#this happens a lot especially with the Forsaken and whatnot

[moghedien]

like ready to be proven wrong, but I don't think that Cadsuane is necessarily gonna appear any earlier than she did in the books. I think they're just setting her up better than in the books (ie not introducing her as an important player like right before she shows up and expecting us to be impressed by that)

[blurrymango]

Drop some 2doc thoughts 🙏🙏

Hmm.

In spite of Murdoc's prissy personality I think he does have a drive to do physical work instead of just mental. Like he supposedly painted the plastic beach pink, I honestly think he was involved in the building process of the y'know. The actual building. What I'm trying to say is I think he has the work ethic of my grandfather, who in addition to building an entire new room on the house, is still doing other shit too. I think Murdoc is like that, the constant need to be doing something constructive or creative. Oh yes he certainly enjoys relaxing and indulging in lavish and stupid shit, but if he has to, I think he would do physical labor well. I think. Heavy emphasis on that lol. I mean the man built a whole ffucking cyborg, not only is he smart but he's good at the physical stuff.

On the other hand, 2D is moreso into the mental stimulation of activity. He needs to occupy his mind y'know. Well. Ffucking OBVIOUSLY lol. I mean like. Think about The Fall. I like to think he was extremely bored to have done that lol. And I know we all love to harp on him being an idiot, I especially love to make him a dumb boy but before phase 3 homeboy was getting a degree in law for some god forsaken reason. Law degree. Ok man.

So. Basically. Also forgive me for how unintelligible this all is, without my laptop and thus my access to being able to do digital art I see no reason in taking my ADHD medication. Anyway. What I'm trying to say is.

Imagine Murdoc sweaty and sore and exhausted from doing some hard work and 2D is practically frothing at the mouth from how attractive he is. Like I think 2D would absolutely jump at the opportunity to give Murdoc a massage. Listen to his satisfied groans and whatnot. I think it would get 2D horny as all hell to Murdoc fall so deeply into relaxation because of his hands. I think 2D would lean down and inhale deeply the smell of Murdoc's sweaty armpits. And only after 2D has had his fill of Murdoc's scent and the feeling of the man pliant and warm beneath him would he let Muds go lol.

2D as an opportunistic nasty little pervert is something very fun to me. Like y'know how Murdoc has a lot of acne and whatnot on his ass, I think 2D would get a lot of joy out of popping his blackheads and whiteheads and pimples and whatnot. Maybe even give it a little lick. Ok look. The guy picks his own nose and eats the boogers like canonically ok I have no doubt he would he lick the pus off a pimple he pops on Murdoc. 2D can be a little freak, as a treat.

I imagine after a long night, on a day where they don't have to do anything, that Murdoc would have to pry 2D off him to get out of bed. Like Murdoc needs to go piss right that instant but 2D's limbs are wrapped around him very tight. And it is just not happening. And when he finally does manage to escape and go piss, he comes back to 2D looking pathetic and very betrayed that he left in the first place. Like "wha' the hell Muds?! I wan'ed to cuddle!" And he'll sniffle and do puppydog eyes and Murdoc will huff and sigh and take pity on this boney brat and get back into bed to continue being used like a body pillow.

Murdoc loves his little idiot, very unfortunate for both of them. Because if 2D wants to nuzzle him like a plushie then he can't resist. And if 2D wants to buy a plushie, then he can't resist. Also, I fully believe Murdoc has financial control over 2D like he is absolutely not letting that boy have access to his own money. Because 2D belongs to him and by extension any money 2D makes also belongs to him. It's obviously not a healthy dynamic lmao. I think Murdoc spends most of 2D's money on unnecessary shit like drugs and alcohol and hookers and. Glitter. And if 2D wants to use the money he has to ask Murdoc for permission.

I also think. And this is very self indulgent. That 2D needs to hold Murdoc's hand when they cross a road. Like a little kid, y'know. I think 2D likes holding hands with Murdoc honestly. Like fidgeting with his hands too. Leathery greeny clawed hands. I think 2D will instinctively grab one and just. Bring it to his face and rub his cheek on it. Depending on where they are, Murdoc might yell at him and slap him for it. Or he'll let it happen.

Good lord. I love them. Or whatever. Lol.

[zdravstvuysclntse]

Heyy!

Hey y’all whgfg, whoaf, I.. Am hardly here anymore, and probably won’t be again for the foreseeable future, as sad as that is. I guess this is sort of a goodbye post? Kind of? Think of it as a way to get back into contact with me on some of my more active social media platforms should you ever want to!

Long story short; I actually went down memory lane a little bit tonight with some friends, waaay back to 2017 when making stupid ass decisions was apparently the norm for me! This isn’t me bringing up ancient drama or any of that nasty biz, I guess it’s just reflection? I’m nearly twenty four now and I hopefully have a much better overall outlook on life and on my little career here in the rp community than I did way back when. 

Plain and simple; I was incredibly, incredibly volatile and quick to try and victimise myself back then. If I’m totally and brutally honest, I still get the temptation to do that even nowadays - especially throughout the duration of this horrible pandemic and the various lockdowns the UK has gone through - and recognising that has actually been a pretty recent realisation, so it looks like the lockdowns did one good thing for me. Trying to throw myself a pity party is unfortunately a big knee jerk reaction for me, which isn’t healthy, but it isn’t too late to tackle that problem - admitting there’s a problem is the first step to improving it after all.

But, really what I find pretty surprising now that I’m looking back on everything, is that I actually value the memories of what happened in and around 2017. I lost friends and writing partners who I valued, strained friendships with those I didn’t lose and I made a complete and utter asshat of myself, but that has all lead to how I approach situations today. Half of the things that happened to me wouldn’t have happened had I quit trying to start fights and seeking out drama for the sake of drama. In reality it’s entirely my own dumbass fault that I never really got back into the swing of things after that year, the maaaagical concept of blocking and just moving the hell on to things I wanted to do didn’t actually set in with me until I was way on my way to twenty one or two. 

I honestly wish I could give you all a good reason as to why it took so long to finally register with me, but really there isn’t one, apart from the fact that there was a part of me that actually enjoyed getting into scraps and stirring the pot, until it came back to bite me in the ass. Nowadays though, I’ve seen and experienced first hand, what it’s like to curate your own online experience, to stay in your own lane, to mind your own damn business and just do what you want to do. It’s fucking Magical, my dudes, it feels a little strange to say now, but I haven’t felt this secure and this happy in a fandom in years, and I wish I’d just had the foresight to just get on with what I wanted to do. Drama would’ve happened, sure, but at the end of the day it’s all down to me if I choose to get involved or not, and unfortunately back in 2017 I chose to jump in, and ended up saying a fuckton of stupid shit as a result. Mostly out of upset, mostly out of a desire to be right all the time, mostly out of anger, which are three things I am - bit by bit - pushing out of my time online.

So; I’m sorry. I’m not who I was back then, and the people from here who I still chat to on occasion now can hopefully see that change in me. Growth is important and you can’t really grow without looking back and cringing a lot at the things you did and the shit you said - and believe me I’ve been doing a lot of that tonight.

Getting hung up on drama and whatnot just.. Isn’t worth it, I don’t know why I thought it ever was; especially since in the grand scheme of things I was way too old to be even thinking about stoking the fire beyond just, stating where I stood on some issues and leaving it at that, and admitting when I was wrong. People on every single God forsaken social media platform are going to get fucked off at things regardless of how well you word a ‘hot take’ or how well you research an opinion, and there’s nothing you or I can do to change that, besides just thinking about how best to handle a situation without causing them or yourself any upset. The internet is, wild like that.

If anyone from back in 2017 does stumble across this - unlikely but there’s always a chance - hey, hi, I’m still willing to stand by the fact that I disagreed with a lot of you, but I’m also willing to admit the fact that I was petty, immature, quick to victimise myself and ultimately behaved in a way that made the situation worse for myself while doing so. So, I’m sorry to you guys too. Roleplaying on this platform was easily some of the best and most creative years of my life, and at some point I was insanely glad to have met all of you, so that’s what I’m going to remember - not the fact that we disagreed and argued and ended our friendships on a bad note.

Ahhhgyiuh and if anybody on here does want to go ahead and contact me on some of my more active platforms: Twitter (sfw) Twitter (nsfw - 18+ only please y’all) Wordpress Other tumblr DM me for discord if anybody wants it.

I guess that’s?? It?? It feels good to reflect, this might not be the most well written and laid out post, but really I am just babbling, and it’s... 3am.

Thanks a lot, y’all. Get vaccinated if you can. Wear a mask. Wash ya hands. 

[ronninoir]

Can I Steal You for a Second? CH20

Summary: Adrien is forced to participate in a new dating show, but becomes more excited when Ladybug says she’ll participate as her civilian self.

AKA: AU where Adrien doesn’t know Marinette, the superheroes are 22 and Gabriel is mean and ruthless but not Hawkmoth.

Read on AO3

Start from the beginning Chp 1 on AO3

Chapter 20

Adrien had figured it out. There were so many things that he loved about Ladybug, that he saw in Marinette. At first, he thought it was just because he was projecting Ladybug’s qualities onto Marinette because of the hair and the eyes. But, as he got to know her, he realized that she really was genuine, sweet, and very smart. She was cool under fire and could stand up to his Father better than he could. She was solid and made Adrien feel important and that he mattered to someone. Also, she was insanely friendly, and Adrien had seen Ladybug befriend almost everyone, including akuma victims right after they were deakumatized. He also knew that something about the way she tasted, the feel of her when he hugged her struck a familiar nerve. He just figured it was because he was starting to love Marinette like he loved Ladybug. That would obviously make sense why he would feel those things. The lip gloss was another sign, but any girl could wear the same strawberry lip gloss. That wasn’t a give-away. Not even the fact that she was the only contestant from France, convinced Adrien that Marinette was Ladybug. He just assumed that Ladybug could have lied on their application to make it more difficult for Adrien to figure it out.

No, the thing that convinced him, that completely sold him on the idea that Marinette was Ladybug was the dislike of puns. Adrien had never paid close enough attention to see Marinette react to one, but with Ladybug, he had. She always groaned and rolled her eyes exactly as Marinette had, especially when the puns were in the middle of a fight and what Ladybug would call “bad timing.” (Personally, Adrien thought all the time was the perfect time for puns, but that’s another day’s problem.) It was this moment, watching Marinette respond to his perfectly placed beach puns that clicked the final gear into place and made Adrien see the light. Suddenly, he couldn’t ignore all of the evidence staring down at him that screamed that Marinette was Ladybug. If Plagg were here and not with Master Fu, (in case an akuma hit while he was out of Paris) he would have grunted a “Finally,” and sarcastically applauded for him.

When Adrien looked back at Marinette, his face deadly serious with the question he had almost asked her once before on his lips, he didn’t hesitate, “You’re Ladybug, aren’t you?”

Marinette blanched. Adrien was dumbfounded at how he didn’t see it before. Everything about her personality screamed Ladybug. “I—um... I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Yeah, that was his Lady. 

Adrien didn’t know what else to say, he just stood there, grinning like an actual idiot. Marinette and Ladybug were the same person! This was like the answer to his prayers, his dream coming to life. He almost had a half a mind to ask Marinette to pinch him right now, but he felt as though that would make him seem uncool.

Suddenly, every single time he had ever made a fool of himself in front of Ladybug flashed before his eyes, and he had to physically shake his head to make the torrent of embarrassing moments stop.

When he focused back on the present he was struck by how nervous Marinette looked. The confidence of Ladybug was gone, and Adrien’s heart immediately contracted. He had to make her better, had to make her smile, something, anything other than this nervous scared look she had on her face right then. 

“Marinette, what’s wrong?”

She visibly swallowed before she spoke, “You’re not upset, are you?”

It was Adrien’s turn to blanch. “Upset? Why would I be upset? This is the best day of my life! The girl I love in the suit and the girl I love on this god forsaken show are the same person! How could I ever be upset?”

Marinette still looked sheepish and wouldn’t meet his eyes, “But... I lied to you. A lot. During that last akuma attack, when you showed me the top 10 list. I felt as though I did a lot of hiding and lying to protect my identity.”

Adrien had forgotten about all of those moments, too overcome with happiness that Marinette is Ladybug but he still couldn’t find it in him to be upset, even though he hated lying.

“Marinette,” she didn’t look up when he said her name, so he gently placed a finger under her chin and lifted it up until his eyes met those enchanting blue ones. “I have known you for seven years of my life, and it takes a lot for me to be upset with you. Trust me when I say, this makes me so much happier than I ever could have imagined. If I could get down on one knee and propose to you right now I would.” Her eyes grew wide at that statement and he had a slight moment of terror where he realized that may not be something she wanted. “It’s you, Marinette. It’s always been you.”

Marinette’s eyes glistened with tears and he bent down the rest of the way to where their lips connected. The kiss was chaste, but meaningful as he felt the tears slip down Marinette’s cheeks. 

When they broke apart, Adrien pulled her into a bone crushing hug, noticing for the first time that the producers were trying to wave them back to the beach. Marinette seemed in better spirits and was even smiling and laughing with him as they walked back hand in hand.

“How did you figure it out?” Marinette asked, her voice once again confident and beautiful.

Adrien felt himself smirk and saw Marinette roll her eyes in response. “The puns. Ladybug hates them. You rolled your eyes when I made my puns back there absentmindedly and that was kind of when all of the pieces clicked together.”

Marinette hit her forehead with the palm of her hand. “I was so careful during these past 5 weeks to not show any sign of my dislike for your puns. I even used that as my first impression for you, knowing that you like the damned things so much.” Adrien laughed at the memory. He was still slightly embarrassed that he forgot to ask for her name, but looking back he should have known that the girl who could pun her way into his heart could only be his Lady.

“Man, we make quiet the pair, don’t we?” Adrien asked as they reached the beach. A swarm of producers surrounded them and the couple was told that it was time to start getting ready for the evening portion of the date.

Adrien turned to Marinette, refusing to let go of her hand just yet. “Thank you for an amazing day at the beach.” 

“I’ll see you in a little bit,” Marinette gave his hand a quick squeeze before letting go and being whisked away by the producers.

                    ----------------------------------------------------

 Marinette was dropped off at a hotel in Jabline that was right next to the beach where Adrien had discovered she was Ladybug. She was led by a producer to a back patio that was well lit and showed the moonlight shimmering on the water.

Thankfully it was warm outside, as Marinette was wearing a dark red cotton dress that stopped at her knees. The neckline of the dress was straight across and the sleeves hugged her arms as an off the shoulder that was even with the neckline. The bodice was tight and showed off the top of her curves, but the skirt flourished out a little at her hips. The skirt itself had a small high-low to it and Marinette shivered in the slight breeze, very aware of how much skin was showing.

She was instructed to wait by the doorway, and Adrien would come and escort her in when it was time for the date to start. She waited only a couple of minutes before Adrien turned the corner and was walking towards her. Someone must have given him the hint of what color tie to wear, because his slick black suit was accented with a red tie the same shade as her dress. He was beaming at her and just seeing him, looking at her like that, as if they were the only two in the whole world, made her blush.

He gently wrapped his hand around her waist and pulled her into a hug. His lips were covered by her hair, which was curled and slightly poofy, and whispered, “You look absolutely stunning tonight,” which caused Marinette to blush even more.

He leaned away from her and took her hand, twining his fingers in with hers. “What are we going to talk about tonight?” Marinette looked at him, slightly confused by what he was meaning. Thankfully, Adrien explained. “Normally on one-on-one dates, during the night portion the girl talks about something personal they wanted to tell me in order to deepen our relationship.” He’s eyes twinkled slightly and she could tell that he’d been waiting to say this all night. “Since I already know everything about you, what are you going to ‘surprise’ me with. I want to make sure I have the appropriate face ready.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her in a move that screamed Chat Noir. She shoved him slightly before responding.

“Well I was planning on bringing up the whole Gabriel conversation, since according to the cameras, I haven’t had that conversation with you. I was also going to just talk about my love of fashion and whatnot.” He still had the stupid smirk on his face, and Marinette was tempted to kiss it off. “That’s all you're getting from me, Kitty.” She flicked his nose playfully and Adrien busted out a laugh. 

“It’s still so surreal. I was thinking about what I discovered on the beach,” He means finding out I’m Ladybug she screamed inside, still in shock that it happened at all this way, “and I just couldn’t believe it. Even hearing you call me that, it still feels like a dream.” He gazed at her as if she was his dream and she had to remind herself that it wasn’t weird, because Adrien was her dream too.

“Well, sorry to burst your bubble but it’s real. I’m real. I’m here for you and whatever else this show has in store for us,” Marinette squeezed his hand reassuringly.

Adrien had opened his mouth to respond when a producer, the one who had walked her to her meeting with Gabriel came up behind them, “Save all the lovey-dovey shit for the cameras, please. We start rolling in 30 seconds.”

“Thank you, Mark.” Adrien responded, not taking his eyes off of Marinette. They turned towards the cameras, which would record the two of them walking in and having “casual” conversation, before sitting and having the personal conversation that was expected of her.

“Action!” Someone yelled from near where all the cameras were and Marinette allowed Adrien to pull her forward starting up an easy conversation about their date location as he pulled out her chair for her to sit in. She sat, thanking him while smoothing out her skirt. She was suddenly very aware of the cameras watching her from multiple angles and her palms got a little sweaty for no reason. Thankfully, when she looked up, all she could see was Adrien’s face smiling at hers, and it allowed her to relax slightly. 

“I had so much fun on our date this afternoon,” Adrien started and gave Marinette’s hand under the table, which he had reclaimed after sitting down, a squeeze.

“I did too,” Marinette responded, very aware of how lame she sounded. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, that didn’t make her sound like some dumb girl when Adrien carried on the conversation.

“I absolutely adore that dress you are wearing.” He said, with another squeeze of her hand. “Did you design it?”

Marinette gave him a hesitant look, but Adrien gave her a slight nod and a smile, urging her to take his bait and run with it. “Actually, no this is one of your Father’s pieces. It is stunning, though. Your dad is really good at what he does.”

“I’ve also heard that your designs are amazing as well.” Adrien asked, no worry about broaching this subject on his face or in his voice. He looked the most confident she had ever seen him outside of the mask. “Is it true that the shirt you wore on the video game date was one you designed?” 

Marinette swallowed before nodding.

“It was really well designed. I honestly thought it was a Gabriel. You have a lot of talent.”

Marinette smiled at the compliment and continued on with the conversation they planned. “I aspire to be like your Father one day. Your Father actually confronted me about that shirt.” Adrien’s face reacted perfectly, as if he was hearing this information for the first time. “That was the night I disappeared from the group date. He had pulled me aside and asked me questions about the shirt and why I had worn it.”

“Why did you wear it?” Adrien asked, right on cue.

“I woke up late that morning and grabbed the first shirt I found to wear for the date. I brought it with me to the mansion because it helps inspire me when I am designing new clothes. All of the girls here have been such an inspiration as well, but it’s still nice to see a shirt that I designed that I really like to help remind me that this is what I want to do, even when it seems hard.”

Adrien’s face had softened and his smile was genuine as he reached out and grabbed her other hand that had been resting on the table. He began rubbing small circles on the back of her hand and she felt excited tingles ripple through her body.

“I’m sorry you had to deal with my Father in that way. He can be a little tough to handle. I’ve had a lot of hard conversations with him during this show, but I’m glad you were able to make your voice heard.” Marinette smiled, but she still had something that had been bothering her, and now felt like as good a time as any to bring it up.

“One of the girls found out about that conversation.” Adrien’s head tilted ever so slightly to the side, and she knew that he was no longer playing along with the conversation. “With your father. Someone knew that it had happened, and that was why the girls were claiming that I wasn’t there for the ‘right reasons’ at that cocktail party.”

Adrien’s eyes gave away that he understood a little, but he still seemed slightly confused. “Someone knew about the conversation? About what it was concerning?” 

Marinette racked her brain, trying to remember exactly what Lila had said that night. “I don’t think she knew the topic of conversation, but she knew who I had the conversation with and made assumptions.” 

“Well that’s.... interesting.” Once again, Marinette could see the wheels turning in his head as he tried to make sense of this information. 

“I know I’ve told you before that I really am here for you, but I just wanted to make it even clearer. I am here for you, Adrien and only you. I may want to work in fashion and your Father’s company is amazing, but I would never use you to start working for your Father, as the girl at the cocktail party insinuated. I would rather start up a rival company and work as your competition than use you to boost my career and earn an internship with Gabriel.”

Adrien looked slightly taken back by her words and she was worried she had gone too far, but his smile returned, genuine and sweet. “You really mean that?” Adrien asked, his voice full of hope and love for her.

“I really do.” She smiled shyly, but the words kept coming, full of confidence, “If we make it through this show, and you end up picking me, I’d love for you to be with me as I embark on my fashion journey. But, I don’t want to use you to achieve my dream, like your Fa—like other people may have used you in the past.” Her blush returned and she was internally freaking out. She had almost called out Gabriel freaking Agreste on the way he treated his son on TELEVISION! It was too late now to do anything about the comment, but she prayed that the producers would somehow edit it out and not allow Gabriel to know about it.

“Do you think you’ll take over the company when you’re old enough?” Marinette asked on a whim, talking too fast and trying to cover up the mistake she had just made.

Adrien, who had obviously heard the slip and had decided to ignore it, paused slightly before answering, clearly thinking about his answer. “Maybe. If Father asks me to, I will, but that’s never been my dream. Plus, I can’t design anything for the life of me, so he’d have to hire someone to continue that part of the company.”

Marinette smiled, suddenly thinking about what it would look like if she really did marry Adrien. He could run the business side, which is what he was forced to study in university, and she could design for the company. They would ride to and from work together and after they were finished for the day, they would ride together to pick up their three children from daycare or wherever and go back to their house, where their hamster and maybe a cat were waiting and cook dinner together. Then they would put the kids to sleep and curl up on the couch and watch a movie together and—

“Marinette?”

Marinette snapped back to reality and blushed. She was suddenly glad no one could read her thoughts and she had to compose herself before she asked Adrien what he had said.

Adrien gave her a smile that was slightly mischievous before responding, “What were you thinking about?”

Marinette blushed even deeper and tried to play it off, “That couldn’t possibly be the question you had asked me.”

“It wasn’t,” Adrien’s smile grew, and his eyes were twinkling. “I just want to know what’s going on in your head. You seemed really happy, whatever you were thinking about.”

Marinette stared at Adrien for a beat, blue eyes meeting green. She could see him begging her to be candid with him, and she was trying to tell him that it was embarrassing, before she sighed and explained. “I was thinking about what it would be like, to have a future...” her throat was suddenly dry, but she remembered the comment he had made on the beach when he found out she was Ladybug. If I could get down on one knee right now and propose to you I would. “... with you. I just had a snapshot into what life would be like if you really end up choosing me at the end of this.”

Adrien’s face softened, the teasing in his eyes had turned to something much sweeter. “Did you like what you saw?” Adrien almost whispered.

“I did,” Marinette whispered back. They shared a moment where they just stared at each other, soaking in the possibility of a future and kids and their whole lives together ahead of them. They had unconsciously leaned towards each other and were mere inches apart.

“It looks like I stood up to my dad for the right person,” he whispered and her blush darkened as he closed the space between them and his lips met hers. These kisses were light and gentle, nothing like the ones they had shared at the end of the picnic. But it was refreshing and sweet to be treated like something valuable and fragile, especially with him knowing how much stronger she actually was thanks to her Miraculous.

They broke apart quickly, and Adrien smiled at her. He reached over to the other side of the table and grabbed something off of a plate. She hadn’t realized that it had been sitting there, but when Adrien lifted the rose into the air, she suddenly remembered why they were there in the first place.

“Marinette, thank you so much for talking about the hard stuff and just being completely honest with me. I have loved our time together and you would make me the happiest guy at this hotel if you would please accept this rose.”

Marinette laughed a little and smiled. “Absolutely,” Adrien handed her the rose and then stood up and offered her his hand.

“Come on, I’ve got a surprise for you.” She didn’t have any idea about where they were going, but she knew that Adrien would never lead her astray.

They walked through a patio door that led towards the beach, and after walking for about five minutes, Marinette realized that they were walking towards a crowd that was gathered. The crowd was standing in darkness and that was why Marinette hadn’t seen them from their date spot at the hotel. As the two of them got closer, lights were flicked on, and they were so bright that Marinette had to blink a couple of times to clear the spots out of her eyes. When she could see again she gasped and stopped moving.

Before her was a stage. She and Adrien were standing in the middle of the crowd, which had parted and left a wide circle of space around them, probably for the cameras. But the thing that made her pause was that on the stage, about to perform, was none other than Jagged Stone. He was a famous rocker that Marinette loved. She had interacted with him a handful of times and Jagged had even asked Marinette to design some of his album covers. She was so shocked to see him, here on her date with Adrien, that she just stared open mouthed up at the stage.

Jagged looked down at her and shot her a wink. “This next song is for my favorite little lady, and her handsome boy.” He began playing a slow love song, and Adrien gently spun Marinette around to where she was facing him. He put his hands casually on her hips, and instinctively she wrapped her arms around his neck, rose still in hand.

“Do you know Jagged Stone?” Adrien said, loud enough to be heard over the music. The shock in his voice was still heard, despite the loudness of the room.

Marinette smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, I’ve designed album covers for him before. He’s come and done a reality show at my parent’s bakery. We... kind of go way back.” 

Adrien was beaming, “You are so cool,” he gushed as he pulled her closer. She allowed herself to be swept up by Adrien and the song.

They danced until the end of the song, when the whole crowd was staring at the two of them, rather than Jagged. Jagged was looking at them too, and he said into the microphone, “Well kiss her already!” Marinette and Adrien laughed, but Adrien did as he was told and leaned down to kiss her. This one lasted longer than it probably should have, with all of these people watching, but between the romantic dancing and the song, Marinette didn’t have it in herself to care.

They broke apart when Jagged began another song, this one more upbeat than the last. Adrien and Marinette danced for what felt like hours, but was probably only 30 minutes. When Jagged waved goodbye to the audience, Marinette and Adrien were whisked away. They said their goodbyes, including snagging a couple of kisses, before being steered toward their respective cars.

As Marinette was getting into hers, a cold hand grabbed her bare upper arm, and she turned to face their direction. Gabriel had Marinette’s arm in a death grip and he looked furious. So much for Gabriel not finding out about my slip-up. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re still doing here, Miss Dupain-Cheng. You may have Adrien wrapped around your finger, but you will not be allowed to win this competition. I have been working too hard for this to fall apart because my weak son has seen fit to fall for a nobody and ruin all of my plans. So, make this easier on everyone and go home.” The last words were hissed out between his teeth as he abruptly let go of her arm.

Gabriel turned on his heel and went to walk away, but stopped short at the sight of Adrien standing in front of him. Adrien looked livid. He was more Chat Noir now than ever, and Marinette honestly thought that he may call for Plagg and cataclysm his father right here.

Then Marinette remembered that both Tikki and Plagg were at Master Fu’s.

“Don’t you ever lay a hand on her or any of the other girls again, do you understand? I am capable of making my own decisions and I do not appreciate you threatening one of my girls.”

Both father and son shared the same look, hatred and anger boiling together. Gabriel was the first one to walk away, brushing past Adrien without so much as a glance. Adrien turned towards Marinette, the fire still alight in his eyes. “Are you hurt?” His voice was cold, but she knew that it wasn’t aimed at her.

“No, but I may have a bruise tomorrow.” Marinette conceded. She had unconsciously grabbed the place where Gabriel had grabbed her, making her look as though she had been injured, despite her words.

“Make sure no one else finds out about this, okay?” His voice softened with every word and he reached out to gently run his fingers over her shoulders. He opened his mouth as though he was going to say something and instead leaned down and kissed her on the cheek with a whispered, “I love you,” before he turned away and walked to his own car.

Marinette was silent the whole trip back, and this time she couldn’t find it in herself to sleep.

~~~

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[butchwherewolf]

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR WARCRAFT OCS

,KJALHDSFKLJSADF OKAY! there’s a few of them but i’ll just like, talk about the few i’ve solidly like composed some ideas and concepts for. I’ve put it all below this like, read me because it’s kindaaaa long.

The first is my horde boy, Xanasthor, he’s a blood elf death knight so technically just horde by extension. True to like DK lore, he doesn’t remember his past nor does he want to. He’s a dumbass who like, just kinda fell into following Arthas after being raised from the dead(as, again, all DK’s do in the beginnning) but after being betrayed by the LK, he was just like ‘uhhhh what the fuck’ and fell back into joining the horde. Howsoever, he does not align with the horde as a whole, he regards Sylvanas with the highest regard both as warchief(also due to her being the key factor in allowing DK into the horde), and as a former blood elf. It’s easy to jump to a certain type of kinship when you’re both the same race, both were killed and essentially brought back to serve one little blonde bitch in undeath and then go absolutely feral when you break free of his control. So, yeah, he’s loyal to her, regardless of what she’s done in BFA and whatnot, and if it comes down to it, he’d follow her over the horde. In addition to all that, he’s just like, always comes off as laid back and, honestly, a bit stupid, but it’s more of just not feeling like whoever he’s talking to is actually worth his full attention and regard. He sees no reason in giving some joe schmoe his actual attention when he himself knows he’s leagues above. Other than that, I haven’t precisely nailed down his lore, moreso because I don’t know where I would want to take him as a character yknow? but that’s p much it for that clown

My other horde boy is a new one, a Forsaken warlock, i’ve barely started with him, as well as a rouge orc. They’re kinda just new character’s i’m feeling around for to just see where i wanna take them. I love the horde only for like, pure nostalgia reasons because i enjoyed playing them in Warcraft 3, but otherwise I surprisingly don’t have like, a lot of horde characters atm?? which leads into the next group of clowns.

First up is my utter chad, Kayssanth, she’s a night elf warrior. She takes no shit, she’s seen some shit, she’s ready to beat some shit. Her lore is kinda tangled with a character I’ll get to later, but for now, I’ll talk about her. She’s kinda just a no nonsense woman, she does not back down from challenges, and she supports the night elves with her entire being. But, she does see where that overwhelming rage and thirst for revenge drives people mad, and while she wants to support the quest for revenge against the horde(cause of the BFA stuff), she can’t bring herself to do such. There’s been a lot of things she’s seen in her life, and going through them, while it definitely hardened her, made her almost hunger for just a quiet fucking life for once. She had to witness her love being killed, then come back in a form that’s familiar yet not, she has to watch this war rage through the world and see so many people die, and after awhile, that shit gets old, so she’s supporting the Alliance if they’re looking for peace, because that’s just what she wants and needs at this point, yknow? Otherwise, she has a good bit of humor, and in the moments when she doesn’t have to be taken seriously, she enjoys lounging around, having fun with comrades in inns/taverns, letting go of pretenses and just relaxing before needing to be serious again. She enjoys studying botany, as much as that sounds on par for her race, but she has a knack for it. She also enjoys being able to bench press her bf as a way to show off to people(moreso just for joking and breaking tensions when people initially see her bf). Again, that’s really all I have atm for her, and i always do want to like, write more, but, yknow, havent actually written anything yet lmao. 

Next, we got my best girl, Aoirenn, a dwarf paladin. She’s an absolute badass but off of the battlefield she’s seen making things like whittled animals, sculptures, tinkering with small bits of metal she can find, etc. so she can ship them to her wife when she’s off questing/fighting for the alliance. She’s rather quiet, aligned with the Alliance because 1)her wife is a human and yknow, that’s important for both of them, and 2) she grew up with a family that was composed of alliance soldiers, so it’s natural for her. However, with recent events, she’s not so sure she wants to follow the Alliance 100%, and would rather just not have an active hand in war anymore. She’s been away from home for far too long and she desperately wants to return to her wife and child in one piece, and is doing anything and everything she can to do just that. She’s a quiet soul, more of a family-focused person, as i’ve said. otherwise, again, same case as above. 

Last is my dumbass worgen DK, Wilheras. He’s Kayssanth’s lover. He lived long enough through Gilneas’ shitstorm, became a worgen, and met Kay through the Alliance, the two just happened to be recruited for the same mission/quest/whatever in Darnassus, and their budding friendship grew overtime from being in the same faction and oftentimes the same cities as the other. This then grew into a romance and it was great for them both, especially at a time where there wasn’t such fear of death and destruction as there would be in the years to come. It was easy to escape to Stormwind to stay at an inn together, or have a quiet evening in Darnassus, etc. But the solace and joy would soon crumble when one day, through a horrible fight, Wilheras was killed. And rather brutally at that. While Kay wasn’t present for this, it still hit her hard, and as a result threw herself into her duties more. When the litch king came, Wilheras was one of the few unlucky ones to come back as a DK, with his instincts broken and filled with the will of the litch king himself. He was an entirely other person when raised from the dead, yet a part of him remained deep within, something that continued to fight and conquer his mind when he was finally free of the LK’s command. After being welcomed into the Alliance, the first thing he did was search for Kay, and upon seeing her, in his undead form, was a rather unpleasant reunion. But, with a few words exclaimed in like, shock, the two finally made amends and Kay realized what had happened. It took some time, but their relationship as friends slowly was formed again, and eventually the romance. Wilheras found himself also finding himself going back into fighting for the Alliance, supporting fellow DKs who join who may not have such an easy transition into this new life. He also finds himself trying to create new brews of alcohol using his undeath as a barrier between possibly deadly batches and something that the living can drink. Otherwise, yeah, he’s just a lovestruck dumbass that’s yknow, a huge werewolf boy who supports his gf 100%

um but yeah! those are my characters! i have a few that like, I havent played as much with few characters that i havent mentioned yet, but those are the 4 main people that i play with and know of yknow? anyway yeah! sorry for such a long post!

[fallingforsincerity]

massive brain dump

it’s been a while since i had these thoughts resurface. Maybe because I had some more free time thanks to covid19 to think or maybe because it’s also Pride month. who knows. have a lot of rambling to get out of my head.

As someone who is trans but has not transition, sometimes you get many feelings and you need validation. what better way to get that but by watching youtube videos lol. There is something validating to hear someone say that your experience as being trans is valid no matter who says otherwise. Like how can it not when we all live in so different circumstances and environments. I get it, being passing to cis people feels good but not every has that opportunity nor cares. End of the day the moment some shitty cis person finds out your trans, nothing and I mean nothing can make them look at you the same ever again. Watching that youtube video, I didn’t realize that there are trans people out there that if you don’t experience dysphoria that the way they felt then your feelings and experiences aren’t validated. Like I’m sorry are you the gender police??? Like life is hard already trying to get cis people to understand and now I gotta deal with people who stand at the same side, who’d you think would understand the struggle, be part of the struggle. Like i’m sorry I didn’t get the gender handbook when I was born, didn’t know there was rules to follow in order to be considered trans. Not to say their feelings of dysphoria and needing to pass aren’t valid, of course they are. But doesn’t mean i agree with the one track mindedness about being trans. Because my experiences and environment shaped that. Does it mean I’m less queer or less trans than other people? Heck no! There is no lgbtq+ scale where you step on and you get a rating. like ah yes you are a 5 out 5 trans because you met all our trans criteria. Does this not sound like the stupidest thing??? 

rambly rambly rambly rambly

i don’t often talk about being trans....just because for me it’s kind of an uncomfortable topic. To the general public I look like a “feminine/ pretty boy” and don’t have to deal with the whole “oh you’re trans” situation, so for me to go out of my way to be out as trans to people I know, is very awk and makes me uncomfortable. Luckily because this tumblr and I don’t necessarily mention my tumblr to people I know, I’m not as scared or uncomfortable talking to strangers on the internet who may never know me in real life about this kind of thing. It’s pretty freeing tbh. I think the hardest part is because I haven’t fully transition that as an adult having to deal with workspaces and paper work gives me anxiety. The one thing I deff loved about being in art college was that I was able to live my life and because there are so many different people with such open minds, that I didn’t feel weirded out about having tell people my pronouns or minding too much about people knowing I was trans. But that took getting used to. As someone who is super closeted about this, it takes so much effort to release all that anxiety that is built up over the years. I didn’t even tell my closest friends and family until part way through my college life when I was finally able to come to terms with a lot of things. Bless my roommates who were so encouraging, understanding, and loving. I don’t think I would have been able to live my life as really who I was and being affirmed without them. 

Having to come back to live at home is a whirlwind of emotions and anxiety. At one hand I enjoy the comfort of financial stability and seeing my family, but on the other hand it brings back all the anxiety and forces me back to a point of life that I had lived before my college years. I’ve talked about this before, but from quite a young-ish age I knew deep down that I am a boy. Simple case, always been uncomfortable having any relation to being a female. To this day because I’m not out to everyone, I get so uncomfortable when someone goes “oh you are such a tomboy.” The anxiety and stress about fearing whether or not you can come out as trans and not knowing the reaction of those people is so deeply rooted in me it’s unreal. I just want to live a quiet life as a boy and not have to deal with any of that. Pretty sure many if not all trans people feel the same way, they just want to live as who they are and not be bothered by it all the time. 

Being Asian especially a 1st gen Asian American makes navigating being trans and queer really hard. These type of topics aren’t spoken about in the Asian community. I can probably count on my one hand people who I know personally who are asian + trans and have come out about it or spoken about it before. In Asian communities, being part of the lgbtq+ community is taboo. It’s almost seen like a disease. Sometimes I’m just so envious that my western counterparts have a bit more freedom in able to express or talk about being lgbtq+. Not saying it’s all sunshine and rainbows for them but like the way Asians (especially the older generation) act its like that doesn’t exist. Like there is no such thing as being trans, no such thing as being gay, no such thing as blah blah blah. That’s the struggle, if it is out of the norms, it does not exist. I keep thinking back to this one clip where the guy talks about how it’s not that they don’t want to acknowledge that it exist, they just don’t want you their child to have it so they deny it. What I’m saying is, this “taboo” of speaking of lgbtq+ and whatnot really made it hard for me to understand what was going on in my mind. I struggled for years to come to terms and even find the terms to describe myself. It was only when tumblr kind of took off roughly in 2009, when I first even heard of the word trans or bigender and yada yada. Having to navigate thru everything all at once was like a beginner level swimmer being thrown in to the middle of the Pacific ocean blindfolded and told to swim to America. I’m surprised I even made it to the land when tumblr at that time was a free for all, the amount of posts exploded, so different as to right now (which is kind of quiet). 

If I, who was the trans person, didn’t understand all this, imagine my environment. Not saying I had a bad time, just a very uncomfortable and stressful time. The one thing I found solace in was that in games, I didn’t need to present my trans-ness. I was able to escape who I was brought up and seen as (aka female) and live who I was in my games. I didn’t have to be labeled as trans, I was just me being a boy. I’ve mentioned this all before, but even in things where i used to role-play with my friends I always presented as a male. I hated the way I felt when I was referred to as she/ her when I was a kid, still uncomfortable to this day but given the circumstances I have to live with it. There are some moments in my life looking back that if I could change the way I had to present as a female at that time I would 100% redo that moment. But this isn’t those reincarnation manga’s i’ve been reading so live and forget, i’d say. 

Going back to being Asian, I’m very lucky that my mom because of her experiences shaped her to be opened minded, my father on the other hand while may be open to some things is still deep down the conservative south east asian. Though I’ve come out to my mom, she doesn’t understand me being trans nor does she really acknowledge the fact that I am a male. I’m always going back and forth with her having calling me her daughter in her mother tongue and me having to correct her every time and her saying no your my daughter. Shit gets fucking old real fucking fast. It’s a hell lot to navigate when you have to move back home. I miss my college life because of that freedom from that denial, freedom to really express who i am and able to figure that out in a safe welcoming environment. Coming all the way back to my point lol i’m just deeply uncomfortable outing myself as trans. It was affirming to hear in that youtube video I was watching that many trans people don’t want to be outed, that it’s okay to stealth because bringing up being trans is tiring. Like I am a male, i don’t want to have to bring up me being trans all the time, makes me really understand the want or need to be passing. Like do people not realize that if there was a magical change your gender button, we would not hesitate to press it? If i could had been born into a male body i’d be a regular cis male, no question about it. But life doesn’t work that way. I honestly, wished I had the knowledge and money back when I was younger. Maybe i’d be able to navigate and live my life as who I am earlier. Now i gotta figure things out, and present myself to those who already know and not want them to look at me as a trans person but as just a normal regular person. What a difficult matter this is. One could only wish. That being said still trying to navigate my way on transitioning and whatnot. Living in a dominantly Asian community made up of older folxs doesn’t lend itself to give you resources to access on these kinds of topic. When this whole pandemic thing and we get the whole nation reformed I’ll go searching for some resources. As long as I live here back home, i don’t think i’ll be able to live freely. 

rambly rambly rambly

lately i’ve been consuming a lot of josei manga especially those harlequinn mangas. god damn are those manga one shots so infuriating like COME ON JUST LEAVE THE MAN, DON’T GET BACK WITH HIM. Every goddamn manga is the same, the girl meets the greek tycoon/ rich british snob/ arabian prince gets pregnant, gets her heart broken and leaves him, guy find out he has a kid and forces her back, goes thru misunderstanding for 2 pages, then kiss kiss fall in love. Like it is the same every god forsaken time and yet I still get all angry lmao. I should know it by now why am I still silently screaming at 4am reading these mangas. I know what happens yet i’m still screaming LEAVE HIM, DON’T TAKE HIM BACK, BE YOUR OWN WOMAN WHO DOESN’T NEED NO MAN. I find myself laughing at myself because I put myself in that situation when I read it and then I get angry when I chose to read it lol. If I wasn’t so camera shy I’d have great reaction videos and livestreams of me when I read manga. Cause I talk to myself a lot when I’m reading manga, it’s kind of funny. 

On that light note i’m just gonna end this rant. I’m sleepy and I think i dumped out all the thoughts that’ve been accumulating at the back of my head out. Till next time!!

[aviwrites]

Timid Toons

Fandom(s): Bendy and the Ink Machine (Canon divergent)

Warnings: N/A

Prompt: The pipes aren’t always that reliable. They can give a good scare, sometimes.

Notes: So a while ago, after that trailer for Chapter 3 came out, @squigglydigglydoo drew this picture in a stream and I joked about wanting to write a one shot based off of it, and, after a few months, I am very glad to say that I finally finished it. Definitely wasn’t expecting it to go on as long as it did, but overall? I’m kinda glad with how it turned out. Anyway, hope you guys like it!

Word count: 1355

Fic/Link to Fic: [DeviantArt] [FanFiction] [AO3]

There were a number of things Henry was expecting when he returned to the old animation studio he was certain he would never see again. His mind was a grab bag of what-if scenarios during the whole drive to Joey Drew’s Sillyvision Studios, and even as he got out of the car he found himself listing off possible ways his conversation with Joey would go. But what Henry was not expecting was how empty the studio was when he entered. He was not expecting the strange machine in the back room, nor the ink monster it seemed to spawn when his curiosity got the better of him and he turned it on. He was not expecting to be chased through the studio’s depths and hunted down by the old cartoons he used to animate.

Above all, he was not expecting the very thing that had wanted him dead to now be trailing close behind as a companion rather than an enemy.

Whatever the spell that Joey had Bendy under was, it seemed to have broke during Henry’s first face-to-face encounter with the man in thirty years. Henry thought it was a spell, or something of the sort at least, because he wasn’t certain what else to call it. It had to be magic of nature, yes, what with the massive pentagram and the ritualistic setup, but the truth was that he didn’t know the first thing about magic, dark or otherwise. All he knew was that he had to work backwards from Joey’s god forsaken book while simultaneously trying to fight off Drew and keep him from stopping him.

And it worked, somehow. Henry managed to fix up what Joey fiddled with and it ended up releasing Bendy from the thrall he was under.

He looked down at the black cover of the book in his hands, letting out an exasperated sigh. The copy he used as a sacrifice to start up the Ink Machine had disappeared with the rest of the donated items, but as much as he wanted to be rid of the one he was currently holding, Henry knew he couldn’t lose it. The spell might have been broken, but there was still another problem in the shape of Bendy’s current monstrous form. Fixing that would involve operating the Ink Machine, and the only instructions for it that he found were in Joey Drew’s The Illusion of Living.

Henry continued to frown at the book as he walked. Bendy, true to his curious cartoon self, leaned over his shoulder to see what was distressing the old animator.

That was another thing that Henry found interesting: the apparent change in character and attitude Bendy went through after the “spell” broke. Before, the macabre cartoon had been angry, vengeful, and hellbent on killing him. When Henry found him after squaring off with Joey, Bendy seemed to have lost much of his aggressive edge, and the grin that was once filled with malice had been twisted into a distrustful frown. It had taken a lot of persuading from Henry’s end to get him to come with him, and even more convincing to get him to believe that the old animator truly did not want to hurt him. But, even then, Henry took note of how cautious Bendy was in his presence. He couldn’t blame him, he supposed, especially so after encountering Joey and seeing how he acted...No, he really couldn’t blame him.

He was beginning to understand what the scribbles of “THE CREATOR LIED TO US” he’d seen earlier on the walls meant.

He was also very, very glad he got to clock Joey Drew in the face.

Trying to reassure the inky mess of a cartoon, Henry paused to look up at Bendy and give him a half-hearted smile. “It’s fine, buddy,” he said, and then tucked the god forsaken book under his arm. “I’m just thinking, that’s all.”

Bendy let out a strange noise, something that was somewhere between a gurgle and a growl. Henry wasn’t sure what it meant (the poor thing couldn’t speak, and most of the time he had to guess what Bendy was trying to communicate to him), but the cartoon didn’t press any further on it. Instead, the two of them continued down the hall, and the old animator found himself wandering in his own thoughts again.

They still needed to find and meet up with the others. He’d told them to wait back in the safe house, but that was a long while ago. Boris and Alice were probably getting antsy with how long he was taking, but Henry couldn’t help but wonder what their reaction would be once they found out what he’d gone through. Boris, the excitable pup that he was, would most likely be ecstatic to have his ol’ pal back, that much he was certain of. And Alice, oh, she would probably be full to bursting with questions, and overly concerned with their well-being--

A creak in the pipes interrupted his thoughts. Henry looked up and so did Bendy, who let out a curious chirp at the sound. It wasn’t odd, not by a long shot. After all, the system of pipes and gears and whatnot that fed to and from the Ink Machine was ancient and, according to the tape recordings, unreliable a good majority of the time. The old man took a breath and tried to put his worries out of his mind.

“They’re just old,” he reassured himself. “Thomas was right. Joey could’ve afforded to--”

There was an impossibly loud bang. Henry jumped and lifted his arms over his head, heart racing and nearly panicking as he looked around. But his concerns were unfounded when all he could see was the now-burst pipe. Ink was splattering onto the floor from it, forming a black puddle that was slowly spreading. Henry let out a shaky breath and forced himself to relax. Just a burst pipe. It was fine. He was fine. Bendy was…

Bendy was clinging onto him, trying to hide away from the offending noise. Henry could feel him trembling from where he was holding onto him, and when he looked over his shoulder he noted the frightened frown that was now etched onto the cartoon’s white face. It was almost ridiculous, in its own way, what with the giant macabre monster trying to hide behind such a short man. If he didn’t know any better, and if it weren’t for the fact that they were deep underground in an abandoned animation studio, Henry would’ve said that the whole scene looked like a…

Like a moment straight out of a cartoon.

He stifled a laugh, but was hopeless to stop the smile from creeping across his lips.

“Hey, it’s alright, buddy,” Henry started at last, placing the hand that wasn’t holding the book on one of Bendy’s in order to comfort him. “It’s just the pipe. See?”

Bendy perked up, looking at the animator and then up at the pipe. Upon realizing what made the noise, he straightened and let go of the old man, making a sound that Henry ventured to call embarrassed.

Just a burst pipe. That apparently happened a lot, according to what Wally Franks and Thomas Connor and even Sammy Lawrence had said on the tapes. Henry should have expected this happening at some point or another, really, but he wasn’t expecting Bendy to give a reaction like the one he just gave. Nonetheless, he took it as a sign of things calming down. After all, Joey was no longer a threat, and they could avoid whatever was left of the abomination on level nine, not to mention that the searchers seemed too nervous to approach with Bendy around. All that was left was to find Boris and Alice, get back to the Ink Machine, fix whatever else needed to be fixed, and leave.

The thought helped ease him.

He was going to get them out of here. He would make sure of it.

“C’mon, bud,” Henry said, and then started once more through the hall, walking around the ink puddle.

Bendy followed close behind.

[umichenginabroad]

Oh WiFi, how you have forsaken me!

By: Dustin Fletcher, Aerospace/Mechanical Engineering major, German minor

Program: Technische Universität Berlin (TUB)

Alright, so I’ve been in Germany for about a week now. I’ve REEAALLLYY wanted to post about so many things (and I mean a LOT, I have been thinking about so much and I’m about to explode with thoughts), however I’ve had some issues with wifi and connection in general. So first off, I basically only have wifi at the university. I was given a stick that generated wifi for my laptop, however it is so slow that in the couple times I’ve already had to use it for research and whatnot, I’ve already used up all of it. Uh oh. Anyways, I had gotten a SIM card here at Aldi, however it hasn’t really worked at all, so I’ve been surviving the past week by being around people with maps that could get me where I needed to go. See next paragraph for that story. This weekend though, most of the people went to Prague, so I was internet-less for two days. Long story short (I will expand on this later) I went on an adventure, ordered an o2 SIM card that gave me a free 150 Gb, and now I’m just waiting for that to show up so I can have data.

Okay, so wifi-less story number one. Last week Wednesday, I needed to go to the doctor. Luckily my program director has an iPhone, because I was able to message her over wifi at the university and figure out where I needed to go. Because it was a Wednesday, basically every place was closed in the afternoon. We ended up finding a hospital called Franziskus-Krankenhaus (Krankenhaus => Hospital) and that was where I was gonna go. Unfortunately, my phone died, so I wasn’t able to use a pre-downloaded map. Thus, I was able to use my German skills and wander around Berlin asking people for directions. Luckily, I was able to find my way there. I also learned the pronunciation of a word on the way there, since I told one guy that my Handy was dead (Handy => Cellphone), and I pronounced the “a” with an “ah” sound. When I said this, one guy didn’t understand what I was saying and gestured with his hands. I realized the reason he did this was because the German word for “hand” is “Hand”, pronounced with an “ah” sound. When I pulled out my phone to show him, he said, “Ah, Handy!” but pronounced like “Hendy”. Anyways, knowledge! So I got to the hospital, but out of pure chance I found two of my friends right outside. Berlin is a city of 3,7 million people, so the odds of that happening were pretty much slim to none. They waited for me while I had my appointment, which unfortunately took a while since there weren’t too many doctors working at that point, and there were a fair amount of patients. I was able to do the entire check-in process and appointment in German, which was really cool for me! Afterwards, I took my friends over to KaDeWe, which stands for Kaufhaus des Westens (Department Store of the West). It’s insanely huge and expensive, but we had fun there checking all the stuff out.

Ohne Netzwerk [=Without Network] Teil Zwei [=Part Two]: This weekend, most of my friends went to Prague. I had been dependent on one kid, Will, for wifi, since he had bought the o2 SIM card that came with a free 150 gb. He just kept creating hotspots for me whenever I needed it, and all was well. Then, he left for Prague this weekend. Thus, I was left without wifi, communication with other TUB members, and without directions... Alright. So I would just have to stick with transportation I already had gotten used to. Kein Problem   ....Or so I thought. To make matters worse, the S-Bahn that I normally took to get into the middle of Berlin was not running this weekend. Instead, there were bus replacements that took people to other places of Berlin. I generally take the S2 to Potsdammer Platz, where the transfer to U-Bahn was right next to the Mall of Berlin. I figured this would be a pretty good place to get WiFi, so I just hopped on the S2 Bus that looked like it went in the same direction as the S-Bahn I normally take. Alas, it was not the right bus. I had never seen anything at any of the train station stops before. I get off, go to the nearest stand, and ask why the trains aren’t running and how I can get to Potsdammer Platz. An older gentleman helped me out and pointed me in the right direction. He ended up getting on the bus with me, as well as the following train, as he was heading home. We talked about several things, such as where we’re from, how the value of money changed during the transition from Deutschmarks to Euros, etc. All of this was in German, because he didn’t understand any English. At one point in the conversation, he mentioned the Turkish and Arabian people that were moving into Germany and making it less “pure”. I really wasn’t a fan of that and wanted to say something, but although my German is good, it is not at the point where I can form a well articulated argument with someone like that. It’s already generally difficult to do that in English with a topic like this. So, I just steered it away from that topic. I ended up finding my way and thanking him for his help, but man, stuff like that really grinds my gears. After I got to the Mall of Berlin, I purchased a phone case so I wouldn’t damage my phone, and I ordered an o2 SIM card with the 150 gb.

Now, a couple differences I’ve seen between Germany and America. First, I’d like to start with the people. As a whole, German’s are ~extremely~ efficient. I wish I had a picture for this next example, but when I went back to KaDeWe after I thought of it, it was closed. When you look at an escalator in America, people are scattered everywhere between the left and right sides of the steps. In Germany, EVERYONE stands either stands on the right, or walks up the left. Everyone. You can easily spot tourists or people new to Germany just by looking at an elevator and seeing which person is standing on the left side. Another place you see the difference in efficiency is at grocery stores. WOW are they fast! I get a little frazzled at the checkout line because I can never keep up to the cashier with packing my items, and I feel like I’m trying to do several things at once. Lastly, you can observe German’s efficiency while driving. Every time I go to cross a cross-walk, cars turning right would would pull up right until their bumpers were almost touching your leg. This scared me the first couple times, but I realized after a couple times that people are just trying to be as efficient as possible, so that they’d be able to drive through as soon as there was a small gap in pedestrians. 

Two observations of the people that don’t have to do with efficiency: Firstly, Germans are quieter in general. They speak quieter, are quieter in public (especially when with friends), and are more respectful of volume when walking through living areas. I think that rather than confusing the point and thinking that German’s are quiet, I think it’s that Americans rather are loud. The other thing I noticed was what people say when they are about to use their cellphone. In America, people generally just start using their phone without saying a word, whereas every German person that I’ve been with said something along the lines of “I just need to respond to a message quickly” or “I’m just checking my phone quickly” before using it, which I thought was kind of a nice way to let the other person know they aren’t just ignoring them. Honestly, I think it’s something I’m going to try to start doing more.

Moving on to the physical differences, one thing that will confuse many Americans is the floor numbering. When you walk into a building, you are on floor E (Erdgeschoss), which basically means ground level. The next floor up is 1, and so on and so forth. The absolutely most surprising difference to me, however, was the doorhandles! These were the first thing that I even noticed while we were here. In Germany, there are no round turning door knobs! All door knobs are either the bar style, or just a knob to pull on when you unlock the door with the key. They warned us about this immediately, since this causes many American students to get locked out easily, as the door locks as soon as it’s closed and you need the keys to get back in. Personally, I like this style better, since you never have to worry about whether or not you locked your door. Picture below is not mine, credit to FSB Door Hardware.

My German class has been going very well. I can’t give too much insight into the basic and intermediate programs, but in the advanced German class I feel like I’m learning. I’ve learned some things that I’ve already been able to implement into my German speaking, as well as cultural information that I’ve already seen around Berlin. One example already is asking for Currywurst Rot-Weiß. I know this one is kind of a funny example, but It’s a typical Berlin thing to ask for that, which means Currywurst with Ketchup and Mayo. Another Beispiel: we learned about German universities and other collegiate programs, so I was able to talk to my German friend Nick about college and the Abitur, as well as another random German girl about her friend’s experience in ERASMUS. Last Friday, our class took a fieldtrip to Kreuzberg, a subsection of Berlin, were a violent demonstration had historically taken place every May first until the last several years. While we were there, our teacher pointed out the differences between Althäuser (Old houses) and the new buildings, which had to be rebuilt after the war. I went on a 13 mile walk through Berlin yesterday, and I was actually able to see all of the old buildings that she had mentioned.

I know that this has been a really long post and basically just a large info-dump on you, so sorry about that, but I have just had SO much happen to me in the past week and I couldn’t even cover it all in these posts. I want to include so much more and so many more pictures, but I’m just not able to. I’m going to see if I’m able to include a link to a photo bank at some point so I can upload photos there for you all to see.

With all that being said, be ready for my next post either today or tomorrow, and come to it with an open mind ready to take in a lot of information. 

 Until then,

-Dustin