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alexiososp · 14 days

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Pride by yeolimerent with Readers

I am Alexio Sospranio and you’re listening to the kaisoo fic podcast!

For new listeners, the kaisoo fic podcast is a space where we discuss literature found in the kaisoosphere.

This month we will be looking at one fic for two episodes. First part is today, dated the 12th, second part will be on the 14th. Special kaisoo dates!

Today’s episode is slightly different, the kaisoo fic podcast is joined together with two kaisoo readers! And I am also very delighted to share that on the 14th, we will have the author themselves to share their journey with this month’s fic, give insight to the details of the plot and more, so stay tuned for that, coming out tomorrow’s tomorrow!

I would just like to share with you the sequence in which we will be sharing this episode. It is broken up into 5 parts.

Very first part I will share with you the story behind the episode cover art. Next, is introducing guests plus never before done on the podcast, but an important one for guests, we have a small ice breaker ‘never have i ever’ game.

Fourth segment i will introduce the fic, soon after followed by the experience of our two guest readers on reading it based on the questions i asked on the discord.

So generally about 5 general parts.

Podcast Cover Art

This segment is on the podcast cover art because I would like to express my gratitude to Lyn who I commissioned for this episode’s cover art. Thank you Lyn for opening up commissions and being accommodating to my requests!

The story behind the podcast cover art is a reimagined take on one of the arcs in the fic. This specific scene we have Jongin giving Kyungsoo a bouquet and Kyungsoo looking at shreds of torn blueprints on the floor.

In the podcast cover art, Kyungsoo is wearing his collage outfit. Kyungsoo is looking down on his torn blueprints. This was 8 years ago.

Context for this particular position Kyungsoo is in: Kyungsoo got his work stolen by Soojung. Everyone sided with Soojung because there was no evidence of it being Kyungsoo’s work as he did not consult any advisors of the project. He is dejected, angry, frustrated, resentful because no one believes him. Kyungsoo ends up being all alone, it is as good as his hard work being torn to shreds.

In the podcast cover art, Jongin is wearing a suit as after 8 years, he is a rich, sexy CEO of a company. Jongin has hope in his eyes, he is holding out a bouquet of essentials for architect designers and flowers.

Context for this particular position Jongin is in: Jongin wants to freely show his love to Kyungsoo and make up for all the times it was hard on the both of them. Jongin later in the fic is then honest with Kyungsoo that he did not believe that Kyungsoo stole the work. So Jongin admitting that, is a second chance for kaisoo to truly work on their relationship.

Intro Guests

Introducing the guests. A few episodes ago, I promoted the kaisooists discord community server. When first starting out the server I was happily surprised to find other keen kaisooists tuning into the server. The community server accepts all kaisooists in the spectrum of casual kaisoo enjoyer to chronically deranged person experiencing kaisooism.

To celebrate having 100+ members in the kaisooists discord community server, now slightly more than 120 users, I asked users in the server to submit a comment of about 200 words on what their favourite fic is and why. We had two submissions, one by a regular author on the kaisoo fic podcast show, Haqiyin and a kaisoo reader, Jie. Haqiyin’s favorite fic is I Am Happy When I Am With You by Chesh_cat. But today we will be hosting Jie and Yu. Jie eagerly answered Pride by yeolimerent, and so that is the fic we will be going through for the day.

Introducing a bit on Jie, Jie has been in this fandom since (2013), that's about (11 years). The moment that instilled her faith in kaisoo was when she kept seeing kaisoo as a regular pairing in wattpad fanfics when she was a newbie fan and wanted to find exo fics.

Welcome Jie, we are pleased to have you on this kaisoo fic podcast! Before we begin, do you have any opening comments you would like to make?

Hello everyone! I’m jie and i’m an exo-l from both heart and mind. Been into kaisoo most of my teenage years (until now) and not regretting it at all. And kaisoo did truly change my life and even helped me during my hard times in the past. That's why I treasure them a lot and will pass down to all of my generations that kaisoo is real XD. My journey as a reader started in 2013, as per the introduction, I didn't have knowledge about the famous pairings or otps that the fandom had. But because i was into wattpad, I searched for any exo fanfics I could find and that’s where I found kaisoo. At first, I was thinking about it and then I saw them on twitter and saw lots of fans shipping them, I was convinced they’re real and the hype about them makes sense. After that I started reading lots of kaisoo fanfics I could find on wattpad.

Thank you Jie for sharing! It is very delightful to know that kaisoo helped you during difficult moments in your life. It just goes to show how important kaisoo is to us, how having them as our source of happiness really pulls us out of the darkness of life and gives us the strength to continue living. It sounds really delusional, but if it helps us to continue with life, continue with striving everyday and being hard at work with the things we do, then believing in kaisoo is worth the delulu and crazy.

While preparing for this episode I saw on my timeline, user Yu was rereading Pride and with that I approached them to ask if they would be willing to be part of this episode. Since this episode is an episode talking about pride with people from the discord, I thought it would be appropriate!

So Yu is another kaisooists in the discord server as well. Like Jie, introducing a bit on Yu, Yu has been in this fandom since (2014), that's about (10 years). The kaisoo moment that changed the trajectory of her faith in kaisoo was when kaisoo were (being dramatic on that EXO’s Secret Lotte Night event in 2016, after Kaistal was publicised).

Welcome Yu, we are also pleased to have you on this kaisoo fic podcast! Similar to Jie, do you have any opening comments you would like to make?

Hi everyone! I’m Yu and I’ve been an EXO-L since 2014. Like Jie, I was not really aware of OTPs and ships inside the fandom until I joined a roleplaying community back in 2014. That time, I was just roleplaying Kyungsoo because he’s my bias and my internet friends were shipping me with Kai roleplayers. I got really curious why “they” were being paired together so I researched a bit on them and saw a LOT of their moments. I thought, hmm, they DO have chemistry and they DO look cute together, not knowing that they will literally change the course of my life forever. That’s the time I started watching their moments together in variety shows, behind the scenes clips, and tours. After that, all I was reading on wattpad were kaisoo fan fictions, then I got introduced to AFF, livejournal, and AO3, creating this kaisoo-obsessed monster. Not only do I see Kaisoo as the people I look up to, but I think they’re the biggest reason I am who I am today.

Thank you for sharing and joining us on a short notice! I actually personally have never come across a roleplaying community? Yu, is it like tweet fics but interactive?

Yes, people have the option to roleplay their muse in an in-character way (like as idols) or they can portray their muse in an alternate universe way. People create their roleplaying accounts (at least during my time) using facebook or twitter. From that you can interact with other roleplayers and form friendships within the community too.

omg!! A fun fact is I know the roleplaying community!! . Even until now I’m still doing it as a hobby. It’s actually fun to try making accounts and interact with different roleplayers too. In that community, different idols are like friends and it could be enjoying or traumatizing lmao. I’m also a kyungsoo roleplayer and started roleplaying in 2014.

Ahhh, i see,that is interesting!

I just want to say that the both of you got into kaisoo out of curiosity. Which is very fascinating to me because it just goes to show that kaisoo’s relationship is not blatantly in your face, it is not what… Some people call a government assigned ship or fanservice. They are also not very loud in their interactions in terms of skinship and promoting together… It is a very genuine relationship because on the surface level for really casual fans, it may seem like they have a unique bond where they are more attentive to one another but not too alarming to the casual viewer. But those with sharper and inquisitive eyes may be able to read between the lines.

My point here is that… okay, how young were you when you got into kaisoo?

Jie’s age: 12

Yu’s age: 13

So being at that point in life in the pre/early teens, we may not have caught on so quickly on their special relationship. Then for the both of you being in the wattpad and roleplaying communities, you probably interacted with slightly older fans who are able to identify that there is a bigger, more intimate kind of relationship for kaisoo. This is my assumption, and with the influence of others, it piques your interest to find out more. And when we see it with our own eyes, with rose coloured lenses, without a doubt, we see that kaisoo really really exhibits a sort of more than friends, more than colleagues relationship. And I love that for them. They are also my sense of strength.

Never have i ever (fic/kaisoo related)

Ice breaker time!

Since this is a three person episode, let’s do an ice breaker to slowly get to get to know each other a bit more before diving into the fic of the day.

We will be playing ‘never have i ever’, but make it fic and kaisoo related! So for the questions, we have to guess if the person has, or has never done said thing.

We have questions we want to ask, so mayb Jie can go first?

Jie’s fic qn: Never have I ever read a fluff/romantic fic with no happy ending

Guess Jie’s answer

Yu - Since we're talking about tags, it's actually related to my next question, which is…

Yu’s fic qn: Never have I ever ditched a fic that has a good plot but has no proper tagging of who is the top/bottom

Guess Yu’s answer

Jie - so since we’re in the talks about top and bottom which are quite related to the R18 topic, the next NHIE is sort of related to it. The question is..

Jie’s fic qn: Never have I ever dreamed about the <intense> kaisoo fic scenes

Guess Jie’s answer

Yu - So since we're talking about real life things in related to fics and kaisoo, the next question actually is…

Yu’s fic qn: Never have I ever read intense smut in public and in broad daylight

Guess Yu’s answer

Alexio irl qn: okay so consensus is that the three of us have read a fic in public. My question now issss: Never have I ever skipped an outing with friends/family just to read kaisoo fics

Guess Alexio answer

Real life relation…

Jie’s kaisoo qn: Never have I ever thought about kaisoo being the rumored bxb couple in k-industry by pannchoa (?)

Guess Jie’s answer

Yes, we believe and we pray.

That was fun! Okay now I see the importance of ice breaker because I feel we have more energy now to go through with the episode.

Pride by yeolimerent

Now the purpose of this episode is to commemorate having 100+ users in the kaisooists community discord server. Jie, upon writing out your response, you DMed me on Discord with a screenshot of how you exceeded the server’s character limit of 2000 by double… Now, you really must have a lot to say for this fic to go on for 4000 characters!

For this particular event, i asked server members to submit their write up by sharing with us five points:

Brief summary of the plot, character and premise.

The impact this fic had on you.

What has this fic taught you?

What particular scene was it in the fic that moved you?

Why do you love this fic?

Jie, first question of the episode is: Why did you choose Pride by yeolimerent to share with us in commemoration of the 100 users in the kaisooist’s discord community server?

Pride deserves to be promoted more especially for people who love tropes similar to it. Based on my opinion, as a silent reader most of the time, it needs more recognition because it is written to perfection. I’ve been seeing people’s recommendations promoting some overrated kaisoo fanfic (though they deserve it too and they are overrated for a reason) and I haven’t found one recommending Pride so here I am! Sharing this kind of fic is new to me actually because I’m not a hundred percent fan of tropes like enemies to lovers but surprise! I loved this one and it deserves love from everyone too.

I read this fic only after your recommendation, so thank you for putting this on the discord. Without you, we would not have gone through the fic!

I’m glad to hear that though :>>

I would also like to thank you for participating in the event at that point! The discord means a lot to me, and it is nice to see people engaging in it as well!

but oh! I just remembered something. I think back in 2022, if i am not mistaken Pride was the 3rd most recommended fic when kaisooficrec on twitter did a 30 day challenge in january to celebrate their birth month! (https://kaisooficrec.tumblr.com/post/674974951042891776/kfr-challenge).

But before we dive deeper into the episode, let’s talk about the fic, plot wise and technical aspects:

Pride by yeolimerent is a 300+ thousand-word fic. Very dramatic with tags including: angst; sexual tension; break up/make up; timeskips; miscommunication; mutual pining; enemies to lovers; rags to riches

Warnings: dubious consent; smut (bottom soo); minor character deaths.

The author warns readers that this is not for the faint hearted, and we quote: I just have to warn you that this has so many flaws, characters and story-wise. So if you're not into complicated things, please save yourself some time.

The author warns readers because this is a massive work. Upon reading you see each time you think it gets better, something will freaking give you a whiplash. It is dramatic, it is emotional.

Reading from the author's summary:

The life of being a chaebol son should be easy, except that it's hell. Do Kyungsoo has one goal—to escape and be free from this leash. So when a heartbreak from his first love gave him the reason to finally leave this hellhole for good, he grabbed the chance willingly.

Years later, he's pulled back to the place, the life, and the man he thought he already escaped. What's worse is when everything he had is taken away from him, by the very same man who just used to be his driver… but now surely isn't.

first time vs second time

Now being a three person episode, we’ll take turns going through the fic, our experience reading the fic, what we are learning from the fic, the ways the fic impacted us and we will end with us reading extracts from our favourite parts of the fic.

Since Jie started off answering the first question, maybe Yu, you’d like to take this next one:

While getting ready for this episode, we all recently reread Pride again right? How different was it reading it for the first time versus this recent time you reread it again?

Personally, I felt like reading it the second time around made me look at the plot and the characters in a more in-depth perspective. Of course, the first time I read it emotionally wrecked me for days (XD) that I had to stop myself and pause from reading from time to time to process the events in the fic, and it surely did not change when I reread it again, but this time, I felt like I got to feel each of the characters emotions first-hand too. Like, I understood where Kyungsoo was coming from when he was being prideful and stubborn, and also why was Jongin bad at communicating which is more frustrating!

I see, so for Yu, you were able to immerse yourself in the characters and the meanings behind the things they do. I think usually for these kinds of fics, where it is fast paced. Very action packed, where there is always something happening and you are always kept on your toes. So naturally in your first reading of the fic you would want to know what happens next. So you read as fast as you can, taking breaks when it gets too overwhelming.

Yes, I agree. The first time I read it I never realized the simplest things in the story will make sense in the plot in the next chapters. Rereading it was an enjoyable experience.

Indeed it was an enjoyable experience. And what about Jie, did you have a similar or different experience?

I actually relate to Yu’s response! like the first time i’ve read the pride, some of the scenes are blurred to me and didn’t make sense so I was like ‘why is jongin like this and such’ since i’ve observed that the pov heavily falls into Kyungsoo’s rather than jongin’s. And also well i’m kind of scared of what’s about to happen every time since it’s my first time reading it (it’s my default emotion when i read long fics for the first time). but when i reread it, the plot became more defined in my mind and everything just makes sense! and one thing i’ve also observed is that, the effects of each scene are still the same for me when i reread it. I still have mixed emotions and despite knowing what to happen in the next scene, i’m still not prepared for it ><

The delightful thing of reading it a second time is that we sort of know how the plot unfolds… so we are able to revisit the scenes and slowly read through the details in the beginning of the fic where yeolimerent gives tiny hints of how the plot will develop in the later parts of Pride. Moments like the carelessness of Kyungsoo leaving his blueprint in the room without much thought. As a reader, we also did not give it much thought, but that became one of the most important points of the story that pushed Kyungsoo to be off the grid, and he continues to struggle with that problem until almost the end of the fic. So when we reread it again, we are more aware of the small bits of information yeolimerent gives. That goes to show how detailed a writer yeolimerent is.

That is so true. I really admire yeolimerent as a writer. My twitter mutuals would know how annoying I can be when it comes to this fic because it's always in my head like… Of course there are a lot of fics I love too, but Pride just really stood out because it has all the tropes I like in a fic; exes to lovers, CEO au, rags to rich, angst with happy ending, and slow burn.

I know right!! I actually love how important the small details in yeolimerent’s fic! She’s just so amazing despite knowing some of her fics late. My first fic from her is the smear campaign that i really love so much too!! But for this year, the pride just brought me the roller coaster feeling of emotions and I'm convinced that it will be the top tier fic I have encountered this year.

Omg smear campaign… I first read that one recently during my vacation. Mind you I read Pride BEFORE reading ’smear campaign’ and I was genuinely shit scared because what if yeolimeret decides to make one of them dishonest and to use the other for political gain… but thank kaisoo, that yet again we trust in the love they have for each other that we see kaisoo happy in the fic.

Surprising

Upon reading Pride, were there any thoughts that kept coming up? For one, the thoughts that kept recurring in my head were just… how is it possible for love to continue when both parties have hurt each other so much? How are they still somehow able to gravitate towards one another? It really pains me… this fic with its cruel twists and turns. When I say cruel here, it is not a slander against the author, but rather an acknowledgement of how their writing is very gripping and done wonderfully. The art of knowing when to say what happens, keeping the reader on their toes and sharing with us a beautiful story of how kaisoo’s love prevails yet again. Writing meaningfully so that readers are able to feel for the characters and love them in their imperfections.

Before I reached the ending of the pride where they mend their relationship in new zealand if i’m not mistaken, i was so so mad for like yeah i know kyungsoo is this prideful and have flaws but he didn’t deserve any of what people did to him including jongin (still completely unaware of jongin’s side here) because i know they have something stronger but it’s kind of cruel to have a love like they both have and kyungsoo needed to heal !! and honestly, i was ready to fall into the mode of “all of the forms of love sucks” hahahaha !!

I agree a hundred percent, I too was about to give up on kaisoo having their happy end… A scene that comes to me is the moment in the last few chapters when Jongin is seen on his knees and begging for Kyungsoo to stay. I couldn't help but feel so many emotions. The most glaring thought I have is what a bastard Jongin is. He is definitely not one a 100% but he has a lot of flaws and so does Kyungsoo… but i was just wondering as to how Jongin has really hurt a person who means a lot to him, and this person in turn loves him, why issit when Kyungsoo wants to set boundaries, it is very difficult for Jongin to accept that… The premise is ridiculous to me, but that is a reflection of their choices in the fic, again it is not a slander against the writer, yeolimerent really does a wonderful job and it is evident when you feel so strongly for the characters.

So my question for the both of you, Jie you go first: What surprised you the most in this fic?

Probably, the scene that surprised me was when kyungsoo chose to run away with Seonho. because at first i kinda expected that kyungsoo will probably leave everything with the much pressure and issues happening in his life, but the last thing i expected for kyungsoo to do is him choosing to live somewhere far away with his ex 😭. i don’t know because my first hunch is like Kyungsoo will leave but like, alone but then the author is like ✨surprise!!!✨i have this second thought that maybe jongin will go with him but it’s kind of blurry when jongin and krystal interact in other scene again ughhh.

Oooh that part! I found that scene really heartwarming in a way? I didn't expect that Kyungsoo would be running away with him too, knowing their history. Thank god they did that because I genuinely believe that Seonho, as a character, had a lot of potential, and yeolimerent took great advantage of it in the plot, which I love.

Right?! But i haven’t look deeper into seonho’s character there because i’m getting whiplash from kyungsoo’s feelings TT

I understand Jie’s point on it being surprising! You usually wont find exes spending time with each other… what more traveling and staying together…But interestingly enough it feels like a natural progression to have Seonho travel and stay with Kyungsoo. Yes they were romantically involved, but they are able to put the past behind and be genuine best friends without romantic feelings. And I also agree with Yu that Seonho was the best person Kyungsoo could have ran away with. They already knew and understood each other deeply because of their family backgrounds and I find their relationship to be very endearing… something very nice to read.

Yu, were you surprised at that point too? Or what other moments of the fic made you feel surprised?

When I first read this fic, I was convinced that Jongin had feelings for Kyungsoo the first time they met each other. I also feel kind of skeptical with my hunch since he always seemed like he's siding with Soojung and setting Kyungsoo aside? (Probably because he lacked boundaries huhu) However, I was genuinely surprised and CRUSHED when I found out that Jongin was in LOVE with Kyungsoo during his POV chapters. Jongin LOVED Kyungsoo way more than I imagined and probably more than Kyungsoo could ever love him back. For Jongin, all he did, especially during the 8 years they were apart, will always be FOR Kyungsoo. So, to answer the question, I know that Jongin had the hots for Kyungsoo from the start, but I wasn't aware that he was in DEEP.

I relate to what Yu said at her first statement. Like I was sooo convinced too! But keep getting sidetracked whenever there’s Jongin and Krystal interactions. But you know, i have half thought in my mind that i kinda expected that between kaisoo, one from them will be inlove hahaha my mind is like ‘come on! Someone should be whipped between them coz if i’m not mistaken i read a kaisoo fic and not kaistal or am raging lol’

HAHA, I too would be fustrated if it was a kaistal endgame… Okay so hopping onto that statement, that element of surprise of the fic yu, you mentioned being genuinely surprised and crushed upon finding out that Jongin was deeply in love with Kyungsoo. So how, upon going back to reading the fic for the second time, how did reading it impact you?

Well, rereading this fic already knowing the twist or the surprising part in mind, it made me analyze every interaction they have before leading to that point. I always pay attention to how Jongin will react whenever Kyungsoo does something and I felt frustrated why this man sucks at communicating his feelings and lacks boundaries to the point where Kyungsoo got badly hurt by the woman he was trying to protect. But then again, I realized that they were young and immature. When they reunited again after years of being apart, I actually saw how they both grew and matured, making more rational choices and not giving in to their impulses or defense mechanisms immediately unlike when they were young.

Wahh!! I love hearing yu’s insight regarding the fic ><

Yu, when you mentioned kaisoo upon being apart then reuniting again, how they both grew and matured, i agree with you to a certain extent. I think it is also a common thing with life. In general when we go through something traumatic or difficult, we pull ourselves away from the situation. Which Kyungsoo does.

Kyungsoo is soooo real for running away though like, that makes him a human and not like a true fictional character, if y’all know what i mean. Because it is human nature to run away when something inconvenient happens in our lives. And i do that too, but not like kyungsoo running away in other country, (i don’t have the money for that yet HAHA) to be honest, the scene where kyungsoo’s life was already fucked up (due to his dad) and no one believing him when his project got stolen, it is the maximum peak of pain tbh i’m GLAD he did ran away but i’m not glad that he got dragged back. Life sucks (with personal sentiments haha).

Yes exactly, so he left, but then a cruel twist of fate forces them to meet again. And the almost 10 years apart really has them thinking they have grown out of each other. But very evidently so, within the 8 years, we see the both of them yearning for each other despite being apart even after they hurt each other so much.

I agree! Despite lying to themselves that they only want revenge (in Jongin's case) and they moved on (in Kyungsoo's case), it is undeniable that did not stop thinking about each other for almost a decade they were apart. They are each other's greatest and true love.

Even in life, fate has this thing where it will test you. It will see if you have learnt from your past, learnt from your mistakes and sometimes if we do not actively practice how to train ourselves to be better, when put in the same position as before, that is the test. Will we make the same mistake again? Will we consciously and cautiously make a more informed decision? Will we learn from the past? Or will we make a worse decision?

And I think for Kyungsoo, after the intense shock he got from learning that Jongin is his superior, he slowly eases into the idea. Then he is reminded of his younger days where they were young college students. And because of the reminiscing, he falls into the same head space, the same habits that he had previously…

I think Kyungsoo going back to his toxic ways is a proof that he was not able to properly heal at all and was just repressing everything all this time.

and this time i found it to be worse? It is a very bad coping mechanism where both kaisoo are terrible at communication, so they resort to a very toxic cycle of sex… slowly overtime it does get better, but even when you believe everything is getting better, there comes a bigger whiplash that pushes kaisoo away from each other… i keep finding myself thinking wow, they really cant catch a break… and when they do it is very measured, you can feel the oncoming doom and it feels like a game.

To be honest, if kaisoo has good communication here the pride will be just two shot fic LOL.

Ok that is very true. That tension for conflict will always force the plot to move.

I agree with the toxic cycle they have especially when one of them has a view of sex can be casual too omg. I can remember I had a phase while reading Pride: I was like talking, throwing side comments as if Kyungsoo or Jongin from Pride could hear me. That's similar to when you’re watching a great movie and trying to talk with the main lead HAHAHAAHA. But i sorta think that kaisoo should have like longer periods of healing time before they go back as lovers :<

And for Jie, how did reading Pride the second time impact you?

I'm gonna be honest here because I don’t count myself as a huge fan of heavy angst stories because I know the effect they have on me. Yes yes I kinda expect that i’ll be asked why i decided to read when pride has complete tags. Sometimes, I have this mood where I want to read something beyond my comfort zone (tags like similar to pride, top soo fics and such) and I have that when I decided to save the pride in my bookmarks. My emotions during the first time reading Pride versus rereading it, didn't change at all, despite knowing what to happen anymore. I felt like I absorbed kyungsoo’s emotions and I feel the pain too when everything is not falling to his plans. My mood shifts perfectly depending on the scenes and the feeling of being scared despite already knowing what’s about to happen in the next scenes never left me even reading it in the second time 😭. I’ve always been anxious of intense emotions and it’s like a default emotion for me. The intense scenes just always give me the thrum of a different adrenaline rush every time.

I can relate to the adrenaline rush oh my! It is interesting that we are here today because Jie, you very passionately recommended this fic yet you are not a huge fan of heavy angst. So what are your favorite tropes to read if not heavy angst?

I believe I have a huge imaginative mind, because I love reading a lot of sci-fi and falling into the fantasy category. There’s always angst in every story, I don’t mind it as long as the story has an ending I’m satisfied with. Strangers to lovers is also an interesting trope for me hehe.

Your favorite tropes are almost the total opposite of Pride haha, so why Pride? What made you read this fic?

I’m gonna answer this with a different view of mine, the tags that the Pride have didn’t interest me a lot because as you said, it's the total opposite of what the tropes I love. I think I have taken the risk to read it because I’m actually trying to explore different tropes now compared to before. This fic totally stood out a lot to me this year (from all the fanfic I've read this year) . I pretty much regret not choosing it to read earlier than necessary because it has been sitting in my bookmarks for a year before I read it. And also I want to read something beyond the capabilities of my emotions (this sounds like i’m applying for a job LOL) . But for real, I opted to be more open minded in the tropes that I didn't quite like before and here I am! I loved it but probably it will take some time before I read something heavy like pride hehe.

That is quite stimulating to explore different tropes, making the choice to be more open minded. Eventually what gave you the push to finally read it? Was it from the summary or the taggings or someone else recommending it…?

I decided to read it amidst the stress I was having earlier this year. Maybe the stress or the will I have to be distracted at that time pushed me to reading pride. I’ve started reading the pride during my board exam (that’s like a national exam in the philippines that requires us to be a registered professional) but i managed to finish the pride after my board exam and got the results HAHA. Because I realized that I added more nerve wrecking emotions upon reading the few first chapters of pride. And I’m glad I did that instead of distracting myself during my review season.

What about Yu, are you a heavy angst reader?

I can't say I'm a heavy angst reader but I CAN say I'm a fan of it. Like if I'm going to rank it, it'll be in my top 5 fave fic trope, but I can never just casually read angst fics in my free time like it’s the morning newspaper, you know? I can only read angst fics when I'm in the right headspace for it, like reading angst that makes me sob on my bed at 3am haha.

Understand, understand.., reading angst when you are not in the proper headspace… may make your day suddenly gloomy.,,

Going back to the 5 questions that was asked for the discord submissions:

We have covered the first question on, a brief summary of the plot, character and premise. And just a few minutes ago the question on the impact this fic had on you.

Lesson Learnt, Fav Scenes, Why

The next three questions will be on: What has this fic taught you? And what particular scene was it in the fic that moved you? And why do you love this fic?

Let’s start with yu. Yu, what has this fic taught you?

Pride has taught me that pushing people away on purpose will not serve us any good and will just lead to more regrets in the future. Communicating what you truly feel to the one you love is really the key to resolve any issues or insecurities you have. I have also learned that what you think about other people or whatever their intentions are, may not be necessarily true and concluding things without properly talking it out will just result in more problems and as I have mentioned, regret and guilt.

I like your points. I want to expand on it a bit more, but before that upon identifying the two learning points for this fic, what is your favorite scene from Pride? Or what is a prominent scene that you always find yourself thinking about?

For me, my favorite scene in Pride was when Jongin went after Kyungsoo at the bar and he saw that Kyungsoo was kissing Seonho. Then their confrontation happened and Kyungsoo said a lot of hurtful things to Jongin and the latter was begging for him to talk this out. For me it was the turning point for Jongin to completely change his life and prove to Kyungsoo what he lost (which absolutely backfired because he's still whipped as hell with Kyungsoo).

Yes and this scene happens in chapter 11 titled ‘Escape Plan’ right? Could you do grace us by reading an extract from the chapter?

Jongin shuts his eyes, obviously bothered by the idea but chose not to acknowledge it. With pleading gaze, he takes Kyungsoo's hand again.

"Soo..." he mumbles shakily, "What's the problem? If I did something wrong... then I'm sorry. Let's go now, please?"

"Get off!"

Something pierces his chest when Jongin's eyes begin to glisten. But no, Soo's far from done. He'll end this once and for all.

"What? Still don't get it? Fine, I'll elaborate." he exhales a deep breath and flashes his casual smile, "You're an experiment. Get it? Flavor of the month, whatever the fuck you want to call it! And now I realize I actually prefer rich, fun assholes who can give me thrill—you're not it.”

End of scene.

So, what I really love about this scene is the intensity of both the characters’ emotions. I love how Jongin was mad at Kyungsoo for almost making out with his ex, it then turned into him begging for Kyungsoo to stop hurting him. On the other hand, Kyungsoo is blinded by his anger and pain with what happened with his father and Soojung that he resorted to hurting Jongin and proving him “wrong”. For others, it might seem that this part is all just for the sake of drama, but I genuinely believe this was Jongin’s turning point into reaching for his dreams and taking Kyungsoo back in the next chapters. He may have had different intentions (revenge) in the beginning, but at the end of the day, Jongin cannot resist his first love.

Thank you for sharing that scene. Intense emotions indeed. And with that it forces kaisoo apart.

A point i have after Yu mentioned having learnt that pushing people away does us no good, the scene that comes to me is a while after Kyungsoo goes back to Korea. To set the context a bit more, I think it was a few days after Seonho went back to Korea. After the scene in the carpark, Jongin brought Kyungsoo to his mansion. Seonho purposely made it seem as though Kyungsoo still had feelings for him, so Jongin got mad. In the car it really is very heartbreaking to see Kyungsoo cry and cry and cry… The moment that gets to me is the following day. Jongin takes Kyungsoo on a ride of nostalgia… Brings him to the furniture shop and then the diner… the diner where his last memories of the place were just so terrible… let me read an extract from the scene.

These are two bits from chapter 24 titled Not Allowed. Extract goes like this:

Soo keeps his silence and the hope falters on the other's face as he finally takes notice.

"Soo." he calls, "What's wrong?"

The designer shuts his eyes and firmly shakes his head again, "Nothing. Just tired."

Even the familiar noise around brings him a headache. Do you know that nostalgia that pierces right through you?

This is more than that. When he left this country and this life so many years ago, this place is one of the things he buried. He marked his own words not to step foot here again but here he is now, with Jongin right in front of him as if his whole life is a big joke.

Do you remember that? Soo asks himself as bitterness begins to stand out among the other glaring emotions, the last time you were here, do you remember?

End of scene.

You best believe i fucking CRIED! This moment, although short, you can feel the pulling of Kyungsoo’s heart. It is very distressing to read…

Yoooo this scene is actually painful and all, like I wonder how disappointed Kyungsoo is in himself for going back to the past he’s trying to run away and forget omg!!!

The next moment I will be sharing is the point on what Yu shared on communicating what you truly feel to resolve any issues or insecurities.

This moment is slightly after the scene I read a minute ago, and the extract goes like this:

Soo grits his teeth hard before looking at him.

"Why did you bring me here?" he asks between heavy breaths, "Of all places, why here, Jongin? Huh? Why Kare?"

Kyungsoo finally takes courage this time. He gains the guts to look at Jongin and ask. He watches how the other man's face completely softens. It's like he never thought he would have to answer this question soon.

"Because..." Jongin sighs in defeat, sounding calmer this time, "because this place is special to us."

Soo's eyes begin to glisten. He swallows hard before weakly looking at Jongin.

"You're being so unfair." he mutters pleadingly, "You're unfair. I don't need this. Please... just stop."

Jongin steps closer to him and Soo takes a step back by instinct.

"How am I being unfair, Soo?" he hates how hurt Jongin looks. Because this isn't the image he needs to guilt him every night when it's his right to move on, "You're the one I want. If I need to prove it in any way, then I will."

It feels like a strong blow for Soo. But more than anything else, he refuses to believe he's hearing it, too.

End of scene.

Here we find that Jongin does not understand why Kyungsoo is feeling and acting in a slight offensive manner. Kyungsoo actively and purposefully makes it very difficult for Jongin and builds up his walls so that he is unreadable… but these bursts of heavy and difficult emotions that bubble through the walls makes it very confusing for Jongin. Kyungsoo definitely does not share his true, honest and vulnerable thoughts. And as a reader the miscommunication part hurts.

Jie, how about your learning point of Pride? What did this fic teach you about life?

This fic actually helped me to understand more and give me deeper insights about the flaws of each person, the differences we have and what we need to work out for ourselves when we’re making bonds to other people. And also adding that no matter what happens to your life, you only have yourself as your best pal because even the most trusted person you have, will not understand you and can be the reason for your downfall. BUT then no matter how painful we went through, moving on and forgiveness is important.

I agree, moving on and forgiveness is indeed important in life.

And jie, share with us, what is your favourite scene from Pride? Or what is a scene that you think about when you think of this fic?

I think in all of the scenes in Pride, my favourite scene of all time will be the part where kyungsoo and baekhyun mend their broken friendship. I really love the part where despite being hurt, kyungsoo still cares for baekhyun and tries to help him in any way possible and all while protecting himself too. I can’t really put much into words but I do find it beautiful that they both still managed to fix their bond together and in the end, it’s baekhyun’s turn to help kyungsoo in a way for him to finally settle on the person that makes him happy. They both want happiness for each other and it’s just so genuine.

Ah, chapter 26 titled Make It Up To You… with that, Jie, Could you do us the honor of reading an extract from that chapter?

"You can never lie to me, Baekhyun.” Soo looks in front, pausing to drink, “We could stop being friends and I’d still know you better than anyone.”

The other man’s expression is hard, obviously tugged in his most fragile spot. But then, his lips begin to quiver. Baekhyun bites it hard before looking away.

“Just tell me.” Soo tells him without any display of emotion once again. He doesn’t know what Baekhyun wants to get from him so he keeps it neutral.

“I thought we’re not friends?” Baekhyun grins again but the pain is slowly resurfacing on his face now, “I don’t really need your sympathy right now, Soo.”

“I’m not giving you sympathy. I want to hear it and by the end, I can decide if you’ve been an idiot or not. I can even make you feel worse if you’d like me to.” Kyungsoo says without batting an eye and the other boy is speechless again, “Just tell me everything and stop keeping it in, dumbass.”

End of scene.

I just love how Kyungsoo is not giving Baekhyun sympathy for what's happening to his old friend’s life. But because it’s only Kyungsoo who knows him since day one, it’s also him who can only understand what’s happening to Baekhyun. Friendships are falling into platonic relationships already, so what Kyungsoo and Baekhyun have in this scene is a huge factor that helped them both heal from their personal issues. Friendships deserve closures too just like romantic relationships, and this scene gave them the closure they both need. I think it’s beautiful that when Kyungsoo managed to mend his bond with Baekhyun, his bond with Jongin came after.

Thank you for sharing that scene. I really like the point that friendships need closure too. The people you meet in life, friends and family… Relationships and generally life as well, it is a journey. There are moments we may not necessarily get along and our relationship with them may not be the best, which we see from this fic that it is perfectly fine. Because who knows?

Yes you may have a difficult friendship, but after the wound from the friendship has mellowed down a bit, there are opportunities, as Jie mentioned, to mend the friendship. As long as both parties are still well and alive, nothing is set in stone, there is always a choice to build that burnt bridge.

Now ladies and gays and kaisoo listeners of the podcast, we have come to the end of the last segment. This segment we looked at three different points of learning from Pride and each of us read a moment in the fic that holds a special place in our hearts.

We have reached the end of the episode, so yu and jie, do you have any other running thoughts that you have that we did not cover today, be it thoughts on the fic or your experience in the podcast today?

First of all, If I could, I would like to send a huge love for yeolimerent for writing such a masterpiece. She has put me on a thrilling roller coaster of emotions that I’m so torn from crying or loving her story. But as always, love wins!! She wrote the characters to perfection with their flaws and I think that’s just so amazing because I could never do that huhu. But anyway, I’m so glad that I took the risk of reading Pride because I got to learn a lot of things that I could put into real life. And I’m sooo happy that I get to share this experience with Yu and my dear Alexio. I honestly thought I wouldn’t be able to make this podcast but then, I’m so glad that you made the discord, and meeting you is one of the main highlights of my year. Sending forever love to kaisoo and kaisooists < 333

Aw, you are so sweet. I am also very grateful. Thank you for joining the discord, thank you for coming on the show with Yu and I.

For Pride, I really want to say thank you to yeolimerent for creating this masterpiece. Reading it every time is always an experience. The way the plot unfolded, the characters and their flaws were curated, and the emotions were unveiled is just chef's kiss. As for the podcast, it has been an honor to be a part of this episode and the fact that I get to talk about something I'm really passionate about. I hope I get to do things outside of my comfort zone more often and I wanted to say thank you to you and Jie for having me here.

Yu and Jie, you are both most welcome, and it is a joy to have hosted kaisoo readers today. I will relay your sentiments to yeolimerent. This is the end of the podcast episode, but this is not the end of our journey together as kaisooists, and as kaisooists in the discord, because there are many things to engage in, in the server. I do hope to see the both of you, and our dear listener for this episode, coming in on the discord!

Dear listener, the link to the ao3 for Pride will be given below in the notes section.

With that, as I mentioned earlier in the episode, we will get a chance to have a chat with the author of the fic. So tomorrow’s tomorrows’s episode will be with yeolimerent!

New episodes either every 13th of the month, in commemoration of kaisoo day in january, or 12th and 14th of the month.

To reach me, i am kaisooficdrunk on twitter and if you want you can drop me questions on my curious cat you can do so with the same username. There will also be another link that brings you to my tumblr blog with the transcription for today's episode. There you can also find the other scripts for other episodes as well.

Thank you for listening, have a good day, dear kaisooist, and we look forward to the next episode. Stay tuned.

#kaisoo #fanfiction #fanfiction literature #jongin #kyungsoo

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skyechild · 1 year

Text

Athazagoraphobia:

(noun) The fear of being forgotten.

𖤐Summary: there was only one think that scares you the most, its being forgotten. Slowly drifting away from people you loved the most.

𖤐Pairing: ateez x reader

𖤐Genre: angst

𖤐Word count: 1.3k

𖤐Warnings: none, only angst and cursing, established

𖤐 network and tag list: @cultofdionysusnet / @spooo00oky /

𖤐: Authors notes: i hurt myself writing this tbh. I might write a pt.2 if asked

You bit your lip, looking at the table then your drink. You had already started getting the pitiful looks. The ones dedicated to when someone gets stood up. You glanced down at your phone. The shop was closing in 15 minutes. You clenched your fists, a glossy sheen covering your eyes.

Standing up you bowed towards the staff, refusing to make eye contact. "Thank you and im sorry." You left, barely remembering the bags you had gotten for your boyfriends. The doorbell going off just sending your mood plummeting even more. You rubbed your eyes with your forearm since your hands were occupied.

Walking towards the shared apartment you unlocked it. You were half tempted to break everything you gotten gotten for them. a few records for Hongjoong, a new lego set for Seonghwa, a puppy plushie with a slytherin scarf around the neck for Yunho. Yeosang had something you commissioned from someone. It was a beautiful bracelet, 9 charms dangling from the silver. Yeosang's skin was always sensitive to a lot of accessories.

San got a little mountain keychain and a custom plushie of byeol. (you loved that cat and always joked about stealing her.) Mingi got a small necklace then ended right at his sternum, the sun and moon hanging from it. Wooyoung got a book of 'coupons' that he could use all year and the one item he has been wanting for months. Jongho got a new hoodie (because you stole most of his.) and a plushie of a bear. But they were too expensive.

You opened the door, hearing the loud voice of Wooyoung followed by the others laughter. Purposely slamming the door to signal your arrival. You heard the living room go silent, the air tense as you kicked on your shoes. Walking around the corner you held back the tears as you noticed one of your friends on the couch. You had introduced them a few months ago and you you were happy they got along.

But then they started drifting away. Forgetting important dates, times you were supposed to go somewhere. With their excuse of 'we didnt notice the time go by.' You shook your head, sighing. You threw the bags onto the couch, landing in the lap of Yeosang and Mingi. "Get out. All of you. Go stay somewhere else for tonight." Your voice was curt and cold. Eyes blank but watery. "I dont want to see you guys tonight." You dropped your backpack before walking towards your bedroom.

You heard the silence before you heard the whispers, footsteps moving around and you only heard one pair leaving. You locked your door as soon as you heard footsteps get close, followed by soft knocking. "Y/n?" You snapped, turning to face the door. "Go the fuck away Seonghwa." You hissed, hitting the door, hearing the soft gasp.

Seonghwa knew they fucked up. There was no nickname. No 'Hwa'. No, there was anger, rejection and sadness. "You guys always fucking forget something. Am i really the one you guys are dating? Or is it Sujin? You're spending so much time with her that i dont know what we are anymore. Maybe this relationship was a mistake." It was quiet again, footsteps freezing in place.

Did you really think that? Hongjoong pushed Seonghwa out of the way, jiggling the door handle. "Open the door Y/n. Please?" You shook your head, momentarily forgetting they couldnt see you. "I really dont want to see any of you." Hongjoong huffed. "You dont mean that." You sat on your bed, laying on your stomach, opting to not answer. "Y/n open this door or im going to break it down."

The words contradicted the tone in San's voice. His voice was soft and worried. Oh so now theyre caring. You scoffed, turning your head the other way, refusing the urge to answer. Dont you fucking dare break that door. You stood up quickly, calling your father as you packed a small bag.

"Dad?" You murmured as he picked up. Placing the phone between your ear and shoulder you shoved clothes in the bag, sniffling softly. He was quiet for a moment before he spoke up. "Whats wrong? What did they do? I told you it wasnt a good idea. Are you coming over?" You hiccupped in response. "Is it ok if i do?" He chuckled softly. "Do you want me to come get you?" You glanced at the door. You know they were afraid of your dad, he had made threats on multiple occasions. Hidden threats and blatant ones. "No, i think ill be ok." He hummed softly before taking a breath.

"Put me on speaker so i can hear everything." Following his words you set the phone on speaker, placing it down on the table. The soft knocking and quiet begging started back up. "Y/n please? Im sorry we forgot. Sujin arrived and-" Yunho was cut off. "Y/n i told you she was using you! How many times did i tell you to leave her?" Your dads voice had raised. "She was never your friend, she wanted the boys and you knew that. You knew she did." He sighed.

Your dad never liked Sujin. Very verbal in his dislike of her. You heard footsteps before you heard another quiet knock, this time Jonghos voice filtering through, causing both you and your dad to soften a bit. "Baby?" Your dad had a soft spot for the youngest. "Please let me in..." You wanted to say no but you could tell your dad was thinking about it too. "Let only him in sweetheart." You were sure they couldnt hear him as the silence was loud.

You walked closer, unlocking the door and opening it a bit to pull the youngest in, slamming the door and locking it right after. The complaints coming soon after. "You dont deserve to be in here, with your dumb fucking excuses i know youre going to start spewing." Jongho frowned, shoulders slouching. "I only want the truth." He nodded, fingers twitching as if he wanted to reach for you.

You unconsciously took a step back as you noticed the movement. "Im dating you." He spoke, voice soft. "You know this." You did, he was usually the one that remembered and arrived even if the others didnt. You let him continue. "We were getting ready when she arrived, we thought it was ok for a small chat before we left but time passed quickly..." You nodded, arms crossed. You knew how fast time flied sometimes.

It felt like that whenever you were with the boys. Hours going by without you noticing. You looked at him. "You guys never thought to i dont know, check the fucking clock?" He bit his lip. "Did you even remember how important today was? I was our fucking anniversary." He bit his lip, harder, remembering the bags of things you had thrown at them.

"Im sorry baby." He whispered, he sounded so sincere that you took a step forward, not noticing how your dad had ended the call. "I really want you guys to think about what happened today. Go stay somewhere else. We- I need some time to come to terms that some of you...might not care for me as much as i thought you did." You held up a finger when Jongho opened his mouth.

"Have you ever kissed her?" He shook his head rapidly, you believed him. Jongho was loyal to a fault. You reached up, wrapping your arms around his neck, hugging him tightly as tears formed. "Take them with you when you leave..." You whispered and he hugged your waist tightly, nodding. "San was serious about breaking down your door." He whispered and you rolled your eyes. "I bet he was, but you wouldve stopped him for me."

He nodded, shoving his face in your neck and inhaling. You still smelled like raspberries. You rested your head against his. "Goodnight Jongho..." He pulled back as you did, reluctantly, but he did. This is why he was the one you went to the most. He respected your boundaries. Not that the others didnt.

#skyechilds work #ateez imagine #cultofdionysusnet

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idontknowreallywhy · 4 months

Note

For the fic writers ask game!!

14 how do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?

40 If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

56 What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

p.s. you are definitely a proper writer and a wonderful one!

Rediscovered The Inbox (which tends to hide on the mobile app) -better late than never on a reply??

I did answer 14 already ages ago I think so have been pondering the other two…

40 If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

I actually just commissioned some art on one particular scene which I am beyond excited about and may well get addicted to that process (note to self, check whether hubby is cool with second mortgage purely for multiple art commissions…) so that is kind of a dream come true (I’m getting WIP sketches etc and doing a lot of happy screaming!) but aside from that one…

There are scenes I feel like I’ve described quite well which could be artable but for others the actual picture stayed mostly in my head because I felt the detail would clog the narrative and I think I describe sound and smell better than visual anyway I think? There definitely one I’d love to see but not sure I’ve ever adequately described Estera for anyone to draw her (tho they’d be welcome to try!) but… if I could magically crystallise any image I’ve written it would be the photo she’s looking at here:

Her gaze shifted to the new photo, framed in blue, that she had recently added to her gallery. Yes, and in the last few months… everything had suddenly changed again. But this time in an indisputably good way. Because the imaginary hero had somehow shed the imaginary bit and become her friend. The two of them grinned manically out of the hasty selfie - hair dishevelled, flushed with adrenaline and drenched in seawater but vividly, irrepressibly alive.

Which was taken just after this scene. And yes, Scooter has destroyed another expensive suit 😏

56 What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

I’m going to try to flip something I often worry is a failing in my stories because the reason I haven’t “fixed” it is because it is actually the bit I feel I’m best at and certainly is the stuff that comes out when I get excited with a sudden NEED to write immediately. So… even though I suspect it makes my fic slooow and the plot languishes in the background…

A thing I love doing and I think I’m getting better at is exploration of the thoughts and feelings of a character in a specific moment/scene. Usually through an inner monologue, sometimes interspersed with dialogue, but I just love picking apart a character’s mind spiral to show where they are mentally on a matter, where they came from and maybe edging them towards some progress. Scott and Virgil are the usual victims of this but I often do it to an OC as well, with the intent of showing one of the main characters’ development through external eyes.

Again, it doesn’t make for exciting, action-filled fic and I sometimes feel guilty for posting 3 chapters covering about 10 mins of events but… actually I enjoy reading that kind of thing from other people so clearly I believe it’s legit story telling when they do it so I’m trying to give myself permission to believe it is when the writer is me :)

Thanks for the ask and the encouragement (which, coming from one of my fave writers, is extra encouraging!)

#Ask answer #thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction

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tunedtostatic · 1 year

Text

Charity Commissions for Vermont Floods

Photo of flooding in Barre by James Buck for Seven Days

As I posted last month, my home state of Vermont (I am not there right now) experienced historic flooding, with many areas hit worse than when Hurricane Irene hit a decade ago. I'm offering short folktale-inspired story commissions in exchange for a donation of $5 or more to the fundraisers below. 💚

The charity commissions I'm offering

Give me a character or two (dragon, evil grandmother, talking plant, &c) and a situation or object (getting lost, a duel, a magic sword, &c) and I'll write a story of ~1,000+ words using both (and also some kind of twist because I read the Deltora Quest books at a formative age).

Stories got more interest in my poll, but I'll also do graphic design with free use images (e.g. unsplash and pixabay), if you want a fanfic cover or fanmix cover: example, second example.

How to donate & commission a story

To commission a story, donate at least $5 to Waterbury Good Neighbor Fund, NEKO flood relief, or message me for a list of GoFundMes (I'm trying to keep an eye out for GoFundMes that are legit and aren't yet close to their fundraising goal; I don't want to chase this post around editing and adding new ones, especially since I don't personally knowing anyone fundraising and how they want theirs shared, but ask me for links!) Then, send me a screenshot of your donation (please crop out any payment information).

I'm not in Vermont right now, which kind of puts a damper on the word of mouth experience. If you're in Vermont, let me know of any GoFundMes you know personally or nonprofits you've had good experiences with and I'll add them.

Like I said in my initial post, I don't want to discourage anyone from donating through the main gateways! They're just not what I'm focusing on for charity commissions donations.

Bad experiences being treated disrespectfully or dangerously by some other Vermont nonprofits (and neighbors and…) make me disproportionately grouchy about this, but I'll go with being a little grouchy being my niche in the Vermont ecosystem at times like this when it's hard not to think about how people treating others poorly in Vermont spreads out like ripples and makes disasters like this more damaging.

Other ways to help

Reblogs will, of course, help!

If you're in Vermont, let me know of any GoFundMes you know personally (or nonprofits you've had good experiences being helped by) and I'll add them.

If anyone else is doing fandom fundraiser things, let me know and I'll link those too.

Photo of flooding in Waterbury by Kevin McCallum for Seven Days

Don't hesitate to ask for the commission once you donate! I know sometimes people feel weird asking the person offering charity commissions to do the "work" of the commission for what's meant to be an act of generosity, but on a practical level each commission functions as advertising and makes it more likely other people will see the post and donate too.

(Of course if you really feel more comfortable simply donating, holyshtgoforit. 😃)

I've chosen something (writing short stories) that's fulfilling and doable, but if I do need to pause, I'll leave a note on this post. Commissions are open indefinitely; would love to get a few going this week as we reach a month since the mid-July flood and people are grappling with the damages.

#vermont #vermont flood #flood charity commissions

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greenbirdtrash · 2 months

Text

Yet another bad thing just came up.

I was about to make a small update about our previous situation thanking the people who reached out to help, but there's new problems now. Massive ones. I feel like everything is happening at the worst timing possible, and the stress is too much for me to bear with.

Probably good news for you: I am about to open NSFW slots. I don't know if there's a demand, or if anyone is generally interested in commissioning this from me, but i have no other options but to try it. Things are really getting progressively worse, to the point of me thinking about leaving my comfort zone and planning to distract myself as much as possible while dealing with lots of uncomfortable things and fetishes i generally prefer to avoid. Like i said, i am willing to try it as my last resort right now. We're really sinking down to the bottom.

I will not dive into details about the exact numbers here, but if anyone comes to my dm with questions, i'll answer. I do have the medical papers for that eye surgery on hand, too.

Bad news for me: this is really the only quick way to cover up the current debt i could think of when i look at the amount of trouble we're currently in. Things were going okay, we payed our bills, worked on our projects without any worries, for a few months we were saving up what we could, and few days ago, we put the majority of these savings (including the money i earned on my previous comms and also the rest of the grand i was personally saving for my driving lessons) into an eye surgery and the follow-up medication for my granny, and she's recovering just fine, finally starting to see the contours of the surrounding things again. The thing is..We are already scheduled for at least a few more intravitreal injections, and it was highly recommended by her doctor that we should get her other eye fixed as well before her cataract gets worse. All these things are already expensive as hell, oh, and the worst part?

Our credit card got blocked today because of the massive debt and the crazy additional percentage we got since the start of the war. This card always acted as a safety buffer for the times when our salaries got delayed (which gradually happens more and more over the last year, we already lost around 30% of our initial income, and the life quality dropped as a result, too. Well. I do talk about that from time to time, you probably saw my posts there and there..), we tried to transfer any leftover money (if there were any) to cover up the debt whenever we were able to, but I guess everything eventually comes to and end. And it did.

This post is mostly me screaming into the void, i do not expect anything or anyone to help me or magically save me from all this, i lost any hope about the future long time ago, and I'm just.. completely burned out, existing like that for a few months already. Sometimes it's better, sometimes i get to distract myself with things i like and interactions with friends. And sometimes…i just sit there in complete darkness, so scared and lost.

Unfortunately, this is the new reality in which war goes on, lots of my people are dying, and the ones who live… let's just say, our own collapsing economy is slowly tearing the rest of us apart in many different ways, from increasing the rent bills and taxes (even tho technically we should've had some "discounts" as a frequently attacked near-frontline region, but.. guess what. We asked, and they told us we're somehow unable to get that. Could've just said "fuck you"), cutting our salaries, even firing us to save up the municipal grands they'd have to pay us with in the normal conditions, and i have to deal with all that. One way or another. I do not like it. I do not like it at all, and i feel like I'm already at my limit. I love my country, i really do. But this is only getting worse. I don't know anything about fundraising, and i just can't beg for help or donations despite everything that's currently going on.

I feel like i am just a tiny grain of sand in the gigantic ocean, and it's slowly drowning me, waiting for me to disappear completely.

And someday..maybe i will.

#kers ramblings #I don't know if my life ever be the same again #and if anyone besides friends and loved ones would actually remember me if anything happened

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pasdechat · 1 year

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I love Amber dearly and I do have a wip that I wrote for her bday that I started two years ago but I am starting to think it may be cursed because every time I update the doc something not so great happens

power went out for two days

nearly ended up passing out

got really sick for two weeks

ended up in the hospital

THESE WERE FOUR SEPARATE WEEKS, SOME EVEN MONTHS APART. I know it's probably just a coincidence, but I am not exactly in a hurry to actually finish it lol

But I'll toss what I do have under the cut

Despite the lingering heat, the days begin to grow shorter and Amber is all too aware of the passing days. She does her best to stay upbeat, keeping herself busy so that her thoughts don’t wander too much, but even that can only do so much as the day grows closer.

Amber manages to get through most of the week without incident. She ignores the knowing looks from Hertha and Katheryne, picking up commissions and helping out on expeditions between her duties. It leads to some interesting encounters, especially when Bennett is by her side, but it’s nothing that Amber hasn’t dealt with before. If anything, she appreciates the experience, filling her journal with all the moments that manage to stick out afterwards.

But then the day arrives.

Even after four years, it still stings a bit to wake up to absolute quiet. Her grandfather used to make every birthday special. From the moment she woke up until it was time for them to turn in for the night, he would have all sorts of plans for the day. And Amber loved every single minute of it. Now, the silence seems deafening.

With a sigh, Amber manages to get up and go about her morning routine before making her way towards the Knights of Favonius headquarters to meet with Jean. At least the run should help to clear her mind.

Taking a deep breath and letting the early summer air fill her lungs, Amber makes her way through the town. The familiar sounds of the city make for pleasant background noise and before Amber knows it, she’s already at her destination. Jean has yet to arrive, so focuses on her breathing and starts her stretches.

“Sorry, I was running a tad late.” Jean rushes up to Amber with a chagrined look. She scratches at the back of her neck and waits for Amber to straighten up. A soft expression soon covers her face and Jean gathers Amber into a warm hug. “Happy birthday, Amber.”

Though the words do cause a small lump to form in her throat, Amber melts into the embrace, hugging Jean back tightly. “Thank you.”

Jean’s hand lingers for a few moments when she steps back and she clears her throat. “Lisa will be bringing your gift when she arrives but I also wanted to extend an invitation to brunch this weekend as well.”

Amber brightens at the thought. Jean’s cooking is always a treat, far better than her own. “I’d love that.”

“You can invite Eula as well, if you’d like. I would do it myself, but I’m certain she would be more receptive if it comes from you.” Jean shakes her head in amusement.

Amber winks. “I’ll bring her along even if I have to drag her with me.”

That makes Jean laugh and the two of them fall into their usual habits, soon beginning their morning jog. The sights of the city slowly coming awake help Amber to relax and soon the tightness in her chest starts to fade. There’s still a lingering sense of sadness, but for now Amber can breathe just a little easier.

Once their run is done, Amber and Jean part ways and Amber makes her way into the changing room of the headquarters so that she can freshen up and slip into her usual outfit. She glances in the mirror, focusing her thoughts and grabbing her glider. Duty calls.

It feels good to get out and patrol. Amber makes note of any troubling details and takes care of anything that she can handle on her own in that moment. She takes a small break in the afternoon and makes her way back to the city.

“Amber!” A loud shout catches her attention and Amber barely has time to steady herself before someone crashes right into her knees with a giggle.

Somehow managing to stay upright, Amber cannot help but laugh herself when she looks down at Klee. She reaches down and ruffles the unruly hair before fixing Klee’s hat. “And how are you today?”

“Klee is wonderful!” Bouncing on the tips of her toes, Klee grins up at Amber before stepping back and rummaging around in her backpack. “Happy birthday!”

“Oh?” Amber carefully takes the glass jar that Klee holds out, unsure of what exactly she is going to find. Her eyes go wide when she sees a flaming flower, still blooming within the jar.

Another voice soon joins in, answering all of Amber’s questions. “Worry not, Amber. I assisted Klee in gathering her gift.” Albedo approaches at a more leisurely pace, coming to stand beside Klee with a gentle smile. He glances at the gift in Amber’s hands and adds, “The flower should be stable as long as the jar stays closed.”

Amber lets out a breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding.

“If you do not mind, I also have these for you.” Albedo holds out a cloth wrapped package. “They are simple sketches, but I believe you might enjoy them.”

“Thank you.” Amber’s eyes grow wide and she can’t help but blush a bit at the unexpected attention.

Albedo nods, his hand coming to rest on top of Klee’s hat. “We must be on our way, but I do hope you enjoy the rest of your day.”

A shy smile appears on Amber’s face. “I hope you two do as well.”

Albedo reaches for Klee’s hand and Klee sends Amber one last grin before following after him.

The sight makes Amber nostalgic as she watches them and she holds her gifts close. Shaking off the invading thoughts, she gently sets the jar down and unwraps the thin cloth to find various sketches. There’s a lamp grass flower, a flaming flower, and even a windwheel aster. Next, Amber finds a sketch of herself, aiming her bow. Her finger pauses on one last sketch, her breath catching. It’s her and Lumine, sitting along the cliff edge. Amber’s cheeks heat even as a different sort of warmth fills her.

Wrapping the sketches back up, Amber lets out a shaky breath. A part of her wonders if Lumine might be thinking of her on this day but mostly she just hopes that her travels are going well.

Picking up the flower, Amber gathers her focus and continues on her way. She can probably stop by her home to drop these off before Eula finds her.

The rest of what was planned: Gifts from Eula, Lisa, Kaeya, and Noelle. Had some stray thoughts about adding in a few others like Benny and Razor and Fischl, maybe Mona.

The main point was that at the end, Lumine arrives as the day is nearly over. Her hair is a mess, her clothes are not much better. She's out of breath but still manages to tackle Amber in a big hug and give her a present.

There's a joke about Eula swearing vengeance if she happened to be too late.

And then some cute moments where Amber finds a bit of peace and shares some happier memories about her time with her grandfather with Lumine who looks so happy to hear them that it truly lifts Amber's spirits about the whole day.

#genshin impact #amber #lumiamber #rambling thoughts #my writing

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lhaewiel · 2 years

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Hi all,

I am Clara and I am the face behind this blog. My about page talks a bit more of who I am, feel free to check it out.

I am here once again shamelessly spamming myself,but for a good cause.

My situation, whilst a bit better than a couple of months ago, is still pretty dire and a few quids more could really help me make my end without crying and stressing out. I currently have an overdraft to cover and some medical expenses as well.

You can help me out by simply reblogging this post, or if you have the means and spoons you can consider donating to my Ko-Fi:

It can be a one off, or a monthly one - I have set up really affordable tiers with great stuff coming soon.

You can also commission me, all details are specified in the "Commissions" on Ko-Fi.

You can also consider purchasing my creations from my Etsy shop:

You can also consider my PayPal account:

Any little helps.

Thank you for reading this.

Last but not least I will leave my handles here, in case the links on my blog do not work.

Instagram

Pillowfort

Mastodon

DeviantArt

Discord: Cla (Clara)/Meryel#8037

#Help #signal boost #commision info #commission #Art #Writing #Craft #embroidery #ko fi account #ko fi page

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kitty-does-stuff · 15 days

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Rising Moving Expenses To Get A Homeless Family Finally Off The Streets Before Winter

So now that we have dealt with our end of month bills I have exciting news WE HAVE BEEN OFFERED A PLACE TO RENT & HAVE BEEN ABLE TO PUT DOWN A DEPOSIT! We now just need to rise some of the funds for things like our first & second month rent, along with money for while we are settling in & looking for work opportunities, which will be a lot easier with access to things like a shower & electricity for PCs (me & my twin do commissions) and a sewing machine (my mom is a professional seamstress)

This has came at the best time as our truck was starting to fail after nearly 2 years of being on the streets, and with Canadian winter coming we were in some danger of freezing.

I want to keep this brief, because not everyone wants to read a bunch on a dono post, so more under the cut, but may I just say how happy I am to have this opportunity, for my family to have this opportunity.

30/3500$ CAD

Paypal: DM me

Canadian E-tranfer: DM me

Ko-Fi:

Now for anyone curious about our story, nearly two years ago my family fleed our apartment due to gun violence, we were scared for our lives and since then we have been living in our truck.

We've had a few near bullseyes for fixing this, but past plans have fallen though due to a mix of issues, usually people over estimating what they could offer in terms of help.

It has been hard on us all, we've lost a lot of our few belongings along the way, and all of my family have disabilities of different kinds, my mom has really been pushing herself and I want her to have less to worry about.

Now as for now, we know this woman with a basement suite she had been subleting, and recently it became vacant, we know her, what to expect and we can trust her.

And at the same time this happened, a member of the extended family was able to cover the deposit.

In short the stars alined, and we have a chance to get settled, to try to sort out both our few physical belongings but also like our emotional & mental stuff, we were messy before all this and let me tell you, two years living in a tight truck being harassed basically everyday & having to beg for basic needs like food, it can make things a lot messier, but I do think we can heal, recover, we won't be the same but I hope we'll be very happy as the people we can grow into being.

#mutual aid #mutual aid request #homelessness #homeless #donation post #single boost #tagging my comunties so they can help support me #queer #trans #disabled #autistic #mentally ill #gay #reposting this to get it back in the tags #and to edit some small bits of wording

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phr0gie · 4 years

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sleep softly, love; genshin impact

synopsis: how i think certain genshin impact characters would fall asleep next to you for the first time :)

note: hihi! so i finally feel like i’m caught up enough in genshin lore that i can start actually writing for it!! yay!! anyways, i’m sorry if my portrayal of them is a lil ooc, i’m still getting used to writing for them. still, i hope you guys enjoy! :D

pairings: xiao x reader, diluc x reader

tw: mentions of nightmares and death in xiao’s, mentions of alcohol and suggestive themes in diluc’s, ooc characters, mostly j fluff, not proof read (oops)

wc: 2k

masterlist

xiao:

the first few times you bring up sleeping next to him he’s probably going to turn you down

you see, xiao doesn’t really need to sleep, nor does he want to

he finds the idea of lying in a comatose state for eight hours in complete darkness to be “weird” and a “waste of time”

and his opinion on the matter doesn’t change for a while

that is, until you confess to him you’ve been having nightmares

these nightmares were like nothing you have ever had before

they shook you to your very core and, rather than the dream just leaving your mind after you woke up, they followed you around for days

once you confide in xiao about these terrors, he grows very concerned

in the past he’s known people who have been plagued with nightmares as a result of a dangerous curse that, more often than not, ended in death

the thought of you, the person he cares about most, succumbing to such a terrible fate frightens him more than anything — not that he’ll ever admit this to you.

and so, reluctantly, xiao agrees to spend the night with you

just this once, to protect you

You roll over to face him and for a moment he panics. To Xiao’s knowledge, couples who slept together often cuddled with each other. While he did occasionally enjoy a few close moments with you, Xiao couldn’t say he was very taken with the idea of physical contact — especially in a situation that left him so vulnerable. To his relief, however, you stay on your side of the bed. Your hand rests on top of your pillow and slowly, almost cautiously you maneuver it so it’s lying a bit closer to Xiao — a silent invitation to hold your hand, is what the adeptus recognizes it as. This gesture was not foreign to him, you did things like this often. You always kept your hand outstretched to him. Even if he were to pull away or turn his back, your hand was still there. You were still there.

“Xiao.”

Your gentle voice catches his attention immediately. As he looks into your eyes all he can see is admiration, his heart clenches at the feeling it gives him.

“Thank you,” you say softly, “for being here for me like this.”

Xiao simply nods his head at you in response.

“Sleep,” he whispers, his tone commanding yet soft, “I will be here when you wake.”

He desperately wants to say more. To let you know that he would always be there for you, that no challenge would ever be too difficult if it was for you, that he would rip the moon from the night sky if it meant that you would rest a little easier. Yet, the kind smile you give him shows that he need not continue. You know he loves you, you have never once doubted it. You are aware of the burden he carries and how it affects him. You know that one day he will be able to share with you the confessions of love and vulnerability that are buried deep inside him. For now, this is enough. He is enough. And so, with a content smile you snuggle even further into your pillow.

“Goodnight, Xiao.” You whisper before finally closing your eyes.

Xiao stares at your resting form for a while. It is not until your breathing evens out and he is sure you are asleep do his eyes flicker from your face to your hand lying closely to him. All of the sudden, an overwhelming urge to hold you in some way overtakes the adeptus. Again, Xiao was not the biggest fan of physical affection, however, something about you looking as peaceful as you do in this moment evokes something from him. And so, he decides to finally accept your invitation. As his palm meets yours in a tight hold — not tight enough to wake you, of course — Xiao allows himself to indulge in the warmth and safety you provide him, just this once.

Neither of you have any nightmares that night.

diluc:

you and diluc are in a fairly new relationship.

having just started seeing each other a few months ago, it’s only natural to not have done anything too domestic quite yet.

not to mention, our ever stoic winery owner is a bit shy when it comes to his affections.

the two of your were every content with your soft, simple touches.

hand-holding, hugging, and subtle kissing kept you both very satisfied.

until you decide to get drunk at dawn winery.

your work has been k i l l i n g you recently

commissions are beginning to pile up, hilichurls have invaded the area you were supposed to scout next, and you couldn’t help but think that you were getting a bit rusty with your weapon.

all and all, you are very stressed out.

you desperately want a chance to relax.

originally, you had planned on just having a drink or two and ranting to your ever so reliable boyfriend.

however, a drink or two turned into three, then four...

before you knew it you couldn’t remember how many you had and it was rather late.

being the gentleman that he is, diluc forces offers you his bed for the night

seeing as you were in no condition to return home on your own, he has no choice.

it’s the responsible decision.

however, he’s still very flustered about the whole ordeal

Dulic thinks you are a handful. Especially right now.

He huffs as he attempts to open his bedroom door one-handed. The other appendage preoccupied with keeping you slumped against his side so that you don’t fall over.

“I knew you shouldn’t have had that last glass of dandelion wine.” He mumbles, gently scolding you.

You simply blink up at him, a bored expression on your flushed face.

“You sayin’ I can’t hold my alcohol?” you hiccup, “I’ll show you…”

You attempt to push off of him, but his hold on you tightens.

“No,” he grunts, “You won’t.”

Finally the door opens and Diluc lets out a sigh of relief. Swiftly he lifts you up — earning a small ‘woah’ and a giggle from you — and carries you over to his bed. He then sets you down and turns to his dresser to get you some clothes to sleep in. He picks out a large, white, long-sleeved undershirt and. Your lips curl into a suggestive smirk and you chuckle.

“Oooh,” you tease, “Master Diluc how bold of you, are you going to dress me?”

The pyro user looks absolutely mortified but you pay no mind to it, too busy laughing and hiccupping at your own joke. A prominent blush grows on Diluc’s face as he shuffles over to you.

“Of course not!” he stutters, dropping the clothing article gently on your head. He then grabs a pile of his own clothes and makes a beeline to the door. Just as he is about to exit he turns to you.

“Wait here,” he instructs, “and try not to fall asleep yet.”

And with that, the Diluc dashes down the hall, presumably leaving you to get changed. You do just that, tugging off your shirt and removing your bottoms. You huff as you lift your boyfriend's shirt up and over your head. As soon as the garment falls over your shoulders and past your knees, you’re hit with the rich scent of chestnuts and mahogany — the scent of Diluc. His undershirt is so baggy and so warm that you cannot help but feel at ease, Diluc always did have a way of making you feel safe — whether it was the hand he always places on the small of your back when he guides you around town or the look in his eyes when he spots you across the room, so sure that you’re the one he’ll always search for. The red-head returns a moment later clad in a dark, short-sleeved undershirt, similar to the one he gave you, and a pair of soft pants. In one hand, Diluc holds a fresh glass of water and in the other a pillow that seems to be smaller than the ones laid out in his bed. Diluc gently sits on the edge of the bed and pats the spot next to him, beckoning you to sit next to him. As soon as the bed dips with your weight, Diluc is handing you a cup of water.

“Drink,” he instructs once again, “so your hangover doesn’t kill you tomorrow.”

You do as you're told, dutifully downing the refreshing liquid. The minute your lips leave the cup he takes it from you, setting it on his bedside table. Then, Diluc picks you up once more and positions you so you are laying properly on the bed. He pulls the covers out from under you and makes sure you’re tucked in well.

“There,” he says finally, pulling the comforter up to your chin, “are you comfortable?”

However, he does not receive an answer. You’re already half asleep, head slumped against the pillow, mouth hanging wide open. Diluc smiles in spite of himself. He should be mad at you, he knows he should. But, as you lay there with your hair a mess, wearing one of his shirts, in his bed, Diluc cannot help but fall even more hopelessly in love with you. Stroking your hair a few times, he finally leaves a light kiss on your forehead. Hesitantly, he gets up, being very careful not to jostle you. He’s about to head to his living room to sleep, but he can barely make it two steps away from the bed before a hand shoots out and grabs his wrist. He turns to see you, still snug in his bed, a pout adorning your features.

“Where’re you goin?” You grumble out sleepily.

Diluc looks at you curiously.

“I’m going to let you sleep,” he whispers, “You need to rest.”

He attempts to remove your hand but your grip only tightens. Suddenly you pull him down, your faces only inches apart. You wrap your arms around his neck and rest your forehead against his.

“Please,” you whisper, your voice soft — so soft that Diluc doesn’t think he would have heard it if he weren’t so close to you, “stay.”

The blush from earlier creeps back up Diluc’s neck and rests upon the apples of his cheeks. Hearing you plead for him like this evokes a sense of warmth within the pyro user. He’s never felt so wanted before you. Ultimately, Diluc gives in and indulges you — how can he not? Crawling into bed next to you, he stiffens when you rest your head on his chest and wrap your arms around his torso. Diluc stays up a little while after you doze off, admiring you.

Diluc thinks you are a handful. However, he thinks he can handle it if at the end of every day he gets to hold you like this.

please do not steal or repost my work, thank you!

#genshin impact x reader #genshin impact headcanons #xiao x reader #xiao headcanons #xiao #diluc x reader #diluc headcanons #diluc #frog.fiction

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pocketramblr · 2 years

Note

Hello! You're the one who wrote the KWWBN AU outline right? Would you elaborate more about it, especially what happened after Kamino reveal? Have a good month, take care of yourself and your various health!

I am indeed!

- so Izuku still puts himself through the shredder fighting Muscular, with the little change that he mentally apologizes to All Might more for dying before him. But then he survives and gets yanked by Kurogiri because Shigaraki is a bit upset about how the mall went down.

- AfO intervenes after a while because he wants OfA. Izuku plays dumb and claims he doesn't know what that is, just that All Might adopted him when he was quirkless and he got a second miracle just before starting UA. AfO "reveals" OfA and laughs that it was forced on Izuku with even less love and loyalty than when it was forced on Yoichi, Izuku isn't sure that he can keep up pretending he didn't know so he just refuses to talk anymore and glares at every villain, which is convincing enough.

- he's still injured though on top of all the chains the villains wrapped him in, so he can't get out before All Might and co show up to help. Cue happy reunion right before AfO yoinks them away for the Kamino fight

- the rescue party consists of Tenya, Uraraka, Shoto, Kirishima, and Momo. The Stain Fight secret gets spilled on the route but no one cares. They manage to get izuku out by having Momo and Shoto set off a huge distraction while Tenya carries Uraraka on his back to make izuku weightless and grab him from the rubble behind AfO. Kirishima waits to make sure everyone gets out, ready to cover for them with the gun Momo made him, before leaving himself to meet back up.

- and then oops All Might Skinny Form reveal! The gang watches on the big screen. Shoto: Midoriya what is wrong with your dad??? Tenya: Todoroki that was supposed to be a secret!! Momo and Kiri: what?!?!?!? Uraraka: wow you two suck at keeping secrets even more than him having lunch with his dad All Might all the time with matching bentos.

- All Might planned to die in that fight but then he decided "no actually" because he was going to properly retire and keep raising Izuku, instead of pulling the same crap on him that AfO pulled on Tenko Shimura. A righteously angry father curbstops AfO.

- The commission swarm izuku and All Might's shared hospital room, Naomasa and Gran squeezing in to help shove a few out. As soon as izuku was taken them looked into him and realized he was All Might's adopted son and heir, done very quietly, and that he would have taken over the agency if All Might died- something they didn't think was even possible until after seeing Kamino. The commission does stand to lose a lot of money and control they didn't even know was an option until five minutes ago now, but All Might points out there's nothing they can do legally and beside, That's His Kid now and they aren't touching him. The commission could go after the other UA kids, or reveal past vigilantism, or try to revoke All Might's license before he retires on grounds of "not disclosing conflict of interest before a large mission that put other heroes at risk" but izuku just points out that he and All Might have more dirt on them than vice versa, and the popularity the commission bolstered will mean that the people will side with All Might and the kids that actually did something over the commission that kept letting them fall into danger. Didn't they see how All Might was still cheered on in his shaking, skinny, bloodied form? Didn't they cheer him on too? The commission decides this isn't a battle they want to pick and leave to try and smooth other things over.

- because Toshinori is properly retiring, Izuku doesn't have to take on the agency yet. They decide to keep a smaller crew running it to keep it up until izuku decides if he'll take over or start up his own after graduation (and pay the other employees a very generous severance pay) in the meantime, most focus is on charity work. It warms Toshi's heart he actually gets to see it done, instead of plan it.

- if any in the public wonder why the agency is still up, they're mostly just relieved that is it, that All Might is still working to help them. A few legal savvy people might figure out he's set up for an heir, but probably figure he's still looking and deciding if it'll be Sir Nighteye or another person. A few others theorize about "kid with super strength who breaks his own bones" being related to "All Might with support strength who apparently wore his own body to the bone", since the villain went after him, but most think the villain just saw the similarities and wanted to grab him before he could become a threat like All Might- and besides, if All Might were his dad, they would have seen him years ago, not to mention he'd have taught him not to break his own bones!

- Meanwhile, Toshi is a bit nervous about letting Izuku go to the dorms. It's the single worst parent meeting Aizawa has. Nedzu says it's understandable and that if izuku would like, he could keep living at home with Toshi for the rest of the summer and commute to school, and they decide the next steps after. Then he offers Toshi a more regular teaching job (he was just doing guest lectures previously since he didn't need to find a successor at UA) if he wants to stay on campus with Izuku. The four decide to just wait until after summer and the license exam to figure out that and the dorm thing.

#izuku also said if Toshi didn't let him go back to ua he'd run away there anyway #and Toshi was like 'duh i know you would'#angstandhappiness #pocket talks to people #kwwbn au

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rogueshipagogo · 2 years

Text

the time has come. for my big JaneAce Manifesto. i’ve been talking about them a lot for the better part of an entire year on my dead by daylight twitter, but i havent been posting about it Here, or really Anywhere that is easy to access and doesn’t just disappear into the ether after a few weeks. but i really like them and genuinely think they are among the better m/f [not straight. There is a difference] dbd ships, and there’s probably been a Noticeable uptick in content about them since i started uhh requesting it and commissioning it and spreading the word about how epic they are over on That website, so- why not on This website??? buckle up for lots of rambling and big reaches over this games tiny scraps of lore. also sorry if you’re looking at this on mobile, for some reason it keeps getting random formatting issues that literally dont exist in the copy im posting from my laptop so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ its just gonna be kinda ugly

it is simply economical to ship the two hottest characters in any given series. when you ship janeace, you are speedrunning looking at some sexy old people having fun being in love. it’s not rocket science. thread over

no actually. anyways. OK so. this all started bc. a long time ago. i was playing a game as ace where i had a rainbow map and the lens that lets everybody on your team see what you're looking at, right. and i was going around looking for totems and chests and the exit when i realized there was a jane player following me who was pointing at the stuff that was glowing with my map and dancing around all like ‘woah i want that thanks for finding it’. i thought that was rly cute so i moved out of the way to let her open the gates and take down all the totems and have whatever was in the chests whenever she found me. and then the game was over.

But that rly cute interaction just kind of gave me brainworms. afterwards i couldn't stop thinking about how funny it would be to imagine that scenario having dialogue and jane just marching up to ace opening up a chest like ‘hey. Can i have that’ and also how fun and good they would be as a ship if you didn’t look at it like the classic ‘opposites attract’ scenario, and more as if they actually weren't very opposite at all, and were in some ways Very compatible, they just had completely opposite circumstances that made them seem, on the surface, like they were from 2 separate worlds entirely.

like, there’s a handful of janeace content that existed before i got into the dbd fandom, right, and its not Bad?? but it tended to have vibes of ‘this is a stereotypical relationship between a super laid back toxic levels of egotistical manchild and a super uptight prudish nagging woman’, like some sitcom straight people meant to entertain jaded cishet 45 year olds. And i Guess i understand why that’s the obvious trope to apply to the concept of them dating each other. and i Guess i understand why people in the dbd fandom got that impression of them, and decided they Hated shipping them, if it was just going to be nothing but ace being like ‘haha you are so sexy and i am so immature why dont you just be the more responsible one forever’ and jane being like ‘noo stupid man i am so much smarter than you i am le epic girlboss and you are perpetually mentally 25 years old so now i have to be mean to get you to do anything’

but that interpretation is entirely reliant on bad faith takes on Both of their personalities!!

its easy to see jane as a flawless queen of everything without a loosey goosey bone in her body, but that ignores things like her painter cosmetic, where her face and hands are Covered in paint and all her brushes tucked into her hair; or the lines in her biography about her early days as a radio host, where she was fired within months for making too many ad libs and being ‘too frank’; or the fact that her rockabilly cosmetic is from an episode of her show... implying she regularly wears costumes on her show. shes literally from new jersey

its easy to see ace as a lazy asshole who only knows how to manipulate people- but that ignores things like his waiter and fisherman cosmetics, where he’s making an earnest effort to earn money doing honest [enough] work, but simply suffers from low self esteem if he feels inadequate and unprepared, and routinely goes back to being a gambler out of convenience.

i’d also like to take the moment to point out how they Both struggle with mental health issues. i think there’s a tendency in the fandom to gloss over a lot of the issues they write jane as having, making her seem perfect and mature and universally appealing with very few flaws, And a tendency to act like ace’s issues are all there is to him, someone who contributes so little and takes up so much space that it’s hysterical- which does them both a disservice, especially for My intents and purposes of saying wow both of these characters only get by running on alternating manic and depressive episodes. clearly aces entire life is centered around having addictive personality disorder and being in relationships that are toxic for him- in his lore, ace is encouraged to put himself in an extremely dangerous situation by a friend who is amused by watching him embarrass himself, and we get the idea that ace socializes with people entirely on a metric of ‘is this person impressed by how cool i seem when i win’ and ‘is this person just really into watching me lose because its funny and entertaining’, which he might not even be aware of.

clearly jane.... janes entire story is about her childhood trauma. Like i dont want to just have to retype her entire biography and also her tome lore but, in summation, her entire story is about the pressure of the life she had built as a reaction to her childhood trauma and how Even if she hadn’t gotten fognapped, she was likely heading towards a meltdown spiral from taking on too much work, getting too wrapped up in peoples perceptions of her, and becoming obsessed with gaining more influence, to the point of being willing to sell out completely in order to get even a Little bit closer to her audience Really Understanding how much she’s a normal person desperate for people to relate to her pain.

So Now Think About It. they're both among the more charismatic extroverts of the survivors, their livelihoods Both rely on being able to have a good conversation with people and build a really iron clad rapport in a really short amount of time, they both aspire to be sort of fancy and rich and get a lot of attention and clout And, for Both of them, this desire for that sort of life started early in childhood, dreaming about escaping poverty and preconceived notions of who they were. they both have multiple bits of flavortext in game about being naturally optimistic and seeking to share that hopeful attitude with their friends, so i also think jane's method of interacting with people is something that would, like ace's method of interacting with people, not always land.

‘but sunday, she’s an insanely famous self help talk show host!! how could she be Bad at socializing with normal, average, not-famous peons???’ would You want an insanely famous self help talk show host grabbing you by the shoulders just to be like 'dont worry, It gets better :^)' while your leg was caught in a bear trap and you were having your fingers sliced off and your heart ripped out?? and some dudes taking pictures of it?? probably not. People who would be into that are likely in the minority. but you know who Is in that minority???? Ace.

imagine if after Weeks/Months/Years?? of terrifying trials where everyone is getting ripped apart and fangoriously devoured or w/e, jane is Still trying to be helpful in the only way she knows how to her new friends, but they’re all Less than receptive to it. bc you think people like feng min and jake and david, all these tired ass antisocial introverts, want to keep hearing ‘dont worry we can do this’ over and over and over again, every single time this happens??? probably not. at some point they would probably be like ‘wow, jane, that’s great, but im actually? Tired of dying over and over again, and what you’re saying is Not helpful right now’. even her fellow celebrities, like kate and yun-jin and felix, or even just other more sociable and positive types, like meg and claudette and adam, might get really tired of hearing stuff like that as they get shredded up for the 39480459th time.

but it’s the thing that occurs most naturally to jane to do for people when they’re upset. she’s spent Years putting all of her time and money and self worth in being able to do this and watching it make a meaningful impact on people!!! And she’s spent years being validated in her sense of self relying on being that type of parasocial icon for people!!! so how is she going to make it in the fog without getting her heart broken and sent to the void where hopeless survivors go if she cant do the one thing she’s best at??

but then maybe it finally comes down to just her and ace as the last two survivors one night, after getting progressively lonelier and lonelier for what feels like forever, realizing that her Love Language is somewhat inert here, and when she works up the nerve to pull the ‘hey, it’s gonna be fine, we can get out of here’ card on Him??

it finally Works. he smiles back at her and says ‘yeah, youre right!!’ because he is Also a tireless optimist who doesnt believe in bad luck and sees a silver lining to every situation. he’s the guy who is perpetually smiling in order to make sure there’s always at least One person who hasn’t given up hope yet, and knows the value in holding out just long enough to be absolutely sure there’s no possible way to turn things around. he will never pass up the opportunity to look at a bad situation that way- he’s a gambler, the idea of a potential payout for taking that slim of a chance is one of the only things in life he cares about. AND SHE CAN WORK WITH THAT

so the most hilarious thing in the world to me would be if one of the first few times they ever actually speak to each other by the campfire after a trial, everyone is sort of looking around like ohhh god this is gonna be weird, he’s such a little weirdo and she’s so poised and normal

but it Actually isnt weird. for better or for worse, ace is good enough at reading people- and knows well enough just how much power jane has- AND DOESNT WANT TO GET THE SHIT BEAT OUT OF HIM BY A FAMOUS GIRL AGAIN- that he manages to be not a complete loser around her, mostly. she Also has to tap into her ‘talking to normal people’ skills in order to communicate with him initially as well, but even thats just something that would sort of sweeten the deal for her. i’m not under the impression he’d know a whole ton about her before encountering her in the entitys realm, so there’s not even as much pressure in interacting with him as there is with someone who i can easily see being a jane romero show stan before the events of the game, like yun-jin or meg, who she loves and would be friends with, but also still feels a bit obligated to be really put together around, for her images sake. so for her, there’s a bit of relief in making friends with such a comparatively average person, and for him, it’s cool that she even wants to talk to him, and a bit humbling that he can no longer claim to have the most bravado and largest presence out of anyone in the fog.

this isnt to say that they dont have their differences- obviously, she’s a hard worker who wants to come off as entirely self reliant and tireless, and he’s a self professed mooch who wants to just manipulate his way into success without actually applying himself unless it’s easy and fun and makes him look very sexy and cool- but i don’t think thats something that would completely kill their chances of getting along and having a successful relationship. they are adults. they can work it out

in fact its probably for the best that jane has such a well developed sense of self worth, so that when ace fucks up and says something tactless because he’s being a little clown creature, she can swiftly, easily disarm him into taking it back and informing him that he can’t say shit like that, rather than get her feelings hurt or just assume there was nothing to be done about it, like i think a lot of other survivors would do *cough felix cough*. He needs someone who can nip his antics in the bud instead of enabling him. and where anyone else doing that might kind of bug him, in this fantasy universe i have created where i get to dictate how all fictional characters act, it makes sense to me that he would defer to her judgement.

[this is a good a time as any to say I dont fuck with 'ace is unironically sexist' headcanons or whatever, i want him to have moved Past whatever the hell was going on in his tome, as that was Meant to be a painful experience in his past that he’s still hung up over as being one of the worst times of his life, NOT an accurate snapshot of who he Currently is in the game!!! so i dont mean he’s saying and doing Genuinely Problematic things to her or anyone else on a regular basis... he can just be kind of weird and careless]

i like imagining that since she has the status and wealth and influence that he could only Dream of having, its a bit of a ‘whatever she says goes’ situation when she suggests slight changes to his behaviour, within reason. On this note, from the Other side of the fence, jane could eventually have an issue with trying to tailor his personality Too much to her liking- her bio literally says she ‘needed more; she wanted others to follow in her footsteps’, so its easy to imagine there might need to be not just boundaries around reining in his behavior, but boundaries around her tendencies to want to control his behavior in the first place. even their flaws are compatible!!!!!! its nice for me to imagine that there would be plenty of scenarios where jane is the one getting spun out mentally and ace has to be the one to ground her, since at the end of the day, she’s just a normal person caught up in the relentless perfectionism of showbusiness. that their relationship isnt just ‘selfless perfect hot girl fixes stupid washed up scrimblo mans life’, because they Both have valuable things to tell each other and perspectives the other sorely needed. and because honestly??? jane is less content in her life than ace is in his!!! again, on a surface level, it’s easy to see them and think he’s the problem and she’s the problem solver, but its way more complicated than that.

a lot of how i think about them takes place in a post-fog environment- if we’re meant to believe that the survivors in the game will get out eventually, that means we’re invited to consider how they would make it back in the real world. and maybe jane would take this time to say. ‘Well, i can’t really afford mentally to be everyone’s best friend on the tv with a million clothing lines and makeup products any more, now that everyone saw my funeral and all. maybe i should set my sights a little lower and try to just take it one day at a time’. and maybe ace would take this time to say. ‘well that whole experience just taught me a whole lot about what it’s like to care about other people for once. and the idea of being in a casino or bar right now is extremely overwhelming and bad. but What Else am i supposed to do???’ and that’s when they can move in together and she can see what its like to try Less hard and he can see what its like to Try for anything at all even a little bit. it is extremely endearing to me to imagine, like, jane at home painting or writing, and maybe ace has his 2nd or 3rd ever little part time job for underachievers, like being a bartender or waiter, and when he gets home shes there to be like ‘wow you did it im so glad you finally learned to be a relatively productive member of society, i know its your least favorite thing ever but it means a lot to me that you arent fully reliant on all my money also i dont care if you still do gamble shit every once in a while because clearly thats just What Brings You Joy so have fun doing that on your days off still’.

OR!!! flip it turnways: she Does go back to being a tv personality, or writer, maybe talking about what it is she just went through, and needs to come home after the strain of being on tv and dealing with media industry people all day [which was already extremely bad for her, her bio describes her regularly getting migraines after filming] to someone who actually understands the fog and believes her and was there, and spent his day making sure the bed is made and the floor is vacuumed and dinner is ready for her. and you know who can do that??? be a little stay at home himbo wearing expensive pajamas and embroidered slippers, loading the dishwasher while blasting jazz for slutty old men on an expensive sound system in a luxury new york penthouse??? Ace. Again. that’s always what the answer will be here

so we all agree that it’s not epic or poggers to depict utterly useless men riding on successful womens coattails. But. if she makes more money than she knows what to do with, and he actually makes himself useful, Why Not be the sugar mommy rich gf to this dude who has agreed to keep your house running and be your peppy little old man cheerleader in exchange for getting fancy clothes and also lots of hugs and kisses. and also you spent an indeterminate amount of time being tortured to death infinitely in a hell dimension.

I think that’s fine!!!!!!! theres literally no end to the situations in which they can, despite being a high strung girlboss and a manic pixie malewife, get along, and see and value each other for who they are, and how they decide to cope, and what they need, in order to not get utterly lost in the sauce of the weird fucked up mentally and spiritually draining lifestyles they both live. in my honest opinion.

AND THATS WITHOUT EVEN BRINGING UP HOW I THINK THEY’RE BOTH BISEXUAL AND TRANS

#jane romero #ace visconti #janeace

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paintball169 · 3 years

Text

Day 3 - Identities

Day1 - Day2 - Day3 - Day4

Marinette had been living with the waynes for over a month now. The reason? Tom and Sabine sent her away to her biological father. Apparently To Dupain was not her biological, but Bruce Wayne was.

Marinette had a sliver of hope, A really, really thin one. Which had faltered by the month.

Marinette had defeated Hawk Moth with Chat Noir. Apparently Plagg found the brooches along with two sleeping kwamis accidentally. At night when Gabriel and Natalie were asleep, He had stolen the miraculous. On the patrol that night, Chat had told her that the miraculous were right under their noses. He gave her the two brooches and told her that Plagg had found the brooches in his father’s study. He told her that Gabriel was Hawk moth and Natalie was Mayura. Then he de-transformed and handed her the ring saying that he wanted to continue his life as a civilian.

Later that week it was announced that Chat noir found out who Hawk Moth was and he had stolen the miraculous at night. He then said that Gabriel and Natalie were the Villians. He then revealed himself saying that he was innocent, and he had no idea that his father was Hawk moth. Marinette had thought that with Hawkmoth gone she could beat Lila, But no, it Backfired. That was the reason she was Shipped off. Like an object. She was replaced just like an object.

Her only wish was to die. But she had tried to do that multiple times. Someone always managed to save her. So no, that option was unavailable. She had thought that she would finally be able to die in Gotham by sucide, But no, Selina, Cassandra or Jason always managed to save her.

By now she had started to see the woman as a mother figure. The Waynes hated her. They didn’t even listen to her side of the story. Only Cass and Jason had seen that there was more to the story. Selina and Alfred too, of course. The waynes saw her with disgust. They laid out certain rules.

And of course she figured out they were Bat family. She may not be from Gotham, but she wasn’t certainly stupid. She had to admit, The Waynes were really good at hiding the Batfam thingy. But what gave them away? Misplaced Batarangs by Tim. Then Tikki had also found the cave. She wasn’t stupid, Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne were good friends and certainly Batman and Superman. The people of Justice league stopped by often at the Manor too.

Speaking of the Justice League, They had given her an offer to join the League, but she declined. They had given her a satellite phone for emergencies to contact the league. They had praised her high and low. Batman was even Concerned for her when he found out her age range. Concerned! If they knew that Ladybug was their new sibling who was claimed to be a bully, she’d be declared a threat and her take Miraculous away.

Her routine was the same. Wake up. Eat breakfast in silence as she was being glared at. Study something. Do commissions while talking to her boyfriend, Luka and the others. Eat Lunch while being glared at. Study the Grimoire with Alfred. Sketch some designs while talking to Selina and Cass. Draw illustrations while Jason talks. Eat dinner in Silence. Stay up till 3 am doing commissions. Sleep.

Last week she had introduced Luka to Cass, Selina, Jason and Alfred. It went really well. Especially when Jason found out he was Jagged Stone’s son.

She was thinking how she could step up her game with the Waynes. In her thoughts she didn’t see Selina coming in.

“What are you thinking about Kitten ?” Selina asks, seeing the half sketched dress.

“Gah! Selina don’t scare me like that! Anyway I was thinking, ``What do I do to annoy the waynes?” Marinette asks the Master of scheming Cat-woman.

“Hmm, what about going to your true self? Being in headphones, ignoring them, Snide answers, and stuff like that?” Selina says thoughtfully.

“Selina, that's brilliant! You’re the best Mom!” Marinette says. She covers her mouth with her hand realizing what she said.

“Aww, Com’ere Kit. I love you.” Selina says softly.

“You’re not mad?” Marinette hesitantly asks.

“Of course not!” She says.

“You’ll be more of a mother than Sabine will ever be to me.” Marinette says with a small voice and hugs the older woman.

Then the Chaos was unleashed. Whenever the Waynes wanted to ask her something she’d ignore them and she always had her headphones on.

- - - - - - - -

“Marinette, tell me why did you hurt the poor girl?” Bruce asks in a stern voice. Of course Mari didn’t hear him because of the blaring music.

“Marinette, Why did you hurt the poor girl?” Bruce asks again, obviously annoyed.

“MARINETTE-” He was cut off from Alfred of course.

“If I may Master Bruce,” he says, earning a nod. He gently taps the girl’s shoulder. Marinette moves her hair away and removes her Airpod. The music is loud enough for everybody to hear.Meanwhile Bruce flushes in embarrassment. “Miss, Your father wants to ask you something.” Marinette nods. She turns to her Father.

“What?” She asks.

“I asked, Why did you hurt the poor girl marinette, around two months ago?” He asks, patience bearing thin.

“Oh? I didn’t know that I could make a clone of myself and Send one to the fencing class and the other to beat her up at the Seine?” She says in a bored tone. Jason and Cass, not being able to hold their laughter any longer, burst out laughing.

Later that night they checked her attendance, sure enough she was in the fencing class.

- - - - - -

One day Marinette got a call from the Justice league, Stating an emergency. She quickly transformed to Ladybug and Portalled to the Watchtower.

“Ladybug, welcome to the Watchtower,” Wonder Woman welcomed, standing at the head of a group of heroes. Interestingly enough, Batman and all of his brood were among them. Nightwing, Red Robin, Black Bat, and Robin and the others.

“Wonder Woman,” she greeted back. “What’s the problem?”

“Your former partner has been kidnapped.”

Ladybug’s face turned pale, but she took a deep breath instead of panicking. “What do we know?”

“Ra’s al Ghul has taken the former Chat Noir in an attempt to convince the Guardian of the Miraculous to turn over the jewels to him,” Batman reported.

Her face turned up into a snarl. “The League of Assassins,” she spat.

They were surprised that she knew Ra’s. But they hid it well.

“I take it you understand why we cannot allow the Miraculous to be surrendered to his control,” Batman continued.

Wonder Woman stepped in before Ladybug could reply. “Ladybug, we need you to tell us who the Guardian is so that we may protect them.”

Ladybug let out a cold laugh. Shivers ran down everyone’s spine. “Wonder Woman, you misunderstand. The Order of the Miraculous is all but dead. I’m all that’s left. You want the Grand Guardian of the Miraculous?” She spread her arms wide. “You’re looking at her. And Ra’s al Ghul can have them over my dead body. ”

The gathered heroes looked stunned. “Now where is Adrien?”

Red robin started, recovering first. “You’re not going alone.”

“You’re right,” Ladybug cut in. “I’m not. I’m gathering my team.”

“What Red Robin meant to say is that Batman and his assembled partners are going with you,” Wonder Woman soothed. “They have experience dealing with Ra’s and would be a great asset.”

“I’ll be back in ten minutes, at the most.” She said. Everyone nodded. She portalled away to gather her team.

Five minutes later a portal opened and stepped out Honey bee, Dragoness and Cobra in the Glory. The portal snapped shut when Ladybug entered.

“This is not enough! We’re dealing with Ra’s al Ghul and the league here!” Ladybug said. “We need her. She’s the last resort if we lose!” Dragoness exclaimed. The Justice league was confused. Who were they talking about?

“You’re right. Bee, you’re the only one who knows where she is. You’re her best friend. I can't find her in all of paris!” Ladybug asks, turning to Honey bee.

“You’re right, I do. It’ll be easy to find her. She’ll be in her room. She’s always Isolated, so don’t worry about getting caught.” Honey Bee answers.

“Isolation! I thought I told her to Socialize!” Ladybug exclaims.

“Yeah, but her family treats her like a pariah except some people. But Ladybug I don’t know if she’ll be able to fight.” Honey bee says.

“Rossi?”

“Rossi.”

“Now location please.” Ladybug says.

“Right. Wayne Manor, Gotham, New Jersey.” Honeybee whispers. Earning surprised looks from Ladybug and the Supers.

“Alright.” Ladybug portals away. This was all staged of course. She had recently found a spell to make a clone of herself.

“Why won't the hero be able to fight? She’s a hero!” Batman exclaims.

“Depression, you overgrown furry, Depression. She’s tried committing sucide several times. We saved her.” This earns many shocked looks.

Cue opening a portal. All of the Paris heroes Gasps. All in glory Multimouse is standing there.

When Honey Bee saw Multimouse, she gasped and enveloped her in a hug, muttering French endearments and saying how much she’d missed her. Dragoness stole Multimouse for a hug next before passing her on to Viperion who also received an extra peck on the lips in return, while Ladybug watched with a soft smile.

With Kaalki involved, it was child’s play to get into the assassin stronghold. Team Miraculous filled the gaps and worked seamlessly in their own right, simply a step away from Gotham’s Bats. They beat assassins on their own. The Bats just watched in awe.

It didn’t take them long to make their way to Ra’s.

The man wore a self-satisfied smirk on his face as he greeted him from his throne. A bruised and bloodied but otherwise intact Adrien was being restrained on the dias a few feet away.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Team Miraculous,” Ra’s mused, looking down the line. His eyes paused on Multimouse and his expression shifted to intense amusement. “And if it isn’t the latest in the Detective’s brood. I suppose heroics truly do run in the family after all.”

A number of shocked and confused gazes snapped to Multimouse, who simply stared at him down with cold eyes growling quietly.

“And yet she isn’t why we’re here,” Ladybug cut in coldly, shoving that problem in a box for later.

Ra’s shifted his oily attention to her. “Yes, I believe I requested the Guardian, young Bug.”

“And here I am,” Ladybug said simply. “But I will never cede the Miraculous to you.”

“Well, then I suppose the Blonde Cat dies.” The assassin near Adrien tried to kill him only to turn to orange smoke. Ra’s growls when he realizes he was tricked.

“Your reign is over. Your crimes won’t continue much longer. Tell me, just how long have you been using the Pits to keep yourself alive?”

“Goodbye, Ra’s al Ghul,” Ladybug intoned. “We’ll leave you to what remains of your empire.” She turned and motioned for the Fox to open the portal to the Watchtower. The Bats followed behind.

Adrien was at the fringes, attempting to escape a hero that was trying to get him to the Medbay for medical attention. He only had eyes for Multimouse.

“Marinette!” he called.

The Bats were shocked at both the name and the blatant outing of a secret identity.

Adrien broke free from his wounds. “Marinette, I’m so sorry,” he said brokenly.

It was quiet for a moment. “I take it they told you why I left, then,” Multimouse said, carefully devoid of emotion.

“I never thought-”

“Don’t, Adrien,” Queen Bee snapped.

Adrien gaped at his friend, shocked at the venom her words carried against him.

“But her Lies, they weren't hurting anyone!”

“How?” Multimouse snapped, her voice cracking. She took a deep breath. “How was it different? Because you told me I had to ‘take the high road?’ Because her lies would unravel themselves? Because she wasn’t hurting anyone? Bullshit, Adrien! They were hurting me!”

“She followed your advice at first,” Queen Bee said sharply. “She shouldn’t have, but you were her friend and she trusted you. By the time she realized that it had been a mistake, it was too late. Everyone else was in too deep and you did nothing . When Mari tried to tell everyone that they were being lied to, she was made to look like a liar. A bully.”

“Do you realize that the rest of us had people on watchlists?” Ryuko said bluntly. “People at risk of Akumatization that could bring the city to its knees. Aurore, because of Stormy Weather II. Ondine, because of Syren. But do you know who was on top?” She let the silence sit. “Marinette. Marinette was on top of that list. The only reason she was above Ladybug was because Marinette was drowning. But any time she tried to get through to the others, Lila hit back harder and you would ask Mari to back down. Because we don’t want to upset Lila, right? We don’t want her to become an akuma. Again.”

“My parents believed her, Adrien,” Multimouse said quietly. “They sent me away because I was ‘out of control’. I’m treated like a criminal where I am now! So I’m sorry, Adrien, but I can’t forgive you. You said you didn’t want to live with more lies, but then you stopped telling the truth when it threatened your ‘peace’. Even when that ‘peace’ might have ruined my life.” She took a deep, steadying breath. “But you know what they say, right? Never meet your heroes.” She turned and looked straight at Batman. “They’ll always just disappoint you.”

- - - - - - - -

The next week was tense at the Wayne manor. But eventually they apologised to marinette. She became close with them. She and her family then sent lawsuits to the Akuma class.

The saying is true then. “All’s well that ends well.”

@maribat-bdbwm

#mbdbwm2021 #Bio Dad Bruce Wayne #maribat #Bio!dadbrucewayne2021 #lilasalt #batmansalt

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