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olivia-anderson-fanfic · 1 year

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OHSHCAU (Keysmash)

Part 1

Summary: Flowers fluttered past her, carried by some kind of impossible breeze. One smacked her in the face. (Or the Ouran High School Host Club AU. Or the Keysmash AU for the cultured people of the MGI server.)

Marinette literally just wanted to find a quiet place to study.

The library had been full of people that apparently didn’t know that they were supposed to ‘sh’. The classrooms were locked. All of the clubrooms had clubs going on (which, duh, but it was still disappointing).

So, she made her way through the school, considering just giving up and resigning herself to doing her work on the floor even if she knew it would leave her with a back that ached for the next several days…

And then her eyes landed on a room at the end of the hall. The door was ajar, but she could only hear a faint murmur of conversation and the quiet clinking of porcelain.

She considered it for a few moments before sighing to herself and hiking her bag up higher. It was either this or beginning the painfully long trudge back to her house immediately after her gym class. She was already sore, she just wanted to relax for a few minutes.

So, she pushed the door open wider.

Flowers fluttered past her, carried by some kind of impossible breeze.

One smacked her in the face.

She brushed it off of her nose, only to find herself blinking up at the most popular person in the school.

Richard Grayson-Wayne smiled at her, pretty as ever with his perfectly gelled hair and perfectly pressed clothes. She suddenly felt a very strong urge to check her reflection in a mirror and sniff herself to make sure that her after-gym shower had been enough.

“Oh, are you a new guest?”

“Guest?” She repeated, a little dumbly. Forgive her, for he had taken her by the hand and started leading her inside and she was confused.

But then she glanced around.

Everything in the room was needlessly extravagant and expensive, but so was the rest of Gotham Academy. That wasn’t what she focused on, though.

Horror seized her as she realized what, exactly, she had stumbled into.

Because, as she looked around, she recognized more and more of the school’s most popular kids, and all of them were attending to the many people (usually girls, but not always) crowding them. And she remembered what, exactly, Richard Grayson-Wayne’s extracurricular was.

She jerked her hand away, eyes wide. “Uh, no, I think you’ve got the wrong idea, sir,” she said. And then internally freaked out because why the hell did she call him sir? He was two years older than her! Damn it! She could feel her face flushing in embarrassment.

He smiled and brought his hand up to cup her cheek. “Am I not your type? You can take your pick of the others, you know.” He smoothly moved to loop his arm around her shoulders and lead her further into the room. “What are you into? Women? Men? Both? Strong people? Smarts? A sense of humor or a mischievous streak? A stoic type? A princely person?”

“Um, listen, I was just looking for a place to study,” she said, slipping out from under him and taking a few careful steps backwards.

He smiled. “Of course you were,” he said in that tone people used when they were only humoring you.

She gave an awkward little laugh, still doing her best to back away from the situation in the most literal sense she could. “Seriously, I’m just going to go –.”

Her back hit something and she whipped around, her eyes wide, just in time to watch a vase pitch itself off a pillar.

She reached for it. Her fingers just barely brushed the handle. And then it hit the ground.

The porcelain shattered upon impact.

She stared at the shards, her hands resting on the pillar it had just been resting on as if trying to replace it, wishing that she could simply put the pitcher back together by sheer force of will. The color drained from her face as it slowly began to sink in that this was reality, that she had just broken a vase that had to be expensive considering everything else at this school was.

Marinette slowly turned back around to find everyone looking at her, their attention pulled by the loud crash. She swallowed thickly, her gaze flickering between the broken vase and Richard rapidly.

She needed to say something. Anything.

“I mean. It was kind of ugly.”

Anything but that!

At least someone was amused. A woman with blond hair – Stephanie Brown, she remembered her being on the news a while back – turned her head to snicker into her hand.

She cleared her throat. “No, sorry, that was weird to say. I’ll – I’ll pay for it.”

A dark-skinned boy made his way over, frowning lightly. The glittery, gold makeup dotted across his cheeks like freckles seemed to shine as he looked her over. She recognized him to be one of the kids in her science class, but his name eluded her. “Aren’t you a scholarship kid?”

“She is,” an unfortunately familiar voice chimed in. Her eyes narrowed in on Tim Drake. He was glaring at her over the rim of his rich kid teacup.

Marinette’s face suddenly remembered how to circulate blood, but it had overcompensated in its rush to fix its mistakes. A blush rose to her cheeks. “Okay, and? What of it?”

This got another laugh, but this one sounded different. A little colder. Someone clicked their tongue. A boy with tan skin around in his chair, stroking a cat in his lap, like some kind of D-list Rogue. “Then can you really afford it?”

She glanced at the vase again and shrugged. “I mean… probably? It can’t be more than a few hundred, can it? It’ll be a bitch, but –.”

A woman wheeled over, her wheelchair coming to a stop just in front of the pillar Marinette was still leaning against in the worst attempt at acting natural anyone had ever seen. She recognized her as one of the library assistants. Barbara Gordon didn’t even bother to look up from her phone while she ruined Marinette’s life with a mere sentence: “We were about to auction it off for charity, and the starting price was fifty thousand USD.”

Marinette choked on air. “Fifty… fifty thousand?!” She repeated. She barely fought off the urge to scream about how it wasn’t even a nice looking vase. She figured yelling at the people she was suddenly indebted to was, probably, not a great idea.

A guy in a leather jacket gave her an empathetic look. She pretended not to notice for the sake of her own sanity.

“That’s a joke, right?” She tried, ignoring how desperate she sounded even to her own years.

A woman lazing in the window shook her head, black lipstick-covered lips just barely curled into a frown.

“Any chance I can pay this off in parts?” She asked, resisting the urge to start doing math on her fingers to figure out exactly how much she was going to have to give up to work all of this off. She would do that later, when there were no eyes on her. “I – I don’t have a job right now, but I can get one, I promise, I’ll find a way to pay you back –.”

Richard clapped his hands together once, but this time his smile held no real warmth. “Don’t worry, I can think of a job that just opened up.”

*****

“Marinette, I left you alone for ten minutes,” Adrien said, pinching the space between his brows. He was currently messing with chemicals, so touching his face was not advisable, but he was wearing gloves so he was still, at least, more safe than 99% of other high school students would be.

“It was closer to an hour and a half,” she mumbled, watching the beaker in front of her bubble. She was very dedicated to lab safety, thank you very much.

“How did you even manage to become the – did you say you’re the host club’s dog? What? Like the kink?”

She groaned. “I can’t think of a less literal translation, okay? It’s like… they want me to clean, set up events, help them with clothes, serve drinks and food…”

“Servant? Assistant?”

“Sure,” she said, throwing a hand up frustratedly. “But could we maybe focus on the rest of my problem instead of the fact that English isn’t my first language?”

He gave her a mildly amused look that she didn’t return. And then he sighed, picking up his mortar and pestle again. “Okay. Well. I could always –.”

“If you say you want to pay off my debt for me I’m pouring this down your throat.”

He cleared his throat awkwardly, obviously not too fond of the idea if he was preemptively touching his neck. “I see. Well. Then. I guess we’ll be seeing less of each other.”

“Thank fuck for that.”

He elbowed her in the side. “Don’t think you can get out of doing your half of the presentation.”

She groaned and burrowed into her Batman hoodie. “But if I do the presentation I have to dress up…”

“Yeah? I have to dress up every day, make sure to always have an entire section of my backpack devoted to skin and hair care products in case of emergencies, bring extra clothes to school, and –.”

“Shut uuuuuup I get it,” she huffed, moving her now-luminescent pink liquid off its burner. “Rich people have their own problems or whatever.”

“We do. Like making sure we make good connections while in school, something you –” he poked her cheek. “– need to work on. Maybe this host club thing will be good for you. Help you put yourself out there or whatever.”

“You just want to laugh at me.”

His lips twitched into a grin. “True.”

She scowled. “Put down the mortar and pestle.”

He seemed to want to say no, he wasn’t stupid enough to not know why she wanted him to put it down, but then thought better of it. He resigned himself to his fate, sighing and setting it aside.

She tackled him off of his chair.

*****

Marinette was pretty sure that they were making her set up the auction she had accidentally ruined purely to spite her. Like, sure, setting up everything was technically her job, but the chances of this being her first assignment were abysmal.

She forced herself to breathe through it. Go to her happy place. Four in. Murdering the Waynes but also keeping her scholarship. Four out. Good.

She carefully made her way back and forth, setting everything in their respective spots, at an inching pace – she was not going to add more debt by breaking something else. Then she went around making sure the lights shined on them just so to make them seem shinier (“rich people are like magpies,” she had been informed with a sage nod). Finally, she checked that all of the notecards were in order and that the mics were all working.

She spun around in the middle of the room, going over everything with a critical eye, and then nodded once to herself.

She headed to the ‘dressing room’ (it was a closet they had repurposed).

“I’m done, Richard.”

“Dick,” he corrected lightly, leaning in to check his teeth.

She raised an eyebrow. “Sorry?”

His eyes widened and he whirled around, holding his hands up in a half placating, half surrendering gesture. “Nonono, I’m not calling you that, I’m saying that’s my name. Dick. Short for Richard.”

“I know. I’m just sorry.”

Dick sputtered. Damian made a wheezing sound that might have been a laugh.

Unfortunately for Damian, the wheeze drew Marinette’s attention. She groaned. “Oh my god, put the cat down, you’re in a suit for fuck’s sake,” she hissed. She looked around until she found a lint roller, and then thrust it towards him. “Trade me.”

Damian looked affronted. “I’m not putting down Alfred.”

She had to force herself to ignore the fact that he had named his cat Alfred of all things, she needed to concentrate on what was really important: threatening him.

“You are going to put down Alfred. I suggest you do it willingly.”

It was Dick’s turn to snicker at his brother’s misfortune.

Neither spared him a glance, too locked in their staredown. Marinette had thought for a moment that Damian was going to actually try and throw hands, but at least she would still be winning in that case because he would have to let his cat go to do so.

Eventually, Damian heaved a long-suffering sigh and handed off the cat. She set Alfred in her hood just so she could cross her arms over her chest while she watched Damian struggle with the lint roller for a solid seven minutes. She might be indebted to these people, but damn if she wasn’t going to be passive aggressive about it.

Dick grinned, leaning his arm on her shoulder. She felt short, in that moment, but it wasn’t her fault that the man was freakishly tall.

“You’re the best hire we could have ever had,” said the man who was unaware she was considering kneecapping him to make herself seem taller.

Not that she was going to tell him.

“I’m being held captive.”

“Same difference,” he joked.

And, despite herself, a tiny smile made its way across her face. His happiness was strangely contagious. No wonder he was so popular in the host club.

She reached up to tap him on the nose. “You haven’t done your stage makeup yet.”

He yelped out a curse and then ran to look for the makeup brushes, muttering under his breath about how that was what he had forgotten.

*****

Marinette stumbled into the library, a hand absently rubbing an ache between her shoulder blades. Her eyes locked with Babs’.

“Is it in ye –?”

“No,” Babs said, still tapping away at her computer.

Marinette slumped against the doorframe, letting her head knock against the wood. Maybe it would give her good luck.

“Life is a tragedy and I’m nothing more than Shakespeare’s bitch.”

The woman sighed and pushed up her glasses to rub an eye. “I’ll check it out for you when it comes in. Give it to you during the host club.”

Her posture brightened instantly. “Really?”

“Yeah, just don’t lose it. I have a perfect record when it comes to turning my books in on time and I don’t want you to ruin that.”

She grinned and did a mock salute. “Aye-aye.”

*****

Marinette absently stacked the plates, cups, and spoons on top of each other to take them into the next room for a quick wash. She kind of liked finding the optimal ways to stack things, it was like a very high-stakes game of Tetris. She carefully picked up her tower and was pleased to find that it didn’t shake in the slightest.

Only to blink when Jason stood up, holding a tiny stack of his own.

“Let me help.”

She stared blankly for a moment before she finally caught a quiet gasp nearby. Her eyes flicked in that direction and found a customer practically cooing over the basic human decency Jason had displayed. She sighed a little. Right, they had an audience. She pulled a slightly wobbly smile to her face.

“Sure. Thanks,” she said carefully. In the end, even if it was just to forward his image as a ‘baddie with a heart of gold’, it was still help and she wasn’t intent on saying no just to be petty.

Or, at least, that was what she had thought until he had kept doing it. Almost every night, without fail, he would help her clean up after everyone. Even if all of the guests were gone by the time he got away.

She finally gave in one day, her hands almost elbow deep in the sink water:

“Why do you keep helping me? You know that this isn’t your job, right?”

He gave her a strange look for a moment.

And then he gave the slightest of smiles. “I was poor, once, too.”

She nodded slightly. They went back to work with a quiet sense of solidarity.

“Also, you take too long to wash dishes on your own.”

She splashed him with the sink water.

He gasped, puffing up in his mock offense. “Hey! These pants are supposed to be cared for! They’re hand wash only!”

“Then this is perfect,” she said, grinning. “It’s totally deserved.”

He raised an eyebrow. “So is this.”

He used the cup he had been washing to scoop up some water and dump it over her head.

She stared at him for a full minute in stunned silence. And then a grin broke out over her face.

He suddenly looked like he was considering running away.

In the end, they finished the day more clean than the dishes, but hey. It’s the thought that counts.

(Just kidding. Sanitation doesn’t work like that. They overloaded the dishwasher to fix their mistakes.)

*****

Marinette sighed and set the cake down on a table, then turned to leave.

She stopped short when she saw Tim in the doorway, his bag half off his shoulder where he had been about to fling it away from himself like he did every day while opening up the clubroom.

“How’d you…?”

She shrugged and held up a keyring. “Asked the janitor.”

His brows furrowed momentarily, as if he were thinking, but then he just shook his head to dismiss the thought.

“Why do you have a wedding cake? Did you have a Vegas wedding or something?”

She groaned internally and forced herself to straighten up to her full height. “My parents are bakers. The wedding they catered today didn’t end up happening. Bride got cold feet – uh, literally, she was murdered, y’know? – and they said to give this to my friends.”

He raised an eyebrow. “So you brought it here?”

“Well, Adrien doesn’t have a cheat day for another two weeks, and if I ever have another slice of cake it’ll be too soon. This is kinda the last place I’ve got. Besides, it could please your guests.”

“Couldn’t you just give it out to the people in your homeroom?”

She rolled her eyes. “Do you want the cake or not? Because I have to go to class soon. Unlike you, I’ll get thrown out if I don’t attend every one of my classes, Drake.”

He snorted. “Aw? The scholarship student is struggling in her classes?”

“That’s not why, and if you really think that then you’re dumber than I thought,” she said, curling her fists at her sides.

A couple of complicated expressions flicked over his face, none of which she could get a good read on, but Steph’s head appeared over Tim’s shoulder before either of them could say something they regretted.

“Shut up and let the nice girl give us cake, Tim,” Steph said, smacking him over the back of the head as she brushed past him to get in the door. She grinned at Marinette. “Thanks for the food.”

Marinette gave a tiny smile in return.

She smiled even wider when, as Steph passed, she asked Marinette under her breath if she wanted to join her in throwing a slice of the cake into Tim’s face. As if it was even a question.

*****

Duke squinted at the needle in her hand suspiciously. His arm was already sanitized and the needle was prepped, it would only take around thirty minutes for her to get a sufficient amount of his blood to analyze. “Are you sure you know how to do this?”

She huffed. “Of course I do. Don’t be a pussy.”

“That’s sexist.”

“Okay? And not volunteering to help for my project is anti black.”

There was a beat before the pair of them broke into quiet snickers. Quiet, because neither of them wanted to get caught slacking off in the middle of their research class.

Marinette tapped the needle. “Don’t worry, if you’re good I’ll give you a cake pop.”

His smile almost seemed to light up the room. “Sounds like a deal. Stick me.”

(Later, she had found herself staring at his vitals with mild confusion. He almost didn’t seem human. And then she had quietly dismissed them as an outlier. Maybe she’d ask if he had been a victim of a Rogue attack recently when she saw him at their next host club meeting. Or not. That was kinda personal.)

*****

Marinette liked Cass. Neither of them really talked, but Cass didn’t talk much to anyone anyways.

Still, the girl was a soothing presence. Sometimes, when the days were slow or while they were waiting for the club to start, they could be seen sitting in the same window. Cass would listen to music. Marinette would do her homework or read a book.

It was pleasant.

At least, it was pleasant most of the time. It turns out a silent person can be a bad thing. Marinette now had a permanent chemical burn on the back of her arm because Cass had come up to her at the wrong time, had tapped her on the shoulder, and Marinette had flinched so hard in her surprise that she had ended up spilling an entire beaker over the back of her wrist.

She was pretty sure the seven solid, apology-filled minutes where Cass had helped her rush to the nurse’s office to stem the blood bubbling on her arm was the most she had ever heard her talk before.

*****

Marinette glared at her reflection, aggressively applying stage makeup to the area under her eyes. She would have to wash it all off right afterwards, stage makeup looks strange when up close and not under the effect of near-blinding lights. And then, after that, she would have to sit still while Adrien applied even more, but wildly different makeup to her face, for the second half of the conference where she would be forced to shmooze for the sake of funding.

But that was a problem for later. She needed to make sure everything was perfect.

Anything less than the best score in the school could throw her scholarship into jeopardy.

At least this was getting her out of her usual host club duties. Marinette and Adrien needed to present, so she would have gotten out for a few hours no matter what, but a solid number of the (actual, willing) host club members were in their age group. Duke, Tim, and Steph all had projects today as well.

They had canceled the host club for the day. Maybe the others would be attending the presentation, maybe not, she didn’t really care.

All she cared about right now was making sure she didn’t look like some kind of ethereal being made of light on stage.

A head dropped onto her shoulder and she rolled her eyes. “You look like a ghoul.”

Adrien grinned. “I think this is the best I’ve ever looked.”

“True.”

He gasped. “Rude.”

“I mean, you kinda set that one up for me,” she said, gently shoving him off so she could straighten fully. She patted down her deep red dress, checked her black heels to make sure they weren’t going to slip, and then turned to him. “Good?”

He hummed thoughtfully, tipping his head to the side. And then he shook his head, motioning for her to turn around. “I told you you needed to do something with your hair,” he said.

She huffed. “I did.”

“Letting it out of its usual pigtails is not ‘doing something’.”

“I mean… if you want to define the words –.”

He snorted. “Shut up. Let me fix this.”

She waited impatiently for him to brush her hair and pull it into a strict bun.

She scrunched her nose at her reflection. “I look like a teacher.” She pulled a strand out to frame her face.

He tucked it right back behind her ear. “Well, you’re teaching these people –.”

“You’re the most infuriating person I’ve ever met.”

“You’re looking in a mirror. Time to meet someone even worse. Nettie, meet Nettie.”

She pulled away the moment he was done. “The moment this is all over I’m beating your ass.”

“I mean, you kinda set that one up for me,” he mocked.

“I’m not kidding, Chaton. Meet me in the parking lot at 7pm.”

He only grinned, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his suit, and jerked his head to point towards the stage.

*****

Marinette and Adrien had chosen the safest possible option. Even if neither of them really cared about how the overexposure to chemicals had affected the average Gothamite’s physiology – they already knew that it would boost their immune systems in some areas, weaken it in some areas, and just generally cause a myriad of lung and heart problems, they weren’t stupid – it was something they knew was both a popular question at the moment and something that rich people would want to know so they could start finding solutions for themselves.

Which meant they might get funding from people that weren’t just Adrien’s Dad. Not only did Marinette not want to rely on him, grades and future teams/assignments were determined by how much funding you received. They were already at a disadvantage, Marinette’s parents weren’t rich and couldn’t make a sizable contribution like every other family at the academy could. They needed to win over anyone they could.

And they had done pretty well. Marinette had only stuttered and considered asking Adrien to anti-Bruce-Wayne her parents a single time.

They’d made up for it in the questions portion. The subject of chemicals was something they both knew an ungodly amount about, so they answered every question sent their way without a hint of hesitation. In the end, they’d gotten quite a few people to come up to tell them that they would be donating to their ‘cause’.

She hadn’t expected one of the people they had won over to be Bruce Wayne, though.

Marinette fought to not shrink back as the man that sponsored the scholarship program she used began to head her way. He was Gotham’s sweetheart, and a bit of a dunce, but he still held more power over her than she would prefer.

And he had his kids in tow. Even more people that could choose to ruin her life on a whim. Fun. She definitely wanted more of those.

She got a thumbs up from Cass, at least. Thanks, Cass.

As for the rest of the Wayne kids… they were currently looking at her like she had spontaneously sprouted an extra head. She made a tiny ‘what the fuck’ gesture with her hand, but they were too stunned to give her any kind of meaningful response.

Marinette looked to Adrien, and he looked back at Marinette, both of them making sure that they looked as good as was physically possible. They took the moment to share quiet ‘do you know what’s going on with them?’ looks, and ended up with nothing.

And then they threw a pair of identical smiles the Waynes’ way.

“Mr. Wayne!” She said with false cheer. “It’s so nice to see you! How is business going?”

He grinned. “It’s been great. You didn’t hear it from me, but I’m pretty sure our stock prices are about to jump.”

Adrien laughed lightly. “Oh? I’ll be sure to tell my dad to invest.”

Marinette wanted to die.

“Ah, yes, good investments are good,” the man said, giving him a daft kind of smile. And then he reached out and patted Marinette on the top of the head, making the tiny strand of hair tucked behind her ear fall back into her face. Luckily, the man didn’t notice. “Like her. Back when I first started sponsoring you, even I never could have guessed that you would become so smart.”

She forced a blush to her face. “Well, I’m just really good with chemistry. I’m just glad that it was accepted as being close enough to biology to count.”

“Our mutual love of chemical experimentation is what brought us together in the first place.”

Marinette leaned in conspiratorially, cupping a hand over her mouth to stage-whisper to the others: “Don’t let him fool you, he’s talking about the time he blew up his microwave.”

“For science! It was an experiment!” Adrien said with false offense.

Bruce chuckled good-naturedly and started rifling through his pockets for a checkbook. “Well, it would be wrong to give money to all my other kids and leave you out, don’t you think?”

Marinette stared at him for a moment, her fake smile fading slightly in favor of pure confusion. “Sir, I don’t know how to tell you this, but I’m not one of your kids.”

And, sure, she knew that Bruce Wayne’s kid situation was a little strange. There were only five actual Wayne kids: Dick Grayson-Wayne, Jason Wayne, Cassandra Wayne, Damian Al Ghul- Wayne, and Duke Thomas. There was also the weird gray area that was Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, and Barbara Gordon, all of whom had one or more living parents but often found themselves grouped with the others because of how close they were to the Wayne family.

But Marinette? Marinette was a scholarship kid that was being forced to be around them all. She had talked to Bruce Wayne a grand total of four times, and one of those times was happening at this exact moment.

Bruce Wayne blinked once. Twice. Three times. And then he smacked his palm against his forehead. “Oh! Right! Sorry, the others talk about you so much that sometimes I forget you aren’t my kid.”

Marinette sometimes wondered if a man could truly be this dumb.

“Ah, don’t worry, I’m sure my parents could identify every single one of them in a line up with how much I talk about them,” she said, forcing her sweetest tone even as her gaze cut to the Wayne kids in a way that screamed ‘I have talked about murdering you multiple times’.

The Waynes now looked like they had just watched her grow a third head and were now resigned to the fact that she could apparently grow more heads. An improvement? Maybe?

Bruce chuckled and patted her on the head again. “They are little scamps, aren’t they?”

“They’re sweet, though,” she lied through her teeth. “I enjoy every minute we spend together.”

“I’d hope so!” The man said cheerfully.

And then Bruce, the godsend, the best person to ever exist, wrote a check and dropped it in her donation box. Marinette only just refrained from pumping her fist.

Still, the smile Adrien and Marinette gave after that was far more genuine.

Adrien smiled. “That was very nice of you, Mr. Wayne.”

“Thank you, sir,” she said.

“Of course! And, please, both of you, call me Bruce.”

“I don’t think you understand how much I just… can’t do that.”

He chuckled and gave her one last pat on the head – Adrien looked like he wanted to cry a little as his careful work started to come undone for real – before heading off to do whatever it was rich people do.

His kids didn’t join him.

Marinette turned to Steph, Tim, and Duke. “Good job on your presentation, Duke.”

(Listen, she liked Steph well enough, but Tim was a dick and she would rather die than compliment his work. Especially not when he was her main competition at the school.)

Tim didn’t even seem to register the snub, for once.

This gave Duke plenty of time to snicker and tell her, “I totally bombed. My partner didn’t even read the note cards I gave her.”

“I mean, yeah, but you’re not supposed to say that.”

He could only shrug a little, somewhere between amused and annoyed.

Dick didn’t give her much time to register the motion, though, as he came up and rested his hands on her shoulders.

She blinked at him. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re weirdly touchy?”

“I – wha –?” He shook his head, and she wasn’t sure if that was an answer or if he was just dismissing the question. “You’ve been attractive this whole time?”

Marinette ignored the fact that Adrien had chosen to break down laughing. It was surely unrelated.

She looked up at Dick for a moment. “I mean… duh?”

“But…” Damian said, sounding almost pained. “Every time we’ve seen you, you’ve worn a hoodie and jeans.”

“Yeah, because I’m not really interested in looking good for – I don’t know – fucking Kyle from my Calculus class.” She huffed. “Besides. Nice clothes? Makeup? That stuff is expensive. Way too expensive to use when I’m not getting any kind of return, y’know?”

Steph nodded her agreement. Ah. Working class solidarity. It does exist, after all.

And then Babs wheeled herself closer, looking mildly amused. “And if you can get a return?”

~~~~~~~~~~

#maribat #mariharem #ig #maribatadrienette #ohshc au #dukinette #timinette #timari #daminette #maridami #damimari #jasonette #dickinette #babsinette #??#stephinette #cassinette #why do i feel like im missing someone

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bbreaddog · 5 months

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20 questions writer meme!

Thanks for tagging me @jmrothwell! 😊💕

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

A humble 9 😌

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

24,651

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Julie and The Phantoms, and currently working on my first contribution to Red, White & Royal Blue… 👀 I’ve previously written for Rent The Musical, and (no longer attached to any of my accounts) rpf for Steel Train and fun.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

King of Your Heart (JATP) → Willex ft. Die-hard Willie & Bobby

Rated M, 17.4k words, 10/? Tags: Pirate/Mage AU, Enemies-to-lovers, Slow Burn, Hurt/Comfort Summary: Willie’s life is constantly in motion, and he’s never wanted it any other way. He doesn’t know how he could function any other way. But right now he sees nothing but blue sea as he sits on his perch, and the endless nothingness is making him incredibly nauseated. - That is, until an enemy ship shows up and Willie finds himself stranded with the most annoyingly handsome guy he's ever met. OR Romantic Willie/Alex with a side of platonic die-hard Willie/Bobby

I’m Thirsty (Rent) → Mark/Roger ft. Maureen

Rated M, 1.4k words, 1/1 Tags: Jealousy, Fluff, Implied sexual content Summary: Maureen's got a new girlfriend. She and Mark have been broken up for at least a month now. So why, to Roger's frustration, does Mark keep inviting Maureen over?

Lonely Blue (Rent) → Mark/Roger

Rated T, 682 words, 1/1 Tags: Modern AU, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Homophobia Summary: When Mark comes out to his parents, it’s a fucking mess

Sunday Morning (Rent) -> Mark/Roger

Rated G, 358 words, 1/1 Tags: Fluff Summary: Mark and Roger being soft and stupid when they wake up in the morning

It’s Not Fair (Rent) -> Mark/Roger

Rated M, 1.2k words, 2/? Tags: Unresolved Sexual Tension, Mild Sexual Cotent, Abandoned Fic Summary: Mark takes in a shaky breath. How is Roger so effortlessly sexy? He’s not even doing anything.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I generally try to, if I have the spoons. There’s something so fun about keysmashing with someone who’s equally excited about what you’ve done with the characters. I’ve also made some meaningful connections through comments, and the likelihood of making new friends that way looks pretty damn good to me!

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

It’s still technically a wip, and it has no title yet… just know my boy Reggie is fucking going through it. But if we’re talking about published fics, I’d say Lonely Blue is definitely upsetting

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

For a cheeky happiest ending: Played It To The Beat (JATP) → Best Friends Julie & Alex

Rated G, 1.4k words, 1/1 Tags: Making a playlist together!, Kind of crack? Summary: Julie has been desperately searching for songs to add to a playlist for what she’s been calling an anniversary party for Flynn, which isn’t for what Alex thought it was going to be.

For the fluffiest happiest ending: I’m The King of the Ocean (JATP) → Willex

Rated T, 503 words, 1/1 Tags: King Of Your Heart AU, Falling In Love, Holding Hands Summary: “I can handle anything.” Alex smirks. “Anything?” “Anyth—” Willie yelps and splutters as he cops a huge splash in his face. Alex explodes with laughter.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I don’t write nearly enough for this to happen

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I used to write explicit smut, but not anymore. I might occasionally allude to an act in my current writing. I have some trauma around specifically writing explicit smut 👍 I still fucking read it tho 😎 I’m doing my part 🫡 And who knows! Maybe I’ll return to writing it one day. You’ll just have to find out ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

No crossovers from me

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I sure hope not 😬

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yeah… King Of Your Heart was co-written with someone I no longer speak to. They were a very important person in my life and I cared about them a lot. It also means KOYH is on indefinite hiatus because I have mixed feelings about updating it without them That’s not to say I haven’t written the following chapters though… 👀 (They exist, and if you ask nicely, I might share a private link with you)

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

I don’t think I have one 🤔

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Honestly, so many. But the one that I CONSTANTLY think about is the New Year’s prompt that jmrothwell actually sent me in JANUARY. AND IT’S NOVEMBER NOW. I HAVE NO CLUE HOW TO END IT. WHAT I HAVE SO FAR IS REALLY FUCKING GOOD TOO WHICH MAKES ME SO UPSET 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

16. What are your writing strengths?

Imagery, descriptive stuff. Poetic things. Similes and metaphors. I’m giving an awesome example of that rn 🫡

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Over-explaining, making sentences longer than they need to be

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I like to avoid it. The only other language I know how to write in is Simplified Chinese, and even then my vocab is so limited. Plus, I feel like writing with Asian languages that use characters instead of the Latin alphabet would look really clunky amongst otherwise English prose. Pinyin would be equally as unnatural to read too, imo

19. First fandom you wrote for?

You mean bandom? 😔 our name is fun. 😔 nachel forever (og mutuals know) 😔

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Big fan of Played It To The Beat. BEST FRIENDS JULIE MOLINA & ALEX MERCER SUPREMACY 🛐

Tagging: @floating-in-the-blue, @noworneverphantom, @fiddlepickdouglas, @thesevenumbrellas

#possibly one of the most comprehensive tag games I’ve done #@ppl i tagged: no expectation to do this if you don’t want to :-)#i write things #tag game #about me #mine

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obstinaterixatrix · 3 months

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✄ , ▵ (for Light Chasers?)

✄ what’s your editing process?

to some extent my editing process is a part of my writing process because, depending on how the fic is going, I usually do keysmashes or brackets for action throughout the draft so I have to go back and edit them to be real sentences rather than notes... although I doubt everyone would count that as editing. for the editing-editing part, my process is to see what friends are open to beta read and work through their notes; sometimes I'll highlight parts I'm not sure of or parts that I have multiple lines in mind for so I can get specific feedback.

▵ pick a fic and I’ll tell you my favorite line

omg my beloved gen au that I adore so so much... it's so hard to pick just one line because I'm in love with my own genius. so I'm gonna pick two <3 and it's gonna be multiple lines <3

The imposter’s beatific expression twists into contempt, and what gall! As if he has the right after such indecency! Yusuke is just about to relay all that indignation and more when a stark white wing bursts from his imposter’s back, soon weighed down by the chaotically marbled ink that oozes from between the feathers. The rest of him shortly follows this startling transformation, culminating into what could perhaps be described as the idea of a crane, far too ill-defined and approximate and wrong; no crane has a beak that curves so viciously, talons that gleam with such cruel intent. To confound the matter further, it’s pieced together by a grotesque cacophony of incongruent styles, impressionist and ink wash limbs attached to a cubist crest, its head styled in a repulsively nostalgic childlike scrawl.

I'm not really a visual person so I tend to struggle with visual descriptions and I usually make up for it by focusing on emotions and internal processes, so I was really proud of this :) but also because I'm not a visual person the way I experience this is very. wow! sounds pretty cool (not visualizing it at all)

“Dude, are you, like... okay?” the blond one asks. “I’m miserable,” Yusuke replies, smiling bitterly.

I love emotional incongruence <3 ever since I saw yusuke I knew I wanted him to smile while saying he's miserable <3 so glad I gave myself the chance to fulfill my dreams thanks me <3

#ask #sinelanguage #tumblr ask thing reply

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semperama · 10 months

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hi erin i was wondering if you had any advice for how to deal with not getting any comments on a fic. i'm in a pretty small fandom and i get the same (small) amount of kudos as many other writers there. but i recently posted a pretty personal fic that i worked extremely hard on for months, so hopeful that it might resonate with people, and now i just feel crushed. i'm working on new fics but I keep thinking that I’m probably only setting myself up for more disappointment ;(( any thoughts? ty <3

Hi, anon! I'm sorry to hear you feel like your hard work has gone unnoticed. That's such an awful feeling. I can't say I'm an expert, because I haven't been in a fandom small enough that it was normal to get no comments, but I do know what it's like to work hard on something and be disappointed by the response. I have a few things that might help.

If you can, I really recommend trying to make friends in your fandom. Especially in small fandoms, it can be such a lifesaver in terms of getting feedback and keeping your motivation. A good keysmash in the comments of a Google Doc can be just as satisfying as a dozen comments on AO3. Finding someone you trust to beta read your fic, or to bounce ideas off of, is a good idea in ANY fandom, but it can be especially helpful in small fandoms to keep from feeling like you're shouting into the void. And make sure you're giving back to others as well! Leave some comments on other people's fic! Follow them on tumblr and hype up their projects! Do whatever you can to tap into the community that is there.

I hate to say it, but part of it really is adjusting your expectations. If everyone in the fandom gets a handful of kudos at most, then you need to go into writing for that fandom with your eyes wide open, knowing that even if you pour your blood, sweat, and tears into something, all you can expect is that same handful of kudos. That says nothing about you as a writer. You could write an absolute masterpiece, and if there are only 10 people interested in that subject, you're only going to get 10 people to read it. And that's okay! That doesn't mean you've failed in any way, and you should still be proud of your accomplishments. But you can't get blood from a stone, you know? If the audience isn't there, it isn't there. In a way, that can be freeing though. The problem with large audiences can be the expectation of a huge response every time and feeling like you failed if you don't get it. In very small fandoms, at least you know the lack of response is due to the lack of people, not something you did wrong!

Related to the previous point, if you're going to be writing for a fandom where getting lots of (or any) comments isn't the norm, then you should try to find a way to measure success for yourself that doesn't have to do with comments. That often just means writing something you are proud of and you enjoy reading. Especially in the case where you're writing about subjects that are personal to you, make sure you take the time to appreciate the catharsis it brings you. Pat yourself on the back for how you're improving your writing skills by getting in touch with your own emotions and experiences and turning them into stories. Those things aren't useless if they don't reach a huge audience. You are improving yourself by doing it!

All that being said, if it really is a super duper tiny fandom and there's no community to get involved with and you don't think you'll ever be happy writing for mostly yourself, I do honestly think there's a time when you have to ask yourself if you need to move on. I personally suck at writing for myself. If no one's going to read it, I don't want to write it, haha. In the past when fandoms have died or my friends have left, I've jumped ship too, because I need the community aspect. Fandom isn't fun for me without it. Everyone's different though! I've known people who are happier writing for fandoms so rare no one else is writing for them. It just comes down to both your tolerance for the lack of feedback and how much you feel compelled by this particular fandom.

Anyway, sorry I got so long-winded and I'm sorry if none of that is helpful! I hope you can glean something from it at least, and I hope you are able to feel proud of yourself for finishing a personal fic, which is SO hard to do, even if it didn't get the response you were hoping for. <33

#replies #writing #writing advice

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 2 years

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Jade for the bingo pls 🥰

Rook Character Opinion Bingo here!

Oh, and would you look at that 😳 J word’s the only character that managed to get Bingo--

***Standard disclaimer: These are just my personal opinions of the character(s); regardless of what I may think of them, sharing my thoughts is NOT meant to offend or to shame anyone that thinks differently.***

I’m.

Uh.

Going to try to cut down on a lot of what I’m going to shout about by recommending that you read this, which goes into detail and brain rot about what I like about Jade 😔 I worry that if I try to express those same thoughts again in this post, then it’s just going to turn into incomprehensible keysmash at some point 💦 and I actually want to come off as somewhat intelligent and NOT down horrendous here, so I’d like to avoid keysmashing at all costs.

OKAY FIRST I REALLY HATE HOW JADE LOOKS BECAUSE WHEN I FIRST SAW HIM I CALLED HIM FUGLY AND NOW LOOK AT WHERE I AM TODAY, EATING MY OWN DAMN WORDS OTL WHY’S THIS BITCH GOTTA SMILE LIKE THAT, WHY’S HE GOTTA HAVE THOSE SHIFTY EYES AND A PRETTY MOUTH AND HOLD HIS HANDS TOGETHER LIKE HE’S A PRIM AND PROPER GENTRLEMAJBADSLKNHADSBIYOYFIQEVVQEFFEIBPASCHOGFVUASCQVY FGEUVchj clHSvshavqdbhvqojP[OVSIPbVKOVQE[NUW-9GQ3NRWMK,F13UHP’Q;E,FQEGPOUB[NQPBYtv79oV-IHBVAVYOIBVPpnadv/,l

BREATH E I MUST BEREAHTSIAV AHLDVADSBACSC i MUSET MUST SKDG BDSHLDFIOYAIOYABSOI BE CALM BE CALM NBE CALMDASNACAJ ASDVGKASDVGDVSAOODVQQF,.tqwo1-yg9qu-9rw BTEHANERHLAERKHL HALLHADFLADV ADVLHADVGUADVGIUADVYOADVOYIVSGIFBYUVQEOIYWPFBWNJ-GE8QUQ.’2OTIUBPQE9U[0QEJFK,’DVW

... Anyway, I think Jade looks pretty cool and do I even need to mention my butler/bodyguard bias again . __ . I’m not going to go into a ton of detail about that, because a lot of what I could say is already said in my thoughts on Floyd. There are subtle differences between their faces (like the eye shape, the lips, etc.), which I can really appreciate because a lot of twins in animation look like exact mirror images of each other. Their manner of dress is a lot more distinct; Jade’s the more covered up one and that, I would argue, is much hotter than Floyd’s few undone buttons because 🤡 since I’m so used to seeing every last bit of skin concealed, it hits a lot harder whenever Jade goes. Like. Gloveless or something. ALSO YOU JUST CAN’T GO WRONG WHEN IT COMES TO SUITS, SUITS MAKE EVERYONE LOOK 100000000000000000X MORE ATTRACTIVE, THIS IS THE HILL I WILL DIE ON.

Not going to lie, I don’t like episode 3 all that much and part of the reason why is because Jade doesn’t get a lot of screen time 😔 and what little screen time he did get in episode 3 relegated him to being a generic henchman until maybe towards the end when he was checking to make sure Azul was okay post-OB. At least episode 4 made up for it, letting us finally see Jade’s sly side and the insidious tactics he’s willing to employ to pry information out of others. ABIUASFBIPASBAFDBDASBI GOD SOMETIMES I JUST. REWATCHT THAT WHOLE KALIM INTERROGATION SCENE AND THE ENTIRE TIME IN MY HEAD I’M GOING “WHY ARE YOU SUCH A FAKEASS” TO JADE BUT AT THE SAME TIME I’M HOLDING MY HEAD IN MY HANDS AND GROANING LIKE WHY DOES HIS VOICE SOUND LIKE THAT WHY DOES IT SOUND SO NICE AND SOOTHING................. If I had to liken episodes 3 and 4 to something, it’d be Jade’s Ceremonial Robes vignettes. In those, Trey is convinced in the beginning that Jade is a nice person that’s being taken advantage of by Azul and Floyd, but by the end, Riddle enlightens Trey to the fact that Jade is an enabler and enjoys assisting in Octavinelle’s schemes. HE REALLY PLAYED ALL OF US OTL PRETENDING TO BE AN ANGEL WHEN HE’S ACTUALLY.......................... . . . . ... .. . ....... . . . . .. . ..... . . . . .. LIKE THAT--

Jade’s a rare case where I like basically everything about him, even his flaws and how he just. Uh. Is Shitty and Sadistic sometimes. He has the capacity to be a little bit of everything because he’s a master liar and manipulator. When he needs to smile and play nice, he can do that. When he needs to be cool and calculating, he can pull it off just as well. I love that he can look at a situation and the variables, then work out the best way to get what he wants out of it, glean whatever information he’s seeking, and all without ever getting violent. Yeah, what he’s doing is definitely sketchy at times (blackmailing, willingly and knowingly leading contractors to Azul, continuing to employ underhanded methods to personally gain from them, etc.), but there’s something I find oddly impressive about it?????? It takes a big brain to plot all of that, and tons of patience, composure, and self-assuredness to carry it out. And that contrast between his polite facade and his darker intent... MAN. 😔 That kind of stuff really gets to me. IT’S OKAY, I’LL FORGIVE J WORD OF ANY CRIMES HE MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE COMMITTED I’m here to defend Jade’s red flags, not dismiss them 💞

At the same time, I think he can be really cute! He just doesn’t let his guard down that often, especially around other people. When Jade’s left to enjoy making playing God terrariums, hiking, or tending to his mushrooms... when he’s having a tasty meal or he’s just discovered something new and interesting... when he’s teasing his classmates or enabling Floyd to have fun... you’ll see a genuine smile come out, because as “bad” as he is when he’s doing the dirty work he has been assigned, he’s also just a student that wants to enjoy himself, his hobbies, and his school life. Sure, that may sometimes be at the expense of others (even Floyd), but that’s how Jade chooses to amuse himself and to have fun, and I’m happy that he has that because I have fun in the same way 😇.

With all of that being said, I’m of the opinion that Jade is the most dangerous of the Octatrio and I would be fucking terrified of this man if he existed in the real world 😬 Azul himself even says in Beans Day: The Lyre-less Brawl that he believes JADE is the worse twin, because at least Floyd is obvious about his intentions. With Jade, you never know when he’ll come at you and what he’ll do. Someone as skilled in lying and manipulation as Jade is going to be a huge threat not only because of the damage he can deal, but how well he can cover up his trail 🤡 so he’d best be kept entertained, or he will go and start seeking out his own sources of amusement.

... and yes, I would still want to m*rry him anyway because I accept him for who he is, nasty parts included I SAID I’M HERE TO DEFEND HIS RED FLAGS AND I’M AN EEL K*SSER OF MY WORD--

I think it’s because I like Jade so much that I’m quick to be annoyed by particular interpretations of him 😔 Of course, I never react inappropriately, I just choose to politely disagree and quietly move on, but those sad feelings still get to me at times. I’ve just explained how nuanced I think Jade is, but a lot of the fandom interpretations tend to paint him in some extreme, be it a casual mass murderer, a softboi eel butler who has done no wrong and is always kind and caring towards his partner, or as a hyper possessive and jealous boyfriend who will kill any guy that so much as breathes in your general direction (the latter two are very popular, especially in yume circles). I’m of the opinion that everyone is allowed to enjoy media however they wish, but I’ve personally never liked such polar interpretations, as they often ignore canon or large swathes of a character’s... well, character. Soft Jade takes in particular bother me because 1) it’s so prevalent, and 2) they often take away all of the edge that makes him actually interesting, leaving him kind of flat and just... generically nice.

One variation of the soft Jade take that I sometimes see is that???? Jade will be nice to an OC/self-insert while being weirdly nasty to everyone else?????? It implies that somehow the OC/self-insert is the special exception, and it reads to me as so hollow because Jade is canonically very cunning, and he does more than just tease people; he knows how to jab at weak points and embarrass others, and he doesn’t hold back in that kind of passive aggressiveness and sharp wit, even to Azul and Floyd (his own family) at times. It’s definitely not warranted in every scenario, and it’s not always done with malice in mind (sometimes Jade might want to be entertained by getting a reaction, or he wants to drag out an interesting conversation which requires aggravating his target first), but it’s like his subtleties get overlooked entirely because people tend to prioritize soft Jade over true Jade. It no longer feels like the original Jade I l*ve, but a caricature that barely even resembles him (unless I try REALLY hard to picture Jade’s face in my mind)... so I can never really bring myself to be interested in those takes.

Truthfully, I feel like I’m the insane one for being in what seems to be the minority that doesn’t enjoy the “uwuification” of Jade. I always see other Jade fans going crazy for him pampering them and being the ideal butler boyfriend (and don’t get me wrong, that is appealing to me too), but I do not understand what’s so great about it when his craftiness is completely cut out. It’s like he has lost his soul or something, like he’s soda without the carbonation. I get the wish fulfillment and seeking escapism aspect of it, but it’s not my wish to escape and served by a cardboard cutout wearing Jade’s face while missing a lot of his charm. The appeal of Jade for me IS his duality, not just that kind and patient front that he puts up (otherwise he is no different from any other generically nice butler).

I don’t know, I hope I’ve managed to properly convey my feelings well enough. Again, I want to stress that it’s fine if you happen to enjoy those interpretations of Jade; It’s just that I don’t care for them, and it’s frustrating because I feel like I don’t quite “fit in” with most other Jade fans… It doesn’t leave me with a lot of people I can feel comfortable sharing my Jade rot with on a personal level 😭

#Jade Leech #Jade Leech thirst #disney twisted wonderland #twst #twisted wonderland #notes from the writing raven #ask game #spoilers #character opinion bingo

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thegreatcrowdragon · 2 years

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More talking about my Habit hcs (this time with extra projection!)

-His main stim is pacing. Oh god, the pacing. His bedroom is on the bottom floor AND carpeted.

-Twirls his hair/random objects. Petunia saw him twirling a pencil once and was like “:0 how he do that?”

-Shows affection mainly through physical actions, like hugs or (way too many) gifts. However, there are some issues, because Kamal is the exact opposite, showing affection mainly through words. Habit is like “he dont lobe me :-(”

-Really good at sewing. I feel this is obvious due to Pabit existing but yeah. He fixes Petunia’s clothes :)

-Would probably ask “If I was a worm, would you love me?” at least twice a week

-He can talk to plants. If anyone has read the WOF (Wings of Fire) books, it’s basically like the leafspeak in that.

-Since he’s canonically(?) brought inanimate objects to life, I'd say he counts as a god, or at least a demigod. Especially with that one Great God Grove pic ;)

-He became super cuddly and outwardly sweet because he wanted to spite his father, (his dad is one of those manly men types) but then he kinda realized that being the equivalent of a golden retriever IS his personality, it was just kinda shoved down there.

-Not human. Or only at least half human. He’s a creatur :)

-Knows everything about plants there is. Probably the best person to be stuck with in the wild due to his plant knowledge.

-He’s not as dumb as he looks, he’s quite smart, actually. Petunia keeps trying to get him to do her science homework.

-He’s only hit his head on a few doorways, usually when he spaces out.

-Incredibly high pain tolerance. You could stab him, and he’d react the same way someone would react to a little kid punching them.

-Speaking of fighting, he’s a pacifist until you mess with Kamal or Petunia. He packs quite a nasty punch, especially with his claws.

-HE HAS PAWS WITH B E A N S

-His hands are also roughly the size of a normal human’s head. When he tries to pat someone, he just... Engulfs their head in his hand.

-He can purr, though it’s kinda quiet. Very calming noise though :)

-He tends to get stuck in things a lot. Mostly because he underestimates his own size.

-If he met someone taller than him, he would INSTANTLY want to be friends with them.

-I’m pretty sure this was mentioned in game, but he is LOADED. The most money he’s spent was on the habitat though.

-Disappointed with myself for putting this at the bottom but HABIT TRANS AND YOU CAN PULL THIS FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS.

-Also, he’s pansexual because ✨~projecting~✨

-Him squishy. Soft. 10/10 bed, Petunia approved.

-Despite everyone thinking the opposite, Pabit is, in fact sentient. Kamal nearly jumped a foot in the air when he spoke to him (when Habit wasn’t there)

-Siren Habit is my favorite. Big old (platonic) kissy from me to the person who made that <3

-He isn’t a snitch. You tell him a secret and he will not speak a word about it. This might be because he forgot it, but he’s got the energy so it’s alright

-Bit of a soft spot for kids. He teaches them stuff, like hair braiding (which I mentioned in my last post that I’m gonna link).

-He’s got about... Three or four layers of teeth, each layer behind the other. Oh, and they're sharp with little serrated (that means jagged) edges. For biting... Things.

-Also, props to the people who made plant creature Habit. He do be photosynthesizing tho

-Loud noises scare him. “Is it because of trauma or the autism?” I hear you saying? Eh, it’s a mix. He (tries to) hide under the couch because fireworks spooky :(

-Speaking of that, no unexpected physical touches. He goes into fight or flight mode real fast if you do that. Trauma is no fun :(

-Didn’t know what anime was for a while. Kamal fixed that REAL fast.

-He is a Fluttershy kinnie and I will fight to the death about this.

-His coat is like one of those sensory hoodies. It's also weighted, and you would immediately fall over if he threw it on you. Custom made!

-Most of are clothes are custom made, actually. He has a very odd body shape

-Whenever I think of the sequence where he’s talking to you while you're strapped to the chair, I think of The Dismemberment Song by Blue Kid. Give it a listen, it’s on Spotify! (I’ll link it if needed)

Oh boy. Originally this was going to be only what I headcanoned Habit’s stims as, but it kind of ended up being more than that. Either way, I hope you enjoyed!

Feel free to ask me whatever about Smile for Me :)

The hair related headcanons I also made!

https://thegreatcrowdragon.tumblr.com/post/694231989916680192/person-with-long-hair-yells-about-unlicensed

Reblogs > likes! I love reading the tags, even if they're just keysmashes!

#smile for me #dr boris habit #boris habit #now that I reread this I realized the absurd amount of emoticons I used make me sound like Habit lol

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inqorporeal · 2 years

Text

Chanai endures Even Further Hildibrand Adventures

Okay folks, gonna liveblog reactions to the Stormblood Hildibrand quests. Chanai is so not ready for this but he’s doing it anyway. I’m going to drop anything spoilery under a cut, but I’m pretty sure most of this will just be keysmash.

If you’d rather not get the dash spam, the tag is “chanai vs the absurdity”.

#inq plays ffxiv #chanai vs the absurdity

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laindir · 2 years

Photo

Just cross-posting a bit of my own deep-dive musings I’d initially keysmashed over on twitter about the JJK0 and JJK key animation artworks here: I love how when all three covers are juxtaposed together like this, it seems, at first, to hint at Megumi’s gradual “fall” in the story. That he, like Getou, may eventually trudge down the path of an antagonist and switch over to opposing sides, aligning himself with either Sukuna and/or Kenjaku’s ideals instead of Yuuji or Gojou.

However, I’d like to think of these artworks not as hard foreshadowing of where the plot is heading with absolute certainty, but merely as a visual interpretation of the characters’ design concepts that illustrates their roles within the narrative itself – particularly, with the Vol.2 artwork which features Megumi and Gojou.

At a cursory glance, it might seem that Gojou would have to fight yet another jujutsu sorcerer from within his own circle (his own ward and student this time), mirroring his past falling-out and broken friendship with Getou. That Gojou and Megumi — both the current heads of their respective clans, and inheritors of each clan’s most prized cursed techniques, Six Eyes and Limitless vs. Ten Shadows — are bound yet again by fate to fight one another to the death, as their ancestors have always done in the past due to bad blood and clan rivalry.

Still, if you think about it within the events occurring in the canon now, even if Megumi is visually placed on the same “villain” side along with Getou and Sukuna here — in actuality, he still doesn’t quite fit the role of a (budding) antagonist/villain, let alone a rival. At least not at this point in the story. Of course, I don’t claim to know what goes on in Akutami’s brain, and may be wrong in future as the plot unfolds further. But for the moment, I personally don’t feel that’s what Akutami is going for, especially when we consider how hard Megumi has been working with the other Juju Tech sorcerers to find a way to unseal Gojou, and how viscerally devoted he is to keeping Yuuji safe and beside him always. It’s pretty obvious right now whose side Megumi is on, despite everything that had happened in Shibuya; he’s pretty much ride and die all the way for Yuuji, even at the expense of his own personal safety if Sukuna manages to be unsuppressed once more. Another interesting thing to note is how Megumi is the only one who is drawn inverted on the covers. Which, again makes me think that this is done to represent his characterisation within JJK, not merely as plot foreshadowing. He is, after all, designed to look (at first) like the seemingly cold and harsh shounen rival that typically goes against the main character with their clashing ideals, but as we know, Megumi is anything but that, being Yuuji’s closest friend and most resolute supporter. He is quite literally an inverse of said shounen rival archetype.

Megumi being drawn inverted and on the “wrong” side could also be a glimpse into his perception of his own self: that he doesn’t think of himself as being inherently right, or a good person like Tsumiki and Yuuji (hence his whole “I don’t care if I’m right or wrong; I only believe in my own conscience, so I choose to save people unequally” spiel, lol). Every one else is drawn standing upright because they believe their way and their truths as “right” at that point of their battles – Yuuta, when pitting Rika and his Pure Love beam against Getou’s Maximum: Uzumaki and Tamamo-no-Mae; Yuuji, while in Sukuna’s innate domain when he says he knows for sure Sukuna is evil and refuses to let Sukuna use his body again after his first death. With the inversion here, it also makes Megumi and Gojou’s placement on the Vol.2 cover to look more like the yin-yang symbol:

So, instead of it simply foreshadowing a final showdown between the two, perhaps it represents instead how the two are contrasting yet relative and complementary forces – both still independent from one another yet remain interconnected with each another, just like their relationship with the world and within jujutsu society; how it is this harmony and balance with each other that may give rise to both of them and to the other sorcerers aligned with them as they continue to fight for their personal truths: to reset jujutsu society/the world from within (Gojou), and to save those they believe as good and deserving (Megumi).

There are definitely many ways to read into this. Either way, I think we can all agree these covers are just breath-takingly gorgeous. Like, the artbook illustrators and cover designers (Takeji-san and Hiramatsu Tadashi) don’t have to go so hard each and every time, but damn, do they always lol.

#jujutsu kaisen #itadori yuuji #fushiguro megumi #gojou satoru #tldr keysmashing with feels #this has been sitting in my drafts for the week time to set it free lmfao #alternatively since i'm speculating anyway #we can still over-analyze this as Foreshadowing (tm) still #Megumi being drawn inverted → him seemingly going thru a corruption arc/heading to the Dark Side (lol)#→ except pLOT-TWIST! he was pretending to be antagonistic to side with Sukuna and/or Kenjaku…#only to BETRAY them in order to protect Tsumiki Yuuji and his friends… ????#probable? not really. within the realm of possibility bc who knows what goes on in the Cyclop-Cat’s brain?? maybe lol #these are just pretty artworks self #stop over-reading everything for that Deep Jujutsu sYmbOlisM....#tl;dr i'm rambling into the void ignore me #also also who wants to bet for the vol3 cover art #it'd be nobara and maki but facing away from each other #maki on the left as callback to her destroying the zenins #nobara on the right as affirmation of her self #both fighting not against each other but against patriachal expectations of jujutsu society...#or something something...#jjk manga spoilers #meta #q

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aranarumei · 10 months

Text

tagged by @hua-fei-hua! it’s been ages since I’ve done one of these it was kind of fun lol! sorry for the delayed answers...

1. are you named after anyone?

a couple of ppl assume my name is kiri because it’s like, referencing kirishima from bnha. i haven’t kept up with bnha properly since. honestly since the dabi reveal ch dropped so that’s… nov 5th 2020 lol. I’ve got residual feelings abt it but not much interest in actually reading it (sorry). nowadays I don’t get as much of that anymore—my name is just like. digimon dusk only lets your character have a 4 character name max so I hit various syllables together and keysmashed until it sounded good. im attached to it now.

2. when was the last time you cried?

…today lol. i cry easy when i'm frustrated.

3. do you have kids?

no. I have a Feeling this will be rather unrelatable to whoever I tag so. electing to present my own question:

3 (again). [FREE SPACE] recommend a song?

im gonna recommend Tsuru (en: Bowstring) by koyori / denbolP bc it’s great. I love this producer actually.

4. do you use sarcasm a lot?

mm I think im probably averagely sarcastic but like. I do have a habit of like. ex: someone will be like oh where’s [kiri]? when I’m literally right there and I have the immediate impulse to say, completely straightfaced, like “oh [kiri]? sorry they’ve been dead for seven years. they’ve never been in this room in your entire life.” so essentially I like doubling down on things when I think it’s funny.

5. what sports do you play/have played

i played basketball for six years!

6. what's the first thing you notice about people?

i think the first like, physical detail I pay proper Attention to is earrings. just cause I like em. apart from that it’s probably their voice and what they find funny.

7. eye color?

brown. comparatively I think it’s rather dark to the point of looking black.

8. scary movies or happy endings?

i mean I feel like this is a. false dichotomy but I really don’t have a good stomach for horror and stuff so. happy endings ig.

9. any special talents?

talents… I’ve memorized my squares up to 30-ish, so like if for example if someone says 28 I can rattle off 784. I’ve been told I have a talent for talking abt media I like but that’s also something said by my lovely friends lol.

10. where were you born?

on earth. im also electing to replace this with my own question:

10 (again). what made you make a tumblr account?

if ppl look at my blog they shall think I showed up in 2020 but I’ve actually been here since 2015. I just… deactivated my acct by accident when I meant to delete a sideblog. ok. so obviously I remade in that case. I made one back in 2015, though, because I was like, really into hxh and ran into some hxh blogs I was like. in love with. also some fairy tail fic authors I rly respected were on here. and I wanted to discuss hxh and post fic. so I joined.

11. what are your hobbies?

writing! and reading! and drawing! and playlist making. im basic. writing is probably #1 to me tho I rly enjoy it. like for all I complain about it I actually really enjoy the act of like putting down words and crafting stuff and editing. I’d actually love to beta fic more regularly. and get reallllly good at grammar (seriously if anyone has any resources on that chuck it at me) and action scenes. those r my big two dreams.

12. do you have any pets?

nope! i do have a depressing amount of wips I have not taken care of, tho…

13. how tall are you?

5’2” or about 158 cm, i haven't measured myself lately. I’ve been told my various sources that I have “tall person energy” tho. im not as good abt it nowadays but I tend to be a bit careful abt keeping my back straight. at the very least I’m pretty aware of it. I wanna say it was just cool of me to be that way bc I was into having good posture but I’m like 90% sure it was because I read skip beat and I really liked that kyoko stood that way.

14. favorite subject in school?

math by farrrr. literature is dependent on the teacher for quality imo and while I enjoyed it I was always a bit sad that we never did any creative writing. math is just very nicely methodical.

15. dream job?

honestly I don’t have one. like I’d love to publish a book some day but I don’t want it to be my Job. im pretty satisfied just doing smthing productive-feeling and where I have enough free time tbh.

no obligation to answer ofc to anyone tagged. also if you don’t want to answer any of the questions just reject them... I just provided alternates bc I felt like it. i think this is supposed to be 15 questions for 15 mutuals but i dont want to tag that many people... @icharchivist @sunnnfish @dirtbra1n @mxddyhero @heartsdash @watcher-ofthe-sky @estradasphere

#tag game #kiri.txt

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adrift-in-thyme · 1 year

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Congratulations! :))

I don't really have a fic request but I'd like to ask: how did you get into the fandom and do you have any advice for new accounts for new LU fan accounts that want to grow a following??

Hi there! And thanks!! 💚

I got into the fandom after I got botw for my birthday last year and fell in love. While I was on here obsessively scrolling through loz and Zelink content I came across some LU content. Then I started reading @skyward-floored ‘s awesome fics and went “ok I’ve gotta see what this whole LU thing’s about.” I binged the entire comic in one day and haven’t been the same since XD

As for tips on how to gain a following umm I’m not sure how much help I’ll be there. I’m pretty new to this fandom myself. And I’m just kinda vibing over here in my little corner of the internet XD

But I feel like the biggest thing that’s worked for me is interacting with people. Commenting on fics I’ve enjoyed (even if it’s just me yelling and keysmashing lol) and liking and reblogging stuff from blogs I follow have both gained me followers, some of whom have become friends. And though I do this less often and mostly through anon cause I’m shy, sending asks (whether it’s for an ask game or just to drop by and give a compliment or hugs) is another way to get people to notice you.

Creating your own posts is also helpful, whether they’re a bunch of headcanons, analyses of your favorite panels, or just gushing about the comic in general.

Or, you know, swooning over Wars and Time.

Sometimes your posts will lead to you and some super cool person screaming about the latest update, trying to predict what’ll come next, and then following each other (looking at you @blossomingwaters 💚)

And that’s all I can really think of. Hopefully that helps a bit!

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subzeroiceskater · 1 year

Text

Let's solve this mystery, gang

What happened was this:

I was looking through the 2022 submissions but noticed art that keep appearing in the thumbnail that doesn’t appear in the gallery itself.

I kept refreshing to no avail so I just decided to check out the galleries of everybody who hasn’t submitted yet from the participants list. Part of it to see what’s everyone been up to and maybe steal some inspo for my own WIPs. But while I was clicking away at wishlists, I couldn’t also couldn’t help checking if they matched my Secret Santa. I sat for like three hours straight staring at their words–and why did I do that? I mean I did stand up occasionally–but mostly I was keysmashing in panicked answers.

I did not find the gallery for whoever submitted that Shadow/Snake/Gemini art, but I did narrow down who could have gotten me.

1) Obviously those who already submitted are ruled out

2) It can’t be the mod because it’s not his style in either message or content also why would he even do that, that’s a pretty 4D chess move, but 4D chess is, again, not his style

3) They’re someone who really cares about the portrayal and characterization of other people’s characters–this person is a writer. Could be straight prose, could be an RPer…. I’m coming up blank with other options. There doesn’t seem to be any straight-up writers joining for this round so most likely an RPer or at least someone who has lots and lots of OCs, is someone who loves OCs or is friends with people who loves OCs.

I was wondering why there would be a need to ask, especially with the questions about the situation behind my character description.

1) Was this person writing a story? But there are no participants who mostly have a gallery of written pieces. The few I could think on hand a) have already submitted b) have not joined this year

2) So this person is primarily an artist but may have switched to prose. Maybe a combination of illustration and prose.

3) This person is still doing an illustrated piece but depicting something that needs specific knowledge of Café Woman’s former and current situation.

The last one intrigued me and is still my primary guess. But which participant seems into that? Who’s the most likely to take the risk?

I switched back to thinking that if this is a writer, won’t they feel safer tackling the canon characters, Tundra and Cut? Maybe throwing a Café cameo? I realize that’s something I would do if I were in the same situation. I’d focus on the favorite character and then learn the canon around them. Then I go looking around how the recipient either feels about said character or depicts them, just to get an idea of their general vibes. So, this person is a risk taker,rather than just safely picking Tundra, which I offered if they’ll do one character, and goes out of their way to make sure to include Friska because I said I’d really like that.

I think the most curious of all was the way they referred to the Café as my fan character. The most common term for them is OCs. At some point, I began using “fan character” instead and I think that’s the minority in the fandom. Either this person also uses the term fan characters or have made a note to use the term I also use. i) that means the person is really thoughtful ii) but the language used too quick and casual to be too deliberate

That threw a wrench in my whole reasoning, so I just went to to square one

1) cares about the portrayals of other people’s fan characters

I make it sound like I was so methodical, but these were just flitting thoughts I had while clicking through profiles and wishlists. Never found the missing deviation but I wound up with three likely suspects. Then I just went all in with this one guess.

Reasoning: Hasn’t submitted, lower caps, and has OCs and has a link to their profiles.

That’s my split second decision. I was getting frustrated so I closed the browser and went to rest my eyes. And then I got back up and wrote this post.

Well, I’ll see in a few days probably.

#merry happy #megaman shitposting

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olivia-anderson-fanfic · 1 year

Text

OHSHCAU (Keysmash)

Part 2

Listen, Marinette generally hates handouts. She also really likes free things. People are hypocritical, as is life.

And, yes, if you want to get into it there is internally consistent logic. She doesn’t like being given something, she is perfectly happy to earn it.

But who cares about that? No, she cares about the fact that she can choose to extend her debt by essentially using the ‘company credit card’ to get new clothes, but possibly find a quicker avenue to getting out of her debt overall.

Babs had proposed a simple idea: if she managed to attract 100 people by the time she graduated, her debt would be cleared. If not, then… well, she would still graduate, and therefore not have to deal with it anymore.

Well, she was already going to be set free when she graduated. If she failed to get 100 consistent customers, then she wouldn’t be losing much…

It really just became a question of whether she was willing to flirt with and lie to people for money.

And she wouldn’t even get to touch any of it.

She thought this over carefully. And then essentially said ‘fuck it’ and agreed because if she cleaned up after these rich kids for another day she was pretty sure she would start killing innocents.

So, she was set to go to the mall.

Dick was going to take her, at first… but…

(Marinette’s nose scrunched as she glanced Dick up and down. “No. Absolutely not. You look like someone that would say Discowing was a good look.”

“Discowing was camp –!” Dick started to say hotly, his face flushing, before he managed to think better of it. He sighed and turned away from her. “Steph! You’re on mall duty!”)

Well. That didn’t work out.

Now, Marinette leaned back against the counter at her parent’s bakery, trying to push her mom’s hands away from her face. “妈,” she groaned. “Stop.”

Sabine Cheng ignored her, instead opting to lick her thumb and rub away some soot on her cheek. “This is your first date! You need to look your best!”

She batted the finger away and started rubbing furiously at her cheek. “It’s not a date. She’s helping me pick out clothes. For a job.”

Sabine raised an eyebrow at her. “You’re going to the mall.”

“Yes.”

“Will you get food after?”

“I don’t know? Probably?”

“It’s a date,” Sabine confirmed, nodding shortly.

Marinette huffed. “妈!”

But her mother was no longer even pretending to listen to her, she walked around the counter to pick up a cupcake. She set it in a confectionery box (one of the nice ones with a design, wow was her mom going all out) and then handed it off to Marinette. “Give this to your new boyfriend.”

“Girlfriend,” Marinette corrected lightly. And then she grimaced. “Not girlfriend.”

Thankfully, her mother didn’t notice the tiny slip up. Sabine was too concentrated on the fact that she had been corrected: “English is stupid. GiRlS aNd BoYs. Those are people.”

Marinette sighed lightly. She had heard this rant many times before, and was sure to hear it many times more. She let her chin come to rest on the counter.

Her dad leaned over the counter with her, his head in his arms. “Mon chou, haven’t gone out with anyone other than Adrien in years, she’s going to be a little overexcited.”

Marinette sighed, looking down at the box in her hands. Despite her protests, she refused to purposely mess up the cupcake inside. “I know.”

“She’s just glad that you’re not going to end up dating your chemicals.”

Marinette huffed a laugh. “My chemically-engineered, lab-grown partner is going to be so sad to hear that she doesn’t approve.”

“I’m sure they will be.” He gently nudged her shoulder. “Want to help behind the counter while you wait?”

“I mean… want to…” she started, only to stop with a grin when her dad gave her a flat look. “Yeah, sure.”

She picked up her usual apron and knotted it around herself. She didn’t particularly care for the baggy jeans and overly large, Spoiler-themed t-shirt she had opted to wear (she had only really chosen them because they were easy to change in and out of), so she didn’t bother changing.

Instead, she went to her usual spot behind the register. She didn’t actually mind helping out. She got to chat with regulars, kick out the assholes that her parents would usually put up with, and eat when business was slow enough.

It was when business was slow that the man came in. She almost choked on her bagel.

She blinked at the old man on the other side of the counter. “舅舅,” she said, tipping her head forward respectfully. “Didn’t think you were coming to visit for a while.”

Fu smiled at her. “Is it wrong to come to the best bakery in Gotham for a quick snack break?”

“Guess not,” she said brightly. “What can I get for you?”

He hummed thoughtfully before pointing to a brioche roll. She rang him up and turned to the next customer.

Only to be surprised by another familiar face.

She blinked and stepped back, mildly surprised. She glanced at the clock out of the corner of her eyes. “You’re early.” She stuffed her hands in her pockets, leaning forward with a smug expression. “Aw, did you want to see me that badly?”

Steph merely smiled at her. “Your apron is cute on you.”

She looked down at the apron. All cockiness disappeared in an instant. She had gotten the whole family matching aprons for Christmas. Her mother’s informed everyone that she was the Head Chef, her father’s said Sous Chef, and her own called her the Quality Control. It was a sentimental gift that both of her parents had cried over.

She wished to tear it to shreds.

She slowly pulled it over her head, using the moment where her face was hidden to hide her blush.

“So the mall, right,” she said, as if the place were the most interesting place in the world that could definitely lead the conversation somewhere else.

Steph, thankfully, allowed for the subject change. She gasped and pressed a hand to her chest. “You’re going to make us leave without letting me sample anything? I have half a mind to sue you for emotional damages!”

Marinette grinned and slid the cupcake box over. “My mom has got you covered, don’t worry.”

“Your mom should be the host club member.”

She snorted and leaned to give both of her parents quick kisses goodbye. “You’re right, she would definitely make bank. Unfortunately, I don’t think our guests would be too pleased to know she’s married.”

“Irrelevant. Lying is a thing.”

Marinette rolled her eyes and opened the door for her, then slid her hands into her pockets as they made their way through town. “So, do you want to go to the mall near here or the Galleria?”

“Galleria. More options.”

More expensive, too, she thought, wincing just slightly. She had already done the math and discovered that, if she didn’t want to add more than one customer to her debt, she couldn’t spend more than $500 dollars on clothes and accessories. Which doesn’t sound too difficult until you realize that she needs a minimum of five outfits per week, as well as ways to make said outfits fit for both cold and warm weather. If she didn’t get enough accessories or change the outfits up enough, then she might get called out for not having any other clothes. Something that wouldn’t really matter normally, but was a huge deal for rich people for some reason.

And then there was… makeup.

Quelle fear.

She ran a hand through her hair. “So, what personality should I go for?”

Steph blinked. “What do you mean?”

Marinette gave her a flat look.

Steph snickered into her hand. “Okay, fine, fine, you’ve got us. We’re all liars.” She tipped her head up to look at the sky. “Let’s see… for you… I don’t know, you tend to sass people a lot and you’re decently fit – apparently – so, usually, that would mean we’d go for something along the lines of Jason… but Cass is already, mostly, monopolizing that for the women…”

Marinette nodded. “Cass is pretty great.”

“Mhmm…” Steph scrutinized her out of the corner of her eyes. “You’re in customer service, right? You have to have a customer service voice and personality, then, yeah?”

“You literally just saw me working.”

“I saw you with your uncle, and you were code-switching for part of it, that might have been different,” Steph corrected her.

Marinette blinked. “You know Mandarin?”

“I know a lot of things,” Steph said, winking. She carefully opened the cupcake box and pulled out the prized confection, spinning it in her hand as if it would give her the answer. “Maybe a girl next door kind of vibe? That’s pretty appealing to men, at least. And some women, but I’m not sure if you’re comfortable…”

“I can scam anyone,” she said, shrugging. “Money is money.”

Steph broke into a grin. “Hey, first rule of scamming people is that you can’t acknowledge that it’s a scam.”

“What is this, fight club?”

“No, it’s host club.”

She groaned. “Oh my god, you’re so lame.”

Steph only grinned and took a bite of her cupcake. Her expression quickly went from mildly amused to enlightened.

“I’m going to date your mom.”

“Again, my mom is married.”

Steph waved her off. “I’m willing to be a homewrecker. Thank god divorce is legal.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “I hope you bite your tongue.”

“That is literally the most messed up thing anyone has ever said to me. I take it back. You can’t be a girl next door kind of character.”

~~~~~

Marinette hummed as she quietly made her way through the store, her fingers just barely trailing over the fabrics as she looked for something she wouldn’t absolutely despise that also fit the ‘girl next door’ aesthetic.

Also, all the stuff that was in style was objectively hideous. Goddamn it, why must the Rogues be trending? Maybe she should have taken the Discowing apologist with her. She might have hated herself forever, but at least she would have known what to do with all these atrocities.

Steph grinned as she donned a terrible feather boa. It looked strange in comparison to the thick hoodie she had opted to wear despite the relatively warmth of the day. “You’re surprisingly picky.”

Marinette dropped her face into her hands “I hate the direction that the fashion industry is currently going in.”

“Well, give it a few weeks and you’ll like it again,” Steph said.

“I have decided to hate everything the fashion industry puts out from this point forward on principle.”

“God, you’re only, like, five feet tall, where are you keeping all that spite?”

Marinette picked her head up to see Steph examining her pockets, as if expecting to find a convenient container, labeled ‘Spite’, hanging out of one of them.

“Six feet underground,” Marinette said.

~~~~~

A good hour and a half of searching later, they walked out of the mall, their arms loaded with bags. In the end, Marinette’s wardrobe would find itself stuffed with different girl next door themed clothes.

Well. Not stuffed. She wasn’t going to purposefully wrinkle her clothes, thank you very much.

But you get the point. Probably.

Listen. She has a lot of sweaters and cardigans now.

Which wasn’t exactly ideal for a person that lives above a bakery, but it is what it is.

She also only had to buy light makeup, which was nice. It had still cost an ungodly amount of money… and she didn’t even want to think about how much the jewelry and perfume had cost… but, again, it is what it is.

So, with that done and night still hours away, they started searching for a place to eat.

Neither of them could really decide. Not because neither of them had suggestions – Marinette was a top, thanks, she could make decisions just fine – but because neither of them could agree on anything:

“C’mon, Steph, you have to let me have sushi, it’s part of my culture –.”

“You’re Chinese,” she stressed, somewhere between amused and annoyed.

Marinette, however, was just annoyed. She dropped the pleading look in favor of a scowl. “Man, I had to end up with the one white person who knows Mandarin. Can’t you just let me fraudulently pull the race card?”

“I’m too wise for that now,” Steph said proudly, pressing a hand to her chest. “You might be able to get Tim with that kind of thing though, Duke gets him all the time.”

She mentally filed this information away for later use. Because fuck that guy.

“Good to kn –.”

And then Steph stopped cold as she realized that Marinette had been trying to distract her so she could get her inside a sushi restaurant. Marinette cursed quietly, wondering if it was worth tackling her to get her through the door. No one would say anything about the dirty tactics other than Steph, and she could deal with that…

But Steph was holding a couple of bags of her clothes. Marinette didn’t want to have to mess them up immediately.

She pouted as she was led away.

Steph hummed, running a hand through her hair. “I still think we should get pizza.”

“Absolutely not. I’ve pledged my loyalty to Jerry’s Pizza.”

“Then we can go there,” she sighed.

Marinette huffed. “We can’t. It was a front for traffickers and the head guy – Jerry, duh – died, like, a couple of months ago or something. Which is great and all, fuck that guy, but…” she hung her head. “The pizza...”

Steph clicked her tongue. “Hate when that happens.”

She nodded miserably.

A hand grabbed her by the arm and she blinked. “But, this means you just need a new place for pizza, right?”

Marinette opened her mouth to protest, only to find herself crossing a threshold.

“Son of a bitch,” she mumbled, looking up at the bell that signaled her doom.

Steph grinned mischievously.

The eyes of every server in the restaurant snapped to them and, in an instant, they were getting ushered inside. Marinette cursed a lot more, but it was no use. Everyone who lived in Gotham knew that, if you walked into a restaurant, the servers were going to get your money, there was no question about it. The only thing with any uncertainty was whether they would be taking your life as well.

Marinette was pretty sure it was about knowing someone is new in town or a tourist, which means they’ll be easier to trick. Like that one specific squeaky floorboard in western saloons that only ever seems to squeak for the protagonist.

She is not a protagonist, though, she is a child that is about to be scammed out of her money.

“This place better be good,” Marinette mumbled as they were led to a tiny booth in the corner. The place was nice. There was a candle on the table. Very fancy.

Steph beamed. “I hope so, too.”

Marinette had never considered the pros and cons of murder so thoroughly in her life. And that’s saying a lot. She consistently talks to Adrien’s father.

“You’ve never been here before –?!”

A menu was thrust into her hands before she could strangle the girl with them. Steph leaned close to look at it as well.

Marinette sighed, just barely tilting it to let her see better. “I should have let Richard take me shopping.”

“But then you would have missed out on my winning personality,” Steph said, resting her chin on her hand and batting her eyelashes.

“And what a sad thing that would be,” she deadpanned.

“Aw, c’mon, Mari. We went shopping and everything! We should have bonded at least a little by now, don’t you think?”

Marinette snorted. “Sorry, Steph, but I only bond with people when we’re in perilous situations.”

“I can arrange that. This is a restaurant, there’s gotta be a knife here somewhere.”

~~~~~

It all started with a single rat.

And, listen, a single rat is already problematic in itself. Marinette is a baker’s daughter, rats and bakers are natural enemies, and she has been trained since birth to see rats as things that must be exiled at all costs. But on this fateful day she didn’t have her preferred weapon (a broom), so…

She had responded to the rat by screeching and jumping into Steph’s arms.

Steph, to her credit, managed to both catch her and not drop a single bag.

Not to Steph’s credit, though, she stared at the girl in her arms with wide eyes and a mouth that had dropped open even wider.

(Which, admittedly, was kinda understandable. They had gone from making idle chatter about how shitty the pizza they had gotten was to whatever this was in an instant.)

“Uh…?”

Marinette pointed an accusing finger at the rodent. “Rat.”

The devil’s spawn looked up at her with beady red eyes, its Aladdin wallet half hanging out of its mouth.

Wait… wallet…

Every person in the vicinity came to the same realization at the exact same moment.

Rat King.

“Bail,” Marinette said, swinging out of Steph’s arms.

Steph didn’t need to be told twice. The moment Marinette’s feet touched the ground they had started taking off in the opposite direction than the rat had been heading in. They could hear everyone scattering. The child that had lost his wallet stumbled forward a step, hand out in an attempt to get it back, before yelping as he was scooped up by his parents. People began patting their pockets desperately, looking for their things.

Marinette touched her pockets and was relieved to find everything where she had left it.

Steph didn’t seem to have been as lucky, as she cursed under her breath, but she didn’t bother slowing in search of her things. It was already lost. The best they could hope for was to get it recovered by one of the bats eventually.

“Motherfucker. Can’t have shit in Gotham,” Steph muttered, swinging herself around a street sign to turn more sharply.

She definitely cut up her hands in the process. Not that that should matter, not with the adrenaline coursing through their veins that should numb the pain.

“Fucking hate that rat bastard,” Marinette hissed.

She could already see more rats creeping out of the shadows, making a beeline for every person in sight.

A groan left her and she forced her gaze to rocket upwards in search of a place they could hide out while they waited for the bats to catch the man. She usually hung out on a power line, but she didn’t trust Steph to know how to perch and, as much as she despised her sometimes, she didn’t want her to die.

And the girl had her stuff, so it’s not like she could just abandon her…

They darted down a rather large alley, between two businesses. A person jumped off of a fire escape, brandishing a knife, probably in hopes that they could catch out any Gothamites or tourists dumb enough to head down an alley, but their eyes landed on the legion of rats at the girls’ heels and they squeaked (not too far off from the sound a rat might make, funnily enough) and took off in the opposite direction.

They hardly paid him any mind.

Marinette hopped up onto a dumpster– ignoring the quiet sound of surprise Steph made as she skidded to a stop so she could scramble up after her – and started reaching for the fire escape ladder.

It was still too high up.

Steph grabbed her by the waist and, with surprising strength, lifted her up enough to help her catch hold of the first rung.

And then, just as quickly as it happened, she was let go. The ladder slid down, pulled by the sudden addition of weight, and Marinette didn’t even wait long enough for it to click into place before she had started clambering up.

Two people panted as they scrambled their way up the side of the building, rats chittering beneath them, the rickety fire escape creaking with every new bit of weight.

They made their way out onto the roof.

To their horror, there was no doorway leading into the building. Instead, they found that the entire roof was a skylight that opened up into an atrium several stories below.

Well, that explained why they hadn’t passed any windows before, she guessed. Hindsight is 2020.

There was a pool down there, but she could tell it wasn’t a particularly deep one. Definitely not deep enough that falling into it from such a height wouldn’t be excruciatingly painful, or maybe even deadly.

They could still hear the animals squeaking their way after them.

“Fuck, I’m going to be eaten by rats,” Marinette breathed, horror knotting itself in her chest.

The first rat poked its whiskered nose over the edge.

“Do you trust me?” Steph asked.

“Not at all!” Marinette said, but she didn’t pull away when Steph wrapped her arms around her and started backing up, leading her out onto the glass.

And then Steph tipped back.

The glass shattered beneath them.

A scream tore itself from their throats as they fell, but Steph’s almost sounded like a laugh.

She closed her eyes. She didn’t want to see the water coming at her.

In the split second before they hit it, she swore she could hear the girl grunt.

And then they slammed into the water. It was a softer fall than falling onto tile might have been, if only just. It felt like she had just been run over by a truck. And she wasn’t even the one that hit the water first.

This wasn’t what she was thinking about, though.

Because the moment she had hit the water she had gasped and her lungs had filled with water.

She struggled away from a limp Steph, attempting to cough it up, but she was still underwater and this only led to her expelling the rest of the air from her lungs. She writhed, a strange mix of blue and white dancing in her vision. Chlorine burned her lungs, almost more painful than the water itself. Tears built in her eyes, but they only added to the water around her.

She looked around wildly, trying to figure out which was up, but the fabrics had spilled out of their shopping bags upon impact and they were throwing her off her sense of direction and she couldn’t breathe –.

Her feet touched something solid and she pushed off of it, using that to guide herself up to the surface.

She stayed there for a few minutes, legs swinging wildly to keep herself afloat, hacking up everything she could. Water and drool spilled from her mouth and all she could do was hug her stomach and let it all leave her. Force air into her lungs and blink away the blurry vision that she knew wasn’t entirely because of the water in her eyes.

She didn’t know how long she did this, how long she spent with more air leaving than coming in, but she figured it was a while.

She was also pretty sure she might have puked into the water, but it all came up clear so maybe that was just more water. She wasn’t sure.

She thought it was gross.

She also thought that thinking hurt.

But they weren’t safe. She needed… something.

She blinked open bleary eyes, physically trying to find her train of thought, only to find Steph laying on her back in the water, floating, but not moving.

Marinette made her way over, ignoring the aching in her limbs, and came up beside her.

“Steph?” She croaked.

Steph groaned. The little visible skin she had was a bright, irritated red. She had taken the brunt of the fall. Her thick hoodie was embedded with glass shards, but it seemed to have been enough to more or less keep anything from actually touching her. Blood wasn’t swirling in the water, and that was a blessing in itself.

Marinette wheezed a little, and even she wasn’t sure if it was a laugh or a sob.

She glanced a look up. The rats were gone.

Good.

Wait.

They weren’t safe yet. The rats were probably just looking for another way in.

Marinette looked at Steph for a long moment before shaking her head and pushing the last of her hair out of her eyes. “I’m going to – to carry you,” she choked out.

Steph gave the slightest of nods. Then winced.

Marinette wanted to apologize as she carefully looped her arms around her, despite how much it clearly pained her, and started pulling them both to the edge of the pool. She forced herself out first, her body trembling, and then lugged Steph out.

She stared at the girl on the floor for a long moment thoughtfully. They weren’t going to get far, but they needed to lose the rats…

Her head hurt. She wanted to maybe-puke-maybe-spit-water again.

Shit. What was she thinking of again?

Steph tried to sit up and gave a small hiss of pain before falling back on the ground with a quiet splat sound.

Right. Saving Steph. And maybe herself, too.

Okay.

She looked back at the bags in the water and then sighed – internally, sighing externally would send her into another coughing fit – before she dove right back in. She searched the pool for something for a solid three minutes before pulling herself back up onto shore, two bottles clutched in her quickly-numbing fingers.

She stuffed them into her pockets, ignoring the way they bulged awkwardly, and knelt beside Steph again.

Steph grinned weakly. “Thought ya left,” she said.

Marinette slung the girl’s arm over her shoulder and dragged her up onto shaky feet. “Nah, Babs would –” Her throat gave out and she managed to take an entire five steps forward before it stopped hurting enough to finish her thought “– increase my debt.”

Steph gave a broken sort of laugh.

“Don’t want that.”

“Nope.”

They stumbled their way through the halls. No one was there. Who knows what they were doing. Probably holing up in rooms in hopes that closed doors would keep the rats at bay. They wouldn’t, she knew they were perfectly happy to chew their way through walls.

Marinette set Steph in a tiny janitor’s closet.

“They’re gonna find us,” Steph told her.

Marinette shook her head firmly, despite the way it made her head almost literally spin, and pulled out the two bottles of perfume she had recovered.

She poured them out on the floor. A little bit splashed onto the pair of them, but it wasn’t like they really needed to care about getting wet anymore. A sickeningly sweet, floral scent began to fill the air, making it even harder to breathe than it had been before. She continued trailing the perfume along the hall.

And then she made her way back over to Steph’s closet. She closed the door behind them, throwing them into darkness, and then practically collapsed. She had had enough foresight to lean against the wall and slide down, at least, so she didn’t end up screwing up either of their bodies more.

A head tipped onto her shoulder. “Why?” Steph breathed.

Marinette closed her eyes. They weren’t doing her any good anyways. “Rats. Can’t see. Smell good. Trying to overload them. Can’t track us.”

Steph hummed her understanding.

It was quiet for a long while. Rats had good senses of hearing, better than humans, and neither of them wanted to risk getting found.

And then.

“So,” Steph whispered. “Was all this perilous enough – for us to bond?”

A breathless laugh spilled from her lips despite herself. She leaned into Steph, slinging an arm over her. “Shit. Yeah. I guess so.”

~~~~~

Light trickled into their hiding space and she groaned, turning her face into the chlorine scent. Too bright.

Too cold, too. She wanted a blanket. Chlorine-thing-y was slightly warm. Warmer than the… whatever she was in.

A hand touched her arm and started trying to pull her away from the beloved Chlorine-thing-y. She forced herself to move enough to shrug it off and then, for good measure, turned further into it, wrapping around it tightly. Hers. Fuck off. She wants… it. Yes. Hers.

“Fu’off,” she told the person, just to make sure they understood. In case they didn’t get her clear hints.

There was a sigh, pained and strangely familiar, and then the hand was back. But this time she was picked up with the Chlorine-thing-y. Which… okay, she would accept that.

She nuzzled closer…

~~~

She woke up in a hospital.

Generally not what you want to see.

Marinette looked around wildly, her hands already reaching for the IVs, but there was something heavy weighing her down and she couldn’t get up.

“It’s paid for by the Waynes,” a voice said by her ear, and she realized that the something weighing her down was actually Steph.

She stiffened in surprise before slowly relaxing back in the uncomfortable hospital bed.

Steph leaned in to press her face back into Marinette’s shoulder.

“Why’re we…?” She croaked out. She couldn’t finish her sentence. Steph seemed to understand regardless.

“Limited hospital beds. Also you refused to let go of me.”

“Doesn’t sound like – doesn’t sound like me,” Marinette said, glaring at the ceiling. It was an offensive shade of white, after all. She would like to introduce hospitals to the color pink.

She gave a weak little giggle. “Mmm. Well, you’re going to get discharged first. They’re keeping you for, like, a day to make sure you don’t dry drown – er, make sure your lungs don’t fill up with water again.”

“And you?”

She shrugged just slightly, and then winced. “Probably longer.”

Marinette thought this over for a while before shaking her head just slightly, gripping Steph tighter. “I’m staying.”

Steph smiled. “I thought you refusing to let go of me ‘didn’t sound like you’?”

“You saved my life,” Marinette said hotly, her face burning. At least she wasn’t too cold anymore. “Least I can do is make sure you’re… you’re alright.”

Steph hummed. “You saved mine, too.”

She snorted. “Honestly, I think we could have just stayed in the pool. Don’t think the rats would have bothered to come after us if we just kept floating there.”

She got another hum. She couldn’t tell if Steph was agreeing or not. But she was too tired to care.

Marinette settled back in the bed, her cheek coming to rest against Steph’s hair.

“Thanks,” she said.

“I think we need to check you for brain damage again.”

“I’m gonna push you out of bed,” Marinette warned.

Steph grinned widely. “No you won’t. We’ve bonded. You like me now.”

Marinette started pushing her and Steph squealed.

“Nononono! Okayokay I’m sorry!”

Marinette stopped and allowed her to fit herself against her side once again.

And, for the first time in recent memory, she drifted off to sleep willingly.

~~~~~

It took a solid week of sleeping in an uncomfortable chair by Steph’s bed, but eventually Steph was let out. They were driven home by the Wayne family butler – the man was nice, very polite, but she quietly wondered if he ever smiled.

Marinette had been dropped off first. Her house was closer to the Waynes than Steph’s, but the butler probably wanted to talk to her. About rich people things or Wayne things (which might overlap) or whatever.

Steph slipped out after Marinette, and she blinked a little in confusion.

“Wouldn’t be a good friend if I didn’t make sure you got inside safely,” Steph shrugged, allowing herself to be led up to the bakery doors.

Marinette snorted. “I think I’d be better at keeping myself safe than you right now.”

She shrugged again, a tiny grin playing across her lips. “Then could you please let me do this just for my peace of mind, maybe?”

Marinette sighed lightly, but nodded. She pulled her keys from their belt loop (she was glad that she had brought her keys with her that one fateful day, because her phone was waterlogged far beyond rice’s repair capabilities and her parents would be asleep at this point in the afternoon anyways) and, after a quick moment where she struggled with getting the appropriate key in the lock, she managed to open the door.

Marinette made her way inside and then did a grand flourish. “Well, I didn’t die in the twelve steps it took me to get here. Are we good now?”

Steph gave a smile where she leaned in the doorway. “Yup, we’re good.”

“Then I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

“Yup. I’ll get the host club to buy you replacements for all the stuff we bought last week. They won’t charge you, I’ll make sure of it.”

“Thank fuck.”

She snickered and started to leave. And then she stopped cold with a snap of her fingers. “Oh! Before I go!” Steph turned her head just enough to look at her. “Jason sold you out about the fine china in the dishwasher thing. Babs wants me to tell you that she’s going to add another fifty people to your debt.”

Marinette wanted death.

She slumped against the nearest table. “Kill me,” she told Steph, because she was proactive about these kinds of things.

“No can do. I don’t think that’ll make a good first impression with your mom, and I wouldn’t ever want to make my future wife upset.”

Marinette groaned. It was unclear whether this was because Steph was still going on about wanting to date her mom or because she was going to have to be alive or if she was still hung up on the debt thing. Maybe all three. Probably all three.

“You’re the worst.”

“Damn, one week and I’ve already been demoted to lower than Tim?”

Marinette snorted. “No. If I had to rank people I hate the most, you would be in second place. Because you’re even the worst at being the worst.”

“I only half understand you, I’m very tired, but I’m going to assume that was an insult and react appropriately.”

“A safe bet.”

Steph nodded once before gasping and stumbling out the door, hands pressed to her chest as if she had been fatally wounded. “You hurt me, Mari. I’m hurt.”

“That was the goal,” Marinette said ‘seriously’.

A grin stole its way across Steph’s face, and Marinette found that another metaphorical thief was heading her own way. So, she turned away and held up a hand in a wave, heading further inside. “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

“I’m going to do it now. Just to spite you.”

“Your funeral,” she said.

And then the door swung shut.

Marinette went about closing up shop, taking a quick glance around to see if anything still needed to be put away and making sure all of the money had been emptied from the register, the tiniest hints of a smile on her face.

She waited an extra minute to see if Steph would come back.

She went and locked the door.

And then she sighed. The slight fondness she had developed during her time with Steph bled out of her. Leaving her alone in a quiet bakery.

She could hear a low thrum from the back. Someone had left a light on or something. She would have to turn that off.

Marinette reached a hand into her pocket.

She pulled out a tiny slip of paper and unfurled it. The paper had been wetted during their escapades, but her Master had thought ahead far enough to do it on wax paper. Probably for the best, considering her tendency to get into trouble.

Blue eyes scanned the contents over a few times, her lips just barely curling into a frown.

A tiny groan left her.

“真倒霉.”

She popped the slip of paper into her mouth, grimacing at both the taste of ink and wax curling around her tongue and the thought of what her next ‘assignment’ was.

Maybe she could bully Adrien into switching with her…

~~~~~~~~~~

Taglist: @ev-cupcake

#*grabs this chapter by the neck and starts shaking it*#YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE A MALL DATE CHAP WHAT HAPPENED TO U #maribat #ohshc au #stephinette #dickinette #basbsinette #cassinette #jasonette #timinette #timari #timmari #daminette #damimari #maridami #*messes up both beloveds' birthdays to be fair*

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carinavet · 2 years

Text

Here’s my personal review of the Aurora Cycle that nobody asked for, written mostly for @reshiramgirl88, but it got way too long so I guess y’all get to see it too. Overall conclusion: There was a lot about it that I really, really loved, but there were also several things that I really, really hated. The “really hated” section is going to be longer than the “really loved” section, but that’s mostly just because it’s easier to rant about specific things you hate than to put words to overall things you loved enough that you want to just verbally keysmash.

(Lots of spoilers for all three books to follow.)

To begin: Things I really, really loved:

Literally everyone.

No, seriously. There are eight POV characters, each with a unique voice, personality, and perspective, and they did a fantastic job of making you love every single one of them in a different way. Each chapter/perspective transition was exciting rather than tedious. And each person was exactly the person needed for this mission while still being flawed, three-dimensional characters. (Actually sort of four dimensional, in most cases.)

[Sidenote: The audiobook was the best-made I’ve ever listened to, with eight narrators for the eight POV characters, and special effects for each use of a radio, comms, speaker, etc.]

Having Zila be the one to prepare the Legion/the gifts.

It’s a great way to have this setup of the Legion knowing about the Ra’haam -- and knowing exactly what Squad 312 needs to do in the fight against the Ra’haam -- while giving that constriction that explains why this one tiny squad of teenagers are the only ones doing anything about this massive threat, why Cat couldn’t be saved even though her fate was known ahead of time, why some things were known but others weren’t, and makes it so that foresight doesn’t remove the stakes. It also works especially well because Zila as a character was already established as being someone who pays attention, someone who calculates, someone who will remember. Add to that the little touch of having her meet Nari before she decides to stay in the past (especially since her gift to herself was essentially just a message saying pay attention to this person), and it makes that decision bittersweet rather than just bitter.

Just the general overall tone.

Sorry, but this one’s going to be a bit nonspecific. It’s just a fun story overall, particularly Aurora Rising. Adventure! Romance! Superpowers! Space! Woohoo!

Things I really, really hated:

I’m pretty sure the authors have never even heard the word “subtlety”.

“There is no love in violence.”

“I’m not alone. I’m never alone.”

“I can’t do this alone.”

“Love is all that matters.”

“If you burn away love, what’s left?”

OH my GOD i GET IT already! You really don’t have to knock me over the head with the theme for the entire third book. I’m smart. I can figure it out. Jeez.

The Unbroken.

This one is sort of a combination of the complete lack of subtlety (”Tears are for the conquered.” “Mercy is for the week.” “I was born with the taste of blood in my mouth.”) and just ... bad worldbuilding.

[Okay, so caveat: This one also pokes at something that I, personally, have come to really, really hate in stories: I hate plot points that revolve around people being just straight-up stupid and selfish -- mostly stupid. I prefer enemies like the Ra’haam where the central conflict is one’s mode of being, and conflicting core needs.]

The bad worldbuilding comes in because they aren’t even good at being a war clan. For one, their sense of warrior’s honour is pretty fucked up if they think it’s fun to throw an unarmed dude into a fight with a giant monster rather than giving him a fair fight and a chance to prove himself. But the worst bit is how they treat their own people from different clans. It might have been different if all Syldrathi were Warbreed, but what is even the point of having a single clan for your warriors if their job isn’t to protect the other clans so that they can do their jobs in peace? They didn’t even give any hint of conflict between the Warbreed and the other clans -- or literally anyone else! --prior to the peace agreement with Earth, but all of a sudden wanting peace with this one particular enemy that’s only been around for like a half a generation is enough of an offense of treachery to destroy your own homeworld? What the fuck, dude?

Saedii and Caersan’s total lack of character development.

This ties into the general irritation with the Unbroken, but it’s also more than that. Caersan needed more background development: A tiny hint of “he burned it all away” and “also oh yeah his dad was like that too” just isn’t quite sufficient for his general importance to both the plot and the characters he interacted with.

Especially because he opts to completely ignore the threat of the Ra’haam while literally tearing himself apart for petty revenge. He never gives any indication of where or how he learned that the Eshvaren were the “Makers”, or that they created the other races solely to fight the Ra’haam, or why they even thought it was a good idea to create other sapient races to kill the Ra’haam when they’d already died out so there literally weren’t any stakes left? But spite towards the Eshvaren does not eliminate the Ra’haam as a real and present threat, and supposedly Caersan isn’t stupid. But he still says, “Nah, killing a bunch of civvies is more important.”

Saedii, too. She needed more “on-screen” changes to her personality and priorities. She went from being stubbornly Unbroken for like an entire novel and then some, to showing up at the last minute to save Aurora Station, with nothing in between. Sure, Tyler planted some seeds there, but she gave no hint of them sprouting until suddenly she’s had a complete change of heart that we never got to witness. Again, if they’d done as much as had her say, “I can’t do anything useful until I have all of the Unbroken firmly under my command,” that would have been different. But no, posturing is what’s more important.

Saedii’s lack of character development is also made worse in contrast to how well everyone else is written. Cat gets “I love you, and so we love you” but all Saedii ever gets is “I am a Templar of the Unbroken.” Even in the last scene when she joins the rest of them at the “table” she just ... feels really flat.

“Burn it all away.”

Again, lack of subtlety combined with personal pet peeve: I’m just sick of the whole “Love is a weakness.” “No, love is a strength!” arguement bashing me over the head in every goddamn story.

The Ra’haam’s ending.

I’m going to start this by saying I actually really did love the moment when Aurora realized that brute force wasn’t going to work against the Ra’haam. I loved her allowing herself to be assimilated into the collective in order to spread her own ideas throughout. I loved that the Ra’haam truly did love everyone it wanted to assimilate, but just had a fucked-up idea of what love was.

But then the Ra’haam’s acceptance of individuality means that they have to leave the galaxy for some reason? Now that we’re both us and me, we’re just gonna go ... float in space for the rest of time? What the fuck?

It would have been so much cooler if the Ra’haam had just joined the rest of the galaxy at large. Like, “Okay, we learned our lesson, you don’t have to join but you still can if you want to. In the meantime I’m going back to selling cabbages, and I’m going to be a therapist, and I’m...” Can you imagine the rest of the galaxy adjusting to that? How does everyone get over the mistrust? How do you talk to your coworker who’s part of a hive mind? Can you be friends with them? Can you date them? How would Tyler talk to someone who definitely wasn’t Cat but also still sort of was?

And what sort of life might Auri have led if she hadn’t lost both her powers and her connection to the Ra’haam? She’s already starting mostly from scratch with the whole girl-out-of-time thing. But she’s spent the last, what, months? year? stretching her new mental muscles, learning to reach so far beyond herself, connecting herself to all the people she loves, and then suddenly she’s even bigger with so many other people connected to her and then -- cut off. Just Aurora again, trapped back inside her own body. It would have been way cooler to watch her continue to grow and learn. She worked so hard to earn her abilities, and I would have loved musing about how she uses them in her everyday.

#the aurora cycle

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