, he went to examine her desk and saw essay papers… covered in red ink with large “F’s” on every one of them. Reading the paper on top, all he saw were a few grammar mistakes, nothing that should have resulted in a failing grade. A bit unsettled, Rupere called the Board to schedule a psychological exam for the teacher. Serafina watched the man with satisfaction, at the rate she was going with that terrible teacher, she wouldn’t be around much longer.

Her next victims were Max and Alix during science class. She switched a couple of labels on the tubs on their desk before hiding in the room to enjoy the show. Half-way through class, Max poured a large amount of reactive chemical into the mix while it was warming over a burner, and the glass exploded. The two screamed and cursed in pain as Max tried wiping the liquid away from his face, only succeeding in getting more in his eyes. Alix tried wiping it away with a cloth, not noticing in time that the fabric was also soaked in the chemicals that now covered her entire face.

Serafina was impressed with how quickly Mme. Mendeleiev reacted to the incident. Doaning on gloves in an instant and leading the two students to the chemical wash station. Both students looked to have chemical burns on their faces, arms and necks. She could already see the burns covering a large amount of their exposed skin. While the class was distracted, Serafina switched the labels back so it would appear that the two had not been doing as instructed.

When school let out, the doll hid away in Mylene’s bag and ended up going on a date with the girl and Ivan. They commented on the bad luck their class seemed to be having and wondered out loud at what the cause might have been.

Mylene was hesitant to speak as the two ate their ice cream. “Do you think… maybe it’s karma coming back on our class?”

“Why do you think that?” Ivan asked her, seeming genuinely curious. Deciding that their conversation might lead to something more, Serafina waited and listened.

“It’s just… ever since Kim fell down the stairs, it’s got me thinking. Lila says that Marinette pushed her but the only injury she says she got was a bad knee, and she’s been walking around fine since then. And then she tried blaming Marinette for Kim and M. Damocles, when Kim shouldn’t have been running up the stairs and M. Damocles tripped at the top of the stairs when she was still down in the courtyard.”

“You’re right, now that I think about it. Lila lied to that new principal and she did it really easy.” Ivan nodded slowly, his brow creased as he pulled out his phone. “I wonder if she lied about anything else.” Mylene watched over his shoulder as he looked up the story about saving Jagged Stone’s kitten from an airplane. There was nothing, the only article that came up about a pet was his crocodile, Fang. The story said that he had hatched the reptile himself seventeen years earlier and any other pet wouldn’t be as rock’n’roll as Fang. “I don’t think Jagged ever had a cat, this article says that he’s only had Fang for longer than we’ve been around.”

Mylene pulled out her phone and called Rose, putting the call on speaker when she answered. 

“Hi Mylene, did you hear anything about Max and Alix? Are they going to be okay?” The girl asked as soon as she picked up.

“Ivan and I haven’t heard anything about them yet, but we have a question for you, Rose, and it’s something only you would be able to answer.”

There was a slight pause on the line. “Go ahead.”

“Do you still chat with Prince Ali?”

“Sure I do! We video chat every Saturday and I send him videos of our performances with Kitty Section. Why do you ask?”

“Ivan and I were wondering… Has he ever mentioned Lila to you?”

There was another pause, although they could hear a hushed conversation in the background. “So, you guys figured out the truth about Lila?” When they didn’t respond right away, Rose continued. “I found out a few weeks after Lila says she came back from Achu. I mentioned Lila to Ali and asked him about the charities they had been working on together, but he’d never heard of her. And Ali is only working on charities involving children, nothing with the environment. When Juleka and I tried asking Lila about it, she got really mean and threatened us if we told anyone. I would have been akumatized if Marinette hadn’t been there to calm me down.”

Ivan and Mylene were horrified, not only had Lila been lying to them, but she had threatened Rose, Juleka, and probably Marinette too. “What should we do?”

“First, you should apologize to Marinette for how you’ve been treating her and let her know that you know the truth.” They heard Juleka over the phone. “Lila has been more terrible to her than anyone else and she keeps getting in Lila’s way to protect us and Nathaniel since we know the truth about her.”

“Who all knows?” Ivan asked, feeling a bit sick to his stomach. Sure, he and Mylene hadn’t really hurt her or done anything, but they hadn’t stood up for her either and they were supposed to be her friend.

“Us, Luka, Kagami, Nathaniel figured it out when she said she could introduce him to Stan Lee, Nino figured it out yesterday, and Adrien’s apparently known from the start but didn’t say anything because he doesn’t think her lies are hurting anybody.”

Both of them could hear the acid in Juleka’s voice when she mentioned Adrien, and they couldn’t argue with her. They knew he had led a sheltered life, but how could he claim that ‘lies don’t hurt anybody’ after sitting back and watching Lila and her friends torment and bully Marinette?

Mylene hadn’t even realized that she had asked that question out loud until Rose answered them. “He told us that it was Marinette’s own fault for antagonizing Lila, and ‘If she just took the high road like I told her, then Lila would leave her alone’. It took everything I had not to slap him.”

Coming from Rose, that really was saying something.

Serafina was then taken on a shopping trip to an arts supplies store, a card shop, and a stop at an ATM before going to Marinette’s family’s bakery. She smiled quietly and with great respect to the couple as they apologized to her girl, gave her cards, an entire bolt of soft purple cotton the same color that her ruined dress had been, a new sketchbook, and money to pay her back for some of the things that Marinette had given them over the past year. They even asked her to provide them with proper receipts, and admitted that they knew the amount they had given her wasn’t enough to cover everything. But they promised to pay her back before asking for anything else, as well as pay in advance for any future items or baked goods. 

The little doll would have cried right along with Marinette if she could. These two had proven themselves to her and would avoid punishment, just as Nino had.

Taglist (it’s a long one):

@themagicmistic @andromeda612 @ramos123 @t1dwarrior-of-earth @justanotherweirdo277 @irisfox @thestrangestofthemall @plz-excuse-my-inner-ravenclaw @certainmuffinbagelcalzone @the-fandom-girl @wisecolorthing @mewwitch @luxurioushellgirl97 @seraphichana @fantasiame @whydoexamsexist @wispyrainbow @legodetectivemalsblog @kindasoundslikealien @shadowangelreborn @kazedancer @unmaskedagain @7-sage-7 @irontimetravelflower @ghostmaster83 @izang @ulmban @plushbookworm @corabeth11 @darkened-flame @caffeinetheory @iamablinkmarvelarmy @raiderofthelostbooks @cheshire5210 @chocolateherringtacofan @city-of-all-tunas @aadnrsstar @kitten12113 @interobanginyourmom @pandacatxd @nerd-nowandforever @jesussavedevenme @zoiechance @the-smallest-kittenz @wonderbat91939 @maskedpainter @tazer6787 @that-girl-sakea @seesea22 @with-forward-motion @ola-is-dead @thecrazyfantrollshasmoved @bayball @2confused-2doanything @queen-in-a-flower-crown @sabrina1414 @ceres-zephyr @if-you-give-a-chat-a-cookie @zalladane @tails-and-scales @rumbelle18 @sam-spectra @collegefae @pale-lady-dreamer @animegirlweeb @evaraux @consumeconstantly @iz-bell-saiah @puspa-san @wishing-to-be-a-fictional-chara @sassakitty @miraculous-ninja @fandom-trapped-03 @idontfuking @sillyfishrubberducky @anonymousreviewer-t @i-am-fallen-angel @zotinha456 @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @chocolatecatstheron @crypticsabbat @startouchedqueen1318 @para-dox-normal @marinettepotterandplagg @incredulous-reader @professionalfangirl1738 @fangirlnerd001 @redscarlet95 @sixtyeightdays @iamtotalfandomtrash @tazanna-blythe @animehime94 @mysticsoulgirl @miraculouspenta @local-witch-of-mn @roseinbloom02 @senpaiweird @iggy-of-fans @tropestropestropes @sleep-deprived-aroace @comteqfr @neromerp13 @prudencerika @galaxylightmoon @c-s-stars

[jasmine-the-fox]

Her sweet bunny villain

I thought about it for a while and decided that I wanted to do a fic where Mari is dating Izuku Midoriya who is a villain... Hope you all like it!

Mari always wondered why her boyfriend decided to do crime, she never really asked him but she does wonder about it at times, Izuku Midoriya entered her life when she went to Japan for a week to destress from what her class was doing by believing Lila to this very day, she was only walking around when she found him in an alley injured, from the way he dressed it was obvious he had a terrible taste in style and it was all bad quality so after taking care of his injuries she helped him get back close to his home before making him promise to contact her for clothes.

Since that day she had been designing his clothes and then it began there long distance relationship, Izuku who decided to go by the name Usagi when he’s working was happy to have her call him Deku... And while she knows it means useless and worthless, the way she says it makes him happy and not mind it at all, she also did meet through video calls the rest of his team, like Dabi who has a blue flame quirk, Himiko Toga who when she drinks someone’s blood can look like them... And many more after that, she does worry about him at times but he always calls once a mission is done with so she knows he’s alive.

One day, Mari came to school to overhear Lila claiming that she’s dating Katsuki Bakugo, son of fashion designers Mitsuki and Masaru Bakugo, she talks about how she used to model with him and all kinds of things but Mari simply ignored it and headed to class... This was the new normal for her now, no longer was she greeting her classmates, no longer was she invited to things, no longer was she making them free things... It didn’t really matter to her that they were mad at the fact she wasn’t making them free things anymore, she had a website where she sells her designs and is happy to having good paying customers.

Lila claimed that her designs were cheap looking and claimed that Mari was being a brat by demanding money, miss Bustier even tried to make Mari bake and design for free again and when she refused she and her parents were called to the principals office where he was chewed out by her parents for trying to drain her by forcing her to spend her well earned money to buy fabric, threads, buttons and baking ingredients to make free things for a class who doesn’t even help or thank her anymore.

Needless to say... He and Caline were threatened with being put to court if they made such a demand on Mari again...

After that, the class simply glares at her whenever they bring up wanting baked goods or new clothes... And she would ignore them the whole time, it made them angry because they would then need to spend money on new clothes that even though they show it off she doesn’t react, they also need to spend money to buy baked goods and then complain at school because it was expensive and Mari doesn’t say anything, instead she focuses on her homework and designs for her paying customers to get there approval... And prepare to message her boyfriend about some clothes she was sending his way.

Alya was just about to stomp over towards Mari to demand free stuff but Caline had just walked in to reveal to everyone that the trip that Mari had prepared for them to go to Japan for two weeks was approved “Now I just need everyone to get there parents signature for this try by tomorrow so I can confirm who will be coming” she explained as she handed out the paper for the signature of a parent, Alya squealed and pointed out how Lila would see her boyfriend while the liar internally winced as she would need to have the class avoid anything connected to Katsuki.

Mari smiled as she packed the paper and then began to listen and take notes in class like Adrien and Max were doing... While the others were either on there phones or doing something else then listening to the lesson, when the day ended Mari walked into the bakery and handed the paper to her mother who quickly signed it for Mari to hand it to her teacher tomorrow, she then took back the paper and went straight to her room to get to work on sending pictures of the designs to her clients, then as she waited for there replies she took the box of clothes to mail while sending a message to Izuku about how she was sending the clothes now, then once she was told how long it might take she estimated the delivery date for him.

All the while she was seen by Lila sending the box...

By the time Mari got to the bakery, the delivery company she dropped off the box at called her, they said that a girl with tanned skin, green eyes and hair tied in three sausage style came claiming there was an error with the box she dropped off and asked for her to explain “I don’t know why she’s lying to you, I brought the box over because I wanted to get it delivered so she’s lying to you simple as that” she replied making the man claim he would take care of Lila and then hung up making Mari smile as she went up to her room... To find Alya there rummaging through her things “What are you doing in my things!?” she demanded loudly making her parents hear and dial for the police.

Alya glared at Mari as she focused on her task, Lila had claimed that she had gotten a dress from Katsuki and brought it at school to show... But Mari had taken it, she described it as a lightly ruffled white dress with light blue flowers flowing on the dress, Alya promised to get it back so after picking the look of the house door she snuck into Mari’s room to look for the dress, after a while the police arrived and forced her outside with questions while waiting for her parents to arrive, but Alya refused to answer the whole time when her parents arrived as they promised to bring her down to the police station for questions... And claimed she wouldn’t be going to the Japan trip in the end.

Alya went pale and the revealed what Lila claimed, her mother lost it and asked if she ever asked Mari about it, the pigtailed girl then said she had made a dress of that style for Manon... The girl she would babysit, Alya was shocked at those words as Mari then pulled out her phone to reveal a picture of the little girl wearing the exact dress Lila claimed was her’s, her parents took her home for a bit to make sure that Nora could watch the twins before taking Alya to the station to answer further questions, Mari with her parents then walked back inside and up to her room to clean up the mess Alya had made of her clothes, she also checked on the responses of her clients and reply from her boyfriend making her smile in excitement.

The next day, Mari arrives at school to be glared by her classmates, turns out Lila was told by Alya what happened and Lila decided to hide the fact that she lied about the dress and claimed Mari got the police on Alya for no good reason, so when in class and class was surrounding her in anger she revealed the lie about the dress Lila claimed with a picture of Manon that her mother Nadja sent her... It made them all turn to look at Lila in shock, Caline then walked in and asked for the paper signed... Everyone but Adrien and Alya handed there’s, it turns out that Gabriel had a few things set up for Adrien to do so he refused to let him go to Japan while Alya was banned from going on the trip by her parents... This angered Lila as she called the man during class break to get him to sign the paper and have it brought at lunch.

He just had to make sure that Lila is happy during the trip...

A week later they arrived in Japan, they quickly got to the hotel to rest but the class decided to listen to Lila and walk around while Mari being smart decided to stay in her room to sleep a bit... Adrien decided to do the same and ignored Lila, she woke up a while later from a text from her boyfriend asking if she was awake so she replied that his message woke her up, he felt bad which he wrote but asked her to come outside of the hotel making her smile and walk out, Adrien had been awake for a while and heard her room door open and close so he decided to follow her outside to see her talking to a guy wearing a hoodie with green eyes, curly green hair and freckles.

Adrien wasn’t sure what to do at the sight, as he watched them walk away... All he could was stay at the hotel and hope nothing bad happens to her while she’s out there...

Mari smiled towards her loving evil boyfriend, Izuku smiled as they walked around before slowly entering a coffee shop and heading to the back... Where the LOV team was living, to hide who they really were the team opened a coffee shop and used Mari’s work to hide and look different and to blend in like it was nothing, right now Himiko and Dabi were working at the front while the other’s were in the back “It’s great to see you all again” Mari smiled making them smile in return, they prepared her a cup of coffee making her smile and thank Kurogiri who was happy of the praise he gained as they spoke together until Himiko and Dabi walked in as they closed just now... Meaning Mari would need to head back.

By the time the class came back, it was with the police, turns out that the hotel had not been informed that the class would leave all of a sudden to go around unlike Marinette who did before leaving so they called the police to get the class found, the police found them after a while and gave a stern talking to miss Bustier about how she needed to be an actual adult and have the class follow the plans... And not allow them to leave the hotel all of a sudden outside of there plans, because of that it was decided that another teacher will come to assist on watching over the class... While Adrien watched in shock from the hall.

The next day a lady named Nemuri Kayama arrived to assist in watching over the class, she was supposed to be teaching at the prestigious school called UA but instead was asked to help with a class who decided that leaving the hotel without telling someone was a good idea, so with that they got going, Adrien did watch Mari as he was worried on where she went yesterday but with Lila keeping close to him... He wasn’t able to ask her about it, Nemuri began showing them around and correcting things each time Lila tries to spin a tall tale about something... And then glares at Caline for allowing the girl to lie like that and does nothing to make her stop.

Slowly they walked over to UA making the class get excited to see the place as then class 1-A comes to view as there training, Mari then noticed a certain blonde named Katsuki Bakugo... Her boyfriends bully who told him to take a swan dive off of a roof and pray that he get’s a quirk in the next life, because of that she hated him but acted like she knew nothing about him at all... But she was planning something, she and her classmates got to meet them and then watched as Katsuki yelled at Lila for lying about them dating and swore he would sue her for that... Which led to all of her lies being uncovered making Mari smile at the sight as none of her classmates or even her teacher thought about there actions towards her and went to apologize.

She also didn’t notice Katsuki watching her with a faint blush...

The day continued like that, her classmates angry at Lila for lying, forgetting about the fact that they bullied Mari because Lila claimed she did something to her, nor did they remember that they would get mad at Mari because she wasn’t making them free things anymore, there was also the fact that Katsuki was keeping close to her... She didn’t like it and decided to ignore him, her plans couldn’t start just yet of course so instead she was going to relax and enjoy her time in Japan, she did have a few things planned with her boyfriend already during there free days so that was a good thing of course, when lunch came she sat alone at a table away from everyone while texting Izuku with a smile.

No one from her class tried to go over to talk to her, she did faintly notice Adrien looking at her but she decided to ignore the look as Katsuki walked over and sat at her table “Can I help you with something?” she asked while not looking at him, instead focused on her phone, Katsuki didn’t say anything and simply began to eat his spicy curry making her then begin to eat while texting Izuku before she had to join the class once more to look around the school before they would need to head back to the hotel to either relax or to enjoy the rest of there free day walking around or shopping... Mari couldn’t wait to go on a date with Izuku for the afternoon.

Katsuki still followed until they got to the hotel, Mari never spoke to the blonde and instead focused on the tour of the school and going to her hotel room without a word to get cleaned up before waiting for Izuku outside the hotel for there date, Katsuki waited for a while before sighing and heading back to school... He could tell he didn’t do something right with Marinette so all he could do was wait until tomorrow to try again, once Mari was ready, she walked down to the lobby and then informed the lady at the counter that she was going to walk around before heading outside to wait for her amazing boyfriend.

Without knowing that Lila was watching her from afar with a glare...

Even though she worked so hard to destroy Marinette's life, that everything she told them wasn’t true but she worked to make them believe everything... She still believed she should win somehow against Marinette, because of that she decided to try and confront the girl once they get back to the hotel about it but the pigtailed girl was to fast for her and she was gone to her room before she even noticed, now she watched as the girl walked out of the hotel alone making her angry as she rushed of to tell there teacher about it, Caline was a little angry and the two went to the counter to get the police involved but the worker refused.

“Your student informed me of her using her free day to tour around Japan, she has the right as I was informed” she explained and then went back to work while ignoring them, Lila was furious about that as Mari smiled while holding hands with her boyfriend as they enjoyed there date together, Izuku was actually claimed dead, after Katsuki told him to kill himself and All Might telling him that a quirkless person can’t be a hero... He jumped to end his life, it was then that he was found by Tomura who promised him a better life, so he was claimed dead, even though his coffin had no body, Izuku was trained to be the best in combat even though he didn’t have a quirk.

Then he became friends with Himiko and Dabi... He also met Mari and then slowly fell for her and ended up dating her, the girl didn’t even care about the fact he was a villain, instead she helped when she could by making them clothes, she did however did something different, clothes Izuku would wear will have her signature, but the clothes he and the league wore didn’t and instead looked different enough from her usual work that no one would notice unless they saw her working on clothes and were with knowledge in fashion designing, so with that she was safe, Izuku also needs to be careful since even though he is claimed dead... Someone might figure it all out at some point.

Slowly there trip to Japan got to the last few day of there second week, some complained that time went by too quickly while Katsuki felt anger because he failed with Mari every time he had a chance to talk to her, so he decided to try and simply ask her out on a date, but he failed horribly, when they got to pick up the class from the hotel to go to the mall, he tried asking Mari out and she flat out rejected him and then walked away from him to do some shopping alone, his friends were a little surprised at that but still believed that things would get better so they helped him by encouraging him to try again at a later time.

And it still failed... But it was worse because he felt like he was going through déjà-vous all of a sudden...

She was alone heading back to the hotel early so he walked her back, once at the door he asked her out once more until she spoke “Why don’t you take a swan dive off of a roof and pray in the next life that i’m single when you ask me out... Or even interested in a bully like you” then walked back into the hotel while leaving him outside frozen in place... Those words... To kill himself... Were the same last words he told Deku before he killed himself, it made Katsuki slightly sick as he ran back home and into his room while ignoring his parents to curl up in his bed, his mother walked in to try and get gently some answers but all he said was “She said the same words I did” and it made no sense to Mitsuki so she simply left the room.

After that, he kept away from her because of the pain he felt in his chest when her words echoed in his head, she then went back to Paris without another word from him for two months before he and his class came to visit for two weeks... And Katsuki saw a living and breathing Deku holding her hand and being happy with her as they walked around Paris... She was dating him, he faked his death to escape him and now he was living the life he wanted but away from his bully.

All the while not knowing that Deku is Usagi... The same villain he has a hard time in capturing.

So there you go guys! Another BNHA crossover to miraculous ladybug! I’m hoping you all enjoy it and are excited for my next fic with these two universes!

[justcourttee]

The Ice Queen

So, @long-lost-peace was messaging me and they came up with this brilliant idea that Marinette leaves Paris and transfers to the school that Felix attends. When the class visits one day, they’re shocked to see the Marinette they once knew is gone, and in her place is an Ice Queen. 

This is Felinette and my best attempt at doing their amazing idea justice.

Marinette had no idea how she had gotten there.

Well, that was a lie. In all honesty, it had happened so fast. The minute she told her parents that she was applying for the design program in a London school, they were more than happy to help her pack weeks before she even received her acceptance letter. They knew she needed a break from the school and what better way than throwing herself into something she loved?

The train ride was only two hours and sixteen minutes.

Her parents helped her set up her new room in the campus suites and exchanged tearful goodbyes before she found herself alone soon enough. She took it upon herself to explore the new city, snapping pictures and jotting down all of her quick bursts of inspiration that came from the beauty of the sights. When she had returned, she found a small brunette rummaging through her closet as if it were her own.

“Uhm, I’m sorry, but can I help you with something?”

The girl didn’t even bother responding as she pulled out a top, holding it against herself for a moment before shaking her head, placing it back in the closet. Marinette looked down at her purse where Tikki’s head was peeking out in curiosity, their head cocked to side much like how Marinette looked.

“Well, uhm, I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng and I am assuming you’re my roommate?”

The girl finally looked up from her rummaging, offering Marinette a half cocked smile.

“Ah, you’ve finally arrived. You’re the new fashion major right? Do you think you could help me pick out an outfit that would impress even the most stone hearted person?”

Marinette opened her mouth but shut it just as quickly as the girl pulled out yet another one of her tops.

“Is that a no fashion major?”

Marinette shook her head, trying to regain her voice.

“I’m sorry but could you stop going through my clothes?”

The girl shrugged before stepping backwards, taking a seat on the edge of Marinette’s bed. “My name’s Kayla, guess I kind of forgot that. Anyways, I need your help, new girl. Felix is coming to the party tonight and he’ll never notice me if I keep dressing in the same drab. I need something new and exciting, can you manage that?”

“Kayla! I thought we were going to greet her together!”

Marinette spun around to face the girl that stood in her doorway pouting. Her head was swimming as two girl’s bickered about her arrival, completely oblivious to the shade of pale she had turned.

“-you are just so rude! I mean going through her clothes without her permission? A woman’s closest is an extension of their soul and, hey, Marinette, are you alright?”

Marinette’s eyes came back into focus as she loosened the tight grip she had on her purse. She managed a small nod, before lowering herself into the chair by her desk.

“Okay good, omg, where are my manners? I’m Delilah! And I’m sure you’ve already met Kayla, I’m so sorry in advance, my friend has no personal boundaries and refuses to learn them.”

Kayla simply shrugged from her spot on Marinette’s bed, her eyes still scanning her closet as if willing the perfect piece to fall into her lap.

“It’s nice to meet you both, I’m sorry it’s just, it’s my first day here and-”

“And that’s perfectly okay! You take all the time you need to get ready for the party tonight and if you need any help at all, Kayla and I are right down the hall! Let’s meet in the living room at 7 so that we can all go together kk? Great!”

Without another word, Delilah gathered Kayla’s arm pulling the girl out the door before she could protest, slamming it shut behind them. Marinette waited a moment to be sure no one was going to pop back in before she opened her purse, allowing Tikki to fly out.

“Oh my, they were very lively huh?”

Marinette simply shook her head, a tired smile gracing her face.

“Tikki, I think I need a sympathy nap for Delilah. I mean, she talks so fast and in such an upbeat manner, I don’t know how she can keep that up for hours on end.”

The kwami chuckled, their eyes scanning over Marinette’s room.

“Wow Mari, this room is huge! You can totally keep up like three projects just in that corner alone!”

“I know Tikki! This school takes their majors very seriously. If I remember right, Delilah is a gymnastics major and Kayla is a business one. I wonder how their rooms look.”

“Well, why don’t you go find out?”

Marinette shook her head as she stood, taking the few steps before collapsing face first on her bed.

“Nap first. If I’m going to some party tonight, I need this time to recharge.”

Tikki rolled their eyes at Marinette, opening their mouth to sass the young girl, but closing it instead upon seeing their chosen one already knocked out.

“Sweet dreams Marinette.” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Delilah wasn’t joking.

She was already standing in the living room at 6:50, her foot tapping away as she waited for her roommates to join her. She practically had a heart attack when Kayla was one minute late, dragging both girls by their hands down the stairs in full lecture mode.

“-and we’re gonna miss him arriving! You know he always is so over the top!”

Marinette had no idea who this ‘him’ was, but it was beyond obvious that both girls were crushing hard. She tried to remember the name Kayla slipped earlier, but her brain refused to provide it to her. She simply listened intently to their many stories, biding her time until she could meet the mysterious him.

“Ah, we’re here. Quick, ladies, how does my hair look? You know Felix is a perfectionist, he can’t have his future wife with one strand of hair out of place.”

Kayla muffled her laughter with her hand as she helped Delilah brush a few strands behind her ear.

“You know Delilah, he can only be your future husband if he chooses you over me right?”

The girl’s face morphed into one of mock hurt as she placed her hand dramatically over her chest. Marinette couldn’t focus on their interaction though. Instead her head was somewhere else.

They couldn’t mean Felix Graham de Vanily right? She wasn’t that unlucky to transfer out of one school that housed Lila into another that housed Felix right?

“Omg, there he is!” Delilah’s squeal broke her thoughts as Marinette turned slowly to where both girl’s gazes sat. Instantly, she felt her heart stop.

“Hi Felix! Have you met Marinette yet? She’s my new roommate!”

Marinette’s face reddened as she tried to back step and hid behind Kayla, but both girl’s were insistent on showing her off. She saw Felix’s eyes narrow in on her, only confirming what she already knew.

“Marinette right? Would you care for a dance?”

It was her turn to narrow her eyes. What did he have planned? Felix was no gentleman offering the new girl a good time, no, he was a lying and deceitful scoundrel who couldn’t be trusted and-

“She would love to!” She felt Delilah’s hands on her back, pushing her into him. Her panicked eyes shot back to where the two girls stood giving her thumbs up. If only they knew.

Felix led her to the middle of the floor, his hand resting at the base of her back as they gently swayed to the music.

“Dupain-Cheng, tell me, do you desire my cousin so much that you had to move to London in hopes of the distance making him long for you? It’s quite the elaborate plan.”

“Excuse me? Exactly how pathetic do you think I am?”

“Do you want me to honestly answer that question?”

Marinette cut her eyes to the boy’s smug face, every fiber in her begging her to smack that look off.

“Besides, I don’t even like Adrien any more. He chose what was more important to him and in the end, that wasn’t me.”

Felix cocked his head to the side as if seeing the girl in a new light.

“So you’re done with your sorry crush on my cousin?”

“Isn’t that what I just said?”

Felix’s smirk grew with every passing moment and honestly? It was starting to freak her out.

“Can you please wipe that stupid look off of your face?”

He didn’t respond. Instead, he spun her out, drawing her in so that her back was pressed against his chest. His ear dropped down to her ear as her breath hitched in her throat.

“Let me tell you a little secret Marinette. You care too much. Try caring less, it would be a much more fitting look.”

As the song came to an end, Felix released her hand, offering her a mock bow before slipping into the crowd, leaving a flustered Marinette replaying his words on repeat in her head.

It would be a much more fitting look.

She wanted to pull her hair out in frustration. This was only her first night and he was already under her skin. In that moment, Marinette made up her mind. She would avoid speaking to Felix Graham de Vanily for the rest of her time here in London, even if it was the last thing she did. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Unfortunately, her vow didn’t even last one day.

Her roommates swooned over that first night, insisting that she was coming to every hangout as the newest contender for Felix’s affection. She tried to brush it off, tell them she wasn’t interested, but it was useless.

“You two had so much passion when you were dancing, the looks on both your faces, ah, beautiful. Even you can’t deny that he’s pretty!”

Delilah’s words set her fate in stone as she began seeing Felix regularly from lunch dates to movie nights to days out on the town. Their friend group welcomed Marinette with open arms, ready to drag her off at every chance.

When it came to their outings, she almost could attempt to ignore Felix’s smirks and sly comments all thrown in her direction. Her new friends helped her outgrow her fears and insecurities, Felix helped her become better at ignoring and dishing out insults. By the end of her first year in London, Marinette felt better about herself then she had in years.

At least until her teacher pulled her aside delivering the worst news she could’ve possibly imagined.

“Marinette! Your old class from Paris is coming to visit next week and we were wondering if you could translate for them. They’ll be touring our institute before continuing on with the tour of the city and to my knowledge, you are our only student who speaks fluently in both French and English.”

Marinette’s head was shaking before the teacher could even finish her sentence.

She didn’t want to see them again, she had finally gotten to the point in her life where all the damage they had done was gone. It was like a terrible dream, a relapse into her old self. She couldn’t do it, she-

A gentle hand settled on her shoulder bringing her back down from her near panic attack. Sheepishly, she peeked up to where Felix stood, his face unreadable.

“Mrs. James, I would like to translate as well. My cousin is in that class and taught me French quite some time ago. Between the two of us, Marinette and I can take on this assignment.”

Marinette felt her heart skip a beat as she focused in on where his hand still sat perched on her shoulder. What was that feeling of warmth slowly coursing it’s way through her body? No, absolutely not, it couldn’t be.

She watched as the teacher walked away leaving the two of them in an abandoned hallway, a silence filling the space. Slowly, Felix withdrew his hand before shoving it into his pocket, taking off in his usual brisk pace.

Marinette stood dumb founded in her spot, unsure whether to follow when his voice snapped her to attention.

“Come on Dupain-Cheng, we haven’t got all day.”

She shook off her nerves before practically jogging to catch up to the blonde. Falling in line with his pace, she kept her eyes straight forward, even when she felt his fingers interlock with hers. She swallowed hard, willing her heart to stop somersaulting through her body.

“We’re going to face them together okay? We’re going to show them the ice queen that you have grown to be.”

Marinette couldn’t trust herself to speak, instead choosing to nod in agreement.

“Good, after all, this new you is a much more fitting look.” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A week came and went and Marinette found herself in front of the school building swallowing her nerves and steadying her face.

Taking Felix’s advice, she ditched her usual pigtails and outfit for a much edgier look complete with a high ponytail and more make up than she cared for. At first, she wanted to argue saying a new look could do nothing for her, but as Kayla finished placing the scarlet red on her lips, Marinette couldn’t stop staring at herself in the mirror.

The girl looking back was beautiful, confident, and most importantly cold. A befitting look for her new title as Ice Queen.

When the double decker pulled to a stop in front of the school, Marinette’s nerves began to swallow her. She wanted to ditch her position, trust that Felix could handle them and hide in her suite until she was sure they were gone. But a certain hand on her shoulder calmed her every frayed nerve as she straightened her posture, willing her face to remain as unexpressive as possible.

As the first of them began to unload, Felix leaned in, his breath tickling her ear.

“After this, they won’t forget you Marinette.”

He straightened back up, his small smile fading back into his own expressionless gaze.

Alya was the first to recognize her, her face contorting into a look of horror as she shook Nino’s shoulder, pointing him in Marinette’s direction. Slowly but surely, the word spread through the class the Marinette was here, waves of emotion crashing down.

Her old friend began to make her way toward where Marinette stood, but Madame Bustier reigned her back in, allowing the guide to welcome the class through Felix’s translation. Marinette scanned the crowd looking for one face in particular but alas she was nowhere to be found.

Adrien was though. Front and center, his mouth agape as he stared at Marinette’s new look. Through the day, Marinette could’ve sworn she counted over a dozen flies that he caught, but that didn’t stop from his hanging jaw.

It was easy work, translating. She would speak as nonchalantly as she could, never making eye contact and always looking as bored as she could. The waves of agitation spilling from Alya almost made her break character several times, but she kept reminding herself that her and Felix could laugh later, now was for taking a stand.

“Alright everyone, take an hour of free time but please, meet back in front of the school at 3:00 on the dot.”

This was the time Marinette had dreaded. It was easy to fake her new persona when there was nobody to face directly, but this was a different story.

As she thought, Alya, Nino, and Adrien made a beeline for her the minute Madame Bustier had dismissed them. Marinette turned around as if she couldn’t see them, hoping she could outwalk them, but instead she came face to face with a familiar chest.

“A queen doesn’t run Dupain-Cheng. They take a stand and fight. Now turn around, chin up, and let them have it.”

Marinette let out a slow breath before she turned back, straightening her posture and narrowing her eyes. Alya collided with her first, crushing her in a hug that Marinette didn’t bother to return.

“Girl we are so sorry, Adrien finally fessed up to us that Lila was lying a month ago and we all tried to reach out to apologize but it said your phone was disconnected-”

“That’s because it was. What makes you think I would want to hear from you now?”

Alya’s mouth blubbered like a fish out of water as she tried to gather her words together.

“Because dudette! We’re friends! And we needed you to know that we’re sorry and that you can come back to school!”

Marinette examined her nails lazily, slightly shaking her head.

“Oh Nino, we haven’t been friends for a while. In fact, I’m only here today because I was asked to translate.”

It was Nino’s turn to gape as he and Alya shared confused looks.

“Marinette, have you spending time with Felix? You know he’s not the best influence, look at how cold he’s made you.”

Adrien attempted to grab her hand, but Marinette pulled it just out of his distance. She felt the fury building up inside of her wanting to explode. She felt an arm fall over her shoulders, lightly pulling her into their side. She risked a small look up at Felix’s face that remained expressionless as he casually pushed Adrien back.

“Marinette! Don’t tell me you’re dating my cousin! I mean, he’s not even your type! I-”

He paused at the sight of Marinette’s playful smile. His eyes widened as she reached up, her hand gently grasping Felix’s jaw, pulling his lips down into hers. The kiss was short, but she swore she felt her head spinning. She was almost positive she would have fainted if he wasn’t already supporting her with his arm.

“But, Marinette, you’re my- we’re uhm-, you and me are friends! You can date your friends’ cousin!”

Marinette felt a smirk pull at her lips at the sight of her former friend’s distress.

“Watch me.”

She turned, ready to walk away, Felix’s arm still round her shoulder, but something stopped her in her tracks. Turning her head back slightly, she managed to make eye contact with the trio, their faces the perfect mixture of regret and confusion.

“Just to clarify. Felix didn’t make me cold, you all did when you turned your backs on me when I needed you the most. A frozen heart doesn’t happen overnight” she paused, her eyes meeting Felix’s, a warmth spreading through her at the sight of pride shining, all for her. “But it can be thawed in one.”

And without another look, Marinette took off, relishing in the feeling of being at her boyfriend’s side.

“Well done Dupain-Cheng, I would be kidding myself if I didn’t admit that I prefer this version of you than the stumbling girl I met years ago.”

Marinette let out a small laugh as she stood on her tiptoes, placing a quick peck to Felix’s now red face.

“I prefer this me too, and lucky for the both of us, the Ice Queen is here to stay.”

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[mocknerd]

Anri Sonohara Appreciation Post

I know yesterday was her birthday, but I was busy with Halloween so I’m just going to post this today. Anri Sonohara is such an underappreciated character and she doesn’t deserve it. She’s amazing and unique and she needs more attention. So I’m going to take a brief moment to gush about her.

I legit can’t believe that it was only this year that I realized that Anri is like one of my top comfort characters. Right next to Shizuo, Masaomi and a few others. Apparently all you need to do to make me mentally adopt a fictional character is make them a victim of bullying and/or abuse. That or be a literal baby. Obviously there is more to it, but that seems to be a big factor. But thinking back, it does make sense. In my teen years I was obsessed with her, and a lot of female characters I made were somewhat inspired by her. I just didn’t get enough of a chance to notice because sadly there just isn’t enough content for her to make me notice. The stuff that IS out there, has her shoehorned in as part of the main trio.

And poor Anri, not only does she get forgotten by the fandom (and even characters in the main story), but also has to go through a real load of shit. She’s an orphan, but only cause one of her parents was an abusive ass that pushed the other to murder, only to then kill themself (that whole scenario is just...a mess but thats the main gist.) Now she’s possessed by a demon sword, which she just about has control over only because she’s numb to the trauma. Then there’s the aforementioned bullying, a pervy teacher, her friends being some secretive weirdos, her female friends also being pervy, and don’t get me started on the gang war thing with Izaya and all that. Yet this girl still comes out at the end with a smile. Like. Wow. I can barely go through a day without finding some aspect of life to be miserable about. Yet here she is. She’s way too tolerant for her own good.

Also, she’s super sweet, and really should have been given more of a chance to be hardcore with her sword and all that. I like that she’s a more feminine character that’s still badass. Way too much fiction has badass females be more stereotypically masculine, and to have her be more gentle and shy is a breath of fresh air. Especially because I and others in this generation, have grown to be rather shy. The best part is, she doesn't necessarily grow to be more social like in other media. Her introvertedness still remains intact, yet she still makes sure to still have connections outside of Mika after the first few arches. It's a development that's healthy both in that it shows its ok to be shy, yet still doesn't enable her to shut herself off to the point of destruction.

I like her design too, and I just wish their was more done with it other than that weird hoodie thing she got going on (while it's more practical, I don't understand why she wears it so often, even in the daytime). She’s cute and deserves more than that and the rule 34 official art. I've seen a lot of really neat fashion redesigns for her, and I'm glad that there seems to be some sort agreement that she needs to wear more pastel with black. Plus the redesigns sort of fit my own fashion sense (if I actually try).

She’s such a wasted character. All that backstory and design, and what happens to it in the end? Like there was a load of build up and then...nothing happened with her. Just Mikado nearly killing himsellf, but then she had no part of it. She didn't even stop the Saika army like she did in the Saika arch. I legit can't remember what happened to her in the end except for that moment in the van with the others. There really should have been more involvement. It's neat that her build up is more internal, but when you have a demon sword on the wall it needs to be used. Please. She became borderline useless.

Oh well. I love her regardless of the flaws in the writing. If I go on any further I’ll just be complaining about how wasted and mistreated she was, and this was meant to be a feel good thing.

See ya~

Ms

[ladydarklord]

The Mighty Boosh on the business of being silly

The Times, November 15 2008

What began as a cult cocktail of daft poems, surreal characters and fantastical storylines has turned into the comedy juggernaut that is the Mighty Boosh. Janice Turner hangs out with creators Noel Fielding, Julian Barratt and the extended Boosh family to discuss the serious business of being silly

In the thin drizzle of a Monday night in Sheffield, a crowd of young women are waiting for the Mighty Boosh or, more precisely, one half of it. Big-boned Yorkshire lasses, jacketless and unshivering despite the autumn nip, they look ready to devour the object of their desire, the fey, androgynous Noel Fielding, if he puts a lamé boot outside the stage door. “Ooh, I do love a man in eyeliner,” sighs Natalie from Rotherham. She’ll be throwing sickies at work to see the Boosh show 13 times on their tour, plus attend the Boosh after-show parties and Boosh book signings. “My life is dead dull without them,” she says.

Nearby, mobiles primed, a pair of sixth-formers trade favourite Boosh lines. “What is your name?” asks Jessica. “I go by many names, sir,” Victoria replies portentously. A prison warden called Davena survives long days with high-security villains intoning, “It’s an outrage!” in the gravelly voice of Boosh character Tony Harrison, a being whose head is a testicle.

Apart from Fielding, what they all love most about the Boosh is that half their mates don’t get it. They see a bloke in a gorilla suit, a shaman called Naboo, silly rhymes about soup, stories involving shipwrecked men seducing coconuts “and they’re like, ‘This is bloody rubbish,’” says Jessica. “So you feel special because you do get it. You’re part of a club.”

Except the Mighty Boosh club is now more like a movement. What began as an Edinburgh fringe show starring Fielding and his partner Julian Barratt and later became an obscure BBC3 series has grown into a box-set flogging, mega-merchandising, 80-date touring Boosh inc. There was a Boosh festival last summer, now talk of a Boosh movie and Boosh in America. An impasse seems to have been reached: either the Boosh will expand globally or, like other mass comedy cults before it – Vic and Bob, Newman and Baddiel – slowly begin to deflate.

But for the moment, the fans still wait in the rain for heroes who’ve already left the building. I find the Boosh gang gathered in their hotel bar, high on post-gig adrenalin. Barratt, blokishly handsome with his ring-master moustache, if a tad paunchy these days, blends in with the crew. But Fielding is never truly “off”. All day he has been channelling A Clockwork Orange in thick black eyeliner (now smudged into panda rings) and a bowler hat, which he wears with polka-dot leggings, gold boots and a long, neon-green fur-collared PVC trenchcoat. He has, as those women outside put it, “something about him”: a carefully-wrought rock-god danger mixed with an amiable sweetness. Sexy yet approachable. Which is why, perched on a barstool, is a great slab of security called Danny.

“He stops people getting in our faces,” says Fielding. “He does massive stars like P. Diddy and Madonna and he says that considering how we’re viewed in the media as a cult phenomenon, we get much more attention in the street than, say, Girls Aloud. Danny says we’re on the same level as Russell Brand, who can’t walk from the door to the car without ten people speaking to him.”

This barometer of fame appears to fascinate and thrill Fielding. Although he complains he can’t eat dinner with his girlfriend (Dee Plume from the band Robots in Disguise) unmolested, he parties hard and publicly with paparazzi-magnets like Courtney Love and Amy Winehouse. He claims he’s tried wearing a baseball cap but fans still recognise him. Hearing this, Julian Barratt smiles wryly: “Noel is never going to dress down.”

It is clear on meeting them that their Boosh characters Vince Noir (Fielding), the narcissistic extrovert, and Howard Moon (Barratt), the serious, socially awkward jazz obsessive, are comic exaggerations of their own personalities. At the afternoon photo shoot, Fielding breaks free of the hair and make-up lady, sprays most of a can of Elnett on to his Bolan feather-cut and teases it to his satisfaction. Very Vince. “It is an art-life crossover,” says Barratt.

At 40, five years older than Fielding, Barratt exhibits the profound weariness of a man trying to balance a five-month national tour with new-fatherhood. After every Saturday night show he returns home to his 18-month-old twins, Arthur and Walter, and his partner Julia Davis (the creator-star of Nighty Night) and today he was up at 5am pushing a pram on Hampstead Heath before taking the train north to rejoin the Boosh. “I go back so the boys remember who I am. But it’s harder to leave them every time,” he says. “It is totally schizophrenic, totally opposite mental states: all this self-obsession and then them.”

About two nights a week on tour, Fielding doesn’t go to bed, parties through the night and performs the next evening having not slept at all. Barratt often retreats to his room to plough through box sets of The Wire. “It’s a bit gritty, but that is in itself an escape, because what we do is so fantastical.”

But mostly it is hard to resist the instant party provided by a large cast, crew and band. Indeed, drinking with them, it appears Fielding and Barratt are but the most famous members of a close collective of artists, musicians and old mates. Fielding’s brother Michael, who previously worked in a bowling alley, plays Naboo the shaman. “He is late every single day,” complains Noel. “He’s mad and useless, but I’m quite protective of him, quite parental.” Michael is always arguing with Bollo the gorilla, aka Fielding’s best mate, Dave Brown, a graphic artist relieved to remove his costume – “It’s so hot in there I fear I may never father children” – to design the Boosh book. One of the lighting crew worked as male nanny to Barratt’s twins and was in Michael’s class at school: “The first time I met you,” he says to Noel, “you gave me a dead arm.” “You were 9,” Fielding replies. “And you were messing with my stuff.”

This gang aren’t hangers-on but the wellspring of the Boosh’s originality and its strange, homespun, degree-show aesthetic: a character called Mr Susan is made out of chamois leathers, the Hitcher has a giant Polo Mint for an eye. When they need a tour poster they ignore the promoter’s suggestions and call in their old mate, Nige.

Fielding and Barratt met ten years ago at a comedy night in a North London pub. The former had just left Croydon Art College, the latter had dropped out of an American Studies degree at Reading to try stand-up, although he was so terrified at his first gig that he ran off stage and had to be dragged back by the compere.

While superficially different, their childhoods have a common theme: both had artistic, bohemian parents who exercised benign neglect. Fielding’s folks were only 17 when he was born: “They were just kids really. Hippies. Though more into Black Sabbath and Led Zep. There were lots of parties and crazy times. They loved dressing up. And there was a big gap between me and my brother – about nine years – so I was an only child for a long time, hanging out with them, lots of weird stuff going on.

“The great thing about my mum and dad is they let me do anything I wanted as a kid as long as I wasn’t misbehaving. I could eat and go to bed when I liked. I used to spend a lot of time drawing and painting and reading. In my own world, I guess.”

Growing up in Mitcham, South London, his father was a postmaster, while his mother now works for the Home Office. Work was merely the means to fund a good time. “When your dad is into David Bowie, how do you rebel against that? You can’t really. They come to all the gigs. They’ve been in America for the past three weeks. I’m ringing my mum really excited because we’re hanging out with Jim Sheridan, who directed In the Name of the Father, and the Edge from U2, and she said, ‘We’re hanging with Jack White,’ whom they met through a friend of mine. Trumped again!”

Barratt’s father was a Leeds art teacher, his mother an artist later turned businesswoman. “Dad was a bit more strict and academic. Mum would let me do anything I wanted, didn’t mind whether I went to school.” Through his father he became obsessed with Monty Python, went to jazz and Spike Milligan gigs, learnt about sex from his dad’s leatherbound volumes of Penthouse.

Barratt joined bands and assumed he would become a musician (he does all the Boosh’s musical arrangements); Fielding hoped to become an artist (he designed the Boosh book cover and throughout our interview sketches obsessively). Instead they threw their talents into comedy. Barratt: “It is a great means of getting your ideas over instantly.” Fielding: “Yes, it is quite punk in that way.”

Their 1998 Edinburgh Fringe show called The Mighty Boosh was named, obscurely, after a friend’s description of Michael Fielding’s huge childhood Afro: “A mighty bush.” While their double-act banter has an old-fashioned dynamic, redolent of Morecambe and Wise, the show threw in weird characters and a fantasy storyline in which they played a pair of zookeepers. They are very serious about their influences. “Magritte, Rousseau...” says Fielding. “I like Rousseau’s made-up worlds: his jungle has all the things you’d want in a jungle, even though he’d never been in one so it was an imaginary place.”

Eclectic, weird and, crucially, unprepared to compromise their aesthetic sensibilities, it was 2004 before, championed by Steve Coogan’s Baby Cow production company, their first series aired on BBC3. Through repeats and DVD sales the second series, in which the pair have left the zoo and are living above Naboo’s shop, found a bigger audience. Last year the first episode of series three had one million viewers. But perhaps the Boosh’s true breakthrough into mainstream came in June when George Bush visited Belfast and a child presented him with a plant labelled “The Mighty Bush”. Assuming it was a tribute to his greatness, the president proudly displayed it for the cameras, while the rest of Britain tittered.

A Boosh audience these days is quite a mix. In Sheffield the front row is rammed with teenage indie girls, heavy on the eyeliner, who fancy Fielding. But there are children, too: my own sons can recite whole “crimps” (the Boosh’s silly, very English version of rap) word for word. And there are older, respectable types who, when I interview them, all apologise for having such boring jobs. They’re accountants, IT workers, human resources officers and civil servants. But probe deeper and you find ten years ago they excelled at art A level or played in a band, and now puzzle how their lives turned out so square. For them, the Boosh embody their former dreams. And their DIY comedy, shambolic air, the slightly crap costumes, the melding of fantasy with the everyday, feels like something they could still knock up at home.

Indeed, many fans come to gigs in costume. At the Mighty Boosh Festival 15,000 people came dressed up to watch bands and absurdity in a Kent field. And in Sheffield I meet a father-and-son combo dressed as Howard Moon and Bob Fossil – general manager of the zoo – plus a gang of thirty-something parents elaborately attired as Crack Fox, Spirit of Jazz, a granny called Nanageddon, and Amy Housemouse. “I love the Boosh because it’s total escapism,” says Laura Hargreaves, an employment manager dressed as an Electro Fairy. “It’s not all perfect and people these days worry too much that things aren’t perfect. It’s just pure fun.”

But how to retain that appealingly amateur art-school quality now that the Boosh is a mega comedy brand? Noel Fielding is adamant that they haven’t grown cynical, that The Mighty Book of Boosh was a long-term project, not a money-spinner chucked out for Christmas: “There is a lot of heart in what we do,” he says. Barratt adds: “It’s been hard this year to do everything we’ve wanted, to a standard we’re proud of... Which is why we’re worn to shreds.”

Comedy is most powerful in intimate spaces, but the Boosh show, with its huge set, requires major venues. “We’ve lost money every day on the tour,” says Fielding. “The crew and the props and what it costs to take them on the road – it’s ridiculous. Small gigs would lose millions of pounds.”

The live show is a kind of Mighty Boosh panto, with old favourites – Bob Fossil, Bollo, Tony Harrison, etc – coming on to cheers of recognition. But it lacks the escapism to the perfectly conceived world of the TV show. They have told the BBC they don’t want a fourth series: they want a movie. They would also, as with Little Britain USA, like a crack at the States, where they run on BBC America. Clearly the Boosh needs to keep evolving or it will die.

Already other artists are telling Fielding and Barratt to make their money now: “They say this is our time, which is quite frightening.” I recall Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, who dominated the Nineties with Big Night Out and Shooting Stars. “Yes, they were massive,” says Fielding. “A number one record...” And now Reeves presents Brainiac. “If you have longer-term goals, it’s not scary,” says Barratt. “To me, I’m heading somewhere else – to direct, make films, write stuff – and at the moment it’s all gone mental. I’m sort of enjoying this as an outsider. It was Noel who had this desire to reach more people.”

Indeed, the old cliché that comedy is the new rock’n’roll is closest to being realised in Noel Fielding. Watching him perform the thrash metal numbers in the Boosh live show, he is half ironic comic performer, half frustrated rock god. His heroes weren’t comics but androgynous musicians: Jagger, Bowie, Syd Barrett. (Although he liked Peter Cook’s style and looks.)

“I like clothes and make-up, I like the transformation,” he says. Does it puzzle him that women find this so sexually attractive? “I was reading a book the other day about the New York Dolls and David Johansen was saying that none of them were gay or even bisexual, and that when they started dressing in stilettos and leather pants, women got it straight away with no explanation. But a lot of men had problems. It’s one of those strange things. A man will go, ‘You f***ing queer.’ And you just think, ‘Well, your girlfriend fancies me.’”

The Boosh stopped signing autographs outside stage doors when it started taking two hours a night. At recent book signings up to 1,500 people have shown up, some sleeping overnight in the queue. And on this tour, the Boosh took control of the after-show parties, once run as money-spinners by the promoters, and now show up in person to do DJ slots. I ask if they like to meet their fans, and they laugh nervously.

Fielding: “We have to be behind a fence.”

Barratt: “They try to rip your clothes off your body.”

Fielding: “The other day my girlfriend gave me this ring. And, doing the rock numbers at the end, I held out my hands and the crowd just ripped it off.”

Barratt: “I see it as a thing which is going to go away. A moment when people are really excited about you. And it can’t last.”

He recalls a man in York grabbing him for a photo, saying, “I’d love to be you, it must be so amazing.” And Barratt says he thought, “Yes, it is. But all the while I was trying to duck into this doorway to avoid the next person.” He’s trying to enjoy the Boosh’s moment, knows it will pass, but all the same?

In the hotel bar, a young woman fan has dodged past Danny and comes brazenly over to Fielding. Head cocked attentively like a glossy bird, he chats, signs various items, submits to photos, speaks to her mate on her phone. The rest of the Boosh crew eye her steelily. They know how it will end. “You have five minutes then you go,” hisses one. “I feel really stupid now,” says the girl. It is hard not to squirm at the awful obeisance of fandom. But still she milks the encounter, demands Fielding come outside to meet her friend. When he demurs she is outraged, and Danny intercedes. Fielding returns to his seat slightly unsettled. “What more does she want?” he mutters, reaching for his wine glass. “A skin sample?”

[skinner17]

Dissecting Red Spider Arc-The arc that non shipper find it disturbingly (For those who mind) Shippy

I’ve been watching gintama for the past couple of weeks. And since lately I encounter sleeping problem, lets turn this energy to talk about one of my favorite arc. The controversial arc that invite polarized opinion among Gintama fans.

For  Tsukuyo fans, Red spider is a certain favorite together with Yoshiwara in flame and Courtesan of the nation.  This arc fleshed her background and deepen her bond with yorozuya, especially Gintoki

For casual fans, this arc is the first time they see a glimpse of gintoki past, The first time  gintoki in a berserk mode, the first time he act by his own volition. And somehow he appeared like a true shonen hero saving the heroine.

By then tsukuyo was far from heroine status. She just recently introduced a couple episodes back. Yoshiwara in flame focused more on Hinowa and seita story. But Tsukuyo already  rose in ranking because her unique character design (in sacchan word, she has a lot of ‘hooks’) aside being badass in general.

For naysayers, Red spider arc is that arc that destroy Tsukuyo character. Reduced her into damsel in distress, mere love interest and what not. Of course its people’s right to interpret a work however they see fit. People enjoying entertainment in a different way afterall. Maybe they are a strict feminist type who wanted a true xena like character?  disappointed when a strong female charachter ended up saved by the male hero? (Tho I wonder why they don’t care with preceeding events where Tsukuyo saved gintoki a couple of time)  

The other would say this arc is such a big jump from previous arcs. A sudden transition they would say. And heck they’re right. Red spider arc  Is different compared to other serious arc before it.  Its lustrously dark, whispery,  not much emphasis on family nor comedy, not much explosion nor machismo.

And more importantly, its uncharacteristically Intimate.  

What do you expect? It took placein Yoshiwara-The Red light District- afterall.

The curtain raised with Jiraiya, the ex teacher of Tsukuyo, the main villain of this arc, On his post coital glow pondering about his object of creation. After enjoying the service of yoshiwara, He looked at the moon and probably feeling another rush of excitement reminiscing his dear beautiful student and the plan he’d set for her.

Not long after, Tsukuyo feel someone dangerous infiltrating her city. She and her Hyakka squad has been working hard to push down the crime that on the rise after the city lost its night king. Nearing their limit, she turned to Yorozuya, wondering if they can help with the drug problem.

Somehow, Tsukuyo and Gintoki teamed up just the two of them investigating the shady group with spider tattoo trademark. The result was assortment of classic romantic comedy skit : To-Love-Ru type of ‘accident’ and pretend couple.

Ok at this point its just natural that people start to see the two as potential couple. When they bicker they’d scream their heart silly, forgetting  whatever  adult persona they had in mind. Yet when the time come, they play along really well with the others bullshit act. They are on the same frequency already.

Back to the story, Later, they found out the drug lord is Jiraiya who apparently the long dead master (teacher who take care of  protegee under their wing) of Tsukuyo. With his unique ability he nearly killed Gintoki and captured Tsukuyo.

Some Naysayers disappointed at this point because Tsukuyo who supposedly a good fighter became useless in front of jiraiya. Ok let me use this opportunity to explain the technicality of how that’s possible.

She was shocked.

It was a surprise attack

Jiraiya, knew his student fighting ability the best and knew how to immobilize her.

Even Gintoki Almost killed because of his weird technique

She used the last of her strength to saved gintoki from jiraiya’s final blow.

“Huh? But gintoki didn’t turned into a useless mess when he met his long dead master alive?”

Lol what are you smoking? The old master  would split gintoki’s head from his body if not because Kagura’s help.  Also Utsuro/Shouyo goal was to crushed the rebels and nothing to do with Gintoki. While Jiraiya’s goal was to capture Tsukuyo. Understand the difference?  

Ok now that its out of my system lets continue.

Later Gintoki learned about the nature of Jiraiya and what this student-master relationship actually are from Zenzou. She-who believed every word of him and followed his foot step- was his creation and his prey at the same time. This method is sickening for Gintoki who loved his master to death.

For Gintoki a master should be more or less like shoyo. Strong, kind, wise and selfless. The kind of sage who gave his life for his student. Its infuriating to learn that a good women like tsukuyo has a psychotic monster as a master.

“see..Its not because of Tsukuyo that gintoki willingly revert to his shiroyasa self. Its because the master-student thingie that made him mad af”

Was the stuff I read from naysayers.  And for this one, I kinda agree. The main thing that infuriate gintoki about Jiraiya was that he used  master student relationship for some psychotic goal. As we know later, whenever topic about his own master brought on, Gintoki turned into a different beast.

Even I can see this arc’s intent beside telling tsukuyo’s past and cementing her as one of the recurrent character was also to foreshadow  Shoyo related arcs in the future.

However among all of that baggage brought by this arc, theres this one dialogue that caught my attention.

G : "give up already, theres nothing in your web. This entire time there was only a pathetic little spider spinning thread into sky while gazing at distant moon"

J : "What are you babbling about?I already knew that long ago"

The ones who ascociate Tsukuyo with the moon are the one who cherish her like hinowa and the hyakka squad  or the bastard who obsessed at her like Jiraiya. It’s a secret nickname people gave to her beside Shinigami Tayuu / courtesan of death. Wt  

At that  moment, Gintoki  speak about what Tsukuyo is to Jiraiya existence : A moon to a little insignificant spider. This confirm that Gintoki understand Tsukuyo’s epithet-wich means at that point of story he is familiar toward  Tsukuyo more than the viewers aware of.

To add, This is probably just me but the way he said that stuff about Jiraiya, whispering  while gazing at the sky, as if its applied to him aswell.  

Well, I just think that because throughout the fight he keep rambling about being on the same level as Jiraiya.

G: Do you know how to survive the spider nest? By eating the spider.

G : She is stronger than you ever be. A coward like me is enough for a coward like you

To Fight Jiraiya, Gintoki  drew parrarel between himself and Jiraiya. And its not impossible that parrarel extended until that moment.    

I  came to the conclusion At that moment Gintoki  already  admire Tsukuyo. Wether  her virtue, her  face, her quirk  or her phisycal attractiveness, it could be anything. The fact is Tsukuyo basically embodies everything gintoki like in a women.   

However because of his mindset and his self sabotaging lifestyle, he understood Jiraiya’s point of view of admiring an existence that is too good for them.

The episode ended with Tsukuyo learning his master’s past  and accepting his flaw after killing him. The moment when Gintoki implied that he would never be a good student to their master as tsukuyo is pretty touching too.

The last episode of this arc is a short one with majorly comedic skits. Another To Love Ru accident. And  a classic wingman setup to force a couple to be alone together.

Lol too much couply stuff happening in this arc.

Later after the crazy terminator drunken stupor, Tsukuyo asked gintoki if she didn’t has this scar, would her life be any different?

At this point I realize the pain endured by her, even though she said she was fine, physically and mentally, she actually struggling with the realization that all her past was something different than she perceived to be, that rather than genuine student master relationship, its an elaborate plan by her master to kill himself.

Its like realizing that we are adopted after all this time living in a loving family. From the surface it might not changed anything because its all in the past, But it changed everything within. It changed the foundation  of what we stood upon all these time.

Gintoki then assured her that her life is one that she choose, No one make her choose that. wether it’s  driven by a psychotic manipulation or a trust in a teacher who wanted make her strong. The life is still hers to behold and cherish

Gintoki further assured that her face Is not ugly, Its pretty face carrying clean soul. Or something to that effect (since translation vary)

As you see “Soul” is the overarching concept on Gintama. Its like “Adventure” on One piece and “Hard Work” On Naruto. It’s the Idea that the shounen protagonist holds dear.  

Shoyo first teaching to Gintoki was  how to protect his soul. In the war Gintoki choose to kill Shoyo to save his master’s soul. Means he choose Shoyo over his friends and himself. In effect, one of the friend’s soul was corrupted. While Gintoki turned himself into a vessel  whose purpose was merely to protect people he deemed fit and procasinating on his own growth.

Gintoki speak about Tsukuyo’s soul in her face is another testament of how deep their trust and bond has formed. 

Even though Gintoki has innate ability to peek into the human character, its not his fashion to directly address it. He usually find a roundabout way to make the others understand that they are being understood. But with Tsukuyo, everything he do about her  is direct.

“Don’t be a stranger, Lean on me, laugh with me and cry with me. I’d be there, cry and laugh with you ” Said Gintoki to tsukuyo.

 The Gintoki who often avoid emotional baggage from a stranger.

In conclusion, Red Spider Arc is such an awesome arc. The vibe is cool, the soundtrack is awesome and its has an intense emotionally charged action.

It is also the breeding ground for gintsu shipper, wich probably gonna make some part of fandom upset. But it is what it is and we can just enjoy or choose not to.

[italoniponic]

Reverse AU (so people can understand my au-stories) Part I

Basically, is a Kwami Swap X Reverse Crush Au X Reverse Life alternative universe. I did this whole post because some fics from Adrien August would be on this au and I thought it would be interesting to the readers know what this whole au is about. I mixed some concepts and liked the final result.

So sit, take a coffee/tea and let’s go into it!

●     So because I don't want neither of Tom or Sabine being in the Hawkmoth role, Marinette is an orphan who lives with her great-uncle Wang Cheng but continues with the "Dupain" in the surname for emotional reasons;

●     Wang Cheng is a rich and famous gourmet chief. He's always busy, so Plagg is Marinette only company for major of the time but he makes everything on his effort to be close to his niece and sometimes, when work is easy that day, he can spend time with Marinette. Wang is a cute uncle who drops cute short letters like "The soup is in the fridge, is your favorite flavor. I love you!";

●     Wang Cheng’s restaurant is called “Jade Turtle”;

●     Marinette still likes fashion and wants to be a fashion designer, what's perfect for Adrien who has a tailor by father;

●     Adrien's life is perfect for him. Gabriel is a sophisticated tailor who has his boutique full of beautiful clothes and stuff, Emilie is a novel actress and always shows up in TV and Nathalie is a close friend of them who helps Gabriel in the boutique;

●     Adrien doesn't know what he wants in his life, so he spends his time with fencing; language lessons (he gains money by teaching kids like Manon how to write orange in English); being his father experimental model of teen male clothing; and writing poetry cuz he's a lovesick;

●     Gabriel’s boutique is called “Gabriel”. He would put “Agreste Boutique” but he thought that people would go after him because of Emilie’s work and not because of his real talent in clothing. This decision was supported by Emilie and Nathalie as well;

●     Due to Nathalie's close relationship with the Agreste's, Adrien calls her "Aunt Nath";

●     Nathalie and Gabriel have a sister/brother relationship and they’re actually step-siblings. Mrs. Sancoeur and Mr. Agreste, two widows, had married each other in the past so they grew like a family. Nathalie didn’t consider herself like part of it but Gabriel, Emilie and, especially Adrien, try to fix this;

●     Emilie had arranged a date between Nathalie and Armand D’Argencourt, Adrien’s fencing teacher, once;

●     Nino is Adrien's best buddy and have weekly plans to help his bro get his girl;

●     Alya is Marinette's best friend and runs a blog about Misterbug and Lady Noire (I don’t have a name for it yet). She was a little bit aware of Adrien's big crush but this became a real thing to believe after Animan's episode;

●     Plagg refers to Adrien like “Goldilocks” and he calls Marinette “Pigtails”;

●     Plagg is the chaotic sarcastic little bro Marinette never had. He gives her some Salem Energy;

●     Tikki is Adrien's poetry consultor. He always shows her his poems to Marinette because he never will have courage to show her properly;

●     She also is a good friend of him and support him with all her heart;

●     Who's Hawkmoth? Master Fu... I like him but someone must be the bad guy and I want to try something different.

●     He had his original backstory but except that he lost the whole the miraculous box that was founded by these mysterious trio (cof cof Tom, Sabine and Wang cof cof) and all he has with him is Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous;

●     Marianne is Fu's Mayura and also runs the "Madame Lenoir’s Sewing Club", in which Gabriel participates;

●     Master Fu is owner of an ancient/eastern things store and Marinette works for him because she doesn’t want to be a useless niece to Wang and want to buy some things with her own money;

●     Wang is the miraculous guardian and actual holder of the Turtle by now and some way he keeps this secret from Marinette but not from Adrien;

       ○   who discovers by need and they agreed in not involving her in this mess cuz she might be hurt by HM and stuff... but Adrien doesn't really know what's going on like Marinette is Lady Noire and is dying to be part of this whole “guardian secret” (but it’s the same problem from the original);

       ○     but Wang appears more often for her as her uncle and gives the necessary wise word in time of crisis so she just know what to do and don’t live totally in the dark;

 (I’ll update this post with its part 2 in the future)

[alexiessan]

Never alone - Chapter Two - Soulmate AU

AO3

Previous - Here - Next

Master List

Hello! Faster than ever before, I present you the second chapter of Never Alone!

I chose to not describe Marinette with her clothes or hairstyle so that you can imagine her as you want! In my mind, since she's a fashion designer, I imagine her always changing her clothes and very fashionable. I don't see her with her pigtails either. But it's up to you as to how you see her!

Also, I'm French, so if there are any grammatical mistakes, do not hesitate to tell me so I can come back and correct them!

Two months in the new school year, and Marinette was already exhausted. While she had a very calm summer filled with outings with her friends, she was now drowning in work. Jagged wanted her to design his newest album cover, and Clara Nightingale has asked for a new outfit for a music video.

 At school, Alya and Marinette were doing their best to find a good trip for the end of the year. The school had a decent amount of money that was set aside specifically for their class trip, but they would need to organize an event or two if they wanted to go somewhere outside of Europe. They were lucky enough that their class’ trip was set for their first year of high school: Mrs. Mendelieiv’s class’ trip was set for the next year, right before the first set of exams for the baccalaureat. 

 Along with all that, there was also her duty as Ladybug. Hawkmoth has been relatively calm during the summer, but as soon as school started again in September, he released his akumas again.

 Except, now, they were more brutal than ever before.

 Ladybug cursed as the Akuma managed to deeply cut her on her left side. She watched as Chat jumped in as she collapsed on the roof they were battling. True to his promise, Chat took his job more seriously and only joked during patrols now. He also stopped to jump mindlessly in front of her to save her from a hit and actually tried to get both of them out of the way.

 The Akuma they were fighting was a dangerous one. His arm has been transformed into two big shears, and they hurt like hell.

 Ladybug watched with fascination as her hand was tainted with her own blood. She couldn’t remember if an Akuma had hurt her that much before… She knew for sure that she was bleeding too heavily and she was getting a bit dizzy. They would need to end the fight very soon.

 Standing up, she took advantage of the distraction Chat provided to trip the Akuma with her yoyo, succeeding in tripping him. Quickly, Chat snatched the man’s bow and used cataclysm on it.

 As she cleansed the Akuma and watched the light heal Paris and herself as she cast the cure, the red-clothed superhero couldn’t help but think it was time to contact the Justice League again.

 Back when they got their miraculous, she and Chat had contacted the Justice League of Europe to ask for help. They were just teenagers without any training entrusted to protect a whole city as big as Paris, and it was clear to them they couldn’t possibly do that alone.

 The person they had talked to at the moment had listened to them, took note and told them they would come back to them after informing the heroes of the issue in Paris. It was a month later that one of the heroes contacted them, informing them they would not intervene in Paris, as they have been doing a good job up until now and the miraculous cure healed everyone and repaired everything. They then give them words of encouragement before they cut the connection.

 Ladybug had then wanted to contact the Justice League of America before remembering they wouldn’t be able to do anything as France was certainly not under their jurisdiction. 

 And thus, there they were, still two untrained teenagers, acting on instinct against people with magic powers.

 Great.

 She let Chat take care of the victim, still feeling the pain on her left side, even though it was healed and there was not a trace of blood left on her person.

 “Are you ok?”

 Ladybug watched as the victim was taken care of by some policemen and turned her attention to her partner.

 “I’m fine Chat. Sorry I had to let you handle everything.”

 “Hey, you were hurt and losing a lot of blood. It’s a wonder you could even stand up afterward.”

 The girl smiled. “Should we try to contact the JLE again?”

 Chat Noir sighed. “Even though they won’t intervene, they are watching closely what’s happening here. If they haven’t decided to step in yet, contacting them won’t change anything LB.”

 Ladybug sighed. “You’re right. Of course. I should go Chat, I’m about to transform back.”

 “Sure thing. I’ll see you later, then.”

                                                                                               Back in her room, Marinette winced as she sat down on her bed.

 “Are you really ok Marinette?”

 Tikki was looking at her with her big, wide blue eyes. She was obviously worried.

 “I’m fine, just a bit sore. I’m lucky that the cure healed me, but I think I’ll still feel the pain for a few days.”

 While the cure healed her, the pain stayed for some time after, varying on the severity of the injury. Since her latest injure was pretty severe, it would hurt for a little while.

 “Alright, I still have some homework to do for tomorrow. You should eat something and go to sleep Tikki, you must be tired after today. There should be a cookie or two on my desk.”

 The kwami looked at her for a moment before flying over her desk, knowing it was useless to insist and there wasn’t anything she could do anyway. Even if she wished she could take Marinette’s pain away.  

                      “Alright girl, you said you found something for the trip?”

 It was early December now, and Marinette had asked Alya to join her in the school library to discuss the trip. The fashion designer took the laptop out of her bag and opened it to show her what she found.

 “So, you know how the trip also has to be educational? This is the Wayne Career Program. It’s designed for high school students. Each one of us would shadow someone in the firm as a sort of internship to learn about different professions.”

 “Putain, girl! That’s amazing. Wayne Enterprises have a lot of different sectors. I could totally work with the PR team if we can manage to secure a trip there. Plus it’s in Gotham, in America!”

 Alya literally squealed at the idea of traveling overseas.

 “Yeah, I’m a bit worried about that actually. You know it’s not really the safest place on Earth.”

 And what an understatement that was. Gotham was probably the city with the most crimes in the world. It would be a miracle if the school allowed them to go. But then again, the school board would do anything to up their reputation and a class winning an internship at WE… The principal would boast about it years after they had all graduated.

 “There is an essay we have to write to apply. I suggest we write it before we present the idea to Ms. Bustier. We also need to prepare arguments for her and the school board.”

 “No problem girl, I already have tons of arguments there.” The reporter showed her her notebook where there were two pages filled with arguments. The class president nodded, those were really good. She could really rely on her friend.

 “Well, that was quick. Those should be enough to convince them. On to the essay, then. ‘How do you think you can change the world?’”

 They spent hours after that, taking notes and making several drafts of the essay. It took them a week to have the actual final product and when they handed it to Ms. Bustier, she was delighted. It was decided they wouldn’t announce the destination of the trip to the class until they were sure it could be a possibility.

 Alya and Marinette had dropped hints about the destination though, to see if the class would actually like to go to Gotham.

 After a week or so, they knew they had chosen well.

 On Marinette’s birthday, on the 16th of December, after lunch where the whole class sang Happy birthday to her, the class president and the class deputy had a meeting with the principal and the board of the school.

 It was tough to convince them, and the meeting actually lasted the whole afternoon, but at the end of the day, they had all signed the papers that confirmed that the trip would happen in Gotham, should the two girls won the contest. They even agreed to unfreeze some more funds for it. This program would really look good on the school’s record. 

 It was with a bright smile that they returned to class ten minutes before the end of the day bell and announced to everyone that the trip to Gotham has been confirmed. Using the classroom’s computer, the whole class witness as the two girls applied to the Wayne Career Program.

 Now, all they had to do was wait for an answer. 

                                                                                 Life after that was a bit calmer for Marinette, if you didn’t count the Akumas. She worried that they were more and more violent, and more often than not, she had lingering pain from injuries she got at Ladybug.

 But life was good. Lila had even stopped lying and was herself. Even if it means that she wasn’t very kind to anyone, even mocking all of them at times, the class would just scoff and roll their eyes at her antics. The designer still wouldn’t talk to her, but the atmosphere in the class was lighter than the previous year, and for that Marinette was grateful.

 They were all at an outdoor ice rink at the end of January when Marinette’s phone beeped with a notification. 

 “Oh fucking shit, guys!”

 It caught everyone’s attention as the tiny Dupain-Cheng was not one to curse like that.

 “I just got an email for Mr. Wayne’s secretary! Our class is among the nine others to have won the contest! We are going to Gotham in May!”

 Everyone cheered at that, hugging each other and even going as far as carrying Marinette and Alya around, as it was their doing.

 “America, here we come!” shouted Kim.

 “You do realize that you will have to work extra hard on your English, right?” teased Max.

 “Oh, shit.”

 Everyone laughed at that, but it was agreed among themselves and their English teacher that they would all stay for an hour and a half after school to learn the language, up until their trip.

 “I can’t wait to see Gotham’s heroes in action!” squealed Alya.

 “Aren’t they vigilantes?” asked Mylène.

 “Same thing!”

 “Not quite, babe.” grinned Nino.

 Even Lila was smiling with them, and it was huge progress in their book.

 Marinette smiled, “We’ll be there for two weeks. The first week, we’ll be visiting around, and the second week will be dedicated to our internships. I will have to send a list of all our careers of interest to Mr. Wayne’s secretary, so they can organize who we will be shadowing. So, I’ll need you to send me those pieces of information this weekend, so I can send it on Monday, okay?”

 “Roger that, boss.”

 As Alya took her hand to skate with her around the rink, the baker’s daughter couldn’t help the huge smile on her lips. A year ago, there was a lot of tension in the class, and here they were, all laughing together and talking excitedly about the upcoming trip that their class president and deputy won them.

 She could hear Rose talking excitedly about the things she wanted to see in Gotham. She watched as Kim challenged Alix on God knows what and laughed as Max stated that he had a two-percent chance of winning that bet. She smiled as Adrien, with them at an outing for once, fell on his butt and Nino laughed as he helped him up. She even grinned as she watched Lila having a conversation with Nathaniel without being mean or mocking him once.

 She had thought a year before that Lila would never change, but she was wrong. And she was happy that she had been, because even though Lila wasn’t very nice, well, all her classmates were kind enough to make up for it.

 Yeah, Marinette thought with a smile, life was good. And she had a feeling that it would be even better.

Tag list: 

@bigpicklebananatree @animegirlweeb @crazylittlemunchkin @northernbluetongue @cutechip @justafanwarrior @iloontjeboontje @resignedcatservant

[leviskokoro]

summary｜The espionage group consisting of Mari, Grimm, Ruggie, Leona, Kalim, and Jamil are in need of assistance in order to pull off the plan to take back the magic stone stolen from them by fairies. Fortunately, help has arrived in the form of a worldwide supermodel.

word count｜3385

credit goes to @wakaoujisenhime​ for giving me the idea to write this!

“Are you saying these guys will be performing during the fashion show? Perhaps you mistook it for a vegetable competition.” 

“Puppies, it’s time for training!” 

“You guys are…!” 

And with those words, Mari knew they were in for a ride. Then again, she did expect this to happen as soon as the Headmaster had explained the situation to her. It seemed like it’d be fun, like an espionage mission for the spy movies she used to watch in her world. How exciting! 

“Vil! And Sir Crewel!” Kalim exclaimed with a grin. 

“With our support, you guys will definitely become the stars of the fashion show,” Vil spoke as he gazed at the group with a judgemental glint in his lilac eyes. He glanced at the teacher beside him, smirking. “Right, Sir Crewel?” 

“Of course, Schoenheit.” 

The both of them chuckled. 

“The two most troublesome people are here,” Ruggie said, ears folded and eyebrows furrowed. 

“Jamil, you asshole. Do you know what you’ve done?” Leona growled, glaring daggers at him. 

“I also thought this was a tough decision.” Said boy wore his usual level-headed expression. “Top model Vil and fashionista Sir Crewel. If those two coached us, we could beat this challenge. But in order to make this show a success as amateurs, I could only seek help from them.”

“There’s no one better suited for the job than them,” Mari spoke up, shrugging. It was true. Vil was the one that had always been seen working relentlessly to maintain his beauty and Sir Crewel was known for his talent when it came to fashion. It was impossible to think of anyone else that would rival them in their fields in NRC. 

“As expected of Scarabia’s dorm head, he’d do literally anything to achieve his goal. How amazing…” The hyena muttered under his breath. 

“Distract the queen-- No, distract the entire audience then snatch the crown away in the meantime. “The title of this operation will be “Monopolize both the crown and their attention”! I will make this a success!” Vil exclaimed, a smirk of pure confidence on his handsome face. The girl often wished she had just an ounce of his self-confidence. Maybe then life would be easier for her. 

“Ugh, what a pain…” Leona grumbled.  

“Alright. First of all, you guys should have matching costumes,” Crewel told them. 

“Would that include us? Ruggie, Grimm, and I won’t really be participating in the fashion show,” Mari asked, raising her hand as if she’s in class. 

“Of course! You may not be part of it, but you still need proper clothes in order to sneak in,” he answered. “Entering a formal venue with dirty fur is unacceptable for my puppies.” 

Right. Good point. 

“Be grateful. I’ll make the most exotic and most exquisite costumes of all time.” Their teacher smirked. “I’ll be the one to make you guys stand out the most!” 

And so it had begun. The group had been subjected to wearing countless fabrics to find the perfect one to use. Crewel got to work designing their costumes. 

Bursts of sparkles enveloped them, then dissipated to reveal them in the costumes their teacher had designed for them. Everyone was dressed in pristine white clothes with floral patterns and flowers in their hair. 

“How’s that? You could clearly see a bunch of puppies with gorgeous fur.” Crewel was satisfied with his own work, smiling at them. 

“As expected of our teacher,” Vil commented, also smiling in appreciation of the craftsmanship. “The color is not too outstanding in order to draw out their own beauty, very stoic and kinda mysterious. The endless longing for the unknown, that is the true meaning of exotic.” 

“Hmm. It’s easier to get along with someone who understands fashion like you,” the teacher said, glancing at him.

It’s nice that they were enjoying themselves, at least. Mari giggled lightly as she twirled in her dress. The light fabric was easy to move in and felt comfortable. If they ever needed to run, it wouldn’t hold her back at all. Their teacher probably considered this. She looked at the mirror to see how she looked and it’s fair to say that his work was amazing. It made her feel… otherworldly. She already was from another world but to look the part was a different matter. 

“We’ve tried on different clothes again and again…” Jamil crossed his arms, eyebrows furrowed in irritation. His lips pulled downwards. 

“I’m already tired and training hasn’t even started yet,” Ruggie sighed, closing his eyes. His ears were folded. 

“Is that right? Designing costumes is always like this. Right, Leona?” Kalim spoke up, turning to the beastman prince. 

“Kind of…” Leona crossed his arms as well, seeming disinterested in the situation. 

“I think the trouble was worth it. Sir Crewel certainly did a fantastic job,” Mari commented as she stared at the floral lacing that ran across her waistline, fingers delicately tracing over it. A small smile graced her lips. 

“It’s too early to be relieved,” Vil told her. “If the people wearing these clothes don’t act in a proper manner, the silk shirts they’re wearing might as well just be sack rags.”

“To become the center of attention on the fashion show, we must have some sort of performance.” He smiled. “A gorgeous walk with a gorgeous performance. Both of these are necessary.” 

“First, I’ll have you guys show me your style of walking.” 

Leona smirked. “All we have to do is walk? It’s so easy that I could do it in my sleep.” 

Jamil rubbed his chin, a thoughtful look on his features. “If we’re too self-conscious, we might wander off at some point.” 

Kalim gave a light laugh. It was as if he was the sun, radiating warmth. “No need to be nervous. Just relax and do it.”

Soon enough, the three were put to the test and let the model judge their skill. 

“Very unexpected. I never thought that you could walk elegantly,” Vil said. “Impressive, Jamil.” 

Said boy smirked. “It’s my honor to receive such praise from you, Vil.” 

He turned to Scarabia’s dorm leader with a smile. “Kalim had a very noble posture. The education from your hometown has been beneficial for you.” 

Kalim chuckled. “Is that so? Hehehe, I’m kinda embarrassed. Though, I only have great posture thanks to my love of dancing and not from the education I learned.” 

“It’s true. Kalim had been learning traditional dances ever since he was a kid, while I took an interest in street dancing,” Jamil said, his lips pulled upwards. Nostalgia glinted in his eyes. 

“I see. So that’s why you guys have such trained bodies.” Vil was clearly pleased with the two. Then, he frowned and turned to Leona, deciding to finally address the elephant in the room. Er, lion in the room. “Compared to that… Leona, what’s with your lame walking?” He glared at him. 

“Ah? It’s the same as those Scarabia guys.” He closed his eyes, crossing his arms. 

“It’s not the same at all. Jamil’s light step, Kalim’s nobility. You have neither of those,” he berated him, giving him an icy glare. “Your feet are dragging along the floor and you have atrocious posture. Your head was swaying as you were walking. It feels like your shoulders are cutting through the wind. It’s very boorish!”

“The title of prince sounds incredulous to me.” 

“How ironic that the feline can’t catwalk…” Mari mumbled. 

“He literally just criticized Leona.” Ruggie’s eyes widened in shock. 

“Schoenheit,” Crewel spoke up, “For a useless dog like him, shouldn’t we train him to walk on two legs first? If we let him be, it’d be like letting a newborn kitten walk on the runway.”

“Indeed,” the model agreed with him, a troubled expression on his flawless features. “Having Leona perform when he doesn’t even have the basis of walking is kinda hard. If we can’t handle both at the same time, then we should focus on walking.” 

He sighed. “I hate to admit it, but he has a commanding aura that could make him the main model. It’d be a waste if we don’t utilize that.” 

“Scarabia got 100 points for walking. So now, try challenging the dancing part.” Vil gave his underclassmen a pleasant smile. “You guys will have the role of making the festival livelier. Your performance could also make the shitty main model stand out more.”

“Ah, we must follow Schoenheit’s plan to fill the hole that Kingscholar built,” Crewel said. 

“Leona is so hopeless. I wonder if the both of us can cover him well.” Jamil rubbed his chin in thought. 

“Let’s do our best! I already promised Leona that I’m going to take care of him.” Kalim, the little cinnamon roll, had a look of determination on his face. 

“As a student from Savanaclaw, I feel so ashamed. I’m so sorry that he’s such a troublesome leader.” Ruggie sighed. 

Man, they were all roasting him so much. Mari bit her lip, trying not to laugh at the situation as she didn't wanna be mean to him. 

“I could also be your coach on teaching you how to walk on two feet,” Grimm told him, smirking. 

“You guys…” Leona growled, glaring at them. “The moment I stay quiet, you all really couldn’t shut your mouths.” 

Then, Crewel hit him with his whip. “Stop barking!” 

She flinched at the noise. Oof, that’s gotta hurt. 

The teacher smiled and placed a hand on his hip. “Listen up, puppies. Take in Schoenheit’s lesson and finish up the most perfect show ever!” He ordered them. 

“Come on. Immediately start the lesson for the Fairy Gala!” Vil smirked. 

And with that, he started coaching the three performers. In the meantime, Mari and Ruggie decided to practice their part. She sat down on a chair, wearing a plastic crown that she pinned to her hair. It took them a few attempts to get it right. 

“Wow, their performance is exquisite! I can’t help but keep my eyes on these mysterious fairies!” Mari exclaimed, doing her best to act her part as the fairy queen. It was difficult to keep herself from laughing. 

“Got it!” Ruggie grinned, holding up her plastic crown that he swapped out. “Did you notice it?” 

She shook her head. “That was perfect! I didn’t feel a thing. How long did it take?” 

“Shishishi,” he did his signature laugh, “Only 6 seconds to take out the pins. Leona really thought that I’d need 10 seconds.” 

“Great! Now all we need is for those three to get their act straight,” Grimm cheered and they decided to check on their progress, making their way to Pomefiore’s ballroom. 

“It hurts,” Kalim groaned. “Sorry for bumping into you again.” 

“Kalim, just now you were supposed to step forward. Timing is key,” Jamil told him in a calm manner. 

“You have beautiful posture but you make too many mistakes when you swing your body that way,” Vil spoke up. 

“When I get too excited, it’s hard to control my arms.” The white-haired dorm leader rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish expression on his face. 

“And Jamil, you make no mistakes with your dance but it’s too perfect to the point that it lacks the atmosphere that would make the festival livelier.” 

“Vil, thank you for your hard work. We came to see how practice is going,” Ruggie said, walking into the room with his hands resting behind his head. “Is our leader doing well?” He snickered, turning to Leona. They were greeted with a chaotic sight. Leona was balancing a couple of vases on his head and shoulders. Sounds of water sloshing around coming from inside the vases. 

His eyes widened in shock. “What’s happened?!” 

“Vil! Get these off of me!” Leona barked at the model. 

“It’s a method for correcting your posture. You must walk around the room without pouring any water from the vase,” he responded. 

“You bastard…!” Leona growled, before he got splashed with water. His clothes became soaked. 

“Restart.” Vil remained calm, crossing his arms. “Don’t worry. We have plenty of water to refill.” 

“AH I CAN’T DO THIS ANYMORE! I QUIT!” The soaked beastman cried out. “I don’t care if it going to keep snowing, I can’t keep doing these stupid things.” 

Ruggie sighed, his ears folded. He shrugged. “Leona is hopeless. Kalim and Jamil keep messing up when dancing. Can we really keep up when the day of the Fairy Gala arrives?” He wondered. 

“If they fail to capture the audience’s attention, we’ll be the ones in danger when we need to swap out the crown.” Grimm wore a fearful expression, holding onto Mari for comfort. 

Mari caressed her partner’s fur, contemplating what’s to come. “Maybe we should try a different plan…” She mumbled. But then again, it’s likely too late for that. 

“No problem,” Vil reassured them, still oddly calm as ever. “I’ll bet with my model spirit that I'll make the “Monopolize both the crown and their attention” plan successful.” 

“But how are you going to do it?” Ruggie asked. 

A smile formed on his handsome features. 

“There’s only one way to make this work.” 

Then his face broke out into a harsh glare, piercing the souls of anyone who dared look directly into his eyes. “By being stricter! If I need to force your own body to memorize the correct posture, then I will beat them into you so that you can never forget!” 

SMACK! 

The three men screamed in pain and shock. Everyone’s eyes were wide open, including the stealth group. 

“He’s using magic to slap their butts!” Ruggie exclaimed. 

Vil crossed his arms, continuing to direct his merciless glare at them. If looks could kill, they’d be sent straight to the Underworld. “Three of you, stand up. From now on, if you sit down without my permission, I’ll have you squat 500 times.”

“Leona, place the vase on your head and redo it. If you pour it, squat for an hour.” 

His expression turned into one of exasperation. “We can’t keep doing this if you don’t train your body.” 

He turned to the two Scarabia students. “Kalim and Jamil, three-legged run around the school if either one of you makes a mistake. It’s a joint responsibility.” 

“No way…!” 

Leona glared back. “Acting all bossy… Just who the fuck do you think you are?!” 

“Worldwide supermodel, Vil Schoenheit!” he shouted and used his magic to spank their butts once more. The force was so strong that it caused tears to come out of Kalim’s eyes. 

“What a demon coach…” Grimm muttered under his breath and hid behind his supervisor. 

Grueling training has begun for the three poor unfortunate souls. 

Today was the day of the Fairy Gala. The group had been preparing, making sure that everything was perfect. Vil was applying makeup on them, his expertise in cosmetics was truly something awe-inspiring. He made sure to accentuate their best features and give them makeup looks to die for. 

“It’s your turn,” he turned to the prefect, who sat on a chair in front of him. His fingers hooked from under her chin and tilted her head up to get a better look at what he’s gotta work with. She gazed back at him with curiosity sparkling in her eyes. He hummed for a moment, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Your inner beauty revolves around your motherly heart. So, I’d like to give you a more innocent and demure, yet mature look.” 

The model got to applying the makeup. She followed whatever instructions he gave her while he did so. It was quite a pleasant experience getting her makeup done by him. As he worked, the rest of the group fixed their costumes. 

“Where do I wrap this cloth?” She could hear Kalim ask from behind Vil. 

“Give it to me. Just put it on your shoulder… Okay, done.” Jamil helped him out. 

“Wearing these expensive clothes really got me feeling nervous… And itchy,” Ruggie mumbled. 

“Just act natural and the fairies will think you’re one of them. Don’t be nervous,” Leona spoke up. 

Vil stepped back to survey his work, seeing whether he was satisfied with it or not. He leaned in and added a few more finishing touches and a small smile pulled at his lips. He took a small hand mirror and showed it to her. 

Her eyes widened in shock. She looked… ethereal. The overall style was more natural compared to the others as he didn’t want it to clash with the overall aesthetic of her costume. She had dusty rose pink strawberry-scented lip gloss that shimmered in the light and highlights only served to make her seem angelic. A delicate beauty that seemed out of this world. The true meaning of exotic. 

He took everything into account and made a masterpiece. And it was enough for Mari to see herself as gorgeous, which she believed to be an impossible feat until now. 

“I take it that you’re speechless at my skill.” Vil’s voice reached her ears. All she could do was nod in silence, mouth agape. He chuckled. “You’ve graduated from potato to beautiful fairy. At least, for today. If you worked harder, you could maintain your beauty.” 

She looked up at him with a shining grin and sparkling eyes. “Thanks, Vil!” 

After sprinkling fairy powder on her, he stepped back and allowed the rest of the group to see her. But if one were to look closer, they might’ve noticed the red dusting his ears. 

“Everyone is so sparkly...” Grimm smiled. 

“That is thanks to the needlework, but the effect mostly comes from the fairy powder,” Jamil explained. 

“It looks really good on you guys,” Mari complimented them, chuckling. 

“That’s my line,” Leona said, then turned to her. He eyed her up and down before he smirked. “Not bad for a herbivore, I guess.” 

“Yeah, you look exactly like a fairy.” Jamil smiled, crossing his arms. 

She couldn’t help but blush at the compliments, “Thank you…” 

“Are you guys ready?” Vil asked. He gave them a firm glare. “If you lose focus now, our strict lessons will be for nothing. Look at the mirror, check your makeup.” 

They all checked their appearances one last time to make sure everything was perfect. 

“We started from an unsightly situation so I wasn’t sure if this was going to work.” He sighed, before a smile creeped up on his lips. “But I guess it’s not that bad after seeing the finished look.” 

“Vil…” Kalim sniffed, before he wrapped his arms around the tall blond and embraced him. “VIL! Thanks to you, I can dance on the runway. I’ll do my best!” 

“Don’t forget about the original goal,” he reminded him. His features softened up, a gentle smile on his face. It was rare to see him like this. “The mission is to get back the stone that the fairies stole from us.”

Aw, they looked so cute like that. After that little exchange, Scarabia’s dorm leader let go of him.

Vil closed his eyes and crossed his arms. “If we lose the magic stone, the usual school life will never come back again.” 

He gave them a harsh glare. “Listen up, okay? It’s war on the runway.” 

Then, he smirked. “Grab the crown and their attention with the greatest performance of all time!” His words were encouraging, filling the girl with a sense of determination. The fire in her soul burned brightly, undying. 

“Alright!” 

Vil looked out the window with an unreadable expression. He was confident in his ability to coach, so he shouldn’t have to worry about them messing up. At least, that’s what he told himself. However, something else was on his mind. It irked him to think that a magicless potato of a freshman would have such an effect on him. But he remembered the way she gazed at him with such genuine admiration. Her smile seemed to shine brighter than any star. 

He was no idiot, and he was certainly not the type to deny his feelings. He knew exactly what he was feeling. Rook had always blabbered to him nonstop about this sort of subject. Not only that, but he was aware that he wasn’t the only one. Other men had been vying for her attention for far longer than he has been. 

But no matter. He just had to show her why he’s the best option.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #384

“watch your tongue or have it cut from your head”

Do you post to say happy birthday on other people’s walls? Sometimes. Depends on my mood and the person. When was the last time you saw a rainbow? Idr. What’s your favorite television commercial? I don't watch TV enough at all to have one. And who has a favorite commercial, anyway? Do you trip a lot? I don't really trip a lot, but kinda fumble over my footing and stray a bit. I'm horrible at walking straight, and it's gotten worse as my legs have. How old is your television? The one in the living room is god knows how old. My parents were still together when they bought it. When did you last talk on the phone with someone? A couple days ago for my appointment with my psychiatrist. Are you currently sleepy? I'm quite convinced I'm permanently tired. Are you hot or cold natured? I am ALWAYS fucking hot, ugh. Do you take any advanced classes? I took mostly Honors classes in school. Do you have weak upper body strength? My body is just weak as a whole. What is the worst insult someone can call you? Emotionally weak. Are you good at sketching? If we're talking meerkats, haha. They're the only complex thing that I can freehand no problem without needing a reference, honestly. Ever play Angry Birds? Nah. I thought the movie was cute, though. Have you ever been to the zoo before? Yeah. Has anyone ever been weirdly obsessed with you? No. Are you afraid someone might steal your identity someday? It's not something I actively worry about at all. Like, you don't want my identity, I promise. Do you have any talents that come naturally? Growing up, adults always told me I was a "gifted" artist and writer. Also that I seem to have an unnaturally strong connection with animals. I've always been that person where a pet's owner is like "omg ____ never lets people do that" and whatnot. Have you ever had plastic surgery before? I haven't. It's funny though, how opposed to it I used to be... Like goddamn, I was such a fucking stupid and honestly judgmental teenager, regarding many things. I look back on her and cringe. Like damn dude, if you have a safe surgical procedure to help you enjoy the body you're stuck with the rest of your life, you go for it, boo. Are you afraid of airplane rides? Not really. What’s the best Valentine’s Day gift you’ve gotten? There was this one year where Jason had to go to work on Valentine's Day and I was super bummed, yet he still surprised me with a heart-shaped box of chocolates, roses, and a game I really wanted, Heavy Rain. I thought it was the sweetest. What is something you lose often? My phone. ;-; Do you enter a lot of sweepstakes? I don't enter any. Do you consider yourself physically active? *chuckles nervously* Do you have Netflix? Yeah. Favorite salad dressing? That Olive Garden replica you can buy at the store. Do you enjoy dancing? Once upon a time I did. My body could never handle it now. Have you ever considered writing a novel? Many times. Snow or sand? Snow, by twenty thousand miles. It is VERY hard for me to walk through sand, and I also hate hate hate hate HATE the sensation. Do you like sour candy? Heeeeeell yeah man. Have you gotten any injuries lately? If so, what & how? Nothing notable. Are you a clumsy person? Like you would not fucking believe. Last male you talked to in person? I think my primary physician's nurse. Are you thinking about asking anyone out? No. Pink lemonade or regular lemonade? Pink lemonade, for sure. But I love both. Chocolate or strawberry milk? CHOCOLATE. Strawberry milk is disgusting. Have you ever won a contest on the radio?No. Is there a song that reminds you of your best friend? There's quite a few. Has a book ever made you cry? Yes. Do you automatically check your phone when you wake up? Yes, for the time. Do you know anyone who has a pet bunny? Not that I'm aware. What store or website would you most like a gift card for? Rebel's Market. How do you feel about wolves? I adore wolves. Beautiful, majestic creatures with very interesting social dynamics. Name your top 3 favorite musical instruments. Electric guitar, violin, piano. What was the last book(s) you bought at a bookstore? At an actual bookstore, I think it was The Fault In Our Stars, which I never actually read. Do you use Pinterest? Yes. Do you know any sign language? No. Do you have a favorite poem? No. Do you have a dog? No. The one we were pretty much stuck with has a home now. Have you ever read The Little House on the Prairie series? I haven't. Have you ever gone on a service trip to an underprivileged country? No. Have you ever performed in front of more than 100 people? Yes, for dance. When (if ever) was the last time you went to church? Forever ago, I don't even remember the last time. What's a quote you think is really powerful? There's a whole lot. The first one that came to mind was, "An eye for an eye will leave the world blind," which I do believe has great depth in it. Have you ever had to do your laundry at a laundromat? Yes. Are you the oldest person who lives in your household? No. My mom is turning 60 (... I think?) this year. If you have tattoos, how long have you had them? I got my first the day I turned 18. Do you and your dad have similar personalities? We're alike in some ways, imo most notably in that we have NO fucking common sense, embarrassing as that is to admit. We're both kinda slow at understanding things, too. What were the last three things you had to drink? Mountain Lightning, milk, and water. What did your family usually do for Easter when you were a kid? Us three kids all got Easter baskets full of stuff, and we'd go egg-hunting when we were all awake. My little sister Nicole would always wake our parents up in excitement, haha. My parents hid plenty throughout the house, and there was always this one "special" egg that was actually from Mom's childhood and was extremely intricate and beautiful. You basically "won" the hunt if you found it, and it was extremely well-hidden. When you have house guests over, where do they sleep? Historically since living here, my two half-sisters and their spouses (the only people who've stayed over) slept in what is *technically* Mom's room, but for whatever reason this woman still insists on sleeping on the couch in the living room, I guess because she's used to it after all the years she didn't have her own room and bed. Are you emotionally stable? LOLOOLOLOOLLOLOOLOOLOLLOOLOLLLLLLLLLLL Do you still talk to the very first person you had sex with? No. Are you an atheist? No. I don't quite know how to define what I am, but since I believe there's SOME higher power, I don't think it's fitting to call me an atheist. What’s the largest bug you’ve ever found in your house? Hm... I'm unsure. Probably a male mosquito, 'cuz them bitches are big'ins. Would it annoy you if a stranger called you "sweetie?" If it was a man, I'd be creeped out. Are you into fashion design? Not really. What’s the worst thing you’ve gone through in the past year? My leg muscles continuing to degrade, honestly. I have to do something about this shit. How did you get your last bruise? I fell when stepping over the stupid dog gate. Have your parents ever forgotten your birthday? Yikes, no. Would you rather have some bacon or beef jerky? Bacon. Do you like your orange juice with lots or no pulp? NONE. Do you wear skinny jeans? Back when I wore jeans, they were the only kind I wore. What projects are you doing now for school? I'm outta school. What’s the most number of comments you have on a Facebook picture? What is the picture of? I have no idea. Do you like coconut flavored things? No. Have you ever met a famous author before? No. Do you know anybody who has been raped before? No, thank god. I know someone who might've almost been, though. I don't know what the fucking pig was going to do to her if my sister and I weren't there. Have you ever wished for bigger boobs? No. Being overweight, I just want smaller ones now, haha. Have you ever gone a full day without interacting with another person? I've gone many days without it. How many relationships have you been in that lasted less than a year? Four, if you're counting everyone that had the "boyfriend" title. Where were you going the last time you were on a plane? Home from Illinois. Where were you going the last time you were on a train? I've never been on one. Have you ever been significantly more physically fit than you are now? Holy fuck, yes. You would never guess now that I was perfectly healthy in high school especially, yet I still thought I was kinda fat. It hurts so much to look back on. When growing up, did you parents keep the house very tidy? I mean not excessively, but Mom was pretty dedicated to keeping the house in decent condition. With three kids though, of course the house was somewhat messy with toys and all. When you shop at IKEA, do you always stop to eat a snack/meal in the cafeteria? ... There's a fucking cafeteria in a furniture store? o_o I've never been there before. How many watches do you own? None, save for one in my "treasure box" from when I was a kid. I was SO SO SO obsessed with Finding Nemo that I kept my broken one. I did the same with my horribly aged sneakers, like the soles were coming off and Mom finally made me stop wearing them, ha. Are there any ways in which you greatly differ from everyone else in your family? I do fucking nothing and am useless to society. Should teenagers be allowed to have their cell phones with them in class? Yes, because emergencies happen. I personally think it's best to maybe have your cell phone flipped over on the corner of your desk or something and on vibrate, that way the noise isn't too disruptive and the teacher can see you're not just using it for other purposes. Do you have any gay relatives? Yes. Have you ever had to have a pet put down? Sigh, multiple. Have you unfollowed, deleted, or blocked anyone on social media recently? If so, what was the reason? Not recently. How many cups of coffee do you typically drink per day? None. Do you know what your vocal range is? No, but it's not very broad. What’s the biggest financial mistake you’ve ever made? I haven't been in this position before. Have you ever been in a relationship where there was a large difference in maturity levels? No. What’s the longest you’ve ever stayed as a guest at someone’s house? I wanna say over a month while we were technically homeless. How bad was your acne when you were a teenager? Oh dear, it was rough. Like there were people who had it worse than me, but ya girl was lookin preeeetty rough lmao.

[itsclydebitches]

Welcome back, everyone! 

We’re now on Chapter Eight and once again the story is told from Velvet’s perspective. So our starting question is: why is she getting the most attention so far? If memory serves, the PoV order has been Coco, Velvet, Sun, Fox, Yatsu, Velvet, Scarlet, Velvet again — meaning that in a text balancing eight main characters, so far four of them have received a single chapter, two (Sage and Neptune) zero chapters, and one three chapters. That seems rather imbalanced. I suppose it makes a certain amount of sense if we factor in RWBY viewers’ familiarity with Velvet, but I’d wager we’ve gotten far more screen time with Sun overall. My only point being, why Velvet? It’s not that you can’t make her a focal point of the narrative, I just haven’t seen anything to explain that choice in the first 100+ pages. Her perspective hasn’t brought anything unique to the story, something we couldn’t have gotten from the seven other characters involved in these events… but here we are, back with Velvet for the next six pages.

Yeah, this chapter is short. Silver lining?

We learn that Team NOVA is on their second mission — why bother showing us the first when they’re an entirely new, volatile team, right? That would be silly! — escorting a technician “through the Grimm-infested mountains just outside of Oscuro Combat School.” So Shade students regularly conduct real huntsmen work but throw a fit over having to spar with one another? Interesting. See, if I were a civilian who got even a glimpse of what goes on inside these schools, I would not trust these kids with my life. 

Lo and behold, things go horribly! We learn right off the bat that “The technician had been knocked unconscious in a skirmish with a band of Dromedons.” For those of you with an iffy memory like mine, these are the camel-like creatures that spit acid and… that’s about all we know about them. That’s really all we need for this scene though because this grimm nailed the tech in his leg, a wound which now requires “serious medical attention.” Great. Gus Caspian, who I learn is a younger friend from the previous novel, is trying to treat the wound as best he can, clearly a little freaked out about being here, “but apparently Oscuro teachers didn’t coddle students any more than Theodore did.”

Do you expect them to? Despite Atlas being the only one who combines their academies with their military, we can’t pretend like these schools aren’t teaching teenagers to wield deadly weapons and kill things with them. There’s no institution on Earth (or Remnant) that should “coddle” those looking to take on that responsibility. I mean yeah, we had moments where Ozpin encouraged them to be kids, like after the food fight and during the dance, but he still took a hard stance whenever there was an actual lesson in the works: “No. You will be falling.” Based on the age of the students, the academies are akin to colleges. In real world college if you don’t do your work or don’t pay attention in class, well… nothing that bad happens. This is by no means a call to not do you work, merely an acknowledgement from a formerly grade obsessed student that individual test scores really don’t have the impact on your life that it feels like they will at the time. Trust me on this. So yeah, some leeway is great in the real world… but when the students are fighting monsters and defending others from death? Then the schools should absolutely discourage any slacker-esque attitude. The concept of any institution “coddling” huntsmen is horrifying. 

Note though that the chapter starts after all the action has taken place. We skip the rest of reinitiation. We skip NOVA’s first mission. We skip the attack that landed Velvet in this predicament. It’s not automatically a bad technique provided you’re skipping over boring parts to get to the interesting bits… but this isn’t interesting. We learn almost nothing new from this scene: Velvet misses her old team, her new teammates don’t believe in her, Nebula is mean. Those are the emotional beats here — things we’ve known for at least three chapters now. The only thing that’s introduced is the advertisement on Gus’ scroll, which could have been been added to any other scene.

Let’s revise a bit: 

We get to see the battle against the Dromedons wherein Velvet uses her camera, revealing her weapon to Team NOVA and earning more of their respect. Information about Gus’ improvement is shown through his combat abilities as he’s unexpectedly chucked into this battle (perhaps with him using his semblance to further his growth there too). While taking a hit he loses his scroll, slightly damaging it. In the aftermath Velvet retrieves it for him and finds this ad displayed, growing curious. Over the course of Gus’ explanations the rest of Team NOVA is clued into Velvet’s worry and suspicion. What’s wrong? It’s just an ad. But you’re clearly hiding something… Now, does she tell her new team about the Crown, or keep it silent and risk the tenuous trust they’ve just created?

Why is Myers skipping over all the action and potential growth?

Instead we get the boring stuff. Velvet admires Gus’ uniform because of how it’s built for the heat and recalls that “Coco had been messing around with new outfit designs for Team CFVY.” I swear though, 95% of my enjoyment with this novel comes from the throwaway details. I would actually like seeing how Coco combines her personal love of fashion with the necessity of designing combat gear appropriate for the environment. Maybe they frame it as merely a hobby outside of their huntsmen work, giving them an excuse to keep helping their former teammates. That could be cool! 

Though of course, this is the series where Cinder, Neo, Hazel, and Emerald all walk into the ice Kingdom with skin bared, so...

(You all are going to freeze to death, have fun.) 

“Velvet’s ears swiveled around, listening for danger.” That’s anything detail I like. At the very least Before the Dawn remembers that Velvet is a faunus and frequently incorporates that into her character. She’s on the lookout because other than Gus tending the unconscious technician, she’s alone “on the sidelines.” It’s framed simultaneously as the group rejecting her and as an unavoidable necessity: “it wasn’t like she didn’t have an important task of her own [repairing the relay], one that none of her teammates had the expertise to perform.”

Wait. Why does Velvet have this expertise?

The justification is that she’s “handy with electronics” and “Anesidora was incredibly complicated, and she’d designed it herself,” but that’s like saying “I built a computer so I’ll come fix your refrigerator. That’s easier.” I don’t know, maybe someone with the ability to build a computer from the ground up could figure out a refrigerator on the fly, but they feel like different skill-sets to me. All electronics are not built the same and claiming that because you understand one you automatically understand all others — even supposedly simpler pieces of tech — seems a little suspect. If that were the case, we’d have no need for experts who fix your phone, your television, your toaster, and your watch. Surely if you understand one you understand the others, right? It’s the same assumption here: If Velvet can understand building a hard light weapon, then she must understand relay communications too!

…right.

She even goes so far as to say that they “probably should have left the technician at Oscuro—she could have done this on her own” yet just a few minutes later it’s, “Velvet double-checked everything. She didn’t know what was wrong. She glanced back at the technician, Gus still at his side. The guy was out cold. He’d taken a pretty hard knock to the head. Well, she had tried.” So she’s confident enough to think that the technician is unnecessary one moment and then looking to him for help the next? Which of course isn’t followed by any sort of revelation. Velvet doesn’t acknowledge that her knowledge isn’t as specialized as she had assumed it was, or that huntsmen rely on non-combat experts for other things. She just shrugs and…

…kicks it.

Yeah. Velvet’s skill amounts to kicking the box until it works. Which, of course, it does. 

I can’t with this novel.

More seriously though, that’s terrible characterization. Not only does it undermine Velvet’s actual skill to reduce it to being “handy with electronics” — isn’t every huntsmen “handy with electronics” then, considering they all build their gun/energy/dust weaponry in school? — but it adds another layer of supposed uselessness to the adult professionals around her. Theodore doesn’t teach them anything because, as their headmaster, he’s removed from everyday interactions. Rumpole can’t be trusted now and every lesson she tries to impart is rejected. The unnamed technician who is referred to only by his professional title is deemed unnecessary, knocked out, and then indeed proves useless when Velvet magically does his job for him. So why are any of them in school? Why aren’t they just running the world with their superior knowledge and skill-sets? Every time the RWBY franchise puts its characters in a position where they might actually learn something through failure, it pulls back at the last second. ‘Never mind, they actually knew this all along!’ Or, ‘Never mind, the things they’ve been taught are stupid, so best to forget them!’ I struggle to understand what kind of story I’m reading — or watching — when the characters are already framed as perfect. Or rather, flaws absolutely exist (as these recaps attest), but the story pretends they’re not there. 

I hesitate to use the term “Mary Sue” here due to its origins and history. Meaning, the Mary Sue was conceived of as a parody, a deliberate exaggeration to comment on the types of characters written in the Star Trek fandom. Then people began using “Mary Sue” as a catch-all term for any female character that people deemed too talented (regardless of how talented their male counterparts might be), we started acknowledging the sexist undertones of that, then started reclaiming the term as something to celebrate and embrace… but we haven’t quite gotten there yet. “Mary Sue” is still a pretty loaded name to force on a character and it carries a lot of implications that I absolutely do not want to attach to Velvet. Yet it’s also the closest term I know to describe the act of an author giving a character what feels like a badly justified skillset. Such as “handy with technology” actually meaning “can fix anything powered by electricity or Dust as the plot needs.” 

Velvet is the action movie hacker going, “I’m in” is what I’m getting at. It’s not a compliment lol.

During all this grimm watching and relay fixing, Gus wants to know why they don’t just high-tail it out of there. Especially since the person they brought to do a specific job can no longer do that job. Mission’s a bust. Velvet gives what sounds like a decent explanation: “Retreating from Grimm isn’t an option when you’re fighting this close to a settlement. If we leave without destroying them, the Grimm will just look for another target.” AKA the settlement itself. 

Thing is, by this logic any grimm that are currently close enough to attack them are already close enough to the settlement to latch onto those people as the next target. They’d pick up on the civilians whether Velvet’s group was there to kill them or not. The group is there though, so they feel responsible, but why not just head to the settlement anyway? If the grimm follow you, fine. You can still fight them AND you now get the additional benefit of any other huntsmen/students who might be there. If they don’t follow you, great. If they were close enough to the settlement all along… again, this was always going to happen. 

Which, to be clear, isn’t the worst stance to take. I understand them wanting to avoid any potential risk by leaving/leading the grimm towards anyone else. I only want to point out the additional stupidity of fighting them when you’ve already got an unconscious civilian in your care, a barely trained student, and the whole reason you came out here might now be for naught. Yeah, Velvet gets the relay working with her magic kick and yeah, the rest of the team handles the grimm just fine, but none of them are able to see into the future and know that both these events will occur. Gus’ ‘Why are we staying here? It’s dangerous and pointless’ question has merit.

But of course, no one in RWBY would ever consider retreat. It’s a very iffy characteristic at this point. 

We learn — or at least I learn now — that Gus’ semblance is the ability to enhance others’ emotions, so basically the opposite of Ren’s. That would indeed be incredibly handy provided he has good control over it. We get another reference to Yatsuhashi’s “meditation exercises” that helped Gus’ grandfather in the last novel. Velvet theorizes that his improved memory has more to do with Yatsuhashi’s semblance than any generic meditation: “No one knew for sure what Yatsuhashi had done with his Semblance when he’d tried to heal Edward’s mind … even Yatsuhashi wasn’t sure. His ability was to erase memories, but it was possible that there was more to Yatsu’s Semblance than that.” Um… subtle yikes? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad things have turned out well for the guy, but if I were the grandfather—or a family member of his—I wouldn’t really want a student messing around with my mind when he “wasn’t sure” what he was doing. Especially when the base skill is to erase memories, not recover or strengthen them. Honestly, I love taking a good look at fantasy series because half the time you realize how horrifying things actually are, once you strip away the common place aspects of these skills. An equivalent third year college student is running around experimenting with peoples’ memories to see if he can achieve something other than erasing them. Great!

The good thing is that Yatsuhashi is just as suspicious of this power as I am. Velvet things that he “hated messing with people’s minds.” Understandable, bud. I’d hate the ability too.

While they’ve got this time alone, Gus mentions that he had planned to contact Velvet soon anyway. Two of his classmates have gone missing and though his school has told Shade about it—there’s at least some of that additional info that Rumpole mentioned—he wanted to let her know too because remember, no one in this franchise trusts the professionals to fix problems. It’s a mindset I’d better understand if the professionals were actually inept. Or the protagonists weren’t training to be those professionals. It’s still exceedingly weird to me that there’s so little respect and trust for huntsmen while they desperately try to become huntsmen…

Something something broken systems, but RWBY isn’t interested in exploring that. 

So yeah, Gus ropes Velvet in with the hope that she can help. He says that they were last seen attending a new club called Mirage that hosts one-on-one fights for a championship title. So… it’s not really a club, right? Sure, sure, we’ve all seen Fight Club, but generally that’s used to describe dancing, not fighting. It’s a rather misleading term for what they were actually looking for. No one else finds this odd though. Nor that the information was sent out to select, powerful individuals. Nothing shady about this, folks! Velvet obviously recognizes all these details—a club, powerful semblances, a crown in the advertisement—and asks Gus to pass it along to her.

Our plot forwarded ever so slightly, their conversation ends as Arslan calls Velvet on the now fixed connection. One of the first thing she says is that Octavia used the other students as bait for the grimm.

At least Velvet shares my reaction: “What?!”

Octavia then takes an already bad situation and makes it that much worse. Listening in, she defiantly says, “That’s right. And it worked. It’s called strategy.” She confirms that the students are “mostly” okay and taunts Velvet about inviting them to her “Baby Brigade and you can all cry about it!” I hope I don’t need to take up precious document space by explaining how awful this is. Overlooking the fact that these would-be huntsmen are willing to put their younger peers’ lives in danger like that—and then mock them for needing mental health resources after the fact—why is Octavia the one pulling the murderous Mean Girl act? Yeah, she was an asshole during reinitiation, but wasn’t the whole point of that to demonstrate that she and Velvet got a little closer? Even if she won’t admit it? She saved Velvet from flying down that hole, but now she risks the lives of students at least three years her junior? If anyone should be this violent and antagonistic towards Velvet, it’s Nebula. The most she’s done for Velvet is offer a hand up, otherwise we just watched her express glee in getting to fight her and mock her for not abandoning Beacon… the same sort of behavior we’re seeing from Octavia now. Does Myers think that these two characters are interchangeable? That he can just pick one willy-nilly per chapter and let her play at being Velvet’s Mean Girl?

As a lovely anon reminded me recently, these are also the girls that were created and backed by fans. If I had put money and creative energy into these OCs, I’d be pretty frustrated with how the RT team has been treating them.

Arslan at least is complimentary towards Velvet for fixing the relay—“Truly, great work today”— and Velvet herself is appropriately shocked at Octavia’s behavior. That’s more emotional consistency than I’ve come to expect of this book, so I’ll take whatever little bits I can get.

Arslan signs off with plans to meet back up soon and Velvet thinks about how “everyone was safe after the mission, which was no small thing.” I’d agree… except for Velvet’s early thoughts about how easy this mission supposedly was and Octavia’s decision to put her teammates in danger. It sounds like if anything did go sideways, it’s in part because you chose to enter this overconfidently and then actively made it more dangerous.

Finally, the chapter ends with Velvet believing that she might be able to make her new team work with time. Our final line, in its own paragraph is: “If they had time.”

Am I the only one who finds this weird? The line reads like an omniscient bit of foreboding. Velvet thinks about how she just needs time and we, the reader, hear that this won’t be possible. Except this chapter is told from Velvet’s perspective. So why does she think they might not have time? Because of the Crown? I assume there will be an attack towards the end of the novel—can’t have a RWBY story without the final, epic battle—but right now Velvet has no reason to believe that an attack is imminent, or that the teams will change back, or anything else that would interfere with her hopes of strengthening this relationship… so why the rather confident sounding pessimism? I don’t know. I don’t pretend to know anymore lol.

At least this chapter was short? As said, silver linings. We’re still treading water though: Velvet’s bond with her new team seems to have regressed after two missions, rather than improved, and Gus didn’t reveal anything we didn’t already know, just further confirmed it. I assume that next chapter Velvet and the others will visit Mirage. Let’s hope something actually happens then. 

See you! 💜

[Ko-Fi]

[fanficshiddles]

Caught in his web, Chapter 27

Chloe felt like she was in a bit of a daydream while she was getting ready for the first day of college.

Part of her was excited, another was still slightly shocked because when Loki initially took her, she didn’t believe she would even get to see the light of day again, never mind have freedom to go to college. But then there was also a part of her that was just terrified in general.

She knew first day jitters were to be expected, but she never realised how bad they would actually be.

When she went down for breakfast, Loki was sitting in his usual spot at the head of the table.

‘Good morning, doll.’ He smiled brightly at her when she entered.

‘Morning.’ She smiled back at him and sat down, Tania came over to ask what she wanted to eat then went to prepare it for her.

‘Are you looking forward to starting college today?’ Loki asked as he put down his newspaper.

Chloe caught part of it, it looked like a picture of Loki from last week when he was opening a new foodbank that he’d funded.

‘Uhm. Yeah, I am.’ She nodded and then thanked Tania when she placed her breakfast down on front of her.

‘You do not sound so convincing.’ Loki said, taking a sip of his tea.

‘I am… I just… have a bit of first day nerves, is all.’ She said as she swirled her spoon around her cereal.

Loki raised an eyebrow then stood up and moved behind her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and started massaging her as he leaned down. ‘Well, firstly, eat your breakfast. You definitely need it. And secondly, it’s natural to be a bit nervous. It’s the first day of the rest of your life, after all. However, you are a very clever girl, Chloe. You have good friends, too. I know you’ll be fine. And if there’s anything, anything at all that isn’t fine, you just let me know and I’ll sort it.’ He leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

Chloe knew he would do exactly that. And it did make her feel a tiny bit better.

Ralph took her to college and dropped her off. He said he would collect her after too, on Loki’s request. Loki had wanted to go with her but he had to start work before she left, so it wasn’t feasible.

Chloe was fine once she met up with Georgie and Amanda. They went to their classes together, luckily they were all studying fashion design so were in the same classes.

It didn’t last overly long though. During their lunch break, the three girls were having lunch together when two other students appeared. Chloe felt her stomach drop, she hated those two, they had always picked on Chloe, Georgie and Amanda from primary school right up and through secondary school too.

‘Oh great.’ Chloe whispered to her friends as the two bullies, Laura and Taylor, approached them.

‘Well what do we have here?’ Laura sneered, folding her arms over her chest and staring at the three. ‘I’m surprised you three even got to step foot in here with your terrible fashion sense.’

Chloe, Amanda and Georgie had tried multiple things over the years. Telling their parents, the teachers, being nasty back, killing them with kindness and also just ignoring them. But nothing worked, they were still horrible bitches towards them.

So Chloe just rolled her eyes and carried on eating.

But Laura didn’t like that. She smacked Chloe’s hand, knocking her sandwich out of her hand and then slammed her hands on the table. ‘I’m speaking to you, bitch!’ She shouted.

‘Seriously? We’re not in school anymore, you’re supposed to be a damn adult, why don’t you start acting like one?’ Chloe snapped at her.

Laura and Taylor laughed.

‘She’s got a voice after all.’ Taylor sniggered.

‘Just leave us alone?’ Georgie tried, but ended up with Taylor getting right up into her face.

Before anything could escalate, a teacher luckily walked into the cafeteria. So Taylor and Laura backed away, in-case they were seen.

‘We will be seeing plenty of you three nerds.’ Laura laughed as they both walked away.

Chloe wanted to be sick. She sighed and put her face into her hands. ‘I can’t fucking believe this. Why did they have to be here, out of everyone we know?’

‘It really sucks.’ Amanda grumbled.

The rest of the day went ok. But it turned out the three friends had some classes with Laura and Taylor. Who decided to make their day hell, so Chloe was rather relieved when it was finally the end of the day.

Ralph was waiting outside to pick her up, she had never felt so relieved to get into the car than she did at that moment. She let out a big sigh as she sat down on the leather seats.

‘Are you alright?’ Ralph asked, glancing in the mirror.

‘Yeah… Just… A shitty first day.’ She sighed again.

‘I’m sure it will be better tomorrow. First day jitters are normal.’ He said and drove on.

‘I doubt it.’ She grumbled quietly, not thinking he heard her.

When they got back to Loki’s, she actually felt relieved to be… home? She still wasn’t sure about calling it home. But it was better than being at college right now.

Loki didn’t seem to be in, so she grabbed a quick bite to eat then went up to her room. She sat at the desk in her room and started doing some college work, finding she was able to focus so much better than when in class with Laura and Taylor constantly nagging at her.

She was so focused on her work she never heard Loki entering her room and creeping up behind her to see what she was working on.

‘Good day?’

He smirked when she almost jumped right out of her chair. She spun around and glared up at him for scaring her.

‘Stop doing that!’ She whined.

Loki chuckled and put his hands on the arm rests as he leaned down, lips close to hers. ‘I just find it so adorable when you jump, doll.’ He closed the distance and kissed her on the lips softly, taking her breath away.

When he stood up straight, he moved around to perch against the desk. ‘So, how was your day?’ He asked as she turned around to face him.

‘It was good.’ Chloe nodded and looked back to the work on her desk.

Loki frowned and leaned forward, gripping her chin. ‘Don’t lie to me, Chloe.’ His eyes pierced into hers, making her feel like she was trapped if she didn’t tell him the truth.

‘It… was… kinda crap.’ She said sadly.

Loki released her chin, now looking concerned. ‘What happened?’

Chloe ran her hand down her face. ‘There’s these two girls that went to our primary and secondary school. Bullies. Always picked on me, Georgie and Amanda. We tried everything to get them to stop, nothing worked. The teachers were useless. I tried telling them today that they’re adults and should act like it, but it just made them laugh. Throwing bits of paper at us during our lessons today, glaring at us and walking into us in the corridors. Knocking my lunch from my hand. It’s bloody childish, but so annoying. We had no idea they were going to the same college. Not to mention they always put us down about our capabilities of fashion designing.’ She let out a big breath after her rant.

‘Sorry… I just… I hate them so much.’

Loki reached out and cupped her cheek. ‘Don’t apologise. They do indeed sound very childish… What are their names?’

‘Taylor Wilson and Laura Henderson.’ Chloe said without thinking about his question.  

Loki paused, thinking. ‘Don’t fret about them, they won’t bother you anymore.’

Chloe’s eyes widened a little. ‘Wh… No, don’t hurt them!’ She squeaked.

As much as part of her thought she wouldn’t mind if they suddenly… died… She knew that wouldn’t be the right thing to do.

‘Leave it with me, doll.’ Loki stood and pulled his phone out, then started towards the door. ‘No one upsets my girl and gets away with it.’ He growled on his way out.

‘Ohhh shit.’ Chloe groaned and put her head down on the desk, she wasn’t sure if she should’ve told Loki or not now…

-

The following morning Chloe was expecting Ralph to be taking her to college again. But she was a little surprised when she found Loki waiting at the door for her.

‘I’m coming with you to drop you off today.’ He smiled and put his arm around her, kissing the top of her head.

‘Ok….’ She felt her stomach twist in uncertainty.

Loki had a few calls to make on the way there, Chloe just kept quiet and looked out the window. She was in a daze when Loki put his hand on her knee. She turned to look at him, he was smiling at her.

‘I want you to enjoy your time at college, it’s not just an important part of your life but it should also be one of the best. You shouldn’t have to be dreading to go every day because of two pathetic excuses for human beings. I’m glad you told me about them, and I hope you know you can come to me about anything at all. I will do my utmost to help you, ok?’ Loki said firmly, yet with a kindness in his eyes that soothed her.

Though there was a part of her that was still a little worried about what he’d done… Or was going to do.

‘Ok, thank you.’ She nodded.

When they arrived, Loki held the door open for her as she got out. There were many pupils heading into the college gates. Loki walked with her inside the grounds, then he turned to her and cupped her face, leaning down to kiss her. He didn’t care about the public display of affection, neither did she at first as she was lost in the feeling. But then when they stopped, she realised people were looking and whispering as they passed by.

‘Enjoy your day, doll.’ He winked at her.

‘Yeah… Thanks.’ She replied, slightly flustered as she hurried on inside.

By the time she sorted her things out at her locker and then grabbed something to eat from the cafeteria, since she’d not had breakfast before leaving, she got to her first class just on time. People were talking and smiling at her on the way, even holding doors for her when yesterday nobody seemed to give a shit.

She was confused, but shrugged it off. Thinking perhaps yesterday she had just been in a foul mood.

When she got to class, Amanda and Georgie were grinning from ear to ear.

‘What’s going on?’ Chloe asked, sitting down.

‘Why don’t you see for yourself.’ Amanda grinned and motioned with her head to the window that looked out to the front of the building.

Confused, she went and joined other pupils that were looking out. Her eyes widened when she saw Loki with the head teacher, and he was glaring at Laura and Taylor as they were leaving the premises.

‘What the…’ Chloe trailed off.

‘Turns out that Loki owns the damn college. What he says goes. And he wanted those two out.’ Amanda said, joining her by the window.

‘And I wonder why that is?’ Georgie said, joining them both as she nudged Chloe.

Chloe was in shock, she didn’t know what to say.

‘And it’s spread like wildfire that you are his girl. Some saw him kissing you when he dropped you off.’ Amanda grinned.

‘Oh crap.’ Chloe groaned.

‘Hey, Chloe.’ One of their classmates moved down to her. ‘What’s it like with Loki? He’s super hot and rich! You are one lucky girl.’

For Chloe it was much the same for the rest of the day. Other students asking her about Loki, some were just plain scared of her though and avoided her like the plague.

Even though she didn’t want to admit it… She rather liked the way everyone was nice and respectful towards her. Without Laura and Taylor there too, it was like she could finally breathe properly.

At the end of the day, she walked with Georgie and Amanda out of the gates, where she spotted Loki just down the street waiting outside the car.

He took off his sunglasses and smiled at them as they approached.

‘See you tomorrow, Chloe.’ Amanda and Georgie said, then they greeted Loki.

‘Would you girls like a lift?’ Loki offered, opening the door.

‘Sure, thank you!’ Amanda said gratefully, and Georgie thanked him too as they bundled into the back of the car.

‘Good day, doll?’ Loki smiled, slipping his arm around her before she got in.

‘It was… Yeah. Thank you.’ She smiled, blushing a little.

‘You’re welcome.’ Loki gave her a quick kiss, then helped her into the car and got in himself.

Some students saw Georgie and Amanda getting into the car with Loki and Chloe. So after that, they got the same amount of respect that Chloe did… And they certainly weren’t complaining either.

[artcenterstories]

Inside Job: Meet Interior  Photographer Christopher Dibble

ArtCenter: What inspired your current creative project? Christopher Dibble (Photography and Imaging '05): My first book, Modern Americana was released on April 20. Written by interior designer Max Humphrey and co-written with Chase Reynolds Ewald, the book contains around 150 images that I photographed of spaces designed and styled by Max. I began photographing Max's work when we met in Portland shortly after each of us made the move from Los Angeles. Because we had worked together so often, and the majority of our work published editorially, we had discussed photographing a book project as a potential next step. About six months later, the conversation got serious and Max secured a book deal with Chase to be published by Gibbs Smith. Since I had already photographed all of his spaces, and we had a number of other projects we worked on together, we had a head start with half the book photographed. During the summer of 2020, we produced the other half. We worked for two months, producing about 75 images in spaces ranging from estates, antique shops, boutiques and backyards. It was a challenge producing so much work in such a short period of time and the pandemic didn't help. No assistants, no rentals. Just a camera, a tripod, a tiny light kit and lots of dedication.

AC: Where do you get inspiration? CD: I think we can find inspiration just about anywhere. It depends on how we look things. A lot of my inspiration comes from film, art and photography, but recently I’ve been digesting photographic inspiration in a way that I haven’t before. I've begun looking at images to see what I would do differently and think about ways that I could elevate a particular photograph. A bit of a challenge, or assignment I suppose. I think this is a way for me to shake things up a bit, and change the way I look things and get inspired. How could I make an image of a room better? How could I make a portrait more intriguing? With inspiring films, I’m often drawn to the light and color, but also the story. I love when my images can tell a story.

AC: Describe the moment in your childhood where you first identified as an artist or designer? CD: I’m not sure there was a particular moment in my childhood where I first identified as an artist, but I do recall my decision to dive deep into photography. I had been a fan of Stanley Kubrick’s for some time, and his work inspired me to learn more about cinematography. While exploring that at Pasadena City College, I read a quote from him that said, “To make a film entirely by yourself, which initially I did, you may not have to know very much about anything else, but you must know about photography.” This was what prompted me to begin formally studying photography, and eventually led me to ArtCenter.

AC: How were you exposed to great art and design as a child? Who were your favorites? CD: I’m fortunate to have come from a family of artists. My grandfather was a newspaper photographer, and my father was a photographer and artist, so there was art throughout my childhood. One piece that I remember growing up with on our wall at home was a photograph of a man in a trench coat, standing in front of a sculpture, opening his coat with a quote that said “Expose Yourself To Art.” Fittingly enough, the man “exposing” himself to art was the future mayor of Portland, where I currently reside. And, I've been exposing myself to art ever since.

AC: What is your current obsession? CD: I've always been obsessed with textiles, and currently, I’ve been weaving my own. I primarily weave hand towels and blankets on a floor loom, but also enjoy weaving knotted and woven rugs, as well as wall hangings.

AC: What’s the first site you look at when you open your computer in the morning? CD: I don’t have a particular website I look at everyday, but the first thing I do when I open my computer is dive right into emails.

AC: How would your closest friend describe you? CD: This one felt funny to answer on my own, so I paid… er… asked. "Loving, funny AF, passionate about everything and everyone in his life. Will always tell you the truth and take the time to break things down for you. A great teacher, supportive, motivates you to do better and be better. Very knowledgeable about everything, from art to crafters, and also useless stuff like 90 Day Fiancé. However, don’t rely on him to help wipe a baby worm that’s stuck to your leg while in the middle of a field in Chiang Mai."

AC: What books are on your bedside table? CD: PhotoWork: Forty Photographers on Process and Practice, and The World According To Mister Rogers.

AC: What’s the one tool you can’t do without? CD: Where there is a will, there is a way, but having to choose, I’d say my hands.

AC: Where is your happy place? CD: Home. Not a building or a specific place, but a feeling. A less esoteric answer would be Italy.

AC: What is your prized possession? CD: My education, formal and informal.

AC: What’s your best piece of advice for an ArtCenter student who’s interested in following your career path? CD: The short answer, from a photography-business perspective is, learn how to read, understand and write a contract. If you don’t know what something means, ask for clarification. Having that clarity will save you time and heartache.

The long answer is more complicated. My career path has gone from editorial celebrity portraiture, to fashion catalogues, and now interiors and architecture. It’s been a bit of a zigzag, but all land around things I have a passion for: people, fashion and design. This has allowed me to grow and apply the principals I’ve learned from one subject to the next.

Photograph what you’re passionate about. While this doesn’t always guarantee financial success, it will give you more understanding of the subject you’re photographing.

Show your work, and meet people. You have the skills, but the relationships are just as important. Find out who you should be showing your work to. Editors at magazines? Art buyers at ad agencies? Gallerists? When I graduated, I wanted to work with magazines, so I made it a point to meet, in person, with as many magazines I could. When I shifted to photographing interiors, I made an effort to authentically connect with interior designers and publications. Beyond the initial outreach and meeting, I continue to foster those relationships and connections by finding common interests and staying in touch. Through this, I’ve made real connections and friendships with people I now get to work with.

Ask questions and listen. You don’t have to take every piece of advice given, but be open to receiving advice and critique, and apply it as you see fit. Don’t blindly reject or accept it.

Also, share your knowledge.