#the dramatic finish afterwards killed me

[dvrk-moon]

ENHYPEN OT7 ; 엔하이픈

PLAYING MINECRAFT WITH THEM

requested : no

genre : crack, fluff

pairing : enhypen x reader (can be platonic)

warnings : cursing + the members being menaces

heeseung ; 희승

absolute sweat

like speed runner esque

nags on you for being too slow and making him have a speed run time of over fifteen minutes

like you’re barely getting an oak log and he’s already in the nether. like u turn away for two seconds and he’s already built the portal

“heeseung where did you go” “i’ve almost killed the wither wait” … “CAN U CHILL OUT WE JUST CREATED THIS WORLD”

so u thought u were gonna have fun hanging out with heeseung on minecraft? NO

because as soon as he finishes his speed run and you finally got your first diamond, he’s decided to build a base

and u thought he was gonna be all cute and make u a room awwww!!! no.

he does make u a room, but the stairway up to ur room is a parkour course

(when the fuck did he have time to even make that?!!?!!)

first and last time playing minecraft with him

jay ; 제이

absolute knight in shining armor

literally

those mobs have nothing on his iron drip

protects u even if u don’t need it

“oh shit there’s a creeper” “ON MY WAY Y/N”

his netherite sword is CRACKED. like perfect enchantments

when he’s not protecting u he becomes ur farmer

the farm is so organized and beautiful jay is literally my husband pls

does in fact laugh when u die tho

like he’ll collect your stuff for you but the second he sees “[your gamertag] fell from a high place” he’s going to laugh for like two minutes straight

also he keeps an extra chest in his room for u

like in case u need something OR u die and he’s not able to collect ur stuff so it despawns

jay is so husband. even in minecraft

jake ; 제이크

he’s played before ok (trust him)

(it was when he was like nine)

like he’s very very. bad

he’s trying tho!!!

keeps dying. like every two minutes you see “jake_awesome2002 was blown up by a creeper”

he does not know how to change his gamertag so ur just stuck playing with jake_awesome2002

he starts getting the hang of it and immediately thinks he’s cracked at the game (he’s not)

so he disappears from you out of nowhere and so you try to help him :

“jake where are you” … “jake” … “jake sim where the fuck are you” …………. “i don’t know”

(cue “jake_awesome2002 fell out of the world”)

“JAKE HOW DID YOU FALL OUT OF THE WORLD” “I DONT KNOW”

he respawns and like sulks for three minutes before leaving and collecting dirt(?) for some reason

coincidentally you keep finding dirt blocks placed throughout your base afterwards! how silly of him!

sunghoon ; 성훈

he was so ready to show u how good he is

he’s not very good. but at least he’s better than jake!

he somehow is always in a cave or some sort of dangerous location

like say u found a village and you’re like “sunghoon come raid this village with me!”

meanwhile he’s trying not to die because of a pillager outpost

somehow he doesn’t?

he’ll go and do stuff like that or spend days in the nether and survive but his weakness is witches

like he doesn’t scream UNLESS there is a witch

and if you’re nearby ? he will 100% sacrifice you to the witch so that he can survive

womp womp

he actually sacrifices you quite a bit because he has like 36 levels

he thinks he’s funny when he does it too

sunoo ; 선우

honestly prefers to play in creative mode (me too sunoo)

but when you were like “let’s play in survival for once” he’s like “fiiiiiiiiinneeeeeuhhhh” (very dramatic about it)

he immediately builds a forever base when you spawn in

makes you do all the mining and stuff

he will tag along! but he won’t do shit

he’s the interior designer. he’s got bigger and better things to do

he only redeems himself when you go into the base and find your minecraft beds right next to each other

besides holding the house down, he also has an extremely high scale and successful farming system

so if you ever check in his chests, 100% you will find like 20 stacks of wood, stacks of wheat, of carrots, of beets, etc.

may be a homebody in minecraft but at least he’s fun to play with !!!! 10/10 would recommend to a friend

jungwon ; 정원

the miner

like you’re trying to get along with your day until jungwon stops and drops into the smallest cave ever

“what are u doing” “wait y/n we might need this copper” “jungwon don’t u already have like three stacks of copper” “yeah but we might need it”

lots of time spent mining

u eat your words tho when he is decked out in diamond armor from almost the get-go

when you guys build a base it HAS to have a little mine under the house (little as in huge)

somehow has like ten dogs?

“this one is maeumi, this one is maeumi’s friend, this once can be gaeul… maybe this one can be layla? oh! and this one is maeumi’s other friend. this one is bisco. this one is yours but you don’t get to name it. i will name it for you.”

they would be cats if it was really up to you but you’ll live

also refuses to elaborate on this thing he does

he makes tons and tons of signs and just places them around the base

some of them make sense and others just don’t at all

has a 2x2 fenced in area and the sign outside of it says “jail”

has anyone ever been sent to jail there? no. but as jungwon says “just in case”

riki ; 니키

possibly the worst yet most fun person to play with

at first you’re like “let’s play together” and he’s like “yeah sure whatever” but little do u know he has every plan in the world to turn the game into warfare

it’s even worse if you are playing on a realm rather than just a server

he abandons you from the get-go and immediately runs away and you can’t catch him so he builds a base far away from you

the base is in fact a dirt house

but it’s minecraft who said he had to be an architect

yes he abandoned you and is regularly attacking you at any given chance but he still keeps his tabs on where you are

walks all over your farm and kills your livestock

leaves signs saying “riki was here” “get rikrolled”

since he keeps tabs on you, u have to be very cautious of what you leave in your chests

he will steal anything. just for fun

threatens to blow up everything because he just wants to

little does he know if he wants warfare ur gonna give him warfare

a/n : this is random but i played mc like two days ago and i thought this could be a silly idea

[serejae]

ITS STUPID | BND

pairing : bnd x reader

genre : fluff

WHAT ! - bnd when your sulky based of this lovely anon ^_^

wc : 1584 | @onedoornet

-

SUNGHO :

- i feel like he would be so confused if he didnt know why you were sulky

- i also feel like he would ask some light questions but wouldnt push you to answer. but if he didnt get a answer he would be so confused

- he would spend the rest of the day reflecting on what he did only to get no answer

- it isnt until night time when you both are laying by each other and arent cuddling that he speaks up because he cant sleep without your cuddles :-|

sungho got home and saw you in the kitchen doing the dishes, normally youd wait for him to come home for dinner to eat together but maybe you werent feeling it. he tried starting a conversation only to get short responses, he then asked if you were okay only to get a hum he noticed the slight pout on your face as you gave these responses. after he got freshened up he went to eat dinner alone with only his thoughts. he replayed his whole day, actually no week, maybe month. but he couldnt seem to put his finger on what you were mad at him for. as he made it to your guys room, he noticed how dark the room was letting him know that you were asleep. he sighed and laid down, and for about 30 minutes he keeps his composure before speaking up “baby..baby!” he shook you gently, you hummed tiredly wondering why your boyfriend was waking you up. “what did i do? just tell me and i’ll apologize but i really cant think of a reason hun” he said propping himself up to look at you. “you left the toilet seat up” you said as you yawned seeming to not care anymore, he groaned and pulled the covers over to his side “now im mad at you”

“made me worry for no reason” he mumbled

RIWOO :

- riwoo is a worried man

- he’ll do everything in his power to try and calm you down so by the time you two cuddle he can get you to spill out why you were sulking

- he hates seeing anything on your face but a smile and would do anything. ANYTHING to get it off if it isnt a smile

- but hes a master manipulator like he’ll plan all this out for the perfect timing

as riwoo left the room after noticing you were not joining him in a few minutes like you said, he saw you sitting at your desk typing away on your keyboard. aside from your beautiful face he noticed the big fat pout on your lip making him furrow his eyebrows. riwoo sat on the couch behind you as you did your assignment watching the pout on your lips sit there making him form a pout on his lips as well. he didnt like seeing you bothered or upset by something, so he decided since he knew you wanted to finish this assignment that instead of stopping you he’d take some of the burden off your shoulders. he massaged your shoulders, gave your favorite snacks, and gave you a peck here and there. he could see the way your shoulders relaxed and how slowly but surely the pout on your lips disappeared. and when it finally disappeared fully he left a fat kiss on them as a celebration on his end, afterwards when you finally finish he takes you to your guys room and massages your head letting the stress rest as he listened to you complain about your day. his lips curved up when you mention how you appreciated him helping you. in response he kissed your forehead

“anytime”

JAEHYUN :

- wee woo wee woo someone call the dramatic police !!

- HE WILL NOT SHUT THE FUCK UP!! literally blows your head off with questions before he can leave you alone

- he cannot stand you being mad at him for more than 1.36 seconds and make it 1.17 seconds if your sulky

- so as soon as he notices something off hes begging for forgiveness even if he doesnt know what he did

jaehyun couldnt LIVE with the fact tjat he made the love of his life mad like no, kill him. and he dont even get him started if he didnt know why. he has a pre generated apology in his mind ready to be said with tears and everything. he continued to follow you around the house naming all the reasons you could be mad at him even the most ridiculous. “is it cause i ate the last ice cream bar?” “or did i snore too loud” “ohhh its cause i sent too many of those emoji reactions huh?” he continued talking before you turned around “no, no and no!” “than what is ittt” he groaned stretching the ‘t’. you sighed and laid down on the couch to relax, only to feel a man ontop of you (GET OFF ME!!!!) “JAEHYUN” you shouted “tell me” he repeated and he laid ontop of you. “remember when i said i didnt like liz?” you said giving up this whole cold persona. feeling him nod you continue “you said ‘she isnt that bad!’ but your suppose to agree with anything i say and dislike anything i dislike!” it goes silent for a bit then you hear him go “OHHHHH, noted”

now hes a certified hater with you ❤️

TAESAN :

- like sungho doesnt pester you too much about it

- but unlike sungho he doesnt ask questions but observes your moves, and once he sees the pout he knows hes OUT (laugh.)

- anyways literally spend the whole day spacing out wondering what the fuck did he do, he starts reading old conversations you both had. he makes his brain a computer system tracing back each step (while keeping a straight face)

- he folds when you two are having dinner and its silent. he canr take it anymore and ask you if he did anything wrong in the most nonchalant way he can (hes about to start tweaking)

he spent his whole shower standing there backtracking all his steps, from when he woke up to when he got home. after he got out he proceeded to stay in the bathroom and sit there for 25 minutes and 19 seconds scrolling through your messages to see if he had said something wrong trying to find a mood change for him to have to come home to a pouty partner. after finding nothing he sighed coming out of the bathroom and joins you for dinner. the dinner is silent, your peacefully eating but he pokes at his food not being able to get your sulky face out of his mind. he puts his fork down before looking at you “please tell me what i did” he said plainly trying to mask the fact that hes going to explode. you look at him and tilt your head confused, he picks up on your body language and speaks up again “i dont like seeing you pout, especially if it was something i did, did someone do something did i do something?”. he sees your face change when you realize what he was talking about “you never would believe what my mom did to me today…” you continued

he sighed out of relief realizing he didnt do anything and listened with a smile on his face enjoying his dinner.

LEEHAN :

- he would find it entertaining…(sawry)

- but definitely would take you seriously after having a little analysis in his fish brain he ask you why you were mad

- if it’s something silly hes stares at you for a bit processing it again (fish brain) and lets out a laugh making you more mad

- he composes himself and puts on serious mode. proceeds to indulge in whatever you were mad about, as long as ur happy 🔥

leehan didnt expect for the first thing that he would come home to was a sulky s/o. he had walked home to a quiet house wondering where you were, since you didnt greet him at the door like you normally did. walking into the shared bedroom he saw you wrapped in the blanket without your face visible, walking over to your side he saw you scrolling on your phone with a slight pout on your face. he chuckled a bit catching your attention. when you see him laughing it only makes you more angrier, so you flip to the direction facing away from leehan. your reaction suprised him, he stood there for a moment wondering what he did. he sighed a bit before sitting down on the bed behind you as he rubbed your back, “whats my baby sulky for?” he asked softly. “it wasnt very nice of you to call the fish i sent you ugly.” you said huffing. he then remembered that you two wanted to adopt a fish together and were actively looking for one, and it wasnt until this morning that you sent him a link and he cringed at the photo of the fish. it wasnt the most pleasant to look that in his opinion…after finding out the reason your upset with him, he cant help but let out a laugh. after seeing your face to him not taking you seriously he’d panic a little before drowning you in kisses “we can get the fish, even if its a little strange…”

[skzooweemama]

Because this tiktok trend is really old now how would skz reaction to you wiping off thier kisses? Like because it's an old trend they probably wouldn't be thinking that's what you're doing.

gotta keep them on their toes right? i gotchu!!

oh my gosh it’s been nearly a month since i’ve posted anything i- 😭😭 midterms are over now, so i’m hoping i’ll have more time! still working on the rest of the requests i’ve received not to worry 🫡🫡

i hope y’all like this one! i’m gonna be honest, i didn’t have a lot of ideas going into it, so i changed it up a lil from how the prompt was. i think it turned out okay though!

enjoy!

~~~

Bang Chan:

"Baby?" Your boyfriend called down the hall, wandering from the in- home studio to find you in the kitchen making a snack.

You smiled as Chan rounded the corner, with bleary eyes and messy hair. "Hi love, did you just finish?" He hummed and drew you into a hug once he was close enough, burying his head into the crook of your neck. You giggled at his cute behavior and rubbed his back gently.

"Finished and fell asleep..." Chan mumbled into your neck, the sensation making you giggle.

You brought a hand up to scratch at the nape of his neck. "Sounds like you needed it, hm?" Another hum escaped your sleepy boy. "Do you want some of my snack?" Chan nodded, raising his head to see what you were making.

You pulled away briefly to grab the snack (cheese and crackers, a classic) and fed him some. Chan giggled when he realized you wanted to feed him and let you, blushing a bit from the gesture. Afterwards, he pressed a crumby kiss to your cheek.

"Gah! Chris!" You cried out, dramatically wiping at your cheek. Honestly, you didn't really mind, but you wanted to see how he'd react.

Chan just giggled, a shy smile spreading on his face as he pulled you close once again, covering you in more (yet significantly less crumby) kisses.

You squealed out and pushed at his chest, Chan’s laughter mixing with your own as he continued with his attack. “Baby!” You whined, playfully squirming in his hold.

Chan’s arms slipped around your waist and held you fast, his lips trailing down to yours. His warm breath fanned across your face, leaving you completely defenseless. Then he pressed a searing kiss right to your lips, leaving you breathless when he pulled away. You stared up at him, a dazed look in your eyes.

“You’re not gonna wipe that one away now, are you?”

Lee Know:

"Honey? Is that you?" Minho's voice was soft, but it still broke through your post-work haze as you toed off your shoes by the door.

"Yeah Min, I'm home." You called back, shrugging off your jacket and hanging it up. Your scalp was screaming from being up in a bun all day, so you worked on wrestling out the bobby pins while you made your way to the living room.

You freed your hair from its confines just as you came around the corner, finding Minho’s gentle gaze peering back at you. He offered you a warm smile and patted the couch, beckoning you over.

“Hi love…” You said softly, plopping down beside Minho and letting him pull you into his side. You buried your head into the fabric of his hoodie and took a deep breath. “Missed you…”

Minho made a small cooing noise in the back of his throat and pet your hair gently. “Long day?”

“Only the longest… I just keep telling myself that this is my dream job…” You sighed, turning to rest your cheek against his chest.

“That bad, hm? You wanna talk about it?” Minho’s words sent tingles through your body from being pressed so close to him. You huffed out a laugh and shook your head.

“It’s okay, I’m just tired."

"Okay." Minho responded, shifting so he could press a smooch to your forehead.

The kiss was loud and dramatic, and it made you giggle. Without thinking, you wiped at the excess spit his left on your forehead. "Minho! You slobbered me!" You exclaimed, looking up at your boyfriend with a goofy grin on your face.

Minho was staring back at you. If looks could kill, you would be at death's door. It was as if his eyes were screaming at you, beyond offended at you wiping away his love. You couldn’t help but laugh and sat up, pressing your own kisses onto his skin in an apology.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Give me another kiss, I won't wipe it off again!"

Changbin:

Changbin, your love, your light, your life, had been annoying you to no end. This morning it had been his excessive screaming, this afternoon it had been his covers of random songs, and now he would not stop trying to teach you his rap parts in one of their new songs. And he was a really bad teacher.

"No, baby! The flow isn't right, you miss this syllable," He gestured to the lyrics written out in front of you, "and it really kills the rhythm. Let's try again!"

"Bin! I don't get it! I'm not a rapper!" You exclaimed, feeling more and more frustrated by his criticisms. Plus his hand writing was so bad that you could hardly read the lyrics in the first place.

Changbin pouted, grabbing your hand gently. “Can we try again? Please?” You groaned and slumped forward in your seat, laying your head on the table for a moment.

“Fineeee…” You said after a moment. Changbin smiled at the success of his pouting and started the track again.

This time, the word flowed from your lips like water in a stream. You didn't have near as much swagger as your boyfriend did while rapping, but you didn't sound bad by any means. When you chanced a glance over to Changbin, he was sitting there with stars in his eyes. You smiled despite yourself as the verse came to an end.

"So? Was that better?" You asked, leaning back in your chair.

"Was it better? That was great! My baby is a natural!" Changbin exclaimed, leaning over the table to press kisses to your cheeks.

You giggled and batted at him playfully. "I'm not a natural! You had to help me, silly!" Changbin stopped his attack and sat back, and you took the chance to wipe at all the kisses he left on your face. "That's for instilling me with false confidence." You snickered, smiling at him mischievously.

Changbin gasped and let out a dramatic whine. "Babyyyyy!! How could you?! Do you not love your Binnie??" You just started laughing, heart melting immediately at Changbin's cute pout.

"Noooo! Wait I'm sorry!" You laughed, getting up from your chair to hug your pouty boy. "I'll give you all the kisses you want, no more wiping them off!"

Hyunjin:

"Yah! Stay still!" Hyunjin barked at you from his seat in front of the canvas, throwing you a playful glare. You sighed and sat up straighter, trying your hardest to stay posed how he wanted you.

"Hyunnnn... my back is hurting!" You whined (because he didn't say anything about staying quiet). "Are you almost done?"

Hyunjin glanced at you again, his gaze softened. You knew he was starting to feel guilty for keeping you sat there for so long. He looked back to the canvas and started to work more diligently.

"Just a bit longer, okay? You look so beautiful, my love. I don't wanna rush..." Your boyfriend responded, his voice much less harsh now.

You nodded and settled in, keeping perfectly still and trying to ignore the burning that was slowly creeping up your spine. You distracted yourself by watching Hyunjin work. His long black hair was pulled up and away from his eyes, which were focused and calculating as he worked. He was just too pretty. It was unfair, honestly, but selfishly checking him out was your compensation so you couldn't complain too much.

Except for the fact that the pain in your back was getting harder to ignore.

You let out a loud, frustrated sigh before finally, finally, Hyunjin put down that godforsaken brush.

"Okay, okay, I'm done for now." He said, getting up and stretching. You did the same, trying to quell the fire in your muscles. "Come here, baby." You looked to see Hyunjin with his arms out, offering you a hug.

"I don't feel like I should hug you after that torture." You said, crossing your arms. Hyunjin smiled and shook his head, walking forward to wrap you up in his embrace anyway.

"Too bad, I missed you~" He hummed, burying his head in the crook of your neck. You couldn't help but smile and melt into him. Hyunjin chuckled and stepped back, brushing your hair away from your face and giving you a loving look. You pulled a playful scowl back onto your face, which made him laugh once again. "You're cute..." He hummed, placing a delicate kiss on your forehead...

...which you promptly wiped right off, jumping up from your seat and making your way to the door.

Hyunjin caught you around the waist just before you could escape. "Yah! That's not nice! Don't wipe away my love!" He exclaimed, a playful lilt in his tone. You began to giggle gleefully, which made him growl in your ear. "Oh, you wanna laugh?"

You squealed as his fingers dug into your tickle spots, and through your laughter you cried out, "I'm sorry! I won't wipe them away again!"

Han:

When you heard the front door close, it was nearing 1am. This was much later than the time that Jisung promised to be home. You'd practically been worried sick, especially since he wasn't answering your calls or texts. But no, clearly he was fine- just ignoring his worried partner.

So there you sat, arms crossed, silently fuming as your lovely boyfriend came around the corner.

Immediately, you felt bad when you saw him. He looked so tired. His big eyes were bloodshot and framed with dark circles when they were usually bright and full of life, and he was a bit slouched as he walked. But still, he perked right up when he saw you, lips pulling into his big, gummy smile.

"Hi baby!" He said cheerfully. His voice would be a sharp contrast to his appearance, if it wasn't for the hoarseness from recording all day. You glanced at the clock once again and felt yet another pang of frustration.

"Hi Ji," You greeted, offering him a tight lipped smile. "Little late, isn't it? Why didn't you answer my texts? I was worried." Jisung visibly deflated at your words as he sat beside you and that made your heart wrench in your chest.

"Ah- it is late, huh? I'm sorry, baby. I got caught up editing tracks with Chan and my phone died. The studio doesn't have Apple chargers anymore, so I couldn't fix it and there's no clock so-," You cut off his rambling with a hand on his arm.

"Ji- calm down. It's okay, I was just worried, that's all. I'm glad you're home." You told him, offering him a smile to assure him that you were being genuine. Jisung relaxed, and you opened your arms to pull him into a hug. "You okay?"

He nodded against your shoulder, holding you close. The two of you sat in silence for a moment before he pulled away and pressed a kiss to your cheek. You gave him a teasing look and dramatically wiped at the kiss, attempting to get a rise out of him.

That did not go over well, and instead of playing along, tears gathered in Jisung's eyes and his lips immediately pulled into a deep frown.

You laughed in disbelief and pulled him into another hug, holding the back of his head protectively.

"Oh baby, I'm sorry! I was just joking, please don't cry! I won't wipe any more off!"

Felix:

"Babe, are you gonna finish up soon? I'm bored..." You whined, laying face down on your boyfriend's bed, phone abandoned beside you. He'd been working on his PC for hours and you just wanted his attention.

"Impatient, hm?" Was all Felix said in response, and you could practically hear the smile in his voice.

You groaned loudly and kicked your legs. "Lix, it's been hours. I'm wasting away over here!" Felix just laughed, his deep chuckle sounding way too teasing.

You lifted your head and scowled at his back, wishing he'd set down those stupid tools and come pay attention to your before you literally went insane. As you glared at him, an idea crossed your mind. There was an old Tiktok couples prank that you had been wanting to try since you started dating... What better way to get back at him for ignoring you?

Felix was hunched over his keyboard at you approached him from behind, focused on screwing something into something else. When you reached him, you leaned forward, pressing your chest against his back, and wrapped him up in a back hug.

"Lix... pay attention to me..." You whispered in his ear, you voice overly sensual. Felix tensed up beneath you, and you heard his breathing pick up in the quiet of the room. "Oh? Was that all it took?" You teased, nipping at his earlobe before returning to your place on the bed.

It took about .5 seconds until Felix was on you, pushing you down onto the bed and kissing your feverishly. You giggled into the kiss, allowing him to cage you in just for a moment before you pushed at his chest. Felix pulled away and looked at you wildly, his cheeks and ears still bright red from when you flustered him.

You held eye contact with him as you wiped your lips with the back of your hand, giving him a wink as you did so. Felix's face was shocked for a moment, but then he smiled. Fuck, you forgot about how much he was on Tiktok too.

"Did you try to prank me? Why don't I make you regret ever wiping my kisses off, then?"

Seungmin:

Today was one of those rare days that you had off from work. It was a small blessing after a hectic week of project reports and visits from your higher ups, and you were thankful to have some time to recooperate. Unfortunately, Seungmin was still working and you wouldn't see him until the evening.

Luckily he forgot to pack lunch today, so you had the perfect excuse to cook him something he liked and visit him at work.

When you knocked on the door to the practice room all he and his members were in, they had all just finished a dance practice. Seungmin couldn't help the goofy smile that took over his face when he saw you, which made you laugh. The boys teased him for a moment as they gathered their things, greeting you kindly when they filed out the door.

"How was practice?" You asked once everyone had left. Seungmin groaned dramatically and flopped onto the small couch near the door. You laughed and maneuvered him so you had some room to sit too. "That bad?"

"'S fine, just hardddd... my body hurts..." He whined, throwing an arm over his eyes. You hummed and patted his tummy, which made him groan again.

"I'm sorry you're hurting, love. Do you want some food?" Your question had him interested, so he removed his arm from over his eyes and looked at you.

"You brought me food?" He asked. You were almost offended at how surprised he looked.

"Duh, you forgot to pack anything this morning. I wasn't gonna let my baby starve!" Your words were teasing, but genuine, and you watched joyfully as Seungmin's cheeks got all rosy. He sat up and scooted towards you, wrapping you up in a hug and pressing a soft kiss to your lips.

It would've been a nice gesture if he wasn't so sweaty.

"Ah! You're getting me all gross with your sweat!" You cried, cringing at the hug and shying away from the kiss. Once he let you go, you immediately began wiping at your lips and trying to rid yourself of any residual boyfriend sweat.

"Oh yeah? You're gonna be like that? Wiping off my kisses?" Seungmin asked, giving you a challenging look. Without a second thought, you attempted to jump up and run away, only to be caught around the waist.

"Wait! I won't wipe them off again! Seungmin!"

I.N:

You considered messing with Jeongin to be a sort of art form, to say the least. He was clever, but he could also be gullible. That made pranks a 50/50 shot with him, either he figured you out immediately or he would fall for it hook, line, and sinker.

Today, you had devised a fool-proof plan to make sure that he would let you have your fun.

Couple pranks were something you had been wanting to try for a while. You didn't want to film them or post them or anything, you just purely liked a good, light-hearted prank and your boyfriend was a decent victim. There was one that had caught your attention back before you had started dating Jeongin, and it seemed like one he was unlikely to catch onto. Until you told him about it, at least.

It all started when you came back from grabbing groceries at the store. Errands were no fun to do alone, but since it was hard to go out in public together with Jeongin, you usually had no choice. It was all better when you got back home, though.

Jeongin had the weekend free from schedules, which was pretty uncommon. It also meant he was there to greet you when you came home instead of you waiting for him. He was sitting in the kitchen doing work on his computer when you came through the door.

A smile immediately broke out across his face when he saw you, his dimples greeting you just as eagerly. "Hi, babe. Need some help?" It wasn't really even a question he needed to ask, because he was already getting up to grab the bag from you before you could answer.

You smiled at him lovingly and set down the second bag. Jeongin set down the one he took beside it, and when you turned towards him, he captured your lips in a gentle kiss. You sighed into the kiss and cupped his cheek, drawing him in closer.

“Hi…” You whispered when you pulled away, still feeling those classic butterflies when you looked into his bright eyes. Jeongin giggled and leaned to kiss you again, just a peck this time, before he turned to start putting the groceries away.

“Was the store okay? I heard-,” Whatever he was gonna say next died on his tongue as he turned and looked to see you wipe your mouth on the back of your hand. “Did… did you just wipe my kiss away?”

You couldn’t help but break out into laughter at his words and the look of pure confusion on his face. He didn’t look remotely offended, just confused.

“I’m sorry baby, it was just a prank!”

“Too bad, I’m never kissing you again.”

“Nooo!! I promise to never wipe off another one!”

[jaidens]

hi! could you write something where daniel larusso is at soccer practice & his girlfriend is there watching him, and then afterwards when practice is done, they sneak off under the bleachers and talk & hold hands and kiss? y'know, just typical high school stuff 🫶🏻 thank you!

You've Got A Smile That Can Light Up This Whole Town — Daniel Larusso

pairing [s] : daniel larusso x reader

warning [s] : none

a/n [s] : thank YOU for the request! I hope this fulfills what you asked.

You sat on the bleachers, doing your homework two classes before. The hot sun beams down on you as you stare at Daniel. In all of his glory, he passed the ball through the green grass on the field. His coach is yelling at the team to “get themselves together” because they had choked the scrimmage.

The coach says they're off for the day and you see him running his sweaty hair back. Daniel picks up his stuff from the ground, takes his water bottle out, and takes a chug from it. You hear his Long Island accent ring out as he talks to one of his teammates, Josh. You were never quite fond of his team, as some of them had messed with your best friend.

A couple minutes later you finished your homework and put it in your backpack. You continued staring at Daniel. It was hard not to. His gorgeous tan skin was shining in the sun. He was slightly sweaty, shaking out his dark-brown hair. Daniel walked around the bleachers and up the stairs, carrying his soccer bag. You smile at him as he drops his bag next to yours and sits down. “Hey, Danny! How was the practice? You smell like sweat.” You teased and he put his arm around your shoulders. “Hey there.. the practice was good. Coach just will not get off of us over a scrimmage.” He says groaning.

“So dramatic aren't you? Wanna go under the bleachers? This heat is killing me.” You say, picking up your backpack and standing up. “And I'm the dramatic one?” Daniel says, grabbing his stuff and following you as you race down the stairs and to under the metal bleachers.

There's a couple people, mostly you and Daniel’s friends that are relaxing. You wave at your friend from chemistry and she smiles at you, just before her obnoxious boyfriend starts eating her mouth again. You make sure there are no teachers and pull Danny’s hand to get him closer to you. It provided a secret hiding place for you and Daniel to spend time together.

Daniel takes his jacket from his bag and puts it on the ground for you two to sit on. “Such a gentleman aren't you?" You said, grabbing his jersey to pull him down to the ground with you. He pulls out a couple of snacks his Mother packs for him whenever he has practiced. It's an assortment of finger food, crackers, and pretzels.

“How was class?” Daniel asks eventually, swinging his arms around your shoulders once more pulling you into his side. You remember, one day, his mother said you fit together like puzzle pieces and you almost cried. He was your best love, the sweetest and most caring boy ever who was completely fearless. “It was good. Mr. Johnson was yelling at this girl today and it was so hilarious.” Daniel laughs along with you as he stares at you while you speak about other classes you've had today.

Daniel was always a romantic after being raised extremely well by Lucille. He would never let you open a door if he was there, even if it was your bedroom door. The way he wrote notes for you and hid them in your books for every class. You always wondered how you were able to catch him. The star of the soccer team and the star of the Miyagi-Do Karate dojo. Even if he was the only one in the dojo.

“How was your day Danny? How was class?” You ask, taking another handful of snacks to eat. He starts talking about an annoying teacher, and a random thing that happened with Johnny. You can't help but admire him, the way he always has a small smile on his face when he explains stuff. His nose squeezes together whenever he eats a super salty pretzel but he continues explaining.

“Are you even listening baby?” Daniel says a few seconds later, after seeing (what he calls it) “your head in the clouds look”. You shake your head out of your daydream. “No! No, I'm listening. You were talking about Ashley Henderson!” You spout out, not sure if you were exactly right. You lay further on his shoulder and you smell his cologne. “Yeah alright." Danny’s Long Island was thicker whenever he was slightly tired. After practice, he would be almost unintelligible as you heard the way his words would stick together.

“Y’know. My Ma asked if you wanted to come over for dinner tonight. We're having her famous lasagna I think. My Nonna taught it to her.” Daniel asks, running his fingers down your spine, something he did unconsciously whenever you laid on him.

You sat up slightly, looking up at his baby browns and his jaw. He has a small scar on the edge of his face from falling when he was younger. You always liked to kiss over it whenever you were alone. Secretly, Daniel loved it too. You let your lips fall on the scar, giving a small peck onto it. "Yeah, I'll come. Lucille always makes the best food. She could serve me mud and grass and I think I would still eat it.

“She does make pretty good food doesn't she?” He says, giving you a small smirk before holding his hand out for you to take. It was something he did after he got punched in the lip and you said he couldn't talk just in case he'd hurt his lip and to “hold out your hand if you want me to hold it.” You grabbed his hand and interlocked your fingers together with his. He smiled at you before leaning close to your face.

You connect your lips with his, giving a slow kiss to him. Daniel slowly reaches his hand to your face, holding it as you continue kissing. Some of Danny's teammates walk up behind him and smack his shoulders before saying, “Get some!” You had to pull away to laugh as he turned away embarrassed.

“Your teammates are crazy Danny.” You say, pointing out the obvious as Daniel runs his hand down your arm. “Yeah I know. I gotta’ play with them baby.” He says sarcastically throwing his head to the side. You laugh at him as he readjusts his hips, slowly pushing them up to fix his back.

You grin as you lay back down on his shoulder. After it got hurt during the karate tournament, you were always careful about putting too much pressure on it. Daniel told you it was fine, but you were still worried. Danny stares up at the clock that sat outside and looks back at you. “We have five minutes until our next class. What do you wanna do for the rest? Jus’ relax or am I thinking what you're thinking..?”

You push yourself up off the ground and stare into Daniel’s eyes. After dating Daniel for a year, you always notice his eyes have a sense of mischievousness in them. Lucille would always point it out too, how whenever he would look at something, there would always be a look in his eyes daring himself to do something.

"Oh, Daniel! No… I'm gonna get to class before I'm late. You know I have Mr. Thompson." You said, gently slapping his shoulder. He always knows you're joking, but you see him pretend to be upset and pout his lip out. You grab your backpack off the ground and his jacket. He grabs your arm and pulls you into a hug. "Hey, I'll see you later," Daniel says. You smile before hugging him again and kissing his cheek before walking off to your class. He waves you off, staring at you and you walk away.

[weirdlookingsnakewithlegs]

You dare break my heart like that?? /j

This can only be rectified with fluff

I repent

Nightly Excitement

Words: 978

“Stop squirming you piece of scrap!” Starscream snaps, grabbing Skywarp by his pede before yanking the other towards him. He snatches the squirmy seeker by the waist and holds him tight in his lap.

“Nooo! Let me go Star!” The purple seeker tries to claw himself out, reaching for the blankets. Thundercracker moves to stop him, effectively sandwiching Skywarp between him and Starscream.

Pouting, Skywarp finally goes limp and looks between the two of them with a heavy exvent. “You guys suck.”

“Your wings are dirty and your hinges are creaking, let Star clean them.” Thundercracker rolls his optics, his servos resting on Starscream’s thighs to keep Skywarp steady. The captive only continues to pout before yelping when he feels Starscream nip at his hinges and he attempts to whirl around and smack at him. Thundercracker holds him steady.

Using his fangs, the trine leader works to gently remove any beginnings of rust, licking the hinges afterwards to provide a protective layer from the elements. Skywarp squirms the entire time, complaining about the ticklish feeling surging through his wires.

Thundercracker only laughs at his suffering and once it’s over the purple seeker lunges at him, devolving into a pile of brawling frames. From the side Starscream shakes his helm, yet the smile on his face never disappears.

Before they know it, Skywarp is suddenly thrown back into their plush little nest. The trine leader nearly yelps when Thundercracker moves back over, pinning them both underneath his heavier frame.

“Thunder! You are much too heavy for this mechling behavior!” Starscream practically shouts, attempting to push the other off as Skywarp resigns to his fate(dramatically feigning his death as well).

“Nope, consider yourselves in timeout.” The cobalt seeker rumbles, taking a moment to get comfortable as he stretches over their laps.

“Skywarp was the one misbehaving!”

“You tried to kill Megatron today!” Skywarp unhelpfully chimes.

“I did not! He should be paying attention to his surroundings, a real leader expects an attack from every angle.” He flinches when Thundercracker brings a servo up to wave it in his face.

“Shut up, be a good pillow and be quiet.”

“What in the-“

“Pillows don’t talk, Starscream.” Thundercracker interrupts, nuzzling his helm further into his trine leader. The red seeker only exvents in annoyance before poking the other’s chassis while Skywarp sneakily seems to be doing something to Thundercracker’s pede in the background.

“You’re lucky I sympathize with you.”

“You’re lucky I warned Megatron about your incoming friendly fire.”

“…Touchee but you reek. Invalid response therefore.”

“I know, char and burnt rubber, happens with the boom. What, are you going to run me an oil bath?”

“In your dreams, I just don’t want your stench sticking to me.” Starscream just barely finishes his sentence before Thundercracker moves to yank Starscream to his chassis.

“I’ll show you stench!”

Starscream can’t stop his laughter, “Ew no! Let me go, you roughian!” He scrambles as he attempts to pull away from Thundercracker. Skywarp, despite whatever his action may have been, cheers on the new brawl.

“Get his aft Star!”

“Why are you cheering for him?!”

“Because I’m the better of us Thunder!” Starscream cackles.

They continue to wrestle, both of them having much more nightly energy than Skywarp could ever dream of.

The brawl somehow ends up on the floor, Skywarp watching from the edge of the bed, arms dangling off the side. Eventually it ends with Starscream shoving Thundercracker’s helm in the floor, declaring righteous victory up until the cobalt seeker pokes him in the vent.

Starscream yelps and immediately scrambles back into the nest. “Cheap shot!”

“Look at you two, nice bursts of energy!” Skywarp chuckles as he looks between the two, “You seemed pumped TC.”

“He got to kick Drag Strip’s aft today, of course he’s rowdy.”

“I love putting that glitch down, it’s the best feeling in the world.” Thundercracker’s wings twitch upwards with pride, a grin appearing on his expression as he slowly stands up. “You should’ve seen his ugly face Warp.”

“Ah yes, the only time TC is excited,” Skywarp declares wistfully, “is after he’s kicked another mech’s aft.”

“Raised to be prim and proper, born to be a menace.” Starscream chimes sweetly in response.

“I plead guilty on all charges.” Bowing, the cobalt seeker then notices something on the side of his leg and upon further investigation narrows his optics at Skywarp. “Care to explain why there’s a drawing on my leg?”

“I was feeling creative, come on. Work with me?”

“Last time we let you paint on us you snuck in a vulgarity.” Starscream prods at Skywarp’s side plating, smirking when the other squeaks and writhes away.

“It’s your fault for trusting me.” Skywarp responds with a grin, sticking out his glossa only to yelp when Thundercracker flicks him between the optics.

The cobalt seeker flops back into the nest, exventing when Starscream moves to lay against him. “Mm, keep talking like that and you won’t get another chance.”

“Ugh fine, I’ll be good! Now scoot!”

Skywarp nudges Thundercracker a bit to slip underneath his fanned out wings and Starscream watches with amusement as he struggles a bit to do so, Thundercracker purposely making it difficult for him. After a moment of struggle, Skywarp lays comfortably under the other’s wing, arms stretched out as he rests his helm against one of the pillows.

Starscream barely manages to keep his small smile from growing wide before he to moves to get comfortable. Rounding the pair he settles in front of them, Thundercracker moving to stretch an arm over his back, just shy of his wing hinges. The cobalt seeker pulls him closer to rest his chin comfortably on Starscream’s shoulder. The trine leader’s wings slightly cover Thundercracker’s arm and the rest of Skywarp, making sure both of them are somewhat hidden away.

“You smell.”

“Shut up Skywarp.”

[goodluckclove]

RANDOM EXCERPT TIME

the cool thing about migration patterns is that ollie exists now, a character who's magic comes from her arfid. so i actually have an entirely new way to conceptualize food and nutrition.

as someone who struggles with disordered eating i really related to writing this sequence between her and tenzin (thanks to @godsmostfuckedupgoblin for inspiring me to set it in my real-life favorite park in portland). i'd love to see if anyone else in a similar place finds some joy in this!

it's not sad by the way it's very cute. i like ollie a lot.

By the time they finished the bag of peas was half defrosted. Ollie tore open the top and was tossing loose handfuls ahead of them, which quickly summoned more ducks than Tenzin was able to fully process.

“Touching peas like that doesn’t bother you?” Tenzin asked, watching form her corner of the bench.

“Hm? Ah. No, why?”

“You used to freak out about eating anything that popped in your mouth. That was probably one of your biggest icks.”

Ollie grinned and shook her head. “No, no. Eggs are my biggest ick. Uh, yeah – I’m not about to eat any of this trash. But it’s better for the birds than bread or crackers. And you gotta be nice to birds,” she leaned down slowly until she was far enough for a larger beige duck to snap some green bulbs from the palm of her outstretched hand. “I am growing, though, Like, as a person. Had a big win the other day.”

“Yeah?”

“Ate an olive.”

She wiped some moisture off her palms, slapping them together in a grandly dramatic fashion before leaning back against the bench and idly rubbing along the edge of her bad knee. Ollie cast Tenzin a look of bemused pride, the type of pride that was an actual sense of accomplishment masked as humor in order to deflect potential mockery.

Tenzin put the groceries back in the bag and set it on the concrete at their feet, where it was quickly inspected by their horde of hungry ducks. She turned on the bench, crossing one leg on the seat of it. “Like, a whole olive?”

“Straight out of the jar,” Ollie smirked.

“On purpose? I mean, did you know –?”

Ollie waggled her brow. “Oh, I knew. Knew the whole time.”

“Holy shit.”

That got a pleased laugh out of Ollie. She made a dismissive, joking gesture, but as the amusement faded Tenzin saw a slight flush simmering along her cheeks and the bridge of her nose.

“An olive,” it’s funny how one small act could take precedence over years of unspoken resentment. “That would’ve killed you when we were kids,” Tenzin leaned forward and lowered her voice. “How’d it happen? What’d you think afterwards?”

At first Ollie said nothing. She broadened her grin slightly, though tinging it with a hint of suspicion. Or maybe embarrassment? It was hard to tell. Finally she broke from her line of sight and snickered sheepishly at their audience of wandering ducks.

“I was in the Mess Hall,” she began. “Renja left a bottle on the counter. I saw it, and – I don’t know – something broke inside of me. I was just like fuck it and I ate one. It really isn’t –”

“Did you like it?” Tenzin cut in.

Ollie looked at her. She scoffed again. “Not really. The texture was fine, and I liked how salty it was, but it kind of tasted like blood.”

Tenzin stared at her friend. Her curls were well maintained. There were strands of silver that now stood out among the occasional ringlet of chestnut brown. She had smile lines starting to form in the corners of her mouth. Because she smiled a lot. Ollie always smiled a lot.

“You ate an olive,” Tenzin whispered in astonishment.

Ollie looked like she was going to laugh, but didn’t. She locked eyes again with Tenzin, searching her face, seeing something in Tenzin the same way she saw something in Ollie. When she smiled again it was surprisingly gentle.

“I ate an olive,” Ollie murmured proudly.

[justrandomfanfictionskh]

We Should Have Stayed in Gotham ch5

(Almost every Maribat fic I read has the akuma class going to Gotham. But tell me which is more likely, a class touring the city of crime, or a class touring the city of lights? So here it is, the Daminette fic that only I asked for, where Gotham goes to Paris, and the poor students have to grapple with the fact that they have competition for the most dangerous city in the world. I wonder what will happen?)

ao3 Beginning Previous

Everyone froze when the Akuma Alert sounded and looked at their phones. However, this time the information provided was significantly less helpful than the first time.

ALERT UNKNOWN AKUMA

Possible Level: 1-3

Location: 15th Arrondissement

Suspected Power: Transforming Victims into Teacups

Avoidance Protocol in Effect

Ladybug: MIA

Chat Noir: MIA

(If you have more information on the akuma submit it here: Link)

Damian looked around and saw the Parisians visibly relax, and then move about their day as if nothing was happening. Which made sense. This was a low level akuma on the other side of town, the odds of it affecting them were decidedly low and, according to the government site, simply turning around when you see the akuma would keep you safe. 

Still Marinette stood up. “I’m going to check with the teachers, make sure this doesn’t interfere with our schedule,” she said before leveling a finger at her friends, and for some reason Damian, saying, “No killing. I’ll be right back!” 

She wasn’t even gone five seconds before, Chloe steepled her fingers like a Bond villain and said, “So we’re killing Lila. Who’s in?”

“Chloe!” muttered the silent Juleka who had joined them with her GA partner, Matt, a few minutes ago. “Marinette said–”

“That we shouldn’t kill anyone,” Sabrina said cheerfully, “She didn’t say anything about planning to kill someone!”

Juleka muttered something as she hid behind her hair, as if that would abscond her from their criminal ways. But before any real murder plans could be concocted Kathryn asked, “I don’t get it. I mean if everyone knows she’s lying, and only the Enablers are pandering to her then what’s the big deal? She’s not causing any serious harm, is she?”

“It depends on what you mean by serious harm,” Sabrina said gently. 

“Example!” Alex shouted, “Here, she said this literally five minutes before you all turned up.” Alix cleared her throat dramatically and then clasped her hands together, and in a voice reminiscent of a 1950s Disney princess said, “‘Oh you know, I spent a summer in Gotham! Yeah, I helped Batman stop the Riddler by solving one of his puzzles. It was so hard. And afterward Batman and Robin invited me back to the cave for a tour! It was so cool, and Robin was so sweet! I’d talk more about it, but I’m so parched. Alya can I have a sip of your coffee? I’d ask Marinette, but you know how selfish she can be.’”

She turned to Sabrina who giggled and mimicked Alex saying, “‘Oh, of course Lila! Here just take the whole thing. I’m finished with it. So, what did Batman say when you solved the riddle?’”

Every single Gothamite at the table cringed, and Damian scowled deeply, but it was Alice who spoke, “If you guys had come to Gotham, and she had said that, then she would have gotten killed!”

Alex waved her hand dismissively, “Lila’s not an idiot. If we had gone to Gotham, I doubt she would have said anything that would have put her in danger. Unless…Damn it! Why couldn’t we go to Gotham?! We could have gotten one of the Rogues to do the dirty work for us!”

“The point,” Chloe said pointedly, “Is that Lila reinforced the idea that Marinette, who is an angel, is selfish and hates her. And Alya gives Lila her coffee every morning, and today Alya was using her limited addition Heroes Day Travel Mug. They made a hundred of them, but only twenty were sold due to…complications during the celebration.”

“Akuma,” the other girls said in unison. 

“Level ten,” Juleka muttered. 

Chloe moved her phone so that they could see a picture of said mug, and she continued, “Resell price is €100, but would go for three times that at auction.”

“But Alya’s mug would start at €10,000,” Sabrina said, “And go for five times that, because it was signed by Chat Noir and Ladybug. We don’t know how she managed that because Ladybug almost never gives autographs.” 

“And Chat Noir?” Damian asked.

“Hands them out like candy,” Chloe said reclaiming her phone. “The point is that mug was irreplaceable. And because Alya idolizes the heroes, to her it’s priceless.”

“And she’ll never see it again,” Alex supplied, “And probably get akumatized when she realizes it’s missing. She probably didn’t even realize that she had brought it today. I’ll bet you five euros, Lila only ever asked for Alya’s coffee so that she could get that mug.”

“No bet,” Chloe said as the Akuma Alert pinged to let them know that Ladybug and Chat Noir had arrived on the scene, “I’d rather bet on this akuma. Ten euros says it’s a little girl whose tea part got canceled.”

“Mm,” Alex said, “No, I bet that no one showed up to her tea party.”

“The parents of Paris know better by now,” Sabrina cried, “Fifteen says someone at her tea party said something mean.”

Juleka muttered something, about them all being awful which was quickly echoed by Alice crying, “Seriously? That’s a little girl! You people bet on this?”

“Oh!” Chloe scoffed, “Like you don’t bet on which Wayne gets kidnapped every time they have a Gala!”

The Gothamites blushed and very pointedly did not look at Damian. He just rolled his eyes, “Of course we do,” he said, “In fact Todd owes me ten dollars, from the last Gala. But I am more curious about Hawkmoth’s obvious idiocy. I mean, does he truly believe a little girl turning people into teacups is going to achieve his goal? It is ridiculous!”

“Utterly ridiculous,” the Parisians cried giggling, but Chloe just rolled her eyes. 

“It’s not ridiculous,” Chloe scoffed, “When you consider the numbers.”

Damian raised an eyebrow and Sabrina explained, “Year one of the Miraculous War saw Hawkmoth akumatizing one person per week, with a level 10 happening every other month. Year two, one akuma per day and a level 10 occurring every other week. We are now on year three, and on average there are two level 1-5s every day, and one level 6-10 every week. Although if there is a level 10, we only get one akuma the next day.”

“He’s wearing you down,” Will said, “Wearing the heroes down.”

The Parisians nodded their exhaustion seeping into their expressions. It was Juleka who spoke, “Ladybug and Chat Noir are getting stronger, but so is Hawkmoth. Every now and then he’ll enact a plan that almost succeeds. Queen Wasp, Heroes Day. But when those plans fail, he goes back to torturing the city. In the end, something will break.”

 There was a silence until Marinette returned with the good news that the day would go on as planned. But as she ran over to them, she tripped on a crack in the sidewalk. She would have face planted if Kim, who had just left the Museum, had not caught her, before joining his own friend group as if this was a perfectly normal occurrence. 

“That necklace,” Damian said, pointing to the smooth, grey, circular stone pendant with five mice icons on it. “You weren’t wearing that before.”

The Gothamites ignored him, but the Parisians narrowed their eyes. It was strange, But Marinette just brushed it off, “I got it in the gift shop on the way back. I thought it looked nice. So, what did I miss?”  

They didn’t have time to answer her questions however, as the last pair left the museum. It was time to return to the school for the “Getting to know you party.” Damian was not looking forward to the mundane and trivial socializing that this would entail. So, he stayed close to Marinette and her friends, whom he deemed to be of adequate intelligence. And it was a good thing too. 

For some reason, Marinette had suddenly become dangerously and inexplicably clumsy. She still had that spark of intelligence and competence that had convinced Damian that she was worth the time spent getting to know her, but every third step she seemed to trip on her own feet, fumble her phone, or run into a random object or person. It would have been humorous, if Damian had not seen her racing through the Louvre, dodging classmates and artifacts with almost inhuman grace and skill. In the end, it just made Damian suspicious.

But he did not have time to dwell on it too long, because they separated to drive back to the school. Once there, they were led into the art room, where banquet tables of Paris’s finest pastries and sandwiches were prepared, and popular music was playing. The teachers stepped to the side so that the teens could mingle. And once everyone had their food the party began. 

Damian turned to Marinette hoping to engage her in conversation when their phones went off. The green letters read. 

AKUMA DE-EVILIZED

Akuma: China Doll

Threat Level: 2

Power: Turning enemies into China Cups and friends into China Dolls

Akumatized Object: A Decorative Spoon teaspoon. 

Damage: None

Transformed: 50

Injuries: None

Casualties: None

Action Caused: No one came to victim’s tea party.

Akuma Prevention Note: Parents should encourage proper and healthy socialization in their children. Teachers should prevent alienation and bullying in school. No Tolerance!

Damian turned to discuss this with Marinette, but she just smiled and set down her plate. “I’m sorry,” she said. “But I have to get something from my locker. Excuse me.” And with that she was gone. 

Damian sighed, and prepared himself for a tedious afternoon as the Parisians exchanged the bet money, and the Gothamites exchanged the new information about the akumas and the class. Damian turned to disappear into a corner of the classroom, or perhaps examine some of the students’ projects, when he came face to face with the last person he wanted to speak to.

“Hi,” Lila said holding out her hand, “I’m Lila Rossi. You’re Damian Wayne, right? Oh my gosh, I’m such a fan. Alya told me you speak French. Please say you do; my English is dreadful!”

Damian narrowed his eyes at her in annoyance, but said in French, “I do. Please excuse me.”

“Whatever Marinette told you,” Lila said stepping in front of him, her pinch faced in simpering embarrassment. “Please know it’s an exaggeration. It’s true I do have a lying disease, but I am trying to get better. It’s just Hawkmoth, you know. He makes everything so hard.”

“Perhaps,” Damian said his scowl deepening, “But that does not mean that I must listen to your useless drivel. Please, excuse me.”

He shoved himself past her, but before he could even make it three feet away, a second annoying voice shouted, “Hey!”

Damian silently groaned, as he turned to face the scathing voice of Alya Cesaire. She stormed up to Damian, slinging her arm around Lila’s shoulders and fixing him with a glare, which might have been threatening, if he hadn’t been so assured of her incompetence. “She was just trying to say hi! No need to be rude!”

Behind her several Gothamites shook their head in exasperation. Even the students who had never seen him before, were well aware of his reputation. Chad stepped forward giving the girls a smile that would often get him slapped or fawned over (depending on the girl) and said in French, “Oh don’t bother with the Ice Prince. He’s always like that.”

“Just because he’s ‘like’ that is no excuse!” Alya cried. “He should apologize!” 

“Ten euros on Alya getting akumatized,” a harsh whisper reached Damian’s ear.

“No way, do you see his face, fifteen on the Gothamite.”

“Oh, you’re on!”

“Guys! It hasn’t even been ten minutes!” A third voice whined. 

Damian’s scowl deepened. This was ridiculous! But he was better than that. He was better than them. The moment he had decided that the akumas were real, he had resolved against ever joining their list of victims. His training and obvious risk aside, the idea of someone controlling him was grating. So, he attempted the deep calming breath he had seen Marinette and her friends do and tried again. 

“I have no need to apologize,” Damian said icy but calm. “I did nothing wrong. It is your ‘friend’ who cannot take a hint. I suggest she leave me alone. I have no interest in engaging with liars and manipulators.”

“You jerk!” Damian turned toward the new, slightly squeaky voice stomping up to him. A small girl in pink was storming up to them in a fury, and Damian thought she looked like a small kitten for all the good her threatening expression was doing for her. “Lila has a disease!” She cried. “You need to apologize! Can’t you have compassion for someone who is sick and unable to help themselves?”

Damian scowled, as Sabrina and a tall blonde boy dashed between them. “Everyone—" the boy began, but before he could continue, Damian sneered,

 “If Miss. Rossi was incapable of helping herself then she would only just be above the rat she actually is. However, since she is completely capable of controlling her own actions, I think it’s fair to say that she’s not even worth the consideration of a rat.” Everyone gasped as Damian fixed the full weight of his glare on the small blonde girl. “As it is, her ‘disease’ is inconsequential.”

The small girl’s gasped, her eyes watering as Lila began to cry into Alya’s shoulder. Damian tilted his chin up in victory, but then looked around to see everyone else, including the teachers looking at him in absolute horror. Marinette was standing in the doorway, fixing him with a look that could only be translated as, “Seriously!” 

Damian was confused only for the five seconds it took for a purple butterfly, that glowed with its own dark light, to fly through the window and vanish inside the blonde girl’s bag. “Right,” Damian thought, as a glowing butterfly mask appeared over the girl’s face. “Emotional Terrorist.”

“Run!” Someone shouted, and the class dissolved into chaos. Damian took a defensive stance. He had caused this akuma, it would want him. He needed to face it to keep the others safe. 

He watched in horrid fascination as the girl’s soft features transformed into a scowl. “Yes Hawkmoth,” she hissed, as the teachers violently began typing something on their phones. She reached into her bag and pulled out a perfume bottle that was glowing the same, purple black as the butterfly. A hand grabbed Damian’s wrist and pulled him away with a force that had Damian stumbling, even as he turned back to see a black and purple (for lack of a better word) goo encase the girl. 

All around him people’s phones were going off with a notification that read,

AKUMA ALERT: LEVEL 4

Akuma: Princess Fragrance

Gas Mask Protocol and Local Shelter Protocol in Effect. Everyone within the 12th Arrondissement put on gas masks and evacuate to the nearest Akuma Shelter. More instructions to follow.

 Ladybug: ON THE SCENE

Chat Noir: MIA

Damian turned to the person who was dragging him through the school. The young woman was dressed in a black body suit with red body armor covering her torso, arms, and legs. The red was patterned with small black polka dots, which should have looked ridiculous, but was somehow natural. Her black almost blue hair was done up in pigtails, which had screamed innocence in her pictures. But when she looked back, she fixed Damian with such a scathing glare, the Demon’s Heir flinched. But he understood.

He had been hoping to contrive a way to meet Ladybug during this trip, but he had not wanted it to be like this, running from an akuma of his own making. But he had no time to process the implications of that as a strange noise started echoing down the hallways behind them. It was the sound of a dozen voices singing, “At your service Princess Fragrance!”

Damian looked back to see a pink cloud chasing them down the hallways. The shapes of students and teachers, bent down to a distorted silhouette of a girl. Her maniacal chackling sent a shiver down Damian’s spine and spurred him to run faster, even as the cloud surged forward with quickening speed.

“Brace yourself!” Ladybug cried, and Damian barely had time to snap his head forward, before she had pulled him against her, and thrown them out the window in a shower of glass and metal.

If Damian had been anyone else he probably would have screamed. But since he was him he only hissed, as the spotted hero swung them on top of a nearby building. “Ok,” Ladybug said. As she released him, she flicked open her yoyo and began typing hurriedly on it. Damian stumbled as he regained his balance and focused on his savior.

The way she stood made her seem taller than she actually was, which surprised Damian. All of the pictures of her were all from a distance, or from bellow, so to see that the “Savior of Paris” was actually quite short threw him for a moment. Especially since, her face was still fixed in that withering glare that honestly could have rivaled the Batglare. It made him pause and reevaluate all of his opinions on her. But it was her eyes that gave the look potency.

Her eyes were so blue they practically glowed. No, they were glowing. It was clear to Damian, that the miraculous had given her some enhancements, but even with them she was still probably physically weaker than other meta he knew. And yet her eyes glowed with a power that she did not use, fixing him to the spot. And yet there was still something about her that he could not comprehend. She was young.

Damian was certain of it, Ladybug could not have been three years older than him, if not younger. And yet here she was leading a team of heroes in the protection of her entire city. As the Demon’s Heir it grated on his pride, that someone of his age with less experience was in a position of power, when he was not. But as the Son of the Bat he respected her all the more for it. It was a strange war in his head, that he had been fighting for a long time. But for today, he felt that it would be best for Robin to win, so that he wouldn’t get in Ladybug’s way or alienate her completely.

“You do realize,” Ladybug said in perfect English, obviously annoyed but not angry, “That it hasn’t even been ten minutes since the last akuma? What did you do?”

Damian stiffened. If he was going to convince this woman to let him help her fight Hawkmoth, he had to make a good first impression, “A liar in our host class attempted to manipulate me against my associate. I put her in her place, and her friend was akumatized.” Damian paused tilting his head. “How did you get here so fast?”

Ladybug sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, “I was on my way back home, when I saw the butterfly. I would have purified it immediately, but I had to recharge…ok, we need to move before Princess Fragrance sends her zombies after us. Once I get you somewhere safe, I’ll be able to stop the akuma. Are you ok with me carrying you?”

“I’d prefer to run on my own,” Damian said. Hoping beyond hope that she would not force him to endure that indignity. His brothers would never let him live it down.

To her credit, Ladybug just raised an eyebrow and said, “Are you enhanced?”

“No, but I do have training in parkour and martial arts,” he said.

“That may be, but unless you have enhanced strength you won’t be able to keep up with me. Especially when I’m swinging and you’re just running.”

“I’m from Gotham,” Damian insisted.

“That means squat here,” Ladybug said with a furrowed brow. “Haven’t you talked to your hosts. Surely they would have instructed you on that by now.”

Damian opened his mouth and then closed it, remembering the images that Marinette and Chloe had painted in his mind. She was right, him being from Gotham was worth about as much as the air he used to say the words. So, he closed his mouth and glowered, which for some reason made Ladybug smile and say,

“You’re quiet a prickly one, aren’t you. I think I’m going to call you Spikes.”

“Spikes?” Damian demanded with a raised eyebrow.

“Yep,” she said, “Like your hair. You’re spikey.” As if to prove the point, she reached up to ruffle, Damian's carefully gelled hair. He reared back from her in complete bafflement which caused her to laugh, and shake her head. “Look Spikes, Princess Fragrance might just be a level four, but that’s one level away from being deadly. I need your complete cooperation on this, if you don’t want to get brainwashed and forced to do whatever twisted deed she has in mind.”

Damian sighed, “Very well, but first—”

He never got to finish that sentence, as Ladybug slung him over her shoulder like he was a bag of flour and took of across the city. Damian growled but didn’t fight her, as the sound of singing zombies grew louder and louder and the pink fog spilled out of the building. But before they were too far away, Damian looked up to see a girl with long pink hair, green skin, and a black dress march out of the building with a perfume bottle in her hand. She laughed shouting something that he couldn’t hear. But then a horde of brainwashed citizens spilled out of the building, smiling like they were on Joker venom and chasing them through the streets of Paris.

Ladybug didn’t set him down until they were completely out of sight of the zombie army and their Princess. She did have the grace to put him down on his feet, and so he easily turned to see that they were on top of a skyscraper. Based on its billboard, this particular building was dedicated to a news station. Ladybug flipped open her yoyo again, but she closed it as three new heroes jumped up onto the roof.

Viperion and Ryuko were both tall and imposing figures, but one glance told Damian, that they were just as young as Ladybug. As young as him. But they all carried themselves with a presence that Damian only saw around the adult heroes. It was something that Damian associated with true power and responsibility. It cloaked them, as it cloaked Ladybug, and there was no doubt in his mind that these were members of a coherent and well established team. Even their costumes had a uniform like quality to them as thy all fit into the same style as Ladybug's. Monochrome body suits with patterned body armor styled after whichever animal their Miraculous was named for.

 Viperion’s suit was black, and his armor had a teal scaled pattern, with a yellow diamond on the chest. Meanwhile, Ryuko’s suit was red, and her armor had black scales. A golden symbol of the three elements water, wind, lightening was embossed in the chest piece, and she had two golden horns, to complete her dragon look. Compared to them, Chat Noir looked very decidedly out of place.

His suit had not changed one bit in the three years he had been active. It was still the same leather black cat suite with the strange golden bell at his neck. And though his green cat eyes glowed with the same power that Ladybug had, there was something in his relaxed and easy posture that made him seem separate from the others. He was tall and obviously strong. But he clearly did not have the presence that the others carried.

Ladybug, Viperion, and Ryuko had the dignity of leadership and strength beyond their age. Chat Noire seemed obviously hindered by his. This fact seemed to be proved when the cat hero snorted at Damian and said,

“So, this is the one who caused Princess Fragrance. Looks like we got another Chloe on our hands, milady!”

“That’s enough Chatton,” Ladybug said stepping beside Damian. “We do not judge, remember.”

Chat Noir seemed properly chastised as the other two stepped forward. “What happened?” Viperion said calmly, strumming a…was that a lyre?

Ladybug sighed, “Lila.” All three heroes nodded understandingly, and no more questions were asked on the matter. Damian gritted his teeth at this reaction, and his hatred for the liar only grew. But he remained silent as Ladybug outlined her plan.

He listened intently as they spoke, half expecting that he would need to interject, point out a flaw in their plan, or come up with a better one. But no. Ladybug was clearly very strategic and experienced as she laid out a plan that was both simple and fool proof, provided that everyone did their part.

Damian’s eyes trailed to Chat Noir. He was clearly the weak link, but if the hierarchy of Miraculous that the SpotsOn blog detailed was correct, then Chat Noir was supposed to be equal to Ladybug, her partner and balance. Instead, he acted like a side kick, lazily swinging his leather “tail” and giving Damian narrowed looks. When he did speak it was to make a pun or joke, and Damian had a hard time figuring out what exactly he added to the group, except a place to fill. One thing was clear to Damian, if anyone was going to break ranks and cause the plan to fall apart, then it would be Chat Noir. He did not want that to happen considering it was his neck on the line.

Damian cleared his throat drawing all of their eyes towards him. “Your plan is good but it’s going to fail.”

“Excuse me?” Chat Noir demanded.

“What do you mean?” Viperion asked.

“It is too reliant on individual members. If so much as one person breaks rank, then the whole thing falls apart, and you will have to use your luck charm…is it wise to use two lucky charms in a day?”

Ladybug tilted her head examining him carefully, “So long as Cataclysm is used to act as a balance it's fine. Besides I need the charm for the cure, it's part of the spell. How do you know one of us will break rank?”

Damian looked Chat Noir up and down, and couldn’t help the sneer at his blatant childishness before facing Ladybug and saying, “Isn’t it obvious?”

“Hey!” Chat yelled and tried to charge Damian, but Ryuko held him back.

“Ladybug,” Viperion asked with a hint of amusement, “Where’d you find this one?”

Ladybug sighed, “Imagine if Ryuko and Bumble Queen were the same person and male, that’s him.”

She jerked her thumb at Damian as she said this, giving Damian a strange sense of déjà vu, but he shook it off as the boys nodded their understanding with soft “Oh’s” while Ryuko studied Damian far more carefully than before. Finally, the Dragon Hero said, “What exactly do you have in mind?”

“Your lucky charm,” Damian said turning to Ladybug, “Does it only work for specific situations, or will it always work no matter what?”

Ladybug smirked at him placing her hands on her hips. “Specific situations,” she said, “And if the situation randomly changes than it can become worthless.”

“Then—”

“Wait!” Viperion cried and then did something to his bracelet so that the snake carving on it began to glow. He then nodded for Damian to continue.

Damian arched his brows at that but continued anyway, “Then set the trap in an area completely under your control. But do not give specific instructions until Princess Fragrance is right in front of you. Once she is, command everyone as you see fit. It is the most efficient way to use your Luck Charm.”

“Ladybug!” Chat Noir demanded, “Are you going to let him talk to you like that?”

Damian sighed in exasperation but said nothing as he met Ladybug's gaze. He understood where Chat Noir was coming from. There was something in his tone of voice, that had most people believing he was arrogant and entitled. Which to be fair, he was, or at least he used to be. But he had lived six years with his father, three older brothers, two sisters, one almost brother, and one technically sister. And though he would never say it to their faces, they were all incredible warriors who had put him in his place as soundly as any of Ra’s trainers.

The arrogance might still be there, but the entitlement had been drained out of him with every spar lost, every prank war engaged in, and every birthday celebrated. But that didn’t stop people from hearing his tone and assuming the worst. He could only hope that Ladybug would look past this and see the logic of his plan, even if he was offensive about it.

The hero in question just looked at him with those glowing blue eyes, that seemed to pierce him even without the power behind them. A sly smile played on her lids as she shrugged, “I don’t know what you mean Chatton. He’s right. The only problem is our time limit. Once my lucky charm is used, we will only have fifteen minutes to defeat the akuma, and purify it.”

Damian blinked in confusion, “The Government site said your limit was five minutes.”

Ladybug’s smile became a smirk as she said, “And you think I tell the government everything? Viperion, what do you think?"

The snake hero paused for a count of three before grinning slyly and saying, "We didn't need second chance."

'The follow me," she said, and before Damian could protest, Ladybug slung him over her shoulder again. 

Next

@spicemallow @night-ngale @annastasha @ev-cupcake @hammalammadamdam @laydeekrayzee @itsemmylie @when-no-wings-do-broomsticks  @doglover82 @raven-ette @atiredartistandacat

[cod-dump]

Gone in the Night

SoapGhost

TW: Major character death, hurt/no comfort, angst

@mysticalgalaxysalad

___

Ghost has gone out on high risk missions before and he’s always come back. Soap had stopped worrying about him ages ago because he had come to learn that it was pointless. Man always bounded back, a new scar to show off and new morbid jokes to accompany it. It was pointless to worry because Ghost wouldn’t back away from a mission.

He was forever fearless, always facing whatever challenge was given to him.

Soap stopped worrying because he always came back. Late at night, early in the morning, in the dead of evening. He always shows up, ready to sleep and tell Soap about whatever he had gone through on the mission. Soap had awakened countless times to the man in bed with him, curled up against him and sound asleep. It always made him smile that Ghost always came to him after long missions. Normally on top of the covers because he didn’t want to bother him even though he all but laid on top of him.

“You can just wake me up, love. I don’t care.”

“I don’t need to be under the blankets to feel close to you.”

Soap had felt his heart flutter in his chest at that, unable to stop himself from smiling. Ghost always came to him first. Everyone knew that. More than once Soap has awoken to Price knocking on his door, asking for Ghost who was sleeping next to him. Price would steal Ghost away and the man always came back to Soap afterwards. Gaz joked that he was like a magnet attracted only to Soap.

“No matter where you are, he always finds you. Did he put a tracker on you or something?”

Soap laughed, “Oh, definitely. It’s right here where my heart used to be before he stole it.”

Gaz gags dramatically at that. 

Soap had stopped worrying about Ghost going on long missions, in the dark until he had made the kill. Ghost always kissed him before he left, always made a lasting impression before he disappeared. Soap had awoken countless times to Ghost kissing him and stripping his clothes from him. He always chose the day before he left so he had plenty of time to show Soap how much he loved him. But it would never be enough for Soap because he was always left wanting more. Always eagerly awaiting for Ghost to return to him.

Ghost had left five months ago. And communications between him and Price were cut last week. No one had heard anything from him, no one. Not their contacts, the men that went with him, nothing. Everything became quiet. Very quiet. But Soap didn’t worry, he felt he had no reason to. The Ghost always came back, always crawled out of the dirt and finished the job before he went home. Soap wasn’t worried, why should he be?

He wasn’t worried… but Price was. The man was pacing after day five of no updates from Ghost or his team. But Soap still didn’t worry and just tried to calm the man.

“They’re fine. Probably deep in the shadows.”

Price always had these gut feelings about things. A six sense that told him when something was wrong. Soap only started to worry after realizing that Price was having one of those feelings about this. Day seven of no word from Ghost was when Price started to arrange a team to go out and figure out what was wrong. There have been other cases when communication was lost and Price didn’t send anyone out to get a word from them. But this was different. And that made Soap worry even though he never had to worry about this before, at least not in a long time. Price was heading the team and Soap asked to go with him. If something had gone wrong, Soap wanted to be there to help fix it.

He didn’t let Price talk him out of it. So they went out together, leading a team together. When they had reached the last known location that Ghost and his team were, the day before they had gone quiet, they found nothing there. No sign that they were even there, which meant the day they had last talked to them nothing was wrong. That things were still in control before they continued on.

Even when they were left with nothing to follow, Price found a trail. And they followed that trail. Soap was trying to stay optimistic as they moved but… then they started finding bodies. More of Ghost’s team were found and more obvious the trail became to follow. They followed the trail to what looked like an abandoned village. An abandoned village where Ghost’s target lurked. They were met with gunfire which they returned. They were able to take them out, killing Ghost’s target last. Then Price found the end of the trail.

Three of their men were inside a building that they had barricaded. They all looked like they had seen the gates of hell open and had collapsed into the arms of their comrades. Soap had swallowed hard because there was no Ghost.

“Where is Ghost?”

The men said nothing but pointed over into the darkness of the next room. Soap felt his heart drop as he walked closer, panic coursing through him as he saw a trail of blood across the floor. He shined a light into the room and choked on a sob. There, leaning against the wall, slumped over with a hand tight around a knife handle, was Ghost. Soap rushed over to him, sliding down next to the unmoving man. Soap could barely hear anything but his own heart beating.

“He went in there last night…”

Soap reaches up and cups Ghost’s face, feeling no warmth through the mask. He swallows as he slowly takes off the mask, greeted by Ghost’s pale, slacked face. Soap wanted to scream, cry so loud that it shook the sky like thunder. But he didn’t. He just pulled Ghost’s limp form against his chest, hands shaking as he felt no warmth from him. No heartbeat, no breath. Soap knew he was gone and all he could feel was his heart breaking. All he could think of was that Ghost died here, alone in the dark. That he dragged himself in here so he didn’t die in front of his men. Soap carded through his hair, feeling his heart slow back to its normal rhythm. He stared at the mask that Ghost had always worn in the presence of others.

Soap reached out and picked it up, feeling a part of him die.

“MacTavish.”

Price’s emotionless voice made Soap look at him. He could see a part of him had died, too.

“Who did you say that the target worked for?”

“Johnny… let’s get him home.” Please don’t follow him down the path he made.

Soap continued to cradle Ghost against him, looking at the mask once more.

“Take him home.”

Soap left one last kiss to Ghost’s forehead, a temporary goodbye. A promise that he would see him again.

“Johnny-”

Soap brushed past Price, feeling as though he couldn’t hear him clearly. Like he was whispering and mumbling. Soap walked out of the building, going to Ghost’s target and picking his pockets until he found a phone. Then he left. That phone in his hand… And Ghost’s mask in his clenched fist.

[highfunctioningflailgirl]

Les Trois Mousquetaires, Chapter Five

Athos and d'Artagnan meet up for their duel, and while waiting for Porthos and Aramis, they take a liking to each other. Shame, really, since they're also about to kill each other.

They're so polite, it's hilarious:

Athos, still ailing from his shoulder injury, apologizes to d'Art for having to fight him left-handed and possibly putting d'Art at a disadvantage.

d'Art offers Athos his mother's magical healing balm for his wounded shoulder

Athos: "...j'aime les hommes de votre trempe, et je vois que si nou ne nous tuons pas l'un l'autre, j'auris plus tard un vrai plaisir dans votre conversation." (I like men of your kind, and if we don't kill each other, I can see myself enjoying conversing with you later.)

“Décidément vous êtes un joli garçon”, dit Athos en serrant la main du jeune homme. (‘You really are a pretty boy’, Athos said and seized the young man’s hand.)

Get a room already, you two...! 😆

(And, JFTR, I know that Dumas didn't write them as gay characters, even if many of us take the liberty of reading them that way; Dumas was a romantic, and his heroes simply were very in touch with their feelings and not afraid of showing them. They hugged and kissed and cried, men and women alike. And I love how open to every kind of modern interpretation the stories are. I generally read the Musketeers as the biggest platonic bromance of all time. But anything is possible, and you do you!)

Athos refers to Aramis, Porthos and himself as the "trois inséparables" for the very first time. Little did Dumas know he'd coined an iconic OT4 name for all eternity.🤩

To everyone's surprise (but ours and d'Artagnan's), the Inseparables find out they're all dueling the same mercurial Gascon. Sangbleu! *slapsticky laughter*

More ridiculously heroic politeness from Athos: It's warm, but he's going to keep his doublet on while fighting so d'Art won't be put off by the sight of Athos bleeding through his bandages. (How kind of you, you idiot!)

Just when they're drawing their swords, the Cardinal's Red Guard arrive (great timing), and of course these morons want to arrest our four for illegal dueling.🙄

This is the moment that changes d'Artagnan's life. The moment where he has to chose sides. The moment where our brotherhood of Musketeers is born.

"Vous avez dit que vous n'étiez que trois, mais il me semble, à moi, que nous sommes quatre. [...] je n'ai pas l'habit, mais jai l'âme. Mon coeur es mousquetaire [...]" (You said your were only three, but it seems to me we are four. I may not have the clothes, but the soul. My heart is musketeer.)

"Eh bien, Athos, Porthos, Aramis et d'Artagnan, en avant!" cria Athos.

*goosebumps*

A fine sword fight ensues with our four taking down five Guards and d'Artagnan saving a dramatically faltering Athos from getting skewered before Athos rallies and finishes the last bad guy off himself. Drama! Action! I love it all!🤩

Afterwards, our four triumphantly parade back to Tréville's, arms over shoulders, and d'Artagnan thinks that "si je ne suis pas encore mousquetaire, [...] au moins me voilà reçu apprenti, n'est-ce pas?" (If I'm not a musketeer yet, I'm at least an apprentice now, aren't I?)

*happy sigh*

[ardencallaway]

Hide and Seek: Answers Part 1

So if you haven't finished Hide and Seek, READ NO FURTHER!!!

I'm going to answer the first question I've got so far in my asks. Since it gives away the ending, I'm just going to rewrite it below and hope this more tag works. Seriously, major major spoilers for the ending below. Do not read further unless you have finished!!!

"What possessed you to kill Albus?"

I'm not sure anything possessed me. However, two of the many things I wanted to try with this story (among others, but we'll focus on these for now) were:

Explore grief & give Harry Potter a fitting ending.

Now, whether I did that or not is entirely up to each reader individually. There's no right answer.

When it comes to exploring grief, it's not really about the sadness for me, exactly. I've lived a very full life in my limited years on this Earth, but I've had my fair share of loss. One thing that has always fascinated me, is the way that loss can truly heighten the way we think about life, the people and things that matter to us most. Those periods afterwards reflect what we had to such a dramatic degree.

I think part of it is the fact that it's an ending. We'll never experience our own ending, not really. We are born and then we live and live and live until we don't. But for the entire span of our lives, our own end is abstract at best, even if we know it's coming. By giving something important to us an ending (a death, a breakup, whatever it might be), it not only gives us chance to really examine all it meant, examine it in its entirety, but it also gets us a little bit closer to understanding our own mortality.

Now, could I have done it another way? Sure. But Albus' character arc felt complete to me. He went from not understanding himself, hating his family (kind of), unable to handle his own emotions, feeling like an outcast. By the end he was completely surrounded by love, support, understanding, and I think for the first time in his life he felt proud of what he had built.

Scorpius, on the other hand, I felt had experienced too much pain, loss, and hardship compared. Killing Scorpius off almost felt expected to a degree, the way he got dealt one loss after another despite being so pure. So I wanted to give him the long life. Scorpius was able to find happiness in the family around him, was able to build a life after. I don't think Albus would have been able to if he had lost Scorpius.

Next, I wanted to give Harry Potter a fitting ending. I knew before I started Chapter 1 that Harry was going to die in this story. Having him die to save someone important, in the very same way his mother saved him, felt the most fitting. By having him save Scorpius, I also wanted to show Harry's growth over the years as well. His own struggles of adulthood (fatherhood, old grudges, etc.) were all completed as well. I know it's a sad ending, that was to be expected. I'm not particular good at writing fluff or happy endings, but I might try one day. Oh and one more thing! For those of you eagle-eyed readers, you might have noticed that I strongly hinted at everyone who would die (and in what order) early on in Part One.

If you look back to Chapter 24 there is a dream sequence where Albus sees Scorpius standing among four gravestones, grieving. Albus then encounters, in order: Astoria, Craig, Himself, and Harry.

[prncewilhelm]

I saw on your twitter that you finished gåsmamman and i need to know your thoughts about the finale! i was so....that was it?? like i needed at least one more episode after it lol, i get that it's supposed to be kind of an ambiguous ending but i didn't feel satisfied u know

hi!!!

while i enjoyed the finale a lot, i definitely do not feel entirely satisfied with it as a complete ending for 6 seasons – like we didn't even get the chance to breathe with the final shot before the gåsmamman logo came up! given what happens to sonja and lukas, i get that it's supposed to be abrupt but i would've loved a little bit more afterwards to process it all. i would've loved to see the other characters process it, even just time spent longer on the reactions of their faces... it was like, boom (lol) this whole huge moment happens and then it goes to linus for 0.2 seconds and then THE END and i'm there triple checking the google drive like, is that it? just a little bit more would've been great – something to allow the audience to sit with it for a beat before being jerked away.

major spoilers under cut for the last few eps of gåsmamman so be warned! just want to talk about an aspect in greater detail.

i guess the one thing about the finale that continues to stump me is the decision to have zac trade linus in – i just find it hard to believe that he would've done that to nina, given how much she loves and cares for her younger brother and how he's looked after him for years, i don't feel like she would've ever forgiven him had she found that out? like, how did he think he would get away with that? i know that he was desperate and trying to protect their son and nina and the whole point of the show is people doing desperate insane things to protect their family – it just felt like a little bit of a character assassination, because zac surely had to have known that linus was always going to be in physical danger with that deal – he'd spent long enough in that world to know that "you promised not to hurt him" was empty. i guess you can argue that he was just blindsided by his need to protect his family, but it just makes me a little frustrated.

i know that sonja killing him was a way for them to show that she had ultimately turned into anders (eg: him killing his own daughter's husband, fredrik and therefore irredeemable), but i do wish the truth of the situation had come to light in that last moment w sonja and the kids when linus exposes it to nina, because i feel like sonja's reasoning is a lot more justified than anders' was – like, i would kill someone too if they'd handed linus willingly over to someone to get tortured. i don't think sonja would've ever been able to come back from killing zac – especially not in her family's eyes – but i also think zac never would've been able to come back from it either had he stayed alive.

all in all i loved the show. it was dramatic and heightened and ridiculous at times, but i found myself really caring about the characters – the performances were all pretty impressive too. and ultimately, i liked the outcome for sonja (and god i am so glad linus' beard and shitty back tattoo from her fantasy of the future was not real cause hell) i just wish the aftermath had been extended ever so –just so we got to properly say goodbye to the characters we've sat with for 6 seasons like, emil's reaction, barry's reaction etc etc. there's only 2 works on ao3 under gåsmamman so i can't even find someone else to satisfy it for me 💔💔

anyways sorry this is super ramble-y but, you asked for it! here to chat about the rest of it whenever!! hope you have a wonderful day.

💜

[of-nyon]

was going through my wips and unearthed the decepticon X AU that fizzled out cause I don't know how to finish it, and...I still don't know how to finish it, lol. So here's what I got.

vvvv CLICK BELOW to see Soundwave having a nice night out, X getting to be just a little bit manipulative (as a treat), and Zero having a bad time.

There had been some terrible mistake.

From Soundwave's briefings and his own research, X had fully expected an invitation to a performance as the Decepticon diplomatic envoy to the Vynhar, a species that above all else loved dramatic performance and passion, and also had been identified as having useful resources that the Decepticon Army was stretched too thin to justify a full-scale invasion to acquire. And also, X tended to dislike that approach, and with Soundwave surprising him by backing him up, Megatron had agreed to send him out here instead.

But, it seemed, the Autobots had the same idea. And the Vynhar were either playing for drama, or had simply decided to lump the Cybertronians together in the audience.

The red-and-yellow mech next to him was ramrod-stiff in his seat, his EM field tightly pulled against his frame. Awkwardly sat between the lone Autobot and the reassuring presence that was Soundwave, it was near-impossible for X to focus on the opera, a well-loved Vynhara tale about forbidden, star-crossed lovers.

Something pinged in his inbox. The Autobot – Zero, or so he called himself during an awkwardly stiff introduction – was requesting to open a comm channel. X checked in with Soundwave first.

:he wants to comm me. Do I accept?:

Soundwave was silent for a moment. Then, a file packet of info was sent over to him, which X opened curiously.

:Autobot Zero: potential recruit,: Soundwave explained as X scrolled through the mech in question's personnel file, some of it plucked straight from Autobot data networks. Soundwave truly lived up to his well-earned reputation. :Recent disagreements with Autobot high command. Unsure why they have sent him, but still an opportunity.:

:I see,: X replied. :thank you: He accepted the request, noting recent disciplinary action in the file. Brig time, extra chores. Not very Autobot-like -

:Give me one good reason I shouldn't kill you right now.:

X blinked.

That was one way to introduce yourself.

:Well, it would cause a scene. Vynhar hate interruptions. They wouldn't look kindly on the Autobots afterwards. And, maybe you could take me. I'm not much of a fighter. But Soundwave is. I suppose that's two reasons.:

Zero didn't reply. On stage, the hero sang out his anguish at the prospect of being separated from his lover, who he'd met about ten minutes ago.

There was two more hours of this.

:My name is X,: he tried, bringing to bear his greatest weapon: the principle of sheer, grit-stubborn politeness that even Starscream wasn't unaffected by when meetings ran long and everyone was tired and grumpy.

The Autobot stared ahead. X didn't expect a reply, but a few moments later, his inbox pinged again.

:You're not a warbuild. You don't even have any visible weapons. You're tiny. You look like an accountant. Why are you a 'con?:

:Well, why are you an Autobot? Seems you get in trouble with them an awful lot.:

The red mech somehow stiffened even further. Finally turning to face X, his Autobot-blue optics shined in the low light with startled accusation.

“How do you know that?” Zero hissed, ducking in closer. His hands gripped the sides of his seat. X just smiled and tipped his head upwards at the not-actually-that-monolithic-once-you-got-to-know-him block that was Soundwave, who was currently doing an amazing job of pretending to be utterly unaware of the miniature drama playing out next to him, appearing totally focused on the stage. Zero cursed under his breath and sat back.

:Can he actually read minds?: Zero's uncertain gaze darted from one Decepticon to the other. X gave a reassuring smile.

:I can ask him not to! We're having a private conversation, after all. So why all the brig time? Don't you agree with them?:

Zero said nothing, turning to once more watch the stage. Well, that was fine. No need to push this early. X decided to give him some ground:

:Well, if you must know, you were close. I was a clerk. But…two of my older siblings were created as domestic helpers. Disposable-class.: Even if their creator had never intended it that way, there had been no escaping the chokehold of Cybertron under Functionism, not until Megatron had stood up and said enough.

Even then, X had still had to smuggle them out, Blues dropping in with a rare reappearance and an ultimatum to get them to safety. The fees had been exorbitant, and, discovering the perceived betrayal, X's good graces with their creator finally ran out. He wasn't the all-powerful outlier he'd been intended as – just a normal mech. A clerk.

:…I don't know much about that stuff,: Zero admitted. :I was made for the war.:

So, the Autobots weren't teaching their history, then, at least not the parts that didn't suit them. X and his siblings had technically been illegal, their creator thinking that his genius put him above something as mundane as the law. No doubt Optimus Prime, then known as Orion Pax, an Enforcer, would have without question upheld the law had he ever become aware of -

:I think Prime thinks he's doing the right thing,: Zero continued, interrupting X's internal pity-party. :He's either being deliberately kept in the dark about how bad it is, or he does know and just doesn't care. I don't know which option's worse.:

:How so?: X asked curiously. He would have thought that worshipping the ground Optimus Prime walked on came standard with being an Autobot, especially one being spoonfed a carefully abridged history of Cybertron, but he was always ready to learn new things.

:…the MTO factories. I have some fancy ability that means I get to be a real person. The rest of my batch got sent out to die before they were an hour old.:

X's face paled. Of course, something had to sustain planet-wide battlefields and uncountable atrocities. The Decepticons used up every scrap they had, up to and including prisoners. The Autobots simply created their own warm bodies – Made-To-Order mechs, stripped-down versions of Cybertronians who had guns put into their hands and were pointed towards the enemy sooner rather than later.

X tried his best. Sometimes Megatron could be swayed; sometimes he couldn't. But surely it was the better option than the Autobots, defenders of the old regime.

It was there in Zero's file: the facility was hidden away in the middle of an asteroid belt, but when he cross-checked it with current data, it had in fact been targeted and destroyed two centuries ago.

He wondered if Zero knew. He wondered if anyone had bothered to tell him.

:So you didn't get a choice?: X asked, seeing an angle. :You were just made an Autobot, that's that?:

They were both distracted when the heroine on stage screamed, forced unwillingly to strike down her beloved. There was dramatic, booming music, and the curtains closed to polite applause from the audience. The first of three intermissions – the true appreciation was expected to be saved for the curtain-call finale.

:That…happened fast,: Zero said. Avoiding the question, perhaps, but it opened up another opportunity: the reveal that he'd been paying attention.

:X: requires refreshments?: Soundwave pinged, standing up.

:Oh, I'm fine, thanks.: He smiled and nodded his appreciation. Out loud, he said: “Zero, do you want anything?”

“Huh?”

“Soundwave's offering.” He was not, but the idea of trying to recruit Zero had been his, so X figured he wouldn't mind.

“O-oh.” Zero's optics darted once more between them. In the better lighting, with X able to get a proper look at him, he didn't look half-bad, especially for a cold-constructed MTO. Maybe the Autobots had given him a frame upgrade? His outlier ability was listed as classified, so they had at least some backend security that Soundwave couldn't pass through with barely a thought.“No. No, I'm good.”

“Acknowledged.” Soundwave turned to leave. :Request: please contact me immediately if you require assistance.:

:Acknowledged,: X teased lightly back. :Go and let your little terrors out. I bet they're bored out of their processors.:

:Rumble and Frenzy: unappreciative of finer arts,: Soundwave agreed with a sigh, then began to stump his way down the aisle to the stairs. “He's not that bad once you get to know him,” X said. “A bit of a softspark, honestly.”

“That's Soundwave,” Zero said disbelievingly.

“He's a carrier model. He has five cassetticons that depend on him,” X replied. “He's-”

“Ah, gentlemechs, I believe the term is, how are you enjoying the play?” The Vynhara representative that had met X and Soundwave when they first disembarked approached them, taking the empty seat next to Zero.

“It's a very interesting production!” X said brightly. “The lighting in particular, it's very cleverly done!”

“Oh, our Chief Technician will be pleased to hear that,” the Vynhara trilled. “I will be sure to pass on your compliments.”

“I liked the fi- the choreography,” Zero offered. “The. Main actor? He does some good stuff.”

“Ooh! Glint will be thrilled! A Cybertronian, complementing him!” Their feathers ruffled in glee. The Vynhar were an avian race, of about a height with X and Zero – not minibot sized, but smaller than the average mech. X's creator had handcrafted him as a personal project and only had so much material to work with; Zero was taller only by a head.

“Save it till the end, though, yes?” X said – it was a traditional Vynhara saying, meaning to wait until a story was finished in its telling to fully judge it. The representative dipped their head in understanding, crest-feathers falling about their face.

“Of course, of course! I do hope you continue to enjoy it! I will pass on your complements to the relevant parties~” with an extravagant bow, they left.

“They will want to know your thoughts, so you might want to start putting your review together ahead of time,” X advised. Zero looked at him, then sighed and shook his head.

“I'm not the kind of guy you want doing something like this. I feel like I'm being set up to fail. Prime called it a vacation.” Zero grimaced. “He was smiling, too. He's not taking it seriously.”

“He takes the battlemask off?” X asked, surprised at the notion.

“No, but – you can tell. The derma under his optics kind of crinkles. I think Prowl might have put him up to it to get me out from under his feet for a few cycles.”

“Oh, him.” X instinctively tensed, his plating pressing closer to his frame at hearing the name of the Autobot Second-in-Command.

Zero raised an optic ridge in question, but X didn't feel like elaborating, not with memories of the interrogation threatening to claw in at the edges of his mind. He was grateful Soundwave had come back for him, and that was that.

Speaking of, the large mech chose that moment to return, Laserbeak – usually the best-behaved of the cassettes in situations like this – perched on his shoulder. She warbled a greeting at X, fluttering her wings lightly at him. He smiled in return, nodding to his superior officer as he sat down once more.

:Progress?: Soundwave queried as Zero looked away.

:It's going well! He only threatened me once, at the beginning. He's been talkative since then. He thinks Prime and – and Prowl have set him up. That they don't think he'll succeed.:

:Noted.: Music began to play, signalling the second act. As the lights dimmed, Soundwave's red gaze looked past X to size Zero up. :Continue if you wish.:

:Noted,: X mimicked back, reaching out to pet Laserbeak, who leaned into his touch happily.

:Is he your boss? Why are you both here?: Zero questioned as the play resumed, starting with an energetic dance number meant to tonally clash with the drama of the close of the previous act.

:Oh, he insisted,: X replied, turning his focus to the less-than-perfect Autobot. :I proposed diplomacy instead of invasion. Soundwave backed me up.:

:…must be nice,: Zero said. :I think Prowl would eat his own arm before he agreed with me on anything.: He gave an audible sigh. :I'm telling you too much. No-one's actually sat down and had a conversation with me, you know? Prime tried, but it didn't really work. It was after I got picked up from the facility and had a proper badge given to me instead of just paint. I'd only just found out my batchmates all died.:

X made a noise of sympathy, catching Laserbeak's attention. She trilled quietly, moving over to his shoulder to butt her head against him in her own way of showing solidarity.

“Oh, no, I'm all right,” he murmured quietly, using a finger to stroke her head in a way he knew she liked.

In the play, the hero, thought dead, made a dramatic return, the effects and lighting technicians truly going all out. With all the booming distraction, X reached out, daringly, to take Zero's hand.

:We're all just mechs in the end,: he said.

Zero said nothing, but he didn't pull away, either.

[johndonneswife]

2 months ago i found this letter my grandma wrote me when i was away at summer camp in 2005. i didn’t even know i had this stashed away somewhere. i shoved it into my desk as soon as i saw who it was from and finally mustered up the strength to read it a few days ago. i think this is the only thing she ever wrote me. now that i’ve let myself have this i can’t stop myself from reading it over and over again. it’s very on brand for her - always, always wanting me to be safe and careful, ‘have fun’ always an afterthought. i miss her. i can’t believe how much i miss her. i dream about her almost every night. i’m angry and i’m sad. i wish she had been able to do more, or that i had been able to do more for her. she was a high school dropout, a child bride, married at 16 with 5 kids before she was 25. her husband was an abusive alcoholic who had a heart attack and made her a widow when she was only 40. she had 15 siblings and they were so poor that when she was 10 her parents sent her to a catholic orphanage / children’s home upstate, where she was abused and neglected. she never got enough love or attention and didn’t learn to express love herself until she had grandchildren - and love she did, freely, especially later in life. she loved us all so much. she lived next door to me and i saw her every single day until i moved away from my hometown. she cried so much when i told her i was leaving. she watched a lot of shitty tv and had some questionable political views. she was an asthmatic chain smoker and that’s what ended up killing her in the end. i hate that she didn’t try harder to quit. i feel angry, and then i feel guilty for being angry, and then i remember she’s dead anyway so it doesn’t really matter how i feel. she taught me how to ride a bike and protected me from my mother. all of my ‘first day of school’ pictures were taken at her house. i put on makeup for the first time in her house. i cooked my first meals in her house. i got locked in the bathroom in her house when i was 5 and was claustrophobic for years afterwards. i loved being around her. she’s still the first person i want to talk to when i have something going on. i still try to call her before i remember i can’t do that anymore. i feel like i failed her. growing up, i wanted so badly to be rich and famous so i could buy her everything she never had. i wanted to be on tv and i wanted her to watch me every night. she was so proud of me for finishing school and for moving away. she loved to swim but never owned a bathing suit; she swam in a t-shirt and shorts every time. she was super sensitive to smells and hated when i wore perfume; she would have dramatic fake coughing fits when i walked in the door. we watched charlotte’s web together probably over 100 times. i would sing that sad and beautiful debbie reynolds song for her. i played it in the hospital room when she was on hospice and we all cried. she answered the phone the same exact way each time, would close her eyes when we drove over bridges because she was always afraid they would collapse, and she made sure to give each of us $100 in our stockings on christmas morning even though she definitely could not afford it. she kept everything i ever made for her in her ‘memory box’ and going through it after she died was like unearthing my own personal time capsule. doodles i did in 3rd grade. random seasonal coloring book pages. a necklace i made when i was 4. a dollar i gave her ‘for atlantic city.’ she loved me so much. so much. i spent my entire life by her side and was right at her side when she died. i miss her so much i am desperate. i want her here with me. what do i do? do i go to the church she hated? buy a ouija board? hire a psychic? i just want to see her again. what do you do with your grief besides letting it rot in the pit of your stomach? how do you keep living?

[violasgamingpalace]

Just finished up Prey and while I liked the idea of the ending, the rest of the game really doesn't do the work of justifying it. Partly that's because Arkane is gonna Arkane, and just like dishonored every single moral dilemma is 'Will you go a bit out of your way to save someone's life?' but the big reason I think is because they probably designed the entire game before figuring out the story.

The big theme is a twist- 'Will you choose humanity or Alien'? But the game doesn't let you choose to ally with the Typhon in any way. There's a lot of really cool and classic video game techniques they could have done (A character creation screen! Give me Morgan's default appearance and then if I change it that shows I'm adopting my own identity beyond them! Let me choose to look like a phantom to show I identify with Alieness! At the very least, some Typhon should be non-aggressive, give the player a slightly interesting moral question of saving them instead)

The game also would really benefit from a third or even fourth approach. Blowing up the station becomes the ending for both 'Pragmatics who want to really kill the monster' and for 'Transtar is evil' but it really should be something else entirely- January doesn't explain her moral viewpoint until the end of the game, and only if you choose to install the null wave device first. And her viewpoint is just -We shouldn't have a space station because space is scary. And that has NOTHING to do with the twist and (supposed) actual thematic point of the game.

That at least explains why she wants to blow up the station though- the null wave device A) saves more lives because you don't blow up a station humans are on and B) is actually guaranteed to prevent transtar' from doing more Typhon work. (Why would blowing up the station prevent transtar from recovering records and exotic material afterwards? Why would I even assume it would destroy the coral that has been indestructible?) The only reason the player has to blow up the station is because Alex is a dick and your girlfriend tells you to blow it up.

The null wave should have been someone else's idea, and Alex wants to do something less drastic than kill all thypons (the null wave could very possibly kill everyone with any neuromod at all! It at the very least would prevent ANY neuromod development to happen EVER again! Alex's shouldn't suggest this if he's suppose to be seen as trying to protect his legacy! it should have been Morgan's, Taken from the October operator).

If null wave becomes the 'destroy transtar' ending, blowing up the station is 'Do what January tells you to ' and Alex gets a new ending (a giant laser that destroys the Apex- short and sweet) then we just need some approach that saves the Typhon and it's actually not hard to figure one out- You can install a communication device to talk to the nightmare and trick it, so just let you trick all of them to go away. Then we have a non-violent approach to the Typhon.

I want to like Arkane but narratively they almost always go for big twists that are dramatic and supposed to show the player their choices even though said endings usually require the player to be heavily railroaded to reach their destination.

But hey, Prey sure did have gay girls at least.

[frightninbolt]

It was so nice to hear that I could still make people laugh. Smile. That I was still capable of making a little bit of light, even if I can't see it myself. Even when everything feels a little more dark every day. There's still just a little glimmer, just a tiny bit. It can still be good.

I spent a lot of time tonight thinking about my family. About how I grew up with such security and privilege. I know I was spoiled. I was provided for, I grew up well. But I also.. can't remember any of it. So few fine details remain. So little to vouch for that sense of comfort I know I was lucky to be raised with. It's all just... feeling, now. All just the noise that remains. And so much of that which remains isn't good. So much of it is actually quite horrible, I think.

I spent a lot of time tonight feeling profoundly dead. Realizing so little of what I can remember is good. And the more I'm able to dig up, the more I'm convinced I wasn't... I was loved, I was. But I wasn't always treated kindly. I was loved, but I wasn't... loved.

I couldn't stop thinking about one night when I was struggling with school, I couldn't have been older than twelve. Papers everywhere, my parents groaning and blaming. I was letting them down. I didn't know it at the time, but that was going to become the primary emotional lodestone I would have with my parents in every situation going forward: disappointment. I would always need their help, and I learned quickly to associate their help with their expectation that I would fail to receive it right. Fail to capitalize on it. Fail to convince them the effort they had spent on their son was worth it. Fail.

That was the first night I was really... aware of that. That when they tried to lift me up further than I could go, myself, the only place I could go from there was back down. I remember I was crying so hard, trying so hard to think through the issue, the problem. I realized I could barely breath, I was hyperventilating. I remember I tried to tell them, to say I couldn't breathe, that I was so scared. That I needed help.

And I remember... they told me I was faking it. That I could breathe fine, that I just needed to calm down. That I was just being dramatic. They were already helping me, that's why they were there. To help me with school. Why wasn't I trying?

Tonight I realized, I think for the first time, that I had suffered a panic attack that day. What I had experienced was a panic attack. I was only just in middle school, and I was having panic attacks, sobbing, drooling and choking with fear, begging for help from people who would teach me how to drive, help me with finances, send me to college, meet my medical needs, teach me to cook, who would provide for me as parents in ways other people would kill to have. And they told me I was faking being unable to breathe.

Maybe if I had fainted, or ran out, or started hurting myself, or. I don't know. I don't know what would have convinced them that night that something was wrong with me. I'm sure they finally had to accept it when I became suicidally depressed only a few short years later. But that night? I don't remember what happened afterwards. Only what didn't. I autopiloted through the lesson, as best I could. And if they were convinced of anything after that, it's that they were in the right. That I was being overdramatic, that I could be successful if I just applied myself. That they were doing a good job. They sat with me at the table, didn't they? I finished, didn't I? All's well that ends well. So eventually, a day like that could.. happen again, just slightly different. And again, somewhere else, somehow else. The same help. The same choking. The same disappointment.

And now here I am today, having spent so much of tonight still feeling like I couldn't breathe. Having it dawn on me, just how irreparably damaged I've become by things I can barely even remember now. Being unable to reconcile how much of it is me versus how much of it is them. I just. Don't know what to do with any of it. How to fix. Any of it.

Every day feels a little darker. But. I can still make a little light for the family I still have. My friends. I'm sorry I'm probably not made to last. Having panic attacks at 12, you probably won't squeeze much out of me after a certain age. But I'm not going willingly, okay? I'm. Still here. I'm trying. Im trying, right?

Please believe me. I've spent my entire life trying to convince them that I've truly been trying my best. And I've been trying for so long, I've been left trying to convince myself along the way, too. I have to be trying my best. This has to be my best, right? Or was I always made to choke at the slightest inconvenience? Was I always made to burn out fast?

I don't know. But the light's not out yet. I'll. keep it lit as long as I can. I'll try my best. Try.

[thetinyreviews]

The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray Chapter 6

This is a collection of my favourite quotes and thoughts about them.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13

Was it all true? Had the portrait really changed? Or had it been simply his own imagination that had made him see a look of evil where there had been a look of joy? Surely a painted canvas could not alter? The thing was absurd. It would serve as a tale to tell Basil some day. It would make him smile. Page 124

What if I tell you that Basil would not smile at this.

He got up, and locked both doors. At least he would be alone when he looked upon the mask of his shame. Then he drew the screen aside, and saw himself face to face. It was perfectly true. The portrait had altered. Page 125

I love how Wilde used "altered" and not "changed" or "transformed". The connotation here almost rings like "decay" for me.

Three o’clock struck, and four, and half-past four, but he did not stir. He was trying to gather up the scarlet threads of life, and to weave them into a pattern; to find his way through the sanguine labyrinth of passion through which he was wandering. He did not know what to do, or what to think. Finally, he went over to the table and wrote a passionate letter to the girl he had loved, imploring her forgiveness, and accusing himself of madness. He covered page after page with wild words of sorrow, and wilder words of pain. There is a luxury in self-reproach. When we blame ourselves we feel that no one else has a right to blame us. It is the confession, not the priest, that gives absolution. When Dorian Gray had finished the letter, he felt that he had been forgiven. Page 126

Several things to unpack here. First, the reference to the Moirai with "threads of life" and "weave them". Second, the "sanguine labyrinth of passion" sounds so dramatic (theatre) and kind of foreshadows Sybil's blood spilling. Third, "to the girl he had loved"... Wilde doesn't say "Sybil Vane" because we all know Dorian didn't love her but an idea of her. Fourth, the whole passage about self-reproach is 1000% true. Lastly, Dorian Gray is a piece of shit because he forgives himself for the pain he caused to someone else.

“So I have murdered Sybil Vane,” said Dorian Gray, half to himself, “murdered her as certainly as if I had cut her little throat with just as happily in my garden. And to-night I am to dine with you, and then go on to the Opera, and sup somewhere, I suppose, afterwards. How extraordinarily dramatic life is! If I had read all this in a book, Harry, I think I would have wept over it. Somehow, now that it has happened actually, and to me, it seems far too wonderful for tears.” Page 129

To complete the Moirai image with "if I had cut her little throat" (as if he cut the thread of her life like Atropos). He's even shittier than I thought.

“Some one has killed herself for love of you. I wish I had ever had such an experience.” Lord Henry to Dorian Gray Page 130

Just to say that Henry (as long as I love him) isn't better than Dorian

Eternal youth, infinite passion, pleasures subtle and secret, wild joys and wilder sins — he was to have all these things. The portrait was to bear the burden of his shame: that was all. Page 135

This portrait would be to him the most magical of mirrors. As it had revealed to him his own body, so it would reveal to him his own soul. Page 136

The last ones are just sentences I liked for no particular reason but perhaps aesthetic or how they sound.