Tumgik
#post-s5
wackus-bonkus-maximus · 8 months
Text
meet the cast of "lies of attrition"
Tumblr media
everything's going so well in my and @ladyofthenoodle 's post-s5 fic! look how fine it's going! absolutely nothing can or will go wrong!
1K notes · View notes
coffeebanana · 3 months
Text
It felt eerily familiar, kneeling ghost-like beneath a vermillion sky. Doom crept though Antichat's chest, as thick as the acrid smoke scorching his lungs. He couldn't move, couldn't breathe. There was a weight in his arms—an inexplicable solace. And yet…  Suddenly it didn’t weigh as much as it should. No.  His eyes flicked downwards. No, no, no, no— All he held was a pile of ashes, moulded into the shape of a girl.
Some nightmares refuse to fade.
***
[Read the full fic below the cut or on Ao3!! CW: panic attacks, dissociation, depression]
It felt eerily familiar, kneeling ghost-like beneath a vermillion sky. Doom crept though Antichat's chest, as thick as the acrid smoke scorching his lungs. He couldn't move, couldn't breathe. There was a weight in his arms—an inexplicable solace. And yet…  Suddenly it didn’t weigh as much as it should. No.  His eyes flicked downwards. No, no, no, no— All he held was a pile of ashes, moulded into the shape of a girl.
Please, no.
Chat squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head to rid himself of a sudden, blinding panic pounding through his skull. But it was too late. Ladybug’s slate-stained image was seared into his mind, her face frozen in pain, devoid of everything that had once painted comfort across his soul. 
Her mask was half-torn, such that Marinette's bare cheek was cradled closest to his chest. Like maybe he'd tried in vain to protect her from the blast.
From his own destruction.
A choked sound ripped itself from his throat, a painful lump following in its wake. He had no way to fix this, nothing to do but pull her in closer. To tighten his arms around her precious, fragile remains.
Another mistake. 
She crumbled in his grip; ashes floated up like a mosaic, blinding his vision. Frantically, he pawed at the air—trying to gather her fragments, to force her back together. If he caught enough, perhaps he could papier-mâché her likeness. He could use his tears as glue.
But there was no time for that before a fiery breeze tore through the street. Marinette’s remains were swept away, and only Chat’s strangled cries could follow. 
The further away they fled, the more he came undone. There was nothing left to tie his mind together, to keep his pain from exploding like a supernova.
Nothing to keep the world from collapsing in on him.
“What did you expect?” Nightormentor’s voice sliced through the smoke. “You’ve always been poison to the ones you loved most.”
NO!
With a frigid gasp—one that curdled his tar-slicked insides—Adrien awoke. Once again, there was a darling weight in his arms. Only this Marinette was warm and solid. Her limbs were tangled in the blankets she'd pulled to her side of his bed, and one of her hands curled slightly into his T-shirt as her breath tickled the fabric.
She was alive.
Adrien just wasn't sure his heart still knew how to beat.
He was too hot and too cold all at once, both drenched in sweat and trembling. His chest felt like someone had trampled it, and every attempt to breathe sliced further into the wound. 
When he closed his eyes, the world was still on fire.
Stomach lurching, he carefully rolled Marinette’s weight off his chest. He couldn’t stay here, couldn’t listen to the even sounds of her breath without hearing echoes of his own sobs slip between them. 
The room spun around him as he stumbled to the bathroom; the world still appeared as though through smoke—muted and unreliable, the air too thick to breathe. He collapsed to his knees in front of the toilet, his empty stomach convulsing, only to realize the sickness inside him wasn’t the kind he could expel.
He remained there, braced against the toilet seat, until his limbs eased their shaking enough for him to crawl away. Even so, he barely made it to the wall beside the sink before one of his arms gave out, and his cheek slammed a little too hard into the handle of one of the cupboards he twisted into a seated position. Hissing in pain, he let his face press against the wood there, shuddering at the way the cold surface shocked some life inside of him.
Time ceased to make sense after that. One moment, his chest was burning, pain reverberating through his back as he struggled to fill his lungs. The next, it seemed he’d become a giant cloud. A numb expanse of icy droplets, ready to fall at a moment’s notice.
Light gradually awakened the room, a subtle warmth flickering near the edge of his awareness. He only fully realized the day had come when, somewhere beyond the door he’d left ajar, the bed creaked.
“Adrien?” Marinette called. Her voice was gentle, but pierced through him all the same. “Everything okay?”
No.
Panic set in anew as footsteps approached. He swore he could somehow taste the blood pounding in his ears, and he clamped his mouth shut to keep from crying out. To keep from breathing, even.
He didn’t want to be found. Maybe, if he held his breath until his lungs screamed again, he’d remain concealed in his lifeless fog.
But ironically, it was harder to keep from breathing when that was his actual goal. He sucked in sharp breaths, timed to his heartbeats, and hid his face in his hands.
“Oh, Chaton...” Marinette’s slippers scraped across the bathroom tiles, coming to a stop within his sight. Too close. “Did it happen again?”
He managed a nod, bottom lip quivering as he bit back a sob.
A long exhale piqued his attention; it started as a noise from above and ended as a warm breath against his cheek. Kneeling at his side, Marinette rubbed her hands against her thighs.
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
Adrien shifted his jaw from side to side, guilt hooking its talons into his gut. “I didn’t want to bother you.”
It wasn’t a lie; he felt plenty bad about inadvertently dragging her here every night. She deserved the comfort of her own bed, regardless of whether he could actually get any sleep without her. So the least he could do was actually let her get enough rest.
But it wasn’t the truth, either.
And as she took his hand, carefully smoothing his fingers over hers, he had a feeling she knew it.
“Adrien…” She tugged his arm upwards, pressing a kiss to his fingertips. “You’re not going to hurt me.”
Biting his lip to keep from disagreeing, Adrien squeezed his eyes shut. With one less sense at his disposal, he was all too aware of the way she lifted his hand further, unfolding his fingers to press against her cheek.
“See?” she whispered, breath tickling the inside of his wrist. Her head twisted to the side, lips planting a kiss on the heel of his palm. “Everything’s fine.”
He swore he could feel the remnants of destruction prickling against her cheek. It took everything he had not to jerk his hand away.
Nothing was fine.
No matter how he’d come into this world, and no matter how much he despised the fact, Adrien would always be—in some way or another—his father’s son. Sometimes he swore he saw a glimpse of the man when he turned too fast in the mirror. Other times, a flash of fury would seize him; with a sickening sense of satisfaction, he’d know what it might felt like to be a villain.
Even worse, he was his mother’s son. His very existence had killed her.
He’d killed both his parents, in the end. 
So no matter how much Marinette tried to console him, Adrien knew the voice of his nightmares had a point. He was a danger to her, to himself, to the world.
It might not even end up being his choice. All it would take was someone finding out what he was, and stealing the two rings he still couldn’t stand the sight of.
He was, at most, a liability. And Marinette deserved more than that.
She never agreed with him on that point.
“Look at me,” she said now. An edge crept into her voice, one that shocked him into listening.
His heart jumped at the blue of her eyes—filled with all the warmth that the fiery world of his nightmares had failed to hold. 
“I’m sorry,” he said, voice cracking. 
“No, no, no. I don’t want you to be sorry. I just…” Tears filled her eyes. “I love you, okay?”
Adrien couldn’t say it back. He couldn’t find enough truth to shove into the sentiment—not when that was all buried beneath his own misery. It was like he’d returned to his nightmare, with smoke charring his throat and one all-consuming fear.
Just the tiniest wrong movement could ruin everything.
But if he didn’t give some kind of response, Marinette would only worry. So he tugged on her hand—maybe a little too hard considering her yelp of surprise—and guided her to sit between his legs. She moved readily into place, and Adrien forced himself to ignore the fear spiking through his veins, hugging her back to his chest.
Once settled, she twisted around and tried to crane her neck upwards, reaching a hand half-blindly up to his cheek. Heart squeezing in his chest, he tightened his grip around and pressed a kiss to her head. 
She remained tense for a moment too long, but finally sighed and melted back against his chest. Her hand trailed lazily back down to her side, and her breath spilled into a hum of contentment. With her gaze fixed firmly ahead, Adrien could finally breathe again.
He didn’t want her to see the few tears he’d finally let slip down his cheeks—even if she’d no doubt hear his sniffles or feel the way the cries rumbled in his chest. And he didn't want her to examine him to deeply, to discover what he already knew.
One day, he would surely disappoint her.
317 notes · View notes
siniendistortion · 6 months
Text
Musings about what it means to be finite, but to also have to make choices that effect things beyond your limited comprehension. From the perspective of a semi-omniscient, immortal being who seeks to understand you regardless.
Chapter 4 of Antithesis is out! Seconds before I have to be at work! Please read it, it gives me joy :)
5 notes · View notes
billiewena · 12 days
Text
thinking about how the only time bobby and cas interact in season four is when he knocks him out cold to talk to dean alone. and the next time bobby sees him, cas is powerless and just comes to steal dean's necklace in a weird interaction that had to be filmed close-up because dean and cas are just inches from each other's face. the next time is an offscreen interaction where he just gets dean's address from bobby and probably left immediately after. combine this with the fact that bobby knew dean had a male siren the season before (and tried to be supportive) and let cas be in the family photo a few episodes later, there is a nonzero chance bobby singer was the first destiel shipper.
2K notes · View notes
buggachat · 7 months
Text
Hey guys, if you like my work, I'd looove a little support on my ko-fi!
so, tbh, the actual reason I can make so many comics in a short amount of time is because I'm unemployed. don't worry, I have a stable living situation and all, but I don't get money to treat myself often so!! ko-fis do mean a lot to me <3
anyway, have some art that I don't think I ever posted?
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
5K notes · View notes
neo--queen--serenity · 9 months
Text
The whole vampire household has been touting how Guillermo is “just Nandor’s familiar” for over 4 seasons now. And even at the beginning of this episode, Nadja says it again! She says, “why don’t you take him to urgent care, Nandor, he’s your familiar.”
But once Nadja gets him to urgent care, and the vampire doctor says he’s going to put Guillermo down, she immediately says, with no hesitation, “You can’t do that! Because…because he’s OUR familiar!!!!”
Not just Nandor’s. OURS. And then she proceeds to fuck up that entire clinic to save Guillermo, to protect him and bring him home, even after learning about him being turned already. That’s the good found family shit right there.
5K notes · View notes
frostedpuffs · 8 months
Text
i want to know more about the whole "Adrien is allergic to feathers" thing. like are all sentibeings allergic to feathers or was that like a Conscious Decision gabriel and emilie made. did they sit there and think "okay you know what would be fucked up but REALLY FUNNY?"
3K notes · View notes
lizposting · 11 months
Text
DO🕯️🕯️NOT🕯️🕯️🕯️FLOP.🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️
Tumblr media
2K notes · View notes
nikiferous · 9 months
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Tumblr media Tumblr media
some wtgfs scribbles and doodles
2K notes · View notes
sableeira · 8 months
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
this is the same man btw. what is in that poison? gay juice?
2K notes · View notes
wackus-bonkus-maximus · 10 months
Text
summary
The trust between Ladybug and Chat Noir is stretched to breaking point when a new butterfly holder emerges in the wake of Monarque's defeat. Chat Noir doesn't know who to trust until Chrysalis confronts him with a truth Ladybug had tried to bury: Monarque made the Wish—and she wants Chat Noir’s help to undo it.
excerpt
“I shouldn’t,” she said quietly, turning her face away. “Besides, I’m not really in a party mood… there’s still Guardian stuff to do.” He studied her gaze, fixed on something unseen in the distance. Though he’d long grown accustomed to the way his heart tugged harder toward her the further away she went, this time the pang ground deeper in his chest. “Right, of course,” Chat Noir said, turning away too. “You took Monarque down.” You and Gabriel Agreste, he couldn’t help thinking. “I’m sure you have a lot to talk to Nooroo about. And Su Han. And the team.”  What a talk that would be, when Chat Noir would receive the play-by-play alongside all the other Holders. There was no point being angry about it. Not when Gabriel was gone, when Ladybug wore her victory like a shroud, when there was still so much work to do. Chat Noir didn’t know how to be angry without destroying anything—and so much had already been destroyed.  “And you have to find a new Butterfly Holder too, right?”
so excited to do this collab with @ladyofthenoodle! this fic is gonna be amazing guys. don't let all the angst scare you away from the happy ending ;)
103 notes · View notes
coffeebanana · 8 days
Text
Fic Summary:
"Adrien's in the hospital." Woken in the dead of night by a series of frantic phone calls, Marinette finds herself confronted with one of her worst fears. Next thing she knows, she's boarding a bus from New York to Montreal instead of flying home for winter break, contemplating how's she's going to navigate living with Adrien—who definitely wants nothing to do with her since the break up—for the indefinite future. Adrien just wants to find the energy to convince Marinette he's fine—that she can leave. Because having her here hurts too much, and he's better off alone. At least, that's what he tells himself. They're an ocean away from home, stuck together in a one-bedroom apartment, in a city suffocated by snow. The distance between them has never felt so insurmountable. But maybe there's hope after all.
80 notes · View notes
originalartblog · 8 months
Text
Tumblr media
1 year and 4 months later: ANIME EDITION (x)
2K notes · View notes
ghostoftonantzin · 9 months
Text
I can't believe we got Nadja tearing through a horror-movie-inspired hospital, throwing people around with her telekinesis, using her scream shout power to blast a guy through a wall, baring her fangs while threatening that guy, and then completely brawling all while wearing a low-cut red dress with a sassy ruffled bustle. Laura Montgomery and Yana Gorskaya I owe you my life.
2K notes · View notes
buggachat · 3 months
Text
Sometimes I think about how Adrien, throughout the series, constantly grapples with his fear of abandonment. Gabriel conditioned him to believe that any love he receives is purely transactional, and that to earn affection he has to prove his utility. Adrien is constantly trying to prove his worth to his father for scraps of affection, and Chat Noir infamously crumbles on-screen any time he feels as though he is replaceable to Ladybug. It's a constant insecurity of his, like everyone will just dump him like a sack of potatoes the moment they find out how useless he is.
Meanwhile, all Marinette wants to is ensure that Adrien is happy. Because she loves him. She doesn't give two shits about how """useful""" he is. She holds him and tells him that she will never abandon him (both as Ladynoir and as Adrienette), and her fantasies are about saving him, not about him being "useful" to her. Throughout their relationship, Adrien is forced to disappoint Marinette constantly for reasons outside of his control (amok commands), and yet Marinette is still there for him.
At Adrien's lowest point, when he is forcibly torn away from everyone who had ever showed him genuine care, locked away in an all-white room and at his most "useless", right after disappointing Marinette and unable to even join the final battle or contribute in any way, she still saves him. She still loves him. Because he doesn't have to prove anything to her. Because he is loved and cherished for who he is, not for what he does, and that love is not conditional. Adrien's "happy ending" at the end of the first arc wasn't about him finally proving how useful he can be, because he never actually cared about being useful — he just saw it as the only means to feel loved and needed. Instead, in the end, he found out that he was loved and needed no matter what.
2K notes · View notes
neo--queen--serenity · 9 months
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
poor Sigma didn’t sign up for this
2K notes · View notes