The character that's given me the most second-hand embarrassment was Orm from Norsemen/Vikengane, despite being my favorite in that show because he has that sort of pathetic rat bastard vibe I like in characters. BUT I just couldn't take it and dropped the show halfway lmao.
Happy Mariver Week 2023, y'all! (Shout outs to @squidryder for setting the stage on this whole celebration for my favorite gay cephalopods)
I wanted to do a lot more to celebrate before work destroyed my free time and energy, but I'm really happy with this lil story befitting Day 6's theme: "Lazy Day." It's something I've had in mind for a bit, so excited to have the excuse to write it all up!
Please enjoy, and let me know about some of your favorite Mariver content <.<
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Fandom: Splatoon
Pairing: Marie/Shiver (part of my "Mariver Madness" series)
Summary: Shiver joins Callie and Marie for a quiet winter's eve, and they come to learn more about their partner than they originally bargained for.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Click through the Read More below to get a preview of the latest chapter. Thanks for reading <3
Callie immediately bursts into a fit of snorting laughter. She repeatedly points to a photo on the left page. Shiver is drawn into a moment frozen within a rectangular frame of scraggly white edges.
"This was one of the first times Marie and I met! Our families went to Camp Triggerfish that summer."
"Oh. Oh my."
Shiver covers their mouth. The eyes of false Callie and Marie in a Squid Sisters poster on the wall seem to leer upon the same scene.
between the pages of some novel by yuer (vintageblueskies)
between the pages of some novel
by yuer (vintageblueskies)
G, 7k, adorable juniors, wangxian
Summary: “You’ve really never seen anything like it before?” Zizhen asks, “you’re so well-read.”
“Curses are usually more creative than the things you learn about in textbooks,” Wei-qianbei says wryly, “I should know, I’ve gotten cursed multiple times.”
“Maybe it’ll resolve itself by tomorrow,” Zizhen says optimistically.
“Unlikely,” Wei-qianbei says, “but thanks for the thought.”
Sizhui stares at Zizhen. There was something strange about the way Zizhen had said well-read, just as there’s something strange about the curse itself. It seems familiar, as if Sizhui had seen it in a book somewhere.
Between one moment and the next, it hits. Sizhui coughs, his own spit catching in his throat. It can’t be.
-
or, the juniors try to figure out how to tell lwj and wwx that they got hit with a curse that only exists in porn.
My comments: Listen, y’all, Author's explanation at the end of the fic is hilarious.
post canon, curses, proximity curse, sex curse, sort of, tropes, erotica tropes, case fic, humor, adorable juniors, established relationship, married wangxian, second-hand embarrassment, humor, fluff, POV lan sizhui, hijinks & shenanigans
(You may wish to REBLOG as a signal boost for this author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)
I have no idea how this idea came to me. I got a bit of second-hand embarrassment writing this XD
Although this story is a bit strange, I hope you all enjoy it!
The story begins under the cut! Ao3 Link
Luka doesn’t regret this job. He’s doing this for Juleka’s birthday. He doesn’t feel embarrassed about this job! Why would Luka ever feel bad about this job? He needs the extra money for a gift, so he has no reason to complain.
Although Luka tried to tell himself that things could always be worse, he couldn’t help the feeling of regret that was bubbling inside his gut.
It seemed normal when he interviewed. The position listing was vague, but how bad could a job at an ice cream shop be? While he’d probably have to deal with the occasional upset customer, it didn’t seem like a job he couldn’t do. But then he got there on his first day and the owner handed him a costume.
A cow costume. A cow costume with pink spots. While that was bad enough, the cow was also supposedly ‘modest’, because it also wore a blue frilly apron with the shop logo on the front.
Luka had no regrets. He needed the extra money for Juleka’s gift. He was doing this for his sister, so he couldn’t be upset. Honestly, he had no one to blame but himself. He should’ve asked more questions about the job a little more during the interview.
Any shame he had could easily be hidden under the cow’s head, so he could suck it up for three hours a day. As long as he couldn’t be recognized, he had no reason to hold regret. The job wasn’t even bad! Although the heat of the sun was cooking him alive inside the pink cow of death, all he had to do was pass out samples. That wasn’t bad! That was easy!
At least that’s what he thought, until a certain blonde girl’s scream pierced his ears.
“OH MY GOSH! I LOVE YOUR COSTUME!” Rose quickly ran up to him and looked him over. She lunged herself into his arms, nearly knocking over the samples, and gave him a crushing hug.
“You’re so pretty! I love the pink on your fur! And your apron! You’re beautiful!”
Luka took a couple of deep breaths, trying to regain his composure. All he could do was nod at Rose. The last thing he wanted was for her to find out he was under the costume. Because with Rose finding out, that meant Juleka would find out. If Juleka found out, then she’d ask why he got a job dressing up like a cow.
The gift idea would be ruined and he would have to live through the embarrassment of Juleka teasing him daily. Which may or may not lead to a certain lady who had completely stolen his heart finding out. Which also may or may not lead to him dying of mortification.
So him keeping his mouth shut could save him from any of those scenarios.
“Rose! Please don’t harass the worker!” Then he heard that voice, that sweet, melodic voice that could only belong to one person.
Regret. Now Luka Couffaine could only feel regret.
Marinette, Juleka, and Alya finally caught up to Rose. “We’re so sorry about her! She just gets a little excited when she sees anything pink and cute.” ‘Oh my god, she just called me cute,’ the boy-cow thought.
After a bit of pulling and yanking, they finally managed to pry the pink girl off of the costume. But suddenly, Luka felt a lot more exposed. He tried to use the tray of samples to hide himself as he turned his gaze away from the pink girl who just got ripped from him. His eyes unconsciously wandered over to Marinette, who wore a simple pink dress with matching sandals. Her set of pigtails were now being held up with a matching pink ribbon. She looked so effortlessly put together.
If the heat of the sun and embarrassment didn’t kill him, seeing the girl of his dreams dressed so nicely surely will.
“Oh are these samples?” Luka finally managed to tear his gaze away from Marinette to look at Alya. She pointed right to the tray in his hands. He was about to answer before remembering what he was wearing. Instead, he held out the tray to silently offer it to the group.
Each girl took a cup and took a bite. He watched as each girl quietly hummed in content. But Marinette’s eyes shot up and she looked straight into the cow’s eyes. “Wow! This is delicious! It tastes just like blueberries!”
Alya and Juleka exchanged sly looks as they watched Marinette hurry to finish her cup. Alya stealthily put an arm around the girl’s shoulders and leaned into her. “Well, we all know how you feel about blueberries,” she teased.
Marinette lifted an eyebrow up at her and looked at the other girls in the group. Rose was squealing and bouncing in place while Juleka rolled her visible eye. “Gross. You haven’t seen him in a day and you’re already thinking about Luka again?”
While Marinette began to quickly defend herself, Luka’s brain felt like it shut off. Maybe he had been boiled inside the suit. He must be dead. This couldn’t actually be happening. His mouth was completely slack and his eyes were about as large as the cow’s.
“W-what?! No! Me and Luka? I mean- Luka and I? Never! He’s cool and interesting and dreamy and amazing and kind- I MEAN! Even if he is sweet and selfless and attractive- NOT ATTRACTIVE! I-”
Alya howled with laughter and clutched her stomach, interrupting Marinette’s rambling. Juleka let out a soft chuckle while Rose joined with her screams of joy. “Girl! You are SO into him.” Luka was barely listening now. His own heartbeat was ringing in his ears, beating abnormally fast, and Rose’s high pitched screaming didn’t help his focus.
His face was definitely flushed, at least this costume helped him hide it. He happened to glance at Marinette again. She had moved from under Alya’s arm and was now beet red. She looked at the ground wringing out her hands, but she had a slight smile on her face.
‘Wait. She’s not denying it. Oh my god. I did die, didn’t I?!’
“Oh! I have an idea!” Marinette met Rose’s eyes through her bangs while Alya and Juleka managed to stop laughing enough to face the pink girl. “You could ask Luka out! Ask him to come here with you! That way you don’t have to hunt down Andre’s cart and still share ice cream together! Plus they have a blueberry flavor! It’s so romantic!”
Juleka and Alya turned to Marinette with excitement painted across their faces. But Marinette could only pout and shake her head. “No, I think I already missed my chance with him. I didn’t return his feelings the first time; I doubt he’d give me a second chance now.”
The girls all let out a defeated sigh before it was interrupted. “You should ask him.”
Suddenly all four sets of eyes were staring at him. ‘Wait, did I say that? Why did I say that?!’ He turned his head to face Marinette. Her cheeks weren’t as red as before, but her mouth was agape as she looked back at him.
“What I meant was- Well, maybe he really wants to ask you out, but he also wanted to go at your own pace?” Suddenly the identity beneath the cow was clear and all the girls widened their eyes.
“Y-you’re-”
Before she could begin her over-thinking, Luka held up a hoof to stop her. “I have like, ten more minutes before I can de-cow. Do you think you’d wanna hang out afterwards? If everyone else is okay with it?”
Marinette whipped her head around to look at the other girls. Rose was clinging onto Juleka’s arm bouncing around with an ecstatic look on her face. Juleka shared a similar look, although it was a lot more reserved. Alya quickly waved her hands to let Marinette know it was okay.
With their approval, she turned back to the cow with a timid smile on her face. “That sounds perfect-” Rose let out another shriek and quickly pulled Marinette into the shop. Alya and Juleka shared a quick fist bump and then the former followed the other two inside.
Juleka looked at Luka before rolling her visible eye at him. “We’re talking about this when you get home,” she mumbled before also making her way inside.
Luka didn’t regret his job. Maybe he has a bit of disdain for the pink cow, but in the end he had no reason to feel negative about it anymore. After all, he had a date with a very cute girl afterwards thanks to the cow. So really, he was very pleased with his new job. It seemed like things were looking up. He didn’t even seem to mind the mild embarrassment he was feeling due to the costume.
Until Juleka came back outside and took pictures of him in said costume, for future blackmail.
