#to think about miraculous again is so fun i love talking about them so much

[rainbow-arrow]

Something people miss with lukadrien: bonding over daddy issues.

okay yes literally this. I love love love playing with this idea in fics bc they really are such mama's boys it's really funny (also why I fully support Adrien being informally adopted by the Couffaine's so he gets a mom figure back).

They both have such valid reasons to hate their dads. Each were either previously or currently protected by a lie (Anarka not telling Luka, and now Marinette keeping Gabriel's identity a secret), but both Jagged and Gabriel were. not great. Jagged knew the whole time, and well, Gabriel's list is long but mostly he's neglectful and really doesn't care about Adrien, despite saying he does.

There's such bonding potential in the sense they have very different relationships to their dads, but they're both, boiled down, to bad.

Unfortunately as much good as I think it would do for him, I don't think Adrien will ever say he hates his father on the basis that he's his father; we saw his reaction to cataclysm-ing Monarch. But fuck I think Luka should say it for him fjdsklafsa.

I also feel like Luka's response to Jagged in canon was...not accurate to his character? (which I hate saying about canon, but they did make him a twin four seasons in) It is important to consider that yeah, he admires Jagged's music, but he really, realistically, especially with Jagged's reaction to Juleka, should've been more upset. This boy got akumatized over the truth TWICE. For Luka to find out that Jagged KNEW, and they'd interacted multiple times throughout the show before that moment, you'd expected any kind of reaction.

LIKE LISTEN. I love love love Lukadrien bc they're both such people pleasers in such uniquely different ways. With Luka (I say this with all the love in my heart) being so fucking enabling if he likes someone he will let them do wHATEVER (see: whatever the fuck he had with Marinette, and Ephemeral). And then Adrien doing whatever anyone and everyone wanted him to do (see: literally his entire existence, and Wishmaker). It places their dynamic on such a 'what do you want' type care is such an hnnnnn. sO good my fAVORITE.

Luka has every. right. to be upset at Jagged Stone. Adrien has every. right. to be upset at Gabriel Agreste. And they have every. right. to bond over this.

Sorry for the TedTalk, in my defense, I did cut like five paragraphs, but I have four fics to update and so much lukadrien passion

[jaewritesfic]

Everlasting Trio DP x DC Nobody Knows AU Part 8

Part 7

Shockingly, it turns out Danny knows how to cook. He's good at it, even, and when Tucker expresses his disbelief at the practiced way Danny moves in the kitchen Danny snorts.

“You know what the Fenton kitchen was like. When I got out of there and had access to food and kitchens that weren't biohazards, I learned eventually. I have a very distinct appreciation for good food nowadays, and I like being able to make it myself.”

He puts music on through a little Bluetooth speaker on the counter, invites them to participate, and they cook.

It's fun. They dance, they drink, they sample ingredients as they put their pizzas together. There's a minor flour war that sets off rounds of giggling and shrieking - more importantly it makes Danny cackle in a way she used to love and hasn't gotten to hear since they were teens.

It's exactly the same, and she missed it. Pure impish delight and mischief.

For as many things that are the same, there are ones that have changed.

Danny has a grace to him now that he didn't used to, and he moves near silently. He sways easily and elegantly to the music without thinking about it as they talk and make mischief with each other.

The oven and the adjusted thermostat make it much more comfortable in the apartment after a while, but Danny doesn't shed the pullover sweater he wears at any point. He didn't even roll the sleeves up to cook.

Come to think of it, when they entered high school he started doing that too. He wore long sleeves even in the summer - Sam tries not to think about abusive households or self harm. She hopes it's not that, but…

She puts the thoughts aside as well as she can.

Tucker had mentioned it before to her, but with all the grinning and laughing tonight Sam can see that he was right and Danny's teeth are sharper than she remembers. All four canine teeth are almost startlingly pointy.

She doesn't mention it. What she does mention is the apartment.

“This is a really nice place, Danny. You got a secret sugar daddy you haven't told us about?”

Tucker gapes at her and smacks her arm. Danny bluescreens for a moment before he snorts an ugly laugh and descends into near hysterics.

“Oh my God! Ancients, no! No, no sugar daddy. Just a well paying engineering gig lately, and some money I saved up before I left Amity. Holy shit, Sam.”

She shrugs, some tension she didn't know she was carrying leaving her shoulders. “Had to ask. Would have had a shovel talk to deliver.”

Danny starts laughing again, and Tucker groans and puts his head in his hands.

“I cannot believe you actually just asked him that,” Tucker moans.

“I can,” Danny responds with a chipper grin, Tucker's answering snort overlaid by the ding of the oven timer.

Danny knocks back the rest of his drink and waves in the vague direction of the living room area.

“I'll take this out and cut it. Go sit and we can eat it around the coffee table in case we want to watch a movie or something?”

The sitting area is spacious and comfortable, couches black leather. There's a heavy, fluffy white throw over the back of one that looks soft as all get out, but she and Tuck quickly decide to settle on the floor.

The coffee table is low enough that it's more convenient for reaching food and drinks set on it.

Tucker whistles appreciatively at the TV, so it must be a cutting edge new model. Fucking nerd.

Danny trots over not long after with two serving boards balanced precariously on one arm, his refilled sangria in one hand, the pitcher of sangria in the other and another beer held against his side by an awkward elbow.

Tucker and Sam both shoot to their feet to try and mitigate a disaster, but miraculously it all makes it to the table unharmed.

“It's almost like you guys don't trust me,” Danny pouts, his grin ruining it. “Careful, it's hot.”

“You are a perpetual accident waiting to happen,” Sam tells him scathingly, and he snorts with a peculiar look on his face.

“You don't know the half of it.”

As they all reach for slices of pizza, Danny takes them by surprise by taking a piece of Sam's, not Tucker's.

Tucker gapes at him. “Dude. Tell me you haven't betrayed me like that.”

Danny snorts, shoulders shaking with quiet chuckles. “Nah, I still eat meat. It's just sometimes I have spells where it kind of bothers me and I feel a little sick about it? I'm in one of those lately, but usually I'm still a huge burger and steak guy. Don't worry.”

“Huh. That's weird.”

Danny shrugs, taking a bite of his pizza despite his own warnings and cringing when it burns his mouth.

“Been like that since high school, actually. Used to be worse then,” he mumbles through his attempts to cool a mouthful of molten cheese.

Sam doesn't remember him ever having issues with it in middle school. She wonders what happened to change his outlook, but puts it aside. They're here to hang out and catch up. Have a good time. Not interrogate Danny.

They end up spending hours watching trashy TV and heckling the screen, making small talk and letting each other in on bits of their lives all the while. Everyone's well on their way to tipsy by the time they're done eating, though Danny a little more than Sam and Tuck.

He's loose-limbed and happy, sprawled across both of them in the haphazard pile they've ended up in. He seems incredibly content, and it does Sam's heart good to see him so relaxed.

She and Tucker are sitting with their backs against the couch, Danny's legs slung across Tucker's lap and head in Sam's. It's probably why he notices her shiver a little - it's still a little chilly in the apartment.

Lazily, he points up at the back of the couch. “You can pull that down and cover us if you want. It's really warm.”

Sam offers him a quiet thanks and reaches up to do just that, though she's startled to find that though the top is fluffy, the underside of what she'd thought was a throw is velvety and smooth. Like hide.

It's a real fur - hopefully ethically sourced. Decorated too, there are ornaments threaded into the corners and dangling that she can't pin the origin of. They're very pretty, shells and claws and beads.

As she pulls it down, she flips the edge up to peek at the underside and is startled to find the skin a distinct, familiar ectoplasmic green.

“Um. Danny. What kind of fur is this…?”

“Yeti,” Danny replies offhandedly, sipping his drink before freezing like the question and his own answer just caught up to him. “Uh.”

Masterpost

[estrellami-1]

Steddie Week 2024 | Steddie Microfic

July 7th prompt: Free Space - Mystery, Hands, Long, Trade, Exes to Lovers or Getting Back Together, Drunken Confession (aka I combined all the prompts I didn’t use this week) | July prompt: one

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6

Word count: 1,111

No warnings apply

Rated T

@steddie-week | @steddiemicrofic

It was never a mystery, to Steve, how they got together. How they worked together.

The only mystery is how he managed to let him go—to lose him in a way Steve hadn’t understood until Eddie. Because Nancy was great, she was fantastic, Steve was in love. He doesn’t doubt that. But it never felt like it did with Eddie: low lights in the club, hands on each other’s bodies, open-mouth kisses that really was nothing more than them panting into each other’s mouths—

Stumbling into the bathroom, or into either of their bedrooms, hands in hair and under shirts and unbuckling belts—

Sleepy, slow morning kisses. Breakfast. Holidays.

How did it end?

Steve thinks, remembers fists clenched at sides, red faces, stiff shoulders.

Remembers shouted words, cold shoulders, slammed doors.

Remembers the key left on the kitchen counter.

That had done it, he remembers, he had called Robin, already sobbing, and she was on her bike and halfway there practically before she had hung up the phone. She’d held him as he fell apart on the kitchen tiles.

Then again, when he went to go to bed. Saw the two pillows. Threw one off; it hit the wall, slid down. Had to change the sheets; they smelled too much like him.

It took him a long time—a really long time—to get to the point he’d be okay on his own for more than a couple hours, to the point he could go out to clubs again. Not the same ones he’d gone to, never those, but… he moved on. Kind of.

He knew, and Robin knew, that part of him, at least, would always love Eddie.

It’s why when they’re in a club—a new one they had just found, okay music but better drinks and prospects—and Steve grabs her arm, she looks the direction he is.

He feels like he’s swallowing sandpaper. “His hair is longer.”

“It is.” She pries his fingers off, just so he’s not bruising her anymore, but holds his hand. “What do you want to do about it?”

“I don’t know,” he mutters, watches the way Eddie prowls through the crowd, smirking at people, but still definitely on his way to the bar.

The bar. “I’m gonna get us more drinks,” he says. They both ignore the fact that they’ve barely touched their current glasses.

“Let me know if you need backup.”

“Will do.” He looks at her, for the first time since seeing him, and smiles. “Love you, Robbie.”

She rolls her eyes, but smiles. “Love you, dingus. Go get your man back.”

Steve makes it to the bar before Eddie, asks for whatever is on tap. Looks away at the wall. Can’t watch him walk up. 

“Long Island,” he hears directly beside him, and turns to see Eddie turning to see Steve.

He takes a breath. “Eddie.”

Eddie looks… he looks good, because he always does, but he looks tired, maybe a little thinner. Not… not good, not happy like he was. He swallows. “Steve.”

The bartender hands over their drinks, and Steve takes a sip only to cough. “Sorry, fuck,” he mutters, finally looking at the glass in his hand. He’s got the Long Island, and Eddie’s got his beer.

Eddie’s watching him with an interesting little smile. “Trade?”

“Trade,” Steve agrees, nodding. He coughs again. “God, how do you like that?”

Eddie snickers, pulls a lock of hair over his face. Steve wishes he wouldn’t.

Miraculously, they keep talking. They’re never searching for the next word to make the silence go away because there is no silence.

Eventually Robin comes up to him, pulls him into a hug. “Imma go home with that girl,” she murmurs, pointing behind her. A cute, preppy-looking blonde smiles nervously at Steve. He smiles at her, then back to Robin. “Of course. Call the house, give me the address.” He kisses her forehead. “Have fun.”

“Oh, I will,” she grins, then turns to look at Eddie, eyes narrowed.

Eddie gulps. She grins, scary as anything, and whispers something in his ear that has him paling. “Yuh-yep. Yeah. Got it. Thanks Robin.”

Steve grimaces when she walks away. “What did she say?”

Eddie looks at him for a long minute. “Something I’ve known for a while now,” he eventually murmurs. 

It was inevitable, really, that they would end up back here, hands in hair and under shirts, stumbling into Steve’s apartment, panting into each other’s mouths, trying to undo buckles by memory because the worst thing in the world right now would be to stop kissing.

“God, Steve,” Eddie gasps, pulling him down the hall. “C’mon- c’mon, please, need you, need you-”

“Yeah,” Steve answers against his mouth, just as affected. He’s got his own pants halfway off, thinking about his shirt next, thinking about the lube in the drawer that hasn’t gotten as much action as it used to, and suddenly he aches for it. “Need you inside me,” he mutters, kissing down Eddie’s neck, stopping at a place behind his ear that he knows from experience makes Eddie’s knees weak.

“Fuck,” Eddie chokes out. “Yeah, yeah, c’mon, c’mon baby, lemme in you- lube’s in the drawer?”

Steve opens the drawer in answer, roots around until his fingers close on the bottle. Pushes it into Eddie’s hand, pushes him away so Steve can get naked.

Eddie’s eyes rake along his body. He drops his own pants just as fast, limbs flying as he strips out of his shirt too, clambering onto the bed beside Steve’s hip, eyes wide and fingers shaking as he lubes up.

It’s after, when everything’s cooling and drying and becoming itchy, that Eddie’s breath wobbles. “I shouldn’t,” he mutters into Steve’s shoulder. “Shouldn’t say anything. But hell if I don’t miss you like crazy.”

Steve closes his eyes, tries to keep the tears at bay. “You’re drunk.”

“I had less than one drink.”

The tears win. “We broke up for a reason,” he whispers. “Didn’t we?”

“I was scared,” Eddie says.

“And you’re not now?”

“Only of losing you.”

Steve sobs, can’t help it, but he feels Eddie’s hot tears on his neck, too, and that somehow makes it better.

It’s the next morning, after slow, sleepy kisses and breakfast, that Steve sighs. “I never stopped loving you. I don’t think I can.”

“I don’t think I can, either.”

Steve slowly turns to look at him. “So what does that make us?”

Eddie shakes his head. “I don’t know. All I know is it makes me yours.”

“Yours,” Steve parrots, daring to curl his fingers over Eddie’s, breath hitching when he holds on just as tight. “That sounds pretty damn good to me.”

[myokk]

I had so much fun writing this up as I drank my coffee this morning, thanks for making the templates @kiwiplaetzchen 🥹🙏

A little bit of backstory for Eloise - I’ll do an actual drawing etc etc in the future but for now if you’re interested!!:

Eloise has a brother, Leonard (Leo) who is a year older than her (I want to draw him soon!!) and her parents are both (unfortunately 😔🙏) still very much alive. If the family had continued to the 1930s, they would DEFINITELY have been part of the Sacred 28, making it the Sacred 29 instead. Her father was an only child so he inherited everything, and her mother is Elladora Babbit née Black, the woman who started the Black family tradition of beheading useless house elves😭 (and yes unfortunately that makes Headmaster Black Eloise’s uncle😫).

Eloise was kept a secret from the rest of magic society her whole life. In my imagination, the pureblood families have so much inbreeding amongst themselves that it’s not uncommon for them to give birth to squibs. Part of pureblood culture is not announcing they’ve given birth to a child until they’ve shown signs of magic - normally around 3/4 years old at most. When Eloise never showed ANY signs of magic, she was just their shameful secret. On her eleventh birthday when it was all but confirmed she was a squib, she was burned off the family tree and spent the next five years at a muggle finishing school. Always looking to take advantage of whatever they could get, however, Eloise’s parents arranged a marriage between her and the firstborn son of a wealthy muggle landowner when she came of age.

Her family had no idea that she was admitted to Hogwarts (they cut off all ties to her and disowned her) and Leo, who had always been fiercely protective of her growing up was simultaneously devastated and ecstatic that he could see his sister again. It’s been really hard to repair the relationship though, as there is a lot of resentment that they cannot get over even though they want to😭. And, for as much as her parents dictated everything about how her life has gone, Eloise can’t help but try to work hard to get their love and approval as it’s all she ever thought she wanted. And now that she’s in a position to become the daughter they’ve always desired, she feels a lot of resentment towards herself. She feels as if she’s betraying the young girl who was abandoned by her family, because she wants their approval so badly (it will take a while for her to get over this😔🙏)

In terms of the personality I did it a bit like the sims where I just max things out bc I think everything in the middle is boring jajajaja. But:

Shy: not shy in the sense she can’t talk to other people and she isn’t necessarily socially awkward. She just doesn’t always know what to say and will remain silent if she thinks she has nothing to add to a conversation instead of yapping away (BUT unfortunately rambles and over explains herself to not be misunderstood when she does talk, THANKS narcissistic mother), and normally she wishes people would ignore her. When the Daily Prophet article came out about her “miraculous” recovery and introduction to magical society she HATED it & she HATES all of the people trying to talk to her and befriend her.

Active: NOT active as in super energetic. She just wakes up really early and always needs to keep herself busy. She gets anxious if she doesn’t have anything to do - but, she includes thinking as doing something, and often retreats into her thoughts and doesn’t realize when people are talking to her.

I think grouchy and nice can exist together so with this one I put it in the middle. She’s both simultaneously😭

Aaaand with cowardly/brave, she thinks she is really cowardly for going back to her parents so easily and wanting their love so badly, and hates herself for it (not realizing it’s an accumulation of a lifetime of emotional trauma). But lots of times when things get very high-stakes she will jump in and do incredibly reckless things without thinking of the consequences, although if she stopped to think before she acted she would definitely NOT do them. So maybe brave in actions, cowardly on the inside (IDK)

If you read all of this I love you!! I want to share more about her but this was getting crazy long jajajajajajaja😇🙏

[mikodrawnnarratives]

I just remembered a project I worked on for a while in like 2021 (maybe 2020) and it had a LOT of akumatized marinette's

That was the idea behind the whole thing but man I did one by one and found some of the most obscure akumatized marinette au's

Sooooo I'm dragging these drawings up from the ashes and maybe it'll be a nice surprise for some of y'all to see

yall got ✨fanart✨

and possibly reminded of miraculous ladybug HA

usually these were done on different canvas's (that were like 250x250) and then just... copied onto a larger canvas??? Mistakes were made and I was insane

A handful of these akumanette's were actually made by me cause apparently... roughly 18 other marinette's wasn't enough

Click for quality and this is a long post

First of all, shoutouts to my own akuma abominations creations.

First image, the ladybug with the red long hair? yeah the idea was the akuma bug seen in canon in like, s2 (also shown next to her) but updated for the new look in s4. Vry original we'll give it a 6/10

I don't remember too much for the middle one that is slightly dimmer. Though I do remember that was the kind of IDEA behind her. She's also holding a knife cause of course. Why have magical powers to kill people when you can harness the power of K N I F E 7/10

I remember a little more about the jester marinette in the back. She had a whole thing with medieval research, jester research, and she also wanted to stab Lila cause everyone wanted to stab lila at the time. 9/10 cause I had a fun time with her

Then the robinhood poster mari was a robin hood akuma mari. 3/10 not original

NEXT

Slightly canon to downright canon

Ladyblanc was a popular akumanette idea so slightly canon, I didn't base it off of anyone's au

Ladybug and Marinette are there because what's the fun of a crossover if the og doesn't get to panic along with the rest of them????

Last image, not talking about persecuter, we'll get to her in a bit. I just thought it would be funny at the time if I included Chloe and Antibug cause... haha

Antibug is kinda an akumatized lb rip off soooo

OTHER'S AU'S

what you've been waiting for

Thank god I kept track of credit (pats past me on the back)

First of all, at the very front we got @zoe-oneesama 's devil au that made an updated appearance in her scarlet lady au, love to see it

You'll also notice little devil bug on lb's knee in the sketch

Alopeka is to the left of Devil au, by @piearsonist

hi betcha you never would have guessed you got FANARTED HA

This is a post that explains that akumatized marinette, and you'll find more if you go to her page

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND

Princess justice at the right by @kibouwmlb (also, hello hi, surprise) and honestly it is SUCH a pretty design OMYWORD I love the watercolors

Twiddling her thumbs, minding her business. Remember the release of Descendants 3? Yeah, Queen of Mean baby. And MORE by @shiinaeu hi you are a legend to me

This was so fun to draw at the time and I was experimenting in ways I hadn't before. Peak youtube miraculous ladybug fixation meeting art interest. First one of the characters I did fun fact

@edendaphne betcha you didn't expect fanart of that one scorpion akumanette well THINK AGAIN (also, crazy that this was around when I did your dtiys I just realized, huh)

ANd then slightly more obscure, though the post does have 173 ish notes so, is @skullqueensart 's akumanette right here

Why does akumanette have sunken cheeks here? I have no clue honestly. Take it up with me from 3 years ago and maybe you'll get answers who knows. She's also just... chilling. Looking at nothing. Into the abyss.

Not now chloe's, we are discussing persecutor now.

Love the story idea honestly and the akuma design is so god tier AKUMA that oof @yiprincessart I love it

Oh uh, and chloe will be fine

:)

CAN👏I👏 TALK👏 ABOUT👏 HER

She is the moment, she is beauty, she is grace

@artist-from-outersp-ace I love her. She looks so SO pretty!! At the time I loved your artstyle and I still do!! Too bad at the time I didn't know that Tumblr works by reblogging. I will be amending that.

I also remember being SO frustrated when drawing her that I didn't get a timelapse saved in time to show the drawing process :(

But I did love figuring out folds in the dress and the coloring process! Figuring out how to replicate elements in your art!

srs guys. Look at the RUFFLES

Alright, we are all agreeing to be accomplices and bystanders to Akuma jester marinette's NOT MURDER murder of Lila in the background? Okay good.

@lunian I have fanart for you~

And when I tell you I struggled with her design, I STRUGGLED. I ended up satisfied in the end but the curls bro, we lost the curls

But I do love her concepts and powers and I did back then too

And next to her, Okay, I never fully finished, mostly because I couldn't figure out how to get the hand to work with the tray balance thingie

@ladybub made this Lady Justice design and I WILL BE THERE when the comic updates. Or... if they aren't able to continue the comic that's also fine too <3 Life happens

Still love this au and the unique way for Marinette to get akumatized! Me and my sister bonded over our love over it!

I think this might be the first akumanette that isn't on tumblr to my knowledge. They are on Instagram tho @stivenwithani

Anyway I really liked the concept and the design just, reeked, of akuma that I included her

Okay more that I didn't really finish

We got another Princess/Lady Justice akuma idea at the left. Which I never kept track of the credit DANG IT I WAS DOING SO WELL

I'll update if I find the credit but man the OG did really well with the art.

And I have this akumanette comforting Lacrima from... a very graphic and whump fanfic Longest Night, read the tags

Anyway, Lacrima needs all the love she can get (also, funny enough, is the oldest out of this "gathering" of akumanette's)

It's not finished but hey @p-artsypants I gave angst ridden Lady Lacrima friends and fanart so.... yay...

AND THEN THE LAST ONE

was victim to so much reposting I could never find credit for it- UNTIL NOW

but the artist unfortunately deactivated their blog so that explains why I couldn't find their username all that time ago

It was a cool idea and I always love when creators take inspiration from how similar Marinette's name is to another word for a kind of puppet "Marionette"

But before I forget, I'll end this post on one of my akumanette's that I tried to squeeze in but never got to. But I did make more art for and I remember the story!

I remember having a background planned but I never really got around to it. Basically the story was that marinette got akumatized but managed to take off her earrings in time. I think the reason for her akumatization was connected to figuring out the secrets that Emilie had been hiding with the peacock miraculous (BEFORE we knew that adrien was a sentimonster).

Tikki had to bring the earrings to Chat Noir and he had to find someone that looked ENOUGH like Ladybug that Hawkmoth wouldn't notice as much that Ladybug wasn't actually there. Enter Mireille cause at the time a few people were pointing out how similar she looked to the dupain chengs.

Akumanette's powers had something to do with casting depression? I think? In the form of dragons? Oh, Also she travels by walking on the dragons so thats cool

I don't remember everything but I did have a lot planned for her.

10/10 just because I had a fun time with her

[lostryu]

i need gay rights because literally not a single self-proclaimed cis/het 'ally' understands the alienating experience that comes with being the only gay person in the workplace.

i am a gnc butch lesbian. i use he/him pronouns. when i came out to my manager regarding my pronouns (i had been an open lesbian since the moment of my hire), she told me that she supported me, but she could not enforce or ask our clients to use the correct pronouns for me. she told me it was something i would have to learn to deal with. she never uses the correct pronouns for me unless a person from a different department (who also happens to be LGBT+) is present. she is our HR in addition to manager.

none of my coworkers in my department ever remember to use my pronouns. if i remind them, they go over the top with the "im sorry's" and the "im still learning" and "you know i try my hardest's!" and "i swear im not homophobic!", it has been over 6 months since i came out. if i say nothing, they continue to use she/her (unless that other lgbt+ person from the other department is present, then they miraculously get it right).

sometimes they call me 'girl'. they always flounder and correct to "man-boy-uh youknowwhatimeanright". they laugh it off. they never bother to ask what terms i am comfortable with, or if i even cared in the first place. they don't care about my gender, they never bother to ask. somehow the subject gets changed every time i try to tell them, or set a boundary.

once in a while in a slow shift, the conversation will hop to our dating lives. somehow, it always jumps to how men suck and how dating a woman must be so much easier. they wish they could be gay and not straight. every time, they'll stare at me expectantly, like i am an animal at the zoo. no matter what i say, positive or negative, i must be lying. i cannot be that happy in my relationship, or if i have any issues, they must be minor. if i say 'why don't you try dating a girl then' to their remarks, they'll laugh, say something like "there is no way i possibly could" with that special tone of disguised disgust.

i am a prop, at work. they tell me about how much they love their kids. how they could bring anyone home and they wouldn't care. "they could be black, brown, or purple," they'll say "it could be a woman or a man! I support gay rights!" Then they will talk about how hungry they are, and how they will be going to Chick Fil a for the 4th time this week. 'as a treat'. it is thursday. they talk about going to Hobby Lobby again for christmas decorations, or another sale. sometimes i think i can taste blood.

its june. they talk about the pride parade and how excited they are to see the queens and their 'funny costumes'. they talk about how fun it is to go and watch, how they like the free things the corporations hand out. they don't want to bring their younger kids though. they're not old enough. they do not know that the first pride was a riot. they do not know what happened during the AIDS crisis, how many died. they don't really care when i try to tell them, they'd rather focus on the fun parts of the parade. the spectacle.

i wear a pronoun pin, to make it easier. still somehow no one can get my pronouns right. a client notices it. commends me for "being brave" and "coming out." she never uses my correct pronouns. i stopped wearing the pin after the 11th person asked me if my name on my name tag was my real one, and after the 45th person went out of their way to use incorrect pronouns every sentence. my manager, the HR, did not care.

i need gay rights, but somehow everything got resolved when they allowed us to marry in 2015. to our allies, the work is done. somehow i am left more alone than when we started.

[windvexer]

Maybe this is a dumb baby question but, How do you know if a spell works? I’m investigating different practices and all the spells are like… focus, luck, etc, like things that are supposed to either influence my interior state or encourage certain events to occur. But I can’t help but think that if magic was “real” it could do things that are obvious or immediately observable. Have you ever done anything you think was undeniably magic? How did you know?

Not a dumb baby question.

It works if it works! And you can test this.

Broadly speaking we can divide all practical sorcery into two categories: verifiable and unverifiable.

It's really hard to know if an unverifiable spell works. E.g., a spell for focus could often be explainable by the placebo effect. (Or, this lovely Guardian Animal Shielding exercise, which is a fun and relaxing thing to do).

But a verifiable spell is something that you should be able to test and see if your magic did or didn't work.

A good way to find sources of verifiable magic in your life is to observe relatively stable patterns in your own life which have been going on for months, and then cast a spell to directly change it.

An example might be always getting a bad parking spot at work - and then trying to get a very good parking spot.

Either you get to work and have a great place to park even though the whole lot is normally full, or you don't. The spell worked, or it didn't.

Yes, I've worked magic that is obvious and immediately observable. I've worked so much of it and some of it is so miraculous that I don't talk about it publicly because practitioners have a lot of hangups about what kind of magic they think is allowed to exist.

But more importantly I think that while wanting magic to be real, and sorcery to work, are very valid, just chasing that realness alone is probably going to lead you to a path of misery. Here are some of my thoughts on this: On witchcraft as spirituality

Here are some random stories:

At one time there were many arguments in the household due to home renovations (stressful!). I cast a spell to cause one person in the household to be more mindful of the situation. I cast the spell and stepped outside of my practice space. That person was, surprisingly, in the yard and started asking me questions about the exact issue I had just cast on. We ended up having a very long conversation and after that the arguments stopped.

Some years ago the neighbor was causing horrible ruckus and giving my partner awful anxiety, as he could clearly hear it through the old, thin window. I found a bit of thread and "tied up" the neighbor's loud sounds into a knot, and weighted it down with a rock on the windowsill. At this time I wasn't living with my partner, so I came back some weeks later to see the knot. I thought I'd get rid of it, but when I moved the rock my partner stopped me.

"You know what's strange? After you put that there, the neighbor stopped being loud."

I looked at the disrupted rock, which was to "weigh down" the spell, and immediately the neighbor started yelling. I put the rock back, and about 30 minutes later he piped down again and stayed quiet.

Years later, after many calls to the police from many people in the neighborhood with no traction at all, I used the Justice tarot card in a spell and that neighbor was permanently removed from the home within a couple of weeks.

At one time, I was trying to do a distance energy reading for someone. But something was wrong; I couldn't see clearly. In fact it looked like they were consumed by a black void... then presently a lighter blue color was around the blackness, then white, then dark blue. It was no energy I was familiar with and I double-checked with the person that they had no magical protections to stop me from Seeing them.

"Oh, the only ward I didn't take down was my nazar." 🧿🧿🧿🧿

I have Very Silly Tendons, and in the morning I usually have a painful limp for several minutes until my foot stretches out. That is, of course, unless I remember to do a very simple energy exercise the night before. Then my foot is as loose and supple as a bowl of buttered noodles.

Once, I cast a spell using the planetary energies of Mercury in order to secure a good deal on a used van. I put in very specific requirements, and asked that if I tried to buy a van that didn't meet these requirements, that the elementals would stop me and not let the deal go through. Immediately after I cast the spell I found a van which was disqualified from the list, but I reallllly wanted it. I contacted the Craiglist seller, who didn't respond for a couple of days, but the listing stayed up.

The next morning my friend contacts me. She says she had a dream that yellow tornadoes came and told her to give me a message; that I was making a mistake.

Well if you know Mercury, then you know yellow airy energies are really his thing.

I immediately set up the spell again, retracted my requests, and apologized for going against what I said I wanted.

The seller contacted me within the hour, and I got the van.

[princess-of-the-corner]

I got to thinking about that "Hawk Moth does the Villain with Good Publicity" angle idea and I love it but it needs some tweaks to work I think.

1: He needs to know there is a Guardian and suspect they are in Paris, rather than rely on the "Chaos will reveal the Black Cat & Ladybug" angle, he's specifically trying to get at another human & coax them out.

2: He needs to collab with the media, mayor and more, so he's likely out in public as himself at first and does a lot more public perception handling than Ladybug or Chat ever did to help maintain his public profile.

Plan:

With that in mind he likely stages and or orchestrates several accidents and criminal situations. Some of which definitely target Chloe cos why break the habit of a life time. & he uses these to establish himself as the Heroic Hawk Moth!

Adrien being at school is so helpful for this.

Fu is suspicious cos he can sense rancid vibes but the guy hasn't done anything wrong yet or even seems to know about Akuma. He ends up tracking him down when transformed to talk & hinges turn ugly when HK reveals' he wants the LB & BC.

Hawk Moth uses a civilian, again maybe Chloe, to goad Fu into attacking him, they have a fight and Fu saves the civilian and gets away but is pursued by Nathalie, turns out Gabriel was just hiding his Akuma. Still, Fu gets away, but they know his general area.

HK claims to have been ambushed and severely wounded by a 'thief;. He claims himself to be the Guardian of the Miraculous & that while injured he can now create champions. The mayor is all "We must do all we can to help our beloved hero Hawk Moth!"

So, Paris is looking all over for a short older man who might have the Miraculous. Police are poking around all over, Hawk Moth's champions are on the move & Fu realizes he needs allies.

Story thoughts:

The thing here is that this totally changes the dynamic and type of story being told. The powers that would be useful to hand out, even how many people Fu would want active given he's specifically being hunted. Let alone how public perception and such would effect things and more to the point the heroes strategies and motives and methods!

Hell, Fu may well end up looking for entirely different personalities and people for this task. Or find himself pulling from whoever is left over from conspiracy theorists to the universally contrarian, to people who were caught up in Hawk Moth's staged crimes but came away suspicious.

So yeah, that'd be my set up anyway.

Honestly a fun part of this could be that as Chloé was targeted, she'd know the truth.

And Gabe doesn't think much of her as anything but a tool, so he'd never expect her campaigning against him to ever get off the ground. But it's enough for a small rebellion.

[ryuichirou]

I do remember how Azul one of two housewardens to be top so he can literally be ship with all but Kalim. Same goes to Kalim. Now I want to see a headcanon of Azul and Kalim with the other housewardens relationship besides the mentioned like with Azul and Idia.

The fact that you keep that in mind, Anon! I myself keep forgetting about it omg, Azul, Kalim and a bunch of bottoms… and if we’re talking overblot boys, it’s just Azul and some bitches 😔 What a flower garden.

This is a fun ask. I’ll try to talk about every possible ship that isn’t usually mentioned in our blog or mentioned very briefly. Well, minus Azul/Malleus because we just talked about them a day ago lol And Azul/Riddle because we have some posts about them too.

Looking at the list… it’s mostly Kalim/everyone huh lol

Azul/Leona. It’s difficult to picture them this way, but if they were to miraculously end up being a couple, it will 100% be out of mutual benefit. Plus, Azul would use it to prepare his revenge because he isn’t over the whole sanding contracts thing. Leona knows that, and he fully expects Azul to try to backstab him sooner or later. It’s giving “Scott Tenorman must die”, somehow.

Azul/Vil. This relationship either would end after one hour or would survive surprisingly long. They have a lot in common whether they like it or not, but Azul is too fake for Vil’s liking, and Vil doesn’t mince his words which Azul doesn’t like because Vil isn’t as easy to bully as Idia. Still, Vil enjoys how hardworking and dedicated to self-betterment Azul is; and people in the press would probably consider them to be quite a striking couple… still, they would drive each other insane lol

Kalim/Riddle. It’s like they’re speaking different languages. It’s super difficult for them to understand each other because both of them are kind of impulsive in different ways. But when they have fun, it’s good! Riddle’s inner child really thrives around Kalim whenever he relaxes a little bit, but that always ends with Riddle being super nervous about all the rules they broke. Kalim is chaotic and irresponsible… even though Riddle really loved riding the carpet with him :( They wouldn’t break up though because Kalim would misread Riddle’s attempts at having the talk with him and understand it as something completely different. He likes Riddle a lot! If only he relaxed and had fun more often :)

Kalim/Leona. If they miraculously end up together because of how oblivious and positive Kalim is and because of how passive Leona is, they could end up dating for years… Kalim is that force that takes Leona’s sarcastic comments literally and does whatever he was being sassy about, and to Leona’s shock, somehow he ends up going along with it. How did that happen again? Maybe this is how they ended up dating.

Kalim/Vil. Even if they start out like a couple, Kalim will end up being mothered by Vil. And this isn’t the kind of overprotective and through-the-teeth mothering that Jamil does: Vil-the-mom is strict and very focused on discipline, so I think both of them would experience a cultural shock lol Vil knew things were bad, but was it that bad?... Similarly to Kalim/Riddle though, when it’s time to have fun, they enjoy each other a lot. They dance and sing and Kalim even manages to make Vil laugh… but the rest of the time it gets kind of miserable for both of them.

Kalim/Idia. I want this for Idia, to be honest. I genuinely want this for Idia. This would be such a shitshow though because Kalim has zero understanding of how Idia works; pardon me for a clichéd comparison, but it’s like putting an excited loud puppy in a room with a sheepish scaredy cat. But actually, I think Kalim is smart enough to ask Idia to teach him how to play videogames one day, and even though he would be horrible at it, he would have so much fun failing miserably that maybe… Idia’s heart would melt a little… and then instantly cringe.

Kalim/Malleus. Shameless. Well, Kalim is pretty innocent about it, but Malleus is shameless. He is very satisfied with all the attention he is getting. Everyone around them? Confused and mildly scared, wondering if Kalim even knows what’s going on between them. Kalim? Super excited to have 1000 dates with Malleus, give him all kinds of cool gifts, dance with him and feed him a lot of yummy ice cream. Malleus responds very well to this kind of treatment, so Kalim would go all-out! They would either end up being a power-couple (Kalim would still be very oblivious…) or break up after a while because while Malleus enjoys attention, Kalim just isn’t as reactive to his flirty provocations as he would’ve loved… plus he has too many friends >:(

[badcaseofcasey]

Steddie Soulmate/Met as Kids AU - Part 7 (The End) Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

a/n: we’ve made it to the end, folks! I have had so much fun posting this and seeing all of your reactions as I went, so thanks for coming along on this ride with me! I’ll be posting the full fic to AO3 soon, so keep an eye out for that. Without further ado, the final installment (for now…)!

The next thing Steve knew, he was blinking back against the light, the room filled with a warm late morning sun. He and Eddie had gravitated towards each other during the night and he woke up with his arm slung low across Eddie’s hips. They were still facing each other so Steve could see Eddie’s peaceful expression as he slept.

Steve let out a huge sigh of relief when he felt Eddie’s breath moving his arm up and down where it rested. According to the clock on the nightstand, Steve had gotten a miraculous six hours of sleep without waking up from a nightmare or tossing and turning over worries about whether or not everyone was safe. Steve knew it was likely because the person he worried about the most had been lying safely next to him.

The other benefit to sharing a bed with Eddie was that he got to watch as the other man slowly woke, eyes scrunching up to keep out as much of the light as possible, to stay in his cocoon of sleep as long as he could. It was adorable, Steve didn’t mind admitting it, and he couldn’t help the smile across his features either.

“You see something you like?” Eddie asked, voice rough with sleep. “Just saying, it’s been a while since I’ve woken up to a pretty boy in my bed looking at me like that.”

Steve huffed out a laugh. “Take me out to dinner first, Munson.”

Eddie’s eyes slowly opened and Steve noticed, not for the first time, that they were the color of molten chocolate when the light hit them just right.

“Morning,” Steve said. “How do you feel?”

“Like a bunch of interdimensional hell beasts used me as a chew toy,” he responded. “But I feel less like that than I did yesterday, so I’m going to count it as a win.”

“Good,” Steve said.

They were both quiet for a few minutes, soaking in the warmth of the sun streaming in through the windows and of each other’s body in the bed next to them. Eventually, Eddie sighed and held his eyes open.

“I think I promised you a conversation,” Eddie began.

“That you did,” Steve said, steeling himself.

“I just want to know… What does all this mean to you?” Eddie asked. “Because for a long time, I had this idea in my head of what would happen when I found my soulmate again, but then we did see each other and it was… not like that. But recently, things have been different and I know you and I both aren’t the same kids we were at the park, or even the ones we were in high school. So.”

“So,” Steve agreed. “I see why you’d want to talk about that.”

“And I grew up with this image of my soulmate as this dragon slayer, the person who could battle away anything that was bothering me and make it all okay again. And not two weeks ago I watched you do literally that - with demobats instead of dragons, but still.”

Steve laughed slightly. He was suddenly self-conscious about where his arm rested on Eddie’s hip, but when he tried to pull it back, Eddie just scooted closer to keep Steve’s hand where it was. Eddie’s arm was steadfastly around Steve’s shoulders as it had been when they’d fallen asleep.

“And, to put it all out on the table,” Eddie continued, “because I literally almost died and that puts things in perspective like no other, let me tell you, and because I’m sick of not saying it anymore - I’ve kind of been falling steadily head over heels in love with you since I saw you kill a demobat with your teeth, and I don’t see that changing any time soon.”

Steve sucked in a breath, eyes wide. He wasn’t quite sure he had heard Eddie correctly. After everything he’d done to basically reject Eddie over the years, he hadn’t dreamed that Eddie could really love him. And yet, here Eddie was, admitting it out loud and without shame that he didn’t just love Steve, but that he was in love with him. And wasn’t that a miracle, in and of itself.

But Steve must have been processing in silence too long, because it was Eddie’s turn to try and pull away, muttering about how he didn’t expect anything, and how he knew that there were such a thing as platonic soulmates, and it was okay if Steve didn’t feel the same way - and that just wouldn’t do.

Steve used the hand on Eddie’s hip to keep him still and brought his other one up to cup Eddie’s cheek where it rested against the pillow and angle his face so that Steve could press their lips together in a sweet, but sure kiss.

Eddie sucked in a breath as soon as their lips touched and Steve could sense his surprise even before he pulled back to look at him.

“I’ve already got the one platonic soulmate,” Steve said. “And honestly, she’s kind of a handful. Not sure I could handle another.”

Eddie looked at Steve like he was a wondrous thing and huffed out a laugh. “Thank god. Because I was talking a big game about being fine with whatever you were ready for, but I think it honestly would have killed me if you had wanted to keep things friendly.”

“Definitely not,” Steve smiled before leaning in to kiss Eddie again, this time angling his body a bit more on top of Eddie’s so Eddie’s head could rest on the pillow.

They stayed like that for hours, swapping gentle kisses - and some not so gentle - and basking in the glow of being together and on the same page for the first time since they were kids in a park fighting dragons. 

Steve had nearly stopped in his tracks when he pushed Eddie’s shirt up to feel the warm, still-healing skin and saw his own handwriting snaking along Eddie’s rib cage. Eddie had been right - there were a few letters missing and a few others stretched into scar tissue, but they were still perfect to Steve, and it felt like a punch to the gut to see them there for the first time, proof that Steve hadn’t lost Eddie after all.

Eventually, they would leave the safety and stillness of their bed to start their day, running into Wayne in the kitchen who gave them a knowing look when they arrived together from the downstairs bedroom. They would find their way around each other, adjusting when needed to fit the other into their respective lives. Eddie never did move out of Steve’s place, even when he was fully-healed, not until they all moved out - Wayne to his new trailer, furnished by a shady wing of the US government, Eddie and Steve to their first apartment together.

And though the rest of the dragons they would face were of the metaphorical kind rather than the interdimensional hell beast variety, they would always face them together.

taglist: @infinitetrashbag @vampireinthesun @swimmingbirdrunningrock @maya-custodios-dionach @thev01dd @obsessivlyme @a-little-unsteddie @anything-thats-rock-and-roll @spectrum-spectre @red-panderz69 @magpiemuseum @minjintea @finalmoondragon @thatonebadideapanda @estrellami-1 @freyaforestafay @biatcgh @sadcanadianwinter @im-sam-fucking-winchester @bidisastersworld @justanothergirlwithobsessions @anaibis @thing-a-ling @rosered93 @newtstabber @void-o-chaos @thegingerrapunzel @baron-zemo-trash @katireads @child-of-cthulhu @the-s-is-silent @i-must-potato @hellomynameismoo @lovelylilbadone @theotalksalot @lydi-cyan @background-noise-headache @idontgetpaidenoughforthisshit @slitherynchiken @grapefruitgalaxy @bookbinderbitch @luthienstormblessed @blues-tunes @murdblurdock @grtwdsmwhr @xpaperheartso

[aphtwitterau]

(3) Lightbulbs

Travis and Nana walked together to the University Campus cafe. Normally, Nana would not go in on her day off but today was an exception due to Zane's rudeness. Travis coming along with her was not on her agenda either but the more people to upset Zane, the merrier. Although, Nana can't figure out why Travis is walking so fast, so giddy and wide eyed as well. Could he really want coffee that bad?

After a few more long struts past the campus, the two were in front of the cafe. Before Nana could open the door, Travis quickly stepped in front and opened it for her.

"Ladies first," he said with a wink.

Nana smiled at him and thanked him, walking into a sea of people, Travis stepping in behind her. Her mouth agape before she started laughing.

"I don't think.." Travis started to speak, while looking around skeptically, "we're going to get our orders too fast.."

"That's okay! I didn't want to order anything anyway!" Nana replied cheerfully, "I wanted to come in to upset Zane because he was asking me for help!"

Travis nodded as she spoke while they tried to make their away around the cafe, looking for two seats they could steal. Miraculously by the power of Irene, they managed to snag a table they could use to watch Zane from the front. Travis pulled the chair for Nana as she giggled and called him a gentleman. They both idly sat as they watched Zane in a frenzy, him being one of the two employees who were working today. The both of them in an annoyance and panic due to the amount of people. Zane caught view of Travis and Nana staring at him and much to their chagrin, he glared at them harshly before going back to making the orders.

Nana giggled and turned her head to Travis who had in what she would call a dopey grin. His head rested heavily on his palm as he continued to eye the front of the store. Nana curiously tilted her head before speaking again.

"So why did you want to come!" Nana questioned, smiling her happy smile while raising an eyebrow, leaving her hands rested on her lap.

Travis dropped his dopey expression and went back to his neutral face, in which he would describe as suave and charismatic. "Oh you know, just thought you'd love my company."

Nana pointed at him slightly, "then what was with that cutesy smile just now! I've never seen that smile on you before!"

Travis raised his own brow this time in confusion, "what are you talking about?" He asked, as if he was unaware of his own expression from before.

"You had this cute, dopey smile on your face while you were looking at the front! Like you were admiring something, or someone—" Nana said before gasping, "do you like one of our coworkers?!"

Travis' expression switched to a nervous smile, "I— I don't even know your coworkers, cutie," he replied.

"You don't have to, you probably think one of them was cute! Is that why you wanted to come, to see if they were here?" Nana jested lightly in her high pitched voice excitedly.

Before Travis could answer, Zane walked over with his cafe apron off and threw it in Nana's face. "Hey traitor," he glared at the meif'wa, "my shift ended, you can LEAVE now. Pierce clocked in."

Nana laughed and held the apron in her lap, "well then ladies first!" She giggled at Zane's annoyance. She turned to Travis to ask if he wanted to leave as well or if he wanted to watch his mystery person before noticing that Travis again had the same dopey expression. Although this time, it was pointed at the man right in front of them. Then, a lightbulb went off in her head.

Nana threw the apron back at Zane before standing up, "okay! Let's leave!"

Travis got up as well, keeping the same soft, yet giddy, smile on his face, "how was work, cyclops?"

"Hey do me a favor, take a swan dive off the roof of a 10 story building." Zane replied harshly, while flipping the white haired man off.

The trio walked out of the cafe but Nana slowly walked behind them, letting Zane banter with Travis and letting Travis have a little bit of fun. Nana smirked at Travis curiously, realizing why he wanted to come along and why he was so excited to get there.

[baenyth]

After too much stalling, I finally finished the other half of Miraculous Season 2. Here's my thoughts episode-by-episode:

Zombizou: The episode focused on Ms. Bustier. Honestly I get where she's coming from in that statement to Marinette. This is a world where people can become butt-ugly abominations because they felt upset, although I think Chloe still needs consequences for her actions as well as something like positive reinforcement. She had plenty consequences in season 1. Speaking of Chloe, That Asshole was wrong. There was clear intent for Chloedemption. Also could we at least have seen all that stuff Ms. Bustier does in previous episodes?

Syren: This was an episode the salters talked loads about, and honestly, I get where Adrien's coming from here. On a fundamental level the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculi aren't equals due to the Ladybug's magic reset button, but as one of the first Miraculous users, Adrien should've still been let in on the loop. Kid felt like he was useless, that Ladybug could save the day without his help. At the very least have Master Fu go one-on-one or have both kids show up while transformed or blindfolded. Also the water voices ticked me off, but that's relatively minor.

Frightningale: A fun character-of-the-week episode, especially since I'm fond of Clara Nightingale's constant rhymes and rhythm. She's dedicated to it and I love it. It's also good to see Chloe be an exceptional and talented dancer! It's good to see her having talents and interests that aren't just making people suffer!

Troublemaker: Another episode showing why I think Marinette and Adrien shouldn't date in any of their forms. I don't know enough about stalker shrines but I think Marinette's room is getting close enough to be one for Adrien. Though I'm pretty sure Adrien's seen worse or has been conditioned to not care, based on his reaction at the end. Still a shame that the local TV show had to live-film Marinette's room and beach her privacy in the local city-town of Paris while the real Paris has been converted to an amusement park for tourists. You got any other reasons why the population is so low? One more thing: I'm pretty sure the lack of ladybug-vision was more due to anxiety over losing one of her earrings and the difficulty of the villain more than anything else.

Anansi: I find the new heroes good, personally. They give more screentime to other characters. Also again with Adrien's insecurity about being useful. And I think this episode would've been over sooner if they noticed that Anansi was going to get herself akumatized over the stress and maybe just let her come or something. Or if they got Marinette to arm-wrestle her instead. Marinette has muscles, right?

Sandboy: A lore episode, mostly. The nightmares were funny for a second and I was a bit annoyed by the Akuma's voice, but that's small potatoes. I like how compared to season 1, where we would be given a bunch of development for Sandboy it's just explained to us afterwards while we instead get more time for lore.

Style Queen: Hawkmoth has a contender for the most evil character in the show. Audrey Bourgeois is the kind of person that would be made fun of in those Karen freakout videos. She cheats on her husband, neglects her daughter to the point of not remembering her name, fires people over the most minor inconveniences, and starts G-rated killing people over getting a seat in the second row. She needs to be cancelled, deplatformed, and Chloe needs a therapist and better role models. I really liked the split-second of Adrien looking shocked after Marinette told him he had the catwalk down, btw. Did he think his identity was outed there?

Queen Wasp: This is why teenagers shouldn't get superpowers. I get secondhand embarrassment watching them. Also Marinette What The Fuck why the Hell are you getting Chloe to bond with the Absolute Worst Person For Her

Maledictator: This is what happens when you make Chloe bond with a Chernobyl-level toxic influence, Marinette. In general this episode was funny, both intentionally and unintentionally. Everyone starts celebrating Chloe ditching Paris with her mother except Adrien because Chloe was her only friend even though she was a detriment to everyone else and suddenly Marinette feels bad because she worships Adrien. The first thing the villain of the week does is make Audrey stop being such a horrible person and later he made Chat Noir reach the limit of catboyness. It's like a Smiling Friends episode. Also it was cool to see Chloe's depths and self-loathing. Surely that won't be forgotten and Chloe will be given therapy so she can become a better person, right?

Reverser (Put here so it makes sense timeline-wise): It's Yaoi time. Except that Nathaniel is into Ladybug (who I assume he knows is Marinette) here and Marc is fine with that. Overall a good episode. Some nice humor, and Reverser's probably the best akuma design so far I love the paper stuff. Plus more info on the side characters and a spot of good humor, excellent!

Frozer: Ah, there's the Nathmarc. And explicit Julerose. And Marinette getting some idea that her fantasy of Adrien is unhealthy and shouldn't be followed. And Adrigami, albeit a bit one-sided. Quit pining over someone who doesn't love you and get with someone who does, kid. And a smidgeon of Marigami. And Adrien's bodyguard being his daddy in place of his father. And a pinch of me seeing what the salters were talking about with the girlsquad and them forcing Marinette and Adrien together. Or at least Alya and Mylene. I couldn't hear what Alix, Juleka, and Rose were saying, but they disagreed, right? At least one of them had to disagree, right?

Heroes' Day Two-Parter: Marinette you're being too hotheaded against Lila no you gotta be like Columbo. Also yet another Marinette Costanza moment. Otherwise not much to say here. It's the boss rush episode, it's the series finale, Alya managed to catch onto Nino being Carapace but still can't seem to connect the dots between Ladybug and Marinette, the Peacock Miraculous is introduced, and Natalie is on my suslist.

I might procrastinate again on the first half of season 3. The first episode deserves a post of it's own. It's the salt episode.

[ninadove]

Nina reads Dracula 🦇

May 24th

And we’re back, thank goodness!!! I’ve been so worried about my good friend Jonathan! I can’t wait to hear how he outsmarted the Count and made it out safely and —

Letter, Lucy Westenra to Mina Murray.

GODDAMMIT

But hey, it’s the girls! I love the girls! Let’s see if they’ve been building any castles in the air recently.

My dear, it never rains but it pours. How true the old proverbs are. Here am I, who shall be twenty in September, and yet I never had a proposal till to-day, not a real proposal, and to-day I have had three. Just fancy! THREE proposals in one day! Isn't it awful!

This is my idea of a nightmare actually. But!!! More points for the poly theory!!!

I feel sorry, really and truly sorry, for two of the poor fellows.

Nevermind, they didn’t pass the vibe check. (Or did they?)

You and I, Mina dear, who are engaged and are going to settle down soon soberly into old married women, can despise vanity.

Cottagecore sapphics anyone? 💖

I told you of him, Dr. John Seward, the lunatic-asylum man, with the strong jaw and the good forehead. He was very cool outwardly, but was nervous all the same. He had evidently been schooling himself as to all sorts of little things, and remembered them; but he almost managed to sit down on his silk hat, which men don't generally do when they are cool, and then when he wanted to appear at ease he kept playing with a lancet in a way that made me nearly scream.

Wasn’t he supposed to be the cool unaffected one? Maybe Lucy just has this effect on people.

He was going to tell me how unhappy he would be if I did not care for him, but when he saw me cry he said that he was a brute and would not add to my present trouble. […] And then, Mina, I felt a sort of duty to tell him that there was some one. I only told him that much, and then he stood up, and he looked very strong and very grave as he took both my hands in his and said he hoped I would be happy, and that if I ever wanted a friend I must count him one of my best.

GOOD!!!!! I LIKE HIM!!!!!

Well, my dear, number Two came after lunch. He is such a nice fellow, an American from Texas —

[Miraculous flashabacks] DON’T —

I know now what I would do if I were a man and wanted to make a girl love me.

Normal Things To Tell Your Bestie, 99th edition

Mr. Quincey P. Morris found me alone. It seems that a man always does find a girl alone. No, he doesn't, for Arthur tried twice to make a chance, and I helping him all I could; I am not ashamed to say it now.

😏

I must tell you beforehand that Mr. Morris doesn't always speak slang—that is to say, he never does so to strangers or before them, for he is really well educated and has exquisite manners—but he found out that it amused me to hear him talk American slang, and whenever I was present, and there was no one to be shocked, he said such funny things. […]

'Miss Lucy, I know I ain't good enough to regulate the fixin's of your little shoes, but I guess if you wait till you find a man that is you will go join them seven young women with the lamps when you quit. Won't you just hitch up alongside of me and let us go down the long road together, driving in double harness?'

OK BUT THIS IS LITERALLY SO SWEET he personalised it and even made fun of himself to diffuse the tension 🥺

And then, my dear, before I could say a word he began pouring out a perfect torrent of love-making, laying his very heart and soul at my feet. He looked so earnest over it that I shall never again think that a man must be playful always, and never earnest, because he is merry at times.

AND THEN MADE HIMSELF VULNERABLE!!!!! What a man!!!

I burst into tears—I am afraid, my dear, you will think this a very sloppy letter in more ways than one—

LUCY

Why can't they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble?

Wait. THE POLYCULE IS CANON??? THE POLYCULE IS CANON?????

'If that other fellow doesn't know his happiness, well, he'd better look for it soon, or he'll have to deal with me. Little girl, your honesty and pluck have made me a friend, and that's rarer than a lover; it's more unselfish anyhow. My dear, I'm going to have a pretty lonely walk between this and Kingdom Come. Won't you give me one kiss? It'll be something to keep off the darkness now and then. You can, you know, if you like, for that other good fellow—he must be a good fellow, my dear, and a fine fellow, or you could not love him—hasn't spoken yet.' That quite won me, Mina, for it was brave and sweet of him, and noble, too, to a rival—wasn't it?—and he so sad; so I leant over and kissed him.

Honestly? Mood. I am utterly charmed by this cowboy.

Now number 3 has to be something.

P.S.—Oh, about number Three—I needn't tell you of number Three, need I? Besides, it was all so confused; it seemed only a moment from his coming into the room till both his arms were round me, and he was kissing me. I am very, very happy, and I don't know what I have done to deserve it. I must only try in the future to show that I am not ungrateful to God for all His goodness to me in sending to me such a lover, such a husband, and such a friend.

THAT’S IT????? A POST-SCRIPTUM????? GIRL THIS IS YOUR FIANCÉ

OK OK I am willing to accept that the strength of your feelings can’t be transcribed into words. But still.

In conclusion: these are Lucy’s three boyfriends, and yes, they eat garlic bread. 🧄🥖

(Also the contrast with Dracula’s roommates did not go unnoticed)

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[lilblucat]

Quick question!! So with the recent episode of MD out (I'm not sure if you've seen it yet, but if you have you could answer this if ya like) are you worried for how the show is gonna handle the love triangle between Uzi, N, and V? Because ship wars are still going on at least over on Twitter and Envy shippers are going crazy and insane, plus it doesn't help that some of them are toxic (not saying that Nuzi shippers aren't toxic too, because they are) but, I'm worried that these shipping wars are gonna get worse and heck, it even concerns me that shipping could end up ruining the show..just look at shows like Miraculous Ladybug + Star Vs, but Star Vs is a huge example because that show was pretty much ruined by shipping and it also ended up making Starco feel rushed at the end..I've seen people point out that the love triangle is common in Liam's work so maybe I'm missing something. But, are you worried for how this love triangle will be handled in the end and do you think it could ruin and mess up the show?? Also, which couple would you say you're rooting for (When it comes to Envy and Nuzi, at least) and who do you think works better as a couple? I don't wanna cause any shipping drama, but I was wanting to ask this question because it's been on my mind, it also gave me some concerns..because don't be wrong, I'm someone who enjoys and adores shipping and has fun with it, but there is something that I never wanna see is to have a ship take over the story entirely, you know what I'm saying?

Anon, this is not a quick question lol.

Idk I don't think the love triangle is gonna be all that important going forward. It felt like there was going to be some love dynamic between Uzi, N, V, and Thad but as of episode 5 I think that's all mostly scrapped now. Thad is completely irrelevant and it seems like episode 5 cleaned up the romantic plot threads between N and V.

Episode 5 is... weird to talk about regarding the romance threads in the series. Like yeah, it does offer some Envy moments, but then once they remember everything they go back to their dynamic up to this point. V immediately wants to hurt Uzi while N is much more excited to see Uzi again than react to V's quick embarrassed blushy moment. The events of this episode and the lack of any shipping merch for N and V kind of seal the deal for me that Envy isn't happening. Episode 3 went all in on the shippy vibes between N and Uzi on the marketing, so episode 5 not getting any for Envy just feels like proof to me, honestly.

However, most of the marketing was about N and Uzi, and while they are the main 2 characters, it feels like this episode was meant more to progress their dynamic along than N and V's. N had been saving Uzi from something every episode up to now, and this was finally Uzi's turn to repay the favor and boy do I have things to talk about regarding that. Uzi having so much ability to really mess with N, but Uzi ultimately not doing any of that because she wants what's best for him. Which, you'll notice is what V also wants, but the difference is Uzi actually communicates with him while V seems stuck on what her own idea of that is. Like, Uzi clearly has a crush on the guy, but even though she's seeing his past with V and how close they were she doesn't take any action to make him stop remembering things. She actually encourages him to uncover as much as he can, which he thanks her for at the end. I don't know how to put it, it's just such a risk she took even though she knew it was the right thing to do and I just really like that aspect of her character this episode.

Anyway, that wall of text is to explain my reasoning behind what I have to say on the state of shipping after this episode. I think the endgame ship is going to be Nuzi because I see no meta reason to ship otherwise. That's literally the only ship with merch behind it and it's the ship Glitch and staff seems to like the most art of. I feel that going forward, the show will end up going that route with these characters and people will either have to accept that or drop the show if shipping is really that important to them. And tbh, Liam's works aren't that focused on shipping anyway. There's probably going to be romance, but it won't be a tumor on the show. I haven't read any of his stuff yet where it felt like the romance threads were hurting the story tbh. That's another point for Nuzi tbh in that pretty much all of his main 2 duos have the most ship tease in his writing. I would not compare his writing to those other shows because Liam's writing is so distinct and has its quirks. Also, Murder Drones is written by a single person compared to these network shows which are written by many people, which is how you get these convoluted romance plots in the first place.

People are gonna be toxic, that's just a given and especially so because the main two ships in this fandom are at odds with each other. Once the show commits to one, I think things will chill down. I will say though, all the stupid discourse I see about Disassembler/Worker ships is pretty bad and misinformation keeps this a hot topic in the fandom. It's not a problem, yet people keep making it one and I cannot understand how this happens lol.

And yeah it's probably obvious but yeah I'm Team Nuzi. I've just always felt like Liam was aiming for it anyway plus I have a feeling that if the genders were swapped, Envy would be no where near as popular as it is. I get the appeal of Worker Envy, but Disassembler Envy is a whole different beast where V's treatment of N is still completely unaddressed. That's not to dis V exactly, but I think people forget that she remembered much more than N prior to episode 5 and cared enough about him to try to keep him safe from the Solver shenanigans. Her methods for doing that, however, definitely need to be addressed at some point. Like again, people forget that she didn't do all that because she didn't remember, she did that because she was traumatized and ended up hurting N because of her actions. Regardless of why she did it, she's still very harsh with him and hasn't made any steps to fix this. Also again, not to dis her as a character, she's obviously made these choices out of trauma and I think that's pretty realistic.

N also has baggage that V's presence gets in the way of, but since he's been with Uzi for a while he's been getting through it. When separated from V, N learns to grow a spine and respect himself. I think V can learn and grow too, but only if she takes a leave from N to get her away from the living reminder of her traumatic past. That's why I'm personally not into Envy in the current time, they cannot reconnect in the same way anymore, they are simply too different from how they were back in the past. Reconnection means a whole new dynamic, and at this point I don't think romance is in the cards for this new dynamic.

[tkmicha]

So, I'm gonna share what happened over the weekend with my favorite person. Ik they're finna see this and call me out on it but.. whatever 😋

So, I'm gonna use a nickname for them instead of their real name.

So me and my best friend pinkie were hanging out over the weekend and it was so fucking perfect! We watched "Miraculous, the Tales of Ladybug and CatNoir" (the movie) and "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off" together and it was SO GOOD

(I love Marc and Nathaniel from miraculous and I love Todd, Wallace, and Roxy from spto)

But anyways, we cuddled and hangout throughout the whole day, it was so fun and I felt truly at home. But by the time we finished the movies it was like, 2 or 3 am and we decided to finally go to bed.

We layed down together and began snuggling, and us being us we kept eachother up by being playful and talking together. We were laughing and being silly together and I rolled over onto my side to face away from him pretending to be mad at him (it's something we do to mess with the other- idk how to explain our shenanigans)

But I got the confidence to ask him if he'd hold me and he did, he put his arm under my head and spooned with me, it was SO comfy and it made me very happy. But ofc him being the dork he is decided to mess with me and blew onto my neck and I flinched away. I laughed at him and snuggled closer to him and he put his mouth onto my back and blew into my back.

I asked, "what are you doing?" He replied "nooothing" as i rolled my eyes at him before he did it again "you're making my back warm" that's when I realized he was just blowing into the back of my shirt and it was heating up my back. I shook my head at him while smiling then he blew into my back right between my shoulder blades and it caught me so off gaurd. I rolled over and looked at him as I gave him a playfully "annoyed" look as he said "maybe I should do that to your stomach"

I got so much butterflies in that moment and I just shoved him away playfully. He's the only person who knows I'm ticklish, tbh I didn't even really know I was till I met this dork.

But fast forward a little bit and we're cuddling while he's on his back and I'm holding onto him, I had my hand in his shirt on his stomach bc I was a bit cold and he had his down mine on my back. I decided to scribble on his stomach a little, he's not ticklish barely at all, sometimes he is sometimes he isn't but even when he is he's not nearly as sensitive as I am😒 but he wasn't even trying to stop me and I teased him about that and I felt his hand skitter up my back and I imidialty arched my back away from his hand and smiled at him nervously before he pulled his hand outa my shirt and started pressing around on my back, I can't really defend myself since his arm is behind me so I just try to tickle him back, it didn't work ofc.🙄

But anyways we're laying there talking about stuff, ocasionally messing with eachother and he grabbed one of my arms and dug into my side with the one that was around me, I squirmed around and laughed into him, I was trying not to laugh too loudly because by now it's like 4am. After a bit he let's me breathe and I lay there catching my breath and I hear him say "I wonder if your stomach is ticklish" and I just froze, my brain went bdiejeisndwpnsosjs

He laughed at me then I admitted I didn't know where I was ticklish, hell I didnt even know I was till he tickled me. He spat out "well I'll find out for you" and I just laughed nervously, my stomach doing absolute tornados.

A bit later of more talking and what not I think we may have just been laying there enjoying eachothers company and I decided to try and tickle his underarms, but litterally NO reaction, I tried his sides, stomach, neck, NOTHING, absolutely no reaction and I was just dumbfounded, like huh?? How??

I grabbed his thigh and I hit a certain spot and I smiled thinking I found one and he dug into my armpit and I straightened my posture so quick and squirmed. "Oh? You're ticklish there too?" He said and I just told him to shuddup. I was so embarrassed and then he rolled toward me and started to dig into my side, I laugh and squirm and he hits a certain dip in my side and I squealed and said "not there" faintly between laughs. He stopped and looked at me innocently and I buried my head into the side of him as he was laying back on his back.

Idk, I admit stupid stuff when I'm tired and he was most definatly making me sleepy so I say "you hit a weird spot on my side and it felt weirder than everywhere else" and I like, massaged where it was, and he said "you're not supposed to tell me where" then grabbed me right there again and I imidiatly began to laugh and squirm in his grasp. I tried to grab his hand and he dug into my underarm and it shocked me, idk if he hit a sensitive point or what but wherever he dug his hand tickled like he'll and so again I cried out "no! Not there" faintly and he moved back to my side.

After a while (5am) we decide to go to bed, he blamed me for keeping us up but he was the one tickling that all the time smh🙄 we can never decide on one position but after a while we found the perfect one, he was on his back with his arm out and I layed on his arm facing away from him with our legs intertwined.

The next morning was filled with us randomly poking at eachother, he does this thing where he randomly jabs at my neck and I imidiatly laugh and scrunch up. He's never fully tickled my neck just little pokes and it already drives me crazy so that makes me nervous (/pos) for when he actually will do that to me.

Fast forward a bit and we're laying on the couch, I was across his lap and he was sitting normally on the couch. I had a devious idea to tickle him, the ONLY spot this dude is ticklish is on his feet so I reach down and tickled him but bro squirms so much it was hard to.

After breakfast we go back to my room for a bit and I lay down and ask him for a massage since my back be aching, i tell him it's easier when you sit on the person's back (because for me it is, when I'd lightly scratch his a while back)

And he did, he had his legs proped weirdly to where there was a pocket of space between where he was and where his legs were. He massaged me for a moment and then before I knew it he dug into my sides. I imidiatly tried to shoot my hands down but his legs blocked me from doing so so I thrashed around before he stopped and rolled off beside me, he threw a pillow ontop of my head and walked around the bed.

I told him "I can't see where you are, whatcha doin?"

And I feel him dig at the underneath of my knees one at a time as he worked up jabbing at random parts of my body, I then turned my head to face him and said "I see you" and he just smiled at me innocently.

Fast forward to the sad part when he has to leave, his father is on the way and I ask him to give me affection because I love being dramatic and bratty to him. He layed beside me and I layed on his legs and tried to tickle his feet to get back at him and he moved so damn quick and I almost fell off the bed, I got up and then layed beside him, we had a small tickle fight before he got a text from his parental figure that they were there to pick him up. We hugged and it was honestly one of the best hugs I've had in a while. I love his hugs.

But when he went to leave I stopped him and pointed at my bed "put yo shoes on" i said as he replied with "nah, I never put my shoes on when I leave your house" with a smile on his face so I blocked his path. He jabbed me in the side and shoved me onto my bed and we both walked out the door.

A few hours later he found out about me liking being tickled and now he has my tumblr. So now I'll probably have more stories whenever me and pinkie hangout.

I love you pinkie if youre reading this💕🦋🦋

[sweetcloverheart]

Clover Rants Miraculously: Party Of One

After learning that Adrien and Alix were going to be friends in the precanon bibles, I’ve come to a startling realization

Adrien has no friends.

Like, any. The show kind of never gave him a chance to really expand his circle past Marinette - or rather, once he made the connections necessary for his “arc”, the show seems to have reduced it to Marinette (and Plagg) as of Season 5 and it keeps shrinking.

“That’s not true! The entire class loves him.”

Yeah, but they really aren’t friends with him - or at least as of recent. Most of his interactions with them (especially in this latest season) have been more about facilitating Adrienette schemes than them hanging out together; Kitty Section helped make him an entire romance ballad to woo Marinette with and invite him to play when the group want him and her to spend time together, but I can only count the episodes where he’s played with them for the fun of it as few. The entire class threw a party when it seemed like they were finally getting together, but couldn’t be bothered to check on their classmates to see if they where alright when they skipped class for several days (especially when one of them apparently did this back when she was being horribly bullied). Almost all their class events or interactions always end with everyone getting convinced to leave/ditch/“go elsewhere” so he and Marinette can bond. Outside of maybe “Partycrasher”, I can’t really think of anytime Adrien’s been allowed to hang out with the Miraclass without Marinette not being involved or them suddenly being regulated to his personal cupids trying to shove the two together. It’s actually kind of sad the group seems to see no purpose in inviting him to things outside of helping him hook up with a classmate now.

“Well, what about Nino? He’s his best friend and bro!”

Correct, but the show has been shoving him away a lot, especially when he’s with Alya. Much as adore DJWiFi, every single one of their outings/dates always seems to involve tricking Adrien into coming to places with Marinette/where Marinette is and then abandoning them for “alone time” - And if Nino is hanging with Adrien, Alya will immediately drag him off under the guise of a random excuse so Marinette can take her shot. Otherwise, most of their dedicated brotime is in the far background just so something can be happening while Marinette talks plot or whatever’s happening in the foreground. They don’t talk, or hang out for fun like they used to in the previous seasons. Their last one-on-one interaction was Nino indirectly accusing Adrien (as his superhero ID) of stealing his girlfriend. Adrien’s first friend after Marinette, reduced to a footnote and then swept out of the way.

“Okay, fair, but what about Chloe?”

Oh, you mean his childhood friend who’s been reduced to a gold-digging sycophant who only cared about his wealth, good looks, and the status he can bring her despite displaying none of these traits towards him in the introductory season? The one we’re constantly told in-canon and is claimed to by TA to only see Adrien as an accessory and future additional creditcard? The one that, despite being introduced to us as his childhood friend, is rarely shown to hang out with him, and when she does, not only is it because she barged/forced herself into an event he happened to be at (and mostly because Marinette’s trying to hook up with him), but he shows clear discomfort in her presence when she does? That Chloe? What about her indeed.

“Then Zoe! They have to be friends since Chloe doesn’t matter now!”

...Have the two of them interacted outside of her debut and hero episode? Because I don’t think they have. Heck, I’d be shocked he even knew/remembered her name.

“Um...Kagami?”

Was his friend, then they dated and she became his embittered ex, then they became sort of friends but I can’t remember the last time we got to see them hang out like normal again. Plus frankly, she’s more Marinette friend than his now. All of her interactions/interests regarding him are now mostly about how Adrienette is the one true perfect pair and how she needs to bow out for her good friend Mari (and then about how awful she is for falling in love with her exe-boyfriend again when he’s dating her friend before hooking up with his identical cousin for being exactly like she wanted him). She has more scenes with Marinette than him actually.

“Luka! He’s friends with Luka!”

Have only interacted twice (I think), with both times being about Marinette. I’m honestly shocked they haven’t spoken more.

“...Felix?”

Only interacts with him a super small handful of times, with those being either Felix being an ass to him, mocking him for being trapped under Gabriel’s thumb, doing a twin switch to either ruin his friendships or pursue his own agenda, and the whole “genocide all humanity so we can have a perfect world of just you and me” before proceeding to interact exclusively with Marinette (and Kagami).

“...”

...

“...Wow”

Precisely

(And just so we’re clear - this isn’t me salting on Marinette/claiming she’s taking all Adrien’s importance and friends (She’s hardly at fault for the show suddenly making Adrienette so hyperfocused on in S5). I’m just noting how the show seems to have developed a habit of having Adrien make the bare minimum of character interactions with the cast before shoving him into the back somewhere and then only bringing him out for Adrienette scenes)