Story. That's a Wrap
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[ID: 14 digitally sketched panels in b/w]
[Panel 1: The necromancer , revealed to be a teenager with a resemblence to Thadeus Becile, with curly hair and wearing large round glasses. He sits on the ground, (SFX) huffing and grimacing. Hare, from off panel, says, "So the big, bad necromancer was just some pimply teen." Locksmith, also off panel, says, "A child playing with forces greater than himself. What do we do with him?"]
[Panel 2: The Skull's in-game character ripping pages out of the tome the necromancer previously held. He says, out of character, "The book is the source of his power, right? Tear it up and tell the kid to scram."]
[Panel 3: Back at the game table, Riker yawns. Scratch looks over sympathetically, making the first part of the ASL sign for 'wrap up,' and says, "And with that, let's wrap up for tonight."]
[Panel 4: The Jack worriedly leans over to Scratch and asks, "But what about the little girl?" Scratch happily makes the ASL sign for 'next,' saying, "That's something you can look into next time!"]
[Panel 5: The Jack looks across the table to Locksmith, who is beginning to stand up. The Jack says, "Oh (ellipses) Next time (ellipses) of course (ellipses)" Locksmith says, "Come, The Jack. We have an event to attend."]
[Panel 6: Riker arches an eyebrow at Locksmith and asks, "You're taking him out this late?" Locksmith replies, "The night abounds with activity."]
[Panel 7: Riker also begins to stand, looking weary. He says, "Well, I need to sleep, since Skull wants his maintenance done by dawn, like usual." Scratch, making the ASL sign for 'story,' says, "If anyone wants to work on their character backstory, I can lend them the guidebook."]
[Panel 8: Dee moves to Scratch, and he hands her the guidebook from the table while making the ASL sign for 'thank you.' Scratch says, "And we have a taker. Here you go, Dee. Thanks for playing!"]
[Panel 9: Dee, holding the book to her chest, turns to Hare and says, "You're helping me write tonight." Hare, appalled, says, "What?! Why?!"]
[Panel 10: Dee pointedly jabs a finger into Hare's chest, baring her teeth as she says, "Because you (all caps) OWE ME for (all caps) LEAVING." Hare looks down at her miserably and says, "Can't you just kick my aft? Have mercy."]
[Panel 11: Dee starts to leave, Hare slumping after her in defeat. Hare says, "[sigh] Fine, fine. Night, you weirdos." From off panel, The Jack calls, "Hare--!!"]
[Panel 12: Hare looks over at The Jack sadly and asks, "(ellipses) Yeah, Jacky?" The Jack hesitates, glancing at Locksmith watching him in the background, and says, "(ellipses)"]
[Panel 13: The Jack nervously wrings his hands and says, "(ellipses) Thank you (pause) for playing with us."]
[Panel 14: Hare turns away, but smiles and waves in recognition, letting off a little smoke. He says, "(ellipses) Heh. G'night, Jacky." End ID]
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2023 Annual Wrap-Up!
Here’s the 2023 wrap-up, in case you missed it…
Current word count: 1,386,078
(up 103,887 words from last year)
2023 Events:
Snap My Choker (BruJay Zine)
A Love Story (BruJay Zine)
Service, Please (Riddlebat Zine)
Vulnerable (Jonathan Kent/Damian Wayne)
Minimum Wage (Fast Food Zine)
Maturity (Damian Wayne Zine)
Incentive (DCU Rarepair Exchange)
Ceasefire (DCU Rarepair Exchange)
Extraction (WilsonDick Winter Exchange)
Chiaroscuro (Batfam AU Zine)
You're holding the knife, I wish you would cut to the chase (Batfam Kinkmas Exchange)
New Fics:
Perspective (Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne)
Shoot Your Shot with Nightwang & Scandalsavage (Roy Harper/Jason Todd)
I'm Afraid Of All I Am (My Mind Feels Like A Foreign Land) (Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson)
Convalescent Vow (Retributory Shroud)
Pleated (Hockey RPF: Travis Konecny/Nolan Patrick)
Borrowing (Stephanie Brown/Tim Drake/Jason Todd)
Caught Red-Handed (Jason Todd/Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson)
Viscera (Retributory Shroud)
I'm The Bottom If I'm Not On Top (David Cain/Slade Wilson)
New Art:
Adonis (Dick Grayson)
Pothos (Tim Drake)
Anteros (Damian Wayne)
Zephyrus (Conner Kent)
Flash Fics:
Appeal (Jonathan Kent/Damian Wayne)
You Are Enough (Tim Drake & Jason Todd)
Private Show (Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne)
Reclamation Project (Tim Drake & Jason Todd)
Gentle Enough To Bruise (Joker/Jason Todd)
Sweater Souvenir (Roy Harper/Slade Wilson)
Loose Tongue (Tim Drake/Jason Todd)
Thigh Highs (Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson)
Run-In (Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson)
Taking Turns (Tim Drake/Slade Wilson)
Star-scarred (Tim Drake/Jason Todd)
Rougher (Tim Drake/Slade Wilson)
Two For Flinching (Harvey Dent/Jason Todd)
Open (Jason Todd/Bruce Wayne)
Delicious Predicaments (Stephanie Brown/Talia al Ghul)
Vertigo (Dick Grayson/Clark Kent)
Fountain (Apollo/Jason Todd)
A Short Jump (Tim Drake/Tim Drake/Slade Wilson)
Claim Me (Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne)
Kettlebell (Dick Grayson/Roman Sionis)
Give Me Your Worst (I'll Take It) (Dick Grayson/Roy Harper)
Model (Tim Drake/Jason Todd)
Partition (Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne)
Eggplant (Stephanie Brown/Jason Todd)
Tundra (Dick Grayson/Clark Kent)
Eyes On The Road (Jason Todd/Slade Wilson)
Idol (Tim Drake/Bruce Wayne)
Distance (Apollo/Midnighter/Slade Wilson)
Bring To Heel (Talia al Ghul/Slade Wilson)
Scope (Tim Drake/Slade Wilson)
Updated Works:
Stripped, Chapter 5
Check Yourself: Art Collection, Chapter 7
An Honest Mistake, Chapter 7 & 8
The Agency Maid, Chapters 2 to 7
Gift Works:
Guilt (Retributory Shroud, for arsenicgreen)
Tying Knots (Retributroy Shroud, for snowinthestars)
Regurgitate (Tim Drake/Jason Todd, for Anonymous)
Read & Recommended:
In the Desert by forestgreen
Acquisition by boyswonder
Kiss, Kiss, Fall in Love by walkerofthestars
Inferno by cadkitten
Skull by clarityhiding
eat your young before they eat you by sharpbluejay
Mistress by Reagy_Jay
Date Night by Anoonie
Winner's Room (Holiday Edition) by cadkitten
Blue Eyes Shining like the Sea by anotherDeadRobin
Ribbons and Bows by khthonicEcho
Come and open yourself up to me by Reagy_Jay
Salt And Copper by OkayAristotle
broken the same way by LizzieMack
A natural by forestgreen
Control by Valmouth
love to praise me, hate me, shame me by LizzieMack
Pretty Boy by JupiterMelichios
your bets on red by kuro49
Related/Inspired Works:
Seasonal Ficlets by arsenicgreen, inspired by Retributory Shroud
Meditations on the Nature of Ice by arsenicgreen, inspired by Retributory Shroud
Thomson AU by arsenicgreen, inspired by Retributory Shroud
No Atheists in the Foxhole by arsenicgreen, inspired by Retributory Shroud
Minimum Wage by litrapod, a podfic of Minimum Wage
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Fashion Faux Paw CH6 (FINAL)
The final chapter is here! Thank you so much to @avrilmaria for betaing for me and for the mods of @mlbigbang for hosting the event! The art for this chapter was done by @miraculousshellie on Instagram! Please send her lots of love. I had a lot of fun working on this story, and I hope you all enjoy it!
Read on AO3
Chapter 6
Marinette braced, clinging close to Chat Noir as he flipped to take the brunt of their fall. He cradled her head as they rolled, and she found herself looking up into his desperate green eyes.
“Plagg, transform me!” The dark suit materialized over his clothes, replacing his makeshift mask and cat ears with the magic of his Miraculous. Green sclera twinkled with worry as they scanned Marinette. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, fine.” She nodded.
Chat Noir sat up, brandishing his staff in a defensive stance in front of her. Five angry fangirls now adorned in black cat suits outfitted with an assortment of cat-themed weapons to rival Chat Noir stood at the end of the hall. The one at the front of the pack wore a black helmet with two cat ears sticking out of the top, clearly distinguishing herself as the leader.
“Step aside, sweet kitty. The Felines are going to teach that brat how to treat you,” she said.
“That’s not necessary. Marinette and I had a little misunderstanding, but we’re fine now. Don’t let Hawkmoth take advantage of your anger.” Chat Noir shot back.
“You’re the one being taken advantage of by that nasty girl, my prince! It’s up to us to make sure she receives justice.”
Marinette stifled an eye roll and surveyed her exit options. She needed to slip away to transform, but something told her that would be easier said than done with multiple akumatized victims chasing after her.
“Do you think you can cover me long enough to get away?” she asked Chat Noir.
“I don’t think running is the best idea. You’ll be safer next to me where I can protect you,” he said.
Oh boy.
“You’ll be able to focus on defeating them if you don’t have to worry about taking care of me,” she said.
“This isn’t a negotiation. I don’t want anything happening to you, so just-”
Marinette pulled him out of the way of another cat-shaped projectile, much to the annoyance of his fangirls.
“How dare you touch him!” the Felines shrieked.
“I was saving him from you!” Marinette huffed.
“Oh! Kitty kitty, we don’t want to fight you.”
“Just hand over that girl, and we’ll leave you alone.”
“We don’t want you getting hurt again because of her.”
“Not gonna happen. I won’t let you take her.” Chat Noir pulled Marinette close.
She sighed. It looked like she was going to navigate this fight on the downlow as she doubted Chat Noir was going to let her out of his sight. He was a good kitty, but his protective nature was incredibly annoying when he was preventing her from transforming.
“We’re not in a good position in the hall, they have a straight line of fire at us. We should move back to the showroom where it’s more open.” Marinette suggested.
“Got it.” Chat Noir nodded.
He twirled his staff, deflecting weapons and attacks as they backed up the hall toward the showroom. With more room to maneuver, Marinette ducked behind an overturned table, while Chat Noir tussled with the Felines. There weren’t a lot of escape routes that didn’t cross paths with one of the Felines or Chat Noir, but if she ducked behind the curtain, she could transform without being spotted. Crawling on her hands and knees, she skirted for the safety of the curtain, but before she could issue the command for Tikki, she nearly collided with a set of wide hazel eyes.
“Alya!” Marinette gasped.
Alya squirmed with an annoyed grunt, her hands and feet bound by cat-ropes and mouth gagged with a black cat cloth. Marinette set to work untying her, and her friend let out a breath when she was free of her gag.
“Sorry, girl. I would have warned you, but they ambushed me the second I came back from the bathroom,” she said.
“No worries. I’m just glad you’re okay.” Marinette hugged her. “Chat Noir has his hands full out there. We’ve got to help him before they take his Miraculous and expose his secret identity.”
“Shouldn’t we wait for Ladybug to show up?” Alya asked.
“Uhh…” Marinette winced. “We don’t know how long that will take, so we need to act now before it’s too late. Come on, haven’t you ever wanted to be a hero?”
“You know I have,” Alya said pointedly. “Alright, so what’s the plan?”
Marinette peeked through the curtains, surveying the room for anything they could use to defeat the akuma. If she couldn’t have a real lucky charm, she was going to have to make do with what she had, which wasn’t much.
“Hmm…” She hummed.
“Hey, watch it!” one of the Felines growled.
“You watch it! You almost hit his face with that last punch.” Another one shot back.
“I would never!”
A smile broke over Marinette’s lips, and she turned back to Alya. “I have an idea how to defeat the akuma and rid myself of my Chat Noir curse, follow my lead.”
Slipping back through the curtain, Marinette crept over to an overturned display table where a pile of cat berets lay abandoned on the ground. Taking a bundle in her hands, she stood up and tossed one across the room at one of the Felines.
“Ya know, I think it’s kind of funny. You five claim to be Chat Noir’s biggest fans, but I bet I know more about him than any of you.” She taunted. “After all, he and I spent a lot of time together creating these hats.”
Chat Noir spun on her with wide eyes. “Marinette, I don’t think that’s the best-”
“How dare you!”
“You don’t deserve to be close to Chat Noir.”
Marinette dodged a kick that destroyed her easel of designs, throwing hats as she backed toward a set of mannequins. The Felines ripped through the hats with ease, stalking toward her.
“I bet you don’t even know what his favorite snack is.” Marinette smirked, pushing the mannequins into one of the Felines before she could pounce.
“It’s croissants!” one Feline declared.
“No, it’s macarons!”
“Ooo, sorry, Felines.” Alya hissed. “The correct answer is chouquettes.”
“What?” The Felines spun on Chat Noir who shrank with a sheepish wince.
“They’re right.” He confirmed, flicking his gaze between Alya and Marinette.
“See? You can’t even answer a simple question about Chat Noir,” Marinette said. “And even if you could, there’s no way Chat Noir could be with all five of you, so which one of you will get to be with him? I’m sure one of you is a bigger fan than all the rest.”
“Me!” all five Felines answered at the same time.
“No, I am!”
“No, me!”
“Are you kidding? We all know it’s me.”
The Felines turned on each other, claws barred and weapons drawn.
“Uh, ladies, I hate to break it to you, but-” Alya stuffed a literal sock in Chat Noir’s mouth and shook her head.
One Feline pounced on another, the two tumbling to the floor in a heap of hair and claws. Two more grappled with the leader, swinging elbows and legs in a chorus of, “He’s mine! No, he’s mine!” After a few minutes of squabbling, one of the Felines ripped the helmet from the leader’s head, but in their struggle to assert power over the group, the helmet was ripped in half, freeing the black butterfly hiding inside. The five girls reverted to normal, the remnants of a torn beanie in their hands.
“Chat Noir, the akuma!” Marinette pointed as it fluttered higher.
“On it! Cataclysm!” He leapt up, catching the butterfly in his grasp and reducing it to a pile of ash.
Marinette approached as he landed, holding up a fist, but Chat Noir glanced around at the shambles of her display.
“Ladybug never showed up. I wonder what kept her,” he said.
“Uhh, maybe she was busy,” Marinette said too quickly, then after a beat added, “I mean, if I had to guess anyway.”
“There won’t be any magic ladybugs to repair all of the damage. I’m sorry, Marinette. I know how hard you worked on everything, and now, it’s all ruined.” His ears drooped.
Marinette glanced around with pursed lips and shrugged. “It’s okay,” she said. “I don’t want my name associated with you forever. It’s better this way.”
“It’s just a shame the people who were supposed to see your work didn’t make it down here before everything happened. This was supposed to be your shot to show the big wigs in the fashion industry what you’re made of,” Alya said.
“I’ll have other opportunities to show off designs I’m really proud of.” Marinette shrugged. “Really, I’m fine.”
Chat Noir searched her expression with a frown. “Don’t you have anything else you can show them today?”
“We do still have all the stuff from your original display in the back. If we hurry, we might be able to clean all of this up before the important peeps make it down here.” Alya suggested.
Chat Noir smiled, turning to his fangirls and crossing his arms over his chest. “If you girls are really my fans like you say you are, then I assume you won’t mind helping me with a little project.”
“Omg, we’ll do anything!” The girls cried.
In a matter of minutes, Marinette’s display had been cleaned up and rid of any traces of Chat Noir merch. Alya wheeled out the racks of Marinette’s original designs, and Chat Noir took one from the rack as his transformation dropped, eyes sparkling behind her makeshift mask. He disappeared behind the curtain and reemerged a few minutes later in a pink pantsuit, garnering squeals of delight from his fangirls. They set the last hat in place as Mme. Lemieux approached with a group of other stylish adults.
“What’s all of this?” she gasped. “I thought you agreed to swap this trite out for the Chat Noir line?”
“Well, I did, but then I decided that if I was going to present something, I wanted to present the designs I’m most proud of,” Marinette said. “Don’t get me wrong, the Chat Noir stuff was fun, but it’s not me, so if you want to know who I am as a designer, this is me.”
Mme. Lemieux exchanged looks with the others in the group, noses wrinkling as they examined her work.
Marinette’s heart hammered in her chest, but she held her head high. She’d rather be rejected for ideas she was proud of than accepted for ones she wasn’t.
“If you’re having doubts about her, let me help you get over them,” Chat Noir spoke up. He placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled. “Marinette is one of the most incredible designers I know. She works insanely hard and is more talented than any other designer here today. This is her moment, not mine, and I’m happy to endorse her brand the way it is.”
Silence stretched on for several beats before one woman in the group said, “You know, I do quite like that jacket.”
“Yes, I was just thinking it would pair nicely with this dress,” another piped up.
Mme. Lemieux shot Marinette a curious glance as the crowd spread out across her display. “Perhaps we can consider a spot for you next year, if you’re interested, Mlle. Dupain-Cheng?”
“I’ll consider it.” Marinette nodded.
Mme. Lemieux flicked her gaze between Marinette, Alya, and Chat Noir, then sauntered off to join the others with a grunt.
“You did it, girl!” Alya nudged Marinette with her elbow.
“I couldn’t have done it without you.” Marinette turned to Chat Noir and smiled. “Both of you. Thank you for all of your help, kitty.”
“I’m glad everything worked out in the end. I promise not to steal the spotlight next time,” he said. “Actually, you should probably just fire me and burn the rest of the Chat Noir stuff.”
“I don’t mind designing things after you, but I was thinking of expanding into a full heroes line on a side blog. What do you think?” Marinette asked.
“That sounds great.” Chat Noir smiled, then more timidly asked, “So, are we still partners, then?”
Marinette held up a fist and bumped it against his.
“Yeah, partners.”
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