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arotechno · 3 years

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Jughead (2015), Issues 7-8: Discussion and Commentary

Boy oh boy am I excited to talk about this arc!! These two issues hold a very special place in my cold little aro heart.

(By the way, do you see that? I managed to get a digital copy from my library via Hoopla, which means you are spared from my shitty phone grabs. I’ll fix the previous post, don’t worry. Try clicking on the screenshots if tumblr blurs them. And try Hoopla, if you’ve got a library card and have been looking to read these.)

Fed up with him sitting around the house playing video games all summer, Mr. Jones forces Jughead to get out of the house and do something outside. Jughead finds Archie at the pool where he’s working as a lifeguard, and convinces him to take time off to go camping in the woods with him at their friend Dilton’s cottage.

They take Archie’s car out to the woods, only to find that the lake is overrun with Reggie’s over-the-top relatives at the Mantle family reunion. Horrified, Jughead and Archie go out on a hike to get away. This is where things go downhill—literally.

Jughead calls Archie out for his growing fixation with Veronica Lodge, whose father is the one trying to clear out Fox Forest. Archie immediately goes on the defensive, but Jughead, understandably, really doesn’t get it. And here’s where we see that this is a divide that has been brewing between them for quite some time, even if Archie seemingly had no idea it was happening.

The boys end up getting lost, which only serves to fuel their frustrations. It occurs to Jughead, some time later, that the lake they’re camping at is not that far from Camp Lucey, an all-girls summer camp. Shocked and hurt, he accuses Archie of only agreeing to go on the trip to pick up girls, and not to hang out with him. He tackles Archie and they tumble down a hill into the woods below.

This is a really interesting story, from an aro’s perspective. Jughead can’t relate to Archie’s teenage obsession with girls, and it isn’t something they can bond over like other friends may have been able to do. On a simple level, all Jughead really wants to do is hang out with his best friend, just the two of them, just like old times—back when they were younger, before Archie’s interest in girls seemed to take over his every waking moment. Importantly, Jughead never objects to Archie’s romantic pursuits on principle (he does have an issue with Veronica, but that has to do more with her father’s actions than her). It isn’t that he wants to stand in the way of Archie’s happiness—he just feels left behind, and that’s something I think a lot of aromantic people, teenagers especially, can resonate with.

Eventually, Archie and Jughead run into Mr. Weatherbee of all people, who begrudgingly offers to help lead them back to camp. It’s at this point that we get one of my favorite moments in the entire series, one that I have waxed poetic about on this blog before and probably will again.

Archie insists that he is in fact here to hang out with Jughead, and that he’s just being dramatic. Jughead, on the other hand, insists that Archie’s the one being dramatic with his love triangle problems, to which Archie replies:

“Look, I’m not going to apologize for being a normal guy, I—”

And Jughead’s reaction to those words has stuck with me since the first time I read this. He’s shocked, hurt, and clearly a little angry that Archie would say something like that. And it’s a subtle moment, one that you might not even feel the gravity of if you didn’t know that Jughead was aro. What’s most important here, though, isn’t Jughead’s reaction, but the fact that Archie is clearly in the wrong, and he knows it. He tries to backtrack immediately (“Jughead! I didn’t mean it like that! Wait!”), but Jughead ignores him, as Mr. Bee has already gotten them lost again.

This singular page is, to me, a deeper and more nuanced portrayal than many works with “on-the-page” canon aromantic characters. This arc isn’t about Jughead being aro (in fact, none of the comics particularly are). But this is a meaningful incorporation of Jughead’s orientation into his daily life and his relationships with other people—namely, with his best friend. Although Jughead is being somewhat harsh with Archie, never does the narrative place him in the wrong for feeling abandoned, hurt, or angry because of Archie’s words and actions. Even Archie, his best friend, is capable of saying things that hurt him, and his words in this scene are never excused or justified by the narrative.

It also means a lot to me that Archie apologizes the second he gets the chance to, and that Jughead is quick to forgive him and explain that he just misses the time before Archie was so obsessed with girls. I wouldn’t want the story to just turn into a feud between them. You know when you’re on a trip with your friends and you get lost and you’re tired and frustrated you just end up airing your grievances and coming out of it with a new understanding of your friendship while trying to solve the mess you’re in? That’s what this arc is.

Anyway, after a run-in with Reggie’s relative and Mr. Weatherbee’s old high school bully Ted Mantle, the trio manage to make it out of the woods—after several hours of walking until the sun has come up. There, they find that Camp Lucey has actually been renamed, and is now a camp for elementary school girls, where Betty happens to be working. So after all of that, Archie just ends up making a fool of himself, like usual. Mr. Bee’s wife drives over to rescue them and brings the boys back to Dilton’s cottage, where she remarks that she’s heard a lot about Archie and Jughead, and that they’re inseparable.

At its core, this is a story about friendship. It’s about the difficulties that come with realizing you can’t always relate to each other, and you can’t always read each other’s minds, and you sometimes say the wrong thing without meaning to. It’s a story about growing up, but not necessarily growing apart, and being able to reconcile your differences.

Archie assumes that after all of their bickering, Jughead would just want to go home and not hang out with him anymore. But turning back now would be contrary to what Jughead wanted in the first place, which was just to hang out with his best friend.

All’s well that end’s well, and Jughead and Archie patch things over and vow that they will always be best friends. It’s a wholesome moment, and reflects a common struggle for aspec teens that I rarely see addressed in media, if at all. Sometimes, it feels like your friends are all moving on without you, and sometimes they don’t even realize it when they’ve been neglecting your friendship. It takes communication to work these things out, and I’m happy to see that illustrated here.

This arc is my favorite, I think, and there’s reasons for that even outside of the aspects I’ve already detailed here. The kids getting lost in the woods on summer vacation is a fun way of framing the deeper story, and there are a lot of funny and endearing moments in these two issues. (Archie falls on his face, a lot, and Mr. Weatherbee is stoically exasperated with both of their antics.)

These are the last issues written by Chip Zdarsky. So shoutout to him for some of the most nuanced representations of aromanticism in fiction to date, even if he never wrote the word down on the page (I’ll get to that, don’t worry). But these are the first issues illustrated by Derek Charm, whose art style I love (no offense Erica Henderson), and the rest of the volume has a lot of other good aro moments in store. Until then, here’s himbo Archie:

See? Pure of heart, dumb of ass. You can’t be mad at him for long. (He falls into a hole later on the same page.)

Yeah, me too.

#woo!!!#techno's jughead reread #aro #aromantic #aro jughead #ace jughead #aroace jughead #jughead jones #jughead comics #long post #op

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spnfanficpond · 3 years

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October 2021 Angel Fish Awards

(Angel Fish design by @slytherkins!!)

Welcome to this month's Angel Fish Awards!

Every month all of you fantastic writers work your asses off to post some truly incredible stories. Our Angel Fish Awards are the way for all of us, as a community of writers and readers, to lift each other up and give praise to those who have captured our attention and deserve a few kind words.

The monthly Angel Fish Awards are peer-nominated, meaning ANYONE (you don’t have to be a member) CAN NOMINATE ANY POND MEMBER’S FIC. Everyone in this community deserves to be showered with love and feedback, and we hope that this fun, thoughtful award will do just that.

Be sure to read through this whole post as people who were nominated more than once only had one tag activated for Tumblr tagging purposes!

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, HERE ARE THIS MONTH’S ANGEL FISH AWARDS!

Nominated by @mrswhozeewhatsis

Beneath the Oak Tree (series) by @waywardnerd67

There are a couple of reasons why I wouldn't normally like this (RPF but not an AU and high school setting are two things I just don't get into), but I am really digging this series! I can't wait to see where it goes!

Running Blind by @rockhoochie

Holy moly, this is just so BEAUTIFUL! I mean, it takes a truly angtsy premise and makes it still feel fluffy and wonderful, sometimes. I wanna wrap myself up in this on a comfy couch, drink some cocoa, and take a nap. ♥

~*~*~

Nominated by @raidens-realm

Under His Care by @ioascc

This story is so full of longing and desire not only between Dean and Cas, but Sam and Gadreel as well. It's rare to capture readers with the side pairing of the story just as much as the main, and yet she's done that. I could also read 500k more of the magnificent Sam and Cas bonding she's woven as well. Over all it's such an incredible joy to read!

~*~*~

Nominated by @firefly-in-darkness

Innuendos by @bccky

I couldn't stop laughing at the innuendos and the results with Dean were worth the giggles in the end!!

Fifty States by @negans-lucille-tblr

I love the chemistry and banter between this pair! The teasing, Dean being all flustered - just adorable!!

The Proposal (series) by @supernatural-jackles

A fab series based on the film with a few twists.... I loved every second of reading this, I was fully immersed into their story!

Busy by @negans-lucille-tblr

I don't usually read Sam Winchester but I was intrigued by the audio porn element and then Bee went and pulled that twist off deliciously!!

Guilty Pleasures by @pinknerdpanda

This is one of may favourite things to do and Dean is great! I loved this silly moment between them for sure!

~*~*~

Nominated by @mariekoukie6661

A Case of Blue Balls by @cloverhighfivewritestoo

This was so cute and funny!!!

The Aftermath of Having a Threesome by @supernatural-jackles

Jen always deliver on the angst!

~*~*~

Nominated by @deanwinchesterswitch

The Midnight Ride (series) by @alleiradayne

A 4-part series full of rich detail and history surrounding the urban legend of the Headless Horseman. Full of action it will keep you on the edge or your seat until the heart-stopping conclusion of the case.

Save Yourself by @muchamusedaboutnothing

A heartbreaking fic inspired by a fantastic song and written from Dean's POV. I've said it before, but it bears repeating—Heathen is a genius at finding the essence of a song and turning it into a poignant masterwork that seeps into your heart and soul.

~*~*~

Nominated by @negans-lucille-tblr

I Dream of You by @sammysmaddy

This fic is VERY dark so please heed the warnings before reading. Maddy is fairly new to writing and posting on tumblr and I am in awe of her talent. I was so invested in the story and loved every second! If you’re into darker fics, you need to check her out ❤️

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE AWESOME WORK AND GREAT FEEDBACK!

These are not actual awards! This system is set up so everyone in the Pond has a chance to share the love and promote a fic/author that has grabbed your attention. The more people that participate, and the more everyone remembers to submit their own fics after posting, the better this will be :D

THANK YOU ALL AGAIN, KEEP UP THE AMAZING WORK, AND AS ALWAYS, HAPPY WRITING!

#angel fish awards #angel fish awards masterlist #spnfanficpond #fan fiction #fanfiction #fan fic #fanfic #spn fan fiction #spn fanfiction #spn fan fic #spn fanfic #supernatural fan fiction #supernatural fan fic #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural fanfic #fic rec #spn fic rec #supernatural fic rec

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words-with-wren · 3 years

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cause we all have wings but some of us don’t know why

for once i like posting stories on tumblr more than ao3 at least i know how the tags for this fandom work here.

anyway, based roughly off Tubbo and Phil’s streams on the 22/12 (or 23/12 if you’re like me and from the future) when Tubbo visits Phil in house arrest.

word count: 4,455

____

There was a ringing from above and Phil let out a long sigh, glancing up from where he was carving out his basement. For a moment he considered just letting it ring, but there wasn’t anywhere else he could be while under house arrest, and he didn’t really want his door to be broken down. He’d only just fixed the windows.

With some reluctance, he made his way out of the basement, shaking water from his hair and wings as he leapt free of the water elevator. A glance out the window made him let out another heavy sigh when he saw who was ringing the bell.

He quickly grabbed the ankle monitor boots from the amour stand he had set them on, adjusting them to make sure they sat correctly and opened the door.

“Good morning, Mr President,” he said stiffly, hostility clear in his voice. Tubbo, standing on the other side of the door with a pleasant smile, faltered only a moment at the greeting.

“Hey, Phil,” he said. “Can I come in?” There was an edge to his words, as though he were being almost too nice.

But Phil couldn’t really say no, so he moved aside silently, allowing the President to step into the house. Tubbo paused a moment to take in the room, the villager in one corner, the sheep Phil was babysitting for Ghostbur in another.

“How have you been?” Tubbo asked, and Phil knew him well enough to know that, at least, was genuine. He wasn’t in the mood to give him any ground.

“As well as I can be,” he said, the same ice to his voice as his initial greeting. If Tubbo noticed, he didn’t react.

The younger’s eyes landed on the armour stand, and Phil felt a moment of surprising nervousness -- he should have hidden that in a chest before opening the door.

“How’s the ankle monitor? Not uncomfortable?” Tubbo asked, and it wasn’t hard to read the real purpose behind those words. Again, Phil wasn’t in the mood to make this easy for Tubbo.

“It’s fine,” he said, glancing down at the offending items on his feet.

“Can I have a look?” Tubbo asked, and Phil locked eyes with him for a moment. Finally, he decided it wasn’t a battle worth fighting, and kicked the shoes off, pushing them towards Tubbo. Tubbo picked them up, silently turning them over in his hands. He handed them back, and Phil didn’t put them on. “How about I make you another pair?” Tubbo asked, and Phil narrowed his eyes.

“These are fine, I think,” he said. Tubbo once again locked eyes with him.

“It’s no trouble at all,” he said and moved out of the house. Phil let out a low curse, staring at the ankle monitor in his hands. He was willing to bet the new pair would have some kind of enchantment - Tubbo was a smart kid, smart enough to know Phil wasn’t wearing the ankle monitor at all times.

Sure enough, Tubbo returned a few minutes later, a new set of shoes in one hand. Phil wasn’t at all surprised to see the faint glow of an enchantment clinging to their surface. Tubbo held them out, smiling in a way that would almost seem friendly.

“Here you go, Phliza Minecraft,” he said.

“Here you go, Mr Minecraft! I made it for you!” Tubbo beamed, holding out a drawing he had just completed. It was a rough, childish scribble of a bee, hardly recognizable, but Phil couldn’t help but smile as he took it.

“Thanks, mate,” he said, ruffling the boy’s head. Somehow, Tubbo’s smile grew wider and he turned to run back to where Tommy was swinging a stick around. Phil smiled fondly after him.

“Is this really necessary?” he asked, taking the shoes. Curse of binding, he was pretty sure. Tubbo didn’t break eye contact.

“You tell me,” he said.

For a moment, they locked eyes, a silent battle of wits. Eventually, Phil again decided it wasn’t a battle worth fighting - they were only iron, after all, it shouldn’t take too much effort to break them. He probably had some magma in a chest, or he could ask Ghostbur to find a cactus.

Part of him wanted to know what Tubbo would do if he refused.

Part of him didn’t want to put the boy in that position.

So he sighed, reaching down and slipping the shoes into place. They clung uncomfortably, a prickle of magic shooting through his feet. He rolled his ankles, winching slightly at the uncomfortable sensation. It faded almost entirely a moment later, but they still felt odd. Wrong.

“How about I make you a helmet as well!” Tubbo said, fake cheerfulness dripping off his every word. “You have an anvil, right?” Without waiting for an answer, he moved past Phil to open his enderchest, pausing a moment before turning to the anvil, shooing Friend gently aside.

Phil laid a hand on the sheep’s head, watching as Tubbo enchanted a helmet with a book. It glowed softly, the same rippling, almost beautiful effect that Phil’s shoes currently bore.

“I’m not putting that on, Tubbo,” Phil said, trying to leave no room for argument. Tubbo narrowed his eyes, holding out the helmet.

“I just want to make sure you’re not going to run out on us,” he said.

“Why do you even want me here?” Phil asked. “I’m not technically a citizen of L’manburg.”

Tubbo hesitated, as though he hadn’t fully thought that through. Then he scowled, stepping close, helmet still held out.

“It’s better that we know where you are,” Tubbo said. As though Phil couldn’t break out in a second if he really wanted to.

He didn’t want to say that he was staying partly for Tubbo - for Fundy, for his family caught in the trap, feeling like they were unable to leave. Sure, he was probably going to be more help to Techno while on the inside, but he also couldn’t quite bring himself to leave the children of L’manburg completely alone. Not while there was some chance they could find a better way.

The shoes on his feet and the helmet Tubbo was holding made him less and less confident that was even possible.

"And the shoes will achieve that well enough,” he said, refusing to back down. Tubbo hesitated a moment longer, but Phil knew the boy had been around him long enough to know he couldn’t make him do anything he didn’t want to. So he dropped his eyes and returned the helmet to his inventory.

“I guess you’re right.” He shifted uncertainly and glanced back to the door with a reluctance about him, a reluctance to leave. Phil’s suspicion was confirmed when Tubbo turned back to him. “What have you been up to?”

There was an almost pleading note to his voice, as though he were asking for a truce. As though a moment ago he hadn’t been acting like Phil’s jailer. Phil was too tired to continue the mind games.

"I’ve been making a basement,” he said, crossing his arms and leaning against the ladder upstairs. Friend let out a low bleat.

“Oh, that’s cool!” Tubbo said, and there was genuine excitement in his words. He paused a moment, and Phil could almost see an idea take light in his mind. What, exactly, the idea was he was almost afraid to find out. “Do you want to see my guardian farm? I finally got it working.”

Phil couldn’t deny the curiosity. Tubbo had been working on the farm for a long time - far longer than he had been in L’manburg. When he had first heard of the project in an excited letter from Tubbo, he’d been very interested to see how it would turn out.

He had almost forgotten about it in the wake of everything that had happened. Clearly, Tubbo hadn’t.

“I can’t really go anywhere,” he said finally, gesturing to the ankle monitor. Tubbo frowned.

“I’m the president, right? If you’re with me I’m sure it doesn’t matter.”

The uncertainty of his statement made Phil a little uncomfortable. If even the president didn’t know the rules of L’manburg, who was really calling the shots?

“Mmm,” he said, unconvinced.

“Sam and I spent all day yesterday working on the redstone, and we finally got it working!” There was a buzzing excitement about Tubbo that Phil hadn’t seen for a long time, a pride about a complete project, a childish glee at something working the way it should.

It was that that finally made him sigh and push himself off the wall. Maybe Tubbo wasn’t all the way gone, and spending more time with him might help him to understand what had happened. When Tubbo had changed from an excitable, kind boy to a cold and cruel president.

Phil had practically raised the boy. Where had he gone wrong?

“Alright,” he said. “I can’t say I’m not curious to see it finally finished.”

Besides, an extended trip with Tubbo might help him gain some intel for Techno.

It was a beautiful day outside, the sun reflecting off the lake L'manburg rested upon. Phil paused as they exited, enjoying the rare warmth of the winter sun. It was the kind of day where he wanted to fly, to spread his wings and soar over the whole world, to leave everything behind.

But he didn't. Couldn't.

The wooden streets of the city were surprisingly empty as Phil followed Tubbo in the direction of the Nether hub. Only Ranboo was present, casting them a curious smile and wave from where he sat on the edge of one of the platforms, a notebook open on his lap.

The silence felt uncomfortable. Phil may not have been around for long, but he could still remember seeing L'manburg full of life, people working together to revive the nation.

He was pretty sure he knew when the silence had begun.

Maybe that was why Tubbo hadn't been around as much. Maybe that was why he had finally finished the project he'd been working on for months. He couldn't bear the silent streets of his home.

The uncomfortable silence followed them as they moved out of L’manburg borders towards the Nether portal. Phil wasn’t in any mood to try and alleviate the tension, so it sat heavily over them.

Tubbo kept glancing back at him, opening his mouth as though he wanted to say something and then shutting it again. He was clearly uncomfortable with the silence, and Phil would be lying to say he wasn’t a little satisfied with that result.

He’d been uncomfortable sitting in his house for the past few days. Watching them drag Techno out of retirement and try to kill him. The president could deal with a little uncomfortable silence.

His shoulder still stung from where Tubbo had shot him.

The heat of the Nether took a moment to get used to after the cool winter air of the Overworld. Tubbo paused a step away from the portal, pushing hair out of his eyes and glancing back as Phil stepped through.

“It’s this way,” he said, the first words that had been spoken between them since they had left. He made his way down the steps, heading towards the tunnel that would take them to the Nether roof.

But his gaze lingered long on two rickety, unstable cobblestone bridges stretching over the lava. Phil didn’t miss the way his face crumbled slightly at the sight of them, before he hardened his expression and turned to face the way they were going.

Tubbo began talking as they made their way up the stairs. He wasn’t talking about anything in particular, just filling the silence with stories of his and Sam’s efforts to make the farm work.

The rest of the trip past much the same, Tubbo filling the silence and Phil giving him an occasional grunt or acknowledgement. The wind was picking up as they exited the cave the portal opened into, the sea spread out before them.

In barely any time, Phil could make out the glass walls of the guardian farm, and once again he couldn't help but be impressed by the sheer size of it. He’d been here not long ago, helping Tubbo light it up properly, but clearly, more work had been done since then.

Tubbo drew the boat alongside the glass barrier, and Phil stepped onto it, spreading his wings and enjoying the wind through his damaged and clipped feathers. That was another annoyance of being stuck inside - he couldn’t really spread his wings fully.

“So what do you think?” Tubbo asked, a hint of pleading to his voice. He needed validation, needed to hear words of affirmation from Phil. Once again, he was reminded that the president was still just a child.

A child who had almost executed Techno. A child who had thrown Tommy aside. A child who had locked Phil in his own house for no reason but protecting the man he saw as a son.

But the farm was impressive, Phil couldn’t deny that. He jumped to the ground, instinctively spreading his wings as he fell. The water at the bottom broke his fall and he stepped out as Tubbo landed behind him.

“We were working on it all yesterday,” Tubbo said. “And the day before - I’ve really wanted to get it finished.” He moved forward, looking back and beckoning Phil to follow. He did, glancing up at the structure in the middle of the huge ring of glass.

“It’s impressive,” he said finally, and Tubbo lit up, grinning. “Well done mate.”

“You really think so?” Tubbo asked. A guardian fell to its death, and Phil couldn’t help but smile.

“‘Course, you’ve done a good job.”

“Look, look Phil!” Tubbo practically dragged him down the cave, excitement washing off him in waves.

“He’s been working on the nerd crap all week,” Tommy commented, following a few paces behind. Tubbo stuck out a tongue at him, stopping in front of the simple spider farm.

“I got it to work,” he said smugly, looking up at Phil and folding his arms.

“Well done mate,” Phil said, feeling strangely proud of the boy.

Tubbo seemed more like himself than he had for a long time standing here, the ocean water high above them. He moved quickly to the side of the farm, happily rambling about how he had constructed it and Phil felt some of his anger towards the boy fade, making a mental note to thank Sam for giving Tubbo a place to be himself. Once again, he was reminded that Tubbo was still young, that he had gone through so much and had the fate of an entire nation placed on his shoulders.

It didn’t excuse what he had done.

“...and we’ve got lots of slime chunks,” Tubbo said, gesturing to where a cobblestone marker stood across the field. As he spoke, a slime spawned into existence. “See. We’re going to make a slime farm there. Sam wants their balls.”

“You’ve got a good set up for a lot of farms here,” Phil commented, turning as he spoke. His wings fluttered slightly behind him, and once again he felt the loss of his flight keenly.

“That’s the plan,” Tubbo said. “We’ve also got a number of zombie villa-”

He was cut off by the tell-tale hiss of a creeper. Phil spun, sword instantly in his hand, just in time to see the mob explode beside Tubbo. The boy had enough sense to slam on armour, his face white and panicked.

He was thrown back a pace, landing on his back, gasping for breath. Ignoring the hole the creeper had left, Phil knelt by his side, taking in his wide eyes and shaking hands.

“You alright, mate?” he asked as Tubbo shakily sat up. It wasn’t just his hands that were shaking, his whole body shuddered and he wrapped his arms around his legs, closing his eyes and breathing quickly. “Tubbo?”

“Sorry,” Tubbo gasped out shakily. “Sorry - sorry, I-”

“Just breath,” Phil said, voice steady. “You’re alright, it was just a creeper.”

Tubbo nodded sharply but didn’t look up. He sat for a long moment, breathing deeply, his shaking slowly diminishing. Finally, he looked up, hair falling into his eyes. The scars on his face stood out painfully on his pale face.

“I don’t like explosions,” he muttered.

Phil couldn’t blame him.

“Let me fix the torch grid at then we should head back,” he said. Tubbo nodded, his face tight, guarded and when Phil stood, a stack of torches in his hand, he was gripping his sword tightly.

They were silent on the way back. Tubbo still hadn’t taken his armour off, his eyes still darting with nervousness. Once again, Phil found himself torn between anger towards the man in front of him and what he had done and anger towards what the world had done to Tubbo.

By the time they made it back to the Overworld, Tubbo seemed back to his normal self. He led the way back to L’manburg, taking a brief detour on the way to show Phil the bee apiary he had made. Phil raised an eyebrow at that, stepping into the surprisingly warm dome.

“It’s not the most efficient,” he said.

“Yeah, but there’s lots of bees,” Tubbo said, holding out a hand to one of them. He grinned as it buzzed towards him, bumping into his hand a few times before turning and flying away.

A few spare bottles of honey in their inventories, they finally returned to the wooden platforms of L’manburg city centre. Phil paused a moment to remove his armour as they arrived - he’d continue following that rule for now.

For as long as those in power decided to keep it. The way things were going, he wouldn't be surprised if the once peaceful nation became a military state.

It had been born in blood after all.

“Uh, Phil?” Tubbo called as Phil moved up the steps towards his house. He looked back to see Tubbo standing in the market place, all his armour gone expect his helmet. Which - Phil noted - was shimmering with an enchantment. “I think I put the wrong helmet on.”

Phil couldn't help but chuckle at that.

“Sounds like a problem for you to deal with,” he said, no sympathy for the president. Tubbo frowned, stepping lightly up the stairs to join Phil.

“Yeah but that means I have to be in house arrest as well,” he said.

Phil paused. He really just wanted to return to his basement, to his project that had been interrupted for long enough. But there was a glint - a hint of desperation to Tubbo’s eyes that suggested maybe he hadn’t done this entirely on accident.

“Does it?” he asked, his voice neutral. Unimpressed. Tubbo nodded. With a long sigh, Phil opened his door and gestured for the young president to enter. The boy ducked his head to hide a smile and shifted past Phil’s wings to move inside.

Phil lingered a moment longer, spreading his wings as wide as he could, rolling them to catch the late afternoon sun, feeling the breeze between his feathers one last time before folding them up behind him and moving into the small building.

Tubbo was petting Friend when Phil shut the door behind him. He looked up as Phil opened a chest, depositing his honey and a few other pieces he’d picked up on the journey.

“What have you been working on? Can I help?” he asked. Phil glanced over at him and sighed.

“Suppose so,” he said, digging through the chest to find a spare pickaxe. Tubbo caught it, tested its weight and nodded. Phil led the way, using his wings to guide himself down the water and to balance as he landed on the small ledge at the top of the stairs.

The basement was already deep, but not as deep as he wanted. He had a number of plans for the space -- mostly to just keep himself busy while stuck in the confined quarters of his two-room house.

“This is impressive,” Tubbo said, looking around as he landed on the stairs beside Phil.

“Thanks, mate,” Phil said. “The plan is to go all the way to bedrock.” He didn’t mention anything about breaking through. That probably wasn’t best to bring up around the person who had confined him here.

“Awesome,” Tubbo said. He kept pace with Phil as they began to move down, pickaxes in hand as they did. “Y’know, me and -”

He stopped, cutting himself off and shutting his mouth abruptly. Phil glanced sideways at him, seeing the way he shut down, face suddenly hard (hiding intense emotion Phil barely got a glimpse of).

Phil didn’t comment, knowing exactly what Tubbo was going to say. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tubbo reach to his neck as though clutching at a pendant that wasn’t there.

Their conversation was limited and about nothing in particular while they worked. Tubbo was more subdued than before, but only slightly. It was enough that Phil could tell he was putting on a front -- he was far more cheerful than he should be.

Finally, after a long stretch of silence, Tubbo lowered his pickaxe and wiped hair out of his eyes. He looked up at Phil, who was a few blocks above him and let out a small breath, dropping his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he said finally. Phil paused in his mining, looking down at where he stood. Once again, he looked very small. Very young.

He tried to kill Techno.

“I never meant for anyone to get hurt,” Tubbo continued. “I - I didn’t know what to do. I…” He looked to the side, blinking furiously and Phil mined down a block to be more level with him. “Phil, I don’t know what to do.”

Finally, he looked up, and there were tears shimmering in his eyes. It was a plea for help, and the part of Phil that had adopted three boys who needed him finally won over the part of him that called for blood.

He sat on the edge of his ledge to be level with the boy, spreading his wings slightly and waiting. Tubbo wasn’t finished yet, and he was good at listening.

“I - I don’t know if Techno is a threat anymore but Quackity said… And… and Dream is waiting, I know. He’s waiting for me to mess up again and… I didn’t want anyone to get hurt but....” His shoulders were shaking and his knuckles were white around the handle of his pickaxe. “But you’re trapped, and Techno… Techno nearly died and…and...” He cut himself off with a muffled sob, the tears finally flowing and Phil reached forward, laying a hand on his shoulder.

For a moment, Tubbo stiffened under the touch. Then he flung himself forward, wrapping desperate arms around Phil and Phil pulled him into an embrace, folding his wings close around both of them.

“I miss him,” Tubbo whispered into Phil’s shirt. “I miss him so, so much. I don’t know what to do, Phil. I don’t… it’s my fault. It’s my fault he’s gone. It’s my fault he…” And he trailed off, the sobbing becoming even more intense, his shoulders shuddering.

Phil didn’t say anything, just rubbed his back, rocking softly, humming a tuneless song. Or maybe it was a song he’d heard Wilbur sing once, a long time ago.

He hated this. Hated that he had nightmares about Wilbur’s mad laugh, the blood that he felt still stained his hands. Hated the echo of Wilbur that had been left behind as much as he loved what was left of his son. Hated that his youngest had been exiled and alone, lied to again and again. Hated that Techno had been forced to fight once again, after trying to retire.

Hated that he was holding the broken and sobbing form of a boy who was as much his son as Wilbur, or Tommy, or even Techno.

Hated that he hadn’t helped them before it was too late.

Hated that he could have.

“I’m sorry,” Tubbo whispered again. He had calmed considerably but was still clinging to Phil as though he couldn’t let go.

“So am I,” Phil whispered.

He sat there for a long time, holding Tubbo close, until he realized the boy had calmed completely, his breathing even and slow, his eyes closed.

With a small, sad smile, Phil lifted him into his arms and stood, carefully making his way out of the basement. Tubbo barely stirred, even though the water elevator, shifting closer to Phil, face screwed up tightly.

Fundy’s bed was empty - it had been empty for a few days, and Phil didn’t want to think about how that made him feel at the moment. He gently lay Tubbo down, prying off his shoes and pulling the covers over him.

Phil peered around the edge of the door, checking in on the two boys before he slept. Tommy was sprawled out across his bed, snoring lightly, one hand dangling off the edge.

Tubbo was tangled in his covers, curled into a tight ball, a slight frown covering his face.

Phil softly stepped into the rooms, untangling the blankets a little and shifting them so they would be more comfortable. He rested a hand in Tubbo’s hair, watching as he let out a small sigh and relaxed fully.

Tubbo shifted, muttering something, bunching the blankets tightly in one hand, face screwed into a tight frown. Phil sat beside him, one wing spread protectively over him, humming softly as he rubbed the boy’s back.

Slowly, Tubbo relaxed, his face settling back into a soft, peaceful expression. He let out a long sigh, releasing the death grip on the cover.

The scars on the face made him seem older when he was awake, but now they only stood out. He looked so young, so peaceful and quiet that the scars were a painful reminder of everything he had been through.

When was the last time he'd had a proper night sleep?

Phil rested a hand on Tubbo’s shoulder for a long moment, heart aching and wishing he could fix everything. But the children of L’manburg needed to find their own way. He could guide them, show them a better way, help them to break the pattern of their predecessors.

He stood, casting a long look at the chest of spare items Fundy had left behind.

But only if they let him.

With a long, soft sigh, he ran a hand down his face and withdrew his pickaxe again.

Maybe he could actually finish his basement in peace now.

#dream smp #philza minecraft #tubbo #dream smp fanfic #hurt/comfort #dadza #my writing

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roselightfairy · 3 years

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So generally my definition of the kind of snippetfic I’d post on tumblr is something based on a particular mental image that I whipped out in one go rather than editing and tweaking to a particular narrative arc...but those keep getting longer and longer until they’re really too long for tumblr, but I don’t want to post them with their own titles and summaries and everything because they’re not really individual stories, so I’ll just archive them in Ripples, but I don’t want to archive them in Ripples without posting them somewhere...which is a long way of saying here’s a fic that is probably too long for tumblr but is going up here anyway, and you can just click below the cut if you want to read more!

It was a dark and stormy night in Ithilien...

...

The rain started in the early evening, after they had retired for the day.

Gimli looked up when the first few drops pattered onto their roof, tapping like fingernails against the hollow reeds that formed the thatching. The work had held during every rainstorm he had experienced here, but still he could never quite hold back that uncertainty – from one bred to live under solid stone ceilings, the material always seemed far too flimsy to hold back the wet.

“It will hold,” Legolas promised him, catching his motion. “It always does.”

“I am sure you are right,” said Gimli. The rain intensified even as they listened, the smattering of taps escalating into a steady drumming. “Still, I can practically feel the wet even from here. You are sure you would not rather be safe within stone?”

“I spent too much of my early life safe within stone,” said Legolas, his voice distant. “Hearing the rain outside rather than feeling it against my own home.” Gimli held his peace – only rarely did Legolas speak of his youth in shaded Mirkwood, despite the mannerisms he still carried with him from those days: the wary posture, the wide-eyed wonder. He could detect a trace of that wonder even now as Legolas followed his gaze up to the roof, shadows of water visible as it sluiced down the sides and dripped to the ground. “There is a pleasure in this.” He turned to Gimli once more and gave him the sliver of a smile. “It will hold,” he repeated. “And I will keep you warm.”

“I never questioned that,” said Gimli, but he let Legolas wrap him in his arms anyway.

...

As the hours wore on, the rain fell faster still, no longer a beating of individual drops but a constant roar elevated by the rushing of the wind. Gimli could hear the faint moaning of it rushing through the trees outside, and their light door rattled with the sound of it. Legolas rose from their huddle in the cushions to check the latch.

He nodded his satisfaction, but his face still held the hint of a frown when he returned to Gimli. “What is it?” Gimli asked. “Is there something amiss with the hinges?”

“No,” said Legolas slowly, “no, the house will hold, it is only . . .” His brows drew together. “I do not think I was so careful with the craftsmanship in the support poles for the new saplings. We did not anticipate such a storm so soon; I hope they will hold as well as our own house.”

“Surely they will,” Gimli assured him. He could not imagine the elves being any less than perfectly careful with their young trees; he had seen how lovingly Legolas tended them. “Anyway, do not young trees experience such storms, even when not tended by wood-elves?”

“Yes,” Legolas said slowly, “yes, you are right, of course.”

He did not look wholly convinced.

...

The first rumble of thunder came just as Gimli was sinking below the surface of sleep, startling him back into consciousness again. “Legolas?” he said.

“Just thunder,” Legolas assured him.

“But thunder brings lightning.” Gimli had weathered storms in Ithilien before, but never one with lightning; it misgave him to be surrounded by trees at such a time. “What if our house is struck?”

“It ought not to be,” said Legolas. “That I cannot promise for certain, but there are taller, older trees that will likely draw lightning if it strikes. And it is yet far away from here.”

“You do not comfort me,” Gimli muttered, a little petulant, and Legolas laughed and pulled him close.

“I will give you warning if it strikes too near,” he said. “You may rest, if that gives you peace; I do not think I will sleep this night.”

His face was still tight, pinched. “Your trees?” Gimli said. “But if our own home is not tall enough to attract a strike, surely the saplings will be safe.”

“From the lightning, yes,” murmured Legolas. “But that wind . . .” He trailed off, then shook his head. “Never mind,” he said, though the smile in his voice sounded forced. He nuzzled a little closer to Gimli. “Go back to sleep, love. It will pass in time.”

It was not so easy as all that, but the rolls of thunder did indeed grow fainter after a moment or two, and finally Gimli felt himself sinking back down again, the rushing of the rain creating an almost lulling rhythm around him.

Still the roof held.

...

The next time he woke, he did not know what had roused him until he reached to the side and found Legolas no longer lying beside him.

“Legolas?” he whispered, sitting up.

“Hush,” Legolas whispered back. The elf was perched on the edge of the bed, fully dressed and pulling on his heavy leather boots, the ones he wore only in the worst of storms. “I did not mean to wake you.”

“Where are you going?”

“The saplings,” said Legolas. “The rain is worse – can you hear?” Gimli could not note a difference between the sound of the rain now and earlier, but elf-ears were better attuned to such things than he was. “They will be washed away and all our work undone. We are going to fetch them.” He leaned back over the bed and dropped a light peck of a kiss onto Gimli’s lips.

Gimli frowned sleepily as he drew away. “Do you need help?” he asked, though nothing sounded less appealing than trudging out into that downpour.

“You are kind.” Legolas smiled as if hearing what Gimli did not say, but leaned back down for one more kiss. “But no; we will be as swift as we can. I had hoped to return before you even missed me. But this is better, perhaps – now you can latch the door behind me.”

“You ought to have woken me for that anyway,” grumbled Gimli, but he pushed himself out of bed, shivering as the blankets fell away. “You will be careful?”

“There is no danger,” Legolas assured him. “The lightning has passed; it is only wind and water.” He kissed Gimli one last time. “Sleep if you can,” he said. “I will be back before dawn.”

The wind whistled into their small house as soon as Legolas opened the door, bringing a blast of freezing rain into the room – but Gimli caught it and pushed it shut against the wind as Legolas vanished out into the dark.

...

He did return to bed, but he did not so much sleep as drift. He knew he would be no use to the elves in their rain-pounded mission, but it still felt wrong to sleep, cozy in blankets, while his husband darted about in the cold, wet night. He did not dare risk a fire; wind and rain still pounded their small house enough to make it tremble, but after some time he did bring the blankets from the bed to his pile of cushions and settled there to wait, watching the shadows of wind-twisted trees on the inside of the walls and listening to the rain on the still-intact roof.

Legolas returned perhaps an hour or two later, though the roar of the storm masked the sound of his approach. Gimli did not know he had arrived until he heard Legolas’s voice outside the door, calling his name.

He rose, casting the blankets to the ground, and hurried to unlatch the door – and when he opened it, the reason Legolas had not done it himself became clear: his arms were full, wrapped around tiny trees whose roots dripped clumps of mud and soil. And – unsurprisingly – he was drenched: soaked to the skin, his hair plastered to his skull and dripping down his back. His boots squelched as he entered the house and stood dripping in the doorway.

“Gimli,” he said breathlessly. “Ah, I am glad you are awake. I brought” – He nodded to the small saplings in his arms. “They needed shelter.”

Gimli looked at him and had to laugh. “Of course,” was all he could say.

It must be exactly for such purposes that they had beds prepared along all the windows of the house. Sometimes Legolas grew herbs in them in the winter, but they stood empty now, and Legolas busied himself settling each sapling carefully into the beds, covering their roots and crooning to them in elvish.

While Legolas cared for the trees, Gimli busied himself fetching towels and blankets. Now more than ever he would have liked a fire, but even as he considered it a particularly strong gust of wind rattled the shutters and the latch of the door, and he sighed and discarded the idea. He gathered all their towels, instead, and a dry nightshirt and dressing gown for Legolas.

By the time he had gathered what he needed, Legolas had finished with the trees and was just rising from the raised beds. He looked even more a sight without the trees in his arms, mud-streaked and rain-soaked, and he laughed at the sight of Gimli approaching with an armful of towels.

“You are a treasure,” he murmured, opening his arms so Gimli could relieve him of his tunic.

“And you are a drowned squirrel,” Gimli said, wincing as he peeled the sodden fabric away from Legolas’s wet arms and chest. “Here” – he extracted a towel from the pile and passed it to Legolas, taking a second for himself – “dry your hair before we put on your fresh clothes.”

Within only a few moments, they had dried Legolas to Gimli’s satisfaction and dressed him in his nightshirt and the dressing gown. Gimli knew that the cold did not bother elves, but still it made him cold to look at Legolas’s still-wet hair, so he wrapped the elf in a blanket as well, and felt vindicated when Legolas pulled it tightly around himself for comfort.

The wet clothes they left in a pile – those could be dealt with in the morning. For now, Gimli pulled Legolas down into the cushions where he had been sitting and selected another blanket to wrap around them both.

“I have the most generous husband any elf ever knew,” said Legolas, his cheek pressed against Gimli’s, his chill skin already warming. “I hope you fared well enough in my absence.”

“I would have preferred you by my side,” Gimli said, “but I am glad you saved your saplings. Do you feel calmer now that they are safely protected?”

Legolas laughed and nestled in closer. “I do,” he said, pressing his lips to Gimli’s temple. “Now we can enjoy the storm in peace.”

“I would not say ‘enjoy,’” Gimli grumbled, but he leaned his head into Legolas’s neck despite the slight dampness of his hair. And they sat there together as night lightened into a heavily-clouded dawn, listening to the sound of the rain.

Not one drop of water leaked through their roof.

#my fic #legolas x gimli #ithilien #ignore all the weirdness haha i did not agonize like i usually do

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dansnaturepictures · 3 years

Photo

12/03/2021-Part 1: The wildlife photos and tales: 5 pictures in this photoset are different to the ones I tweeted tonight and they are first, third, sixth, seventh and ninth in this photoset

With 41 photos produced today I am trying something slightly different and uploading to Tumblr only and not Twitter for fifteen photos across two blogs, five of them in this one, and to do this with good amounts taken of each I am doing one blog with my wildlife photos and experiences today and another my next post on the landscape side of things. This is to reduce the amount I tweet in the evening and if I produce more than 30 or well beyond 30 pictures in a day anyway I do this with the exclusive uploads for Tumblr in places, but it just meant I wasn’t telling wildlife stories in the post without showing any picture I took of it like I usually do for a lower yield as I’d tweeted that one which can sometimes happen I feel.

My day of birds started whilst I was working this morning by seeing the Starlings shown in the first two pictures in this photoset taken with my bridge camera in a feeding house we have in the garden a fairly new one. The second picture solely showing the tame Starling that we got sensational views of whilst out in the garden on Sunday as it was so approachable it was interesting it returned. My Mum had told me it was there and I took these photos by contrast inside the house. I also took the third picture in this photoset of a Woodpigeon out the back.

I then took the fourth-eighth pictures in this photoset at Lakeside of Greylag Goose, Mallard female and male, Coot and Canada Geese on and by the lakes. The Greylags and Mallards in particular were wallowing in an interesting bit of mud at the base of beach lake prominent after the rain of Wednesday in particular and some today and yesterday which was interesting. This allowed me some great chance to really see these lovely waterbirds up close, take them in and appreciate them which I found powerful today. I also was impressed again with my new lens for detail on bird photos it was perhaps brought more for landscapes but since I got it for my birthday I have found it can be good detail wise for subjects such as birds up close. But it said something about the walk I think that with my big lens and macro with me too all but one of my wildlife photos was taken with this normal lens and that was because I was lucky to get so close to the birds today. It was also memorable to see Lesser Black-backed Gull pair on beach lake once more, and on concorde lake a delightful group of Tufted Ducks with one memorably seen splashing in a landscape shot I took and tweeted on Dans_Pictures tonight. As I walked on through the wooded path area I took the ninth picture in this photoset.

I was delighted as I walked south of the Monks Brook Halt railway station platform to spot a little bird going up a tree and binocular views it was as suspected only my second ever Treecreeper for this site after November. I was so thrilled to see this as because of my history with them here, whilst a common bird to see in woods elsewhere, this is one of those members of the group of rarer birds I have seen at Lakeside during my working from home days which I have loved. I was stood pretty far back to the tree in question by this point and I kept my eye on the bird as I took what felt like an age to grab my big lens from the bag and put it on. I wanted a photo of a bird I have so rarely photographed, and this tool was needed. I half expected it to have flown by the time I had the lens on but it hadn’t and I snapped the tenth and final picture in this photoset of this Treecreeper. What followed was definitely my most prolonged view of a Treecreeper, and possibly the or one of my best ever views of this species.

I edged carefully closer and stood on the steps that take you down to the lake from here with a slop beside for those who want to walk like that a feature of Lakeside I have known since I was a child. To my amazement it was still there, I couldn’t muster a photo to take forward of some took whilst closer as it was not naturally a bird that looked facing me or anything so none of the closer ones really showed its face or were different enough to this one. But it was phenomenal to as doesn’t happen in the vast majority of my sightings of these birds see the Treecreeper creep up the tree bit by bit scuttling away and not switch sides at all going round the back or fly off for a while. At a stills safe but slightly closer distance I got to take in its impressive and adapted feet, wonderful colours and strong beak among other things. Seeing what a magical and quirky bird it truly it. It was exceptional to be so close and to get to see so long a stunning bird. I liked taking the tenth picture and was pleased with how it came out I shall compare them at some point but I think this could be if not my best ever effort for this bird quality wise I have not photographed a lot down the years in the top 2 I did take a memorable Treecreeper picture at Denny Wood in the New Forest in late 2017 which was feeding on a flat log where good was placed but I can hands down say this is the best picture I’ve ever taken of a Treecreeper creeping up the tree today living up to its name and I was thrilled with that. A special natural moment that really lifted me in my lunch break and gave me something to be so attentive to and just admire, what a day and what a week again for birds in the end for me.

Wildlife Sightings Summary for all of today: Treecreeper, great views of Chaffinch and Great Tit at Lakeside too, House Sparrow, Starling, Woodpigeon, Collard Dove, Carrion Crow, Magpie from the house after a slight absence recently of them here, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Black-headed Gull and another great bee in recent days.

In my next post are 10 different landscapes and other photos to those I tweeted tonight. I hope you all have a nice weekend.

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valiisthea · 3 years

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Instructions: Always repost with the rules, answer the 11 random questions left for you and leave 11 more for the people you tag!

TAGGED BY: @tricksterreformed - thanks!

TAGGING: @evilsded @goldxnwarriors @iscariotsdeputy @mcrningstxr @betterdcyz and honestly everyone who wants to do it. just say I tagged ya.

questions i’m answering

1. What did you do yesterday? - well, I mostly just worked. I watched a few really dumb horror movies while I was at it, because they entertain me to no end. After work I kind of just...went to sonic, got a route 44 drink because I was depressed, and then went to bed at 730 pm again, because I was depressed LOL

2. What are your favorite kinds of RP memes? (or if you hate rp memes, why?) - I actually love memes. Because I’m mobile 100% of the time, and a busy little bee, they’re SOOOO much easier for me to get around to answering. I like really angsty memes - the sentence prompt ones. The emoji prompts can be nice sometimes, but I feel like the sentence prompts really set the scene better.

3. When’s the last time you went on vacation? - Depends on what you consider a vacation! I rented a condo in Branson, MO about a month ago! I took the dogs with me and I got to visit my friend. I got a massage, and my friend and I went to an aquarium and a museum and explored the area. They live over that way, but apparently have not done a lot of the touristy things so we had a lot of fun being tourists. And I got to see dinosaur bones which are my favorite things ever in the entire world. I go on vacations frequently though, you’ll come to find. I usually take a small weekend trip at least once a month and then every few months I take a big trip.

4. Do you prefer writing narration or dialogue for your muse? (if you’re a multi, for the last muse you wrote a reply for). - For ANY of my muses, I always prefer writing narration. Dialogue is where I really struggle - capturing the voice of canon muses has always been tough for me. I try really hard, but I don’t often feel like I succeed.

5. Gut check! Are you hungry right now? - Nope! Just ate some breakfast :)

6. Are there any new fandoms you’re considering writing for? (or new OCs you’re thinking about writing?) - No new fandoms at the moment. I always have ideas for new OC’s. I’d like to add my latest OC to the blog but I’m pretty sure no one will play with him haha. His name is Lane and he scuba dives professionally and he’s a big freaking nerd. His FC is Mark Pellegrino.

7. Do you prefer tea, coffee, or some third option? - of these options, definitely coffee. Iced coffee, to be exact. I am the most basic bitch the world has ever seen and I could drink about 688483 gallons of iced coffee. But I really am addicted to soda which is such a problem.

8. Do you read or write fanfiction? - yes, both!

9. What’s something someone might assume about your muse before writing with you? ( for multis, pick a muse, any muse). - Hmm... I think a lot of people assume my muses sexualities sometimes. I have muses of all different kinds of sexualities and a lot of people tend to just assume otherwise and try and ship with me when it wouldn’t fit the character I’m writing.

10. Besides tumblr, do you have a go-to social media site? - yeah, Facebook admittedly. It’s where I get all of my information on rescues, keep in contact with my rescues, and all of my friends and family because I live hours and hours away from everyone I know and love (aside from my parents. They’re 20 mins from me).

11. What’s something you love about the RPC? - tbh there isn’t a lot to like about the RPC, let alone love. But, I do love the rare gems of people that are just so unconditionally sweet and so happy and want to write with you no matter what. Those people are truly amazing and their positivity is such a welcome change from the usual sea of jealousy, call outs, vague posts, and negative canceling nancies. The people who are here truly to make friends and to roleplay and not get involved in the ick that comes with it all, that’s the best thing. Making friends.

my questions for you

1. what is your favorite genre to write?

2. what is one rule you cannot stand to have broken and will unfollow someone on sight?

3. do you have pets? how many?

4. would you consider yourself more sympathetic, empathetic, or apathetic?

5. do you have any plans for the weekend?

6. what are your top three favorite fandoms in RPC?

7. if you could be any animal in the world, which would you be and why?

8. how long have you been roleplaying?

9. Are there any muses you have been considering writing? Any particular reason why you haven’t picked them up yet?

10. someone says “treat yourself.” what is the first thing you do?

11. do you have an insatiable wanderlust, or are you quite content to stay within your bubble?

#ooc #munday stuff #i was tagged a few days ago and just got around to doing this sorry alsdkfjasd

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gale-gentlepenguin · 5 years

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ML au: Childhood Soulmates: StarTrain

(Since for some reason my original post was lost to time cause Tumblr sucks)

-The set up with Fu and Marinette is identical to the original. Marinette is given the horse miraculous as a just in case by FU.

-Adrien sneaking on to the field trip is the same, except he texted Marinette that he was totally going to go to the trip.

-Sabrina and her father’s interactions were pretty much the same, except Sabrina was more understanding of her father’s need to Justice. And used the Police car mic to yell at some dirtbag to pick up his trash.

-The akuma was stuck in the suitcase.

-Sabrina actually packed stuff with Everyone in mind and not just Chloé. But she doesn't tell Chloé that. She is starting to get aware of Chloé being a toxic friend, and is clearly getting more irritated by Chloé’s commands. Usually responding with a forced smile.

-Max and his mom’s interactions are the same because they are pure and I love them.

-Sabrina is actually a fan of trains, and asks Max if at some point she could ask Mrs. Kante about the train. She mentions how she would love to get more insight on how the train runs as it is a marvel of engineering.

-Max is surprised by Sabrina’s knowledge of trains. Even offering to give her a tour sometime. (Markov commenting that Max’s heart rate was accelerating)

-Sabrina and Max have a moment (Look its a rare pair that will probably never happen but I really want some Sabrimax)

-Marinette’s cute yawn is the same, and Adrien’s look is just as soft.

-Alya swaps seats with Adrien because Wingwoman alya is a must.

- Marinette falls asleep on him. He gives her a soft forehead kiss and does the same.They end up sleeping on each other, but to them this is not an uncommon occurrence, and even snuggle up more subconsciously because they know they are safe and warm. It is adorable.

-Lila gets cockblocked by Alya even more so then in canon.

-The bit with the akuma in the train car is the same except Chloé calls herself the bee heroine. Someone in the cart was. like. “Andreina is on the train? Oh thank goodness.” much to Chloé’s annoyance. Sabrina got a smile out of that. But went along with Chloé’s little hero stunt.

-Marinette waking up for a brief moment to check on the commotion, notices she is sleeping on Adrien. Gives the boy a cute cheek kiss and goes back to sleep.

-Then Akuma Startrain shows up.

-The process of meeting up and beating startrain is identical to in canon.

-Max still OWNS that transformation. Boy gets points.

-At the end, two things differ.

-First, Adrien still goes on the train to London because he pleaded with Nathalie to say they were to late to stop him. G helped out a lot.

-Second, Sabrina takes a moment and calls Max brave for helping out Ladybug and Chat noir. This cute moment is interrupted by Mrs. Kante who is happy she passed her exam. Max congratulates his Mom, and Sabrina congratulates the woman after finding out why the two are so happy. Sabrina also gets to ask questions about the train. Mrs. Kante said she can he stand in the conductor’s room while they talk.

#ml #childhood soulmates au #childhood soulmates #adrinette #miraculous ladybug #ml spoilers #ml au #startrain #max kante #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #sabrina raincomprix #bee!sabrina #sabrimax

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fmdxyoungjoo · 3 years

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hi, so this is an offering for all four of my muses for the event post for any potential threads (especially the ones with prompts!) please press the like or directly message me if you’d like to plot for the event be it on discord or on joo’s tumblr right here.

youngjoo:

silhouette will be performing sixth sense, and joo’s voice isn’t exactly in the best condition for the high note in sixth sense ( potential thread for 3rd prompt) [dec 25th]

joo draws the red card and is part of the decorations team but everyone has forgotten how much of a two left feet + accident prone she is ( potential thread for 1st prompt) [dec 25th]

joo @ the holiday ball probably in a bath robe lmfao because there’s too many people for a swimsuit show [ dec 25th ;7pm to 11pm ]

dec 27th: she’s probably tired enough to just spend the entire day on the cruise ship so she’s free the entire day in her rooms here

dec 28th: joo is with the red team again and is working in the kitchens and thank god she’s not that bad at cooking in fact she’s actually good at it lmao the rest of the day she will be preparing for the concert with silhouette and being on stage before returning, probably exhausted by the end of things

dec 29th: she’s free the entire day, find her at the pool dipping her feet in the water because its hot, or in her rooms, probably catching up with sleep or working on her music because she plans to put out an album once more

dec 30th: this time she’s lucky to get the blue card and she’s going to get that free massage (pls her body is probably aching at this point lmfao) & pampering herself with that french fine dining

dec 31st : early in the day she’s with silhouette girls, preparing for the concert. the new year eve’s party she’s probably going to let loose a little so a tipsy joo might make an appearance....yeah...i’ll think on that again a drunk joo is a really...sigh. if anyone wants to find her, she will be there probably alone and drinking by herself slowly while admiring the night sky.

jan 1st : she will be at the fansign at the theatre with the rest of silhouette, waiting for her turn after 7rophy, and probably brushing shoulders with BEE since they’re up next for the fansign. the rest of the day is shopping in busan, probably going round to find little joys in eating (yeah yeah yeah she’s craving street food whatcha gonna do about it 😤

artemisia / sia :

lipstick is going to be performing news, wild and lil’ touch and knowing sia she would probably either be late / lost somewhere in the ship / sleeping in the most unexpected places. the loud sounds of the rehearsals are also going to or probably might get to her, and some might find her hiding away hands over her ears trying to re-balance her disorientation and sensory overload. she might run / brisk walk off the stage mid-practice because of it as well.

the same night she’s performing with lipstick, but the rest of the whole time for the concert she’s going to be having a good pair of earplugs in her ears--misunderstandings could occur because she’s not very good at reading lips.

dec 26: she gets lucky and draws a blue card. fits her perfectly, probably spends the rest of the day lying dazedly on the benches next to the swimming pool, or just lazy enough to get into the water, and just lie down and float. actually. she might even fall asleep while floating, based on what i know of her personality. in that case someone pls..wake her.

the swimming pool thing might also cause some fun in threads because sia could have walked out of the swimming pool without caring if her hair was all over her face (its probably grown to mid chest by now), and coming across her with wet hair across her face trudging round the corner can be quite horrifying

the same night she’s going to grab food, drinks for the holiday ball and spend her time trying to find a spot where no one comes round. maybe you come across her because you’re trying to hide too

dec 27: free day on ship. great. she’s going to sleep. or blast music and work on her stuff. or play games. come hit her up and find out.

dec 28: she gets a yellow card and probably spends her time trying to sneak off and away from actually doing the mission because no, she doesn’t like animals, and yes, its because they’re too noisy. her ears hurt and her eyes hurt please spare her for a moment, or don’t and drag her back to do the mission. she rehearses with the rest of lipstick girls in the evening--good luck, someone from lipstick hear her rant about the animals in the afternoon and calm her frazzled soul

dec 29: free day again. again, sleep, eat, blast music, work stuff, play games...come hit her up.

dec 30: she gets a yellow card again and is attempting to sneak and mingle with the blue team. maybe you are perceptive enough to catch the usually presentless her, or you don’t and she smoothly integrates herself into the team. if she succeeds, she’s going to the bar to celebrate which is rare in all honesty, we might get a drunk or tipsy sia who knows. or just plain sober sia. who knows.

dec 31st: again she’s with the lipstick girls in the morning, and at the new years’ eve party in the night. again, she’s trying to sneak food and drinks out so as not to mingle in the party. she will be attempting to ninja her way to the observation lounge.

jan 1st: she will be at the fansign at the theatre, brushing shoulders with fuse girls and gal.actic girls at their fansigns. her fans usually bring her rather embarrassing little hats for her to wear that’s too big for her so you might come across her wearing those and shuffling out of the theatre or something.

she’s going to honestly just walk around. mainly if there’s anything of musical interest that catches her attention, she will go for it.

alyssia:

dec 25th: she’s going to be playfully getting ready with the rest of the bee girls for her performance, being the mood maker and the cheeky one she might purposely do some fun little antics to tease those around her and be playful with them

dec 26th: she get the red card and probably might cause more harm than good with decorations, though she’s pretty eager to help. who knows you might chance upon her getting caught in tinsel or entangled in the lights with no way to get out. the same night she’s going to be at the ball, probably eating and drinking and mingling with friendly people whilst being in the pool as well

dec 27th: free day out in taipei!! join her for street food!! she wants to eat all of the street food and shop at all the street markets she can find!! she especially wants to try the stinky tofu, so...good luck to anyone bringing her out she will insist on trying it lmfao

dec 28th: she gets the red card again :’) this time someone please make sure she doesn’t end up eating all the food she’s supposed to prepare. aly with cooking is always 85% eating and 15% cooking, she’s also not good at it at all so bear with her pls

dec 29th: she’s going to the card and game room, and the library, and the theatre and then the fitness centre she just wants to visit every place in the ship even though she doesn’t stay long in one place.

dec 30th: she gets the yellow card and will try to mingle with the blue team. except..that she’s just generally bad at hiding her excitement ;;

dec 31st: she’s probably eating at the ball, and then making a beeline for her room. by then she’s exhausted herself on the running energy for the past few days. she might fall asleep while eating, or doze while talking with someone

jan 1st: she’s going to brush shoulders with silhouette and lucid girls for the fansign at the theatre, and aly is known to be a bit wild when doing fansigns lmao so you might hear her hyping up the fans even while behind or waiting for your turn. aly energy at the beginning of the fanmeet: 150% , after the fanmeet: 150% and getting louder with bunny hats and flower crowns and just chattering non-stop (i’m sorry bee girls :’) she’s excited)

dojun:

dec 26: yeah, he’d rather be anywhere but rehearsing for alien. he’ll be distracted half the time or disappeared because he’s snuck away to watch over his gf. or he will aim to finish his rehearsal quickly and then go.

he gets the yellow card and helps with the choreography of dance since its his niche. he’ll probably suggest some really cheer / hyped up songs that makes people feel like dancing upon hearing the song--that’s half the recipe of success he says.

holiday ball: do not disturb, thank you. he’s probably hovering somewhere close to his gf, watching over her and half heartedly talking to others. who knows you might see the warmer or actual side of him and not the dumb narcissistic side since he tends to be softer and more leaning towards his original personality when around his gf

dec 27: he’ll be at the fitness centre or the indoor pool, or you might not find him at all.

dec 28:. ...he gets a yellow card and will probably go around asking to exchange cards with others pls he’s kind terrified of the idea being around wild animals LOL animals remind him of his gf’s pets who detest him lmfao

dec 29: you won’t find him anywhere akjdgk this devoted person is off and away with his gf as secretly as he can

dec 30: he draws the red card. he hasn’t cleaned in a long ass time, but he’s willing to put in the effort as long as others do, and surprisingly you won’t see him complain but just diligently do his part.

dec 31: god he’s rehearsing with alien again. he’d honestly rather have time speed up in this part because his mind is preoccupied elsewhere. the new year’s eve party is going to be fun and blissful one, but he’s finally had the chance to fully relax and just be himself. maybe you’ll catch the flamboyant, loud ass prat version of him, or maybe the sentimental one. anyway, he’s staying up and finding his gf so that he can give her a new year’s kiss secretly because he’s romantic like that.

jan 1st: he will brush shoulders with origin members and decipher members, then appear at the theatre later on to watch from a distance and silently support silhouette.

#fmdcall #the way we can summarise this simply #joo: being old #sia: being dazed / lazy #aly: being cute #jun: being head over heels for his gf #also its almost 3am here i'll reply when i wake or reblog if this gets lost

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huacheng-zhu · 4 years

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RULES: TAG PEOPLE YOU WANNA GET TO KNOW BETTER

I was tagged by @bilboo! Thank you, this one looks really nice!

your name and then what you would have named yourself: my name’s Bee and it is also the name I would’ve named myself because I....named myself.

astrological sign (sun/moon/rising if you know them): scorpio/cancer. I don’t care much about these things but it’s always fun to look it up. I relate to very few scorpio-related things. cancer things, however....

when did you join tumblr and why?: I joined in 2012 and I genuinely don’t remember why. I wasn’t getting involved though, I was just reblogging Doctor Who posts. I only got involved in internet-fandom stuff in 2014 for HTTYD2

top 5 fandoms: Critical Role, danmei, Tolkien, Overwatch, and gonna put MXTX novels as a branch fandom of the danmei fandom

top 5 favorite films: Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, Coco, How To Train Your Dragon 2, Dracula Untold, Frozen 2

go to song when you wanna Feel something: Uranus by Sleeping At Last. or many of his other songs, tbh, like Seven, Pluto, Saturn, Uneven Odds, Mars, etc etc.

what’s your religion or faith if you have one?: agnostic

a song that makes you feel seen: that one’s hard....given how many times I listened to them, I’d go with either Iridescent by Linkin Park or Show Yourself from Frozen 2

if you could have any career: full-time fanfiction writer :’)

do you have a type?: I can count my recent crushes over, let’s say, the past six years, even very brief, on the fingers of one hand and their only shared trait is having common interests, sooo I really don’t know. I don’t feel like I do.

what does your heart/soul yearn for: peace, acceptance and understanding

if you had to describe yourself in 5 words to someone who doesn’t know you: lions, baking, insecurities, stargazing, cats

favorite subjects in school: english, that’s it that’s literally the only class I was interested in

where does your soul feel most at home: lying in the grass, gazing up at the stars

top 5 fictional characters: Wei Wuxian, Xie Lian, Chu Wanning, Vax’ildan, Jesse McCree (adding Bard the Bowman just for old times’ sake) (also top 5 is definitely not enough I need a top 10....let me add Hua Cheng, Gu Yun, Mo Ran, Caduceus Clay, Yin Yu, Essek Thelyss, Ye Wangxi, Shaun Gilmore, Shi Qingxuan, Yasha Nydoorin, and and and....what do you mean that’s more than 10)

top 3 moments in a show that made you ugly cry: wow, in a show? even if I counted movies that was actually a while back already. but it’d be Vax’ildan’s farewell scene in the first campaign of Critical Role. bawled my eyes out. also cried over Scanlan’s gift at the end of Vex’ahlia’s wedding. since then, the last time I ugly cried over something fictional was when reading 2ha.

the earth, the sun, the moon or the stars: the stars

favorite kind of weather: sunny, not too hot, with a warm but gentle wind.

top 3 characters you kin with: there are actually. so few. I’ve rarely if ever related with characters on a personal level. so when I found one I just went :o the lucky (ha) one is Chu Wanning. there’s also Xie Lian and Yin Yu to some extent.

favorite medium of art: animation?

introvert/extrovert/ambivert: introvert

a favorite literary quote: istg I always forget all my favourite quotes when asked. gonna be super basic and say, “The one standing in infinite glory is you; the one fallen from grace is also you. What matters is ‘you’ and not the state of you.” but it’s not really my favourite. I’m just too lazy to go look for more

some of your favorite books: Tian Guan Ci Fu, The Song of Achilles, 2ha, The Alienist, The Picture of Dorian Gray

if you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?: ignoring, you know, the climate crisis, anywhere near the sea, where the water’s clear and quiet. or anywhere where there’s a clear water river/lake in which I can swim. preferably not that far off from a somewhat big city, if that’s even possible, because I actually love the city and need an easy access to it.

if you could live in any time in history when would it be?: late 1800′s, just for the clothes.

if you could play any instrument masterfully it would be: probably the ocarina. for some reason I’ve always liked it

if you have one, what mythological god or goddess do you feel a connection to: none because I know very little about mythology.

and lastly, favorite recent selfie in your camera roll: don’t have one on my chromebook, but you can always check my ‘my face’ tag I guess haha

I tag, if you like obv: @ecthelions, @intellectualpencil, @inessencedevided, @forgotten-envies, @curiosity-killed, @agu5td, @kuku-is-tired, @misnomera (but really don’t feel pressured to do this it’s....long)

#tag game

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scullyfemme · 5 years

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Timing -- Ch. 1

Au where Mulder is more insistent on confessing to Scully in Triangle (6.03)

Scully's reaction to his resolute "I love you" is far from what he'd expected. Shock and questioning, yes. But "Oh brother?" Did she not believe him? Maybe he should try again.

I have no idea how many chapters this will be, but I’ll be posting them all on here as well as on Ao3 (link below) because i know tumblr can be a little weird to use for reading multi-part stuff

Rating: M | tagging @today-in-fic | Read it on Ao3 | Next Chapter ->

---

"I love you."

"Oh, brother."

Mulder’s heart sank at that. Was that really her reaction? Surely he hadn’t been misreading things between them. Did she just not believe him?

He reached out and managed to snag her hand before she could escape. He looked up at her with pleading eyes, hoping she'd somehow misunderstood, that she wasn't just rejecting him.

"I mean it, Scully.”

Her expression changed, then. From humored dismissal to something akin to fear. Panic. "Mulder," She stammered. "You're- You're not serious. You just went through...well, an ordeal and you're high on painkillers right now." She explained away his confession, rationalizing it. And he couldn't help but be endeared to her for it despite the frustration it brought.

He tightened his grip on her hand and swiped his thumb across the back of it. "Scully-"

"I don't want you saying anything you'll regret," She interrupted, her voice softer now.

He understood where she was coming from. If the shoe were on the other foot, he'd probably say the same thing to her. But he wasn't going to regret this. Well, it depended on her reaction (her real reaction), but he certainly wasn't going to regret this because of his condition.

"Scully, I..." He trailed off, not knowing what to say. He wanted to tell her about his kiss with 1939 Scully. Whether or not it had really happened, it had felt so real. And he wanted a repeat with present-day Scully. But he had a feeling that if he brought that up, she'd use it as more reason to dismiss his confession, seeing as she thought he'd dreamt the whole thing up.

"Mulder," She shook her head, and he realized that she looked trapped. She wanted to escape. Had he pinned her into a corner? He hadn't meant to. "Look, we can talk about this later, okay?" She glanced towards the door, and he knew he wouldn't get anything more from her. Not now.

"Okay," He murmured, letting go of her hand. He was disappointed. He didn't know what he'd expected, but this wasn't it.

Now free, she angled her body towards the door, then turned back, looking like she wanted to say something. She seemed to decide against it, though, and headed towards the door.

"I'll see you later, okay?" She said over her shoulder. She didn't wait for an answer as she slipped through the door and left, moving too fast to be casual.

He supposed he couldn't blame her. It had been sudden, after all. One second everyone was playfully berating him for his foolhardiness, the next he was confessing to her. It wasn't how he expected it to happen, either. But he had to do it in that moment. 1939 Scully had saved the world, but present-day Scully had saved his world. Time and time again.

And maybe the drugs had influenced his decision, but it still felt like the right one to make.

We'll talk about this later, she had said. Knowing Scully, she was hoping later would never come. She was hoping he'd forget about the whole thing, write it off as drug-induced. That when he was fully healed and fully sober, he'd realize it was a mistake.

But he was determined not to let that happen. Maybe the timing wasn't right, but when would the timing ever be right with them? Ever since that night in his hallway, he was thinking less and less that there would ever be a perfect moment for this.

He sighed and started to lean back down to his pillow, but stopped when he registered the pain in his left eye. Slowly, gingerly, he touched his fingers to it, feeling the shiner. He smiled, thinking of the kiss preceding that punch. He knew it had been real, despite what the little Scully-voice in the back of his head claimed. He laid down fully this time, letting that thought comfort him and lull him to sleep.

---

Scully's hospital visits were rare, for once. Mulder assumed she was afraid he'd bring the subject up again. She did agree to drive him home when he was discharged, however. He had a feeling that she was sticking to her “drug-induced” theory.

This was indeed the case. Scully arrived at his room with a tight smile, waiting to walk him down to her car. He was fully dressed and ready to go, and she handed him his coat that she brought with her. It was unseasonably cold today and she knew he would need it.

He took it and stared at it with an odd look on his face. One she couldn't quite interpret. It was gone as quickly as it arrived, though, and he escorted her out of the room with his hand on her back, as usual.

She was uncharacteristically chatty in the elevator, updating him regarding what the Gunmen had further learned about the ship. She gave more information than she needed to and even went so far as to rattle off explanations of nautical terms that her father had taught her. She knew she was being weird, but she was worried that if she stopped talking, he would say it again. Here. In this hospital. In front of people.

Scully stopped talking suddenly when she took notice of his black eye, which was mostly healed by now.

"You know," She said as their steps clicked in sync through the parking garage. "I don't think I asked you how you got that." She leaned forward so he could see her pointing at her own eye.

His hand went to touch it, and he smiled to himself. "Well, do you want the rational answer or the real answer?"

A frown crossed her face and she turned forward again, deciding to drop it. If he wanted to keep believing in that dream/hallucination about being transported to 1939 and punching Nazis by her side, then that was on him. She didn't want to encourage it by asking.

Even though you should know better by now that there's no way it could be real. I mean really Mulder, time travel itself is far from a possibility at this point in scientific advancement, and it certainly isn't lurking somewhere in the ocean waiting for you to happen across it. And besides, even if you did travel back in time, how the hell would I have been there with you when I was here searching for you? Or Skinner? Or the Cancer Man?

She held back her lecture, letting her mind repeat it on loop like a sort of mantra as she drove. She didn't want to lecture him today, not with all this awkwardness hanging in the air. Get to his apartment. Get him home safe. Make sure he doesn't immediately run off and nearly die again.

The car ride was silent. She was lost in her thoughts, and so was he, but they were very different thoughts. She distracted herself with the scientific improbabilities of his tale while he wondered when would be the best time to bring his feelings up again.

He was surprised when she got out of the car with him, having expected her to drop him off and immediately go home.

"You don't have to walk me up, Scully. I know how to get to my apartment,” he joked.

She raised her eyebrows with a smirk. "I don't know, Mulder. Sometimes it feels like if I don't lock you in your apartment myself then you'll immediately run off to do something stupid."

He laughed a bit more than he probably should have, just grateful that she was joking with him. "How did you find me, by the way? Out in the ocean?"

She recounted the tale on the walk up to his unit (leaving out the part where she kissed Skinner square on the lips, since she still couldn't believe she'd done that. And it was weird to think that she'd kissed Skinner before ever kissing Mulder).

"And then we heard a loud splash and ran over to find you floating in the water. I don't know if you jumped or you fell, but either way, I don't understand how you managed to slip past us while we scoured the whole ship. I mean really, Mulder, you didn't hear us calling for you?"

He fiddled with his keys as they arrived at his door and simply shot her a smirk. They both knew his answer. She held back an eye-roll and settled for her really, Mulder? face.

He unlocked the door and let himself in, then paused and turned as if to gauge her. If she was coming in.

She hovered a few feet away from his door, looking awkward. When she made no move to follow him into the apartment, his jaw tightened. He knew that if he let her walk away now, this would be swept under the rug. They'd go back to normal — whatever that meant now that they were off the X-Files. She’d continue thinking it was an accident, and he’d spend who knows how long wondering what if.

“Uh,” She moved awkwardly. “I guess I’ll-”

“Scully,” His voice was soft as he leaned out of his door. She looked up at him. Was that fear in her eyes? Or hope? “About what I said in the hospital...”

“Mulder, you don’t have to-”

“I meant it. I really did, Scully.” He leaned forward, his hand pressed against the door jamb as leverage. She was still so far away. “I keep thinking. About that night, in this hallway. What would have happened if...” He trailed off, not wanting to go in-depth about the bee incident. “I’ve wanted to tell you for so long, Scully, and that was what I was trying to say that night. Everything I said about how you saved me and made me a whole person. That was what I meant.”

Her mouth opened and shut as she floundered for something to say. “Mulder-”

She was interrupted as the door across from Mulder’s apartment opened and one of his seldom-seen neighbors exited. He glanced at the two, then quickly turned and walked down the hallway towards the elevator. They both caught his brief you guys again face.

Both embarrassed, Mulder gestured for Scully to enter his apartment and she quickly obliged. Whatever happened, neither of them wanted it to play out for the entertainment of his neighbors.

Mulder shut the door behind him and leaned against it. He looked at her expectantly.

Scully hesitated. She knew, deep down, that she felt the same way. She had for a long time. But now? Of all times, he had to pick now? They were split up, kicked off the X-Files. The same X-Files that his ex-girlfriend was now working. And what about Diana? Scully felt a flare of anger at the thought of the woman. This was happening right on the heels of her coming into their lives and disrupting the rhythm they’d found. She knew he trusted Diana, but she didn’t know why. Why trust her on blind faith when he hadn’t seen the woman in years? When it was so obvious that she had come back into his life for the wrong reasons? He could say all the things he wanted to Scully now, but who was to say that he wouldn't turn right around and choose Diana over her, if given the chance?

She realized she was angry. More than scared at what his confession meant, she was angry that he’d done it. That he’d done it now when so much in their lives was up in the air.

Scully licked her lips, then pursed them, trying to fight back the tears of frustration that had built up in her eyes. “Mulder, I don’t think now is the time.” Her voice was deadly calm. The kind of calm that meant she was furious.

Mulder picked up on that, and he hesitated. “I...I know that, Scully,” He spoke as if talking to a predatory animal. Cautious. “But I-” He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “I realized I don’t know how much time I have left to do this. I mean, you in Antarctica and me in the Bermuda Triangle.” He gave a short, wry laugh. “Our lives are in danger more often than they’re not. And I know this is crappy timing, Scully, I know that. What with our jobs and the X-Files and D-” He stopped himself from saying Diana’s name, knowing how she might react.

He looked away and sighed, then looked back, moving a bit closer to her. “And I know I’m putting you in a terrible position here. But you don’t have to- I’m not expecting you to say yes. I’ll drop this if you really want me to.” He moved even closer, and Scully wondered for a second if he would embrace her, or take her hand. But instead, he moved past her, behind her. She blinked at the door before turning to face him, and during that time she realized what he was doing. He was moving out of her path to the door. He was giving her an out. An escape.

When she turned to face him, he continued, his voice low. “One word from you, and I’ll shut up about it forever. But I have to ask you something,” He reached out as if to take her hand, then seemed to think better of it and dropped his hand back to his side. He searched her eyes instead, visibly swallowing as he mustered up the courage. “Is it me you're worried about having regrets? Or yourself?"

She blinked at that, stunned and slightly offended. Her jaw tensed. "Maybe I am worried, Mulder.” Her voice was carefully even. “Maybe I'm worried that you can say all these things to me but that doesn't mean we'd be able to make it work." Her voice rose with anger. "Maybe I don't want another major change. I mean, the X-Files is in danger, our jobs are in danger, and maybe I don't want to put our partnership - our friendship - in danger too!" She let her breathing slow down a bit and stepped up close to him, her voice quieter now and another emotion visible on her face besides anger. "Maybe you mean too much to me to jeopardize what we have now,” she whispered.

He stared down at her, searching her eyes. She broke eye contact to gaze off at nothing, briefly pressing her lips together thoughtfully. "Maybe now isn't the best time." Her voice was barely above a whisper. She looked like she wasn't even speaking to him, like she was speaking to someone off in the distance, or to herself.

"Maybe there'll never be a best time," He countered, his voice a low murmur.

She looked back up at him and watched his lips purse slightly as he swallowed. She was so close to him now, and he wanted nothing more than to reach out to her. But he stayed put. Her eyes flicked up to meet his own, and something unspoken passed between them. She was afraid. Afraid to believe the way she always was. But rather than aliens or the paranormal, she was afraid to believe in them. And he couldn't blame her. But they were past the point of no return now and a decision had to be made. Whether it was a yes or no, or even a later, she had to give him an answer.

Scully stared at him for what felt like hours, considering the possibilities, all the different outcomes. The consequences. It was entirely possible that it wouldn't work out between them. Probable, even. Who was to say that the platonic nature of their relationship was all that was keeping it afloat? And her life was already so entangled with Mulder's that this felt like it would be giving herself over to him completely; getting rid of any last sliver of a chance that some part of her life wouldn't involve him.

She'd never meant to cut herself off from her friends and stop dating. But at a certain point, she just couldn't justify trying anymore. She had no time for it and couldn't even discuss most cases over dinner, much less go in-depth on what her job entailed. And there was always the risk of getting someone else caught up in the dangers that she and Mulder constantly found themselves in. She didn't want another innocent person who was close to her to pay the price. Not like Melissa had.

Plus, a large number of single men her age were looking to settle down and have kids, and that wasn't a conversation she wanted to have over and over with various men.

And to be honest, she couldn't imagine a life with anyone else. When she imagined her future, her mind no longer conjured up images of a white-bread husband and kids in a house outside the city like it used to long ago, before she’d even started med school. Instead, it was her and Mulder. The two of them by each other's sides, shrouded in shadows and investigating the unexplainable and unraveling conspiracies while simultaneously getting tangled further in them. Part of her was growing tired of the constant danger, sure, but the rest of her couldn't imagine doing anything else.

And she certainly couldn't imagine a life without Mulder by her side. Maybe this was the next logical leap for them. And a small part of her brain brought up the fact that maybe the risk would be worth it to know what it would feel like to be with Mulder in every sense of the word.

It was her move. And she had to make it.

She didn’t let herself think anymore, didn’t give herself time to hesitate. She reached up around the back of his neck and pulled him down as she rose up on her toes. They met in the middle.

It was sweet. And chaste. And short. They both pulled away and her hand moved from his neck to cup the side of his face.

Mulder hesitated, as if still not sure of her answer. But then he reached an arm around her waist, pulling her back in. She pulled his head down again at the same time and they crashed together, more forceful. As if that alone could make up for all the time they’d wasted not doing this. Both of her hands wove through his hair as she deepened the kiss. Her tongue slipped inside his mouth and brushed against his. She swore she heard him moan.

Scully had never been a huge fan of making out. Even as she’d graduated from inexperienced teenage boys with too-wet mouths to seasoned men who knew how to use their tongues, in all her previous relationships she’d viewed it as a mere preamble for the good stuff. But this, oh, this. It was better than anything before it. Whether it was because of their relationship or how long they’d waited or whatever cosmic theory Mulder might come up with, she didn’t know. And right now, she didn’t care.

She shed both their coats, but his hands moved on her hesitantly, and she realized it was still her move. With the slightest of grins against his lips, she turned them both and pushed him up against the wall, slipping herself into the space that had opened up between his legs. She let go of her inhibitions and her worries. Every impulse, everything she’d restrained herself from doing to him for years now was let loose. She pressed herself against him and abandoned his lips so hers could trail down his neck, grazing at various spots with fervor. He wasn’t due back at the office for a few days anyway, she thought to herself with a smile.

He gasped for breath and she heard him curse before strong arms suddenly lifted her up so they were eye-level. Despite the surprise, she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist, her skirt riding up and bunching around her hips as she did so. It was her turn to be pressed against the wall as Mulder kissed her jawline.

“Jesus, Scully,” He murmured, and she let out a breathless chuckle that was cut off by a gasp as she felt his hot breath in her ear. He moved below it and down her neck, more careful about leaving marks than she had been. Unlike him, she had to be presentable for work tomorrow.

A short moan escaped her as he worked. She was throbbing now, and in a normal moment, she would be embarrassed by quickly she’d gotten wet. But she knew they were on equal footing. She was too high up on his waist to feel it, but she knew he was hard. Thinking quickly, she used the wall as leverage as she let her legs drop ever-so-slightly down his body. She kept herself off of him for a few moments, resisting the urge to press against him. As he finished up on her neck, though, she took his face in her hands and kissed him again - hard - as she finally ground down against his erection.

They both moaned then, and their kisses were broken up as they both had to repeatedly gasp for breath as they moved against each other. She wanted him here, now. She didn’t care if their first time was rough and up against the wall of his apartment. After spending so long moving at a snail’s pace, she wanted to go fast with him for once. They’d waited long enough, and there would be plenty of time for something slow and sweet in the future.

She shivered, the thought of being able to do this again making her more desperate. “Mulder,” She gasped against him as he trailed down her neck again. “Please.”

He grunted and pulled away, meeting her gaze. Their breathing started to even out. Why had he stopped? “Scully, I don’t know if-”

She groaned and let her head fall back to hit the wall. “Mulder, I swear to God, if you’re about to give me some shit about how we should wait, I’m gonna kick your ass.”

He chuckled. “No, uh, I was gonna say that I don’t know if we wanna stay up on this wall. I think the couch would be a better spot.”

“Oh.” Her voice was light with surprise. She shrugged. “That’s fine.” The wall was perfectly fine with her, but if he wanted the couch, then the couch would do. All she needed was him. And why the hell didn’t he own a bed?

He grinned mischievously and pulled her off the wall. She had to tighten her legs’ grip around him in order to keep her balance, which led to her moving further against his erection. She went ahead and pulled off her shirt as he carried her, figuring there would be no use for it.

He dropped her on the couch and his own weight followed as he kneeled over her, pushing her skirt up even more and pulling her underwear down. She eyed the tent in his pants, wondering if he was going to get right to it, but instead, he lowered himself and settled his head between her legs.

His tongue moved against her slowly, at first. Spread wide across her, he licked slowly and deliberately once, twice, three times.

She felt like every muscle in her body was clenched, and she let out an impatient groan that he would tease her for later. “Muld-”

Before she could finish her protest, he moved again, faster now. Alternating between circling her clit and sucking on it.

She gasped. “Oh.” She bit her lip and let out a shaky breath. “Oh.”

He moved lower, his tongue dipping inside her and out, and she whimpered. She shoved her hand suddenly in his hair and pulled him off of her, her chest heaving. She was too close.

He raised his eyebrows questioningly as he licked his lips. What did she want? Had he done something wrong?

It took a couple of heaving breaths before she found her voice. “C’mon, Mulder.” Her voice was low.

He got the message, his hands flying to his crotch. She didn’t watch him undress, instead leaning her head back and throwing her arm over her eyes as she tried to focus on her breathing. Her whole body felt like a tightly coiled spring. She needed release and she needed it soon.

She felt the couch shift and sensed his face hovering over hers. She removed her arm so she could look up at him.

“Everything alright?” He asked.

God, yes, She wanted to say, but she could only bring herself to nod, licking her lips.

“I, um, I don’t have any condoms.”

She shook her head, wishing he would just stop talking. “I don’t care,” She whispered breathlessly as she reached up and pulled him in for a kiss. She tasted herself on his lips and the memory of his mouth on her made her hips twitch upward involuntarily. “Please, Mulder.”

In a more sensible moment, she would have explained how there was essentially no need for a condom. She couldn’t get pregnant, and she knew both of their medical histories well enough to no there was no danger of anything. But this wasn’t a sensible moment. Right now, all she could think about was how she needed him inside her.

He knew all the same information she did, of course. He’d probably mentioned condoms out of politeness or propriety.

Her head fell back against the couch as she felt him press up against her, moving in a way that spread her wetness over him. Just as she thought she'd die if he waited any longer, she felt him enter her. Six years of foreplay was more than enough prep, but it was still a pleasant surprise as he stretched her. He was bigger than she’d expected. Once he was all the way in, he stopped.

“Everything okay? Do you need a second?”

For a guy who had a penchant for being careless, he was being too damn considerate. “Mulder, just shut up and fuck me.”

He didn’t need to be told twice.

He was slow and rhythmic at first, making sure she was okay, then quickened his pace, his head ducked into her shoulder. She was close, she was so close and she knew what she needed to send her over the edge, but she waited, wanting to give him more time. Riding the edge felt like the best kind of agony.

It felt like ages before she heard him groan and mutter a “fuck” and she knew he was getting there. Without hesitation, she slipped her hand between them and started working her clit, the combined sensations quickly sending her careening towards the edge.

She panted against him. “Mulder, I’m- mm- Mulder-”

He could only manage a grunt in response as he slammed into her, sending them both over the edge. They came undone together, clinging onto each other and gasping for breath. As they came down from their peak, he pulled out of her and leaned forward, his forehead resting heavily against hers. They stayed like that for a while, catching their breaths.

Her eyes fluttered open and she stared at what she could of his face. As if knowing she was looking at him, his eyes opened too.

They gazed at each other for a while, both coming to terms with what had just happened. Scully’s lips twitched up in a brief smile.

“I love you, too, by the way.”

#kai.fic #x files #txf fic #msr fic #hoo boy this one's a nervous one to post

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pandawritespoorly · 4 years

Text

With Time: Something Happened

Author’s Note: The doc for this is titled 'Drink some water you coward'. My friend needed to drink water but wouldn't, and I made a threat that I fulfilled. I won't say who I killed, but those of you who have been around long even may remember a tumblr post from long ago. (Heh heh, reblogged it to bring it back a few days ago)

Here's that story, which I can finally post now that With Time is over.

(Sorry for the angst. I'll post something fluffy soon.)

Summary: The team goes up against Hawkmoth, and something happens.

!!! Warnings: Character Death, Violence

It had been years. Years upon years of fighting against Hawkmoth. It had gotten bad enough that Adrien and Marinette had eventually needed to give their friends their miraculouses permanently.

It hadn’t been solely a bad thing of course. They’d been planning on doing it soon enough, but it’d happened sooner than they’d intended.

Of course, after spending a good six years - almost seven - Marinette and Adrien could not be ready for this day.

The final face off with Hawkmoth.

The man that had been terrorizing the heroes, the city, for years.

They’d tracked him down after learning of Mayura’s identity.

“How did I not know?” Chat Noir stares at the mansion he was raised in, “He’s my father! I grew up in the same building he was attacking the city from!”

“Adrien-” Ladybug begins.

“I’m supposed to be a hero! What kind of-”

“Adrien-” it’s Kit Mime this time, gripping his shoulder and turning the other boy to face him, “None of us blame you.”

“You should.”

“No, we shouldn’t. He kept it from the entire city, y’ couldn’t’ve known,” Tortue Verte cuts in.

“The entire city wasn’t living with him this whole time! For fuck’s sake, he attacked my school the most! He wasn’t even subtle!”

“Adrien, it’s not-” Honey Bee also tries to interrupt him.

“All those attacks where he or I was targeted! How could I not have realized-” gloved hands dig into blond hair, green eyes vacant.

“Chat-”

“My name literally means ‘dark butterfly’, I mean come on!”

“Adrien!” Ladybug snaps. She isn’t angry, just trying her best to reign him back in.

He pauses, taking a breath to steady himself.

“Kitten, none of us blame you,” Kit Mime keeps his own gloved hands on Chat Noir’s shoulders, “So you shouldn’t be blaming yourself.”

The hero looked doubtful, but didn’t respond.

“He’s right,” Ladybug comes to his side as well, hugging him tightly.

Doing so triggers a group hug among the heroes. There’s a lot of feelings towards what’s about to happen.

There’s a lot to process, but they didn’t have much time. They wanted to settle this as quickly as possible - both for Paris’ sake and to avoid Gabriel getting suspicious.

“Alright. Let’s go,” and Chat leads the charge into the house.

It’s time to end this.

---

Despite having hoped to take the man by surprise, he must have been clued in somehow. They burst into his lair to find it empty.

They tense, walking forward hesitantly and looking around cautiously.

“Where-” Honey begins to speak.

There’s a sound, quiet enough that only Kit and Chat hear it. They motion for silence and turn in the direction, night vision carefully scanning the area.

Honey Bee inhales sharply.

“This would be an ideal time to hand over your miraculouses.” a cold voice cuts through the silence.

The group turns to see Hawkmoth himself standing before them, sword drawn from his cane and pointed precariously near the heroine’s neck. She stands stiffly, hands raised slightly.

Low growls come from the two tallest boys, while Ladybug and Tortue shift to fighting positions.

“Give it up Gabriel,” Chat snarls.

“You’ve lost,” Kit Mime adds.

“It would seem I was correct to assume that Nathalie had been compromised,” the tip of the sword pushes further into Honey’s neck, and she tilts her head safely away.

“Gabriel Agreste, your reign of terror on Paris is over. Hand over your miraculous.” Ladybug holds out her hand, glaring at the monster before them.

“No. Not until I’ve completed my goal.”

“The consequences of any wish would be catastrophic. The world can’t afford your selfishness-”

“Selfish?!” The man roars, “You are the selfish ones! I only want what’s best for my family! What’s best for my son!” In his anger, he gestures carelessly and a pinprick of blood appears on Honey Bee’s neck as he speaks.

Chat Noir growls, snapping and swiping at the man, “What’s best for your son?! What’s best for your son?! How is terrorizing Paris supposed to help your son?!”

Taking the distraction, Honey Bee ducks and slides over to her other teammates. Tortue looks worriedly at her neck, but she smiles at him, “I’m fine,” she says quietly.

Kit Mime seems to disagree, scowling - a rare expression for him - and joining his friend in the barrage of attacks at the supervillain.

“Well,” Ladybug says, readying her yo-yo, “We do this like we always do…”

Honey Bee and Tortue Verte speak with her, readying their own weapons and dropping into offensive stances, “...together.”

The trio joins their teammates in the fight.

---

They didn’t think it was going to be this hard. Especially given that it was five to one.

Yet here they are. At least one and a half hours later, and the fight hadn’t gotten anywhere.

They’re exhausted.

Maybe it’s closer to two or three hours. None of them have really bothered to check the time, simply focussing on their goal, aiming to end this nightmare as soon as possible.

Hawkmoth swipes his sword at the spotted girl. She dances away to the best of her abilities, though she feels it makes contact anyways.

It wasn’t the first time, and she’d stopped checking once they’d all been false alarms.

Her suit is impenetrable after all.

This needed to end soon. The exhaustion of her team was palpable, but somehow Hawkmoth seemed fine.

Maybe he was just better at hiding it. Or he had more experience. The reason didn’t really matter to her anyways.

The team of five continues in their assault, their teamwork they’d built up on for the past five years shining through.

Still, it wasn’t a perfect art, and mistakes were bound to happen.

No one is quite sure how it happens, but the frenzy of movement halts when Hawkmoth wrenches Kit Mime toward him by the arm.

“Let him go,” Honey Bee growls.

“Give up your miraculouses.” It’s basically his mantra with how many times he’s said it now. He’s holding the fox hero to him tightly, gripping his neck from behind so that both miraculous holders are in clear sight.

“That’s not going to happen,” Chat repeats.

“This is your final warning,” Hawkmoth cautioned lowly, a hint of something in his voice.

He correctly takes their silent glares and battle stances as refusal.

The dark chamber is silent for a moment.

Five teenagers wait patiently for the next move.

A sickening crunch echoes through the room.

Even with most of them lacking night vision, their eyes have adjusted enough that they can see what happened.

Hawkmoth holds up Kit Mime by the neck, dangling the boy above the floor. The hero’s face is an unnatural color, and his feet kick uselessly at the floor, searching for traction.

His hands reach for the one that has crushed his throat, but the adult’s iron grip is too tight.

His teammates, friends, can only stand in horrified silence. The only sound is the ocaissonal scuffle of boots against the floor. The color that has appeared on his face is deepening, and his hands still claw at the one around his neck. His flute is on the floor, dropped in surprise when the moment came.

None of them are looking at any of that though.

It’s his eyes.

Kit- Claude’s eyes, normally bright and full of mirth are wide with fear.

Even through the worst attack, Kit Mime had been able to smile, keep things light and spirits up.

And now…

It’s when his eyes begin to glaze over, growing unfocused, that they break out of their trance.

Chat Noir’s and Honey Bee’s faces harden in resolve, both rushing forward.

Ladybug hears a furious ‘cataclysm’ and ‘venom’, which somewhat shakes her out of her oncoming attack. She can panic late, right now she has to…

What does she do?

Tortue isn’t doing well, hyperventilating beside her.

Kit Mime is still struggling in the villain’s grip, though his desperate kicks and gasps have become fainter, weaker.

The five of them couldn’t defeat Hawkmoth together, should she really let only two of them try alone? They need all the help they can get, right?

The heroine’s eyes dart back and forth, undecided. Comfort Tortue?

Help Chat and Honey with Kit?

Comfort Tortue?

Help Chat and Honey with K-

-it?

The moment of indecision costs her. In the time it takes Chat and Honey to cross the room, Hawkmoth grows impatient.

Tired of holding up the struggling boy, Hawkmoth tightens his grip on his sword, raises his hand, and runs it through the boy.

Honey and Chat can’t stop their momentum in time, Honey’s hand slides past the intended target, and she can’t pick herself off the floor, instead staring in horror at the scene above her.

The scene doesn’t last long.

Chat’s outstretched hand makes contact.

With an orange suit.

The darkness spreads like an inky disease across the brightly colored uniform. Shadowy tendrils make their way over it, spreading like a horrific wildfire and leaving nothing but ash and dust behind.

Chat Noir stares in terror at his gloved hand, now coated in dust that looked too soft for something so nauseating.

Reality chooses this moment to resume its normal speed. In comparison to the last eternal minute or two, everything feels like double speed.

Honey Bee manges to put together enough thoughts to hit her venomed hand to their foe’s leg, and stands to take the miraculous.

Chat hasn’t moved.

Tortue is barely breathing with how badly he’s panicking.

And Ladybug?

Ladybug defaults to her usual solution.

“Miraculous Ladybug.”

Claude’s body reappears right where it had been previously. He falls to the ground, the other heroes nearby follow him, too exhausted to do anything else.

After a moment they’re all far too aware of the fact that he isn’t breathing.

“Miraculous Ladybug.”

He remains still.

“Miraculous Ladybug.”

Nothing. She’s beginning to feel dizzy.

“Miraculous Ladybug.”

Why isn’t it working?

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

Why isn’t he coming back?!

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

“Miraculous Ladybug!!”

How had this happened?

“Miraculous Ladybug!!!”

She feels sick.

“MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!”

Still nothing.

Her shouts become a repetitive echo, ringing through the terrible chamber. What else can she do? She’s the leader. She’s the one who fixes everything.

So why isn’t everything fixed?! Of the team, she’s the only one still speaking. The only one still standing.

Until she isn’t anymore.

The others look up after her quiet, pleading calls go silent, soon followed by a thud.

Against a surface other than her bright red suit, the alarming amount of blood flowing from a distressingly large gash in her side is hard to miss.

---

When Felix walks into the hospital room he does not know what to expect. He had known they were going after Hawkmoth, so the fact that Adrien had sent him a text with nothing but the words ‘we’re here’ and the hospital’s address and a room number concerned him.

Still, he did not want to jump to conclusions.

Perhaps Hawkmoth had been critically injured.

He repeated that thought over and over because the alternative-

No, there is no alternative. Hawkmoth is injured and his friends are fine.

He loops that thought.

Hawkmoth is injured and his friends are fine.

Hawkmoth is injured and his friends-

He walks into the room, hearing the steady beeping of the heart monitor and turns to see…

Marinette in the bed. All manner of tubes and wires attached to her.

When he manages to rip his eyes away, his fears do not cease.

Adrien is staring at Marinette, though his eyes are far away.

Allegra is barely holding herself together.

And Allan…

Felix hadn’t seen that look on Allan’s face since- since-

Something is missing.

Someone is missing.

“Where is Claude?” He barely manages to keep his voice steady.

Those three words are all it takes.

The Allegra’s final threads snap and she loses the little composure she already had. She falls to her knees like beggar and sobs.

The look on Allan’s expression gets worse, and he stops breathing momentarily, and even afterwards his breaths are irregular.

Adrien is gripping Marinette’s hand like a lifeline, head buried in the sheets of the hospital bed as he sits beside it.

No one speaks.

The picture is becoming very clear, but Felix just will not accept it.

Surely Claude is just somewhere else.

Grabbing something perhaps?

Another sob from Allegra is all it takes to dash all his hopes. Anyone with half a mind can see the only answer to this question.

Something happened.

The mission went wrong.

Claude is gone.

---

I'm just going to leave this here. No more words from me.

Reminder: This is very much not canon to my With Time storyline.

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marinetteplztakeabreak · 5 years

Text

The year is 2021. The first few episodes of mlb Season 5 were just aired. Tumblr’s exploding with fanfics and theories. The show’s new director is conducting cryptic polls about which friendships and teamups the fans want to see most. Adrien is finally realizing that his dad sucks and has gotten more direct in his small moments of rebellion. Kagami, Adrien, and Marinette have a group chat that’s 90% just elaborate plans for sneaking out. Marinette’s been getting better and better at acting normal around Adrien since the beginning of season four and she’s realized that regardless of romantic feelings, she desperately wants to be his friend.

Everyone’s posting about the latest episode, Lady WiFi 3.0, where Alya got akumatized because she was jealous that Adrien was stealing her best friend. Marinette was so busy panicking and blaming herself that she forgot to slip away and transform, which lead to half the episode being Marichat. Chat Noir had a few lines that may have implied he know that she was Ladybug and every word of their dialogue is now being picked apart by theorists. After they won the battle, there were copious amounts of communication and apologies from Adrien, who was immediately yelled at by both girls because “Adrien stop apologizing for hanging out with your friends you’re allowed to do that, you self-deprecating idiot.” The episode ended with Adrien becoming Alya’s secret behind the scenes co-runner of the Ladyblog, and he’s thriving at the chance to work without being directly watched by the public and she’s thriving at the fact that she has a dedicated co-worker who’s just as obsessed with superheroes (especially Ladybug) as she is.

Now that months have passed since the season 4 finale aired, people are finally calming down. Mayura got so close to winning that she managed to take Chat Noir’s miraculous, discovering his secret identity in the process. Chat Noir didn’t end up telling Ladybug about this: partly due to fear that he’d lose his Miraculous, because he’s gotten so good at being a team with Ladybug that he’s afraid Paris would be in danger without him. Also, now that Ladybug is the guardian, she’s the only one who could choose a new Chat Noir and therefore would know the secret identity of anyone she picked. Also, it’s never been directly confirmed, but everyone’s pretty sure that he knows that Marinette is Ladybug, and without his Miraculous, he would lose his only means of defense if Mayura did hunt him down in his civilian identity and grill him for Ladybug’s identity. He also seems to think that he’s the less important hero and it doesn’t matter as much if he gets hurt or captured so long as he manages to protect his Lady. His decision spawned endless discourse, but everyone can at least see where he’s coming from. The heroes are doing their best but there’s obvious moments where they’re cracking under the stress and could desperately use an adult on their team. #givemarinetteanap was trending on Tumblr for a few days. Adrien had canonically acknowledged depression and has actual medical reasons to force his dad to let him interact with friends at times, although his father still does the absolute bare minimum.

A week ago, in the season 5 pilot, Natalie faked a coughing fit to stop Hawkmoth when he was about to hurt Chat. She’s still trying to take the Miraculouses and still wants Hawkmoth to succeed but she’ll literally die before any harm comes to Adrien, and she’s the only one who knows he’s also Chat Noir. Adrien knows that Mayura knows his identity but he has no idea that Natalie knows, so he’s confused about why she suddenly seems to understand why he’s exhausted after midnight akuma battles and even clears his schedule, so he can rest. She still rarely shows direct affection, but the small things are becoming more and more frequent and groups of dedicated fans are eagerly awaiting her redemption arc.

The amateur fashion business that Marinette started halfway through season 4 is taking off, thanks in part to celebrity promotions, from Jagged Stone to Clara Nightingale to Adrien Agreste. She’s under a lot of pressure dealing with actual money and orders and the stress of running a real business, but she’s clearly happy with it, and it gives her something productive to do with the time that she used to spend obsessing over Adrien. She also taught herself how to crochet for a project and now brings string and a hook with her everywhere to stress-crochet when anxiety spirals hit. It’s become something of a joke within the fandom but no one can deny that it’s a strangely calming aesthetic. The shine for Adrien in her room has been taken down and replaced with a wall of the designs she’s the proudest of, which caused a barrage of conflicting emotions for everyone watching.

Chloe has become a permanent part of the friend group as well, after she exposed Lila’s lies. She’s still has no filter and causes a few akumas when she hurts others’ feelings, but she’s genuinely trying to be a decent person, so she can make real friends. She also manages to pull Marinette out of an anxiety attack a few times by being ridiculously blunt and startling Marinette out of her train of thought.

The show openly calls Juleka and Rose a couple, they’re had a few on screen kisses and people make YouTube compilations of them saying the phrase “my girlfriend.” Half the class comes to them for relationship advice because they’re literally the steadiest and healthiest couple in the class. Also, it’s revealed that Chloe never had a crush on Adrien. She was literally just fighting Marinette for his platonic attention the entire time, which she thought was common knowledge. “Ew, why would I want to date Adrien, we’ve known each other since we were toddlers?” Someone asks Chloe if there’s anyone she does have a crush on and she says not really, no one in their class is even that cute, Ladybug’s low-key gorgeous though in a celebrity crush kind of way. Marinette is the only person in the class who’s actually surprised to find out that Chloe might have a crush on Ladybug.

Teamups with the Miraculous holders are becoming more and more common. Queen Bee has openly said that she doesn’t care about the danger of her identity being revealed and has become a frequent member of the lineup. Alix, juleka, Rose, and Nathaniel have each been given Miraculouses a few times, as well as several newly introduced characters. In an episode we only have a trailer for so far, Marinette is having such a bad panic attack that she knows she won’t be able to be Ladybug, so she discretely slips her earrings into Alya’s bag and Alya has to save the day as Ladybird. During a different high-stakes akuma battle near the end of season 4, Hawkmoth knew that he’d be causing a lot of collateral damage so he locked Adrien inside with heavy supervision to keep him safe. Unable to sneak away, he managed to slip his ring with a note into Chloe’s bag, because she was over for a business meeting and also the only person he knew that Ladybug would trust with a Miraculous. Chloe got to be Reine Chat for the day and she was surprisingly mature about it, listening to everything Ladybug told her and putting the Miraculous back where she got it after the battle was won She’d never admit it, but it was clear that she was genuinely scared for one of the first times in her life.

Now, the fans theories for what’s going to happen continue to pour in. The episode titles for the entire season were just uncovered. The finale is going to be Princess Justice parts 1, 2, and 3. The current predominant fan theory is that Sabine is going to have to be Ladybug for part of the episode and fight an akumatized Marinette. It’s been defended by so many long winding arguments that no one can remember if it’s a crack theory or genuine. The episode just before the finale is titled Emilie and it’s causing different kinds of massive panic throughout the fandom. The season trailers show tons of interactions between all sides of the love square. Adrien is going to break down in tears in Marinette’s arms at one point in the season. That trailer clip has also been overanalyzed to death at this point. Adrien has learned to bake macarons at the bakery and Marinette has learned to win a staring contest with Gabriel Agreste. All is well.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous lb #mlb #love square #chloe bourgous #nathalie sancoeur #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #I don’t know if this counts as fanfic but I’ll tag it anyways #ml fanfiction #ml fanfic #alya cesaire #julerose #long post

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