#I’ll adopt them and Make them miserable though | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

charliesinfern0 · 1 year

Audio

I made a Charlie x 2D playlist!! :3

(song explanations under the cut hehe)

Blue Hair- I feel like this song has them sort of taking turns singing, because its from their different perspectives at different times. Like,”There's really no way of winning / If in their eyes you'll always be a dumb blonde” is about 2D because he’s seen as the sort of brainless pretty boy front man of the band, and “And she cried over nothing, so there was nothing I could do to stop / Her from cutting her beautiful blue hair off” is about Charlie, and I mainly imagine this to take place during Phase 3, so at the end with the lyrics “Last I heard she was living with a boy who acts his age / And I guess I'll just miss her even though she isn't even really gone / But things are just different ever since she cut her blue hair off” is about both of them after leaving Plastic Beach and finding each other and the rest of the band and living together in the house on Wobble Street in DoYaThing (i explained this a lot better in this post :P also special thanks to the anon that introduced me to this song :D)

How Long?- This is from the perspective of 2D, and its mainly the chorus I attribute to their relationship, again on Plastic Beach (”How long 'til we sink to the bottom of the sea? How long, how long? / How long 'til we sink and it's only you and me? How long, how long?”)

On Melancholy Hill- OF COURSE im going to be putting Plastic Beach songs in the playlist!!! This song is one of my absolute favorites, and it’s perfect for encapsulating 2D’s feelings for Charlie, especially during Phase 3. Also i kind of think of the manatee in both the song and the music video being representative of Charlie’s happiness (in the events of Plastic Beach Charlie basically adopts it and its sort of the opposite of the 2D’s whale, in which it brings her happiness while the whale scares 2D), and it being stolen by the Boogieman in the music video is representative of how Murdoc put her in a bad place along with the rest of the band because of everything on Plastic Beach.

To Binge- A beautiful duet between 2D and Charlie, with Charlie dealing with all of these feelings (being kidnapped and stuck on and island made of plastic and trash, having been held captive prior and living in a submarine with the only sustenance being superfast jellyfish, missing Noodle and Russel and missing the friendship she had with Murdoc, and feeling that 2D is her only source of comfort and wondering what they really are relationship-wise), and 2D feeling miserable as well in these circumstances, and trying his best to help Charlie like shes helped him, and he confesses to her that he loves her so much!!!

A Thousand Miles- This song gives me so much nostalgia for when i first got into Gorillaz, and it makes me think about 2D and Charlie after the events of Plastic Beach when the whole band moves back in together in the 212 Wobble Street house. I feel like it’s the song that they would say is their song (bc it came out in 2010 and so its a couple years afterward in DoYaThing)

Flower Moon- Then this song is sort of describes whats happening during Phase 7, with Moon Flower and the Forever Cult, but its also Charlie and 2D. I honestly dont have that much of a reasoning for this song, it just makes me think of them.

Tarantula- This is my second fav song from Cracker Island, and its a love song!! It’s just a real sweet song that 2D sings about Charlie and theyre just so in love <333 I sort of think of this as 2D’s thoughts running through his head as hes being saved by the band from the Forever Cult and Charlie carries him out and they escape the hollywood sign, in a sort of alternate ending to the Silent Running music video. 2D is still drowsy from the drink that Moon Flower gave him and he’s just spilling his heart out to Charlie while theyre sitting in the hospital/police station.

(Bonus Track: Five Whales in a Dream)

#ok im going to sleep now #u_u #gorillaz #gorillaz oc #oc x canon #stuart 2d pot #stuart pot #gorillaz 2d

21 notes · View notes

rielzero · 1 year

Text

Sombra, Envious Umbra- The Miserable One

This persona design has been in concept stage since December ish- I haven’t been able to finish designing another alt eldritch form- Which is referred to as ‘’Death Marrow’’ at the moment.

Sombra is quite an enigma- I’m really frigging happy with his concept. All though due energy levels being floppy- and me thinking I’ll be retiring my old refsheet style for a while- I wasn’t able to put his design on my usual work. So I went to work on this chibi instead- it really helped. (The chibi base is a p2u by kariosa-adopts, which is a deviantart user.)

Lore Sombra, or Envious Umbra- is the eldritch child known otherwise as the ''miserable one'' He does not want to be perceived. His tattered wings represent how his body is in a constant state of agony. It's body is split in an asymmetrical set of traits, which both supposedly represent masculine and feminine traits. Despite this, he is essentially sexless but presents as male. In his split form he is known as Envious Umbra, but is capable of fully transitioning to one set of colors if he feels at peace- in the darker colors, he is simply known as Sombra. As the lighter colors, he still remains known as Umbra. This duality does not represent different personalities, but rather a state of being and sense of self. As the miserable one, he's worshipped from the shadows by cultists. He is feared for his power- the power of taking. He can ''take'' things away from his victims, but what he takes can be non-physical concepts, not just physical ones. If he notices someone near his vicinity, as Envious Umbra- He'll be hyper vigilant and screech with a sense of agony. Sombra is worshipped as a separate face by cultists- even though it is the same being in the same body. To cultists- he represents stillness, the peace in the dark. Most cultists aren't aware that all eldritch children are essentially facets or forms of the same being, not separate creatures.

There’s a bunch of concept art sketches I haven’t scanned in yet- He’s still missing the back view- so in a sense the fullbody design isn’t entirely finished.

I did take the time to give him an icon so he doesn’t look weird on toyhouse with just the chibi.

Heheh. I love expressions like this, that have a sense of ‘’i’m disgusted’’ or ‘’i feel awful’’ He’s looking at someone who happened to come across him. How unlucky for them.

Maybe I’ll make a new formal ‘’ask about my ocs’’ post later, but at this time I want to say: if you have questions about any of my oc in general you can plop them in my ask box- they help me with drawing fun stuff or doodles.

For now I’ll retreat and try to work on my webcomic some more.

15 notes · View notes

starg1rlie · 1 year

Note

if ur fine with it 💍w/scara? my personality is pretty meh imo, im mostly extroverted and very talkative. if i’m honest i’m pretty ambitious with a lot of things and i’m very self disciplined according to my close relatives and friends. also i’m pretty confident in myself but not overly confident to the point i’ll start doing the most stupidest things. i also believe im well organized so i’ll freak tf out if everything is a mess (one time i had a mental breakdown bc i forgot to clean my room before going to school). also i’m pretty rude on a surface level, since i unintentionally insult people right in front of them. though with closer friends im very gentle n kind with them, i’ll show a lot of affection to them even in public. that’s mostly it so now moving to the hobby parts, personally i don’t think i have one? since mostly i’m studying, but if i do have free time i’ll either make plans with friends or play video games. i do have a little talent for the piano, i’m pretty mid at it but i can play a few songs. mostly i don’t have time to explore hobbies since i have extracurricular activities and studying💔 + some stuff wit my personality i forgot to add. whenever i pursue something i’m definitely not gonna take any break until i’m close to achieving it :)

(mb if i didn't pay much attention to your personality traits/hobbies, i was simply busy thinking of little things the two of you would do. i hope i incorporated enough to satisfy you, and make up for how long it took me to push out this post...)

pushing him in a shopping cart

at first, he protests. a lot. but he’ll get into the cart eventually, only because you’d bug him for the next week or so if he didn't. lowkey has to hold onto the side of the cart because you’re definitely going to go zooming down the aisles. he’s the one who grabs the stuff while you’re just having the time of your life. y’all get called out by the employees later but it was worth it :)

helping him paint his nails black bc he's going thru an emo phase

scaramouche does not see the appeal of bright colors. he himself prefers black, white, and grey, which are all simple and monotonous colors. like him/j. which is probably why his wardrobe looks like it went through the black and white snapchat filter. he even paints his nails black, or, well, attempts to. his adoptive little sister, qiqi, paints her nails black as well, because she wants to be like gege too. you end up painting both of their nails some of the time, and then yall post pics of you guys flaunting your nails like "don't mess with the emo bitches."

holding hands on the bus together

since your school is far, and most definitely not walking-distance, your friendly little neighbor (yall live in the same neighborhood) and you end up walking and waiting at the bus stop quite often, unless scaramouche's mom isn't too occupied with her girlfriend to drive him to school. you'll purposely sit next to him, just to piss him off, which works, but he'll take your hand in his anyways. if you breathe a word about it to anyone, though, he'll murder you.

cooking/baking (burning the house down) and failing miserably at it

he takes after his mum (ei), so i wouldn't suggest letting this emo boy within six feet of a stove or oven. of course, you ddin't know how bad it was until the two of you attempted to bake a birthday cake for his sister, qiqi. everything was going smoothly (minus the eggshells in the cake batter) until someone forgot to look after the oven. the cake (obviously) was ruined, burned black and was as hard as a brick. still, you had to make do with what you had, and scaramouche did some pretty decent icing work, even though qiqi refused to eat it, saying it'd break her teeth. another time, the two of you attempted to make a simple stir-fry, and apparently, scaramouche didn't understand that you had to stir slowly and carefully so that the food inside wouldn't spill out...you two ended up cleaning cabbage and chicken off of the stove for the rest of the night.

babysitting his (adoptive) sister qiqi

since ei is often busy at work and with her new girlfriend (pretty woman, her name's yae miko), scaramouche often finds himself looking after qiqi on his own. she doesn't really bug him while he's doing his homework, thankfully, but he does feel a tiny bit bad about leaving her with nothing to do. that's your cue. he'd call you to come over, and the two of you will probably just watch movies, play sorry or monopoly (scaramouche always seems to get bumped back or in jail), and stuff your faces with the chocolate ice cream in the fridge, even though ei specifically said no chocolate for qiqi. but rules were meant to be broken, no? and besides, he had to spoil his little sister some of the time, didn't he?

neat. 👏 freak. 👏 couple.

i swear, yall are a couple of fucking neat freaks (no offense). there ain't a spick of dust or a single pencil out of place in your guys' rooms and it CREEPS. ME. OUT. ahem, anyways. if your room (or his) ended up becoming dirty (which would probably never really happen to you, more on his side anyways), he'd probably help clean it up, but its mostly just you two vibing to the spotify playlist he set up.

he'll listen to you play the piano

whenever he's not busy, he'll pull up a seat next to you and just, quietly watch you play. he never comments about it, but if qiqi is in the same room, she'll clap her hands together slowly. she's actually quite fond of your piano music, and will probably ask you to teach 'gege' so he can teach her.

ngl, you probably insulted him

i'm not even gonna mince words here. you probably insulted him on his first day at your school. "damn, what happened to your horomones?" he glared at you and said that not all guys got the best of the gene pool. your day-to-day interactions with him at school has probably been mostly just you talking down on him and him just shooting insults right back at you 💀

he has to deal with you overworking yourself

he'll find you, laid out on your table, with exam papers spread out under your arms, snoring like a beast (no offense if you don't snore like that, or you don't snore at all-) and will gently place a blanket over you, along with a chaste forehead kiss. "the only reason you get better grades than me is because you overwork yourself so much," he'll murmur under his breath as he quickly finishes off whatever project or homework assignment you'd been working on.

matching bunny hats (yk, the ones w/the floppy ears <33)

he finds them ridiculous at first, but qiqi grew fond of them, and eventually, she was able to get him onboard about it. of course, you have to take a few (a lot of) photos, and even post a cute lil' couples tiktok of the two of you guys' ears flopping up in sync <33

#scaramouche x reader #scaramouche x you #scaramouche x y/n #scaramouche genshin impact #wanderer genshin impact #the balladeer #genshin x reader #genshin drabbles #genshin fanfic #genshin impact #( ﾉﾟｰﾟ)ﾉ leeo writes!

47 notes · View notes

happyocelot · 2 years

Text

Haku, Hinata, and Precious People

“When a person… has something important they want to protect… that’s when they can become truly strong.”

***

In this post, I’ll compare and contrast two different characters, their relationships, and their effects on Naruto, as well as clear up misconceptions and inaccuracies surrounding these characters and their roles in the story. These two are so similar, yet so different, that they’re worth exploring: Hyuuga Hinata and Haku.

Please note that this is just an essay and not intended for “bashing” purposes.

I’d just like to say that Hinata is one of my favorite Naruto characters, and NaruHina is the relationship I love the most within the series. I also really love Haku and find him to be a great and interesting character who set the tone for many of the recurring thematic elements in the series.

I’ll start with a brief description of Hinata as she’s presented to us in the manga. We’re first introduced to her in the Chuunin Exams, as a shy, timid girl with an aristocratic, overbearing, and abusive family, who disdain her because they believe she is weak. Her greatest attributes are her kindness, gentleness, and unwillingness to hurt others; these, combined with her fearful nature and serious self-esteem issues, make her unable to utilize her latent abilities to their fullest, a fact that her cousin Neji cruelly uses to browbeat her. She’s inspired to change herself thanks to Naruto’s encouragement and adopts the same ninja way as him - to never go back on one’s word. This newfound moral courage allows her to survive even the most hopeless situations, strengthen herself, and quite literally save the day, both against Pain and Obito.

Haku, unlike Hinata, was introduced a bit earlier, during the Land of Waves mission, the first arc of the series. Just like Hinata, he is known for being kind, gentle, and unwilling to hurt others. He is an orphan from the Land of Water with a rare ability called Ice Release and a tragic family history - he accidentally killed his father, who had killed Haku’s mother. The Land of Water was in a constant state of war, with kekkei genkai users hated, singled out, and targeted for special abuse. He inherited his Ice Release from his mother, who kept it a secret until his father found out and killed her and unsuccessfully tried to kill him. After these events, we are told that he was a lonely orphan who wandered the streets, hated by everyone and wanted by no one, until he was discovered by Zabuza, who valued him for his Ice Release and trained him to be the ultimate weapon; though he’s kind, Haku learns to kill his kindness in the service of Zabuza, who he credits as the first person to ever acknowledge him, thereby becoming a precious person to Haku.

Now, these two characters have a great many similarities as well as differences. As mentioned above, they are both kind and gentle people with miserable pasts, who credit an important person with acknowledging or saving them, people who became “precious” to them. However, Hinata’s character develops significantly more positively than Haku's for a variety of reasons.

To begin with: the nature of their inspirations is significantly different. Many, many anti-Hinata people like to make the claim that she’s not a strong character, that she’s weak, that her whole life revolves entirely around Naruto as his satellite, and that she has no significant ambitions or personality other than to be with Naruto. This is a massive mischaracterization of Hinata. She is Naruto’s friend and love interest in the story, that is true. This isn’t very different from Iruka, Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Killer B being described primarily as Naruto’s teachers, Team 7 as being Naruto’s new family, the Konoha 11 and Sand Siblings as being Naruto’s friends, or the Akatsuki as being Naruto’s enemies. Hinata does not stand out significantly in this regard; being Naruto's friend and love interest does not do her any particular disrespect in the series, as mostly every character is framed in this way.

More to the point, Hinata’s life does not revolve around dating Naruto, pleasing Naruto, making him happy, or even helping him reach his goal as Hokage. Her goal is actually to change herself, for herself, for her own self-improvement.

Even in scenes where she says she wants to walk with him side-by-side, holding his hand, this is presented as supplementing her aforementioned goal of changing herself, and does not actually overtake her goal of self-improvement. More tellingly, the imagery of walking side-by-side with someone and holding their hand is one of equals, not of one person revolving around another person like a satellite.

The only time she’s ever actively pursuing a relationship with Naruto is in the Last, a movie about how she and Naruto got together; even in her “confession” as she’s about to fight Pain, she merely explains to Naruto why she stepped in when he asks her why she’s there. She went in there to save him after he saved her. This is actually why I find people who complain that Naruto didn’t respond to her confession to be missing the point; that was never the intent of that scene (plus, Naruto had his own issues in not understanding entirely what she meant). If you remove all the romantic connotations of her relationship with Naruto, her character would survive intact and would most likely resemble Neji or Gaara’s development, two other characters who were in the “darkness” and were inspired to change because of Naruto (though oddly, they never seem to receive hate for this unlike Hinata).

Now, we move on to Haku. Unlike Hinata, Haku’s inspiration was Zabuza, and in Haku we find everything that Hinata is accused of being. Zabuza and Haku’s relationship is not presented as one of equals. Zabuza and Haku’s relationship is extremely unbalanced and unhealthy. Haku gives and Zabuza takes. Haku is a tool that Zabuza uses. Haku’s dream is only to make Zabuza's dream come true. He doesn’t even have a dream of his own, just his own. He compromises his kind nature by going along with Zabuza’s murderous behavior, perhaps not even seeing the need to stand up to him. He is literally a satellite of Zabuza. His character revolves entirely around Zabuza, and together this duo causes a huge amount of mayhem and destruction in the Land of Waves. He gives up his life for Zabuza, a man who never thanked him. It’s only after his death, after all was said and done, that Haku ever found out that he was important to Zabuza too. This is unlike Hinata, who actually challenges Naruto as he’s about to give up and slaps sense back into him.

One bond is constructive, the other is destructive. One bond fashions a kindhearted person into a tool for the whims and fancies of a murderous person, and the other makes a kindhearted person strong enough to inspire others in turn, without making them lose that essential quality of kindness, and prevents them both from falling into darkness and despair.

One is presented as a cruelty of the shinobi world that inspires Naruto to seek his own ninja way. The other is the culmination of Naruto’s ninja way.

And that, friends, is the difference between Hinata and Haku.

#hyuuga hinata #naruhina #naruto

36 notes · View notes

edsbacktattoo · 2 years

Note

Simple & soft asks: 9 & 15?

Hehehe thanks for the ask! 💘 From this ask game.

9: What’s a smell that reminds you of home?

This is going to sound so sad I’m sorry in advance ahahah, but I don’t think I have one?

I took my time to answer this question because I wanted to put a lot of thought into it. I tried to think of an answer for a long time, but it made me kind of sad when I couldn’t think of one. I didn’t have a very stable upbringing, so I never really had a home. Never a place that I would want to go back to, anyway. I’ve lived in houses, but they weren’t places where I belonged. Then I went to foster care, and it was very much the same, even with the family that ended up adopting me (and then later disowning me but eh you win some you lose some 🧍)

So I thought really hard about it. I think the best answer I can give is the smell of fresh, clean night time air in the summer. You know right after the sun goes down on a really hot day, and the air finally cools and the trees do their magic and it just smells amazing? Like you can forget about pollution and the planet dying for one glorious second to just breathe. Yeah, that. I think that’s the closest I have to a home smell. It’s makes me feel content and safe. I keep my windows open in summer, even with the threat of spiders.

I’m so sorry that’s such a miserable answer ahjsndkwnwkwn

15: Talk about something exciting or good that happened to you this year.

This one is super amazing ehehe!! I finally got to see Gorillaz live this year! They’ve been my favourite band for about 12 years, so it was a magical experience to see them in person. I was so fortunate and got to see them with my childhood best friend, and we got so close in the pit (photographic evidence below.)

The real kicker, though? I got the set list. The guitarist threw it right at me when the set finished. I have it framed! My best friend and I had this absolutely magical moment where we both realised what it was and stood hugging and spinning and crying on the floor of this stadium that was very quickly emptying out. I’ll never forget it! :’)

Some photos of how close we got and! a photo of my beloved set list from right after the concert. 💕

I am so so sorry this is such a long post but I had a lot of fun answering these questions!! Thank you again and I’m sorry if I made you sad lmao MWAH

#i know it probably doesn’t seem like it but i had so much fun writing this ahajsjwj #thanks again for the ask!! and i’m sorry for taking up a whole bunch of space on your dash of ur lookin at this rn #ask game

3 notes · View notes

pridewon · 2 years

Text

@flyhighest said: 21, 1, 19, 25, 10, 17 for sakuatsu :pleading: (sms prompts) 21. a long text && 1. a funny text && 19. a bad idea text && 25. a flirty text && 10. a loving text && 17. a comforting text

There is something wicked in the kingdom of Denmark.... or something like that. Perched atop one of the stool circling the kitchen island of Kiyoomi’s apartment, Atsumu contemplates, pensive, the nigh immobile silhouette of his partner lying on the couch, absorbed in a book (or expertly pretending to be entirely focused on a book). Knees resting on the counter, hands and fingers joined together before his lips, Atsumu watches, attentive, and squints. Kiyoomi is brooding. Now - this alone isn’t entirely unusual, but he likes to think he has learnt to differentiate between Kiyoomi’s usual brooding, and the brooding that says ‘something happened and I’m upset but I’d rather choke on my own pride than admit it to anyone, not even my handsome boyfriend’ (alright, maybe he made up that last part). This definitely feels like the latter - and Atsumu doesn’t like the thought of his favourite grumpy and prickly person suffering in silence, whatever the cause may be. Atsumu may be a jerk, but he cares, sometimes. Promise.

But - there is a but. Kiyoomi, he knows from experience, is more closed off than an oyster fresh out of the water. If he doesn’t want to talk, he won’t. If he doesn’t want to be near him, he won’t be (which is a tragedy in and of itself, but that is a different kind of problem). Anything Atsumu is of the mind to try now, will fail. Lazy brown eyes shift from Kiyoomi to the coffe table next to them; whereupon rests their phone. Hm.

Alright. If Kiyoomi won’t talk to him, he’ll try something else. Nimble fingers fish out his own phone from his pocket, and starts typing.

[to: omi-kun - 17:35] Omi-Omi ~ I know you’re mad, though I don’t know why you’re mad, but I have to let you know that this is no excuse to not talk to me or even look at me, and I am feeling so lonely, I may just walk out the door and go adopt a cat that will leave hair eeeeeeverywhere in your apartment :(

Atsumu presses send, and continues to tap while pretending to ignore the ding! going off next to his partner. Fortunately, Kiyoomi picks up their phone (his plan would have failed miserably otherwise); and even at this distance, Atsumu can feel the frown forming between their brow. Hehe. Good - now that he has their attention, he presses send again.

[to: omi-kun - 17:35] Before you kick me out, that was a joke. I’d rather you sulk at me and my stupid ideas than on your own at some mysterious enemy you’re keeping to yourself :) Now that I have your full and undivided attention, how about I make you some tea and run you a nice bath to get that scowl off your pretty face? I’ll even slip into the water with you if you want ;))) anything to take your mind off of whatever is upsetting you. ‘cuz I love you, or something like that.

Atsumu waits, and watches; and once Kiyoomi looks up from their phone, he flashes him his most innocent smile. “So?”

#flyhighest #(miya a; interactions)#THIS COMBINATION WTH CASSI #I LOVE IT #I don't know if you wanted me to combine them all like i did or if you wanted something else but THSI WAS SO MUCH FUN

3 notes · View notes

vitos-ordination-song · 6 months

Text

Sobriety has been weird. I could discuss it further but for now I’ll just focus on how breaking my psychological dependency on all substances has coincided with an ability to sleep. My earliest memories, going all the way back to when I was a toddler, are of not being able to sleep. It started when my parents adopted my second brother and they moved me to a room of my own. I was terrified to sleep alone. I never had nightmares really, though I can remember that being how adults explained what was happening to me. What I had was sleep anxiety—anxiety about the period before sleep. In third grade, it got so bad that I don’t think I slept more than a couple hours a night the entire year.

Some of it stemmed from fear, little kid fears, which are actually deeper and longer lasting than most people realize. I had a kind of existential dread and terror of the unknown which I still recall vividly. It’s also connected to being unable to stop thinking, and being unable to give up conscious control. I can remember having loop after loop as a kid where I would realize I was falling asleep, and just realizing it would prevent me from sleeping. I started to dread going to bed—it built up into such a huge thing in my mind and I would be nervous about it all day.

Finally, my parents completely mismanaged the situation and made it way worse. I’m not sure why they’re like this but they genuinely believed that everything their kids did that bothered them was on purpose. My brothers were punished for wetting the bed, and I was punished for not sleeping. There was a literal panopticon situation going on where they would check on us all night and get mad if we weren’t sleeping. How relaxing. When I started seriously freaking out about sleep, all I got was annoyance. I had many a long night standing completely frozen outside the living room, listening to my parents talk (often shit talk about their kids actually), until one of them got up to get more alcohol, saw me, and shoed me away to bed. It got so bad that I eventually asked them if I was demon possessed, completely seriously. Christian brain will do that to you.

Anyway, I kept having sleep issues to varying degrees as I grew up. I was chronically exhausted during my miserable high school years. The overt anxiety lessened, but I had an aversion to going to bed—I used to wish and wish that I didn’t have to sleep, that I could just have all those hours to myself. Growing up in a controlling home with three siblings probably had something to do with it; I reclaimed the night as my time to make myself feel better, after long days of unhappy work.

A lot of my troubles started with that awful stay in a mental hospital. Family issues forced me in and I was only allowed out if I took the drugs. Lexapro sent me into a horrible sleepless night. My concentration broke, I couldn’t focus, I felt scared, disoriented, dizzy, and I wanted off the damn things. When I complained that the drug was just making me sick, the doctors just prescribed me seraquel, a powerful antipsychotic, to make me sleep. And make me sleep it did! I was highly sensitive to it, actually halving the low dose they gave me. If I took one at 6pm, I would fall asleep around 9, sleep the full night, and be up in time for my freshman college courses. It was a relief to be able to sleep, even if they were a bit too powerful for me, and I took them a long time after I stopped Lexapro. I’m definitely weird bc I hear that other ppl had a lot of side effects from it but it only ever made me sleep.

So that was where the association of using a drug to solve my night time problem began, I suppose. I never liked the Kaiser psychiatrist so I stopped going even before I distanced myself from my family. I also didn’t like that seraquel would take up so much of my day—I would sleep 10-12 hours on it, and I’d also have to take them early because otherwise I couldn’t wake up. I ended up only using them to ensure a night’s sleep when I really needed it, and I’ve long since run out.

In 2019, my life went off the rails, and I started drinking. I was doing weed before that, but drinking is where things really went haywire. Notably, in both cases, I’ve only ever used at night. The anxiety was there—like, I’m not gonna be okay unless I’m doing a drug at night. Only the drug will help me cope with the time I have to kill before bed. A lot of that had to do with loneliness and the many problems in my life. Drinking would just put me to sleep with no problem, while weed would help me dissociate.

Even this last year when I’ve been more sober, only doing weed on the weekends, I still haven’t been sleeping the other days. I just never wanted to. I resisted it. And I never felt like going to bed, I never got sleepy, sleep was rarely appealing to me, except in the mornings when I had to get up for work.

I’ve been thinking about getting sober, taking a long term break from all substances and doing them more sparingly, ending my psychological dependence, for some time. It tends to happen all of a sudden for me, and I’m glad it’s finally clicked. I’ve been feeling really good, healthy, more energetic despite recovering from sickness. I knew I’d be healthier if I stopped doing weed regularly. But I was not expecting to have the sleep problem solved. That goes back so far in my psyche.

It must be that I’m healing the thing that caused both my addiction and my sleep problems. I feel more and more mature lately. I’ve been thinking about maturing for a long time, thinking about changing myself, but I had many frustrating years where my desires weren’t aligning with my actions. All of a sudden, things are clicking into place. The fear is subsiding. The deep rift in my personality is closing (this is where I could talk more about how weed actually helped on this front but I’ll leave it. Suffice it to say that getting sober was the last stage in the process). I’m letting go of control, learning to relax, and becoming more in tune with my body. I can sleep now. I want to sleep now. I want to dream. I want to have flying dreams like I had when I was a child.

0 notes

enderexplorer1212 · 1 year

Text

Coyote Club Chapter 4

Fuck me man, it is cold. I knew there would be like this fucking cold snap over the weekend, but still, it is damn cold. Even had to get out my fucking jacket which I like barely fucking wear due to my fur. I guess this is like the main advantage of having fur, not having to freeze to death in the winter. I guess it’s one of the advantages of living in like fucking Empire rather than South Santee, although I imagine it gets cold on the great plains, I don’t know. But yeah, it is fucking cold as hell, can’t imagine how Canaans are tolerating this. Then again, summer is pretty god damn miserable. Whatever, I’m making my way to the dining hall. At least that way I don’t have to stay outside for too long. Last night was like super fucking windy, like I could hear it loud and fucking clear. Whatever, lets get this shit fucking over with so I don’t have to spend more than 5 minutes outside. Ok, made it to the dining hall, jesus, who knew it could be so fucking close yet so fucking far away at the same time. Whatever, I think Abraham’s here right now, Gabriel should be coming soon. Probably getting clothes on or whatever. No fucking clue where Abraham’s meant to be, let me ask him. Oh god I hate texting dude, fuck what do I say. “Hey, where are you?” That should work hopefully. I don’t know man, I just don’t like texting at all, feels too painful. Same with emails, although thankfully I don’t have to email my friends all the time. Only my teachers, which, actually, yeah that’s worse. Let’s see, Gabriel sent an image of a cat with the caption «boioioioioing», that’s good. Oh, Abraham’s already in the cafeteria, I guess I’ll go there. I guess Gabriel also already knows where we are, which is good I guess. Uh, fuck, what do I want to get. I’m not like great with eating or whatever man. Uh, fuck, they had like this buffalo chicken sandwich last time that was fucking awful as hell, so not getting anything like that. I know they have pizza, that’s always an option, but honestly, as I explained to my parents when they were asking me about food, the pizza’s kinda mid to be honest. Burgers aren’t great either, and they don’t always serve them. God, I don’t fucking know man, I’ll just get the fucking pizza so I can just fucking nibble on it or whatever. What do I want to get for a side though? They have those cereal dispenser things that I’ll sometimes use for like a side, but they don’t have any good cereals today. I know theres the salad bar where they have stuff. Oh damn, they have those little tomatoes, love those things. Tomatoes are like the only fruit I tolerate, along with apples. I don’t know, apparently some people hate tomatoes, but honestly, I don’t mind them. Ooh, they have cookies, I’ll be taking that one, heh. Alright, now to wherever the fuck Abraham is. He probably blends in with like the fifty fucking other white people here. I know for a fact that he can see me though, as I’m the only Coyote in the entire fucking university. Oh shit, there he is, waving at me.

「Hey, how's it going?」”It’s going pretty good, how about you?” 「I’m doing fine, thanks for asking. So do you know when Gabriel’s going to get here?」”Uh, no I don’t, but I don’t think he’ll be too long, since he usually does show up on time, even if he’s a little late.” 「So, I didn’t get the chance to ask this, but what tribe are you from?」”Oh, I’m from the Kékek tribe, up in like South Santee or something.” 「Great, but which specific tribe are you from?」Oh god, I knew this question was coming. “I, uh, don’t know.” 「What do you mean you don’t know?」”Well, I was adopted by a white family when I was a baby, so I don’t actually know which tribe I’m from. I think I was just like left at an orphanage with no further information about why I was left there.” 「Oh, that’s, sad?」”Maybe, but it’s whatever. I mean, I like it here, and my family is cool and all, you know that being adopted, right? I mean, it would be cool or something to know who my biological parents were or something, but at the same time it’s like, you know they left me, so I don’t know maybe they didn’t want me. And if that’s the case, then like I don’t know if I want to meet them because it’s like, what if they hate me or like don’t care about me? And it’s like I know I shouldn’t be worried about that and all, but it’s like there’s still that lingering thought in my mind of like, I don’t actually want to meet them. But at the same time I kinda do, but not entirely. It’s weird, you know?” 「Oh, no yeah I get you. It’d be cool to meet my biological parents too, although I know just about as much as you do, that I was from somewhere in Maine.」 That reminds me, what is his life like? I mean, he actually lived on a reservation and all, so like he should know what it was like on a reservation since like I don’t fucking live on one.

«Oh, hey, sorry for being late, I had to work on stuff, sorry.» Again, a lie. Gabriel doesn’t do anything on Saturdays. I know this for a fact. “Oh, you didn’t miss anything, we were just discussing stuff about each other.” 「Oh, yeah, I asked this question to Phillip already, but what tribe are you from? I didn’t get the chance to ask the other day.」 «Oh, I’m from the Nadene tribe, more specifically the Grey Hill Nadene.» 「Oh, cool, have you been to the reservation by any chance?」 «No, I haven’t. My parents went there once before I was born, but I’ve never been there. So I don’t know what it’s like to be honest.» 「Huh, so the two Coyote on the entirety of this campus have never been to whatever reservation or tribe they’re from?」 Oh shit, he found us out, fuck, I hope he doesn’t fucking hate us or something. 「Not that it matters, just kinda funny I guess. So, how’d you two meet each other?」 Ok, good, he doesn’t hate us, great. «Oh, well, Phillip was in one of my classes, I think Math, and I noticed that he was Coyote and I thought, oh, shit, that’s cool cause I didn’t know there were other Coyote students on campus. So I went up to him and basically said that hey, I’m Coyote too, and so we started hanging out on Saturdays.» That’s mostly accurate I guess, although it took him like 3 months before he actually talked to me, although I don’t think I should mention that since it’ll probably come off as pretty rude which isn’t cool.

「Interesting, how are your classes going?」 «Oh, they’re going pretty good, although physics is pretty annoying since I have to do shit with electricity and it’s fucking annoying cause like, they don’t have these good reference tables or equations or anything so I can’t rely on my knowledge of prior physics to get me by, you know. To be honest, I’m kind of like, afraid, of what I’ll do in next year, since I won’t be able to recall back to like my high school physics class in that case. I just hope that I can do good this semester as well, since to be honest, I haven’t done great with my classes last semester. I’ve been trying to like improve my grades and stuff this semester, mostly by actually doing my homework since I kinda neglected it at the end of last semester, but I’m still having a lot of trouble since it’s like so hard, you know?» Man, that sure is one hell of a rant there. Don’t know how he manages to do physics when it’s like one of the main classes I struggled with in high school. Still don’t know what the equation for water pressure is. 「Neat, and what about you Phillip?」 Oh shit uh “Uh, they’ve been going alright I guess. Chemistry’s kinda tough, but overall I guess I’m getting the hang of it.” That’s a lie, I am doing not great with chemistry right now. “My other classes are going fine as well.” That’s true, I am doing good with some of my other classes.

「That’s good, what majors are you two in by the way? I’m an econ major.」 Huh, I don’t know if that improves or decreases my opinion of him. «I’m a physics major, mainly because physics is actually pretty easy since it’s just math, but without having to do integrals which are fucking annoying I hate them.» “I’m a chemistry major, since I’m pretty good with chemistry and stuff, why’d you pick economics?” 「I decided to do economics since it seems like it’ll get me a pretty well paying job, especially since my family was kinda poor growing up.」 Damn, now I feel kinda bad for him if I’m being honest. «You mentioned you live on a reservation?» 「Yeah, I do, why?」 «Oh, I wanted to know what living on a reservation is like, since obviously we don’t have much experience, heh.» Huh, that’s a pretty good question. 「Oh, well, to be honest, it’s not really organized like other reservations. Also technically, they weren’t established until like a few years ago, but whatever. To be honest, it’s kind of like any other small rural town in Sequoyah if I’m being honest. Only thing is that there were a bunch of other Coyote there, since it’s Coyote land.」 Huh, kind of what I expected if I’m being honest. “Do you know the language by any chance?” 「Yeah, a little bit, but not enough to be fluent or anything. My parents aren’t fluent either, and not many people in town actually knew the language. But I still do know a little bit. Let me see, 」 I can’t tell what he’s saying now, probably because he’s speaking in Onategoren. “What does that mean?” 「It’s a little phrase that means something like Hello, how are you doing, although I’m not sure how you pronounce the last bit. Do either of you know any of your languages?」 No “No, I don’t, as I said, I was adopted so I didn’t really get a chance to learn my language. I do know a little bit of Spanish since I took it in high school, but nowhere near enough to be actually fluent in it.” «I know a little bit of Nadene, since I have a book that’s a Nadene to English dictionary, but I’m not good with nasal vowels or the tones, and I have no idea what the grammar is like. » Don’t know what he’s saying either, although I can definitely tell it doesn’t come off as naturally as how Abraham said it. Also he keeps pausing in the middle of words for some reason. «That meant Hi, my name is Gabriel. What is your name? But with like shitty grammar so it’s just Hi, my name Gabriel. Your name? So it’s not good.» “Well, it’s better than me definitely.” «Heh, yeah I guess.»

「Hey, sorry, but I have to get going actually, I have a thing I gotta get to, but it was great talking with y’all, really interesting.」 «Yeah, you too, bye!» “Bye!” Shit, now what, I kinda already finished my meal, but Gabriel hasn’t yet, don’t want to leave him alone, but like I kinda want to go back to my dorm now that I’m not actually doing anything. “Hey, sorry, but I gotta go too, but it was cool catching up with you and Abraham, but I gotta get going, so uh, bye.” «Alright, bye!» Shit, that felt awkward, but still, getting to learn more about Abraham was pretty cool, since it looks like he doesn’t really know as much about Coyote as I thought he did, or maybe not I don’t know. Still pretty cool.

Took 2 weeks to finish, woops, but whatever, it's done, and I should be able to get more writing in, but don't count on it.

#furry #anthro #story #writing #creative wrting #coyote #my story

0 notes

mousedetective · 3 years

Text

Disabled Queer Woman Needs Help...Please Don’t Delete?

Okay. So I’m putting everything in one post so I don’t have to reblog a bunch of them.

I am in serious need of help. I had to take out over $1000 in payday loans to cover various things this month, and then when I took out a $700 loan to help pay those down at an exorbitant rate (when I’m done paying the loan back in a year, I’ll have paid over $3,000 because of the interest) I had to pay off three bills instead. So while I have no regular bills to pay, I still owe the loans.

I also lost my food stamps last month, and it was used to feed myself, my mother and my teenage son. I got $138 a month plus an extra $99 for the pandemic, but that still isn’t enough to feed my son, even though I only have him on weekends. My mother has broken teeth which makes chewing hard, my son is autistic so he has food favorites which are all he wants to eat, and I just want to have a pantry where I can make a meal.

Speaking of my mother, she has to travel all over San Diego to get her broken teeth taken care of. She has four root canals coming up in three separate appointments, plus she has to have an oral surgeon remove the broken teeth/dead roots, and then, eventually, she’ll hopefully get bridges for her missing teeth. She’s also a breast cancer survivor who didn’t get breast reconstruction at the time of her double mastectomy, so she’s getting it now and running into problems with the expander she had put in (one side of her chest inflates, but the side that was radiated isn’t inflating more than what it already has no matter what they do so she has to have a flap surgery, which means she stays overnight for that appointment). We have to go to Solana Beach from Fallbrook every week for them to expand her other side so we need gas money/gas cards for that, and I need to get Uber gift cards to get her to and from the hospital for the surgery/surgeries since I don’t drive.

And regarding my son, his adoptive family is...not the nicest (his adoptive mother is looking into putting my son in a group home, even though he’s 18). They make us travel from Fallbrook to Old Town Transit Center twice a week to pick my son up for weekend visits and then drop him off. It takes us half a tank of gas each trip, so that’s $40 (not counting food) to have him for the weekend. And he’s so miserable at home (his highlight is three group therapy/day trip with other people like him vists a week) and he begs to come stay with us every week. L, his adoptive mother, offers no help with gas, food or clothes (he comes in one outfit and is expected to go home in a clean one that he didn’t come to my home in). So I need at least $40 a week for that, like I said, not counting food and clothes.

I am drowning in debt and stress. I need so much help and I don’t know what to do. I beg for help and sometimes I get lucky but most often I don’t and friends need to step in, but they can’t always help. I can’t keep doing payday loans and I need to get rid of that $700 as swiftly as possible, which if I can pay it in full on the 3rd will be $1,000 with fees.

These are the ways I can accept monetary payments:

PayPal - [email protected]

Cashapp - $afteriwake23

Venmo - @penaltywaltz

I also have an Amazon Wishlist to help with things we need now, things we need when my mom goes to surgery and other things we need in the future. I need one box of cat litter and some of the jasmine tea now (I can’t drink soda, it makes me sick, so I drink a lot of tea), and anything else anyone can help with. It’s located at https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2IYLMSXNYF5HY?ref_=wl_share.

Please help if you can, or reblog if you can’t. I don’t know what else to do. I reblog posts for anyone in need and I hope people will return the favor and reblog this while I’m in need. Thank you and may you be blessed today.

#signal boost #donations #urgent #please donate #please reblog #please help #donate #mutual aid #queer #disabled #need help #crowdfunding #crowdsourcing #fundraising #amazon wishlist #please share #please send me stuff

597 notes · View notes

robininthelabyrinth · 3 years

Note

We’ve heard Jiang Fengmian as WWX’s bio father, now it’s time for Lan Qiren as secretly his father. (Please no Wangxian for this one!)

ao3

“You want me to what,” Lan Qiren said.

“Be the father of my child,” Cangse Sanren said. Simply and straightforwardly, as if that were just a thing people said.

Casually.

To their friends.

To their – as far as he knew – platonic friends!

“You’re married,” he stressed.

“Yes, Qiren-xiong, I’m aware,” Cangse Sanren said, her eyes bright with mirth. “I was even there through some of the festivities. Though not all, of course, since the bride gets sent away far too early at these things, and of course then there was all the liquor –”

“Cangse Sanren,” Lan Qiren said through gritted teeth, wishing not for the first time that his friend had an actual name rather than merely a title – something he could use or not use to emphasize his feelings on the subject.

She laughed at him, because of course she did.

“Let me explain,” she said, probably because she sensed that he was considering stabbing her if she didn't. “Lao Wei and I –”

“Aren’t you older than he is?” Lan Qiren asked, dubious. “Possibly by several centuries?”

“Humans call their husbands that,” Cangse Sanren said, waving her hands at him. “Don’t bother me with details.”

“…you’re human, right?”

“Of course! This is the fourth time you’ve asked, and the answer hasn’t changed. Why would you ever think otherwise?”

“The way that you continuously refer to – no, I’m not letting you distract me this time. Explain yourself!”

Cangse Sanren giggled into her sleeve. “We want children,” she said. “But he can’t, you see. Wrong parts. So we need someone else to be the sire, and I want it to be you.”

“Why?”

More giggling. “Because I like you. And why not?”

“And Wei Changze agreed to this?” Lan Qiren asked, slightly appalled. He knew Cangse Sanren well enough to assume that the answer had to be yes, and yet still...

“Yes, he did, but you’re welcome to talk with him directly. In fact, I encourage it.”

“Perhaps I will,” Lan Qiren said.

Wei Changze was a pleasant person, even if he and Lan Qiren weren’t direct friends – Lan Qiren was a bit too inflexible and serious, Wei Changze a little too free-spirited and light-hearted, so they’d never entirely bonded, but they were both very fond of Cangse Sanren in all her strangeness, each in their own way, and that was enough of a basis for a decent relationship.

“I’d be honored if you would agree,” Wei Changze said when Lan Qiren asked. “You’re my wife’s favorite person besides me – why not you?”

Lan Qiren could think of many, many reasons why not.

“I don’t want to impact your relationship with her,” he said cautiously, and Wei Changze blinked at him as if to say how would it do that? “If jealousy were to arise…”

“I don’t think that will be a problem,” Wei Changze said.

“…you understand that if I agree to your proposal, I would be sleeping with your wife.”

“Oh yes,” Wei Changze said. “Several times, I hope. We've got to make sure it takes, after all. On that note, can I watch?”

Lan Qiren was a man aware of his dignity. It was beneath his dignity to flail around like a teenager.

He flailed regardless.

“You don’t have to let me if you don’t want to,” Wei Changze said, but he was pouting. “I guess. I just think it’d be hot, that’s all.”

Lan Qiren put his head in his hands.

“You’re bright red,” Wei Changze observed. “Does that mean you’ll do it?”

“I don’t even like Cangse Sanren that way,” Lan Qiren said, voice muffled by his palms. “I mean, I like her, but I don’t – like her. Romantically. At all.”

“And I’m very happy about that,” Wei Changze said soothingly. “As is she, being as she married me and not you. You don’t need to have romantic or even sexual feelings about her, you just need to platonically bang her a few times.”

“…I will do it provided you never refer to it that way ever again.”

“Deal,” Wei Changze said, and grinned, waving his wife in through the door; she bounded in like a lion on the hunt, smelling blood.

“Additionally, we should be clear about what we expect regarding the child,” Lan Qiren said, even though he was already being carted along to the bed by Cangse Sanren’s excessive momentum and Wei Changze’s entirely unnecessary assistance in removing his clothing. “Obviously any child will be yours in every respect, legally and emotionally and otherwise, both of you, but if possible I would still like to see him –”

“Of course,” Cangse Sanren said agreeably, removing his pants. “Whenever you like.”

“Something is wrong,” Lan Qiren said firmly.

Yu Ziyuan scowled at him, even as her husband frowned thoughtfully. “Cangse Sanren is a rogue cultivator,” she said acidly. “It is not unusual for rogue cultivators to go a few months without contacting their friends in the cultivation world.”

“We have an agreement that she would come by once every season or else send word. She has not missed a single instance, and yet now she does.”

“Why would she agree to meet so regularly with you? We barely see her once a year, if that,” Yu Ziyuan asked, and Lan Qiren knew her issues with Cangse Sanren were actually issues with Jiang Fengmian, but it still irritated him to be used as a pawn in their troubled marriage.

“If you do not intend to help me search, then just say so,” he said heavily. “I fear that something has happened to her, and I intend to find her; I would like your help, but will proceed without it if need be. If all is well and she just decided not to come, and also not to send word or any other sign, then I will apologize for the inconvenience and repay you any monies expended. But if not…”

“I will help,” Jiang Fengmian said, and Yu Ziyuan looked on the verge of exploding.

“I’ll leave you to sort that out,” Lan Qiren said, shaking out his sleeves and leaving at once. As per their agreement, Cangse Sanren brought Wei Ying to the Cloud Recesses once every season or else sent word explaining her absence – the lack of any word this time was deeply troubling. After all, in the end, despite Cangse Sanren’s relatively humble goals and low-key life, there was always that doom said to be associated with those who left the immortal mountain…

He worried.

He’d planned to tell Cangse Sanren about He Kexin’s death during her present visit, had hoped that Wei Ying’s presence might help lift Lan Zhan’s mood after the loss of his mother and give him some comfort – Wei Ying was Lan Zhan’s favorite person in all the world, bar none, and he had waited so anxiously, if wordlessly, for him to arrive during the month that they expected Cangse Sanren and her family to come. And yet the days ticked by and he didn’t arrive at all…

Lan Qiren worried.

Still, with Jiang Fengmian’s help, and of course the Nie sect’s – Lao Nie hadn’t hesitated to agree, even though unlike Jiang Fengmian he did not have a personal connection to either Cangse Sanren or Wei Changze and was acting wholly on account of his friendship with Lan Qiren – they would be able to cover a great deal of the cultivation world, especially given that Cangse Sanren disliked both Lanling Jin and Qishan Wen and was unlikely to venture into either of their territories.

They would find her.

He hoped that they would find her.

“Well, that was a meeting full of revelations,” Lao Nie said, eyes curved into crescents of mirth. “The only thing that would have made it better is if you’d ended your sentence with ‘so fuck off’. You know, so that it would’ve been ‘Because he’s my biological son, so fuck off’.”

“It isn’t anyone else’s business,” Lan Qiren said querulously. “I don’t consider him my son – he’s Wei Changze’s son! His surname is Wei for a reason! The exact mechanics of his conception are private-”

“Are they? Too bad, I’d have liked to hear about it.”

“Lao Nie!”

“What? It’d be hot.”

“Wei Changze said the same thing,” Lan Qiren grumbled. “What is wrong with all you people? Anyway, that was not my point; we can discuss your sexual titillation later. My point is that Wei Ying should not have a shadow cast over his parentage – I should not have had to reveal that fact at any point.”

“You had no choice,” Lao Nie said, not without sympathy. “Given that Wei Changze was a former disciple of the Lotus Pier, Jiang Fengmian had the better claim to custody absent that fact. Never mind that you were Cangse Sanren’s close friend, or that they came to visit you more often; never mind that Yu Ziyuan is to this day only barely able to restrain her jealousy and hatred of the pair of them and would be made miserable by the boy’s presence on the Lotus Pier, and possibly make his life miserable in return; never mind that Jiang Fengmian already grossly favors the boy over his own children, a surefire recipe for disaster…you had to say what you said, Qiren. Wei Ying will be better off at the Cloud Recesses.”

“He’ll be a disaster at the Cloud Recesses,” Lan Qiren said, rubbing his temples. “He’s as free-spirited as his parents were. That’s the only hesitation I have…if it weren’t for all the other things you mentioned, Yu Ziyuan’s jealousy and the favoritism and all that, I would think he’d be better off among the Jiang.”

“He will make a very unique Lan,” Lao Nie acknowledged. “But he’ll be an adopted cousin to your nephews, and they’ll grow up as brothers. A-Zhan will be delighted.”

“Yes,” Lan Qiren said, acknowledging the point. At least there was that. “Yes, he will.”

“Maybe I’ll have a talk with Jiang Fengmian,” Lao Nie said, more to himself than Lan Qiren. “That poor Jiang boy, no one deserves to grow up with a real-life person being ‘another person’s child’. Perhaps I’ll see about inviting the boy over to the Unclean Realm more often. A-Sang could use a playmate…”

“You’re weird for a Lan,” Jiang Cheng said.

“That’s because I’m not a Lan,” Wei Wuxian laughed. “I’m a Wei! Lan Zhan’s a Lan, Xichen-da-ge is a Lan, but I’m not. Don’t let the white robes mislead you.”

Jiang Cheng coughed. “That’s not – what I meant.”

Wei Wuxian blinked at him.

“Well,” Jiang Cheng said, abruptly looking extremely awkward. “Your father’s a Lan, isn’t he? Teacher Lan.”

“Oh, that! No, he’s not. Easy mistake to make,” Wei Wuxian assured him. “Lots of people think that, what with me knowing the Lan sect rules backwards and forwards and upside down – mostly so that I can haggle my punishments down when I break them, that's how I learn them best – but actually I’m Wei Changze’s son.”

Jiang Cheng’s face was red. “But…my dad said…”

“He helped,” Wei Wuxian conceded, tapping his nose meaningfully. “That’s why I’m so pretty! But Wei Changze was the one that wanted me, Wei Changze’s the one who gave me his surname; it’s his grave I sweep during Qingming. If you like, you can think of me as having been adopted into the Wei family; that’s common enough, isn’t it?”

“I guess so,” Jiang Cheng said, blinking. And then he said, sounding doubtful, “Do you really know all those rules?”

“All of them! You have no idea how much trouble you can make with a good set of rules.” Wei Wuxian grinned. “Want to see?”

“I – can we?”

“No,” Nie Mingjue said, stepping into the room. He looked tired, as always, but Wei Wuxian thought that there was never a time when he didn’t, certainly ever since he became sect leader too early. Lan Xichen was always worrying about him, and Lan Qiren, too, and since they were worried, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji had figured they might as well get in on the action. “Not in the Unclean Realm you can’t. Save it for the Lotus Pier, since the Cloud Recesses are too wise to you now.”

“No one is truly wise to my wicked ways,” Wei Wuxian boasted, and Nie Huaisang poked his head out from behind Nie Mingjue’s back and waved – he’d been dragged away to saber training, leaving Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng to try to make friends without him. Without Lan Wangji, too, which was even more unfair; how was Wei Wuxian supposed to represent the gentle snow and wild wind without his other half?

Stupid seclusion. Wei Wuxian was with his uncle in disliking it even when it was necessary.

Though Jiang Cheng was kind of cool…

“This is,” Lan Qiren informed Cangse Sanren’s memorial tablet, “entirely your fault.”

Despite her son’s newfound demonic cultivation skills – or his taste for revenge: he had taken the burning of the Cloud Recesses very personally, and the attack on the Lotus Pier, and so on his best friend Jiang Cheng, very nearly as badly, and that, somehow, had inspired him in new and even more uncontrolled ways – there was no response from the grave.

And yet, somehow, Lan Qiren suspected that he could hear her laughing at him.

#mdzs #lan qiren #cangse sanren #wei changze #sect leader nie #wei wuxian #jiang cheng #my fic #my fics

502 notes · View notes

storiesbyjes2g · 2 years

Text

Thursday was not our day. Not one of us came home happy. I'll start with me. First of all, the adoption person didn't show last night. We waited for them until about 9:30 before they called and told us they weren't coming. Something had happened at the adoption center around the time I made our request, and they had already canceled all pending adoptions. I supposed ours got lost in translation. Needless, Alessia and I were pretty bummed.

Second, my CEO is also a jerk and didn't appreciate anything I did for him. Some kind of way, I was nominated to be in charge of getting him a gift from the office. All the regional managers knew him way better than I did, but noooo. They wanted the new girl to do it. I got him a gift card because one could never go wrong with gift cards. Or so I thought. I realized work wasn't always fun, and sometimes difficult things make way for great things. But I shouldn't be miserable all the time. Literally everything I've done at this job has blown up in my face! I wasn't sure if I even wanted to do it anymore. One of my coworkers said I just needed a vacation, but I wasn't so sure that would help. I had never enjoyed my time there, so maybe it was time to call it quits. But that was a much bigger decision than I could make during my lunch break. I needed a plan. Quitting without another job lined up felt irresponsible, even though I would be just fine financially. But was another job what I needed? I made almost as much money per week making candles super part time as I brought home from work. Imagine what I could do with more time to dedicate to my business! When I was less emotional, I planned to think about it more seriously.

Luca had brought a friend from school home, but they weren't having a good time from what I saw. I wasn't sure if they had argued, but whatever the problem, I blamed the boy. I'd never seen my sweet son's face wrinkled like that ever! But I also had a plummy day and couldn't bring myself to ask what was the matter. The boy went home shortly after I arrived, anyway.

I retreated to my room in attempts to gather myself and be a bit friendlier to my children, but it was futile. My problem was deeper than just a bad day. It was more like a crisis. I hadn't seen Alessia yet, so I went to her room to say hello and found Luca instead, doing homework at her desk. My kids were so weird. They each had their own room with a desk to do their work, yet they preferred the other one's room.

He was in a slightly better state than earlier, but still not the even-keeled boy I was used to. I asked him where was his sister, but he appeared startled by my tone. I apologized for it and said I didn't have the best day. He replied saying he and Alessia had rough days too, though he didn't go into any detail.

"Maybe we should all do yoga together," he said.

He was really into this yoga thing! I was both surprised and proud. Some adults, including myself, didn't figure out what made them emotionally mindful until well into adulthood. But my brilliant son already knew what did it for him. That was such a proud mom's moment. I only wish I were less irritable to enjoy it.

#ISBI challenge #sims 4 story #sims 4 gameplay #sims story #adolting #adolting gen 2 #Emerald Pope #Luca Winston Murillo #the kids were tense but had no tense moodlet #it was weird

42 notes · View notes

euterpessi · 3 years

Text

Romance Manhwa/Manga Recommendations:

Historical Manhwa/Manga:

Death Is The Only Ending For The Villainess

I’ve reincarnated as the reverse harem game’s villainess, the one and only adopted daughter of the ducal Eckart family.

But the difficulty just has to be the worst!

Everything I do will only lead me to death.

I must be paired with one of the main male characters from the heroine’s harem before the ‘real daughter’ of the duke family appears!

Two older brothers who always pick a fight with me on every little thing.

The insane crown prince whose route will always lead to my death.

‘I only see the heroine and no one else’s wizard, and also her loyal slave knight, too!

‘First, let’s take some of them which I see no hope in, out of the list!’

“I didn’t know my place up until now. From now on, I’ll live as quiet as a mouse so you wouldn’t care the slightest bit!

But why do their interests in me keep on rising every time I draw the line?!

The Villainess is a Marionette

Cayena, the Imperial Princess, was known as the most beautiful woman in the Empire. She was a woman who knew nothing but evil and luxury.

However, she was destined for ruin: she would be used as a chess piece by her younger brother to secure his throne and killed by her crazy husband.

“I’ll make you the Emperor.”

“… Sister, are you referring to me?”

“In exchange, give me freedom.”

She had to change things before she became that Cayena.

The Reason Why Raeliana Ended Up At The Duke’S Mansion

Poisoned to death by her own betrothed?! Eunha didn’t wake up in a novel’s story just to get killed off again as an unfortunate extra! To change her story she needs a cover… 6 months pretending to be the fake fiancée of the novel’s male protagonist, Duke Noah Wynknight. But will this cold-hearted, angel-faced demon of a man really help her avoid another ill-fated ending?!

Your Throne / I Want to Be You, Just For A Day

The story follows main characters Medea Solon and Psyche Callista, who become archenemies after competing for the position of crown princess of the Vasilios Empire. On the day of the Yearly Prayer, Medea and Psyche accidentally switch bodies.

The Remarried Empress

Navier was the perfect empress, however, the Emperor wanted a wife, not a colleague. And so, the Emperor abandoned Empress Navier and placed an enslaved girl beside him. That was fine until Navier heard the Emperor promise the slave the Empress’ position. After many ups and downs, Navier decided she would accept being the Queen of the neighbouring country and remarry.

Kill The Villainess

Eris Mizerian was the villainess of a novel. The only daughter of a marquis, she got executed after scheming against the pure and lovely protagonist, Helena. My only goal, after possessing her, is simply to leave this world and go home. I am prepared to face even death, but the laws of this world keep stopping me.

A changed Eris begins to draw the attention of three men who once loathed her; the Crown Prince, the High Priest, and the Knight.

"It doesn't matter. I will never be able to love this world."

Even if the only way out is death,

even if the only way out is make a deal with a witch...

I will absolutely leave this world!

This is the story of the villainess who defies fate, Eris, and her escape from this world!

The Way To Protect The Female Lead's Older Brother

I accidentally took possession of someone in a 19+ reverse harem novel.

The problem is that I became Roxana Agriche, the older sister of the sub-villain. My damn father kidnapped the heroine’s brother. Now, is the only thing left to meet a terrible end from the vengeance of the heroine?

But what if I can avoid that horrible development?

“I’m also interested in this toy.”

“I’ll protect you until you can get out of here safely.”

The heroine’s brother, Cassis Pedalian, will definitely be able to pay me back later.

Shadow Queen

“Can you be my daughter for me?”

By his offer, Elena became Duke of Franceschi’s fake daughter.

She became the queen and gave birth to Crown Prince’s son.

Then suddenly, Princess Veronica who was assumed dead came back.

She was only just a toy.

But eventually, Elena gets her son taken and is murdered.

However, she went back to the past.

“I’ll destroy all of you.”

I’ll never live as a toy again.

Elena decides to seeks revenge.

Under the Oak Tree

The daughter of a duke, the stuttering Maximilian, married a knight of lowly status at her father’s coercion.

After their first night, her husband departed for an expedition without another word.

He comes back three years later, this time as a famous knight in the whole continent.

How would Maximilian face him on his return?

"The more I think of you, the more lonely and lonely I become. I don't know why I can't quit even though it's so painful."

I'm Stanning The Prince

Angela’s fanfic became such a sensation that it even reached the Imperial Family, leading her to get arrested on charges of treason. Nevertheless, her fanfic improved the First Prince’s image, and his sister, the Princess, decides to take political advantage of this and keep Angela by their side.

The heroine who can now fangirl to her heart’s content, and the Prince who doesn’t know how to act around her. As they bicker back and forth, they start growing closer…

Miss Not-So Sidekick

Hyejung loved to read to escape her daily stress. But that’s before she woke up inside the bizarre world of her favorite novel! Instead of the main heroine who courts three eligible men, she is now Latte Ectrie – a minor villain that everyone hates?! One way or another, it’s a chance to live out her most beloved storyline, with popcorn in hand to watch all the drama! Taking charge of the narrative takes on a whole new meaning!

Even Though I’M The Villainess, I’ll Become The Heroine!

I wasn’t able to overcome the harassment and took my life, but I was reincarnated with the perpetrator? The perpetrator is the heroine, Florre, and I am the villainess, Dahlia, who’s going to die horribly.

“They said you are a villain with neither blood nor tears, but unlike the rumors, you often shed tears.”

“Your Highness must believe all the nonsense the idiots are talking about, huh?”

Grand Duke of Cervian, the half brother of the Male lead and who will be punished for treason afterwards. He approached me. I can’t lose the man who will be my greatest ally.

“Your Highness, would you marry me?”

“Now…… what did you say?”

“And take revenge together.”

A similar situation, a fixed ending. The heroine is not the only one who knows the ending of the novel. I took a long and arduous path of revenge.

Who Made Me A Princess

The beautiful Athanasia was killed at the hands of her own biological father, Claude de Alger Obelia, the cold-blooded emperor! It’s just a silly bedtime story… until one woman wakes up to suddenly find she’s become that unfortunate princess! She needs a plan to survive her doomed fate, and time is running out. Will she go with Plan A, live as quietly as possible without being noticed by the infamous emperor? Plan B, collect enough money to escape the palace? Or will she be stuck with Plan C, sweet-talking her way into her father’s good graces?!

The Villainess Reverses the Hourglass

With the marriage of her prostitute mother to the Count, Aria’s status in society skyrocketed immediately. After leading a life of luxury, Aria unfairly meets death because of her sister Mielle’s schemes. And right before she dies, she sees an hourglass fall as if it were a fantasy. And just like that, she was miraculously brought back to the past.

“I want to become a very elegant person, just like my sister, Mielle.”

In order to face the villainess, she must become an even more wicked villainess. This was the new path Aria chose to take revenge on Mielle who murdered both her and her mother.

The Evil Lady's Hero

Junipe Magnolia, a villainess friend of the heroine in this novel called Rael Cania.

The Junipe inside the novel has always loved the male lead, Iseed. To the point where she harassed Rael out of jealousy because she's loved by Iseed.

And thus, Junipe is destinied to die in the hands of the male lead of this novel.

But one day.

"Why did I become Junipe?!"

But let's think about it, it's still one year away from the time Junipe is going to get killed by Iseed. So, I have to meet Iseed and Rael first, I'll be able to find a way out of my death if I do so.

Yeah, let's meet them first!

But, this man is just so tender-hearted and kind. Would Junipe be able to escape from this man?!

I Tamed a Tyrant and Ran Away

God gave me a chance to relive my life. Before the rebirth, I had been used for the past 400 years as the empire's sword. And so, I swore to destroy the empire. I found the young prince of the country and became his teacher. I taught him how to become a tyrant and asked for the country.

"I will do the lady's will."

He conquered the whole empire for me, and I ran away.

"I came to take you, Charlize Ronan." Dylan became a perfect tyrant and searched the entire empire for me.

"You tamed me, so why did you run away?"

Untouchable Lady

“Please, Hilise. Please die in place of Gabrielle.” My always dignified brother begged me for the first time. He wants me to die for our stepsister, whom we don't even share a drop of blood with. “For the first and last time, I ask you this.” I've always been miserable, and there is no exception this time. The seventh time that I was betrayed and killed, I was completely free of lingering feelings. “I'm glad that you're a scumbag until the end.” I won't be swayed by love anymore. It's my turn to abandon them first.

I’ll Live On As A Villainess

I reincarnated as the villainess in a book!

The one who dared to commit attempted murder on the heroine is the owner of this body?

Let's just live in a quiet place where we have fun and eat! That's what I thought for a while.

It was so, so, so cold here in the north, where I was kicked out as a punishment.

Before I froze to death, I called the Great Demon of Fire and set fire to the fireplace but...

Why isn't he going back? If you've done the job, shouldn't you go back?!

I was flustered to find out that I had signed a life contract with a demon just to start a fire but to think that I'd be responsible for relieving his desires!

The bickering romance between a big puppy demon and a small villainess lady!

It Looks Like I’Ve Fallen Into The World Of A Reverse Harem Game

When I opened my eyes, I was in a different world. I had become the game’s villainous princess who was feared by all. Not to mention… Completely naked men I didn’t even know were approaching me left and right! “Are you cold? Shall I warm you up with a hug?” “Oh? Have you not had enough yet?” Seriously, what’s up with this situation? And just how the hell am I going to get out of this freaking game?!

Father, I Don't Want to Get Married!

I’m Jubelian? The daughter of the duke and the villainess of this novel?

I managed to avoid my death with some previous knowledge about my life, as this was my second time at it. Now, I should be able to live a peaceful life!

“I’m not going to marry a man unless he has everything. I want the most wealthy, famous, and competent man there is.”

I dreamt of a glamorous life as the daughter of the duke, but my father tells me the Crown Prince who is known to be a lunatic is to be my husband! As an extraordinary measure, I couldn’t help but start a contract relationship. That is, with a handsome side character that looks better than the main one.

“Why are you trying to avoid being engaged to the prince?”

“He’s scary. I heard that he even kills his own entourage if he doesn’t like them.”

A few days later, the prince sent a terrible letter to me.

“I will not kill you.”

Oh no, did I set up another death trap for myself?

Like A Wind On A Dry Branch

"Hi, You."

Count Casarius fell victim to a plague and died suddenly, leaving behind a will stating that Rietta, his beautiful young widow of the manor, whom he tried to use as a concubine, be buried alive alongside him. Just before Rietta is buried, Archduke Axias, rumored to be a cruel tyrant, arrives at the funeral to collect the enormous debt Count Casarius still owes him.

“Everyone here seems to feel sorry for her, and I still have a debt to collect from Casarius… If I take her instead of debt, I think all of you here should be happy," he smiled.

"Hello, Temptress."

Everything was a Mistake

Roa Valrose reincarnated as villainess in the book. In order to avoid the fate of being burned at the stake, she approaches the hero, Nocton Edgar.

It hurts every time she gets closer to him. Nevertheless, for her survival, she does everything he wants her to do.

“Come again, Valrose.”

The mysterious Nocton unexpectedly sought her out every day.

Then one day, her friend for 10 years says something unknown to her.

“Actually, I have a dream. The Duke of Edgar is a terrible villain!”

He is not the hero, but the villain?

As soon as she realized that she had misinterpreted the role, she decided to get away from Nocton.

“Let’s not meet anymore.”

But the villain’s reaction was strange.

“Don’t go. You’ve always been special to me.”

She was suspicious of his sudden change of attitude.

Will she able to get rid of Nocton safely?

I Became the Tyrant's Secretary

I became the secretary of a tyrant in place of my clumsy brother to survive.

But I have so much potential for it. I’m so darn good at my job. Because I served the tyrant so well, ‘Everyone has a happy ending’.

Well then, shall I quit being a secretary and live a leisurely life now?

“Rosaline, tell me what you want.” He asked as he stepped down from his chair.

“I want to quit.”

His eyebrows twitched slightly.

“Do you want to die?”

Your highness, you never hold on to people who want to leave, so why’re you being like this to me?

Seduce the Villainess Father

After being in a bus crash, I woke up to the world of my favourite web novel.

Not only that, It was before the protagonists were born, to their parents’ world!

To stop the incoming multiple bad events.

I tried to prevent the kidnapping of the sister who is pregnant with the female lead!

But I got kidnapped instead?!

It's depressing to be kidnapped, but my body couldn't handle the mana and became a sunfish-like state

But... if I am next to the emperor who kidnapped me, my body becomes normal!

Right! The way to save that man from marrying a witch and getting killed by his son, and for someone who is vulnerable to mana such as myself to live, is for us to get married!

The Villains Savior

Set on a path to tragedy and misfortune from a young age, Aseph Randell is doomed to die a villain. That is, until the mysterious Elzay Tiathe appears in his life with a promise: "I can save you." After having vivid visions of him for so long, can Elzay untangle the twisted fate tied to Aseph... or will they both be dragged down together?

Contemporary Manhwa/Manga:

Night Crying Crow

This woman; who is she?

If something was action, it'd be action. If something was romance, it’d be romance. The A-list actor Cheon Woo Kang, who's great at every (genre), had his heart stolen away by an unknown woman who’d broken into his house!

“We'll meet again.~"

Woo Kang contracted an over imaginative illness as he drew the woman, whose name he didn't even know. In front of Woo Kang, she reappeared as the police officer Park Tae... Could the shadow of the crisis that appeared in front of them be a coincidence?

Raise wa Tanin ga Ii

Yoshino Somei would have been a normal high-schooler if not for the fact that she is the granddaughter of the leader of the Osaka-based Somei Group, the Kansai region's largest yakuza organization. One day, Yoshino hurries home after hearing of the news about the unification of Kansai and Kanto's biggest syndicates, the Somei and the Miyama groups. This, according to the article, will result in a marriage of the leaders' grandchildren—one of whom is Yoshino herself! Despite her best efforts to annul the arrangement, Yoshino has to go to Tokyo to visit her fiancé, Kirishima Miyama, who is unexpectedly nice and charming.

During their first meeting, Yoshino is swept up in various events and becomes unable to refuse moving to Tokyo, which is why, half a year later, she now lives with the Miyama group. At school, she soon realizes that Kirishima is very popular, so her relationship with him garners the hate of his fangirls and subsequently results in bullying. To make matters worse, Kirishima could not be further away from her prince charming since he, after all, was born to be a yakuza member.

Raise wa Tanin ga Ii follows Yoshino and her new life in Tokyo that is filled with nothing but troubles connected to the underworld. However, though she wishes to be as far from it as possible, this isn't Yoshino's first time dealing with the world of the Yakuza...

Positively Yours

To Hee-won’s dismay, the BFF she crushed on and her other BFF are now dating! Seriously bummed, Hee-won decides to go wild just one time, and find solace with a handsome stranger. A very satisfying one night affair has now turned into more — she’s pregnant! Fate brings them together again, and now the regimented Doo-joon is determined to do the right thing and marry her. But they’re basically strangers! Except... their bodies have been very intimately acquainted. What’s this mother-to-be to do?

True Beauty

After binge-watching beauty videos online, a shy comic book fan masters the art of makeup and sees her social standing skyrocket as she becomes her school’s prettiest pretty girl overnight. But will her elite status be short-lived? How long can she keep her real self a secret? And what about that cute boy who knows her secret?

Cheese In the Trap

Hong Sul is a ordinary college student. Yoo Jung is the school's most popular upperclass man. He's good looking, rich, smart, and even nice. However, Hong Sul thinks there's more to Yoo Jung than what meets the eye…

SPY x FAMILY

The master spy codenamed has spent his days on undercover missions, all for the dream of a better world. But one day, he receives a particularly difficult new order from command. For his mission, he must form a temporary family and start a new life?! A Spy/Action/Comedy about a one-of-a-kind family!

Doppio Senso (18+)

“What are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking about a guy.”

KyungHyun stopped in the middle of a deep kiss and sighed. His lips began to form a smile, but his fierce glare said otherwise. Possessiveness and jealousy spread across his sculpted face.

“Will you tell me his name?”

His easygoing and languid voice reached her ears.

“Why?”

“So that I can shoot him down.”

317 notes · View notes

soulmate-game · 3 years

Text

part 2 (of that new bio!dad fic)

Dick whipped his head over to Bruce, who could feel the heavy gazes of all his children as if they were physical. If they had had heat vision like Clark, he would have already been reduced to a puddle of mush. Bruce shifted, the only sign of his discomfort, but he recognized that the middle of a gala was no place for this discussion. There were too many busybodies trying to listen in for the latest gossip. So he plastered on a smile that he couldn’t quite feel, and held a hand out to Marinette. He was careful to keep a good distance though, and left the choice for contant purely up to her.

The young woman looked down at his hand, then back to his face. Damian had been shocked silent by what she had to say, and perhaps even more by the all too telling way that Bruce hadn’t so much as implied that she was lying, and the look he was giving her was making her a little uncomfortable. Yes, she hadn’t planned on interacting with her father more than just the years-overdue confrontation she had just done, at least not while at the gala… but her plans always left room for improvisation. She could make this work.

With a soft sigh, Marinette extended her own hand— half the size of Bruce’s, he noted almost immediately with a rush of illogical fondness— and grasped his lightly. She couldn’t help but notice the way his impossibly blue eyes brightened, no different than her own when she was particularly happy, or the way his mouth twitched with a barely suppressed beam. Instead, he controlled himself enough so that the only smile he gave would look professional and entirely in character to the nosy socialites still spying on them, and led them out onto the dance floor.

What everyone else saw was the unfairly charming Bruce Wayne giving his young guest of honor a simple dance. Just a basic swirl around the floor that every other social elite had learned when they were five. Clearly he was taking it easy on the self-made girl, who probably didn’t have experience with such dances. Humoring the accomplished young woman with his approval for a moment before he would slink back to his family or patrol the crowds and make the necessary greetings and meaningless chatter.

What his family saw was Bruce taking time to slow his steps, not for Marinette to keep up but rather to prolong the event. What they saw was the grace in Marinette’s steps as she never once faltered, and that Bruce was careful to take his cues from her instead of the other way around. He only led the dance in technicality, Marinette had all the real control.

What they saw was a father’s first dance with his daughter.

“Eighteen,” Dick whispered, eyebrows drawn low. “She said she’s almost eighteen.”

“Well, that lines up doesn’t it?” Jason asked gruffly, his own gaze never leaving the dancing duo. “We were planning on doubling up your big thirtieth birthday party as your eighteenth adoption anniversary,” he reminded his brother, who just made a slightly distressed noise in the back of his throat. Whether it was at the reinforcement of his adoption coming only months after Marinette being put up for adoption, or the fact that he was turning thirty, nobody could really tell.

“Hurt,” Cassandra spoke up from behind them, looking incredibly concerned as she watched the dance. “Uncertain.”

Stephany rolled her eyes, fidgeting from her quickly building energy. Anger was making her restless. “Of course she’s hurt. Bruce replaced her, with a boy he knew virtually nothing about, not even that long after she was born. How do you think that made her feel, when she found out?” Stephany let out a little growl, grabbing a flute of champagne from a passing server and downing it in one gulp. She ignored Dick protesting that she wasn’t of age yet, which made her wrinkle her nose. “Only one more year, Dickhead. Get over it, I need the buzz.”

“Well,” Barbara sighed and maneuvered her wheelchair around the group so that everyone could see her. “Nothing we can do right now but be supportive and watch Bruce like a hawk so he doesn’t make this worse,” she stated easily, not looking even the least bit ruffled by the news despite the disturbed glitter in her eyes.

“... Guys,” Tim spoke up, not looking at any of them. “Who wants to volunteer for Damian duty?” At first glance, it might seem like Tim was thinking about his own first disastrous meeting with the younger boy. Once everyone paid attention though, they could see that the truth was that Damian had snuck away and Tim was pointedly looking at a slightly hidden-away staircase to the second floor.

“Shit,” Dick muttered, but before he could say another word Jason shoved him back and started towards the stairs.

“No, not this time Dicky. I’ll talk to the brat.”

Back on the dancefloor, Bruce and Marinette broke away without any fanfare at the end of the song. If Bruce tried to hold her eyes for a moment too long, nobody noticed besides his observant children, and two of Marinette’s protective friends.

Then, just to make sure that nobody caught on with the help of hindsight, Bruce said something vaguely polite and praising, which Marinette accepted with flawless, distant poise. And they went back to their own groups, Bruce quickly noting that two of his sons were missing. He raised an eyebrow, about to ask why when a presence behind him caught his attention. Unlike Marinette and Chloe, this newcomer was not at all trying to hide their approach or be sneaky about it, even though Bruce couldn’t hear any footsteps that were close enough to belong to the mysterious entity. Closing his mouth, Bruce turned around only to be greeted by yet another vaguely familiar face. Bright green eyes bore into his, unreadable.

“Mister Wayne,” the newcomer greeted, voice warm but stiff. If the Waynes hadn’t all had years of recognizing when a person was only pretending to be cordial, they never would have suspected that the boy was anything but pure-heartedly happy to be there. But they did have that experience, and thus they instantly honed in on the very well-hidden fact that he had a bone to pick with them. Or, more probably, with Bruce.

He cut an impressive figure, for all that he was lithe muscle instead of bulk. Hair that was lighter than Chloe’s, less like cloth-of-gold and more like sunlight glinting off of wheatfields. It somehow hung in gravity-defying tufts, yet perfectly arranged to evoke a calming aesthetic. Like the fluff of a long-haired cat, almost, and it looked just as fluffy and hypnotizing. It contrasted with his emerald eyes, impossibly vibrant in their gleam. And the suit he wore was decidedly top-notch, much like the other two they had met from his class. He was daring, in a dark silver suit that slightly shifted in the light, green accents that matched his eyes standing out strikingly against the collars and trim, and coiling in tantalizing swirls at the cuffs. The lining of the suit jacket was done in a dark green that could almost pass for black in the right lighting, adding a layer of both drama and mystery as it peeked out at the back of his collar, the insides of his sleeves if he moved just the right way, at the bottom hem of the jacket when he turned or bent just so. And with his notoriety in the modeling world? He always knew exactly how to move or place himself to get the reactions he wanted. And he was clearly showing off the craftsmanship of his suit just then as he faked adjusting his cufflinks and lifted his head just the right amount to both look challenging and let the dark green on the back of his collar flash in the light in such a way that Bruce and those nearest him wouldn’t be able to miss the brief reveal of color.

“Adrien Agreste,” Bruce greeted back, eyebrows pulling down in slight confusion. Normally the topic of clothing was far from his genuine interest, but in this particular case it was an intriguing, and possibly even concerning, observation. So he said next; “That suit is not of your father’s usual style of design.”

Adrien scoffed, straightening out his suit’s jacket and making the obsidian buttons glint. “Of course not. I’ve started my rebellious phase— or, well, I finally started being blatant enough about it that my father noticed anyway,” the way his lips curled was decidedly not very attractive, but painted a vivid picture of a son who despised the way he was treated. Adrien quickly wiped the distasteful expression away and replaced it with a camera-ready smile. “I’m wearing one of Marinette’s designs, much to his chagrin. She insisted on making this for me as soon as she heard that my father was planning on sending me in a white suit.”

Bruce quickly caught on, and sighed. How long would the gala go on for, again? He didn’t remember what time it was anymore. “Your friend Chloe already got a pretty clear warning in. I suppose you know as well?”

Adrien’s grin darkened with mischief, and he nodded all too happily. “Of course! Marinette told me almost as soon as she found out, a few years ago. You see, we had to put down a very solid rule about secrets between the two of us. She has a bad habit of trying to shoulder the entire world’s problems and not tell anyone about it, if you don’t pay close enough attention,” his voice was deceptively light but his eyes were hard, warning. “And let’s just say, I have a lot of experience with bad father figures. I can recognize them a mile away by now. The signs of neglect, of apathy,” his eyes suddenly lightened when he saw how Bruce’s throat visibly caught, how the man didn’t seem to realize he had stopped breathing. Maybe he was being a little to mean, Adrien thought. So he let the dark slip out of his eyes, and his smile turned more genuine. “You don’t have those signs. You looked at Marinette like you were both the happiest and most miserable man in the world at the same time. But you can’t change what you did to her, Mister Wayne. If you want some advice from Marinette’s oldest friend?” Adrien held out a closed fist.

Bruce took a second to realize what was happening, too busy trying to recover from his situational whiplash and wave of relief. Once he caught back up to the present, however, he held out his open palm and let Adrien drop something into his hand.

To his shock, it was a pen, engraved with the name he recognized as Marinette’s biological mother. He also recognized it as a popular model of pen-knife. He raised his eyes to Adrien, who winked.

“Marinette doesn’t know I had this made. And she has a lot of tricks that might surprise you, but what she wants more than anything is stability. If you try to give her that, show that you care and you want her safe— and then prove that you’re gonna stay— then maybe you can repair the damage you’ve done. It won’t be easy though, Mari is the single most stubborn person I’ve ever met. And I grew up with Chloe.”

Bruce closed his hand around the pen, swallowing a lump in his throat. He couldn’t quite figure out why, but Adrien’s faith in him and his help… somehow felt significant. He nodded to the young model.

“Not to worry, I have experience with stubborn,” he glanced back at his other kids with a small smirk. None of them were the least bit repentant. “And I do want to stay. Thank you for the advice.”

Adrien shrugged. “Don’t thank me. If you hurt her again, you’ll never see my revenge coming. It can be rather… catastrophic,” with that ominous threat, Adrien bowed dramatically and turned to leave and do some rounds charming the elites. Bruce tucked the pen in one of his hidden pockets, but stayed silent after that. He had a lot to mull over.

—*—*—*—*—*

Damian leaned on the railing of the balcony, looking out over the gardens behind the gala’s venue. He was glaring at nothing, and his hands trembled from where they gripped the rail. It was five minutes, a little longer than he had expected but not that odd considering everyone’s distraction over Marinette, before he heard the glass doors behind him creak open.

“Yo,” Jason greeted, knowing it was better not to catch the boy off guard. None of them were good with surprises anymore, for good reason. It was always best to announce their presence before they made someone react violently on accident. Damian’s shoulders relaxed a little— not a lot, but enough for Jason to notice. The older man sighed, walking up and leaning on the rail next to his little brother. “What’s on your mind, kid?”

“That could have been me,” he almost instantly blurted. It was still hard talking about his feelings, but certain things were easier with Todd. This was, apparently, one of them. “If Mother hadn’t kept me a secret.”

“I don’t think so,” Jason disagreed, shrugging. “There are several big differences here. For one, Marinette was born three years before you were. By the time you were born, he already had Dick and he would have only been a year, max, away from taking me in. Which means he already had built up his problem with taking in kids, and nothing would have gotten him to give up a chance at raising you. With or without Batman getting in the way.”

“But then why—” Damian growled. “Why did he give her up?”

“Because he’s an idiot,” Jason remarked bluntly. “You know how he is. He didn’t have a kid at the time. Hell, Bruce would have only been twenty-two back then. He only adopted Dick on impulse because Dick reminded him of himself, but before all of that shit? He probably made a million excuses about not being able to raise a baby and be Batman at the same time. About his life being too dangerous for a kid. Which, yes it is, but that clearly didn’t stop him later.”

“She’s older,” Damian muttered, this time softer.

“Yup.”

“Her mother wasn’t an assassin, probably. She designs. I hate to admit it, and you are never to repeat it to anybody, but her work that we’ve seen so far is impressive. She can clearly charm even the most stuck-up of gotham’s upper crust.”

“Yeah,” Jason agreed neutrally, his eyes never leaving Damian.

“Father won’t need me. He already doesn’t have much patience—” Damian was cut off by a flick to the nose. “Hey!”

“Not my fault you’re being stupid,” Jason defended himself. “Look, B’s actually been real patient with you these past few years. I mean, when was the last time he yelled at you? Or told you that stupid ‘justice not vengeance’ line?”

Damian opened his mouth, then closed it. After another moment, he replied; “Almost two years.”

Jason nodded. “It might take him way too long, but he can still learn new tricks. Especially after that mess with Heretic, he’s been trying really hard to be better to you. He still screws up, because I think we all know by now that he’s a bigger mess than any of the rest of us and that’s an accomplishment, but he’s trying. He doesn’t keep you around because he needs you. He’s got plenty of us around if all he wanted was soldiers— though none of us would stick around if we thought that’s all he wanted.”

Damian flexed his jaw. He was still the most violent of the kids, besides Jason. He saw Bruce rubbing his forehead or pinching his nose far too often at some of his decisions or comments. He was stubborn, impatient, reckless.

But hadn’t Bruce himself told him on several occasions that he wasn’t trying to make him a perfect soldier? Hadn’t Bruce himself said that he just wanted Damian to grow into himself?

It was just really hard to swat away those stupid voices in Damian’s head. Voices of the past, mostly, old dialogue he had never actually forgotten. That he merely pretended had never affected him. The “you’re too violent”s, the “that’s not how we behave, Damian”s. All the old lectures, the old fights. They echoed like stupid little gremlins of doubt.

“...Marinette has his eyes.”

“Don’t beat yourself up over something like that,” Jason’s voice was soft, but gruff at the same time as he cuffed Damian over the head. “You didn’t choose to be born, idiot. And despite being a little demon, none of us would reverse it, You’ve saved all our skins at least once. And besides,” he nudged Damian a little with a grin. “You’re not half bad, nowadays.”

Damian chuckled. “That makes one of us.”

“Hey!”

@peterxwade24 @mizzy-pop @maskedpainter @ladybug-182 @khneltea @itsmeevie01 @fusser90 @woe-is-me0 @lolieg @moonlightstar64 @jayjayspixiepop

#maribat #platonic jasonette #platonic daminette #platonic brucinette #ml x dc #mlb x dc #dc x mlb #dc x miraculous #maribat fic

582 notes · View notes