#WHAT was he thinking genuinely like Ferdinand needed to be CARDED

[little-candy-store-of-horrors]

oh to ask your (21 M, twink) brother (18 M, twink) to help chase down a (38 M) bear bc you are young and stupid and screwed up in public what could possibly go wrong. except that it's not a regular night at the club it's the Holy Roman Empire and you are the emperor your brother is your regent and the bear you teenage twinks are after is religious dissident Martin Luther

[msindrad]

Temporal orientation is a thing

This might be one of the most unusual and hopefully also most interesting pieces of fandom meta you‘ll ever read!

I wanna talk about the perception of time by Manco, Mortimer, and Indio in For a Few Dollars More because I earnestly believe that understanding somebody‘s time perception is fundamental for understanding their modus operandi.

Here are two short paragraphs of theory, which you can freely skip if you want to.

Let’s imagine that there are four dimension of time perception: namely, past, present, future, and eternity (categories above time that can’t be influenced by it). And there are four possible positions of prioritization for each of them in a person’s psyche.

The first position is their strongest element, it’s the time that they live in and for. Their goal, their main element, the very dimension that they unconsciously filter everything else through. The second position is their consciously used instrument – they employ it to be successful in the time dimension from the first category. They’re fully in control of acting in and through it. The third position is the position of lacking control, of susceptibility, uncertainty, concerns, and fears. It’s there, but you can’t do anything about it, but you’re still desperately trying to – either to suppress it or do something impulsively. Whenever something or somebody influences you there, you’re hurt, lost, or troubled. The fourth position is the position of negligence. Whatever is there just doesn’t interest them. It’s unreal, uninteresting, and irrelevant.

With that being said: Manco’s profile is: 1Present 2Eternity 3Future 4Past

Mortimer’s profile is: 1Past 2Future 3Present 4Eternity

And finally Indio’s: 1Eternity 2Future 3Past 4Present

Now, what do I meant by it all, and why and how it can be relevant for understanding these people.

 Let’s start with Manco and with the most obvious thing about his profile. He is absolutely uninterested in the Past. He never explains anything through his previous experiences, except for when he is unsatisfied with him and Mortimer not having read Indio’s intentions correctly when he robbed El Paso’s bank. And even then it’s irrelevant, the past is dead, he doesn’t care why they did what they did anymore. The same with Ferdinand – he could’ve punished him for how he didn’t inform him about the two other strangers in town, but the moment is gone, the Past doesn’t matter, and the only thing he needs is being informed right now. When Manco is reminded of his past actions he shrugs it off because why care about what happened? And he himself isn’t exactly somebody who can be defined through his past – he is the man with no name, after all.

He draws all his conclusions from the Present. He is a tactician who gets all his clues from the circumstances he or others find themselves in. Be it his assessment of how crazy his informant is, the fact that his wanted hotel room is temporarily occupied not by him but by Mr. Ramirez, or his observation of the actions of a smart rival provoking his targets. Somebody whose perception isn’t totally dominated by the Present wouldn’t start a card game with their targets just to find out whether they’re lucky today!

And even when Manco rushes to Indio without thinking after he and Mortimer fail to predict his plans correctly, he’s only thinking about the Present: how they’re wrong, how their plan isn’t working, how he must fix everything! He isn’t thinking strategically, only tactically.

Then, Manco’s Future. He has some vague intentions, plans, he feels that this dimension of time is there, but he also feels that it’s uncovered, and so he tries to distract himself from it while simultaneously trying to be kinda ready for it in advance. He wants the reward money but what for? To buy a farm? Does he, though, is he really the type who retires young? He realizes that he needs and wants the money in the moment, but he hasn’t everything planned out. When he is in El Paso he is simply gathering information, he has no clear-cut plan as to how apprehend Indio and his gang. And he can’t really produce any good idea on the spot when Mortimer tells him he should join the band (he simply makes a joke to Mortimer about bringing Indio a bunch of roses, not seriously considering any realistic variants), and his mental habits of a tactician provide a strong contrast to the fact that Mortimer, on the other hand, has a highly positioned, in fact, instrumental Future, but I’ll go back to it in a minute.

Manco is so bad at living in the Future that he, again, makes a really bad decision of stating his intention to collect the reward for Indio and his gang in the future – while talking to Indio himself, and Manco’s only luck then is that Indio doesn’t want to out him to everybody right then and there. What he does operate through in this scene is his Eternity. He states who he is, and who the gang are, disregarding any time constraints. The same thing he does when talking to the bought sheriff at the beginning of the film. He he makes a point that the sheriff is bad while describing his concept of sheriff to him before taking away his star.

The same with Mortimer: when he approaches the Prophet, he wants to have an idea of who Mortimer is, not what he has done or the like. When he listens to Mortimer and assesses him from all sides, he asks him, semi-jokingly but genuinely intrigued: “Tell me, colonel, were you ever young?” Which isn’t really a statement about any concrete Past, obviously he knows that sometime in the Past Mortimer was a young pup. But the question is meant to ask: “Have you always been this focused, this driven, this disciplined?” In other words, is this who you are?

 Then, Mortimer.

I love him very deeply, he is one of my all-time favorites, but I can’t deny that he is tactically crippled. He is a brilliant strategist (as his Future is in the second, instrumental position), but, girl, is in he in big trouble whenever he has to face the Present. Both his awkward encounters with Wild, the hunchback, demonstrate it.

Motivated by his loss, he uses all the information he has carefully collected over the years to come up with a plan (the dominant Past), he thinks every major strategic decision through (second Future), but whenever he has to improvise, well. He can only continue the course that somebody else sets for him in the here and now.

When Wild recognizes him in the tavern, Mortimer is lost. Should he try to leave? But he hasn’t finished his soup? Is it already too late? He didn’t think of how they would face each other again when the Future he planned would become the Present for him. And so, he waits for whoever is quicker than him to make the next step for him. It’s literally so when Manco decides to test him outside – he simply returns every impulse.

Mortimer doesn’t know how to treat him then, he is simply planning for the Future (they’ll work together) after having consulted the Past (he actually goes into an archive to try to reconstruct who Manco is). But having gathered all that information he can only follow Manco’s lead when the other provokes him. Because he is tactically short-sighted and basically helpless like a newborn kitten.

A quick contrast – when Manco is caught off guard by Indio and his gang waiting for him to descend that roof, he instantly acts in the Present, assessing the situation: he puts away the bag with all the money. And Mortimer? As soon as he feels somebody’s shoulder below his foot, he is simply panicking.

Even when Indio invites him to try to shoot him after having shot his gun out of his hand, he simply obeys, accepting that there is no choice in the Present, until Manco introduces another choice into the situation and fixes everything so that the fight is fair (second Eternity).

And for Mortimer, Eternity is a blind zone. He is a practical man and seems to have no access to it. Everybody is what they’ve done (Past), and what they could be done with (Future), that’s it. But he has no idea what to do in the goalless Present because he has no guiding Eternity.

 Finally, Indio.

He has no relationship with the Present whatsoever. He is so detached from it that he actually catapults himself from it by smoking weed to not be overwhelmed by it. (He also does it to block his weak Past from nagging at him, which only makes sense given his more than unpleasant biography). 

And he actively disregards what others might think of him in the Present, e.g. his public inspections of Manco or how he doesn’t bother to explain his thought processes to Nino before sending him to kill off one of others from his gang. It’s Chuchillio who acts in the Present for him instead when he shoots off the tip of Manco’s cigar; and from what we’ve seen of others, e.g. of Wild, they all compensate for Indio’s detachment from the Present, it’s their primary function. And Indio, well, he, like Mortimer, makes plans using his second Future (he always foresees things), but he bases them on his Eternity.

First time he sees Manco, he knows he’s a bounty hunter, and assessing him from this standpoint of Eternity, he integrates him in their robbery. If you listen to his speeches closely, e.g. the speech in the church, he always leads everything to what things are but also what they should be. He rhetorically asks his gang whether they think a carpenter can’t make good money, and also how safes work; he talks about how the people of Agua Caliente are unfriendly to strangers. 

I would even argue that he keeps the pocket watch of Mortimer‘s sister not because of any sentimental value attached to it (that’s the perspective of the Past, which is adopted by Mortimer), but because it has significantly influenced his understanding of Eternity, and is now a part of his self-image and a reminder about certain hurtful truths.

 That’s my take on it. I would love to hear your thoughts! Also, if somebody is interested in my opinion about the whole thing in the GBU, Justified, or something else, let me know. Cheers!

[claudes-therapy-center]

sacred stones and three houses crossover: prince lyon of the amethyst swans.

- During the House Representatives’ first meeting with Byleth, Lyon gazes at Claude adoringly. He manages to escape being caught by the brunette, but Ephraim and Eirika merrily catch their old friend in the act. Lyon's embarrassed, but doesn't stop stealing glances at Claude whenever he can. That's the beginning of Lyon's tenderness towards the Golden Deer House Representative; Lyon's drawn to the brunette's sunny aura and appearance. The Prince of Grado is drawn to those he finds luminous and beautiful, Claude definitely not being an exception.

Despite being painfully shy and quiet, Lyon's chivalrous towards all he meets, even more so towards the brunette that bewitched him. While being paired with Claude for lunch and special assignments, Lyon's the perfect gentleman-and much to his surprise, Claude knows Lyon's a genuine article. There's just something about Lyon that sets him at ease. Even more so once Lyon escorts the feverish brunette to Manuela and Natasha's infirmary. Ephraim's old friend doesn't leave Claude's side during the worst of his fever, and even uses his magic to soothe the brunette's pain.

- Claude: "I pretty much have a career of reading people. Seeing right through them. And I don't enjoy small talk unless I can get something out of them. Pretty shallow way of thinking, right?" Lyon: "No, not really. You're clever and resourceful. You protect yourself in order to make your dreams a reality. That's a pretty impressive tactic, if I do say so myself."

Claude: "Well, someone's gotta take the reigns, right? Can't skip out on my responsibilities."

Lyon: (smiles) "No, because there's only one Claude von Riegan. With the right connections, knowledge and strength, anyone can take on a title. However, no one can replace Claude."

- Lyon gifts Claude with some rather beautiful flowers on his birthday, and writes a note on the card: "You illuminate my world with your golden glow. May these serve as a tribute to the warmth I now know." Unfortunately, he chooses not to sign the card they're sent with.

- Lyon overhears Lorenz insulting Claude and challenges the latter to a duel: "I won't allow this to continue. If I come out of this victorious, you must cease your horrendous treatment at once!" Lyon surprises Claude and the other Deer with his sudden show of valor and fire. The show becomes even more surprising once Lyon's dark side flares during the duel; Lyon becomes a completely different person while engaging Lorenz in combat. Claude and Leonie snap the Swan out of his trance, preventing him from gravely wounding Lorenz.

Lyon's beside himself with sadness, (seemingly?) horrified by his war-like, vicious persona. While he doesn't regret carrying the intentions he set out with, he regrets almost doing great harm to Lorenz and apologizes. Two things come about as a result: Lorenz brings his insults against Claude to a halt, and becomes friends with Lyon.

- Lyon and Lorenz are bound by abusive fathers who care only for power. That fact helps them to create what eventually becomes a strong bond of friendship.

- Lyon's constantly seen with Ephraim and Eirika. When he's not spending time with the two of them, he can be found studying with Knoll, practicing magic with Lysithea, or having tea with Lorenz and Ferdinand.

- While Lyon becomes friends with Lorenz, Ferdinand, Lysithea and a few others, he shies away from Dimitri. While he finds Claude enchanting and comforting, Dimitri's presence is intimidating and overwhelming. Lyon admits to Annette at one point: "Being near such a noble soul saddens me. Surely he does not need someone like me to soil his eyes."

- Ignatz catches Lyon gazing adoringly at Claude one point. Cue a conversation that leads to the two of them becoming friends.

- Cue a chapter in which Lyon recruits Byleth for assistance, as mercenaries from Grado are (allegedly) behind an attack on a Seiros tribute. The battle leads to a horrible truth being revealed: Grado mercenaries ARE attacking one of Fodlan's most precious relics. And Lyon's father is behind the attack!  

[ngfics]

Huff and Puff

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Huff and Puff, The Fool’s Journey

(SIOC as Leanora 'Lea' Pyrites in Harry Potter world)

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Series Tile: Huff and Puff, The Fool’s Journey

Story Titles: Fool's White Flower, Fool's Sea, Fool's Web, Fool's Calling Card (HP1), Fool's Bag of Trick (HP2), Fool's Clarity (HP3), Fool's White Dog (HP4), Fool's Last Dance (HP 5), Fool's Cliff (HP6 ), Fool's Gold(war and epilogue) + SnakeSkin (Before the Fool)

Fandom: Harry Potter

Genre: Friendship / Family

Characters: Leanora 'Lea' Pyrites (SIOC), Ferdinand Pyrites (OC), Smantha Pyrites (OC), Vincent Pyrites (OC), Simon Pyrites (OC), Isobel Pyrites (OC), Hector Pyrites (OC), Cedric Diggory, Éimhín Hynes(OC), Nymphadora Tonks, Gabriel Truman, Adrien Pucey, Cassius Warrington, Graham Montague, Terrance Higgs, Velda Lute(OC), Gemma Farley, Marcus Flint, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Lee Jordan, Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, Kenneth Towler, Oliver Wood, Percy Weasley, Charlie Weasley, Roger Davies, Patricia Stimpson, Penelope Clearwater, Robert Hilliard, a LOT of OCs, Harry Potter Game characters, Hogwarts Teachers, assorted family members, OCs of all kinds   

Relationships:  Ferdinand x Samantha, Leanora x Adrien  

Tags: asexual relationship, asexual characters, blood politics of the wizarding world, love and family, Magical Rituals,Wizarding Culture, Pureblood cluture, Muggle x Wizard pairing, loving relationship, relationships are hard work and compromise, Hufflepuffs are good at that thankfully, Black!Hermione Granger, Biracial!Harry Potter, Hufflepuff pride, Inter-House friendships, making study groups to change the world, how to make a support group for the titular character - the Hufflepuff way, some genuinely Nice!Slytherins, Disabled!students, 

Summary: She knows it's not impossible. It's not a far off dream. Her parents made it work, they worked hard fir it, true, but they did it. She won't let anyone else feed her excuses, no one will take her for a fool.

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Slightly ordered notes and Ideas

Inspired by this - "What's a soulmate?" "Someone who makes you a better person, they don't actually make you a better person, you do that yourself, because they inspire you."

Ferdinand Pyrites and Samantha 'Sam' Noble have a very sweet and loving love story despite him being a Pureblood Slytherin and her being a muggle

Having grown up watching their relationship it is something Lea aspires to heavily and terminates a few relationships over, because she has seen better and knows that blood and circumstance can be overcome

She understands from the start that work is needed - or maybe it's pointed out to her that 'both sides need to learn how to deal with the situation, compromise and sacrifice' 

Lea and Adrian are actual soulmates, and both are pretty asexual

EverybodylovesCedric2K16! Leandra quickly catches on that Cedric is the GoldernRetriever!Boy and makes sure everybody else knows that too

Cedric is well liked by nearly everybody and that is one of the reasons Voldie doesn't manage to recruit from Hufflepuffs at all when the war gets started

Lea is BFF with Cedric and forms a very nice group in her Hufflepuff year with Cedric, Trudy, Raashid, Sisi, Hecate, Satinder, Marilyn, .. Really the whole year functions well as a tight group and they all pull in more people from different houses and years.

But the group is generally Cedric - Lea - Hynes trio as the main ringleaders, then they pull others in their plans with gusto.

Focus of feel-good relationships, networking, Inter-House friendships - students helping each other and nurturing curiosity through friendly debate and self-directed research projects.

Lea heads a Debate Club that talks about all of these various things that exist and a Self-Study and Research Club that teaches others important things like wizarding culture for muggleborns and muggle culture for wizardborn, about disabilities, sexualities, all the little things that these people from other worlds may take for granted as being the same. Discussing news, laws and current events through there clubs makes people think and look things up on their own.

Ensures Harry has a support network from the start by making that her project for Harry's first year and this pays off whenever people don't believe him over something, he gets used to giving people opportunities to view his memories.

Lea learns how to extract memories as soon as she can really, manages in her second year, her argument is that this way her mother can view memories of Hogwarts even if she can't really go there - her talent fro this runs from her Obliviator father.

Support network of older students did exist before and Hufflepuffs were better than most, but Lea seriously buffs it up, spreading inter-house unity and genuine interest in things as soon as she possibly can

Citing all sorts of reasons to get there, like excuses for why she's reading about deafness and blindness aides

 In preparation for Harry's  troubles with the media, one of the things discussed early one is how the media works? How does the Prophet work? Who picks the articles? How do they research?  Etc.

So when Harry slander starts there are a lot less people believing it, simply because they heard from a friend of a friend that this or that journalist is a glory hound, that this or that journalist is actually being bribed to write good shit about Fudge, etc…

Of course there is no cure for actual stupid, but if somebody is going to start recognizing shit when it's under their nose, Lea knows you gotta start young.

 Due to her interference there are less deaths in the final battle, because a buddy system of sorts is prevalent

Fred's legs get crushed by debree, but he doesn't die, Percy loses an arm, Colin Creevy is loses sight in one eye and is knocked out in a coma for five months, but survives, Nymphadora  Lupin ends up having to wear a prosthetic like Moody, but doesn't really mind, says she'll carry on the legacy.

Remus Lupin gets more scars than people think possible, but does manage to save his wife's life and stay alive himself, Lavender Brown survives, but ends up a werewolf, actually becomes close to the Lupins and Potters, Hermione has curse burns up and down her arms, but this doesn't stop her from becoming a Minister for Magic by 2019

Ron loses three fingers, Nevile has a scar down his face, Shacklebot loses an eye, Luna is missing a part of her left ear, she and George bond

Lea is depressed, looking at younger kids and thinking if any of them died because these canon deaths didn't happen, keeps saying she 'should have done more', her friends help her through this

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Some snippets, thoughts and scenes incoming, but this one has a lot more stream-of-though outlines than anything else so we’ll see how much actually gets posted.

No beta! You’ve been warned!

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now for some art from way back 2016. of Ferdinand and Samantha, the wizard x muggle pair.

and also some designs for the Pyrites family

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[pentakillmaven]

The Nose Knows, Chapter 6 (NaNoWriMo 2018)

Hello again! I’m actually posting at a decent hour this time! I’d call this the halfway point of the story, and we’re finally starting to get into some of the juicier parts. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Rating: T

Chapter Warnings: Language and soft innuendo. Also a bit of angst this chapter, but nothing huge. Lots of embarrassment from Marinette and Adrien.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12

Chapter 6

When her Monday morning alarm went off, Marinette had to forcibly clench her hands into fists to keep from throwing the clock over the edge of the loft to the floor below just to stop the noise. Groaning, she slowly forced herself into an upright position, feeling her way down the stairs to the main floor of her bedroom. Eyes still heavy and half-closed, she fumbled her way into the bathroom to shower, hoping the hot water would help her to wake up. As she sat under the steaming spray, she thought back to the night before.

Close to midnight, she had been ready to stop studying for the night and turn in when Tikki flew down from the loft in a tizzy. "Chat's contacting you!"

"He's back?" At Tikki's nod, Marinette quickly transformed and made her way up to her rooftop, opening her yo-yo in communicator mode. "Chat! Welcome back!"

"Thank you, My Lady! I'm so glad to be home! Sorry to call you out so late, but I really needed to stretch my claws and wondered if you'd be up for a late-night stroll with me?"

"Of course, Chaton. I've missed you! Paris hasn't been the same without you."

"Awww, Bugaboo, I'm touched. Meet me at the Trocadéro?"

"On my way!" With a grin, Ladybug swung and leapt her way across the city, landing at the entrance to the Jardins du Trocadéro near the statue of Ferdinand Foch. A figure darker than the shadows themselves stepped toward her, blond hair catching the light from a nearby street lamp and the familiar, lingering scent of Camembert she'd come to associate with Chat reaching her nose. Ladybug couldn't help but grin at the sight of her partner. "Just like a stray cat, aren't you, Chaton? I'm surprised you aren't begging for treats."

"If you have something, I wouldn't say no, My Lady. I haven't eaten in hours and I'm staaaarving." He covered his toned stomach with his hands, giving Ladybug the most pitiful pout and wide, innocent eyes he could possibly muster.

"Sorry, Chaton, I don't have anything with me. But I promise to bring you something good next time, all right?"

"Something flaky and warm and filled with jam?"

Ladybug chuckled. "I'll see what I can do."

Grinning, Chat stepped closer to Ladybug, ducking down to nuzzle his nose affectionately under her chin as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Three years ago, she would have held him at arm's length, but somehow over the years, she'd become accustomed to-- even accepting of-- his physical shows of affection, so like his namesake. It was a bit awkward now that he was several inches taller than her, but that just made it even more delightful sometimes, seeing how Chat would contort himself to get her hand to start scratching through his hair. As if on cue, Ladybug's hand started to card through the blond strands between his ears, eliciting an almost purr-like sound of enjoyment. His hair felt silky-soft where it brushed against her cheek. She wondered how it would feel to touch it with her bare fingers...

The two had stayed out for hours, catching up and just lazily patrolling through the city. Honestly, if it weren't for the fact that Ladybug resolutely denied any sort of romantic entanglements between them, it could have by all accounts been a date.

By the time Marinette had collapsed into bed, it was nearly three in the morning. Her alarm went off promptly at seven. With only four hours of sleep, she'd barely survive on a normal day-- how was she supposed to deal with a whole day of practice tests for the most important event of her school career?

It wasn't until she yelped as the water started to run cold that Marinette realized she'd dozed off standing up in the shower. Hastily jumping out of the tub and cutting off the water, she toweled off and blow-dried her hair, opting for a high ponytail to save time instead of her usual pigtails. She got dressed in a flash and grabbed her school supplies, Tikki already waiting for her in her purse. "You sure were in the bathroom a long time, Marinette. Are you feeling alright?"

"Just tired, Tikki--that's all," Marinette replied, yawning midway through the sentence. "Today's gonna be tough. I need coffee." Heading downstairs, Marinette stopped by the kitchen to get just that, drinking the last of the pot her parents made earlier that morning while she brewed more to put in a travel mug for school.

As she was putting on her shoes and jacket, her phone rang, the ringtone telling her that it was Alya calling. "Hey Alya, what's up?" she asked into the phone.

"Hey Marinette! Nino and I are outside, we thought it would be nice to all walk together to school today!"

"Sounds great! Oh, I just made some coffee, do you guys want some? I'll bring you mugs."

Marinette could hear Alya in the background conferring with Nino briefly before she returned to the line. "Sure, that sounds awesome. We were up pretty late last night, so the caffeine would definitely be welcome."

"All right, let me grab a couple of travel mugs and I'll be right down."

"Do you think you could make it three? We have a tagalong."

"Sure, who is it?"

"Sorry, Marinette, gotta go! We'll be waiting!" The line went dead before Marinette could protest. Furrowing her brow in confusion at Alya's antics, she pulled down a third travel mug and filled each one with black coffee before making sure all the lids were securely tightened and locked. She carefully juggled all four of the mugs into her arms, holding them close to her chest as she made her way out the door and down the stairs one at a time.

Alya was standing at the door, ready to open it as soon as Marinette unlocked it. She scooped two of the mugs into her hands before Marinette could even take one step outside. "Thanks!" she said with a grin, handing the green mug to Nino. She kept the brown mug for herself, while Marinette held the black and red ones.

"You're welcome! Thanks for stopping to pick"-- Marinette stopped dead in her tracks, her words dying as she saw the mysterious fourth member of the group. "Adrien… Hi…"

"Hey Marinette! It's great to see you." Adrien's green eyes were heart-meltingly warm as he looked at her. "Are you ready for the tests today?"

"Yeah, gonna take me--TAKE THE. TESTS. TAKE TESTS YES okay let's go!!" Marinette's whole face flushed with embarrassment. She shoved one of the travel mugs in Adrien's direction, turning resolutely away from him and starting to walk at a quick pace as she buried her face in the collar of her jacket.

However, in her haste to cover her own embarrassment, she didn't notice the way Adrien's face flushed as well, his breath catching in his throat from the unbidden mental image of Marinette laid out under him, hair loose and spread across his pillows as they--

"Adrien! You coming?" Nino asked, snapping him out of his dirty thoughts.

"Yeah!" He followed after Nino, shoving his hand deep into his coat pocket to make sure it was covering the front of his pants. With his other hand, he popped the lid of the candy-apple red travel mug so that he could take a sip of the blessed elixir contained inside.

Alya caught up to Marinette easily enough, leaving the two boys to trail behind them. "Wow, you haven't been that tongue-tied around Adrien in ages. What happened?"

"I couldn't sleep last night," Marinette confessed; it wasn't an outright lie, but she didn't go into detail about the very specific black-leather-clad hero keeping her awake to an ungodly hour of the night. "I don't think I actually got to sleep until close to three in the morning."

"Ouch, that sucks," Alya said, patting Marinette on the shoulder. "Sorry to hear that. Maybe you can get a quick lunch and try to squeeze a nap in?"

"That's probably what I'll do. I may even stay at school and just try to find a quiet place to curl up in the library."

Alya nodded in agreement. "That sounds like a good idea--save yourself the time and energy of leaving school."

"Are you going to stay at school for lunch?" Adrien asked. He and Nino had caught up and overheard the tail end of the girls' conversation. "I was thinking about doing the same thing, trying to find a quiet place to rest for a bit. I barely got any sleep last night."

"Too busy talking with the hot Italian models?" Nino teased. Adrien flushed at the suggestion, shaking his head vehemently.

"No, I actually didn't get any of their numbers or social media handles. I'm really not interested in a long-distance relationship, or honestly any kind of relationship with another model. I've seen how a lot of models act, and that's not the kind of attitude I want in my girlfriend." Adrien looked at Marinette steadily as he spoke. "I want a girl who's genuine, and kind, and real. Someone who doesn't hide behind a hollow façade. You know?"

Marinette wasn't oblivious enough to miss that he was talking about her. But even knowing that he might return her crush didn't change the fact that his words were making her feel about two inches tall. She looked down at the mug in her hands, biting her lower lip. If Adrien wanted a "genuine, real" girlfriend, someone who didn't hide behind a façade, Marinette was never going to be able to be that girl, not as long as she was also Ladybug.

"I think that's what everyone wants, honestly," Nino replied, breaking the rather awkward silence that had developed around the group. "That's why I'm so glad that I was able to convince Alya to start dating me when I did!"

Alya spluttered into a laugh at that remark. "Convince me? More like beg me."

"Hey now, as I remember it, you two started dating because Ladybug locked you in a zoo exhibit," Adrien pointed out.

"Okay, yes, that's fair. Really, we ought to be thanking her for bringing us together." Nino smiled at Alya, linking their hands together as they walked, leaving Marinette and Adrien to follow.

Marinette brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear, not looking up at Adrien. "So, um… how was Milan?"

"It was… nice, I guess" Adrien said quietly. "Really, it was a boring trip. I didn't get to do any of the fun touristy stuff. Mostly my week was filled with photo shoot after photo shoot and meeting after meeting."

"Oh, wow. So you didn't get to see anything? That's… kind of sad. I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's okay. Father says it's part of the business, you know?" Adrien's voice was somewhat wistful as he spoke, looking up at the Eiffel Tower with a longing expression on his face.

"...Adrien?"

"Yeah?"

"You don't want to do this, do you?" Adrien's face whipped around to meet Marinette's, his eyes wide and concerned. "The modeling thing, the fashion business, I mean!"

"Oh. Okay, I thought--sorry, never mind. You're right, though; it's really not what I want to do with my life. Father acts like it's a foregone conclusion that I'm going to take over the Agreste brand someday, but it's just not where my passion is, you know?"

Marinette nodded. "I think I understand. I know my parents support my aspirations to become a fashion designer, but I think… I think they expect that I'm not going to be able to make a living out of it, and that eventually I'll come back and take over the bakery when they're ready to retire. Not that I mind, you know, helping them out sometimes, but…"

"But it still hurts knowing that your parents think they know what your future holds better than you do," Adrien finished for her. "That's exactly how I feel, too."

"I'm so sorry to hear that. So what do you want to do?"

"Well… I really enjoy my science classes. Especially Physics. I think it might be cool to go into teaching, you know? I could teach Physics at the collège or lycée level."

"I think you'd be great as a teacher, Adrien! Your students would probably develop major crushes on you, though--you'd have to be careful to avoid a lawsuit." Marinette chuckled, hoping that Adrien would take the comment as the joke she meant it to be.

Thankfully, Adrien laughed as well. "That's true, but I would hope that by the time I get an actual teaching job, I'm already happily married. Then I can just gush about my wife and hopefully none of my students would get any funny ideas."

"For the sake of your reputation, I hope that works." Marinette looked ahead, only to see that they were already at Lycée Jean-Baptiste Magnier. "Wow, that walk went by fast!"

"Yeah, I guess I didn't realize how close you lived to the school, Marinette. That must be really convenient."

Marinette nodded in agreement. "When you're as chronically late as I am, every second counts!"

"That's fair. Anyway, I'll see you around. Good luck with your tests today!"

"You too!" Marinette walked up to where Alya and Nino were saying their goodbyes at the front of the school. "Are you ready to get this over with, Nino?" Marinette asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be. Let's get this show on the road."

Hour after hour, test after test, finally led to the end of the school day. This close to winter, the sun had fully set by the time the Terminale students were leaving the building. Though the official test is taken over a period of ten days, the practice tests were all crammed into a single day, leaving most of the graduating class feeling like their brains had been run through a blender.

Alya and Nino were standing just outside the school doors, waiting on Adrien and Marinette to come out. "How did Marinette look when you left the room?" Alya asked her boyfriend.

"Honestly, I couldn't tell if she was even still awake," Nino confessed. "She had her head resting on her arm and her other hand wasn't moving. I'm not sure if she was just deep in thought on one of the questions, or if she'd dozed off."

"Oh boy. That's not good."

"What about Adrien?"

"Well, he was awake, at least, but definitely stressed out. He was running his hands through his hair so much I was afraid he was going to start ripping chunks out."

"That is also not good." Nino frowned and turned back toward the doors of the building, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets in an effort to keep them warm. A moment later, he glanced back over at his girlfriend as he felt her slip her own hand in to join his. Intertwining their fingers, he brought her hand up and pressed a kiss to her knuckles, earning himself a small smile. "You know, you're a stone-cold fox," he teased softly.

"Oh, can it, turtle-boy," Alya countered lovingly, also keeping her voice quiet despite their relative solitude.

Both of the teens' eyes were drawn back to the school by the sound of doors opening, revealing Adrien and his much-abused hair. He wrapped his scarf around his neck as he descended the stairs, his expression shifting from worry to relief as he spotted his friends. "Hey guys! How long were you waiting?"

"Oh, not long, maybe ten-fifteen minutes," Nino said.

"Sorry about that. I just couldn't focus there at the end. I'm completely wiped out." Adrien stepped over to Nino's other side, turning back toward the school. "Any sign of Marinette?"

"Nino was just telling me that he thinks she might have fallen asleep," Alya replied. "Hopefully that isn't the case, but we'll have to wait and see."

Adrien frowned a little at that response. "Did she say why she was so tired?"

"Something about being up until nearly three in the morning. She didn't go into specifics, though."

"Three in the morning? Sounds rough." Adrien had to fight to keep his voice from betraying his suddenly racing thoughts. He was sure that it had to be a coincidence--she must have been up late studying, or unable to sleep due to test anxiety. There was no way that Marinette of all people could be… but then again, there was the issue with her lie regarding the Akuma attack on the school last week… But that didn't have anything to do with Ladybug, did it? Maybe he was just reading too much into it. Yeah, that was it.

Adrien was startled out of his thoughts when Alya called out, "Hey, Marinette! Took you long enough!" When he looked up, the midnight-haired girl was just stepping out of the building, a weary smile on her face as she waved weakly at her friends.

"I'm so sorry guys, that last test was killer," Marinette said, zipping up her coat. Her scarf hung low, not yet wrapped around her neck. She picked up her school bag and purse from where she'd set them down on the ground, opting to carry them rather than trying to adjust the straps over her coat before starting down the stairs toward the group.

Adrien stepped forward, calling out, "Marinette, your scarf"--

Marinette looked up to see Adrien coming toward her, not noticing as her scarf hit the ground in front of her. Between the smooth stone steps, the soft cashmere, and her natural clumsiness, it was a disaster waiting to happen. Marinette's foot slid out from under her as she stepped on the offending strip of fabric, sending her pitching forward. She screwed her eyes shut, throwing out her arms to try to break her fall, her bags flying…

Only to feel a different pair of strong arms wrap around her midsection, hair tickling her cheek as she was braced from below by Adrien's firm body. The insistent smell of Camembert that had been hanging around Adrien the last week or so assaulted her nose. Instantly, her mind was transported to the night before, and almost by instinct her hand came up to card through Adrien's blond locks. So soft…

Marinette yelped when a soft sound escaped Adrien's mouth where it was pressed into her shoulder. An eerily familiar sound.

Shoving herself away, Marinette somehow managed to keep her feet beneath her as she leaned down to pick up her scarf, quickly wrapping it around her neck several times to cover her face. Adrien's own cheeks burned scarlet red as he gaped at Marinette for a moment. He tore his eyes away from her, mumbling an apology, before he turned to pick up her bags.

Marinette got to her backpack first, shouldering the bag while Adrien picked up her purse. Almost instantly, his mouth started to water as he detected a strong smell of warm cookies; the scents of sugar and vanilla and chocolate filled his nostrils. His hand was on the clasp of the purse, halfway to flicking it open, before he came to his senses and shoved it into Marinette's hands. "I've gotta go. Bye guys!" Waving awkwardly at Alya and Nino, Adrien turned tail and practically ran around the corner of the building.

Marinette stared after Adrien, her heart racing. He couldn't be--could he?

[anthonysstupiddailyblog]

Anthony’s Stupid Daily Blog (40): Fri 22nd Apr 2022

There's a video making the rounds of Mike Tyson punching a guy on an airplane after the guy was repeatedly bothering and photobombing. There are a lot of people saying that the guy got what he deserved for photobombing Tyson but while the guy was definitely being a prick Tyson could have just told him to fuck off or told the airline staff to move him. Just because someone is being annoying that doesn't give you the right to break the law and commit assault. I'm sure the official stance will be that Tyson won't be prosecuted because he was being provoked but there appears to be a very loose definition of provocation these days. I've seen a video where a chav throws a drink at someone in the street and gets knocked the fuck out as a result and I would consider this provoking him because no-one wants to walk around all sticky all day. It's just not on. That to me is provocation but saying that photobombing someone and annoying them is enough to warrant them being provoked is a bit of a stretch. Where's the limit? I felt provoked when I left the tattoo parlour last year and took the bandages off my nipples three days later only to discover that the piercer had given me studs when I clearly asked for rings. I also felt provoked when I needed a number 71 on a scratch-card to win £300,000 the other week and I got number 70. Would this give me justification to find the people responsible and knock them out...genuine question because if it would then I fucking will. I'm not exactly sure why no-one seems to be more bothered by the fact that Tyson still has a fairly successful career despite being convicted of rape. People love him in the Hangover movies, he had a cartoon show for a while and famous people constantly pop up on his podcast to shoot the shit with him. How do they manage to do this without the rape thing constantly swirling through their heads as he's asking them questions about their careers. I've looked into it and it turns out that quite a sizable amount of people believe that Tyson's legal team at the time was a bit shit. Overlooking key important details in the trial which would have thrown shade on the accusers side of the story but they never bothered bringing it up. For years I've written Tyson off as a scumbag (which he certainly was in the past) and been convinced that he was a rapist but I guess there is evidence there to suggest that he might not have done it. I'm outspoken in my defense of Woody Allen and I imagine that fans of Tyson are similarly outspoken in their defense of him I also read that John Hinckley, the guy who tried to shoot Ronald Reagan has announced a concert in New York and it's only gone and fucking sold out. At first I wondered why anyone would want to go and see a concert put on by a guy who tried to assassinate the president. Much like how with Mike Tyson I imagine everyone who meets him is secretly thinking about the rape charge I wonder how anyone would be able to sit in a room listening to Hinckley singing and not be thinking about the shooting. Then it hit me that nobody to the concert will be going there for the fucking music, they'll be going there to gawk at this would-be assassin. Like going to a zoo and looking at a monkey that was put into solitary confinement for 30 years for attempting to eat the face off another much more important monkey. It's morbid curiosity. Last year I watched the Netflix documentary dark tourist about people who like to visit macabre spots like assassination sites, spots where disasters took place etc and I guess going to see Hinckley perform would be a bit of a dark tourist activity. I have to admit I have this dark tourist fetish to a degree. I've always wanted to stand on the spot where Archduke Ferdinand was shot just because the story has always fascinated me and the idea of standing on the very spot where the First World War basically started is weirdly appealing too me. If I had the opportunity to go to see Hinckley's concert I'm not entirely sure if I would be able to resist to tell you the truth. If anything I would definitely have something to write about for this blog. If I did go I don't know if I'd be able to resist the urge to chuck a copy of The Catcher In The Rye onto the stage just to wind Hinckley up.

[sacks-of-kittans]

Its funny that you love Black Eagles when there is in game evidence to support the fact that they don’t belong together. Petra is more or less a prisoner of war, Caspar flat out says he doesn’t like Edelgard and his character development is stronger in other routes. Ferdinand has every reason in the world to oppose Edelgard and Dorothea is just there for fan service because she’s not even plot relevant. The only believable relationships in BE are Hubert/Edelgard and Caspar/Lindhardt 1/2.

Still, you DO have a point about Dimitri’s unhinged state and how Byleth really isn’t that helpful. However, Byleth is not the only reason why Dimitri snaps out of it. Then again, that doesn’t seem like something someone just snaps out of. Lol 2/2. I’m not attacking your opinion, i do wanna know why you like BE so much tho.

—-

Gonna be honest didn’t hardcore listen to much of the game when playing in BE route and blue lions made me wanna skip it. Not finished with golden dear yet.

The whole “lol I’m not attacking you for you opinion” wasn’t the best worded cause like you shit on BE knowing it was my fav house. Chill. You could have just said “can you expand on why you like BE”

Reason why I like most characters in Black Eagles.

Dorthea is more than fan service, she has depression, is a singer, helps out with war efforts (so it says in her history card post time skip) and her supports are a fun read. She’s upfront she want to marry rich and who can blame a girl when the game tells you the limited options for girls in the game. You can be a knight, singer, merchant, Mercerary, but if you’re a noble woman, no way in hell youre allowed to take over the last name and territory. (I can only assume since Mercedes/Ingrid are expected to be married off, Annette I don’t read too much of her but I don’t think she ever takes over her uncles land, and every other noble girl I don’t think takes over their family name either) so I assume women have it rough. Whose to blame her for wanting a relaxed life, she’s lived through a lot before the game starts. She also has a connection to Manuela which is fun. Dorthea’s first or second line of losing her undershirt doesn’t really her for the fan service thing, but she talks about her worries of war and fighting wondering what the hell she got into joining this school. I really liked her paralpug with Ingrid because she’s got some interesting friendships supports (with Edelgard too and Petra) Bernie I guess too. Yeah the plot would be the same if she was in the game or not but that’s a majority of the cast.

I liked Edelgard the same reason I like sonic adventure 2. You get to see the villian for a majority of the routes of the game and think wow she’s kinda like Shadow there hedgehog. She was forced in the some pretty grim situations and now is still being used. However she’s fighting for her own ideals. Now remember I skimmed the game because I’m not gonna get too deep in something when I have other things going on in my life. I don’t care if she’s a hundred percent right or wrong it’s not real life. She got experimented on her whole childhood and people though she had any sort of power before going to school. From what I understand Edelgard a grudge towards the church puts too much pressure on nobles having crests because the dragon people are the reason for crests? I don’t know I don’t care Edelgard’s got enough charm to charm me into her schemes. She genuinely like Byleth, wants to impress them, and is a little socially awkward but pushing through it. Her character seems real/likable even though the game developers didn’t put much thought in her route, that all went to Blue Lions. She wants to impress Byleth constantly because she doesn’t know what it’s like having friends because Huebert was kinda forced to be her friend. She wants to tear apart outdated traditions and even though she’s apart of it she’s gonna take the lead, and willing to leave her role as emperor once the war is done. She has a right to be pissed and even though her war gets a lot of fictional people killed, this conflict would boil over one way or another. The western church revolts, I bet more people are sick of Rhea than the game leads on, Edelgard had the guts to revolt and had an army prepared. I know a lot a people are like “boohoo she lost 11 siblings” but she probably knew there were more people affected, considering she meets Lythesia and her family was heavily affected by that. She can only speak on the behalf of her dead siblings tho. Yeah there was a problem with their society, but she didn’t make that problem the main thing, it was the church’s leadership she also had a issue with. The church basically rules over the land but not much is done. Edelgard gets to see Sylavains family disown their older son for not having a crest, Mercedes adopted and hopes to marry rich because she has a crest, lythesia and her family tragedy for CRESt drama, Marianne and Mercedes having basically the same thing, crests crests crests them and the church are the enemies. Lowkey theory so quick. Since the empire is the first country of Serios got its divine name from Sothis or Rhea I bet only the royal empire family knew the church turned into dragons in theory. She’s got backstory, she’s got her morals, she’s a complete character. Dimitri has backstory but loses his mind for awhile. I love Claude, but we don’t know much of his backstory and the game developers keep sprinkling new things after the games release (the name drop) Yuri I don’t much about

Caspar I’m just learning to like, after a couple routes. Yeah I thought it was funny when he flat out said he didn’t like Edelgard. I don’t know if he’s stronger in other routes (plot wise) because in Blue lions his aunt sneaks in the ranks and he doesn’t do much. He does have a convo with Randolph if he faces him. I get he gets a paralpug with Mercedes if he is in another route but I don’t know how it helps him plot wise. You kill the death knight but I still don’t know death knights complete importance yet (yeah he’s Mercedes brother) I don’t expect everyone to love Edelgard even her own class you know like real life. Idk if other schools have that but most people don’t really care about their class president/class rep. You’re allowed to oraganize events but so help me god if you ask me to put more team spirit In I will tell you to back off, you know that kinda relationship. I like Caspar cause he’s funny when I give his supports a chance.

Yes Petra is a prisoner of war so the situation gotta suck, and a main reason she asks Brigid to help the empire is to probably get the country’s freedom...and at the end doesn’t it? I lowkey forget. Yeah it sucks, but Edelgard’s evil uncle is more or less running the country and when Edelgard takes power Shes got a war to focus on and probably needs Brigid’s help so free their country/hostages isn’t her biggest concern. Ferdinas tells Petra she can go home if she wants before the war offically starts, but Petra does wanna stay and fight. I like that she has the outsider perspective because if they only had one other country not ruled by the church it’d be weird. She’s a strong unit to use. It seems like the other BE house treats her fairly well and she doesn’t seem to be super depressed or isolated considering the hard challanges she’s facing before the start of the game. She’s a nice fun strong character.

Other than the lords, the lords have 2 people, a retainer/no official retainer (Hilda) and a noble that opposes the lord (Lornz, Felix, Ferdinand)

Hubert evil vampire man who sometimes listen to Edelgard it’s realistic. You think great leaders have everyone listening to them all the time, you’re hella wrong, the people the leader works with will oppose leader ideas and do what they find best. It happens all the time. Just look at managers and assistant managers, they tell you two different things all the time. But he still does like and respect Edelgard. Even though his support with Byleth is mainly Edelgard based his other supports make fun of him for being so creepy looking so that’s fun. He’s like a toned down Tharja, yeah he still kills people but he’s got a couple more topic to talk about.

Ferdinand has a complicated relationship to Edlegard which is interesting. Before she declares war he wants to be better than her in every way and she lowkey beats him. He believes in the nobility while she’s plotting against it, but knows Ferdinand has the merit. If he stays with the empire he wants to see the world be based on merit, and wants to be better than Edelgard but by her side. If he leaves it’s because his father who was involed with experimenting on children and didn’t something during a revolt of Hrem? Gets kicked out the empire and later killed. He didn’t know the dark past of his father and probably didn’t get the chance to learn. The way I see Ferdinand is that whether he learns about his father influences whether he stays or not, because I bet Edelgard explains to him secretly why his father would oppose Edelgard becoming emperor . He’s a bright ray of sunshine that updates his values throughout some supports and that’s what happens when you grow up. You find out your parents may have done some messed up things and change yourself based on that sometimes. I saw Edelgard and Ferdinand as two neighborhood kids who use to hate each other, then they grow apart and one wants to keep the relationship going so they keep the rivalry going on, but then joins them on the bigger and better things together.

You’re right their relationships aren’t believable before the time at school but given time they spend at school yeah I see it. Petra makes the best out of a bad situation, the nobles would wanna know why Dorthea doesn’t like them so much but wants to marry them. Caspar acts like a majority of people I know and they have friends but ain’t afraid to say F off I’m busy. Hubert gets to be a vampire and has freedom to be his own person while being Edelgard’s retainer. Ferdinand relationship with Edelgard is believeable to me, I’ve had different experiences than you. Linhart and Bernie, didn’t really listen to much what they had to say, just wanted to play some maps at that point.

The writers didn’t really make Byleth helpful, and if I was truly Byleth I would have been like “you know what go and try to kill a heavily guarded emperor I don’t care anymore even parts of your country is pretending you’re dead” because christ it was hard listening to that for like 4-6chapters. I still don’t completely understand the Duscur stuff, did war break out when the king and queen were killed in the land of Duscur, the queen planned it but still got killed and then war broke out and they sent the traumatized prince/king to go fight in it and watch his friend Glen die? He was like 10 when the war happened? Like I know he’s suffering but his character really went from I’m a nice young man with morals and can be easily tricked to murder is the only thing on the brain. Byleth didn’t really have many dialoug choices to deal with Dimitri. I know he’s unhinged but I would have lost faith to re hinge him and let what happens happen.

He snaps back after Felix’s dad dies and tells him some stuff and then gets stabbed by Flèche. I didn’t really care because I didn’t know Dimitri was gonna to have a new emotions and at that point I just wanted it finished.

Tbh the writers probably didn’t put much effort into Edelgard route and all their brain power went to BL. BL everyone knew each other before school started. Mercedes and Annette (lowkey Lornz in that group too) Ingrid, Felix, Sylvain, and Dimitri and Dedue. Ashe is the only odd ball out. And two BL characters get plot relevant chapters not just paralpugs, so the writers were really trying hard for BL

BE most of the nobles of that house probably all heard each other’s names mostly once of twice but didn’t really interact before that. The route is shorter than BL by like 6 chapters I think (BE was like 18 and BL was 24?? I think) so the writers probably weren’t thinking what they were putting down when making the route because be real here they were looking for money but to me their characters were more interesting.

Short answer I liked BE the most because I liked the lord and most of the house. Yeah the writing wasn’t the best, but I can enjoy it for what it was.