#there are loopholes if they really want to get rid of you specifically

[theviolenttomboy]

Something all the layoffs made me think, another legitimately sad and fucked up thing about the video game industry is at this point, Nintendo's probably the only company left that still has almost all of their OG devs from the 80s and 90s, their version of Disney's Nine Old Men. Almost all the veteran staff from other older, still existing companies, even the Japanese ones like Capcom and Sega, are long gone, either retired or went indie to wildly differing degrees of success. And all the newer companies keep shutting down or get absorbed before they even get a chance.

[flightfoot]

Adrien Angst Fics and Series that finished in 2023

So I love some good Adrien angst and hurt/comfort, and I figure a bunch of other people do as well! Hopefully these fics scratch that itch! They're all from the collection I set up earlier for the fics from 2023 that I recommend! I've got 31 fics in here. It's a popular genre that I like a lot, there are a lot of fics for it!

home is where the fight is by @rosie-b

Nadja Chamack’s voice greeted Adrien as he sat up straight, wiping his clammy hands on his pants and ignoring the black kwami floating by his shoulder. “—shocked to see our heroine fall in battle today, taking a direct hit from the akuma just as she detransformed. Parisians are torn between blaming Hawk Moth and Cat Walker for their roles in this tragedy, which ultimately revealed the civilian identity of Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” Adrien turned off the TV and lowered his head as his vision blurred. Written for Ladrien June Day 7: Injured

I adore this fic! Which shouldn’t be a a surprise, it’s no secret that I love Sentiadrien Enemies AU. Adrien’s so worried about Marinette getting hurt, and wishes that he could help keep her safer, could tell her what’s really going on or get rid of the ring or something, but he can’t. Still, he IS able to find clever ways around some of his father’s more problematic orders. Loopholes for the win!

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Guilty by Association by @rosie-b

Marinette respected Adrien’s strength and courage more and more every day. No matter how many times people threw nasty words or literal tomatoes at him; no matter how many companies refused to work with him anymore; no matter how clear it was becoming that he would never be forgiven for his father’s crimes, he chose to greet new people with a smile and hope that this time, someone would recognize the kind heart hidden behind his hated name. She wished she’d had the chance to meet him before she’d accidentally ruined his life. Written for the Ml Writers Guild September event ‘back to school’

I love how Marinette keeps reaching out to Adrien, trying to protect him, even if it doesn’t always work. To let him know that she’s in his corner at least. Hawk Moth had to be taken down, but the consequences for Adrien… she never wanted anyone to get hurt in the process. 

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oh, look now, there you go with hope again by @ladyofthenoodle

After the defeat of Hawkmoth and his accomplice, Chat Noir, Marinette is ready to return to her normal life, but she can’t escape Adrien Agreste, who was sentenced to a fate many consider worse than prison: public school. Specifically, her public school. Still, that doesn’t mean she has to interact with him, does it? Except, if she doesn’t… who will?

I love a good enemies au, and seeing the aftermath of an enemies au… that’s rare. She’s wary of Adrien, but with how he’s being bullied, and how he’s just taking it in the hopes of being accepted, she can’t help but reach out to him.

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Disintegrated Pancakes by @scribeofrhapsody

Adrien had started expecting the family breakfasts. He had NOT been expecting his father to collapse in the middle of one.

I’m shocked I haven’t seen more of this sort of thing, with Adrien finding out his father’s Monarch via seeing the Cataclysm wound. I love that Alya gets involved in this, being the person Adrien runs into after fleeing the room, and then Adrien getting to talk things out with Gabriel and Nathalie. Thankfully Gabriel is at least not completely incapable of being reasoned with here, or things could have gone worse than they did. It’s a nice little read, though with an ambiguous ending (at least at the time when I write this).

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with this ring by @thelibraryloser

She thought “you and me against the world” had sounded like lopsided odds before, when she hadn’t even dreamed “you against me” was a possibility. Or maybe she had dreamed it, but at least in those dreams he’d had cold blue eyes and a stark white mask. The villain she’d fought today had looked at her through her partner’s own bright green eyes. It wasn’t meant to be this way.

Short and sweet Sentiadrien enemies canon divergence fic here! I adored Marinette finding out why her kitty seemed to have “betrayed” her, and the righteous anger on his behalf once she figured out that it wasn’t of his own free will. Her comforting Adrien about it was just… really good. It’s a Hawkmoth Defeat fic too, so the immediate aftermath gets covered as well. Adrien needs a hug.

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Nothing Else Matters by LiquefiedStars

Marinette couldn’t figure out Chat Noir. He was supposed to be her partner, but instead ended up working for Hawk Moth. Still, her heart betrayed her and when a strong connection forms between them, Ladybug goes to Chat looking for answers, finding out more than she bargained for.

Sentiadrien enemies AU fic! He never wanted to fight against her, but Gabriel caught him before he could transform for the first time, and with his father using his Amoks against him, he had no choice. 

I like that there’s a solid explanation for why Fu let Adrien keep his Miraculous even though he’s been working against Ladybug, I don’t often see explanations for that that I’m satisfied with.

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Slowly Fading (from my misery) by @wehadabondingmoment

“You’re looking awfully deep in thought today, minou.” Ladybug’s gloved hand stroked over his hair and Chat Noir closed his eyes with an unstable breath. He got like this sometimes. Lately, it had been getting worse. Or: Gabriel likes using the rings to order his son around. After a while, it starts having effects on Chat Noir as well. (The more often Gabriel commands Adrien to act a certain way, the more it gets ingrained in his mentality. He suffers because of it.)

This is a gorgeous fic. Adrien’s been puppeted around, forced to obey orders for reasons he doesn’t understand, for so long, so often that a lot of times his own body doesn’t even feel like his. A lot of residual orders keep on bubbling up and stopping him from doing what he wants to do, and he just… doesn’t understand why. Considering how Adrien looked in Pretension when Gabriel forced him to go to his room so he could talk to Marinette alone, and how desperately Adrien tried to head back there but couldn’t make himself open the door, how terrified and confused he’d seemed, I think his feelings here, his mindset, is pretty close to canon.

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all of your flaws and all of my flaws (are laid out one-by-one) by @coffeebanana

Ladybug and Marinette have both been acting strangely since Monarch’s defeat, and Chat Noir would give anything to know why—to be able to help them. He just…didn’t expect his answers to come when Ladybug drags him to his father’s statue in the middle of the night along with a bag full of spray paint.

If you felt unsatisfied with Adrien being left in the dark about Monarch, with Ladybug lying about Gabriel being a hero, this is a great fic to read. Marinette’s breaking down keeping this secret, seeing people treat Gabriel as the hero she told people he was, until she finally snaps and has to do SOMETHING, has to tell SOMEONE the truth. 

Which Chat takes pretty well! He knows how persuasive his father could be, and he’s mostly just relieved at finally hearing someone say that Gabriel wasn’t a hero. It’s still a lot to cope with though.

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Falling (sick) with you by @chocoluckchipz

Nothing would be easier than taking a pair of earrings off an unconscious Ladybug. Doing so would bring his mother back and end their decade-long strife. He shouldn’t be hesitating when a chance of a life time presented itself to him. He should not be looking for excuses and reasonings as to why spending another twenty or so years fighting this woman rather than pleasing his father and giving his mother another chance at life was not such a bad idea after all.

Ah, I love a good enemies au! Even when they’re enemies, Chat is unwilling to hurt Ladybug. Though honestly, he makes himself out to be more of a villain than he actually is, it’s pretty obvious to everyone that he’s not trying as hard as he could to get her earrings. There’s very good reason for that.

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adrien agreste and the consequences of tweets making fun of yourself by Anonymous

Well, Adrien thinks, what’s the worst that could come from a few poorly thought-out tweets lightly ribbing his own civilian identity?

I love the focus here on how people just assume what Adrien’s thinking and feeling and act on his behalf, without actually waiting to see what HE wants, and Adrien’s growing frustration. How they create a version of him in their heads, but don’t care to check with reality to see whether he actually wants their “defense”. 

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what makes a human (am I?) by GraceM_TheStoriedLife

Adrien comes to Marinette’s out of nowhere. Usually Chat is her rock. Tonight, it’s her turn. (Or, in which Adrien discovers some secrets he’s not prepared for and Marinette is as Marinette-y as always.

So Adrien discovers he’s a sentimonster and immediately runs to Marinette for support. It’s as cute and angsty as you’d expect. She is, of course, very supportive of him. Also some discussion of Gabriel being abusive, since both she and Nino had been trying to get Adrien to see that. Especially with how, exactly, Adrien found out he’s a sentimonster. He can relate a little better to Felix’s experiences now than is healthy, I’ll just say.

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Vengeance Noire by @phiellydinyia

After a horrific argument with his father, Adrien escaped from the mansion with his heart in pieces. In hindsight, it made sense why an akuma was sent his way. He shouldn’t have let his emotions get the better of him. But he never expected Plagg to be even more upset than he was. He never expected his own kwami to be akumatized. To become the threat of a city he swore to protect. And what’s worse is the fact that Chat Noir can’t jump in to save this one. But Ladybug can. And that’s why he has to find her as quickly as possible, suit or no suit.

I love some good Adrien angst, especially with a delicious side order of Plagg and Adrien’s bond with each other. Even as Adrien’s barely functional, though, he’ll do everything in his power to save Plagg, even if Plagg wishes he wouldn’t go quite that far. 

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This Distance Between Us by @coffeebanana

After defeating Monarch, the search for the Peacock Miraculous brings Ladybug and Chat Noir to a hotel room in London. But it’s hard to enjoy the victory when Ladybug can’t figure out why Chat’s been so quiet, why he seems so sad. How’s she supposed to help if she has no idea what’s wrong?

This is a great Sentiadrien fic, with Chat freaking out about it and feeling like he’s not worthy of Ladybug’s affections, but not telling her what’s actually wrong because he thinks she won’t want him anymore if she knows. Of course, he’s wrong about that.

Also there’s a pretty intense confrontation with Felix, pissing Chat Noir off is a bad idea.

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Rocking the Cat-Eyes by @buggachat

“I like being a girl.” “That’s the alcohol talking,” Marinette snorted. “I’ve always been a li’l jealous,” Adrien admitted. “… Of what?” “That you get to be a girl,” Adrien murmured, “and I don’t.” — When Marinette and Adrien host Girls’ Night at their apartment, Adrien is easily welcomed to attend as “one of the girls”… but has a bit too much to drink. Some drunken confessions are spilt, some assumptions are made, and most of all… Adrien is confused.

This is a great Genderfluid!Adrien fic. Marinette actually figures out that Adrien’s not entirely cis before he does, and tries to let him know she’s supportive… but unfortunately Adrien comes to some incorrect conclusions…

Anyway it’s a lot of fun, and Adrien rocks a dress and makeup!

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Family by @unecoccinellenoire

“You know,” Nino grins, “if you need advice on being a big brother in a year or two I’m sure I could help.” The bottom of Adrien’s stomach dropped out. — Adrien struggles with the concept of his father and Nathalie having children.

So this is a world where Adrien and Marinette managed to defeat Gabriel, taking his Miraculous, with them giving him an ultimatum: they won’t out him as being Hawk Moth so long as he doesn’t cause any more trouble and does right by Adrien. Gabriel does, in fact, move on finally to Nathalie, giving Adrien a lot of mixed feelings to deal with. He still loves them both despite everything, but he’s also angry at them and he definitely does NOT want them to have children, both because he thinks they’d like any biological child they had more (he’s also harboring guilt from indirectly being the cause of his mom’s death), and because frankly, they screwed up too much with Adrien for him to want them to inflict that on another child.

And then there’s also Adrien dealing with the realization that he’s a Senti on top of that and wondering why he and Felix look the way they do, what Emilie’s reasons were.

It’s mostly just Adrien getting to talk things out, navigating this emotionally fraught situation he finds himself in now that the dust is settled.

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When Secrets Come Undone by SortaArtsy

Ladybug promised not to tell Adrien… but she never promised not to confide in Cat Noir. What happens when Ladybug unintentionally vents to the one person who wasn’t meant to know any of it? ****MAJOR SEASON 5 SPOILERS WARNING! **** May not be season 6 compliant when it comes out.

This is a “Adrien finds out what everyone’s been keeping from him post-S5″ fic, and I think it’s handled really well! He feels very hurt, betrayed, and disbelieving initially about being a Senti and his father being Monarch (…mostly being a Senti, it ain’t that hard to believe that Gabriel was a supervillain), and is angry at everyone who kept it secret from him, but he still handles it well, going and talking to the people involved, getting their reasoning and perspective. 

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Wanted: Catnap by SortaArtsy

Adrien Agreste has barely been sleeping, trying to be everything expected of him. What happens when he spreads himself too thin? Sick!Adrien/ Cat Noir

Adrien’s just pushing himself so hard, trying to do his regular duties, until his illness forces him to rest. I love how concerned everyone is over him - even GABRIEL eventually relents and wants him to rest. It’s just cute and nice and fluffy.

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a winter so warm by @rosekasa

winters were hard for even the best of vampires, but at least adrien had marinette to keep him warm with her cuddles. december was going to suck without her. so it was only to be expected to get extra cuddles in before she left, right? (well, not really, considering those heating supplements he was taking, but she didn’t need to know about that).

This one’s mostly just cute cuddly adorableness! It’s basically like all those “Marinette gets the Ladybug trait of needing to cuddle up to someone for warmth”, but with Adrien instead. And of course featuring Marinette being a very talented witch who just wants to help Adrien stay warm when she isn’t there XD.

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and I thought I heard you sing by @into-september

When Hawkmoth has been defeated and unmasked, Marinette is left with two problems and no solutions. First, that Adrien is further out of her reach than ever before, and no-one can tell her how to get to him. Second, that Cat Noir is far more troubled than she knew, and the only thing she can do is wait for him at the place they agreed to meet.

It’s your classic “Hawkmoth’s defeated and taken into custody but that means Adrien’s in for a rough time” sort of fic. Everyone’s worried about Adrien and wants to give him what comfort and support that they can, but he’s being hidden away from everyone (which I mean, honestly that’s a good move), so that’s not really possible. Plus, Ladybug’s noticed that Chat’s having a tough time in his civilian life, which worries her.

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Betrayal by @jennagrinsoverml

MAJOR EPHEMERAL SPOILERS!! Ladybug planned to use Viperion’s power of Second Chance to get Chat’s identity to Su-han without Chat knowing or agreeing. Of course, then the world went crazy, and she didn’t go through with it. But when an akuma exposes Ladybug’s plan to Chat, he doesn’t know that. He just knows that his Lady betrayed him. He deals with his feelings in the best, most mature way he can think of. He disappears.

So I, like a lot of others, wanted more follow-up on Ephemeral, and particularly on the betrayal of trust it was for Marinette to try to trick Chat Noir into giving up his identity to a third party without his knowledge or consent (I wrote my own take on that at the time, called Transcient, that I’m proud of). This fic did a good job of exploring that, with Adrien reacting in a manner that made sense to me (repressing his negative feelings about the situation as much as possible and trying to justify it to himself, but still feeling terrible despite his own best efforts), and how Marinette realized that she messed up, since Luka keeping it secret that he knows hers and Chat’s secret identities caused her to be upset as well. It did a great job of exploring those negative feelings and letting everyone talk things out, explain their viewpoints, and rebuild their relationships afterwards, which is something I really value.

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I’ll give myself a name (something stupid and pretentious) by @bbutterflies

Nino looked at the number and didn’t recognize it. Usually he wouldn’t answer, but he had nothing better to do – and could still really use a distraction – so he did. “Hello?”

“Hey, Nino.”

Nino stood up quickly, chest tightening. He knew that voice. He’d been waiting to hear it again for over two years. “Adrien?” he whispered.

“Yeah. It’s me."

-

When Monarch is defeated (and revealed to be Gabriel Agreste), Chat Noir immediately goes missing. Adrien disappears not long after. When Adrien finally shows up in Paris again, Nino would do anything to make sure he doesn't disappear again.

Ah this is lovely, Adrien’s been in a lot of emotional turmoil since Monarch’s defeat, convinced that everyone would hate him, SHOULD hate him, for not realizing that his father was the villain, and should hate him even more for disappearing like he does. But slowly Marinette and Nino get through to him, convince him that they just want him back. 

And also Adrien and Nino smooch. Multiple times. So that’s a bonus XD.

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Two Steps Back (One Step Forward) by @buggachat

Sure, Adrien hadn't been texting her as often as he used to. And sure, Nino noticed it too. But just because Adrien had struggled with depression in the past, didn't mean he was struggling now. Surely, he'd tell her if something was wrong. Right?

Marinette just missed him, and she had a tendency to catastrophize. Surely, he was fine.

But if he wasn't... well, she wasn't above hopping on a flight back to Paris to make sure.

—————

Marinette's at an internship in New York, and Adrien has a depression relapse.

Once again buggachat comes out swinging with a fic centered around Adrien being super depressed and his friends charging in to help him, despite him not wanting them to because he feels like a burden. It’s not easy and Marinette goes through a lot of emotional turmoil, especially since his apartment is in bad enough shape that it can’t be changed to something that a human should be living in without also going shopping, but gradually she helps drag Adrien out of the hole he’s gotten himself stuck in. The emotions are on point and just... if you want to read a hurt/comfort fic with Found Family helping one of their own who’s struggling and doesn’t think they deserve it, this is a great fic to read.

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If only I could break free by megetstoread

It started with Adrien being upset about going away, but led to a lot of revelations.  

Another Sentiadrien fic here! After telling Adrien that he’s being sent to London, Gabriel takes advantage of Adrien being distraught to akumatize him. Luckily Ladybug’s right there and deakumatizes him before he can even do anything, but it shakes both her and Chat, leading to her allowing him to tell her a lot more about his home life than usual, and for her and Adrien to investigate to see whether there might be more to Adrien’s inability to stand against his father than just psychological abuse.

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Dr. Walker & Kitty Hyde series by @pearl484-blog

Summary of the first fic, Rain Falls, Everybody Lies:

Chat Noir loves the rain. He loves the danger. He loves the excitement, and he especially loves how much Catwalker hates it. 

Jekyll and Hyde AU

Adrien AUGreste Entry 3: Rain

So like the summary says, and the title indicates, this series is inspired by the popular conception of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - not how the book actually goes, but how it’s portrayed in popular media, with Jekyll splitting himself in two, with a “good” side and a “bad” side. 

During Kuro Neko, instead of just changing his appearance through changing his mindset, Adrien took more extreme measures, sealing off his “undesirable” characteristics, his anger and sadness and all his sharp edges, into the ring so he could assume a more placid, genial persona that’d be more accepted - Cat Walker. 

But Chat Noir’s still there, taking over whenever Adrien gets too testy, and desperately trying not to be pressed out of existence entirely. With embodying Adrien’s sealed anger and snappishness and rebelliousness, he’s not too kind to the other heroes - he already felt looked down upon and ignored before this, and seeing them accept Cat Walker while he’s fighting for his life doesn’t endear them to him either.

The series isn’t unfair to them - this isn’t a case where one party is entirely in the wrong and another’s entirely in the right. Marinette, Zoe, Nino, and all the others - they did wonder about what was going on with Chat, but he wasn’t in a position where he could see it, and he did have legitimate questions about how much Ladybug would budge on things, if he’d told her what he was going through. It’s a series that emphasizes characters hurting and lashing out in some terrible ways, but that hurt still being respected, and working things out, trying to get everything to a better place.

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The Parable of the Caller by @nemaliwrites

A week after Hawk Moth’s identity has been revealed, Adrien finds himself with nowhere to go, nothing he can do, and worst of all, strange gaps in his memory he can’t explain. In a stroke of luck, he stumbles upon a burner phone filled with voicemails from one of the Saviors of Paris: Chat Noir himself, who disappeared following Hawk Moth’s arrest.

But with each new voicemail Adrien listens to, he’s forced to confront the fact that there might be some kind of connection between himself and Chat Noir — and discovering it might leave him more broken than before.

I absolutely adore this fic, it’s a fantastic character study for Adrien! Basically in this universe, Ladybug and Chat Noir talked about who should be Guardian, with Chat eventually convincing her that he should be the one to take it on, primarily due to the whole “the Guardian gets amnesia about Miraculous-related matters” situation, and wanting to protect Ladybug from that. Then he finds out Gabriel is Hawk Moth, they take him down, and he relinquishes the Miracle Box and his guardianship to Su Han - all without having a Reveal with Ladybug, since well, he’s not in the greatest shape mentally at the time.

It’s a real treat to see Adrien’s thoughts and feelings about one of the Heroes of Paris leaving him all these voicemails, treating him like this close friend for reasons he doesn’t understand, and just seeing Chat Noir as this outside person. He’s got a very different viewpoint on Chat when looking from the outside than he would from the inside, with being able to see his heroic and good qualities far more easily when he doesn’t know that he is Chat.

Also Marinette’s struggling in the background of the fic with the loss of her partner and guilt over sending Adrien’s father to prison. It gets touched on at various points, and you can tell that she’s having her own story off to the side that we’re just not entirely privy to, what with this tale being told entirely from Adrien’s perspective.

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call it even by @anna-scribbles and @sha-nwa

After a year of dating, there is one thing Marinette knows for certain: it's her and Adrien against the world. Through it all, Adrien is kind, patient, and endlessly understanding—even as she tries her best to keep her secret superhero identity hidden from him along with the rest of the world.

Nothing could ruin it, not even the supervillains of Paris: Hawkmoth and Chat Noir.

(adrinette dating // ladynoir enemies au)

This is one of those fics where Adrien and Marinette are REALLY going through it emotionally, with them starting off with wildly different perceptions of each other when untransformed, and then reckoning with the person they love the most being someone they think of as a villain, with all the betrayal and doubt that involves. Especially with Adrien having been lied to extensively by his father, and not knowing who or what to believe.

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drowning (in plain sight) by @buggachat

Everybody had expected Monarch's defeat to be a moment of triumph. Nobody had expected Gabriel Agreste, unmasked and mind frayed from continual abuse of the miraculous, crying out to all who would listen and making Paris certain of one thing:

His son, Adrien Agreste, is one of his sentimonsters.

And now he's missing.

Nobody can find him— not even the superheroes, and not even his closest friends. But Marinette, Nino, and Alya aren't ones to give up so easily. They'll find him, no matter what it takes.

(But, geez, would it kill Chat Noir to lend a hand?)

I’m sure everyone saw this one coming. If there’s one thing buggachat’s good at, storywise, it’s capturing raw, tumultuous emotions, frantic breakdowns as the characters desperately try to navigate bad situations. This was a real treat to read, as I’m betting most people reading this will agree, given just how popular the fic has been. It also has a ton of fanart, both by buggachat and by random fans, if you go looking for it (there’s a drowning in plain sight tag which I’d advise perusing). 

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Eventually by @lucid-ao3

Adrien’s life has been dictated by rules, monitored, and controlled for years. He has learned to compartmentalize. It’s not that bad. It always gets better, eventually. Doesn’t it?

Recovery can be an unexpected obstacle when you didn’t realize you were being hurt in the first place.

OR: How Adrien lives and copes with the emotional abuse inflicted on him over the years, and how he ultimately could overcome it.

If you want a good “Adrien doesn’t realize how abusive his father is but slowly buckles more and more under his tyranny, until things come to a head, and he actually gets the HELP HE NEEDS” fic, this is a good one!

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Not a Monster at All by @book-sandwich

Adrien Agreste overhears a conversation he shouldn't, and a revelation sends him falling onto the terrace of the only person he can trust: his good friend (?) Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Takes place sometime after the first two episodes of season 5!

As you can probably guess from the title, this is a Sentimonster Adrien, Monarch takedown fic. Adrien’s going through a tough time, and Marinette’s just trying to be there for him as his whole world’s collapsing around him. Unfrotunately, they still don’t know what the object is, or how likely Gabriel would be to control Adrien if he hinted that he knew the truth, which leaves Adrien in a precarious position - still not having done an identity reveal doesn’t help matters.

It’s a really solid fic for the genre, though since it started up before the later parts of season 5, there are a few things that don’t match up with the canon information we obtained later on. 

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Awaken by InkyIbis

The previously white butterfly, now oozing black and purple as a conduit of the butterfly miraculous powers, flutters softly within the silvered-gloved hand.

It sits there for a long time.

"Go, my akuma," The soft sigh pushes the butterfly, the akuma, out towards the despair of a love not returned. The same ache within his chest. On a level so great that he's willing to sacrifice the city to mend it.

It's okay if he's the villain for now. He'll force the miraculous of creation and destruction to be revealed, and once he gets his hands on them, none of this pain, none of his loss, will ever happen.

This is essentially a canon rewrite for Miraculous (specifically seasons 1 and 2, with a bunch of the events mixed around) that focuses primarily on Adrien, with his relationship with Nino being the main driving relationship of the fic. (Don’t worry, Marinette’s still treated fine, she’s just not the focus). This is the best “rewrite Miraculous with more of a focus on Adrien” type fic I’ve seen, with it reworking the plots of the episodes so that they’re different enough to be their own distinct thing - it’s not trying to just rewrite the canon episodes but from Adrien’s POV, there’s a lot of lore changes going on as well, and things occur in different orders.

Like lorewise, Chat’s given a more important role in cleaning up the mess the akumas leave, with his power helping to cleanse akuma victims and he and Ladybug needing to use their powers in tandem in order to cast Miraculous Ladybug. There’s also no Miracle Box holding the kwamis. Instead, Chat sometimes surpasses his limits and ends up summoning kwamis, which is dangerous to him, but very useful.

What really makes this fic great though, is its focus on Adrien’s emotions. You really get a feel for Adrien’s insecurities, especially when it comes to not feeling like he’s good enough for Nino, with not wanting to bother him when he absolutely should, with feeling like he’s not a good enough friend to him, and then there’s dealing with all of Gabriel’s usual abuse on top of that.

Speaking of Nino, this is an Adrino fic (though several characters get crushes on Adrien, Nino’s the one who matters most for this), though a slowburn one. Nino’s clearly head-over-heels for Adrien, but Adrien has like, no context for what a romantic crush feels like and is basically viewing Nino the way he viewed Marinette in canon prior to season 5. He clearly cares for him a lot, including romantically, he just... doesn’t get it.

Anyway, if you want an interesting canon rewrite fic from Adrien’s perspective with Adrino as the main pairing, this is a good story to pick up!

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one does not love breathing by @wackus-bonkus-maximus

All of Paris watched as Hawkmoth murdered Chat Noir, taking the Black Cat Miraculous for himself. Ladybug swears revenge, but her enemy—and every miraculous in his possession—disappear without a trace.

Six years later, a new team of villains launches an attack for the last remaining Miraculous: Volpina, armed with new powers; Queen Bee, with questionable loyalty; Argos, the new holder of the Peacock Miraculous; and Cat Walker, who Ladybug hates the most.

Takes place after S4 - Strike Back.

This is a simply phenomenal fic. You get to explore a lot of different perspectives, like Felix, Kagami, Marinette, and Adrien’s, just to name a few, and see their different thought processes and plans and priorities, and how it can cause their plans to collide with each other, even when they all ultimately are aiming for a good outcome for everyone. The characters are pretty complex and can mess up at times, even when they’re doing things (or not doing things, looking at you Luka) with the best of intentions. It was a joy to read and a real nail-biter the whole time, I actually wrote a fic for it halfway through just to resolve some of the tension for myself, One Does Not Love Shadows.

It also features the version of Luka I’ve connected best with to date, as he feels like Luka, but also is a lot more fleshed out, and can make some major errors while simply trying to avoid missteps. It’s helped me get a better handle on a character who I’ve generally had a lot of problems with really understanding.

It is an M-rated fic, though I think Wackus is being overly cautious on that front. There’s no sexual content and I wouldn’t put the violence or gore above a T-rating, so I wouldn’t let the rating scare you off.

[p1nkwitch]

Here me out. 10 for that prompt list and Lonelyeyes.

Sorry it took me this long! Between lonelyeyes week and having to finish the good omens au, i was busy. Anyhow!! Here you go i had a fun writting this.

10.  “you died and left me on the hook for a hereditary marriage contract”

Peter was furious, he read the paper in his hand, over and over again, till eventually he crumpled it in his hands and put it inside his pocket. He quickly put on his coat and went to the Magnus Institute at a quick pace. 

The letter had been clear, there was no line that he could use to escape, no loophole. He even called his uncle on the way there, wanting to check just in case, but Nathaniel merely let out a sigh and told him it was in fact a clause that Mordechai had signed up with Jonah Magnus many years ago. It just so happened that no other head of the institute had any need to call upon it till now. James Wright instilled his right to it and now Peter was seemingly stuck. Cursing loudly he hangs up on his uncle telling him to keep it cool.

When he finally arrives at the building, he takes no time at all to make his way to the office of the new head of the place. Elias Bouchard.

Peter had liked James, in fact he had fancied him quite a bit, before his death, the two of them had a bit of a relationship. Which was fine by him, Peter came and went to the sea and back to land to spend some time with James whom he held fond feelings for. Quite…romantic in kind in all honesty.

He flushes just thinking about it. Unfortunately they were still working for opposing forces, therefore they were very prone to fights, so in his last trip, they got into a big one. Things were said. Peter left to simmer on his feelings for the next ten months, expecting to get back to James with a cool head. Unfortunately by the time he did come back he was informed the man was dead and he missed the funeral as well.

It really just…well it shook him quite badly, enough that he refused to go to the institute at all to meet the new head of the place. Telling Nathaniel he was done with it and to find someone else.

That of course didn't seem to work for long, because now he got this stupid bloody letter!

Peter grumbles but he struggles to remember where the office is, he tends to get lost easily in the stupid building and the sensation of being watched made him feel sick, enough that it distracted him too much to properly know his location. Eventually he finds someone from staff who points him to the right direction and so he finds himself in front of James' office.

Rosie tries to stop him but he starts to use the lonely when she picks up her phone and tells him after a few seconds that Elias shall see him. He quickly enters and closes the door behind him.

The man in front of him was sitting behind his desk with a set of glasses that were slightly sliding off his nose, they were red rimmed, which contrasted a lot with his dark gray suit.

“Ah, Mr. Lukas I was not expecting you today, what can I do for you sir?” 

He almost deflates. Elias was at most a couple of years younger than Peter, maybe barely hitting his thirties. He was shorter than him, which he noticed when the man stood up and pointed to the seat in front of him. The feeling of being seen was present so at least the man knew what he was or James picked someone with promise for the spot.

Thinking of James makes his head hurt for a very specific reason.

“What you can do is get rid of this” He takes the crumpled paper from his pocket and slams it on the desk, sliding it towards Elias who picks it up and reads it. His eyebrows raise till eventually he looks up at him with a blank expression.

“This is a bit of a surprise to be honest, but unfortunately…i can't do anything about it. I legally cannot undo the contract”

Peter chest burns.

“You cannot expect me to think its ok for James to pawn me off to you! We aren't in the 18 or early 19 century. We don't arrange arranged marriages anymore!”

Elias makes a sort of motion with his hand. “Maybe not here but its technically not-”

Peter glares at him. “I'm not going to marry you because James lost his mind before he died” He doesn't like looking people in the eyes, it's horrendous, instead Peter stares at the spot between their eyes. This is why he notices how Elias' expression turns pinched and his mouth turns slightly downwards at his outburst.

“Mr.Wright was under all his faculties before his untimely demise Mr.Lukas. A heart attack is a heart attack, not a reason to question his sanity. Albeit its quite the shock that he thought about this. He did mention you to me, as he was training me. I presumed you two were close from the way he spoke of you…very hm, yes fond”

Peter shivers and steps back feeling that horrible sensation of eyes raking over his skin, of being known.

“Knock it off. He did not-”

But Elias nods and walks around the desk to stand in front of him.

“He did, I was very curious about what sort of person he would talk so fondly of, you know? Ah it was a pity when i found out you were quitting your place as the representative of your family, i wanted to meet you. Albeit of course also not under this circumstances”

Peter feels a mix between shame and…and he is not sure. Especially as Elias' hands landed on his coat's lapel, he was fixing up his lapels and letting his hands linger for a bit. Making his skin crawl and his face burn. Elias is handsome. He will give him that, he also has sharp eyes, the same color as James too, a very cool shade of gray.

Still-!

“Listen, I'm not the sort of person you get to know, that's not how I work, but even less so…I don't do arranged marriages! Why would James even think this is a good idea to begin with at all?!” Elias tilts his head and says he doesn't know.

“But it's not such a bad thing isn't it?”

Peter gapes at him.

“What?”

Elias smirks at him, his lip slightly lifting upwards, it was both very nice on his face but also very insufferable.

“Take it as an opportunity, besides i talked to Nathaniel on the phone and he was mentioning something about you perhaps soon having to find a wife, since you were now no longer doing business with the Institute” Peter didn't know-

His face burns in shame about this little bastard knowing so much about him and yet Peter had nothing on him. “He wouldn't-”

A tap on the chest makes him look down at Elias. What a…handsome devil.

“But he would, now as I said, you can call this a blessing in disguise. Arranged as it is, we can make this work. You still travel, and leave for most of the year as you Lukas tend to do. I'm busy and I don't have time to dwell too much in relationships, they all bring me headaches. So…a transaction if you may. A marriage in name but its more of a…collaboration if you will?”

Swallowing a bit he asks carefully what that would entail. Elias smirk gets more wicked and there is something on the way he does it that just tickles the back of his brain. There is something so very…familiar in the motion.

“Well, for one, I do not like your replacement, I can tell you that right now. Conrad is a prick” Peter can't help but snort and smile just a bit, a hint really.

“Yes, that tracks”

Elias' eyes flutter and Peter has to look elsewhere, he is handsome, so what? Peter is still placed in a binding contract between entities and a marriage that he never asked for.

“Still what else? I want to win something out of this whole farce”

Elias walks around him like a predator measuring up with their prey, it makes the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

“Well, I only want some time to talk, perhaps dinner if you may. It is a marriage, perhaps not conventional or legal yet, but one made by our predecessors and bound by our entities. Quite the thing isn't it? As for you, well, what is more lonely than this? A marriage with no love?”

It is true, but that's not…

What fuels his loneliness is not the complete lack of something, but an absence. Peter is lonely because there is something to miss. An empty relationship as miserable of an affair as that is, doesn't feed his patron at all, because its not making him lonely, just miserable. Fun for a watcher not for Forsaken.

“I'm afraid you are going to need something else to sell it out to me, Mr.Bouchard. That's not how it works for me”

“Oh? And how is that then? Aren't you sad about what happened to Mr. Wright? Isn't it lonely enough to be married to someone else than the person you actually…cared about?” He was sure he was going to say love, in that case Peter would have just sent Elias to the lonely. Clenching his fists he tells him through clenched teeth to watch it.

Elias' eyes narrow and his expression turns wicked.

“Why? Isn't it the truth? Mr.Wright was fond of you but i'm sure he got over it quickly when you left him”

Peter stares and then grabs him by the tie, gripping it tightly as Elias smiles at him. “Grinning little freak, shut up”

“Perhaps that was what did it, you wore down his heart” Peter face twitches and Elias eyes seem to drink it all in. 

“I am going to get rid of this little contract, after all who cares if you are dead right?”

The beholder laughs and grips his wrist tightly with a hand as he leans so close to his face Peter has to step back, yet Elias follows.

“Do that, and I will shove so many memories of other people's lives and their thoughts about you that you will turn into a blubbering mess Peter dear, don't test me. Im being kind darling”

The niggling sensation on the back of his brain intensifies, the tone, the posture, the bossiness.

The eyes.

“Well, its a good thing i dont give a shit about James, he was a douchebag and he had a horrible sense of fashion too, you on the other hand have a nicer look” Elias face turns outraged for a second too long, his eyebrows twitching in consternation. Peter grips him by the jaw. “What the fuck James?!”

His expression turns blank and then resigned before going to be amused. “I suppose I gave my hand away too early, huh? Hello Peter” Oh he is going to kill him for sure. “Oh sod off, you won't”

“Stop messing with my head!”

“Stop making it so easy darling. Put some more effort into shielding those thoughts. Now, about that marriage-”

Peter headbuts him. “You fuck-” Elias is grabbing his forehead, his expression turned into that of outrage. “What is your blood problem-”

“My problem?! You died and left me on the hook for a hereditary marriage contract!!! What the hell is wrong with you! What- How are you alive, what is this? What the bloody hell is going on!”

Things devolve for a while, mostly into Elias explaining while looking sour that he was in fact Jonah Magnus, that he swaps bodies, that he changed his and when Peter did not come to meet his new body he had to find a way to drag him back. He was going to wait till there was a founding party, but Nathaniel did in fact talk about making Peter find a wife soon and Elias…

Oh Elias was possessive. Peter could see it in the way he described his plan and the way he grabbed onto him as they sat on the small loveseat in his office. The way his hands touched him and his lips curved up in smirks that had him flush.

“So I invoked the right to pass you along, honestly Mordechai and I were really drunk when we made that clause back then. Neither of us were actually thinking clearly, it was a wild weekend. What can I say? When you mix your vices and bring in your friends..”

“Ugh, can we not- I dont want to know how you fucked my grandfather. That's just gross”

“Pity”

He glares as a warning so Elias lifts his hands in surrender.

“So…”

Peter holds his face in defeat. “I'm not marrying you. Not now”

There is a long pause, Peter knows what his words mean, the implications. Elias probably can see it too, is likely smirking like the Cheshire cat. 

“Now?”

“Just- just shut up would you? Just…” Peter doesn't want to marry, not now, not like this, let alone not when he is processing a lot of information that he is trying to be cool with in such a short amount of time. “Let me think”

“Be my guest”

Like this he just tries to sort his thoughts and what he found out and eventually he reckons, the best course of action is to keep going as they were. For now at least. “I'm going to continue to work, and drop by to…talk about business”

Elias' expression is guarded, Peter rubs his own jaw deep in thought, the cons about this whole thing are growing, are exponential, this whole thing is wrong and will have dire consequences for him.

Yet the pros….

Well Peter was a gambler at heart. What's life without a bit of spice? Without a bit of a spark to make things interesting? Elias, James, Jonah or whatever he wants to call himself is his spark of chaos. Painful as it is to admit it.

“Dinner? Your place or mine”

He can see the momentary surprise at the acceptance. Soon it flickers into smugness, but Peter brushes it off. 

“Oh? Is that so-”

“Well yes, I haven't gone out with Elias Bouchard yet, perhaps i don't like him, perhaps you are…boring, or perhaps you are interesting enough to keep around. Maybe to even stay over at my flat”

Elias' face is wild. “Maybe i find you boring instead”

Yet Peter shakes his head in fond exasperation. “If you did, you wouldn't have basically trapped both of us into an arranged marriage under the suspicion that I would soon find a wife. So, dinner this friday? Your treat this time since you basically almost made my blood pressure burst”

The chuckle is a mockery, but it suits Elias and its…he has a lovely voice. Charming and low and makes something twist on his gut.

“I can live with that. For now we can be engaged, that at least will keep your family off your back, isn't that great?”

Lord.

“You are so horrible” Elias' hand touches his cheek.

“I am and yet here you are?” 

Here is indeed. Peter tilts his head to brush his lips against his palm, he can see pink on his cheeks for the first time and he really is starting to like the idea of figuring Elias out. He seems more expressive than James. With a hum he leans downwards and kisses him.

Its different but also familiar. He feels arms wrap around his neck and when the kiss deepens a bit too much, Peter retreats and starts to drift into the lonely to meditate a bit about this whole thing.

“Asshole”

Peter laughs this time at the pout on Elias' lips when he begins to slip away from his grasp. “Pot and kettle you utter insane bastard. I'm going to try and process the whole 200 year old dandy thing, now, see you on friday Mr.Bouchard”

Peter is almost gone when he hears him say goodbye.

“-Mr.Lukas, its a pleasure to meet my new fiance”

Peter's face burns all of a sudden as Elias gets the last word in before laughing at him.

Horrible man! 

Yet…it does serve him well.

Enough that in a few years he will propose to him properly this time, with rings and a silly post it note to seal the deal. Curse him for being charming and a bastard, he is weak to such things.

[arikihalloween]

Okay so I completely fell in love with @neonross 's Royal AU

I love everything, from the designs to the concept, so I made a royal!Nyxie design and now I'm obsessed with it lmao

Prepare for a lot of ramble 'cause I made so much lore for this alternate version mwahaha I am not sane about my own ocs but that's nothing new

Nyxie was born in the diamond kingdom, but currently lives in the Club kingdom. She is ferociously loyal to the Queen, for a reason unknown to most people...

Nyxie is a two of club, card that is often one of the least important in most games, up until a few, very specific games where suddenly the two become valuable and important. That's what Nyxie is, a pretty weak sorceress, who proved herself valuable enough to stay relevant in the court.

In this AU Nyxie keeps her dreamwalking powers, to which are added other spells of the mind, in which she excels. Mind reading, dream reading, everything she sees or hear, is written in a notebook she carries around.

Imagine that she is kinda like a spy, that everyone in the court probably knows about. But it doesn't matter much to know, for no one can really tell who she spy on, and everyone is likely to be her next target all the same. An other main job of Nyxie is preventing night assassinations, since she doesn't really need to sleep.

As for her relationships with the cast, they would probably be like :

- She is extremely loyal to her Queen, Queen Julie takes priority on everything

- Nyxie has a weird relationship with King Wally. As a close aid of Julie, they often see eachother. Nyxie's vibe annoy Wally, so he would often try to get rid of her more or less obviously. Sometimes it's like he hunts her for sport lol, and Queen Julie would set a timer for them to "play", as she sees it ( if that makes sense)

- She's neutral with King Frank, they never really interacted despite the fact she is from a small noble line of his kingdom

I really love Nyxie, because she's the kind of person who would follow etiquette to a point of being annoying, on purpose. She hides behind etiquette, using loopholes to stay alive in the court

As she says it "My life is nothing but a thrilling survival game"

Some notable conversations she would have (hypothetically of course) :

[ King of Heart : I want to get rid of you

Nyxie: I get that a lot, at least 20 other people have said this to me lately... With all due respect, your Majesty, I will have to ask you to get in line and kindly wait for your turn

*Cut to Nyxie running for her life in the gardens, for even her Queen can't shield her this time* ]

The love I have for this AU is unreal, I can't thanks you enough for making it neonross QwQ

I hope it's okay for me to make all this, and now i will go back to doodle in my corner BYE

[merks-trash-fire]

I would genuinely like to sit down with one of these big gun control advocates and just have them tell me everything that they know/think they know about guns. Because literally every time that I have heard them reference something that I'm not 100% familiar with it always turns out to either be completely made up or so non specific that if they really knew what they were talking about they would be more specific. Like with the "gun show loophole" you'd think that there's an actual loophole, but there isn't. If they want to get rid of private transactions not requiring background checks then say that don't use some buzzword that's specifically designed for confusion among the non informed. Of course all gun control language is designed to be exactly that. Be as general as possible because if you actually explained it to people they would understand it and consequently not be scared by it anymore. Can't have that.

[saphirered]

Verin + artificer S/O? Essek (begrudgingly) brings him to meet the Nein and while everyone is say hi they hear a loud boom and out stumbles from their room/lab S/O cover in ash and soot. They say hi to Verin and he just looks over to Essek and is like 'why didn't you bring me here sooner?!' thank you!

Once upon a time I was taught chemistry. I recall next to nothing but hey, maybe someone will recognise the chemicals and reaction causing the boom. I hope this turned out the way you wanted! 😘

“Essek will be here any minute! Hurry up!” You hear Jester shout as you almost spill the contents you’re mixing. Luckily you avoid burning a hole in the table of the lab. Nott might have your head if you ruined her alchemy equipment again.

“I’ll be there in a minute! Just finishing up here and then I’ll clean up and join you!” You shout back putting the vial back in the stand as you watch the fluids mix and swirl together. Taking out your tools you us it to heat up the vial carefully. You don’t need to set up a proper flame. Besides, it doesn’t even need to boil. Arcane flame. Much quicker.

The divines must be looking over you as the vial does not shatter. You set it at the burner to keep the contents at a constant temperature and move on to the next part of your experiment. Time for some powders. Now it’s key they do not come into contact with the liquids in the vial so you set that one out of the way in a safe place before you grab the powders you’ll need.

Goggles and gloves on, tools at the ready you set two beakers apart. With your tools you scoop some grey powder from one container and put it in the one beaker. You close the container and put it to the side before moving onto the next one containing bright yellow pebbles. You take a few and get ready to powder them when-

“Hurry up they’re here! They’re here! They’re here!” Shouting and violent knocking on your door makes you jump out of your skin, the yellow rocks dropping into the beaker with the grey powder, your elbow knocks over the vial from the burning spilling the contents on the desk, ignited by the burner like a fuel trail. You try to snatch the beaker from the desk but it’s already too late.

“Oh shit-“ You take cover casting a quick spell to protect yourself from the blast shattering the beaker in an explosion that should be audible a blocks away. When you get up your goggles are covered in dust and ash from whatever the flames reached. Yep… Nott’s gonna kill you if Caleb doesn’t get to you first… Hope he didn’t have any of his precious books laying around here….

Your ears still ringing you lift the goggles from your eyes giving you visual of the carnage left. You take off the gloves and quickly put out the remaining flames. Oh shit! you’re having guests! Rubbing at your ears trying to get your hearing back to what it’s supposed to be, you stumble to the door slightly disoriented. Opening the door you’re met with some familiar faces, and a new one.

Caduceus had already put aside whatever tray of tea or food he had been carrying and got ready to heal. Caleb is trying to contain the urge to run in and make sure his precious books are alright. Nott’s already screaming her equipment better be fine or you not just owe her a new set but also several fluffernutters to make up for the emotional damages you’ve caused, whatever that’s supposed to mean. Jester joins her at the mentions of receiving fluffernutters. Beau’s laughing her ass off and upon seeing you’re alright Fjord joins her with a light chuckle. Essek looks completely unfazed if not a little worried.

Then you see the other drow. There’s definitely similarities between him and Essek so you feel safe to assume this must be Verin Thelyss. Damn. He’s handsome too… And just your luck you just fell victim to the carnage of your experiment. So much for first impressions. Here you stand covered in ash, dust and sooth probably looking like a maniac or some sort of mad scientist. Oh god… You’re staring. Can he see your staring? Oh no…

You quickly brush off your clothes trying to get rid of the worst of the mess and walk up to the two drow with a bright smile offering a hand to Verin.

“Hello. You must be Verin! Pleasure to meet you.” You look down at your outstretched hand to see it also covered in the grime from your desperate attempt to make yourself look somewhat presentable. You’re about to retract your hand but Verin takes it anyway and shakes it to your surprise. There’s a bit of a mischievous grin visible.

“It’s my pleasure. You must be the artificer my brother neglected to mention dabbles in alchemy. The pleasure is all mine.” Verin certainly expresses an interest in you, or your work. You’re not entirely sure if it’s both or either and you don’t dare to assume.

“Brother dear, you have no excuses for not introducing me to your friend before.” He directs at Essek as he takes your held hand and links it through his arm.

“Not to be rude but I’ve found myself with a special interest in alchemy. Would you mind sharing your work?” Verin asks you and you look at the others. Some raised eyebrows but before you know it you’re pushed into the lab by a little blue tiefling.

“Yes yes! They’d love nothing more than show you all their work and other things!” Jester wiggles her eyebrows and makes a face as you look behind you in confusion.

“You’ll owe me a fluffernutter.” She whispers at you as the door is closed behind you and Verin and you’re left in the mess that is the laboratory.

Verin certainly expresses an interest in your work and has some basic understanding of alchemy. You catch him stare at your more than once, enthralled by you going of on a rant about storing components properly as to avoid situations like this happen.

“-and you see, it’s so difficult to get these specific components here I’m certain I’ve bought up the stocks of every seller in the city at this point yet I still do not have enough to complete this.”

“I happen to have some connections outside of the city. Perhaps I can help you find some or persuade the kind professor to allow you access to their stocks.” Your eyes light up at the offer.

“That would be absolutely amazing! You’d really do that for me? I mean no offence but we’ve only just met like an hour and a half ago?” You’re looking for the loophole or the strings attached to his offer. Usually this stuff doesn’t come for free. Especially not something so generous.

“See it as an opportunity to get to know you better. With your consent of course.” Maybe you should be glad there’s still the remains of sooth you couldn’t wipe away just yet hiding an onset blush. Jeeze. You feel like a school girl what’s going on and how does this man know exactly how to woo you. Charming, intelligent, nice, a good listener that actually shows interest in your passions? You’re not going to pass on that opportunity.

“With an offer like that; consent, permission and attention. You got it all, handsome.” You laugh only half joking. Does this count as flirting? Maybe it does… This is why you’re not the charismatic one.

“It’s settled then and maybe we can discuss your work more thoroughly in the future. I fear I’ve been a terrible guest to your friends.”

“I’m sure they don’t mind.” The two of you begin making your way back to the rest of the Nein and Essek, the latter of which seems relieved no further disasters occurred when letting his brother leave his supervision with you.

By the time Essek and Verin had to take their leave to return to their duties again you bid them farewell. Before departing Verin stops in front of you and clasps your hands between his.

“I’ll see you soon to make good on my promise?” A little caught off guard you can already see the plot spinning in in Jester’s head and Caleb wonder how you’d managed to charm your Thelyss quicker than he had.

“Yeah. See you soon.” He squeezes your hands before letting go and bidding the rest of the Nein farewell. You’re left there standing watching the Thelyss brother go until the door closes.

“Oh. My. Goodness!” Jester’s halfway through planning yours and Verin’s wedding already. Beau pats you on the shoulder for getting in the pants of another hot-boi. You assure her that’s not how you spent your time with Verin. Not yet, she assures you.

“I-uh should just go clean up the mess now…” You try to excuse yourself and for the first time you’re happy Nott’s still upset about her equipment as she begins dragging you off to the lab.

“Yeah! You better!” The goblin screeches.

[chemicalpink]

⚠️A WORD OR TWO ON CONSUMING TAROT CONTENT RESPONSIBLY ⚠️

I’ve mentioned this before and I’ll mention it as many times as I deem necessary, especially since we’ve grown on this blog with my tarot bday projects. Content on the internet goes both ways, creators and consumers. Anything spiritually related is specially tricky and we can’t trust creators to be ethical, which is where our responsibility as consumers enter, here are a few things I like to point out in that regard.

Always feel free to question readers, you are allowed to cross reference the information that is given to you, all while being respectful of people’s crafts, knowing that it’s personal and may vary, don’t be afraid to question them and their info. But Marinette, are encouraging people to doubt even your readings? absolutely, if something doesn’t feel right with things I say, there’s 100% chance that if you approach me I can explain myself or correct any misleading info, sometimes my mind-sprit translation isn’t the best, I’m human and all readers are. Definitely watch out for readers that don’t leave room for discussion.

Know that tarot isn’t a definite answer, as humans, we tend to oversimplify concepts for the benefit of us all, and so has happened with tarot and the idea of it showing the outcome that must happen, when in reality tarot reading are more about the most likely outcome given how things are in that exact moment. You really don’t want to be reading misleading content in that regard.

Intersectionality is the biggest part of tarot: culture, personal experiences and environment are a big part of someone’s mind and actions. Tarot reads people’s energies, there are more factors into a human’s thought process and course of action than just vibes.

When doing future readings, keep in mind that the answer that comes up is within the specific mindset of the person. Humans are dynamic beings, we evolve even in the slightest as we encounter situations, even when tarot’s accuracy is bound to be of a six month period, the course can be changed if we as people have undergone certain processes.

Know that you don’t have to consume all the content that gets thrown at you. And I really can’t say it enough, the tarot community online is constantly growing as it gives a certain sense of control over such a worldwide situation that we’ve been living in for almost two years now, and there’s nothing wrong with people doing it, just learn to differentiate the content that best suits you instead of just consuming it all just because it’s there. Don’t fall into the trap of capitalist spirituality.

Tarot readings are always susceptible to bias, when we read for someone there’s always that outcome of what we want the answer to be, which is why it’s generally best to consume content from people that have experience and have gotten rid of their biases, most readers take about 3 years to do so completely, it is not meant to undermine beginner’s efforts, as much as it is about being ethical about the content that is out there.

Most tarot readers offer clout over truth for a simple reason: clout gets attention, truth seems boring to most, it’s a matter of what you decide to consume, we can’t really control what people get out there, but we can control the amount of clout that generates from it and ultimately feeds into a loophole of being accomplices of irresponsible content creation and consumption.

BOUNDARIES I CANNOT SAY THIS ENOUGH some stuff that comes up in readings is pretty personal and the reading itself dictates boundaries, some people disregard them in an effort to cover more topics when in reality said topics are personal and end up harming people’s boundaries and energy. Think of it as: is this something I feel comfortable asking the person if it were face to face?

Claiming to read some unknown energy that might appear in someone else’s life in the future is questionable at most, picking up energy from celebrities we don’t hold an explicit consent from is hard enough as it is, less be it picking out one energy out of millions in the world, even then, theoretically, it’s invasive as fuck.

Tarot readings are fun and all but they should always be taken with a grain of salt, especially when it comes to celebrities readings, on that same note, we must not forget that tarot readers are people, if they are doing things right, there’s always a price to pay for the information we get and that’s our own energy, do be doubtful of people that say they do 5+ readings a day without any repercussions, those might be a good prime example of bias readings.

And with that I shall go, I’ll leave you some sources additional to my personal experience and as usual, if I wasn’t so busy and tired and almost 2am here, I would undoubtedly rant about the cognitive processes of tarot but we shall leave it like this for now.

Sources: the cognitive bias spread, jack chanek; Searching for the Source of Tarot Divination’s Popularity through a Cognitive Analysis, Bastiaan Benjamin van Rijn; : Expecting Results – Congruence Bias; Finding Results – Post Hoc Justifications; Tarot Cards as Idealized Cognitive Models; Reader Bias, Lunaria Labs.

[prorevenge]

Bridezilla Karen ends up looking like a pauper at her own wedding.

I (F48) have known “Pat” (F48) for decades. As far as I can remember, she was fixated on having 5 children and a picket fence dream life. I slowly cut ties with her in college because she was an opportunist and I didn’t trust her. She is both manipulative and forceful. Her idea of cute rubs me the wrong way. Pat likes to walk like a penguin when she wants to elicit pity, and she usually does this when she wants to evoke the underdog narrative. I’ve never seen someone act so despicable and ridiculous at the same time.

I moved on with my life. Happily got rid of her for years. Pat eventually found me on facebook. I accepted her friend request out of politeness.

Pat has become the epitome of a permissive mother. Her (5) kids do as they please and she never calls them out. She tried to force a relationship between me and her daughters and made them call me Auntie. Pat tried to drop them at my house uninvited. Her phone calls were insistent, she tried to monopolize my time and she began to show up at my job. I created some boundaries so she tried to find loopholes. It was a nightmare.

My husband and I hosted a party for the community center (not the real name) new members. The community center is actually a very informal initiative and my husband and I mainly serve the homeless population. We prefer to help strangers instead of catering to potentially narcissistic acquaintances. We don't mind lending a hand but we have encountered truly dishonest choosing beggars.

There are other services, like one of the members who helps women get their wedding and prom dresses for free.The community center location “headquarters” is actually a farm owned by an elderly couple. There is a barn, a venue and a very nice green field with an artificial lake and some fowl. They charge for the use of their facilities (weddings , etc.) but not for community oriented stuff.

Pat had always been salty at her husband for demanding that she go back to work after baby #3. In the meantime, he worked three jobs. She demanded he get her pregnant to fulfill her dream of having 5 kids. He didn’t agree, because he was already nearly 45 and felt like he might never be able to retire. She got away with bringing new babies into this world anyway. Her fascination with being pregnant comes from all the attention she gets. She had at least one miscarriage in between each kid.

Pat latched on to our group. She never missed any of our activities. I hated having her in my house, but it was an open invitation that included virtually everyone and she was very active as an event organizer. I didn’t like the way her kids behaved. We have a designated area for parties and entertainment, but her kids ended up inside my bedroom. We ended up having to keep watch of them and enjoyed zero of our own party.

I called her days later to get my point across (regarding their overall behavior) but she completely cut me off and began talking about herself and said her kids wanted to come visit again and use our pool. I never answered that. I didn't want to say “no, I will not have your brats over”.

She also called me as summer was approaching specifically to let me know her middle daughter was bored and wanted to spend a WEEK at our home. I politely declined, citing that me and my husband have to work and cannot entertain guests. .

Pat paid no heed. Her kid called me on the weekend,calling me “auntie” and attempted to coax me by saying “Mom says you invited me to spend SUMMER with you”. I quickly clarified, and offered an explanation to avoid hurting a kid’s self esteem. Nevermind. Her daughter just hung up on me.

Pat’s facebook also showed some red flags. Some cryptic rants here and there were visible, along with friends’ comments and complaints on how she asked a particular person to watch her kids only for a couple of hours and ended up leaving them all day. Another of her friends criticized her “girls night out “ because Pat had just asked them to be patient and wait until she could pay back some money that she owed them, yet she had money to spend on Friday night outings. I thought those very public comments on private matters were more like a cry of lost patience.

Unpleasant things began to happen. Like the time she volunteered to wrap the Xmas presents for underprivileged kids. We all wanted to create a mix of less costly gifts with really nice ones. Surprisingly, some nice and eye-catching toys and games went missing but turned up under her Christmas Tree (courtesy of her mother in law’s FB posts). No one could prove anything but it was hate-inducing. Or the time my daughter called me in tears to pick her up after she attended Pat’s daughter’s birthday (Casey). My daughter had been ignored all night because she didn’t gift her the expensive gaming stuff Casey practically demanded. My daughter did ask, but I said no. We would buy her a very nice and thoughtful present according to her taste. So when I went to pick her up my daughter was sitting alone in the living room while Casey and her friends stayed outside.

Stories about Pat and her family multiplied. The owners at the farm (community center) decided keep their their gates locked unless they had guests or events because Pat got in the habit of driving in whenever she pleased and it was either her kids screaming and disturbing on-going weddings, throwing rocks at the koi in the lake or harassing the geese in the yard. Or how she stiffed another soccer mom with the lunch bill and then pulled the struggling financially card. Or how other parents hated her because she created unnecessary hostile competition.

When my daughter turned 13, I allowed her to wear my grandma’s ring. It's not an expensive piece of jewelry, but it's vintage and girls nowadays wanna look boho. My Granny gave it to me when I became a teenager so I passed it on to my kid so she could wear it on her birthweek.

It was weird that she became quiet and distracted after that. She also didn’t want to go to school and my husband and I became suspicious. She never opened up, and my other kids had no clue.

We went to her school but her teachers assured us nothing had changed in her environment. My husband and I suspected she was being bullied but our kid gave us no tools to support her. My kid is very sunny, and very compassionate. She has never had any problems with other kids. I called her best friend’s mom. Natalie, my kid’s BFF, told us what was going on. Casey (Pat’s eldest) and my daughter had become “close”. I knew this and wasn’t too thrilled. I found the age (Casey was 17) gap not exactly inappropriate but I’d rather see my daughter spend time with friends in the same age range. Casey is very beautiful and a gifted student. She is also very conceited. To make this story short, she asked my daughter if she could try on the ring and refused to give it back. She later claimed that she lost it but “would look for it” so my daughter was distraught. My daughter kept asking for her ring and as a result, Casey shunned her and spread the word that my kid was trying to steal HER ring. Some kids at school took Casey’s side. So now Casey just wore my kid’s jewelry to school like nothing happened. If that doesn’t qualify as taunting I don't know what does.

My guilt comes from not being able to get my daughter to open up and feel safe telling me the truth. I talked to her and she burst into tears. I was both pained as a mother and furious that some teenage b!tch was doing this under our noses.

I went straight to Pat’s car after school. I asked to talk as Casey was about to go in. So I grabbed Casey’s hand and asked to see her jewelry. Casey froze and she tried to make a fist, so I became relentless. Casey yelled “Mom!” and Pat struggled to get out of the car. I slid the ring off (Casey has tiny hands and wore the ring on her index finger). First Pat yelled at me. After I confronted her with the engraving on the band (my grandma's maiden name), she argued it was loaned to her daughter by my kid. Then she said she bought it. I paid no heed. I did warn them that I knew Casey had become an abusive friend to my daughter.

Pat called me to tell me off. She said she was trying to raise an assertive young woman and I had just messed that up by being “overbearing”. She never apologized for her thief of a child.

Pat's husband ( Hank) is what can be described as a doormat. Pat wore him down to a knob. He had no choice but to “obey” her to keep the peace. She was a bully who actively withdrew affection when he didn’t follow her wishes, even in public. So she got kids #4 and #5 after a relentless campaign that included leaving him for two months. Her pregnancies were a nuisance because she expected to be treated like the only lady who has even been pregnant. She strolled around in a wheelchair almost immediately after getting pregnant and she would “get very sick” on weekends, so her kids were often sent to friends and family so that she could “rest”.

Pat systematically bullied Hank. She would leave town and take the kids with her. Poor Hank would look distraught, drinking on his porch or just looking really lonely. This is how she got off the hook and was able to leave her job. Hank had virtually no voice, so he struggled to keep the marriage together. Everyone liked him, but hated her equally. Hank loved to talk to other people but seemed concerned that Pat would be upset. Over time, according to my husband, Hank began to show signs of depression and mental distress.

Our friend, Lenah, runs the wedding/prom dress initiative. It's not complicated. Dresses are sourced from donations, ebay, trunk shows, etc. Unusually beautiful dresses are retained so that more than one bride gets to wear them. In some cases, a bride will pay 50 bucks, but most of the time, the dresses are donated to the bride.

Pat was involved in this. Lenah kept her in because they never had any issues and her task was limited to just shipping the dresses out.

Pat decided to renew her vows and her bridezilla Karenzilla attitude became the icing on the cake. For starters, she bullied another couple into giving up their wedding date at the farm because she “needed her renewal to match her exact wedding date”. They were not impressed with her harassment, so they booked another venue. As a result, the farm owners were pissed because Pat was already costing them money after she had successfully negotiated a cut in their rate “because she couldn't afford it but will repay by doing maintenance work around the venue” (she never made good on her word).

Pat became attached to a particular dress that was already assigned to another bride. Lenah made it clear that she would need to pay for her own dress. So Pat played it cool and shipped the wrong gown instead. She was adamant that it was the right dress, despite all the notes on Leah’s agenda. The other bride was truly gracious about it. She was obviously disappointed, but never made a scene.

What bothered me most is that I picked that dress and bought it for 40 bucks at a garage sale (not my money, Leah’s money). It was a vintage dress, ankle length, white with lots of lace and a huge bargain. Again, when confronted, Pat “did a Casey” and used the “this is mine” strategy. We felt so bad for the other bride that we did our best to get her something nice to wear. The other bride was a true fighter, she had pulled out of welfare, earned her high school diploma and was working to get on her feet by trying to earn a certificate as an acrylic nail technician. So, her reward was to have some Karen steal her dress? Pat never admitted to messing up, but just by the fact that she claimed it was her dress, we knew.

Lenah never allowed her in her warehouse again. Their last phone fight ended with Pat bringing up the other bride’s past (like it mattered) and “this conversation is over, it's my dress and you are mistaken”. That was weeks before the other bride’s wedding.

Pat went all out on her wedding decor. She spent way too much. She hired a caterer for some food (mainly mimosas and appetizers), but the wedding invitation included a request for specific dishes for her Sunday brunch wedding. Either she ran out of banquet money or was on a complete moocher mode.I picture the penguin walking upon practically asking everyone to supply her wedding reception grub and I cringe.

There is nothing wrong with potluck weddings. In fact, they can be a nice addition to a very cozy and family oriented wedding reception. But, don’t you need to at least be close to your guests in order to ask for such a thing? Even I got an invitation. I told everyone I wasn’t going because I was very uncomfortable being told what to bring and was probably expected to give them a cash gift on top of that. Some of the older ladies in our group agreed. Some said they would not decline in advance because she is a bully and they didn’t want a confrontation.

Lenah called me the night before Pat’s re-wedding. Lenah was there to close the Saturday night bingo and Pat was awfully friendly, but that’s what she does whenever things are going her way. Lenah peeked into the garment bag and saw the exact same dress while Pat was caught up supervising the wedding decoration.

The thing with Karens is that they expect everyone to suck it up, or make their dreams come true, or they simply underestimate everyone and think we are all fools.

Lenah is a very straightforward person with a “so sue me” attitude. She told me she would just ruin the dress. After all, it was hers, so she could do whatever she wanted. If Pat wanted to take legal action, and should things get ugly, she needed to prove ownership. However, the dress was the same, the marks inside the hem and the tags were the same. Even the tag numbers that were punched to identify each dress for logistics purposes matched.

Pat had the dress altered, with some extra beading and dyed to a deep cream color. But it was obviously the same garment. Lenah and I snuck in before the venue was closed for the night. All brides are allowed to stay in a small bedroom for a small charge, so that they don’t need to drive in on their wedding day. Honestly, the makeshift chapel was gorgeous, I don’t know how she paid for it but it was full of flowers and presumptuous details. I naively brought in some ink to spill on the dress, but Lenah said she wanted “something more awful, like a nasty surprise”. Ink would be too obvious and if she saw it ahead, she may be able to snag another gown from somewhere. No, the ideal thing was to have her trust the dress was fine. So Lenah locked herself in a bathroom stall and completely cut out the back panel. She patiently put it back on its hanger and zipped the bag. We left through the emergency door with the back of the dress stuffed inside Lenah's purse. I completely hate people who target and steal from anyone they (Pat and her kid) calculate to be in a weaker position.

The wedding was scheduled at 9 AM. Pat called me at 7 AM, but I ignored her calls. I picked up by 8 AM, both curious and wondering if she suspected anything. Pat was frantic.She was crying that her dress was “missing by half”. I purposely made her explain, being annoyingly dense and continually interrupting like she does, and stalling the conversation. She asked me if I could lend her my wedding dress. I said no, sorry. She then asked me if I would help her get a dress. I was satisfied to remind her that the town's bridal shops were closed on Sunday and the others that would open were almost an hour away. The farm is already almost one hour away from our town.

If Pat could get a shop to rent a dress, she would need to try the dress on, and get it steamed. Even if the dress was ready to wear, it would easily take more than two hours (roundtrip). She tried to ask me to go pick a dress (who would pay for this??). Even if a shop were open and brought her a dress, it would add to the cost. Also, these shops open at 10 or 9:30 at earliest. By time they got to her, it would be time to wrap up the wedding because she needed to clear the venue by 12:00 for the next event.

She broke down and mumbled some stupid stuff I didn't understand. So Pat hung up on me and called Lenah instead.. She asked Lenah to bring her “anything she had available”. Lenah and I ended up delivering the most outdated, moss smelling, oversized dressed. Pat’s disappointment was a mix between angry and emotional. She also tried to wear her knee length silk bridal slip as a wedding dress but it was too obvious and it really looked cheap. She tried to get her daughter to give her her own dress to wear with an open back zipper (due to fitting issues) but Casey refused, asking if she was supposed to attend the wedding naked (she got a point, plus Casey is petite).

The dress needed a petticoat to plump up the skirt, which wasn’t available. So it dragged all over the floor and Pat had to keep pulling it up. Pat walked down the aisle with one hand on her bouquet and another one grabbing her dress. The dress looked limp and weird with the arrangements of pins (they didn’t show) that caused the sleeves and neckline to pucker into messy rims. She spent the ceremony looking uncomfortable and out of place. Very few people attended but that was not part of any revenge, that was just how people reacted to her entitled attitude.

The dress looked awful. The reception portion of the wedding had all this princely decoration, a very nice cake and a bridezilla with a dress from hell. I didn’t stay, but I was told, she was so disappointed she spent her wedding sulking. There was no dance, no actual speech. She had to change into a shirt and leggings because the dress was too uncomfortable. Everyone talked about how Pat put on her flip flops and walked around aimlessly until she ordered the ushers to start folding up the chairs within one hour of the reception. So she practically kicked everyone out and the cake was never cut.

Pat wasn’t the same after this.She was not as loud and avoided everyone. I think she was disappointed that nobody ran to her rescue, not even her family who came from out of town.

Her husband finally cracked under all the pressure and sought some help. He was slaving away and coming home to clean the house while Pat used her kids as an excuse to spend like crazy. Hank also had to do kid homework because Pat never had time or never had patience. She also refused to get a partime job so her kids could attend an afterschool and get help with their school stuff. Therapy seemed to help Hank because the last time Pat left with her kids, he didn't seem distraught. He would be riding his bicycle and could be seen more relaxed while mowing his lawn. Hank told my husband that he had contemplated suicide after their third kid. When Pat returned, he maintained the routine but was interested in going out by himself and doing things for himself. We began to see Pat alone all the time. Hank was seen less and less in the same car and eventually moved in with his parents. He filed for divorce on the grounds of emotional cruelty and I don't think he won. Instead (I’m not sure of this because this is what I was told) there was some sort of a settlement or agreement that she would not get close or interact with him unless it has to do with the kids).

I also don’t know if Pat even actually suspected who/what happened to her dress. She slowly pulled away from the community center and became less active in social gatherings. Pat also removed me from her facebook as well as mostly everyone else from school and the center.

TLDR

Bridezilla stole a wedding dress from an underprivileged woman. The actual dress owner destroys her big day.

(source) story by (/u/forestcabin123k)

[race-week]

al, hi! hope you’re good. i have a few questions, if you want to answer them

- when do the teams actually work on their next years car, if mostly they’re developing their current year car as the season moves on? obv it’s not just in the summer break so i kind of want to know the timeline of how and when they develope their cars (current year and next year) and this could be for any 2 years, not just 21 & 22 in particular

- if there’s like a big regulation/ car model change( idk what to call it sorry) like there’s going to be for the 2022 season, how early are the teams told? or i guess how early do the discussions get finalised because i’m sure teams are also part of it

- not a question but i wanna know your opinion on this, do you think there should be a harsher penalty for an abnormal number of power unit/ engine changes without a proper reason like a crash? (cough mercedes cough) or do you think the grid penalty is fair enough

- do you know what happened to mazepin in cota? like why was he 2 laps behind everyone? i know that he’s not the same level as everyone to put it nicely but i didn’t think he was bad bad lol

- last question, how are you? like just how are you because you put a lot of effort into this blog and answering a lot of people’s questions and yeah you’re just really fun so !!

Hi anon hope you are having a good day, these are some great questions.

1. It really depends on the team and what the regulations look like for the following year, as pretty much every year there’s some small regulation changes. In general they will start working on the next years car (let’s call it car b) as soon as season a starts. Then with most teams work on car B will begin to ramp up after summer break and as the season progresses more and more staff will be moved to working on car b. If that makes sense. Obviously it’s dependent on the regulations, with a big regulation change they would start moving people across earlier. It’s hard to know specifics as teams keep that quite under wraps.

2. So going with the 2022 regulations, which were meant to be brought in for 2021, they were announced to the public in 2019 and the teams would have known they were coming as typically there’s aero changes about every 10 years or so (with the last big one being 2009). Teams likely would have been discussing it with the FIA from late 2017 or earlier. They likely would have been able to kick off the project in 2019.

3. I think it’s fair, they got rid of the weird loophole where you could technically take two fresh engines in one weekend a couple years ago, like that was actually dodgy. I kind of agree with Jenson where the penalty should get harsher the more of those parts you accumulate, so the first time you take a new component it’s 5 places, the next it’s 10, etc for each component.

4. So from what I understand his headrest came loose on the first lap as the mechanics hadn’t secured it properly, so he had to drive the first lap really slowly to stop it flying off and he couldn’t see in his mirrors until he pitted at the end of that lap and they fixed it. Then he was complaining that his feet were getting really hot in the cockpit, and then he had an issue with his helmet. He also had an extra stop, he did a 3 stopper whilst most of the others did 2.

4. Honestly I’m kinda exhausted I was out late last night and I’ve just got back from uni (it’s about 8pm), so it’s probably a very early night for me. Thank you anon, I hope you have a good day/night!

[og-danny-dorito]

Jason Todd : Assassination Jobs

[ A/N: kinda wrote this by the seat of my pants ksjdfndksjnf- it’s basically just how i think jason deals with assassination jobs and a story pertaining to the one time he really did do one and why he did it. not really an x reader but i guess you could technically place yourself in the woman’s place. she’s the one who calls upon jason to help with her issue but it doesn’t have any self-insert elements. kinda more of a really long headcanon ]

⚠️ TW : stalking, abuse, violence ⚠️

jason doesn't usually do assassin work. it requires a lot of coverups, connections, planning and is overall a huge mess, so he kinda just avoids it. 

there have been a few times though, where he’s made exceptions.

most of them just had good pay involved or something like that, but the one that’s probably the most commendable to him is when a woman came to him one time with a very vague request. how she got his line he had no idea, but regardless by the time they actually met up she seemed kinda,,, nervous.

she was kinda jumpy and avoided eye contact so she didn’t look too confident or assured in what she was doing, she was looking all around her nervously as if she was scared someone would hear them, and on top of it all she had planned for them to meet in a secluded alleyway with little to no surveillance opportunity and in a sketchy part of town.

he wasn't stupid enough to trust her right off the bat, obviously, but he was smart enough to know that if she really did have some sort of thing planned out she wouldn’t have asked him if he knew there was no way anyone could see or hear them there. it was a bit odd but seemed safe enough, so he showed up.

now, jason went into this expecting something standard. maybe a boss was bothering her or there was a coworker she was having trouble with or something like that, but what had come out of her mouth left him feeling both astonished and, to put it simply... enraged.

he could see the way she covered her arms when she talked to him or how she tried to wear layers of clothing that would hide some of the wounds under her skin. it wasn’t uncommon to find people like that in the area she said she came from, or to find people like that in the whole of Gotham, but somehow knowing that she was desperate enough to call a literal vigilante for it and risk getting put on The Watchlist made him even more concerned off than it should’ve.

in simple terms, the woman said than an ex was bothering her. the ex had forced her into an abusive relationship that usually left her in serious condition or had her admitted to a psyche ward, to which she had almost ended her life as a result. they had broken up after the police got involved, but because of some sort of loophole the ex was able to get out of prison a few months early.

that’s when the stalking began.

she said that she remembered the feeling of being watched, or feeling as if someone was always on her back. the family she was staying with just thought that it was a result of having come out of a mentally stressful situation, but she knew for a fact that something wasn’t right. the packages of unknown origin went unseen by the police. the flowers that would show up at her workplace with a little note reading “i’ll be back soon” were discounted for her loosing her mind. even things down to the way she felt like things were missing in her room when she came back from work had scared her to no end, and she finally decided to put an end to it whether she would get help from her family/the cops or not.

that’s where jason came in. she didn’t really have any specific instructions for him to follow, just a picture of the creeper and a request for him to “get rid of them” in the quickest way possible. he was kinda confused that she didn’t want them to suffer, but he struggled with the decision anyway. there was a very real possibility that she had in fact lost her mind and was now sending him out on a wild goose chase, but he also knew that it was equally as possible that she was telling the truth. he had seen people like her be ignored and have their concerns swept under the rug, only to have their voiced listened to when it was too late

so he agreed to the offer, telling her to give him until the end of the week to get the job done

he didn’t feel right having her stay alone like that, and so instead he asked her to stay in a hotel nearby for a few days so he could draw the ex out and get rid of them quietly. she was really polite about it too, agreeing to whatever requirements he had listed out for her and all of that. just a nice woman in general, didn’t produce any complications and tried to make it as easy for him as possible.

and so that’s exactly what he did. he waited until the creep pulled into the driveway in a super sketchy car with tinted windows and talked to the lady at the front desk, who eventually gave them the room the woman was staying at. they didn’t seem like they were trying to draw attention to themself at first, but as he got out of his car and made his way to the room, he could see how the ex was getting more and more aggressive with knocking on the door.

they were saying all sorts of fucked up shit to her through the barrier like how she’d never get away from them, how she’d suffer the consequences if she kept running away like this, shit like that. jason could feel the adrenaline coursing through him as he got closer, his steps speeding up as he closed in on the assailant. they only had a second to react before he was already putting them in a headlock, letting go when their body fell limp and hauling their arm over his shoulder

it didn’t take him long to bring them to his car (skillfully masking it by making it seem like they were blackout drunk) before tying them and throwing them in the backseat. the place he took them to finish them off was something simple like the side of one of the nearby docks, and he left with a text asking his cleanup guy to come take care of the body. he went back to tell the woman that it was over, that she was safe now in some odd attempt to console her. make her feel a little better

it was only when he got there did he find her sitting with her knees locked to her chest on the bed, the whole room completely undisturbed save for the mug which had probably been knocked to the floor in her panic of hearing the ex on the other side of the door. he didn’t blame her, if he saw that creeper in a dark alleyway he’d pay them no mind- ...but that wasn’t the point. the point now was that she was sitting here with her knees hugged up to her chest and her breathing erratic, obviously having a panic attack

here’s where the odd part comes in

jason has never really been one for this sort of thing. not killing people, he knows all about that, but rather... emotions. or emotionally charged situations. they had always been uncomfortable for him, like uncharted territory in a way, that’s why it was surprising- even to himself -when he walked over there and sat by her, putting a hand on her back and just... rubbing circles there

for a second it looked like she was confused too. the guy who just murdered her abusive ex in cold blood without so much as a qualm to the matter was now rubbing warm circles around her back, sitting there like some sort of awkward dad trying to comfort a middle schooler who just went through their first breakup. it didn’t seem awkward or forced though, just... concerned. and it was confusing. but she didn’t dare try to get away from him, not when it was actually helping her racing hearbeat

and so they kinda sat there for a second with him rubbing circles on her back before she eventually calmed down, taking in large breaths of air and trying to relax herself before she ended up getting cramps from staying in the same position. jason kinda just watched though, only taking his hand off of her back when she looked fully undone. there weren’t any words to affirm what had happened, it seemed. they both knew that it was done, and it could never be undone.

but the larger male couldn’t help the words that came out of his mouth once she had finally settled down, soft and without the familiar edge they normally had. “you know you could’ve asked me to make it painful for them. i would’ve done it if you had told me to.”, he said, the blank eyes of his mask tracking her every movement. she shrank a bit under the pressure of it, but made sure to keep her eyes glues to her hands in her lap. it had always been easier to speak that way.

how do you explain years of complex emotions to someone? the fact that you still cared about them but knew that there was no other way to get rid of the problems they were causing? for all she knew he could just be like the other supes out here, preaching evangelical bullshit without any knowledge of the real problems that made this world the shit hole it was. but... part other knew that wasn’t the case.

she knew in her gut that behind that mask was just another human being, littered with scars from a past that would never heal over. what superman would agree to killing someone, anyway? he wouldn’t, that’s how. she knew that only someone who understood what was going on would do that, take the risk to avoid it happening to someone else. the thought made the next words a little easier to get out of her mouth, even though she knew it sold the idea short

“i cared about them once, i wouldn’t want them to suffer like that.” and to that, he only nodded. it seemed like he understood, and for a second jason did. he didn’t want his mother to suffer, even when she had sold him out to a literal clown and watched him get beat within an inch of his life. it made sense in some odd way, and he couldn’t argue with it. so he didn’t

he stood and looked around the room before asking her if she needed him to bring her home, to which she politely declined and said that she’d just take public transport. and so he got himself together and made way for the door, to which the woman called out and asked him when she was supposed to pay him.

to which, with all of his conscience guiding his actions, jason stopped and turned to her.

“free of charge.”, he said. and then he left.

he left without feeling guilty about it for the first time in a while. he slept easy that night, with his train of thought on the right track and how mind stilled, relaxed and comfortable in his nearby safehouse. and for the first time in a while, a very very long while, he felt like he was doing something right. no, he wasn’t that poster-boy that every one wanted from him or the savior people needed, but he did his best. he did his best for the people that needed it and honestly, what’s more important? complying to a corrupt system, or protecting the weak?

and even though he had always known the answer to the question, he felt like he knew for sure what it was for.

[ Thank You For Reading! ]

[taggedmemes]

SENTENCE MEME ⟶ PRYCE AND CARTER'S DEEP SPACE SURVIVAL PROCEDURE & PROTOCOL MANUAL / PAGE 187 - 247 tenses and wording have been altered slightly for ease of sending! always feel free to tweak the sentence to fit your muse.

'there's something out there. something beyond.'

'space is not the place to work out long-standing psychological issues.'

'snitches get stitches, finches get twitches, and liches get riches.'

'no victory comes without suffering, so decide how important victory is to you.'

'does victory include pizza?'

'communication is more important than courage.'

'trust that you are in good hands.'

'don't be stingy with yourself.'

'life finds a way. life always finds a way.'

'no excuses.'

'the sense that you are noticing patterns or seeing signs is one of the first indicators of brain damage. or of regular meditation.'

'having your night vision gear with you can be the difference between life and gruesome death.'

'most body heat is lost through your head. act accordingly.'

'yes, that hat does look stupid.'

'time is a choice.'

'used in moderation, fear is an extremely effective stimulant.'

'you can run, but you can't hide from your own mortality.'

'indulging neurotic, self-loathing thoughts that reduce you to a pathetic clod of insignificance is not encouraged.'

'determine if you are more afraid of pain or public humiliation.'

'if you want to really know what a person is like, ask them how they think you can get rid of the hiccups.'

'agitation, lack of concentration, and rhyming too much can all lead to mistakes.'

'make sure you understand how plumbing works. which plumbing? /all/ the plumbing.'

'you can fool all people some of the time and some people all of the time, but you can't fool biometric scanning. ever.'

'winking can be misinterpreted. it often is. i recommend it for precisely that reason.'

'you can know a lot about one thing, but you can never know /everything/ about anything.'

'your job is to know exactly what we want you to know, exactly when we want you to know it.'

'characteristics of a good order include clarity, specificity, brevity, and loopholes.'

'mediocrity is a /reason/ for poor performance, not an excuse.'

'ignorance makes death inevitable.'

'these guys need to lighten up.'

'if you need to tell a lie, include an embarrassing detail. everyone will believe something that makes you look foolish.'

'yellow is the most aggravating colour.'

'remember the three simple rules of biological experimentation: measure twice, cut once; don't eat where you work, and; don't get attached to your samples.'

'the phrase 'we strongly advise,' has a thousand meanings... but really, only one.'

'don't meet your heroes.'

'advice is a dangerous gift.'

'there's so much you can't control and so much you can't change.'

'there's one reason a work party can't also be a work par-tay. one /very/ particular reason.'

'the more you change, the more you stay the same. unless you start messing around with genetics. then it gets weird quick.'

'don't forget to breathe.'

'you must remain within the budget. pray to the budget. worship the budget. the budget cannot exist unless you believe in the budget. love the budget. there is an eternal bond between you and the budget. don't fudge the budget.'

'when you've got a gun, everyone pays attention.'

'home is where the heart is. also oxygen, water, and food-stuffs.'

'be like a cat.'

[shini--chan]

Let me start by saying that I absolutly adored the wrong flag request with allies. Brilliance at it best really. If you don't mind I'd love to see a continuation with Axis + Romano, Prussia and Belarus if you don't mind.

Thanks a million over there! :) Glad to serve you more if that is the case.

Yandere Axis + Belarus

Belarus

„I guess you simply can‘t listen. Are those ears of yours really just decoration?”, he would Growl, evidently upset.

She had gone with you through the rules before and one of those clearly stated that you’re not the wear anything that could remotely indicate that you belong to somebody else. That means that flag t-shirts are an absolute no-go.

The instance she see’s you she’ll get passive aggressive and start piling up the insults:

“If Venus was the most beautiful woman to ever walk the earth, then you’re her counterpart. That disgusting cloth makes you look like an ogre.”

After a brief moment of hurtling around cutting words, she’d pounce on you. And no, she wouldn’t let you fight against her. Indeed, it would only make matters worse for you. 

Soon, Natalya would have the offending rag shredded and dissolved in acid before your never eyes. After that, she’ll probably cut short on your pocket money if all you’re buying is rubbish. 

Germany

“Mausi, come over here”, he’d suggest in a faux sweet tone. “We need to talk out your choice of clothing.”

Even as he has his hands on your waist, awkward stiff hands that want nothing more than to tear the article of cheap cloth for your torso, he’ll try to considerate. In a way, it would almost be cute to watch his attempts to be mellow while being firm, on the other hand it would be painful how desperate he would be.

 If Alfred would glimpse the interesting sight of Ludwig trying to get you to pull the shirt off by your own volition, he’d be torn between laughing himself silly and regretting pulling out all of the wolf’s teeth in the late 40s. Then he would go on to mock Germany of having become so soft.Putting that aside, 

Ludwig would eventually become impatient if you don’t comply. He doesn’t take nonsense to well, or beating around the bush – that is what Austria does and he is different from that Ösi.

 Putting aside any regard for the feelings, he’d pull it off and later use it as a cleaning rag. No darling, that isn’t downgrading, that is recycling and such a flag is only good for getting muck away. 

Japan

“So, a new shirt? Why don’t you come over and show it to me”, Kiku would say in his usual steady voice.

Like China, he would be more be more subtle about is approach, trying to convince you your choice of clothing isn’t the best. Furthermore, he’d try to see the whole matter from your point of view – Japan is just that perspective.

As insanely polite as he is, he wouldn’t let one insult come your way, just friendly suggestions and pointing out facts. In ways that don’t conflict with his delusions and his desires, he respects you as an individual and additionally, understands that insulting a person when you want them to do something for you is extremely counterproductive.

However, don’t expect him to share is feelings on that matter because even in your “relationship” he’d have his reservations, no matter how well you behave yourself. 

On top of that, regardless of your previous behaviour don’t push him to far. Yes, this man has the patience of a saint, and that doesn’t mean that he isn’t capable of anger. Indeed, while he has his anger tethered as firmly as the Fenrir Wolf don’t go overboard, don’t insult him viciously.

 While he understands politeness to be mutual, he’ll regard most of your rudeness with pursed lips and a steady voice – in the beginning.A fair warning – should the tether really tear, it will be Ragnarök for you. 

Prussia

“Do you know exactly what you’re doing?”, he’d interrogate, circling you like a shark circles a seal. With his read eyes and sharp features, it is an oddly fitting metaphor.

You two would have talked about this thoroughly, at breakfast, after watching a movie, while you were standing in front of your wardrobe contemplating what to wear that day. You have a dress code that you have to abide to, and you wouldn’t be able to play dumb or oblivious.

Oh, so apparently there is a loophole? No mention of shirts with flags on them? Well, good luck for you, there is a new rule in the house. 

Gilbert would give you a good dressing down for hurting his feelings and it wouldn’t even be in the fun way. Ok, should it be in the fun way then it would be rough as a way to show his ownership over you.

 Don’t worry, he wouldn’t tear it from you if you’d show a lot of resistance, but that rag is going.

 Maybe, as a form of psychological torture, he’d set the burning flag shirt on the meeting table right before everybody comes in. Then, when the specific country would have gotten really offended, he’d rub the whole matter in your face.

Romano

“What by the seven circles of hell…!?”, he yelled, but not before spitting out the coffee that he was drinking in the nearby sink. You really have ways of ruining his morning.

Wearing the flag of another country other than him would be a sign of betrayal. Heck, he’d even be suspicious if you were to wear the Italian flag, since he shares it with his younger brother.

While he wouldn’t swear around you since one simply doesn’t swear in front of your lover, his speech would suddenly be pepper with profanity. Still it would be mild compared to what normally comes out of his mouth around other men.

Of all the personifications, he’d probably react the most volcanically. No, he isn’t going to quiet down, you’re going to rid yourself of that filth before that happens.

 Really, it wouldn’t take much for him to rip the thing off you and lock you in a room. 

Veneziano 

Wide eyes meet you when you appear before him. Disgust and shock curl together to an extremely aghast expression. Then, as tears came to his eyes, he whimpered: “Why?”

His beginning reaction would be akin to Heidi Klum up in the gif, really. Fashion is a science by this man, and it would wretch at his heart to see his dearest in such clothing.

On a part, his tears would be genuine – Feli is just an expressive person as it is – but on the other hand it would be because he is a manipulative little weasel that is guilt-tripping you by crying.

The most physical he’d get would be to paw at your torso like a desperate dog, but other than that he’ll do his best to appeal to your emotions.

Do you have no heart, lad? Don’t you see that you’re hurting your poor lover? Really, your lack of compassion is shocking.

[heyjude19-writing]

Im the list anon again and boy do I have more for you but this time I also have some questions as well if your time allows and you are willing to answer of course. First with the other things I loved:

1) the fact that Ron warmed up to Draco so quickly! I genuinely think thats so much in character. Ron is not a distrustful person and as a middle child as they come is very easygoing and would for sure make stupid jokes at Draco

2) The patronus. My god the Patronus. I seriously put the phone down and made a small slow clap during that chapter. At first I was like hmmmm *insert unsure kombucha girl face* because almost all fanfics have him with a dragon patronus and leave it at that (and lets be honest at this point my expectations of you were quite high dont blame me blame your bloody brilliant writing) but then, and I dont know if you did this on purpose or not (I have a feeling you did) but the fact that the dragon was the same (pale white) wounded but still feral dragon that Hermione FREEED (!) from a bank (£££) dungeon, malnourished and used for its nature, surrounded by darkness, wealth and misery!! And it was Hermione who broke its chains!!!!! Is just *chefs fucking kiss* slow clap*

3) the way you describe sex scenes are so natural! Ive never read a fanfic or book that doesnt make me gag a little bit (I am not a fan of smut at all but ill go with it because of a good story) until I read yours. Its so simple but yet intricate and you make the entire act so intriguing and normal and intimate. Bravo.

4) I LOVE SASHA. I love that Theo fell for her head over heels and the way you portrayd her reminded me of a friend of mine who works as a sous-chef in London so I always pictured her when reading it!

5) Dracos inner voice is ON POINT. Like I genuinely think you shoud own the rights to that character now.

6) Ill say it again. I love Ginny. You should also own the rights to her character too.

7) my interest for Quiddich (even when reading the books/wathcing the movies) was on par, if not lower than Hermiones. You managed to get me interested in that too so yes another slow clap to you

7.1) Also such a clever career for Draco!! Made si much sense!

Now to some questions

A) What was the deal with Malfoy referring to Ginny as Weasly and refusing to aknowledge her Potter surname. And why did everyone kept correcting him? It was hilarious granted but I wanted to know whether the reason you included this time and time again had to do wih something deeper? Or was this included as just a funny recurring joke?

B) Why did you choose for Draco to have a “fantasy” to produce a patronus and not for example for him to have had to do that after theyd exchanged “i love yous”. Very interesting angle and i liked that it was sort of a loophole to all the ‘death eaters cant have patronuses’ but quite curious on the thought process

C) Why did you opt for Draco to remove his mark? Do you think that stands as reward for him more or for Hermione? Very smart solution by the way

D) if you have the time- Could you please elaborate a tad more on what the soul-bonding means? Why was it so taboo? At furst hand it seems like a very romantic/amazing thing to do with your partner right?

Lastly- Do you ever itch to make a second part to this? And in the most acceptable case that you dont, I always wondered what you had in mind for them in the future- because of the soul bonding thing, you mentioned that the generational curses will be erased, which means I guess that the Malfoys can have more than one child now, and girls as well. (I cannot believe im asking for this as I am the one to avoid any pregnancy fanfics but) do you imagine them with children and if yes, how many? How do they integrate muggle devices(I know youd agree wit me that Hermione would definitively bring some muggle stuff over!) and which devices would Draco really secretly like?

Pleasewriteasecondpartwhereyouelaborateyourthoughtsonthisthankyou.

Ok rant done. :D

List anon! You’re back with another amazing ask. I’ll do my best!

1.) I like to think Ron matured a lot post-war (not enough to stop making terrible jokes, though.)

2.) Regarding your beautiful analysis of my specific dragon breed for Draco’s patronus: How many points would you like for your Hogwarts house of choice? I will add that according to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the Ironbelly’s scales are normally a metallic grey. I will also add that I subscribe more to book canon than movie canon. In the book version of events of the Gringotts escape, Harry breaks the chains and Hermione (with eventual help once the boys catch on) destroys the ceiling so it can have a way out. The partially blind dragon does the rest of the work on its own.

3.) Thank you, that’s very flattering.

4.) Does your friend also get you into fancy restaurants and can they make salted caramel bread pudding???

5.) Thank you, it was one of my favorite aspects of writing this story.

6.) Thank you, she’s so fun to write and flesh out from her book portrayal.

7.) Haha, I felt so validated by that line of dialogue in Cursed Child when Draco tells Harry he wanted to play quidditch professionally, but wasn’t good enough.

Now to some answers:

A.) It’s definitely a recurring joke. It’s up to the reader to interpret Draco’s actions here: is he doing it to be a massive troll? Or is he genuinely not retaining the information of her married name because he considers this fact so unimportant that he does not bother to keep it in his brain? Troll, snob, or both, you can decide!

B.) I’ll address the second part of this first, because it was not intended as a loophole. I 1000% do not understand the “death eaters can’t have patronuses” thing. It makes absolutely no sense. Snape has a Patronus. But beyond that… Umbridge has a Patronus (a cat). If we’re letting that woman have a Patronus, then yeah, I think Draco can cast one. As for the vision that Draco used to conjure it… up to you whether that’s a fantasy or a glimpse of a certain ritual actually working. Draco’s thoughts on the matter: “An image of such striking tangibility that he might have already lived it, or perhaps experienced time in such a way that he lived it now.”

C.) I wanted Draco to have a choice, obviously a recurring theme for him in RN. For my characterization of him, that symbol on his arm causes him nothing but shame and self-loathing (see the end of chapter 36 during his heart-to-heart with Hermione). He’d already exercised almost every known avenue to rid himself of it before Hermione entered his life (he lists these in chapter 44). Hermione already loved him (and has told him so) by the time she’s figured out how to remove it: “I love the man you are today and I will love that man tomorrow, bare forearm or not. I simply wanted you, for once, to have the choice. It’s your body.”

D.) Ooh anon, you are tempting me here. I really hate to be coy, but you might see some future writing on this very topic.

I can at least answer the taboo part: I think soul magic in general (horcruxes, the use of unicorn blood) is quite taboo in the HP universe. As no one knows what happens after death (not even ghosts, Nearly Headless Nick says as much when Harry asks him point-blank in OoTP) I think most magical folk would think the intense ritual (blending magical cores) an unnecessary thing anyway. As Draco explains in chapter 48, since no one actually knows the effects or if it works, it’s considered a bit over-the-top since it’s probably futile anyway. It is also not a Vow with a death component; Narcissa is obviously alive in this story even though Lucius is already dead. I wrote the generational curse protection theory in as a dig at Cursed Child for the way they handled Astoria’s character.

The idea of it I think is romantic, but I will stress it is very dependent upon the intent of the two participants. To quote Draco in chapter 48 again: “To twine one’s soul to another showed a willingness to not only physically tether one’s self during your time here on earth, but to commit to a blending of your magical cores, putting faith in your magic to recognize its bonded counterpart in another life. Should other lives even exist.”

If you re-read Draco’s experience during the bonding ceremony in chapter 51 (starting from this bit: “The cognizance of his own powers never felt sharper, more familiar, but suddenly another power pulsed within to join with his.”) you might find it bears a resemblance to the trajectory of their relationship.

Lastly- I’ve left Draco and Hermione to their wedded bliss. I’ve got nothing planned for them beyond where they are in the final lines of chapter 51. I don’t have that itch to write more into their future because it would feel forced. Draco laid out his two envisioned futures with Hermione in chapter 48 when they discuss having or not having children. They are happy and content in the life they chose together. That’s all I ever wanted for them.

You will see more from this story though. I have an entire series of one-shots and outtakes from the published Remain Nameless timeline that I’ll start posting soon.

Thank you so much list anon! These were fun to answer!

[inkribbon796]

The Marvelous Misadventures of One: S. Marvin Argentum Ch. 2: The Desert Sucks, So Says Marvin

Summary: Marvin comes with a plan, and trips over an adventure along the way.

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4

Marvin and Ghostbur went into Marvin’s childhood home and spent longer than he wanted to talking to his mom and promising to come back after the whole mess was over because he was already tired and just wanted a nap but it looked like he wasn’t going to get one.

She did insist Ghostbur come back with him because he’d already endeared himself and Friend to her.

With those promises and some tea, Marvin left the house with Ghostbur and they got back into the car and Marvin took it out of the driveway and about a mile away so he could pull over onto the road and the trio could plan.

“If I can win a duel against the Guildmaster, then I could take over and pull the Guild out of the alliance. If I time it right it will catch them off guard,” Taylor told him.

“Well that’s all good, but are the other hunters gonna[1] just let yeh[2] do that?” Marvin asked.

“No, unfortunately,” the hunter hummed in thought.

“Didn’t think so,” Marvin scoffed. “So we’ve got a group ‘a[3] mages that have had months ta[4] lick their wounds from the beat down Spade an’[5] Clubs gave ‘em[6]. We’re what? Two on several dozen?”

“Two? There’s three of us?” The hunter was clearly getting frustrated.

“Nah, he’s not gettin’ anywhere near ‘em,”[7] Marvin told them before Ghost could say a world, but he noticed that Ghostbur looked relieved. “Yeh[2] move the base yet?”

“No,” the hunter told him.

“Good, it’ll make ‘em[6] easier ta[4] find” Marvin grumbled in frustration, his messages weren’t getting through because when you live in the middle of nowhere cell service doesn’t exist. “I’ll try an’[5] get in contact with Chase when we pass through Egoton ta[4] get ta[4] Arizona. Maybe we can get back in time.”

“Why Egoton specifically?” The hunter demanded.

“Cause it’s a magical fookin’ town. We can wait until Egoton’s position shifts inta California an’ cut the drive in half.”[8] Marvin brought up a map of Egoton on his phone to show them.

“Yeah,” Taylor agreed. “When would that be?”

“Anywhere from right now ta[4] next month,” Marvin sighed.

“That’s too long,” Taylor told him.

“Would Marvin and his allies like to take a shortcut?”

Marvin actually jumped and Taylor was whipping out a staff to attack the Host but the Seer used his narrations to knock it to the side.

Ghostbur flickered back into visibility, smiling as he recognized the Host. “Oh, hello Host.”

“Fook, kid, are yeh tryin’ ta kill me?”[9] Marvin grabbed at his chest.

“The Host sensed that he was needed,” the seer grinned, Taylor was unsettled by the sharp smile but they didn’t say anything. “Would Marvin and his company like assistance? The Host could open up a portal right into Arizona.”

“Really?” Marvin looked back at him. “That’d be great actually.”

“If Marvin and his companions will get into their car, the Host will open up a portal for them,” the Host said and was already opening up a huge Void portal that visibly showed the “Entering Page” sign that was the trio’s destination.

Marvin sighed as he got into the car. “An’[5] here I wanted a break.”

The car started and Marvin drove them through the portal, the portal swirling shut in an instant as Marvin was racing towards the unfamiliar city. Ghostbur let out a delighted gasp, materializing halfway outside the roof of the car. “Shermy lives here.”

“Who’s that?” Marvin demanded

“Shermy! He can help us!” Ghostbur peeked back into the car. “He’s plenty strong.”

“Okay, neat, where does he live?” Marvin demanded.

“Let me—” Ghost said and possessed the car, taking it off in a terrifying way. With little regard for speed or other cars on the road.

“Ghostbur! Yer gonna kill us!”[10]

Marvin was able to get control of the car and Ghost helped with shouting directions and the blinker to warn Marvin when to turn. They stopped outside of a police station, Ghostbur an excited, jittery mess. While Marvin and Taylor were trying to calm their racing hearts.

“So, who are we here fer[11]?” Marvin groaned. “Not sure some police precinct I’ve ne’er[12] worked with are gonna[13] work with us.”

“Sherman,” Ghostbur smiled. “He’s Techno’s big brother.”

“Techno,” Marvin repeated. “The big pig brute has a big brother?”

Ghostbur nodded, still smiling. “I don’t remember him that well because I met him when I was Wilbur and younger. But I think he was nice.”

“You sure he’s not going to instantly attack us?” Taylor asked.

“I could go in and ask him?” Ghostbur offered.

“I don’t like the idea ‘a yeh walkin’ in there alone,”[14] Marvin protested.

Ghostbur frowned, but looked over and brightened up, “I don’t have to, he’s right there.”

And before Marvin could determine who Ghostbur was talking about, the young ghost demon shot out of the car and flew over to someone who had just stepped out of the police station. He was tall and built like a brick wall. And Marvin knew that was who Ghostbur had been looking for. He looked like Techno but had a nasty looking scar over his left eye and huge tusks jutting out of his mouth.

“Fook![15] Fook!” Marvin raced to get out of his car.

“Sherman!” Ghostbur smiled.

“Wilbur! Fuckin’[16] hell kid!” Sherman shouted. “Where the hell did yah[2] come from?”

“Oh, I’m with my friends,” Ghostbur smiled as Marvin raced over.

“You too, huh?” Sherman crossed his arms in front of himself.

“Hey, Shermy,” Ghostbur floated up a little bit.

“Nah, don’t think so,” the huge demon scoffed and pushed Ghostbur away. “It’s still Sheriff Thompson to you. An’[5] who the Sam-hell are you?”

Sheriff Thompson turned to glare at Marvin and the hunter.

“We’re with Ghostbur,” Marvin jabbed his thumb at Ghostbur.

“Ghost—” Sheriff Thompson scoffed. “Ain’t that hilarious. So I’m guessin’ yer join’ the Ol’ Man?”[17]

Ghostbur’s excitement seemed to, impossibly, go through the roof. “Phil’s here? He can help too.”

“Oh great,” Marvin hissed under his breath.

“Yeah, come on, junior, the Ol’[18] Man’s over at Church’s,” Thompson grabbed Ghostbur, seemingly, by the scruff of his jumper and dropped him away from him.

Thompson began walking away, his uniform changing into one that was a simple button-up and suspenders outfit.

“Where yeh goin’?”[19] Marvin asked.

“Over at Church’s there’s a club of sorts that may or may not be participatin’[20] in less than legal dealin’s.” Sheriff Thompson told them. “Tech an’[5] Philza are always there whenever they’re in town.”

“Aren’tcha[21] a cop?” Marvin glared at him.

“All the books check out,” Thompson shrugged. “Besides, humans aren’t allowed into the basement. USA loopholes only include humans. Besides, Techno needs an outlet when he comes to town. So we have the pit an’[5] any demon that wants a shot at his crown can get discorporated tryin’[22] to take it.”

“Laws about demons are always fooked,” Marvin hissed.

“Well that’s what happens when demons get to write state laws,” Thompson dismissed.

“So yer[23] Techno’s brother, how does that work?” Marvin asked.

“Look, normally Techno doesn’t talk ‘bout[24] his past, but I like ta[4] embarrass him so it’s fair game,” Thompson shrugged, Ghostbur floating next to him. The spectral demon was a good couple feet off the ground so he was at Thompson’s head height, almost scrunched up in a ball. “Tech an[5] I are a good fifty years apart. We come from another demon I killed a couple decades back ‘cause[25] he was causin’[26] too much trouble.”

“He had a name?” Taylor asked.

“Billiam,” Thompson answered. “He was obsessed with legates, you two know what those demons are?”

“I do,” Marvin said, the hunter giving them both odd looks.

“Right, so,” Sheriff Thompson. “I don’t quite know if he met one, or read about one, but he was obsessed with power and figured if he could get a legate reliant on him, then he could rule the world. At first he was experimenting on people lower class than him, but then he started working with his own when that failed. He only made two spawnlings by the time I got rid of him an’[5] his accomplice. The instant he realized I was just a normal demon he tossed me out on the street an[5] started trying to make a second one. Which was his mistake ‘cause[25] that was Techno.”

“So what type ‘a[3] demon is Techno?” Marvin asked.

“Don’t know, don’t really care,” Thompson shrugged as they reached a building that looked like some kind of library or a bar. There were people milling about.

All the patrons gave the Sheriff a quick nod or a brisk hello as Thompson led the trio down to a metal stairwell. Marvin could already hear the shouts and the loud cheers.

What Marvin saw as he came out to a spectator’s platform was a massive two-story hole in the ground where Techno was in there, fighting five other demons with an axe. All of them had various weapons.

With a slice of his axe one of the demons exploded into a puff of magic and the crowd screamed. The other four demons were discorporated just as quickly.

Marvin looked up to see a VIP stage where a young girl with long pink hair and a pink mask, standing next to the glass, pressing her face close to the glass as she bounced on her tiptoes. Philza was sitting in a huge armchair, watching the fight like a king watching knights in a jousting match. His fingers swirling and bobbing with some music in the room that he was listening to.

Marvin felt his magic coil around himself protectively, and that maybe stepping into this place was a mistake.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Accessibility Translations:

1. going to

2. you

3. of

4. to

5. and

6. them

7. Nah, he’s not getting anywhere near them

8. Because it’s a magical fucking town. We can wait until Egoton’s position shifts into California and cut the drive in half.

9. Fuck, kid, are you trying to kill me?

10. Ghostbur! You’re going to kill us!

11. for

12. never

13. gonna

14. I don’t like the idea of you walking in there alone

15. Fuck!

16. fucking

17. Isn’t that hilarious. So I’m guessing you’re joining the Old Man?

18. Old

19. Where are you going?

20. participating

21. Aren’t you

22. trying

23. you’re

24. about

25. Because

26. causing

[shadowthrone-ammanas]

Guilt

Drabble request from @iscaredspider on Discord that ended up not being much of a drabble at all. They asked for Dadcher angst; Snatcher feeling guilty about trying to kill Hat Kid. It ended up being not super angsty and delving more into Hat Kid’s past than I intended it to but that’s okay. Thank you for the request!

Hat Kid had been gone nearing a full year now. A long time, meaning she was probably gone for good, her promises to come back and visit forgotten. That was fine though, Snatcher didn’t care. Why would he? He was glad she was gone, she’d been a pest, nothing but a thorn in his side. He didn’t miss her at all, not even a little.

He was only thinking about her because he’d pulled out the ‘How to Kill Kids’ book he’d always made sure to have open when she was around in a failed attempt to get a reaction out of her. Maybe she’d somehow known it was a fake title… or couldn’t read the language despite knowing how to speak it, she was an alien after all. He’d only brought it out because... because… why not? It was his book; he could pull it out whenever he pleased and it didn’t mean anything, certainly not that he missed Hat Kid or anything like that. In fact, he was going to…

“Snatcher!” That voice…

He looked up to see Hat Kid strolling up to his reading hollow, balancing on the vine leading to it. She was noticeably a bit taller now, her hair longer too but still tied into a neat ponytail and… still using the bow he’d made for her.

“I’m back,” she said with a wide smile and flourish of her arms as she stepped into the hollow. “Did you miss me?”

“No, course not,” he replied, forcing a sneer to hide how much his mouth wanted to smile for some reason. “Why would you even come back?”

“Because you’re my BFF silly.”

Again with the BFF thing. Why? He’d tried to kill her. And then he’d put her through the Death Wish contracts. Yes, she’d chosen to do them but… she should hate him. He was a bad person and she was a good person; good guys hating bad guys was how things worked for almost everyone else on the planet and presumably the universe because it was the most logical thing. Why was she so different?

“I would’ve come sooner,” she continued. “But uh…” the joy fell from her face, replaced with sorrow. “Stuff happened that delayed me. But that’s okay,” and suddenly she was all smiles again. “I’m here now. How have you been?”

Should Snatcher ask her what had delayed her and why thinking about it had brought that look to her face? He wanted to know purely for the sake of curiosity, not because he cared. If he asked though, she probably would assume he did so… he’d ask later, pretend it was an afterthought. “It’s been quiet around here with you gone.” Too quiet. “It’s been nice but now unfortunately you’re back.”

“Yeah, I’m sure, you’re real upset about that huh?” She giggled. “You can’t fool me, I know you missed me because even if you won’t admit even to yourself I know you care.”

“Kid, I tried to kill you more than once. What part of that says I care even a little?”

“A lot of those challenges weren’t you trying to kill me though, just challenge me. And if you were really trying to kill me with them, you wouldn’t have given me the option to not do them. And when you were trying to kill me for real it was because that’s what you do with all your contractors. If that wasn’t the standard you’d already set yourself, you probably wouldn’t have even done that, am I right?”

“Even if that was true,” and maybe looking back on it was, though Snatcher wasn’t going to tell her that, “that still doesn’t explain why you insist on bothering me so much. Most people hate people who tried to kill them, regardless of their reasons for doing it.”

“Well, I don’t.” Hat Kid shrugged. “Almost everyone I know has tried to kill me at least once or at the very least put me in a situation where I could easily die and didn’t care if I did. So, if I lived life by that standard, I’d hate everybody and that’s no fun.”

Welp, that just made it worse. Was Snatcher really just among a long list of people who’d tried to kill her? … Mustache Girl had, DJ Grooves had, without even counting the Death Wish contract, the Conductor had almost blown his train up with her on it, the Empress had and… that was almost everyone she interacted with in a major way from this planet. The only one who hadn’t put her in danger or outright tried to murder her was the Walrus Captain. Hat Kid was just a child, what was wrong with all them? Snatcher had at least had had an excuse… right? Sort of anyway? … Maybe.

“What about your parents?” he asked, pushing aside those thoughts.

Hat Kid moved forward to sit on the footstool and look up at him. “I don’t have any.”

“Meaning, you’re… an orphan?” Making the whole trying to kill her thing that much worse because who went around murdering orphans?

“Maybe, I guess. I don’t really know if they’re dead or just abandoned me to the school for whatever reason. I don’t care either because I have a spaceship.” She smiled proudly. “I get to visit other planets. It’s fun even if very few people actually like me. A lot of the people I meet always either want me dead because they want my Time Pieces or want to capture me so they can study me because I’m an alien. Sometimes they want to do both so they can dissect me.”

Every word out of her mouth even if they were spoken in a nonchalant tone just made Snatcher feel worse for her. Surely, she was exaggerating though. It couldn’t really be that bad, right? “You said something about a school, what about the teachers and principle?” Presumably the people who’d taught her how to fly a spaceship. Teaching such things to a child was questionable at best but… “Surely they take care of you, right? They’ve never tried to kill you or anything like that.” She had to have an authority figure in her life somewhere that cared for her.

“Uh… I really shouldn’t tell you about them, it’s against the rules. But you’re my BFF and the rule is specifically not to tell intelligent lifeforms this stuff but you’re dead so it’s technically not a violation of the rule.” Loopholes were great, weren’t they? “So… no they haven’t tried to kill me. But some of their tests are pretty dangerous because being a space pilot can be super dangerous so you gotta be prepared. I don’t know for sure if anyone’s died during them, though there are tons of rumors about it happening so it probably happens sometimes. And one guy I know got maimed during a test somehow and failed because of it. I don’t know the details because he got kicked out for it so I never saw him again. Heck, maybe he died and that’s a lie they told us.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. That’s a huge lawsuit waiting to happen.” The fact that no one had sued the school out of business yet was a miracle. “They’re going to get sued into the ground, just you wait.” Everyone would be better off when it finally happened too. Snatcher would do it himself just for fun if he could.

Hat Kid shrugged. “Hmm… I guess, I don’t know. But my point was, I’m not upset you tried to kill me because I’m used to it.” And that just made it worse. “So, you don’t feel bad either, okay?” She smiled up at him, way too cute and innocent.

All right fine, Snatcher felt bad about trying to kill her. After hearing more about her life than he wanted to know, how could he not? He had before too though, hadn’t he? But only a little bit. But this is why he hated children. It was far too easy to grow a soft spot for them and then have stupid emotions and gross feelings like this. They were worse than cats because cats at least had the decency to not have the same depth of emotion, intelligence, and understanding that children did. And now he had to apologize, didn’t he? Because he done a bad thing to someone he… – ugh – cared about, and felt bad about it. So…

“No, kiddo… ugh, I apologize, okay? I didn’t know you’re an orphan and I didn’t know any of that other stuff about how awful people tend to treat you. So, stop looking at me like that, it makes me uncomfortable.”

She blinked up at him. “Did you just…” A smile spread across her face, “apologize? Are you actually admitting you care? At least enough to apologize anyway.”

His instinct was to say ‘no’ but… he kind of had just admitted it, hadn’t he? And… the reason she was so excited about that prospect was… because based off what she just told him, not many people cared about her, right? So… “Fine, kiddo, fine, I… care about you a little, okay? A tiny bit, like this much.” He held up a hand to hold his thumb and finger apart about an inch or two. “I feel bad that I tried to kill you, I shouldn’t have, it was wrong.” Not that he didn’t do wrong things all the time and not feel bad about it but she was a special case because she just was. She’d wormed her way into his cold dead heart somehow and he couldn’t rid himself of that now matter how much he would prefer if he could.

“I knew it!” She jumped up and onto his chair to hug him, even nuzzling his mane. He sighed and tolerated it. It wasn’t that bad… but it didn’t mean he liked it. It made his regret worse though because she was so happy he cared about her after he’d… tried to kill her, more than once too. And in general, she shouldn’t be so happy somebody cared about her, regardless of who they were. That was something she should be used to, not people wanting her dead or not caring if they killed or injured her somehow.

Maybe later he’d offer to try to fix that whole orphan situation of hers. He had the credentials to draft up adoption papers after all. And finding someone who wanted her as a daughter shouldn’t be too hard, she was adorable and sweet after all – though he’d never tell her those things. Heck, if he weren’t against the idea of being a parent, he might’ve offered to take her in himself. No way was that going to happen though.

For this drabble event.

[dakotacrisis]

Deal’s End (2)

Marinette's demon pushes her buttons to try and get her to make a deal with him. Push them in the right order though and you may trigger a meltdown.

(Read on AO3)

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Marinette had about five seconds of blessed calm the next morning. Her alarm had just gone off to the tinkling music that roused her quietly from her sleep. She opened her eyes to greet the day and screamed.

“Lucifer, you are loud.” Her demonic headache from yesterday wiggled a finger in his ear. “That was right in my ear you know.”

“Marinette!” Her dad came running up to see what was wrong, “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

She looked at the demon who gave no response other than a shrug.

“Uh a...a spider. There was a spider on my pillow.” She stammered out a reply. “It’s gone now.”

“Okay. You scared your mother so bad she spilt her tea.” he laughed with a shake of his head, “Come down and get some breakfast.”

“I will in a minute.” Marinette told him. He closed the door and Marinette went right back to glaring at the demon who thought it funny to be laying right next to her in her bed.

“Something on your mind?” The demon asked.

“Why are you in my bed?”

“It was comfier than the chaise.” He stretched his arms out, “But I do have to say the wake up call was rather jarring. Do you always scream bloody murder first thing in the morning?”

“I do when demons are nesting in my bed.” She kicked him off. “Do you even need to sleep or were you just doing it to get a rise out of me?”

“No and yes.” He stood up and dusted himself off. “I had no complaints from you last night when I laid down for a snooze. You are rather a cuddly sort aren’t you? Every so often I would wake up and there you were wrapped around me. At some point I stopped fighting it and let you hold on.”

“I--I--” Marinette couldn’t stand the thought that she had been unknowingly cuddling a demon all night. “I am going to kill you.”

“Don’t know how to tell you this but you can’t exactly kill a demon.”

“I’ll find a way.” Marinette stomped down to breakfast.

“You know how to get rid of me.” He was sitting on her couch. “Make a deal and you’ll never have to deal with me again.”

Marinette ignored him as she went about eating her breakfast. The sour expression on her face now a permanent mask as she got ready for school. The demon boy was back in her room when she was trying to change so she unfolded her dress screen and stepped behind it. If he was going to stick around then she could provide herself with a little privacy even if it was all for nothing. He probably had x-ray vision that let him see through it but the act alone let her believe she had some agency.

“Okay, how about this.” Marinette said from behind the screen. “Hypothetically speaking, if I were to make a deal with you what would the price I need to pay be?”

“Ooh, we’re finally getting somewhere.” He sounded so relieved, “I may have mentioned before that the price tends to fluctuate depending on what it is you want. The standard wishes like fame, wealth, love, revenge, and death would all cost your soul. There are lesser wishes that wouldn’t take your soul but would take something of equal value.”

“Like what?”

“One that gets used a lot by the goody-goodies is asking for a loved one to be cured of their sickness. The standard price to pay for that wish is that the wisher now has the disease and same odds of beating it as the person they just cured.” he said, “Other wishes would most likely take years off of your own life depending on how big the wish is. Say you wish to get into the university you want? That’d be around ten years off. Or say that you wished to give birth to healthy happy child. Those run upwards of twenty years.”

“What if I wished for a stick of gum?” she stepped out from behind the screen now fully dressed. “Would that take like a minute off?”

“Demonic deals don’t work like that. It has to be something that you truly desire. Whatever you wish for you have to really want.”

“Can I wish for you to go away cause I would love that.”

“That loophole got ironed out back in the fifteenth century. Try again.”

“Alright, if I promise I will think about it, seriously think about it, will you please leave me alone in the mean time? I hate having an invisible nuisance distracting me during class.”

“If that’s what it takes then alright.” he raised his hands in defeat. “Have a nice day at school.”

In a blink of her eye he disappeared. Something about that didn’t sit right with her. He was a demon. A pain in her side that found a way to torture her at almost any chance he got. He wouldn’t agree to stop so easily.

Suspicious of whatever he was planning Marinette grabbed her bag and made her way towards the school. No sign of him inside. She stuffed her stuff in her locker and went up to class. Maybe he really was going to leave her alone.

Or maybe she was going to perform an exorcism in this school. She walked into class and saw a familiar figure sitting in her seat. He wasn’t in his usual crisp red suit. Now he looked like teenage television heartthrob number two hundred and six. Black jeans, a black v-neck t-shirt and a dark red leather jacket. His feet were propped up on her desk and his usually perfectly styled hair was mussed so that a few strands hung in front of his eyes.

While that may not have been surprising the scene surrounding her demon was. The other students were talking to him. The others could see him! Why could the others see him?

Alya came in beside Marinette and asked why she had stopped in the doorway. “Alya,” Marinette whispered, “What’s going on at my desk?”

“Oh you mean the new kid?” Alya smiled, “He got here a couple minutes ago. Said he was a new transfer student. I think he said his name was Felix.”

“Right. Great.” Marinette was going to kill him.

The demon locked eyes with her and his small smile split into a wide shit-eating grin. “Hey Marinette, come on over.”

All heads turned towards her. Calmly as she could she parted through the crowd next to him. “Hi.” She said blandly. “You’re in my seat.”

“Surprised to see me?” He asked.

“Yes. Not as much as I feel I should be though.” She muttered. She glared harder at him but he only smiled in response. This cheeky pain in the ass…

“Do you two know each other?” Kim asked Marinette.

“I’ve run into him once or twice.” She waved the question off. She shoved the demon’s feet off of her desk.

“Oh come now, love,” He stood up wrapping an arm around her shoulders, “We’re better acquainted than that.” He threw a wink at her that was anything but subtle.

“Can I talk to you a moment?” Marinette didn’t bother waiting for an answer before she grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back out into the hall. The class was whispering behind her but she could care less about their gossip. She needed to have a word with her new classmate.

“Watch it!” He groaned as she threw him against a wall, “I may be a demon but I can still feel pain.”

“You are going to be in a lot more pain if you don’t explain yourself right now.” Marinette jammed a finger in his face. “I told you I didn’t want to see you hanging around at my school!”

“Ah ah ah,” He shook his head, “You said, and I quote: ‘I hate having an invisible nuisance distracting me during class.’ Well now I’m not invisible.”

“That is not what I meant and you know it!”

“You should have been more specific then.”

“You insufferable plight on my life!” Marinette was going to throttle him, “What do you even get out of this? Does seeing me angry make you feel better about your own miserable life? Is it some kinda sick kick of yours?”

“I gotta pass the time somehow and annoying you is the only real entertainment I’ve found.” he shrugged. “Of course you know how to--”

“Shut. Up.” She stressed through clenched teeth. “You’re not cute. You’re not funny. And instead of giving me time to think on my own about this whole messed up situation you have inserted yourself into my day to distract me again. Are you happy?”

“I want to say yes but I am worried that if I do you will end up throwing me down the stairs so I’m just not gonna say anything.”

“Smart choice.” She sighed and leaned against the wall next to him. Her head buried in her hands as she tried to banish the headache forming. It’s too early for her to be this mad.

“Hey Marinette,” Her head whipped up as she saw a different blonde walking down the hall. “Who’s your friend?’

“Hi Adrien,” She couldn’t fight the easy smile that crept onto her face as she looked at her green eyed crush. “This is...uh…”

“Felix.” The demon stuck out his hand, “Felix Graham. I just transferred.”

“Nice to meet you, Felix.” Adrien shook his hand. “Is Marinette showing you around?”

“Yes she is.” Felix placed his arm around Marinette again. “The teacher asked if anyone would like to volunteer and her hand was the first one up.”

“That’s Marinette for you.” Adrien smiled, “You have a great guide. Marinette is not only class president but she is basically friends with everyone in the school. Now that you’re here she just had to make you her friend too.”

“I have a feeling that Marinette and I are going to be great friends.” Felix squeezed her more firmly. “Isn’t that right, love?”

“Yeah. Gotta love making friends.” Marinette forced a smile.

Adrien smiled at them once more, his gaze sliding to the arm wrapped around Marinette before entering the classroom. Once he was gone Marinette shoved the demon off. She let out an aggravated sigh and glared at the boy next to her.

“Since when is your name Felix?”

“Could have always been my name. Not that you bothered to ask. That is incredibly rude now that I think about it.” Felix scoffed.

“So is peeping on girls while they’re in the bath.”

“Well I needed a name if I was going to be able to pass as a human. I didn’t know what was popular this era so I just pulled a name out of that novel on your desk.” Felix shrugged.

“Novel? Wait, are you talking about The Prince of the Burned Princess?”

“Yeah. I got bored last night so I read a bit. I think I’m a little like that Felix fellow in the story. Tall, brave, intelligent…a little sexy?”

“Well thank you for ruining one of my favorite series forever.” Marinette sighed. She wasn’t gonna be able to read that without her demon popping into her mind now.

She shuffled back into the classroom and plopped down in her seat. Felix sat down a couple seats away which was fine with her. Maybe she could get through this day if he kept his distance. First period wrapped up and Marinette stood to go to the next one when she felt a shiver go up her spine.

She turned around and saw Felix standing behind her. “Can I help you?”

“You’re showing me around, remember?” He grinned.

“Right. Of course.” She hated having to play his stupid game but no one else knew the truth about Felix. To her classmates he was a regular transfer student. If she was a jerk to him for seemingly no reason it would not reflect back on her well.

He tried to put an arm around her but she blocked the maneuver and instead grabbed his arm to haul him to their next class. She shoved him into a seat far from hers and sat down. Alya took the seat next to her.

“So,” Alya leaned closer to Marinette, “How do you know Felix?”

Well have you ever accidentally summoned a demon by having a nosebleed over a design you were sketching and then said demon refused to leave you alone so he followed you everywhere including the bathroom? “It’s a long story.” Marinette reached for her textbook.

“And here I thought I knew them all by now. Is he like an ex-boyfriend or a former crush?”

“Ew no. Why would you think that?”

“He seems awfully comfortable around you. Also I know that your type is tall, blonde, and a nice smile. All of which mister leather jackets has.”

“It is not like that in the least.” Marinette couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Did other people think that Felix was an ex-boyfriend that she still had feelings for? Where were they? She needed to talk some sense into them.

“Excuse me,” the shiver was back. Felix was next to Alya’s desk. “I was wondering if you would mind trading seats with me. I focus much better at the front.”

“Sure thing. I prefer sitting in the back anyway.” Alya collected her stuff. “I can sneakily listen to music from back there.”

“Alya!” Marinette pleaded with her eyes to not leave her alone with him.

“Chill, girl.” Alya winked at her, “Good luck.”

“Alya!” Marinette whined but her friend was gone and Felix slid into the spot she had previously been. She turned an ice cold stare at him. “I hate you.”

“Should I be keeping a tally of how many times you say that? Maybe a punch card!” He teased, “If I get ten ‘I hate yous’ can I trade it in for a deal so I can go home?”

“You are determined not to make this easy on me, are you?”

“Not a chance.”

Marinette suffered through the rest of classes with Felix glued to her side. She put on a smile and acted like the sweet girl everyone expected all the while thinking of whatever she could do to get back at him for this. She was seriously considering the holy water spray bottle. He liked to act like a nosy cat so why not treat him like one?

She started the walk back home and noticed Felix walking next to her. “Are you visible right now?” she asked.

“Yes?” He raised an eyebrow at her. “What does that matter? I’ve been visible all day.”

“Yeah but you’re following me back to my house.”

“Yes. That’s what I do. I follow you around because I am stuck with you.”

“No. I get that. But not everyone else knows that you are bound to me. All they see is the new kid following me home.”

“And is that so terrible?”

“In my opinion, yes.”

“Why? Scared they’ll think you actually like me?” he ruffled her hair. “I heard what your friend Alya said about me. Am I really your type?”

“Shut up right now.” She picked up the pace. “I can’t stop you from coming but the second we are inside you need to go invisible again. We’ll go in through the residential entrance instead of the bakery.”

“It smells so good though.”

“No! I am not explaining who you are to my parents. So please--”

DING!

She looked back at the bakery entrance and sighed. Why couldn’t he let her have one thing? She stepped inside her parent’s bakery. Felix was over at one of the display cases eyeing up the operas. She grabbed him by the collar and made to pull him back out of the shop.

“Hello sweetheart,” Her mom waved from the register, “Who’s your friend?”

“Hi mom,” Marinette waved back. She relinquished her hold on Felix’s coat. “This is Felix. He’s a new student.”

“Nice to meet you, Felix.” Her mom beamed. “Did you stop in for some after school snacks?”

“Actually, Marinette invited me over.” Felix replied easily. “I have a lot of catching up to do and she so generously offered to help.”

“That’s my girl. Always helping those that need it.” Her dad called from the kitchen area. “You kids take anything from the shop to eat while you study.”

“Thank you sir.” Felix smiled. He gently requested a couple of the operas and Marinette decided to grab a couple strawberry macarons. No reason for the demon to get fresh backed treats and not her.

They cut through the back of the bakery to the stairwell leading up to the apartment. “Oh these are so good!” Felix gushed as he stuffed and opera in his mouth. “I haven’t had fresh baked cake in a long time. Ooh, can I have one of those?” he reached for her macarons.

“Nope!” she slapped his hand away. “Demons don’t deserve macarons.”

“On the upside, I think your parents like me.”

“Only because they don’t know you.” Marinette climbed up the steps to her room. She kicked off her shoes and set her homework on her desk. She’d get to it in a bit but she needed some downtime first.

She sat down at her computer and booted up Mecha Strike. Felix stood behind her watching and trying to sneak one of her macarons from their box.

“How about instead of staring over my shoulder you sit down and play a game.” She handed him a controller. “Beating the crap out of you virtually will probably make me feel better.”

“You think you can beat me?” He sat down next to her. “I would love to see you try.”

“No using your demon powers though.”

“Well that’s no fun.”

“Felix…”

“Alright, I’ll play fair if you give me a macaron.”

“Geez, fine,” she tossed him one. They spent the next hour playing and Marinette was absolutely creaming him. It felt good destroying his mech over and over and over again. The fun ended when he got mad over losing and broke the controller in half.

She pushed him out of the room to cool off and opened up her school work. In true demonic fashion he popped up in her room five minutes later. He paced around the room snooping through her things for about ten minutes before he settled next to her again.

“Hey.” he poked her cheek. “Hey. Marinette. Hey. Marinette. Marinette. Marinette. Marinette. Hey. Look at me. Marinette. Marinette. Marine--”

“What!” she roared. “I am trying to do my homework!”

“I’m bored.”

“I don’t care.” she turned back to her math worksheet. “Find some other way to entertain yourself. Read a book or something.”

“I don’t want to.”

“That’s your problem. I need to focus.”

“But--”

“Felix!” She screamed at him in a fury. She had stood up so fast the chair toppled to the floor. Felix took an instinctive step back as she backed him into a wall by sheer anger alone. “You showed up at my school when I asked for space, you introduced yourself to my parents when I asked you not to, you broke my game controller, and you continually invade my privacy. For once can you please just do as I ask and leave me alone so I can get my work done or I swear to god I will not rest until I find a way to exorcise you from this life and the next! Are we understood?” 

For once he seemed actually shocked. His wide silver eyes staring at her almost in awe of the sheer amount of anger radiating off her.. “Okay. You need some alone time. I can take a hint.” He slid along the wall around her and sat down on the chaise. “I’ll be over here. Quiet as a mouse. Alright?”

“Good.” Marinette huffed. She righted her desk chair and got back to work. God that felt good. But she was also a little disappointed in herself. She’s calmer than that. She’s the rational one. No matter how annoying someone is she’s always been patient. This demon though was stretching her limits. She didn’t know how much longer she could go on like this.

After a couple therapeutic macarons stuffed down her gullet and a solid hour of studying she finished her work. She almost didn’t want it to end since it also meant an end to Felix’s blessed silent compliance.

She couldn’t pretend forever though. She put her work back in her bag and spun around in her chair. Felix was still on her chaise but he now held one of her sketchbooks.

“These are rather good for someone so young.” He said without looking up. “Are you sure you don’t want to use your wish to become a famous designer? With work like this I see no reason you would need to feel that your success was undeserved. Think of the wish as a fast forward button if you will since you’re so opposed to cheating.”

“No thanks.” Marinette took the sketchbook out of his hands.

He shrugged and got up. He went over to her board filled with pictures of her friends and took one down. “What about this guy?” he waved a picture of Adrien in her face, “You’re obviously smitten with him. What about a little love action?”

“No. I would never force Adrien to love me against his will. Also, if that weren’t enough I’m not too keen on selling my soul and dooming myself to eternal damnation because of it.”

“That’s...fair.” He pinned the picture back up. “I know you’re tired of hearing it and I am tired of saying it but you need to think of something. My bosses are not going to like that I am spending so much time up here on the same human.”

“Demons have bosses? What? Does Satan sign your paychecks?” she giggled. He sent her a stern look and the laughter died in her throat.

“So the more it benefits me the worse the payment is.” She pondered as she started to pace the room. “What if I wish for something not for me? What if I wish for someone else to be successful or to find love? My friends have a band they’re in. Could I wish for them to get a record deal or something?”

“A genuine selfless wish?” he thought about it before shaking his head. “I’ve only ever had one truly selfless wish asked of me before. While I do not doubt your intentions are well meant it is not the deepest desire you hold. Only a completely selfless wish that is also your one true desire could spare you from paying a price. A wish like that is far rarer than anything.”

“Well crap. I thought I was onto something there.”

“Marinette,” her parents called from the floor below, “Dinner is ready.”

“Coming, mom.” She called back.

After dinner she got a quick shower and changed into her pajamas. Before turning off the lights she grabbed Felix and sat him down. “Listen, this is not an ideal situation for either of us but if we are going to be stuck with each other then I want to lay down a couple of ground rules.”

“Cause that has worked out great so far.” he rolled his eyes.

“Please, listen. Rule number one: Absolutely no watching me while I’m in the bathroom or while I’m changing. Rule number two: You cannot pester me while I am working. And rule number three: When I wake up I do not want to see you in my bed.”

“If I follow these silly rules of yours will you give your wish more thought?”

“Yes. I promise. So long as you promise too.”

“Sure. Then you have my word.” he raised his hands, “No peeping, no pestering, and no sneaky cuddles. Did I get them all?”

“Yes.” She turned off the lights and climbed into bed. She could still make out his silver eyes watching her in the darkness. Were they glowing? She turned on her side so her back was to him. It didn’t stop the familiar chill that went with knowing he was staring at her though. “Good night, Felix.”

“Good night.” he replied. Another shiver ran up her spine as the words echoed quietly in the room. Looks like she was in for another restless night.

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