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binchansbiceps · 1 year

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I Have Been Playing With A Superstar Chapter 4

Putting the key card into the lock and taking it out and opening the door when the green light came on Felix walked into the hotel room he was sharing with the others. Minho was in the kitchen making dinner with Jeongin helping. Seungmin, Han, Hyunjin and Changbin were on the couch playing Mairo party. And Chris was walking towards him with not the happiest expression on his face.

“You're late and none of us had heard from you for hours Felix” Chris said as he looked him over making sure he wasn’t hurt. “I’m sorry Chris she was great and i was having such a great time, both of us just lost track of time, she got yelled at by her friend too. Mini was threatening to come hunt me down cause she thought i had kidnapped her” Felix explained. “So she is as cool as she seems?” asked Changbin from the couch, having paused his turn to listen to Felix about what happened.

Looking around Felix could see that they had all stopped to hear what Felix had to say about his time meeting his online friend. “Yeah she really is and you guys will all get to meet her after sound check cause i got her and her friend tickets to both shows and i may or may not have gotten them backstage passes” Felix explained as he moved to a chair in the living room by the couch. “FELIX YOU DID WHAT!?” Minho called over from the kitchen “Felix what if she’s not what she portrays herself as, you could get really hurt” Hyunjin tells him worriedly. Jeongin and Seungmin just look at him worried and Changbin looks at Chris with a questioning look, probably silently asking if he knew about this.

Han was just watching everything unfold, knowing now was not the time to stir things up with how he thought that was a really nice thing for Felix to do and he was excited to meet Felix’s online friend, since he always seemed to find Felix when he was talking to them and had heard the most about them from Felix.

Chris let out a long sigh running a hand down his face before looking at Felix “I'm assuming you gave them these already so no matter what we say it’s already set in stone” he said factually. Felix just nodded “then you and I have to tell the manager and get a NDA ready for them to sign before they can meet all of us” Chris stated leaving no room to argue. “Felix, you should have talked to me about this first so we could be prepared for this. And not having to run around last minute trying to get these things we will need now” Chris told him.

Felix nodded and looked to the side “i just want her in my life she’s like another sister to me Chris i didn’t want to have to fight with you or anyone else about it. Especially now that i’ve met her and I can say she is exactly who she says she is and wouldn’t hurt me, she was so surprised i told her Mini could meet us, she was ready to keep this a secret from her if i hadn’t said anything about it. I completely trust her Chris” Felix ranted how he was feeling. “You met her once and you completely trust her? Felix you might not be using the best judgement here” Minho exasperated. “What’s done is done Minho we will just have to see for ourselves when we get there” Chris said as he stood up and started to walk to the bedrooms. Minho and Jeongin went back to the kitchen to finish dinner and the others all continued to sit in silence trying to figure out if they should disturb it.

“I'm really happy for you Felix, she seems like a really nice person and I'm glad you finally got to meet her and I'm super excited to meet her too” Han told Felix. Felix just smiled at him with a small nod knowing Han has been wanting to meet you the most out of the others, practically begging Felix to make a small group chat of just the 3 of you so he could get to know you too. “I have to admit I'm cautious of them still but I'm also excited for you Felix and about meeting them too” Changbin added. Hyunjin just nodded after Changbin, Felix knowing he was saying me too. Felix gave them both a nod back “thanks guys”. Seungmin just got up and gave Felix a hug “always here for you” he whispered, Felix hugged back and the four returned to playing their game with Felix now Seungmin’s chair.

The next morning as they got to the stadium Chan pulled Felix to the side. “I already told the manager. After sound check he will go looking for them and bring them to the back to sign the NDA, then find a room where we can all meet okay” he told him. Felix smiled and nodded “thank you Chris” Felix hugged him, Chris smiled and hugged him back “your welcome Lix”. Both then go to the dressing room for final costume check and Felix sent a message to Y/N to let her know of the NDA the two will have to sign before they get to meet up again. Y/N said she and Mini understood and were happy to sign the paperwork as they didn’t want to get the boys in trouble. Felix was smiling and very giddy and the others could see it and were happy but some were still worried as they didn’t want to see him get hurt if anything went wrong.

Felix was getting his makeup done so he didn’t notice how Han had taken his phone and had made a group chat of the three like he had wanted. Messaging her as he now sat on the couch waiting for the others to be done. After Felix was done he went to pick up his phone but it was not where he had left it. Getting up and looking for it he found it in infront of Han on the little coffee table. When he picked up his phone he had tons of notifications of texts between Y/N and Han in a group chat he had made apparently. Felix looked up at Han to see him already looking at him “you were talking too long so i just did it myself and you can’t be mad cause she’s gonna meet us tonight right” Han explained his thought process. Felix just shook his head and apologised and explained to Y/N for what Han had done.

Not long after Felix had explained and Han complained that Felix was rude to not share your time, their manager told them it was time for the sound check performance. The boys went out on stage and Felix was taking any paused time to look for Y/N in the small crowd of people that were there. But all the bright lights and his running and spinning left him unable to find her. Being tapped by the others to focus on the practice and not getting distracted throughout the practice Felix knew he was gonna get a talking to from them later when it’s just them.

As they said goodbye for now and that they would see Stay later tonight the boy’s went backstage. Minho turned to Felix and crossed his arms over his chest “what was that Felix?” “sorry i promise it won’t happen during the show tonight” Felix jumped right into where he knew the conversation was going. “You were looking for them right Y/N and her friend?” Hyunjin asked, Felix just nodded “he’s just excited guys leave him be” Han jumped to Felix’s defence. Chris just shook his head and started to lead them to the green room to eat and prepare for the show. When the boys had all changed and wiped all the sweat off, their manager walked in “the girls have signed the papers and if you're ready i’ll bring them in” he said. Chris looked to each member and as they each gave him their own show of readiness Chris looked to their manager “we’re ready” he said. Han started to jump up and down in excitement and Felix joined him, Minho was standing the furthest aways in a spot where he could watch the whole room at once, Hyunjin sat on the couch with Changbin, Seungmin and Jeongin and Chris stood by the couch looking to the door. Felix stopped jumping and walked to the door Han right behind him and smiled wide as the door opened.

#stray kids x reader #bang chan x reader #lee know x reader #changbin x reader #hyunjin x reader #han jisung x reader #felix x reader #seungmin x reader #i.n x reader

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runningwithfangs · 7 months

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Vampire Chronicles Book Review/Rant #3

The Queen of the Dammed

Wowowow congratulations to the world’s worst polycule on saving Vampirekind.

Another super fun romp where so much happens, yes there is nonsense, but the nonsense is nicely paired with a lot of intense drama and high stakes. I like how Anne got around her own premise that the vampires are writing their life stories by it still being Lestat who writes it, but he’s gathered all this information from the other vampires that were actually there, even when he was not.

The chapters being mini-stories and the many characters we meet, everything coming together in the end, it’s not just fun but so immersive. Anne doesn’t hold back in expanding her universe. At no point does it feel like too much too soon, or like the universe and characters are expanding faster than the story or getting out of hand. Anne is a fantastic writer.

In this book we start to see the world outside of our main vamps, the fledglings (Killer and the Fang Gang 🤯), the vampire bars, the Talamasca, the vampire cult followers, and so many new characters!

Feminist Icon Akasha (is trying to kill most men). See kids, that’s what happens when you watch TV for 50 years straight.

This is one of my favorite books from the series, maybe one of my favorite books ever.

Favorites:

It’s hard to pick! Jesse’s story is great, the dreamlike drunken nights at Maharet’s house with the vampires asking her about chocolate, the Great Family and the care and love Maharet has for them, her records and her family tree of lights, the attention and advice she gives them all, it’s just so sweet.

Devil’s Minion! I’ve been seeing fan art and posts about Armand/Daniel since I started this blog and did not get it until I read this. Now I GET IT, holy shit, it's chewing-through-drywall material. The horror of Daniel running for his life, being hunted, then suddenly they’re bonding, hanging out and doing all these cool things, Daniel admitting he loves to cuddle a dead thing?! The experiments, the smoothies, the madness from hanging around a vampire, the “I love you too much to turn you” vs “I love you too much to let you go on without me.” Insane. Horrible. Beautiful. I could rant about this section alone for so long. Oh, and learning how the book was published was neat too.

Getting little bits about the twins from everyone’s dreams, that repeating imagery of the cooked body, the heart and the brain on plates. I got really invested in this mystery, and once it all came together it was horrible but so captivating. It’s a great vampire origin story.

Vampire road trip and vampire roommates at Night Island! I wish this part was longer and that vampires could stand to hang out with each other more, I want my vampire friends to hang out damn it! Jesse and Gabrielle became friends! Louis wants to know about his daughter’s ghost! Grandpa Khayman telling stories! Uncle Marius accepting that Lestat is gonna be little shit and no one can stop him!

Least Favorites:

The violence enacted on Maharet and Mekare, I know it’s to show Akasha’s cruelty but damn.

Smutt:

Lestat’s permaboner. Thanks, Anne.

Lestat and Akasha pinning each other back and forth on the bed and drinking from each other was kinda hot tbh.

Armand and Daniel in Pompeii when they start their romance, if you can call it that. Armand making Daniel have sex with other people while he watches 🙈

Nonsense Meter:

4/10 nonsense again. A bit of nonsense in the Devil’s Minion, and a bit in the Lestat training montage/kidnapped by Vampire Mommy part, but not a ton. Maybe it’s a bias because I liked this book so much and every story was full of drama, high stakes, and complex morality.

Misc:

I can’t help but wonder what kind of research Anne was doing, I looked up some of the cities, artifacts, and locations she mentions and it checked out. Was she taking ancient history courses or just living at the library?! Gotta give that woman credit.

I don’t want to get into a long discussion of Akasha’s idea that killing most men would allow women to bring about world peace and fix all our earthly problems, but as someone who has mostly existed as a woman in the world, I may have fantasized once or twice about Thanos snapping a bunch of men, sure, I get it. I don’t agree, I think money, isolation, messed up priorities, and lack of checks in power have more to do with *waves hand around vaguely* everything, but it makes for an interesting premise. “Tell me, my prince, what is the primary use of men now, if not to protect women from other men?”

#queen of the damned #vampire chronicles #vampire chronicles books #anne rice #book review #book rant #spoilers for a 35-year-old book

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elenajohansenreads · 10 months

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Books I Read in 2023

#105 - The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism, by Dr. Jen Gunter

Rating: 4/5 stars

Informative both in broad and specific terms; as a cis woman in her early forties who has already noticed some changes in her body, I was reading this less for resources that would be useful now in favor of having an idea of what to expect later. Which meant I skimmed or skipped a great deal of the nitty-gritty about therapies or drugs or supplements or whatever in the more technical chapters.

My big takeaways for pre-menopause / early-transition gals like me: exercise is even more important that you thought it was and will confer many whole-body benefits whether or not weight loss comes as a result. Pay attention to your blood work for various deficiencies. If you're not already doing Kegels, start now.

And in the broader sense, menopause doesn't have to be a thing you "suffer from," it can be a thing you "manage."

I'm not going to ding this for being trans-exclusionary: early on the author acknowledges that trans-specific discussions of menopause are outside the scope of the book. I get why both trans men and trans women who decided to read this would feel left out by the use of "women" in place of "cis women" to describe who this book is for, but yes, it is ultimately a book for cis women, and it's a necessary resource because open and scientifically-backed discussion about menopause is sadly lacking in Western society. Do we also need similar books and resources for trans folk to aid in navigating the changes in their aging bodies? Absolutely, but I don't think this author will (or should) be the one to write them.

I am going to ding it for frequently side-tracking into mini-rants about the patriarchy seemingly at random. I'm not trying to criticize the author as a person for the rage she feels, she's clearly entitled to it. But I am going to criticize putting it on the page so often it becomes a distraction from the useful knowledge she's trying to impart. Maybe it connects with [cis] women who are motivated by anger, to push them into taking better care of themselves armed with this knowledge; but I found it irritating, because the vacillation between science/education and what felt like a venting session was simply too big a mood swing to adjust to, every time it happened.

By the time I need the more specific information about treatment options for whatever issues crop up in my menopause transition, the science may have progressed; I may refer back to this, or I may seek out newer information, or both. But what it has given me now is solid (and scientifically proven) advice on things that may make my menopause transition go more smoothly, an idea of what to expect as I approach it, and the confidence to pay attention to and care for my aging body knowing that the weakness and frailty society expects of me in old age aren't inevitable.

#booklr #book review #nonfiction november #nonfiction

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zaddyazula · 1 year

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yakuza final review?

fhsiaosjhde i love this question!!!!! (spoiler bit is under the cut)

i really do not like the fighting in 4. i will not lie. it’s really fun in the other games (even 3 which is known as blockuza 😭😭😭) and i only enjoyed one fight. in the entire game. in 22 hours of my playing i enjoyed a singular fight, mainly because of how annoying the other ones were. they weren’t necessarily hard, but just very, very tedious and mini-bosses who made me want to kill myself.

the story on the other hand is one of my favourites in the series. 4 protagonists!!!! 4 main characters!!!!! they all had 4 parts each with 4 chapters each and it actually got going pretty quickly. it didn’t drag out at the start like in 3 where for 5 FUCKING CHAPTERS (probably about 6 hours of playing) was housewife simulator and i was debating quitting the game. i will admit i wasn’t 100% at first, but as the story moved on i started to like it even more. the story isn’t as good as 0’s or 2’s (in my opinion) but it’s still a really enjoyable story which has the same amount of silliness as the others. four main characters also meant four final bosses though, though the first three were fine. it’s the just the last one which is really my fault for being annoying. i didn’t have enough money to get recovery items before the point of no return so i crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. managed to get to it by 12am and got steamrolled even after changing to easy. ended up reloading the save and doing the other three fights again, before managing to the the last one first try on normal after all of that. the one fight that i enjoyed was the third boss fight which i actually played properly for once. because i was impatient i did the first two on easy to save time (i did them on normal the first time anyways) but the third one i just played on normal because i enjoy it so much.

all of the big bads weren’t even really big bads, apart from one dickhead who just annoyed me greatly (the last boss). one guy was a police officer pretending to be a yakuza, one was some washed up ass yakuza and the other was the guy who the main main character (of all the other games) made head of their yakuza clan (tojo clan) at the end of 2. he was in a coma for all of 3 and i was screaming at the tv for the whole fight taking the piss out of him. what a clown. he had it coming. he put my favourite character (majima) in jail.

the game took a bit of patience at times, but i would play it again if someone held a gun to my head. i really hate the combat.

i really wish i was able to record my voice along while playing so you could hear the ramblings i go on with. maybe next time.

i think that’s all of my thoughts (spoiler free). now. spoiler time 💥💥💥

THIS BITCH ON THE LEFT. THIS FUCKING CUNT. he’s the boss fight i actually enjoyed. guy on the right is my favourite character. who daigo put in jail.

I ACTUALLY LIKED HIM AND THEN THIS GAME THE MAN WENT OFF HIS TITS. I MADE HIM SIXTH FUCKING CHAIRMAN OF THE TOJO CLAN AND HE HAS THE FUCKING NERVE TO TRY AND MOLLYWOPP ME. I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW MANY TIMES I WAS (whisper) SCREAMING “STOMP THIS BITCH OUT” AT THE TV. I WAS INSULTING THIS FUCKING WASHED OUT FUCK LIKE IT WAS A SPORT. FUCKER WAS TRYING TO BE RYUJI (antagonist from 2 who wasn’t even that evil). WAS REALLY TRYING TO ACT LIKE HE WASN’T GONNA GET WASHED. BY THE DRAGON OF FUCKING DOJIMA. REALLY TRYING TO ACT LIKE HE WASN’T GONNA GET HIS ASS TIGER DROPPED.

moving on.

these are the main guys. like damn i love it when we get a lined up shot like this. left to right is: akiyama, saejima, kiryu (main man) and tanimura. that’s also the order of the boss fights. i really like talking to fake chat as well, and i swear i wish i was able to record me fucking ranting on at these bitches. all it takes is one boss fight and it’s me ranting about some random nonsense.

at lot of this game was running back and forth between places which got very boring VERY quickly. unlike in 0, 1 and 2, i did not have a blast all the time playing this. as getting stopped five million times trying to move across the map is actually rage inducing. some of the “boss” fights were just me getting grabbed by their support demons over and over again. i was losing my shit by the end of it. had to go for karaoke a couple of times.

i honestly think that’s all i can say.

#yakuza 4 #yakuza #yakuza 4 spoilers #zad talks #my asks

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jamisafan · 1 year

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Welcome to my blog!

The place where I rant about my interests and post random things!!!

My interests consist of Ninjago, TMNT, Usagi Yojimbo and more!

All my fanfics will be linked here

=÷=÷=÷=÷=÷=÷=÷=÷=÷=÷=÷=

Links💫

Ao3

Twitter "X" <- I'm sadly not really active here anymore

Watching✨️

First Time Watching

TMNT 2003 - Season 4

Link Click - Season 2

Rewatching

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K - Season 2

Ninjago, Masters of Spinjitzu - Season 12, Prime Empire

Reading🫧

Usagi Yojimbo - Stan Sakai

Maid - Stephanie Land

Fanfics💭

Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo

Saturday Sun

one-shot

23,746 words

Leo and his family go to a town on the coast of California on a mini vacation to take a break and heal from the Krang. Leo goes into a book store one day and makes a new friend, Yuichi.

Or more like - Leo meets this cute boy that works at a book store and he gives Leo books. Leo falls in love blah blah blah.

Ghost of New York

On going

Chapters 7/10

Progress Update: Chapter 8

Rough Draft 9% complete

Usagi was three years old when he saw a ghost for the first time.

He was seven when he went on his first job with his Grandfather that ended in tragedy.

He was twelve when he caught his first ghost and sent it to the afterlife.

And he was sixteen when he was sent on his first solo mission and met one Leonardo Hamato who claims that ghosts aren’t real.

__________

Usagi had wanted to be a ghost hunter for as long as he could remember, its where he belonged. Finally, Aunty sends him on his first solo mission where he maybe makes a friend along the way.

Comics💬

Popcorn

Short turtle tot comic staring the disaster twins.

Donnie and Leo have a fight about the right way to eat popcorn.

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moplayspoke · 3 months

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Finished the Heart of the Sun Warrior, the final chapter in the Celestial Kingdom Duology… Overall a 3.5/5. Did I have fun? Yes. Would I read it again? Nah. Here is my mini review for it:

It had some elements that I loved from the first book and it started strong... and then it just became a whiplash of event after event. For one, I had a hard time believing Wugang would so easily take over an empire of celestials with such ease and quickness. I also felt like a lot of confrontations went a little too smoothly despite the main characters running out of places to flee or hide. And then when we finally get to the primary showdown it just felt so rushed and fast, it almost felt like more was expected or there would be some major twist that occurred.

I feel like too much time was spent on the dramatics of the way-too-drawn-out love triangle and less on the actual final battle. I mean we're talking a civil war amongst the heavens surely it should take a large chunk of the final book at the very least?

Speaking of love triangle, holy mother of god did it try my patience! I am not even going to blame the love interests here, the FMC was the problem. The whole "I love them both" rhetoric and selfishness was so grating I wanted to faceplant straight into my palm every time. I had a hard time believing either of her relationships with both men were based in real love and not love of convenience with a naive character. Her inner dialogue read to me like that of a 14 year old girl who had several pretty pieces of jewelry to pick from but refused to choose just 1 because her "heart was divided". Please.

And although I liked Whenzi more than Liwei in terms of interesting character dynamic (and for his more romantic side), I feel the first book made his character almost irredeemable to remain a love interest. It would have made more sense if there was a stronger reason to believe his character had good intentions all along (e.g. if he had held her hostage as a ruse to deceive his father/kingdom but did not get the chance to tell her his plan or could not reveal the reason for his fake betrayal?). And if that were the case, it would not have been a true betrayal of trust after all, redeeming his character in full. But alas, that was not what happened and his "excuse" for it was pretty weak.

Liwei would have been an alright option as well if he did not feel like he had the personality of a cardboard box. His entire personality was just the "good son" and being in love with the FMC. He had so much more personality in the first book with his swagger, candid frankness and sense of humor.

Honestly, I feel like she should have gone for the not-so-obvious options #3 or #4: Prince Yanxi or, honestly? Herself. This girl needed more healing and to needed to learn how to love herself first. She needed to learn how to love before she could entertain any more princes throwing themselves at her feet. For how could she truly, and I mean TRULY, love someone if she did not understand what love really was? It took a death to get her to admit to having feelings for one person, she clearly needs to learn what deep, committed and irrevocable love is at its core before she can promise herself to another. Ok, rant over.

And I'm also not a big fan of characters coming back from the dead unless there's a deeper reason or they never really died. I feel like her dad coming back into the picture felt like it cheapened the impact of his "death" from the first book and left a bit of a plot hole (why did the dragon think he was dead if they are supposedly all knowing? especially if they have such a magical connection with him).

Despite all my gripes, I did actually have a lot of fun with this story and enjoyed it. The world was just as beautiful as the first book. I enjoyed learning more of the world, its descriptions and its prose and learning more about the various realms.

And Shuxiao is an absolute *queen*, long may she reign! I wish we had seen more of her in this. I am glad she ended up where she did. I also liked how things ended as a whole and that everyone got their very sought after and very fair happily ever after.

#moplayspoke reads #moplayspoke book review #romantasy #celestial kingdom #heart of the sun warrior

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wevelocityteampresents-blog · 3 months

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Pokémon Pocket Monsters DP Volume 1 - Chapter 2

Red and Clefairy get into a scuffle with the Gym Leader of an unofficial Pokémon Gym.

This chapter seems to be a step in the right direction for the saga after the last one. I like that there are unofficial Gyms like in the anime. Even though we never get to see the badge Dai awards to challengers, I still think that he has one saved up for people he can actually tolerate.

The jokes work well with the battles, which do a nice job of implementing moves that were introduced in the Diamond and Pearl versions. Further introducing new fans to the new mechanics of the latest Pokémon games. When it comes to Embargo, instead of shackling the opponent or pinning their held items to the ground, a Pokémon who uses Embargo in this manga shoots a ray at an item so that the opposing Pokémon can't use it. It's not a bad way to portray the move and adds some additional dread to make the situation more dire for the protagonists.

As for the new character, Dai, he was always a mystery to me. I remember reading this story years ago and wondered who this random Gym Leader was. He barely looked like any character from any piece of Diamond and Pearl media I knew of. When it came to translating this chapter, I thought he was based on a famous person of some kind. It turns out he's just an original character created by Anakubo for the manga.

If I'm being honest, I think this volume is an improvement over the Ruby-Sapphire series. With RS, I found it hard to stay engaged at times due to how slowly it took for the saga to truly begin. In Diamond and Pearl, though, the stories are more engaging, and new Pokémon species get a longer period in the spotlight. Besides that, each story has a lot more to comb through in terms of lore and writing.

MINI RANT

This scene isn't a representation of the current state of my health while working on this chapter.

I swear, it's nearly IMPOSSIBLE for me to do anything where I live. Since summer is on the horizon, the pollution problem has gotten noticeably worse. Since my stepmom always makes me keep the windows open, a ton of pollution passes into my room. I'm pretty much forced to work in a safer part of the house or at the library where I can actually get work done. But that's not the worst part of it all...

Would you believe me if I told you that I've only been able to get about 4 hours of sleep every night since Saturday? It's taken such a toll on my health that my sides and stomach ache whenever I sit down, and I get a little delirious when things don't work out right. No matter how many naps I take during the morning, my mind is still in an unstable state. I'm so tired that I skip out on playing Pokémon Violet or Pokkén Tournament DX because I know I lack the brainpower necessary to strategize against others online.

I try to be nice to myself. But it's tough to stay positive when it seems like the whole world is against you or wants you dead for being too different. Sometimes, I wonder why my parents thought it was a good idea to leave me with my neglectful stepfamily. It honestly feels like every good decision I make in my life is jeopardized by the things I have to go through in my house on a daily basis.

If I can't get any sleep tonight, I'll just munch on some apple slices and translate the third chapter. At least I'd be sacrificing my life to get this manga into the eyes of other people from across the globe.

#pokémon #Isamu Akai #Dai Fugo #Pikachu #Clefairy #Kanto #Tyrogue #Johto #Buizel #Munchlax #Weavile #Sinnoh #manga #manga translation #Nintendo #Game Freak #Creatures Inc.#Shogakukan

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impyssadobsessions · 2 years

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Made a lot of progress on my chapter for Vacation Crashers... then I laid down and immediately thought of a different/better way to do it... so now I'mma have to scrap some of it again.. KEK which I got enough words for a chapter but I don't want to end this on a cliffhanger so expect it to be over a 4 k chapter instead of the usually 2,200 -3 k word chapter. I want to do this battle all in one scene so it flows better.~ =w= b its mostly just me who wishes I could post it on time kek but I know everyone including me rather it be written well. Doesn't help I can't get into the zone til its close to bedtime eoe Anyway mini rant. part of me wants to post scrap dialogue but I think it be spoilers. So can't kek but I really like it. Just Tim and Damian arguing that they will haunt each other ( arguing) and Jazz like if I become a ghost I'm sucking you both into the thermos until you behave! >:T Danny says its very cramp especially with more than one ghost in there! I found it funny. But I think the new way I want to take the direction will edit out fun dialogue. Which is fine. I think its fine to keep this scene more on serious side. (Basically it'll quicken the pace. I think I got the pace too slow. There so many characters. KEK) ANYWAYS just me ranting and talking through my thought process when I write. =w=b Getting frustrated so I'm just letting it out.

#ignore me #writing process #mostly just a rant LOL #dp x dc #vacation crashers

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f1babe98 · 3 years

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The Legend And The Sister

Previous Part

Warnings: Swearing (maybe), fluff

Chapter 4

You can do this.

He's your brother.

You can do this.

I slowly lifted my shaking hand to the door and knocked. It felt like minutes before it finally opened. Max stood there staring at me confused.

“Y/n? What are you doing here?”

“Can I come in?”

He stepped to the side and opened the door wide for me to enter. I looked around the room and it looked almost identical to the first time we met. Desk with a computer on it, a long couch, massage table in the corner, mini fridge and a small closet. I sat on the couch and watched Max walk to the massage table and sit. He cleared his throat, bringing me out of my thoughts.

“So here's the thing, you haven’t really been answering my calls or texts and it just couldn’t live with the guilt anymore”

“Guilt? What guilt?”

“The guilt of making you hate me, of ruining any sort of sibling relationship before it could even start.”

“You didn’t ruin anything.”

“Yes I did, and don’t tell me I didn't because you won’t return my calls or texts since you found out about Lewis.”

Max sighed and looked down at the floor saying nothing. We sat in silence for a couple minutes before I spoke up.

“I was always the weird girl, the one with no dad, the nerdy girl with no friends. I never had a guy interested in me, like really interested. The only time was after hitting puberty but they only wanted to sleep with or win a dare or something. With Lewis, he got to know me, like really know me, my fears, my hopes, my dreams, my passions. He never pushed me to go out with him or sleep with. He was just my friend. I wasn’t sure if you wanted me talking about our situation, so he was the only one I could talk to. The only one who I could confide in about how scared I was about you not liking me, or not fitting into your world or meeting your dad. That's what you saw that morning. When you left that night, I was sure I had screwed everything up and that you wouldn’t come back. So I called him because he was the only one who knew and we drank wine and I cried and he listened and we fell asleep. I’m not gonna lie to you, it has gone further than friendship now. I don’t know if we’re dating or anything official yet, we haven’t had that talk, but we are seeing each other. I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

I looked up from my shoes after my rant to see Max already looking at me. He sighed once again before speaking.

“I want you in my life, I mean you’re my sister. I want you to be happy, I just wish it was someone else making you happy. When I saw you two that morning, I didn’t know what to think. Ever since I started racing in Formula 1, I have had all this pressure on me to beat him, to be better than him. I was so happy when I found out about you, I was excited to have another sister, to get to know you and what it was like growing up the way that you did. Then when I found out about your friendship with him, I wasn’t so much mad at you, more just frustrated that I couldn't just have one thing to myself without having to share it with him or compete with him. Then when I saw you too on the couch it felt like I had lost. Like this was just one more thing Lewis was taking from me, more time that he had won.”

I got up from the couch and made my way over to him. I took both his hands in mine and squeezed. He looked at me and in that moment I could see all his emotions. All the pent up feelings he had been holding back this whole time.

“I like Lewis, a lot. He makes me feel things no one else has and he makes me happy. But you will always be my brother. No one is taking that from us. Who knows what the future holds for me and him, we could spend the rest of our lives together or this could fade out in a couple months. But I do know that you are family and I am not about to give up or lose you anytime soon.”

Max stood up and pulled me into a hug. It was the first time I had ever felt so safe in my life. I felt like I didn't have to be something I'm not, pretending just to fit in. I felt at home.

“I can’t promise I'll be nice to him. I’ll try but I can't promise anything.” Max mumbled into my hair.

“Trying is all that I ask.”

We pulled away and shared a smile.

“You hungry?”

I nodded my head. We headed downstairs to the cantina and had lunch before Max headed out for his final practice of the day. On our way to the garage I saw Lewis heading into his. He raised an eyebrow in question, as if to ask if it had gone well. I gave a thumbs up in return letting him know we had sorted it all out.

After practice, Max offered to give me a ride back to my hotel. After asking me where I was staying, I had to fess up and let him know I was actually sharing a room with Lewis for the weekend. I could see his shoulders tense and his jaw lock. After a moment of silence and deep breath, he looked at me and simply said ‘okay’. Once we got to the hotel, he walked me to my door and gave me a goodnight hug.

“I appreciate you trying and not getting angry with me staying with Lewis.”

“Like I said, I will do my best.”

After removing my make up and getting ready for bed, I crawled in and snuggled up against Lewis’ chest.

“So I’m assuming it went well then”

“Yeah it went well, thank you for bring me with you so I could see him”

“I’ll be honest, I wish your brother was any other driver”

“We’ll if it makes it any better, he said he would try to be nice. No promises tho.”

“He took the words right out my mouth.”

I spent the weekend in the Red Bull garage, watching and trying to learn as much as I could. I will admit I was secretly rooting for Lewis as well as my brother, no one needed to know tho. Max had won the race and I couldn’t have been more proud if I tried. He had led for most of it, out pacing Lewis and Valtteri. A part of me was a little sad for Lewis but Max didn’t need to see that part. After the celebratory photo and champagne, Max, myself and his girlfriend Kelly headed out of the garage toward the Red Bull building, running into Lewis leaving his garage. My heart started beating out my chest, worried that this encounter would not go well. Max and Lewis walked up to each other and shook hands, congratulating one another.

“Are you giving her a ride back? I can if you have something to do.” Max said after taking a step back.

“No, I finished everything, I can drive her. Thanks man.”

Max nodded his head before walking over and giving me a hug.

“Thank you”

“No problem, little sister.”

Him and Kelly made their way to the Red Bull building as I walked to the parking lot with Lewis. Lewis opened my door and helped me in before making his way to the trunk and placing his trophy inside. Once inside the car he leaned in and gave me a gentle kiss.

“Thank you for trying with him. I know you too aren’t exactly friends.”

“Anything for my girl”

I looked up at him surprised.

“I’m your girl?” “I mean, we’ve spent the last 5 weeks together. We’ve been practically living together for 2 of those weeks, cooking together, making love, going on dates.”

“You didn’t ask, and I didn't want to assume. I figured if I assumed we were together and you didn’t feel the same way it would hurt more.”

Lewis chuckled and leaned in. kissing me with much more passion this time around. He slipped his tongue into my mouth and his hand into my hair. I placed my hand on his bicep and felt him flex his muscles. We pulled away for air and smiled at each other.

“Y/n will be official with me? Like full on boyfriend and girlfriend?”

I giggled and leaned in for one more kiss. Leaving a kiss on his nose after parting.

“Yes Lewis, I would love to be your official girlfriend.”

“Good because asking that made me feel like a 15 year old boy and not a 37 year old man.”

“Oh trust me baby, you’re all man”

I wiggled my eyebrows at him as he chuckled. He put the car in drive and began to take us back to the hotel. I had never felt happier than I did in that moment.

#lewis hamilton #lewis hamilton imagines #lewis hamilton x reader #lewis hamilton fanfic #max verstappen #max verstappen imagine

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linklethehistorian · 3 years

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BSD Season 4 Reveal: Initial Impressions

Speculation and initial personal thoughts under the cut due to spoilers for the manga up to Chapter 95.5, and Storm Bringer (and also the Fifteen light novel and the previous anime seasons, but I should expect that’s a given by now and no longer requires a spoiler warning to begin with, since it’s been years).

Hello, everyone! It’s good to see you again! As I’m sure you all know, last night I was made aware of the announcement for BSD anime Season 4, and now that I’ve gotten some decent sleep and had some time to reflect on the announcement with a clearer and more alert mind, I’d like to share all of my initial musings on the matter with you — both positive and negative.

I actually do have a quite a few points I’d like to cover, so rather than going on one long, messy rant, I’m going to be separating them into different sections as per my two previous articles — here and here (the latter of which is still in progress) — on the animated series.

With that out of the way, let’s begin!

Season 4 Light Novel Adaption Expectations & Thoughts

Given the series’ at-times-beloved-and-at-other-times-disastrous past tradition of including a light novel adaption into each season of the anime, I do think it should go without saying that the speculation on which one, if any, will get chosen to be “brought to life” through the TV series this time is a very valid avenue for anyone to want to go down immediately upon finding out that there is going to be yet another season.

Personally, I don’t think any speculative analysis of a new season is complete without that kind of banter, so let’s explore the possibilities and what exactly they each entail, shall we?

Ordinarily, I would have tended to go on a longer ramble about the situation and all of its implications than I actually will this time around, but thankfully, most of what I’ve already said and the reasoning I’ve already laid out in my speculative article on the previous season still holds up, so today, I will mostly just be building off of that, instead. (If you haven’t read that already, I do highly recommend reading it before you finish this mini-article, but it isn’t strictly necessary, for I’ll probably quote or summarize most of the important parts here.)

As stated there, while there are, in fact, still many light novels to cover in the anime before we’ll have seen them all — Untold Story, 55 Minutes, BSD Gaiden, BEAST, and the at-the-time-unknown-of Kunikida and Katai's Magnificent Days short story and Storm Bringer — when we take into account informative relevance to the current arc and all previous seasons, we are really left with only a few possibilities.

BSD Gaiden, being a spinoff in its own right, is, if anything, better suited to being a movie — or better yet, becoming its own spinoff animated series, sometime in the distant future, and has nothing of major relevance to contribute to the main series at all at present.

BEAST, while informative in some ways about the Book that is so highly sought after and semi-used in Season 4′s arc(s), is honestly the farthest of all light novels from being necessary to introduce into the main animated series. To quote the aforementioned piece I wrote prior to Season 3′s release:

Yes, [...] I too agree that the things this novel brings to light about the Book and its functionality are almost as insightful and compelling as the very premise itself; however, [...] in the end, this story is an AU and therefore has the least necessity to be brought into the animated series in any way, and I’m quite sure that if any of the information from it regarding the Book is truly essential to the main series, it will be brought up at some point within those events on its own, as I can’t imagine that Asagiri would ever leave critical information only within what otherwise would appear to be an entirely optional side story/spinoff. [...]

If BEAST is to be animated at some point at all [...] I feel that it would be best served [...] as its own standalone movie, probably ideally released sometime after our hypothetical Season 4, which should be fairly Book-centric in itself.

Furthermore, now that BEAST has its very own, fully-fledged live-action movie coming out, as much as I may enjoy the idea of seeing it animated someday, I really don’t think that that will — or even should — be taken into consideration anytime in the near future, when there are many other novels already waiting to get their chance to come to life in a movie or TV series that haven’t gotten such special treatment or privileges.

In regards to the Kunikida and Katai's Magnificent Days short story, I’ll admit that is the novel (if it is to be called such) I know the least about at present, but from what I do know about it, although it does star two characters who appear in both Season 3 and Season 4, it also doesn’t seem to establish anything of critical importance to either of these seasons, or the main story as a whole. Thus, I feel that placing it as this season’s light novel adaption — although it may be able to be squeezed into a very small number of episodes with no issue, from what I understand, if not just one — would be a waste of both time and opportunity, if they’re determined to keep with this tradition; I think it would really just be better off being adapted as a bonus OVA of some sort later on, if they felt the need to animate it, as I frankly don’t feel it’s long enough or high-stakes enough to be worthy of an entire movie, however cute or touching it may be. As for 55 Minutes, while I do think it’s one of the better candidates out of the bunch to be chosen, my feelings about it ultimately still remain as they did over two years ago: that it would be best relegated to a movie, either released sometime between the previous season and Season 4, or — given the better understanding I obviously have of Season 3′s contents now — between Season 4 and a potential Season 5, depending on how far into the manga we truly go in this season (more on that question in the next section).

If you would like to know more about my reasoning for why I think 55 Minutes could be considered a good candidate to go alongside Season 4′s (or a potential Season 5′s) main arc(s) at all, you can read about that in my previous article’s section on the subject, as well why I think that although it is a good candidate, between it and Untold Story, the latter is really a much better fit to be integrated directly into the new episodes. As much as I would like to talk about that again here, I think it would just be a massive waste of time to merely (and probably poorly) re-iterate what I’ve already said and documented very well in the past, when that information is presently available for you to go back and read at any time.

Now, with all of the above eliminated from the running, that ultimately leaves us with the two possibilities I think are most feasible for them to choose: Untold Story and Storm Bringer.

Oh, and I know, I know — I can hear the metaphorical stones being cast at me already; how dare I mention Storm Bringer as an option above all those older novels for them to pick? I’m clearly just biased and want to see more of my favorite character/story getting animated, or I must be a Soukoku shipper (I’m personally not, by the way), or some such thing; go ahead, get it out of your systems, I know it’s probably in there from the moment you read that, but, if you do think any of that, you’re actually very highly mistaken...sadly.

I would love to have listed Storm Bringer of my own volition, because I’m “biased” and excited about it; that would definitely be a more fun reason for me to have done it, personally, but...that’s not remotely the case.

In actuality, if I got to choose between the two novels in regards to which would get to be this Season’s light novel representation in the anime, I would actually still choose Untold Story, just as I did for the then-hypothetical Season 4 I explored the possibility of prior to Season 3′s release.

To quote myself during that time, I still very much do believe that:

[...] yes, [...] you could absolutely adapt Untold Story into season three, and yes, it would give everyone even more information than they already had and perhaps even more reason to feel the way they already do about [Fukuzawa and Ranpo and their bond], but if you’re looking for the story to actually have an impact on anything, you would be better off waiting until it would have some kind of effect on the overall plot, provide some form of insight towards it, and aid in altering the way things are perceived; an opportunity which is clearly presented to us in the form of the manga’s Chapter 65 and Chapter 66 — which, in the anime, would manifest themselves as episodes within Season 4.

In these chapters, it is shown how Fukuzawa fought Mori for the freedom of the young Yosano Akiko and how he and Ranpo together gave her the chance to join the Armed Detective Agency as its second ever member.

If Untold Story were to be introduced at the beginning of Season 4 or even well into it, just before these episodes, it would have a very heavy impact on the overall story, and it would lend even more importance and depth towards all of the characters that are involved, while also displaying the extreme contrast between the methods, morals, and personalities of the two heads of the series’ leading organizations to an even greater degree than ever before.

I still stand by what I said there, now and forever; Untold Story is without question the light novel that has a place in these new episodes — that is not, and never was up, for debate.

The real question is, though, does Studio BONES feel the same way about it as I do?

I’d love to say “yes, absolutely!”, but the reality is that despite technically getting what I wished for and knew could have been best last Season, it was that same ‘granting’ of my wish in the way that they did — butchering and bloodying it beyond recognition and removing nearly all of the reasons why I thought it belonged in that season in the first place in favor of rampant fanservice — that opened my eyes to the very harsh reality that quite frankly, BONES cares more about raking in that sweet, sweet cash from SKK content than preserving narrative integrity, at the end of the day.

Trust me, being the dedicated and passionate Fifteen and Arthur Rimbaud/Randou fan that I am, I would love to be able to say that if they do choose Storm Bringer over Untold Story, it would at least all be for the right reasons of wanting to deliver on giving us the rest of the tale they presented to us last season, but that motive is an utter impossibility, even if they someday try to claim it, when the way they butchered Fifteen ensured that at least 70% of the plot and lore that actually mattered in Storm Bringer was destroyed beyond redeeming, unless they go back and redo it — which they won’t, because that would be admitting to their error.

As things stand right now, because of that fact, even as a fully-fledged, several hour animated movie, Storm Bringer would be an utter disaster of a film, much less as a 400+ page beast of a novel — more than three times the size of any light novel before it, including its predecessor— crammed into the space of 3-4 measly episodes in the television series.

Quite frankly, although I fear this may sadly be a very hot take, unless that miracle happens and they somehow, someday decide to abandon their pride and redo Fifteen correctly, I would really rather they never touched its sequel at all — even if that means I never get to see an animated Storm Bringer; I would rather never see it in that medium than to see it and have it butchered.

Unfortunately, though, I know all too well that that novel is much too tempting for them to resist forever; not because of the amazing, deep, beautiful, simultaneously tragic and hopeful story it can tell, or because of the well-written cast of characters, but because of the opportunity for fanservice it brings.

I am not delusional; I know that it will be animated at some point — whether that is now or later — and when it is, it will be a pitiful, cash-grabbing disaster that has no right to share its title with the novel from which it claims to have been born. The only question we have is “when is that going to happen — in Season 4, or later?”, and sadly, I don’t have an answer to that.

Personally, I see a high probability they will try to animate it soon, but whether or not that means including it in the upcoming season is anyone’s guess; all we can do right now is hope that if they do try to fit a light novel into it, it will be Untold Story, instead.

The Hunting Dogs Dilemma: A Concerned Exploration of Season Length & Exhausted Resources

Of course, that brings us to the next issue: should there even be a light novel adaption this season? I know this is a much-debated topic in the fandom, but personally, I have always been of the highly controversial opinion that yes, they do belong there — at least, until now, and that’s all thanks to a little something — and a good many someones — present on the newest poster.

While I may be just as excited for the new season as the next person — yes, despite my reservations and how my initial public reaction may have come off, I actually am looking forward to the new episodes in general — the very fact that we’re apparently getting so far into the arc as to see the Hunting Dogs and the Aerial Casino period, much less on the main illustration...concerns me.

I had honestly hoped and expected, for several reasons that I will elaborate on within this post in just a short while from now, that the Season would end on the Chapter in which the Hunting Dogs first arrive on the scene in their pods, after the Armed Detective Agency is ‘revealed’ to supposedly be the Decay of Angels via the use of the Book.

With the revelation now shown to me that it will apparently be going farther than that — and potentially still include a light novel adaption — we are once again forced to return to the age-old query we explored last season: just how many episodes does this season intend to have?

Up until now, every season in the Bungou Stray Dogs anime has had a total of 12 episodes on average, and it would be very logical to assume that Season 4 is going to be no different. Yet, if that’s true, how exactly do they intend to fit all of these chapters into one season? It’s utterly ludicrous to even dream of doing such a thing — and that’s without taking any potential chosen LNs into account; without that, it’s already impossible, but with it, it’s even more so!

Perhaps if they decided to do a 24 episode season and forego the LN adaptation — which I find highly unlikely, but let’s go ahead and give them the benefit of the doubt for a moment — it could somehow work, but even then, the question remains of just how far they intend to go with the arc. Ending it at the point just before the Hunting Dogs are all introduced would have made sense; it was logical, it left a cliffhanger for a potential fifth season that would leave viewers definitely wanting more, and it would leave a fair amount of content already in existence for that next season.

Try as I might, I just cannot begin to fathom what good can come of trying to cover much more than that in Season 4; where will they end it? Do they intend to finish the entire current arc in this season somehow, when at the time of writing this, the ending isn’t even out yet? How do they intend to cram all of that into just 24 episodes, let alone a potential 12? Hell, what do they even intend to do for a Season 5 if they push that far and leave themselves few to no current manga chapters left once they’re done with and release the season? To exhaust all of your current resources like that, when you could easily get away with shoving in a light novel adaption and ending Season 4 at the aforementioned logical spot, with plenty of content left to spare, just seems entirely reckless on their part.

I have all of these questions, and absolutely no answers to give; it isn’t sustainable, it isn’t wise, it isn’t even profitable, and it confuses me beyond belief.

Season 5: To Be or Not to Be — A Look into the Potential Future of an Animated Series that Has Spread Itself Too Thin

So, if all of this is true, and they intend to push through to the eventual defeat of Fukuchi and the Decay of Angels, what awaits us at the end of it all? Is there even hope for the animated series to easily continue and thrive beyond that point?

I want to be positive, to end this on some spectacular final section that gives all of my readers — my fellow BSD fans — hope, to have my words be like a warm, friendly pat on the back that says “don’t worry; everything is going to be just fine! ^-^”, but if I intend to continue to be honest, all I can really do is try to look at the statistics of the situation and offer up the most likely probability as a potential answer, and from where I’m standing right now, it...sadly isn’t looking very good.

True, it did take them a little more than two years to announce the anime this time — definitely a bit longer than the length of time between Season 2′s and Season 3′s announcement, comparatively — but even so, if they want to continue this pattern of averaging a new season every 2-3 years (supposing Season 4 doesn’t jump the shark with this new, bold tactic and actually does well enough to warrant another season at all), will they even have enough new content to make by the time a Season 5 would roll around? Honestly? I don’t know the answer to that; every arc has been a different length — some longer than others, and this current Decay of Angels one definitely being the longest of them all yet, spanning over a whopping 50 chapters long and counting. We don’t know how long the next arc will be; it could be 16 like the smallest arc to date, it could be around 20 like the average arc seemed to be up until this point, or it could even be as many as this arc or more.

Even if we are optimistic and say that the next arc could be as low as 16-20 chapters long, when we factor in that the current arc hasn’t even ended as of writing this, and seems to at least have another 10 chapters to go before the end — if not way more — that’s still a good 26-30 chapters of content that needs to be produced before Season 4 can be finished, and Season 5 can be remotely feasible.

To quote my previous article:

A new chapter of the BSD manga comes out once a month in the Young Ace magazine; this means that in one year, barring any potential breaks, a total of 12 chapters are released.

If we presume that Season 4 comes out sometime next year, that could be enough for this arc to have ended in the manga just before its premier, but definitely not enough time for much of anything else to have been produced. Assuming Season 4 could span anywhere from 3-6 months depending on how many episodes it contains, by the time it ends, around 3-6 new chapters of the new arc could potentially exist, should Asagiri-sensei and Harukawa35-sensei take no breaks; that would mean they would still have to wait at least another year to a year and a half to have enough content to even begin talks about a potential Season 5, then probably spend another year or so working out the specifics before making the announcement, and then it could take potentially another half-year to a year before it’s out. That’s three to three and a half years for the next season; it’s not undoable by any means, but definitely not the most ideal situation ever.

If the next arc is longer, however, and reaches, say, 30 chapters, you’re looking at a good four and a half years before we get a Season 5, after Season 4 ends, and even longer than that if it becomes as impressively long as the current arc and they intend to do the entire thing in one go again.

Could the animated series stay relevant enough to survive another four and a half or more years without another season after this? Potentially, it could, supposing they make Season 4 really good somehow, despite these concerns, and keep the series in anime-only people’s hearts and minds by possibly renewing BSD Wan! for another season, and/or releasing new movies in the meantime (whether original content or LN-based), but once again, it’s certainly not ideal and could prove to be a major struggle for them in the future.

All I can really say is for now is to hope for the best, even if, like me, you manage your expectations so much that you are actually expecting the worst-case scenario. As I’ve said before, I actually do love the anime very much, save for the handling of the Fifteen adaption, and I do hope that it can live on and continue to be as great as it has, in my opinion, almost always been besides that.

I am, above all, thankful for this new season, and hope it is everything we dream of, even though I may not have the most positive outlook at the moment for all of the aforementioned reasons. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading my initial thoughts on Season 4; I feel like they’re certainly not as well-articulated as usual, but it is the best I can do on short notice, and without allowing myself to obsess over re-writing it a million times before finally getting around to posting it weeks or months later.

Thank you for your time, and I hope you have a wonderful day. 💖

Oh and BONES? Hands off Storm Bringer. 👀 🔪

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starshine583 · 4 years

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New Girl on the Block (3)

(Hey guys! finally got around to posting chapter three of this! There’s a second, mini series connected to this that’s called Journal Entries. You don’t have to read it to understand the plot, but I felt like it would be fun to write so enjoy it if you like!)

Ch. 1 / Ch. 2 / Ch. 4

Chapter 3: There’s a First Time for Everything

Adrien tapped his pencil against his notebook paper and nestled his cheek into his open palm with a sigh. It’s been a little over a week since Marinette exchanged schools, and he’s yet to talk with her about it. He tried visiting her the day Ms. Bustier informed them of the transfer, but Marinette wasn’t home. Naturally, he tried again the next day and actually managed to catch her, but then she ran off. Ran off! Adrien still couldn’t believe it. Why would she run from him?

“Dude, you okay?” Nino asked, giving him a light nudge.

Adrien straightened slightly. “Ah, yeah, just.. Just thinking.”

Alya scoffed behind him. “Don’t tell me you’re still moping about Marinette.”

Needless to say, the class didn’t exactly share Adrien’s sentiment about Marinette’s leaving. With all of Lila’s stories circling around, they were overjoyed that the “bully” was gone. Alya was low-key furious, ranting about “injustices” and “letting Marinette run from the consequences of her actions”, but other than that, everyone was pleased with the outcome.

Everyone except Adrien.

Adrien knew better. The class may think that they’re better off without the bluenette, but he knew for certain that they were all going to drown without her. Marinette organized the budgets, supplied the goods for bake sales, signed off all of the paperwork for their trips- she even made dresses for the girls on special occasions. They needed her. That’s why he had to get her back. If only he could find time out of his packed schedule to visit her again..

“Alright, everyone, settle down.” Ms. Bustier spoke up. “The results for the new class president are in.”

Adrien sunk further into his seat. Ah, yes. The new class president, another reason Marinette should have stayed. With her gone, they had to make an impromptu election. Chloe, of course, ran again, but Lila decided to run as well. With the class’ obvious loyalty towards Lila, it’s a wonder Ms. Bustier didn’t announce the brunette as the president right there and save everyone the trouble.

Ms. Bustier pulled out a small card with the results and cleared her throat. “With a near-unanimous vote, the new class president will be Lila Rossi.”

The class cheered, and Lila gasped as if she hadn’t expected this to happen.

“Thank you all so much!” She beamed.

Alya slung her arm around Lila’s shoulders. “You deserve it, girl.”

Chloe scoffed from her seat and crossed her arms, but no one acknowledged the show of disdain. They were too busy congratulating their beloved Lila.

“Congratulations Lila. You can visit Marinette after school to get the paperwork from her.” Ms. Bustier said, setting her cards aside.

Adrien straightened. Someone had to go visit Marinette? “I’ll do it!”

The classroom paused at the outburst.

“Oh, Adrien you don’t have to do that for me.” Lila remarked with a grateful tone.

“Oh, no, it’s my pleasure.” Adrien was quick to reply.

A hint of annoyance flicked across Lila’s features, but it quickly vanished when Alya said, “Yeah, Lila, you shouldn’t have to suffer through that.”

A smile forced its way onto the Italian girl’s lips. “Thanks, but I think it’s only right that I meet with her in person. Class president to Class president and all.”

Alya frowned. “Well, at least let me go with you. I don’t want her trying to pull anything.”

“Oh, Alya,” Lila sighed, patting the red-head’s hand, “It’s just a small visit. I’m sure Marinette and I can be civil about this.”

Alya reluctantly agreed, but if anyone had actually been paying attention, they might have seen Lila’s smirk.

~~~~~~

The soft rhythm of Felix and Allegra’s instruments floated around the music room as they played. Marinette never imagined the violin and the flute sounding well together, but the way Felix and Allegra harmonized had her swaying back and forth with the melody. It was a lovely song, and she couldn’t help closing her eyes to fully relish the masterpiece.

Her eyes snapped open a second later, though, as her entire body jolted from the large calamity of piano keys that was suddenly pounded on by Claude. Felix startled as well, his violin flying off key, and Allegra nearly dropped her flute.

“Again, Claude?” Allegra sighed, placing her hands on her hips.

Claude leaned back on the piano stool with his palms and flashed them an innocent smile. “What? I was only helping.”

Marinette held back a smile, but Felix wasn’t amused.

“I told you to stop doing that.” He scolded with a scowl. “You’re going to get our music room privileges revoked!”

“Good. You guys practice too much, anyway.”

Allegra gave Claude a flat look. “We need to practice if we’re going to get better.”

“But you already sound great.”

“Because we practice.” Felix replied pointedly.

Marinette subtly nodded in agreement. She didn’t want to get directly involved in their arguments, as that never seemed to go well.

Claude huffed a sigh and rolled his eyes. “Fine. Whatever. Waste your time on endless practice. I’m gonna do something more productive with my time.”

Felix narrowed his eyes. “Like what?”

Claude turned to lay across the piano bench while throwing Marinette a smile. “Like making croissants! We’re still coming to your house, right?”

Marinette returned his smile, secretly relieved that he didn’t ask her to do something outrageous like going to chase pigeons around the park while on roller blades. (Yes, that’s happened several times in the past week, and yes, each time she’s said no.)

“Yeah, but you guys are coming over tomorrow.” She told him.

He pumped a fist into the air. “Yes! I can’t wait!!”

“Neither can I.” Allegra admitted. “Your parents sound splendid.”

Marinette’s smile widened. “I’m sure you’ll all get along great.”

“Yes, I’m sure.. If we can practice enough to go straight to your house after classes tomorrow.” Felix remarked, shooting Claude another look.

Claude tisked, waving a hand at him. “Yeah, yeah. Get back to your music already.”

Allegra gave a short laugh, sarcastically stating, “Oh, thank you so much. I was wondering when you would give us permission to play.”

“I know, I’m such a generous person.” Claude joked back.

Allegra playfully rolled her eyes and held up her flute to resume playing. Felix followed along, and Marinette went back to swaying as their song continued.

The familiar ring of the customer bell brought a smile to Marinette’s lips as she opened the bakery door.

Her mother, Sabine, looked up from the cashier desk with a warm smile. “Marinette! How was music practice?”

“It was wonderful, Maman. Felix and Allegra play beautifully.” Marinette answered as she walked inside. She set her bag next to the counter and gave her mother a quick peck on the cheek. “Is everything ready for them to come over tomorrow?”

Sabine nodded. “Tom’s got the ingredients and tables ready for when they get here. He’s so excited to meet them, and so am I.”

Marinette chuckled. “They’re excited to meet you guys too.”

Sabine’s smile widened at the comment, but then her expression darkened as she said, “Hopefully they’re not two-faced and backstabbing like your previous classmates.”

Marinette gasped. “Mom!”

“Well, it’s true!” Sabine replied defensively.

It was true, but that didn’t mean Marinette was any less surprised to hear her maman talk that way. Of course, Sabine did tend to speak her mind when Marinette’s feelings were involved.

Before she could respond, the doorbell rang again, signaling a new customer’s arrival. Marinette turned with her mother to offer them a greeting, but stopped short when she saw exactly who the new customer was.

Lila Rossi stood in the doorway, a smug smirk on her lips as she eyed Marinette up and down. “I see you’re doing well.”

Sabine was in front of Marinette in the blink of an eye. “You are not welcome in this bakery. Leave immediately before I call the cops.”

A look of feigned hurt crossed the Italian girl’s expression. “How rude! I only came here per Mme Bustier’s request. I have to get the formal papers from our previous class president.”

Marinette narrowed her eyes, stepping around Sabine with crossed arms. “I suppose you’re the new class president then?”

Lila’s smile returned, sharp and triumphant. “By a near-unanimous vote. Alya is still the deputy though, since she practically begged me to let her help.”

Marinette’s lips tightened into a thin line. That sounded about right. “How nice for you. You two really do deserve each other.”

When Lila first came around, Marinette had been torn and heartbroken about her friends abandoning her for a stranger. It didn’t help that Adrien kept assuring her that everything would be fine, that they didn’t mean what they said. He gave her false hope, and it made it all the harder to find the courage to leave.

Now, she’s realized how toxic her old environment had become, and though it still hurt her to think about it, Marinette knew she couldn’t let them affect her anymore.

Lila faltered at Marinette’s uncaring tone. “Uh.. right. Where are those papers again?”

“Up in my room.” Marinette moved towards the stairs, bringing Sabine back behind the counter as she did. “I’ll go get them now.”

“Good.” Lila said, sounding satisfied. “I’ll be waiting outside, but don’t take your time. I’m supposed to go meet Alya and the girls for a girl’s night out.”

Marinette rolled her eyes at the obvious jab, but continued up the stairs anyway. The sooner she got the papers, the sooner that lying leech could leave.

She swiftly ran up to her room and gathered the papers to stuff them into the large, blue binder she’d been given only two semesters ago. It sunk into her arms as she picked it up, and the sheer weight of the packed binder made her smile as she brought it back outside, especially when she saw Lila’s panicked expression.

“Um.. What is that?” The brunette asked, pointed at the binder.

“Oh, this?” Marinette replied innocently. “This is just the binder that holds all the formal papers you need. Being class president takes a lot of work you know.”

Lila nearly toppled over when Marinette dropped the binder into her arms.

“That’s allergies, budgets, complaints, schedules, and trips!” Marinette told her with a grin. “But don’t forget to give Mme Bustier and Principle Damocles the proper reports each semester.”

Lila shot her a scowl, but quickly recovered, slipping on a smile of her own. “No need to be petty, Marinette. It’s fine to admit you’re breaking inside. Losing all your friends can be a hard thing to go through.”

Marinette’s grin faded slightly, knowing that Lila was right. She’d lost everything. All of her childhood friends, her crush, her fun teachers, anything she used to hold dear.

But maybe that was a good thing.

“Have fun sorting through the binder.” She said, spinning on her heel and walking inside. She had better things to do than listen to someone who had to lie just to get people to like them.

The bakery door closed behind her, and Marinette saw Lila leave out of the corner of her eye, taking the painful memories with her.

~~~~~~

Friday afternoon. 4:45pm.

Felix stared at the bakery door, unsure how to proceed. The group had originally agreed to walk straight to Marinette’s house after school, but they changed the plan last minute to come back at five, an hour after school ended. It gave Marinette’s parents time to finish up the preparations, and the rest of the group time to drop off their school bags at their homes.

Felix, as usual, arrived at the Dupain-Cheng’s early, but now he was doubting his actions. On one hand, he would get to meet the Dupain-Cheng’s without the chaos that the trio tended to bring. It would be a nice way for him to get a quick impression of the family over-all.

On the other hand, he’s at Marinette’s house before the time she specifically told them to come, which could be considered rude in some cases. Should he go inside or wait in a nearby cafe?

After a few more minutes of debating, Felix stepped forward and knocked on the door. If they really needed him to wait until five, he would apologize and come back in ten minutes. The opportunity to meet the Dupain-Cheng’s on a one-on-one basis was too good to pass up.

It only took a moment for the door to open, and a short, asain woman greeted him with a sweet smile. “Hello! I’m assuming you’re one of Marinette’s friends from school?”

Felix nodded, noting her raven hair that matched Marinette’s perfectly. “Yes, ma’am. I’m Felix.”

He stiffened slightly when she reached forward to take his hand in both of hers. “It’s great to finally meet you! Marinette has told us so much about you all.”

A small smile passed his lips. For some reason, that knowledge gave him a satisfied feeling. Assuming that the talk was good, that is. “She’s talked a lot about you as well. I’m assuming you’re Mme Dupain-Cheng?”

The woman waved a dismissive hand. “Oh, please, call me Sabine.”

‘Sabine’ showed him inside, where baked goods lined the walls in glass cases. Claude was going to lose his mind when he got here. The overwhelming scent of vanilla and cinnamon alone was going to be enough to make the brunette’s mouth water.

“This is my husband, Tom.” Sabine introduced, gesturing to a tall, burly man at the cashier desk. “Tom, this is one of Marinette’s friends, Felix.”

Felix would be lying if he said he wasn’t intimidated by the man. His head almost grazed the ceiling as he approached them, making Sabine look like a dwarf in comparison. Felix felt like a dwarf in comparison.

Tom offered a wide, hearty grin, though that didn’t help Felix’s unease. “Ah, Felix! It’s a pleasure to finally meet you!”

The man scooped Felix up into a bear hug, squeezing him tightly to his chest. Felix would have replied to his greeting had he been able to breathe.

“Oh, Papa!”

Felix glanced over Tom’s shoulder- he’d been raised that high -and saw Marinette standing in another doorway behind the cashier counter, a slight cringe in her expression.

“Papa, put poor Felix down before he passes out from lack of oxygen!” She insisted, walking forward to tug on her father’s arm.

“Oh that’s.. That’s a bit of an exaggeration, don’t you think?” Felix wheezed as Tom set him down.

Marinette’s hands hovered around him for a moment, then she nervously clasped them together. “I-I’m so sorry, I should have warned you. I thought I was going to be down here when you guys arrived.”

Felix shook his head and bent over slightly to catch his breath. “No, no, you’re fine. They actually remind me of my own mother. She’s a rather adamant hugger herself.”

A relieved smile came to Marinette’s lips. “Really? I didn’t think anyone could be as ‘homely’ as my parents.”

Felix chuckled, but the customer bell jingled again before he could reply. Claude sauntered inside a second later, his arms spread as wide as his grin.

“We’re here~!” The brunette sang, looking around the shop. His gaze found Felix’s flat one almost immediately.

“Hey!” Claude gasped, pointing accusingly at Felix. “He beat us here!”

Allegra stepped out from behind Claude, wearing a curious expression. That quickly changed to knowing smirk, though, as she shot him a playfully scolding look. “Why, Felix! I’m surprised at you! You should know more than anyone how rude it is to arrive at someone’s house early.”

Felix grimaced at the reminder of his bad manners and quickly turned to apologize.

“Oh don’t be silly!” Sabine said before he could get a word out. “Any friends of Marinette are friends of ours. You guys are welcome here anytime.”

Claude lit up at the sentiment. “I’m gonna be here a lot then.”

Allan popped out from behind Claude and Allegra. “Thank you for hosting us, M. and Mme Dupain-Cheng.”

Felix held back a smirk. He’d wondered when Allan would show himself.

“Please, call us Tom and Sabine.” Tom replied in a casual, yet booming voice. It highly contradicted his wife and daughter, who tended to speak in soft tones. “Follow me. I’ll show you where the kitchen is.”

The group was led into a room in the back where three islands stood in the center, each equally parted from each other. A large counter lined the wall to the left as well, and two, large ovens sat on each end of said counter.

“Do you guys want to start from scratch or start with pre-made dough?” Tom asked.

“Oh! Scratch! I want to be able to make these at home!” Claude answered eagerly.

Tom smiled. “Alright! Scratch it is. Everyone take the needed ingredients on the counter.”

The group took a moment to pass around the items, then they separated to find a counter. Allan took the first counter with Tom, and Allegra and Claude stole the last counter, leaving the middle counter for Marinette and Felix.

“I’m glad you guys got to come.” Marinette commented as they aligned their ingredients on the shared countertop.

Felix nodded. “I think Claude’s going to get a sugar-crash before we leave.”

Marinette snorted. “With all of those baked goods in the other room? I’d be surprised if he makes it to supper.”

Felix spared her a glance. “Are we staying for supper?”

Marinette paused, having to think out her answer. She must not have noticed the implication when she said it. “Uh.. I mean.. I wouldn’t mind. Do you guys want to stay for supper?”

Felix shrugged, though the idea sounded perfect. It would give him more time to understand the Dupain-Cheng’s lifestyle. “I’m sure Allegra and Claude will be ecstatic over the news. I’d have to contact my mother about the change in schedule, though.”

“Oh, were you planning something with her tonight?” Marinette asked, worry lacing her tone. “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.”

“No, I want to.” Felix hastily amended. “I simply need to tell my mother that I won’t be home for supper tonight. We always have a family dinner when everyone is available.”

“And you won’t miss it?”

“Well, it sounds like it’s a special occasion, but everyone’s available more often than you’d expect.”

Marinette tilted her head up and mouthed an ‘oh’. “I’ll tell Maman that you’re staying, then. She was sort of planning supper for all of you anyway.”

Felix smiled. Given the daily croissants that the group’s received since their first lunch with Marinette, that didn’t surprise him. Mme Sabine had proven to be an extremely kind and charitable person, much like her daughter.

Tom, once his own ingredients were in order, regained the room’s attention and began showing them how to make the croissants. Because he was in the front, it was easy to see how the ingredients were supposed to be thrown in and follow along. That said, Felix found himself extremely grateful to have Marinette as a partner. Her little tips on how to mix the dough helped him immensely, especially since she told him when his mixing was sufficient.

“Alright,” Tom sighed as he set his bowl to the side, “Now that the dough is done, we’re going to start the hard part. Everyone needs to get some flour so we can start rolling the dough and folding it. Marinette, if you would.”

Marinette sprang from her place next to Felix and crossed the room to a cabinet. She pulled it open and grabbed a large bag of flour that appeared to be at least a fourth full, then carried it to the long counter against the wall and set it down with a huff.

“Here’s the flour that you all are going to be using.” Tom explained. “That should be plenty, but if you need more-”

A light knock on the doorframe ahead of them caused Tom to trail off. Felix glanced at the door to see Mme Sabine standing there, holding a sheepish smile.

“Tom, dear. I know you’re busy, but could you help me with this customer real quick?” She asked politely. “They’re being.. difficult.”

Felix noted the sharpness of her smile, along with the iron grip she had on the doorframe. It appeared that the sweet, loving mother also had a temperance, though he didn’t blame her. Customers had a tendency to be massive pains for retail workers. (That included himself on a few shameful occasions.)

M. Tom’s nervous smile said it all as he joined his wife at the door. “Oh, of course. Uh.. children, just- just keep doing what you’re doing. Marinette will show you how to roll the dough if necessary.”

The parents left the room, causing the rest of the group to turn to Marinette for instruction.

Marinette, who had returned to Felix’s side by that point, shrank slightly at the sudden attention. “Oh, uhm.. Do any of you know how to fold dough?”

A short laugh came from Allegra in the back. “Mari, I’m quite certain that none of us have even touched uncooked food before.”

“That’s the price you pay for being rich.” Allan agreed, putting a hand to his chest and shaking his head with feigned grief.

Felix opted not to comment. His mother rather enjoyed cooking, much to their butler’s dismay. She often cooked their family meals, and every now and then, Felix found himself helping. “It’s a necessary skill.” she would tell him. “Your future wife will thank me and so will you.”

Why his mother assumed he would be able to tolerate anyone long enough to marry them was beyond him.

“Oh, how horrible for you.” Marinette retorted with a playful eye roll. “I guess I’ll show you how to fold dough then. For your sakes.”

“We are forever grateful.” Claude joked.

Marinette laughed and scooped up her bowl, bringing it to the front with Allan for all of them to see.

“Now, everyone needs to get some flour. We’ll start with Claude and Allegra getting some. That way, the flour will work its way to the front by the time we’re done.” She instructed.

Felix nodded. That sounded like a reasonable plan.

Claude walked over to grab the bag as told and hauled it back to his and Allegra’s table. “How much are we going to need?”

“Oh, not much.” Marinette answered. “You only need some on the table and some on the dou- Claude, wait!”

Claude tipped the bag of flour upwards, expecting it to slide smoothly onto the table. Instead, the flimsy ingredient smacked into the table in a large clump, causing white dust to explode into the air. Felix scrunched up his nose in annoyance. How were they supposed to mix that? How easily did it spread? He knew he should have worn something less formal. (Oh, who was he kidding? Felix didn’t have anything less formal.)

An apologetic whimper came from Marinette, as if any of this was her fault. Claude and Allegra quickly fell into a coughing fit as Claude dropped the flour bag onto the ground. Of course, dropping the bag only threw more dust into the air.

The two attempted to wave the dust away, but it only partly worked. When the dust did finally clear, though, Claude and Allegra were left with a small pile of flour on their table. The rest of the flour was either in the air or draped across their clothes and hair.

“Wow.” Felix stated dryly. “I’m impressed. You actually managed to wait until M. Tom left before making a complete mess of yourselves and the room.”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it u-” Claude’s retort was cut off by another coughing fit, but Allegra continued it for him.

“I don’t see you rolling out your dough in a perfectly clean and pristine manner.”

“That’s because you used up the rest of the flour.” Felix shot back.

Marinette gasped. “Is it really all gone?”

Claude and Allegra, suddenly dawning a sheepish expression, looked down at the bag that was still on the floor. Claude reached down to pick it up, but, as if the situation weren’t bad enough already, he grabbed the wrong end and pulled it up upside down.

The last bits of flour trickled to the floor, spreading across the brunette’s legs.

“...Yeah. It’s all-” He let out another cough “-gone.”

Allan’s eyes widened, a mixture of admiration and mortification swirling onto his features. “How did you waste an entire bag of flour on one spill?”

“You’d be surprised.” Marinette muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“We can reimburse you.” Allegra was quick to offer. “How much did the flour cost? Do you take checks?”

A light chuckle fell from Marinette’s lips. “No, no, that’s not necessary. I’ve.. actually done worse.”

Claude’s eyes bulged out of his head. “You’ve done worse?”

Felix thought over the many falls that Marinette had had over the past week. Her clumsiness certainly made it possible to have more extreme accidents.

“What do we do now that the flour is gone?” He asked, trying to get the group back on track. The sooner they finished baking the croissants, the sooner he could examine the rest of Marinette’s house instead of sitting in the kitchen. The Dupain-Chengs appeared to be a lively, fun-loving family, but he’d only gotten a small taste of their life, only seen the tip of the iceberg. Felix wanted to absorb as many details as possible before leaving.

Marinette straightened. “Oh! There’s actually more flour in the back! I’ll go get it.”

Before Felix could offer any assistance- his curiosity piqued about where they might store more food -the ravenette had already left the room, disappearing through another doorway in the back.

A moment later, she returned, another large bag of flour in her hands. This time, however, the bag was full. Felix vaguely wondered how heavy the bags must weigh for her to be wobbling over with one so easily. Wasn’t flour supposed to be heavy?

“Here’s a fresh bag of flo-ou-ah!” Marinette’s words jumbled into jargon when her foot caught on her ankle. Her body lunged forward from the momentum, and Felix stepped up to catch her on reflex.

Bad idea.

Due to the weight of the flour bag yanking her downwards, Marinette crashed into Felix’s and dragged him to the floor with her. His back hit the floor with a painful *thud*, immediately sucking all of the air from his lungs.

Of course, the flour bag popped open upon impact, sending more white dust directly into his face. Between the weight of Marinette and the flour, along with his aching lungs and the suffocating dust, Felix was convinced that he was about to die right then and there on the bakery floor.

Felix Culpa: tragically taken from this world by a bag of flour and a clumsy classmate. What a way to go.

“Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, Felix. Are you okay??” Marinette asked frantically, pushing herself off of him.

Felix coughed out a weak response with what little oxygen he had. Even without Marinette, the flour bag pressed into his chest like a block of concrete. How had she been carrying this without breaking a sweat earlier?

Marinette hauled the bag off of him, and Felix sucked in a deep breath despite the flour still cluttering the atmosphere. All he needed right now was some sweet, blessed air. Infected or no.

It wasn’t until he regained enough of his senses to push himself up into a sitting position that he heard Claude’s howling laughter.

“Oh, man!” The brunette cackled. “And you thought we were bad! Look at you, Fe! You’re a ghost!”

Felix glanced down at his clothes, which were indeed covered in white. He could even feel the weight of the flour in his hair. How long was this going to take to wash out? Was he going to have to buy new clothes before going home?

A snort brought his gaze upwards, where Marinette stood with the bag of flour. She had a hand on her mouth- holding the bag of flour with one hand -and a barely contained smile on her lips that she was obviously trying to hide.

That’s when Felix knew that he must be looking ridiculous.

“At least I wasn’t the one to cause the mess.” Felix grumbled in response to Claude. He reached up to start brushing some of the flour out of his hair, finding a bit of comfort in the fact that Marinette was white with flour as well. It might have been irksome if she had escaped her fall unscathed while he appeared to be a freshly made snowman.

“I am. So sorry.” Marinette apologized again, this time offering him her hand to help him up.

Felix took it, his bafflement towards her uncanny amount of strength only growing as she managed to pull him up with one arm and keep the bag of flour steady in her other arm.

“It’s..” not your fault. Was what he was about to say, except that would be a lie. It was entirely her fault.

“It’s fine.” He said instead. “It’s just clothes.”

“Wow~” Allegra sang, immediately latching onto Felix’s nerves. “‘It’s just clothes’? That’s a first.”

“Remember that time Felix threatened to sue us for enough money to buy a new wardrobe if we ‘got so much as one drop of food on his vest’?” Allan chimed in.

Embarrassment coiled around Felix’s stomach, though he wasn’t sure why. That designer outfit was expensive! And the trio was acting especially chaotic that day. Who knows what might have happened had he not put his foot down when they started joking about a food fight.

Felix whipped around to Allan to explain that exact reasoning, but something caught his attention, causing him to pause. Allan was still at the front of the room, the farthest position from the chaos that had just ensued. Aside from the stray dust still fluttering around the room, the man was completely untouched as far as flour was concerned.

“Marinette,” He said, catching the girl’s eye, “I do believe that Allan hasn’t gotten his flour yet.”

Marinette’s gaze flicked to Allan, then to the bag, and Felix prayed that he assessed her correctly. Because if Allan didn’t get flour on him this instant, Felix might be tempted to do something foolish. Like attempting to throw a bag of flour that was, without a doubt, too heavy for him to even lift on his own.

The barest hints of amusement lit up Marinette’s features. “You know what? I think you’re right.”

Felix smiled, feeling a devilish satisfaction. Yes!

Allan took a step back, suddenly looking very concerned.

“Woah, w-wait a second, guys.” He squeaked, holding up his hands as Marinette inched forward. “L-Let’s talk about this!”

“One of us. One of us.” Claude began chanting behind them. “One of us! One of us!”

Allegra joined in, and, in the spirit of things, Felix joined in as well, if only to push Marinette further towards his goal.

Allan bumped into his assigned counter while trying to put useless distance between himself and Marinette. “Please, no! It’s rare that I come out of these things unscathed!”

Marinette’s grin was downright predatory as she held up the bag of flour. “I can’t imagine why.”

Allan’s scream was the last thing Felix heard before Marinette swung the flour bag forward.

The entire room erupted into uncontrollable laughter as Allan coughed out at least half the bag. He was now stark white from head to toe, and Felix couldn’t be prouder. It served him right for poking the bear.

Allan hung his head in defeat, a bit of flour falling off of his head from the action. This only made the group laugh harder. Claude started to say something about the “set being complete”, but before he could finish-

“What is going on?!”

M. Tom reappeared in the doorway, his eyes wide and puzzled as he stared at the flour-covered room.

Felix froze. Right. They were supposed to be baking with Marinette’s parents.

Marinette set the flour bag down immediately. “I’m sorry, Papa, this is all my fault.”

“No, that’s not fair!” Claude protested. “Allegra and I spilled the flour bag first!”

“So she had to go get more!” Allegra continued the explanation.

“I’m the one who told her to throw the fresh flour at Allan.” Felix added. If anyone was to get in trouble, it should certainly be him. He was the only one who actually spilled the flour on purpose. Marinette didn’t deserve to take the blame for his petty actions.

M. Tom furrowed at the near-simultaneous remarks, but then let out a hearty laugh.

“I see you’ve all gotten into the baking spirit!” He declared. “Now who wants to learn how to actually fold dough?”

Felix blinked. He’d expected the man to be at least a little upset. Did this sort of thing happen often? Or was Marinette’s father simply that forgiving? M. Tom did refer to the mess as ‘the baking spirit’.. Whatever that means.

“Yeah we do!” Claude shouted enthusiastically, taking Felix from his thoughts.

“Great! Let’s start with putting the flour on the table.” Tom smiled, going back to his original spot next to Allan.

Felix followed the notion, going back to his original spot as well. He tried brushing more of the flour off of his vest, but, as expected, it didn’t help much. He was probably going to get more flour on him during the folding process anyway.

“Don’t worry.” Marinette whispered as she reclaimed her spot next to him. “I’ll let you guys wash up in the bathroom after this. If you want to, that is.”

Felix nodded. “I would be eternally grateful.”

Marinette giggled. “..So did you really threaten to sue them over your clothes?”

Felix paused his kneading long enough to sigh. Freaking Allan. That idiot deserved every speck of flour dust that he had on him.

Tag List: @artbyknigit @athena452 @nickristus-dreamer @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @arsaem @abrx2002 @neakco @pawsitivelymiraculous @too0bsessedformyowngood @nathleigh @lusicing @officiallydarkgeek @all-mights-asscheeks @tbehartoo @woe-is-me0 @raeuberprinzessin @lazuli-11 @miss-chaos27 @trippingovermyfeet @sadpotatoondrugs @ladybug-182

#Felinette #Rosemary AU #New Girl on the Block #Marinette #Felix Culpa #Quantic Kids

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fckwritersblock · 3 years

Text

Act 1: While We’re Young

Chapter 5

Erik ‘Killmonger’ Stevens x Black OC

(Unedited.)

Tuesday

January 10th 2005

Last night was the only night I'm allowing myself to cry over him and his 'return'. What good would it do me? No, I was gonna take Erik and whatever he had to throw at me by storm.

Waking up the next day, I feel refreshed. Like a brand new person with a more positive mindset. Today I had 3 classes and I'm determined to have a good Erik free day.

That whole Erik free thing went out the window as soon as I got to my first class.

Double O Computer Programming 1 was a junior class, however I'd taken it during the summer during my first year at UC Berkeley. DOCP 2 wouldn't be available until next semester but I needed to have a class since this was my first year on the actual campus. Thankfully Miss Hill really needed a T.A and the fact that I could help with an algorithm that tied into thermal nuclear astrophysics had her sold.

Right after I finished taking attendance, she barely got a word out before the door swung open revealing Erik as our late comer. I quickly glanced at the sheet in front of me, scanning for his name. I was so use to calling him N’dajaka when we were kids, I completely skipped over ‘Erik Stevens’. I huffed rolling my eyes, arms crossed over my chest. His timbs were the only thing heard shuffling across the room making hid way toward the front of the class. Wordlessly he handed Miss Hill before his eyes were on me. They scanned me from top to bottom, before locking with me a smug grin on his lips.

"Hey Lona," my jaw dropped.

Before I could get out a word, Miss Hill opened her mouth, looking up from the paper he handed her.

"Welcome Erik, sorry for the confusion."

"It's all good," he shrugged.

"Im Miss Hill, and I see you already know my aid. As I explained to the class prior to taking attendance, If I'm unavailable feel free to email or call her during the hours listed on the sheet." She is then took a sheet from me and handed him to me. "Other than that, find a seat."

He nodded pretending look over the sheet before averting his gaze back on me.

"I'm definitely gon do that."

Fuck my life right?

Well, Erik just so happened to be in the Calculus class I skipped two days ago. I thank God my record was squeaky clean and Mr. Kennedy accepted my poor excuse before I was quickly reminded the man upstairs has a sense of humor as the only available seat was next to Erik.

"The person next to you will be your partner for the remainder of the semester so let's take the next 15 minutes getting know one another hmm?." Mr. Kennedy instructed.

I couldn't suppress the groan that slipped as Erik casually leaned back in his chair, examining me.

"You heard the man, get to know me."

"I know all I need this know about you Erik."

"Oh so I'm Erik now? Like that?" He spoke cool, calm, and collected like our exchanged was normal.

I gripped my pencils tight, my knee bouncing up and down my body tense.

"Let me set things straight now. We don't need to talk to one another. If it doesn't have anything to do with any of the classes we take together, don't want to hear it. When you see me act like you don't know me. We clear?"

The expression on his face was unreadable before his lip twitched slight him responding.

"Crystal."

Wednesday

January 24th, 2005

It had been two weeks since Erik showed up here.

Ok that's a lie.

Apparently this man has been here. And to top it off, this mans name was in every bitch mouth like the second coming of Jesus Christ. From what I've observed though, he doesn't say much, or gives any of these broads much attention. He don't say much in general actually, he's really good at blending in. He got that laid back, mysterious, bad boy vibe going for him and these females out here hella into that.

But when he opens his mouth, that cocky bastard sure knows how to disrupt my entire soul at least while we're in class.

Outside of class though, he acts like I'm invisible.

It was like he never knew me. And honestly, I don't know how to feel about it. I know that's what I said I wanted but it bothers me just the same.

Today in particular though, he argued me down during our Calculus class. We had one problem to figure out before we could leave class today. You and your partner were supposed agree on the answer, and heaven forbid he just agree with me so we can get out of here. Math was always my subject when we were kids, nothing has changed. I was damn near about to say fuck it when he started laughing.

What in the entire fuck it so funny?" I was fuming.

"You," he shook his head. "You really hella mad."

"Um, YES!" I damn near shouted fed up. "You literally been tryna convince me it's 5 when it's-"

"Chill. I know the answer is 3 girl. C'mon, let's go." So smoothly he closed the book, grabbed his bag and headed to the front.

I was so upset, I had to let him do all the talking when it came to explain to the teacher I'll answer and how we got there. I know I open my mouth I wasn't going to say anything nice.

"Girl what crawled up your ass and died?" Donise questioned with a stank look as we sat at one of the benches outside of the library.

"Yeah What did Erik do now," I could hear teasing in Tatiana's tone so I flipped her off.

Only giving a brief explanation, I went on a mini rant about what happened in class 20 minutes ago. Donise's thought it was funny, while Tati just shook her head.

"I still can't believe it him," Tatianna glanced as a group of guys from across the quad headed our way, Erik included.

"Yes, and I wish it wasn't."

Tatianna was the first real friend I made in a while. I was actually tutoring her online for a while before she found out I was 4 years younger than her. Our friendship started off as a trade. I was her tutor and she both convinced and enrolled in a mentor program to help me with my social skills. I didn't speak to anyone much when Erik left, but I got into a lot of fights. According to the school counselor I was taking out my anger and abandonment issues on.I have meds to tame the anger, and while I haven't had to take them in a while Eric definitely bring that anger out of me.

"Girl that's just sexual tension. You got to fuck all that out." Ashley put in her unwanted two cents.

"Trust me when I tell you on God it isn't."

"Well if you out to holla, then trust and believe I will." She tossed her hair over her shoulder

I didn't really mess with Ashley like that, but she was Tati's frat sister which made them 'friends'. That little thot pocket will screw anything with legs, D, and a pulse and I'm not bout that life. Plus she messy as fuck and I don't trust her as far as I can throw her.

"I don't doubt it," I smirked as Donise said exactly what I was thinking.

Donise was coo' though, I meet her when I first got here 2 months ago. Believe It or not she was apart of the welcome comity for MIT and turned out her and Tatiana were already friends. Once she figured out who I was, I was shot to the front line during registration and everything.

"Anyways, y'all going Ant and them party tomorrow?" Ashley questioned probably tryna bum a ride.

"What party?"

"The Que's," Donise answered. "The dudes with Erik are frat."

Now this was news to me. I met most of them before but I had no idea there were in a sorority. Examining them, I guess it all made sense. Most in the clique sported some sort of purple and yellow lanyard either around their neck or on their keychain that hung from their jean pocket as if they wanted everybody to know who they were. Which I wouldn't doubt.

"Ladies! What we chattin about?" Moses questions every bit of his thick English accent tapering off every word.

"Our plans for mañana," Tati answered l

"Word. Y'all coming to the party tomorrow?" Jay spoke playing with a few strands of Donise's curls.

"Tomorrow? It's Thursday." I said confused. "Ain't there class the next day?"

"What's the matter, you can't hang?" I glared at Jay, knowing he was only chastising me because him and Erik were close, according to Tati.

I swear to God men gossip more than women do. Rolling my eyes I spared Erik a glance and he looked like he was waiting on me to respond.

"Oh, I can definitely hang."

I couldn't hang.

Around midnight I was in the bathroom throwing up everything, damn near hug in the toilet as my surrounding looks so blurry and I can barely function. Im not sure when I'd finally finished, but I could feel someone picks me up and out the bathroom and soon everything goes blurry and then black.

Tag list: @kitesatforestp @xsweetdellzx @justgetitoverwith0 @letsshamelessqueen-m @cmkcolove @readingaddict1290

#black!reader #black panther killmonger #erik killmonger series #erik stevens x reader #erik stevens #killmonger x black!reader #black writer #killmomger x oc #killmonger imagine #marvel imagine #marvel #black panther imagine #black panther #wakanda forever #tchalla

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powdermelonkeg · 3 years

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Hi I had a question but idk if you'll be able to answer? I was going to post a little mini-fic I wrote but my writing sideblog has literally 2 followers lol. Do you have suggestions as to how to tag the post? Whenever I make standard #loz #botw etc. etc. posts they get like.. At most 7 notes lmao. How would I tag zelda writing properly to get it more attention? I know you post fics so I was curious tysm

Okay, so the answer to this is...complicated.

A few weeks ago, I was exactly where you are. I have 300+ followers now (milestone, woo!), but that's because my breakdown post got me a HUGE audience, and my theories resonated with a lot of people who stuck around after that.

So, if you want an audience on Tumblr, there's a couple of things you should do.

Pick a theme and stick to it. If you're posting about a bunch of topics all at once, like reblogging serious news, talking about mcyt, ranting, then posting fanfiction, it's going to be hard to get an audience that goes to you for anything specific. My blog is mostly Zelda-themed, because that's what people who followed me for the breakdown post followed me for. That's not to say that I can't post about other things, but 90% of my content should be along those lines, that way people know what they're signing up for.

Consistency is key. If you only post once a week, people aren't going to recognize your username, icon, or content style when it shows up on their dash. For all they know, you're just another reblog from someone they followed 2 years ago and forgot about. Try to at least reblog stuff that follows the theme you're going for; if you post a Skyward Sword fanfic, go through the Skyward Sword tags (best advice is to go under the Recents tab, because those are people that are for sure active) and reblog stuff that catches your fancy.

Build a community. No, seriously. It's surprisingly easy to do; find a popular post in the vein of content you like, go through the notes, and follow the most recent likes and reblogs. Not only do you fill up your dash so you don't have to wait an hour between getting new content to look at, but you also get a handful of follow-backs! Just make sure that you unfollow people who put bad stuff on your dash after; not all people in the fandom have the same beliefs as you do, and it's up to you to curate your social media experience.

Keep variety in mind. I know I just said to pick a theme, but you have to explore the FACETS of that theme. Like, I post Zelda fanfiction. But I ALSO post Zelda theories, Zelda breakdowns, Zelda wishlists, and I reblog a lot of Zelda art.

Another important note: When you reblog something, add fun tags! It makes people's day, just like comments do! A keysmash, a "this looks really cool," a "hey op you made me cry," something like that goes a long way! HOWEVER If you're looking for quick validation on your fics without a lot of followers, then Tumblr is not the place to post it. Getting your content out there REQUIRES followers to make sure it circulates; you can't count on it being a 1-hit wonder like the spicy takes with 10k notes. Those are outliers, not the norm. If you want to get your fic out there, I recommend building a backlog of about 3-4 chapters, then posting every few days on Ao3 or Fanfic net. That's the kind of community that actively seeks out fics, regardless of who comments or likes it. Know your platform, know what you want, and know what your limits are. It takes work and dedication. Good luck!

#ask bee #advice #seriously before the breakdown post i had 11 followers #and most of those were from a mystery dungeon meme #i'm extremely lucky that i'm getting popularity now #and i had extremely good timing when making that post #i knocked it out three hours after the e3 announcement so EVERYONE was checking that tag #speaking of #thank you to all my followers! I love the community we've got now! :D

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hopesbarnes · 4 years

Text

Black Swan (11)

Summary: Y/N used to be a Russian spy under the code name Black Swan. But that was a lifetime ago, now she’s a part-time avenger, dance teacher, surrogate sister to Natasha Romanoff, and trainer to new Shield Agents. She’s come a long way from the days of killing targets and being tortured. But when someone from her past comes around will she be able to ignore her history anymore? Or will she end up falling in love with the only man her sister ever loved?

A/N: Surprise! It's back!! There are 4 more chapters and an epilogue left, and then it's done. Hopefully yall love this chapter as much as I do. (Below are costumes mentioned in this chapter)

The following day held a strange air to it. All of the cards were on the table, and Clint finally knew Natasha’s past. He insisted to be around her 24/7 to prove he didn’t care who she was or that she couldn’t have children and that he wasn’t going anywhere. Which was sweet, and kind and all and did show that he loved her unconditionally. But Natasha looked like she wanted to kill the guy.

Bucky, on the other hand, was distant. The two of you had finally agreed to try, and admitted your feelings. But now he was barely there. It was hard for him, you got that. But you wanted to be there for him and wanted to help him. Which was hard when he kept pulling away.

Early Saturday morning, Natasha came into the room and announced she was going on a mission.

“Сестренка, я люблю его. Но он душит меня!” (Sis, I love him. But he is suffocating me.) Was Nat’s reply when you asked why she was going on a mission that originally another agent was assigned to. You giggled and wished her the best when she packed her bag. Clint stumbled out of her bedroom poured coffee, kissed her, and went to go back to his room. They were adorable, whether Nat would admit it or not.

When you got to the studio two hours later there were boxes in the office. That meant costumes arrived, and you were as ecstatic as the girls would be. For the lyrical group to the song Cosmic Love, the girls would be in a blue two-piece with rhinestone flowers on the sides. A small amount of fabric hung from one hip and would look amazing when the girls spun.

The little kid’s costume for their ballet dance to Waltz of the Flowers was a pink leotard with a fluffy pink tutu. There was light green lace, gold trim, adorning the fabric. You had also ordered sparkly mini tiaras for them to wear, and you were excited for the girls to find out. The little girls went crazy anytime someone mentioned anything sparkly, and tiaras were a crowd favorite.

Your favorite of the costumes was the simplest, and it was for the duet to Gravity. The guy wore just a pair of black pants, and the girl wore a maroon leotard that had a see-through back. It would allow the dance to shine through without being overpowered by a glittering costume. The dance was too raw for anything over the top, and the costumes complemented it perfectly. The solo costumes wouldn’t arrive for another week, but the girls would understand.

It was almost if the girls knew that morning, and they were crazy. Maybe they had a sixth sense, or maybe they smelled the spandex material. There was no point delaying giving them out and trying them on so during each practice you passed out the costumes and listened to their joyful shouts and the girls jumping up and down. They all wanted to run the dances in costumes, and you let them do it once before making them change back for the rest of the practice. If you’ve learned anything from doing this, someone always tears something if they wear it too long.

The rest of the day went the same, and you were in an amazing mood by the end of practice. You got bundled back up in leggings and a sweater, grabbed your bag, and went to leave but was stopped by the sight of Bucky. He had shaved, cut his hair, and was in a scarf holding a bouquet of flowers. In the dance studio. Any other time you would giggle at the look of this huge beefy man in a dance studio.

“Hey,” you said with a quizzed look on your face.

“Steve told me where you worked, I wanted to surprise you,” he said handing over the flowers. They were your favorite kind.

“I- okay. Thank you.”

“I know I’ve been distant, I was trying to figure out a date and knew if I saw you I would spoil it before we went,” he ranted shyly.

“Are we going on our date now?” you ask feeling giddy.

“I was hoping we could if that’s okay.”

“But, I’m not dressed for a date!” you said lamely motioning at your outfit.

“You are actually dressed perfectly for our date, c’mon,” he said and guided you to the car outside.

Your date, it turned out, was ice skating. It was the perfect December activity. The sky was a beautiful soft shade of blue, and light snow melted around you. And there was no pressure to be in a crowded dining room eating, or watching a movie that could potentially trigger one of you. It was a chance to show off some dance moves, and cling to Bucky to ‘help him’ with his balance.

Despite the fact he was a notorious ghost story, Bucky was anything but quiet and graceful on the ice. For someone with a long history of being silent, he was anything but. It’d only been half an hour and he had fallen four times. But he kept getting back up and didn’t complain once. He just kept trying and the two of you held hands through it all.

“We can do something else, ya know?” you teased when he stumbled again.

“Nope!” he said popping the ‘p’, “We’re skating. You’re just gonna have to deal with my embarrassing clumsiness.” You hummed in response.

“Besides,” he said, “I don’t see you doing much more than just skating in circles either!”

You giggle, “I can do a lot more, didn’t wanna upstage you!”

He dares you to prove your statement, and so you skate him over to the side and then take off doing turns and arabesques. To add insult to injury you even do a few jumps. He looks astonished, and his mouth hangs open. You skate back to him.

“How!?” he exclaims throwing his hands up, then immediately having to grab the barrier to steady himself.

“It’s just like dancing, just on blades instead of my toes. I used to skate as a girl, many moons ago.” The two of you move to the benches off of the ice and take off the shoes.

“You don’t talk much about your childhood,” he says softly prompting you.

“It was good, I mean we didn’t have much but we were good. I danced and was happy. My life was good. Then my parents died, and I was lost,” you say and smile at the memories of your childhood.

He reaches over and pulls you into a tight hug, lowering his head to meet your lips for a warm kiss. Safe to say, this was the best date you’d ever been on.

#Bucky Barnes #Bucky x Reader #Bucky Barnes fluff #bucky barnes series #Bucky x Dancer!Reader #marvel fic

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