#& honestly why is it so important everyone gets along. that isn’t really necessary

[soulbrand]

man you all were not kidding abt the therapyspeak in veilguard.

[centaurianthropology]

Why I Think the Throuple is Important (or, Redefining Sex, Love, and Intimacy with Preservation Alliance)

I have noticed that one of the most-complained about additions to the show is the Throuple.  I’ve seen it called ‘cringe’ or ‘tacked on’ or ‘unnecessary’, but I actually think that it was a key part of show-don’t-tell storytelling to show us the different culture of Preservation Alliance, and how they relate to sex/love/intimacy in a different way to how the Western monocuture currently relates to those topics.

This has been something I’ve been thinking about for a bit, but it was also very much inspired by this post by @todaysgenderismurderbot which puts it really well and way more succinctly than I’m about to put it (because I do love to waffle on!).

We are introduced to the Throuple via MB’s narration, laying out that Arada wants Ratthi, Ratthi wants Pin-Lee, and Pin-Lee is sort of along for the ride.  But we do need to remember that MB’s perspective and narration is limited, and it is very bad with emotions.  So we’re supposed to read deeper into that relationship than just what it says.  There is a lot more going on with them than those lines—suggesting an awkward love-triange in classic sitcom fashion—would suggest.  The show uses the Throuple to deconstruct how the audience might look at such a thing, and by utilizing that particular term, the audience is set up with an expectation that can then be taken apart as we are gradually introduced to a different culture with a different perspective on love, sex, and intimacy.

We see the start of the relationship come in the form of the contract.  I saw people not happy about this because this isn’t how polyamory is ‘supposed’ to go.  The fandom has had a bit of an issue with assuming the worst-faith takes when it comes to the showrunners and the production, and I really saw it at play with this relationship.  From the off, some people were convinced that by portraying PresAux as open and loving the show was ‘mocking’ them, when I perceived the show as loving them.  MB is clearly wrong about them (as they are often wrong about it), but it slowly embraces them throughout the course of the show as they chip away at its cynicism simply by being themselves (and thus also chipping away at the cynicism of the audience too, because boy howdy are a lot of the audience deeply cynical).  It doesn’t get all the way there by the end of the season.  It still needs to find itself, but the love they instilled in it is growing. 

So the audience has to learn about how love works on Preservation, don’t they?  Since love in all its forms lies at the heart of their relationship to MB, the audience needs to see some of those forms.  Preservation is a society where polyamory is completely normalized.  We see this in Mensah’s casual mention of her marital partners, but we needed an onscreen example of how this could go, which also works as character-building for everyone involved.  Thus, the throuple.  Which, much like all of PresAux, is lovingly portrayed as flawed, emotionally open but still sometimes missing the point, loving beyond what many audience members are comfortable with, and so, SO human.  They are all Cringe, and they are all free, and I want to be more like them.

Through them and how this throuple plays out, we learn more about Preservation, and honestly?  It feels like such a healthier approach to sex, love, and intimacy than our own.

Let’s start by talking about the contract.  It clearly delineates what is expected in the relationship, but is not a requisite for such relationships on Preservation (we are told this by Pin-Lee, as they think that their last addition didn’t work out because there was no contract).  The contract is a bit of character-building for Pin-Lee, as we learn that they want it, and it makes them feel more comfortable existing within a well-defined legal framework.  The society gives them the tools to build the relationship—contracts are non-necessary but sometimes useful part of relationships—but they need to implement them for their own comfort.  Pin-Lee wants a contract, and the other two accept that.  Arada is much more free-wheeling, I think, and wouldn’t necessarily want that framework on her own, but it makes her spouse happy, and so that’s fine.

But what Pin-Lee struggles with is that, even within a contractual framework, people are still people, and they are going to bring unpredictable elements.  Ratthi brings a completely different dynamic into their relationship simply by being himself.  That’s what Arada wants, and Pin-Lee accepts with their own stipulations.  This is a couple trying to work through their individual needs, but, as we see throughout the course of the throuple, still needing to get better at open and honest communication.

We are told later in the season that the contract has a clear time delineation.  This is not a marriage.  Ratthi is likely being brought into their relationship for the duration of the survey, and that’s it.  This is supposed to be a fun engagement with one another, bringing a new dimension to already-established relationships.  And that, for me, totally reshaped how I was looking at sex, love, and Preservation.

The Western monoculture very much gears people toward seeing sex and love through an extremely narrow lens.  You should be In Love when you have sex (casual sex Wrong and Immoral), and sex should be Deep and Meaningful only.  And Love is for the long-term.  For a single pair of heterosexual people to procreate through. 

And through the throuple we see how effortlessly Preservation explodes all those limiting notions of what sex and love can be.  Sex can be engaged in between colleagues on a long, boring survey for fun, because sex is fun and casual if you want it to be.  With futuristic birth control readily accessible, one assumes, and without the power dynamics inherent in our own current work culture, why wouldn’t colleagues get to engage in casual sex?  Why wouldn’t you pull in a friend into a sexual relationship if they’re into it?  What is the boundary between the platonic and the romantic?  Is there a need for a boundary?  This will vary person to person, but the society creates a framework through which labels and boxes can be exploded. 

Love is ever-present, but its form is changeable for the situation and the people involved.  And that is partially why the throuple works as a way to explore the personalities, quirks, flaws, and natures of the three people involved in it.

Ratthi has a very refreshing, different relationship to sex and love than we usually see on television.  He takes his relationships in all their myriad forms very seriously; they seem like the most important parts of his life and personality.  He is defined by his relationships with others, and perceives himself best through them.  He falls in love easily, but also lets those relationships go very easily.  I honestly think there is no particular delineation for him between friendship, romance, sex, and casual intimacy.  He loves his friends, he’s in love with his friends, he would happily have sex with any of his friends who would want him, and when a sexual or romantic component to a friendship no longer works out he lets that go without complaint.  He moves along the continuum of platonic-romantic and sexual-sexless with incredible ease, because it’s all love to him.  He is overbearing in his love because he feels it so intensely for everyone around him.  Learning to regulate his expressions of that love is going to be a long-term character arc for him, I think, but the fact that he feels it so strongly and openly is so refreshing.  The fact that he was raised in a culture where there was no shame around sex or love, so long as everyone is consenting and having a good time, shows how different and healthier someone can be about sex and love when given the space for it.

But the show doesn’t limit how someone can exist in a culture so open about sex and love, because Pin-Lee and Arada both have very different expressions of what they want and need from sex and love, while still existing within this clearly-established cultural framework.  Arada and Ratthi share an unintentional, non-malicious sort of self-centeredness.  They both assume that everyone around them feels and wants in similar manners to themselves.  They are both incredibly generous, loving people.  They give gifts and acts of physical affection easily and naturally, but both of them struggle a bit to read the room, which can make others uncomfortable. 

Arada is a really interesting example of this, because she is a gift-giver.  She repairs Bharadwaj’s clothes for her after the attack; she gives SecUnit an outfit.  In a BTS comment it’s said that Arada embroidered everyone’s socks for them.  I think that she embraces Pin-Lee’s offer of the Throuple out of that same spirit of earnest and open gift-giving.  All of Arada’s gifts are given without reservation or ulterior motive, so she assumes the same about Pin-Lee.  She doesn’t read Pin-Lee’s slight discomfort with bringing Ratthi in because she’s not looking for that.  Pin-Lee is a people-pleaser far more than Arada properly understands.  Arada is delightfully open about her desires and her needs, but it means that she sometimes steps all over her spouse’s wants and needs without meaning to.  And Pin-Lee chronically doesn’t speak up about it.  They’re so loud and abrasive as a lawyer that their wife doesn’t notice what they aren’t saying, how much they don’t speak up in their marriage.  It’s an interesting dynamic to bring in for Pin-Lee because it goes against the shark-lawyer stereotype and gives them added dimension.  There is lawer!Pin-Lee and spouse!Pin-Lee and those are very different people. 

Everyone is given communication tools.  They have Sweet-Bitter; they have We Can Talk About This.  But being given the tools and actually using the tools are two very different things that all three of these people need to work on.

Their miscommunication is so lightly-done and refreshing, because it never explodes into genuine hurt feelings or resentment or possessiveness or all the other things you might expect to see in a throuple storyline on a television show.  They try on intimacy, and have the cultural framework for a lovely casual relationship, but as much as they should Talk About This, it’s clear they don’t, or if they do they haven’t embraced the sort of honesty that would be necessary for it to really work.  So it’s off from the beginning, each of them wanting something different out of it: Pin-Lee puts up and shuts up, Arada assumes everyone is on her same page, and Ratthi keeps butting in when he’s not wanted.  Ratthi eventually realizes that he didn’t go in with the right headspace, wanting Pin-Lee more than Arada, and realizes it’s unfair on all of them, so he breaks it off.  But they all wanted it done, having each come to the realization that it’s not bringing out the best in any of them.  That’s where that culture of healthy relationships to sex and love and intimacy really pays off for them.  It doesn’t mean their relationships always work out, but it does mean they’re given a framework to recognize what any relationship should do: bring out the best in everyone involved.  And when it doesn’t, their culture gives them the framework to end that relationship in a clean, healthy way, because there are no hang-ups about a relationship having to be only one way to be valid, no shame or preciousness about sex that would make returning to a sexless relationship somehow ‘lesser’.

And hopefully, even when the relationship itself didn’t bring out the best in them, it still let them learn things about themselves that they can continue to explore next season.  This casual, limited-time relationship may not have worked, but that doesn’t make it meaningless.  Failure is not shameful.  Failure is natural, and can be a tool for learning even more potent than success.  And Preservation as a society also gives grace to failure, because it completely de-emphasizes competition.  If there is no particular cultural glory attached to winning, people can fail and still be happy. 

Sex and love and friendship are continuums through with the people of Preservation can move.  They may still be limited by personality, by foibles and hangups, because existing in a better society doesn’t actually make people perfect.  People are still people, and they carry their baggage with them.  These three didn’t work out even on the short-term because they didn’t unpack that baggage, even having been given the tools to do so by their society.  This is never an indictment of polyamory as a whole by the show (again, Mensah and her partners are RIGHT THERE), but rather an exploration of three people’s characters and their relationship with their society through the lens of a relationship.  It is both character-building and world-building, which in a show with a limited runtime, does what everything in this show has to do: serves multiple purposes.

We learn that Preservation doesn’t share our hangups about casual sex through them.  We learn that people are still people, even on a better world, and even with better tools for dealing with interpersonal conflict and miscommunication, they can still fail at it.  But we also learn that failure is okay.  Failure teaches you things and allows you to move into a better place.  We learn that love on Preservation isn’t limited by the boxes that we might ascribe it, and that moving along all the myriad spectrums of love is precisely as difficult or easy as each individual personality makes it.  Love can be platonic, can be romantic, can be both at the same time, can be neither and exist as something else without labels.  There can be as many consenting people involved in that love as you want.  It’s all good.  It’s all cool, so long as it’s fulfilling and brings out the best in those involved. 

And if it’s not fulfilling, if it’s not bringing out the best in you?  Reconfigure it.  Fashion it into something new and better suited to you the same as you refashion your clothing.  Upcycle your relationships!  Being culturally part of Preservation means that can be done without shame or recrimination.  Just a movement to someplace better along the spectrum of love.

[muuns-art]

MLP AU: Fluttershy and Rainbow Dush, Pegasi (click on the images for better quality)

This might be some of the best rendered sketches I posted till now and I must say I’m really proud of how they turned out. Not that they’re finished and well refined but they’re very pretty. Alas, let’s get to the plot.

Although there’s isn’t a lot to say on terms of pegasi, what I think is the main change that I personally love is using other races other than horses. I haven’t watched over season 1 in a long time but as far as I remember it takes a while to introduce the existence of other animals, except for Gilda (maybe that’s season 2) and further on the buffaloes. But I honestly love the idea that being a unicorn or a Pegasus isn’t enclosed to being a horse, more like there’s earth ponies just like there’s maybe earth deers. Simply, other races have more chances of being unicorns or pegasi and other races are broadly earth animals (one day I’ll design a unicorn goat and I don’t know wether they’ll have 3 horns or 2).

Reason why I made Fluttershy a deer Pegasus, for once I feel like it fits a lot with her being further from the town, “secluded” in her forest cottage, and also a shier animal. I know many people also feel like Fluttershy should have been an earth pony and Pinkie (who will be on the next post) a Pegasus but I think it’s important that things are this way. And the whole point is that, yes Fluttershy is a Pegasus but that doesn’t mean she has to live in Cloudsdale, it might be a bit of an oxymoron but that’s the point, not everyone is the same and sometimes the things we’re supposed to do aren’t the ones we want or like. (Also yeah, I forgot to add in her cutiemark but nvm)

With Rainbow Dash’s palette, I enjoyed playing more along the darker tones with some spots on her fur that resemble clouds, it creates a night contrast, especially once those more neon-like rainbow colors are added in.

Her mane is now cropped and so is her tail, bc if you were always flying and such high speed: 1. You wouldn’t want your mane to get stuck somewhere and 2, you’d be to busy to brush it or adjust it.

And she’s an athlete, she doesn’t just fly, it’s made clear that she enjoys any kind of sport so I gave her a little bandage that might be necessary sometimes and a knee brace, I mean, she also runs, doesn’t she? As someone with a bad knee, it’s very helpful.

And I like her “punk-rock” attitude, especially in comparison to Flutthershy’s warm tones, they’ve been friends ever since they were fillies and yet they’re so not alike, I think that’s sweet.

I quit the show after about half of season six I think, it might be I simply grew up but I really didn’t like all the stuff that happened with the tree of harmony and subsequently the harmony castle, I remember getting one of those Fluttershy toys with all the glittery strands in her hair and the repeated cutie mark on the back legs and I hated it, I know it was made mostly to sell toys but I also think it’s kind of the moment where it “jumped the shark” if it makes sense, for as much as a tv show for children might do that. Don’t get me wrong I LOVED the very first episodes with starlight and going on I saw a lot of very cool stuff, but the rest I didn’t enjoy it. What I didn’t mind as an idea is the concept of a cutue mark that covers about the whole leg and Dash's works perfectly for this.

Sorry for including a bit of a rant in this entry but it’s mostly personal experiences.

[anonymous-astronaut]

Here's one if you're still up for these: Pyro's flamethrower is out of fuel, so all the mercs have to go out together and shovel the driveway as a team. How are they at that?

Sure thing! I’ve seen snow like twice in my life, so I’ve never shoveled snow before but I’ll do my best!

Scout:

He is totally a whiney bitch about it until he gets outside and starts galomping through the snow like a dog. He doesn’t help at all, he just starts throwing snowballs at the people who are actually trying to get work done and builds a terrible snowman version of himself. He’s the only one who catches a cold afterwords because he stays in wet clothes all day.

Soldier:

He finds something very Traditionally American about shoveling the driveway, he thinks it is necessary to build character even though he probably has never done it before. He is very insistent that everyone should join in and that it should be treated as a group activity of the upmost importance. His strategy is to fling shovelfuls wildly over his shoulder because he thinks it’s the most effective, and ends up making it harder for everyone else.

Pyro:

They’re upset about their flamethrower, and clearing the walkway is usually something they really look forward to. However, they’re spirits are soon lifted after a snowball fight with Scout and playing in the snow for a bit. They think it’s kinda fun shoveling snow the normal way and are glad they had the chance to do so with the team, but would much rather use their flamethrower.

Heavy:

By far the best and most efficient at shoveling driveways. Not only is he stronger than a damn bear and great at shoveling, but he’s also done it a million times and has an attention span longer that four seconds. He does the majority of the work, just wanting the task to be over with. Ends the day certain no one else on the team would like ten minutes in a Russian winter.

Demo:

He keeps trying to suggest more creative and increasingly dangerous ways to get rid of the snow. He thinks plain old shoveling is boring as hell, why not blow it up? Melt it with acid? Shoot rockets at it? Soldier would usually agree with him but is caught up in the traditional aspect he assigned to the task, and everyone else shuts Demo’s ideas down fast on account of not wanting to die terribly. Eventually he gives up and starts tossing Scout into the snow pile for fun.

Engie:

He doesn’t like it, but he is not the kind of guy to shy away from some hard work. He secretly is thinking of machines he could design to do it for him or at least make it more efficient, but figures it’s easier to just do it by hand and get it over with. He is very grateful for Heavy’s help, and starts to lose his temper a bit with everyone who is messing around.

Medic:

He has no interest in helping and stands far back with a hot coffee. He has shoveled his fair share of driveways in his past, and honestly thinks there’s already too many cooks in the kitchen. The only reason he even goes outside is to make sure nobody dies, he knows better than to let this team do anything without supervision. Only his threat to replace all Scouts organs with live rats keeps Scout from throwing snowballs at him.

Sniper:

He’s cold and miserable and wet but he feels bad about making other people do work so he is helping. He isn’t very good at it but at least he isn’t making it actively worse, and he’s open to critique. Scout throws a snowball at him one time and knocks off his hat, then gets a hearty reminder that he’s dealing with a marksmen when he gets a snowball back at mach 20 directly to the face.

Spy:

Try’s to get out of it but Soldier says it’s a group activity and drags him along. He refuses to help and is practically whiner than Scout, and he’s shaking in the cold like a Whippet puppy someone forgot to put a jacket on. After like two minutes Medic suggests he goes back inside and Soldier is to distracted to care. No one knows that Spy watches them through the window for the rest of the time because it’s too quiet in the base alone.

[monstersdownthepath]

The Final King, Mogaru

CR 28

Chaotic Neutral Colossal Magical Beast

Bestiary 4, pg. 170~171

Lets get this joke out of the way really quick aaaand

So, here we are! After referencing him in so many other posts during Cataclysmic Kaiju Month (which isn’t even over yet!), how many of you were waiting for the article on Godzilla Mogaru himself? Claimed by scholars to be the King of All Kaiju, Mogaru is said to be older than all of them combined, so ancient no known historical record predates him, birthed in Golarion’s earliest days and just as much the part of the planet as any mountain or lake and as necessary for the ecosystem’s function as a seasonal flood or wildfire. Like a seasonal flood or wildfire, though, Mogaru’s infrequent awakenings have recently begun to affect the expansion of mankind throughout the planet because they have rather rudely decided to do things like raise civilizations that happen to be in his favorite ancient stomping grounds. The NERVE of some species’! Honestly!

There is also Mogaru’s other, more important function: Keeping the population of other Kaiju low. While other Kaiju awaken every few decades or centuries due to some inborn schedule or rise in response to specific stimuli, the stimuli Mogaru responds to is other Kaiju waking up, his Sense Kaiju perfectly pointing him towards any and all active Kaiju regardless of distance... but it’s ultimately up to him whether he leaves his primordial lake or not to engage them. It’s not known why the attacks of some Kaiju rouse Mogaru while others go ignored, but it tends to rely on geographical location more than anything else. Like his inspiration, Mogaru cannot fly (thankfully), but he CAN swim, and quickly (100ft/round), but this mean’s he’s limited to intercepting attacks that occur on or near shorelines.

Woe to any Kaiju he deigns to face down, though. As numerous dead and buried beasts can attest to, Mogaru’s purpose is population control, and if you happen to be over whatever arcane limiters he has set in his mind, the typical “battle to the point of exhaustion and then part ways” collision of force do not apply. Neither does it apply to any puny adventurers who try to catch his attention.

Lets get the first and most obvious one out of the way first: The Breath Weapon. Like his inspiration, Mogaru’s most famous and most devastating technique is the hellfire he can produce from his mouth, heralded by the red spines along his back and head glowing ominously. His breath isn’t radioactive (thankfully), but it’s “fiery red force” that takes the shape of a 1200ft line. Anything in that line takes 20d6 Fire and 20d6 Force damage (and no Kaiju actually resists Force) and, fun fact, cover does literally nothing. The blast of energy is so intense that not only staggers anything struck for 1d4 rounds, but also completely bypasses the cover mechanic, affecting small creatures cowering behind debris (provided the debris withstands the initial blast anyway) just as well as it does the whatever massive beast is at the other end.

But Mogaru isn’t anchored in place while unleashing his greatest weapon, like some of his competition. No, his mastery of his energy weapon is so complete that he can actually move while firing, swinging his head as he does so and turning the 1200ft line into a 600ft-long cone, an area of devastation so enormous that, unless a party has split up to completely surround him, will likely affect everyone and everything present in the battle, wiping hundreds of structures and countless innocent civilians straight out of existence (since anything brought to 0 HP is automatically disintegrated). It’s such an enormous AoE that I literally cannot even draw it accurately in Paint because, in Pathfinder, cones tend to be as wide at the endpoint as they are long, so the visualization becomes absolutely ridiculous. Even when compared to Agyra’s four-mile hurricane, the sheer enormity of Mogaru’s cone weapon is difficult to express through text alone, and trying via a grid drawing--even when the squares represent 10ft instead of 5--is proving to be far too fiddly to be easily readable. Just looking over the quick doodle I did for the sake of it tells me it hits thousands of individual 5ft squares; someone better at math with more patience than me can probably get an accurate number, but my own mental math puts it somewhere at or near 3,000. Pathfinder’s systems literally are not meant to work on the scale Mogaru does, to say nothing of Kaiju in general, which is why, mercifully, Paizo changed them to be environmental hazards in 2e.

Maybe someone with a program more advanced than Paint will have an easier time, but we all have our weaknesses. All of us except Mogaru, of course, but we’ll get into that in a moment.

People aren’t likely to be packed shoulder to shoulder in neat little 5ft squares, so Mogaru’s body count will not likely be extremely high after only a single breath weapon... which is why he can do it once every 4 rounds, just for good measure. No impediment vulnerable to Fire or Force stands in the Final King’s way for very long, and anything that does resist the initial blast will likely either be torn apart by his follow-up Full-Attack, or his follow-up Firebolts. On the round following the use of his Breath Weapon, Mogaru’s spines remain charged with energy that he can fire off as a powerful ranged touch attack. He can choose to fire one, three, or six bolts of heavy fire at any target(s) within 1200ft, the singular Firebolt dealing 20d6 Fire/Force damage, the triple bolts 8d6 damage each, and the six bolts only 5d6 damage each... But there’s no limit to whether or not he can target the same creature or object with multiple bolts or not, so if he (the DM) is feeling especially spicy and thinks the +31 to hit touch AC is enough to guarantee each bolt lands, he can trade his single gargantuan shot to aim the six smaller bolts at the same victim, dealing 30d6 Fire damage instead of 20d6 (or all three of the medium bolts for 24d6). His Firebolts give him incredible coverage against even flying Kaiju, to say nothing of archers or casters buzzing around his head like mosquitos.

If you thought we were done with the consequences of his Breath Weapon, though, you’re going to be sorely disappointed, because the Final King has a final prank up his sleeve that lets him use it even when it’s on cooldown. While players are unlikely to experience this variant due to the restrictions of the Massive rule, Mogaru’s Reflexive Breath lets him use his fiery force beam as an Attack of Opportunity, blasting a victim with 40d6 damage and potentially staggering them. He can only use Reflexive Breath once per round, and it thankfully only damages the creature that provoked the AoO, but using it charges up his Firebolts (provided I’m reading it right; there seems to be nothing indicating otherwise) and doesn’t impact the rate his normal Breath Weapon recharges. With his Reflexive Breath discouraging enemies from disengaging (and serving as the coup de grace against Kaiju he wants dead, should they try and flee with their Recovery ability), Mogaru’s Full-Attack traps them between a rock and a hard place.

He’s got a CCB attack, as one may expect looking at him, his two claws dealing a generous 4d8+20 damage, while his significantly more damaging bite hits for 8d6+20 damage and Grabs whatever it strikes. While all Kaiju are immune to it, Mogaru does have Fast Swallow to gulp down smaller annoyances into his molten gut where they take 10d6 bludgeoning and 10d6 Fire damage each round until they escape or succumb. For enemy colossi, Mogaru can also bring his twin tails to bear, each dealing 6d6+10 damage on impact, and ALL of his natural attacks critically strike on a 19-20! For anyone managing to get out of his 60ft reach (and 60ft space), he can still close in and bite down via Greater Vital Strike for 24d6+20 damage to keep those numbers high.

One final trick proving that he’s the King Of All Kaiju is his secret weapon against any beast or mage that tries striking him from beyond his range with magic or energy weapons: Absorb Energy. He is immune to Fire and has 30 points of Resistance against every other form of elemental energy (except Force), including negative energy, and Absorb Energy turns that Resistance into a unique form of self-healing; he heals from any damage that gets blocked by his Resistance or Immunity. If your attack deals 31 Acid damage, then you’ve actually netted him 30 HP, as the first 30 points of damage are absorbed and used to heal his wounds instead. If your strike dealt 800 Fire damage, well, that just brings him back to full.

Perhaps to keep the ability from being too insane, Mogaru can only focus on feeding on a single type of energy at a time. The first energy damage he’s exposed to each round is the only one he’ll actually draw HP from, so having some tiny critter at the top of the initiative order flinging Acid Splashes or Jolts at his feet to trigger Absorb Energy and then unleashing a Cone of Cold or Greater Shout is perfectly viable. Not so much for other Kaiju, who tend to rely on a single type of damage, though, who tend not to catch on to his gimmick until they’ve already given him a fourth of his health back.

While Mogaru’s appearance in a city besieged by another Kaiju can be a blessing, it will more often than not end with the city being destroyed anyway as the titans clash. The one hope for salvation the puny townspeople have is the Final King’s fascination with song. For a reason lost to the ages, Mogaru is Susceptible to Song, any being capable of managing the DC 35 Perform (Sing) able to plant a Suggestion in the mind of the titan. If he succeeds his own save against the song (the DC of which is set by the performer’s Perform roll), the effect only lasts 1d4 rounds... but if he fails, the Suggestion sticks for as long as the spell typically would (1 hour/level, with the caster level being the performer’s ranks in the skill). Unlike any other mental effect, Mogaru cannot use Recovery to shrug off the song’s effects on him, so the order he’s been given is guaranteed to be obeyed.

While this weakness tends to be used to spare a civilization from the Final King’s wrath, the fact that anyone with the ability to beat the DC can give him an order (though no more than once per singer per day) can absolutely be used for things far more nefarious. Not every day you see a potential plot hook for a Bard destroying a city, is it?

You can read more about him here.

[zankie-enough]

Not Me Rant Ep 13

I feel like I am watching a different show than other people or maybe my line of right and wrong is different because the Dan storyline has shown some things I find super disturbing in this fandom.

I will start by saying the way I view this show is layered and complex. There are no absolutes. No one is all good. No one is all bad and how we digest the story in of itself is a commentary on political strife. I have way too many thoughts but for today I will focus on Dan/Yok and why this story is so important if people can get past their hurt feelings and see the bigger picture.

Dan Is Not the Enemy The System Is

I can’t believe after watching this week’s episode I still see comments like “Dan betrayed them.” “I knew it was him all along” “I hate him for hurting Yok”. At face value I get it but what happen wasn’t that simple. To get to this point we have to go backwards. Yes Dan killed Sean’s father. I believe this act defined how some people see Dan and really, they have been waiting for him to be the big bad they have decided he is. Let’s look at the shooting, a rookie cop, a bad shot, he actually showed remorse, but the department covered it up. He didn’t intentionally take a life. Now should he have gone to jail for it? Yes!! So I will forever be upset about that since he did not he decided to fight injustice in his own way. He still believed in the system. That it could be fixed from within. It may be naïve but it’s not pure evil. This doesn’t make him bad it makes him idealistic. There were moments where both Black and White have shown idealism.

In any fight for justice there is no one way to achieve that goal. You need everyone, those who are willing to get their hands dirty and those who work within the system. Honestly if all parties worked together you have a better chance overturning the true enemy which are those at the top and system that keeps them in power. But you can’t yell a system so we choose to focus on people. Enter the Dan hater crew.

Fast forward to his confession on the roof with Sean. In that moment he was prepared to take his own life. Twitter was WILD with people saying they didn’t trust him cause he hesitated. Angry that Yok (who was in love with him) and Gram weren't supporting Sean’s thirst for vengeance. Taking a life is not the cure some of these people on line think it is. If you don’t think Sean would have been haunted by that then I question your humanity. Plus a dead cop on the roof would not have been good for anyone. If Gram and Yok had not been tough on Sean they would not have stopped that from happening.

Now we reach Ep 13. Even in this episode Dan was loyal till he was threatened. No Dan was not a secret agent. He never intended to turn his back on them. He did exactly what he promised. He thought he found someone he could trust. Yes he was naïve and too altruistic. We can all say he should know better but when you believe in the system it’s hard to see it any other way. The moment in which he betrayed them was after he was kidnapped. The old man threatened his family and he made a choice. He believed he was saving everyone’s life. That jail was better than death. He did not want Yok to die or his parents. Even after all of that when the time came he helped them escape putting himself and his parents in danger. How is he still getting slander? What should he have done? This was not a black or white situation. It’s like the trolley question. It’s an impossible choice. To act as if he’s some big bad who was “just what you expected” is so short sighted.

Why Aren't We Talking about the OLD MAN?

People are so wrapped up in Dan’s betrayal they aren’t asking the bigger questions. Who was that old man? Clearly he has known everything that’s been going on. Dan wasn’t even necessary. Plus Todd already had plan to frame them. They were screwed no matter what. The old man is more powerful than Todd and Tawai combined. The old man in my mind represents the system. Taking down one man, two men isn’t enough. We have to focus on fully dismantling the system or those at the top will keep doing this. We are so easily distracted in pointless debates when Dan wasn’t in control. Take that energy and put it where it belongs and those controlling they system. We always go for the little guy cause he’s what we can reach but it does nothing.

What I find most interesting about this show is that everyone has similar goals Dan, the gang, Black, Todd but their ways to achieve it are drastically different. Who’s to say which is the right or wrong way? That is what makes this show so unique. It refuses to spoon feed us the answers. You have to decide. Are you the person that let’s your family die for the cause? Do you go to jail for the cause? Would you kill an old friend for the cause? Would you die for the cause? There will be a sacrifice. How do you judge the decisions of others with examining what you would be capable of. Think about it.

[robinofinashiro]

request from anon: “Hi, can I request yandere alphabet for Kyojuro Rengoku 👉👈Thank you and have a good day Queen.”

pairing: yandere! kyojuro rengoku x fem reader

request status: OPENED

A - Affection: How do they show their love and affection? How intense would it get?

rengoku does not give a singular fuck who sees him when it comes to giving you affection! you’re in the public? you’ll be holding his hand, kissing your cheek when he feels like it, and if it’s that bad, he’ll do a quickie in the bathroom. 

B - Blood: How messy are they willing to get when it comes to their darling?

very messy! he doesn’t care. if he sees someone getting too close to you, he’ll make sure to get rid of them as soon as possible. he can’t let anyone get close to you. he’ll go to the ends of the earth to make sure that you’re by his side and that no one comes in between the two of you. 

C - Cruelty: How would they treat their darling once abducted? Would they mock them?

honestly, he’ll mock the hell out of them when he feels like it’s necessary. if you’re purposely doing things to annoy him or going out of your way to piss him off, he’ll make sure to remind you that you’re never leaving him. other than that, he’ll treat you like you’re a princess! you deserve everything in the world and he’ll give it to you if he feels like you deserve it. 

D - Darling: Aside from abduction, would they do anything against their darling’s will?

despite from the sweet nature that he gives off, he will do ONE thing against your will and that’s to have kids. he needs to continue his family line and since Senjuro isn’t working to be a pillar anymore, he needs to make sure that someone continues that and it might have to be his kid. 

E - Exposed: How much of their heart do they bare to their darling? How vulnerable are they when it comes to their darling?

rengoku, when he feels like the time is right, will bare everything to his darling. come on now, you’re gonna be his wife, right? it’s only right that you know what his baggage is! he doesn’t care if you judge him or not, when it comes to this sort of thing, he kinda wears his heart on his sleeve. 

F - Fight: How would they feel if their darling fought back?

he would be kinda pissed. you’re supposed to be this perfect wife/darling and by you acting out, he doesn’t sit well with that. why can’t you be more like Sanemi’s wife? a perfect little darling that just sits there and waits for her husband like she should. punishment is a whole other ballgame that i will touch on later. 

G - Game: Is this a game to them? How much would they enjoy watching their darling try to escape?

absolutely tf not. how can this be a game to someone? rengoku is the kinda person where if he meets someone that he falls madly in love with, he’ll stick by you until one of you dies first and even then, he might commit sewerslide if you happen to be the one to go first. however, he might get a kick watching you trying to leave him bc it’s nearly impossible to leave where you’re trapped.

H - Hell: What would be their darling’s worst experience with them?

rengoku’s affection, jesus christ. that shit could get mad annoying. if he’s had a particularly bad day, just brace yourself and let it happen bc he will be one affectionate mf. it could get to the point where he’ll be affection even into the next day if it’s that bad. 

I - Ideals: What kind of future do they have in mind for/with their darling?

literally a picture perfect life. (very much the american dream in a sense). he wants kids, hell, if you want pets of some sort, he’s down to adopt a few dogs or whatever you or your kids want. he just wants everyone to see that his family is perfect and how far he’s willing to go for them. 

J - Jealousy: Do they get jealous? Do they lash out or find a way to cope?

oh absolutely. rengoku is the type of mf that if he sees someone flirting with his darling, he’s ending that shit QUICK. he cannot and will not let it happen. clearly it isn’t your fault so he’ll console you that you had no way of knowing what that scums intentions were and after he’s done with that, he’ll try to find the person to give them a lesson. 

K - Kisses: How do they act around or with their darling

he will be very clingy like i said. he wants everyone to know that his relationship is perfect but in private, double that. he’ll make sure that you know you’re loved and that he wouldn’t trade his life with you for anything in the world. 

L - Love letters: How would they go about courting or approaching their darling?

he would try the attempt to court you at first. rengoku is someone who is very charming so 8/10 times, it’ll work. however, if you’re being stubborn, that’s when the other side of rengoku comes out. but if you do decide to date him willingly, he’s the sweetest mf ever. he’ll bring you courting gives to every date, etc, etc. 

M - Mask: Are their true colors drastically different from the way they act around everyone else?

honestly, rengoku is seen as the black sheep in the sense that he’s always readily happy and enthusiastic. not much changes when he’s in the public. unless you happen to piss him off in public, seemingly the only time when he would change his personality. 

N - Naughty: How would they punish their darling?

he doesn’t try to do it often, he hates seeing you hurt. but if you happen to actually piss him off to the point where you need to be punished, anything ranging from being alone for days to sexual punishment (that i wont be going into detail for).

O - Oppression: How many rights would they take away from their darling?

not many tbh. you have free range into his entire estate. however if he has maids working around, they know it’s best for them not to talk to you. he wont let you leave his estate to speak to anyone. you have the right to anything as long as you’re not trying to leave or get into contact with someone. he’ll even let you visit your friends or family as long as he’s there. 

P - Patience: How patient are they with their darling?

eh, he’s about 50/50. he can be very patient with you or be ticked off almost immediately. more than likely tho, he’ll deal with your shit most days. the days that he doesn’t, it’s probably bc he had already probably had a bad day and you’re just making shit worse. 

Q - Quit: If their darling dies, leaves, or successfully escapes, would they ever be able to move on?

if you die, rengoku won’t move on and like i said before, he’d probably commit sleep forever. if you escape, he’ll spend the rest of his days looking for you. regardless if you escape or die, he won’t move on. you’re his and you will remain that way important person in his life. 

R - Regret: Would they ever feel guilty about abducting their darling? Would they ever let their darling go?

to a certain point, he’d feel guilty. i think the only thing eating him up is the unethical part in all of this. the fact that he’s basically abducted you and refuses to let you go. but will he ever let you go? absolutely not. you’d have to kill him before that happens. 

S - Stigma: What brought about this side of them (childhood, curiosity, etc)?

i see the only way this happening is bc of his life. his childhood wasn’t the greatest but it wasn’t exactly the worst so idk, i think more than anything it was out of curiosity and probably seeing others do it that make him snap. 

T - Tears: How do they feel about seeing their darling scream, cry, and/or isolate themselves?

if rengoku isn’t at fault for making you upset, he’s HEARTBROKEN. he doesn’t like seeing you that way and he’ll find the person that did it and make them pay for it. HOWEVER, if he was the cause of it, he almost turns into a wall and brushes it off, probably murmuring that you deserved whatever it is that made you cry. 

U -Unique: Would they do anything different from the classic yandere?

honestly no. he wouldn’t only bc he’s very much the person that finds the classics of being a yandere as the only way to do it. anything like killing your darling or along those lines are way to extreme for him and he doesn’t like it when others step out of line. 

V - Vice: What weakness can their darling exploit in order to escape?

SENJURO RENGOKU. his little brother is also his world and i think if you catch kyojuro in a situation where you can exploit senjuro, he might give in but honestly, it probably won’t hurt and it’ll be worse for you when he finally has you alone. 

W - Wit’s end: Would they ever hurt their darling?

like i said before, only if it was necessary. he wouldn’t ever intentionally hurt you if you didn’t deserve it. he doesn’t like seeing you hurt and he hates seeing you cry so only if it came to you being a brat would he then actively physically punish you. 

X - Xoanon: How much would they revere or worship their darling? To what length would they go to win their darling over?

ehhhhhh, not really. he sees this relationship as 50/50 however he did kinda worship you when he wasn’t your boyfriend/husband but he would go different lengths in order to win you over. he doesn’t really care what he has to do, he will make you his whether you like it or not. 

Y - Yearn: How long do they pine after their darling before they snap?

tbh, it doesn’t take long before he snaps. if he sees you going out with someone and he feels like you might leave him, that’ll be a point. if he sees you being too free, that might be another point. in general, less than a year before he snaps. hell, less than half a year. 

Z - Zenith: Would they ever break their darling?

mentally, YES! physically, if he needed to. but not to the point where he’s killed you. 

[belphies-cuhm-sluht]

I'm sorry if I'm bothering but I cant stop thinking about the brothers reacting to the mcs family accepting them as mcs bf before and after they find out the bro is a demon

The Brothers When MC’s Family Accepts Them As Demons (Headcanons)

These got super long, so I’m gonna put them under the cut. Thanks for the request, this was super fun to do. 

Lucifer 

The amount of stress he had going into this was ridiculous. He didn’t want to meet your family in the first place, he thought it was unnecessary and he would have much rather they not knew that he and you were dating. You insisted though, and he begrudgingly agreed to meet them when you went back up to the human world for your birthday. Everything was going fine until you slipped up and used his full name, and he was honestly… relieved. He had hated the stupid nickname you had given to him… “Luci”. It made him cringe, but nobody really named their child Lucifer, so apparently it was necessary. That one slip though, and he froze up, waiting for your parents to freak out… but they didn’t. Honestly, he wondered if your parents were even listening, but then your dad tried to make a dad joke. “So Lucifer, what was the fall like? Just joking, glad you could join us.” Confused. Kind of worried about your parents judgement, because, of course he loves you and wouldn’t want anyone to get in between the two of you… your parents are just… okay?With you dating a demon? Might need to take the second that your parents didn’t take. 

Mammon 

Not really all for meeting your family, but then again, that could be another way of getting free gifts or money. Definitely decides that he wants to meet them around Christmas, and make sure to let them know that you’re bringing your boyfriend, and that he likes gold anything or just flat out cash. He was nervous, but he wouldn’t let that show. Obviously The Great Mammon doesn’t get nervous, not around some measly humans. But these humans, these humans were important to you, and if he didn’t make a good impression, well… he could handle his brothers talking bad about him, but your family was a whole different thing. Christmas morning seemed to be going along without a hitch, the two of you had decided to just call each other by pet names so his real name wouldn’t slip… that is until his greediness started to show and he started pestering your parents about what he got. You lightly smacked his arm, whispering his name, hoping that your family didn’t hear you. “Oh, Mammon? Like the demon of greed Mammon?” Uhm… why weren’t your parents freaking out? “Don’t worry. We didn’t really know what to get you, so we just decided on money. I’m sure you won’t mind.” He’s on a whole new level of shook. Your family is so chill, he wants to come back for every holiday. 

Leviathan 

Getting him to leave his own bedroom was a job on its own. Trying to get him to agree to meet your family was a whole new level of difficult. There was no need for it, they won’t like him, he’s a loser… he gave all these excuses, and although none of them were true to you, he believed them to be true. You were on the verge of giving up and he saw that, he saw that you were upset about it, and he didn’t want to be the reason for you being upset so he finally said that he would. Only for a day trip though. His anxiety was already through the roof and he didn’t want to be stuck in a house of a bunch of people he didn’t know longer than 24 hours. That was no problem for you though as your family was having a small get together. It was a cookout and there would be a pool and everything, just a pleasant day of family fun. That’s how you sold it to him, and although he was still reluctant, he liked the idea of a pool. So now, here you were, goofing off in the pool. He was pushing you around the pool in a little donut raft, and he decided it would be funny to flip you off of it. You squealed his name when you came up from out of the water, forgetting for a second where you were, and your entire family was looking at the two of you now. “Leviathan… I know I heard that name before… isn’t that that one demon who…” “Doesn’t matter what he is, they’re both having fun. Burgers are up in five minutes, kiddos.” They’re not… shocked? Not running for the hills, having a panic attack. Nope, just burgers. He finally feels like he can really relax now, and that’s all that matters. 

Asmodeus

Pfft, worried? Not him. People love him. Your parents will too, he was sure of it. He was all for visiting your parents, actually, he was the one who brought it up. You were about to visit your mom for her birthday, and he decided that he wanted to come along too, since he’d never met your family before. He felt like you were hiding him and he didn’t like that feeling, so now he was coming to your mom's birthday and he even picked her out a gift. Obviously it was self-care set, but what else was he going to get her? It’s Asmo. Of course, your mother loves him immediately. He’s kind and he’s gentle and soft spoken, and he keeps calling her beautiful. He was a charmer, and everything was going great. The entire party went flawlessly, and you both thought that you’d get through the day without anyone finding out that your boyfriend was in fact a demon. That is, until your mother stopped the two of you for goodbye hugs, and she decided to become curious about his name. “Is Asmo your full name, or is it short for something else?” She was so inquizitive, and you bit your lip, hoping that he’d just agree that Asmo was his name, but, he had no shame. He told her that it was short for Asmodeus, and at first she looked shocked, but then she just shrugged. “Hmm, well… isn’t that something. You two get home safely, and come back soon, okay?” At first he thought that she just didn’t know who he was, but you explained to him that she knew, she just didn’t care. He kind of had a feeling it would happen that way though, so he was just as happy as he was before he came up to visit. 

Satan 

He’ll agree to visit your parents, you don’t have to bribe him, convince him, nothing. He just wants you to call him by his real name. He said he would be on his best behaviour, and that your family would have no reason to hate him unless they’re judging him strictly off of his name, but if that’s the case, then they’re shit anyway and he doesn’t want to associate with them. It was a Fathers Day party, and you were on edge the entire time. Your parents weren’t judgemental at all, but the name, his name alone would freak anyone out. He was a true gentleman, shaking your fathers hand and having regular conversations with him about different books that they’ve read. Things were great, and then dinner came along. Satan and your dad were still talking amongst themselves when he stopped in the middle of his sentence. “You know, Y/N never did tell us your name. Things have just been so busy, I’m sorry about that.” Satan didn’t hold back, he almost too proudly stated his name to your father, like he was expecting some type of freak out. It was your mom who chuckled lightly, shaking her head. “Ah, leave it to Y/N to date Satan. Well, everyone seems happy in the relationship, who am I to judge?” And with that everyone went back to eating. You were more shocked than Satan was, he just seemed really smug now, continuing his conversation with your dad. It felt like a giant weight had been lifted off your shoulders. 

Beelzebub 

Halloween, you chose Halloween. There was candy involved and he seemed excited about it. He was always so sweet and you really felt like you had nothing to worry about with him, how could anyone not like Beel? He was a big teddy bear, an absolute sweetheart. He wasn’t even nervous about meeting your family, and there was no reason for him to be. When he walked into your house everyone greeted him with open arms, warm welcomes, and soft smiles. Honestly, the only thing intimidating about him was his height, but everyone quickly got over that and it even became a sort of joke between him and your dad. “Oh, watch your head there, pal. If Y/N would have told me you were so tall I would have raised the archways a little more.” Dad jokes, and while you were embarrassed whenever your dad said anything, Beel seemed to love it. When snack trays went out, Beel devoured everything almost immediately, and it was only when he had cleared the entire table that he realized what he did, smiling sheepishly at you. Your family was clearly… concerned. Beel decided to take it upon himself to explain everything since you seemed so worried, and his plan was, if they freaked out, he’d just take you back to the Devildom to celebrate Halloween there. It was quite the opposite though, and your mom actually seemed relieved that there was a reason for him eating so much. “That makes so much sense. I was getting worried that someone wasn’t feeding you. Well, you can always come home anytime for dinner, alright?” So happy, he’s so happy. Ends up changing into his demon form for a Halloween costume which amazes everyone. He asks to visit your family at least once a week for dinner now. It’s a second home to him. 

Belphegor

Why visit your family when he can just sleep? Sleep is life. He’ll probably just zonk out at your parents house anyway, but that wasn’t the point. You wanted him to at least meet your parents once. They had asked you to come home, and you had told them before that you had a boyfriend and they really wanted to meet him too. It wasn’t particularly hard to say no to you, it’s just that he didn’t like hurting your feelings, and he felt like it was the least he could do considering he did… kill you once. He really did do his best to stay awake, not for your parents, but for you. He didn’t want you to think he was rude for falling asleep at the dinner table, which almost happened. Once everyone moved into the living room though, he couldn’t help himself. Leaning against your shoulder he slowly dozed off and your mom noticed immediately. “Just like your father, able to fall asleep anywhere and everywhere.” You heard Belphie scoff quietly, deciding that he would throw out a joke about being Belphegor, the Demon of Sloth. Of course, you knew that it wasn’t a joke, and you tensed up, waiting for your mom’s reaction to it. “Oh, well, that makes sense now. Do you need a pillow, or a blanket? A warm cup of tea?” He peaked one eye open, staring at your mom for a second before looking up at you and declining, almost too politely. He was kind of bummed out that your mom wasn’t scared of him. There was no fun in it. At least he got to nap a little longer though, and she brought him a cup of tea anyway, so he was still winning in the end. All is well that ends well.

[savemesomenachos]

Hi, this is my request, the reader * me ) is the girlfriend of sebastian stan, and she is a upcoming actress and she has her first movie role in a avengers movie ( age of ultron) as a avenger, she sits in the make up chair, and he sits next to her and he notes it and he tell her that everything is gonna be allright, and at the end the reader en sebastian going on a date night. And a lott of fluff and cuteness, thanks and if its ready you tag me right thanks

I would absolutely love to write this. Honestly, even I have lots of anxiety when I start new things so this would be great!!!💖

You can find my other works on my Main Masterlist.

Why Worry?

Pairings: Sebastian Stan × Reader

Warnings: Anxious! Reader, lots of fluff and some making out.

Word Count: 1285

Y/n’s POV:

Oh my god, this is happening. Like right now! I’m totally going to have a breakdown right now if I don’t sit down. Sebastian’s hand tightened where it was clasped around mine. I looked up to see him throwing an encouraging smile at me while I nervously chuckled.

“Sebastian, Y/n finally!” Chris Evans yelled as he walked toward us with a wide grin stretched across his face.

I knew from him before because he and Sebastian got along famously well. I smiled in relief at seeing a familiar face while he swept me in a big hug. I giggled and begged for him to put me down.

“I swear it’s like you get prettier every time I see you.” He said while smirking at the scowl on Sebastian’s face. “Don’t worry, man. I’m not going to steal your girl from you.” He said with a smirk. “Unless she wants me too of course.”

I laughed and punched his arm as Sebastian scoffed in disbelief. “Chris, we need you in wardrobe.” Someone yelled from behind us.

Chris smiled at us one last time before waving goodbye and wishing me all the best to which I forced a smile.

“Come one, bub. Let’s get you to makeup.” Sebastian said as he nudged me forward with a hand on my lower back.

As soon as we entered the trailer, the makeup artist, Toby was dragging me to my seat and started right away with my face makeup. Sebastian laughed at Toby’s admiration of my well-kept hair while his hand worked in effortless strokes across my skin and was about to leave when I grasped his hand.

He turned to look at me in the mirror and I gave him a pleading smile. ‘Stay’ my eyes said and he understood. He sat back in the chair next to me and didn’t let my hand go for even a moment. Even when my hands started to get clammy.

Toby noticed my tense demeanour and left the trailer with an reassuring smile saying he’d be back in 10. Sebastian muttered a ‘thanks’ on my behalf and as soon as Toby left he turned my chair around to face him.

“You’re going to be great.” He said as he massaged the back of my hands. “You don’t know that.” I whispered as my voice started to crack with all the nervousness building up in my head.

“Of course I do know. You’re an amazing actor and that’s why you’re here. Everyone out there knows you’re really good at your job. And if you need to stop for a bit, just say so. Everyone’s nervous on their first day. But I know you’re going to make a great addition to the Avengers and they’re going to love you because I do. Now, get your butt to wardrobe and kick some ass.” He said as he knelt in front of me.

I wanted to cry but I knew Toby would be upset about the makeup so I took a deep, shuddering breath and leaned down to kiss Sebastian. He hummed in appreciation and smiled against my lips.

I pulled away from him, smoothed my hair down, kissed him one last time and kicked some butt. Metaphorically, of course.

🌸🌸🌸🌸

 At around 6, we were all done for the day and as I exit the trailer, Sebastian grabbed me around the waist and spun me around with pride and soft crinkle in his eye as I squealed in surprise.

I blushed as he put me down and kissed the hell out of me while everyone around us whooped and some shouted ‘get some’. Sebastian laughed at everyone and wrapped his arm around my hips.

He led me out to his car and just as I was about to get in, he spun me around to face him. “Baby, you did so good. Didn’t I say that you’d be awesome.” He said as his fingers caressed my waist.

“You did bub. I’m just so glad you were there with me today. I couldn’t have done it without you.” I said as my hands draped across his shoulders.

“Of course you could’ve done it without me. You’re an amazing actor and you don’t need anyone. But I’m here if you’ll have me.” He said as he nuzzled his head the side of my face.

I whispered a bashful ‘ok’ and turned my head to catch his lips in a grateful kiss. My hands around his neck tightened their hold and pulled him further into my body and he didn’t resist. My tongue slipped out to sweep his bottom lip and as he gasped, I slipped into his mouth. Repeatedly, my tongue twined with his and I nipped his lower lip as we pulled away.

Now, it was his turn to blush and I laughed at eliciting a response from him. His hand dug into my waist and I laughed and pulled away from him.

I got into the passenger seat of the car and as we drove away, I realised we weren’t heading home anymore.

“Bub, where are we going? This isn’t the way home.” I said as I turned to look at a smiling Sebastian.

“I know babe. I thought I’d treat you to dinner to commend your first day,” he said as he slipped his hand into mine while still keeping his eyes on the road.

I smiled gratefully and said, “It’s not necessary you know. We could go home and order some takeout and that’d be fine too.”

“Of course this is necessary. My girl killed it today and I want to treat her to dinner.” He said as his grin somehow widened and a hint of pride laced his features.

I blushed and turned my gaze to the window as we arrived at the restaurant. Sebastian handed the keys to the valet and we walked into the restaurant hand-in-hand. We were made to sit at a table that was way in the back and had candles lit along with lavenders at the centre. My hand flew up to cover my mouth and I turned to look at an already smirking Sebastian. His hand slid up from my hand to my back and he nudged me to my seat.

I slid into my seat still surprised at Sebastian and his sweetness. “You surprised?” he asked as he slipped his hand into mine across the table.

“Definitely surprised bub. When did you arrange this?” I asked as I played with his fingers and sipped water.

“When you were shooting. I know today’s an important day for you and you were nervous so I thought a nice dinner might help you unwind. Plus we haven’t spent much time together recently so I wanted to do something nice” He said like it was the easiest thing in the world.

“Thank you for this. You’re right, I totally needed a night with just you to relax.” I said as I beamed at him from across the table. He smiled in return and we ordered dinner and some wine.

It felt like we had been sitting there for hours, just catching up and laughing and I realised I really missed him when he was gone. He always knew how to make me smile and even today, he helped me with my anxiety on set. This man was honest-to-god, the best.

After dinner, we walked out of the restaurant with my arm wrapped around his and as we stood there waiting for the car, I nuzzled my head in the crook of his neck while he chuckled. I knew in that moment that it was time for me to finally give him the ring that sat nestled in my sock drawer.  

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[itsclydebitches]

"I believe it was in a RWBY Rewind where they stated that silver eyes have those additional notches, a detail also seen in Maria’s flashback." - Ah, yes, another thing that’s important to the lore of RWBY that’s ISN���T EXPLAINED IN THE SHOW ITSELF. GOD DAMN IT! You know what? I’m glad. I’m glad they’re doing this, because I know to never fucking do this when I’m writing a story.

As is often the case, it's a potentially easy fix that would help other aspects of the story along the way. Namely, Ruby's lack of interest in her own super-powered ability. Give us just a single scene where she asks Ozpin about her eyes and, during that conversation, raises the concern that others like Mercury have this ability too. Cue a single line about how, no, they're gray eyes and here's the difference. The thing about writing smart, compelling characters is that they should usually be hitting on the same questions your audience is (minus what the audience knows through their omniscient perspective, or a bias/motivation that's influencing the character, etc. That's why so many fans jumped to, "Ruby never asked because she's traumatized and can't handle being different right now." The creation of these headcanons highlight how much the audience expects explanations to exist for these questionable decisions... but RT doesn't provide them). I don't blame RT for making the mistake in the first place. If I remember the RWBY Rewind correctly, they freely admitted that putting gray eyes in a silver eye story was kinda a bad call and from Volume 2 on (I believe) implemented a new design choice to help distinguish them. Those notches don't appear until later.

So it's an understandable mistake to make when writing as you go and RT definitely took one step to help smooth it over... they just left it purely as a meta explanation, not an in-universe one. Which, on its own is far from the end of the world, but decisions like this became exacerbated over the years, leading to moments like Ironwood's semblance being explained off-screen too (while getting an example of it wrong in the process...) So much of early RWBY is easy to shrug off because sure, they're figuring the show out, haven't thought out every detail yet, that's alright. But instead of working to integrate those ideas once they did know what's happening — have the group ask about silver eyes, about the gods, let Ironwood use his semblance on screen, etc. — RT went hard in the opposite direction of leaving even more outside of the narrative proper. Obviously I can't speak to their actual thought process here, but it feels like a case where they got the wrong message from that original benefit of the doubt. Rather than going "Okay, our fandom was forgiving in the early years, but now that we have a better handle on this tale we'll put in that work" they went, "Oh, everyone is okay with information not being in the main text? Cool. Stick it in a side novel, or a video game, or an interview. If someone really wants to be sure of something they can pay for a Cameo about it. That's all easier than finding ways to naturally integrate it into the main story."

Honestly, as someone getting more into Lord of the Rings atm, it's a fascinating look at the difference between a master craftsman wielding additional information and newer writers wielding it. Tolkien (generally speaking) allows his supplementary material to enrich an already solid world. I have questions while reading the Hobbit/LotR, but they're questions born of additional curiosity, not confusion. RT really struggles to determine what information would simple enrich a world and what's actually necessary for the viewer to follow along, or for the characters to not look like they're completely indifferent to what's going on around them.

[lovee-infected]

I love your characters analyses and I agree a lot with them!My favorite is Kalim and while he's an angel, the way most people go "Dumb innocent baby who is naive to the way of the the world uwu" kinda irks me haha. Yes, he's an airhead most of the time but he's much more perceptive than he looks (he knew about Jamil nature all along) and can use his head and put in hard work when he thinks it matters, aka helping and making other people happy (his dorm uniform and scary outfit story) (part 1)

PREACH ANON, PREACH!!! The truth has been spoken 👏👏👏 That was amazing and you almost said anything that I meant to say! Characters and even real people who have the same personality as Kalim are often mischaracterized/misunderstood, mostly because people don't know that kindness isn't equal to stupidity. Almost anything that was needed to be said is already here so I'd just go through some of the details to complete it:

(1) Kindness ≠ Stupidity

Honestly...this isn't just about twst, it's about real life. These days many who are just sweet, generous and caring toward others even as they know that they're being abused because of their kindness, are called naïve and stupid. Look, many times they do realize that not everyone around them are worthy of their kindness, but they'd continue to treat them nicely, because it's in they're nature to be kind nonetheless, and this purity and genuine kindness is the worthiest thing one can ever ask for.

After chapter 4, Kalim did understand that Jamil had never been the person he was thought he was, he didn't even consider Kalim his friend. Jamil is still rejecting him but Kalim doesn't care, he even thanked Jamil after the fairy gala event for dancing with him, because it reminded him of the times when they played as children. Someone like Kalim would never forget anyone's kindness towards him, no matter what happens or how things change through the time. If you think about it, we all need someone like Kalim in our life.

Accept it, no matter who we are or how different our taste in people might be, we'd still appreciate an ally like Kalim. Someone who'd care for you and your problems no matter what it is, even as he can't help he'd try his best to at least make you feel better. He accepts criticism and won't fight you even if you call him useless and dumb (Just like when Jamil blamed him in the end of chapter 4), yet he'd still try to befriend you and do his best to support you through obstacles. This will to help people whom he cares for regardless of what they think of him or how much it may trouble him is an absolute treasure, just how many people can be like Kalim?

(2) Kalim shouldn't be compared to Jamil all the time!

A really common way of mischaracterizing Kalim is by comparing him to Jamil all the time: "Jamil is quiet, Kalim is talkative" "Jamil is cold, Kalim is warm and friendly" "Jamil is talented, Kalim is not" "Jamil is thoughtful and wise, Kalim is careless and stupid"...

I agree that Kalim and Jamil are different in some ways, but it isn't okay if we're going to compare him to Kalim whenever we're talking about him! Do we mention Jade or Floyd whenever we're talking about Azul? Do we compare Vil to Rook everytime we're talking about him? See, Kalim and Jamil are two separate characters. No matter how different or close they are, it isn't okay to consider them as nothing more than opposites! Both Kalim and Jamil have independent personalities amd we we don't have to mention Jamil whenever we want to talk about Kalim! His existence isn't bound to Jamil's and he's got a lot we can talk about other than his relationship/differences with Jamil.

(3) His generosity tells us a lot

You may wonder, why is he so generous anyway? Giving up on golden peacocks and diamond stones for friends and even strangers without caring about the financial loss isn't such an easy thing to do. Well let's imagine being on Kalim's shoes for a second:

You come from an unbelievably rich family, and ever since you can remember everyone around you has been treating you like a prince because of your father's status and money. Everyone around you is supposed to respect and treat you like a royaland you can buy anything you can ever wish for, you've got no financial boundaries. But on the other hand, you know that almost everything you've got around you is because of money: fame, wealth and many of your friends.

And if you one day lose all the money you'd once got, what is going to happen to you? What should you rely on? Who will ever even care if you're alive or not if the money that held all of your power and clout is gone? Also, even as he's rich, there are still things that he couldn't ever buy with money. He did say that sometimes he just feels so alone several times, then quickly changed the topic into something interesting and bright. Maybe he does want people to know that he as well sometimes goes through the pain and loneliness, but doesn't want it to seem to dramatic therefore he'd just quickly mention it to let it off his chest, then starts to talk about something else.

That's much and less of the reason behind Kalim's personality, he wants to use his money and attitude to gain what he can't buy with money: Friends. That's right, many of his friends might already be around him just for money, right? But it doesn't matter, he's got enough of money to keep them all satisfied. And if satisfying them is all it takes to keep his friends around him, he's all fine with it. He doesn't mind hoe expensive it might be, as long as he'll get to have nice friends he cares for around him he's alright.

THis generosity with money has found his way to his personality and attitude as well. His nature gravitates him into trying his best to help people out with all he's got. Kalim on his own is one that can get to have hid problems solved easily, there's always someone there to do it for him so he never needs to worry about anything. Perhaps he wants others around him to feel the same? If he had someone to take care of him whenever he needed to, then everyone else as well deserve to be helped out through difficulties just like Kalim was.

(4) We should all try and see through him!

Lets take a look at Kalim's background: Growing up with legit LOTS of siblings, he surely didn't get the attention and family love he deserved to have. Have you ever considered why Jamil was always so important to him while he could've been this close to any of his brothers? Well, that might be because none of his family members wasn't ever even close to being that close to him. Jamil isn't his brother, but Kalim does consider him his brother and best friend, which is somehow showing that even his own family haven't done as much as Jamil has done for him. He could've been poisoned or assassinated at any second, how does it feel growing up in an environment where you know many people already want you dead? Also, have you considered just how insecure and skeptical he coul've became because of having such a fearful past? At this point, someone wit his background might not even dare talk to any of other students let alone making friends with them! Almost any of us could've had trust issues if we'd grown up in the same environment as him!

Come to think of it, you'll see that Kalim is also pretty similar to the well-known hero Naruto! Naruto used to be looked down on because of his lack of ability yet he never gave up, he had a stunning will to turn his enemies into friends, he was considering and never gave up on Sasuke no matter how many times he hurt and turned his back on Naruto, and he never gave up on his goal no matter how many times he lost.

Kalim as well still has a lot to learn to improve and become a stronger magician, and he has strated to work his best and try to improve! It might not happen as fast as we may expect, but someday, maybe he as well would be strong enough for Jamil to be considered his rival and friend.

Another interesting fact to point out is their sense of humor, both Narto and Kalim can be careless at the time and sometimes mess up, and they also have a thing for sometimes laughing at their friends' mistakes (Not in an offensive way) all though they're the one to mess up most of the time. Like the times Kalim laughed at how bad Ace and Deuce's performance was, then decided to teach them how to dance with the help of Jamil.

Just would've been improved much faster if his goal was to be a great magician, but the main difference between Kalim and Naruto are thirs goals. Becoming a great ninja was Naruto's biggest goal, while Kalim's greatest goal is to be a good and supportive friend for everyone around him. Keep something in mind about Scarabia: It's true that Jamil, the vice dorm leader is in charge of most of the tasks and managements; but Kalim's presence is just as necessary for the students! Students need someone understand them, listen to their messenge and care to solve their problems like a friend! With Kalim's sympathy and Jamil's management, Scarabia students would have the chance to improve their best for the sake of their dorm and their very own future. (Though there needs to be some changes, Kalim should be a little more serious in general and Jamil needs to be more considering, but if Kalim and Jamil learn to work as a team Scarabia would stand higher than many of other dorms!)

For real, this is a school of villains and Kalim is much of a great exception to be in this school. He's legit the nicest character in the game and even MC had plenty of great memories with him back in the Chapter 4. This precious boy doesn't deserve to be called stupid or naïve while all he's been doing so far was to bring everyone including us the players a wonderful time and sweet memories...we need to understand him much better💔

[teddy06writes]

Gonna Fix It

requested by this anon: “hi!! could you maybe do something angsty and fluffy with Fundy (or anyone really) where the reader is a trans guy? he/him”  

Fundy x transmale!reader

trigger warnings: transphobes, homophobes, some swearing (I used the words tranny and fag) {I am both gay and technically trans please don’t come for me}

premise: When your dead name is leaked, along with photos of you pre transition the entire internet is quick to judge hypercritically, but your boyfriend is quick to take care of it

(y/n/n)- your nickname

(f/l/y/n)- first letter of your name

(y/d/n)- your deadname

“blep” talking

‘blep’ texting/messaging

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

“(y/n/n)!”

“Yes Tommy?” You asked.

“How’d you feel about selling drugs?” 

You snorted, glancing up at your face cam and the messages in chat before turning your character to face Tommy’s, laughing, “What?” 

“Do you want to sell drugs with me and Wilbur?” He repeated. 

You blinked, moving your character to look at the van and then back at him, “Tommy, I would love to sell drugs out of a van with you.” 

“Yes! We have secured another one lets go! Pogchamp!” 

You chuckled as Wilbur joined vc, following Tommy’s character over to the van as he announced, “Gentleman! We have a problem, we need to find a better cover for our operations.” 

You looked around the inside of the van, filled with brewing stands and furnaces, “A hot dog van.” 

“Pfff- a hot dog van?” Tommy laughed. 

“It would be a decent cover.” Wilbur admitted, “We should do it.” 

Almost reluctantly Tommy nodded, and Wilbur moved on, “Next on the order of business, we need new recruits beside just (y/n).” 

You grinned, “I know just who to ask!” 

You started to leave vc when Tommy warned, “No Americans and no women.” 

“You got it.” 

You left vc, talking to your twitch chat as you messed around in discord, “Weird lot, them boys. Anyway- apparently I’m a drug dealer in Minecraft now! And I’m gonna recruit someone else!” 

After a few messages through discord your boyfriend called you, “Hello?” 

Upon hearing Floris’ voice chat started spamming about you being a simp.

“Yeah so Tommy and Wilbur kinda roped me into selling drugs on the smp and they told me to get more people, so I’m calling you.” You explained. 

“Angel why didn’t you just come ask me? Was the call necessary?” 

You rolled your eyes, “Shut up chat I’m not blushing! It was easier than getting up. Are you in or not?” 

“Yeah sure.” 

~~

Child: ‘(y/n) big man’

Child: ‘big (f/l/y/n)’ 

(y/n): ‘what do you want Tommy’

Child: ‘get on the server we’re making plans for our country’ 

You sighed, quickly moving to boot up Minecraft, starting stream along with it and quickly giving an intro before logging on to the smp and joining vc. 

“Ayyy! Big man!” Tommy yelled. 

“Tommy!” You responded, though significantly less enthusiastically. 

“(y/n) come to the hto dog van we’re making important decisions.” Wilbur said. 

“Okay.” You headed down the prime path toward the van, listening to the others chatter. 

“Okay so we need a name for our country,” Wilbur said as you arrived, “Something that fits. I am open to suggestions.” 

“Pog something.” Tommy offered.

“ehhhhh.” 

“Pogtopia!” He exclaimed. 

You punched his character, “That’s so stupid.” 

“Well- hmm, we’re all men here soooooooo Manburg!” WIlbur mused. 

“It needs to be more European.” Eret said, tossing you some of the block to start helping with the walls. 

“L���manburg.” You offered. 

Wilbur and Tommy burst out laughing, “Perfect!” 

“No Americans and no women! Just the way I like it!” Tommy yelled. 

Everyone began to laugh at that, and you grinned, entirely unaware of the chaos beginning to unfold all over twitter, and even in your twitch chat.

~~ Later that night you ended up flopped across the couch, Floris sending you a text from his office, ‘Don’t forget to take off the tibby prison angel’ ‘I’ll be done with this soon and we can cuddle’ 

You chuckled, dragging yourself up off the couch and shuffling off to the bathroom to change out of your binder, and pull on a different hoodie, a bigger one that you had stolen from Floris.

By the time you were done and had come back out into the living room Floris had also emerged from his office, and was staring in horror at his phone. 

“What’s wrong?” You asked. 

“You haven’t been on Twitter lately have you?” 

Immediately you were going for your phone, taking it off silence to be bombarded by notifications, “uhhhh.” 

Floris bit his lip, “I think you should read it for yourself.” 

Quietly you opened twitter, checking first the hashtag that appeared at the top of your mentions ‘#y/nisalie’ 

Your breath hitched as you opened the hashtag, immediately seeing the original tweet, ‘#y/nisalie y/n has been lying to all of us a thread: apparently this tranny didn’t have the guts to put out that “he” was lying’ 

You scrolled through the tweets, ‘Man, I can’t believe (y/d/n) thought (y/n) was a good fake name’, ‘well at least we know Fundy isn’t actually a fag’ and then worst of all, ‘Guys I found what (y/d/n) actually looks like!’ followed by a picture of you, pre transition. 

The world felt like it was caving in as you slowly sank down against the wall, tears starting to flow, “How did this happen?” 

Floris was quick to sit down next to your, pulling you into his arms, “I dunno angel.” 

You turned, sobbing into his shoulder, “Why are they like this? Wha- what am I gonna do?” 

“I’m gonna fix this,” He murmured, “I promise.” 

You curled further into his embrace, tears soaking his shirt as he rubbed circles into your back.

“It’s gonna be okay angel, it’s gonna be okay.” 

~~ You avoided the internet at all costs for the next few days, not streaming, not being active on twitter or any other socials, hardly ever leaving Floris’ embrace for more than a few minutes as more and more notifications filled your phone. 

It took a lot of coaxing from your boyfriend to check your twitter notifications after two days, and when you did you were delighted to see dozens of positive messages from real fans, and messages addressing the situation from all of your friends.

Eret: ‘dudes (y/n) is litterally trans, is you can’t deal with that then get out of this community; it’s seriously not okay to disrespect someone like that.’

Wilbur: ‘guys remember when I said trans rights and trans rights until I’m dead? Well that applies to (y/n) as well so piss off and stop bothering them’

Tommy: ‘listen up, serious tweet for once: you guys really need to learn how to recover someone and there pronouns, stop calling big man (y/n) by his dead name or get off the platform’

Along with countless others, and of course one from Floris as well, who had made a thread as soon as he saw what was going on:

‘Guys, listen. My boyfriend is the most wonderful human being in all the world. Whoever leaked his dead name or went looking for pictures of him before his transition is honestly a monster and I hope you realize the weight of your actions. Apparently we as a community have a few things to go over,

1: respect creators boundaries, if (y/n) didn’t want to tell you he wasn’t born male it’s not your business, 2: respect people’s pronouns, if someone tells you to use he/him they probably know if there right or not, 3: you can’t fucking invalidate someone like that, and put them on display as a fucking hashtag.

4: if anyone ever tries to talk about my boyfriend like this, (using the wrong pronouns, misgendering, using his dead name or in any other way invalidateing him) I will personally make sure you are never allowed on social media again’

You looked up from your phone, “Y- you got them to stop?”

Floris smiled, “I told you I was gonna fix it.”

[carnationcreation]

Hey there, I love you and your work so so much!!

I was wondering if you could write a Mighty Ducks imagine, about your favorite duck-i just low key wanna know who your favorite is- that is set in the second movie where the reader is new to the team and it kinda starts off as them not liking each other to them kissing? If you need any more ideas I’d be happy to help!!

 TITLE: Pride (Adam Banks x reader)

✌🏻Masterlist Taglist, Requests, and Works in progress!

Request: Hey there, I love you and your work so so much!!I was wondering if you could write a Mighty Ducks imagine, about your favorite duck-i just low key wanna know who your favorite is- that is set in the second movie where the reader is new to the team and it kinda starts off as them not liking each other to them kissing? If you need any more ideas I’d be happy to help!!

Prompt/summary:  Adam finally has to admit to his pride after he’s injured.

Word Count: 1,298

Authors note: Set in D2! Also I had such a hard time picking cause I love Charlie, Adam, and Luis but I decided to go with my first boy crush from the films! For the vibes listen to Take Yours by Matthew Mole it’s so cute!

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

My laces were tied so tight I could feel the pressure right on top of my foot as I charged Julie in the goal, she barely caught the puck from my slapshot to the top right corner.

“Ugh, almost had it,” I groaned.

“Maybe one day (Y/l/n),” Julie said. I couldn’t see her face because of the goalie mask but I’m sure she had a shit-eating grin on.

I never thought I would make it here, representing my state for the US youth hockey team for the Junior Olympics. The day I got the call I almost passed out from the excitement and anxiety, and today I almost puked getting out of bed as I thought about how I needed to be on my best game if I wanted to make a good impression on the team I would be joining. 

I saw the whole team walk in, the green jersey was almost a threat. Something I could join but never truly be a part of. I felt that anxiety build up again when I saw they were watching me as I skated down the ice.

Tibbles began to introduce each of us giving us a chance to show off our best skill.

Julie went first, her speed and accuracy in goal made her a vital member to the team. If we were going to stand a chance against Iceland then we needed her.

“And that’s (Y/n) (Y/l/n), everyone calls her Sharpshooter though.”

“Why’s that?” Bombay asked.

“Just watch,” Tibbles nodded, “She’s the only person that’s been able to score on Gaffney.”

My heart raced as I skated quickly up to the goal, aiming on Julie’s stick side, right in the corner I knew she was weakest on.

“Cheap shot (Y/l/n)!” she yelled causing me to laugh as I threw my arms up in victory.

Tibbles waved me over.

“So what makes you so important?” Bombay asked me, “We have about 3 sharpshooters on my team. Why do we need you?”

I stood there in shock, not able to respond as I racked my brain for an answer, “I- well have any of your boys managed to score on Gaffney yet?”

“No, but they will be able to.”

“After how long? I’ve known Gaffney for maybe 30 minutes and I’m already scoring. From what I can tell your boys rely mostly on strength, put anyone up against me and I can show you how accurate I am.”

Bombay smirked, “I like this kid.”

I couldn’t help but smile as Tibbles let me skate back over to Gaffney.

“Look at the boys,” she smirked.

I gave her a confused look.

“Attractive, presumably single hockey players? Might be able to get ourselves a date.”

“Oh shut up,” I shoved her shoulder, “We should be thinking about Hockey, not getting some stupid guys to go out with us. Besides, dating a teammate would just be... weird.”

Julie rolled her eyes, “Oh whatever.”

I laughed and gave the team one final look. My eyes fell on two boys standing near the edge of the group, I assumed one, if not both, was the captain.

“Who’re those boys? Near the edge?”

Julie smirked, “Conway and Banks. The two star players.”

“Oh.”

“Who do you think is cuter?” 

I swallowed hard, “Honestly hard to tell. They both give off different vibes.”

“I thought you said dating a teammate would be ‘weird’“ Julie laughed.

“Listen,” I smiled, “I can look at the menu, I just won’t order.”

Julie let out a cackle and skated away.

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

The tension between the groups finally bubbled over and I was swept in by someone insulting Julie.

“She’s a lot better than you bus boy!” I yelled in the other goalies face.

“I’d block any of your shots any day (Y/l/n)!” he said.

“Wanna test that theory?” I said, apparently I had this fiery look in my eyes cause when Julie pulled me back I saw how terrified the goalie looked causing me to laugh.

Banks skated over, “You really think you’re hot shit huh?”

“Oh please,” I scoffed, “I know I’m hot shit. How many state titles have you one pretty boy?”

I mentally slapped myself. Pretty boy? Really? Best you could come up with?

Adam smirked, “I’d take you on anytime princess.”

“Bring it on.”

Eventually Bombay broke us all apart.

“Now we didn’t come here to fight! We came to play Hockey. We’re team USA. You represent your country!”

Julie and I giggled at the looks on the players faces. 

Adam turned to me, “SHH!”

I rolled my eyes in return.

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

After the first practice we all seemed to get along better. The girls all went out shopping together on the weekends leading to us getting close quick. Adam and I had a competition going of who could make the best trick shot, which Julie kept saying was ‘tension’. 

We finally made it to our game against Germany. The summer had seemed to go by in an instant and I knew after the championship I would have to be bussed right back home to Boringtown USA. 

I walked into the locker room after workouts, I stayed afterwards to work on my shot more. I turned the corner and saw Adam wrapping his wrist up, he winced.

“Adam?”

He jumped and looked up, “It’s not- (Y/n) don’t you dare tell coach.”

“What’d you do?”

Adam sighed, “In the last game, the dude that hooked my wrist with his stick. It’s just a little sore I promise-”

“Adam,” I said gently grabbing hist wrist to examine it, “You might’ve sprained it. If you keep playing on it it could get worse, you might not be able to play anymore.”

“It’s fine. I’ll get it checked out after the seasons over with.”

“That’s self destructive. You can’t set aside your pride for a minute just to get it looked at?” I knew to get him to see how ridiculous he was being I’d have to rile him up a little.

He scoffed, “I’m prideful? Have you even looked at yourself sharpshooter? You think you’re better than everyone and-”

“Adam this isn’t about me, or even you. It’s about the team. And if you have to get benched for longer than necessary just because you ignored an injury than that’s gonna be the whole teams problem.”

Adam sighed, “Fine. But I better not hear a word from you about it.”

“And on the topic of me being better than everyone, I’ve never thought that. I just didn’t feel like I fit in.”

“What are you talking about?” he said, “You fit in fine. You’re just constantly pushing yourself to where everyone feels like you’re full of it. A lot of people are jealous.”

“Jealous?” I cocked my head to the side.

“Yeah.”

I looked at him confused, “Of what?”

“Just- you’re constantly finding things to improve. You’re just the person who doesn’t realize just how good you are sometimes. To the point where it’s almost annoying. Yeah it’s like you think you’re better but at the same time you’re never the best. And it’s infuriating when all I can think about in practice is impressing you-”

“Impressing me?” I smile.

“I- uh. Yes. Impressing you.”

“Adam,” I chuckle, “Everyone on this team thinks you’re amazing. Myself included.”

“Amazing?”

“Yeah,” I chuckle. 

He stands up and walks over to stand in front of me, I look up into those bright blue eyes I could never seem to avoid. I gently grab his wrist, “Let’s go get this checked out by the trainer okay?”

“Okay,” he says as I started to lead him down the hallway, “And (Y/n)?”

I turned back to him.

He quickly leaned forward to press a quick kiss on my lips, “I think you’re pretty amazing too.”

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

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[nobodyfamousposts]

Missing - Part 4.1

Remember the something bad coming I mentioned before?

This is that.

Fencing practice the next day had been a bit more intense. Fortunately, Kagami had been a perfect opponent to go all out with. She seemed to notice his emotional state and reacted in kind. Which he appreciated, certainly. Adrien had needed to work off the stress and anxiety from the previous incident with Lila.

It hadn’t helped that Plagg had also been unusually agitated that morning. He wouldn’t say what was going on, but he had told Adrien that they needed to see Master Fu immediately.

Plagg...had never gotten like that. Adrien didn’t understand what was going on, but whatever it was, it seemed quite serious. So he had bit back any complaint about the early morning or his schedule and attempted to reach Master Fu by phone. Unfortunately, it had gone to voicemail after several rings, and they couldn’t be sure if it was that Fu had been asleep or otherwise occupied. While Adrien had offered to find time to go to Fu’s place that day once there was a break in his schedule, Plagg insisted that whatever was going on couldn’t wait, and had decided to go to the man’s home himself.

Adrien wasn’t about to refuse Plagg if he felt it was truly necessary to go, but he felt anxious without his kwami and he still wasn’t back yet. He only hoped that there wouldn’t be another akuma attack before he returned.

He hoped everything was okay…

But at least Kagami was there. Both to challenge him physically and to support him when he explained what happened afterwards.

“So you came clean to them?“ Kagami asked, seated on a bench in the locker room as she listened to Adrien talk about what had happened.

He nodded, coming back to the present and admittedly still somewhat shaken from the entire ordeal the day before. “They deserved to know.“

“And how did they take it?“ While he certainly warranted some reprimand for the poor decision he had made on the matter, he did not deserve to be ostracized or blamed for the mess. Lila’s actions were her own, and while each of them held responsibility for their part in falling for her manipulations and the weakness that allowed her to get as far as she did, ultimately Lila was the only one to blame for her actions. With everything so recent and still so raw, the last thing they needed to have happen was for someone else to be made a scapegoat, which was still a possibility now that Lila was no longer present to take the brunt of their anger. Kagami knew the class was made of generally kind souls, but people could do regretful things in anger.

She for one was not inclined to sit by and allow him to be made into the villain for a situation he was not fully responsible for, and her tightening grip on her foil was indicative of that.

“They weren’t happy with me. They still aren’t. And I don’t blame them, really.“ He admitted. He had been kicking himself ever since his initial talk with Nino for...a lot of reasons, really. Having friends really helped with getting insight and other perspectives. And helped him notice things he hadn’t before.

“But what it comes down to is that even if we knew or suspected that Lila wasn’t being honest, none of us truly realized the depths of just how manipulative she could be.” Not until it was all laid out for them at any rate.

“Even when she snuck into your house and sent out that picture?“ Kagami asked, keeping her voice level.

He winced at the memory of the cause of her akumatization. But still...

“That was rotten of her, and I warned her afterwards.” He took a breath, realizing that his school friends hadn’t been the only ones hurt because of this. This just served as another reminder of his failure to act. “I should have done more then. I’m sorry, Kagami.”

She frowned, not necessarily pleased, but not angry either. “What was the reasoning then?” She asked. Because even if she didn’t agree with it, she knew he at least had some view that led to the choice he made.

He winced. “Honestly, that was the sort of thing I would see of a more extreme fangirl. But lying to police to try and keep someone from getting help is a whole new level of low. And one I thought she actually would not stoop to.” He frowned, looking up at Kagami. “Does that make me foolish?”

“Yes.” She replied bluntly. “You at least knew that she was capable of underhanded things. And when you know a tiger’s stripes, you should know what to expect.”

He winced and looked away, guiltily. “I know. Or—I didn’t? I just...”

She decided to take pity on him.

“That said,” She added, drawing his attention back to her. “While you may know a tiger’s stripes, that does not necessarily mean you would be able to see them in the wild.”

He smiled bitterly. “Are you trying to make me feel better?”

“Yes.” She admitted bluntly. “But that doesn’t make me wrong.”

He sighed. “I still should have done something then. I knew she was capable of bad things. There was no excuse for not warning anyone at least.” He gave a sad laugh. “I can’t even imagine how Marinette must have felt when I told her to leave things alone.”

Adrien hesitated, coming to a realization.

“I think I’ve been doing that a lot...” He admitted. “I did the same thing to her when it came to Chloe when she was being her worst.”

“I cannot speak regarding Chloe.” Kagami stated, and she couldn’t given her limited interaction with the bratty daughter of the mayor. Anything she had to say about the girl would likely be far from helpful and only get them off track. “But if I may ask...why keep putting it on Marinette then when you knew she wasn’t in the wrong?“

He shrugged, despondent and uncertain.

“I just felt safer with her.” He answered.

He was used to being friends with Chloe. Where he had been expected to give her what she wants. Whether it was completing whatever task she demanded of him or tell her what she wanted to hear.

Telling her what she wanted to hear...even if it wasn’t true.

But Marinette...

“I knew Marinette would listen to me. And she’s been good with reaching out and giving chances.”

When two parties were arguing, one of them needed to be willing to offer an olive branch if they were to reconcile and make things better. But so far, Marinette was the only one he could see in that role. The only one capable of it, to be honest.

Heaven knew how often she intervened for their classmates. She’d stood up for them, but she had also been willing to put her own feelings aside to come to a compromise. After all, she had helped Chloe more than once. Even in spite of everything Chloe had done.

“My thoughts were that if I could get Marinette to listen and agree, others would follow suit. And there could be compromise. But that was an unfair burden to keep putting on her and I ignored that there were times she shouldn’t have had to be the one to reach out first. And when Lila came along…”

He shrugged, helplessly.

“In a weird way, I thought I was supporting her by encouraging her to not fight back.”

That turned out to be a mistake. One that had hurt everyone.

It was never that she didn’t matter as much as anyone else, or that she was less important than keeping the peace. It was just that out of everyone, she was the only one who would take that first step and he knew that. He knew it wasn’t fair to keep putting such responsibility on her. But there was no one else he could count on to help or mediate things. And he just didn’t want the class to fall apart.

He kept telling himself he would make it up to her and that he would support her when she needed it, but he wasn’t the most observant of people and Marinette always seemed so strong, like she’d never needed his help.

“I wasn’t being fair to her.“

The fact that he knew Marinette could handle things did not necessarily mean that she should be expected to be the one to have to, or that he should expect her to.

Kagami hummed to her self, thinking for a moment.

“Did you consider that the longer Lila Rossi was allowed to continue on, the more hurt other people would be once her lies were revealed?“

He winced.

“Or did you think they would be revealed at all?“

He sighed and slowly nodded. “At the start, her lies seemed frivolous and only meant to make herself look better. I had figured that either she would get comfortable and stop, or that people would lose interest in listening to her.”

She nodded, considering. “It was a reasonable assumption, albeit an erroneous one.“

He looked away and nodded. “It was a mistake on my part for assuming that much. I wanted to believe that people can get better and learn from their mistakes. And I keep wanting to give second chances, even in situations where I really shouldn’t.”

He knew now that Lila went beyond that.

“Why I let it happen was a combination of a lot of reasons really. I thought she would quit on her own. I thought people would get tired of listening to her. I thought that she would come clean herself. I thought, if nothing else, people would catch on to her lies. I had so many reasons behind my decision, but at the end of the day, it was the choice I made and I will never know what would’ve happened if I had simply told someone sooner. Maybe this could’ve been avoided.”

“But there’s no point lingering on the possibilities of different decisions now that the moment for them has passed.“ She pointed out.

He gave her a slight smile at that. “Yeah. While we all feel bad about it, wallowing in that isn’t going to change anything at this point. We’ve decided to keep our focus on trying to find Marinette. And if nothing else, the reveal of Lila will ensure she can’t sabotage our efforts anymore.”

“Has there been any luck?“

“Alya said she found something. Nino and I are going to talk to her tonight to go over what she’s learned. Maybe she found something that could help?“

“How are things with them?” She asked.

“They’re doing all right. Better than they were with Lila around. The others were really forgiving.” More than he honestly felt he deserved.

Kagami seemed satisfied with that. “They are good friends. If you try to talk to them, they will listen.”

He frowned, a bit frustrated but it seemed to be mostly with himself. “I know.”

She rested a hand on his shoulder. “If there’s something wrong, or if something is troubling you, then you should be free tocommunicate it. If nothing else, it can allow you to get a second opinion on a Point of concern. And in many cases you can share information that other people may not know.“

He smiled at her gratefully.

She smiled back.

“One of the common mistakes in fencing is to hesitate and miss an opportunity to act. Once the moment is over, it’s too late. But if nothing else, you at least have the knowledge for next time.”

“I know.” He agreed. “It’s why I want to help find Marinette. I want to be able to apologize to her in person…and reassure her that things will be better now.”

He clenched his fists.

“She deserves that much, at least.”

Because she was…

To him she was…

Kagami nodded in understanding.

“Marinette is a good friend.” She stated. “If there is any way I could help, I would like to try.”

He smiled.

“Thank you, Kagami.”

______________________

Another day came with another search party. The available classmates gathered in another attempt to try to locate their missing friend. Unfortunately, life goes on even when it feels like the world should stop turning. As such, not all of them were able to make it this day.

Adrien had fencing, and with his hectic schedule and strict expectations, he couldn’t afford to keep missing appointments or he’d lose any freedom to help in the search. Max was busy with a project and was thus unable to join the group on what was steadily becoming a new after school activity of searching the city for any clues. Nathaniel needed to do chores and help his dad at home. Mylene wasn’t feeling well and nobody wanted to risk her coming down with a cold or other illness. Kim had swim practice followed by a date, and it didn’t feel fair to make him give up something positive that made him happy on a search that would likely leave them all feeling drained and depressed.

Chloe was...well, Chloe. And while she had been surprisingly willing to step up and pull a major victory against Lila when it mattered, that one good deed didn’t necessarily mean she wasn’t still her usual self absorbed self. And it certainly didn’t mean that she was willing to traverse around Paris in the cold for who knows how long on behalf of someone she has expressed nothing but dislike for. She made it clear she would be spending her afternoon in warmth and comfort.

Sabrina, naturally, went with her. Though she had wished the group luck with their search.

This left Alya and Nino, along with the members of Kitty Section for the search. To Alya’s surprise, this meant they were joined by Luka as well.

“Luka? You helping out as well?” Nino greeted.

Luka hefted his guitar on his back and nodded. “ I heard you were looking and I wanted to help out anyway I could.”

In normal circumstances, Alya would be gleeful at the show of concern by a cute guy for her friend and the sign of at least one of her ships moving forward. But as sweet as the gesture was, it was really just a reminder of the fact that her friend was still missing, so whatever joy she felt was short-lived.

She shivered.

Chloe did have a point though. As it was getting later into the year, the days were getting colder. It only made her all the more concerned that her friend could be out on the streets in winter.

It was all the more reason to find her sooner. And she straightened, bringing out her phone and planning to do just that.

Alya had spent most of the night and well into the early hours of the morning going through the data Max gave her regarding Marinette’s phone.

What she found was....strange.

The phone itself was gone. Possibly turned off. However, the signal was still there. It was blurry. Seemingly fading in and out, inconsistent, and frequently moving. But it was there.

The data showed the status of Marinette’s phone and its location over the past weeks. Which was…weird, to say the least. The signal was abnormally weak. And didn’t seem to stick to one set location which she would have expected if the phone had been lost. No, if anything, it seemed to be...almost roaming?

Which didn’t make sense. If she was kidnapped, the kidnappers surely would have tossed the phone. And if it had just been left somewhere while being left on, it still should have run out of battery by now.

Instead, it just...sort of kept cutting in and out at random. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to it.

But what had caught Alya’s attention was just when and where this strange status first started, which she had decided would be the location of their search for the day.

The others followed her, letting her lead the way while they chatted amicably with one another. Alya only half paid attention to what they were saying, her focus primarily on her phone and the map it was showing.

“It’s getting colder out, huh?”

“Anyone want to grab a hot chocolate after this? Maybe just as a pick me up after the search?”

“That sounds nice! What do you think, Juleka?”

“I’m in.”

“Hey Luka, is it really a good idea to bring your guitar out here for this?“

“It helps me think. And besides, you never know when it might be needed.“

“I guess.”

Alya, for her part, only half minded the conversation behind her as she led the group to the last known location of Marinette’s phone before it started doing...this. This strange fuzzy image that didn’t seem to be all there.

Unfortunately, the map icon was only able to narrow down the location so much. She was able to find the general area Marinette had been in last, but the specific place...

She looked around.

Strangely, the map led her to a somewhat out of the way area. It was a normal street. Shops of various kinds were lined up along the sidewalk. There wasn’t much that stood out. This was a simple district with no real landmarks. There was no real draw. No tourist attractions. No fabric stores either to garner Marinette’s interest.

So why come here? What had she been doing? And where did she go?

“Does anything stick out to you guys?” Alya asked as she glanced around, trying to find anything that could indicate where Marinette had been.

The others started looking around as well, but for all intents and purposes, it was just a plain street. The split up amongst themselves to go into the shops and ask around for clues. But none of the stores seemed like places where Marinette would go. And none of the workers inside had seen her. Though if they had, there was no way for her to have stood out to them enough for them to recall her weeks later.

“Not with the akuma attack, anyway.” One clerk stated. “It was a distance away, sure, but still close enough that we all shut down and hid out in our stores.”

Alya had nodded in understanding. Because honestly, while Ladybug and Chat Noir did a great job stopping the akumas, the fights could take them all over Paris in the span of an hour. Even if a battle was on the other side of the city, there was no telling where they would end up by the end.

She thanked the man for his time and left the store. Nothing she didn’t already know, but still, any information was useful. Something about it had nagged at her, though, so she wrote it in her notes all the same.

“Any luck?” Ivan asked, causing her to look up at the assembled group. Nino had been chatting with Ivan while Luka had taken to strumming on his guitar while they waited. Rose and Juleka were talking to someone at a nearby kiosk, possibly to purchase one of the charms.

Alya shook her head, regretfully. “Nothing on my end. At least not anything new. How about you?”

The boys shook their heads sadly. Alya couldn’t help the disappointment at that.

“Do you think there’s something we missed?” Ivan asked, trying to be hopeful.

Luka frowned, playing a few notes on his guitar, a bit harshly in apparent agitation. It was probably his method of coping, Alya rationalized. A part of her wished she had some reassurance to give him, but she was feeling despondent herself. Whatever boost she had gotten from seeing justice served with Lila was starting to falter, and she didn’t know how much hope she’d be able to hold on to for her best friend.

“Hey guys!” Rose came running over, looking excited. Juleka followed along silently behind her at a somewhat slower but still faster than usual pace. “That guy selling charms said he saw Marinette that day!”

That got their attention as everyone perked up.

“Really?”

“Where?”

“It was right before the akuma attack.” Rose explained, practically bouncing as she told them. “She was looking at the charms at his kiosk and mumbling about different designs for them, so they had gotten to talking a bit.” She frowned, looking concerned. “But then they heard the akuma alert. The owner was shutting down his kiosk but pointed out the direction he saw Marinette run.”

Juleka reached out, pointing towards a gap between two particular stores. “In there.”

Alya turned to look. The stores in question were both the tallest buildings on the street, standing at four stories with a clear alleyway between them. They didn’t have much in the way of decorations, but with the awnings and balconies, did appear to provide cover. Maybe Marinette had hid in there during the fight?

The alleyway itself was empty. Other than a fire escape on one side, a dumpster, and a fence blocking the way through, there didn’t seem to be much else of notice. And the dumpster had to have been cleaned out in the weeks since Marinette’s disappearance.

Nino heaved a sigh of relief when Alya told him this before he could attempt to dumpster dive for clues. He wanted to find Marinette, sure. And he certainly would have been willing to loot a dumpster for her, but that didn’t mean he wanted to.

The group spread out along the alley, continuing to search for clues. While not searching within the dumpster itself, Nino and Ivan had gone so far as to lift the dumpster enough for Rose to do a quick search beneath for anything. Juleka checked the fence for any holes or ways through. Luka stood near the entrance to the alley as a lookout in case anyone noticed them, absently picking at notes on his guitar.

Alya, for her part, tried to check the fire escape. Was it reachable from the ground? No, it was at least a story up and the ladder leading to it wasn’t lowered if it was even there at all. Maybe if Marinette had stood on the dumpster? Hmm...what if there was a way to check for height on her map?

She pulled out her phone

And immediately froze.

There, on her phone’s map, was a blinking, fuzzy icon. The one that had been indicating Marinette. At some point without realizing it, she had switched from the image of Marinette’s last placement to the current. She saw her own indicator with her picture, as well as those of her other friends with her.

But amidst her searching, the icon symbolizing Marinette’s current location on her map had been moving.

It was moving here.

And suddenly...

It had stopped.

It...was here.

Marinette...it said she was here.

Alya froze.

She couldn’t breathe.

She couldn’t even move her body from her spot. At most, she was able to move her eyes, searching wildly for any trace of her best friend.

But...nothing.

Why was it saying she was here?

“Marinette?!”

All other sound ceased. The others turned to her, but she didn’t even notice because it was here! The signal was right here! Marinette was here!

But…she wasn’t.

It was just herself. Just Alya. Just Nino. Just Luka and Rose and the rest of Kitty Section. Just them. Just random people passing by on the street.

No Marinette.

But…

A quick glance to the phone showed it was still there. So Marinette had to be here, right?

But why?

Alya looked around frantically, calling out in desperation.

“MARINETTE?!”

Silence.

A few strange looks from the people nearby.

Not even her friends dared to speak.

And on her phone, the icon symbolizing Marinette’s signal started to fade and drift away.

Alya stared at the icon. Wishing it back.

“Babe…” Nino tried, approaching her cautiously. “What was that?”

She bit her lip.

“I…don’t know?”

______________________

Oh.

The music stopped.

Whatever strands of melody and lingering echoes of the tune had since faded from the rooftop where she stood.

It had been a beautiful melody. Something gentle and kind in its own way. And while she knew better than to take a break, she had a strange inclination to listen to the sweet yet heartbreaking tune while it lasted.

…it just hadn’t lasted very long.

The loss felt…sad, in a way. She couldn’t help but feel that it had been cut off all too soon.

And the silence bothered her.

It seemed…stifling, almost.

She shook it off.

It was time to go anyway. She had spent too much time here as it was. And she still needed to…do whatever it was she was here to do. Continue searching the city. Keep an eye out for any akumas. Be useful. Stay busy.

Until she could go back to wherever she had been before, at least.

She sighed and threw her yo-yo. As she approached the edge of the building, she allowed the low murmur of background noise and city life to erase that gnawing emptiness. She swung off, leaving the sounds of shouting behind her. Whatever it was, it didn’t sound important.

Back to work.

______________________

Evening came all too slowly for Adrien. The rest of the day seemed to drag on and made him all that much more eager for the end of school. And wasn’t that an irony that he actually wanted to be out of school for once?

But the only thing he was more eager about than school was his friends. And Alya seemed to think she had a lead on Marinette. If she had anything, he wanted to know. If there was even a chance, he’d happily take it if it meant getting to see her again.

Unfortunately, their differing schedules made meeting difficult. Alya had wanted to share her info with Nino, and knowing how affected Adrien was by everything, Nino had insisted Adrien be there as well. But Adrien had practice and lessons after school. And Nino and Alya both had obligations at their respective homes.

It had been decided that they would do a phone chat later in the evening. After Nino and Alya’s younger siblings were put to bed and when Adrien’s schedule was clear.

He was practically vibrating out of his chair with nervousness the longer he waited for their video chat.

“Boo!”

So much so that he actually fell out of his chair when Plagg returned.

“Plagg! Where have you been?!” Adrien demanded as he pushed himself up. He was of course happy that he had returned, but really!

The kwami snickered at Adrien’s expression. Could anyone blame him? That was hilarious.

...but back on point, Plagg remembered his news and quickly got serious.

“I couldn’t find the Guardian.”

Adrien’s eyes widened. “Did something happen to him?”

Plagg shrugged. “I don’t know. He could just be out running errands or something. We’ll need to try again.”

“I could try calling him now.” Adrien suggested. If he had just been busy when he tried before, then surely it would be all right to try again to reach him now? And as long as he had his phone, Fu should be able to get his call. Though in that case, Fu should already have known about his earlier call, right?

Adrien bit his lip in worry. So much had been happening lately. Marinette disappeared. The whole thing with Lila. Ladybug was...apparently in a bad mood for some reason. Now Plagg was agitated and they couldn’t reach Master Fu.

He took a breath to steady himself. They weren’t sure Fu was actually unreachable yet. He needed to call him first. And if that didn’t work, he could have Plagg lead him to the man’s place to check up on him.

Still...he couldn’t help the anxiety he was feeling, and it only seemed to be getting worse.

BRIIIIIING!

“AAH!”

As was evident when he panicked at the sudden alarm from his phone. So much so that it took him three tries to grab the phone as he kept dropping it due to his frantic fumbling. Ignoring Plagg’s commentary, he looked to the screen and saw it was a video call request from Alya.

Oh right. The video chat with Nino and Alya. It was supposed to start now. He had just gotten distracted.

He took a breath and answered the call.

“Hey! Hi! Hello! Glad you made it!”

Honestly, he could have smacked himself.

Somewhere off to the side, Plagg was snickering. On the video, both Alya and Nino seemed to be smiling at how frazzled he appeared. Adrien himself was much less amused.

“Did you find anything?” He asked, only partly to distract from himself.

Mostly because he was hoping for some news. That their excursion earlier had been successful. That they’d found something on their friend. Preferably the friend in question.

But their downhearted expressions told him the answer before they even had to say anything. The explanation that followed was short but detailed, and only seemed to further his confusion. Given their expressions, Adrien was sure that Alya and Nino were in the same boat.

“It was the weirdest thing...” Alya trailed off in a mutter.

“I’ll say.” Nino added with a laugh. “You were kind of freaking out. We all panicked when you started shouting.”

In any other instance, Alya might have been offended. As it was, though, she was quiet. Remaining deep in thought and seemingly oblivious to her boyfriend’s attempt to distract from her.

But Adrien noticed.

“Alya? What’s up?”

A moment of silence followed as she attempted to gather her thoughts.

Then...

“I have a theory.“ Alya started, looking apprehensive.

Adrien perked up. “A theory? What of?”

Nino, for his part, found in realization. “Does this have to do with what happened earlier?“

She nodded. “I’d been following her cell phone signal. After…” She hesitated for a second. “Well, when I was Lady Wifi, I managed to track Marinette’s phone signal and that same signal is on my phone now. But something isn’t right about it.”

She lifted her phone to the screen so Adrien could see what she meant. Sure enough, there was Marinette’s icon active on the map, but...it looked strange. Distorted. He struggled to tell that it was Marinette’s picture there at all.

“It’s been like this for a while. I’ve never seen any case like this, and there are no reports online of anything similar. Plus given how it’s been moving around…” She pulled her phone back and shrugged. “I think magic may be involved.”

Adrien straightened. “So you think she might have been akumatized?”

She shrugged. “Near as I can figure.“

Nino frowned. “But that doesn’t make sense. Hawk Moth can only akumatize one person at a time.“

Well, that wasn’t quite true, Adrien realized. There had been the Scarlet Moth incident when he had caused a mass akumatization with that illusion. Then it happened again that time Marinette had been expelled thanks to Lila’s schemes.

He bit back the rush of resentment and guilt at the memory to focus.

Could Hawk Moth akumatize more than one person at once? There had been the young twins who became Sapotis and when Alya and Nino became Oblivio, but those were cases where two people were essentially one akuma. And even in the case of multiple active akuma like the time Lady WiFi, Reflecta, and Princess Fragrance came after him thanks to his cousin, they all still only shared one akuma. Purifying that had been enough to restore all three, and in this case, he and Ladybug had already done that. So if that was the case, Marinette should have been restored as well, even if they hadn’t fought her.

“Could he have made Lady WiFi if Marinette was already an akuma?” Adrien asked.

“He’s akumatized more than one person at once though. There was the incident with the scarlet butterflies. And then there were also the time with my sisters.” Alya argued, remembering the same incidents Adrien had.

“And when Adrien’s jerk of a cousin caused you, Rose, and Juleka to be akumatized.” Nino added.

Alya groaned. “We just don’t know the extent of Hawk Moth’s power.”

Adrien nodded at that. Of course it was possible that Hawk Moth had discovered some new ability. But his power seemed to follow certain rules and have at least some limitations, so it didn’t make sense that he could suddenly do this.

Or why, for that matter? Hawk Moth did show some capability for planning—Scarlet Moth was proof of that. But what could he possibly gain from keeping Marinette as an akuma for this long?

But...hadn’t he targeted her before?

Adrien bit his lip.

There was too much uncertainty.

He sent a glance to Plagg, who saw his look and shook his head in response. The kwami looked particularly annoyed at the current train of the discussion. Clearly they were on the wrong track.

Adrien took a breath. “I don’t think that’s it. If it was Hawk Moth, what would be the purpose? We all know Marinette is gone now and would be looking for anything that could be behind it. If he had the ability to akumatize multiple people back to back, why use it like this? It doesn’t add up.”

“I don’t know if it is that Hawk Moth akumatized her.” Aly admitted. “It’s just that it has to be magic. There’s no other way to explain it. I mean, it’s not just Marinette that’s gone. Her cellphone…” She hesitated. “It isn’t stable. It’s there, but...not? And she was there today. I know she was.”

She had to give Max credit for his capabilities. The data was extensive and thorough despite the clear limits. And quite advanced. She hadn’t known it was possible to get as much data as he had, or even that it existed. But it was helpful to her search, and that was the important thing. With it, she was able to glean information. And slowly, a timeline started to form.

As did a theory.

“So her phone signal is still there, but she isn’t. And it’s been like this since...“

Since Marinette went missing.

The same day she disappeared, the biggest thing that happened that day was—

“The akuma.” Alya whispered. She frowned as she switched her browser on her computer to the Ladyblog and started looking through the archived footage and documentation of that attack.

There was an akuma attack that day. Someone feeling forgotten and overlooked was given the power to erase others.

She had watched a video of one such unfortunate victim. The poor guy didn’t even have a chance to wince at being hit. He just vanished the instant the attack made contact.

“But if Marinette was akumatized,” Nino continued, “why would Hawk Moth even make an akuma like that? If she’s not doing anything other than making herself disappear...that’s not useful for him, is it?”

Alya frowned, looking over the data again. “It’s not, no.”

Adrien also wasn’t convinced. From Plagg’s expression, it seemed he had some idea, though now wasn’t the time to press him. He’d have to wait until after the call was over. “It’s also much quieter, isn’t it? Every akuma up until now has been immediate and noticeable, otherwise Ladybug and Chat Noir wouldn’t know to come out and fight it, and Hawk Moth wouldn’t have a chance to target their Miraculous. The only exception was when Sabrina was akumatized the first time to be invisible, and even that was only for a couple of days.”

Nino shrugged but appeared to agree with him. “It’s been a couple of weeks since Marinette disappeared. If it was an akuma, wouldn’t we have noticed one by now? Akumas are generally fueled by emotions. They aren’t subtle.”

Alya looked back at her phone, reviewing the timeline. “But if she isn’t an akuma herself, then the only other option I can think of is that she was hit by that erasure akuma last month.” She shook her head, incredulous. “But that can’t be right. The Miraculous Cure would have brought her back, wouldn’t it?”

So caught in the discussion between his friends, Adrien didn’t see how Plagg looked stricken.

“It’s never failed before.” Nino stated.

“But what else could explain the state of her phone signal? It should either be there or not at all.

Adrien paused, tilting his head thoughtfully.  “That’s not normal.” He agreed.

“It does indicate that whatever happened to Marinette, it must be magical. And the only one with any sort of power along those lines would be Hawk Moth.”

“But why?”

She sighed.

“I guess that’s the question, isn’t it?”

None of them noticed Gabriel standing outside the door. Or the expression of dawning horror.

________________

Gabriel felt numb in a way he never thought he had been before.

The missing Dupain-Cheng girl? An akuma?

No. That was impossible.

Even if he was capable of akumatizing more than one person at a time outside of the Scarlet Moths, he would still have known. He would have made contact with her. And from his experience with his powers, he would have a link to the girl.

There was nothing.

But the only other explanation…

An official victim of an akuma attack. Someone that the Cure didn’t bring back.

How was it possible?

He entered the office in a daze. Nathalie followed him closely  in worry, but he barely took notice. He just shut the door quietly behind him once they had both entered, then leaned against it. He felt shaky. Off balance.

He had gone to his son’s room to see if he had access to any of the pictures or footage from the fashion show. Or if that journalist friend of his still had her video. Just...anything.

Audrey had called him in such a rage that day. Somehow, the shipments of her latest issue of Style Queen never made it out. Her attempt to recover the issue failed due to multiple holes and entire blank pages where pictures and articles should have been. So she had reached out to him through Nathalie, demanding his involvement and taking his attention away from his duties as Hawk Moth. At the time, he had begrudged her the missed opportunity at another akumatization.

But now…

“That can’t be right.” He murmured to himself. How could this be? How was this even possible?

“Sir?”

“The blank pages and missing pictures were those of myself and my son, as well as any of my son in that hat.”

“The one from the contest?” Nathalie asked, uncertainly.

“Made by a Marinette Dupain-Cheng. A girl who it seems is also missing. And has been for some time…”

He looked to his computer, wondering if he could pull up the information or if that would be gone as well. He had thought it a simple error at first, but the more he searched, the less he found. And now, after hearing his son’s conversation...what else could it be?

“But the Miraculous Cure restores everything.” He continued, almost monotone. “That’s what it does. That’s how it works.”

She hesitated.

“Maybe…not this time?”

He felt unsteady as he made his way to his desk. Perhaps he actually was, as Nathalie had quickly moved to his side to help him to his chair. Given how he felt, he could only assume he probably looked ready to fall over.

“Sir?”

It…it shouldn’t have happened. The Miraculous Cure always undid any damage of the akuma battles. It rebuilt any damaged or destroyed property. Healed injuries. Brought people back from any sort of unwelcome fate. It restored people from being half-melted ice cream sculptures, for crying out loud!

For anyone to have just…NOT been saved was unheard of.

Gabriel had thought he had been prepared for this. But now that he was actually experiencing it, he was…left shaken...

He had known going in that casualties would be a very real possibility, but had reassured himself. It was for the greater good. His family was worth it. Everything would work out in the end. He could just use the Wish to change the world and make it so that none of this had ever happened.

And then Ladybug had appeared with the power to restore things and he was only further convinced. There wouldn’t be any long term damage. No one would be really harmed. Whatever happened could be fixed.

No one would die.

It became almost like a game. He could go all out with little concern for the consequences. If he lost, Ladybug would just use her Cure to fix everything and he would get another chance to try again. And if he won, he could correct things himself.

As such, he ceased to worry about the “what if’s” and focused solely on his goal.

But now a child was gone. As good as dead. Possibly worse.

And this time, magic wouldn’t bring her back.

For not the first time since he had started on this path, Gabriel wondered if it was worth it.

Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng was an aspiring designer who showed great promise. From his limited interactions with her, he could see she had passion—both for her art and in her life. He had been impressed with what he had seen of her capability, and her level of care for his son was secret only to Adrien himself.

And now she was gone.

And Adrien…his own son was suffering for it.

He had heard from Nathalie how Adrien had been worried for her. How he had gone so far as to go out and search for her in some futile hope of finding her. How he had held onto that hope, trying to reassure himself each day that she would return safely.

Adrien…truly cared about this girl.

He wondered if it was any different to how he felt about Emilie?

What would he think if he learned the truth? If he discovered who Hawk Moth really was? If he knew his father was the reason his friend had been erased.

It was…too much.

Was this a sign?

Was this an indicator that he was going too far?

He should stop. Before more people were hurt. Before his son discovered the truth. He should…

He should stop this.

…

And yet…

Gabriel clenched his eyes shut.

…he couldn’t.

Stopping meant letting go of Emilie. It meant giving up on ever getting her back. Of ever making their family whole.

If he gave up now, that would make all he had done for nothing—including the child’s loss as well.

He was not completely heartless. A missing child would no doubt cause quite a bit of turmoil. It was no wonder Lady WiFi hadn’t listened to him, being too intent on searching for her friend. The feelings that had drawn his akuma to her...similar to the growing feelings settling on a number of Paris’s citizens.

Worry, sadness, fear, anger…all were emotions that would make perfect targets for his akumas. In any other circumstances, he would see fit to use that. However…given his part in this matter, the very thought of using the loss of a child to his advantage—especially when it was his fault—made him feel ill.

He would avoid targeting her friends or family. He owed her that much.

But he…he had to continue.

He had to make it worth it.

Once he saved Emilie, perhaps he could even use the Wish to bring back Miss Dupain-Cheng as well?

Then maybe…

Maybe they would forgive him someday.

________________

Sure enough, a few days later it all came to a head.

When Adrien arrived in class that day after yet another failed attempt at contacting Master Fu, it was to a group of some of his classmates looking particularly concerned and surrounding an upset Juleka. The girl wasn't crying, but she looked to be close as Rose kept an arm around her shoulder and was trying to whisper words of comfort to her. The only ones not present were Max and Nathaniel.

"Don't worry.” Rose reassured her. “I’m sure they've just been misplaced somewhere."

Juleka shook her head firmly. "No. I keep them on my wall. I never move them, but they're just gone."

"Maybe your mom or Luka moved them?" Kim suggested.

"Not without telling me. And I asked them. Neither of them knew anything."

Adrien grew more concerned as he approached the group. "Guys, what's going on?"

Alix glanced over to him and answered. "Juleka's photos are missing."

That was a surprise. He knew how much actually appearing in a photograph meant to the girl. It would have to be upsetting to her to lose any of them.

"They were all the ones from the class photograph.” Mylene explained. "Remember? The ones we took in the park.”

Adrien winced internally before nodding. He had remembered full well that entire incident...and the akuma she turned into because of it...and the heels (god, the heels). They had taken quite a number that day and Juleka had seemed so happy when she went home with copies in hand. "Do you recall where you last left them?"

Juleka appeared more morose. "They're on my wall. They're always right there and I can't miss them. I put them up immediately after getting home and haven't moved them since. I know I saw them there yesterday, but when I got up this morning, the wall was completely blank."

"That's really weird.” Alya chimed in. "And you're saying no one moved them?"

Juleka shook her head.

The other classmates glanced to each other, appearing more uncertain. Adrien himself started to gain an unsettling feeling.

"I keep them all posted on a board in my room. They're right there and I can't miss them, but when I looked this morning…” She shook her head.

"I never move them."

"Maybe it's a prank?” Kim asked, but he sounded uncertain. If it was a prank, it was a cruel and rather pointless one.

Alix seemed to share that sentiment. "It's not a funny one. Who would even do that?"

The group looked around at each other. They were really the only ones who even knew Juleka's "curse” or about the pictures. But each of them simply looked confused over the matter.

"It couldn't have been a prank.” Ivan insisted. "Luka would never do that and their mother would punch out anyone who tried."

Mylene frowned, considering. "Juleka's house is a boat. One housing three people and isn't that big that someone could sneak on board without being seen."

“It’d be a pointless thing to do—sneak onto a boat just to mess with pictures and nothing else.” Kim noted. “Was anything else missing?”

Juleka shook her head. “Not that I know of. Just my pictures.”

"It's okay." Rose said, trying to be cheerful and calm her upset friend. "I have a couple extras of the photos we took in my notebook. We can copy them and replace the ones that went missing."

It wasn’t quite the same, but it was a suitable alternative for now. So with a solution to the more immediate problem at hand, Rose shared a bright smile that Juleka tried to return—albeit with a much more strained and shaky one. Rose didn't comment, instead going to her desk and pulling out her book bag.

“I keep them right in—”

The others looked over in confusion as Rose suddenly cut off, her expression turning confused.

"Rose? Everything okay?” Alix asked, growing worried at the prolonged silence.

Rose bit her lip and turned back to the group. "Did one of you maybe already take my notebook?"

Confusion seemed to be the theme of the day, as the classmates again glanced at one another before looking back to Rose.

"I'm not mad or anything!” Rose said, attempting to reassure them. "Since it's for Juleka, but if you already have it, I'd like to know where it is."

"Wait...are you saying your notebook is missing, too?" Nino asked.

Rose bit her lip, uncertain. "I don't—I mean, I guess so?"

"That's strange." Adrien said with a frown. He turned to the rest of the group in growing concern. "Look around. Is anyone else missing anything?"

The rest of the class searched through their bags, but fortunately, no one else seemed to be missing anything.

“That is odd. First Juleka’s pictures, then Rose’s diary? Why those things?” Alya wondered. She muttered to herself about an akuma and checked her blog to see if anyone had posted any similar cases on the matter.

The rest of the class took it upon themselves to try and offer some reassurance to the two girls that their items would be found.

“Maybe we can check the cameras?” Ivan suggested.

“That’s a lot of footage to go through though.” Nino pointed out.

“I bet Markov could go through it pretty quick.” Kim replied with a grin.

Adrien looked around at his classmates. It was good to see them mostly recovered from the ordeal with Lila and trying to help each other. But he couldn’t shake the feeling something was strange.

He could almost get a sense for it before he was interrupted by the timely yet untimely arrival of Max.

Kim smiled in relief at the sight of his friend. “Hey, Max! Buddy! Think you and Markov could give us a hand with a little investigation? Rose and Juleka seem to be missing some things and we figured maybe you could help!”

Max, for his part, looked concerned and a bit guilty. "I'm sorry, but Markov and I are already busy trying to assist Nathaniel and Marc. It seems that somehow, their collaborative comic has been erased."

Multiple gasp and moans of horror and disappointment filled the room at that. Everyone really enjoyed that comic and they had been really looking forward to the next installment.

"Do you know what caused it?" Mylene asked.

"We've been doing everything we could, but we haven't been able to find anything about the comic in the computer. I suspect it may be a virus of some kind, but there's no trace of anything of the sort. We're trying to help them work this out. They had gotten a lot of work done on this comic and I'd hate to see it lost."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out. You're amazing when it comes to technology." Kim said with a grin, fully confident in his friend's capabilities.

But Max didn't look enthused. "I'm not so sure. Markov can't find any trace of an outside program or of the comic even being there.” He waved his hands. “It’s like it just…vanished!”

Adrien frowned. Three things in one day. It…couldn’t just be coincidence, could it?

“Can it do that?”

“Not like that. Not normally.”

"This is strange.” Mylene said anxiously, gripping Ivan’s hand. “A lot of things seem to be missing."

Alya frowned, looking at her phone. "Speaking of strange things, I just got a hit to the Ladyblog. It's Marinette's parents. They want to talk to Ladybug and Chat Noir as soon as possible."

Several of the classmates perked in surprise.

“Could it be an akuma?”

“Do you think they’re okay?”

“Did they find something about Marinette?”

“But why call for Ladybug and Chat Noir then?”

“Huh? Hey, Adrien, where are you going? Class is about to start!”

Adrien barely took notice. He was already out the door.

______________________

If he hadn't already received the message, Chat would have known immediately that something was wrong. Rolland and Gina Dupain were present at the bakery. He knew little regarding the Dupain family, but he had been under the impression that the two were not on good terms. But they were actually working together without issue, with Gina working the counter and Rolland working the kitchen with nary a grumble regarding the bread.

When Chat arrived, Gina immediately called for Tom. And within seconds, he was quickly rushed in by the much taller man, who…did not look well.

The giant, kind bear of a man looked like he had aged since the last time he had seen him. Not to any great or unnatural extent, but it was clear that stress had impacted him.

Losing a child would do that to you, he realized. But whatever else was going on was certainly doing him no favors.

"Thank you for coming." Tom said with clear relief as he opened the door.

Chat nodded in return as he entered. "It's not a problem. But your message sounded urgent. Has there been any word on Marinette?" Like hopefully that she returned and the bakery was closed so the parents could smother her in affection?

He was hopeful. He was a hopeful guy.

Tom shook his head. "I don't know how to explain it. It's best if you see it for yourself." With that, he led the way through the back. Chat followed with some growing trepidation and jumped when he entered the living area.

Sabine was there. Her gaze practically snapped to him the instant he appeared, though she didn't otherwise move. The woman was sitting on the couch, clutching a box of what appeared to contain an assortment of clothes and dolls. Marinette's things, he realized. But why? Comfort, perhaps?

But Sabine didn't look sad or in need of comfort. If anything, her expression made him wary to approach her. She looked upset no—not just upset, but downright angry. She was on guard and watching him with a strange sort of hypervigilance. Like she'd literally bite his hand off if he got too close. He had no doubt that magical suit or not, the woman probably could.

Chat had thought the grandparents had looked particularly tired. Like perhaps they hadn’t slept in a while. But Tom and Sabine both looked like they had slept even less.

For her part, Sabine’s eyes narrowed at him and she pulled the box closer to her and as out of his sight as possible. It bothered him, because it was strange for someone to be clutching a box like that. She wasn't looking to the things inside for solace, she was warily watching everything else around her.

Something was wrong.

More wrong, he amended.

"We noticed it after a few days, but we didn't know what to think." Tom said, softly as he continued to lead the hero up the stairs and through the house. "It looked like some of her things had been moved around. At first we thought that maybe she'd found a way back home. Or that she was trying to communicate with us somehow. But... “He opened the door and allowed Chat into the room.

When Chat finally entered Marinette's room, he couldn't help feeling bewildered.

Was it always this empty, he wondered? He glanced around at the different areas of Marinette's room, noting the differences and the overall"¦lacking. The walls were missing pictures. There was nothing on the desk. The mannequin that was normally adorned with the beginnings of some sort of outfit or new piece wasn't even present, leaving a sadly empty space in the room. There weren't even the knick knacks or textiles or yarn or cloth pieces that he remembered seeing previously. It looked like a room. It even looked like someone lived in it. But it was bare of a lot of what made it Marinette's.

Tom looked around the room in growing dismay. "It's getting worse."

Chat blinked in confusion. "What?"

"The posters are gone now. So are the gloves she had been working on. Several of the pictures changed before they disappeared." Tom looked to Chat, eyes begging for an answer. "We checked frequently, but bit by bit, they were gone before we realized it. It's like they're just...”

"They're fading." Chat realized in growing horror. He'd started to suspect, given Juleka's pictures and Rose's diary, but this confirmed it.

This wasn't natural.

Marinette didn't run away. Nothing so simple could explain what he had been seeing so far. No human could pull this off, and he knew Marinette was far from the sort to even try, no matter the reason. This was magic, he was sure of it.

"Sabine and I have been taking shifts. Whenever we looked away, something else was gone. So we just...” He shrugged helplessly before gesturing down the ladder.

Downstairs. To where Sabine sat hoarding a box with all the ferocity of a dragon guarding its gold.

He understood now. Marinette's mother wasn't holding onto Marinette's belongings out of missing her child, she was literally trying to keep them from disappearing!

Her room. The pictures. The notebook. The comic. They were all connected by her influence. Everything Marinette owned or had a part in was starting to fade away. Her parents figured it out and they were trying to protect what was left of their daughter.

He clenched his fists.

He had to talk to Ladybug.

______________________

How frustrating.

It had been weeks, but Ladybug had made little progress in her self appointed mission to track down Hawk Moth. And it had been vexing, especially given his recent silence. Other than Lady Wifi, there hadn’t been any other akuma attacks. Even in spite of the more despondent atmosphere she had noticed around the Francois Dupont school as of late.

He must be planning something...

Surely there had to be some minor issue he would consider escalating to akuma-worthy. That incident in the park with that strange old man certainly stood out in her mind as one such missed opportunity for the supervillain.

...who even was that man? He acted like he knew her and was spouting...the strangest things.

Who she was before she became Ladybug? Someone beneath the mask? He ‘knew’ her?

Ridiculous.

Clearly he had been suffering some ailment when he happened upon her.

She sighed.

It was unfortunate really. For a brief moment there, she had almost thought the man had known something valuable. He had seemed so earnest. And she could almost swear he seemed...familiar? Like she had met him somewhere before.

She rubbed her head, trying to recall. It wasn’t just this time or the one incident before. Maybe she had rescued him once? Maybe he was one of the civilians she had chatted with on some previous occasion? And that could be how he thought he knew her?

Maybe...

“Ladybug! LADYBUG!”

At the sound of someone calling for her, she stopped and turned around to see Chat running towards her. She was glad to see him again, but from his expression and the way he was running, it looked like this wasn’t a social visit.

“Chat? Is everything all right?” She asked once he had finally reached her. “Is there an akuma?”

“No! I mean yes! I mean—not exactly!” He shook his head. “Sorry, just…”

She couldn’t understand him through his babbling. Ladybug frowned and held her hands out, gesturing for his silence to get his attention.

“Chat, calm down and breathe. Then tell me what is wrong.”

To her further annoyance, he took a deep—somewhat exaggerated breath. If nothing else, however, it did serve to get him to settle and be able to speak normally.

“Listen, I think something may have gone wrong in the last akuma battle. Well—not the last one, but the last last one.”

…semi-normally.

At least she could understand him, at any rate.

Still, that was concerning. “What do you mean?”

She had stopped that akuma, hadn’t she?

“A friend of mine disappeared after that battle and never reappeared. Now she’s missing.”

“You mean that Marinette girl? Chat, it’s likely she may have run away.”

“NO. She didn’t. I was worried about that at first, but she wouldn’t and I was right. Other things are disappearing now! Everything of hers or that she had a hand in is literally fading away! She had to have been hit by that erasing akuma.”

“That’s impossible. The Miraculous Cure fixes all the damage caused by an akuma fight.”

“But Marinette hasn’t returned!”

“Then maybe she wasn’t involved with the akuma fight at all.”

“Her things are disappearing! Anything that reminds people of her are suddenly vanishing if people aren’t constantly watching them! That’s not normal! That’s magic.”

“Did you actually see anything disappear?”

He paused.

“Well—not directly myself, no.” He admitted, rubbing his head. “But a lot of people have said things are disappearing. And they all seem to be things she had some involvement or influence in.”

Marinette had come up with the idea for Rose’s journal after Chloe had insulted it. She had helped Juleka break her curse and take all those fun photos to make up for the class picture. Marc and Nathaniel’s comic only got started because Marinette had introduced them. And from what he saw at the bakery, the effect was expanding.

He froze, a creeping realization sinking in.

If it was expanding, just how much would be gone?

“But if you haven’t seen it, then how do you know that it’s an akuma?”

“But they said—”

She shook her head. “Chat, it could just be coincidence. People misplace things. Lose things. Throw things away and forget about them. It happens. That doesn’t make it noteworthy and doesn’t mean it’s magic. Sometimes, those things are just gone.”

“But they—”

“You have to face facts, Chat Noir. If she’s gone, she may not return.”

He’d had enough.

“What is WRONG with you?”

He had plenty of times where he felt annoyed or angry with Ladybug. When she rejected him. When she kept secrets. When she didn’t seem to take him seriously. Looking back, those instances seemed so incredibly petty compared to how he felt in this moment.

Never had he ever wanted to shake her the way he did now.

“A girl is missing! She is literally fading from existence and you don’t care!”

“Chat, you don’t even know that’s actually the case! There are other things to worry about right now!”

“This is a person’s LIFE AT STAKE!”

Ladybug simply looked unimpressed. “Everyone’s life is at stake against Hawk Moth, Chat! And you would have me put him on hold just for one person?”

“She isn’t just one person!”

She was a person! She had a name! And a family! And friends! And a dream! She was an up and coming designer! Jagged Stone’s artist! Their class representative! His classmate!

She...

She was his...

Now Ladybug looked almost...sad? Disappointed?

“You’re too attached to this girl to think about this objectively, Chat. You are letting your emotions cloud your judgement. As a hero, you need to be impartial.”

He grit his teeth.

He wanted to say something.

He wanted to say so much.

But instead, he turned tail and stormed off.

It was Ladybug. His partner. The person he would follow in any crisis. He knew to an extent that she had a point, because yeah, he had a tendency to act on his emotions rather than think things through. But...she sounded like she didn’t care.

What else could he do?

So he ran away.

But Ladybug...

She simply stood there. Her head tilted in confusion as she watched him go. She watched for a minute before she shrugged it off and turned away. She didn't try to go after him. Not once did she call out to him.

Her partner was running away from her...

...and she just let him.

______________________

Tom knew something was wrong.

It had been a busy day in the bakery. Despite the circumstances in the current situation with her daughter being missing, they couldn't just keep the bakery closed. After all, Marinette had to have a place to come back to at some point. And they needed to keep living.

But that didn't mean it wasn't hard.

Tom and Sabine had been torn. In their current state, they were hard pressed to keep the bakery running and also focus on efforts to find their daughter. It was even worse now that they had distinct reason to believe magic was involved.

It had been fortunate that both Gina and Rolland had been willing to put their differences and issues aside to come help. They had been a substantial support during this time. When Tom had reached out to them, Gina had cut short her trip to Peru to fly back to Paris and assist, mentioning using her connections to deal with some of the cartels in the area known for human trafficking on the chance they happened to be involved. And Rolland had taken to the traditional methods of posting Marinette’s MISSING picture at various locations.

Seeing the current situation with the parents, both had gone so far as to agree to help in the bakery. Gina had agreed to manage the storefront while Rolland had taken to helping in the kitchen. Surprisingly with minimal complaint about the bread. And even willing to close his own bakery in the meantime.

He was still difficult, but it was clear the man was trying. And he was more help than not.

This allowed Tom and Sabine to be able to breathe. There were points where one or the other would have to go to the back when things got to be too much. From the normal stress of the job itself to the pitying looks and questions they would sometimes get. And now to try to keep count of what else of their daughter’s had disappeared when they weren’t looking. Which meant they had taken to shifts during the night as well in hopes that their presence would slow down the process.

Sabine had been quite focused on this for the past few days, willing to leave the majority of the bakery work to the other three. But one could only spend so long staring at a box and a slowly emptying room, and she had eventually agreed to Tom’s pleas to just try to return to a regular work day if only to restore a sense of normalcy.

...he should have realized something was up the instant she had agreed.

She had switched with Gina in working the front and dealing with the customers. Plastering a perfect smile and jovial tone, as if her world wasn’t crumbling. He was concerned with her state, but Tom had wondered if this wasn’t her way of trying to cope. Sabine had long had a way of being a pillar of calm in any storm, so he had decided to trust in her.

But then there were the more...delicate customers.

Enrique Arnette was never an easy man to deal with. Pretentious, high-handed, and with a need to be catered to in a way that rivaled with Audrey Bourgeois. He could be her brother, all things considered. They were both loud and full of themselves. Only she, at least, had the power and capability to back her.

Unlike Audrey, Enrique was just loud. Loud and entitled. He was well known for being picky and making specific demands that some questioned might be less about what he actually wanted and more about looking for a reason to get upset and cause a fuss. But Tom and Sabine's Bakery seemed to be one of the few places capable of meeting his picky and overly extravagant standards.

Usually, Sabine was more than capable of handling him or any other contrary customer.

But today...

"What is this? Are you supposed to be a bakery or a crematorium?"

It was like nothing she did was satisfactory.

It might have been the stress getting to her. Tom would have believed that.

Except that the smile on her face was like ice. And her eyes were like steel. When he tried to step in to take over handling the order, Sabine clutched the plate in an iron grip. And as she looked up at him, her gaze was downright unnerving.

"Let me handle this."

Tom didn't dare disagree. He just watched and waited anxiously to the side as Sabine continued to try and fail to fulfill his order.

It was too cooked.

There was too much syrup.

The fruit was mashed.

The design was poorly done.

As Enrique became more frustrated, Tom noticed how Sabine neither stood up to the verbal tirade, nor did she apologize.

And his wife's expression was a knowing one.

It was...unusual for her. If he didn't know better...or maybe because he did know better, he couldn't stop himself from wondering if it was intentional?

The way she was messing up the order so many times was not like her, to the point he could swear it was on purpose. And her attitude and responses, while not outright rude, were not customer-friendly and were certainly far from her norm.

Was she...trying to upset him?

"What kind of service is this?!" The man demanded.

Tom stepped forward. "Dear, why don't I handle this and you can take a break, okay?"

But Sabine didn't even look at Tom. Her gaze remained fully on Enrique.

"If it is so displeasing to you, perhaps you would find service more befitting of your station in a dumpster?"

Everyone froze.

Sabine was many things. Matronly. Firm at times when needed. Soft at other times when it isn't. Fully willing to stand up to people.

But she was never rude. And she would never insult anyone like this.

Enrique’s face turned red in growing rage.

"What did you say?"

“Are you deaf?” She asked him congenially in a tone and manner as if she was commenting on the weather instead of actively insulting the man. “Or is there as much trash filling your ears as there is your mouth?”

Tom gaped momentarily before moving forward to intervene. “Sabine, why don’t you just—”

“HOW DARE YOU?!” Enrique shouted, almost on the verge of a shriek. “I have NEVER been so insulted in my life!”

“Then clearly people weren’t trying hard enough.” Sabine shot back derisively. “If you aren’t going to take your needlessly complicated and pretentious order, then get out and let someone else.”

Gasps and murmurs resounded.

He turned up his nose. “I won’t pay a euro for that mess or your attitude! If anything, you should be paying ME at this point for the insult! And trust me, I WILL be making you pay!”

Shouts of alarm got Tom’s attention, along with the sound of wings.

“Oh no!”

And akuma had gotten into the store, no doubt attracted to Enrique’s indignation as it fluttered its way towards the irate man.

Except that in the second before the akuma could reach him and assimilate into his watch—

SLAM!

Sabine had caught the akuma in midair before it could reach Enrique, her hand covered in an old worn oven mitt.

Everyone jerked back in shock and growing horror.

But Tom just stared in sorrowful realization.

He recognized that mitt. It was one of the first things Marinette had made and gifted to her mother.

It was one of her few possessions that remained.

One that Sabine had refused to part with.

"No." He murmured. "Sabine. Honey, no.”

His wife couldn't hear him.

The glowing mask was indicative that it was already too late.

[angelkurenai]

Imagine doing the WIRED autocomplete interview with your husband, Robert, and getting asked very often about your relationship with co-star and friend, Bradley Cooper. Only for your husband to get jealous.

“And the last one, I feel like no matter how prepared I say I am for some of these, I always end up surprised, so-” you cleared your throat and looked down at the board “Is Robert Downey Jr-” you read on the image that was the google search for your husband before pealing the sticker “The little spoon or the big spoon? This, wow!”

You both immediately burst into laughter, your husband clapping his hands and muttering “Amazing. It's amazing!”

“This contains the most popular searches right?” you spoke, looking at the crew around you and behind the cameras “I wonder who ever googled this. Who, like, woke up and said 'Hey, you know what I wanna find out today? If Robert Downey Jr is the little spoon, man! I bet that would be interesting!' why would you ever-” you shook your head with a laugh.

“Alright, first of all-” Robert spoke, a good few seconds of trying to recover from his laughing fit “Let's make something clear, shall we? We are not making fun of little spoons. Absolutely no fun. There is no shame in it, and I as a proud cuddler, cannot and will not judge big or little spoons in any way. Cuddling is fun and it makes you warm and happy, you should be proud of yourself if you are a good cuddler. However, that being said-” he put on a serious face and looked at the camera “I'm a knife.”

You looked at your husband then at the camera with a blank expression before shaking your head with a small roll of your eyes and added only three seconds after him “He's the little spoon.”

Robert couldn't help but snicker, the serious expression melting away before he nodded his head “Yes I'm the little spoon. What can you do eh?”he couldn't help his laughter “Seriously this is too embarrassing but I've stopped caring long ago.”

“I mean hey-”you laughed as you handed the cardboard in exchange for another one which you hand over to him “It could be worse, so let's not push our luck, shall we? Remember what you told me you feared to see in those questions most? Yeah, we haven't come across that yet.”

“Oh yes, how could I ever-” he said playfully, letting a small laugh before turning more serious, face completely honest – and words even more than anyone, besides you, could know – as he said to the camera “I prefer it when she tops, yes, to answer any google searches that haven't made it here yet. For reasons I can't understand but-”

You were your yelp could be described to a chimp's more than a human's but you didn't care, when you felt the heat rise up on your cheeks and your eyes widen a little in horror and more in shock and embarrassment as you exclaimed “Robert!”

“What?” all he did was laughing – or more specifically join in on the laughing of the rest of the crew around you and your probably dying from laughter and on the floor manager of yours.

“I shouldn't have- Oh I walked right into it, I shouldn't have brought that up.” you cleared your throat, shaking your head.

“Honestly, I don't understand- Why are you laughing? It's more relaxing, isn't it? I always found it better to-” he couldn't control his own laughter no matter how much he tried “Don't the gentlemen here agree?” he asked, earning more laughter but a couple nods as well “Ah there, a few brave souls, see? Better already!” he grinned at you, kissing your temple.

“Oh my- Just get on with the game, please!”

“See? She's so bossy sometimes that how can I help it if I ask to be sp-”

“Robert!” you squeaked, trying to get him back on track “I swear to you if you dare complete that sentence.” you gave him a look “Seriously, not what we're here for. Focus.”

“Alright, alright-” he cleared his throat “Back to business I suppose. Let's see what we got here-” he looked at the cardboard in his hands “Is (Y/n) (Y/l/n)... part of the MCU?” he read as he pealed the sticker.

“Well, that's a good one because you can't get a yes or no answer right away. Though we have filmed a movie, so theoretically I am part of the MCU, the movie is not out yet for my character to be really a part of the MCU. So-” you shrugged “Depending on how you see it.”

“Way I see it is the next big bad should be scared cause the strongest character of the MCU is about to join in! Plus the most cool one, would easily make even Tony fall for her!”

“He speaks as if he was even paying to me when I was saying my lines. You could see it in his eyes, the moment he saw me in my suit, he just lost all focus or grasp of reality.” you pointed out and he shrugged not innocently in the least bit.

“Eh guilty, but nobody can blame me. So-” he looked back at the cardboard “Is (Y/n) (Y/l/n)... in the movie 'The Judge'? Why, yes, actually she is. As well as the incredible mind behind the script of some of the scenes.”

“As well as the one to keep this guy on track on set, is the most important thing you're forgetting Downey.”

“That too.” he chuckled “Alright, next: Is (Y/n) (Y/l/n)... in the movie 'A Star Is Born'? Yes, yes she was. And she was incredible as always. Though I might be a bit biased seeing as I'm her number one fan. Maybe, just maybe. I don't know, I'm just sayin'.” he said with a small scoff that made you grin because he was always supportive of you without making a big deal out of it when it wasn't necessary, always caring that you knew it better than anyone that he admired you.

“Along with a wonderful cast, tough. Really it was one of the best movies I've been in, made so many friends too.”

“All in all a must watch. Ok, next one: Is (Y/n) (Y/l/n)... friends with Bradley Cooper?” he couldn't help but repress a heavy sigh that he made sure – and you knew took extra pleasure in – to be extra dramatic “More like, is (Y/n) (Y/l/n) attached to the hip with Bradley Cooper? That's the question people should be asking!”

You rolled your eyes, scoffing at your husband but it sounded more like a small laugh “You make it sound like I never spend time away from the guy!”

“Oh, I'm sorry, you actually do? I have never been witness to such a rare phenomenon. Maybe next time it happens, next time you actually spend like an hour away from him without having to text or call each other, I would very much like to be present so that I can believe it.” he said, voice full of sarcasm to the point you couldn't help but shake your head at him.

“Robert, for real-”

“No, I really mean it! I'm not being sarcastic or anything-” he looked at the cameras and people behind them “People think that Avengers Endgame is going to be the event of the decade, but I tell you if she takes a break from her friend, that will be it!”

“Alright, then, so what am I supposed to do on my free time if not spend it with my friends?” you asked in disbelief, eyes wide but a laugh leaving from your lips.

“Oh I don't know.” he shrugged innocently “Maybe, just maybe, spend some time with your husband too? Who knows how neglected he might feel after all.”

“Oh you little-” you stopped, only to narrow your eyes at him “Jealous you mean then?”

“Touche. But no.” he tsked and shrugged “Mildly neglected, slightly in need of spooning and probably a tad annoyed. But never jealous, honey, you know I don't do that. I don't really have the need to do that. I'm way above that.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, dear.” you sighed before looking back at the camera “Yes we are really good friends, if you didn't get it by now. Best buddies, I think that's what people call us; it's like every single person that knows us knows it and never questions it. And as for Robert-” you glanced at your husband with a shake of your head “He's a drama queen don't mind hi-”

“Me? I'm the drama queen? I was on IKEA with Evans last week and we saw this double king sized bed and you know what? I really started considering asking for it in case your buddy decided to join us for sleep other than breakfast, brunch, lunch, tea, supper, dinner and midnight snack!” he gave you a look that underneath all the playfulness you could read all too well. The small narrow of the eyes, the lips pursing in a tight smile and then following the click of the tongue before he spoke carefully-chosen words again “How does that sound to you, honey?”

“Unnecessary, darling.” you shrugged, a smirk lifting at the corners of your lips “You could just leave the bed and there, problem solved, plenty of space!” and a small laugh did escape your lips when the smile vanished entirely from his face “Anyhow, I think what's more important here than me spending the entire day with my friend, which by the way happens only once in a while stop overreacting-” you gave him a look at which he rolled his eyes “That's important is, what the hell where you and Chris Evans doing at IKEA?”

“Hopefully, if it all went well, making history!” he was soon back to grinning before looking down at the board “Let's see this one and hope it's not- Is (Y/n) (Y/l/n)... really kissing Bradley Cooper? Really? I-”

You were quick to clasp a hand over Robert's mouth before he got to say a thing and spoke yourself “I don't know what the person searching this had in mind. As in, is that really happening? Yes, yes it was. Hard as it was for me to believe. Even before our scene I was panicking on the inside, I'm surprised I looked so cool, because let's be honest it's Bradley freaking Cooper but-”

You paused when Robert took hold of your wrist, removing your hand to speak “And your husband is Robert freaking Downey Jr!” before putting it back where it was.

“Well, yeah, but honey you've been my husband for years and he-” you stopped only for a second, noticing the way he narrowed his eyes at you dangerously but in a way that only made everyone laugh “Well, it's still Bradley Cooper. So in the essence that it happened, yes. But in the essence that it was real, obviously, no... Insert wishful sigh. It was only acting.” you tried to pretend to be sad about it, but it soon fell apart when you laughed.

Granted, it didn't help that your husband was murmuring words that were muffled and made no sense behind your hand.

“You have something to add there honey?” you giggled, pulling your hand away from him this time.

“Plenty, none of which is suitable for the net. So, I'd much rather change the topic altogether. Is (Y/n) (Y/l/n)... married to Bradley Cooper? Are you for real now?” his entire face fell as he looked at the cameras in disbelief, a perfect contrast to your laughing reaction.

“Really not a good follow up search. Who put these in order? It's too fun right now.” you giggled more when you saw Robert shake his head and throw the entire board on the back with a flick of his hand.

“Someone that needs to get fired, that's who.” Robert grumbled, arms crossing over his chest “But then probably rehired and forced to learn everything about our love story and make an epic documentary about it or something.”

“Come to think of it, these are things many people have actually searched you know?” you mumbled deep in thought.

His head snapped in your direction so fast, eyes impossibly wide, as he stared at you in disbelief and in a way that you could hardly not laugh at “Are you kidding me now? I really didn't need to be reminded you know! I mean-” he scoffed, looking around “Why does everyone seem to forget we've been married? It's been years now!”

“See, maybe, it's possible that plenty of ladies and gentlemen out there don't know if they have any chances with you and want to find out if you really are out on the market or not?” you shrugged “Wouldn't surprise me. First thing I googled a week after I met was your dating status and let me tell you I was more than glad to fill that empty space!”

“See, she knows she is smooth and that it's very distracting.”

“Thing is, is it working?” you asked with a smirk.

He chuckled but his smile fell very shortly afterward “Definitely not this time. Mr Cooper and I will need to have a word.”

[nincompoopydoo]

PAIRING, BAGELS, REPEAT

— PALM TO PALM IS HOLY PALMER’S KISS ; PART 3 / ?

PAIRING: Bruce Wayne x reader

WORD COUNT: 1846

SUMMARY: You’re back to teaching at Gotham High and you end up overlooking rehearsals for the GHS drama club’s upcoming annual play: Romeo and Juliet that no one ever attends. In the spirit of keeping your students’ hopes up, you decide to take it upon yourself to draft out a plan to drive more people to come to the play. The key is the man you’re in love with.

WARNINGS: Vague description of a nightmare, death and an annoying teenager.

A/N: This is really going slowly like a true slow burn. I hope yall like this one. Enjoy!

MASTERLIST ; MASTERPOST

In the light of your unemployment as a teacher, Gotham High miraculously offered your old job back after Mrs Wilson, one of the senior English Literature teachers, died of a heart attack unannounced. In all seriousness, apologies were made, admitting they had a mistake with firing you because well, you were clearly a passionate teacher. To your surprise, you were told your students even missed you. Hence, you accepted a job from GHS once again because you would do anything to avoid the smell of burgers and the sounds of hungry crying children. After the whole burglary incident, the Big Belly Burger at midtown was forever doomed as customers gradually decreased over time. It was Gotham after all, people should be used to these kinds of things by now. Including witnessing Batman saving you, the whole experience felt like a fever dream. As excited you were and weirdly unbothered by the whole near-death experience, you realized that if you were to talk about it, no one would genuinely believe you anyway. He was a myth to most citizens of Gotham, but you’re an exception because you’re well acquainted with the knowledge that Bruce definitely knows Batman.

And oh boy, do they talk.

It’s your secret to keep and so is the Batarang you stole. You’re also dying to tell Bruce.

So, you find yourself back in the hallways, crowded with sweaty teenagers, but you would choose this over anything else in a heartbeat. Apart from returning to teaching uninterested students about the works of Shakespeare and Harper Lee and forcing reading lists onto them, you are also replacing Mrs Wilson as the GHS Drama Club’s advisor. Stage performance may be personally foreign to you but plays were practically your forte. That was how you ended up spending your Tuesday afternoons, preparing the members for the club’s annual play. This time, they decided to perform the classic: Romeo and Juliet.

As an English teacher, you were frankly sick of the play, forbidden love was a tad overrated to you. Yet the kids were genuinely trying their best. Shaniqua and Oscar were currently rehearsing their lines as the two infamous star-crossed lovers; You watched them with pride. The two were quiet in your classes but they truly shone on the stage of the school theatre.

“And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss—teach, what does this whole scene even mean?” Shaniqua exclaims and you chuckle, “This scene is simply a metaphor where Romeo is a pilgrim wanting to erase his sins and Juliet is a saint. So, he is basically trying to convince her to kiss him so that he can truly be free of sin,” your explanation echoes through the room, and you notice Oscar turning red when you mention the word ‘kiss’. It was clear as day that the poor boy really liked the girl he’s currently hand in hand with but you don’t want him to feel nervous and uncomfortable about the thought of kissing her. “Now Oscar, you can kiss her on the cheek and that’s fine. Shaniqua, say it with more emotion, okay? Everyone got it?” The response you received was a sputter of hums and nods. Before you could continue, Josh, who plays Lord Capulet and is sitting lazily on the handmade throne, speaks up much to your dismay, “Why is it so important that we put so much effort into this. It’s not like anyone is going to come.” The kids around him began agreeing with his statement, and it was honestly completely expected of him but it was the truth. No one attends the drama club’s annual play. As you're trying to calm everyone down, your phone buzzes on the table in front of you. It’s a text from Bruce, asking if you could come over tonight, phrasing it like he’s a schoolboy sneaking from his parents to meet with a girl late at night. Then, like an epiphany you have an idea although there’s an eighty percent chance it wouldn’t go through. Nevertheless, you turn to the rest of the students with a hint of a smile on your lips. “I might have just the idea to solve that.”

-

A brief span seemed like an eternity when sleep doesn’t come easy to you. Tonight was a different case; thoughts were completely clear and concise. In much need of sleep, you steal the chance to savour in this clarity and serenity for as long as you could. To feel his warmth, arm gently resting on your abdomen and the occasional whiff of his deodorant from his ebony shirt you’re dressed in. If this was what bliss feels like, you never want it to go away. Your eyes grow heavy, flickering into darkness due to exhaustion from a long day of rehearsals. At once, you’re struck with the reminder of the idea you had this afternoon. It is more of a favour, involving none other than Bruce. There’s a tinge of guilt whenever favours are involved because you never liked asking for help. You were furiously independent and responsible, relying on others was out of the question. Yet, Bruce has always seemed to find a way to weave himself in your mistakes and problems, constantly there to help out. You have to remind yourself this isn’t about you. It’s for the kids. Special guest, Bruce Wayne, playboy and billionaire. Sounds awesome.

As your consciousness begins ebbing away, you feel Bruce shift from beside you, grasp tightening upon your waist. Before your dazed mind could even fully process that he was in the midst of a nightmare, his eyes are wide open, heart-pounding and it seizes him up instantly. With deep breaths, he closed his eyes once more, unable to shake the feeling of dread that rattles in him. Then, a sudden cold touch to his arm—he jumps and snaps his head to look over his shoulder.

It’s you, still laid in bed with a prominent frown upon your brows. Your hand squeezes his forearm and all he feels is instant relief. His heart still pounds, not in fear but with affection. “Are you okay?” you drawled as you watch his lingering hand, fingers weaved between the strands of hair. The silver ones glint under the low light, contrasting the deep brown ones. You notice how his hair had grown along with his five o’clock shadow becomes more evident by the days. His face away from you, finally nodding in response to your question. “Yeah, just... a bad dream. His voice is subdued as he shifts under the sheets, head leaning against the headboard. Despite your weakened state, you bring yourself to sit up, twisting your body to face him properly. "You wanna talk about it?” you say, patting his shoulder lightly in a comforting manner. You watch him rub his eyes, exhale tightly and shake his head. “No. Anything but that.”

His response comes out almost harsh but Bruce doesn’t mean for it to be perceived in that way. His dream was the usual, the normal ones he’s used to by now but in times of stress overwork, they have started to become more intense and violent. This time it involved you, for the first time, and he watched you vividly get shot in the forehead—trails of his memory as Batman when he encountered you at the burger restaurant with the muzzle of a gun inches away from you. It haunts him to think that if the circumstances were different if you hadn’t texted him those dreaded four words, you might be dead.

He certainly is not telling you about the dream. Never in a million years.

Bruce turns to you and you’re still staring at him, worry carved deep in your furrowed brows. Change of topic was merely necessary at this point. “So, how has school been? The kids still mean to you?” Classic Bruce, always sweeping his problems under the antique Persian rug. You don’t blame him because you wouldn’t know better.

It was your turn to sigh at the mention of school but since tonight’s pillow talk is heading towards your job as an English teacher at GHS, you might as well use the opportunity to pitch in your plan. “Still mean, but the drama club kids are really great,” You thumb the edge of the blanket, unable to hide your growing smile. “Speaking of which, the annual play is next Friday and they have been rehearsing all week but,” you paused as you watched his right brow gradually lift. “No one comes for it. Like, no one and I hate to see all their efforts just thrown out the window like that—”

“So, you want me to go for it.”

You blinked, wondering if your explanations were too obvious of its underlying intent or Bruce could just read you like an open book. You won’t be surprised if it’s the latter.

“If it’s no biggie. You don’t have to because I know you’re very busy but I don’t want the special guest to end up being the Big Belly Burger mascot.” Your smile widens and Bruce chuckles. Hell, it’s probably past midnight and you’re still able to find ways to be terribly funny. Literally terrible. After a beat of silence, he clears his throat. “I’ll clear my schedule.” It didn’t need much anticipation or thought because despite everything going on in his life, he knows he’ll do just about anything for you. You’re practically beaming at him and he finally sees it’s all worth it in the end. “Thank you, Bruce.” Your voice is sweet, and it makes his heart swell ever so slightly.

He sometimes wishes the two of you weren’t trapped in this loophole of unsaid confessions and hidden strong emotions for the other.

It almost comes naturally when he leans to you and presses a swift kiss to your forehead. Instead, it’s contradicting everything the two of you consider normal. He isn’t thinking straight and now your smile has disappeared, mouth agape and eyes very wide. Your brain stops.

Uh, what the hell just happened?

It hits him like a punch to the gut and the growing awkward silence is deafening. Yet, he doesn’t apologise because if he does, it doesn’t mean anything when in reality, it means so much more than just an accidental gesture. You don’t mention anything because you don’t objectify his actions. Kissing Bruce was fine when there are no strings attached but a peck to the forehead is way too affectionate for the man.

Before the both of you begin to overthink the events of a few moments ago, Bruce’s rational conscience kicks in and he clears his throat. “Get some sleep. You had a long day today.” He pats you on the shoulder awkwardly and you hum, shifting your head to lay back on the pillow. “Yesterday.” you correct him as it’s well past midnight. He chuckles, now laying flat on his back as he stares at the ceiling. Silently, the two of you agree to forget whatever happened a minute ago and to just...sleep it off.

TAGLIST:

@raineeace