#i suggest all ya’ll participate in one way or another | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

flutteringphalanges · 3 years

Photo

Summary: “Am I in Hell?” Agatha’s voice was hoarse, a hint of fear in her tone. “That depends on your definition,” Dracula answered. “Perhaps.” His fingers felt cool against her burning skin, the fever raging through her body. “If you’re going to kill me, then do it,” she mumbled. The count chuckled, gazing into her eyes. “On the contrary,” he smirked. “I’m going to save you.”

((In which Dracula cares for a gravely ill Agatha))

Characters: Agatha Van Helsing/Dracula

Rating: M

Read on FFN and AO3

A/N: Well it’s been several months! Hope you guys haven’t forgotten about this little fic! I won’t keep you waiting too long! I highly suggest you read the second author’s note which can be located at the end of the chapter on either FFN or AO3 if you have any questions! With that said, feedback is greatly loved and appreciated! Huge thanks to @mitsukatsu for always letting me bounce ideas off of her! Thanks, girl! Hope ya’ll enjoy! -Jen

Chapter Thirteen

Though the sky was shrouded in near darkness, the full moon peaked through just enough to illuminate the scattered clouds that blanketed the night. It was eerie to say the least and even Agatha, despite what she now was, stuck close to Dracula as they made their way down an off-beaten path towards the small village. If her still heart could, it would be beating with such ferocity that her very chest would've felt the crushing blow of each throb.

"You're awfully quiet." Her mate commented, offering his hand as they stepped over a log. "You have nothing to fear. It is quite a simple process and I assure you that I would not allow any harm to come to you."

"That's not what I'm afraid of you." Agatha said quietly. "I am not worried about my sake."

"Then what?" The Count inquired, stopping them both in their tracks. "This isn't about your moral standards is it, Agatha? We've discussed this on numerous occasions. I only wish what is best for you. I think in time you will see that. How much, I cannot promise, but it will get easier." He smiled gently and tilted her chin to press his lips to hers. "Come," he urged. "Let us not wait. Time seemingly moves much faster than one would presume."

Part of her wanted to say something. Outright deny any participation in this immoral act. But perhaps it was her selfish love for him that even made her consider the possibility. Why was romance so damn desirable? Holding her in a vice grip where eternity with her former enemy was a far more pleasant option than being without? Was this love sickness? Could he feel the same way? That only made it worse. The former nun sighed, trying to clear her head of such thoughts. So much had happened in these past few months. Her skull hurt and she wasn't quite sure if it was due to her fall or just the strain of it all.

"Ah! We're here!" The excitement in Dracula's voice pulled the former nun from her thoughts. She looked to the vampire, his teeth glinting in what little moonlight shone from the clouds. "It's right outside the city of Brașov, secluded enough that we shouldn't be bothered." He reached down and gave her hand a squeeze. "Fear not," he murmured. "I will be right by your side guiding you the entire time." Though his words offered little relief.

The village was nothing special, far from appeasing to the eye. It was small, perhaps used at most for those passing through or people making just enough to get by. Agatha absentmindedly dug her nails into the palm of her hand, feeling their newly found strength press indents into the skin. Dracula was speaking to her, but his words sounded so distant as she took in her surroundings. As a greater part of her wanted to turn back and return to the castle, an unexpected sight captured her immediate attention.

"No, please! I'm begging you! Leave me be!"

From the entrance of an alleyway, a woman stumbled backwards, her hands outstretched as if in some poor attempt to protect herself. Agatha stepped forward instinctively, but found her mate's arm outstretched in front preventing her from going forward.

"Wait." He said quietly. "Allow this to play out."

Agatha threw him a look of horror about to protest when a stranger strode out from the shadows something glinting in his hand. Without warning, the figure slashed the object at the woman's neck causing a gurgling choke of surprise to escape past her lips. Something sweet filled the air. The scent was more alluring than any blossom the former nun could remember smelling. Blood. Fresh blood. Human blood.

Whizzing, the lady collapsed on the ground, too weak to ward off the man as he began to dig through what little satchel she carried. Finally snapping from her trance, Agatha looked in horror at the sight before her. At the intense feelings that bombarded her mind after witnessing what she had just seen. How both her former and immortal sides were battling against her sanity.

Agatha's eyes remained locked on the man's as he stood unmoved just meters from her. With her new found abilities, even in the nearly moonless night, she could make out the thick, crimson liquid as he dripped down the shimmering blade. It was almost teasing. Watching it fall to the ground below where it became soiled by dirt.

"What are you waiting for?" A voice coaxed softly from behind, its excitement barely masked. "Go, I'll follow."

Yet Agatha's attention was not drawn to Dracula. Instead, her gaze briefly flickered to the figure lying nearly lifeless off to the robber's side. The woman's hands wearily grasped at the deep slash drawn across her throat as her life blood gushed between her fingers. An easier prey, she knew, but not one of good consciousness. If the former nun was to kill, then there had to be a reason.

"Two for the price of one." She heard Dracula say from behind. "The girl is merely a mercy kill."

They had different ideas about compassion, and the younger vampire's attention redirected once more to the man. The soon to be murderer. If it could, her blood would be boiling. A strange emotion began to fill her. Almost primal in nature. Her smooth teeth began to shift as she took a step forward towards the thief.

"Stay-stay back!" The man warned, swinging his knife shakily between Dracula's and Agatha's direction. "I'm warning you!"

But Agatha's ears no longer heard the desperate, empty threats. Nor did she feel the anticipation of her mate by her side. Instead, she lunged forward and knocked the man to the floor. Predator finally becoming prey.

Fangs cut through soft flesh like a spoon through room temperature butter. Instantly a flood of hot, sweet liquid coated her tongue and flowed down her throat in deep, hungry gulps. Agatha wasn't sure what she had been expecting. As a child, she'd once fallen and bitten straight through her bottom lip. Through the pain, the blood had tasted salty. Unpleasant. But now, here where she feasted, it was like honey straight from the comb. This wasn't the putrid taste from animal gore. No. No, this was far, far delectable.

"Agatha."

A hand clamped down on her shoulder but Agatha ignored it, choosing instead to keep suckling away at whatever remained of her victim. The grip, though gentle, tightened slightly causing an unanticipated low grumble to escape from deep within the former nun's throat. Finally, she sat up, blood dripping unceremoniously down her chin. She blinked, slightly confused for a moment as she began to take in her surroundings once more. Dracula smiled fondly at her, an almost proud sort of expression. Agatha blinked again and, looking from the dead man to her lover, quickly wiped away at her chin in slight embarrassment.

"I must admit I am quite impressed." The Count mused, admiring her handy work. "You took to it much better than I had anticipated." He ran a hand through her hair, his dark eyes flickering away from the body. "Now might I interest you in some dessert?"

The blood that bubbled around the entry wound on the woman's neck was already blackening with clots when Agatha arose to her feet. With great care, the younger vampire made her way over, careful not to step on the crumpled body. The lady gazed up at her with grey, uncertain eyes, each breath more raspier than the prior. Perhaps she didn't see the act Agatha had just committed, or was too out of it to even fully absorb what had occurred.

"Scared…" It was about all Agatha could clearly make out. "Please…"

Ignoring what Dracula could possibly be thinking, his Bride gingerly sat on the ground and cradled the woman like one does a babe. Her skin was grey, cold as what little blood left stuck to Agatha like a paste. A waste, she knew, but her own needs were none of her current concerns. She held the woman close, as best as one could for both being around the same height.

"There is nothing to fear." The former nun said softly, her eyes locked onto the woman's. "Soon there will be no pain. No horror. Be at peace with your Savior. Go now with God."

Her pulse stopped and Agatha watched the woman's chest rise and fall one more time before all with still. Gently, she closed both eyelids, covering the irises that reflected the moonlight like glass. She turned her head to see Dracula watching her, his expression hard to read. Chewing on the inside of her cheek, she lowered the woman back down onto the ground and rose to her feet.

"She didn't deserve to die like that." Agatha finally said, not turning to meet the vampire's gaze. "No matter what you say, I made the right call."

The Count exhaled. "I take it you know your way enough to start walking back towards the direction of the castle?" Agatha merely nodded and Dracula cleared his throat. "Well, I suppose then I'll clean up for tonight. We can make that a lesson for another day." He smiled, trying to lighten the tension. "You did well, Agatha. Give yourself some credit. We'll have to celebrate amongst ourselves."

Dracula kissed her cheek and Agatha forced a small smile. She tried not to look at the two bodies as her mate gave her hand a small squeeze. Though she physically hadn't felt this great in a long while, the repercussions of what she had done had struck her hard.

Honestly, she quite yearned for the vampire's company as she followed the trail that led back to their home. Right now, the idea of being alone wasn't all that pleasant. Then again, crushing the chest of a human to prevent it from turning was far less appealing. So she went by memory, trying to push past what she had done until the castle was in sight.

"Foolish, foolish…" She thought to herself, the brush and stone crunching under her feet. "Just let it slip away. If there is some higher power that thinks I have done some good enough to deserve the least bit of mercy, allow me to forget for a few precious moments."

A humorless chuckle escaped from between her lips. At least Dracula hadn't called her out on her biblical speech. That had taken her by some surprise. But as a nun, the dying always seemed calmed by the idea that God awaited for them with open arms and complete, forgiving nature. She hadn't quite understood that. Then again, she hadn't quite understood much of that the more she considered it.

A pair of arms wound themselves around her waist just as Agatha reached the top of a hill. Dracula pressed his face into the crook of her neck and inhaled. She could smell the heavy scent of blood on him, though it was far from pleasant. Corpse blood never did have the same effect she was beginning to pick up.

"You walk too terribly slow." He murmured against her skin. "If I were a fox and you were a rabbit, you'd be dead."

"Always lovely with your analogies." Agatha snorted, rolling her eyes. "And we both know I'm too wise to be a rabbit." She paused, hesitation in her voice. "Is it done?"

"As I've said before," Dracula turned the former nun so that she now faced him. "You are my true bride. I have no intention to turn others." Her eyes narrowed, pressing him for a better form of confirmation. "Yes. You have nothing to worry about." The Count exclaimed, admiring her in the moonlight. "Have I told you how ravishing you look tonight?"

Forget. Forget. Agatha gazed up into his dark eyes, taking in the lust and excitement that they held. She could taste the thief lingering on her tongue. Feel the dried blood from the innocent woman against her skin and on her clothes. Forget. Forget. She wanted to block it out. And here stood Dracula. Completely unaware, far too focused on what he thought was right. Was okay. In that moment, she needed him to help her forget. Wanted him to make her forget.

"Then show me." She whispered, his eyebrow quirked in surprise as she moved his arms to the straps of her dress. "You tell me I'm exquisite, but words have no meaning over actions." Agatha locked eyes with him. "Take me here. Right now."

Dracula's lips curled into a smile. "I did not realize how much tonight meant to you."

A blur of emotions. A tidal wave of feelings. Agatha bit her lower lip, glancing once at the night sky before back at her lover. They still had time. A few hours before dawn. They'd make it back. She just needed to be distracted. If just for a little while. Forget.

Agatha forced her second smile of the night. "Then let me show you."

#Dracula #Dracula 2020 #Dragatha #Agatha Van Helsing #BBC Dracula #Dracula x Agatha #Bad Moon Rising

29 notes · View notes

lihikainanea · 5 years

Text

Well, that’s THAT button slammed then.

I had full plans tonight to sit down with some tea, spend an hour on here responding to asks. Clearing out/expanding on some of the delicious ideas you have all submitted lately.

But then.

THEN.

You all gave me some serious issues tonight. Not only was I in a super small space for most of the day today, but then you had to go and slam one of my biggest kink buttons and honestly just...Do I thank you all? Do I fight all of you?

One of ya’ll is gonna have to square up and catch these hands. Even most of the ideas in here were uh, yours. Thanks/fucking fight me.

BEEEEEEEEEEJ.

***

It was the scent that always hit him like a truck. Your scent—one that he was developing a very Pavlovian response to—would always somehow catch him off guard, envelop him totally, light a fuse within him that made him want to hug you and kiss you but also throw you into the nearest wall and have you rake your nails down his back while he made you scream.

Tonight, it was the latter.

He had gone for drinks after dinner with his new Swedish friends, drinks that you were too tired to participate in. But you had spent most of the day together—you were glued to him a bit today, feeling in need of his presence—and you knew he missed Sweden. He hadn’t been home in awhile, and you knew he took comfort in meeting his fellow countrymen. It had taken some coaxing on your part, but he eventually listened to you and agreed to meet them for a drink.

He listened to you even though you had emerged from a shower wearing nothing more than pair of boy-cut panties, your sun-kissed skin flecked with a few droplets of water that he wanted nothing more than to lick off. He listened to you, even though you had flounced by him topless, tan lines from your bikini visible everywhere, that ass that he couldn’t get enough of jiggling as you sauntered by—and he wanted nothing more than to get you under him, so small and needy, as he ran his nose along the underside of your breast, sucked a nipple into his mouth, palm your ass in his hand before giving it the type of firm swat that always had you moaning and pressing more into him.

He listened to you, despite his mind and his body screaming at him to stay, to worship you—he listened to you, and he met up with his new friends at the bar. And he was doing okay, he was managing if a bit uncomfortably so, because he knew you’d be waiting for him when he got back.

Until another girl at the bar walked by and he got a whiff of coconut—of a scent that was an awful lot like your body lotion—and then he was in trouble. And even if he knew you’d be waiting for him no matter what time he came back at— suddenly, he was the one who couldn’t wait anymore. He needed it; needed to feel your skin against his, needed to taste it, to run his tongue over your lips and down your neck and feel you clutch onto him when he hit the spot just right, he needed to hear your whimpers, your pleas for him, needed to feel your throat constrict around him the way it did when you got on your knees for him. God, the glorious site of you staring up at him, wide eyed, your mouth full with his cock as you still whimpered and tried to take more.

He needed it. Now.

With a hasty excuse, he chugged the rest of his beer and made a beeline for your room. When the elevator was taking too long he sprinted up the stairs, taking 4 at a time, before frantically swiping his key card in the lock.

You were in bed reading, jumping slightly when the door slammed open and ricocheted off the wall. You heard it close again, heard the door latch, before Bill came into your view—his chest heaving, his eyes on fire, his cheeks flushed.

“Bill?” You asked cautiously, “Everything okay bud?”

He stared at you, stoic, his tongue wetting his bottom lip.

“I need you, kid,” he growled, and a shiver ran down your spine.

“What?” You asked, and it had the slight edge of a whimper to it. Bill looked…possessed. Standing tall, he was glowering down at you and he hadn’t blinked yet. His fists were at his sides, balled tightly with some unnamed emotion.

“I need you. Now,” he said, and it sent a jolt right to your core. Exhaling a long breath, you put your book down and pushed the covers back. As if on an invisible string, you were powerless to do anything except what he wanted of you.

“What do you need?” You asked, softly. He didn’t answer, just stared you down as he bit hard into his bottom lip. And you knew. You knew what he needed—it’s what he never felt comfortable asking you to do, despite how many times you reassured him.

You crawled out of bed, standing and making your way over to him. When you stood in front on him, catching his eye, you slowly sank down to your knees. Placing your hands in your lap, you looked up at him with wide eyes, every bit demure and dainty. He let out a shaky breath.

“My god, kid,” he moaned, “You have no idea what you do to me."

“Show me,” you said, raising up to run your nose along his zipper, kiss his belt, the small patch of skin above it, “Show me.”

“Tiger…” he sighed, and when he looked like he was going to step away you grabbed onto his thighs.

“Take it,” you whispered, running your lips along his bulge. He closed his eyes, fisting your hair at the scruff of your neck and yanking it backwards. He was losing control, you could see it.

“What?” He growled.

“Take it,” you repeated, staying perfectly still, “Be selfish tonight. Take what you want.”

“Tiger, I need you real bad kid,” he said, strained, “This is going to be rough.”

“Good.”

Regarding you for a long moment, he let go of your hair and moved away from you quicker than you could grab on. You let go an audible whine as he walked to the bed.

“Hush,” he commanded, grabbing a pillow and making his way back to you. Kneeling, he nudged the pillow under your knees before standing and grabbing hold of your hair again. He gave it a good tug, tilting your gaze to his, and you moaned.

“How are you going to safe word if you need to?” He asked.

“I’ll pinch your thigh?” You suggested, and he nodded.

“You sure about this?” He asked, and his chest was already heaving slightly with each deep breath he gulped in, “I can take what I want?”

You moaned at just the thought.

“Yes,” you murmured.

Glaring down at you, he hurriedly undid his belt and zipper, pushing his shorts down and kicking them to the side. Piling your hair in a bun, he wound it around his fist and pulled your face forward. Grabbing his length in his other hand, he tapped his head on your lips.

“Lick,” he commanded. You looked up at him as you obeyed, and he exhaled a long breath. With a good hold on your hair, he pushed just the tip in and you waited for your next command.

“Suck,” he said. Tightening your lips around your mouthful, you flicked your tongue over the tip as you sucked on it. You saw his lower abs clench in front of you and you wanted to reach up, run your palm over them to feel them bunch and coil under your touch, but you didn’t dare move your hands from your lap. Shifting your knees a little, you tried to rub the seam of your underwear against yourself just right. There was something about Bill, when he was like this—authoritative, commanding, strong, stern—it made you tingle all over, and you could already feel the wetness pooling between your legs.

Keeping your gaze up at him, his head was tossed back, his mouth slack with pleasure, his eyes closed. He rolled his head back forward to look down at you before you felt a push on the back of your head, and then he was sliding his entire length into your mouth, not stopping until your lips hit his base.

The groan he let out was deep and long, strained as his abs flexed and he gasped when you gagged around him. It shot fire right to your core and you let go your own moan as he held your face to him. You breathed through your nose as you tried to relax your throat, calm your gag reflex.

“Oh my god,” he sighed. You shifted your legs more, trying to get some friction but it wasn’t enough. When he pulled you up his length, you popped your mouth off of him for a second. He didn’t loosen his grip in your hair, but he let you move away enough to speak.

“Bill, can I, um…” you looked up at him shyly, your eyes wide in need, “Can I…touch myself? Please?”

The fire in his eyes sent another jolt between your legs.

“Good girl,” he murmured and you shuddered. He gently took one of your hands in his and leaning forward a tad, he sucked your index and middle fingers into his mouth, running his tongue along them.

“Go on, sweet girl,” he said, urging your hand down, “Put on a show for me.”

You sighed shakily, putting your mouth back on him as you reached into your panties with your slicked up fingers. He grabbed hold of your head again, pushing to the back of your throat right when your fingers found your clit. Both of you moaned, and you pressed gentle circles around your sensitive bud. You were already so wet, so worked up, and you slid both fingers inside, pumping slowly.

He pulled you off for a second, keeping the tip in your mouth and twitched when you ran your tongue firmly along the underside. Then he was pulling you forward again, slamming into the back of your throat with a loud cry, cupping your jaw to keep you in place.

“Fuck,” he yelled when you swallowed around him, his whole body shuddering with pleasure. He held your face to him, his length deep down your throat, grabbing your hair tighter.

“Again,” he commanded, “Swallow like that ag—shit.”

His hips bucked when you did, and he bit into his fist. Trying to take him even deeper, you buried your nose in his patch of hair and swallowed again, moaning as your fingers drew faster circles on your clit. Bill jerked, cussing again— but you could handle more. Removing your hand from your panties, you reached up to his chest, motioning for his hand. He brought it down from his mouth and laced it with yours, trying to pull you off of him but you slammed your mouth back down and he cried out.

“Pineapple?” He asked shakily, and you would have rolled your eyes if you weren’t so focused. Taking his hand, you wove it through your hair to join his other one before sliding your mouth up his length, stopping to suck on the tip. You pressed lightly on his hands, and he understood.

“My god, woman,” he moaned. And with both hands in your hair he thrusted his hips forward, hitting the back of your throat. Groaning, he pulled back and did it again, staying in deep as you gagged.

“Tiger, fuck,” he whimpered, “I’m so close.”

You moaned at his words, returning your hand to your panties and he lurched forward; you could feel every throb through your tongue as he twitched in your mouth. Working your hand faster against your clit, you wrapped your lips tight around him as he dragged you up his length before pushing back in again.

“God kid you take me so well,” he praised, and he gasped when you gave a deep moan.

“Swallow around me again,” he said, and you did. Groaning deep in his chest, he wound his fists tighter in your hair and crushed you to him.

“Again,” he growled. You gagged, inhaling shakily through your mouth and willing your gag reflex down before you tightened your throat around him. It was his undoing; and he let out a loud cry as he dragged your mouth up off of him before thrusting in again.

“I’m gonna come,” he groaned, “Where do I…”

If your mouth hadn’t been full, you would have sassed him. He was balls deep in your throat, holding onto your face as he thrusted into your mouth, and he still had the decency to ask where he should aim. Pausing your own pleasure you put your hands on his to make sure he didn’t pull away, and he watched you as you forcefully jammed him down your throat. His knees nearly gave out. He pulled you off just a bit, sliding your mouth up barely an inch before thrusting back in. He did that a few more times, staying deep, and he let out a loud shout as he spasmed and spilled down your throat.

His hands gripped your hair until his knuckles were white, his abs clenching under your nose as he writhed and let out a prolonged groan. You swallowed everything he gave you, your throat clenching around him making him jolt even more. When his muscles stopped twitching, when he heaved a deep sigh and struggled to stay standing, he loosened his grip on your hair. You felt your own release, so close just seconds ago, fading. But you didn’t whine in frustration like you usually would, didn’t even squirm. Seeing Bill lose control so intensely was oddly….satisfying.

“Slow, kid,” he requested, as you started to move your mouth up and off of him. He jerked when you ran your lips over his tip, letting your hair go when you finally pulled off of him. You raised up, giving his stomach a soft kiss. He looked down at you with a small smile, his eyes still hooded with pleasure, as he ran his thumb gently across your bottom lip.

But his smile turned mischievous at the last second.

Dropping to his knees, he grabbed your waist and lifted you, slamming you back down on the floor as he threw your legs apart. Holding onto your thighs and spreading you wide, he dove down and licked a thick stripe through your folds. You gasped as he did it again, rapidly flicking his tongue over your clit. You jerked as he moaned against you, drawing your clit into his mouth and sucking at it harshly. He licked at you again, from your entrance all the way up, not giving you a second to breathe as he dipped and repeated the movement.

You were already so worked up that it didn’t take much; the second time he sucked your clit between his lips and flicked his tongue over it, you were coming undone. He held your legs forcefully apart as he lapped at you, his chin wet with your arousal as you clutched onto his hair. You spasmed and cried out, writhing before you collapsed back onto the hardwood floor.

“This was supposed to be about you,” you sighed, trying to catch your breath. He grinned at you, wiping his chin and then sliding his way back up your body.

“Well I’m all about you,” he said with a cheesy grin, “So it works out.”

You groaned, swatting at him.

“Are you okay?” He asked softly.

“Are you?” You asked back. His smile grew wider.

“I can’t feel my legs,” he laughed, “That was phenomenal, kid.”

It earned a giggle out of you.

“Come on bud, let’s get to the bed,” you stood slowly, stretching your stiff legs as both of you leaned on each other.

“I’ll get you some water,” he mumbled, but you laughed as you saw him attempt to walk on his unsteady legs. His knees shook and he wobbled, shooting a hand out to brace on the wall.

“Bill, you look like a giraffe. Get over here, I’ll get my own glass of water,” you laughed, pulling him to you and scooting under his arm so he could rest some of his weight on you. He smiled dopily down at you, and you pushed him onto the bed once you were close enough.

#BFF!Bill #BFF!Bill drabble #Bill skarsgard #smut #bill skarsgard drabble #bill skarsgard fic #bill skarsgard fanfic #sub tiger #I HAVE #A MIGHTY NEED #MANY MIGHTY NEEDS #Jesus take the wheel #god I am such a sub #SUCH A SMOL ONE #I need a cigarette after these visuals #and I don't even smoke

257 notes · View notes

galacticbugman · 5 years

Text

My Favorite Insects

Well howdy ya’ll Galactic Bug Man here with another blog post. Sorry this is long over due I have been busy with school and I have had some family issues that needed to be resolved this last few months but I am back with another blog post and just in time for the start of *drum roll* *fanfare* INSECT SEASON! or just spring.

So In my last post that was back in November I said that I would talk about what are my favorite insects. For the record some people may tell you that you can only have one or two favorites of everything. Well for me that has always been hard for me. Anything that interests me automatically becomes an obsession with me. With the autism it is kind of hard to ignore things that have a profound interest with me. Some people just have one favorite or each category. As for my goofy/nerdy self I have many favorites on many levels. For me I don’t just have one favorite science fiction TV Show or movie, same goes for Cartoons, comedies, food...eh you get the picture. Anyway I don’t just have a single favorite family of animals or just one favorite species for each.

In my line of a hobby it is the thrill of the search and an encounter goes. For me favorites come in many forms and have different lifestyles, and sometimes the story that will form when I find an organism helps make an organism my favorite. So there are many things that add up to make an organism a favorite. For me it is all of these put together. Even though I am a storyteller of sorts and love to share experiences I have had finding certain species. So now let us go into some of my favorites from the world of insects. Even though I am a birder too think I am just going to leave this post strictly for the insects. Just FYI I am expanding my blog to more than just insects. In the future I will be talking about birds, mammals, and all things natural. So with that said let us dive in to Insect family #1...

Beetles have become a growing obsession for me in the last few years. Back when I was in the Future Farmers of America I participated in an entomology contest once in the spring of 2011 then I did another one in spring of 2012.It was like a UIL contest of sorts but it was an FFA governed contest. We had to study a list of 125 or 150 insects I can’t really remember the amount we had to ID but it was a lot. The Texas Ironclad Beetle was one of the many on the list. (the picture was a photo I took of one during the 2017 iNaturalist City Nature Challenge of that same species.) The FFA contest really opened my eyes to loving the insect world. I became quite interested in the lives of insects and the ways they work. Butterflies had always been a favorite subject of mine ever since I was in grade school. My late grandmother (who passed away back in August of last year) got me butterflies and we had a garden at the house we moved from back in April for a long time. Most insects didn’t really appeal to me until my time with the Martin High School FFA. Me and the teams I had both years won first prize at the contests so that is how my love for loving insects a lot more than I did started to grow. Beetles started to grow on me. There have been many species that I have seen in the last few years that I wouldn’t believe existed. Some are just so amazing to watch and to photograph.

A growing favorite group of mine would have to be the Tiger Beetles. They are some of the prettiest and most vibrant colored of the beetles. This one was found at Thora Hart Park a few blocks from where I live now. We moved back in April of last year. This was found on one of our getting ready to move days. This guy is called a Chartreuse Tiger Beetle. It is a really shiny one. I found this one on one of the sand paths out there in the back forty of the park. It is small but the number of Tigers is amazing. There are a lot of deep sands out there and on any given hot and sunny day they will be out. Tiger Beetles are known for being fast throughout their lives. They have good eyesight even when they are larva which is kind of interesting for an insect. They are also predatory their whole lives. With a sharp pair of scissor-like mandibles and a tiger like attitude they are a fascinating beetle to observe. Both fast runners and fast fliers they one of an insect’s worst nightmares. This one was really cool. I saw this flash of green and blue. Then it landed in front of me and then I saw a flash of red. These guys are actually yellow on their wing covers; but when the sun hits them just right they shine a bright reddish orange color. That is what makes them really appealing to me. We all like shiny things don’t we? Shiny rocks, Pokemon, silver, gold. You name it people love shiny objects. For me shiny beetles are no different.

Another one of my favorites is this one called the Carolina Tiger Beetle. This one was one cool Tiger Beetle. I was out at a park called Parr Park in Grapevine Texas. There was a bunch of these guys running about the light traps we were using during one of our field investigations which was a Moth Night. A moth night or mothing event is where you set out lights with different wave lengths and purposely attract insects to photograph and document them. I have been on several in the last couple of years and they are loads of fun. They are cool because you don’t always get to see the creatures of the nocturnal world that often if you are a day person. Me I am more of an afternoon and night person. I have never been much of a morning person.That doesn’t mean I won’t get up early some days and go early morning birding or something like that. I do that sort of thing all the time but the night time when it is really muggy and sticky outside the bugs just come from out of the wood work. I don’t suggest doing those kinds of events if you don’t like bugs touching you or if you have a fear of insects because they will get into you mouth and your hair. Anyway getting back on track. I had my flashlight on and I was just looking down to see what I could find. I saw a couple of purple streaks running around at the base of our sheets that the bugs would cling to while we took photos. These guys really catch your eye and the refection from a headlamp or a flashlight is amazing when the light bounces off these guys. It is amazing how shiny they are. That is why I love these guys because one they are appealing by vibrancy in color and by their amazing patterns and shades. They are amazing little creatures. They are tiny and you can easily miss them. That is why you will not have tour guide going to have a tour guide with a group of people looking for these guys. They are too small and will flee in an instant. Still going out by yourself will be your best bet on seeing these guys.

Another one of my favorite beetles is this kind. This one is known by only a scientific name. It is called Zygogramma Heterothecae. It is a mouth full I know. This photo was taken at Tarrant County College’s South Campus where I go to school. I found this guy on one of my study breaks. On most study breaks I either go to the school’s game room and hang out with the other nerds or I go out and see what insects I can find so I can upload them to iNaturalist. This guy was at one of the best places to look for insects on campus (the library). This guy was the first one I have seen. Just look at those markings; it almost looks like a tribal painting or something from a tropical land. It is amazing how these guys look. I posted it to the iNaturalist website and turns out it had never been found in the Metroplex before so I got to expand its range just a little bit. That is another factor that makes an insect my favorite for its rarity or if it is a new one for a new range of territory. I have expanded ranges for a lot of insects on iNaturalist in the three years I have been using it. It is not that I am a big shot or anything it is just that I like to take pictures of everything from common insects and birds to the really hard to see ones. It is often the small things that are the least observed. I don’t know just how many species in total I have expanded for but I have also found several firsts for many parks around the area. One of my friends tries to give me the big head and calls me a rockstar. The truth is I am no rockstar or super naturalist I am just doing what a citizen scientist does take photos and send them on the database website and let nature take its course. I mean it is cool that I have found a lot of species that are rare and maybe out of place but I am not one who likes to take credit; I am the kind of person that likes to give credit when it is due. I have always been modest in this case. But yes finding rare things like this adds to the value.

Sometimes a bug just has to look like a spaceship or an visitor from another world to get my vote. Many insects I encounter remind me of things from Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica (1978 version with the Ovion Bug People) among other science fiction movies and TV shows. This guy Delphinia Picta or Picture Winged Fly is a wild looking one. It almost reminds me of the Bounty Hunter Greedo that worked for Jabba the Hutt that Han Solo blew away with his laser pistol in Star Wars IV A New Hope. It has a head that looks just like Greedo’s face minus the green with the bumpy texture and the funny looking ears. This guy is just bizarre looking all together. It looks like a starship with a Greedo head. so that is kind of fun and adds to the favorites if they remind you of fun things like that. Many insects in my mind always look like a sci-fi or horror movie monster from the 1930s- 1960s with the B horror classics. That is just it with being a nerd you see things like that out in nature and as a huge nerd of science fiction and stuff like that I have a lot of fun with it. I seriously can’t be out with a group on a BioBlitz see a bug and shoot off my mouth with some kind of silly science fiction reference. Thankfully I am with people that get it so I am safe but yes it is true that I can’t go a day without referencing a TV show, movie, or book. I am just that kind of guy even when it comes to nature. I surprised no one has gotten sick of me yet in my naturalist group. Lets look at another insect that looks like an alien shall we.

This guy is called the Wheel Bug. Named after its weird Buzz Saw like blade on his midsection. I am surprised that when they made the Starship Troopers series they didn’t make a bug that looked like this monster. This guy is a true monster. I It conjurers up a lot of science fiction nightmares just by looking at it but man I live for this kind of stuff. I love weird looking bugs. The weirder the creature the more blown my mind is. Sometimes the things with a face only a mother could love are the best things to look at. This guy you do not want to pick up just FYI. It can bite and it bites hard. I have never been bitten but good golly I know people that have been bitten and they say it is a feeling you don’t want to have. It may not kill you but it can leave one nasty mark. This guy is a member of the Assassin Bug group and it is one of the largest. Most assassins don’t get this big but these guys are over an inch long in some cases. They are a true monster but heck just as long as you keep your distance they can’t hurt you. So that is one factor for me I guess. Some animals like elephants may remind you of Dumbo or a baby deer may remind you of Bambi. However if you are into bugs and a pop culture nerd you will probably be seeing some Close Encounters business. Just saying I have been on the sci-fi bandwagon all my life and let me tell you some insects get even stranger and bring even more science fiction stuff to the table.

Some times it just has to have a fun name to say and since we just went down a path of sci-fi reference I think this one would be great to talk about. This little butterfly is known as a Phaon Crescent. I think that name sounds so much like a ship name (just the Phaon part). This guy is a very pretty butterfly that looks very much like a starburst or a disco ball. It is a very interesting butterfly and is just as small as its sister species called the Pearl Crescent which we get here in Texas too. These are not as common for me on a more personal note but they do happen quite frequently. Both are really pretty but this one gets bonus points for having such a cool name.

Sometimes to be a favorite they have to look weird before you can figure them out and know what they are doing. As in this case for this little Yellow-collared Slug Moth. You see that arched thing? that is its butt. I am just going to say this now like I have said so many times I am glad I don’t have to put my face near my butt for protection. This moth is in its defensive position. I was in a group doing another event out at Parr Park and I was coming back with a few other and I spotted him on a garbage can and we couldn’t figure out what he was or what exactly he was doing. So yes sometimes the oddest bits of behavior help with the humor of a potential favorite observation.This guy was just doing what he does best when not looking for food or a mate. 1. he had chosen a good hiding spot that matched his color. 2. he was just in the defense position so that way nothing serious would happen to him if he was attacked. 3. It just looked funny to us. We all gave it crazy bewildered looks trying to make heads or tails out of it. Turns out many moths do the same thing like the Eggplant Leaf-roller Moth and others. So sometimes the things we don’t understand may seem like a good laugh and that could add to a fond memory.

So that is it some of my favorite insect moments frozen in time. I have tons more favorites but it is kind of hard to cram them all into a single blog post when you have over 5,000 observations and over 1,370 species on your life list. That is kind of hard to pick and choose all of your favorites. I would like to hear what your favorite animals are and how you pick and choose your favorites. So until we meet again readers stay tuned for more from me Galactic Bug Man. I will see you on the trail. See you soon! gotta run.

#insects #wild #behavior #nature #wildlife #texas #beetles #coleoptera #moths #lepidoptera #butterflies #parks #hikes #photographs #macro photography #close ups #up close #closer look #insect #bugs

1 note · View note

abdicatedarchive · 3 years

Text

Lexi’s House Party || Montag, Lexi, and Kiran

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍: lexi’s bedroom @ lexi’s house party // 29th of january.

𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: montag x lexi x kiran.

𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒: underage drinking, drugs

𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐒: everyone’s favorite non-monogamous polyamorous not couple.

Montag headed up to Lexi's room as soon as he arrived, "Hey well if isn't the hostess" said the boy as he walked in and sat down on her bed, "I would guess that people downstairs want your attention, so I managed to get here early" said the boy, "I don't usually do that, so I wanted you to know that you're special" he added. Lexi was special, she gave him a new way of life. He felt like he was going to be bound to her forever. Alexis was finishing up in her room when she heard the door opened, the brunette quickly threw a bag in her dresser and wiped her nose, "My Monty." she moved closer to him and fixed his hair. "Aw babe, I really thought you wanted nothing to do with me, almost broke my heart." she said softly as she touched her chest where her heart is. "I know how you feel about the soft stuff so...shots?" she pulled out miniature shot bottle. "I'm down for whatever you want tonight, you are the hostess" said Montag with a smile as he took one of the shot bottles. "You know I hate anything soft" he joked, wondering when Kiran would be here. He pulled out his phone to check his texts, nothing. "What's on the docket for this party?" Montag inquired. "Yes I love the energy." she opened her shot bottle and drank it quickly, she watched as Montag pulled out his phone and she couldn't help but laugh." When i wasn't around, did you two hook up?" she asked before answering his question. 'I want to play drunk twister, and just dance and def get my boys to take me to bed. "Kiran and I haven't hooked up in like ... two weeks? two nights? a month? who is to say" said Montag, keeping it vague. Most of the time they hooked up they were high, so did it really count? "Well I will definitely be there for part 3" he joked, "Just kidding, you're not getting rid of me tonight. My sister is here, and I don't want her thinking she can talk to me because she knows me" Montag added. 'Aww i'm jealous." she teased dabbing some oil behind her ears." ya'll need to admit hat you adore each other and before you say you don't ,just remember I know you Monty." she touched his cheek and passed him a few bills." I'm sure she will find other people to talk to you besides you, but i would love your company we cold show them how to really Kiran had gotten to the party earlier than expected, not because he wanted to be with Lexi and Montag... but that was exactly why. He would never deny that he wanted to spend time with Lexi, it was Montag that was the issue. The boy was always on Kiran's mind and it pissed him off so much. He texted Montag one last time before walking up to the bedroom. He knocked on the door before opening it, glad to see both of them were already there. "Sorry I'm late. Have I missed out on anything?" "Lexi wiped her nose and then threw a bag as I walked in, so we both missed out on something" said Montag with a shrug as he finished off his shooter. It was nice having all three of them together, it felt like old times. The only thing that would make it better would be if they were absolutely crossfaded and wearing a lot less clothes. But this was fine.

"Seriously Monty? Did you just tell on me?' Lexi said crossing her arms. "I guess that makes you daddy now huh" she said sarcastically. "Mont here has missed you and so have I and we were discussing the plan for tonight.." she pulled out another shot and handed it to Kiran, still a little annoyed Montag just called her out like that. "Wow Lex, having fun without us?" Kiran teased the girl as he shook his head. He didn't want to voice any of his concerns right now, it wasn't the time for that. "Aw you were missing me, Monty? Makes sense, he kept texting me real late at night." he eyed the boy up and down before closing the door behind him. "Missing you? Please" said Montag brushing it off. He couldn't believe Lexi said that, what was the goal? Make him look like a fucking bottom? Disgusting. Montag would never. Well maybe later. Jury's still out on that one. "Kiran, your sister here?" Montag asked, "no reason, just wondering". Just to get under his skin. Lexi couldn't help but roll her eyes at the exchange between the boys, she didn't get why they acted like they didn't like each other when she knew they did. " We're here to have fun boys, so drink we can get high, party and fuck. Appreciate our lives and how we got each other and then, late I can touch your dicks." Kiran knew Montag missed him, he made it so obvious. It's not like he wanted Montag to miss him. That would be absolutely disgusting. I mean, there may have been a small part of him, deep in his heart, that missed Montag, but Kiran wasn't going to admit to that. He then narrowed his eyes at Montag once he mentioned Sonia. It's like this guy's life purpose was to mess with Kiran. He was about to speak up before Lexi said something. "I mean, I won't say no to any of that. You can say no and leave if you'd like." he told Montag, but there was no way he actually meant that. "Leave you two alone, in your dreams Kiki" said Montag, rolling his eyes. He was going to play nice for the evening, maybe. He wasn't totally sure on that. But Lexi said she wanted to do stuff, so he was definitely going to stick around for that. No way he was leaving them alone without him, that's the worst kind of fomo. "Want to take bets on what we think is gonna happen at the party?" he suggested, wondering what kind of crazy shit would inevitably go down.

Lexi checked her outfit in the mirror while they went back and forth, Maybe I should give you both privacy so you can do something about all this angry tension you have going on.' Lexi absolutely adored them both. She wasn't petty by nature but if something or someone hurt them, Well they could see just how much a mean girl she coud be. "If i'm lucky, a few taboo hook ups, maybe some cheating and a fight or two.

"Well if we do something about it, I think it'd be a lot more fun if you were included." Kiran told Lexi. Montag and Kiran would hook up every now and then, but that was usually when they were high. It was just different when it was all three of them together. "What about you two?" he couldn't care less about everyone else at the party. "You guys have anything planned for tonight?"

"Only thing I have planned is at the end of the night I am sleeping in that bed" said Montag referencing Lexi's bed. He really didn't care what was going on tonight, as long as he ended up in bed with both of them. Emphasis on both of them. Having sex with Lexi was ... well it was amazing. But both of them? It hit different.

"This is where I want to end my night too." she smiled." If you guys hook up with other people i put cotton sheets on the bed, let me know when you're ready to snuggle I 'll put on the good shit." she never put in work for other people but she always tried to accommodate them. She cared what they thought about her and she always wanted them to be happy.

"I guess we're all on the same page then." Kiran answered with a small smile. "The good sheets, just for us?" Kiran walked over to the bed to sit down. "We must be really special to you, Lex. I'm honored." He ran his fingers through his hair and he looked back and forth between both people in the room. "So have either of you been seeing anyone?" he tried to ask casually, hoping both would say no.

Montag who was sitting back on the pillows threw one at Kiran when he asked if anyone had been seeing anyone, "Just say you miss us, you pussy" said the boy shaking his head. "At least say it to Lexi, she deserves it". Montag was tired of playing games.

"Anything for you two." she smiled sitting on the edge of her bed, lighting a joint. " I do love hearing i'm missed, i'm soft like that." she turned to them." And to answer your question, i'm not seeing anyone. no boyfriend, no flirting, sexting, nothing.' she shrugged, " Why are you seeing anyone Kiki? should we be worried? she teased hoping he wasn't going to say yes.

After Kiran got hit with the pillow, he threw it right back Montag, "I'm not seeing anyone, no." he shook his head. All he wanted was right in this room. "Alright, I miss you Lexi." he said, purposely leaving out Montag. He looked over at the boy and couldn't help but smile a bit. Sometimes he'd crack. "What can I say? I enjoy a good time. You guys so happen to be that good time for me."

Montag was happy to hear that Kiran wasn't seeing anyone, even though he would never admit that. It was embarrassing. "We happen to be the best time in town, that's why I can't quit this ... habit" said Montag shaking his head. "Are you gonna pass that joint? Gonna share with the class, Alexis?" he inquired while pinching his fingers together to signal that he wanted it passed to him.

"Of course i've always been a class participant, gotta have school spirit.' she teased. passing it to Mont."I like being a good time nut i've never been considered a habit." because she had a habit herself."Seems... hot.' she shrugged. There was nowhere she would rather be than with them, it was like a dependence. Which probably wasn't healthy but she wasn't the healthiest.

#montagxlexi #montagxkiran #threads || lexi and montag #lexi and montag || 002 #threads || kiran and montag #kiran and montag || 003 #the unholy trinity: montagxkiranxlexi #montag: lexi's house party

0 notes

alwaysscreechingbasement · 3 years

Text

From Facebook. In case anyone has decided Bernie is cute after the endless memes, here is a sobering response:

"Alright I see America is hellbent on showing itself.

On a day that was about a new beginning and a historical campaign - a day for Black Women who built the movement, to own the moment and celebrate...ya'll fixated on a man, who sat isolated, with his signature resentment, crossed armed and closed off from welcoming this bright, shining, chapter in history. Congratulations. We see you. PS Dude is from Vermont. He could not have been that cold. And way to go...putting in all the effort to dress down to rise up and meet the moment. Righteous. You’d never see a woman being able to get away with it.

You've circled around the tinder that in 2016 barked and convinced so many of his followers that the system was rigged against him and unfairly in favor of the first woman nominee of a major party. You're striking a match and heaping jovial praise on this man who angrily took his megaphone to yell the fix was in while placing blame on the Chair of a County Party. HISTORICAL REMINDER: the Chair in Nevada was targeted after the accusations were made and angry caucus goers who failed to find parking in time to participate in caucus proceedings derided and attacked the women presiding over the event - The Chair's reward? Death threats from supporters of the mitten wearing sock puppet. Don't like what I'm saying? Then take yourself elsewhere.

I will not be silent or quiet when I see a collective movement disregarding history and it's fairly recent past. To the women who have had to contend with this outpouring of joy being heaped upon a man whose campaign is named in the Mueller report - my sincerest apologies. The slight must be unbearable at a time when we should be putting the spotlight on the woman who shattered the glass ceiling while being surrounded by the amazing women who helped to get her here.

But yes, yes, our capacity to forget and forgive the grievances of a white man who out spent his opponents in two Primary POTUS campaigns while screaming about corruption, the elite and the establishment, who discounted the south and claimed voters there were low information voters, and who suggested his opponent held some dark, nefarious connections due to "paid speeches," while he refused to reveal his taxes, AND who still got his ass walloped, is worthy of the expressed jubilation of the historical moment belonging to women. Specifically Black Women and Women of Color.

The man who refused to concede to a woman when all mathematical paths had been closed is your token. His legacy the loss of the SCOTUS and contribution to the four years of hell by another man who literally ripped pages from his campaign playbook. The pyre in which all light shines.

It's only appropriate then that Magical Misogynistic Grandpa's viral moment depicts him sitting in the proverbial corner, arms crossed - not in a sign of open celebration or collaboration, but doing what he's best at - nothing.

It’s also telling that so many white men are squealing in delight about the Demi Moore - Ghost Meme being their absolute favorite. Nothing like an old dude creeping around the body of a young woman to shape his own dick while occupying Patrick Swayze’s body. I mean…do you all hear yourselves? You all are a mess.

Me. I'm going to celebrate the ones who brought us here and all the other women who presented with strength, courage and determination and conviction. It is the women whose shoulders our democracy stands upon, and likely why you're getting a good night's sleep - a first in four years - that we have arrived to meet our better angels.

But you do you America...

I’ll be right here, fighting alongside the sheroes and all who understand that the work ahead is going to take a monumental effort of faith, courage and strength."

#bernie sanders

0 notes

real-fakedoors · 6 years

Text

under leaves so green - Chapter 5 - Miraculous Ladybug

After the Dupain-Cheng family purchases a flower shop around the block from the Agreste mansion, Chat Noir frequents the spot in search of company from the manager-but-not-really Marinette. Beneath the mask, Adrien starts to struggle with how cute she looks in that green apron. (AKA: the not-really flower shop AU where basically everything is the same, but Marinette is extra stressed by her job and Adrien tries to be supportive)

Cross-posted on AO3 and FF.net

Chapter 5: Lucky Little Lantanas In which Alya questions Hawk Moth's activity, Nino is a good sport, Marinette accepts her insanity, and Adrien makes a sale.

Growing up, Marinette had a lot to be thankful for. She was healthy, studious, and she tried everyday to embody the manners bestowed upon her by her loving parents. They were in a happy marriage, which was rare these days. With a every part of her heart, Marinette loved her friends, fashion, and despite some frustrations, her flowers, too. Never was there someone the Dupain-Cheng’s wouldn’t go out of their way to help if they could, and the family’s only daughter was no exception. She was compassionate, giving, thoughtful and, she liked to think, humble, too.

That being said, there were some things Marinette allowed herself to be proud of, and even the most modest bone in her body would tingle at the call.

One of those things happened to be patience.

It was being tested, right now, and she was flipping between being madly in love and succumbing to true, straight-jacketed madness.

“Mmm,” Marinette hummed into a large slice of her favorite veggie pizza, using the food to keep her tolerance in check.

“Okay, okay, here’s another one –” Adrien began, earning him a groan all around.

Between this boy and Chat’s antics, Marinette felt deserving of a medal.

He pushed on, obstinate against their collective disapproval. “Why did the cell phone go to the optometrist?”

Silence.

“C’mon,” he looked around, almost bouncing from excitement. Nino mentioned he had coffee today, and oh boy, did the caffeine hit him.

They were seated at small stone table, huddled around a pizza box, laughing and sighing to the sounds of summer. To Marinette’s immediate right was Alya, on her phone, texting or blogging some secret goldmine of information, no doubt, and beside her was Nino, behaving just about as indulgently as Marinette, savoring each slice. That left Adrien, occupying the seat to Marinette’s left. He had accepted one piece in good graces, but otherwise merely feasted on the company.

“I don’t know, man,” Nino eventually conceded. “Because he wished he looked this good in glasses?”

Marinette covered her mouth to giggle, watching Nino use his hands to present Alya like she was Miss France. The girl in question smirked but continued to type into her phone.

“No,” Adrien shook his head. He had clearly given up on Alya’s participation, so there was only one person remaining to antagonize.

A halo of blonde hair sidled up beside her, brushing Marinette’s arm against his own. He was grinning just about as stupidly as Chat did sometimes, green eyes dancing as he tempted her to indulge in his horrible humor.

Marinette wrinkled her nose. “Um… something about service carriers, maybe?”

Adrien sighed and shook his head, but leaned close so he could whisper the answer to his terrible riddle into her ear.

“He lost his contacts.”

How could someone so pure, so kind, and so smart be such a…

“Dork.” Marinette snickered and shook her head. “Very funny.”

It was a joke bad enough that she might expect it from her partner, but who knew? All it took was a little caffeine to turn Adrien into a total dork, too.

Adrien, still concerning close, slouched over upper-body on the table. His head was still turned in Marinette’s direction, and she felt her cheeks grow ever warmer despite the darkening clouds that rolled in above.

He presented an angelic pout. “At least you appreciate my comedy, Marinette. Nino will hardly even humor me anymore.”

The girl had to bite her lip to keep herself from sighing. Was she really starting to enjoy the puns, or was the speaker just that charming? She patted Adrien’s hand on the table in comfort but met eyes with Nino.

“It’s a thankless job,” she offered solemnly, and Adrien beamed. He rather didn’t mind or didn’t notice the tiny jab at his taste in comedy.

In truth, Marinette didn’t mind. She and Adrien had grown closer, their conversations more natural and less awkward with time, but this was a more playful side of him than even she was used to. Chat must have worn her nerves down over the years for blondes with budding smiles, because she couldn’t be the one to damper Adrien’s pure, caffeine-fueled mood.

Alya looked up from her cell phone at that point and claimed the final piece of pizza, her mind clearly on other things.

“I’m convinced there’s something going on with Hawk Moth,” she paused to take a bite, and Adrien’s attention moved to the reporter-to-be. Alya’s eyes flickered down at the table in their direction, and Marinette felt her stomach flip. Her hand was still softly cupping Adrien’s in the earlier gesture of comfort, and rather he didn’t mind, or hadn’t noticed.

Nothing ever escaping Alya’s trained, investigative eyes, and she smirked knowingly at Marinette. She gulped and tried to focus on her friend, but the jackhammer pounding within her ribs was fairly distracting.

Should she pull away? Maybe… maybe he wanted her hand to stay there?

“No akumas in 12 days?” Alya continued after a brief moment of silence. “That’s the longest break in almost two years. I wonder if Ladybug and Chat Noir, you know,” she glanced over at Nino, who was listening with interest. “Finished him off?”

Adrien grimaced and adjusted his slouch, and his hand stiffened slightly under Marinette’s.

Ah. He had just been listening to Alya and just realized what I was doing.

This, her heart pined. This is why you don’t hope.

Just as her fingers started to pull away, a tense grip squeezed her hand. Adrien’s fingers were soft but steady, and he continued to hold her hand in place.

Eyes wide, Marinette was glad at that moment for Hawk Moth’s conspicuous absence, because he probably could have akumatized all of Paris and she wouldn’t have been able to get up and interrupt this moment.

“I doubt it,” Adrien eventually offered, and Nino nodded seriously.

“Yeah, I mean, don’t you think it would have been a big public thing if they did?”

Alya’s brow furrowed. “Maybe. I mean, of course I hope that’s the case for the sake of the blog. But…” she paused, tapping her chin as she put her phone away.

“We don’t know much about Hawk Moth, still. Who knows if he’s the ‘you’ll have to kill me if you want to defeat me’ type? I have hard time imagining Chat Noir coming to the press saying he and Ladybug murdered someone.”

Marinette started coughing on her final bite of crust, having inhaled too sharply at Alya’s gruesome suggestion. To be fair, Nino and Adrien looked almost as horrified, but everyone’s attention turned towards the sputtering girl.

Adrien patted her back lightly as she turned away, trying not to hack all over the group, and Ayla threw her a bottle of water.

She drank greedily, liquid mercy releasing her from the rasping of stress within her windpipe.

“Okay, that’s a little unfair,” Nino pointed out as Marinette massaged her chest and thanked Adrien for his comfort. “I mean, even if that did happen, in theory, I don’t think people would see it as ‘murder.’ This is Hawk Moth we’re talking about.”

It was a minute change, but Marinette noticed Adrien tense at the suggestion, a slight dip in his brow, a shift of his jaw. She probably wouldn’t be able to notice such a subtle shift on anyone else, but she had memorized just about every angle of this boy’s face. This was an expression he seldom wore.

Alya was frowning. “Don’t get me wrong. I don’t like the idea either, but there was a discussion post about it on the community Reddit about it, and now it’s kind of stuck in my head. Like, I would never frame it like that if I were reporting on it, but I’m one person. There are just as many people out there who would dig their talons into either one of them - Ladybug or Chat Noir - just for their fifteen seconds of fame.”

“Ugh.” Marinette’s face was twisted in disgust. “I don’t know what’s wrong with people. Even if it ever came down to something like that, which I highly doubt anyways, why would people go on and villainize them? I mean, take Chat Noir for example. - he’s sweet and brave, and how many days and nights has he spent defending those same people? Just for them to turn their back the second it’s convenient?”

They all looked at her for an extended pause, clearly a little surprised that she came in with such a strong opinion. Marinette did not back down, however, face set firm as she met each of their eyes.

Well, she may have wavered just a little when she looked to her left, still plenty aware that Adrien was still sitting quite close. During her coughing fit, their hands seperated, but he had angled his seat to be almost directly beside her.

His green eyes were fixed to her face, his brow suggesting confusion but the pools of emerald that were central to his features were sparkling entirely with admiration.

Marinette nodded seriously at him, as if answering an unspoken call. “Chat Noir would never hurt someone like that. And if something terrible happened that forced his or Ladybug’s hand, I’m sure they would be honest about it.”

Eventually, Alya sighed and shook her head. “Ya’ll are probably right, I don’t know why this has been bothering me all day. I think I’m just on edge, since it’s been so long it’s bound to happen soon? Let’s forget about it.”

Marinette had to drag her eyes away from Adrien’s own, wondering desperately what he might be thinking about. He was looking at her strangely, and it was making her feel self-conscious, so she felt compelled to get up.

Slowly, she stood from her rickety chair and began to gather their napkins and the greasy remainders of their lunch. The others began to follow suit, taking her hint that break time was over.

“Besides,” Nino said in a lighter tone. “Isn’t it more likely that, I dunno, there’s just no one to akumatize when it’s summer? There’s no one made miserable by having to see Chloe throw a fit every morning at school over her Adrikins.”

The bespeckled boy lolled himself all over Adrien with sickening sweetness to demonstrate, causing Alya and Marinette to laugh heartily. Adrien just gave Nino an awkward pat-pat and caught eyes with Alya.

“This is what you meant by bromance, isn’t it?”

“Yep,” she chirped, and Marinette giggled even harder as the boys began to untangle themselves.

“It was nice of you all to stop by, but I should probably get back to work,” Marinette said as she stretched her arms out and over her head, but there was a sickening pop that caught all their attention.

“Oh, god,” Marinette squeezed her eyes together as her right arm gripped desperately at her left shoulder, doubling over in the sudden throbbing pressure.The general soreness from her earlier tumble had faded since she had remained sedentary for the last half hour, but whatever she had just done reignited the sharp pain that flared castrated her nerve-endings. It was like an airlock released, inviting a crushing force against her joint from all sides, smashing her bones together.

“Marinette!” Alya and Adrien called in unison, each of them rushing to one side.

She dropped the garbage uselessly onto the ground, and some of it caught in the growing there wind accompanying the afternoon storm, Nino moved to capture it all before it blew away.

“Marinette, what happened?” Alya tried to rub comforting circles against her lower back.

With grit teeth, Marinette slowly regained her posture but did not release her arm. “I just, ugh, I think I dislocated my shoulder? Maybe? It’s never happened before so I don’t know what that’s supposed to be like.”

Adrien pursed his lips. “Slowly try to lower your arm to your side, but stop if it hurts. Okay?”

Marinette felt guilty for making them worry, Nino rejoining their huddle as she tried to comply with Adrien’s suggestion.

She made it about three-fourths of the way before her grimace turned into a full scowl, wincing at the sensation. Alya had gone into full “World-War I nurse in the trenches” mode, brushing the hair from Marinette’s eyes as the girl hissed through her teeth, walking her towards the back of the store and barking orders to the boys.

“I’m calling your parents, Marinette. You can’t work like this.”

“What? No!” She shot up a little straighter, gnashing her teeth together in an effort to keep a straight face. “They can’t just leave the bakery, and the delivery guy is coming in a few hours. I need to finish the - ah,” she flinched as Alya made her to sit at the desk.

Adrien appeared beside her, kneeling so they were almost at eye-level. “Alya’s right, Marinette. If it’s dislocated, you’ll hurt yourself worse if you try to work through it.”

Nino crossed his arms, standing next to his girlfriend. “Yeah, seriously, ‘Nette. At least let Alya call your parents and tell them what happened.”

Sucking on her teeth, Marinette was prepared to protest but Alya was already walking out the back, phone at her ear.

She sighed, defeated.

“Well, fine. Can one of you go take the sign off the front door and unlock it? If there’s anyone waiting, tell them I’ll be just a minute.”

Nino straightened and saluted, receiving his marching orders with a good-humor about him. Marinette smiled in appreciation as he went, but she could feel another, more urgent set of eye’s studying her face.

“I’m sure I can sleep it off, like Alya said, I can take a hit or two.”

Marinette’s voice was an impressive masque of reassurance, but with a quick glimpse at Adrien, it was evident that he wasn’t convinced. She felt her cheeks burn under his gaze, and she glared daggers at the floor in frustration.

“Marinette?” Adrien called, voice serious. The girl continued to study her shoes, preferring not to look at him. Adrien decidedly took that option away from her, needing her to hear him. He lifted Marinette’s chin, turning her porcelain features with just the lightest touch towards him. Marinette could feel her skin tingle along her neck, his hands like electricity - her pain was utterly forgotten for a moment.

“You’re working yourself too hard,” he murmured, eyes never leaving her face. “Just relax for a few minutes. Okay?”

She nodded mutely, smiling.

In fairness, Marinette would have protested if her voice hadn’t evaporated. He was so close, and she could smell his shampoo, or cologne, or whatever his natural scent was that made her head dizzy. His gaze was endless and pure, and it simultaneously tore down all of her will only to rebuild it twice as strong, the structure sturdier with his reassurance. The moment was oddly intimate, to be only inches away, both their faces battling a blush, sincerity coloring every gesture. The whole moment passed a beat later, but he was like a rush in her bloodstream. Intoxicating, comfortable - he took the edge off and made her feel more herself.

He smiled back.

“Okay,” a crisp voice announced, Alya entering from the courtyard. Adrien leaned away in time with the bell, and Nino returned to the back before the door even closed behind Alya.

“Your parents said you’re to stop working right away. Your mom is coming to take over for the rest of the day, but…” She hesitated, which made the others a little anxious. “She’ll be a little bit. Apparently there’s something going on with a ‘caterer in crisis,’ so she won’t be here for about two hours. Also, your dad says stop being stupid and stubborn.” She paused, face severe. “Okay, I might have taken some creative license there, but the sentiment was basically the same.”

Marinette frowned. “What time is it?”

“Um, fifteen ‘til one,” Nino answered.

“By the time Maman gets here…” She did a quick calculation in her head. It would be 2:45 when her mother showed up. That left fifteen minutes to complete eleven more orders, only six of which were started. It was hopeless; Marinette couldn’t even pull that off, and she was superior to her mother when it came to all things botanical.

“Ugh…” she glared at the pile of unfinished work, kicking herself for letting this happen. Even if Marinette couldn’t blame herself for the fall, which she was already set on doing, the fault for slacking was totally her own.

Above her head, Alya and Nino looked ruefully at one another, moving towards the desk where Adrien still knelt, only looking at the girl seated there.

“Hmm…” The blond hummed through the tension, tapping fingers along his knee. Marinette, against her better judgement, let herself look his way again - now it was he who was glaring at the ground, though.

“What if we helped you until your Mom shows up? We could just do the orders and run the register.”

“Oh, no, I can’t ask that of -- ”

Alya wasn’t even going to let her finish.

“That’s a great idea! Not bad, blondie.” They grinned at each other. “Marinette, just tell us what to do.”

No way - that would be beyond unfair to them. They had come today to spend leisure time, Marinette wouldn’t put them to work. These were her friends, and this was her problem.

She leaned back and adjusted her apron.

“No, guys. This really feels like something I should take responsibility for. I can call Dan our delivery guy and explain -”

Nino looked skeptical and lowered himself to a crouch, his arms extending over his knees. “C’mon, ‘Nette. You literally help everyone all the time - I probably owe you times a thousand by now. Put us to work.”

Biting her lip, Marinette appraised the three before her, taking care to linger on each of their faces. Each one wore a smile, and their expressions did not hold an ounce of contempt. So why did it make the pit in her stomach twist ever the more shamefully?

“But if you guys hadn’t been here and I fell, I’d still have to… I can’t accept, I’m sorry.” She was embarrassed, the urge to cry clasping down on her throat. Why? Why couldn’t she get it together?

Alya sighed slowly and opened her mouth to argue, but Adrien spoke first. “Well, fortunately, that’s only a what if. It doesn’t change anything right now, and we’re here, and you’re hurt. You could see it as really bad luck that you fell, or that you’re just really lucky that we were there. Either way, we’re helping.”

Marinette blinked a few times, taken aback by his brusque tone. It didn’t leave room for questions, but was still somehow kind enough not to make her guilt worse. For some reason, she thought she recognized that inflection, but Marinette couldn’t recall from where.

Still, it put her disquieted consciousness at peace enough to comply.

“Okay, fine…” She crossed her arms, uncharacteristically petulant. The others beamed at her.

“Grab an apron, there are some extras in that cabinet.” Marinette pointed behind Alya’s head, so the girl did as she bid.

One by one, Alya distributed the dark green fabric and each of them tied their respective “uniform” in place. Thankfully, they had all decided to wear more-or-less appropriate clothing, besides, perhaps, Alya’s tank top that showcased her, um… assets.

Marinette remained seated, using the armrest of the chair to sort of prop her elbow into place, keeping her shoulder fixed at an exact angle.

“So the big thing is these deliveries, I think -- ” Marinette began, grimacing when her voice was interrupted by the familiar ringing of a bell. Someone was here.

She cursed quietly, and all of her apprentices looked at each other.

“Someone come with me to the register,” she ordered in a low voice, scowling as she stood up. “The others stay. Wrap those.” She pointed towards a rubber-banded assorted bouquet of lilies and lotus blossoms and then towards a tray of plastic liners, praying they could figure it out.

Shaking her head succinctly, Marinette marched into the front, squeezing her left arm into her torso.

“Bonjour,” she greeted warmly, relaxing upon entering her private garden. The nerves melted off her beneath the familiar greens.

Even better, this was a customer she knew. “Ah, Madam Kleinstein! How nice to see you.”

Marinette’s feet guided her automatically, strolling right past the counter to meet the old, old woman at the door. While Marinette would never ask Madam Kleinstein her age, she knew the woman had to be getting up there. (Of course, she had nothing on Master Fu, but Marinette felt the man’s age didn’t really count for comparisons.)

They had made acquaintances under unfortunate circumstances, when Monsieur Kleinstein had passed away in December. That was to be expected, Marinette supposed, when you worked in the business of funerals and weddings.

Their family rabbi contacted Mo to handle the arrangement process, but Madam wanted to have a more active role in the plans than most widows. She monitored each selection for the shiva, down to the color of the vases and the font of the cards, so that it might be a perfect goodbye for her husband. Of course, the store took the woman’s mourning seriously, and worked to meet her every demand. Mo even called in his wife to help the day before the delivery was due.

Since the funeral, Madam came in frequently for houseplants and flowers, chatting with Mo or Marinette endlessly. From context clues, Marinette gauged the woman to be at least 85; some of her stories alluded to living through the Holocaust as a young girl. And while the years had clearly taken the vibrancy from her body, Madam Kleinstein made up for it with her youthful spirit.

Petite and whispy, the woman always dressed in long skirts and comfortable-looking jumpers, even in the summer heat - the fabric made her appear even smaller beneath the layers. Still, her short-cropped hair and colorful reading glasses made her dark eyes twinkle, and Marinette never tired of listening to her stories of the “wild years” she spent in Austria, or the day she met her late husband, or of hearing the woman’s barometer reading of French politics. (It didn’t hurt that she apparently loved Ladybug, either).

“Marinette,” the woman called as she approached, donning a crinkly smile. She lifted up one of her many-ringed hands and held Marinette’s own, patting the top with her other just-as-many-ringed hand. “How nice it is to see you, dear. I heard about Mo leaving.”

Marinette smiled warmly and tried to ignore her shoulder. “Oh, yes, it was hard for him to say goodbye to this place, but it’s in good hands.”

“I can see that,” she said, peering above her glasses. “And who’s this?”

“Huh?”

Marinette followed her gaze, having entirely forgotten about her earlier command for someone to follow her.

“Bonjour,” Adrien bowed politely with a smile that would put the portraits hanging in the Louvre to shame. He stood just a few feet behind Marinette, clearly courteous while remaining a respectful distance away.

“Madam Kleinstein, was it? My name is Adrien.”

The woman raised a brow, glancing between Marinette and Adrien with a puzzling look on her face. She seemed to approve of… whatever it was that she saw there, because her quizzical expression was replaced by a knowing smile.

“Well, it is a pleasure, Adrien. ‘Cecelia’ will do just fine. Madam Kleinstein was my mother-in-law.” She shuddered, and the teens chuckled. “When you get to be my age, you realize the best part about getting old is never having to deal with your in-laws again.”

She laughed at her own wit while Marinette and Adrien exchanged sheepish smiles. Their eyes met, and despite the woman’s pointed suggestion, Marinette could tell Adrien knew better than to call a customer anything but Madam. His confidence helped her to relax.

“Now,” Madam Kleinstein extended a hand towards Adrien. “Could you show me the seasons’ annuals? I need something just right for my planters.” He blinked at her like she had just spoken Portuguese, and Marinette considered slipping between them - she doubted Adrien knew perennials from annuals from shrubs.

But, acting the gentleman, he offered his arm to the tiny Madam - she only came up to about his waist.

“Well, of course. But I’m still training,” he emphasized the word, shooting a smile in Marinette’s direction. “So why don’t we let Mari show us both? I’d like the chance to learn a little more from the expert.”

Turning redder than a tomato, Marinette felt herself fluster from Adrien’s unexpected praise - she was sure he was only trying to moderate the situation with the customer, but she appreciated it all the same.

Marinette watched her feet shyly and beckoned for them to follow, leading around a display and two rows of pre-potted blossoms and coming to a stop at the western wall. Two shelves hugged the glass divider, one at about level with Marinette’s knees and another at her shoulder, and each were covered from edge to edge by her annuals. Each variety had at least two pallets, and each root system was secured by the cheap plastic planter liners that one could buy in bulk from garden supply stores. Draped above each shelf were a slightly lax piece of twine, tied to structural beams on either end of the greenhouse wall. Every few feet down, a small handwritten sign was clothespinned into place that spelled out each flower’s taxonomy and a severely simplified care guide.

She had been doing this for awhile now, even before the change in management. Mo’s handwriting had been atrocious, so Marinette insisted, and she thought the symbols made it easier on potential non-native French speakers: if there was a little yellow sun, the plant needed plenty of sunshine; if there was a cloud, the bud would grow best in the shade. One raindrop meant little water, two meant moderate, and three meant they were thirsty little buggers.

Waving her right hand, Marinette gestured towards the bottom of the two rows - there was no way tiny Madam Kleinstein would be able to see those on the top.

“Did you have anything in mind? The impatiens are coming along nicely, and they’re very low maintenance.”

The woman pursed her lips while she and Adrien both studied the sign Marinette had indicated. He cocked his head to one side and made a seemingly innocent remark. “You might even say, they don’t require a lot of patience?”

Marinette smacked her forehead with her good hand, too exasperated to regret it. The action jostled her torso, and she clenched her jaw through the sudden pain.

Madam Kleinstein, for whatever reason, seemed to find his joke rather funny.

“Not bad, Adrien.” She sniffed seriously, but winked up at him. He grinned smugly and looked pointedly Marinette, who rolled her eyes so heavily it was amazing she didn’t make herself dizzy.

“Yes, not bad, Adrien. Say, why don’t I leave you to it for a moment? I need to check something in the back.”

Adrien’s eyes became pleading the moment she started to walk away, his wordless struggle clear: Wait, I have no idea what I’m doing here! Don’t leave me with this woman!

A more responsible part of Marinette’s brain would have agreed that was probably not the smartest thing to do… but the look on his face paired with the instant gratification against his tireless puns? She couldn’t pass it up.

The store had grown humid, Adrien figured, because he felt a bead of sweat appear on his brow.

Now, that may very well have been the case - the storm due for the afternoon, damned be Parisian summer, had just started and the room reflected that. It was much darker outside, the pitter-patter of precipitation matched the rather frantic beating of his heart. The fluctuating heat and humidity could certainly be responsible for the perspiration.

Then again, he was also very stuck and very nervous. The adorable Madam Kleinstein was using his arm for support, and Marinette had just left him to the metaphorical vultures. The woman looked and sounded like the archetype of every grandma he had ever seen on television, and for some reason, that only made it more stressful.

Now, not only was he at risk of disappointing Marinette, but now it felt like he might also disappoint his own-but-not-really grandma.

Moving down the row of apparent “annuals,” she patted his arm, indicating they could stop.

“See something you like?” He asked, hoping he didn’t sound as anxious as he felt.

“Hmm,” she took back her hand and leaned over a clustering of some of the most shockingly pink flowers he had ever seen.

“These begonias are lovely,” she paused to adjust her glasses. “But I planted begonias last season and they didn’t do very well. Stunted little things. Too much sun, perhaps.”

“Mmm…” Adrien hummed, not really sure how to respond. He was way out of his comfort zone.

Madam smirked, looking back in the direction they came.

“You know, this is usually the part where Marinette shares some fascinating fact or story about begonias, and I’m so blown away that I just have to buy them. She’s a natural salesperson,” Madam Kleinstein mused, bending to waft some aroma from the pink blooms.

Adrien snickered in spite himself, fiddling with his apron. “Yeah, that sounds like Marinette. That’s how I feel just about every time she tries to teach me something here. She’s pretty amazing.”

“Yes,” the woman agreed, slowly straightening while rocking her head from shoulder to shoulder, demonstrating her indecision.

“Hmm…” Adrien looked at the shelf above, still a head too high for Madam Kleinstein, and paused upon the sign.

He was surprised to find an adorable little leprechaun, smiling back at him.

“Lantanas?” He blurted aloud, frowning at the neat script above the caricature.

“Oh?” The woman turned, peering up at him. “May I?”

“Umm…” Adrien paused, literally not sure what he was getting himself into. Thankfully, Marinette’s labeling helped, but he rubbed the back of his neck and would not meet Madam Kleinstein’s eye.

“There’s um… sure, let me…”

He didn’t have to reach, as the shelf was at level with his chest, but it was sort of awkward by default since he didn’t know how to handle the plants. Probably more slowly and more carefully than he had to, Adrien pulled forward the first tray on the palette and brought it down to viewing height for the woman.

Madam Kleinstein beamed.

“Oh, I haven’t seen lantanas like these in years.”

Adrien, not having a frame of reference, could only politely nod. That being said, he still managed to appreciate how strikingly beautiful the cluster of buttery yellow flowers were. Tiny things, the sort of star-shaped petals seemed to him so fragile, but they formed floral spheres that made them appear mighty in congregation. Given the dreary turn the day had taken, between the weather and Marinette getting hurt, it made these blossoms seem that much cheerier. The bitty buds were like little balls of sunshine, refusing to be snuffed out by the clouds above, and they brought a smile to his face.

“How are we doing?” Marinette came around while Madam studied, and Adrien felt himself both relax and tense at the same time. He was glad Plagg abandoned him already, because the kwami would certainly be jeering in his pocket if he hadn’t vanished into the bushes the moment Marinette left him.

“Oh, the Little Lucky Pots of Gold? What a good choice, Adrien.” She smiled at him.

“Thanks!” He chirped happily, though he was certain both women were able to hear his heart for how loudly it was beating. Had he not been hyped up on caffeine, he probably could have stopped the absolutely goofy, proud grin from spreading across his face, but that chance passed this morning when he skipped the decafe.

Madam Kleinstein agreed. “They’re lovely, Marinette. Were these your’s or Mo’s?”

“Mo’s pick of course, but they’ve really only come in during the past month so they sorta feel like they’re mine.”

Moving closer, Marinette still gripped her left shoulder tenderly, but her eyes were sparkling.

“I do love lantanas, so I can imagine why they caught your eye…” She paused, rubbing her chin. “Don’t let the name deceive you, though. They might be rumored to bring good luck, but I wouldn’t bet on it if you plant them in Paris. That might be dangerous.”

Adrien and Madam shared a wistful smile while Marinette admired the tiny petals, almost smug in acknowledgment of Madam Kleinstein’s accurate portrayal of Marinette’s pattern in sales. She had a formula, tittering and bouncing through words and secret lore if someone got her started on a subspecies, Adrien had started to learn, and he didn’t mind a bit.

“What’s their story?” Madam eventually questioned.

Marinette responded by walking to the end of the row and retrieving a rolling cart she used to move cumbersome palettes or pots, and offered for Adrien to set the tray down.

Adrien watched her wheel the battered, plastic carrier closer, appreciative for the help. The tray wasn’t heavy, exactly, but it was awkward to hold and his arms were starting to cramp.

“Well, Lantanas are almost stubbornly resistant to damage - great in heat, not much watering, not really affected by soil pH,” Marinette explained, brushing some of the leaves as Adrien set the tray down. “And the Little Lucky Pots of Gold are one of my favorite varieties - the color is just so vivid. But, all Lantanas attract every sort of pollinators, which is the part get you into trouble.”

“Like bees?” Adrien questioned, bending to examine the blossoms. They were lively against the gray backdrop of the cart and with overcast skies, and he found it hard to believe something so tiny couldn’t possibly be “dangerous.”

“Sure,” Marinette nodded. “That’s one possibility. But there are others, too, like hummingbirds, even ants and beetles. But most of all, they’re known to attract Papillon - butterflies.”

She was smiling devilishly now, and recognition registered after a puzzling passing seconds.

Papillon - butterflies?

Hawkmoth.

In truth, Adrien found that information more disconcerting than it was amusing, but then, it’s not like normal, non-magical butterflies were dangerous. Akumas were dangerous, and the idea that little Madam Kleinstein would be attracting akumas to her garden with a planter full of these innocent little buds did make for a rather funny mental image.

“Hmm,” Madam mused. “Now that doesn’t sound very lucky to me, does it, Adrien?”

He snickering and bit his tongue. Now this woman knew how to appreciate a good pun.

“Do you think this means Hawkmoth is a leprechaun?” He countered seriously. “Theoretically, Ladybug and Chat Noir would find him if they merely found the pot of gold.”

“At the end of the rainbow!” Madam Kleinstein finished for him.

Adrien laughed openly, while the petite woman covered her mouth and chuckled.

“Madam,” Marinette whined. “Don’t encourage him. Please.”

“Oh, don’t be a Dismal Dolly, Marinette.” The woman clicked her tongue, but both were smiling. “Adrien here just sold me on these, what with that quick wit!”

“Well,” he flustered slightly, blushing at the compliment. “I guess I’m just lucky.”

“Oh my god,” Marinette’s head rolled backwards, but she led them all to the register.

Once the purchase was finished - Madam bought two whole trays worth, which Marinette said was rather unprecedented - Marinette and Adrien thanked her repeatedly for her kindness and, in the case of the latter, for joining is his jokes

Marinette was hovering steadily towards the back as they said their goodbyes (likely anxious to check on Alya and Nino), but their salutations were interrupted by a rather aggressive clap of thunder.

“Oh,” Adrien blinked once his eyes readjusted - it was weird to be in a glass castle during a storm, each rolling cloud or zip of lightning that flashed across the sky was visible from within the transparent walls. They were really more of windows than walls, and Madam paused at the door.

“Ahh… Madam Kleinstein, perhaps I could walk you to your car? The storm is terrible and your flowers…”

She raised a hand to her cheek, tapping a finger there. “Hmm… No, I should be fine getting to the car. It’s just right in front here, but…”

Her eyes moved around the store, seeking a set of twin braids. Marinette was halfway leaning through the back, whispering imperceptibly, when Madam Kleinstein called for her.

“Marinette?”

“Hmm? Oh - oh, I’m sorry, Madam. Was there something else?” She dashed forward, standing just beside Adrien in front of the counter.

“Could I have my nephew come for these tomorrow? Transporting in the rain seems…”

The girl nodded, and smiled. “Unlucky?”

Madam beamed. “You could say that.”

Adrien simply admired the girl, the woman, and their humor quietly, filled with a warmth he hadn’t felt in years.

They waved a final goodbye as the woman hobbled through the rain, and true to her word, she made it to the car without issue. Still, Adrien’s chivalrous instincts were tingling, so he turned towards another lady to whom he could still offer to help.

Marinette was already in the back, so he waltzed after her to the familiar sound of Nino and Alya’s bickering.

“No, you, Marinette said like this.”

“That’s what I did.”

“Mmm…” Marinette squinted at the creation by her feet as Adrien entered, Nino and Alya sitting crossed leg on either side of an arrangement, soft orange blossoms he didn’t know - lilies, maybe? - accented by little white buds and a large ribbon of the same color.

“It’s actually rather nice, although I would suggest some… ahh,” she sighed, sounding more annoyed than anything as she reached out and invited another stab of pain.

“Wow,” Adrien commented, crossing the room and sitting on the chaise. He unintentionally sank comfortably - too comfortably - into the light cushions. “You guys made that?”

“Yeah, I know right?” Alya nodded proudly in his direction, before gesturing towards her partner-in-crime. “I’ve seen Marinette do it a dozen times, but Nino here actually has a natural talent for this, I swear it.”

“You’re definitely good for this being your first time,” Marinette nodded her agreement, though her voice was lacking its usual radiant positivity.

“Thanks,” Nino bashfully fiddled with his borrowed apron. “I mean, it’s sort of like composing a song. Just with sight instead of sound, got to pair what works together, you know?”

Adrien had started to recline further into the cozy, familiar fuzziness of the chaise. How many times had he stretched out here and nearly fallen asleep as Chat? This afternoon was starting to catch up with him, the rain only adding to the ambiance.

“Really cool,” he murmured, resting his eyes for just a minute.

There was a brief pause, broken by the distinctive bzzz of a vibrating cell phone. All of them instinctively felt for their pockets, but Marinette was the one to silence the call.

“Hi, Maman,” she answered with reluctance. Adrien peeked open a lid as Marinette sat at her desk chair.

Alya pulled out her own phone, doing whatever it is that she does on that thing, and Nino sort of plucked and primped the arrangement, adjusting and re-adjusting the silken bow that tied it together. This was a stand-alone piece, by the looks of it, since none of the deliveries really matched.

“Yes, I know but, um, I actually didn’t need to close it. Did Alya…?” Marinette half-asked the question into the device at her ear, half-directed it towards her friend. Looking up from her phone, Alya frowned and shook her head.

“Um, well… some of my friends from school stopped in, just to visit and --”

Huffing, Marinette looked at the ceiling and spun away from the group. Adrien could still see her profile from his spot on the couch, and she was rather pink in the face.

“I know, Maman, but this was just to drop off lunch for me. They were here when I fell and offered to help until you got here. I really couldn’t say no, there are a lot of deliveries due before… yes, exactly. ”

There was a pause, the tittering voice of Mrs. Cheng on the other line, before Marinette inhaled sharply.

“Maman!” She snapped, voice accusatory. “That’s not - I mean, no, Maman! No.”

Adrien and Nino locked eyes, both looking uncomfortable. They hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but being here now felt rather invasive.

“Sure… I know, just… bad timing. I thought the same thing. I’ll be sure to pay them.”

Another pause, before an exhausted sounding Marinette turned back to them all. “Yes, Maman. See you soon. I love you too.”

“I’ll accept payment from you when I’m dead,” Alya said flatly, not even waiting for Marinette to breathe once the call ended.

Nino’s brow furrowed. “Wow, Queen of Darkness over here today.”

She rolled her eyes. “Just being honest. If honesty and darkness are the same to you, maybe you need to re-evaluate some of your own views.”

The boy hissed and leaned away. “Yikes.”

Marinette just sported a frown, looking between the two before eventually turning to Adrien.

“I agree with my Mom on this, guys. If you won’t let me pay you, at least let me do something for you? Maybe I can bring you some desserts from the shop the next time we hang out? Maman insists.”

Adrien sighed contently just from the suggestion. Marinette was absolutely right; in no stretch of the imagination would he have accepted money from the Dupain-Cheng’s, but he was happy to be bribed with their food.

“Uh, better idea,” Alya stood and dusted herself off. “How about, we all get to pick the next thing we do as a hangout. And you can’t say no, no matter how much you don’t want to do it.”

Jumping in, Adrien sounded more defensive for food than was probably normal. “I don’t know, I was sort of okay with the pastry idea.”

“Nah,” Alya dismissed his suggestion. “Not that I don’t appreciate it, but your parents refuse money anytime - everytime we try to pay. That’s like ‘paying’ us with something that was already free.”

“Didn’t you say you weren’t accepting payment?” Marinette remarked, raising a brow. She was met with a devious grin.

“I did, as your best friend. But your Mom insisted, and that overrides my authority as BFF.”

Nino sucked his teeth. “Ehhhh… she’s got a point, ‘Nette.”

Marinette seemed to struggle for a moment, but settled on a pout. “Ummm, I don’t know... I guess that’d be okay. Just, it can’t be anything embarrassing. Okay?”

“Drat,” Adrien sighed. “There goes my idea for us all to go out for a day on the town in full cosplay.”

They all let that sit for a beat, before laughing and sputtering and shaking their heads.

“Weeb,” Nino said under his breath.

Adrien had accepted that.

“Yep.”

Alya went to Marinette’s side and rested her head against the girl’s uninjured shoulder. “I was thinking more of like, you take a day away from work and actually do something with us for a change?”

“Oh.”

It saddened him to watch her face flicker with excitement, only to fall with twice as much disappointment.

“I would actually love that,” Marinette said slowly, maneuvering herself away from Alya. “But you know I can’t. There’s no one who can cover for me.”

“I know.” Alya sounded uncharacteristically sad, and it made Adrien’s heart hurt worse to hear. He was prepared to say something, sitting up from the chaise when it was his phone’s turn to interrupt.

“Ahh…” he cursed under his breath. “Sorry. Just a sec.”

Standing, Adrien approached the glass that overlooked the courtyard and watched the slowing storm. He cleared his throat and accepted the call.

“Hello, Nathalie.”

She greeted him as warmly as ever. “Adrien.”

“Was there something you needed?” He tried not to sound irritated, but it was hard.

“Yes, actually,” she paused. “How is Mr. Lahiffe?”

“Oh,” he glanced at Nino out of instinct, who had curled up next to Alya when the reporter sat back down again.

Not wanting to lie, he decided to stay vague. “He is well. The cafe was nice.”

“I’m glad.” Her voice was like ice.

Adrien did not respond.

“Well, it is time for you to come home. Your father has something he would like to discuss.”

Pressing his lips together, Adrien felt his eye twitch. That was it. The unsaid threats again, but this time, it was a bit more fatal. Nathalie knew he had misconstrued his day, and if his father had specifically requested to talk, that meant he knew, too.

“I understand.” He ground his molars together, ever so slightly. “I’ll be home immediately.”

The line went dead, not bothering with real goodbyes.

Adrien was suddenly lamenting not walking Madam Kleinstein to her car. She had been so kind, it would have been the least he could do.

Taking a steady breath, he tried to put on a convincingly sheepish look. “Nino, I have to go. Do you want a ride?”

The DJ peered at his girlfriend, who gave him a very “hey, don’t look at me” look, so he shrugged.

“Yeah, I probably should. Will the lovely ladies be okay without us?”

“Frankly...” Alya began with a smile as Nino helped her to stand, but whatever cheeky remark she had prepared went unsaid. “Actually, nevermind. Why don’t you help me put the stool back up front?”

Nino blinked in confusion. “It’s a pretty small stool,” he commented, bending to scoop it up off the ground.

“Great, let’s go!” Alya made a demonstration of grabbing the other end and leading herself and Nino out of the back.

That left him alone, save for…

Marinette smiled weakly, examining the floor off to one side. Standing very still, one arm cradling the other, her blue eyes were unseeing. It was clear there was something wrong, and just as Adrien’s words of concern started to form, she spoke.

“I’m sorry about everything today.”

Adrien shook his head and chuckled. “You are something else, Marinette.”

Her head shot up in his direction, looking hurt. Adrien moved forward, verbally backpedaling against the faux pas. “I meant, you shouldn’t be apologizing for anything. You work so hard to make sure everything is perfect here, but you’re human. It only takes one little slip up for things to unravel. I’m just glad we were here to help, at least to make things a little easier.”

She looked at him curiously for a moment, the sparkle of her eyes returning, and she smiled.

“Was that a pun? Slip up?”

Adrien bit his lip through a smile. “I thought that one was subtle enough you might not notice.”

“Nothing slips by me, I’m afraid.” Her expression was comically stoic.

“I believe it,” he said honestly. They looked at each for a moment, and Adrien felt like he could run a marathon with all the adrenaline pumping in his veins.

Nino’s stupid, stupid voice was playing in his head.

“It’s a coin flip. You should already know.”

No, Nino, Adrien fumed internally. He didn’t “already know.”

It’s not like he had been half-tempted to ignore Nathalie’s call, just so he might stay a little longer. That would have been irresponsible. In fact, it’s not like at that exact moment, he was considering crossing the length of the office, to brush the hair bangs from her face just to better drink in her features, to memorize the melodies that composed her patient, confident voice, or to decipher the world behind her aquamarine gaze, always fiery but filled with compassion. It’s not like, if he was already that close, it would be anymore difficult to lean down and breathe in that wonderful mixture of flour and chocolate that always clung to her porcelain skin. It would be easy. She was like muscle memory to memories he didn’t have and muscles he couldn’t move.

It’s not like, if she was just a little closer, he might be able to kiss her.

He definitely wasn’t imagining that happening, looking across a vast emptiness that was only three feet but felt like three years, come and gone since he’s known her, and yet she was this close the whole time.

It’s not like he realized all of this the moment he laid eyes on her a few hours ago. He hadn’t even flipped a real coin, but then, why did this feel so different?

Here he was, locked in a silence of only thirty seconds that was so much harder than it had to be. Adrien wanted to be disappointed, or angry, or irritated that he had to go. He really did. With Marinette so near, however, he couldn’t seem to muster more than a sad smile.

Marinette blinked once, then twice, and a third time before speaking.

“I ...w-would offer you a hug, but I think it would hurt.”

Adrien’s smile grew, but only a bit. “That’s okay, I wouldn’t want to you to mess up your shoulder anymore.”

“Well…” She bit her lip, and Adrien wanted so badly to know what she might be thinking.

He had to get a grip. “I guess I should go.”

“Yeah. Thanks again for all of your help, really. I would have been really…”

She paused, brow furrowing but she dispelled it with a quick shake of her head. “Really out of luck if you all hadn’t been there.”

Adrien gulped and began to walk towards the front of the store, not sure his voice would work or if his brain could handle a reasonable response.

One foot into the front, and he recalled a memory with such intensity it almost made him waver. A rainy day. Marinette. Russian Snowdrops. Kindness, compassion, and that same inability to speak. She knocked the wind right out of him with her simple words, but when he breathed in again it was all refreshing and new, all over again.

Not again. He wouldn’t walk out like that, on her, again.

Adrien ran a hand through his hair.

“Marinette?” He spun on the spot, and she looked up.

“Thanks for… helping me with Madam Kleinstein. I was really out of my element.”

Real smooth, Agreste. Real smooth.

She giggled, and it was beautiful.

“You were the one who made the sale. I should be thanking you, but, I guess you did have a pretty great teacher.” She winked. “ But, yeah, it was… fun, working with you. I hope you’ll come by again.”

The words were confidence and his heart was hook-line-and-sinkered. Before he could stop himself, Adrien walked briskly towards Marinette and kissed her on the cheek. His actions caught up with his brain after a beat, and with the realization came with a rush of color to his face.

He smiled anyways, because that’s what this was all about. Marinette made him happy.

“Goodbye, Marinette.”

She took two shallow breaths, and he was happier than he should have been to see that she was blushing too.

“B-bye, Adrien.”

#miraculous ladybug #miraculers #tales of ladybug and cat noir #ladybug and chat noir #adrinette #adrien x marinette #marinette dupen-chang #marinette dupain-cheng #alya cesaire #nino lahiffe #so many puns #miraculous fanfic #ml fanfic #ml fandom #fanfic #ao3fic #flowershop au

5 notes · View notes

tobythewise · 6 years

Note

ABC Prompt: just in time for a Halloween fic!

H is for Halloween! Hope ya’ll enjoy! If you’d like to suggest prompts for my next letters or any prompt in general send them to my ask box!

Halloween has always been Castiel’s least favorite holidayand he has several reasons for his hatred. He hates the candy after one yearGabe tricked him into eating so much he got sick and threw up all over. He can’teven think about a milky way without gagging. Castiel hates the trick or treaters.Yes, he thinks some of the kids are cute, he’s not heartless! But some aremean, just like the kids who pushed him down and stole his flashlight when hewas little. Then there’s the ridiculous scare tactics. Ever since his bestfriend in high school came into Castiel’s room while he was sleeping and startup a chainsaw causing him to nearly piss himself, he hasn’t been interested inhaunted houses or anything resembling.

But, much to Castiel’s dismay, Dean’s favorite holiday justso happens to be Halloween. Ever since they started dating in high school, Dean’stalked him into going to his annual Halloween party dressed in some sort ofridiculous couple’s costume. The first year they were together they went assomething mild. ‘Salt and Pepper.’ It was simple and didn’t take all that muchwork for either of them. Every year since the costumes have escalated.

Cas wanted to make this year special and he knew exactlyhow. He needed a few things to make this night perfect and he set to work tomake it all happen. Dean was disappointed that they weren’t wearing matchingcostumes this year, which Cas had fought tooth and nail for, but it would allbe worth it.

Castiel had just walked through the door of the Winchester householdwhen he was engulfed in a tight hug. It didn’t take much to guess who exactlyit was.

“Hello, Mary.”

“Cas! I am so excited for tonight! I still can’t believethis is even happening,” Mary gushed.

“I’m excited too,” Cas answered sheepishly. The party was infull swing already and he hoped to find Dean soon so he could get on with hissurprise.

Mary kissed him on the cheek and took a step back to look athis costume. “Cas, this is so perfect. I love it.” Then she nudged him towardsthe direction of the living room. “Now go on and get on with it.”

Castiel steeled himself and made his way towards where heknew he would find his boyfriend. His hands were shaking and he could feelsweat dripping down his back. His stomach felt like a thousand butterflies hadjust decided to wake up and he tried to take a deep breathes to calm himself.

His boyfriend wasn’t hard to spot. Dean was sitting on acouch between Jo and Sam. Dean was animatingly telling some story and Cas felthis lips tip up. He loved Dean so much.

Sam was dressed as Captain America, Jo was dressed as apirate, and Dean looked amazing dressed as Han Solo. Cas shook his headthinking about his boyfriend’s man crush on Harrison Ford. It was adorable.

Sam must have noticed him walk in because he nudges Dean andnods towards Cas. Dean’s face breaks out into a giant grin when he sees Cas andhe’s on his feet, walking towards Cas before Cas can take another breath.

Castiel can tell the moment Dean really looks at hiscostume. His head tilts in confusion and he looks completely stumped.

“Hello, Dean,” Cas greets.

“Hi, Cas. I don’t really get the costume, buddy.” Now thatDean’s up close and takes a good look he tries to take it all in. Castiel iswearing a black tux with a black bow tie, on his chest is a name tag that reads‘Mr. Winchester’.

“What’s not to understand, Dean?”

“Well, since when are you a Winchester?”

“Oh right, I forgot to ask,” Castiel says as he pulls a boxout of his pocket and gets down on one knee. “Dean Winchester, I love you withmy whole heart. I’ve loved you since junior year of high school and I continueto love you more and more every day. I love you so much I even participate inyour pagan holiday traditions,” he says with a smirk. “Will you marry me andmake me a Winchester?”

Dean falls to his knees and grabs Cas tight in a hug. Hekisses the breath out of Cas and pulls back with shiny eyes, blushed cheeks,and a cheek splitting smile. “Hell yeah!” he declares and the room erupts inclapping. When Dean looks back at Cas he whispers, “This isn’t just part ofyour costume, right?”

Cas rolls his eyes and begins putting the ring on Dean’sfinger. “You know I hate costumes.” Dean’s face falls ever so slightly andCastiel is quick to add, “But I love you enough to go along with it. This isreal. You’re my fiancé.”

Dean kisses his fiancé until a few people clear theirthroats and they have to pull apart. Dean looks at Cas and kisses his cheek onelast time. He leans in close and whispers in Castiel’s ear, “I have the perfectidea for next year’s costumes.”

Castiel just groans but of course, he goes along with it.

#destiel #destiel fanfic #deancas #halloween #abc prompt #ask box #tobywrites

17 notes · View notes

hoperosemary · 5 years

Photo

Effortless effort. As a self proclaimed lover of life, chasing my bliss, I often find myself in downward facing dog and attempting to find that space between wanting more and settling into where I am. After years of practice and self discipline I find myself resisting the prescription of the class. I like to practice what I need, not necessarily a routine, though I see the benefits of participating in a set series and recognize its significance in this process of growth. The internal struggle is real with this one. I mentioned noticing a shift in my perspective in this space, this social billboard. I’ve accepted a position with a company and will start with them on July 22nd so in the mean time I’m doing some house keeping and task management to assist my transition into this role. More details to come, but ya’ll, I’m so stoked. Contemplating potentially two years worth of touring the US (and hopefully Canada!), we’ll see how the next few months pan out and logistics fall into place. I’m been really watching what pulls me, paying attention to my responses and noticing where there is friction against doing something. Loosing my motorcycle was a massive rug pull from underneath me but I’m pivoting. Wanting another bike and dreaming of my next two wheel adventure...though I’ve totally been riding out here in the DMV area. Still reminiscing Tiny. Plans for my sunset ride were thwarted my a summer rain storm, which will be over just in time for me to take a lovely night ride instead. I’ll get this post up and manage a few other tasks before my adventure. By the way, I think we all get double chins in Down Dog. Photo courtesy of @juliankphoto from the #vetogahitt2019. Also, how in the world are we already only two months from #burningman2019!? 🤯 Also, also. Is anyone interested in a road trip from Reno to Asheville? I’ll be traveling between September 8th-19th and as of now I’m open for destination suggestions and pit stops along the way! Let’s hang. (at Arlington, Virginia) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzPANnEn2yK/?igshid=ovipb8t8doan

#vetogahitt2019 #burningman2019

0 notes

rpedia · 7 years

Text

[Ask RPedia] Post-Long Time RP Shutdown Advice?

Anonymous asked: Hey, do you have any advice for people who have been in roleplays for 1 year+ that have just closed down? Feeling kind of lost & in a funk now I've lost contact with people I was close to & enjoyed writing with. Not sure if this is the right place to come and ask but figured it was worth a shot

Oh no! Another lost lamb. I see this happening a lot, and boy experiencing it was no happiness either. It’s like finishing a good book and having the world slowly fade in. Everything’s different, and empty, it’s horrible. Unfortunately, no matter how long your RP friends have lasted, sooner or later it starts falling apart. It’s always good to have interests and accounts in other places in case of loss like this, because you’re gonna have to build from scratch one way or another, paralleling it with growth takes away some of the ‘waiting’. Let’s talk about some likely ways to handle this though from the beginning!

You can go to somewhere new. Explore! There’s a whole wide web of sites that want to encourage you to roleplay, from forums to chatrooms. I keep a list here that anyone can reply to and add places to check out, and that I add to whenever I move sites. I haven’t for some time actually, because each new fandom I move to, and each new group has been found and expanded on that very large very open site. (Thanks F-list!). When you join a new site, you can usually find someone, somewhere, willing to chat with you. They may not be the kind of partner you want right that second because they aren’t what you’re used to, but talk to them anyways. Work your way to RP for the sake RP with a new person, and you can find people you didn’t realize you’d be so close to, because you simply were busy with people you already were close to! Offer enough chances, and something will pan out.

Try speed dating. Like the sound of quick semi-meaningless RPs to check for Chemistry? Omegle, Cherubplay, MSPARP, even Chatroulette in an emergency. Just set your standards to how you like, make sure you suggest “roleplay” and your fandom name of choice on Chatroulette and Omegle, and then play out random little abstract tidbits about your characters meeting. You can find really interesting people like this, who might be willing to toss a Tumblr handle or Skype handle your way where you can find each other again and start roleplaying in a bigger way. Many of the users on these sites either don’t have a solid constant flow of RP elsewhere (which means they may be open to a tighter bond with someone) or they’re shopping for neat people to share with others. You can build patter, and teach yourself to be more social through these cold start prompts. It’ll force you to drop some habits you’ve gotten used to with other people, and open your mind to new people.

Try going out and doing other things, or finding new fandoms. Oh look, personal growth! You’re free, instead of lost. You’ve got no roots and therefore can meander into anything you find interesting. Something maybe your past partners were tentatively interested in, or not interested at all so you set it aside. Watch a new series, get addicted, get fresh ideas and try new OCs. Do something you’ve never done before, and you’ll find people who were connected to those things the whole time. When you finally get into those things, you’’ meet people you’ve never met. The RP world is basically a giant net, and everyone is connected via interests, threads, and other people. If you put yourself out there on a thread or in a chatroom and just talk about something new, you’ll be visible to new people, and if you share interests and chemistry with these new people... Well the obvious happens. You’ll end up chatting, possibly making friends, and since you both like RP if you stick to RP sites, you might actually get into another group. Just because your group is dead, doesn’t mean there aren’t living ones looking to suck in someone of interest who used to be busy! Don’t be afraid to approach people just to talk, or to work out a plot.

Hang out on Public Chats/Forums. Be yourself, in front of other people! Related to all of my points a little, if you’ve been in a private chat, or a private Skype, a closed tumblr, or a private forum you haven’t had much time to get out and be seen. You’re basically a stranger to the internet. Someone who hid themselves in the ancient caves to practice their art, unseen for centuries before bursting onto the scene. If you become seen, people will check you out. People who may not approach you at first until they get a nice sense of you. If you’re nice to whoever comes to you, no matter their RP quality, you’ll have people who may be really good, but really shy, find you safe. If they find you safe, they’ll approach you, and you can bond with them. If you play long enough in public, you’ll get regulars, and friends. When you have friends and regulars, they may play with each other in public using you as a jumping off point for why they are interacting. You’ll help them greet people they would never meet on their own. As that gets bigger, this Katamari of Roleplay will build and build until you have your own little niche/clique/community within the larger landscape. All this, just by being visible, and good natured/interesting in public, regularly.

Roleplaying wasn’t hard to get into the first time you did it, I have a feeling. Sure it was big and new and a little intimidating, but you didn’t know what to expect. You wanted to learn, interact. You didn’t have any solid ideas of what was going to happen, or memories of people who were fantastic players you were really close to. Your friends mean something, and they always will. But you’re allowed to have more friends. You’re allowed to open up, socially, and try everything as if it’s brand new again.

Let yourself be hesitant, but don’t be afraid to jump in! Jump into everything! Everywhere! Explore your new characters through writing fanfics or short stories. Work on profiles. Design worlds. Design life. Come up with concepts. Play with yourself, by writing by yourself. Maybe in public. Let yourself do crack-play, or bullshit you wouldn’t do because you have a higher standard now. If it’s fun, it’s fantastic! It doesn’t matter what other people think. You’ll find somewhere, as long as you openly invite interaction in your posts. No hanging out in corners sipping tea, no yawning, no sitting by yourself hoping someone will get curious.

Name drop, in narration not vocally for your character unless they know the names. Interact with other posts. Someone do something silly? Laugh about it. React to the people around you. Invite them to react back. Allow them to see you want to play with them. As long as you actively seek out other people, and actions instead of trying to lead everything yourself you’ll end up getting the ball rolling on new RP friendships.

Interest can be anything from playing a character that is unique, to playing a character doing something other people haven’t seen a thousand times which has something that they will notice. Be it sound, visual stimuli, smells, emotions, or even sense of touch. Don’t be obnoxious and grab strangers or attack people out of no where. For the love of god, poking will annoy a lot of people. But maybe, sit down and set up a board game. Roll some dice loudly. Start laughing at something on your cellphone, and look around for someone to share it with. People will jump on open interactions like that. Especially if you make a note you’re looking for someone to do so. Glancing around for help, literally calling out, ‘Hey anyone wanna join me?’ shit like that.

Pretend you’re in public in the real world, in New York. They pretty much ignore things that are wacky and abnormal unless they explicitly involve them in the action. Not by touching, so much because that’s kind of creepy and assault in some cases, but by vocalizing and calling out. “Hey! You!” yelled at the big guy in the corner will get their attention. Emotion and shit, tone of voice. Are you curious, snappish, excited, angry? It brings elements to RP to draw new people in.

And of course, skim their profiles if they have any. OOC sections and ‘likes and dislikes’ and other important ‘Please don’t do this’ things should be known if you are approaching someone new. It takes 15 seconds, and could save you from calling out someone, and demanding a fight, from someone who doesn’t like fight RP. Or who doesn’t want to play anything you find interesting. Everyone’s different, and honestly, it takes a few extra seconds to make things so much easier on everyone else.

I also suggest the tag #RPediaRP for everyone trying to find partners! Look, the tag’s empty right now. But if you use the tag on here, on Omegle, on Twitter, anywhere you can use a tag system? People looking at it because I just advertised it to over 6.5k people, might see you. Say hi! Mention that you’re looking for asks, or replies. Say you’d like to chat about stories. Give a summary of you and your character. See who shows up to the party. #RPediaRP is 100% user generated, not me, but it’ll let people find each other. I get a lot of fucking asks about advertising and finding each other. Using that tag to post open starts, and stuff like that will get that community participation in a smaller area. Ya’ll are good RPers right? GET OUT THERE. GET SEEN!

Advertising a tag to help ya’ll find other RPedia readers who want RP aside, that’s great advice and I’ll repeat it 30 thousand times. Get seen. Make friends. Interact. You got this, it’s all a matter of self advertisement and trying.

Emotionally, I would like to touch upon recovery. You have just experienced a major loss. An RP network is a support network. It’s friendships, and building a world that feels real and unique. Even though it’s fictional, it still has the same value as face-to-face relationships in terms of support, interaction, social ties, and emotion. You still feel love for them, kinship, understanding. You’ve learned their tics, and how they interact with one another. You’ve gotten close to these people, and having those ties severed feels like shit.

Reach out to them, some of them may be feeling the same way and you can continue on your journey with people who already understand you. People who care about you, and don’t want to lose contact. Maybe some of your friends are more healthy by going on their way? But sharing your life with someone you’re used to, and who will remember things can make the loss less sharp. Just don’t hyperfocus on them and force them to be your entire social network, they’ll get tired, resentment will brew. Remember to keep reaching outwards, and never focus all your attention on just one person. It’s unhealthy and ends up making everyone kinda upset in the end.

You still matter, even though you’ve lost things. You’re a person, and roleplaying means something to you. It’s an interest or hobby that can help you grow as a person and really see the world, and meet people. You’ll do things you can never hope to do in real life. So, in a way, roleplay can heal what roleplay has harmed. Don’t abuse it, and make yourself the center of every sad story, but you can hint as losing friends, or missing people and get a little bit of coddling. Here and there, a light dusting of sad spice. It can be cathartic if you’re not heavy handed.

Give yourself time to heal. Rest up, you’ve been through something. It might take you 5 minutes to be fresh as a daisy, or months or years to get over that loss. Everyone’s different. You might go through all the stages of grief, or you might go ‘well.... time to move on’ and find something to distract you entirely. It’s okay, no matter what you choose to do, or well, not choose, but have to experience because your brain is a mean little thing that pushes various chemicals whether you ask it to or not.

You’re going to be fine, experiencing pain and loneliness is normal. It’s normal to feel both loss and grief, and love and sentimental warmth. Look back on it as something amazing, something you loved, and look for new challenges. New purpose, relief, and happiness is in your future. You are not lost for good, you’re just... in-between roleplay partners. You’ll get new ones, the urge to write and tell stories never leaves you entirely.

Good luck, and happiness on your path to finding this shit. Gooey and lovey-dovey as I sound, and as hard as this feels for some of you? You’ll be okay. Everything will be okay.

#roleplaying #roleplay help #finding partners #roleplay partners #RPC #RPH #Ask RPedia #RPedia #RPediaRP #Looking for partners?#Use RPediaRP as your first tag

26 notes · View notes

arkhamarchitecture · 7 years

Text

bc @tanoraqui asked me for my de Rolo family headcanons. Fair warning that the version of Frederick that primarily exists in my head was formulated based on random joking comments Taliesin has made, Grifting’s version of him from Stuck On You, and a fic or two from @infanttreenotebook. Though not an outright bad parent, he probably wouldn’t have deserved any #1 dad mugs.

Also this is stupid long. I blame Frederick and Johanna for having seven goddamn kids.

Frederick and Johanna:

Frederick was an only child, which is incredibly rare among nobility and risky as hell (attempts were made at other kids but they fell through and Frederick’s parents weren’t in love at all so they didn’t spend a ton of time uhhh, trying). His parents strongly impressed upon him that his duty to his city was the most important thing in his life.

Frederick met Johanna when she saved his life while he was traveling for an important business meeting in Westruun. Johanna was not a noble in any way but she was singlehandedly responsible for saving him and returning him to Whitestone. They fell in love in the two-three weeks it took to get him back home and Frederick’s parents were so grateful for her saving him that they didn’t kick up too much fuss about him marrying a “peasant.”

Frederick and Johanna were much more enthusiastically in love than Frederick’s parents were - hence having seven children. That said, Frederick was not accustomed to having a large family and struggled to evenly divide his attention between his rulership of the city, his wife, and his children.

Due to Frederick’s own childhood, he strongly believed in usefulness being more important than interest. Which is to say, if something wasn’t apparently useful to him or Whitestone at large, he discarded it as unimportant. Unfortunately, many of his children held interests that were not “useful.”

Johanna was much better than her husband about being equally attentive of all of her children but she also didn’t participate a whole lot in terms of leadership. Johanna ran the treasury and also organized the guards (in terms of hiring and rotations).

Unbeknownst to Johanna, Captain of the Guard Kerrion Stonefell did not appreciate what he saw as her interfering with his job.

Julius:

Oldest son Julius de Rolo received the bulk of his father’s attention. If Julius had been an only child, he probably would have developed serious anxiety from the weight of Frederick’s expectations. Fortunately, Julius had so many younger siblings (all of whom were deeply frustrated at the lack of attention they received from Frederick) that instead Julius became the Dad Friend for all of his siblings.

In the last few years before the Briarwoods, Frederick and Julius had started to butt heads more often than not as Julius became increasingly frustrated with Frederick trying to control his children’s lives without consulting them on what they actually wanted.

Julius wanted to be a paladin of the Temple of Pelor but swearing himself to a temple or church as either a paladin or a cleric would mean placing his loyalties to them ahead of his family. It would mean abdicating his position as heir and as such, he was never formally inducted as a paladin, though he did receive training as such.

Frederick probably would have allowed Julius to abdicate if Julius had fought about it (it wasn’t like he didn’t have plenty of options for heirs), but Julius conceded without much argument when he realized he’d be passing the burden of responsibility onto his unprepared siblings.

Vesper:

Vesper was very much her mother’s daughter and once got in trouble for headbutting a boy twice her size because he said something mean about Ludwig. She broke her own nose doing it, so Johanna set about teaching her better methods of fighting back.

Vesper was whip smart and extremely talented in the art of insulting someone in such a way that they didn’t realize they’d been insulted until 5 minutes later. She could run rings around any diplomat sent to Whitestone by the time she was 12.

Vesper was bisexual but with a strong preference for women. The first time Vesper ever truly fought with her father was when she found out he had organized a betrothal for her to a nobleman in Emon. Frederick, to his credit, had not been aware that Vesper preferred women and rescinded the betrothal when he found out, but Vesper pointed out that she had never hid that from him, he just hadn’t been paying attention.

Percy:

I strongly subscribe to @infanttreenotebook‘s idea that Percy’s manic-depressive mood swings first began manifesting as a teenager and his father did not cope well with them. When Percy was on and in full manic swing, Percy got along wonderfully with his father, happy to show him ideas and projects and things he had taught himself - but also perfectly happy to be left alone to work on those things when his father’s attention was elsewhere.

But every time Percy crashed, Frederick became concerned, not understanding why Percy’s work would abruptly grind to a halt. Unfortunately Frederick’s concern mostly manifested as him wanting Percy to go into a more stable (useful) field of work than tinkering. Shockingly, being told that his pursuits and interests were pointless and he should give them up did not improve Percy’s depressive moods.

Percy, at the time, had seen Anders as more of a father figure than his actual father. I don’t think I have to say much more about that.

Ludwig:

Ludwig, compared to his older siblings, was a bit on the dim side. He was far from stupid, but he lacked the brilliance that all three of his older siblings possessed.

Nicknamed “Lutz” when he was young, Percy gave him a lute one year for his birthday as a joke, but Ludwig was immediately fascinated with it. Ludwig couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket but with Anders’ direction, he became an accomplished musician.

To several other siblings frustration, Frederick was actually quite impressed with Ludwig’s musical talents despite all expectations that he would consider it a useless pursuit. He and Johanna acquired a piano for Ludwig on his birthday the next year. His siblings quickly got over their frustration when they realized that Ludwig was only too happy to play whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, or provide accompaniment as they sang.

Ludwig lacked much in the way of ambition and would have been perfectly happy to marry whoever his father wanted him to marry, have a handful of kids, and spend the rest of his life idly composing music.

Oliver and Whitney:

If you had asked anyone outside the family, Oliver and Whitney got along like cats in a bag. They were a pair of rough and tumble boys (Whitney had not been assumed to be male at birth, but he made himself very clear as he grew up) who fought constantly, whether that was with snide commentary or actual fist fights in the garden. Any suggestions that they not hang out with one another if they disliked their twin so much were met with blank looks.

Gods forbid if you insulted one of them or one of their siblings because Oliver and Whitney would both ruin your entire life at the drop of a hat if they thought you deserved it. Both of them held grudges like no ones business and took offense at the smallest of slights. The two of them were the initiators of the great de Rolo prank war that lasted years and only ended when Johanna put her foot down after a prank pulled on Percy in his workshop ended with him being inadvertently set on fire.

The burns weren’t too bad and Julius healed him up, it was fine.

Both twins were ladies men and competed for the attention of any and every girl they met, though they had a habit of getting so competitive about it that they forgot the girl entirely to focus on besting the other.

To the chagrin of the rest of the family, Oliver and Whitney were the only two de Rolos with any serious magical talent. Julius could heal a bit and Ludwig’s music was enchanting, but the twins were almost aggressively magical and they rebuffed any and all attempts by their father to learn to control it.

If they had survived, they might have grown up to be intensely powerful wild magic sorcerers but Anders made sure the pair of them were killed quickly to prevent surprises. Despite being a mere 15 during the coup and high priority targets, the twins were responsible the deaths of quite a few attacking guards before they went down, spitting and hissing curses to the end.

Cassandra:

Cassandra, oh Cassandra. Johanna’s favorite child (no matter what Percy said), Cassandra had her mother’s wild heart and the desperate urge to explore everything. Cassandra knew every secret passageway in the entire castle, including a few that weren’t marked on any map or blueprint to ever exist.

Cassandra was a sneak from a very young age and would often appear abruptly in someone’s field of vision from seemingly out of nowhere and disappear just as quickly. Her parents and oldest siblings at first suspected that she was using magic like the twins, but Cassandra eventually confessed to Julius that she was simply very good at not drawing attention to herself.

Cassandra was an easily excited child who wanted to travel around the world one day and it seemed likely that she’d get the chance. She was, after all, the youngest of seven and was unlikely to ever have any serious responsibilities to her family or her city.

I should emphasize that Cassandra wanted to travel and see the world but had no plans to be an adventurer. She had no desire to get into fights and only took up swordplay at her mother’s insistence that she be capable of defending herself. Cassandra took little interest in it Sylas decided it would be amusing to train her.

holy shit ya’ll this post about a bunch of dead motherfuckers that we will literally never meet in canon broke 1500 words, what the heckles

#my crit role stuff #critical role #the de rolo family

92 notes · View notes

survivorjordanpines · 6 years

Text

Episode 3: We Need to Start Getting Rid of the Extras - Cole

I hate the music video challenge. Other than that, I feel indifferent towards the people who got voted out. I wonder if Kage found anything in the isle of pines though. I would be happy if he did.

why is this going easier than expected? theres gon be a swap soon huh...jp would fuck me up like this s/o to my fave liam and andreas

I hate these challenges. I don't like being on camera but when you know half your tribe probably doesn't want to participate, you don't really have a choice. I think we're going to do Trouble - Pink, my suggestion, and I'm super hyped about that because I love Pink. We love feminist icons on a tribe that is like 60% men. There's no way to do an all girls alliance with just me, LA, Karen, and Regan. 60-40 aren't great odds.

nick saying he talked and had a social game when he only started talking 4 hours before tribal because jack warned him he was being voted plus I think queen pippa and Allison will win the redemption comp over nick nick only stayed cause mat summers was inactive lol

Kage is playing hard really early, but that's good for me. He can be my shield while I stand behind him. Honestly, his reads on the game are useful for gathering information and he seems willing to be my ride-or-die. I find that this is extremely favorable. However, I also want to work with Charlotte and LA. They seem like a good trio for me to attach myself too. I do not want to pick between them so I hope that I can continue working with all three of them as the future progresses.

Music video challenges are a nightmare. I feel like a mother trying to get her kids ready for school and one kid is in the bathroom taking forever, another won't eat his cheerios, one is still in bed, and the other two have mysteriously vanished. We are losing this challenge. There's no way around it. Which means, we'll have to pick someone who was the least helpful to send to the Oasis. I love rewarding flops. Kage said that he would try to get people to agree to send me which is cool, don't get me wrong, but like - why me? Let's not put a target on my back quite so early, thank you! But on the plus side, I decorated my co-workers desk with Crab!Jordan pictures and that amused me for about 16 minutes.

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhh music videos make me want to die lmao

AHHHHHHHHHHH I hope we win again becasue how funny is it that we are the hate jordan pines tribe and we stay the longest

I like my tribe. I am aligned with everyone. If we lose I will be upset for 2 reasons: I will have to vote out an ally and this is the best music video in TS history so it should win

Well so far the game is going really well for me!! I think I have a lot of loyal allies and I hope we don't go to tribal for the third time in a row because I pretty much want everyone on my tribe to stay in the game as long as possible. We need to start getting rid of the extras that were aka the other two tribes.... Like offense but like they aren't stars so like go hunny thank you being a place holder, you are excused.

Challenge is due in 8 hours and 45 minutes. Guess how many people have filmed stuff for the video? Yes , you guessed it... the answer is ONE. I'm voting for myself because no one else deserves it. I destroyed my kitchen for this challenge. I threw a chair, there are ripped pictures of Jordan Pines everywhere, and I took down a painting. THAT is dedication. WHEN WILL YOUR FAVE EVER?

At this point in the game I almost want to go to Tribal that’s why I’m not helping with the video. I want to go to tribal to test our alliance and pick off Regan or Adam. Regan because she is messy af and Adam because he has too many ties with the icons tribe. I hope we flop in this challenge. Also, I told the wrong clue to my alliance so let’s hope that doesn’t backfire. It won’t for this vote anyway and hopefully I get to go back to the Isles Of The Pines so I can retrieve MY idol.

THESE PEOPLE GIVE ME SEVERE ANXIETY YOU HAVE NO IDEA

I hope we win, the video jessica made was SO good! we'll find out soon and I'm just a bundle of nerves right now!

Pippa was voted out, so despite her best efforts she still fell short! However she did win the redemption island duel, so shes still in! Our tribe did the challenge in one day and looking at the criteria I fully expect us to lose. Like 100%. So thats gonna finally cause some ~tension~. Everyone is active on our tribe. But if we go with the alliance of 6 we formed, either Cole or Casey would go. Personally i'd rather we just win and neither goes but someone has to go and its rather shitty.

[2017-11-21, 10:52:45 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): OUR VIDEO IS TERRIBLE [2017-11-21, 10:52:47 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): I WANNA DIE [2017-11-21, 10:55:27 PM] LA {Themyscira Host}: I'm scared to watch [2017-11-21, 10:55:47 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): don’t do it [2017-11-21, 10:55:53 PM] LA {Themyscira Host}: Okay lol [2017-11-21, 10:55:59 PM] Jordan Pines: make a confessional about it :) [2017-11-21, 10:56:03 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): Kage didn’t mute our video files [2017-11-21, 10:56:09 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): So it’s a disaster [2017-11-21, 10:56:13 PM] LA {Themyscira Host}: HEGDVEBSHDJEJ [2017-11-21, 10:56:15 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): A DISASTER [2017-11-21, 10:56:19 PM] LA {Themyscira Host}: THATS SO BASIC [2017-11-21, 10:56:22 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): LORI ITS JUST YOU AND ME [2017-11-21, 10:56:23 PM] LA {Themyscira Host}: JFC [2017-11-21, 10:56:28 PM] LA {Themyscira Host}: I'M DONE [2017-11-21, 10:56:31 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): WE ARE THE ONLY PEOPLE IN IT [2017-11-21, 10:56:34 PM] LA {Themyscira Host}: MED EVAC [2017-11-21, 10:56:37 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): and there’s ugly effects [2017-11-21, 10:56:43 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): Jordan can we mutiny [2017-11-21, 10:56:49 PM] Jordan Pines: nope :) [2017-11-21, 10:56:49 PM] LA {Themyscira Host}: WE OUT [2017-11-21, 10:56:55 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): Okay well we’re out [2017-11-21, 10:57:02 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): Med Evac please [2017-11-21, 10:57:08 PM] Jordan Pines: :) [2017-11-21, 10:57:46 PM] LA {Themyscira Host}: I need to go [2017-11-21, 10:57:57 PM] LA {Themyscira Host}: I'm not watching that video [2017-11-21, 10:58:00 PM] LA {Themyscira Host}: Lol [2017-11-21, 11:01:43 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): I couldn’t watch the whole thing [2017-11-21, 11:02:16 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): If either you, kage, or I gets voted out I’m done with this community lmao [2017-11-21, 11:02:19 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): FLOPS [2017-11-21, 11:02:33 PM] LA {Themyscira Host}: MOOD [2017-11-21, 11:03:14 PM] LA {Themyscira Host}: I need kage to delete that asap [2017-11-21, 11:03:37 PM] LA {Themyscira Host}: I still cant bring myself to watch [2017-11-21, 11:08:20 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): Honestly me [2017-11-21, 11:08:24 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): I want it GONE [2017-11-21, 11:08:30 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): BURN IT WITH FIRE [2017-11-21, 11:12:48 PM] LA {Themyscira Host}: RIP [2017-11-21, 11:30:09 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): so [2017-11-21, 11:30:11 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): you can hear you singing [2017-11-21, 11:30:24 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): bc kage used our backing as the music track [2017-11-21, 11:30:29 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): i want to fucking choke [2017-11-21, 11:30:37 PM] LA {Themyscira Host}: I can't believe ts jordan pines made me quit orgs [2017-11-21, 11:30:43 PM] charlotte (themyscira host): ME AS FUCK

Going to our first tribal will be rough, but I feel confident in my alliance. I will certainly not be the one going. Jaiden threw out Regan's name and I'm down with that. She seems to have the best chance of getting Pippa out of redemption and having an Senip come back will provide us with numbers.

Hello I just got added to two alliances with regan. One with David and one with gage. And listen I love regan but I cannot be snatcht for being in 10 alliances bc she thinks I get along with all these people 😩. But honestly if I were to work with anyone on this tribe it'd be regan David and gage so we'll see how this goes. I'm also talkin to charlotte so I'll see what she's thinking vote wise. I'll prob talk to other ppl

I can't fucking believe this tribe. Actually, no, that's a lie... I can believe this tribe because they're all a bunch of flops. I don't care that you were working, or that you had school. LA and I both work, she had school, and we still managed to put together a THREE FUCKING MINUTE VIDEO to contribute to this tribe. Effort isn't hard. Honestly this challenge would have taken less than five minutes. But I'll play nice, I was only a little shady in the tribe chat. me: kage and LA the true MVPS me: the rest of ya’ll… no shade no tea but :| I would copy receipts but Skype for Web sucks. TAKES UR EXCUSES AND SHOVE EM CUZ I DONT WANNA HEAR IT. I WILL CARRY YOUR SORRY ASSES ON MY BACK IF I HAVE TO. WE'RE NOT LOSING AGAIN. Tonight the Icons Only tribe wants to vote for Regan. I don't have a problem with Regan, other than she can be a little extra, but David said that she's the person he talks to the most. Selfishly, I want her gone so that I can be the person David talks to most. I like David, he's cool. I would love to have an alliance with David and Adam. Me? Aligning with everyone on my tribe? More likely than you'd think.

Jack may be cute as hell like the rest of our tribe but he's really rustling my jimmies with this vote. Stop dragging Liam around like a dog, it's not cute and it's not gonna keep you in this game. Liam deserves better, end Liam hate 2k17. Also Sarah is an actual legend queen of spilling tea.

Kage is messy. Betray me and I'll slit your throat and bathe in your blood

JK he's a child I take that back. BUT MOM IS NOT IMPRESSED. GO TO YOUR ROOM.

so Jack is making liam do all his dirty work wanting to get Madison out having got nick out and all well he is gone i guess

I hope I am not getting voted out. This alliance should carry me to victory though.

anyway so I left off with an alliance with gage and regan and david and regan, then I added david and la to the chat with gage anyway so we agreed on raf. and then Jaiden is like don't vote for me, and that he said that the names he heard were regan kage raf and himself. so anyway david and regan call me and I'm like what the fuck is going on in here on this day and they tell me that theres an alliance that kage made with kage la gage charlotte raf and Jaiden but like gage told me that kage ratted out his own alliance???/ anyway so Jaiden keeps thinking the vote is switching between kage and regan and raf and like .....I don't wanna vote reg so like rn I'm in the process of trying to get gage and la to flip to raf or maybe get reg to vote for kage, so it may be 4-4-1 or 5-4. and like gage and la are basically the swing votes and I'm like like yall literally trust me the most so just vote with me???? like by fucking me over and voting regan theyre gonna fuck themselves over. anyway so like I'm scared kage might have an idol??? and that's my main issue with voting for him like a split would be hard to do rn so that why I wanna vote for raf at this point

First tribals are suppose to be easy but NOT THIS ONE. I don't know what's happening in this game, i just know I'm suddenly in the middle of two alliances. I JUST WANTED TO SLEEP MY WAY THROUGH THIS. i wanna work with karen but she doesn't wanna vote regan but the other alliance wants to vote regan so i'm gonna pissed off one side if me and gage can't flip to someone else. honestly, i'm trying to keep karen happy and build this relationship with gage cause i need people. at some point its gonna be me and char going for each other and i need to have allies i can depend on. AND WHO THE FUCK DOESN'T MUTE THE AUDIO TRACK AND REPLACE IT WITH THE SONG WHEN EDITING A MUSIC VIDEO?!!?

Honestly this tribe is a mess. Kage and jaiden are messes. And I'm a mess and the most paranoid person ever. Actually that might be jaiden but he's a smart kind of paranoid.

LA wants to vote out Kage. Bitch, so do I, but how many times do I have to say - WE DON'T HAVE THE NUMBERS. Girl, tribal is in 22 minutes. Sit down!

Me being in the majority for the first vote? What is this feeling??? This feels.....too good to be true. So much shit went down and so many names were thrown around and I expected to go too. But thank my lucky stars that didnt happen. Going forward I think I cant trust Regan and Karen and even possibly gage but everyone else IDK!!!!!

I guess I'm the fool. Oh well. Not like it matters.

#supportyourlocaljordanpines

0 notes

siliconwebx · 5 years

Text

WooCommerce 3.6 to Add Marketplace Suggestions, Despite Overwhelmingly Negative Feedback from Developer Community

In one of the most unpopular changes in the history of the WooCommerce open source project, version 3.6 will introduce “Marketplace Suggestions.” The update adds suggestions to the products admin screen, which vary based on whether it’s an empty state or within the list of products.

“They are contextual mentions of official extensions that may be relevant to a customer,” Todd Wilkens, Head of WooCommerce, said. “This currently includes all extensions on the official WooCommerce marketplace, which is open for submissions and lists extensions written by Automattic as well as by trusted partners and third-party developers.”

The suggestions are on by default for users who can install and activate plugins. They are dismissible, but the frequency with which they will be shown is one of the most contentious aspects of WooCommerce’s proposed implementation:

We’ll only show 1 on the Products screen, and 5 on the Product – empty state, Orders – empty state or Edit Product metabox.

Each suggestion is dismissible, we are not providing an option to dismiss all suggestions (other than if you choose to hide them).

We’re only showing 1 suggestion at a time, if a customer dismisses this, they won’t see another one for 24-hours.

If suggestions are dismissed more than five times. No further suggestions are shown in that location ( i.e. Products Listing ) for a month.

WooCommerce is providing a filter to turn off the suggestions, and this will likely soon be available as a plugin from the community. It is not something that is easy for non-technical store owners to implement.

add_filter( ‘woocommerce_allow_marketplace_suggestions’, ‘__return_false’ );

“If the above removal-by-script option proves to be difficult to implement – for example, for those who are not comfortable adding custom code – we will explore introducing a simpler way to turn them off and include this in a point release (e.g. a toggle in core settings),” Wilkens said.

WooCommerce Developer Community Sees Marketplace Suggestions as a Major Disruption to Store Owners’ Workflow

The feedback coming in on the announcement post and WooCommerce’s GitHub repository is overwhelmingly negative. In a comment on an issue titled “Rethinking 3.6’s Dashboard Ads,” Josh Kohlbach contends that WooCommerce should limit its marketing to the plugin’s dedicated Extensions screen in the dashboard:

In addition, didn’t anyone think it might be a conflict of interest for WooCommerce the commercial entity to use WooCommerce the open source plugin to show ads in this manner? Bit anti-competitive to all the 3rd party devs out there (of which there are a lot).

WooCommerce already has an amazing page under WooCommerce->Extensions with full searching capabilities etc. Why would you want to show irrelevant ads during a user’s everyday workflow?! Store owners use these screen daily, it’s terrible UX.

I suggest that it gets ripped out in its entirety and filed under “cool implementation/fun to code but horrible idea for actual users.

For those who do not stand to benefit from profits from the 400+ extensions on the WooCommerce.com marketplace, the intrusions in the product admins screen seem all the more offensive. Marketplace suggestions have not been well-received by third-party extension developers.

“This is in direct competition to every third-party developer that is not selling on WooCommerce’s marketplace,” Jamie Madden, founder of the WC Vendors Marketplace, said. “I am one of these. This is advertising for your commercial products, no matter how you try and wrap this. You have an extensions page already which is more than enough, but advertising your products every 24 hours is going too far. This is completely unacceptable.”

The general consensus of those participating in the ticket is that injecting ads into product management screens will create a disruption to store managers’ workflow.

“I too am very concerned about this,” digital agency owner Erik Bernskiold said. “I get that WooCommerce want to benefit from their commercial side, too, and there are many ways to do this. But in this case, it feels like this is at a great disregard for the users. Hijacking a product list, order list or a user interface element in this way is a major interruption of the user experience. It’s not the place for an ad.”

Several participants in the discussion have suggested that WooCommerce make it an opt-in toggle in the settings.

“There is only one scenario where I think this feature should stay in place and could be beneficial: If this feature is controlled by an opt-in toggle in WC settings,” Prospress developer Jeremy Pry said. “Otherwise, this whole feature should be removed entirely. Store owners don’t need advertisements in their admin dashboard. In my opinion, leaving this feature in place would be very harmful to the WooCommerce community.”

Marketplace Suggestions Require Dismissal Every Day for 5 Days, Only to Return 1 Month Later

The fact that the suggestions cannot actually be dismissed for good is one issue that developers predict will end up aggravating WooCommerce users.

“Dismissing just to keep hounding the user, that’s not dismissing… that is snoozing,” WordPress developer Patrick Garman said. “Because I told you 5 times that I don’t want to see your ads, that doesn’t mean come back in a month. The average user shouldn’t have to use a filter to make ads go away.”

I would not be surprised if WooCommerce ends up dialing back the frequency of the ads after they are closed, given that nearly all those participating in the conversation consider it unacceptable to require dismissal five days in a row, with the same process repeated every month thereafter. The frequency with which they are displayed is unusually aggressive.

“I don’t think it technically violates the guidelines it’s just obnoxious and makes WooCommerce look like a low rent solution,” Astoundify founder Adam Pickering said. “It seems we are in a midst of a monetization push and they are looking for any where they can add up sells. Apparently doing so gracefully has gone out the window.”

Despite the overwhelmingly negative feedback, WooCommerce appears to be ploughing forward on its plan to ramp up its marketing in the admin. Automattic is a business and it needs to make money with WooCommerce. Most participants in the discussion do not seem opposed to WooCommerce making money with marketplace suggestions but are strongly requesting that they do not inject ads in places where users are working on their own products in the admin.

“There’s nothing necessarily wrong with ya’ll trying to squeeze out some more money from users – so long as it’s done tastefully, and in a way that actually provides value to the user, instead of spamming and hindering them,” @justlevine commented on the GitHub issue.

Based on the WooCommerce developer community’s feedback, many are in agreement that they will only support changes will be respectful to store owners working in the admin. They would prefer WooCommerce focused its efforts on improving the existing Extensions tab, instead of injecting items from the marketplace on other screens. The current implementation of marketplace suggestions needs work, because it is too heavy-handed in displaying ads after users indicate through the UI that they want to dismiss them.

Most participants in the discussion are in favor of letting store owners decide if they want to see ads for extensions on their product admin screens. They would prefer that users opt in through a more transparent way than simply agreeing to terms of service. At the very least, most prefer WooCommerce add a setting that would allow store owners to easily turn marketplace suggestions off. If Automattic wants this new feature to be successful, the company needs to revise the implementation to be something that doesn’t instantly make the majority of the WooCommerce developer community want to turn it off.

😉SiliconWebX | 🌐WPTavern

#Silicon Web Design #Ahmedabad #India #Web Development #WPBeginner #Silicon URL #Web Site #Cloud Host

0 notes

twilightpony4 · 6 years

Text

Ola Americano... Turtle?: 4. Two Truths and a Lie

It was not long the family began to bore. Almost an hour ago, they saluted their friends and family before boarding the plane and twenty passed since they’ve taken off. The aircraft was just as big as the one they’ve taken to China. Instead of having someone as incompetent like Vern, Chief Vincent really hooked them up with a fully qualified officer as their pilot. She’s been a seasoned officer now a pilot for overseas and cross country trips and had worked with the turtles before.

Meanwhile she was contented flying the plane, the mutants were not so. Silent, but bored. They anticipated it, but not this quickly into the trip. For sure they haven’t even crossed a few states. Amongst the silence, Michelangelo groaned with a pitch sure to match Tarzan.His decibels surpassed the few with headphones on, causing them to remove them for the sake of alarm. The rest, however, fell victim to the murder of their eardrums and jumped out of their skin.

“AHH WHAT!?” Raphael was one without headphones. Michelangelo was sitting in front of him and found it fitting to use all his might to push the shell out of his seat. Venus, who was sitting in the aisle across from Michelangelo’s seat, brought her knees up to her chest after the quick scare. The orange colored terrapin turned from his seat to allow his eyes to peer over it.

“I’m bored!” he bellowed forcefully. There was a collective sigh and slump.

“And we aren’t?” Venus added, stretching out her legs to their original position.

“I got Suicide Squad on Amazon,” His head popped out very quickly to see Donnie’s content expression present the title of the movie on his tablet. “but we got to wait for it to buffer before we watch it.” He groaned, throwing his arms up in the air while his seat caught his shell when he fell back into it. There was little sympathy after what he'd done earlier as the tips of his fingers drug down his tear ducts from his eyeballs.

“Wanna play a game?”

“What kind?” Venus straightened up more against the wall of the plane. A game would be nice about now. The turtle looked off to the side and shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know… ya’ll got any?” He asked. Collectively, the group pondered on the thought. Then, there was a gasp from Donatello.

“Oh! Two Truths and a Lie?” He proposed.

“I’m down.” Leo chimed in, bringing himself closer in the aisle.

“Let’s go.” Michelangelo rubbed his dry hands in approval, ready to go.

“Me first!” The suggester raised his hand. All six mutants scooted closer in the aisles to participate and speculate the game. Donnie took a moment to think it over. When he came up with his statement, he shook his head and made eye contact with everyone. “At the junkyard, I have a homeless friend who is a former college professor. I don't need my glasses. I made a serum secretly to make me tall.” A brow and the side of his glasses rose cockily for he'd given them a good run. From their expressions he could tell they were all sampling each scenario.

“He was in-between Leo and I.” Raphael mumbled; chin lying between his fingers.

“I don't know, I want to guess glasses but…” Mona paused, continuing to think it over before she gave her final verdict. “I don't know.”

“I'm gonna go with the homeless professor.” Leo answered.

“I gotta say the growth serum.” Mikey said; Venus and Raphael agreed with him. There was a smile overtaking his face.

“I never made a growth serum. I just grew.” The purple banded turtle revealed. Although he knew it was a good set, he still couldn't believe most of them believed in the lie.

“So, your friend?” Mona asked.

“The professor? He'd rather not give his real name, but he's always talking about theories. Most of them make sense.”

“My turn!” Michelangelo raised his hand. Once all eyes were on him, he began. “I secretly watch Shameless. I’m a Changeling in my PC game ‘Super Quest’. Splinter once told me I had the most potential.”

“Is is wrong to say he has ‘no potential’?” Very unamused and looks of “What’s wrong with you? Don't say that to his face” were all implemented on him. Instead of putting his hands up in surrender, Raphael stood his ground and leaned in closer. “I’m just saying, I think that’s the lie.” He replied truthfully.

“What's Shameless?” Venus asked. Leonardo met her face by turning his head to the right.

“An adult-oriented tv show that he,” Then, his head stared straight on at the turtle across from him. Quickly, his calm, explaining demeanor changed to a mother disciplining her child “shouldn't be watching.” Venus, trying to catch on, looked to why he was looking at his brother so hard and had to ask:

“How do you know that?” His demeanor changed again. He appeared choked up and slightly embarrassed. Leonardo’s frame stiffened and straightened up while crossing his arms over his chest. The turtle girl raised a brow but smiled all the same.

“I’ve stumbled upon Shameless once while flipping the channels.” He stated matter-of-factly. Michelangelo leaned in more to the point that his arm supported him on the seat Leonardo’s legs were occupying.

“And-?” He asked with a knowing smile. Leo tried to find a nice way to put it without embarrassing himself.

“I was scarred.” Was the way he put it.

“Shameless is the lie.” Venus guessed; Mona and Donatello did as well.

“Vote me in for ‘No potential’.” Raphael stood alone on this one. Leonardo refused to answer, most likely because he had his suspicions.

“Ha!” The youngest turtle pointed a hearty finger at his team. “I got ya’ll good! I’m a White Knight in ‘Super Quest’!” Oh, wow. You're really a knight in that online game you play. Wicked, bro.

“Lame lie.” The largest turtle sank back into his seat; the corner of his lip twitched.

“You watch Shameless?!” We all know who exploded on this one. Now resting his elbows on his knees, his clear blue eyes stared into his younger brother in shock. “You’re way too underaged!” Michelangelo leaned back in horror. His fingers gripped in the seat with his legs partially in the air in case Leo wanted to pounce of him.

“I’m into the plotline, not the vulgar stuff!” He tried to explain to keep a full blown smackdown occur on the plane. “Besides, I like Noel Fisher. Bro’s cool!” He added. Truthful, but he also hoped it would calm their leader down and rethink about telling on him.

“Uh, huh.” There was a stiff silence. Although barely lasting seconds, it felt like forever due to Michelangelo’s anxiety and sweat reflex coming from his brow. Suddenly, he jumped out of his seat and pointed to the turtle sitting behind him.

“Raph watches Blue Mountain State!” Like a true tattletale. Immediately, the red clad turtle sat up straight to retaliate.

“Why you putting my business out like that? What's wrong with you?”

“It's a cool show too!” He formed a circle with his thumb and pointer finger, leaving the remaining digit up. You have got to make amends with Raphael quickly; that's the trick of the trade. “Thad Castle, dude. Freaking hilarious! Have you watched Rise of Thadland yet?” True, he was just mentioning his favorite actor to keep him from pummeling him, but it was also true that his character is definitely on the top of his list.

“Nope, been waiting for a time when everybody was out.” His anger turned to joy that somebody else liked Thad just like him. The fanboy within him whispered this notion to his youngest brother, who nodded understandably.

“Excuse me!” Leonardo interrupted explosively. “Are we going to ignore the fact that you're both under aged for watching those programs?!”

“Relax momma turtle.” As of Michelangelo wasn't the one freaking out earlier. Now with Raph on his side, he felt not-alone and untouchable. “You'd like Shameless. Pete Ploszek shows up in a couple episodes.” Another reminder of one’s favorite actor to get on his good side only this time the young turtle wasn't as fond of him. Then, the most slyest smile curled up on Raphael’s lips. Internally, those who noticed began to worry.

“Besides,” he began so humbly. “we know you watched Jackass .” It just got real. The leader’s face face went red so quickly in a blush.

“What?!” He screamed incredulously. A weight settled on the leader’s chest. They all knew very well they weren't allowed to watch adult content (by law) and that Splinter would definitely disapprove. His brother’s knew about it too.

“Didn't think we saw that, hm?” Donnie sang with a cocked eyebrow and leisurely lean on his seat. “Thought we were all somewhere else… Talk about tasteless.” Surely he had to hide when watching that. First, Splinter’s disapproval. Second, for sure they would look at him as less of a serious being if he were to watch Knoxville (a favorite of his) and his crew performing ugly and insane stunts such as teeter tottering with a bull and taking a limo ride with a beehive. That's so unprofessional.

“We won't tell if you don't tell. Up to you, bro.” Michelangelo matched his tallest brother’s stance.

“Blackmail’s a b*****, isn't it?”

“You watched a donkey?” Venus nearly whispered. When she leaned towards the leader’s direction, who was sitting behind her, the leader leaned back into the seat by the window. Michelangelo wanted to feel sympathy and laugh when he saw his brother’s shot up eyes and tense posture completely amped by her curiosity. With no answers coming from the leader, Mona asked the turtle next to her.

“Doing what?” Her tone was deep and inquisitive. The purple clad terrapin raised up his hands and faced forward. When she tried to get answers from Raphael, his grinned while shaking his head and turned away from her.

“Mona's turn!” Mikey exclaimed. Oh, right! They're playing a game.

“I suck at stuff like this.” The lizard lady sighed.

“Try.” Mikey pleaded. Don't you hate it when people try not to participate in a game? Only just to speculate.

“Um…” Attentions were focused on her, much to Leonardo’s relief. “I once had an imaginary therapist that was a running gag amongst my friends…” It felt as if the ending sound of her words were dawned on until she thought of the next idea. “I made my teacher cry because he couldn’t comprehend the complex and thorough physics experiment I conducted. I need just one more. Something outrageous...” They waited on her. Already, they were weighing out their answers. “I don't know!” She exclaimed. “I’ve found someone?” Her ill-sincere tone and the possibilities between all three statements induced a collective:

“Lie.” From all the rest.

“You really do suck at this game. That's way too easy.” Mikey teased.

“Told ya.” She half-laughed, defeated easily but still smiling because it truly was an ill-attempt to fool them.

“And you guys thought my lie sucked.” He sighed from the short fit of laughter. Leaning back on his shell, he wiped his forehead with his forearm. The plane began to quiet again. “You know what I just realized? We’re old.”

“Mikey.” Raph groaned.

“No, think about it.” he sat up. Scrunched up eyebrows, searching eyes on the ground and an outstretched arm pretended to grab some type of ghost-like object, this turtle was getting to the bottom of something. “Humans our age will be expected to move out and pay bills on their own! Sheesh! Mona should be doing that right now!”

“Is this your special way of getting me out of the house?”

“Don’t take it like that.” He waved her off. “Just think about it. What are we going to do when we hit that patch?”

“He’s got a point.” The female turtle crossed her legs. “Are any of you planning on leaving the lair? Leaving sensei and each other to conduct our own separate lives? Or, are we going to stick together for years to come?”

“Never really thought about it. For me,” Donatello began. “ it's been more thinking in the heat of the moment. Never did I think about hitting forty or so.”

“You still thinking about leaving, Raph?” Leo quizzed in a deep tone, eyes kept on his knees.

“What made you think I'd wanna leave?” He replied rather surprised he would say such a thing.

“Because you said and I quote” The youngest terrapin put a finger up and cleared his throat. “‘I'm moving out on my own, first chance that I get.’” He impersonated his brother using his own “batman voice”. The impersonated turtle scoffed.

“That was two years ago.”

“And…?”

“And I said I wasn't.” The terrapin reacted aggressively in voice.

“No, “ Mikey folded his arms up to his chest and put his nose into the air. “you said it was because you thought you weren't enough to stand by us.” He expressed haughtily. With old emotions and insecurities re-emerging, the largest turtle shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Although he knew all eyes were on him, only two caught his attention due to them both being right in front of him. Leonardo looked just as uncomfortable as he is. Collected in but with eyes obviously trying to glance at him, you could tell he wanted to comfort him in some way: find a way to tell him “it’s ok” and that there was no reason to regret saying so. The other had her brown eyes looking sympathetically, hugging her seat and feeling sorry for his discomfort.

“Leave me alone.” He grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. A response towards Michelangelo, it was also directed to keep the lizard and blue banded turtle from being sorry for him. Both cut off their feelings; his brother dropping his gaze and Mona sinking back into her chair.

“You'll stay Venus, right?” Donnie redirected their attentions for his own personal inquiry.

“I always thought I was going to be in my village when I thought about it. Surely, I won't go back.” She smiled. “I just got you guys” a warm smile to Mikey then to Leo. “but if any of you choose to go solo or some other combo, I'm not going to get in the way of that.” In her heart, her loyalties and love would never change if they decided to leave her for their own personal reasons. Venus respected that.

“I can't leave you, V.” Her sister poked her head through the aisle. Donatello moved his outstretched legs some to allow her to. “Can't get rid of this girl.” Mona winked, smiling. The turtle girl returned the same, warm affections with her head poking out.

“I can see you guys up in the mountains by April’s family estate.” The purple clad turtle beamed, imagining their futures. “You could stay with your horses up there.”

“Hmm… didn't come to think about that.” That would indeed be nice. Living the rest of their lives in a place much like how they grew up: isolated in the forest, being together everyday and with their beloved pets. Surely, it would be splendid if they did. “I'd say for all of us, if we were to part, it wouldn't be far.” Mikey followed up Venus’ assertion.

“Nobody said this was a permanent I'm-never-going-to-see-you-again type of deal. Might as well be neighbors or at least an hour drive away.” He paused. “But ‘where’?”

“Leo, would you ever leave?” Mona Lisa questioned. Now, if there weren’t any more of a strict attention span throughout this ride, this one topped them all. The leader jumped some n his seat with the sudden silence on the plane. As he gathered his thought, the drone of the plane nerved him. He cleared his throat.

“My job is to protect all of you. Splinter never mentioned when we'd get older. I won't stay where I'm not needed. It's all up to you guys.” That’s Leonardo for you. Always putting the team before himself (or most of the time). The team would expect that kind of answer coming from him.

“We’ll burn that bridge when we get to it.” The red clad turtle added; his response was like a comfortable yawn because he was stretching his arms when he commented.

“It's ‘cross’, Raph. ‘Cross that bridge’.” Donatello corrected with patience.

“That just takes all the fun out of that now, doesn't it?”

“Ey!” The youngest turtle yelled again, causing another yet slightly less jumpy response from the team. “Whose turn is it?”

“Mona…” Venus’ tongue lingered on the thought. “Leo, you're up.” She sang with her finger flicking up to him.

“Fine.” It didn't sound so fine with him, but whatever (he was one of those spectators we didn’t like earlier). “I reenact Star Wars when I'm alone. Kitchen appliances hate me. When I was a kid, I thought there were leprechauns in every box of Lucky Charms.”

“Reenact Star Wars when you’re alone.” Another collective answer. Leo’s head twitched as they all laughed.

“What? No!” He tried to calm himself down enough so that when he placed his hand on Leo’s knee, Michelangelo could make a clear delivery.

“Dude, you think you're alone, but you're not.” The turtle being made fun of hid his closest cheek in the palm of his hand to hide his blush. He could feel the warm blood in his palm, which nerved him even more.

“Busted!” Mona replied sassily with a head roll. Donatello snapped with a swinging arm, winked, and spoke with a cartoony demeanor.

“Foiled again!” The reverie slowly brought a smile to the leader’s face.

“I would've gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids!” That came out of nowhere, but the family was sure glad to see him come out of his shell. Suddenly, he stood up from his seat. His stance was ready to pounce, hands up with glances in Michelangelo and Donatello’s direction (they were the ringleaders of the laughter).

“Raggy!” Donnie jumped up. He made it careful to keep his head from hitting the roof of the plane, but when he came down from his jump he was able to stand up straight.

“Zoinks, Scoob!” Michelangelo spoke comically, also rising. “Like, run!” That was the set off to get Leonardo running. Both parties were laughing their shells off as they ran and tackled one another on either sides of the plane. When they came close to a sitting team member, said sitter would shield themselves from their play fight until they went away and wrestled in a different spot. As the playful fighting made its way away from the three, Venus uncurled and leaned in Raphael’s direction.

“What did he watch the donkey do?”

#tmntfanfiction #tmnt2014 #tmnt2016 #olaamericanoturtle

0 notes