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sanddusted-wisteria · 3 months

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A Builder, a Researcher, and a Rooftop, Ch. 25: Terminal Velocity

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At 1:22 and 43 seconds, Qi wondered if he should be crying.

Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS for MTAS's main story from this point in the fic onward, beginning with the mission "The Goat."

A/N: Welcome to Spoilertown. If you haven't gotten to this point in the game, I highly recommend you pause this fic and play through this act. Don't worry, you'll know where it starts and where it ends.

The back half of this fic's second act is what singlehandedly determined how I structured the plot of the overall story and what expanded my outline/idea dumps into longfic territory. And after several months and some writer's block, I'm so excited to finally be able to share it with you guys. Enjoy!

Also on AO3

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At 7:00, Qi woke up.

At 7:30, he finished his breakfast and brushed his teeth.

At 7:35, he was down in his lab to start the workday.

At 9:13, he finished writing the report from his last experiment on the Mobile Suit’s power capacity.

At 9:46, he decided to take a break from drawing up the diagram for the enhanced processor the builder had requested.

At 12:00, he put down the latest issue of the Vega 5 astronomy journal to break for lunch.

At 12:30, he went back downstairs and started working on the builder’s diagram again.

At 1:17, there was a knock on the door.

At 1:17 and 15 seconds, he was staring at the grim face of the sheriff.

At 1:17 and 20 seconds, Qi suddenly felt ill.

At 1:17 and 30 seconds, Qi could no longer hear what the sheriff was saying.

At 1:17 and 45 seconds, the sheriff had left.

At 1:18, Qi remembered to breathe.

At 1:19, Qi began to move again.

At 1:22, Qi was at the back of a crowd. Several people turned towards him with tears and pity in their eyes.

At 1:22 and 43 seconds, Qi wondered if he should be crying.

At 1:23, Qi realized someone was asking him something. He didn’t know what it was. He shook his head.

At 1:25, the crowd dispersed. More people came up to Qi and murmured words he couldn’t hear.

At 1:26, everyone finally left him alone.

At 1:28, Qi remembered to move.

At 1:36, Qi was back inside the Research Center.

At 1:37, Qi stared at the unfinished diagram on his desk.

At 2:00, Qi stared at the unfinished diagram on his desk.

At 2:3X, Qi stared at the unfinished diagram on his desk.

At 3:XX, Qi stared at the unfinished diagram on his desk.

At X:XX, Qi tried to eat something. He managed a whole three bites.

At X:XX, Qi climbed into bed.

At X:XX, Qi stared at the ceiling.

At X:XX, Qi wondered why his body hadn’t released the neurotransmitter signals for sleep.

At X:XX, Qi got out of bed.

At X:XX, Qi opened the front door. It was cold outside.

At X:XX, Qi walked up the stairs.

At X:XX, Qi was on the roof.

At X:XX, Qi had collapsed onto a certain spot.

And there he lay. Shrouded in the shadow of the telescope. Alone.

He shivered as a frigid gust of wind rushed over him. Nothing was there to warm him.

No blankets. No tea. No food.

No builder.

Both his vision and his mind were a blur. The only thing his wavering consciousness could cling to was a single, terrible truth.

The builder was gone.

Thrown over a cliff.

A meaningless death.

Maybe it was a good thing that he forgot his glasses. At least this way, he couldn’t see the stars.

The stars…

His greatest source of awe and wonder for so many years. The builder became so entangled in that awe and wonder until they were completely inseparable from it. In Qi’s mind, he knew that the stars had existed long before any of them ever did, and would continue to exist long after everyone was gone. But in Qi’s heart, there were no stars without the builder.

A cascade of memories started pouring out from the dark recesses of Qi’s mind, taunting him with precious memories of their diligence, of their wits, of their laugh, of their touch, of their kindness, of their smile, of their warmth. Many of which were rooted in the very spot he lay.

He still remembered how their hand felt in his last night. He could still feel their last parting hug around his waist.

Deeper and deeper he drowned, as if desperately trying to recreate their presence, soothing and invigorating all at once.

But all it did was remind him of the nothingness he was left with. And the ache in his heart.

…

“Hey…”

And now he was hearing things. He swore the whisper of the wind was the sound of their voice.

“Qi, hey…”

A large blob suddenly appeared above him. Its colors looked familiar. His head shot up.

“Yeah…yeah, it’s me.”

He slowly sat up, breath shaky as he drew closer to the figure. His heart pounded faster as the features of their face came into focus.

Face, bruised and cut in a few places. Eyes, tired but still shining. Lips, curved into a sad, sweet smile.

His builder.

His wondrous, death-defying anomaly.

The tremors in his breath turned to hiccups as tears leaked from his eyes.

At 12:54 and 31 seconds, the builder was in Qi’s arms. He embraced them as tight as he could, as if his arms were the only thing keeping them from falling off that cliff again. Every possible sensation was tearing away at his heart. It was crushed, imploded, collapsed, pulverized into nothing but dust…

The builder said nothing. They simply wrapped their arms around him and buried their face into his shoulder, rubbing circles into his back as he wept.

Qi had so many questions, so many things he wanted to say to them. But all his words were swallowed into ragged sobs. So he let all of the pent-up grief and relief wash over him, desperately clinging to the builder’s warmth as he cried and cried.

He didn’t know how long they stayed like that. But his tears gradually slowed and his breathing evened out again. Slowly, they pulled away.

The builder brought a gentle hand up to his cheek and wiped away the last trail of tears. Qi closed his eyes, feeling himself lean into their touch.

“I’m sorry,” the builder whispered, their expression forlorn. “I-it’s a long story, but… I’m sorry for making you worry.”

“W-why are you sorry…?” Qi breathed. He hit himself internally for asking such an idiotic question. He shook his head. “You’re back now,” he whispered instead. “That’s all that matters.”

The builder let out a hum. It didn’t sound too sure.

“Please…” Qi took a shaky breath. “Please… Promise me that you will be safe in the future.” His tongue was barely able to form the words as all his breath threatened to leave his lungs as another sob.

Something swirled in their eyes. Their lips opened, but no words came for a moment. Despite holding his gaze, he could tell they were itching to look away.

I can’t, their eyes said.

“…I’ll try,” they whispered.

Qi gazed far into the depths of their eyes for a moment longer. Then he carefully pulled them in and pressed their lips together.

Fear. That’s what was hidden in their eyes. Something he never thought someone so strong and courageous could feel.

Their lips were chapped, but still so inviting. Every fiber of him ached to go deeper, to soothe everything that ailed them.

But they were still injured. He had no idea how they managed to drag themself up here without collapsing. He probably already upset something with how tightly he held them. He couldn’t make it worse.

So it was chaste. Brief. Just enough to scratch the surface of what they both were feeling.

He pulled away first, opening his eyes to see the builder even more uneasy. A small flash of panic shot through his stomach. That was exactly what he didn’t want.

But before he could think, he saw the builder’s face twist for the briefest instant before their hands gripped the loose collar of his shirt, and their lips crashed into his again.

They kissed him more fervently than they ever had before, causing Qi to gasp. Their tongue parted his lips, and he let them in, tasting iron and smoke and desperation. The last rational part of his brain wondered briefly if he was the one who almost died instead, before being swallowed by a quiet moan from his throat and a shudder that raced down his spine. He melted into them almost instantly. He wanted to commit every stimulation of every nerve in his body to memory, lest it be ripped away from him forever.

The builder pulled away first this time, gasping for air. Qi took one deep breath after another, trying to pull himself together.

The builder was frozen. They didn’t pull him back in. They didn’t reach for him again. They were silent except for their nervous breathing. They only gaped at Qi with shining eyes.

It looked like they were on the verge of tears.

Qi gently put his hands on their shoulders. “You need to get to the clinic.”

The builder mutely nodded.

With one arm around them, Qi carefully led them down the stairs and down the street. They plodded along slowly, Qi being careful not to trip over something he couldn’t see without his glasses.

They reached the clinic door and rang the emergency buzzer. Fang was quickly at the door, releasing a sudden bright light and the pungent smell of herbs into their faces. Judging by the sharp intake of breath, he was just as shocked to see the builder.

“Rawk! What the heck?!” squawked the bird. “It’s a ghost! OooOOOooOOH!! Spooky scary!”

“X!” Fang snapped. “What…happened…?!”

No one said anything for a moment.

“They…didn’t die,” Qi croaked.

“I…see,” Fang muttered. “Need to treat…any injuries…immediately.”

The builder shuffled forward.

“I…assume I can’t stay?” Qi said.

“No,” said Fang, a determined edge to his quiet voice. “Need to concentrate. Must make sure…nothing goes unchecked.”

“Don’t worry, sweetie,” twittered the bird in a softer voice. “Everything will be okay.”

Qi nodded slowly. “Thank you, Doctor.” He turned to leave.

“Qi, wait.”

Qi froze in his tracks. It was the builder. He turned back towards the light of the clinic, hopefully making eye contact with the blur that was them.

“…I love you.”

They sounded so small. His heart once again pulsed with ache.

“…L-love you too,” he murmured, summoning a scrap of courage despite how his tongue instinctually fought against the words. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He heard a quiet hum before Fang shut the clinic door, leaving him alone in the dark once more, with only the moon and the stars.

At 1:41, Qi started walking back to the Research Center, mind and body humming with an emotion he couldn’t identify.

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At 7:00, Qi woke up.

At 7:10, he finished washing up.

At 7:15, he had a quick drink of water and was out the door.

At 7:20, he reached the clinic.

Fang was tending to the builder, partially covered by a privacy screen. Qi idled by the door, hands picking at a loose thread on his pants.

“Awk! Ooh, look at the lovebird, honey! Hello! Hi! Hi!” crowed the bird as it flew from out behind the screen and alighted on a perch next to the medicine cabinet.

“Er…hello…bird,” Qi said with an awkward wave, before his head could question why he was trying to socialize with a raven.

Fang looked up at the sound of the bird’s voice. “…One moment,” he nodded to Qi.

“Hey, Qi-Qi…” came a tired mumble from behind the screen.

Fang quietly shushed them. Qi frowned. Qi-Qi…?

Still probably dazed. Or maybe that was the medication.

He waited until Fang walked back around the screen. “How are they?” he asked in a low voice.

“Stable,” muttered Fang. “Few…fractured ribs. Couple wounds needed…stitches. No infection. Lots of…bruises and…other minor injuries.”

Qi let out a long sigh of relief. “I suppose that’s the best case scenario for almost dying…”

Fang nodded slowly. “A miracle…if anything.”

Qi didn’t believe in miracles. But it did seem like physics had taken mercy on them. “Can I—?”

“Yes.”

Qi swiftly moved over to the screen, cautiously peering behind it. The builder was sitting up in their hospital bed, a sheepish grin brightening their otherwise bruised and bandaged face.

“Aww, Qi-Qi… You came to see me so bright and early?”

They were back to their usual jovial self, it seemed. It was like a different person entirely had kissed him last night on the roof.

“Of course,” he said as he took a seat on the creaky chair beside them, finding himself a little short of breath. “Why…why wouldn’t I?”

“You skipped breakfast again, didn’t you?” Their eyes narrowed, but their grin didn’t falter.

Qi sighed. “I won’t be here forever, will I?” He gently clasped their hand as they extended it on top of the blanket. “This…takes priority over anything else.”

The builder’s face softened. “I’m joking,” they murmured. “But still…it’s sweet. Thank you.”

They fell silent. Qi idly circled his thumb over their palm, feeling all the familiar calluses.

“Sorry about last night, by the way…” the builder murmured.

“Why do you keep apologizing…?” Qi whispered. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”

They shook their head. “I got carried away. I just…” Their voice shrank to a whisper. “I…I really thought I was gonna die.”

Qi felt his heart ache. He gave their hand a squeeze, hoping that would be more comforting than anything he could say.

“I…managed to fall into a tree,” they said slowly. “Hurt like hell. Passed out for a couple minutes.”

Where did the fractured ribs come from?

Qi swatted the thought away from his mind. Be sensitive.

“I saw the goat stepping up a climbable…ish path on the cliffside,” they continued. “Probably going back to look for more rutabaga.” They let out a mirthless chuckle.

“So you followed it?”

They nodded. “Reallll carefully. Took me hours, but I did it.”

Since when did they know how to rock climb? Without the proper equipment, no less…

Qi’s brow furrowed. “And…after all that, you didn’t rest? Why on earth did you come find me instead?”

The builder laced their fingers together, a clouded, faraway look in their eyes. “I…I had… I had to find you. I just…had to.”

If they climbed with no equipment…shouldn’t their hands be blistered?

Qi stared at their intertwined hands. “You should’ve at least waited until you got treated.”

“And leave you like that?”

“…I could have waited at least a little longer,” Qi whispered.

“…I couldn’t.”

They both fell silent. The only sounds in the room were the whir of Fang’s odd equipment, and the bird occasionally stretching his wings out. Qi felt every minute twitch of the builder’s hand against his own.

“Does everyone else…know?” Qi piped up suddenly.

The builder raised an eyebrow. “I was about to ask you that. My guess is no, since, y’know, we all just got up.”

“I’m sure Dr. Fang will…hm. No, on second thought, maybe I should make the report. If I don’t, every person in town will be barging into the Research Center today to tell me something I already know.” And he hated when people tried to tell him things he already knew.

The builder chuckled. “Oh no, what a disaster. Other people showing concern for you? Can’t have that, can we?”

“I have work to do,” Qi rolled his eyes. “It’s a distraction.”

“Well…” The builder gave his hand a squeeze with a wink. “So’s this, isn’t it?”

“Th-this is different.”

“Sure, sure.”

They stayed like that for another moment longer. Qi was out of things to say.

Their hands slowly parted as he stood up from his chair. “I should go. I have to talk to the mayor. I’m sure the rest of the town will be eager to see you once the word gets out.”

“For sure. Got a lot of explaining to do, it seems.”

Qi thought for a moment, before he bent down and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of their head.

…Why do they smell like gunpowder…?

“I’ll see you later,” Qi whispered. “Get plenty of rest.”

“Thank you,” the builder murmured. “And you…don’t overwork yourself.”

Qi gave them a small nod, before quietly turning around and heading out.

When the door to the clinic closed behind him, he turned his head up to the sky and let out a long, tired sigh.

He certainly felt lighter than yesterday…but something still creeped at the back of his mind, poisoning the joy and relief he should be feeling in full force.

Doubt.

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A/N: Fun(?) fact: If you've read my angst fic Empty Skies, Hazy Skyboxes (heed the tags), you might've seen a couple of background references to things in this fic, particularly in Act 1 (e.g. Qi hypothetically developing treaded wheels for the mobile suit, the builder telling old myths about the stars). Since ES,HS suddenly sprung into my head as I was starting this fic, a couple ideas for B,R,R carried over into ES,HS to establish the background of Qi and the builder's relationship.

Does that make ES,HS a "bad end AU" to this fic...? You decide. :)

(Btw, ICYMI, ES,HS now has an extension...)

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#apologies for the ominous vagueposting over the last couple days to my followers who aren't reading this ^ ^'#finally getting to the 'and angst' part of 'fluff and angst' hehehehehoohoohoo #terminal velocity: the fastest velocity an object can fall at; where it has no acceleration and the net force acting on it is 0 #my time at sandrock #mtas fanfic #shady's fics #mtas #mtas spoilers #brr

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vmprsm · 8 months

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Magnus Archives (Podcast) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Oliver Banks/Michael "Mike" Crew Characters: Oliver Banks, Michael "Mike" Crew Additional Tags: Pre-Relationship, First Meetings, Travel, Airplanes, Canon Compliant, Alternate Canon, What-If Summary:

There's an overnight flight from Hong Kong to London in early 2017.

#terminal velocity #oliver banks #mike crew #tma fanfic #tma fanfiction #the magnus archives fanfic #Smol fic #I don't know what happened to me I have four other things to write and this spits out of me at 10am at high speed #let me rest tma plz #I am NOT IN THIS FANDOM #i say having written two fics and planned a third #let me goooooooo

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thatonebirdwrites · 18 days

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Fanfic Writer Questions!

Thanks for the tag, @fazedlight

1- How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 19 works on AO3.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

Do y'all really want to know? Welp. Okay, since you asked.

According to the stats section of AO3, I have published 1,338,126 words on AO3. (Not including my recently deleted fic which was 23,000-ish words).

A million of those words are Korrasami fics.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Korrasami (The Legend of Korra) and Supercorp (Supergirl - Arrowverse).

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Confession (Supercorp) at 854 kudos, which was a rewrite of the end of Season 4.

You are the only one that sees me, trusts me, and believes in me (Supercorp) at 411 kudos, which is a one-shot of Kara telling Lena the truth after Lena is poisoned in Season 3.

Unraveling Realities (Supercorp and sequel to Confession) at 346 kudos, which is a rewrite of Season 5. (Includes Lena's Great Irish Quest and is not a rift fic).

Shared Moments: Book 2 - Spirits (Korrasami) at 329 kudos, and is a rewrite of The Legend of Korra Book 2. I continue this series all the way through to Book 4 (Books 1 through 3 are completed, I'm working on Book 3.5 and 4).

Terminal Velocity, Texts, and Cats (Supercorp) at 215 kudos, and is the story of Lena and Kara's friendship/relationship from season 2 through start of Season 6 (no Totem storyline tho) as told through texts, cats, and carefully woven short scenes. It's a one-shot technically.

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes. I will gladly talk to folks in the comments and even have conversations with people! I enjoy it. I do my best to thank commenters too, though it may take me a bit to answer these days.

However, when people shit on my fiction, I learned my lesson, and no longer fall for that trap.

But overall most comments are pleasant and lovely. I love hearing from readers! Feel free to share how you feel and your thoughts on the story.

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

I tend toward happy endings to be honest, but I'd say the angstiest ending was Shared Moments: Book 3 - Change (Korrasami) because there's no avoiding the angst there. I kept the story arc of Book 3 close to the original, so for folks that have seen TLOK, they know how angst heavy the end of Book 3 is.

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

Most of them? Well, except for Book 3 - Change and Book 3.5 - The Mirror. Those aren't happy per se. They are hopeful, yes, but not happy. All other fics have a happy ending.

Maybe Asami's Hidden Box of Letters and Poetry? It's a cute one-shot of Asami and Korra being absolutely adorable, and it ends with them being happy and kissing, so yeah. Probably the happiest?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Ugh, yeah. Weirdly enough I got the most hate on my Korrasami fics, where a few readers would write some really, really cruel things. Or rant about what they wanted me to write. Or engage in fights with other commenters (yes, this happened on the big finale of Book 3 - Change, where the ableist comments squared off with the kind commenters). Or the editor commenter who gave unasked for and unwanted "editing" of chapters.

Strangely enough, I have only had one mean commenter in the Supercorp fandom, and that poster was someone that other commenters warned me about and told me to disregard.

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

Not really? I will write a vague sex scene here and there -- mostly in the Korrasami fics (my Shared Moments series). I haven't gotten to any sex scenes in the Supercorp fics though a few are coming up in Unraveling Realities.

I try to capture the emotion of the scene rather than describing the sex in detail. I honestly don't feel qualified to write a smut scene, which is why I prefer this approach.

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

I wrote a silly crossover of Supergirl and The Legend of Korra. It's on Tumblr somewhere -- see my pinned post, I think I linked it there.

I do have a WIP, where Lena builds a multiverse portal only for it to open in the Avatarverse, and her and Kara accidentally end up stuck in Asami and Korra's world. So then Korra and Asami have to help them build a portal and find their way home again. I don't know if I'll ever finish it.

I also have a Star Wars Korrasami WIP. This one involves Asami and Korra assisting in the Battle of Endor with Luke, Leia, Han, and crew. They then help with the building of the Republic.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes, I was pissed. Please don't do that.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of. If anyone wants to translate one of my fics, let me know. I'm willing to talk shop.

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

@nottawriter and I are working on a Supercorp fic, though it's not published. It's where Lena and her daughter meet Kara, who is their home inspector.

Beyond that, I've only ever co-written original fiction. My friend, Raveneye and I wrote an original science fiction story. It was written in the form of "letters," where one person was on the space station (Raveneye's character) and one person on the alien planet (my character).

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

Korrasami. Supercorp is a close second.

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

I will finish all my WIPs someday!! Unless I die before that happens. *knocks on wood* But I guess the Supergirl/TLOK crossover is least likely to ever be finished.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Worldbuilding and immersion of reader in the five senses.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Pacing. Honestly. pacing makes me anxious, and I'm always convinced I'll fuck it up, especially in longer works. (And yet, I write mostly longer works. Go figure).

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

I have done this. Spanish and Irish in particular. (Kryptonian as well now that I think about it). I include translations in the end-notes.

I do it mostly for the reader to feel the same emotions as the POV character who struggles to understand the other language. Does this trick work? So far comments seem to imply yes? But who knows?

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Korrasami.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

I have to pick one??? I don't know actually.

I'm pretty proud of my rewrite of Book 2 - Spirits and Book 3 - Change. I'm also proud of Confession, especially how I reworked Lena's role in the Red Daughter fight scenes.

But I like all my fics equally well to be honest. I mean why write them otherwise?

For Tags... ummmmmm.

I have no idea who has done this and who hasn't? If you have done this, apologies for the tag. Let me know and I'll go read your version. @thecasualqueer, @nottawriter, any of my mutuals, and anyone else who wants to play.

#fanfic writer questions #fanfiction #ao3 writer

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lordmartiya · 4 months

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A More Discrete Calling Out, a Miraculous Ladybug fanfic

Summary: What if Ladybug had been calmer and more discrete in calling Lila out for her day 1 lies?

Hey, it's me again for @mlsecretsanta exchange, this year for @lajudit I'm basing Lila's characterization on her Volpina appearance, plus the idea she's just a teenager doing teenager things. I mean, who didn't do stupid things at 14? Now on with the story.

Lila was happy with her first day at the new school. She had made an impression on most of her class (though not the class representative. The poor girl was horribly sleep deprived, and there was nothing to gain from waking her up), got the class hottie’s attention to listen to her (and to top it off he was the only son of Gabriel Agreste. A possible in for a modeling career), set up a massive prank that would make her the talk of the school, and got a cute fox-themed necklace. She knew nothing could ruin her day now.

Then a hand grabbed her and pulled her in a side halley, and she was face to face with a hotirate Ladybug.

“Uh… Hi?” Lila said.

“Hi, best friend.” the superheroine said, her voice dripping with sarcasm (maybe she hadn’t appreciated the prank). Then she pulled out her yo-yo, that apparently doubled as a communicator, and showed her a video – the interview with Cesaire, straight from the Ladyblog. “Care to explain?”

“She published it without verifying?!” Lila whisper-screamed, looking in horror at the yo-yo.

“Wait, what?”

Lila started hyperventilating. This was bad, her castle of cards was going to collapse the wrong way, and she was going to need to lock herself in her house until she was twenty! Or go for that weird plan and turn her hair into a wig while fabricating some identity and use it to get a new life, and-

“Calm down and breath with me.” Ladybug said as she put Lila’s hand on her back.

And from there Ladybug helped Lila out of her panic attack. Because of course one of Paris’ Heroes would learn to help with panic attacks.

“So… What was supposed to happen?” Ladybug asked once Lila was calmer.

“Just… Just a big prank.” Lila admitted. “My mom’s a diplomat, so we move around the world all the time, and when I get to a new school I like to try and see what I can get my new classmates to believe, and with the new class full of big names and a girl that thinks I’m actually a friend of Prince Ali rather than friendy acquaintances I decided to go big, and the Alya Cesaire calling me out was supposed to be when I pulled the rag from under everyone! She was supposed to check with you before publishing, and then give me the chance to tell everyone to guess which of my tales were true!”

“Why did you think Alya would do that? Or even could?”

“Well, I thought the exclusive interview…”

“One of her friends had accidentally deleted a video for the Ladyblog, found me, and asked me for the interview to repay her. Alya had already saved a copy, but I did it anyway.”

Lila’s palm met her forehead at terminal velocity.

“Then why didn’t she hunt you down?” Lila asked. That was what she would have done, publishing such a video with the notoriety of the Ladyblog could be suicidal.

“Because when I’m involved she stops thinking things through, and rationalizes after the fact.” Ladybug replied, exhasperation (and fondness?) clear in her voice. “I mean, the whole Lady Wi-Fi incident happened because she thought Chloé Borgeouis was me in spite of seeing me saving her in my second outing, and right after she came up with the idea I had Lucky Charmed a fake Chloé to throw off investigators…”

That was surprisingly plausible, if one didn’t know Ladybug can’t conjure living stuff – something she actually had only explained in the exclusive interview. Lila wondered why the heroine was so sure Cesaire had come to that idea only after the Lady Wi-Fi incident. Better not ask, such a train of thought could potentially lead her to stumble on her secret identity and she didn’t want nor need both the knowledge and the danger of knowing.

Speaking of knowing...

“Were you into my school’s library earlier?” Lila asked, remembering the flashes of red she had spotted.

“NO! Why would I be there?! There was nothing for me to look for!” Ladybug denied. Badly.

“Well, my guess was that you have some kind of surveillance in place due the far too many Akumatizations and spotted a certain suspicious thing or were after me for the interview, but now…” Lila made a point to try and tease Ladybug if she ever had the chance again, her faces were adorablehilarious. But pleasure could wait, she had more pressing things to do. Like giving her a certain book. “Nevermind why you were there, you certainly spotted this.”

“Why do you have it?”

“There’s Chinese-style drawings of what look like Miraculous and their users, every page has enough nonsense in nyctography to make me think it’s a code based on Chinese writing, and one page had a drawing that looks weirdly like an ancestor of mine that family lore says wore that exact costume, was involved in weird stuff, and liked to play with illusions and tricks. There’s enough to make me think it has to do with Miraculous, meaning you would want it and I was in the right place to help. Also, I need to ask my grandmother about family lore.”

Ladybug blinked for a moment, processing how she just stumbled on someone who was apparently related to a past Miraculous user, then summoned a micro camera through her Lucky Charm.

“I’ll make copies of all pages, then you give the book back to Adrien before his father goes mad.” Ladybug explained.

“Wait, you decide what to conjure?” Lila asked.

“I can, but it’s usually better left to the magic. Also, no more lies about us being friends, that could turn out to be dangerous if Hawk Moth believes it.”

“But that one wasn’t a lie, it was a prophecy.” Lila replied, pointing out how their interaction had more or less made them friends after Ladybug saved her from a mess partly of her own making.

“Just… Just try and stay safe.”

________

Given the circumstances, Lila had abandoned the plan to impress Adrien. Sure, he was cute and well connected, but a boy she barely even knew wasn’t worth a friendship, even a tentative one. Though she had given him a scare by asking him where the book was before giving it back – seriously, that was an obviously antique book. And you keep antique books safe, no matter how much or how little someone was willing to pay (and if someone had paid three millions and two hundred thousand dollars for Action Comic #1, she didn’t even want to Imagine how much this book could be valued if the right people found out about it).

The next day at school she had been approached by Gabriel Agreste’s secretary (and almost certainly the actual bodyguard. The other guy was large and intimidating and moved quite gracefully for someone his size, but this woman looked like someone who had killed before), who informed her the scare was the only reason Adrien was simply grounded after school for a week and politely asked not to do anything like that again.

Then, after collecting herself from the second most terrifying encounter in her life, she went to class and fessed up on the attempted prank chain – better face some anger now rather than face a castle of cards that could collapse the wrong way and turn her into a pariah any moment. And of course Alya Cesaire was pissed.

“Alya, did you check with Ladybug before publishing that interview?” said the pigtailed and really cute class representative, one Marinette Dupain-Cheng, right as the Ladyblogger was about to start.

“Uuuuhhhh…” Cesaire replied, her rant stopped before it could start.

“It’s my fault. I thought she could contact Ladybug with ease, and did the wrong thing.” Lila admitted.

“If I could I’d have already asked her her real identity.”

“By how she reacted to the interview, and no, we’re not friends” or rather she wasn’t gonna admit it in public now that it was true “that would be the fastest way to piss her off.”

“But how can she get rewarded for her heroism?!”

Oh. Good intentions and utter ignorance of how countries dealt with that. There were international regulations about that, as nobody wanted to either enrage a superhero or force them to quit to make a living.

“Obviously through the special account she got from the City of Paris, with money coming from either the state police or the defense budget, as per United Nations regulations.” the blonde Chloé Borgeouis, class bully and daughter of the mayor of Paris and the Queen of Style, obnoxiously pointed out. And reigniting Cesaire’s anger by pointing out that fact in the worst possible way without being vulgar.

As Marinette moved in to prevent an argument, Lila decided she liked it there. Sure, it hadn’t gone as expected but her classmates were interesting in the right way. And who knew, maybe she’d get to stand out for more than her mother or her tales.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous #miraculous lb #ladybug #tales of ladybug and chat noir #lila rossi #marinette dupen chang #ml secret santa

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santacoppelia · 6 months

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Get To Know Me Tag

Courtesy of the patience of @littlelodell and @happy-mokka

Last Song: Courtesy of my redesigned burlesque number, this on constant repeat till tomorrow at 11 pm.

Currently Watching: Loki, season 2, and today I listened to Last Train To Christmas and Midnight in Paris while reading some things for work (blame Michael Sheen for this!!).

Currently Reading: a lot of Alec Hardy & Ellie "Millah" fanfics, because I've discovered that: a. reading fanfics while having a flu is a great way to speed out the recovery process (not scientifically proven, do not try this at home, or try it at your own risk, results may vary); b. Alec Hardy is the most whumpable David Tennant character, ever, or so it seems... poor wet rat and such, and c. AH + EM dynamics are just PERFECT. I'm also reading (slowly) a very short book called "Radical Acts: Unconventional Wisdom for Shaking Things Up", written by a person I knew for like a week in 2006 and is still one of the most influential persons in my professional career (Lee Ryan).

Current Obsession: still in the Good Omens side of the universe, expanding to the DT and MS verse (and reaching Broadchurchverse at terminal velocity). Short term obsessed (literally, with a 24 hour deadline) with how to make my burlesque number airtight, fun, sexy and confusing... Because the last time I was absolutely femme presenting, and now I'm more androgynous and I want to play into it!!

Tagging, if they want to play, no pressure: @specializationisforinsects, @bardraelyn, @and-his-hands-were-24-crows, @isaidfireball

#tag game #get to know the blogger #i love that song #Somebody rescue me from my unhealthy Alec Hardy whump obsession (not really)

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synnthamonsugar · 3 months

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@championofravens hope you don't mind me rambling a bit about death of the author in response to this reply. (The poll thread is getting long, and none of what I have to say particularly relates to Witch From Mercury so I don't want to rb it again.)

Also, I want to preface this by saying I don't want to argue that death of the author is superior or change the mind of anyone who falls on the side of authorial intent, just put to paper some of the ideas I've had that I'm thinking about again because of this convo.

I guess I want a story to be a self contained unit that can be fully appreciated without outside input. Everything relevant should be in there, and the creators should make themselves clear in the text of the work if they don't want be misunderstood.

I'm not sure if I prioritize reader interpretation over canon but I can confidently say I think both take priority over word-of-god. If a creator wants to make an important point ... make it in the text, don't wait to drop it in a press release or blog post or twitter. If they make a point they didn't want to, too bad. They should have been more careful.

All that being said, I think there's scale here. I think the more people who experience a story, the more leeway it should be given to take legs and diverge from the creator's intent. That is to say, I think death of the author is more in-play for a massive media property viewed by hundreds of millions of people than an indie webcomic with a readership in the tens of thousands, and even less for a short story published in a zine read by a few hundred people, or a fanfic that gets 50 hits on AO3. It simply doesn't have the reach to withstand it, and any challenge to the creator's intent is more likely to be felt. Death of the author-ing Star Wars is lazily throwing a rock into the ocean; doing the same for someone's flop Sonic fanfic is shooting a rock into a red solo cup at terminal velocity.

On a personal tangent, a lot of what I write is ambiguous relationship-wise. I can intend all I want, tag correctly and leave authors notes but I can't stop someone from reading romance into intimate platonic interactions, or platonic love into a shipfic that isn't explicitly romantic. For me that's ok, as long as they don't run around arguing that I meant for it to be X when it's actually Y.

#fandom #replies

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didyoutrydynamite · 1 year

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Yo... i am an RWBY fanfic writer making a story of Jaune reborn in the DxD universe.

My question to you author-kun is, how fast do you think the characters are going during V1-V3? Because many sources said that they are going Hypersonic+ considering they are blocking bullets at point-blank range.

So yeah, technically speaking with that scale Ozpin can rival Emiya Archer's speed.

What you do think?

Now this a new one! I'll be happy to give you my input. So, I actually have two different answers for this question.

The first answer as it pertains to RWBY Canon is that the characters are pretty damn fast... sometimes. You see, character speeds can be a little inconsistent due to animation or plot beat choices. At some points you'll be having characters as you said dodge point-blank fire while in other scenes they'll be doing full-sprint animations at a brisk jogging pace.

If you take into account Ruby Rose, who is widely considered one of the fastest characters according to canon, you have a girl that can launch herself at near terminal velocity (200km/h or 120mph) with just using her natural agility and Crescent Rose. Using her Semblance she easily triples her own speed based on the size of the wind cyclone she caused in the legendary food fight.

And then you have insane feats akin to what Mercury and Emerald pulled off in their fight with the Fall Maiden...

... Yeah, these two aren't even categorized as "Speedsters" like Ruby, and yet they are dodging lightning, as in, reacting to and then physically jumping out of the way faster than lighting can travel 186,291 miles PER SECOND(~300,000 km/s). So take that as you will.

Now as for my second answer as a fanfic writer, the characters are as fast as you want them to be. If you want them to be astronomically fast or just faster than the average human, it'll be entirely up to you and how it fits in the story you want to share.

I'm personally not making a majority of characters go any higher than a super-human 45mph on foot unless they are specially trained Speed fighters like Ruby or have the Semblance to back them up.

#jnrz ask #rwby

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tsuki-sennin · 1 year

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Spreading sky! Hero gals! Hirogaru Sky! Pretty Cure! This is a... very exciting prospect, of course. Not only is it the 20th series and very close to the franchise's 20th anniversary, but we're jostling a lot of franchise traditions! Blue non-human leader, a full-time male Cure, an (entirely unambiguous) adult!

New town, new me. That also means a new tag!

"Hop! Step! Jump! Hero Gals Dream of the Everlasting Sky!"

Y'know, filter that out if you wanna.

Man, imagine liveblogging a PreCure series on time lmao

Spoilers, I guess...

-The sky!

-Skyloft?

-Oh wow, even got giant birds.

-There's Sora-chan. I'll give you a dumb nickname later,

-Skyland Castle!

-Wonder if we'll run into Spyro the Dragon?

-Maybe if we were on a Nintendo console we'd meet Bowser and Donkey Kong.

-Lotsa cute borbs on Skyland, huh?

-Subarashii~! Hapii Basudei~!

-Princess El. You are... a very interestingly designed baby, I'd say.

-How old are you, a year?

-Oh look it's Bebop from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. That's neat.

-Kabaton.

-Gonna bomb a fuckin' baby! Okay!

-"Speed up."

-Don't pay that bird enough for this, Sora-chan.

-It's Hero time!

-Oh shit.

-I enjoyed DePaPre's OP an awful lot, but this

-This is a banger right out the gate.

-Gives me very high hopes for the rest of the soundtrack.

-Oh shit, Futari wa callback.

-Ah, even got a notebook opening for the title card, that's cute.

-P i g

-The 7th Chocobo Cavalry has come rushing in.

-Kabaton-ton?

-Very nimble for a big fella, huh?

-In comes Sora-san.

-Hot damn, this girl's must've done mocap for Mirror's Edge.

-Ain't no stopping this dude.

-Ready... Go!

-"I am the girl from the sky! Of the clear sky clan!"

-REALLY now, Toei?

-I ain't even gonna dignify that with a response, I'm just gonna move on with my life.

-Dropped the baby.

-Going into strange holes is generally not advised until you're far older, Sora.

-Hydrogen baby.

-Very cute hydrogen baby, might I say.

-Where we at?

-Drop TWO babies at once!

-Pretty Holic~! They sell stationery too~!

-Hurtling at the terminal velocity of... 2 miles an hour.

-That's a car, those're rolling death machines.

-That's Pretty Holic lipstick, that's what we call a "uniting thread".

-"WHY ARE THESE BIRDS SO TINY?!"

-Mashiro-chan, gotcha.

-Sorashido~!

-"My notebook~!"

-Ahhhh, Skyland script.

-Oh god, he's back.

-Underground!

-Ranborg!

-C

-CureTube.

-Curesta. CureTube.

-Gonna write up my fanfic ideas on my CurePad in Pretty Docs, then maybe post 'em up on Cureblr.

-Using the Octagon-washing-machine to dry Octagon-coats on Octagon-hangers.

-"Mashiro-san! Protect Hydrogen Baby with your life."

-"Noooooo pleeease!"

-Smoked out.

-Hot damn, these're some nice angles.

-"Gimme that baby, extra!"

-A fated duel!

-Oh, he went and done it now.

-Tore up her dreams right in front of her.

-Precuuuuuure!

-It's Hero Time!

-Sky mirage! Tone connect!

-Hirogaru Change! Sky!

-Hop! Step! Jump! Clearly she takes inspiration from Ichika Usami.

-Love the side cape.

-Blue sky soaring to infinity! Cure Sky!

-Sora Harewataru... that is, Cure Sky is our hero for this year. She fights for truth, justice, and a better tomorrow!

-She's not quite flying yet. But she is falling with style.

-That's some impact!

-Hirogaru Sky Punch!

-Dig in peace once more.

-You're safe now, citizen!

-Oh, ED time.

-Don't worry Mashiro-chan, you'll get to be Cure Prism in, say... an episode or two? You're voiced by Rabirin, so your odds are pretty good. There's the lad, Cure Wing, voiced by Don Murasame. And Butterfly-oneesan, I haven't actually heard of Ayaka Nanase till yesterday.

-I love the colored pencil aesthetic, I feel seen.

-Very nice ED, very cute.

-Gotta keep the kid safe.

-I've actually been considering a few of options for my unique liveblog tag.

-"I would fly into the sun if that would keep our dream alive" is fitting, but is a bit... loaded a reference for me to make as a RWBY fan.

-I've considered using the lyrics of the Jetman theme or even some old Superman standards, but I thought those'd be a little obvious.

-My Hero Academia and One Punch Man references were considered, of course, but were discarded.

-I reckon what I chose gets the point across well enough, yeah?

-Kinda newspaper headline-y too, as a bonus.

-Well, you know where to find me for next time! See you on the flip side, citizens!

#hirogaru sky precure #hirogaru sky spoilers #hirogaru sky pretty cure #pretty cure #precure #Hop! Step! Jump! Hero Gals Dream of the Everlasting Sky!

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