#i altered the design a bit to make it more coherent and i think it's a lot better now

[orchideae]

The attire dissection, folks. (Part 1)

A friend of mine (@spiderwarden) sent an ask a while back about how Yelan would go about putting herself together in terms of attire, and I remember going 'christ', because how do you begin dissecting most outfits that look almost too maddening to explain, in an anime-style game where outfits are often ridiculous and not meant to be explained 'realistically'. But then I realized that this is miHoYo, and this is their Genshin Impact, which means that the devil will always reside in the details. And personally, I like this little devil a lot. Now, I'd always noticed a few things, but they initially seem tied into a whole bunch of illogical 'outfitting', but her outfit is really actually not illogical at all. Let me see if I can explain this coherently.

(Zoomed in version here) The subject in question: the beautiful Yelan— okay, okay, I'll stop fawning, fine. Any way, I always looked at her outfit as a two-piece, a full length bodysuit of some kind (what are those called again?), with an overcoat which holds all of those blue accents in her attire. And I was never sure whether her shoes were boots and if they were, where they ended because I saw no proper cuff/top. I was so torn, I even once thought they were somehow tied into the bodysuit, because I genuinely couldn't make out the top of them! Yes, welcome to the 'illogical anime outfit thinking', but let's be honest, it's done commonly enough in that area of media. But no, the basis of her outfit is actually not that complex at all, and is rather realistic. What is complex, is the intense amount of 'personalization' of each piece , the thought that went into them and what inspired them. But that will be for for part 2.

It is technically a three-piece, a bodysuit, an overcoat and thigh high boots. To elaborate: first up, at the very base of it is a halter bodysuit that has a very low-cut back and shorts, it looks very close to something like this in shape. On top of that, as you can see rather clearly in her outfit, it is entirely see-through/mesh and is customized with fish-netting, cut-outs and various other detailing on the front (some of which rather intricate I might add, as this bodysuit may have been chosen for practical reasons, but has in that light, been fully altered to her tastes). Yelan, as per a teapot voiceline ("I'm guessing you've fallen for the rumors about me being very wealthy and having high demands for my standards of living?"), isn't someone who spends mora on things easily, but when she does for practical purposes, it's when she may splurge a bit, but it's not without reason entirely. But I digress a bit, because that's a topic for another day. Secondly, is the overcoat, this is the piece that's most easily identified by all the blues and it covers a fair bit of the bodysuit, it is also secured around the neck in a halter-design, it covers the 'outline' of her upper-chest, leaving her back bare as well, and it hangs down towards the front, ending roughly where her bodysuit does as well. And then thirdly, there's the boots, which are thigh-high and end exactly where you see the diagonal lines towards the front of her upper legs (if you look at any of the sideviews, you'll note the difference in elevation between the shaft of her boot and her leg).

What draws me most though, is the bodysuit. It's incredibly aesthetically pleasing in terms of its design, with the decision of the mesh material, along with the very specific decisions on details (ie: the fishnetting on her right side, the cut-out on its left half, the straps across her hips hiding the more intimate item of dress underneath them, and especially the separate design on the front that you'd more so find on those high-waist old-school sailor shorts with the bigger buttons at the front). The fact that it's a halter design, truly offers a more secure hold than honestly anything else would, as shoulder straps tend to slip from your shoulders (and especially being slender as she is, it becomes increasingly impossible to find something that will never slip), and strapless is absolutely not doable with all of the movement that she does. In essence, a bodysuit of this sort of design would be skintight but stretchy enough to allow for proper movement as she's really rather agile, but considering how secure of a hold it offers, it also means that (apologies for the TMI), there may not be any need for a bra, as the bodysuit would offer it, in its stead. But this also plays into practicality: the less layers, the better. I also wonder about this latter detail, because there is no sign or trace of any bra straps anywhere at all, and a halter-design bra also would be apparent somewhere. Nope, I think that darker part that you see covering her breasts is actually part of the bodysuit, and very intricately designed. I think this damn piece of clothing might be one of the most intricate parts of her outfit. I actually did find a modder that removed the 'drape' part of the overcoat that covers her abdomen, but left the upper portion of it (but you can tell from the images at the top of the post that these two 'parts' are a one piece that overlaps, due to the difference in elevation)— any way, this mod actually shows half of the frontal design of the bodysuit. Again, be aware that the part covering her chest area (the blue on one side, white on the other) is not part of the bodysuit, and instead is part of her overcoat. If she took it off, those would be gone. Now imagine the boots to be gone (which again, go up to the diagonal stripe designs at the front), and you're left with the bodysuit!

Honestly, all of this draws a magnificent image for me in my head. The sight of when she retires either in her home outside of the city, in Yanshang, or the home I headcanon that she's properly bought in Qiaoying Village (properly purchased, mind you, to help the villagers) at some point, for the night. When she takes off her boots, it would be quite casual and relaxed to see her in the bodysuit and the overcoat that covers it. And if in privacy, or around those she's more at ease around (granted, there would be nothing 'sexual' about it, she's very practical and very realistic, and there's nothing intentionally 'sexy' about it unless she intends for it to be), she'd even forego the overcoat. Yelan, walking around preparing her tea, barefoot and with her legs almost entirely bare? The epiphany of peaceful, in my head.

And a little bit of an extraordinary and beautiful sight, but that's just me... sorry, I couldn't restrain myself any longer. Hi hello, my name is Sae, and thank you for having read part 1 of my lunacy in terms of her outfit. Part 2 will focus on the actual design of the overcoat and bodysuit, and what was likely used as inspiration for her. I'm unsure whether I'll add in her hair, and accessories into that post, it'll all depend on how long it gets. But there's the intention any way.

[mischief-lies-and-stories]

Abandoned Loki Theories

My best friend and I tend to watch the same media, and Loki was no different. However, we no longer live in the same place, we have different schedules, and I am a much bigger Loki fan than she is (so I was much more likely to turn on the new episode as soon as I got home from work, no matter what). But since I want to remember everything I want to talk to her about after we both watch the episode, I have taken to making notes in my phone while watching. I usually condensed these notes into something more coherent before we talked, but I saved the original notes. I recently reread these incoherent, mostly caps-locked reactions, and compiled several ideas I had while watching episodes that I've since abandoned.

"Wait, is she a Timekeeper?" So this is a direct quote from one of my reactions, and I don't remember if I was referring to Renslayer or Sylvie, but I'm pretty sure it was one or the other. Obviously, since Renslayer didn't know she was a variant and the Timekeepers turned out to be fake anyway, I doubt either one is true.

C-20 isn't dead: Man, I hope this is still true; she and Sylvie had some great fake chemistry. I was once a spn fan (and my brain sometimes thinks I still am), and I refuse to accept death in shows if I don't see the body. But sadly I think if she was still alive she'd have shown up by now.

TVA planted memories of Sylvie's arrest as a child; she's really from post-Infinity War: So this was in part when I thought Sylvie was genderfluid like Loki, rather than a transwoman (as in consistently one gender), so the timeline as we know it was the same both events and gender-wise, and then at some point after faking their death, their gender shifted. Either Sylvie changed her name as an alias or as a fem name (or a name that better fits her just in her opinion; she can be Sylvie even if she's having a masc or nb day). But while I think it's possible for the TVA to have altered her memories (it's explicitly been stated that they can do it, after all), I think it's too involved for a side plot. There's too much else going on. Plus I think she's a transwoman not genderfluid.

Lamentis nexus event was a paradox; there can't be two variants together: I refuse to believe the nexus event was Sylvie and Loki falling in love (though that'd be a little paradoxical as well). I think the nexus event involves both of them, and I don't think it's for the reason Mobius thinks it is. But they were in the same place the entire episode, and the TVA didn't find them until right before they bit it, so I don't think it was just them together that caused it. I don't think it was love, at least not romantic. Loki doesn't even seem to consider this a possibility until Mobius suggested it. My new thought is this: either the catalyst is they both make the decision to trust each other (which is not something a Loki does often), or this is the moment Loki looks at Sylvie and for the first time sees the true scope of his own potential, stretching bright and beautiful and endless within this fearless, resilient version of him. This is a very subtle recreation of that one panel from I don't know which comic of a bunch of Lokis standing around and then they start whispering into each other's ears, "You can escape."

(I do not know if this is a legit panel or an edit, I'm sorry.)

Various people being Loki variants-- Renslayer, Kang, etc.: This one makes sense for why I abandoned it. Both have variants (in Kang's case, at least, canonically many) of themselves that we've already seen.

Classic Loki is Old Loki from AoA: His character design, his age, the fact that Old Loki canonically messes with the timeline, too, it made sense before hearing his backstory. And listen, seeing Kid Loki and Old Loki at the very end of the episode? I spent an entire week going feral with AoA thoughts. But the backstory doesn't match up.

[mintjeru]

happy chiluc thursday >:3c

chiluc week 2022 @chilucexchange

day 5 prompts: long-distance | angel/demon au challenge: include language/culture exchange

open for better quality | no reposts | ID under the cut

[Image description: A digital drawing of an angel Diluc and human Childe. Diluc descends, six wings spread behind him and hair billowing in the air. A golden halo floats around his head and a few more golden rings float behind it. A translucent veil covers his face. His entire outfit is stark white. He wears a tight-fitting jacket with a crossbody strap and a white collar. The cuffs of the shirt he wears underneath can be seen. He has a couple of rings on his hand. He also wears high-waisted pants with a belt and a strap around his thigh. The outfit is covered in burn marks. Childe grins fearlessly at Diluc. He wears a black shirt and a blue canvas jacket. The two are surrounded by bright fire.]

[saphirered]

I love your writing! It's so good. Could you write a Dorian Storm/reader where his s/o is his plus one for the ball rather then Fearne? She gets the clever idea of sneaking her weapons/items past security by bundling them up and hiding them up her dress so she looks pregnant and going full ham with the act alongside poor Dorian.

Sorry for the wait! Hope this one turned out to your liking! 😘

Pretty sure he’s the only one with any experience dealing with high society at a high society event among the group, Dorian’s taken it upon himself to offer some sense of direction when it comes to what to look for in attire. The latest fashions are very much out of budget and due to the tight timeline, options are rather limited. Nevertheless he is excited to get the group all dolled up and ready for their shining night of dancing and diamonds, even if those are diamonds in the rough. It’s one of the things he’s missed from home after his departure and seeing the excitement on the faces of his friends makes him glad to be the ones sharing it with him. That being said he worries for them immensely. If these people manage to not make fools out of themselves within the first five minutes he’d be blessed by the gods themselves but what is a ball without a little scandal…

You go through racks of fancy attire in a variety of colours, inspect dress forms and displays alike. There’s many pretty garments. Most of them far beyond budget but you try them on anyway. None of them suit your wants though. Why is dress shopping such a nightmare? 

“I think it suits you very well.” Dorian says as you come out of the dressing room and twirl. You look in the mirror making eye contact with the genasi and give him a doubtful look. The dress is a formatted gown that constricts your movement quite a bit and you can already feel the corseted bodice dig in the wrong places. With no time for alterations like these, you assume it wouldn’t get more comfortable with wear. 

“It’s a nice dress but if we need to fight I’m screwed.” You look gorgeous but he’s inclined to agree on that part. Hopefully there’s no fighting but given you might need to move quickly, and this particular design hugs all your curves until it flares out from the knees ending in a slight train, doesn’t seem like the right garment to run in and so he picks another dress from the pile you’d collected and puts it over the changing screen. You step behind it and wait for him to follow with a sigh and turn your back. Dorian helps undo the laces and helps you into the next dress. This process is repeated several more times. You look perfect in all dresses you try on, even if some of the dresses don’t do you justice. Perhaps his judgement is clouded by his affections to you and especially the image of seeing you in the world he’s accustomed to. 

“This one’s nice.” Oh thank the gods. Dress number twenty-four. You turn and twirl, looking in the mirror, testing the weight of the fabric. It’s a lovely dress. Fitted silk bodice, empire waistline and flowing floor length skirts that remind you of the colours of the sunset. It’s perfect. It’s perfect for what you’re plotting. You bundle up some of the top layers of the skirt over your stomach and look at your side profile. 

“You think I look pregnant?” You ask and Dorian chokes on his own spit, cheeks colouring purplish as he looks at you wide eyed catching his breath between coughs. 

“I’m sorry. What?” He squeaks. Well he’s of no use. You grab a pillow from one of the plush couches in the store along with a sash. Going behind the screen again to preserve some modesty and not give your darling a panic attack while at it, you lift the skirts, hold the pillow to your stomach and tie it in place with the sash before dropping the skirts again. You jump up and down twice to rearrange them and step back out. 

“Do I look like I’m with child?” You gesture to your now protruding ‘belly’ waiting for an answer while Dorian tries to put together a coherent sentence but fails to do so. Luckily for you Chetney rushes by in a lovely gown himself and stops to look at you. 

“Ready to pop any second.” The gnome confirms. “Can’t you be honest to the woman? Jeeze! Who raised you? Have some respect, blue boy!” And with that he scurries off to gods know where while Dorian mutters a string of stifled apologies. 

“Thank you Chetney!” You call after him. 

“Why-wha-wh-why do you- You’re not- You’re not actually pregnant, are you?” Dorian asks sheepishly as you move back behind the changing screen and pop your head back out to seem him fiddling with his thumbs.

“What? No! When did I give that impression?” Dorian raises an eyebrow. “Nevermind. I guess. I’m buying this dress. Now can you help me out of this? And maybe help me find a bag and some extra belts. A leg holster maybe?” You ramble on. 

————

The eve of the ball comes around and everyone is ready and dolled up. Though out of all of them, Dorian can’t keep his eyes off of you. You look radiant. You look glowing. He’d been half focused on watching you during the planning sequence and probably has missed out on some important details but that’s a problem for later. The carriage stops and they get ready to get out, leaving behind their weapons and other things they can’t bring along. 

“Wait.” Eyes turn to you. “Spell components, focusses and small weapons. Give them to me.” Some look on in confusion and are about to turn away when you lift your skirts, pulling a variety of items from your belongings and theirs. Caltrops, ballbearings, a couple darts neatly packed, crystal orb, diamonds, you keep going and Fearne keeps handing you more stuff. Dorian watches on how you miraculously manage to fit all these things under your skirts, the majority of which gets stored in the makeshift bag you’d hidden underneath. And so your ‘belly grows. You adjust some contents for a more rounded look and he’s just so taken aback he doesn’t quite know how to respond. Fearne didn’t miss a beat when she was informed she could bring the trinkets that otherwise might have stood out among the folds of her own dress. Orym apparently had caught on to what you were planning and while somewhat confused and awkward, handed you another dagger he’d like to bring, which you put in the holster around your thigh. Imogen fought past the awkward and decided that goal outweighs the means here and hands you her knife. 

“Come on, Dorian. They’ll be waiting for us.” You encourage and snap the bard out of his train of thought. He notices Fearne dig through his bag, and grab the little Bertrand doll Laudna made him.

“I don’t think we’ll be needing that during a ball, Fearne.” He finds it easier to focus on the little doll that the fact you’re smuggling everyone’s contraband into a large scale event hosting a multitude of powerful and dangerous people, never mind the battalion of guards and hirelings by pretending you’re pregnant. 

“But what if you need it though?” She argues as he gently takes the doll from her and puts it back with his belongings trying to remember what he’s supposed to bring. You see he’s at a loss and panicking so you take matters in your own hands reaching for the handaxe, unclipping the handle and securing it to your thigh holster. 

“If you want to bring the sword, that’s on you. Let’s get moving.” Not enough time to process what’s going on you help Dorian put on his mask as the others do too and drag him out of the carriage. 

Fearne and Imogen at your sides, guide you to stable ground telling you to watch your step and be careful, preparing to catch you should you trip, like one would a highly pregnant person. The moment Dorian’s feet hit the ground you loop your arm around his and pretend to lean on him. The confidence in his persuasive skills hit rock bottom that very instance. He lets out a nervous chuckle as you kiss his cheek. 

“Ease up a little, love. You look like you are going to faint any moment. I believe that right should be reserved for the pregnant wife. Gods know we might need a distraction.” You can feel his posture freeze, eyes widen and cheeks darken. It’s cute something like this manages to knock him off his feet so easily. 

“Wife?” He squeaks. He would really have appreciated it if you’d informed him of your plan prior to arrival so he could get over the giddy feelings in his stomach. It’s all a look into a possible future he might not be prepared or ready for but no less wanting. His brain simply can’t keep up with the act. Would he marry you? One day if you’d even say yes. Children? If you’re willing he certainly wouldn’t be opposed. All his doubts and insecurities just hit hard. That’s not to say he doesn’t think himself worthy of you. You’ve told him plenty of times you love him and this relationship is yours together. He wouldn’t trade it for the world but these thoughts, visions of a future are quite confronting because what if that’s not what you want? What if you don’t see a similar future as he does? He’d compromise for you because he loves you more than any of these figments of thought but he wants your happiness above all. That’s what worries him; what if he ceases to be included in that happiness? 

“Unless you’re feeling ballsy and think you’d bring your knocked-up affair partner to a social event.” You jest. He knows you do but the joke flies over his head entirely through the worries and doubts. You stop him. Step out in front of him and place your hands against his chest. The bulging fake belly does prove a bit of an obstacle but is easily worked around by standing on your tiptoes and leaning forward a bit more as you press your lips to Dorian’s. That seems to be enough to pull him out of his train of thoughts for now. 

“Hey, everything will be fine. We’ll survive this night, together.” You take a deep breath insisting for him to do the same. Dorian follows suit, holds it just like you do, and then you breathe out together. You wait until he gives the all clear before you once more take your spot at his side and loop your arm through his; which he remembers to offer this time. He can do this. You walk to the front entrance, catching a glimpse of the party guests inside, gathered in their finest carrying conversation, dancing and partaking in everything Dorian expected them to. It’s the closest of what he remembers of home, but without all the rules and restrictions, without the looming expectations of his family, and above all, with the company he’d actually want to share this time with instead of the uptight fools pretending to be anything but themselves. What fun is the act if you get forced into a role instead of picking it yourself? He’s chosen his role. You’ve chosen yours. Together you shall play your parts and have fun doing so. Just another adventure. 

“If it’s any consolation, if this is a life you’d once like to return to, I’ll gladly follow. Together.” You whisper to the genasi as you approach the guards. 

“Consolation? I think blessing might be a more accurate description. You are a blessing.” Dorian breathes as he straightens his back, puts on his best and brightest smile. This time it is not rooted in unpleasant feelings but instead fuelled by a confidence from his lover on his side, his friends close by and more adventures on the horizon. He’s ready to face what is to come.

[dr-kk]

Smiles V2

Ok managed to combine my fave bits of the previous design attempts into something cohesive. Some character ideas under the cut.

Each of the rides at the park produces enough emotional responses in people (the basis for magic in this world)  that they have become sentient magical spirits. Unfortunately, magic and magical beings can't directly interact with the real world unless channeled through an already living creature. As such the ride's need something other than metal tracks to influence people.

Smiles is one of the few humans to be chosen as a host for a ride spirit. She's the current host of The Smiler ride at Alton Towers.

Not quite decided on her backstory yet. I think she'd probably be an ex-member of the Ministry of JOY. Donno what she was doing with them but she wasn't supposed to be a host and got Smiler by accident. Kind of a wrong place, wrong time situation.

All Ive got on MOJ so far:

Smiles was an employ who was either completely or partially marmalised

The ministry were trying to harness the magic of the rides to strengthen their mind control magic.

They had been siphoning off magic from the park for years before the Smiler ride was built. Their main goal was to try manifest magic essence as a physical substence. They had success with the creating "JOY" in gas form. However it took repeat exposure to the gas to maintain the control so they wanted try condense the magic into a liquid form.

After a lot of failures they eventually learned about the Hosts of the rides. Hosts tend to have a lot of magical power and if they could get a hold of one, they might be able to use the Spirit's power to make the mind control more effective/permanent. So they start funneling money at the park to make a new ride.

Eventually they get a hold of new spirit and try to harness its magic. This has mixed results.

Some MOJ vs Towers staff shennanigans happen and the ministry are forced out. This leaves Smiler without a host. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on who you ask, there's still a few marmalised victems staff left in the park so Smiler has options. It ends up choosing the barely coherant at the time girl with blonde hair.

Thus Smiles is born! ...to the horror of everyone.

I'm still working out her powers but Smiles defo inheritied the mind control magic. She's got various ways of hypnotising people but it's either via eye contact or exposure to the JOY she naturally produces.

She's also got illusionary magic. She can create illusions and alter people's perception to varying degrees. She's still practicing this subset of magic but she's master turning herself invisible.

Her personaility changes depending on how much JOY she's currently got in her system. Normally Smiles is a laid back trickster. she likes pulling pranks and generally being a nuisance but she's not malicious. Unfortuanetly, while she is the most resistant creature to the effects of JOY she isn't immune to it. If too much builds up it can effect her mood and leaves her a hyper active pest. She can be varying levels of lucid during these episodes and the aftermath always leaves her exhausted so she does everything she can to avoid them.

When she's not working in the park or being annoying,  Smiles is almost always lazing about. She's a certafied couch potato. Because Smiler's magic is so powerful it takes a lot of energy to control it. As such Smiles has to rest and eat a lot more than a normal human would.

Oh about her outfit. In case my handwriting isnt clear:

The buckles she has are based off the screws seen on the ride. She also has 13 loops on her right leg and 1 loop in her hair for a total of 14. This is because the Smiler coaster has 14 inversions (a world record!)

[sweeteastart]

✨Day 7✨

for the @khoc-week 2021 !

Themes : 1. Home, 2. Genderswap, 3. What was your character creation like ?

Buckle up because this is going to be quite a long one this time around they were all pretty long posts until now but humour me x)

Mikana

1. For Mikana, spending time with Sakore, her sister and Nox, pretty much her adopted sibling, is the closest feeling to home. When she is with them, darkness, light and all her problems disappeared and she puts all her attention on them.

2. Genderbend Mikana is... Pretty much just Mikana lmao. He is has aloof and friendly. However, in this men form, you can much clearly see Lea's impact on her design ahaha. He name would maybe something like Miko ?

3. Mikana is the oldest kh character i created. She was created around the end of 2019, start of 2020. i got really invested in kh quick late compared to most,,, Really i first created her because i was, and still am, a big fan of Lea. You can see the inspiration i took from his design from her side hair and bang lmao.

Mikana, like all the character i draw, soon took a life of her own. The more i drew and imagined scenarios with her, the more her personality constructed itself without me realizing it (she is aloof, level-headed, family oriented). I truly build most of it throught an AU of mine named "Magical AU". Her clothing style which is really 70/80's s still on of the thing i like the most about her.

The khocweek2020 also helped a lot (pass time, family ties, short terms and long term goals,...) !

Sika

1. Eventually in the story, Sika just kinda absorb into the sea salt trio household. She lives with them like the others kids and is just like a sister for them all. However, even in this next found home found family go brrrr she has some difficulties waking up in the morning.

2. Sika as a boy would just be her sweet self as always. This design ended up turning out much softer and sweet than what I anticipated but I kinda love it. When I was thinking about names, I couldn't really think of much only Soka came to mind at first and that's just a ATLA character lmao so I just kept Sika. I think it's neutral enough to fit a male or female character :D

3. Sika is a special case to say the least. At first, she was one of my fiction character. I never published it anywhere but it was 45 pages long of slice of life of her living in Twilight Town and being Lea and Isa friend,,, Again, herpersonnality build herself up without me thinking much about it (she is bubbly, kind, responsible, ressourceful). But what's truly different about it was that i had her personnality BEFORE i created her appearance. It's really rare for me to do that.

HOWEVER i wasn't satisfied. My writing was too confused... So i scraped all 45 pages of writing i did. i had a hard time doing so because it represented DAYS of work for nothing. I started everything from the beginning. It was then that i truly integrated Orion and Erid properly into the story and created Master Ivi. Some keypoint are still the same but i changed the story quite a lot.

Bunny and Anis

1. Truly, Anis and Bunny always felt at home whenever they were with each other. This feeling extended to their significant other and close friends as they grew older. Whatever the house, what make them feel home is having the people taht matter to them by their side.

2. Bunny and Anis were REALLY a headache to do. Since they are identical twins I feared their genderbend would just look like any another. However, I quickly realized I could use their controsting personalities to my advantage. Bunny genderbend looks like a quiet and successful uncle while Anis genderbend looks like this fun but a bit unhinged aunt you love.

Their names would be Anise for Anis and Hare for Bunny,,,

3. At the beginning, Bunny was simply my Khux player character. I didn't do much art or think much about her or her story. Funnily enough, this is last year khocweek that truly made me flesh her out ! Without it, Bunny would most likely stayed a surface level character. Her name was also mostly a joke but ended up really like it.

When it comes to personality, she mostly have the player personality from KHux and follow the same story. Well except for the final sacrifice (Anis took on this part x)).

Anis was created not too long after last year khocweek. I was simply playing around with the male dressing interface, creating a sort of genderbend of Bunny and... Got attached to the character lmao. With his name, i stayed in the food related realm really i tend to mostly name my character after food... .

His peronnality was mostly created based on the dynamic energic and calm character have. Since Bunny is a very calm and silent person, having a twin brother loud and energetic could make out for funny and ridiculous situation. I really like the dynamic.

Pêche

1. I have yet to decide a definite end to Pêche's story. Their story is yet to find the comfort in hurt/comfort in the current state of her fanfic x) However I can vaguely imagine that someday, they would be have healed enough to trust the guardians of light.

2. Genderbend Pêche was really hard for me. Like some might have guessed Pêche's goes with neutral pronouns and have a generally androgyne appearance : the biggest reason is that I get the impression Pêche doesn't identify as anything. They are there suffering but hey they will have help and slowly heal from all the bad things they experienced. So I just altered their body shape a bit and cut their hair ?

3. Pêche wasn't a really serious character at first. For one, she was a fiction character and more importantly a sort of punching ball character. When i felt bad, i wrote her and felt better. But soon enough my brain started to really like her and from there, i couldn't help but fleshed her out. She needed a coherent story. Well coherent doesn't mean simple for me x) her story is a beautiful mess to understand.

Also i wanted to think about some kind of writing prompt i had : What if Xehanort had a student ? Eraqus as some but Xehanort never explicetly said he never had any so my brain went brrrrr ; What or when did Xehanort truly descended into darkness ? The old men is so intense in the game but Eraqus still think of him as good until he dies ??? It means Xehanort was at least okay for a bunch of time then, right ???? ; What if Xehanort succeded in completing a heart ? lmao this one made available so much angst i couldn't pass it,,,

So this is the end of my khocweek. Even with all my preparation I still had to rush the last few drawnings ahah. Anyways I had such a sweets and good week! I rarely have the occasion of talking about my ocs to strangers and have actual reactions. Interactions I get from the khocweek make my heart warms up 🥺 I thanks all the khocweek team and all the other talented participants from the bottom of my hearts 💜💜 I hope to be there next year and see some familiar ocs again 👀

[sanstropfremir]

So I have opinions on the other stages but like most of us I can’t stop thinking about the SF9 stage. Hanya said it really well in her response but I think we have to break up the members into the ones who tried to emulate Taemin’s androgyny and those who just flat out didn’t try. So in order I’d put it Taeyang, Jaeyoon, Zuho. Those three stood out to me the most as really pushing into more feminine ways of carrying themselves and dancing especially Jaeyoon-like where did that man come from it was very unexpected. Then Chani and Inseong were both more neutral. I can’t put Chani in the first category mostly because of the contrast between his dancing and style with the female dancers that made it obvious that he was still trying to be more masculine despite having certain moves that definitely lend to a feline style like all the hip movements(whether consciously or unconsciously). And last Hwiyoung, Youngbin, and Dawon. I think this is the distinction that some people were making with “sexy” and “Taemin sexy”. Like everyone just associates him with sexiness but opening your shirt to show off your abs doesn’t fit with Taemin’s usual sensuality. Taemin seems to be more focused on movement (throwback to your post on his dancing style) so in order to emulate him there a certain attitude and way in which you carry yourself through movement is necessary. Also youngbin’s rap part did not fit with the concept either-it was too energetic and chill (too much swagger?). Like the way he moved compared to say Zuho was more in line with his usual stuff rather than fitting the way he moved to the stage and song. It’s also interesting to see that the outfits seem to also keep in line with this. Zuho and Taeyang have their midsections showing in a way that’s more common in women’s fashion then in men’s, Chani and Inseong are almost completely covered (so neither in one direction or the other) and Hwiyoung has his arms bared to show off his manly, manly biceps. And of course there’s Dawon. It’s fascinating to compare the members with the more revealing outfits. Like they all have their midsections uncovered but to be more feminine it’s only just a crop top and to be more masculine you open the shirt up completely. It makes sense. Also I’ve been obsessed with Jaeyoon and I can’t exactly pinpoint why he stood out so much especially when Taeyang is RIGHT THERE (though I don’t really think Taeyang got a solo scene but rather was center on the group dances which kind of dilutes his parts). Like his outfit is pretty plain but I love the cutout and the fact that he has long sleeves but they aren’t mesh. It’s simple but effective. I kept thinking this was the Hetero man’s Move especially during Youngbin and Dawson’s parts.

ok this took a really long time because honestly i changed what i was writing about like four times in the middle of the process and i changed my mind like four times because this is a very complicated topic and i could not settle on what the best way to come at it was. tbh i dont think i did the best job even though this is over a thousand words but i have no clue how to make this any more coherent without re-reading all of my flatmate and i's gender theory books and that's just way too much. but here we go.

EDIT: here is hanya’s post about the stage for reference!

where i'm at right now is that i think we are overlaying taemin’s current gender antics with what the actual move was. move has transformed along with taemin, and as such we look back at it with the understanding of what it becomes, but if we take a moment to forget that context, well... let me show you. here’s the 171019 comeback stage. and the 171027. and the 171029. now, here’s the 190223 stage from sketchbook. and from almost a year later, at the 2019 mbc music festival. and now here’s it from a month ago on the tiktok stage. it’s changed a significant amount not only in how he performs it, but in how the costumes and his body affect what it looks like. the cutoff muscle shirt of october 2017 absolutely has a different connotation than the lace back and velvet princess glove and the diamonds of december 2019.

i still do believe that sf9’s cover is missing a huge dimension because it comes from a fundamental non-understanding of what people who present even the slightest bit outside of the gender binary go through, i don’t think they were wrong in interpreting it as ‘man doing non-aggressive but seductive dance moves’ because on the surface, that’s what it is. taemin has actually spent a significant portion of his solo career doing what you described as traditionally 'masculine' dressing; he did famously rip his shirt off for the first non-music show performance of danger, after all. what we associate as 'taemin sensuality' is relatively new for him, it's more prominently a post-want mannerism because pre-move (and for a lot of move itself) he was very focussed on being perceived as masculine.

if we look at sf9's costumes individually, the breakdown looks like this:

chani - skinny trouser, chiffon shirt, and a cropped wrap suit jacket with a tie back

dawon - straight leg trouser, open silk shirt

jaeyoon - asymmetric open shoulder mock turtleneck, wide leg trouser

taeyang - wide leg trouser, faux leather open shoulder crop top

inseong - silk/silk blend shirt, cropped asymmetric suit jacket with a crossover back, tailored trouser

hwiyoung - sleeveless mock neck faux leather vest, straight leg cargo pant

youngbin - mock neck asymmetric crop top with a mesh underlayer, wide leg trouser

zuho - skinny trouser, mock neck crop top, cropped suit jacket with a pointed front

taemin has worn most of these looks. cropped wrap jacket? ngda beyond live velvet suit. open silk shirt? the move album cover. asymmetric shoulder cutout? several want performances. the only exception is that he doesn’t often wear non-skinny trousers, but even then he did for his beauty and the beast moment with the jinro frog. and sleeveless was the whole costume concept for move in the first place. even youngbin’s look is very similar to this outfit from the offsick concert series. but silhouette is only one factor of a complete costume design - you have to take into account the performer’s body, and how that silhouette is perceived on that body. it’s interesting that you specify that hwiyoung’s biceps are ‘manly’ and grouped him in with the more ‘masculine’ of the sf9 members; as i showed at the beginning of this, taemin was at his most physically muscular for move promotions. hwiyoung has just as pretty a face as taemin, but we perceive him differently in this outfit because his body is categorized as more masculine because his muscles are bigger. and this is fundamentally a gender essentialist argument because bigger muscles are not actually ‘more masculine,’ muscles don’t have gender they’re just how humans move around. it’s just our societally impressed gender binary that makes us think that.

another costume point i want to make is how you describe chani and inseong as being completely covered so ‘neither one direction or the other,’ which i would like to break down a bit. for starters, jaeyoon is also essentially fully covered, but you perceived him as being one of the more androgynous ones over chani or inseong. why? because his silhouette was more form-fitted? because there was an uncommon area of skin showing? chani has a tightly fit silhouette as well, and you can see a fair amount of his skin because his shirt is chiffon. why is a suit neutral but something cut to follow the contour of a body not? the fact of the matter is, the suit is the most symbolically gendered garment in the world; it is loaded with western colonial and patriarchal implications. we just view it as 'neutral' because we’ve been normalized to see it as neutral. now neither of the suits chani or inseong are wearing are traditionally cut, and chani’s especially is quite subversive in its construction, but taemin is no stranger to using the implications of a suit for move, here’s the stage from 171105. grey double breasted pinstripe suits were the most popular style for businessmen in the postwar west, and still maintain a prominent indicator of class and power to this day.

you are correct in pointing out that the movements and mannerisms of the members don’t all match the same level, but i want to specifically talk about the intro moment with chani, because you mention him as trying to be more masculine, which i very much disagree with. chani actually does the best at retaining the body neutrality of the original choreo because the original choreo as a stand alone isn’t that seductive or ‘feminine.’ yea he doesn’t have the attitude down pat but the guy’s 20 and is clearly not as comfortable with being this kind of sexy. the reason why you’re perceiving him to be more ‘masculine’ in his movements is because the backup dancers are frankly, being pretty aggressively sexual in a feminine coded way around him. of course he’s gonna look out of place! part of what gives move its uniqueness is that the backup dancers are doing the exact same choreo as taemin, at the exact same intensity. not an altered version where they slut drop behind him.

like i said at the very beginning, i think taemin’s been tipped into the ‘feminine’ category under false assumptions, so it’s doing a bit of skewing of the responses to this stage. if i were to make a very reductivist diagram, i think a lot of responses have been (taemin) <- neutral -> masculine, with the implication that taemin is the feminine analogue, but in reality what taemin is and is aiming for is feminine -> (taemin) <- masculine. because we have been socialized to see things in such an aggressive binary, it can be very difficult to pick out what a true neutral is.

[arlakos]

Things that I feel would have made Miraculous Ladybug a better show.

A Comprehensive Guide to what I would fix with Miraculous Ladybug, with 10 different Ideas.

WARNING: long post for mobile users

1. Combine the Riposte and Captain Hardrock episodes to introduce Luka and Kagami and have it be strictly a civilian episode.

After 3 seasons of Miraculous, I can safely say that I don’t care much about the whole lovesquare stuff, and to be frank I hate the fact that Luka and Kagami were added into the show just to be alternate love interests for the heroes.

I mean, Kagami gets a pass because she has a unique personality, but Luka is literally just every guitar teen ever, and is more one dimensional than season 1 Chloe.

EDIT: It really doesn’t help that because of these new ships, there is even more ship teasing that before, making the whole romance side of miraculous rather boring and filled to excess with ship teases

HOWEVER, if you really wanted to introduce these characters as alternate love interests, why not do something unique with it and in a way that won’t go over so long?

My idea is as follows

1. Have Adrien meet Kagami at fencing and Marinette meeting Luka with Kitty section.

2. Have the two main characters interact with these new love interests and learn more about them.

3. NOT have Hawkmoth come and akumatise anyone, because akuma’s shouldn’t be the only reason and/or way to progress the show or make it interesting.

4. Have the new single episode be about Adrien and Marinette falling for new people.

That way, the show can introduce the idea of new love interests, change the episode format so a bit so that its not so linear, and save an episode slot for a episode idea more interesting... Or perhaps instead restrict the whole alternate romance subplot to a few episodes as part of a small storyline and have the whole romantic subplot be done with instead of extending it is like with the Lovesquare over 2 seasons

EDIT: I don’t particularly like the ship, but the idea I’m proposing could be a good way to shorten it into a more coherent and more interesting plot, instead of adding another ship tease into the series that ends up tearing the fandom apart.

2. Have Season 3 be about Ladybug and Cat Noir teaching the 3 new heroes how to fight.

Season 3 is trash. There I said it. And its not just the episodes themselves are the problem. The whole season and the premises it tries to introduce are garbage as well.

Lets start with Lila.

Based off of the Chameleon episode, it was believed that Lila would be a more prominent character in the show, basically being a villain for both Marinette and her alter Ego. Despite that, her actual effect on the season was about as minimal as you could get, with her presence only being restricted to a few episodes (with these episodes more relying on everyone else being an idiot for them to work, Chameleon included). It also didn’t help that the show still stuck to the single episode format, meaning Chamelon, which was meant to be an episode that would set up a ‘war’ between Marinette and Lila was immediatly suceeded by episodes such as Gamer 2.0 and Animaestro, both of which did not feature Lila at all and took the tension out of the first episode (unfortunately not the salt though, rip Miraculous Fanfics)

Also, the Finale robbed Lila of her spotlight. Imagine being presented as the villain of season 3 only for you to be replace with a knockoff Queen Wasp 😭.

Season 3 also made the mistake of introducing new heroes into the show.

Now, I’m of the opinion that the new heroes introduce in season 3 were a mistake, because not only did the new heroes make the idea of getting a miraculous not so special anymore (with so many new heroes), but some of the designs, powers and/or Miraculous tools were not really that great. I mean, Viperion looks cool and all, but his tool is a goddamn lyre. At least a yoyo can be used to tie up people. And do not get me started on Pegasus.

Also, with all the new heroes introduced, it meant that the heroes from season 2 barely got any screentime. Chloe was made into a villain by the end of Season 3, while Rena Rouge got to appear once and my boi Caracace got only one episode out of the ENTIRE SEASON to appear.

But I do have a solution to at least on of these problems.

What if, in season 3, that season was all about Ladybug and Cat Noir teaching Rena, Carapace and Queenie how to actually be heroes and form a team of 5? It would help bring some new dynamics into the whole hero stuff, and we could potentially see more of the stuff that we had only seen in heroes day.

(Also, rewrite heroes day so that the 3 heroes don’t immediatly get akumatized and actually help Ladybug and Cat Noir. God, they got ripped off for all the hype build-up.)

It could allow for new stuff in season 3 such as:

More hero dynamics

Seeing Alya, Nino and Chloe adapt to daily heroics

Ladybug (and Chat) learning how to be leaders and mentors, which would then make the plotline about Fu passing on his title to Marinette make more sense and justified, since they didn’t do that in season 3 at all.

A more realised storyline about Chloe’s identity being public knowledge that goes on for more than two episodes

Also it means we could get rid of Lila...just saying.

3. Have Miss Bustier work to rehabilitate Chloe and have that be the starting point of Chloe’s redemption.

In recent months, there has been a lot of salt aimed at Miss Bustier, and to be frank I don’t think she deserves it. Her characterisation is honestly really heartwarming when it comes to the idea of teachers caring for their students, but her character can often be forgotten by writers, especially when they desire a story to tell. This can be seen as early as Origins, where she ignores Chloe outright bullying Marinette so the latter can stand up to her later on, but notices Ivan being angry at Kim so Ivan becomes Stoneheart. I personally think her character is lovely, and certain fanfic stories like the Miraculous World of Caline Bustier show that good side of her that so many salt fics fail to forget or intentionally ommit because of one bad episode where Marinette cries (chameleon).

However I do think that Chloe gets way out of hand in the show, and I do feel that despite her best intentions, Bustier not doing anything about Chloe for two seasons seems a bit...off putting.

But what if she did do something about it?

I think that the best way for Ms Bustier to act more like a teacher without breaking her ‘kind teacher’ status would honestly be to actually work on rehabilitating Chloe, either by working with her after school with exercises or recommending her to a psychiatrist for help. I know this can come off as dark for miraculous, but Chloe has already shown that her life beforehand has been a bit rough (even though it doesn’t nullify how she has acted in season 1), so it would make sense that Chloe would need some help with her behavoir/attitude. It would be a great way for Bustier to actually do something about Chloe’s behavoir, without compromising her kind personality. She is kind enough to care about Chloe being better, but assertive enough to do something about it.

Plus, for those who like Chloe, it could be a great way to redeem her properly without going back and forth between a ‘likable person but also bitch’ and ‘an asshole bitch with no redeeming qualities’ like in season 3. Plus it would then make Chloe becoming Queen Bee more fair instead of making it seem as if she doesn’t deserve to be a hero.

Also it would make those people who make salt posts about Bustier frick off. Leave her alone she’s a good character

4. Not having everyone immediately liking Ladybug/Marinette but not hating her either.

Ok, this is where I get really heretical with this post, especially because of how much of the fandom likes Marinette, but I feel that having every single character in the show immediately liking Marinette is a bit too much, at least for me. This sounds biased, but it causes problems for the show for two main reasons.

Marinette is kinda at this point a part-Mary Sue, at least when it comes to the idea that everyone in the world seems to like Marinette and the only ones who don’t are irredeemable pieces of trash who are probably villains (Lila and Chloe being Astruc’s favorite examples :/ ).

Marinette often has everyone agreeing with her on everything (when Lila isn’t there) and majority of the time she goes unnopossed with anything that she does, to the point where even a fireman doesn’t call the cops when he see’s her outright breaking into Adrien’s home (in Oni-Chan).

It would be more interesting (or at least more realistic given the setting) if most characters aside from a few important ones were mostly indifferent towards Marinette, aside from ones such as Alya, Nino, Adrien and Nathaniel for obvious reasons. I’m not saying they have to hate her, but it would be cooler if the rest of the class were more individuals with their own lives and focus, rather that characters with a trope who just revolve around Marinettes world. 

Also those girl squad moments in Miraculous seem kinda forced, mainly because Alix, Mylene, Rose and Juleka don’t seem like the type to hang with Marinette unless the episode calls for it like in Gigantitan and Reflekdoll.

Now, lets discuss Ladybug. 

To keep it simple, I think that it would make more sense if people weren’t immediately trusting of Ladybug at first, and I feel that as seasons go on, it would make sense that over time, people would eventually start to lose trust in her or start to feel angry at her for her inability to stop Hawkmoth permanently.

I mean, if you take episodes such as Syren (where said villain floods a whole city), it is likely that some people got hurt (or worse) and people would eventually start to worry that Ladybug could fail or that her Miraculous Ladybug could stop working. 

It would wouldn’t help that Hawkmoth is mostly focused on getting Ladybug and Cat Noirs Miraculous, and people would start to realize that and would start to get the idea that if Ladybug and Cat Noir gave up their Miraculous, Hawkmoth would leave them alone.

Now, don’t get the wrong idea, I don’t think that this has to be a permanent thing that constantly worries the heroes like in other shows such as Ben 10, but it would be an interesting storyline for Miraculous if some people in Paris would start to get fed up Paris being used as a battleground for heroes and villains.

Also, it would make sense that the class likes Ladybug at least, especially for saving them in season 1.

EDIT: Changed my opinion, read my reblog

5. Have Adrien fall in love with Marinette and Ladybug fall in love with Chat - AKA I’m tired of the lovesquare.

I’m gonna be frank with you, I’m a little biased on this one, mainly because I can’t stand the lovesquare stuff. Its annyoing because people fight over which ship they like, and tbh it has gone on for way too long.

It also doesn’t help that it ruins the main characters. Marinette suffers because she can act like a creepy stalker at times, memorizing his schedule and even stealing his phone, yet can’t even speak to him properly (or more importantly like an actual friend) in a majority of episodes, making her look both creepy and/or idiotic.

Chat Noir also suffers, but even more so due to double standards by the fandom. I don’t think Chat is a sexual harasser like SOME might want to thing (looks at the salty side of fandom), but I do think he flirts WAY the fuck too much, to the point where it wastes most of his character. At least him making more jokes would be better than flirting.

So, my idea is to get rid of all that.

Let Marinette actually talk to Adrien, learn about him, care about him like he’s an actual human being, and actually be a good friend for once rather than being friends through Nino and Alya. Let Marinette actually be kind to Adrien and have her actions make Adrien realize that he likes her more than a friend, rather than Plagg telling him something he wants to deny.

And on the reverse note, Have Chat stop flirting and be more caring. I want Chat to treat Ladybug like she’s the greatest thing in his world, and not by flirting with her during akuma fights, but by checking how she is daily, wanting to spend time with her on lonely nights to make her feel better, and overall being more a friendly (yet lovestruck) partner than the flirty sidekick that Astruc wants to relegate him as. By all means, let him pun and make jokes during fights, that’s part of his charm, but I want Ladybug to fall in love with a Chat Noir that stands by her side, cares about her to the point of overkill and makes her always feel better no matter how down she feels.

And THAT’S what the lovesquare should be about, a story about two characters falling in love with two amazing people, not realizing they are one an the same.

I want Adrien to fall in love with the extrodinary Ladybug who changed his world forever and the simple but amazing Marinette who loves him for who he is, and not what he is. I want Marinette to fall for the sunshine Adrien that is too pure for this world and made her smile on a rainy day, but also for the caring Chat Noir that has always stood by her side no matter how dark the situation has gotten when fighting Hawkmoth, and has always cared about her to the point where cannot help but love him for who he is, puns, humor, love and all.

That’s what I think would make good romance in Miraculous Ladybug

Also Adrien doesn’t deserve that kinda salt btw. FIGHT ME.

6. Have Akuma battles actually cause an impact on the show.

Akuma’s are both a curse and a blessing for Miraculous Ladybug. A blessing because the powers can be unique and the designs are pretty to look at (minus a few), but a curse because the way they are written is responsible for Miraculous Ladybug’s stagnation and also how character issues are resolved.

Someone gets sad because a personal problem, they get akumatised, the return back to normal thanks to Ladybug, and their personal problem is suddenly resolved. Rinse and Repeat. All of the damage caused by the akumas is fixed, and no one seems to be affected by the akumas long term.

So...why not change the last bit? 

I think that the akumas should do more than just trash Paris and not by being more evil, but by also have an effect on people mentally, similar to how people write about Chat Blanc causing Marinette to have PTSD. I don’t think the akumas have to be more threatening then they are, but I do wish that certain akuma’s or even the experience of being akumatized would affect certain characters more than what is shown.

Like say, how about an idea where Style Queen suddenly trying to turn Chloe into a statue, and not caring for the fact that she is her daughter, causing Chloe to straight up hate her now that her true colors are shown? Or perhaps an episode where people get hurt due to rubble from a battle, and one of the main characters sees someone greviously hurt despite them being fixed after the battle? These are just some ideas, but as is, akumas feel somewhat of a let down, because despite their cool designs, they are just one-shot glorified henchmen of Hawkmoth who are essentially forgotten after a single episode.

EDIT: I personally got some asks saying that giving characters PTSD would be a bad thing for a kids show, so Im just gonna clarify: I dont think that the characters should get PTSD, but I do think akuma battles should matter, given that some akuma backstories are made from more personal problems but are treated as with less seriousness than expected and often times fixed instantly by the end of the episode.

7. Give Luka a personality

Luka is the personification of every soft spoken teen music player ever and has the personality of the song Wonderwall. Next.

8. Have Alya not try to Figure out Ladybugs identity.

For someone who has read hero comic books, Alya should realise that trying to expose someone’s public identity is a VERY BAD IDEA.

9. Have Ladybug and Chat Noir unlock new powers on their own, rather than having to rely on Gimicky power up potions.

I’m gonna be frank, the power up potions are lame as heck. They are essentially glorified costume changes that add new stuff onto the suits, which doesn’t sound that bad until you realise that Miraculous Wielders are capable of Changing thier costume designs anytime they want, meaning more likely than not they could probably just change costumes without the potions. Even the Aqua form is pretty lame once you realise that Ladybug and Cat Noir’s tools function like water breathing devices.

Instead, I think it would be cool that as the heroes wear their miraculouses, they star to bond with them as they get close to their kwamis, allowing them to unlock new abilities over time, similar to how learning the basics of martial arts follows into more advanced styles. It would also make the miraculouses feel more magical and add more depth into them, as it turns the miraculous from magical jewellery that give powers, into a magical experience that grows and changes as the wielder and Kwami bond together on a spiritual and magical level.

It would also help to offer contrast between the heroes and Hawkmoth, because while the latter doesn’t have a timer for his powers and is stronger (for the time being), the heroes bond with their kwami’s and unlock new abilities in the process, while poor Gabe is stuck with his base powers due to forcing Nooroo against his will, only able to unlock more abilities through cheating (aka Scarlet Moth).

10. Change Hawkmoth’s story

Hawkmoth is about as bland of a villain as you can get when it comes to villainy. Even with the whole sob story of Gabe’s wife in a coma and her trying to bring him back, Hawkmoth himself has always been all over the place, especially when the writers try to bring the two sides of the character together. They want him to be unwilling to hurt Adrien in one episode, but then for him to be a dangerous and despicable villain in Chat Blanc. It gets really annoying, as they both want him to be a sympathetic villain, but also a villain who isnt afraid to be pure evil as well.

Also Mayura doesn’t help much with the story either. Before she was revealed, people were speculating that she was a new person would be the actual big bad of the show, and it was rumored that she would be Hawkmoth’s boss, and also the possible reason for Hawkmoth getting the Butterfly Miraculous, which could have been used to expand upon Hawkmoth’s character, and potentially have some sympathy given to him if the writers wanted to go that path, with Mayura being the new evil of the show. Unfortunatlely, it turned out Mayura was Nathalie all along, essentially being a glorified henchman for Hawkmoth, and not only that, but her powers were a copy and Paste of Hawkmoths own abilities (Villain infects an object, something something magic, Ladybug needs to destroy an object and purify it in order to return it to normal) 

They could have at least given the job of purifying feathers to Chat, would have made him more essential in season 3 if Mayura was actually used more.

Hawkmoth’s character has stagnated, and personally, I think he needs a rewrite.

Some ideas that I have for Hawkmoth that could make him a better character better are:

Have Mayura be the actual big bad of the show (and a completely different character) and have Hawkmoth be her (somewhat unwilling) lackey. She could also be written to be crueler than Hawkmoth, and could show how Hawkmoth is a more sympathetic character by having him only focused on his son like in Gorizilla, while Mayura’s the one more likely to pull a Chat Blanc situation and absolutely torture the poor cat into being an akuma. Also, it would still allow for those Nathalie/Gabriel moments without ruining them with character changes.                                                

Have the Butterfly Miraculous be corrupted with dark magic (thus allowing Hawkmoth to make possesed villains), but as a side effect make him more crazy, causing him to go from the kindness we see in Gorizilla to the ruthlessness seen in Chat Blanc. (On a a side note, the idea of the Butterfly Miraculous being corrupted would make more sense, given that it can corrupt people into being villains, and would also explain how something that is supposed to be used for good can be used for evil.)         

(My Favorite one) Have Gabriel and Hawkmoth being entirely seperate characters. Have Gabe keep the book like in canon and have the Peacock Miraculous be broken, but Hawkmoth is for all intents and purposes a different person who is also a villain. It would allow for Hawkmoth to become an actual villain without the moral restrains made in season 2 with the revelation in The Collector, while also allowing for a story with a nuanced yet kinder Gabriel. Perhaps even a story where Adrien reconnects with his father.

I think that all of these story ideas would really help make Hawkmoth a better character, either by allowing him to be a villain that the writers want him to be like in Chat Blanc, or the sympathetic villain that wants to fix his family.

And that’s about it! Do you agree with this list? Don’t agree? Got more ideas? Reblog this post and write about what you would fix with Miraculous

[crossxskulled]

Mailing chocolates, it seemed, was too impersonal. The Japanese tradition was to give them in person, was it not? And as a surprise, at that. That left Sonia with only one option. She would have to give Ryuji the Valentine’s Day treats she’d arranged herself and with little explanation as to why she needed to meet him that day. Hopefully, he wouldn’t ask too many questions about why she wanted to meet in one of Shibuya’s parks, as opposed to the usual convenience stores and inexpensive restaurants they often visited. She didn’t think it was right to bring such gifts to a dining establishment and she certainly couldn’t visit his home. Thankfully, Haru had been a wonderful help correcting the Princess of Novoselic some of the cultural implications that, at home, would have been a non-issue.

“I hope this wasn’t too terribly inconvenient for you, and I’m not sure if you even like these really,” Sonia began, surprising herself by dancing around the point she was trying to make. At least she spoke clearly and smiled through it all. “But I hope you accept these Valentine’s Day chocolates. Happy Valentine’s Day, Ryuji-san!”

Inside the golden yellow box and coordinating bow, rows of pyramid-shaped dark chocolate candies and round milk chocolate truffles were neatly arranged. The dark chocolates were filled with dark chocolate ganache and liquid fondant to be tiny lava chocolates that would ooze upon biting past the outer shell. But the milk chocolates were filled with chocolate-hazelnut filling, far less messy, and rolled in crushed macadamia nuts. “I remember you telling me about your class trip to Hawaii, the one you seemed to quite enjoy with your friends! I’ve never been myself, but I thought a chocolate volcano and macadamia nuts might remind you of a wonderful time.”

___________________________

☠ - Time managed to bleed through his hands despite a shift of a holiday, hardly slowing, rather, keeping that same pace of trickling sands while he pushed through his training on this day. Motivation and a return to old form blew the blonde’s mind in ways he could’ve of perceived. So what better day to productively blow all that energy than at the gym? Through the help of his old coach and upperclassmen by the name of Ikeda, a regimen that remains rigorous, reward and perfect for warding off the rust across his body’s specifics was the goal for this Valentine’s day.

Gaining a small bounty of friendship chocolate had been a unforeseen boon that only made him double down. Seeing the smiling faces of those knuckleheads had been too much of a damn treat not to do anything less. (Taking Yusuke out to get a good meal as a miniature get-together had also fit into that equation.)

If only he could’ve known why Haru kept such a doting voice of knowing in her town. Ryuji simply brushed it off as a means of her being jovial in the atmosphere, enjoying the time no different than he had.

One text message however completely altered the route of his plans like a fork in the river. Business was business and his partners at the gym kindled a brand of training related friendship. So of course knowing the season, there he was being tacked on out with a number of teases, especially seeing how February serves as the season for some to shoot their shot, couples to get more couple-y, while some managed to romanticize facets of romance to make the world look a touch more sunshine and rainbows.

‘Too bad’ that with a huff and a laugh, he’d call them all some bastards after he freshened up, changed, and rolled out back to the busy streets. Like a bolt amidst a mass of sky,. he’s nimble and dedicated to his beeline, wading his way through the day filled with either saturated hopes or the jaded atmosphere as Inokashira Park remains the place to meet with a girl who’s pleasantly been in his thoughts. Just thinking of a touch of their previous ventures makes a chuckle rumble in his chest.

Oh yeah. There sure as hell was a good deal of memories they’ve made since their arrangement while having a blooming friendship.

“Yo, Sonia!” His cheerful voice would soon call as the scenery of an opened sky is replaced with the natural roofing of branches and trees. That had caught her attention, leading to them catching eyes and suddenly having her.. look a touch bashful?  Or maybe that skittered in his imagination. Just being met with a soft nod while she balanced something in her hands was a little weird? Here he was much more adjusted to a upbeat prestige or the excitable questions to explore a world that cast refined inclination to the side.

”My bad it took me a lil longer than usual to hop on the scene here.” He begins, grunting in distaste at his tardiness. “The short notice caught me att middle up at the gymmmm-- ah ah, not that it’s a big deal or anything!” That definitely had to be set once she made mentions of inconvenience! Heading out for someone he cares for always had a priority even if there were routine plans for a day. ...And now that he’s getting a better look at this whole situation. Wasn’t that introduction of her’s a touch too kind while she swayed a bit in her spot? Once their eyes met with a gentle glare of sunlight remaining in between, the answer soon arrives, dressed up in an ornate box that makes his eyes pop open a deal wider while unceremoniously dropping that duffel bag of his to the ground.

Unexpected? Unexpected. Somehow that mind of his couldn’t translate the moment at hand while his eyes shoot open like saucers at the ornate box she presents between them both! Seeing that particular design as if she plucked this from the lap of luxury... That made the ticker within his chest speed on up, for real. ‘Wha wha wha.. Whoa! Hold on! Am I seein’ this right!? I.. She had plans of hauling some of these to me?! People usually just roll these out in the hand bags! But this.. I-’ Any other thoughts failed to meet the mark of coherency as he could only stop, stare, and just drink in the view of that familiar smile and the presented box set before him.

Soon a pair of mildly shaky hands would come to take it. No longer was it the aftermath of a good workout that supplied such heat, nor the hot shower taken before making his way on down here. The act in offering this gift itself had burned a fuzzy brand of energy through him while his fingers braced upon the box and drew it a touch closer. Naturally too curious for his own good, this led him to a world of intricate design, for chocolate of all the damn things! Being a more modest and moderate fan had left him ignorant to the designs outside of chocolate bars to bats and eyes on the Halloween days.

Seeing the spread while hearing the story began to tack so many of the pieces together. Antsy thoughts were quelled by the truth of her intentions, the inspiration as to why they’re designed this way and kindness shuffled into each and every one. Had she really been thinking that deeply over one of their past times while getting this fixed up?

So to see Sonia place that much care into him causes a soft sensation to well up as the dominate point of feeling. Settled upon his face was a genuine look of contentment swirled together with a touch of gratitude. “You.. Really went through a damn lot, huh? I mean.. Look at these! So frickin’ cool and designed like people draw with chocolate!” His enthusiasm instantly takes the charge while he glosses over them, taking a touch longer to notice how the play of positioning also added to that! This for sure got a ‘Yoooooooooooo!’ strained from his lips as his eyes instantly sparkled with joy.

”Almost doesn’t make me wanna eat ‘em.. Almost! Maybe I can keep a few for a touch longer and..” Noticing that his delight might’ve had him going on a small tangent made him a touch self-conscious, causing him to seize up while a soft laughter escapes from him. If it wasn’t clear from his expression alone within their momentary getaway of the park’s atmosphere, Ryuji here was really pleased with the gift. ..To the point that somehow the whole Valentine aspect hadn’t reigned as the highest mark of importance.

Spending some more time with her instinctively feels like the best bet in his eye. Taking good care in the way he closes the box, the dropped bag is quickly swiped up before he makes a charged point to one of the sites of scenery appreciating seating off to the side.

“In that case! You sure as hell unlocked a route to some more funny stories! C’mon- how about we try some of these together while we kick back for a while?”

....

“Oh and uh.” This much would be said as they pressed off to the selected spot. “Happy Valentines Day to ya too, Sonia. Thanks for this..”

Today would be another one filled with fun promise.

[thewritewolf]

Just Between Us

Set just after the events of Four Times (and the Lucky One), Adrien tries to subtly reveal his identity to Marinette. Unfortunately, obliviousness seems to be contagious...

Reading Four Times isn't necessary, but encouraged. All you need to know is Adrien knows Marinette is Ladybug.

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3.

There were plenty of opportunities to come…

Unfortunately, Marinette was proving just as oblivious as he had been for so, so long. Maybe the universe wasn’t quite done testing him yet, but Adrien couldn't find it in himself to be frustrated. It was almost like a game at this point as he got more and more daring with his hints.

It had started out small, of course…

------

“Hey, Mari,” Adrien said with a smile as he bounded up the steps of the school. He could feel his hair, now messy and free like his alter-ego’s, bouncing along with him.

“Hey, you-” Marinette paused as she turned toward him, her smile flickering for a moment as her eyes drifted to his hair. Her head tilted and she wore a mask of bemusement. “...Trying something different with your hair?”

“Ah, so you did notice.” He held her close and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. Calling on his Chat Noir charm, he gave her a playful wink. “You see, I’m trying to impress this girl I like…”

“Well I think you’re going to do just fine. I hear she is already head over heels for you.” She tugged his hand as she guided him into the building. Pausing at the lockers, she gently ruffled his hair to make it even messier. “All jokes aside, I like it. The look suits you.”

“...Does it remind you of anyone?” He might be pushing his luck her but…

She snorted. “Yeah - it looks like you had a team of stylists recreate what bedhead must be like for the common folk.”

He gasped in mock offense and while they settled into a familiar banter, he grumbled on the inside. At least he could try again next time.

---------

...But small acts wouldn’t be enough to overcome the magic of the miraculous, would they?

If he was going to succeed, he’d need to be even more daring, even bolder. Something that could tie him to the miraculous, but only because she knew him so well in and out of the mask. For his next attempt, he’d have to play up the cool, badass energy of Chat Noir while still being Adrien. He had just the idea to get Marinette’s attention…

-------

A few days later, Marinette was minding her own business on one of the last days of school before the winter break. As was happening more frequently, the cold had woken her up despite her attempts to cocoon herself in a blanket burrito. Even now, inside the warm school building, there was a chill that had settled into her very bones. She resigned herself to being miserably cold all day, at least until she could get to her space heater in her room. Maybe she could convince Adrien to come over for some snuggling?

As if summoned by her thinking about him, a bright mop of blonde hair pulled her attention up, but after seeing what he was wearing, she was unable to get more than a syllable into her greeting. The rest was lost in a strangled choking sound.

The first word that managed to get through was Leather, followed swiftly by Hot. When she managed coherent thought again, she belatedly realized that Adrien looked good in black leather jackets and… well-fitted black jeans. The fact that no fashion designer had realized this was a tragedy to all humankind. Hell, he could give her partner a run for his money.

...She wondered if Chat Noir would be willing to part with his miraculous for just a little bit. Just to see what Adrien would look like in magical, skin-tight leather.

“Uh… girl?”

Alya’s voice snapped her out of her daydreams. “Hm?”

“Here, you’re going to need this.” Alya passed her a pencil.

Marinette was about to decline before she realized that she was still clutching the snapped remains of her favorite drawing utensil. She pouted at the back of Adrien’s head, eyes narrowing as a plan came to mind. There was a way she could get back at him for this little surprise.

--------

...Of course, Adrien wasn’t the only one who could turn on the charm. He’d thought that he’d had the advantage there, being a model and all. But after what Marinette wore the following day, he was pretty sure she should have been one posing for the camera. Then again, he was more than happy that he got her all to himself.

Even if he couldn’t think straight for the entire rest of that day.

Things got a little desperate, but truth be told…

-------

“So you’ve met Chat Noir, right?”

“I mean, yeah, sure,” Marinette said, as noncommittal as could be. “Most of our class has, you realize.”

Adrien waved that off with a dismissive shake of his hand. “Yeah, yeah, but you two have… met a lot, right?”

Her eyebrows shot up. “And where did you hear that, huh?” She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. “Did Alya put you up to this?”

“No no! I was just-”

A little gasp escaped her. “Adrien… are you jealous?”

The situation was ridiculous, so clearly he laughed. But that wasn’t the right answer, apparently, since Marinette stormed off. It took some apologizing and hugs, but her mood passed and they were back to normal before too long.

------

...Tact was never his strong suit.

In the end, he was left with only one option. It was one that he hadn’t been looking forward too, but not because of any sense of lost romance, or even misguided fear that she would be angry. They were too far along in their relationship to be worried about that.

No, it was the taunting and griping and ‘I-told-you-so’s from Plagg that he’d been dreading. Adrien took the needling and mocking like a champ, though, and before long his kwami was finally willing to transform him.

After all, even Plagg (especially Plagg) wanted to finally finish this.

Which is why Adrien now found himself on top of Marinette’s balcony, steeling himself for what he was about to do. It had been a while since he’d been here as Chat Noir - after slowly reducing the frequency of his visits, they’d sort of petered out after he and Marinette had gotten together. As much as he wanted to spend every moment possible with her, he couldn’t trust himself not to get comfortable with her and he didn’t want to make her feel like she was cheating.

But now?

He tapped at the glass, unsurprised when he saw her bright blue eyes peering up at him. It was late, sure - but he knew his lady well, knew that when she had a project in mind, she would see it through no matter what. Even at the cost of sleep and eating.

Stunned as she was by his sudden appearance, seemed to let unlock the skylight and let him in through muscle memory alone. She also let in a wave of cold air that raised goosebumps on her skin and sent shivers down her spine.

They’re sitting on her bed, like they often did before he found out. The same place where he found himself slowly falling for his everyday Ladybug, until suddenly his everyday Ladybug and his Ladybug became one and the same. The silence stretched for a few moments, Adrien lost in the memories of falling for the same person twice.

“Chat-”

His attention snapped back into focus. “Marinette. There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Chat can this wait until-”

“I know you’re Ladybug.”

Again, silence. But what had been a soft, companionable quiet before was now charged. Tense. Electric.

There were a few false starts, half-formed questions dying on her lips. Eventually she settled with, “How did you…?”

“A few months ago, there was an akuma. I… I was worried about you. And I know that was dumb since it was nowhere near you but… I was still worried. So I came over to make sure you were alright and… well…” He shrugged helplessly. “It’s Tikki, right?”

“Huh?”

“Your kwami. Her name is Tikki?”

“Y-yeah. Yeah…” Her eyes became distant for a moment before hardening. “Chat,” she said with a chastising tone, “why did you wait so long to tell me? This was pretty important information!”

His ears flattened against his head and his tail wrapped around his waist. “I’m sorry. I was worried you’d be upset that I found out. But, in my defense, I have been dropping hints these last few weeks…”

Her stern expression softened and she put a hand to his cheek, “Oh, kitty. You annoy me to pieces sometimes, but I can’t be mad at you over an accident. Especially because it only happened because you were worried about me.” She paused, her brow furrowing in thought. “Wait… hints? I don’t remember any hints in the last few akuma battles.”

He wrung his hands, wishing he’d just dropped his transformation the moment he got here. Now it was too late and he needed to wait for her to ask him to reveal himself. It was only right, after all.

“That’s… that’s because I haven’t been giving you hints as Chat Noir. I’ve been giving them as… me.”

“We know each other?!” She screeched, before throwing her hands over her mouth. They listened in a pregnant silence, waiting for the sounds of either Tom or Sabine to come marching up the stairs. When they failed to materialize, they breathed a sigh of relief.

“We know each other? In our civilian identities?!” She whisper-screamed at him.

He was sure his blush was peeking out from behind his mask as he nodded, thinking of their last make out session. If that didn’t qualify as knowing someone…

She turned away from him and began patting the pillows. “Tikki? Tikki! Can we just drop his transformation now? He already knows who I am! Why can’t I find out about him?”

A kwami in Ladybug’s colors appeared at his girlfriend’s shoulder. She had a thoughtful expression as she looked first into space and then deep into Adrien’s eyes. With a sigh, she replied, “We may as well. The damage is already done, and the imbalance of power could throw you two out of sync.”

Marinette did her best to have a cool and confident exterior, but it was clear she was struggling while she was out of the spots. She waved at Adrien. “W-well. Go ahead. Let’s see… see who you really are.”

“Alright, just…” He had a sudden surge of fear. “Don’t be mad, okay?” He took a deep breath. “Plagg, claws in.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling incredibly exposed without his mask to hide behind. It took him a few moments to gather the courage to look her in the eye. He couldn’t read the emotion there, and all he could tell was that the curiosity from before had been replaced by something else entirely. The silence stretched out and he itched to break it. Just as he was about to, she finally spoke, her voice a whisper.

“It was you all along…” The reverence in her tone faded as her eyes narrowed. “Wait, how long ago did you say you started trying to ask me out?”

“I know what you’re thinking but-”

“Adrien,” she began, clearly putting on a brave face, “tell me the truth - did you start flirting with me just because you knew I was Ladybug?”

“No.” The speed of his reply seemed to catch her unaware. She was still on the back foot when he leaned forward into her space and took her hand in his. “Sure, that’s what made me start, but that was only because I wasn’t torn about who I wanted to pursue anymore. The two most wonderful women in my life… were actually the same person all along.” He planted a kiss to the back of her hand, looking deep into her eyes as he did so.

Unlike when they were in the masks, this time he’d coaxed a fierce blush from her. Maybe it was because it was something he’d only ever done as Chat Noir to Ladybug. He could see the gears turning in her head. Which was why he was surprised when she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around his chest and pressing her lips to his.

He smiles against her and pulls back enough to rest his forehead against hers. “Does this mean I’m forgiven?”

“No. These are disciplinary kisses. Do not take joy from them.”

“Too late.”

She rolled her eyes playfully and kissed his nose. “You’re impossible.”

“Don’t you mean, im-purr-ssible?”

She tilted her head back to groan at the ceiling, then buried her face in his chest, still groaning. “I can’t believe I thought you were cool once.”

“Of course I’m not cool.” He paused for effect, then pulled her close while grinning down at her. “I’m hot.”

“Not to interrupt your grossness or anything, but…” Plagg chimed in from his spot curled up with Tikki. “We could visit whenever now. And you two could do some… nocturnal stuff.”

Marinette’s face went completely red and her pupils shrunk to pinpricks. She squeaked out, “Plagg!”

But Adrien’s mind was flush with possibilities. “That’s an awesome idea, Plagg! We could have movie nights and sleepovers and-”

He was silenced when Marinette put her hands on his cheeks and squished his face. “You are… way too energetic at midnight, kitty.” She pouted in thought. “But a movie night doesn’t sound too bad.”

A few minutes later and they’d built a cuddle nest of pillows around themselves. Marinette’s bed was smaller than his, but that just made it easier to fill with warmth as she rested her head against his chest and the kwamis curled up just above his head.

As the credits rolled on their second movie, Adrien yawned and stretched. As much as he wanted to stay, he’d better go home. A plan which was immediately thwarted by Marinette clamping down on him.

“Bugaboo…”

“It’s too cold out there,” she said in a voice muffled by his shirt. “You’ll get sick. In fact,” she raised her head to peer at a point on the pillow behind him, “I think Plagg already caught something.”

He heard Plagg say, “Wuh? Oh, um… cough cough. Sneeze. Yeah, real sick. You better listen to her, young man. Kwami’s orders.”

“...You literally just said cough and sneeze. You didn’t actually-” He shook his head. “Actually, you know what? You’re right. Plagg’s sick. Can’t go home. I’ll have to spend the night here.”

He settled back into place as Marinette sighed against him.

“Good kitty.”

[spork-guitar]

Lucky Lady Chapter 15

@sapphicsovereign​ @gingerdaile​ @catsssmeow​

Let me know if you want to be tagged!

Original prompt by @gale-of-the-nomads​

Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14.

Hi. I think you can probably guess what this is - an apology, another excuse for not posting in weeks. With everything that’s happening in the world and in my personal life, I just had to take some time off for my own mental health. I won’t bore you with the details, but I haven’t written a word since early June. Some days I couldn’t get out of bed for hours, some days I considered giving up writing for good. I'm going to continue, but if I had any semblance of a posting schedule before, I definitely don’t anymore. I’m sorry for the few of you that still read this. I know it’s frustrating to be invested in a story and have it go unfinished for a long time, believe me. But as of now, I still plan to finish this fic. It may take a while, but I’d like to believe things are looking up for me. My apologies, again. Thank you for being patient.

That being said, this chapter is (hopefully) less depressing than that. This is an example of a chapter that was never part of the plan but happened anyway, which is about 80% of my content in any given story. Oh, and I threw in an OC... and gave him a backstory... and it’s about twice as long as any other chapter so far... and I swear none of that was supposed to happen, but... enjoy?

 Adrien adjusted his tie for the nth time, only to have his hand swatted away by the meticulous designer who had spent months working on a unique suit just for him. It was silly, really, because no matter how much hard work and effort the man put into the ensemble, it just looked and felt like every other suit he’d worn before. The only difference he could see was the price tag. Sure, he knew from a fashion standpoint what the benefits were of certain pocket styles and fabric choices, but other than that, it was just a suit. 

He had heard about brides-to-be suddenly “feeling like a bride” when they tried on the right dress, but he supposed they were already excited about the prospect of getting married, having found the person they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with. Adrien couldn’t relate. At this point, he knew he was wearing his wedding suit. It was what he would wear the day he married Lila. He would smile and tell her how beautiful she looked, because there would be cameras filming his every move. He would be the perfect husband, the perfect son, the perfect model, etc., etc. Every second he spent with her in public for the rest of his life would be perfectly scripted and planned out to make them look like the perfect couple, but something about that made him dread getting married even more.

Adrien frowned at his reflection in the mirror. His hair was combed, suit clean, tie straight, shoes shined, and he felt less like himself than he had in ages. He knew the person looking back at him in the glass, but it wasn’t him. It wasn’t right.

He rolled his shoulders and tugged at the collar of his dress shirt, effectively loosening his tie and earning him an exasperated sigh from the man in front of him.

“Ay, M. Agreste, please. If you don’t stand still, we’ll never finish in time, and I have another customer coming in half an hour!” A thick Italian accent made his French harder to understand, but Adrien got the message.

“Sorry, M. Bertinelli,” he half-mumbled.

The stout man raked his fingers through his thin gray hair. “Alphonso. We’ve been through this. M. Bertinelli was my father, God rest his soul.”

“Wasn’t his name also Alphonso?”

“Si, si. But to me, he was papà. At work, he was M. Bertinelli. The only person who ever called him Alphonso was mia madre, Lucia. The angels took her too soon.” He bowed his head, eyes downcast.

Adrien tugged at the collar of his suit uncomfortably… again. “I, uh… I know a little about that.”

Alphonso regarded him with a kind smile, picking a piece of lint off his lapel. “You would, wouldn’t you? How long has it been? Ten years?”

He scratched his neck, looking away from the man’s persistent gaze. “Yeah, almost.”

Someone just beyond the fitting room knocked softly on the door, and it creaked open hesitantly after a second. “Are you decent?”

Ladybug. Adrien smiled. “Yeah, come on in.” She stepped into the room and waved shyly at M. Bertinelli. Her gaze turned to him, eyes widened and cheeks flush. She looked him up and down, as if trying to memorize every little detail of his pricey ensemble. By the time her eyes met his again, he was sure his face was every bit as red as hers.

Suddenly, as if remembering why she came into the room in the first place, Ladybug stared intensely at her tablet and cleared her throat. “Uh, I don’t want to bother you, monsieur. I’ll only be a minute. You have a fencing lesson with M. D'argencourt at his private court in...” She paused, scrolling through the day’s schedule. “...thirty minutes, so we should be leaving within the hour.”

Adrien was pretty sure her openly gaping at him for multiple seconds had effectively cleared his mind of any coherent thought other than a long string of exclamation points, but M. Bertinelli had him covered. “Not to worry, bella. I’ll have him out of here in plenty of time.” With a hand on her shoulder, he led her back out the door. “I’ll call you when we’re finished.” Once she was out of earshot, he chuckled, waggling a suit brush at him. “You like her,” he said matter-of-factly.

“What?”

“Oh, don’t pretend with me, ragazzo. I can see it a mile away. The way you smiled when she walked in the room, how you blushed when she looked at you.” He lowered his voice to a whisper and leaned in. “You’re not exactly subtle, ragazzo, and neither is she.” Adrien felt his face heat again as Alphonso laughed merrily. “Besides, I’ve been in love before.”

Adrien shrugged off his suit jacket and loosened his tie, draping them carefully over the back of a chair. “How do you know it’s love? I haven’t known her very long. It could just be… I don’t know, something else? Love is a strong word to use.”

Alphonso shook his head insistently, setting the brush on the vanity counter. “It’s just like it was with my late wife, Rosa Maria. When I met her, she was with my old friend Claudio, who treated her poorly. A shame, really. Rosa was the sweetest woman I ever knew, and Claudio? Well, he was something else. I thought I’d live my whole life in love with a woman I’d never have, but love is a funny thing, ragazzo. I had just about given up when she up and left him one day. Came knocking at my door, telling me she loved me all along. Of course, Claudio didn’t like that very much, but it worked out for me and my Rosa. It will work out for you, too.”

“You think so?”

“Of course! You don’t live to be fifty-seven without learning a few things about life. Now, get out of that suit before you wrinkle it.”

“Don’t you have to alter it?”

“It fits you like a glove, ragazzo. I knew it would.” He took the discarded jacket from the chair and put it on a mannequin across the room. “You know, that might be a good analogy. The right girl will fit like a good suit - comfortable, nice-looking, and affordable as long as you’ve got a rich padre.”

“What should I do about Ladybug?”

Alphonso shrugged. “Whatever needs to be done. Don’t worry yourself too much, anyway. Things have a way of working themselves out, and you’re a pretty smart kid. But if you want some advice from a man who’s been put through the ringer a few times, I think you should tell her how you feel before it’s too late.”

Adrien frowned. “It might already be too late. My wedding is in eighteen days, and everything’s ready. I can’t back out now.”

“Well, if you go through with it, that’s fine. Your wife better be over the moon. She’s got herself the handsomest boy in Paris.” 

“Thanks, Alphonso.”

He patted Adrien on the cheek and ruffled his hair with a fond smile. “Ah, get outta here. But if you never need a listening ear, I’ve got two of ‘em, and I can always pretend your suit doesn’t fit quite right so you can come back. I sure wouldn’t mind the company.”

Adrien laughed politely, not sure if he meant it, but secretly wishing he did. Alphonso treated him like family, like the son he never had, and he acted more like a father than Gabriel ever had. “You know what? I’ll let you know.”

“See you around, Adrien.”

…

Ladybug stood up as he walked back into the waiting room, clasping her hands behind her back. “All done?”

He rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt. “Yep. Let’s get out of here.” She snickered, quickly clapping a hand over her mouth to sober herself. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it’s just… your hair is a mess. It must have happened when you changed back, because it looked fine when I was in there earlier.”

Adrien ran a hand through his hair and swooped it to the side. “Better?”

“Mostly. There’s a little part…” She pointed to the left side of her head, and he patted down the right side, mirroring her. “No, the other side.” He followed her instructions, but to no avail. She clicked her tongue, reaching out. “May I?”

He kept his voice steady (he hoped) and his expression neutral. “Of course.” With gentle fingers, she quickly found the problematic tuft of hair and combed her fingers through it a few times to tame it down. When she was done, she brushed a few strands out of his face, nails gently scraping his forehead and over to his ear. 

Satisfied, she smiled, completely oblivious to his inner turmoil, and patted him on the head like a dog. Maybe a cat. “All good! Let’s go.”

Well, that was just plain unfair. The way she could touch him like it was nothing, like the world around them didn’t just cease to exist when she smiled at him. Truthfully, Adrien was touch starved, and he knew it. It had been years since the last time he willingly hugged someone, so he was automatically hyper aware of every time Ladybug casually touched him. Every electric brush of their fingertips when she handed him his schedule, every playful smack when he made a bad joke, every time she got close enough that he could feel her breath teasing his skin like a light summer breeze.

He futilely tried to console himself with the thought that she would still be his bodyguard after the wedding, but if anything, that made it worse. He would spend years, perhaps the rest of his life knowing she was off limits. Right there, a few houses, a room, a meter away, but he couldn’t have her. 

But how, he wondered, do you simply coexist with someone who doesn’t know how every tiny little thing she does turns his whole world upside down? He knew he was unlucky, but even for the Powers That Be, that seemed a little excessive.

[raulsparza]

Moby Dick: A Musical Reckoning: 1.2.2020 ~Thoughts~

Alright so I loved it. There were parts I felt unsure about throughout, and there are parts I would alter or cut, but it felt like a malloysical and I was captivated the entire time. I was a little worried it would drag because 3 ½ hours is a good hour longer than any other show I’ve seen but it definitely didn’t. I would have happily sat in that theater for another two hours. Unfortunately, my biggest gripe was with the microphones. I feel like I missed a fair amount of what the cast was saying and I’m glad I had my knowledge from reading the book to fall back on.

Bullet point thoughts for each part under the cut, because this became too long 

Prologue:

-        Opening with the Jonah and the whale story rocks. We are all in the belly of the whale. Made the audience part of the show immediately. Let’s get on the Pequod together why don’t we.

-        Manik Choksi stepped onstage, wearing a baggy water-splashed jacket, and I was hooked. He was the perfect Ishmael and I had that thought no less than 30 times throughout the show. Perfect casting. Perfect man.

-        First we got a little introduction into the history of the theater and the book itself. The show broke the fourth wall often, critiquing both Herman Melville’s writing and the state of the world as it stands today. Sometimes this felt a little on-the-nose (my friend reflected she would have liked more show-don’t-tell tactics) but it’s also an interesting way to be a critical consumer of media while still enjoying the original story. The Melville bust and the physical book Moby Dick were both on stage the entire show.

Part 1:

-        And then, “Call me Ishmael” – chills. It’s a damp drizzly November in his soul and we are heading off to sea.

-        Starbuck, Stubb, and Flask had this wonderful repeating joke where each of them had to say the other two names any time they all interacted and it was good fun. Each shipmate got introduced, perhaps a little quickly but they all did develop further later. Queequeg even said he would get his own song in a bit.

-        Queequeg’s own song really did not work for me. It was a bit too campy. It followed Ishmael’s strong desire to not share a bed with a cannibal in the book, but it was still goofy. I keep going back and forth on how goofy I am comfortable with the first half of the show being, to really contrast it with the darker later half, but this song was a bit much for me. It ended with some great cuddling, and I would have liked some quiet dialogue between Ishmael and Queequeg while they were holding each other in bed.

-        Tom Nelis as Ahab KILLED IT. (well the show, not the whale). He looked like an absolute corpse of a man in respectable captain garb. The physical acting he did to walk and sit with his ivory leg was astounding.

-        I honestly just really loved the casting for this show. I could make a separate point for everyone. But Starr Busby as Starbuck really needs her own point. She was commanding and human and torn and excellent.

-        DEATH TO MOBY DICK! Intense green lights and music as Ahab touched the lances and then poured shots into the harpoons. It was exciting! It was only border-line concerning. We are descending, but we have not yet descended.

Five minute pause:

-        Manik made eye contact with me

-        He picked volunteers for part 2. I was not picked to be a volunteer but he sure did pick the guy right next to me and told him he could “tell your friend all about it!” so Manik also talked about me

Part 2:

-        Audience volunteers were ushered onto the stage and adorned in red ponchos as they were warned of a splash zone.

-        Cetology was perfect. I unironically enjoyed this notoriously terrible book chapter so you bet your ass I shared Ishmael’s child-like excitement as he named all the whales that cast members brought out in puppet-form. This song could have been longer. It could have been much longer. It became a running joke to cut Ishmael off when he was about to go on a tangent and I just want to live in a world where Manik is given the time and space to infodump eight hours of whale anatomy to me and me alone.

-        Then four little boats on wheels came up out of the stage and the audience volunteers were each rounded up by a cast member and put in a boat. This took a bit of time (honestly, as fun as the volunteers are, I could see this being where the show would be shortened first) but I had a stupid grin on my face the whole time and the boats went around the stage, commanded by the crew with harpoons at the ready.

-        Stubb killed a whale and the use of puppetry here was my favorite in the show. A whale made of crumpled plastic water bottles was brought to center stage and took it’s last shuddering breaths. Someone crouched inside the puppet to make it breathe shallow and raspy, and to spray some ‘blood’ in the direction of the audience volunteers.

-        Fedallah broke the fourth wall and gave a wonderful critique of the Melville’s inability to give this character any depth. Again, this teetered between good exploration and on-the-nose preaching for me. It’s clear we are not just watching a Moby Dick adaptation, but we are also part of an important literary critique. Would all of the critique have been better off in the prologue, or is it useful to interrupt the flow of the story for this sort of discussion? I’m still not sure. The more I think about it, the more I liked it woven in the story because it’s reflective of how we end up consuming media, but it caught me off guard at first because it’s unusual in a setting where characters are delivering a story. Again, maybe that’s a good thing.

-        The whale as a dish was stupidly fun. Lots of props for whale parts and buckets of blood and a very enthusiastic Stubb. Kalyn West was bouncy and limber and was very adept at dealing with her pipe the whole time. Another example of a goofy song to contrast the darkness later. I enjoyed it a lot.

-        Cast and volunteers then all sat in a circle around the stage and squeezed some sperm. Queequeg waved Ishmael over to sit next to him and they shot each other cute glances during the song.

-        The Pequod met the Bachelor and the sailors danced on the platform right next to me. Dawn Troupe shook my hand at the end of it bless

-        Tashtego and Daggoo sat up in the crow’s nest and interpreted whale song. Some of their dialogue felt stilted but Tash had a beautiful song.

-        Starbuck confronting Ahab and then Ahab pulling a gun on Starbuck…INTENSE. Man, Starbuck really shined for me here.

Intermission:

-        Shout out to the crew members that have to mop up whale blood for this 15 minute chunk of time

Part 3:

-        We’re in Pip hours babey. Maybe I would have liked Pip’s character to have been developed more before this part. It was developed retrospectively throughout part 3 but some sprinkling of Pip in 1 and 2 could have worked for me.

-        I’ve seen better analyses of tambourine than I could write rn so I’m not gonna get too deep into it. But, I agree that the race elements could have been handled different? Better? Get Dave a co-writer maybe? The thing about gender was odd to me. I’m also curious about the cast’s thoughts on this one. I ALSO agree that this song slaps. It’s been the one most consistently stuck in my head. And Morgan Siobhan Green’s acting/dancing/writhing really stood out to me.

-        Loved Pip in the whaleboat while the rest of the cast billowed a big blue sheet in the middle of the stage. The song about Pip being left behind in the water was haunting.

Part 4:

-        Part 4 was by far my favorite. Holy shit. This part felt the most uniform and really solidified the show for me as Good Theater. If there was a way to preserve some of the goofiness from part 2 but also develop the characters throughout in the way they were treated in part 4, that would be ideal. Like I REALLY loved part 4.

-        Got some good Queequeg and Ishamel moments here. I am disappointed their relationship wasn’t highlighted even more. Other than their songs, they held hands center stage together at one point (during Fedallah’s prophecy I think?). Which like, fine, but also Melville married them so that could have happened too.

-        “No one grew into anything new, we just became the worst of what we were.” Well dAMN. Excellent summation of the story right there. Ishmael kept repeating this haunting line, and then it kept repeating in my head till the end. Perfect.

-        Sextet rocked so hard everyone had a different conflict they were working out and different musical themes and Starbuck shined because Starbuck shined the whole time but wow I loved it. Ahab is all focused on a new leg and harpoon, meanwhile Queequeg is sick and only Ishmael is helping him. And Stubb and Flash hanging off the crow’s nest saying in dissonant unison “shall we lower Mr. Starbuck” really highlighted Starbuck’s great desire to not lower. *Chef’s kiss*

-        And y’all. When they chased Moby Dick. Three ropes came out of the front of the stage that they all pulled on and big BRIGHT lights (think Anatole in great comet) shown into the audience. There was slow motion rope pulling as the cast swayed and struggled. It was so visually beautiful and it worked so well.

-        And then I wanted to hug Ishmael but I want to do that a lot.

Bottom line, this was not a favorite of mine and I think it still needs some restructuring and rewriting to really be coherent and final, but I enjoyed it a lot. The pit and crew and cast and design team all worked incredibly hard. This must have been a marathon for the performers! I have a lot more thoughts that are still developing, which I also like. I want to leave a theater and continuing thinking about the show. I’m excited to see how this musical reckoning might change over time.

[testifytime]

do everything for me, you already know about me BUT: im described as "chaotic faggot" by my friends, i have no filter, I can switch from being outgoing to really nervous in a second, i like drawing, dice, and divinitation. i hoard candles and incense, and i like paintball.

- A Pokemon team/type theme (+ fun facts abt your team!)

Your team is full of Poison types! They’re used the most often for rascly lil fucker trainers, so, it fits :3c

Your signature Pokemon is Toxtricity, though your team also consists of Whirlipede, Haunter, Gloom, Toxicroak, and Crobat!

Fun facts!

Your Toxtricity was sent to you by your juggabro. In his words, it’s a “cool Pokemon to fit your aesthetic but keep you on track”. It can be pretty overprotective, but sometimes it turns a blind eye to the more chaotic things you do. 

Your Whirlipede is just an entire baby. Even though it’s got toxic spikes on its shell that COULD kill you, it’s pretty much a lapbug. You just have to try and remind it to be careful before it goes in for snuggles. 

Your Haunter and Gloom actually kind of hate each other! Having them out at the same time often ends up with you either getting paralysed or put to sleep. They’re super sweet when they’re apart, though, and both LOVE scritches. 

Toxicroak used to be really loveydovey when it was a Croagunk, but now it acts like it’s too cool for school. It’s really not. If you pay more attention to another Pokemon it WILL jab you in the stomach. And then it’ll pretend like it totally wasn’t even because it was jealous. 

Your Crobat is the sweetest of the bunch!! It likes to collect (read: steal) things for you that it thinks you’ll like, and is almost always attached to your back out of its Pokeball. Sometimes without you wanting it to be. It can be a bit of a pain, sometimes. 

- Bloodcaste/lusus/chumhandle as if you were a Homestuck troll (+lore)

You’re a purpleblood with a seaserpent lusus! Your chumhandle is acquiredTalisman. 

You live with your lusus in a hive that boarders where the jungle forest ends and the beach begins. It’s a pretty popular spot for violetbloods, admittedly, but it’s also the only place your giantass Seaserpentdad can actually fit; the mouth of the river is deep and leads directly out into the ocean, where he spends most of his time. The hive itself is pretty cluttered - because man, you suck at keeping shit tidy - and filled to the brim with your dice collections, your religious paraphenalia, and all the random junk you’ve stolen (of which there is a lot). 

You have a few interests, of which the main is your religion. You’re a diviner of sorts, oddly sought out by your fellow purplebloods to tell them what their purpose is in life as stated by the Great Mirthful Messiahs. You’re not entirely sure that they really do speak through you, but your readings are scary-accurate, and not only does it mean that you’ve made more friends, but you’ve made a fuck tonne of money, too. You’re more fond of practicing with your friends, or on your own, sneaking what you can beneath your lusus’ snout; so far, he hasn’t seemed to question the candle collection you have, or the alter with the Faygo bottlecaps, or the cards, or pendulum made from a grubbone you got from one of your customers. Actually, he hasn’t noticed much of anything? You’re hesitant to go TOO far, but you do like pushing at what you can get away with every now and then. 

On top of that, you love to draw - mostly as a form of worship, but also just for fun with your juggabros. You send drawings back and forth, even though you’ve never been able to meet them, and it’s pretty fun! You hope one day that you can get them to your favourite hangout spot to cause a little chaos - which usually means trashing the violetbloods’ rich boy shit and stealing things you know they’re too proud to tattle about. You don’t... always remember doing those things? But you definitely remember the amount of violetbloods that give you nasty glares whenever you walk past. It’s okay, though. You have a rifle and you’re not afraid to use it.

Beyond that, though, you’re... kind of lonely. There’s nobody that you really consider a friend around you, and when your friends do visit you, it’s only every few months. Having all those customers and the nasty violetbloods hanging around is great, sure, but... sometimes you wish you could move your hive closer inland to be near your juggabros. You could, you guess. But then where would your lusus go?

Your lusus is kind of ridiculously huge. You really couldn’t miss him even on the horizon, his giant form standing stark against the two moons. Not that he spends a whole lot of time above the water, though. He pretty much only comes back to get fed and throw a fit if he sees any of your purpleblood customers hanging around. 

- Symbol/guardian/chumhandle as if you were a Homestuck kid (+lore)

Your symbol is a and your guardian is your big bro! Your chumhandle is augmentedTemptation.

You and your older bro kick it in a sweet lil bottom-floor apartment. It’s kinda dingy, kinda shitty, but it’s the best he can afford and you’re not really one to complain when you know how hard he works just to keep the leaky roof over your head. It’s got everything you want out of a home, anyway; separate bedrooms, tiny bathroom, sweet hangout pad that doubles as a kitchen (which you’ve got a curtain draped over so that it looks like they’re two rooms) - it’s pretty neat. It’s also got a fire escape out the back and easy access to the lobby doors that’re easy to pick, so you figure it’s kinda home. 

You absolutely fucking love to play paintball. You’ve got a painball gun that you maybe stole from the store once, and a couple pellets you’ve been buying for cheap online whenever you have the money. You don’t... actually have anyone to play with, but hey, cop cars make a great target. It feeds into your general need for chaos, which isn’t limited to - but has involved - petty theft, breaking into cars, and spray painting defametory phrases against racists and homophobes on billboards. You’ve never actually been caught. Okay, you got caught once, but you’re really good at crying. You’re pretty sure your bro doesn’t know about that.

You like to practice witchy shit in your spare time. You’ve got altars set up for your patrons, and a candle collection that you really don’t know that you’re ever gonna burn through. Plus, incense! Your bro kind of hates the smell, but you just crack open a window and it’s like he doesn’t even know. You’ve also got a pretty fair collection of crystals, but that’s more because people just keep giving them to you? It’s wild what they’ve thought were just normal rocks, and you’re pretty sure some of your collection could sell for a pretty buck, but they make way better offerings. 

Of course, you also love to talk to your friends online. You have a bunch! You’re pretty easy to get on with, you think, so you end up just kinda collecting people into one giant group of friends that never stops growing. You share art, play games, chat, make them worried sick when you do dumb shit - it’s great. 

Sometimes at dusk you like to go up to the roof of the apartment block you and your bro live in and stand right on the edge. It’s so high up you can see around for miles, and everything below you looks like a speck of dust beneath your feet. The stars twinkle above you in the darkening sky, just barely visible, and you think, every now and then, that you are very, very small. 

- A FNAF animatronic design and name

You’re a broken down animatronic, probably one of the earliest of your kind. Maybe even a prototype? Nobody really remembers anymore. You’ve just kind of always been there, at the back of the store, half a body and more coherent than people expect you to be, but never fully quite there. Your head lulls back and forth, your arms moving sluggishly, and in order to get around, you drag yourself across the floor.

You can speak, but not by much. It’s glitchy and switched out more often than not, absolutely terrifying to hear in the dark - but you’re a pretty sweet soul, all things considered. The few who’ve been brave enough to slip back behind the old, abandoned doors, past the cobwebs and through the narrow halls, who haven’t run at the first sight of you, tell tales of a sweet carcass who seemed more scared of being found than anything else. 

There are a couple kids who routinely come back to visit you. They like to give you things they’ve found outside the pizzaria, mostly coins and old dice and things that smell sweet to try and cover up how musty you are. 

You’ve never hurt a soul the entire time you’ve been there, but your reputation has been built on the whispers of kids who’ve seen the rotting maw of your muzzle, the glint of your endoskeleton and the shine of your eyes in the dark. They call you Thing - as if giving you a name will make you come to life. 

The ones that know you better call you Peppi. 

- A BNHA Quirk and hero title

Your Quirk is Corroding Touch. Despite its name, and how terrifying it sounds, your quirk is pretty simple! Anything you touch wastes away, and you can control how far along its own personal timeline it decays through. For instance, you could touch a flower and have it start wilting, and stop there on its timeline - or you could have it waste away to a point that it decays completely and turns to mush. 

The drawback here is that what you’re doing is essentially speeding up a natural process. Things that don’t waste away without outside forces - such as rocks through erosion - won’t be affected by your quirk. Things that live very long lives before decaying - such as turtles - will take up a lot more of your time to speed them through their natural timeline. Finally, you can’t reverse what you’ve done. Once you’ve sped it through its natural timeline, there’s no going back; another quirk will have to undo the effects.

Of course, it also means that if you plant an oak seed, instead of waiting hundreds of years for it to grow into an oak tree, you can just use your quirk to speed up the process. So it’s a good-bad thing!

Your hero title is the Wasteful Hero: Corrosion. You’re a sort of last-resort hero, and you don’t like being in the limelight. Your quirk is dangerous if not handled correctly, so you work on a team with another hero who has a counter-effective quirk to yours (essentially Hyper Growth!). A lot of civillians are scared of you, but that’s okay. You know that what you do is important, and that your ranking doesn’t matter so long as you’re saving lives.

You are a little bitter, though, that your partner is several ranks ahead of you.

[alydiarackham]

(Cover by me)

The Web of Tenebrae: The Chronicle of KL-62 by Alydia Rackham

Ch-1

4122 a.d.

“Morning, Archie.”

“Is that what you call it? Looks like night to me.”

“Ah, very funny.”

“How can I help you, Doc?”

“Making rounds, checking inventory.” The short, white-clad young doctor tapped his transparent, hand-held screen to refresh it, then glanced around the white, circular room. As he entered, he gave a brief smile to the handsome, sandy-haired Monitoring Officer who sat behind the half-circle desk in the center. He stopped in front of the broad, plexiglass window of the single, rectangular cell.

“So, this is the only corpus we’re transporting this time,” the doctor frowned at his screen.

               “Yup.” Archie sat back in his chair and folded his arms.

               “Born Monday, January 12th, 4092, now thirty years old, designated KL-62.” The doctor’s head came up. “Kensington Laboratories? I didn’t know there were any specimens left from Kensington Labs!”

               “He’s the last one,” Archie nodded toward the cell, dusting off the sleeve of his blue uniform.

“Wow, incredible,” the doctor breathed, quickly scanning the stats. “So…This is the Anglo-Saxon, specifically-British model of the KL group, conditioned to speak Standard Pronunciation English…White skin, dark brown hair…Six feet, three inches tall, weighing 90.719 kilograms. Is that last bit accurate, Archie?”

“Yeah, according to his weigh-in this morning.”

“And it has…turquoise eyes?” The doctor gave Archie a funny look. “What on earth for?”

Archie shrugged.

“Just to see if it would take. You should have a look—Dr. Zephon’s pretty proud of himself. KL-62 is the only one of his birth group to have that color eyes.”

“Dr. Zephon did this one?” the young doctor gasped, staring at the Monitoring Officer. Archie grinned crookedly.

“Yep. Everybody says KL-62’s the masterpiece.”

“Wow,” the doctor gasped. He took a step forward. “So…So, if Zephon did this one, it must excel in every way, not just physically.”

“Mhm,” Archie nodded. “Limited Edition. He’s the complete package.”

“So…” the doctor rapidly tapped the edge of his screen. “It has no need to shave face or body…and it would demonstrate the height of mental perfection as well as physical exceptionalism.”

“Theoretically,” Archie shrugged. “He doesn’t talk much.”

“What, haven’t you looked at the results of his learning regimes?” the doctor frowned. Archie snorted.

“Yeah—if I’m trying to put myself to sleep.”

“Can you pull them up so I can see?”

“Doctor, he’s right there,” Archie gestured. “Why don’t you just ask him a couple questions—you’ll find out faster.”

Clearing his throat, the doctor stepped closer to the plexiglass of the cell, then stopped.

“You. Corpus KL-62. Rise and stand at attention.”

Inside the white cell, upon a slab that served as a bed, a man sat elegantly at rest, his back against the wall, like a panther in the shade. He wore a black, form-fitting, full-length jumpsuit and boots. The bare skin of his face, neck, and long hands was utterly white. His dark hair had been combed neatly back. He had carven facial features like those of a prince—high cheekbones, heavy brow, and an eloquent, purpose-set mouth.

His body lay motionless for a moment while the doctor’s request hung in the air. Then, like liquid obsidian, he rose slowly to his feet, and straightened to his full, towering height.

Lean and muscular, he stepped soundlessly toward the plexiglass, settled his feet…

And lifted his stunning eyes to the doctor’s.

“Good lord,” the doctor breathed. “It’s magnificent.”

“See why Dr. Zephon’s proud?” Archie gloated.

KL-62’s vivid gaze flicked over to Archie for an instant before re-fixing upon the doctor.

“Why is it clothed?” the doctor wondered, tipping his head. “It’s impossible to see if any scarring has taken place.”

“Um, well, it’s cold in space, Doc, in case you haven’t noticed,” Archie shot back. “And his normal temp is 105 degrees Fahrenheit. You want him to get pneumonia?”

“Ha. As if such a powerful body could contract pneumonia,” the doctor laughed, unable to pull his eyes from the specimen. “Well…all right, then. Let’s see what we’re dealing with, here.”

KL-62’s eyes narrowed, like slits of lightning.

“KL-62,” the doctor straightened up, but he was still a foot and a half shorter than the silent, forbidding presence on the other side of the plexiglass. “Describe your daily routine at Kensington Laboratories.”

KL-62 glanced at Archie again, then leveled his gaze upon the doctor.

“At five a.m., the lights in my cell come on. I rise, and I make my bed,” KL-62

began. His voice a deep, even rumble of thunder—his inflection that of Eton, Cambridge, and Buckingham Palace. He took a quiet breath. “If they have given me clothes, I put them on. Several puzzles then appear on my screen. I must solve them all before I am allowed food.”

               The doctor swallowed, feeling unsettled chills run through him—but he suddenly couldn’t move, even to interrupt.

“At six a.m., food arrives on a table,” KL-62 went on. “The floor opens and the table rises up. I sit on my bed, and I eat. I then clean my teeth. At seven a.m., Archibald Marks arrives and greets me and sits outside my cell, in a very similar position as he occupies today.” Without shifting his gaze from the doctor, KL-62 nodded at Archie. “At half past seven a.m., Dr. Raddit arrives and escorts me down the hall to Lab A for my daily scans and weigh-in. At eight a.m., Dr. Zephon arrives at Lab A and discusses my results with Dr. Raddit, and they set a food and exercise regimen for the day. From nine a.m. to eleven-thirty a.m., I am put through physical drills in the gymnasium. From half past eleven to noon, the scientists run scans and assessments of my entire body to monitor all my functions in Lab B. At noon, I am escorted back to my cell where I shower and, if they are provided, I put on new clothes. I must then solve more puzzles to achieve the midday meal.” KL-62 lifted his chin, his tone never changing. “From one p.m. to four p.m., I may choose whatever I wish to stimulate my mind, or pass the time. I may rest, or I may solve puzzles and study on my screen.  At four o’clock, I am brought by Dr. Raddit to Lab B again for more scans. Dr. Zephon consults. They decide when I should sleep, and the temperature in my cell. My reflexes are also tested. At six o’clock, I return to my cell to answer questions presented to me on the screen. I am then afforded my evening meal. Marks then shuts off the lights out by his console, and leaves for the night. At nine p.m., the lights in my cell are extinguished, and I am expected to sleep.” His voice hardened further. “This routine is not interrupted.”

               “And…” the doctor started—but his voice shook. He cleared his throat and began again. “And, how has this routine deviated since you have been on board the Charon?”

               KL-62 blinked once.

               “Only in that my weigh-in takes place in room twenty-six on Deck C, and my scans take place in section fifty-six-E on Deck D in lab twenty,” he replied flatly. “And I am afforded no gymnasium.”

               “And,” the doctor started again, glancing down at his screen again. “This Doctor Ethan Edwards…Who is he?” He looked to Archie. “Is he on board? I’ve never met him.”

               “No, I don’t think he’s on board, and I’ve never seen him,” Archie answered. “He uploads everything remotely.”

               “Hm,” the doctor mused. “So what is it that this…Dr. Edwards has inserted recently into your schedule? It’s labeled…‘Reading Tutorial’?”

               KL-62 gave a brief sigh and glanced off somewhere else.

               “I did not mention it because it is part of the challenges with which the screen presents me every evening,” he answered, as if bored. “Dr. Edwards is my intelligence monitor. He has recently inserted a new stimulant into my learning regime. He calls it a ‘story.’ He introduced it as an experiment to determine my reading comprehension, my ability to take in a sequence of events and then relay those events in a coherent manner to prove that I had understood.”

               “Story?” the doctor repeated, glancing at Archie.

Archie only shrugged.

The doctor turned back to KL-62.

“What kinds of stories?”

KL-62 looked at him again. Cold as stone.

“Human actions and reactions,” he answered.

“Of what nature?” the doctor pressed.

KL-62 did not answer.

Instead, he tilted his head to the side, and narrowed his brilliant, penetrating eyes again.

“Who are you, Doctor?”

The doctor blinked.

“I am Doctor Ninsel.”

“And what is your jurisdiction?”

The doctor took half a step back.

“I…I am the ship’s doctor here aboard the Charon.”

KL-62 took half a step forward.

“Does your authority supersede that of Dr. Zephon, Dr. Edwards, Dr. Raddit or even my caretaker, Archibald Marks?”

“I…I don’t—”

KL-62’s eyes flashed.

“Are you in a position to override their orders, or alter my regime in any way?”

“No,” the doctor replied, suddenly feeling faint.

“Then what, Doctor Ninsel,” KL-62 stepped all the way up to the glass, lowering his voice so that it vibrated the pane. “…are you doing here?”

Dr. Ninsel gulped.

Archie broke out laughing. The sound rang through the sterile space.

Dr. Ninsel spun to face him, his head heating up.

“There you have it, Doc,” Archie grinned, gesturing to KL-62. “Find out what you needed to know?”

“I’ve never been questioned by a corpus before,” Dr. Ninsel said hotly, shutting off his screen. Archie smiled crookedly.

“No, I imagine you haven’t.”

“I’m done here,” Dr. Ninsel shot a glare at KL-62. “See you at lunch, Archie.” And with that, he turned and swept through the clear sliding doors. They hissed shut behind him.

KL-62’s unwavering gaze followed him until the sound of his footsteps had died.

                7:00

               KL-62 stared ahead of him at the screen on his wall as he sat on his bed. Its red, digital clock had just clicked over from 6:59. The small, rectangular table, covered in his empty dinner dishes, gave a mechanical groan…

               A panel opened up in the floor, and the table lowered down through it. The panel shut with a hiss and a snap.

               KL-62 rose, crossed the smooth floor to the back corner, turned on the sink and methodically brushed his teeth, washed his face, and then dried with a small hand towel.

               The energy-hum outside his cell changed—the lights out there switched off. He finished drying his hands, then dropped the towel down through the little chute in the wall. He faced the plexiglass again, then strode toward it and waited, his hands clasped behind his back.

               Archibald Marks, illuminated now only by the reserve lights at his desk, stretched, and got up from his desk chair, grabbed his jacket and shrugged into it. Then, he stepped into the square halo of light in front of KL-62’s cell.

               “Well,” Archibald Marks sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Another long day, huh?”

               KL-62 didn’t answer, but with focused and captured attention, he watched Archibald Marks’ face, and the casual assessment in his warm brown eyes that he gave KL-62 in return.    

               “How are you feeling?” Archibald Marks asked, looking up at him.

               “Warmer, now that I am wearing these clothes,” KL-62 replied, quietly.

               “Yeah, you’re welcome,” Archibald Marks waved it off. “I’ve always thought it was ridiculous to let you live naked, anyway.”

               KL-62 didn’t answer, but he waited. Archibald Marks took a breath.

               “Change in engine noise wake you up at night?”

               “Yes,” KL-62 said. “At midnight and at three a.m.”

               “Ugh, me too,” Archibald Marks ran his hand through his hair again. “I swear, I hate space-travel. Can’t tell if it’s night or day, never get to see the sun…” He stopped, then glanced up at KL-62, his smile fading. “Well.” He cleared his throat. “Yeah. I’ll see you in the morning, Kell. Goodnight.” He started off.

               KL-62 glanced down, brow furrowed.

               Archibald Marks stopped, faced him, then looked around and chuckled.

               “Kell, we’ve been over this.”

               KL-62 slowly lifted his chin.

               “Goodnight…Archibald Marks.”

               “You know you can call me Archie when there aren’t any lab coats around.”

               KL-62 slightly lifted one eyebrow, watching him again.

               Archibald Marks gestured out to his sides.

               “C’mon, Kell, how long have I been taking care of you?”

               “Five years, six months, and three weeks,” KL-62 answered.

               “See? We’re old friends. You’re allowed to call me Archie.”

               KL-62 didn’t move.

               “Is that your official designation, now?” he asked quietly.

               Archibald Marks smiled crookedly again.

               “It is for you.”

               KL-62 took a low breath.

               “Goodnight…Archie.”

               “Goodnight, Kell,” Archie waved at him, turned, put his hands in his pockets, and strode through the sliding doors.

               KL-62 watched him go, listening to his footsteps fade.

Then, he turned, stepped back toward his screen, and tapped the center of it.

               “Begin evening Reading Tutorial,” KL-62 ordered.

               “Evening Reading Tutorial, authorized by…click-click-click…Doctor Ethan Edwards,” the female-sounding computer intoned. The screen blinked, the red digital clock disappeared, and a white screen replaced it.

               KL-62 frowned. This was different. In the past weeks, the words had been arranged in thick paragraphs that he had scrolled through with a flick of his finger. Now, they were arranged in short, four-lined groups that appeared to have some sort of rhythmic order to them.

               Eliminating the rest of his cell from his attention, he focused down, and read each word slowly.

 The Ocean

by Nathaniel Hawthorne

 The Ocean has its silent caves,

Deep, quiet, and alone;

Though there be fury on the waves,

Beneath them there is none.

 The awful spirits of the deep

Hold their communion there;

And there are those for whom we weep,

The young, the bright, the fair.

 Calmly the wearied seamen rest

Beneath their own blue sea.

The ocean solitudes are blest,

For there is purity.

 The earth has guilt, the earth has care,

Unquiet are its graves;

But peaceful sleep is ever there,

Beneath the dark blue waves.

 KL-62 had gone still down to his marrow.

He reached the last words, their mysterious, misty undertones sinking through him. He lifted his eyes, and began at the top.

He read through it again. Shadows played across his mind.

“This information is vague,” he finally stated to the computer. “Why is it arranged in this manner?”

“It is a poem,” the computer answered. He frowned.

“What is a poem?”

“A piece of artistic writing that exhibits particular structural elements such as rhyme, meter, and stanza arrangements; it is nearly always rhythmic, and usually metaphorical.”

He frowned.

“What is the definition of ‘metaphorical’?”

“A form of figurative language, often pertaining to and evoking emotion.”

KL-62 paused. Carefully, he read this “poem” one more time.

               When he spoke again, he kept his voice quiet.

               “And…what is Ocean?”

               “A very large expanse of water separating land-masses—often salt water. It is also called the Sea.” the computer replied.

               “And…how deep is the sea?” he murmured.

               “The deepest point in Earth’s sea is the Mariana Trench, specifically a portion known as the Challenger Deep,” the computer answered. “It is 36,070 feet, or 10,994 meters, below seca level.”

               KL-62’s mind raced through a series of theoretical comparisons—but even as the numbers flashed through his thoughts, incalculable darkness overtook them, and something seemed to press upon the center of his chest…

               “Does any light penetrate to that depth?” he whispered.

               “Negative.”  

               KL-62 paused, scanning the lines over again.

               “Define ‘seamen.’”

               The computer clicked a couple times, then replied.

               “Centuries ago, men traveled upon the large bodies water on Earth in floating ships made of wood or steel, for purposes of commerce and exploration. These men were called ‘seamen’ or ‘sailors.’ This manner of travel was dangerous, and often, storms and accidents upon the seas would cause these ships to break or capsize, and the men aboard would drown. The poet refers to those who died in this manner.”

               A cold, alien sensation traveled down KL-62’s back and arms.

               “So sleep…in this context…is a metaphor for death.”

               “Affirmative.”

               KL-62 barely breathed.

               “Who oversaw these men?” he asked. “What scientists directed their actions?”

               “Many men were sent to sea against their will,” the computer answered. “But many others chose to board the ships, and even command their own.”

               KL-62 frowned.

               “They…chose?”

               “Yes.”

               KL-62 said nothing for a long moment, just staring at the black and white poem.  

               “But…” he began slowly. “If they could choose to live instead...What would cause these men to risk death?”

               Click, click, click.

               “The belief that something beyond their birth environment could be found in other lands, and could enrich their lives,” said the computer. “And many of these men sought freedom from tyranny.”

               KL-62 blinked.

               “Define tyranny.”

               “A government in which absolute power is vested in a single man or small group, and this government dictates every movement of its populace, including its diet, schooling, recreation, clothing, and opinion.”

               KL-62 did not move.

               For an instant his eyes flashed back and forth with rapid thought, then fixed upon the computer screen.

               “Define ‘freedom.’”

               “The absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action. Liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another.”

               KL-62 was silent for several minutes. He closed his hands, then flexed them open again. Then, keeping his voice down, he asked:

               “Define ‘slavery.’”

               The engine noise shifted.

               KL-62 glanced up.

               The next second, the lights in his cell dimmed to half-power, and the poem disappeared from the screen.

               “KL-62, you are now required to sleep.”

               “Define ‘slavery,’” he repeated.

               “You are not authorized to continue this program,” it said. “You are required to sleep.”

               And the screen turned off.

               The lights dimmed further, as if in threat.

               KL-62 stood where he was.

               Then, all at once, the lights went out.

               And he was plunged into absolute darkness.

               Though it made no difference, he shut his eyes—a frown knotting his brow.

               “10,994 meters…” he whispered. “Define ‘slavery’…”

               But nothing answered him, save the distant thrum of the engines, and the black hollow of space.

  Ch-2

                 A sound.

               A difference. But not in engine noise.

               KL-62 opened his eyes.

               A small light glowed behind his head, coming from the direction of the plexiglass wall.

               He slowly sat up, and turned to face it.

               Archibald Marks stood outside, holding a small lamp in his left hand that glowed with a cold, white light. He wore his uniform, his jacket collar crooked. The lamp cast his face in stark light and shadow—his head lowered, his gaze pinning KL-62 where he sat.

               KL-62 glanced rapidly past Archibald Marks, but the room beyond was dark. He frowned.

               “What is it?” he asked. “Night tests?”

               Archibald Marks shook his head once.

               “No. I have to tell you something.”

               KL-62 stayed still, his eyes narrowing.

“So, this is unscheduled.”

Archibald Marks shifted his weight, then beckoned impatiently to him.

               “Come here. I’ve put the security cameras on a dark loop, but I don’t want anyone to hear us.”

               KL-62 hesitated.

               But Archibald Marks’ eyebrows drew together, and he looked steadily at him.

               “Please, Kell,” he whispered. “This is important.”

               KL-62 stood up, and stepped soundlessly toward the glass, and gazed down at Archibald Marks, and the odd lamp he held. Watching his face.

               “I don’t have much time,” Archibald Marks glanced toward the door. “So I’ll make this quick.” He looked back up at KL-62. “Do you know where this ship is headed?”

               “Yes. The Expiscor Science Station, in the fifth quadrant,” KL-62 replied.

               “Do you know why?” Archibald Marks pressed.

               “No one has told me specifically,” KL-62 said. “But the logical assumption would be that my testing will continue there, rather than on Earth.”

               “Yeah, that’s the logical assumption,” Archibald Marks nodded. “But since it’s an assumption, it lacks some pretty vital details.”

               KL-62’s eyes narrowed again.

               Archibald Marks glanced briefly at the door again, then lowered his voice further.

               “Do you ever wonder why you were separated from your birth group into male and female, and then put in a block all by yourself? Do you ever wonder what happened to the others?”

Read this book: https://www.amazon.com/Web-Tenebrae-Book-Chronicle-KL-62-ebook/dp/B078PJYK52/ref=sr_1_1?crid=30VNBWHLBB59T&keywords=web+of+tenebrae+alydia+rackham&qid=1572905834&s=digital-text&sprefix=web+of+tenebrae+%2Cdigital-text%2C218&sr=1-1

[oswednesday]

miss oleana! the plot rehaul for her is obvi making it look like shes connected or the real Big Bad, like oh she writes all his speeches and is like on your ass all the time and hes just a himbo figure head, when you beat early low level grunts theyll be like dont tell the boss i lost, she'd be soo mad! with midtiers ones being like please dont tell miss o-----!!! and high tier ones actually name dropping like miss oleana wont like this

(Did You Know her name comes from olive and not oleander? like thats a clever bit of misdirect for the english audience only unless the characters used in olive can also double as a poison pun!)

(this pkmn is like macro cosmos aesthetic/rose’s aesthetic and a shiny! he has tons cause hes mega rich duh)

(ability: contrary, moves:wring out, giga drain, dragon tail, leaf storm)

(dude the canon lore for her is wild shes the vice president AND the invented of the bands?? i guess she is in a lab coat, i think it be kind of suspicious to have  secretary also be a vice president so im going to drop that aspect of it? or maybe not, i mean, im also softening his overt tises to it, so maybe she can be straight up the president of macro cosmos with his intention for her to take the fall as Just the hapless owner, shes like the league secretary,ill decide fully for that later i do like her at the forefront of the science end tho thats fun! )

(ability: queenly majesty, moves: fell stinger, defend order, heal order, attack order)

(her actual pkmn theme is bugs!)

(ability: shell armor, moves: twineedle, quick guard, x-scissor, megahorn)

(her pkmn kind of tell the story of Her)

(i want to treat the standard form as the shiny! its like rose aesthetic)

(ability: telepathy (with an including avoiding physical attacks in single, real niche use abilities are so -_- sometimes and this makes the ability feel more formidable but gets weaker when theres More minds like more mental chatter?) moves: magic coat, infestation, protect, future sight)

(she dynamaxs this! and uses g-max gravitas of course)

(in this nuzlocke rose has her take the whole blame for like the leon thing and fires her rather public like, so shes devastated enough to help you later)

(ability: aftermath, moves: strange steam, toxic spikes, toxic, self-destruct)

(but cause shes fired like that, she isnt arrested when everything gets Known and she’s all like,,,wow,,,he saved me,,,,,)

(ability: corrosion, cross poison, gunk shot, belch, explosion)

(incidently she makes this one big as well and uses g max malodor and I CANOT BELEVIE HOW SMALL THEY MADE ITS MODEL FFDGDFDF??? like fast ignoring that, her double use completely drains the power of the tower)

(the air terrain is high altitude! fire attacks do less damage, ice attacks are boost, flying type pkmn have their speed increased while ground will have their speed decreased, or something like that!)

-----

battle 2 

(im imagining some kinda Post Game plot where you can challenge her again, but its like, chill, with an updated outfit so its more obvi shes wearing a labcoat and her colorscheme is like blue and green! maybe there’s a good ending where she works with prof magnolia and maybe opal as prof poplar as a consultant and where hop interns? finding a non-dooms day event solution to the energy problem? maybe figure away to use pkmn energy in a way thats not like super fucked up, perhaps?)

(ability: tinted lens, moves: whirl wind, poison powder, hurricane, draining kiss)

(i almost want to give it rage powder cause thats what her role is in the game a bit, if i do ill swap out draining kiss and have you fight a double with prof in training hop?)

(anyway im imaging it like, lets test out this renewable clean energy and she supersizes her butterfree!)

(ability: telepathy, moves: helping hand, ally switch,after you, reflect)

(see! shes nice now! also this pkmn is kinda build for co-op ally helping which is interesting for a mad scientist themed bug?)

(ability: battery, moves: sticky web, vise grip, charge, wild charge)

(this battle is probs taking place outside somewhere? its just as likely to think that prof m has a testing field in her labs basement or smthing)

or

(ability: contrary, moves (standard); petal blizzard, lazer focus, dual chop, leaf blade)

(moves (shiny): aromatherapy, solar blade, defog, safeguard)

(ooo sinister implications! i have an idea in Mind to give it branching endings with like interactivity? this sharing stuff im doing rn might be oversharing)

(type: fighting/bug)

(them not being bug without any like lore about them pretending to be a bug in while makes this feel like You Know Of Mario? What If!! Poke mon! and i hate that)

(ability: friend guard, moves(shiny): first impressions, heal order, no retreat, megahorn)

(ability: mold breaker, moves (standard): first impressions, attack order, no retreat, megahorn)

(this is kinda difficult cause most of her in game personality is wrapped up in working for rose, so i hope this gets across’d that shes her own person, but fell into stuff)

(if the last two were shiny an abra will be here)

(ability: unburden, moves: protect, light screen, trick room,embargo)

(if the last two were standard itll be a kadabra)

(ability: neuroforce, moves: miracle eye, psycho shift, telekinesis, future sight)

(i always felt they were like fckd up insects with the mammially stuff meant to look like withered skeletal flesh guts caccon rather than anything 1:1 animal like alakazam lacks a tail cause these two spent two gens removing them from their body, gen1 had like monster design coherency that newer gens sometimes lack and the coherency was All about those ears)

(i tried not to grab anything from mythos/plot pkmn from other gens but that kinda drives the altering pkmn for gains?)

[identityexcavationstation]

Week 1 (again... it’s a new semester, folks): Back to Yearbooks, Baby!

So I talked a little bit about my thoughts vis a vis December Review in my last post and I discussed my plans to move forward (check out my Week ? post for the deets). Honestly, I’ve been so scared to think that my entire first semester of IP was a total waste of time that I haven’t even looked at my written feedback from my review yet. I know that once I feel more confident in what I’m making now, the icky feelings will dissipate and I can look at the feedback I’ve been given. For now, it’s just too much and thinking about it fills me with an overwhelming sense of shame and embarrassment. Love that for me. 

I do have things to write about, though! Last week I started writing some of the “alter ego” narrative I’m planning on using in my book. I have a lot more to write, but what I have so far feels coherent and interesting and I think I’m developing a good narrative voice for it. I’m planning on finishing that up by next week and developing a really solid outline for the whole book so I can get to the meat of the story: the visual material!

In that vein, I’ve decided that I’d like to base the dimensions/layout/grid structure of my graphic novel on that of a yearbook. I worked with yearbooks a ton at the beginning of last semester and I’ve missed that over the past couple of months, so I’m so excited to be studying them again! I could wax poetic on the connection between yearbooks and performative adolescent identity, but I’m pretty sure I’m the only person interested in all of that at this point, so I’ll just summarize it by quoting my descriptive outline (which I had a lot of fun writing, btw!):

If our identities are a performance, always in flux, then the time-specific documentation of that performance is our only tangible way of constructing a past version of ourselves to present to others.

Think scrapbooks, journals, sketchbooks, yearbooks (and yearbook signatures): a curated echo of our past “performance.”

Yearbooks are an amalgam of intense experiences shared by hundreds or thousands of teenagers, boiled down into a singular, cheery recap each year. Just like a social media profile, this often feels “off,” a false representation of true human experience. 

While my book won’t contain the same content as a yearbook, I aim to co-opt yearbook aesthetics like massive grids of photographs, lists, and “spotlight” pages to make the connection. On Tuesday I was able to go back to my old high school and peruse their yearbook archive, and I found some great inspiration (as well as some really ugly design... the early aughts was truly a hellscape). Here’s a sampling of some of my favorite layouts and images:

I took a particular liking to the yearbook layouts of the 1970s. Here are some examples from the 1974 Accolade:

And some from the 1975 Accolade, entitled I’d Pick More Daisies:

(Check out how the photo grid shrinks as the yearbook comes to a close... how cool is that?)

The way these two yearbooks, some of the first in the archive to print in partial color, employ consistent minimalist design and punches of color has really influenced how I’m envisioning my book, especially since I want to print it on the riso and experiment with different hues!

So while this next week will be spent primarily in a literary headspace, I’ll be thinking about how my story, as I’ve outlined it, fits into the broader aesthetic context of the yearbook. I’m jazzed!