#the rose macaron was surprisingly good

[after-witch]

life update part deux

So um!

My house is sold. Everything is done on that end. I’m signing my apartment lease today. (And I found out the laundry facilities are on the first floor and not the basement which means my disabled ass won’t have to try to lug laundry up stairs!!!)

I uhhh. Huh. I’m relieved in a way that I can’t explain right now. Just... have to move? Just have to move. Get some things for the apartment. Adjust to new life. And never have to worry about stuff in the house again.

ALSO I GOT MYSELF A TREAT FOR PACZKI DAY.

Vanilla bean cream & taro paczki and a rose macaron and sprinkle cookie. So good. I want to eat a bowl of the vanilla bean cream. It was so vanilla bean-y. 

[goodluckclove]

hey clove ! long fucking ask wow i apologize. this is just me rambling so conserve your brain if you wanna

i was thinking a lot about fancy foods today and had some interesting thoughts . i work at my local mall selling frozen macarons/chocolates/gelato and other pastries etc at a little kiosk in the middle of the food court for "luxury" prices (like almost 4 dollars per macaron). everything in the display cases is visually enticing - the macarons are brightly colored, the chocolates are in different shapes and colors and textures, the gelato is, ,, well you know how cute gelato is it's pretty damn cute. and the kiosk is white and generally pretty spotless as well, and the decor is french-themed cus that's the genre of stuff we sell. overalll it's marketing toward the WASPs of the area and their young kids. but something i've realized is that while everything we sell might be super yummy to look at, it's not really that yummy to eat. the macarons largely taste the same, and that flavor is mostly just almond. the colors are just colors, they're like froot loops. the gelato - which i've only recently properly tried - tastes pretty damn good (we sell a praline hazelnut one - OH BABYYYYY. i will be embalmed in that stuff when i die) - but the texture is just way, way off. it's grainy and just not like gelato at all. it feels like a scam or a multi level marketing scheme. its advertised as being super high end and bougie but it's really not.

compare that to the other restaurants in the food court. they're not glamorous. there's only a few chain restaurants; the rest have generic names, have fast-talking employees with beautifully diverse accents, have graphics with three different logo iterations and menus with low-quality photos. today i bought an egg and mozzarella crepe from one of these restaurants, and watched it being made while the employees threw friendly jabs at each other in a language i didn't recognize as an icon of the virgin mary gazed at them from the wall. the crepe wasn't pretty or brightly colored or aesthetically packaged. it cost me ten dollars with a tip and it was more food than i could ever eat. i sat crammed next to the sink in the kiosk using our big rubbermaid freezer cart as a table and tried not to cut the aluminum foil and styrofoam container along with the crepe. that thing made me so nostalgic and calm; the flavors were so familiar and comforting.

there's bigger nuances here than just "pretty food bad, unpretty food good", but it was a really interesting observation for me. i already knew my job was lowkey scam-ish, but to see real food actually being made without much fretting over how visually good it is to focus on how good for the eater it is - it was cool. i'm quitting my job soon. who knows, i might apply to the pancake place they're putting in.

anyway this was just a neat day, and i thought you might find it interesting. i hope you're doing well, and congrats again on blind trust !

God I loved reading this. Your descriptions of these two conflicting environments ring so true in my head. I'm gonna go ahead and drop a read more because I do have some food thoughts related to this and I'm also feeling like rambling.

Because we've all been there, right? The type of fancy bakery that sells a cake for like six dollars that looks amazing but is mostly moose or like stale almond cake. Macaroons are so enticing in theory, but because of the effort it takes to actually make them in the way they're intended they're surprisingly difficult to do right. You have a good macaroon and it's fucking worth 4 dollars, though. The combination of the crisp outer shell with the plush meringue and thick frosting. Plus they come in fun flavors - rose, lavender, earl grey. Yum yum. But a bad one just turns into paste in your mouth.

One of my favorite things in the world is what I call a medium-fancy dessert. It's usually a cake for me, although gelato would also suffice. It's something that feels fancy without losing that base level of quality and satisfaction. There's a bakery in Portland that stocks a 24-hour vending machine with their cakes (I know man it's crazy), and they're a pretty solid source of medium-fancy treats. They look pretty, but they have a ratio of soft, moist cake to quality frosting that really gives you a filling experience.

If that's not accessible, tiramisu works nearly every time for me. Plus it's not usually that more expensive than other cakes.

Compare that to smaller, usually immigrant-run restaurants that sometimes choose to let the quality of their food speak over the aesthetics of the storefront. What comes to mind when I imagine that is Sivalai Thai Restaurant, which is my favorite place for Thai food in my part of Portland. That's saying a lot too, since there are a TON of Thai places here for some reason.

Riley and I order from there a lot, and the portions are really good. The Thai Iced Tea is delicious. But I'm always impressed by the little touches the owners add - mainly how they always throw in a free portion of mango sticky rice, but also that they don't mind packaging a container of their Prik Nam Pla, which is like my favorite Asian condiment ever. It's Thai chilis and green onion in fish sauce and it is this insane mixture of sweet tanginess and sharp, fresh spice. I just learned how to make a vegan version from scratch and it's changed my life.

What I've loved to do in food service is combine these two experiences. I worked at Zupan's which is a boutique grocery store here in the Pacific Northwest, and one of my favorite things to do was provide an extra homey quality to the place that is otherwise asking you to pay like seven dollars for a bag of Doritos.

We had a different meat special at the deli every day, and on Sunday (I think) it was prime rib. Like, actual prime rib - very good, very expensive. A serving for one person would be like thirty bucks. We were allowed to give out samples though, so I'd summon like everyone I saw and invite them to try it.

They'd all love it, of course. It was fucking spectacular. Crispy, but with the perfect amount of rich fat and meat. Delectably salty. Rubbed with herbs and spices that would char as it smoked on the grills outside the store. It was truly remarkable stuff - but I'm not about to push cooked meat that's like sixty bucks a pound, maybe more.

What I would say, though, is that while Sunday is our prime rib roast day, we cut the ribs off in advance and cook them up for people to buy on Monday. So you can essentially get the deliciousness of the prime rib for like a forth of the price. People always seemed to like to hear that.

Food takes care of people, you know? And the people that serve food also take care of people. And I've always found that to be an incredibly important thing. If I am ever in a situation where I have to go back to a conventional full-time job, I'm far more likely to go back to food service than copywriting. I feel like I did much more good waiting tables at a Denny's than I did writing pest control websites for my bullshit media job.

[flufflepuffle296]

The Perfect Day

Hello!!! I wrote this prompt post-(ish)-s3 pre-s4 era where there was a lot of salt so this is about 3 years old I wanna say? So that’s why it’s so outdated so HEAVY Alya/Lila/Adrien/Tom and Sabine salt with a lot of Chloe sugar and slight Marigami (best ship) because *this was the vibe at the time* (ayyyy Kendall Jenner) on this page SO if that is not for you fair enough love that for you now SCROLL ON you have had many warnings about how old this is.

Also because this was written before all of s4/a few s3 episodes the lore is very much not present here and outdated so tough luck!

⚠️trigger warning!⚠️

Talking about s*icide here. Please stay safe and do not read this if you think it may trigger you even the slightest bit. Look after yourself! (Also I’m not trying to romanticise sewerslide in any way here (if you want the trauma dump version of how we came up with this you’re welcome to it) but if there is something that shouldn’t be in a post please do let me know and I will remove it but HEAVY TRIGGER WARNING).

SALT FOR (almost) EVERYONE

The Perfect day:

Marinette alarm startled her eyes open at exactly 4am. She scrunched her face up at the prospect of consciousness, but her expression softened slightly when she remembered: today was going to be the perfect day.

The perfect day, to die.

She clambered out of bed, and went downstairs to make her favourite breakfast, with a hot chocolate on the side and mountains of whipped cream, just how she liked it. She had spent the last week trying to convince herself out of this, but it was the only solution.

She was numb.

She was always going to be numb.

Nothing made her feel (that being a full sentence in itself) truly, wholly happy in her being anymore.

She went back upstairs to her balcony and ate her breakfast as the sun rose, squinting at her city. As she finished the last bite, she realised a good swing around Paris was just what she needed, so effortlessly transformed and pulled out her yo-yo, setting out for the Eiffel Tower, the source of so much inspiration for her designs.

Or rather, her *old* designs. She hadn’t the energy or mental strength to do anything she loved recently, nothing sparked much happiness or felt worth it. Her last design was about 2 months ago, but all it did was make her sob at the realisation that she was a failure and a fraud; nothing matched or was cohesive in any way. But in a way, realising her lack of talent when it came to her recent designs was sort of a net positive she concluded.

It meant it stung less when Lila spilled juice all over them, when Alya said they looked better smudged and ruined, or when Adrien delivered his father’s disapproval.

So instead she just watched the rest out the sunrise from her favourite spot, not picking out the different angles in the monument for a ridiculous geometric gown, or whatever her most recent fantasy was.

After another half hour, she sprung back home and got into her favourite Sunday dress, twirling her hair into her cutest hairstyle that the night before she had meticulously studied for hours on Pinterest, that she had always wanted to try. She packed her bag, three letters included, and ran out to catch up with her only real friend at a Francois DuPont.

Alya had left her a long time ago. After all, Lila had “no reason to lie”. She was “perfect”. Marinette was “just jealous” and “refused to cooperate”.

Because after all, it was always Marinette’s fault.

Marinette wished Alya the best in life, but she wasn’t going to waste much more energy on her. She was drained enough as it was.

Chloé was waiting for her, grinning ear-to-ear as she held up her first try at macarons for Marinette to critique. Marinette bit into the surprisingly good attempt at the cookie as they walked up to school together, laughing at Chloe’s sudden inability to swallow a cookie without choking. They walked to the back of the class and sat in their seats, ignoring their classmates.

It’ll all be over tonight anyways.

She spent the lessons talking with Chloé, as it wasn’t like she’d ever need the information after tonight. She encouraged Chloé to reminisce on their favourite times together, such as the day they realised they were different enough to be the same, or the day they realised that they (platonically) loved one another, and were the closest thing each other had to a soulmate.

That was also what Marinette considered a “perfect day”…

…Was Chloé going to be alright tomorrow?

At lunch, the pair met up with Luka and Kagami and went out to a cafe for food and orange juice, before sprinting after André the ice cream man and getting sweetheart ice cream together, Chloé paired with Luka, and Kagami with Marinette (“platonically” of course!). They parted ways once the hour was over, as they had to return to school, where Marinette spent the time daydreaming, recalling childhood memories from before Francois DuPont. This was going to be the last time she would ever remember them, after all.

They were let out of school at their usual time, thankfully no akuma that day, and Marinette, Chloé, Luka, and Kagami briefly chatted outside the gates, before parting ways. Marinette hugged them all tight as she left, handing them her letters and telling them not to open them until midnight AT LEAST.

She returned home, and watched her favourite films, favourite shows, and had her favourite meal for the very last time.

She kissed her parents on the cheeks, which was the most contact she’d had with them in a while, after Lila decided the bakery was her favourite Boulangerie, and she went upstairs to peacefully watch the sunset.

She would never have to deal with Chat Noir again and his flirting sexual harassment, so she decided to enjoy being Ladybug one last time. She transformed and went her usual route, ending up at the Eiffel Tower to finish watching the sun go down, swinging back home whilst it was still just barely light, taking notice of the cool air stinging her cheeks; the first real feeling she’d had in months.

Tikki begged her not to go through with it, but Marinette had made her decision, and renounced Tikki, telling her to find a new Ladybug; her only real plea being to warn them about Chat Noir prior.

Tikki was distraught, but Marinette used her guardianship to send her off and push her away — she needed to be alone for this, she wouldn’t let Tikki under any circumstance.

But Marinette didn’t want everything to be over quite yet, the air was too still, so she turned to her dust covered mannequin, and slowly stitched the zipper onto her old project that she never had the creativity or energy to finish. She tied a figure of 8, and snapped off the thread, taking notice of how it frayed.

Looking at it finally finished, it wasn’t as horrific as she made it out to be in her head a couple months ago, but still, not good enough to convince herself she had any worth.

She looked over at her clock.

10:30

I guess it’s time…

Marinette climbed up to her balcony and stepped over the railing, peering down. She took a deep breath…

And jumped.

She lay in the air, feeling as if she was floating for a second, waiting to to hit the ground. She thought she heard her name, but knew no one was around…

“MARINETTE!”

She felt a clawed hand grab her waist, knocking the air out of her as the two beings shot into the sky, the black figure clutching her tight.

She opened her blue eyes, and stared into Chat Noir’s brown ones.

…Brown?

…This wasn’t Chat Noir?

The black cat landed on a roof, hurriedly demanding to know if she was okay, in a voice that Marinette recognised must be —

“Kagami?!”

The black cat set her down on her balcony and explained that when Tikki was renounced, she was so distraught and furious she renounced Chat Noir of Plagg, revealing Adrien Agreste. The two Kwamis sailed around trying to find someone when they came across Kagami coming back from late night fencing. They quickly told her to read her letter as they were near incomprehensible from stress. Kagami briefly skimmed the letter before immediately snatching the nearest miraculous - the ring - and transforming into the black cat before sprinting across the rooftops as fast as she could, rushing to Marinette’s aid still clutching her letter. She arrived just in time to see her topple over, and saved her just before she hit the ground.

Marinette started sobbing in Kagami’s arms. Kagami sobbed with her a few minutes, promising to never let her go. She eventually picked her up once again and carried her to Le Grand Paris, where she banged on Chloé’s window. Chloé opened it and let the two crying girls in, announcing Luka’s presence as he happened to be in the room teaching Chloé guitar. He rushed to the girls when he saw them collapsed in each other’s arms. Marinette was feeling the first emotions she had felt in months, refusing to leave her saviour’s side, clutching to Kagami. Luka and Chloé listened as Marinette vented how she had been feeling, or rather the fact that she hadn’t been feeling anything, whilst Kagami stroked her hair and wiped her face, kissing her forehead every so often to remind her she was safe.

Chloé had a room prepared and the four of them off school the next day, booking Marinette in for a highly rated therapy appointment. The four friends snuggled in each other’s arms, Marinette in the middle. They fell asleep immediately, crashing from the excitements of the past hour, except for Marinette, who lay awake just a few more moments to make a promise to herself.

Every day, from today, I will make into the *perfect* day.

—————————————————————————

Hello me again!!!! I had a few other endings in case we weren’t feeling this one so just quickly:

Alternate ending 1) She jumps. When midnight comes around her friends open her letters and rush to her place, only to find police and an ambulance declaring her dead, and if you want some more angst, Chloé and Kagami storm into the school the next day scream-crying at their classmates whilst Luka repeatedly whispers “I couldn’t save her” crying in his mum’s arms. (Very depressing)

Alternate ending 2) Marinette realises that she doesn’t want to die. Why should she? She’s just spent today just doing what makes her happy? She should live like this everyday! She has so much to live for! Sure therapy is needed and some communication too, but she can do it. (Yayyy happyyy)

This was for the most part written when I was around 14/15 so if the sentence structure is a bit shit I’m gonna blame it on that (and not my lack of progress in writing in the past 3 years!)

[lanaactuallyabanana]

Okay- Okay- Okay! Soooo, hear me out on this one!

Headcannons or a oneshot of...

Reader, gn or fem, I don't mind which, is the older sibling of Ranboo. So obviously, being the cool asf and totally straight sibling that reader is, they randomly show up at Ranboo's apartment one day with a ton of baked goods cause they run a little Bakery back in California. Ranboo doesn't know this, and they're playing a horror game so any noises of doors opening or closing just seem like apart of the game they are playing. So reader naturally scares Ranboo by sneaking up behind him. So that leads to two things. One, reader getting whacked in the face due to Ranboo's reflexes. Two, that leads to a ton of questions from chat on who the heck Reader is.

Take your time on this one! Make sure to eat, drink, and take all the time you need on this!!

-Mackenzieeeee :))))))

omg kenzie. all hail kenzie for their amazing asks wtf ur filling my inbox with beauty and i cannot repay for it ily so fucking much holy shit ur so cool @catswithroses (also is this header cutesies or what oml) also lana is back in her writing actual fics and not just headcanons everyone yippee!!!!! AND BEFORE A BITCH SAYS SOMETHING, MACARON IS PRONOUCED MACK-UH-RON. NOT MACK-UH-ROON. WRONG FUCKING DESERT.

ranboo x fem!reader (platonic, sibling dymanic)

, smelling something sweet !!

︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶

Ran and Y/n have always had a dynamic as siblings. See, when you typically hear about siblings in a novella such as this, you most likely think of young kids fighting and arguing with one another over the most silliest of things. But, to your dismay, these two never had such a duo like that. They were simple but yet so unique as siblings. And that's what made them special.

Y/n was constantly in touch with Ran, she felt a need as an older sister to check up on them, as would any sister do. Ran had previously lived in another part of the world, England, for a little while, but had moved back to California not so long ago. They lived in a smaller apartment (a shit one, according to Ranboo themselves), and Y/n quite liked to visit them every once in a while. It was an easy thing for Y/n to do, as she owned a bakery around 30 minutes away from his place. Y/n had closed early for the day, deciding to visit and deliver her most popular and desired treat (one that Ran couldn't resist), elderflower and rose macarons. She packed her deserts in a purple tupperware container, and placed them in the passenger seat of her car.

Soon enough, she arrived at his place. She entered through the door using the spare key he had given her, and looked around his place. It was surprisingly clean, he must have had a friend come over and help him clean. As she was admiring his polaroid's on the kitchen wall, she heard her brother yell. Her eyes widened in confused, and checked her phone.

RanbooLive is now streaming! "WOOO HORROR GAME LETS GO"

She laughed at herself. No wonder why he was yelling. She opened up the stream and saw his setup, facecam was on and he was playing some horror game that she didn't recognize. She noticed on his facecam that she would have a perfect entry for them not to hear her, considering he also had headphones on. Y/n smirked deviously. She placed her phone in her pocket, and held the baked goods in her arms tightly. She slowly creeped towards the office door.

See, reader, Ranboo was in their own state. They were unable to truly focus around anything around them (which is most likely a hazard) due to how realistic the game seemed. Footsteps, wood creaking, whispers, and rumbles were just all part of the game.

Now that you know that, Y/n quietly snuck behind Ranboo, seeing herself in the facecam. She paused for a second, looking at the chat.

mcytfan765_ : erm

ilovedinosaurs474: who is that??

biolevded: ranboo has stalked confirmed

Y/n giggled to herself at the chats. She waved and smiled quietly at the camera. Ranboo, somehow, is still entirely clueless and very focused to one singular monitor that has the game on it.

Ranboo turns his head to the side in confusion slowly, but still remains focused to the game. "Guys, I swear this game has a placebo or whatever you call it cause I'm smelling something sweet right now."

Y/n took that as her cue, and screamed.

Ran's eye's widened and they fell off their chair entirely.

Let's just say we got a clip-worthy moment between the two siblings.

︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶

hehehe i love this fic its so silly!! its also short n' sweet but i love it!!

tysm to @catswithroses for the wonderful request, both jackie and kenzie feeding me with these asks yum yum

if you liked this, please support me by liking, reblogging, commenting and following me!!

requests are open!

[thewritewolf]

In Due Time Chapter 12: Kwami Swap

Marinette makes her third heroic appearance. And you know what they say - third time's the charm.

@marichatmay

Enjoy!

First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Read on Ao3

“Any final words, Chat Noir?” The akuma growled, its long, spindly limbs surprisingly strong as they pinned Chat Noir’s arms to his sides. All he could do was kick his legs, suspended twenty meters above the streets of Paris.

“Hm… Nothing is coming to mind right now,” Chat Noir replied. “Can you give me some time to think of some really good ones? Maybe a few minutes? Hours? Days? In fact, let’s just call a timeout for this battle.”

“No. I think not,” the akuma said in a voice that echoed strangely. “Let’s see who is under that mask…”

Panic gripped Chat as he felt his ring being pulled off, nearly powerless to stop it. He could feel the magic unraveling around him and he did the only thing he could think to do.

“Spots on!”

Just as his transformation as Chat Noir ended, the red swirl of magic hid his secret identity. While that was definitely a good thing, it came with another problem entirely - now he couldn’t hope the akuma would overlook his earrings. And if he couldn’t beat the akuma as Chat Noir, he certainly couldn’t with a miraculous he didn’t have eight years of practice with.

A miraculous which Mister Bug realized the akuma was still holding onto. Hoping Plagg would forgive him, he reached for his yoyo and struck it out of the akuma’s hands. He couldn’t track where the ring fell as he broke free of the akuma’s grip, and just hoped that it didn’t end up in the wrong hands before he could go looking for it.

With renewed determination, Mister Bug twirled the yoyo into a shield and fell into a combat stance. The odds weren’t in his favor, but he’d never let that bother him before and he wasn’t about to start now.

----------------

As the battle raged on overhead, Marinette breathed a sigh of relief. It had been an eventful few seconds. The bone chilling fear of seeing Chat Noir nearly unmasked, followed by the revelation that he was secretly Mister Bug, all the while knowing that Chat was fighting a losing battle… Marinette had more reasons than the obvious to be upset at being stuck on the frontlines of yet another akuma battle.

Her thoughts came to a sudden halt when she heard the sound of something metallic hitting the ground. She looked down just in time to see a familiar ring roll into her shoes. Her jaw dropped and she was stuck staring at it for a moment before quickly snatching it up. Immediately, the little cat creature she had met a couple days ago had appeared in front of her.

“Plagg?”

“Pigtails! Thank cheese you’re here.” He pointed a paw at the battle raging above. “Look, you’ve got to transform and help my kid out. He can’t do this on his own.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Marinette said, fear quickly being pushed aside in the face of a wall of steely focus. “Plagg, claws out!”

Mere seconds later, Ladynoire rose to the skies on her baton for the second time. She batted aside a spindly limb meant for Mister Bug. The two of them landed on a rooftop as the akuma stepped back to get a grip on the situation.

“Mister Bug!” She said, pretending to just now notice him. “I’ve heard so much about you. Finally decided to actually fight the akumas now?”

“Well I figured I might as well pick up the slack if that Chat Noir was going to run off,” he shot back with a grin. “Ready to take this bastard down?”

A grin spread across her face as well, a reckless bravery falling over her as she stood beside the experienced hero.

“Always.”

---------------

“Pound it?” Ladynoire held out her fist to Mister Bug after he purified the akuma.

He looked down at her first in confusion before smiling and returning the fist bump. “Pound it.”

“So… now what?”

Mister Bug glanced around, which made her notice the people starting to cautiously return to the area. No doubt the reporters would be flocking to this spot in droves once they realized that two elusive heroes were on the scene.

“Follow me.”

A few minutes later and Ladynoire found herself in a darkened office building. Maybe they were closed for the day, or maybe they had gotten out of there due to the rampaging akuma nearby. Either way, the building was completely empty except for the two of them.

“Okay, you stay on this side and I’ll go over here,” Mister Bug said, darting behind a cubicle wall. Ladynoire blinked at the wall before letting herself slide her back down it until she was sitting. On the other side, she felt Mister Bug do the same. “Spots off.”

“Claws in.” Her transformation dropped and she gave a smile to the kwami. “Great work, Plagg. You were great out there.”

Plagg grinned, showing off his tiny fangs. “You weren’t half bad yourself, Pigtails.”

The kwami vanished as she took off the ring and sat it at the edge of the wall, in reach of the man who was Chat Noir. And, just as she figured, he quickly snatched the miraculous back up. With her end of the deal finished, she put her hands on the floor to help stand herself up. There was no use in sitting around now.

To her surprise, Chat Noir snagged her wrist. “Hang on a minute. Please?”

She nodded before remembering he couldn’t see her. “Alright.”

A whispered conversation began on the other side of the wall. Even as close as she was, she couldn’t make out much beyond the fact that there were three voices. It didn’t last very long either.

“So,” Chat Noir began. His voice had a strange quality to it now, as though it was wavering with emotion. “Tikki likes cookies, especially ones that you’ve made personally. I’m not that good a baker but she loves the ones that I’ve done so don’t worry. Even if you’ve never made a cookie in your life, she’ll probably eat them all up anyway. But no matter what she says, don’t feed her after midnight. It makes her hyper and she’ll keep you up all night.”

“Tikki? What are you talking about?”

“It’s harder to get used to at first than the black cat miraculous,” he continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “There is definitely more of a learning curve with it. But you’re a lot more clever than me, so I think you’ll take to it better. Talking with Tikki and just practicing will teach you everything you need to know.”

“Wait wait wait,” Marinette said, rubbing her temples. “Are you saying… you’re giving me a miraculous?”

“Not just any miraculous, little witch.”

She looked to her right and saw his hand. When he pulled back, she saw a pair of earrings. Her eyes widened. While it wasn’t exactly common knowledge, her many years proofreading for the Cat Chat let her recognize them on sight.

“Are those… Red Beetle’s miraculous?”

“Yes, but no. It is the miraculous that gave Red Beetle his powers, but they existed long before him, and will exist long after. Its proper name is the ladybug miraculous.”

She hesitantly reached out a hand, thinking that at any moment he’d change his mind and take them back. But he never did and she looked down at the exquisite earrings. As she put them on, Chat Noir continued.

“You remember the drill from last time - will you accept this miraculous and with it, defend Paris from evil?”

“Yes! Of course!”

“Good,” he said, and she could almost hear the relief in his voice. “Oh, and here, you can have these.” He dropped a bag of chocolate chip cookies at the edge of the wall. “She prefers macarons, but…” Chat chuckled. “That’s a little outside my skill range. I hope you have better luck.”

“Well, I am the daughter of bakers.”

“No kidding? It’ll be a match made in heaven then. Claws out!” He poked his head around the corner, a familiar Chat grin on his face. “Well, see you around… partner.”

And just like that, he was gone.

Marinette sat there, thinking it over for a couple minutes.

Partner.

She smiled. She could get used to that.

Now all she needed was a name…

[omniswords]

Chronicles of a Parisian Dumbass 2

just a short one this time around. like i said before, this is kind of a sandbox fic, but it’s been a while since i posted anything from it. better this than nothing! enjoy!

today on Chronicles of a Parisian Dumbass: Cute Bakery Girl knows my name and i forgot to ask for hers.

AND i forgot to tell her about the flour.

conclusion: the prayer circle didn’t work, and she probably hates me. more at six

Well, okay. Maybe that’s an exaggeration. Surprisingly, at least to himself, he’s got a good track record when it comes to people liking him on first meeting, At least his mom and Juleka still like him, even if she might be obligated to. And Rose does, and Ivan does, even if Luka is kicking himself for not picking something up for him, for forgetting they even had practice today. Mylène does, too, or seems to well enough; she’s known his sister since their middle school days, and it feels like she’s been dating Ivan for practically forever, so he’d like to think she’s not just coming because her boyfriend’s in a band with him.

So maybe Cute Bakery Girl doesn’t hate him. Maybe she just tolerates him. Or maybe she doesn’t pay him any mind; after all, he’s just a drop in the bucket of every other Parisian picking up an order or praising Tom and Sabine through word-of-mouth. He can’t tell just yet which is better.

Maybe she’s already forgotten him.

At least his last couple of tweets are getting a couple of likes here and there—mostly from mutuals, but better to get some reponse from some people he vaguely knows than no response at all. And more than that, at least she smiled. At him.

He’d do anything to see that smile again, in person instead of in his head.

Well. Almost anything.

“What’s eating you?”

Luka looks up from his phone, snapping out of himself and barely aware of how much he’s been absently scrolling through his feed. There’s Juleka standing in the doorway of their sort-of shared bedroom, her bass guitar slung on and her toes tapping half-impatiently. He’s always found it kind of funny, how open she is with her emotions around him. She’d never do this with their mother, or her classmates. Maybe not even with Rose. “We’re ready to practice,” she says, like he should have known all along that they were expecting him upstairs. “You coming?”

“Yeah—yeah.” Clearing his throat, he shuffles off his bed and pockets his phone, making a careful grab for his own guitar and the box of pastries. “Sorry, I was just… thinking.”

Juleka scoffs, the way any younger sister probably would. “Sounds dangerous.”

Luka rolls his eyes. “Keep talking and I’m gonna eat your tart.”

“You won’t.”

“I’m your brother. It’s in the job description.”

“What were you thinking about?” Juleka asks, brushing her hair from her eyes even though it falls right back into place. It looks like the purple is due for a touch-up; he’ll help her out with it, in spite of their bickering.

“Just this girl,” he mumbles, pushing past her and already heading toward the deck. She doesn’t need to know the details.

He doesn’t have to turn around to know Juleka’s rolling her eyes. “Oh, boy.”

“No,” Luka corrects. “I’ve already dated two of those.”

He doesn’t give her the chance to quip back, mostly because they’ve already made it up on deck. Rose is still working on some vocal warm-ups, Ivan is twirling one of his drumsticks between his fingers and humming to himself, and the cool air of the Seine hits him head-on. (It’s the closest he’s gotten to ocean air; he’s posted a few times about how going to the southern coast would be on his bucket list if it weren’t so damn expensive.) He takes a seat on a nearby stool to tune up, and then he sets his guitar aside, holding up the box from Tom and Sabine. From the girl. “Snacks before or after?”

Before is unanimous, and in Rose’s high-pitched terms, “But we should make it quick! Just because we haven’t performed in a while doesn’t mean we can go slacking!” (She has a point, even if they’re all pretty sure that the sooner they finish practicing, the sooner she and Juleka can get back to cuddling, and giggling, and probably more than cuddling and giggling, downstairs.)

Luka’s about to tell Ivan about his own forgetfulness and apologize when the box stops him. Or, well, what’s inside the box stops him. It’s all intact, thank goodness—the two little cakes, the tart, even the frosting on his napoleon. But tucked away at the end, nestled in a cupcake wrapper, is an electric blue macaron, sandwiching a deep purple filling and iced with an intricate letter M.

It makes his stomach flip.

“What is it?” Ivan says. “We’ll still eat them if they’re messed up.” He grins. “They taste better that way anyway.”

Luka’s still staring at the macaron, half-guessing at the flavor, half-daydreaming, half-reminding himself not to daydream, and half-remembering that there are only ever two halves. A smile threatens the corner of his mouth, and he does nothing to fight it. “Jules?” he says, placing the napoleon and its wrapping in Ivan’s hands. “Can you go grab us some plates?”

god, i’m so fucked.

[marinetteplztakeabreak]

The year is 2021. The first few episodes of mlb Season 5 were just aired. Tumblr’s exploding with fanfics and theories. The show’s new director is conducting cryptic polls about which friendships and teamups the fans want to see most. Adrien is finally realizing that his dad sucks and has gotten more direct in his small moments of rebellion. Kagami, Adrien, and Marinette have a group chat that’s 90% just elaborate plans for sneaking out. Marinette’s been getting better and better at acting normal around Adrien since the beginning of season four and she’s realized that regardless of romantic feelings, she desperately wants to be his friend.

Everyone’s posting about the latest episode, Lady WiFi 3.0, where Alya got akumatized because she was jealous that Adrien was stealing her best friend. Marinette was so busy panicking and blaming herself that she forgot to slip away and transform, which lead to half the episode being Marichat. Chat Noir had a few lines that may have implied he know that she was Ladybug and every word of their dialogue is now being picked apart by theorists. After they won the battle, there were copious amounts of communication and apologies from Adrien, who was immediately yelled at by both girls because “Adrien stop apologizing for hanging out with your friends you’re allowed to do that, you self-deprecating idiot.” The episode ended with Adrien becoming Alya’s secret behind the scenes co-runner of the Ladyblog, and he’s thriving at the chance to work without being directly watched by the public and she’s thriving at the fact that she has a dedicated co-worker who’s just as obsessed with superheroes (especially Ladybug) as she is.

Now that months have passed since the season 4 finale aired, people are finally calming down. Mayura got so close to winning that she managed to take Chat Noir’s miraculous, discovering his secret identity in the process. Chat Noir didn’t end up telling Ladybug about this: partly due to fear that he’d lose his Miraculous, because he’s gotten so good at being a team with Ladybug that he’s afraid Paris would be in danger without him. Also, now that Ladybug is the guardian, she’s the only one who could choose a new Chat Noir and therefore would know the secret identity of anyone she picked. Also, it’s never been directly confirmed, but everyone’s pretty sure that he knows that Marinette is Ladybug, and without his Miraculous, he would lose his only means of defense if Mayura did hunt him down in his civilian identity and grill him for Ladybug’s identity. He also seems to think that he’s the less important hero and it doesn’t matter as much if he gets hurt or captured so long as he manages to protect his Lady. His decision spawned endless discourse, but everyone can at least see where he’s coming from. The heroes are doing their best but there’s obvious moments where they’re cracking under the stress and could desperately use an adult on their team. #givemarinetteanap was trending on Tumblr for a few days. Adrien had canonically acknowledged depression and has actual medical reasons to force his dad to let him interact with friends at times, although his father still does the absolute bare minimum.

A week ago, in the season 5 pilot, Natalie faked a coughing fit to stop Hawkmoth when he was about to hurt Chat. She’s still trying to take the Miraculouses and still wants Hawkmoth to succeed but she’ll literally die before any harm comes to Adrien, and she’s the only one who knows he’s also Chat Noir. Adrien knows that Mayura knows his identity but he has no idea that Natalie knows, so he’s confused about why she suddenly seems to understand why he’s exhausted after midnight akuma battles and even clears his schedule, so he can rest. She still rarely shows direct affection, but the small things are becoming more and more frequent and groups of dedicated fans are eagerly awaiting her redemption arc.

The amateur fashion business that Marinette started halfway through season 4 is taking off, thanks in part to celebrity promotions, from Jagged Stone to Clara Nightingale to Adrien Agreste. She’s under a lot of pressure dealing with actual money and orders and the stress of running a real business, but she’s clearly happy with it, and it gives her something productive to do with the time that she used to spend obsessing over Adrien. She also taught herself how to crochet for a project and now brings string and a hook with her everywhere to stress-crochet when anxiety spirals hit. It’s become something of a joke within the fandom but no one can deny that it’s a strangely calming aesthetic. The shine for Adrien in her room has been taken down and replaced with a wall of the designs she’s the proudest of, which caused a barrage of conflicting emotions for everyone watching.

Chloe has become a permanent part of the friend group as well, after she exposed Lila’s lies. She’s still has no filter and causes a few akumas when she hurts others’ feelings, but she’s genuinely trying to be a decent person, so she can make real friends. She also manages to pull Marinette out of an anxiety attack a few times by being ridiculously blunt and startling Marinette out of her train of thought.

The show openly calls Juleka and Rose a couple, they’re had a few on screen kisses and people make YouTube compilations of them saying the phrase “my girlfriend.” Half the class comes to them for relationship advice because they’re literally the steadiest and healthiest couple in the class. Also, it’s revealed that Chloe never had a crush on Adrien. She was literally just fighting Marinette for his platonic attention the entire time, which she thought was common knowledge. “Ew, why would I want to date Adrien, we’ve known each other since we were toddlers?” Someone asks Chloe if there’s anyone she does have a crush on and she says not really, no one in their class is even that cute, Ladybug’s low-key gorgeous though in a celebrity crush kind of way. Marinette is the only person in the class who’s actually surprised to find out that Chloe might have a crush on Ladybug.

Teamups with the Miraculous holders are becoming more and more common. Queen Bee has openly said that she doesn’t care about the danger of her identity being revealed and has become a frequent member of the lineup. Alix, juleka, Rose, and Nathaniel have each been given Miraculouses a few times, as well as several newly introduced characters. In an episode we only have a trailer for so far, Marinette is having such a bad panic attack that she knows she won’t be able to be Ladybug, so she discretely slips her earrings into Alya’s bag and Alya has to save the day as Ladybird. During a different high-stakes akuma battle near the end of season 4, Hawkmoth knew that he’d be causing a lot of collateral damage so he locked Adrien inside with heavy supervision to keep him safe. Unable to sneak away, he managed to slip his ring with a note into Chloe’s bag, because she was over for a business meeting and also the only person he knew that Ladybug would trust with a Miraculous. Chloe got to be Reine Chat for the day and she was surprisingly mature about it, listening to everything Ladybug told her and putting the Miraculous back where she got it after the battle was won She’d never admit it, but it was clear that she was genuinely scared for one of the first times in her life.

Now, the fans theories for what’s going to happen continue to pour in. The episode titles for the entire season were just uncovered. The finale is going to be Princess Justice parts 1, 2, and 3. The current predominant fan theory is that Sabine is going to have to be Ladybug for part of the episode and fight an akumatized Marinette. It’s been defended by so many long winding arguments that no one can remember if it’s a crack theory or genuine. The episode just before the finale is titled Emilie and it’s causing different kinds of massive panic throughout the fandom. The season trailers show tons of interactions between all sides of the love square. Adrien is going to break down in tears in Marinette’s arms at one point in the season. That trailer clip has also been overanalyzed to death at this point. Adrien has learned to bake macarons at the bakery and Marinette has learned to win a staring contest with Gabriel Agreste. All is well.

[miss-mira-02]

Just imagine if...

Just imagine a miraculous AU where everyone was a waiter/waitress. No matter who you are, you are  a waiter/waitress.

Marinette - the girl who somehow manages to bake and serve. Everyone learns to love her. “You’re a stranger, welcome!” “You’re a regular, would you like your usual?” You just can’t hate her.                                                                Specialty: Rainbow macarons

Adrien - not acquainted to serving people, he actually starts out as a cash register. So happy when he finally can serve people. “Hello miss, what would you like?” “What do I recommend?” “Well, probably the special.” “You want the special?” “Right away miss.”                                                                    Specialty: Strawberry milkshake

Luka - that cutie who served you coffee that one time. You’re a regular now? Is it for that boy with the blue hair? He breaks the dress code, yet only with his hair. A tight, white shirt and black dress pants. That classic white apron. Specialty: Latte with a treble clef.

Chloe - how did she even get a job with that attitude? Route A) Her father’s going bankrupt and she wants to help him gain money. Route B) Her father isn’t buying her stuff anymore, and she has to pay for her own stuff. Route C) “Are you saying I can’t be nice? Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous” “Sabrina wanted support on her new job” she mumbles under her breath.                          Specialty: Banana pie

Ayla - undercover worker at multiple cafes. Which cafe has the better coffee? Better cakes? You’ll have to find out on the TruthCafe blog. Despite her working at multiple shops, manages to get on with most people.                                Specialty: Pumpkin-spice latte

Rose - aka. the sweetest girl you’ll ever meet. “What can I get you? Also, you look gorgeous” Loves to recommend anything sweet. This person is happy, they deserve a cake. This person looks down, a fancy chocolate will cheer them up. In love with Juleka, the bartender.                                                                      Specialty: Rose tea

Juleka - the goth bartender. Great at making cocktails, not so good at foods. Emotionless at the bar, until Rose manages to turn up at the bar. “What are you doing here? You’re too innocent” Terrible at shots despite her facade.          Specialty: Black Devil Martini

Sabrina - bookshop cafes. They are her life. She works at one, studies there. Very happy when Chloe starts being nicer, even saying she might take up doing her own work. When a customer orders, suggest a book with it. “You want a caramel latte? Try this book, Salted Caramel.” *cough cough* Felinette reference *cough cough* “Sometimes people just need a break, you know” a customer says to her one day, and she sends them straight upstairs to a room full of beanbags and books.                                                                                Specialty: Smoked salmon on toasted rye bread (Complete with a book recommendation)

Marc - works alongside Sabrina, instead writing books in his free time. Everyone he knows that works at the cafe tries to recommend them to people, despite his protests. People enjoy his books, and his politeness when serving them.                                                                                                               Specialty: Classic, black espresso

Nathaniel - surprisingly gets into a graffiti cafe. Learns to paint freestyle, though he ends up painting cakes. Refuses to serve drinks, no-one knows why. Suspiciously willing to serve sweets though.                                                         Specialty: Chocolate mud cake

Alix - same place as Nathaniel. Been working here since she started lycée (is that the french equivalent of high school? As an australian I only know two types of school) Everyone knows not to challenge her at toasted sandwiches.           Specialty: Ham, cheese, tomato toasted sandwich.

Kim - he’s a waiter? Max forces him too learn some respect and manners by serving people. Also helps him get closer to Marinette, as he loves making pastries (and the girl making them) Has to learn not to run with dishes as well. Specialty: Apple plaits

Max -  uber eats? Is that even a waiter’s job? Doesn’t matter, because he sure dresses like one. Complete gentleman when delivering. Markov helps with online directions.                                                                                               Specialty: Fast deliveries

[tampaish-blog]

Boba/Bubble tea review guide to Tampa Bay (by @tampaish)

“Wait, what IS boba/bubble tea???!”  Boba and bubble tea are used interchangeably. Boba is the tapioca pearls (v high in starch, and often soaked in sugar/sweeteners so def not healthy btw) and it’s often put into teas and sipped from those fat straws. I think it started in Taiwan with milk teas (teas with milk added). Personally, I don’t like milk teas bc they are often made with powder and make me wanna throw up (I’m lactose-intolerant, but I also hate the taste of dairy so even if it’s lactose-free whatever added, i still don’t like the taste). In the past 5 years, boba’s been a hot hit all over the US. As you’ll see, it’s especially peaked in areas near colleges and with a high Asian-population. 

**MY HISTORY WITH BOBA** I tried bubble tea for the first time in China like 10ish years ago. I hated it, I thought the boba was disgusting and squishy and weird, and I threw my drink away. Fast-forward a couple years when I was in Gainesville and was re-introduced to bubble tea at Lollicup. Lollicup (now TeaStori) is the older sibling of Bobacup in Tampa, and I was addicted and went there ALL. THE. TIME. It was the only bubble tea place in Gainesville for several years, and I was used to their texture of boba as the standard. 

Now, I probably get bubble tea on average 7 times a week. and I have for a couple years... You could say my boba pack year history is around 4 years ;)  tehe, ok, let’s end this medical-analogy and get to the real good shit.

**A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF (almost) EVERY BUBBLE TEA/BOBA PLACE IN TAMPA BAY!** Somewhat sorted by location from closest to furthest away from USF, which is really the boba mecca in Tampa Bay! Click here or the image below to view the instagram story highlights which has all the deets!

for those of you who would prefer a text-summary, I'll do so below

***USF AREA***

Right across the street from one of the entrance/exits of USF leads you almost directly to Bobacup. I'd heard about Bobacup long before I'd been, since I was living in Gainesville when it opened and back then, it also served food! Now they don't serve hot food: just french macarons & mochi ice cream (along with bubble tea, duh)! My favorite things about Bobacup are: super cute seasonal decorations (February brings out so many huge cute fluffy teddy bears!!!), including a swing that often changes with tea-puns (e.g. "Love you to infini-tea")! My second favorite thing is how many options for toppings they have, including some seasonal flavored soaked boba (NOT poppers, ugh i hate poppers, but they also have poppers...) and they had heart, dolphin, and star-shaped jellies last year!! They also started having crystal jelly (aka agar jelly) which I've been obsessed with!! And mini honey boba, aloe vera, lychee, etc etc etc. My third favorite thing is that the loose leaf teas are $3 for a large!!!! :D I get that a lot, and when I want to treat myself, I get an avocado snow (capped with a candy that looks like the avocado pit!)

Across the street is a boba place that's open until midnight (latest in all the tampa bay area) called "The Boba House". The drinks are super sweet and boba isn't too good, but I do like the artsy/alt vibes and if you're craving boba at 11:30pm, there's only one place to go...

Chewy Boba is behind Bobacup but in a diff plaza. It's decently new, and offers 10% off to students. They also have macarons. The tea and macarons are okay, I'm not a huge fan but I know others who love it... They have arcade games and sometimes lots of ppl gather to chill

Kung Fu Tea has some of my favorite drinks. I've been addicted to their wintermelon black tea since I discovered it years ago, and last year I discovered another addiction: logan jujube tea (it comes with longan pieces in the tea!). I get the wintermelon 30% sweet and logan 0% (it's still p sweet bc they add syrup). I like red bean and/or boba as textures in them. The ppl who work there are all nice except this one guy who isn't so nice, but I tolerate him bc i'm addicted... seriously. ADDICTING. I've tried other types of teas (like their WOW milk teas) at KFT and hated them. The food is amazing tho, i've tried the squid, chicken, calamari, fried shrimp... All really good and you get a ton of food

Naga Tea is open until 11pm, which makes it the second-latest bubble tea place in tampa (after The Boba House). Their teas taste great & the boba is okay most of the time. I recommend coming here to treat yourself bc it can get pricey, esp since I think the mix'n'match drinks are the best (try lychee and peach, or peach and wintermelon!) The boba is flavorless (not soaked in sweetener) so I don't like it as much as sweetened...

Kalesia Tea Lounge is my all-time biggest addiction. They have such an expansive space to study/work/chill, which is super important to me as I'm often looking to spend at least a couple hours studying while I'm at these places. EVERY tea i've gotten from them has tasted great. My favorite loose leaf teas are: coconut oolong, kyoto rose, and moroccan mint. My favorite specialty drinks are: dirty chai and strawberry matcha. I LOVE that i can get boba with my dirthy chai!! My only complaints about Kaleisia is thaty they now close at 8pm daily, and they don't have a large variety of textures (only boba, chia, and poppers). Kaleisia also offers good food that's mostly vegan! I like their $5.50 noodles with full on spicy sauce. Fun fact: “Kaleisia” is derived from “Kaleidoscope” and “Asia”! Pro tip: Check the calendar near the tea wall to see if there’s any special deals of the day. They also have “Teas of the Month” which are $0.50 cheaper than otherwise.

Quickly Boba opened up near USF, and they offer food. I like the food (only had one bowl) but their teas are nothing special imo. I get the rose or some flavored normal tea. I think their location in Brandon tastes better for tea.

**OUTSIDE OF THE USF AREA**

BRANDON, FL

Green Island Yogurt and Tea is mostly tea. I have rarely seen anyone come in here for yogurt... I really like their teas. They taste good and just as importantly, and very well-priced. The boba is okay, nothing extraordinary. I DO like their food though, I think it’s yummy and well-priced too. I really like the flavor.

TBD @ 301 is new and surprisingly (despite their large tea wall), their teas don’t taste good, and the boba is realllyyyy bad. However, I would recommend this place because they do a very good lunch meal combo with various Filipino foods and a tea for like, cheap (forget exact price). The chicken adobo was soooo delicious. And the people working there are super nice, and I think they donate 10% of proceeds to some charity. or maybe it was 5% or 1%, whatever.

***WESLEY CHAPEL***

Buttermilk Provisions serves Kaleisia tea and boba, but the boba is horrible. I’d recommend you get tea without boba, or get a coffee or something. They’re really not known for their bubble tea, so stick with their cafe-stuff.

***ST. PETE AREA***

Moonlight Boba is new and sooo good. The ppl working are super nice and helpful. I loved the tea flavor, and my noodles were SO GOOD. I’ve been here 3x and every time it’s been consistently good.

Moonlight Teahouse is 10min away from Moonlight Boba, but NOT associated with each other at all!!! Moonlight Teahouse also serves tea and food, but imo Moonlight Boba is better in just about everything (service, food, tea)... 

[ysscquotes]

A Good Weird (Oneshot)

“Are you guys sure you don't wanna come?” Akane pouted at two of her fellow council members. It was the school cultural festival and they had all been planning on going together.

“We can't Akane, Aoi and I have to keep watch to make sure nobody gets hurt, you can still look around with Torayoshi and Megami,” Kuroko calmly explained to the redhead, currently holding a very unhappy Aoi by the back of her blazer to keep her from wiggling out of her responsibilities. Akane was about to protest further but the studious girl was already out of sight and had dragged Aoi with her. Akane signed a bit but quickly turned her attention to the remaining two. Megami had just finished showing Taro and his little sister Hanako around and Shiromi was drawing in the dirt with her foot. Neither of them had been paying attention and neither of them looked excited.

“Alright guys, let's go!” Akane smiled sweetly, then looked at the both of them and held out her hands for them to hold. Both of them responded with surprise and minor blushing at the sudden display of affection in front of all these people, but took her hands nonetheless. It was very hard to refuse Akane when she was being affectionate.

“Ooh! Let's check out the desserts!” Akane was practically bouncing with excitement at the sight of the wide assortment of pastries, edible arrangements, and decorative ice cream lining one of the booths. Megami sighed internally as she imagined how massive Akane’s dessert receipt was going to be this time as she reached for her wallet. But she didn't really mind, it was always a treat to see Akane this excited, and it seemed that even the usually stoic Shiromi agreed with her, the girl rolling her eyes and smiling in amusement at Akane’s latest antics. However both girls were shocked when Akane pulled out her own money and only bought four items, a small plate of macaroons and three different decorative ice creams, one that was more of a Chocolatey-Nut-covered Popsicle with star designs, one that was more of an elaborate sunde with a waffle cone bowl filled with fruit and had round mouse ears and a little crown on the giant ice cream scoop in the middle for decoration, and one that was a waffle cone similarly elaborate to the sunde but a bit more regally decorated. The two girls shared a look.

“This is… Weird.” Shiromi muttered.

“But a good kind of weird?” Megami inquired.

“Jury’s still out on that one.”

“Let's find somewhere to sit and eat these!” Akane beamed as she handed over the ice cream cone and Popsicle to Megami and Shiromi. The two shared a surprised look at the ice cream being for them before they were both dragged to sit at one of the picnic tables set up nearby.

“They said these are called Royalberry and Rockin’ Crunch, I figured you guys would like them, we can share the Macaroons!” Akane smiled brightly at her friends before digging into her ice cream dessert which was surprisingly low in the sugary department for something Akane would pick since it was mostly fruit. The two looked at each other and shrugged before hesitantly trying their ice cream, and both had their eyes light up a bit, it seemed Akane was really good at judging people tastes in ice cream! Megami’s ‘Royalberry’ was mostly raspberry flavor with a hint of sour and it tasted homemade which she enjoyed quite a lot while Shiromi’s ‘Rockin’ Crunch’ was a bit bittersweet in the dark chocolate covering but had a very tasty Banana flavor on the inside with the crunchy peanuts pulling it all together.

“How did you know we'd like those…?” Megami asked curiously before popping a Macaron in her mouth. Akane once more smiled at them both.

“Well you're very sweet and regal, it seemed perfect!” Akane nodded with a giggle, causing Megami to blush a lot at the comment and Shiromi to get a little bitter (pun intended) because she had a pretty solid idea of why she had gotten her ice cream.

“Let me guess, you thought I'd like it since I'm bitter like dark chocolate?” Shiromi rolled her eyes with a sad sigh. Bitter is definitely a word that would easily describe her but it did make her a bit sad that's what one of her crushes thought of her. However the tigress was shocked when Akane eagerly grabbed a hold of her empty hand, Shiromi blushing a bit as she looked back up at the girl holding her hand.

“Uh-Uh, yeah your kinda cold to most people but you have a really good heart under your defense of bitter.” Akane explained her reasoning with a bright, encouraging smile which led to Shiromi blushing even more.

“I really love you both, so I wanted to do something special.” Akane took Megami’s hand with her own empty one, and now both girls were blushing at their crush saying she loved them.

“T-That's too kind of you, Akane.” Megami thanked the redhead, meanwhile Shiromi just grumbled flusteredly.

“Anything for you guys! Oh, look!” Akane's attention was quickly drawn to something else and the two shared a look of ‘Here We Go Again’ as they were dragged alongside her, three group of three taking up most of the walkway due to Akane’s refusal to let go of their hands. They started getting weird looks, so naturally Akane’s solution was for them to link arms while she sang ‘We’re off to see the Wizard’ as to avoid suspicion. Megami was fairly embarrassed but didn’t comment while Shiromi looked like she wanted lighting to strike her dead where she stood. After looking at a few brightly decorated booths until they came across a haunted house that had been put together by one of the group's. Much to both parties surprise Akane jumped at that and asked to go in, claiming it was to see the students hard work.

And that's how they found themselves here, walking through a creepy classroom and clinging to each other. Well more accurately Akane and Megami were clinging to Shiromi. Akane was pretty spooked while Megami wasn't scared per se, but it was easier to deal with the cheap jumpscares whilst holding onto the unflinching tigress. Shiromi didn't mind that much since the dark red lighting made her blush difficult to see.

“You sure you don't want to call it quits?” Shiromi asked cooly as Akane flinched yet again at a strobe light turning on. Shiromi herself wasn't scared in the slightest bit she didn't like seeing Akane so scared and Megami so on edge.

“I-I’m fine!” Akane squeaked out pathetically, however that was interrupted by her own scream as a fake skeleton hand lashed out from a Halloween prop, at Shiromi who was standing too close. Both members froze in place as they looked at the familiar scarf now tangled with the arm mechanism. They watched Shiromi with baited breath.

Shiromi could feel her neck be yanked towards the arm as the arm moved back, it's purpose served. Shiromi let out a small ‘HHCK-!’ and tried to move away which led to it lashing out again and smacking Shiromi in the face.

“Oh for the love of- Can one of you two get one of the kids that worked on this, I don't know how to get out.” Shiromi spoke calmly as if this was normal. The two blinked for a few moments before Akane rushed off, leaving Shiromi and Megami alone in the room.

“...Are you gonna stand there and look pretty or try and help?!” Shiromi asked with a huff as she tried to wrestle free, very frustrated at this particular juncture. What on Earth were the haunted house kids thinking?! A contraption that actually lashes out at people to jumpscare them with exposed mechanics? It's a wonder no one got hurt sooner!

“Shiromi, calm down. You can just take off your scarf.” Megami tried to soothe her friend, moving behind Shiromi to get a better look at the situation. The Saikou was a smart girl and figured she could figure this out. She leaned over Shiromi’s shoulder to get a better look at the situation only to realize Shiromi had completely frozen up.

“..I-Is this thing hurting you?” Megami asked in concern, quickly moving her hands to the scarf, trying to figure out what happened. However what Megami couldn't have known is her assumption on what was exactly going on was very wrong. For you see, when Megami had leaned over, she unintentionally had pressed her well-endowed chest to Shiromi’s back, and said tigress felt as if her face could catch fire at this point. The haunted house had ended up mortifying her in a very different way then intended.

“...N-No.” Shiromi’s voice came out in a shaky whisper, trying to untangle herself as she trembled a bit. This didn't do her any favors in convincing Megami.

“You don't need to be tough Shiromi, I care about you.” Megami replied as cooly as she could manage despite her mounting concern, carefully trying to unwrap the scarf only for Shiromi to suddenly stop her with her own hand clasping hers. Megami looked at her questioningly but Shiromi didn't meet her gaze, her previous embarrassment forgotten for an even more distant look then usual.

“...Please don't take off my scarf…” Shiromi spoke slowly, her voice firm. Megami’s concern rose to new heights at that one, but she didn't say anything. She instead honored her wishes and moved to instead untangle her scarf as best she could, but it was a bit of a fools errand since part of it had been swallowed up by the gears of the machine, Megami was just thankful Shiromi’s hair was short or this could have been a lot worse. She shuddered at that thought, starting to tug the scarf in the gears with all her might.

“Shiromi, it's not going to come out.” Megami spoke as calmly as she could manage but she could still feel Shiromi tense up in response to that revelation. “...Why don’t you want me to take off your scarf?” Megami asked cautiously, hoping to gauge if she needed to find another solution or not.

“...I don’t want to, back off.” Was Shiromi’s only reply, trying to wrestle free more forcefully now. The sooner she could get it out, the sooner she could duck out of this entire situation and pretend nothing happened. She yanked with all she had in her, cringing when she heard the fabric tearing, however that was the least of her problems. She had put all her weight into that, and when she was suddenly not attached to it she was sent sailing backwards. Or more accurately, she would have had Megami not been there. Megami let out a soft grunt when the tigress collided with her but almost immediately moved her arms to catch Shiromi, steadying herself from almost falling over as well.

“Are you okay?” Megami asked with concern, holding the smaller girl carefully as if she were glass. Shiromi nodded quickly in an attempt to get away ASAP, but Megami didn't let go, carefully looking over the girl for any injuries.

“No you're n-” Megami began as she gently moved the now destroyed scarf from her neck after seeing what looked like an injury from this ordeal, but what she initially thought was a few red marks was actually dark bruising that clearly had nothing to do with it. Shiromi went stiff as a board, her already fair skin getting even paler.

“...Council room. Now.” Megami spoke firmly as she took hold of the torn fabric, wrapping it back around her neck to hide the bruising. Shiromi gulped in panic but did as she was told, following Megami as she marched out of the haunted house, gripping Shiromi’s hand tightly to keep her from running off. The two got some odd looks as they passed but no one (except Ayano on occasion) ever dared to stand in the President’s path when she was like this.

The two reached the student council room which was empty due to the festivities. Megami closed the door behind them before turning to Shiromi who looked like a frightened doe in headlights at this point. Megami dropped the almost angry aura that was previously radiating from her, removing the scarf remnants hiding Shiromi’s neck with utmost care not to hurt her. Shiromi flinched slightly but didn't do much else, refusing to look Megami in the eyes for more than a few seconds, the sad look Megami was giving her wasn't helping.

“Shiromi.” Megami spoke in a whisper, causing said girl to look up. Megami gently brushed her fingers against the bruise, and Shiromi felt as if she were drowning in her concerned gaze.

“Who. Hurt you?” Megami’s voice was gentle and soft, her silver orbs filled with anxiety for the tigress. Shiromi didn’t speak, slowly placing her hand over Megami’s. She seemed to be debating what to say, but no words formed. She opened her mouth to speak when the door suddenly opened. Standing there was Akane holding the other half of Shiromi’s scarf. Both of them froze on the spot, Shiromi rushing to cover her neck with her own hands, terrified of what Akane would think. Akane closed the door, silent for a few moments. Then spoke.

“Her parents are abusive. You couldn’t tell?” Akane asked calmly, setting the remnants of Shiromi’s scarf on the table nearby. Both of their eyes widened, Megami’s out of shock and Shiromi’s out of fear.

“N-Nah, what makes you think that?!” Shiromi questioned frantically, trying to deny it. When she had gone out on this outing she hadn’t expected the be outed like this.

“You used to have dead eyes before you met us all. You never take off your scarf, you refuse to change at school, you stay away from people… It’s super obvious.” Akane listed off, Shiromi’s panic increase with each word. She risked a glance at Megami only to see that same angered aura from earlier.

“...Well, not if I have anything to say about it.” Megami crossed her arms with a determined expression. Shiromi quickly withdrew at this while Akane smiled.

“My thoughts exactly Megami,” Akane walked over to the two, pulling Shiromi a hug. “Don’t worry Shiromi, we both love you and won’t let this keep happening to you, okay?” Akane finished, holding them both gently. Shiromi’s expression full of shock soon melted away when Megami joined the hug, both of them holding her gently.

“You’re going to be fine, I’ll make sure of it.” Megami smiled warmly at the tigress, ruffling her hair. Shiromi looked between the two girls, the two girls she loved most in the world. And she felt her icy heart melt from how much warmth they were looking at her with. Shiromi’s eyes filled with tears, returning the group hug.

“T-Thank you…” She whimpered as the two held her closer, she could feel Akane kiss the top of her head and Megami’s hand on the small of her back. And for the first time in awhile, she didn’t doubt people cared about her. 

They all were very different people, but Gravity was a beautiful thing. Three estranged stars were brought together simply because they existed.

[boisheviks]

Do everything that you haven't already done

thanks owobiwan

angel; do you have a nickname? no not rly

awe; how old are you? 18 

baby; favorite color? either red or blue

bloop; spirit animal? red panda

blossom; favorite book/movie/song? havent read a book in years, into the spiderverse was a really good movie (just saw it yesterday, 11/10 would recommend PLEASE SEE IT IF YOU HAVENT), tbh idk what my favorite song is but my favorite band is p!atd 

blush; what was your stuffed animal as a child? hmmm i guess my first major stuffed animal was a bunny. i also had a lot of dogs

bright; mermaids or fairies? both??

bubbles; do you have a best friend? yea (:

buttercup; showers or baths? showers

butterfly; dream destination? japan

buttons; are you religious or spiritual? uhhhh?????? neither???? i guess spiritual if i had to pick

candlelight; what did you dream about last night? i dont remember most of my dreams unless something significant happened so idk

charming; have you ever been in love? nah

cozy; eye/hair color? brown and black respectively

cuddly; what’s your favorite time period? uhhh now i guess? although trump sucks so bad timeline

cupcake; favorite flower/plant? plants that grow fruit

cute; what did you get on your last birthday? iphone x

cutie pie; most precious item you own? my iphone x lol

cutsie; what makes you happy? talking to my friends

daisies; describe a moment when you felt free. when i came home from college for winter break lmao thank god no homework or studying i dont want to go back

daylight; favorite album of all time? oof uhhh i guess the wall by pink floyd 

dear; zodiac sign? aries

delightful; concerts or museums? concerts but museums can be cool

dimples; have you ever written a letter? ..yes? lmao

dobby; dream job? something in cybersecurity would be cool

doll; how do you like to dress? tshirt and jeans, with a jacket if its cold

dovey; any paranormal/magical experiences? nope

dreams; do you want or have any tattoos? no tattoos and currently not rly interested in getting any anytime soon

euphoric; talk about someone you love. i love my parents theyre great

fairy; do you have a pet? i have a fish!

forever; where do you feel time stop? where…??? idk 

froglet; are you a good plant owner? LMAO i was until i forgot about my plant for a solid week. but in my dorm my plant was one of the nicest looking ones so rip plant

garden; how many languages do you know? 2 if u count my horrible chinese that i learned in high school

giggles; what is your aesthetic of choice? sunsets and what the sky looks like

glittery; do you like anons? why/why not? sure. i mean i dont rly get any in the first place but lol

glow; list the top 5 things you like about yourself

1. I’m funny (i hope anyways)

2. I’m smart (kinda)

3. I’m strong

4. I’m understanding

5. I’m good at playing music (lol i literally could not think of anything else yikes)

heart; silk or lace? silk

honey; coffee or tea? how do you take it? coffee, only if its in the form of a frappuccino 

hugsy; do you enjoy people watching or bird watching more? why? people, mainly bc its funny to watch them sometimes

hunnybunch; what sounds help you sleep? no sounds in general

jewel; what’s your favorite kind of weather? sunny

jiggly; what do you usually like to do on weekends? sleep

joy; do you laugh loudly or giggle more? probably laugh loudly id say

kinky; do you blush easily? i dont think so

kisses; what romantic cliché do you wish for most? to have someone love me (wow i live a sad life)

ladybug; what’s your favorite artist to listen to when you’re sad? idk i will listen to the same music no matter how i feel

love; what is your favorite season and why? summer bc no school and its warm

lovey; what is your favorite flavor of macaron and ice cream? i dont eat macarons much but as for ice cream i guess smores

moonlight; do you prefer soft pastels, warm neutrals, or cool darks? hmm i guess i like looking at soft pastels but cool darks are also nice

paddywack; how would you describe a perfect date? actually going on one haha

pebbles; how do you spend free time by yourself? sleeping and talking to friends

precious; what is something valuable that you learned in your life? dont procrastinate for too long (i say as i procrastinate writing thank you cards whoops)

pretty; do you like to cook or bake more? bake

prince; how would you describe your handwriting? ugly but surprisingly legible

princess; do you play any instruments? if not, are there any you wish you could play? yup i play lots

prinky; how do you relieve stress? listening to music

pumpkin; what is your favourite kind of fruit/vegetable? mangoes 

rainbow; what was the last line of the last book you read? tbh i dont even remember the last book i read

roses; what is the most significant event in your life so far? this is sad but probably getting into college and going to college

smile; what is one thing that has greatly affected you? tbh probably getting an internship since i kinda (??) have a guaranteed job once i get out of college as long as i dont mess up so yea knocking on wood rn

shine; art or music? music but i love art as well

smitten; do you collect anything? not really although i used to collect state quarters (now theyre like presidents and important locations or something)

smoochies; how many pillows do you sleep with? 1 usually but i can also sleep without a pillow

snuggly; do you have a camera? if so, what kind? does my phone count 

sparkle; do you wear jewelry? yea usually ill wear a watch and a necklace

spooky; sunrise or sunset? sunset, i cant get up for the sunrise anyways

sprinkles; do you like to listen to music with headphones or no headphones? headphones

starlight; what was your favourite show as a child? funny story but i think barney was my favorite show when i was rly young. but then i guess when i got older (elementary school) probably the mythbusters

soft; describe your favourite spot in your house. my desk where my computer is. its often a mess but i spend the most time there

soothe; digital or vinyl? vinyl bc im such a hipster wow i dont even own any vinyl (my dad has a bunch of records tho)

squeezed; who do you miss right now? all my college pals :(

sugary; what traits do you value most in friends? people who will laugh at my awful jokes and will tolerate me and listen to me i guess

sunshine; do you prefer for things to be practical or aesthetically pleasing? aesthetically pleasing who needs things to be practical and useful anyways lol

sweet; do you find it easy to open up? nope lol it be like that sometimes

sweetie; do you like kids? if so, do you ever want to have any? eh kids are ok but can also be kinda annoying so idk if id ever want any/be fit to have any anyways lol. id probably adopt tho

thimble; is there somebody you look up to? who are they? yup and its the person who gave me all of these to answer smh

tootsie; what kind of friend are you? one who will probably make fun of u too much but will also listen to u when u need it

velvet; are you an early bird or a night owl? night owl for sure

whimsical; do you prefer doing stuff at home or going out? depends where “going out” is and with who

whiskers; do you usually wear makeup? nope ive never worn makeup

wiggly; are you a messy or tidy person? messy

wobbly; have you ever wished upon a star? no, but also i dont rly see shooting stars rip light pollution

[sparksfromanaqua]

some questions♡

tagged by: @itsyagirlrileyf thank you!💕

rules: answer the questions, and tag 20 blogs you want to know better!

nicknames: hmm i won't give my name or nickname on this blog atm, but if you know, you know haha...though i should probably give myself something to be called on here...

zodiac: aquarius sun, pisces moon, taurus rising

height: 5 feet (about 154cm)...i'm very short lol

time: 10:23pm while i'm typing this, though i'll probably post it much later :") *update: it's now 6:34am!*

favorite artist: so many! fleurie, illenium, meadowlark, chase atlantic, jon mclaughlin, daniela andrade...my music taste is pretty diverse! i also love coldplay and lately i've been listening to owl city a lot too!

song stuck in my head: "remember" by gryffin ft. zohara! it's so good, super catchy beat and great vocals, go listen if you'd like!

last movie i saw: hmm it's been a surprisingly long time since i've watched a movie actually...i rewatched "thor: ragnarok" and "to all the boys i've loved before" back in the summer, so maybe one of those two?

last thing i googled: "bird's nest soup"...omg my dad told me to look it up because we were talking about strange foods. don't look it up, it's...arguably worse than it seems.

other blogs: i have an astrology blog @magicalzodiacs! (okay so my name is mentioned on there haha i guess that's okay! i just don't want it displayed here ^-^)

do i get asks: not really, but i have tons of tarot asks!! so sorry for the delay on those btw, i've been involved in some school stuff, but i will hopefully have time to answer those soon! (ps: please leave me some asks! i love reading and answering messages!✨)

why did i choose this username: it's my favorite fleurie song! plus the song embodies the things i write about on here.

following: 90! this is a new blog that i originally created to write about my feelings, and i didn't really expect any followers at all on here, so thank you so much!

average amount of sleep: like 6 hours? i don't really like sleeping tbh, sounds strange but it's true!

what i'm wearing: blue tank top and black fuzzy shorts! i'm getting ready for bed haha.

dream job: i'd love to be some sort of psychologist, but an astrologer or even an actress would be fun too!

dream trip: i want to go back to japan so badly, plus i also want to go to korea!!

favorite food: ahh i have so many! i love pretty much all sweets, pasta, ramen, tacos, burgers...the list goes on!

play any instruments: i learned how to play the piano and violin! i don't really do either anymore, though.

eye color: brown

hair color: black

languages you speak: english, but i've been learning japanese for 6+ years now!

most iconic song: ooh that's so hard—my friends and i have been listening to tons of iconic throwbacks lately! right now, i'd have to say "good time" by owl city and carly rae jepsen, though!

random fact: my favorite stones are labradorite, larimar, and rose quartz!

describe yourself as aesthetic things: pink roses, star-shaped glitter, macarons, delicate gold jewelry, brush lettering, glittering eyes, crystal points, constellations, sunlight shining through windows, late night drives, dainty tea cups, pastel colored candies, tangled earbuds, neon signs, hand-written notes.

i am tagging: @xxcutiecookiexx @tragiclassic @gothicincarnate @mochitarot + anyone else who wants to do this!💕✨

[purrincess-chat]

When the Day Met the Night CH1

yes it’s a panic at the disco reference fight me SO I finally finished this chapter! It was slow coming cause I actually combined chapters one and two cause they weren’t gonna be long enough on their own, but anyways that’s neither here nor there. I’m finally getting around to writing something for the boys! I hope you enjoy this one just as much as my other ones. I promise I will be finishing all of the things I started recently, don’t judge me. I’ve got it!

Read on AO3

Chapter 1

Adrien watched the houses pass out the window of the car, leg shaking anxiously as Gorilla drove him to his first real band practice. Finally he’d made some headway with his father and was being allowed to do something he wanted with his friends. Nathalie had even worked a rehearsal schedule into his normal routine! He actually looked forward to playing the piano for once and couldn’t wait to hang out with everyone again, especially Luka who seemed really awesome. Adrien could sense that they were going to be good friends, and the thought of it only made him giddier.

Gorilla parked in the allotted spaces above the Seine just a little ways up from where the Couffaine’s houseboat rested, and Adrien heard the distant sound of Juleka tuning her guitar, picking up the pace a little to make it there faster. He had a good feeling about this and hoped that this would be the start of an upward climb in his relationship with his father. If he could show him how much getting to hang out with his friends benefited him then maybe it would open the door for other things along the way. Just maybe his father would start to let him have a little more freedom.

“Yo, Adrien!” Nino called, waving from his place at the sound mixer, and Adrien perked, rushing over to meet him. “Look who’s out of the house for once.”

“My father has allowed me to continue playing in the band, so hopefully I’ll get to come here a lot,” He said, embracing his friend tightly.

“Whoa, and you didn’t have to perform some voodoo ritual to get him to agree to that?” Nino’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “That’s surprisingly cool of your old man.”

“I’m just enjoying it while it lasts.” Adrien shrugged as Nino steered him in the direction of the group where Ivan and Myléne were chatting with Juleka and Rose. “I’m not late am I?”

“Nah, we haven’t even really started yet just getting set up,” He assured him, and Adrien relaxed a little.

“We’re so glad you could make it, Adrien!” Rose said as they joined them.

“Yeah, it’s cool that your dad is letting you hang out with us,” Ivan added, draping his arm over Mylene’s shoulders.

“I almost feel like it’s too good to be true,” He chuckled as Luka appeared from under the deck with an extra cable.

“Adrien! Glad you could make it.” He grinned, ruffling his hair as he passed and stooping to plug up his guitar. “You guys ready to practice?”

“Yeah!”

Adrien turned to the keyboard set up in the back, a giddy grin curling on his lips. He’d never been so excited to play the piano before. Normally his practice was all done in his room, sitting for hours at the keys rehearsing the same exercises until his brain went numb, but this time he’d get to play something new for a change. He couldn’t wait to start-

“Whoa!” He gasped as his foot found a loose cord, sending him flying face first toward the deck. He closed his eyes and braced for impact, but it never came as a pair of strong arms caught him before he made contact, and Adrien found his face buried in soft fabric.

“Careful. There’s a lot of cables lying around,” The voice belonged to Luka, and Adrien quickly righted himself, fixing his hair with a mortified expression. “You okay?”

“Yeah! Sorry. I should probably watch where I’m going,” He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Totally. Wouldn’t want to hurt such a pretty face,” Luka said, brushing Adrien’s cheek with a coy smile, and Adrien felt the temperature on the boat rise several degrees before he stiffly made his way back to the keyboard.

Luka’s comment left him dumbfounded throughout the rehearsal, and he played mostly on autopilot, stealing glances up from his score every now and then to gaze at Luka swaying in time with the song as he strummed his guitar. Adrien was used to getting complimented by all kinds of people, girls, boys, grown men doing his makeup, the occasional mom of a friend whenever he said something polite, and he’d gotten accustomed to accepting them graciously. But something about Luka made his pulse quicken and his palms clammy.

Maybe it was just that Adrien thought he was incredibly cool and that he looked up to him in a way. Luka was incredibly talented and kind, a little mysterious at times. He and Adrien hadn’t spoken too much at the music festival, and overall, he seemed kind of quiet like his sister. It made Adrien all the more eager to know what was going on inside of his head. What Luka truly thought of him. Did he really think Adrien was good-looking? Was that all he thought about Adrien?

The longer he thought about it, the more curious he became about Luka, and he determined that he wanted to know more about his new friend and to show him that he was more than just a pretty face.

He was granted such an opportunity the following day during his photoshoot in the park when Luka happened to walk by and decided to stay until he was finished. Adrien felt a little self-conscious with him watching, but nevertheless he pressed on without it showing. When he finished, he approached Luka who offered polite applause with a friendly grin.

“You’re really good at that,” He complimented, and Adrien felt his cheeks flush.

“I guess so, since everyone goes so crazy over all of my ads.” He shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. “So what are you up to?”

“I was just out for a walk to clear my head and noticed you having a photoshoot, so I thought I’d stick around for a bit,” Luka said casually then, seeming to consider it, curled his shoulders. “I hope that’s okay.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Adrien assured him, waving his hands. “I’m pretty used to it. I was just a little surprised to see you. N-Not in a bad way or anything, but just-”

“Yeah.” Luka nodded understandingly, and an awkward silence fell between them.

“Are you doing anything right now?” Adrien asked finally, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Uh, not really,” Luka said with a shrug.

“Do you…wanna hang out for a bit? We can go get macrons at Marinette’s bakery.” He cocked a brow, and Luka perked up.

“I’d love that. I want to get to know you more, Adrien,” He said with a smile, and Adrien felt his shoulders relax.

“Same. You seem really cool, and I was hoping we could be friends,” Adrien said shyly, rubbing his arm.

“Totally. I’m just not the best at social interaction, so I’m sorry if I’m a little awkward,” Luka admitted with a wince, but Adrien offered him a friendly smile.

“No worries. I’m not exactly the best either. When you get kept inside for most of your life, and your only friend is the mayor’s daughter, you don’t really get a lot of practice,” He said, curling his shoulders as they walked.

“You weren’t allowed to go outside?” Luka’s eyebrows furrowed in concern, and Adrien shrugged his shoulders.

“My father is…protective of me. He doesn’t want me getting into trouble, so he keeps me where he can see me,” He said, kicking at the pavement a little as they stood in line outside the bakery.

“At least your dad is around,” Luka said with a distant gaze, and Adrien recognized that look well. Disappointment, loneliness, a hint of anger, but Luka masked it just as quickly as Adrien noticed.

“It seems you and I have more in common than we thought.” Adrien pursed his lips, and Luka cracked a sardonic smile.

“Dead-beat pieces of shit for dads?” He cocked a brow.

“Yep.” Adrien nodded in affirmation, warranting a chuckle from Luka.

“So it seems,” Luka admitted, glancing over the selection of macarons. “Flavor preferences?”

“I like pistachio and raspberry,” Adrien said, and Luka stuck out his tongue in disgust.

“I’m allergic to pistachios, so can we get raspberry and chocolate?” He requested, and Adrien gave a permissive nod.

“Fine by me.”

“Oh, hello, Adrien,” Sabine greeted when they made it up to the counter. “What can I get for you boys?”

“Just a few macarons, Mrs. Cheng,” Adrien replied smoothly with a friendly smile, waving to Mr. Dupain who was busily wrapping croissants in the back.

“You know them pretty well,” Luka remarked once they were back outside.

“They’re Marinette’s parents and super awesome. Her dad gives us baking lessons at school sometimes. She’s really lucky to have such a cool mom and dad,” Adrien said enviously, and Luka offered him a macaron with a sympathetic wince.

“To dead-beat dads,” He said, holding up his cookie, and Adrien tapped it with his own.

“To a better future ahead.”

[lumiereswig]

Please do the ENTIRETY of Forgotten! Hahaha I’m joking, pick your favorite part because that fic is v long 😍

happily, this gonna get l o n g

“The ball was flawless. In the garden, the roses continued to reach to the sky, and the storm brushed away; the lights shut off in the palace, one by one, and the music faded to silence. The prince went to bed with one or two or three pretty women he wouldn’t care for by the next day. Up in his room, Lumiere popped open a bottle of champagne.”

I set the opening to take place almost immediately after “Lit By The Sun,” though this time showing the evening Lumiere and Plumette never got—the stolen croquembouche up in their bedroom, the sharing of champagne among the servants. In the original timeline, obvs they didn’t get that—they got fire and feathers instead—but yeah. I am totally alluding to my own goddamn fics.

Plumette, lighting the candles by the bed, grinned at him over the flames. He laughed and raised his glass.

It’s not a lumiereswig post if there’s not a fucking fire reference.

“He’s turning just like his father—the prince’s father was like this, too,” Mrs. Potts explains to the musicians, who know nothing about the palace or its politics. They nod and move closer to each other on the bed. “We don’t know what he’d do without us. He’ll be fine, though; we try not to intervene. D’you only have wine up here, Lumiere? I could use a cup of tea.”

Foreshadowing of future bullshit, and also reminding the readers that Garderobe and Cadenza WERE NOT PART OF THIS PALACE-POLITICS SHIT. They did not deserve to be cursed!! fuck you agathe!!!! #justiceforgarderenza2k18

“If you cannot take a little sparkling wine, get yourself to bed, grandmother,” laughs Lumiere, and she swipes at his arms and makes him laugh. He eases into a seat between Cogsworth and Plumette and throws his arms around them.

Really trying to remind everyone how fucking close the staff is. The fam. Also, fuck you bill condon for not letting lumiere hug cogsworth every .3 seconds

“Think how long it has been!” he says. “Forty years for you, Cogsworth, but most of my life for mine. Why, I came here as a teenager—imagine me, only a little older than Chip! Fresh out of Paris and still reeking of the apothecary shop.” He grimaces, thinking of his father’s dusty store in a side-street of the city. He had fled, then, looking for the glamor his missed; in his room in Paris he had practiced dance steps, reveled in fashion, adopted the graceful movements of the court as rebellion against the bourgeois facts of an ordinary existence. He had come to this palace, and he had lit into life; dancing and feasting and glowing like gold made Lumiere’s heart sing.

EYYYY IT’S A HEADCANON I TOTALLY MADE UP

but tbh it makes sense to me (and has always made sense to me) that for all his glamor-gold, courtiers-and-candelabras bullshit, lumiere is not from an upper crust background. he’s too extra to have been born to it. That level of golden eyeliner and tequila has to be aspired to.

“We met in this palace, do you remember, mon trésor?” Plumette is close in his arms; her scent—fresh and light, like candy and macarons—right beside him. “I was only fourteen, and I loved you right away.”

“I loved you before I met you,” murmurs Lumiere. “I could never forget.”

Lots more foreshadowing, and also backshadowing. Gotta remind the idiots in the audience which motherfuckers in this story are in love.

The next day is their day off. It is their one day off in the year.

honestly this makes no sense (one day off a year???) but it’s adam. pre-curse adam. i can write him to get away with pretty much any bullshit and be like “””*shrug* uhhh he’s a beast, dudes, of course he banned puppies and kittens from the palace and hates daisies and sunshine”“

also tbh i hate the whole adam dialogue sequence, it’s really badly written

Adam stands in the lonely, empty halls. If he stands in the tower, he can see them weaving their way through the forest and down to the village, to spend their day in the company of each other, in Lumiere and Plumette’s case, or with loved ones, in the case of Mrs. Potts. No matter what, all the servants have each other. And Adam has nobody.

casual evermore references whenever we can’t get in a flame pun

….after all, at least when he yelled they looked at him.

someone told me this line broke them and i am forever pleased. yes mofos!!! relish my very slipshod, mostly shite grasp of the english language!!!!! revel in my poor grasp of human psychology!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Lumiere! The night grows old.”

 The crone grows young.

to make up for the shit in the previous chapter, I really enjoy this bit. the whole bashing-between-the-palace-and-the-village nonsense just makes me happy.

Belle wakes up to a jolt in the road, and the rough wool blanket on her face, and the smell of cheese and paint and horse and wind clinging to her skin. She rubs her eyes and tries to wipe away the sleep. They’re in the wagon, again, and Maurice is hunched up in the bench, encouraging Philippe to trot faster. The contents of Belle’s entire life are jammed in around her, a moving nest of drawings and gear-boxes and packets of cabbage-seed.

aaand we’re with belle. I had to rewrite this chapter about five million times because it wasn’t working—I had planned it out too much in advance, you know, and was just like regurgitating the writing rather than writing it—but I’m happy with the textural detail of this bit. Again, sometimes it pays to use the words around what you’re going for rather than the literal sensation; in this case, cheese and paint and horse and wind, and that rough wool blanket. Home, but also chill, and travel, and being uncomfortable, and the 18th century equivalent of going on a road trip and eating crackers in the backseat while dad’s up front and the crackers making the seat all gritty and reading books in the light of the passing streetlamps, ya feel?

Lilles, Reims, Amiens

i don’t understand french geography

A tiny, delicate gesture from his long fingers; it is a surprisingly sophisticated movement for a man in a yellow peasant’s vest, with candle wax creased in the dirt between his fingernails.

this whole chapter is slightly hard to read because it’s clearly trying too hard, but i hope i got across (or at least, whacked you across the forehead with) the bits i felt were important: lumiere’s current emptiness, but the last imprints of who he ought to be hanging around. i also tend to mention the peasant’s vest too many fucking times, just because the image of lumiere wearing anything that’s not satin & silk is fucking devestating. also, it will be important later, and i need yall to remember that LUMIERE DOESNT LOOK LIKE HE NORMALLY LOOKS

“I am nothing now,” says the man, in a flash of vehemence so sharp it is like seeing a flame in the middle of the forest. He looks up to her—his face broad, and white; and it is an empty face, and beyond the fire in his words there is nothing there at all. It is as if someone washed out all his color, and left him only with his yellow vest.  

you can tell, again, this is a lumiereswig fic because suddenly the language is all about fires and flashing and flickers and flames and there’s probably going to be a reference to the sun fucking setting at some point

also, honestly, this was hard to write because i was seeing it as a fucking movie in my head, and transcribing ‘ewan mcgregor lies on a village stoop looking fucking dismal’ is not what literary writing is made of

He welcomes her to the stoop with the flick of a wrist and a tiny nod with the pipe,

just to remind everyone once a-fucking-gain, Lumiere Is Not Normal, And You Can Tell Because He’s Not Being Very Welcoming. like honestly if you don’t say hello by doing a song and dance what the fuck are you doing

“I knew someone once who treasured books that way as well,” he says, and a smile drifts across his face, homeless. Something in him is sparking up at the story: dim, and faint, but laughing. “He once made me read the whole Odyssey—”

ok yes thank god the fic is finally getting good again

Sorceresses turning people to pigs, and the lily-eaters forgetting their homes, and Penelope undoing the days until her husband returns

ON. THE FUCKING. NOSE

also if i make a literary reference in a fic i am almost 100% of the time trying to make an obvious as fuck connection between the two

Deeply, deeply frightened. Not of the man on the stoop—she has never seen anyone more harmless, to be quite honest; he is such an empty man, with such silent, lifeless limbs—but of the thing inside his eyes when he speaks of his past. It is Other—a thing not rooted in a Parisian background, or the empty face, or the subdued soul. It is a large streak of gray inside the man’s blue eyes, a gray empty and unnatural and as hollow as cold ice. Staring at his eyes, Belle finds herself clutching her arms with fear.

ahhhh fuck subtlty has gone totally out the window. yall are kind and see what i was going for, but i swear this could be better done if i knew shit

It is obvious to Belle that this is a practiced ritual, the sharing of the secret wine.

in retrospect this fic would be sadder if cogsworth or lumiere weren’t friends, but uhh…i just couldnt bring myself to it.

“Oh là là, he acts as if the French accent is difficult,” says Lumiere, puffing smoke….

LIKE YOU CAN SPEAK FRENCH ANYWAY, YOU SCOTTISH DIPSHIT.

“Get off my stoop!” yells the woman. “D’you have wine down there, Lumiere?“

“If you cannot take a little cheap wine, get yourself to bed, grandmother,” calls Lumiere.

and that’s called taking yourself too seriously and referencing your own fic from a few chapters ago

“Mrs. Potts, the crockery-man’s wife,” says Lumiere, and takes a large gulp of the wine. “I barely know her. Thank God.”

PROBABLY THE BEST LINE IN THIS FIC SO FAR. fucking love the simplicity that does so much more than every labored reference to emtpy fucking limbs or colorless eyes beforehands. one simple line and we’re all fucking realizing THE EXTENT OF ALL THIS SHIT

i gotta head off now but i’ll do the rest later tonight

[send me one of my fics (or a bit from a fic) and i’ll do director’s commentary on it—ask here]

[youcancallmecirce]

Secret Santa

Merry Christmas to you, @psyriaart !  I’m your Secret Santa, and here is your gift!  ♡ PS: If you have an AO3, please let me know so I can gift the work to you over there as well! 

Ladybug carefully opened the large plate glass window and slipped into the empty room as quietly as possible.  At least, she hoped it was empty.  She’d been observing it for the past twenty minutes, dithering, on the excuse that she wanted to make sure it was empty.  There’d been no movement within, and her excuse had worn thin, even in her own mind.  If she didn’t do what she’d come to do, then she was going to have to just give up and go home with her tail tucked between her legs.

 But—no.  She was Ladybug, damnit, and cowardice just didn’t sit well on her shoulders.  So here she was, sneaking into Adrien’s room with his Christmas gift tucked safely in the bag slung over her shoulder.

 Of course, she could have just given it to him directly, and all of this skullduggery to leave it in his room anonymously would have been unnecessary.  She ignored that very Tikki-sounding voice, reassured herself that this was not a cowardly way to go about it, and dropped silently to the floor in his room.

 Now she just had to figure out where to leave it.

 On his bed?  No, too creepy.

 His desk?  Too impersonal.

 The piano?  No, too…random.

 Ladybug bit her lip indecisively as she looked around the room, trying to decide on the perfect place to leave the gift.  A few minutes later, she gave up.  She needed help.

 “Spots off,” she whispered, catching Tikki gently in her palms as the little kwami left the earrings.

 Tikki looked at their surroundings in confusion before meeting her eyes.  “Marinette, what are you doing?”

 “I don’t know where to leave it, Tikki!  I want it to be perfect, not weird or random, you know?  And it can’t be too obvious, because what if someone else comes in here before Adrien gets back?  What if it’s the cleaning lady, and she throws it away?  What if it’s Nathalie, or his fa-father and they confiscate it?  What if Adrien does find it, but thinks it’s creepy that someone broke into his room and—”

 Tikki’s eyes widened at the panicked tirade and flew up to nuzzle the girl’s flushed cheek comfortingly.  “Calm down, Marinette!  I really don’t think it matters that much where you leave it, so long as he sees it.”

 Marinette blinked.  “Really?”

“Really!”  Tikki smiled encouragingly, and gave the room a quick once-over.  “What about on the coffee table, by the TV?  It’s not near the door, so anyone coming in won’t see it immediately, but in plain enough sight that Adrien is sure to see it soon.”

 “Oh Tikki, that’s perfect!”  She knocked the heel against the side of her head with a groan.  “It’s so obvious, why didn’t I think of that?”

 “Because you were over-thinking again,” Tikki giggled.  “Now, hurry up and leave it so we can—”  She broke off with a grimace and dove into Marinette’s over-sized bag, hiding beneath the gift.  “Too late,” she muttered, and Marinette’s gaze snapped up to see a familiar black-clad figure flying unerringly toward the still-open window.

 “Oh, no!”  Marinette looked frantically for a place to hide, but to no avail. “No no nonononono!”

 “Just brazen it out, Marinette,” Tikki hissed as Chat Noir hit the floor in a dive and rolled gracefully to a crouch.  “He saw you.”

“Princess?”  He asked, rising from his crouch.  “This isn’t your tower.  What are you doing here?”

 “Um!  No-nothing!  I just, ah, was doing a favor!  For Adrien!”

 “For Adrien?” he repeated, his voice curiously dry.

 “Ye-yeah!  He um, he asked me to…get a book for him!”  She crossed to his desk and picked up the graphic novel sitting next to his keyboard.  “See?  He forgot it, and asked me to grab it for him.”  She clutched it frantically to her chest, and began edging toward the door.  “So, it was really good to see you, but I have to get going.  Adrien needs his book after all!”

 She’d gone three steps towards the door when Chat Noir landed in front of her, and leaned negligently on his staff.  She stopped short and stared at him with wide eyes as he smiled lazily.  “Chat?”

 “I happen to know that Adrien did not send you here for a book.”  He quirked a brow and leaned forward to pluck the book from her grasp, tossed it back to the desk, and leaned on his staff once more.  “So what are you really doing here?”

 She gulped.  “I was—I, uh…”

 His eyes crinkled in a smile.  “Pilfering his phone again?”

 “Wha--?” she gasped.  “How did you—I mean, no, of course not!  I’ve never stolen anything!”

 “You’re a terrible liar, Princess.”

 “Oh, alright.”  She deflated, and tugged the bag around to her front to clutch at it tightly.  “For the record, I only borrowed his phone to erase an embarrassing voicemail that I didn’t even mean to leave.  And today…”  She opened the bag and pulled out the brightly colored package, wincing when she saw the sorry state of the bow.  “I just wanted to leave him a surprise for Christmas.”

 “Oh!”  He straightened, and a faint blush stained his cheeks.  “Really?  A Christmas gift for m—him?”

 “Yeah.  Giving him gifts usually end up in disaster, so I thought I’d try something else this time.”

 “Ah.”  He grimaced, and nodded in understanding.  “I see.”

 “Exactly.”  She sighed, shaking her head.  “If even you’ve heard what a catastrophe I am, then this is definitely the right call.  This way, I can be like a secret Santa, no humiliation involved.”  

She looked nervously over her shoulder at the door to his room, conscious of the long minutes she’d already spent in there.  “Speaking of, I think I’ll just leave it on the table there and skedaddle.  I don’t want to get caught here by anyone else and make this into a catastrophe as well.”  Her eyes lit, and narrowed on him.  “Wait a minute, what are you doing here?”

 His eyes widened.  “Ah, I saw someone sneaking in here, and wanted to make sure he wasn’t being robbed.”

 “Oh.  That makes sense, I guess.”  Her expression eased and she wandered over to the low coffee table to set the package carefully in the middle.  “I hope he likes it,” she murmured, when she realized that he’d followed her over.

 “I’m sure he will,” he murmured in reply.  “I’m certain he will.”

Chat Noir held Marinette tightly as he carried her the short distance from his house to her rooftop balcony, his mind preoccupied with the present currently sitting on the table in his room and with the girl who left it there.

 How had she gotten into his room?  He would have sworn he’d seen Ladybug when he first glimpsed someone in his room, and it would have been easy enough for his partner.  For Marinette?  Not so much.   And why hadn’t she simply given it to him at school, or at the holiday party his father had grudgingly allowed Adrien to host?  It was scheduled for the following night, so it’s not like she’d have to wait long.

 Then he recalled again what had happened when she tried to give him his gift last year, and cringed.  Maybe this was the better option.

 He landed lightly on her balcony and allowed her to slide to the ground, pointedly ignoring the way his hormone-riddled body reacted to the feel of her against him.  “Home safe and sound, as promised, Princess.”

 “Thank you, Chat.”  She rose on her toes and pressed a brief kiss to his cheek.  “If you’ll wait for just a moment, I have a little something for you as well.”

 He froze in place at the touch of her lips on his cheek, and managed only a stiff nod at her words.

 Blushing, Marinette opened the trap door and slid into her room.  She was gone only for a moment before she returned with another festive package and pressed it into his hands.

It was smaller than the box she’d left in his room, but just as beautifully decorated.  “Chat Noir” had been written in careful script across one of the large green polka dots that speckled the paper, and she’d turned the “O” into a kitty cat smiley face.

 He shot her a shy smile, thinking of the other gift she’d already given him—not that she knew that.  “You didn’t have to get me anything, Princess.  And it isn’t Christmas yet.”

 “Of course I did.  I give gifts to all my friends.”  She bounced a bit on the balls of her feet, smiling.  “Open it!”

 “Alright.”  Still smiling, he split the tape with a sharp claw and opened one end of the package to slide the box out of its wrapping.  To his delight, he found a bakery box stuffed full of his favorite treats from her parents’ boulangerie.  He immediately opened the box, lifted out a pale pink macaron, and stuffed the whole thing into his mouth with a happy sigh.

 Marinette laughed.  “Maybe don’t eat them all at once this time, yeah?”

 His mouth was still full of macaron, so he just shrugged.  He probably would eat them all at once, even knowing the stomach ache he’d have when he was done.

 They were that good.

 He thought again of the package waiting for him in his room.  Would there be more of the same?  He couldn’t decide if he wanted there to be, or not.  They were amazing, but even he couldn’t eat that many sweets!

 As it turned out, he needn’t have worried.  The surprisingly heavy box had contained a beautiful, deep green chenille throw that was heavy without being thick.  It had been knitted with a very fine chenille yarn, making it both very soft and very warm.  There was no packaging, no tag, and no label.  Knowing Marinette, it was probably hand-made, and knowing what he did about textiles, he was overwhelmed by the number of hours she’d spent on it—let alone the cost of the expensive chenille yarn.  He unfolded it and draped it over his body, luxuriating in the comforting weight of the deceptively thin blanket and wondering how he could possibly thank her for the gift.

 Plagg, who’d made a bee-line for the cheese stash in his personal fridge the moment he’d been released from the ring, must have sated himself.  He floated over and lifted a corner of the blanket curiously.  “This is nice,” he said, running a paw over the material.  “But what is this?”

 “What is what?”  Adrien asked, dropping his end of the blanket to look at the corner Plagg held.  An interesting design had been stitched into that corner of the blanket and he frowned, recognizing the design but not immediately placing where he’d seen it before.

 When it clicked, he jumped up from the couch and went pawing through his closet, dead-set on finding one particular scarf. After a moment’s panic, he remembered that he’d worn it to school on Friday and found it jammed in his school bag.  With a sigh of relief, he took it and found the design that had been embroidered at one end of the scarf.

 Though smaller, it was an exact match to the one on his new blanket.  What’s more, is that from this angle, he finally realized that the design actually spelled out Marinette’s name.  What had she said in the bowler hat competition?  I always sign my designs.

 It was Marinette’s signature.  Marinette had made his scarf.

 The next evening, Marinette stood in front of the mirror in her room, critically eyeing the black and green tea-length cocktail dress she wore.  It was conservatively cut, yet it hugged her slender body in a way that flattered her petite figure before flaring out at the hips to swirl gently around her thighs.  It was made of a buttery soft green underdress, with a black lace overlay that made the green look darker than it actually was.  She’d painstaking sewn on tiny Swarovski crystal beads here and there in the lace, making it sparkle when they caught the light.  All in all, it was the perfect dress for a semi-formal holiday party, even if it was at the home of a world renowned fashion icon.  Besides, it wasn’t the elder Agreste she sought to impress—it was his son.

 “You look lovely, Marinette!”

 Marinette pirouetted before the mirror and grinned at Tikki’s reflection.  “Do you think Adrien will like it?”

 “Of course!  Everyone will!”

 “Thanks, Tikki.”  Marinette giggled, and held out her coordinating purse, already stocked with cookies.  “Are you ready?”

 “I am!”  She dove into the purse, but peeked back out.  “I can’t wait to hear your parents’ reaction.  You did such a great job on the dress, and you look so pretty!”

 Tikki was not disappointed.  They oohed and ahhed over her creation, bemoaned the rate at which their little girl was growing up, and took enough photos to fill an album.

 “Wait, where is Alya?”  Tom asked suddenly, frowning.  “Don’t you two usually go to these sorts of things together?  I don’t want you out there on your own.”

 “No, Papa, Adrien is sending his driver to pick me up!  Isn’t that sweet?  He offered chauffer services to anyone who wanted a ride, just to make sure all of his friends could attend.”

Her father’s expression cleared.  “Have I mentioned before how much I like this Adrien fellow?  Such a gentleman.”  He grinned mischievously and turned to his wife.  “I can’t wait to make their wedding cake!”

 Marinette flushed hotly, but giggled in spite of herself.  “Papa!”

 Sabine laughed.  “Don’t worry, I’ll remind him never to say that sort of thing in front your friends.”

Marinette shuddered theatrically.  “Heaven forbid!”

 There was a quiet knock at the door, and she twirled to stare at it, excitement spiking.

 “I think your ride is here,” her father said dryly when she didn’t move to open it.

 “Oh!  Right.”  She opened the door expecting to see Adrien’s chauffeur, or perhaps someone else from the Agreste staff.

 She did not expect to see Adrien himself, standing at her door with a sheepish smile.

 Marinette shrieked, and slammed the door.

 Tom snickered.

 “Marinette!”  Sabine scolded, and reached past her daughter to open the door once more.  “Hello, Adrien.  Come on in.”

 Adrien looked at Marinette uncertainly.  “Hi.”

 “Hi.”  Marinette ducked her head, blushing hotly.  “I-I’m sorry.  I wasn’t expecting you, and I panicked.”  She glanced up, and smiled.  “Would you like to come in?”

 “Sure.”  He stepped awkwardly inside, and his eyes swept over her.  He blinked.  “You look…wow.  You look amazing, Marinette.”

 The heat returned full-force to Marinette’s cheeks at the compliment.  “Thank you!  So do you.  I mean, no!  Not beautiful!  Handsome!  I mean, of course you are, you’re a model, and—”

 “You do look very nice, Adrien.”  Her mother cut in, her hands landing gently on her shoulders.  “Since you’re here, would you mind taking a few pictures with Marinette?”

 “Maman!”

 Adrien chuckled, and inclined his head.  “I don’t mind at all, so long as you share them with me.”

 “Of course!”  Delighted, Sabine shooed them over to stand in front of the book shelf, and began snapping photos.

 Before she could get carried away, though, Marinette slipped out from under Adrien’s arm (omg he’d had his arm around her!) and bussed her mother’s cheek.  “I will be back later, Maman!”

 Sabine smiled knowingly, but lifted Marinette’s coat from the back of the couch and handed it to her.  “Have a good time, dear.”

 “Don’t forget your curfew!”  Tom added as he draped his arm over his wife’s shoulder, and dropped a kiss on his daughter’s head as she tugged the coat on.

 “I’ll make sure that she gets home safe and sound, sir.”

 “Thank you, Adrien. Merry Christmas!”

 “Merry Christmas!”

 Marinette led the way through the door and down the stairs to street level, acutely aware of the boy—the young man, really—who followed close behind her.  Was he personally picking up all of his classmates?  Or just her?  Alya hadn’t said anything about a personal pick up, and she’d certainly had no idea about it.

 At the bottom of the stairs, he slipped around her and pulled the door open with a flourishing bow.

She giggled at the overdone gallantry, and he met her gaze with a smile.  “Your chariot awaits, my lady,” he said, gesturing to the car parked at the curb.

 “A limo?” she gasped, staring at him in shock.  Then her brain finished processing his words, and she started, staring after him as he walked to the car and opened her door.  Just a coincidence, she thought, catching up with him.

 He grinned. “It’s only a small limo.”

 With a breathless laugh, she slid into the back seat, and continued to move until he had room to slide in beside her.

 Adrien’s enormous driver glanced in the back seat to make sure they were both buckled, and then pulled away from the curb with a grunt.

 Marinette shifted in her seat, nervous but also very curious.  She licked her lips and forced herself to ask the question that had been burning in her mind.  “So…did, um, did everyone get a personal pick up from the host?”

 Adrien laughed a tad uncomfortably, and shook his head.  “Ah, no.  I…I wanted an opportunity to talk to you, alone, and I knew that we probably wouldn’t get an opportunity to do that at the party, so…”

 Marinette’s heart thumped hard in her chest, and she stared at him, wide-eyed.  “You wanted to talk to me?  Alone?”

 “Yeah,” he said, softly.  Turning his gaze to the driver, he said, “Malcolm?”

 The driver, whose name was apparently Malcolm, grunted again.  A tinted glass plate rose up between the compartments, affording them a degree of privacy.  Marinette started open-mouthed, then turned to look at Adrien with ever-mounting curiosity.

 He studied her face as if he was looking for something, and she squirmed under his regard.  “Adrien?”

 “Right, sorry.”  He blinked, and seemed to shake himself.  “I wanted to thank my secret Santa, for my gift.”

 “Your—oh!”  Her eyes widened yet further, and she felt herself flush scarlet.  “But I’m not—”

 “I was quite surprised to find it in my room, you know.”  He tilted his head quizzically, ignoring her denial.  “How did you get into the house?”

 She floundered, grasping desperately for an explanation that didn’t include a red suit with black spots. “I-I…ah, I um, snuck in through the back door?”

 That searching look returned to his eyes as he weighed her response.  Then he smiled enigmatically, and reached over to take her hand in his.  Her breath caught.  “Is this ok?” he whispered, and at her nod, his smile widened.  “You’re still a terrible liar, Princess.”

 Her eyes blew impossibly wide and she gasped.  “You’re…?”

 His smile turned sly, and it was 100% Chat Noir.  “The one and only.”

 “You—but—how?  Why are you—” She darted a look at the driver, and shook her head.  “Why let me know?”

 He winced sheepishly.  “I, um, looked at yesterday’s security footage for the area outside my room.”

 She paled and goggled at him, her mind reeling. She’d barely recovered from the shock of discovering that he was Chat Noir, and he was hitting her again with this?  She gulped, and decided to play dumb in the hopes that she was wrong.  “Oh?  Anything interesting?”

 He gave her a look that communicated quite clearly what he thought of that.  “Not now, there isn’t.  You’d be surprised at how easy it is to edit digital security footage.”

Damn.  She lowered her eyes, and fingered one of the crystals on her dress.  “So, now you know.”

 “I know that you’re my best friend, and that I’ve now fallen for you twice.”  Her eyes shot back to his, and he raised her hand to his mouth, to place a kiss on the back.  It was the first time he’d done it outside their masks, and her breath caught.  “I know that I want to ask you to be my official date for the party.  And I know that I would very much like to catch you under the mistletoe tonight.”  He smirked, and tucked a stray curl behind her ear.  “More than once, if you’ll let me.”

 Marinette blinked, struggling to take it all in.  This was—this was a lot, and so much of the conversation had happened in subtext that her head was swimming just trying to keep track of the things that hadn’t been said.  If she’d followed all of that correctly, then Adrien was Chat Noir; he’d figured out that she was Ladybug from the security footage at the mansion but had doctored it so that no one else could do the same; and he wanted her to be his date for the night.

 “Marinette?”

 She looked up, and realized that she must have stayed quiet for too long; Adrien’s smile had melted, and he was now staring anxiously.  “How are you not freaking out right now?” she blurted, and then decided that that was actually what she really wanted to know the most.

 He laughed.  “I did all of my freaking out last night, and got it out of my system.”  He rubbed the back of his neck, and chuckled again.  “There was a lot of freaking out.”

 “Oh.  That…makes me feel better.”

 “It’s a lot, isn’t it?”

 She nodded, and chuckled a bit herself.  “I’m screaming internally.”

 “Okay, how about this,” he said, squeezing her hand.  “How about we get out of this car, go inside, and have a really good time at this party.  You don’t need to be my date, I promise not to accost you under the mistletoe, and we can talk about everything later.  What do you say?”

 “I’d say that sounds wonderful,” she breathed gratefully.  “But, would it be okay if I accosted you under the mistletoe?”

 He grinned.  “As many times as you like, my lady.”

@mlsecretsanta

[cutiecrates]

Cutie Reviews: TonyMoly and More (Pics inside)

I don’t have much to say here because I already explained what was going on last night x3 I went to Ulta, bought some cute things, I wanna review them.

Sally Hansen Xtreme wear: Rockstar Pink

This was kind of an impulse buy, because I usually look at nail polish, but I don’t buy it unless I really, really like it. Lately I’ve been into pastels or clear polish with glitter or shaped flecks. Then at the last second I just happened to see this one; it’s mainly composed of magenta glitter, with a rainbow of other glitter through it.

Initially I didn’t think much of it, but the more I looked at it, the more it was reminding me of Christmas lights x3 During Christmas one of my favorite things to do is to go out and admire the lights. I like going around various streets to see the decorations people put up, we go to the fair, there’s even a house that has the lights timed with Christmas music you listen to on the radio! It’s amazing!

This was about 3 dollars, and it has that licorice-nail polish smell. The product is smooth, and you get a lot from one swipe, even after you wipe it off first. I didn’t use it just yet, but I have a couple from this brand (Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear) and I like it. They also sell this brand at places like Walmart, so if you ever see a color that interests you from it, I’d recommend it.

Cat’s Purrfect Day Cream

It was love at first-sight when I saw this little cutie. It was also my most expensive item, costing me 20 dollars!

This is part of a series. They also have a nightly before-bed cream (which I’m considering picking up), and an eye stick.

Also I’ll just say now, I only bought this for the packaging. Yeah I planned on using it, but I pretty much gave up on supposedly moisturizing skin products because nothing seems to help me. I wasn’t expecting a miracle; but it would have been a nice bonus.

The consistency brings to mind gelatin/almond pudding. It’s a little difficult to get out if you’re like me and don’t want to have goop everywhere or have too much out, but you can actually just rub your fingers around to pull up some product, or the back of your nail. A little bit goes a long way, and the entire container is full of product.

It’s for use all over the body, but my main priority is always my face due to having dry skin and how easily it is for it to crack and flake. This is very light when applied and it soaks in pretty quickly, and I noticed right away when I used it that my skin feels really nice and... soothed, I want to say. My dry patches feel smoother, I really feel like I can get results with this!

I also saw that you can use it with foundation and it won’t feel thick or suffocate the skin. It contains silk amino acid.

Oh yes, it’s scent. I love it too! I’m not exactly sure what it is, but when I smell it, I’m reminded of Japanese soda/ramune candy, and maybe a faint hint of herb?

I’d recommend this! I LOVE THIS PRODUCT.

Sanrio Macaron Lip Balm’s

These were what I was mainly hoping to find once I spotted them on the ulta website. You can bet I picked a few up when I did :3 at 8 dollars a piece, they’re not the cheapest. But again when you take other items into consideration... they’re some of the cheaper items in the store. They’re by the brand The Creme Shop.

There are several available, some characters have multiple designs, and every single own is its own scent.

I want them all.

The 2 I got yesterday were:

Unicorn Hello Kitty in Rainbow Sherbert

and Gudetama in Peach Gummies.

As you can see the product differs in each container, but they apply clear. The scent is very strong in both o them, and they taste like their scent too! The peach scent reminds me of peach lotion and candies I’ve tried, while the rainbow sherbert... oddly smells like rose, and a hint of fruit (it also kinda reminds me of the strawberry-rad raspberry smoothie I’d get with the fruity bubbles), I love it so much!

My only complaint I have is that its a bit hard to get the product out. It’s not impossible though, I found the best method is to “duck lip it“, then smooth it out if you don’t want to spend a few minutes rubbing it with your finger. A small applicator could also work though. The product will soften up over time I’ve been told.

So, usually after I have time to assess my opinions on something I enjoy looking at product reviews. Surprisingly (or maybe not?) these are considered to be a hit-or-miss. I mean, I really liked them and I thought they moisturized my lips pretty well without being oily, plus the strong scent and good taste, and cute packaging. They’re not an A+ to me, but an S RANK. Which is even better than A+ in some video games. I would recommend these if you enjoy Sanrio and want a decent lip balm.

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Okay, so this will be concluding my review. I’m kinda surprised because I didn’t think this would take me as long as it did to write up. But I had a lot of fun, and I plan on going back again/buying from online soon :3 They had quite the selection of cutesy brands suiting my personal aesthetic. 

You can guarantee there will be some more reviews~

Do you guys have any Ulta-favorites?