#I still don’t like how some of the costumes look but that will fix itself in time

[toriangeli]

I was writing a longer post with my takes on all the 18th century costumes in the trailer, but this section about what we see in the theatre with Armand watching Lestat perform got long, so I'm posting it separately.

If you thought you remembered Lestat mentioning in TVL how Lelio doesn’t wear a mask, you’re not imagining things.  He doesn’t.  Moreover, there’s something very distinctive about the pattern on his costume.  Those triangles on his sleeves?

What’s more, the mask he’s wearing is a straight-up replica of this:

The mask itself will change between eras and theatres, but for this character, it always has that boil on the forehead. That triangle pattern and the mask together are for the character of Arlecchino/Harlequin.  Below is one traditional (VERY pre-18th century) look for Lelio:

Arlecchino is one of the goofier Commedia characters, being an aged, ugly, and supposedly stupid valet with a kind of trickster persona.  The triangle pattern is meant to mimic patchwork, and is also seen on Arlecchino’s lover, the lady’s maid Columbina.

But we know Lestat played Lelio in Paris, not Arlecchino.  It would be extremely weird for him to switch.  I don’t even think the guy who usually plays Arlecchino would want to give him up for the night if he could help it, since that’s like…the classic Commedia character, and kind of the opposite of Lestat's usual.

I think what we’re seeing could be Lestat’s particular genius with Commedia, where he could play this relatively unfunny young lover but still be very funny with it.  I think Lelio is disguising himself as Arlecchino for some kind of lover’s shenanigans.  Disguise hijinks are all over the place in the fiction of this era, a comedy trope that was really made popular by Commedia.  If you’ll note, Arlecchino in the picture wears a mask fixed to his face, not on a wand, leaving both his hands free because the mask is worn constantly.  I think Lestat may be using this style of mask so he can bring the mask away from his face when he’s speaking as Lelio and not Arlecchino.

Why is that interesting?

Because this isn’t how it goes the one time Lestat is onstage in Paris as a vampire, at all.  In that particular mental breakdown, Lestat doesn’t bother with any character at all, even if he's dressed for Lelio.  He just starts doing wild shit.  But Armand is at this performance.  I could see Armand stalking him at the meltdown performance, as someone from the Children of Satan was there to witness it, but nobody from the CoS indulges in these human frivolities and they wouldn't just happen to be there and notice Lestat.  It was their entire beef with Lestat in the first place, that he was acting like a human and not like a demon.  The CoS did stalk Lestat, but only after he became a vampire—that we know of.

My theory: the CoS noticed Magnus noticing Lestat and Armand wondered what was up.  We know they were keeping close tabs on Magnus.  Moreover, Armand…his costume is hard to see because of the Where’s Waldo nature of the pic below, but he’s dressed simply and in black, in what does not look anything like 18th century Western European clothing.  His hair is disheveled, too.  He doesn’t blend in at all, but he wouldn’t blend in anyway when every single other face in that crowd is lily-white.  I think, then, that he’s wearing something non-Western that I’m not familiar with.  Judging by what looks to be a split, flowing sleeve, it could be Russian or Arab or from any number of countries Armand would believably be a native of.  He may have grabbed clothing that would let him blend in simply as a brown man in the 18th century who isn’t trying to look French.  Any actual fashion historians who know non-Western clothing would need to be on this one.

I may not be able to identify what Armand is wearing here, but everyone else is looking 1780’s French to me.  Reenactors I’ve known have joked about how in every century, the 80’s has massive hair.  We’ve also just begun the transition away from the conical torso/bell-shaped skirts in 1770’s women’s fashion and toward the empire waist that will dominate until roughly 1820.  1780’s gowns have a wonderful freeness to them.

Anyway, either Armand was stalking Lestat before he was turned, or Lestat did more than one performance as a vampire. I think the former is more believable, personally, since we know they were keeping an eye on Magnus.

[sanaserena]

“It was Luffy’s idea to dress up as pirates!” said Ace, from the living room.  Apparently already dressed.

When he’d arrived, he’d done so in a pair of black knee length shorts, his signature belt and beaded necklace, a dagger sheathed in green, and an orange hat with what you thought were a pair of goggles—one with a smiley face, the other with a frowny face.  The hat itself hung a medallion on his chest.  It was odd to see him without his worn beanie, a beanie that was falling apart with each passing day.

You’d asked what he was.  He’d told you.  And then you’d laughed, asking what sort of pirate Luffy thought Ace was! 

“You should see Luffy’s outfit,” Ace said again. 

“Oh?”  You peeked around the doorframe of your room. 

“He’s mocked up this huge scar on his chest, and put on an opened tshirt, shorts, and he’s wearing his strawhat again, and called himself a pirate.”

“What kind of pirate is that?” you laughed. 

“Your friend Franky is apparently going as a cyborg pirate—sounded awesome on paper!”

You pulled on the last item for the grand costuming idea of Nami’s.  And felt horribly exposed.  If Nami hadn’t managed to convince you that Ace would love it, you doubted that you would have worn it.  You were just glad this was only for Luffy’s Halloween party.

Ace was resting his head on the back of the couch when you walked back in, the fluffy cape of your costume pulled tightly around you.  He spotted you in his upside down vision and turned to face you.

“So,” he said.  “What are you?”

“Well, it was Nami’s idea.”  The mere thought of what was under the cape had your blush raging across your skin. 

This seemed to pique his interest, and he vaulted over your couch to join you.  “Sweet, your blush is telling me things I’m not sure I want others to like.”

“The theme was a pirate in an undercover raid in the enemy’s lair.”

“This enemy must be quite devilish,” he joked, flicking your little black horns on your head. 

“Just a bit.”

He was distracting enough in his limited costume.  You’ll admit that while you were shy about what you were wearing, you always wanted to look good next to Ace.  You knew he didn’t care how you were.  He was always resting his head on yours, and just seemed to think you were cute (not that you could agree on the days when you were hardest on your appearance, and that which you could partly agree on the days when you did like your appearance).  But you just wanted to show others that maybe, you were a physical match to Ace too. 

“I’m intrigued now,” he said, standing back.  “Show me?”

You let out a breath and slowly released the cape, letting it fall at your side.

Ace whistled low.  “That’s some enemy lair.”

It was a very revealing costume.  Thankfully not as revealing as Robin’s or Nami’s.  But it still exposed a vast amount of your skin.  Your legs, your stomach, most of your chest.  You had on a very short black skirt, and a very small crop.  Essentially, the ultimate costume design had you, Nami, and Robin all looking like Satan’s daughters.  All good for a raid on Onigashima!  Or so Nami had explained.

“It was Nami’s idea, but I thought, you know, I’m always really kind of dorky next to you so I thought…”

He raised a brow, then he chuckled, bracing his hands on your waist.  “Who cares what others think?  I happen to think you’re an excellent physical match for me.”

You blushed at that, a small shiver passed through in anticipation.  He seemed to notice, backing you against the wall, bracing an arm above your head. 

Just as he was about to kiss you, however, it took everything in you to cover his mouth with your hands. 

“Uh-uh, I don’t want to waste another hour fixing my makeup.”

“We could skip?”

You feigned a gasp, these days feeling more bold around him, now that you knew he seemed to find your oddness more adorable and interesting than just plain weird.  “And not show our friends how well we match physically?”

He chuckled, more at how red your skin had gotten, at how much it had taken for you to stay still.  He pressed a kiss to your cheek instead, with a mischievous glimmer in his eyes that said, if you were willing, he would help you undress later.  Still new to this part of your relationship with him, you blushed furiously.

~♥~♦~♠~♣~♥~♦~♠~♣~♥~♦~♠~♣~♥~♦~♠~♣~♥~♦~♠~♣~♥~♦~♠~♣~♥~♦~♠~♣~

"Reader and Ace are ready for the Halloween party" flashback scene from my modern (sports - lacrosse) au fic, A Pair of Reds, over on AO3 (former Portgas D. Ace X reader pairing; Eustass Kid X reader endgame)

[eflen-n-reegee]

Peter’s Playground Part 1 - “Welcome to the Playground”

Hello! I’ve been working on this for a while, and it’s finally done. This is the first part of a series I’m hoping to continue, about a mall that has been repurposed as a place where all kinds of regressors, dreamers, and caretakers can hang out. I’m going to do profiles for all the major characters and a layout of the mall itself, but I’m not sure when. It’s gonna be a pretty casual series; although there will be mentions of nonspecific trauma and occasional sad characters, the story will never get too heavy. I’m really pleased with this, and I really hope you all like it! 😊

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Ash, are you sure this is okay?”

“Of course!” Ashley was bouncing in her seat, grinning wide. “It’s a lot of fun! And if you really don’t like it I’ll never ask you to go again, promise.” She crossed her heart and made the Girl Scouts sign.

Wendy sighed, her hands tightening on the wheel. “I just mean… I’m not like you, y’know? Or them. Will that make anybody mad?”

“Like Ashley” meant an age regressor. Wendy understood the basics: Ashley sometimes pretended to be a kid, and sometimes her brain even worked more like a kid’s brain. It was how she dealt with some really awful stuff that had happened in her real childhood. But Wendy didn’t do that, and her childhood had been pretty good. Going to a place meant for age regressors when she wasn’t one felt a little disrespectful.

“Oh no way! It’s totally fine, trust me - and turn left at the light!”

Wendy obeyed, somewhat reluctantly, and pulled into the parking lot of a former mall. There were no signs for individual stores, just the same words repeated in different colors: “Peter’s Playground”.

“Let’s go in the yellow door!” Ash said excitedly, pointing to the appropriately colored sign. “That’s where all the best stuff is!”

“Okay,” Wendy said, pulling into a parking space.

Ashly was out of the car the second it was put in park, hopping from one foot to the other. “C’mon! I’ve got a bunch to show you!”

“I’m coming, calm down,” Wendy said, but she knew by now that Ash’s energy was only going to go up. She also knew what Ash was going to say, and could have said it with her.

“Can’t tell me what to do, not my mom!” Ashley cackled and grabbed Wendy’s hand, dragging her towards the building.

As they passed through the sliding glass doors, Wendy was hit by a wall of sound. Laughter; playful shouts; childish crying; and still more laughter. The sudden volume was almost frightening, but she quickly adjusted.

A table was set just inside the door, and a man with a friendly face waved at them. The table was covered in buttons with all sorts of words and phrases printed on them - “Toddler Regressor” and “He/Him” and “I experience speech loss” and “Please don’t touch me”. There were also name and pronoun stickers. The man smiled. “Pins are fifty cents apiece, stickers are free.”

Wendy blinked. “Should I get one?”

“You don’t have to,” Ashley said, pulling a few buttons from her pocket (“It’s okay to touch me” and “Loud Regressor”) and fixing them to the shoulder strap of her overalls. “Some of us just like ‘em. Makes it easier to let people know about us.”

Wendy glanced over the table, then filled out a name tag. “Hello, I am: Wendy, A Visitor.”

Ashley led her down a short hallway into what was apparently the food court, and Wendy looked around in surprise. There were dozens of people running around the way excited children might, and dozens of others soothing and scolding and cautioning and cuddling. It was a bit strange to see so many… non-children (was that the right word?) with pacifiers in their mouths or stuffed animals in their arms, wearing costumes or onsies, crying legitimate tears or laughing like they’d never stop.

“This is the yellow section!” Ashley announced happily, bouncing on her toes. “There’s a lotta great stuff here! Red’s mostly for shopping and blue’s mostly quiet stuff, but yellow’s for playing! The movie theater is good too, and the museums upstairs, but the yellow section’s the very very best! Oh, except for maybe the stuff outside, because…”

Wendy looked around while Ash continued to chatter. In addition to the sorts of restaurants one would expect to see in a food court, there was one she didn’t recognize - “Childhood Favorites”. It seemed to be a buffet-style restaurant with a lot of the foods she remembered enjoying as a kid; pizza rolls, Uncrustables, mac n’ cheese, Lunchables… It made her oddly happy to see so many of the foods she used to love in one place.

“C’mon!” Ashley exclaimed suddenly, grabbing Wendy’s hand again and dragging her away from the food court. She pointed out various things as they walked, and Wendy noticed numerous interesting things on her own. In many ways this place was like an average two-story mall. There were “stores” on either side of the hallway, and an open-air second floor which Wendy could study from where she stood.

The differences were what made the place interesting. The “stores” weren’t actually stores, or at least not ones Wendy had ever heard of; the sign above the doors said things like “La Fantaisie” and “Imagines General”. (“That one’s a play restaurant,” Ashley said when Wendy asked, “and that’s a pretend doctor’s office. They helped my doll when her arm came off!”) Huge slides had been installed next to the escalators. Beside to every bench was a play-mat. There were a few seats set into darker nooks, flanked by sighs that said “Crying Corner - Please Don’t Disturb”. When they passed one, Wendy saw a woman around her own age sobbing into her arms.

“Why is it a ‘do not disturb’ thing?” Wendy asked softly.

Ashley chewed on her lip. “Regressing isn’t always fun,” she said slowly. “Sometimes you get sad or scared and you feel like the world is ending. For some of us, crying helps. I like when somebody tries to make me feel better, but some people don’t, or they don’t all the time. My friend Micah doesn’t even want anybody to SEE him cry, and he gets real upset if you try to talk to him.”

They walked past the stores to a large open area. Wendy had visited malls where there were play structures for kids in similar areas, but once again, this place was different. There was a huge play structure shaped like a tree, clearly custom-built for adults to use. It featured a slide that looked like a giant leaf, several spots for climbing, and a treehouse fort up near the top. Near to the tree, but still clearly a separate structure, was a giant cave. The lights inside were dim, but Wendy could still tell that at least some parts of the cave could be drawn on with chalk, and the wafting smell of chlorine told her there was some kind of water activity deeper inside.

“Isn’t it GREAT?!” Ashley had been excited before, but now she was full-on screaming with delight. “And these aren’t even the only ones, there’s more - there’s five! And one of them has fountains and stuff!”

Wendy laughed a little; Ash’s energy could be contagious at times. “It’s amazing! How did-” She broke off as two men came running over, each grinning wide at Ashley.

“Hey Ashy!” one said excitedly. “Come play with us! Kay’s gonna help us make boats!”

“Okay!” Ashley took a step forward, then paused with obvious reluctance. “Oh - I can’t. I’m showing my friend around. Maybe later, Jonathan…”

Wendy smiled and gave Ashley a playful shove. “It’s fine, go ahead.”

“But that’s not fair, I invited you here…”

Wendy had only actually seen Ashley regress a few times; but she knew she’d been regressed for a while, and now was clearly trying to fight it off. And Wendy didn’t want her to.

“It’s okay,” she said, using the nurturing voice that Ash seemed to find comforting while regressed. “I’m not angry or upset. I want you to have fun with your friends.”

The change was almost immediate; Ashley broke into a wide grin and grabbed the first man’s hand, dragging him away so quickly Wendy felt the need to call, “Be careful!”

“Alice’ll take care of her!” the second man shouted over his shoulder.

A young woman - presumably Alice - followed after them at an unhurried pace. “I’ll bring her to the food court around noon,” she said, smiling as she passed.

Wendy nodded appreciatively, watching Ash and her friends disappear into the cave. Then she continued down the next hall, studying the various “stores” and smiling at the people she passed.

The signs in this new section were all shades of blue (“Questions and Answers”, “Mountain Goat Elementary”, “Day-to-Dusk Care”…), and it seemed very calm compared to the yellow area. There were also far more people sitting quietly on the benches or the play-mats-

Wendy let out a squeak of surprise as she stumbled, falling onto her hands and knees. She turned and stared at a person wearing a “they/them” sticker, sitting on the floor with a leg outstretched. Their eyes were wide and beginning to water, and Wendy started to panic. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, are you okay? Are you hurt-“

A man suddenly appeared at her side, cupping the person’s face in his hands. “Hey, kiddo,” he said, his voice very soothing. “You alright?”

The person sniffled and shook their head, rubbing one eye.

“What do you need, bud?”

They sniffled again, then made their hand into a kind of fist and moved it in front of their mouth.

The man burst out laughing. “I told you, we’re not getting ice cream today!”

Their tears suddenly vanished and  they stuck their lip out in a pout before turning their attention to the plastic cars at their feet.

The man smiled and turned to Wendy. “Hey, I’m Dustin,” he said, holding out a hand. “And the con artist is Skipper.”

Wendy shook his hand, feeling flustered. “Are you sure they’re okay? I mean, it was an accident, but-”

“Nah, they’re tough as nails. Aren’t ya, Skip?”

Skipper didn’t look up, but held out two fingers and moved them down to their other hand.

“Oh, can they…? I thought maybe they were hearing impaired”

Dustin shook his head. “They don’t talk while they’re regressed, but they can hear you.”

Wendy leaned slightly closer to Skipper. “I’m really sorry. I should have watched where I was going.”

This time they did look up, and they smiled at Wendy. Then they stuck their tongue out, which made Wendy laugh and Dustin roll his eyes. “Well, I think they’ve forgiven you. We need to get going, Skipper, Suzette’s waiting.”

Wendy helped them clean up the cars, apologized again, then continued walking - being much more careful to watch where she stepped.

The blue section eventually led to a cinema, and Wendy paused to look at the listings for the theaters. “Theaters 1-3: Various Walt Disney Animation Films. Theaters 4-6: Various Dreamworks Animation Films. Theater 7: Various Studio Ghibli Films.” And so it went. She scanned the list, then frowned and looked again.

“HORROR movies?” she said aloud, as though speaking the words would reveal them to be something else.

“Horror movies,” a voice affirmed. “Some of us really like ‘em.”

Wendy turned and gave the woman an  embarrassed smile. “Sorry, I don’t mean to seem judgmental-”

The woman waved a hand. “It’s no big deal. Plenty of regressors DON’T like ‘mature’ stuff, but plenty do - just like plenty of non-regressors like animation even though it’s ‘childish’. Older regressors get the better deal in some ways - people don’t question my media choices as much, but my little kid friends tend to get grilled.” She smiled. “I’m Elz. This your first time here?”

“Yeah, my friend brought me. Do you know Ashley?”

As soon as she asked, Wendy worried it might be a rude question - like she was suggesting all regressors knew each other - but Elz laughed. “I think all the regulars know Ash. She’s pretty hard to ignore. Do you regress at all?”

Wendy shook her head. “She just wanted me to see it. It’s really cool.”

“Yeah, Peter’s made a pretty great place. He started everything for his older brother, did you know that? Michael had to raise him and missed out on a lot of his own childhood, so he got into regression.”

“Wow. Do they still come here?”

“Oh yeah, they’re around. Peter does a walk-through almost every week to check on everybody, and he’s always up for suggestions.” Elz grinned proudly. “You seen the pet regressor store yet? There’s a section for weirder animals now, and that was actually my idea - wasn’t enough lizard stuff before.”

Wendy nodded. “You pet regress too?”

“Pet dream. It’s more pretend than the age stuff, I don’t ever really feel like a lizard, but it’s fun to crawl around and lie in the sun.”

Wendy nodded slightly. She had heard a little bit about pet dreaming and age dreaming, but she didn’t know very much about it. What Elz was describing was interesting, and it felt like something Wendy might actually enjoy. She had tried to regress, but she hadn’t felt like a child; just like someone who was pretending. But if dreaming was just a form of pretend, she might be able to get more into it.

Except it was still related to age regression, and she still felt like she was stepping in on something that wasn’t any of her business. It was so important to so many people; what business did Wendy have intruding? Ash had experienced legitimate trauma - Wendy couldn’t just use her coping method for casual fun. 

Elz laughed slightly at Wendy’s grave expression. “I’m sorry, I bet you’ve got stuff to do and I’m holding you up.”

“Oh no, I’m just thinking about something.”

“Well, I need to get moving either way, but it was nice to meet you. Hope I see you around.”

Elz headed one way, ponytail swinging, and Wendy went to other. She finally reached the red section, and this was the first area that truly seemed like a mall. There was an “Old Navy” and “Hot Topic”, a pet supplies store called “Furever Joys” and a furniture store advertising custom-built items. There were still signs that this was a place for regressors, but it felt much more “normal” than the rest of the building.

Wendy checked her watch. She had about twenty minutes before she was supposed to meet Ashley, and she wasn’t sure what else she should do. She shrugged and sat down on a bench, smiling at the man sitting on the other end.

The man smiled back and moved a little closer. “Hi. I’m Chris.”

“Wendy. Nice to meet you.”

“You too.” He glanced at her name tag and smiled. “So you’re just visiting?”

“Yeah, my friend wanted me to see the place.”

“Think you’ll come back?”

Wendy shrugged. “Probably not… Don’t get me wrong, I think this is all fantastic, I just… I’m not actually a regressor, or a dreamer or caregiver or anything really, so…”

Chris blinked. “So… what?”

“So… This place isn’t really meant for me, right?”

He shrugged. “I think it’s meant for whoever wants to be here. I mean, I’m not a regressor either, but I still like coming here. It’s just… nice to be childish sometimes.”

“But don’t most people regress because of trauma?”

“A lot do, maybe even most, but not all. Plenty of the people I know do it for fun or to relax or because they like to be looked after.”

Wendy thought this over. “… I think I want to age dream,” she finally admitted, “but I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable. Like I’m turning their coping method into a game.”

Chris smiled. “I don’t think you need to worry about that, at least not here. A lot of the regressors I know do it just for fun, and nobody’s ever gotten mad at them.”

Wendy nodded slowly. “I think I want to age dream,” she repeated, a little more confidently. “Or at least try.”

His smile widened. “I’m not doing anything right now. Do you want some company?”

Wendy nodded and they both stood up, with her leading the way. She paused in front of a Lego store, took a breath, and walked in.

As expected, the shelves were stocked with various Lego kits; but the center of the store was a huge free-build area. A few people were kneeling or sitting and building various structures. Wendy sat down and pulled a pile of blocks towards her. Chris did the same.

“Do you want to talk,” he asked, “or just build?”

“Just build, I think. Is that okay?”

He nodded and began snapping bricks together.

Wendy took a deep breath and stared at her pile of blocks. She could remember building castles when she was young, but she hadn’t touched a Lego in… probably a decade or more.

Well. No time like the present.

She lined up various bricks to form the base of a wall, then began a second layer. She ignored her desire to use similar colors, ignored her desire to perfectly stagger the blocks for maximum stability. Just grab the first one you touch. Don’t think too hard. Try to think like a child.

And as her wall grew, layer by layer, it became easier.

By the time her phone buzzed, the wall was twelve blocks tall and Wendy was humming. She fished her phone out of her pocket and saw she’s received a text from Ashley: “I’m in the food court; are you okay?”

“I have to go.” Wendy’s voice was soft and somewhat reluctant as she stared at her wall.

Chris nodded. “Do you want me to walk with you?”

“No, that’s okay.” Wendy paused, then added, “Thank you.”

“No problem.”

Wendy left the Lego store and hurried to the food court. When she saw Ashley she waved, and Ash ran over. She was no longer regressed and looked very apologetic.

“I’m SO sorry, that was so rude, I invite you here and then ditch-”

Wendy laughed. “It’s fine, Ash. I had fun.”

Ashley immediately perked up. “Really? You think you want to do this again?”

Wendy smiled. “Yeah. I think I do.”

[mormonbooks]

Agents of Shield 1x09 "Repairs"

Alright, so this will be one of my exceptions to the rule. An episode that is not written by LDS people (to my knowledge) that has characters who are NOT explicitly stated to be LDS. However, I still wanted to include it.

Hannah Hutchins is a safety inspector for Staticorp in Batesville, Utah. In the real world, Batesville is a county within Toole, Utah, which is not far from where I grew up. Historically, Batesville was founded by Mormon Pioneers in 1852. The population of Toole is 70.2% members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, so given the fact that the people in this episode are portrayed as being very religious, it is fair to assume that they are meant to be Mormons.

From her appearance, Hannah Hutchins looks like she could be LDS. This denim jacket, over a sweater vest, over a button up shirt look feels very much like something I saw people wearing in 2013. Its definitely modest enough to cover up the temple garments if she wears them. There is also something about the way she talks that just feels right to me, although obviously that has more to do with region and less to do with personal religious beliefs.

One thing wrong with her costume, however, is the cross around her neck. Although we are Christian, most Latter-Day Saints don’t subscribe to the iconography of the cross. There are various arguments as to why not, but regardless of the reason, it is simply not a part of our religious tradition. A Mormon would be more likely to have a Young Women’s medallion around her neck, or maybe something purchased from Deseret Book.

She works as a safety inspector for Staticorp – a company that was trying to create a particle accelerator. This means she must have had a high level of both technical and scientific understanding, enough to understand when things were up to code and how to fix them when they weren’t. I think this job makes a lot of sense for a Mormon, because a huge part of our faith is a respect for science and a push to become educated about how the world works. It also makes sense, as a safety inspector is meant to keep everyone safe, and as Skye observes in the episode, Hannah is a very empathetic person.

Skye’s whole description of Hannah sounds like a perfect fit for many Latter-Day Saints I know; “Overly nice, never misses a birthday post for her friends, runs the youth program at her church, rescues dogs….she genuinely cares.” In general, Mormon Culture is full of people who make sure they never let anyone feel forgotten. It sounds like she probably works with the Young Women in her ward (I will forgive Skye for changing the phrasing), potentially as the Young Women president. There are also a lot of Mormons who love dogs, and see it as part of their duty to God to take care of his creatures on the earth. (Of course, none of these are specific to Latter-Day Saints, but they certainly don’t detract from reading Hannah as Mormon).

However, the religious attitudes presented in the episode fall far from Mormon belief. For one, Hannah has a tendency to say “oh Lord,” or “oh God,” and although these are not said flippantly and there is a reverence behind them, most Latter-Day saints simply do not say that. It’s considered taking the Lord’s name in vain, and it’s just not common for us to do. Additionally, the way her neighbors react to the tragedy Hannah was apart of feels distinctly unmormon. Although LDS wards can certainly be cruel to people they reject, the cruelty never expresses itself as angry mobs throwing things at people. I have seen many people become pariahs in their communities (although never for causing the death of 4 people, but still) and Latter-Day Saints are much quieter and more passive-aggressive. I suppose it is possible for this to happen in some LDS communities, there is sometimes really WILD Drama that happens in certain wards, but if this kind of situation were to happen in MY community, I imagine that most people would simply feel too awkward to talk to Hannah, and the Bishop, Relief Society President, and others, would probably go out of their way to see how Hannah was doing, and give her the resources she needed to repent and heal from this terrible occurrence. People who loved those killed in the accident would likely be praying and reading the scriptures asking God to help them forgive Hannah for killing their loved ones. Nobody would throw a brick at her.

Hannah’s response to her neighbors, however, does seem like something a Mormon could say. She wants to turn the other cheek, forgive them for being angry with her. She is trying to be accountable for her actions, an attitude that is often encouraged in LDS spaces, even to a fault. Her fear that God has abandoned her does not fit into our doctrine, however I could see a Latter-day Saint coming to that conclusion after what Hannah has been through. We believe that keeping the commandments helps us have The Spirit with us, and wearing our temple garments (if we keep the covenants we made in the temple) protects us. Her saying that God isn’t protecting her anymore could mean that she fears, killing those people – even by accident – broke her covenant with God, so she no longer has the protection she had before. Most people don’t think the garments literally protect us from evil spirits, but after what Hannah has experienced, I could see her coming to that conclusion. However, a Mormon would not say demons, we would say Evil Spirits.

Another phrasing issue is Tobias believing he is in Hell. Although we talk about Hell very often, it is in more of a metaphorical sense, we do not believe that there is a place of fire and brimstone where sinners go. Instead, we believe that after death our spirits enter The Spirit World, and they can either be in a state of peace of prison. I guess saying “I’m in spirit prison” or “maybe I won’t go to the telestial kingdom” sounds less epic on television. Additionally, for Mormons who grow up in a culturally Christian US, although we might not technically believe in Hell, some of us internalize that belief anyway, which could explain why Tobias fell to that as an explanation for his state between worlds.

An interesting thing about this episode for me, is that I was always taught the Spirit World was like another plane, or dimension, that existed parallel to our world. This is not a commonly taught Mormon belief, as I’ve talked to many Latter-Day Saints who have never heard of such a thing, but having that as my personal background made this episode rather interesting. The “Hell” dimension that Tobias enters is parallel to this earth and he is able to shift between the two of them. For Mormons who believe in ghosts and spirits (not too many will talk about it openly but some do) this portrayal of dimension shifting actually kind of fits. Although neither of the supposedly Mormon characters in the episode think of it that way.

But finally, it is Hannah’s characterization of God that feels the most out of place. One thing that sets the LDS church apart from many other Christian faiths is that we do not harp on about “God’s wrath.” Yes, we believe in Sin, and yes, the church can be a very unpleasant place for people who don’t fit into “the ideal,” I’m not trying to claim that we are all perfect people, but our depiction of God is of a loving Heavenly Father (and Heavenly Mother) who will do everything possible to help us come home to Him (and Her).  What Skye says to Hannah is much much more reflective of how the LDS church talks about God.

“’God is love.’ It’s simple and it’s a little sappy, but that’s the version I like. God is love…the thing that holds us together. And if that’s true, I don’t think he would punish you for making a mistake. I think he’d forgive a mistake.”

Now for my ratings:

1. Well written – 4 Stars. The episode is interesting but some of the dialogue comes off too cheesy for my taste

2. Fun level – 5 stars! The background fun happening among the agents is really entertaining. Also I’m biased, this is my favorite TV show

3. Complex faith – 2 stars. The actual religious people are not portrayed in a very kind light, but I really like Skye and Hannah’s conversation about God. I was gonna give it 4 stars because it’s the only episode of AoS where people are actually allowed to be religious at all, but this episode made my roommate’s mom feel really sad and hurt so now it gets 2.

4. Homophobia scale – 1 star. Ward and May are having sex and I find that personally offensive.

5. Mormon weird – 0 stars. Nothing specifically Mormon happens in the episode. It really feels like they wanted to have an episode about deeply Christian communities, and decided to put it in Utah because that’s where the “fanatics” are or something, rather than actually looking at the majority religion in this area.

6. Diversity of characters – eeh 3 stars. The Mormons are all white, which is fair in Utah but not all of us are white. AoS cast has their lovely 2 female Asian leads though, so that’s fun.

7. Other problematic stuff – 5 stars. It’s great! Idk, the pranks are silly.

All that being said, it is possible that Hannah is meant to be a different kind of Christian, and a religious minority in Toole, Utah. In that case, all of this can be disregarded.

[spacesquidlings]

Clownery

Description: After years dedicating their lives to rooting out the darkness in the multiverse, the biggest concerns in Scarlet and Xander's lives have become ensuring the happiness of their friends and their children. The party they have organized will surely be the delight of the neighbourhood, so long as they can wrangle the party crasher hiding in their midst.

Pairing: Scarlet Parker (OC) x Xander Rogers (OC)

Warnings: Clowns (not evil clowns but as a heads up)

Notes: I was very much NOT focusing on my outlines at all and instead wrote up this little one-shot that takes place many years later. They're throwing a party for their kids, and it's a bit extravagant, but I think they're allowed some absurd extravagance!!!

**************************

The music playing over the speakers hidden amongst the brush and trees of the garden had already snagged itself in Scarlet’s mind, and she knew she would be humming the accursed circus tune for weeks after.

She pulled at the white, ruffled collar of her bright pink clown costume, smoothing her hands over the dark blue hearts that were scattered across the fabric.

“Xander,” she called, pressing her index and middle finger against her cheek, below the stars and hearts that Babs had hastily painted across her cheeks. “Can you come and take a look at something?”

Her attention was fixed on the shapes scattered on her cheeks, wondering if they made her look too ridiculous.

“What’s wrong, sunbeam?” He asked, leaning over her shoulder, eyes scanning her face through the mirror.

“Does this look okay? Do you think any of them are smudged?”

He snorted, his grin full of mischief. “I could smudge it for you if you want.”

“Xander.” She shoved him away, knowing full well that he would follow through on his teasing.

If Xander committed to anything, he committed to the bit.

And also her, she supposed.

“I think you’re going to fit right in as a clown,” she teased, pinching his side as he tried to move closer again.

“Because I always make you smile?” He pinched her cheek in retaliation, smudging the corner of a pink star.

She batted him away, rolling her eyes. “Because you are quite literally a clown.”

“Scarlet, how could you say that?” He whined pouting, his half-finished makeup making him look ghoulish. “I’m no clown!”

“Here we go.” She sighed, her tone wry despite not being nearly as irritated as she pretended to be. Not that Xander was ever one to believe her bluff, but still it was fun to pretend.

“I thought I was the love of your life.” He slumped to the ground, practically throwing himself over her lap.

“I never said you weren’t,” she said, trying to hold back her laughter.

“How could you say such a thing?” He was still pouting, not listening to anything she said. “The love of your life! Your husband! The father of your children!”

Heaving a long, exasperated sigh, Scarlet ran her fingers through his hair. “I love you with all my heart, my Xander.”

His bottom lip jutted out more. “You have a funny way of showing it.”

“You need to put that pout away,” she said, running the pad of her finger over his bottom lip. “You’re not going to make anyone smile looking like that.”

His brows rose, and although his pout remained she could hear the smile in his voice. “Make me.”

Scarlet’s stomach twisted, her heart stuttering a beat. Xander’s eyes glittered, the sky blue now more reminiscent of cerulean crystals that had caught the cold light of the stars. He fixed his gaze on her, a smile slowly arcing across his face like a crescent moon.

“Nothing to say?” He crooned. “Too enchanted by your love for me?”

Scarlet snorted, but he was clearly not done.

“Maybe I need to do something, to save you from this stupor.”

Her face flamed, and she was thankful for the thick, ivory face-paint Babs had helped her with earlier that hid her blush. “Alright, that’s enough.”

Xander protested as she shoved him away, shooting her a pitiful glare as he rose to his feet.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she whined, reaching for his hand and drawing him close again. “Once the party is over we can have a little time to ourselves, okay?”

His expression brightened at once, and he nodded, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. “Okay, sunbeam.”

“Finish up your makeup,” she called, turning back to the mirror. “The guests have already started arriving and we need to be there.”

“I thought Corrina and Flora were greeting the guests,” Xander said, peeking at her over his shoulder.

“You really think Flora is going to be able to handle guests for very long?”

“She likes Luna and the twins.”

Scarlet couldn’t help rolling her eyes. “Not when they’re crying. Or sticky. Or overly energetic. Or-”

He laughed, waving his hands through the air in surrender. “Okay, okay. I get it. We need to relieve her of her greeting duty soon.”

Scarlet ran her hands over her costume one last time before fixing a bright pink and powder blue wig to her head, finishing off her clown look.

“How do I look?” She asked, spinning around. She knew she looked silly, but she still worried about whether it was a good silly.

Neither she nor Xander were going to be providing the actual entertainment for the day, with their friends offering to help out with little shows and events and games for all the guests. But they still needed to look the part of circus members, and their twins had all but begged them to dress up as clowns.

It was Melody and Harmony’s fourth birthday, and their twins had inherited Xander’s flair for the elaborate and dramatic. Although they were both still little, they had both demanded something extravagant for their party. A simple party with their friends and sparkly decorations, or a trip to one of the beautiful interstellar villas Babs owned.

Although Scarlet wasn’t sure if she’d consider a circus extravagant.

But the twins had, and the idea had delighted them when it had been pitched. So a circus it was.

Xander had gone out of his way to rent out pony rides and carnival games, hire performers like actual clowns and magicians and acrobats, and had paid for attractions like a hall of mirrors and a miniature carousel.

Scarlet had been more than a little taken aback when Xander had proposed so many attractions. But while she’d had her reservations, he’d promised he could afford it all twenty times over. And when she’d still been on the fence he’d pouted, asking what was the point of family money if he couldn’t even spend it on his own family?

And Scarlet was not anything close to immune to Xander’s pout. And it had only gotten worse when the twins had turned their tiny little pouts on her too, pleading for the circus party of their dreams.

So a circus birthday party it was. They’d sent out invites to all of the children in the twins’ class, and all the children at their afternoon and weekend clubs. Kids from their swimming lessons, and Mommy and Me yoga, and art classes had all been invited too, promising a bustling party.

Scarlet would be lying if she wasn’t beginning to feel a little nervous, as the shouts of children and parents alike grew louder. They’d ensured there were things for the adults to do as well, as well as incentives like free food and cocktails that Babs promised would be “out of this world.”

Which was code for quite literally not of Earth. Not that the families needed to know that.

Xander finished touching up his costume before turning to Scarlet, beaming. “Are we ready to go?”

She bounced from foot-to-foot, twisting her wedding ring around and around. She wasn’t really sure if she was.

“Hey,” he murmured, gently prying her hands apart and pressing them to his chest. “We’re going to have fun, I promise. I made sure we had lots of sweets, and your favourite snacks.”

“Well I guess since you’ll be here with me,” she mumbled, ducking her head as she grinned.

She heard as Xander stammered, his hands tightening on hers. She peeked up from beneath the bangs of her wig to catch sight of the deep crimson that had spread across his face. While the white paint on his face masked the flush on his cheeks, she caught sight of it as it spread over his ears and creeped down his throat.

“Later,” he said, clearing his throat as he quickly recovered. He leaned closer, nose bumping with hers. “Once this is over you can do whatever you’d like with me.”

“If we’re not utterly exhausted by the end of it, I’ll take you up on that.”

He beamed. “Well we can always have tomorrow too.”

Scarlet rolled her eyes, wiggling her hands from his to head towards the door. “Come on. If we’re any later I’m sure Flora will hunt us down for sport.”

He winced, quickly following after her. “We don’t need bloodshed on the girls’ birthday.”

They had only just started making their way down the stairs, following what was very near deafening carnival music, when two little girls dressed up in sparkly, matching ringmaster outfits sprinted towards them.

“Mama!” Harmony was closer, throwing herself into Scarlet’s arms. “Mama our fwiends are here!”

Melody tugged on Scarlet’s leg, gesturing wildly behind her. “Dere’s a pony, mama! A pony! Can we keeps it?”

Scarlet arched a brow as she met Xander’s gaze, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “I’m not sure, my love. We already have those pretty fish as pets.”

Melody pouted, stomping her little booted foot as Harmony huffed beside her, lifting her arms in a silent plea for uppies. “Mama!”

Scarlet leaned down to scoop Harmony into her arms, shaking her head as Melody continued pouting. “Who will take care of the pony, little love?”

“I will!”

She blinked, stifling her sigh. Melody never even put her legos away when asked, Scarlet very much doubted she could take care of a pony.

“Well why don’t you try out the pony rides first?” She suggested, wincing as Harmony tugged at her wig. “See if you’ll like the pony. Then we can go from there.”

Melody paused, brow furrowing as she considered Scarlet’s proposal. “Hmm.”

“Hmm?”

She threw her arms out, shrugging. “Alright, mama. But I already wuv ponies vewwy much.”

“Before that,” Xander snatched Melody up, tossing her into the air, earning a flurry of giggles as he caught her again. “Why don’t we go see the bouncy castle? I hear it’s pink.”

Melody gasped. “Pink?! Oh papa!”

Scarlet rolled her eyes as Xander grinned, smug. He’d spent months hunting down as many pink attractions and games as he could. He’d even had to custom order the bouncy castle, which meant that after the party it would be forever taking up space in a corner of their garage.

Although she would be lying if she said she wasn’t also excited for the bouncy castle. But that was only because it was a deluxe one, not like the cheap bouncy castles that used to be brought in for her elementary school fun fairs that barely fit more than 5 kids at a time. This one had a mini ball-pit in it, and it was tall enough to fit multiple fully grown adults. And, perhaps most exciting of all, it had a bouncy slide inside of it, and she couldn’t wait to see how that would work.

Her excitement for the bouncy castle was quickly smothered, however, as Scarlet stepped foot in the background, wincing as the afternoon sunlight stabbed into her eyes. There were so many people here, she wouldn’t have known it was her backyard at all if she wasn’t still standing on her back patio, a few steps up from the sprawling green of their backyard.

Harmony wiggled in her arms, squealing as she caught sight of one of her friends. “Mama, I gotta go!”

Scarlet set her down, watching as the sun glittered on the rhinestones and sequins stitched into her costume as she sprinted towards a group of little girls milling around the hall of mirrors.

“Can we get some cotton candy?” Melody asked, suddenly all politeness as she directed a sweet, wide-eyed pleading expression on Scarlet and Xander. “Pwease?”

“It’s your birthday,” Xander said, kissing the top of Melody’s head. “You can have whatever you want.”

“Even a pony?”

He sighed, handing her off to Scarlet, sensing how Scarlet’s hands itched now that they were empty. “A pony is a different story, love. Why don’t we do what your mama suggested.”

“Fine,” she pouted, glaring at the ground. “Can I have a pony plushie?”

Scarlet laughed, bouncing her until she giggled again. “I’m sure there’s one in that pile of birthday presents.”

“But I want a big one,” Melody pouted more, throwing her arms out. “Bigger den me!”

Cuddling Melody close to her chest, Scarlet snorted. She tried and failed to stifle her laughter in her daughter’s wispy hair, but Melody was wiggling so hard, demanding to see the ponies that all her laughter bubbled up into the air.

“Alright alright, let’s go see the ponies.”

“Would you like a hand there?” Xander offered, pressing his hand against Scarlet’s back.

She let out an unsteady breath, gaze sweeping once more over what had once been their backyard. She could see more guests filtering in from the side, little girls and boys from the neighborhood dressed in swaths of pastels and neons racing towards the games and the miniature circus tent that had been set up at the very back of the yard, loud music spilling from inside. Some children yanked on their parents’ arms, and Scarlet could hear their whines as they begged to go to the cotton candy tent or the Beaver Tail station.

Flora and Corrina were dutifully thanking the guests, although Corrina seemed a bit more enthusiastic than Flora.

“Why don’t we go see your aunties Corrina and Flora?” Scarlet offered, tipping her head to the side to gesture to Xander that they should head in that direction. “You love them don’t you?”

Melody furrowed her brow, swinging her dark blue eyes between Scarlet and Xander. “Then pony?”

“Yes, then pony.”

Melody giggled, clinging to Scarlet’s neck. “Okay!”

As they drew closer Flora looked more than a little relieved, her shoulders sagging right as a child with dirt stains on their jeans slammed into her.

No one had a chance to respond before Corrina was slapping her hand over Flora’s mouth, silencing the stream of curses that were at the tip of her tongue.

The mother of the child apologized, nodding frantically at the four of them before scurrying away.

“Well,” Xander said by way of greeting. “Glad we’re here to relieve you.”

“You’re a bit too late for that.” Corrina sighed, her hand falling from Flora’s face. “There’s already a handful of five year olds who are swearing like sailors thanks to her.”

“One of them tried to bite me, what was I supposed to do?” Flora snapped, brushing off her costume. “I made this outfit myself, I don’t need teeth-marks on it.”

“That is not what happened,” Corrina drawled, smacking the side of Flora’s head. “That kid was sneezing.”

“Even worse!”

Scarlet winced, bouncing Melody as she snuggled closer, seeming bored with the exchange, but not wanting to leave just yet. Probably still clinging to the hope of seeing a pony. “Would either of you be willing to take Melody to the pony rides?”

“Absolutely not.” Flora’s response was far too quick, and even she realized it, if only a moment too late.

“I just need a few minutes, I’m feeling a little tired,” she added, waving to Melody, although the four year old’s attention was fixated on someone doing magic tricks. “I need to wash my hands.”

“Why?” Xander looked amused, smirking as Flora glowered at him.

“My hands feel sticky.”

“You haven’t touched anything,” Corrina added, arching her brow.

Flora huffed, throwing her arms into the air. “They still feel sticky!”

“My hands aren’t sticky,” Melody said, smushing them against Scarlet’s face.

“Well that’s lovely,” Scarlet muttered, wincing as Melody smeared her face-paint.

“Looks like we’re going to have to get that redone,” Xander teased, gently prying Melody away and setting her down. “Why don’t you go play with some of your friends, love?”

“I hope they wanna see da ponies,” she whined, stomping off to find some friends.

“Babs is at the face-painting station,” Corrina said, running a hand through her hair. Both she and Flora were dressed in matching leotards drowning in sparkles. Flora’s was pink, while Corrina’s was a pastel, baby blue with white accents that made her dark blue eyes pop.

All of their friends had agreed to wear costumes for the party, and both Flora and Corrina had elected to dress up similar to acrobats and performers. Corrina because she actually was quite capable of some amazing feats of acrobatics, Flora because she thought she would look stunning in the outfit.

She wasn’t wrong, but it had made Scarlet giggle when she’d pitched it.

Iris and Wes had both decided on magicians, although Scarlet wasn’t sure if there even were magicians in circuses.

Not that any of the kids cared much, delighted cheers sounding from where Iris and Wes had stationed themselves.

A quick peek over her shoulder let Scarlet know all she needed to as another wave of laughter followed in the wake of the crack of fireworks.

“Is that safe?” She felt like her heart was being clutched in a strangling grip, the sound of gunfire and blasts of magic echoing in her mind.

Xander squeezed her hand, drawing her back into the present. “I’m sure the twins wouldn’t do something that wasn’t safe.”

Another firework squealed as it shot into the sky, exploding in an array of glitter.

“For legal reasons I hope you’re right,” Corrina muttered, eyes narrowed. “How did they even get fireworks?”

“Well I hope it’s not the only thing on their agenda.” Scarlet sighed, shaking her head. “They’re gonna set the whole place on fire.”

“I’ll go see what they’re up to. I think they mentioned a puppet show later.”

Scarlet bit her lip, trying to imagine the kind of puppet show Iris and Wes would put on.

It would surely be something catastrophic.

As Corrina vanished from sight, marching towards the cacophony that had arisen around the twins’ station, Xander rubbed her back gently, leaning close. “Are you ready to face the lions?”

“You mean the parents of all the kids we invited?”

His chuckle warmed her to her bones, reminding her that she was safe, that here she had support. She didn’t have to be a hero, she didn’t have to be a leader, she didn’t have to be anything other than her daughters’ mom making a bit of small talk with some of the other parents.

Nothing she hadn’t done before.

They’d had to set up a list of the people who would be attending to ensure they had enough food for all of the guests, and as Scarlet checked over the list she noticed there were still a few families who hadn’t yet arrived.

“We should probably wait until they get here,” she murmured, scratching at her cheek. The afternoon was already a little too warm, and she was beginning to sweat beneath the heavy makeup and clown suit. “So we can welcome them and make sure they know where everything is.”

Xander lifted her hand, brushing a kiss to her knuckles. “And then afterwards we can get recklessly drunk”

She yanked her hand away to smack him, even as he laughed. “No, we cannot get drunk. We’re the hosts.”

“Then what’s the point of the cocktail bar?” He whined, slumping against her side. “Sunbeam, it’s too warm to be sober.”

“We’re not throwing up in the bouncy castle,” she hissed, lowering her voice as a few parents began making their way towards them.

“Who said anything about throwing up? I’m planning on taking a nap in the hot tub afterwards.”

“Xander, you’ll get sick.”

“You don’t know that.”

She closed her eyes, her head falling against his shoulder. “What am I going to do with you?”

“I can think of a few things.”

She pinched his side, heaving a long sigh as she slowly opened her eyes. “Xander. There are children around.”

“I’m just saying we could make another one.”

She rubbed her face against his shoulder, not caring how it smeared her makeup now. Sunfire was pooling in her core, but she ignored it, needing to steel herself for talking with the other parents. For making small talk she still stumbled through.

“Scarlet! Xander!”

She straightened at the sound of a slightly familiar voice, wincing as the sun once more pierced her eyes with its light. There would be no more time to pout, not now that they’d been spotted.

“Just one drink,” she muttered, her breath hushed so only Xander could hear. “When we get through this we get one drink.”

“Two.” She felt his smile against her skin as he murmured his response against her brow.

“Deal.”

She straightened, waving to the women that were making their way towards them. She was already thinking about the sweet drink she would request be made, the powdery pastries she would enjoy with it.

She’d survived so many things in her past. Surely she could survive mingling with the other families.

***

The last of the guests trickled in slowly, and Scarlet did her best to greet them with as much enthusiasm as there was sunshine in the sky.

She was truly delighted when the little children ran up, excited by the raucous party, squealing when they spotted their friends. The parents were a little harder to tackle, with some of them seeming just as enthusiastic as their children while others came off frostier than Scarlet was comfortable with.

One mother in particular was exceedingly critical of the noise, claiming that they shouldn’t be playing music at all. Xander had been incredibly helpful though, pointing out the permit they’d gotten approved for the party because of the size. She hadn’t had anything to say about that.

And there had been another parent who’d been annoyed that there weren’t designated gift bags for each individual child, claiming that they should have put together personalized gifts for each of the children.

There hadn’t been an easy answer to that, but there also hadn’t been a feasible way to design individual gift bags for what was somewhere in the vicinity of nearly a hundred children.

The parent had eventually stomped off towards the hall of mirrors, and Scarlet secretly hoped they got lost. If only for the nervous sweats that had pooled at the base of Scarlet’s spine that the parent had summoned.

And then there had been the mom, Scarlet was pretty sure her name had been Kristina, who had been near livid that they didn’t have her son’s favourite snacks. And that they didn’t have any healthy options either. As if they were going to serve carrot sticks at a circus-themed birthday party for their four year olds.

Luckily, Kristina’s son Bradyn heroically raced off after hearing about the pony rides and she was too distracted by him vanishing into the crowd to remember to continue berating them.

All of the guests having finally arrived, Scarlet took a long, long breath, slumping against Xander’s side. “I feel like we ran a marathon.”

“They really saved the worst ones for last, huh?” He rubbed her back, guiding her away from the entrance to the backyard and deeper into the mayhem. “You know what that means though, don’t you?”

She sighed. “Cocktails?”

He laughed. “Yes!”

“Scarlet!”

She turned, drawn from her reverie of a cold, sweet drink by their adopted daughter, Luna.

Scarlet had been worried Luna would be bored at the party, surrounded by four and five year olds. She’d only just turned twelve, but most twelve year olds weren’t particularly keen on spending an entire day with little kids.

But all her worries had been washed away when Luna had expressed genuine excitement for the party. So long as she had unlimited access to the snacks and was allowed to jump in the bouncy castle.

Luna was dressed casually, having opted not to wear a costume like the rest of their friends had. She did, however, have the most lovely face-paint, which Scarlet did not remember her having when the party was getting set up.

“What’s going on?” She asked, tucking Luna under her other arm as they walked towards the bar.

“Do you like my face-paint?” She was beaming, giggling as she danced on her toes.

“I think it’s beautiful,” Scarlet said, tucking a loose strand of hair back from her face. “Who did it?”

“Babs! She’s at the face-painting booth right now.”

“We should probably make a detour there to get your makeup fixed up,” Xander murmured, running a finger over Scarlet’s smudged makeup. “Melody really did a number on all those pretty hearts and stars.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“Where are you heading?” Luna asked, eyes glittering. “Are you going to check out the pony rides? They’re actually so cool, they’ve got a few ponies dressed up as unicorns.”

Scarlet narrowed her eyes, shooting Xander a dubious look. “Unicorns, you say?”

“And pegasus!”

Xander chuckled, looking away, the tips of his ears giving him away as they flushed crimson.

Scarlet was beginning to suspect they weren’t true pony rides at all, but instead some mythical animal ride. Likely hired from one of the territories Babs ruled over.

Not that Scarlet could say anything right now, in the midst of a crowd of very nosey parents.

She was part of enough daycare and parent text chats to know that none of the people present were very good at minding their business.

“We’re heading to the drinks table,” Xander said, his voice cracking as he hurried to change the subject. “We can get you some juice, Luna.”

“Can I have a beer?”

“No,” Scarlet and Xander said at the same time, although Xander was smirking.

“Boo.” Luna pouted, peeling away from Scarlet. “Neither of you are any fun.”

Scarlet gaped. “You cannot have beer, you’re twelve.”

“So? Raven lets me have beer.”

Scarlet didn’t get the chance to form a response before Luna was skipping away, clearly too bored of her parents to continue being anywhere near them.

“Raven gives her beer?” Scarlet blinked, tucking her chin over Xander’s shoulder. “Why is she giving her beer? Since when does Raven drink?”

“I thought she did shots, not beer.”

Scarlet snorted. “Not helping.”

“Well…” Xander trailed off, shooting her a helpless look. “Maybe today it’s alright? I mean it is a special occasion.”

“She’s twelve.”

“I was ten when I had my first glass of wine.”

Scarlet rolled her eyes, untangling herself from Xander’s side. “You’re French, it’s different.”

“How is it different?”

Scarlet decided not to elaborate, beaming up at him. “So what cocktail do you think you’ll have? Babs mentioned there’s one that glows.”

“Sunbeam.”

He whined, pouting at her, but Scarlet would not be deterred. Which also meant she couldn’t look at him or else her determination would utterly crumble. She was still very much not immune to his pout, and at this point she very much doubted she ever would be.

“Oh look, there’s the bar!” Scarlet tugged him towards the bar, her smile widening as she saw Marigold mixing up some of the drinks, laughing as she handed a shirley temple to a little girl with powder-pink pigtails.

“Hey!” Scarlet called, jogging the rest of the distance between her and Marigold. And then immediately regretting it as she felt sweat coat her arms.

She was going to need an ice bath to make it through today if the temperatures kept rising like this.

Marigold caught her eye, waving as Scarlet paused next to the bar, trying and failing not to heave as she drew warm air into her lungs.

“I didn’t realize you would be at the drinks table.” Scarlet leaned forward, folding her arms over the countertop that separated the drink-making station from the rest of the party guests.

“I found I’m quite good at it,” Marigold sang, wiping down her side of the counter. “Probably from all that experience as an apothecaries apprentice.”

“And without the surly apothecary.”

They both giggled, and relief swelled in Scarlet’s chest. That they could even joke about that period of time, that Marigold could joke after being harassed by the village’s apothecary for years, that Scarlet could joke after being flung into another universe.

“And I get a fun little bonus.” Marigold waved a glass in the air, condensation beading on the sides of the glass, a bright pink, glittery liquid sloshing just beneath the rim.

Again Scarlet laughed, feeling light as air despite the uncomfortable heat crawling across her skin. She was so happy that Marigold had come with them, that she was happy here on Earth.

“Any recommendations?” She asked, propping her chin on her arms, resting for a moment. “I want something sweet and fruity.”

Marigold hummed. “And a little sparkly?”

“Oh yes please.”

Beside her, Xander ran a hand over her back, frowning in thought. “Can I have something a little herbal?”

Marigold’s smile brightened like the sun as rain-clouds swept away. “Oh I know the perfect thing for you.”

Scarlet narrowed her eyes as she peaked up at Xander. “Herbal? Do you want it to taste like medicine?”

“Of course not,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I mean like. Something that has herbs in it. Like basil, or thyme.”

“Oh.” Scarlet considered his words. “I’ve never had a drink like that.”

“I’ll let you have a taste of mine if you let me have a taste of yours.”

She laughed, leaning against his shoulder. “I think I can manage that.”

They chatted idly, a handful of parents coming up to talk with them before rejoining the party, fresh drinks in hand. It wasn’t nearly as bad as greeting the last stream of guests had been, most of these parents wanting to talk with Scarlet and Xander, asking them about upcoming events and plans and how they were doing.

It was still a little tiring, though, and Scarlet was thankful when Marigold pressed the cool glass of her glittering pink-and-orange cocktail into her hand.

Strawberries and raspberries had been speared onto a little plastic sword balanced over the drink, and Scarlet plucked them off one-by-one, popping them into her mouth as she took her first few sips.

It was an explosion of sugary sweetness and fruity flavour. She tasted strawberry and raspberry and rhubarb and cherry, and other things she had no name for. Pink and red alien fruits and berries she hadn’t had the chance to try the last time she’d visited Starfall and Babs’ territories. It tasted like the colour pink, and it tasted like a sunrise and glittering gold.

“Well?” Marigold looked hopeful as she clasped her hands together, rocking back on her heels as she waited for Scarlet’s review. “What do you think?”

Scarlet took another long sip of her drink, her head already feeling fuzzy, like it had been stuffed with spun sugar. “It’s the best.”

Xander snorted, taking a noticeably smaller sip of his drink. “Seems I have competition for your affections today.”

“Do you want a taste?” She lifted the glass, bouncing on her toes.

He laughed again, swapping glasses with her. “This looks like it’ll give me cavities.”

Scarlet sipped Xander’s drink, intrigued by the light flavour. The slight taste of honey, the flowery flavour of the herbs Marigold had added. She didn’t like it as much as hers, but it fit Xander perfectly. He was sweet, refreshing, like a cool breeze on a summer’s day.

Xander blinked furiously as they swapped drinks once more. “That is really sweet.”

“But delicious, right?” Scarlet asked, clutching her glass as they began making their way through the crowd once more, waving goodbye to Marigold as a few people crowded around the bar counter.

“It is,” he conceded, wrapping his arm around her waist, dropping his head so his lips brushed her ear. “Although I don’t think it’s quite as sweet or delicious as you.”

Lungs spasming, Scarlet struggled to breathe, her stomach flipping round and around as though she were in a freefall.

“Xander!”

He nipped at the tip of her ear, seeming unaware of how he had flustered her. “It’s true. And I’m more than willing to prove it tonight.”

She felt like she was spluttering, coughing as she tried to take a sip of her drink. She shoved Xander away, scowling as he laughed.

“Don’t leave me sunbeam,” he whined, reaching for her again. “I miss you!”

A gaggle of children ran by their feet, nearly throwing Scarlet off-balance. She stumbled, falling right into Xander’s waiting arms.

He chuckled, looking smug as he beamed down at her. “I didn’t realize you were a lightweight.”

“In all the years you’ve known me, when have I been a lightweight?”

He shrugged, helping to put her back on her feet. He did not, however, let go of her waist again. “It’s not like you’ve had much of a chance to drink, and I don’t see you drink that often. And usually it’s radlers.”

“What? And you have had time to build up an alcohol tolerance?”

His grin grew wider, mischief in his eyes. “I’m French, remember?”

Scarlet rolled her eyes. “You are unbelievable.”

“Unbelievably handsome? Romantic?” He teased, nipping at her ear again. “Unbelievable that I’m your husband?”

“None of the above.”

Xander made a squeaking, garbled sound like he couldn’t believe her. “How could you say such a thing? Am I not your beloved?”

“Of course you are,” she said, turning to brush a kiss to the curve of his jaw. “But you are being utterly ridiculous right now.”

He smirked. “I am just a clown, sunbeam.”

Laughter bubbled in her chest, golden and fizzing, and she threw her head back as she laughed. Her drink sloshed over her fingers, but she couldn’t stop from laughing, snorting as she tried covering her face.

“I live to make you laugh,” Xander teased, nuzzling his nose to her throat as she hiccuped between giggles. “It’s the sweetest sound.”

She snorted again, trying to gain control of herself and failing. “Xander, you’re making it worse.”

“Any day hearing your laughter is magical.”

She leaned against him, body shaking as she continued to giggle, squeezing her eyes shut even though she knew Xander was beaming far prouder than he had any right to.

“Mama?”

Scarlet was only able to peel herself away from his side, giggles finally under control, when she heard Harmony calling for her.

“What is it, my little love?” She handed Xander her drink, crouching down to meet Harmony’s eyes.

“What was so funny?” Harmony asked, head tilting to the side.

“Your papa said something funny,” Scarlet said, stage whispering to make it seem dramatic. “He’s very silly, you know.”

Harmony laughed, jumping in a circle. “Paps is silly!”

“And what have you been up to?” Scarlet asked, scooping Harmony into her arms, her daughter wiggling in excitement.

“I saw da fireworks! And da puppet show! And wook!” Harmony pointed at her cheek, where a pattern of hearts and flowers had been expertly painted.

“Did Babs do that?” While it would have been easy enough to paint on a smattering of simple hearts and flowers, there was detail in each design painted across Harmony’s cheeks. Hearts in her favourite colours dusted across her nose with intricate designs caught in each, flowers of yellow and green blooming over her cheeks.

It was painted with a hand Scarlet would recognize anywhere.

Harmony squealed as she continued to wiggle, clutching at the ruff of Scarlet’s costume. “Yeah! Isn’t it pwetty?”

“It’s beautiful.”

Xander ruffled Harmony’s hair, his eyes soft. “Maybe we’ll have to ask Babs to do something like that for your mama. Then you two can match.”

Harmony whirled back to Scarlet, stars glimmering in her eyes. “Pwease, mama?!”

“I would love to,” Scarlet sang, bumping her nose with Harmony’s. “Although I won’t be as pretty as you.”

“Yes you will!”

Xander tugged Harmony’s ear until she giggled, shrieking. “Your mama is the prettiest.”

“She is!”

Scarlet sighed, knowing there was no point in arguing with either of them.

They arrived at the face painting station at the most perfect time, Babs just finishing up with a little boy who wanted a tiger to be painted on his face. He’d only just leapt up from his seat, joining a group of friends before heading off, as the three of them arrived.

“Look who’s back!” Babs stood, looking ethereal in a silvery princess dress. Silver jewellery was woven through her hair and dangling from her wrists, and a diadem of starlit silver and dark purple gems completed the outfit, making her look like an enchanting moon princess. The deep amethyst of her eyes was a stark contrast to the pale silver she was swathed in, and they seemed all the brighter for it. Like they were twin galaxies glittering with stardust.

Scarlet wasn’t exactly sure how a princess fit into the circus aesthetic, but she was not about to say anything when Babs looked so pretty.

“Babs!” Harmony wriggled in Scarlet’s hold, reaching tiny, fat arms out to Babs.

Laughing, Babs plucked Harmony from Scarlet’s arms, cuddling her close. “Look at you, little princess! I think you’re prettier than the last time I saw you!”

Harmony giggled, hiding her face against Babs’ shoulder.

“How’s it been?” Scarlet asked, crossing her arms, not sure what to do with them now that she didn’t have one of her daughters to carry.

Xander handed her back her drink, dropping a kiss behind her ear. She felt his smile against her skin and felt herself relax, enjoying the somewhat quiet moment.

“It’s been good. Lots of kids want their faces painted today,” Babs said, although the gentle smile she wore undercut any exhaustion she claimed to have. “They’ve all been very lovely though.”

“You haven’t run into a Brayden yet, have you?” Xander asked, shifting his eyes to the side as though looking for that furious mother in the crowd.

“I don’t think so. Why?”

“Heads up then. His mom is…” Xander furrowed his brow, seeming at a loss for words.

“Spirited,” Scarlet finished for him, wincing as she remembered the colourful words Kristina had thrown at them.

Babs pursed her lips, although Scarlet could see the beginnings of a smile in the dimples of her cheeks. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You could have Ryu deal with her. I love when Ryu deals with problematic parents.” Scarlet twisted her head from side-to-side, unable to locate Babs’ husband, who usually trailed behind her like a shadow. “Where is he?”

Babs’ smile burst across her face, and she giggled, covering her mouth with one delicate hand as she flicked her gaze to the side. “He got wrangled by a bunch of kids to pretend at being the circus Strong Man.”

Scarlet smirked, conjuring up an image of Ryu in her mind. When she’d first met him he’d been lean, too focused on his university studies to remember to eat much but ramen and protein shakes. He looked like an entirely different person now. Although he remained someone slender, he was much broader, thick muscle cording his arms and legs from his training. He was strong enough to wield the ancient sword of Starfall, to be named the youngest Captain of the Guard in history.

“He’s probably tossing kids in the air in the circus tent,” Babs continued. “He has such a hard time saying no to them.”

She could believe that too. He’d always been quieter, kind and gentle when he wasn’t in the midst of battle. But he’d also been a bit of a doormat, and it was surely incredibly easy for a gaggle of five year olds to bully him into playing their games.

“Can I go see?” Harmony was already wiggling from Babs’ arms, not waiting for a reply before she leapt to the ground, racing away before anyone could stop her.

“I guess she can go see,” Xander mused, sipping his drink.

Babs clapped her hands. “So what can I do for you lovely clowns today, hm?”

Scarlet giggled, gesturing to her ruined makeup. “Courtesy of Melody. I was wondering if I could have a bit of a touch-up.”

Babs fluffed her skirts before settling back into her chair, organizing her collection of paints. “Of course. Why don’t you have a seat?”

Scarlet handed her drink back to Xander, sitting in the chair Babs offered.

Babs arched a brow, gently wiping the smudged makeup. “Do you want to match Harmony?”

“Oh yes please,” Scarlet breathed, wiggling a little as she remembered the pretty designs on her daughter’s cheeks. They were so cute and she wanted to be a very cute clown.

“I think I can manage that.”

Although it was an exciting idea, Scarlet soon grew tired of sitting still, whining every time Babs chastised her for moving.

“If you keep moving I won’t be able to fix your makeup!” She admonished, grasping Scarlet’s chin with more force than she’d thought Babs had.

“You’re almost done,” Xander cooed, massaging her shoulders. “Then you can get all your wiggles out.”

Scarlet would have pouted if she hadn’t been worried Babs would smack her. “I wanna go on the bouncy castle.”

“We’ll ban all the children for ten minutes so you can bounce to your heart's content,” he promised.

“And let me go on the slide?”

“As many times as you’d like, sunbeam.”

She sighed, steeling herself as Babs continued applying the face-paint. But sitting still was hard, and as she’d gotten older Scarlet had only gotten worse at it. And even after coming back to Earth she’d had many things to keep her busy and moving. Even playing games, or reading, or playing music, she hadn’t been particularly well versed in sitting still.

With a final flick of her wrist, Babs finished her masterpiece, falling back against her chair and beaming. “There you go, Scarlet. Torture concluded.”

Scarlet nearly tripped over her own feet as she stood, desperate to shake out her arms and legs. “I wouldn’t call it torture.”

“What would you call it then?”

She frowned, trying to think of a better term. “Perplexing.”

Babs stretched her arms skyward, humming. “Sure.”

“Thank you for doing this, Babs,” Scarlet said, clasping her hands together. “I really do appreciate it.”

She beamed. “Anything for you and the girls.”

Xander scoffed. “What about me?”

Mischief played in the corners of Babs’ smile. “Sure, Xander.”

“Everyone is always so mean to me,” he grumbled. He pouted, leaning against Scarlet. “I’ve done nothing to deserve this.”

“It’s just too easy to tease you.” Babs was all smiles, her tone far too sweet for her words.

Xander grumbled something under his breath, chin resting on Scarlet’s shoulder.

“Why don’t we go try out some of those food vendors?” Scarlet offered, patting the hands that had wrapped themselves around her waist. “We’ve got some time until the cake arrives.”

Scarlet waved goodbye to Babs before plucking their drinks from where Xander had set them, wading deeper into the crowd.

Although she had spent months planning the girls’ party alongside Xander and their friends, Scarlet hadn’t been one of the ones handling the actual setup and organization of the party. She’d had no idea how everything would fit into their backyard, although Xander and Corrina and Ryu had insisted it would all fit perfectly.

She supposed their backyard was particularly large, especially for a house just on the outskirts of the city. But they’d bought the house barely a few years after the Attacks had destroyed so many homes and had sent most people racing as far from the island as they could. The house had somehow managed to survive the attacks, and the property size was apparently double what it should have been because Xander had bought up the properties next to the house before anything new could be built.

But still, even with the space she hadn’t been able to conceive of how they would be able to hold a backyard circus for their four year old’s. And yet here they were now, with a perfectly functional, raucous carnival sprawling across their yard.

Food vendors lined the perimeter of the yard, with a handful of small picnic tables to sit at and rest while people ate. The bar and drink’s counter that Marigold was at was further to the back since it specialized in alcoholic drinks, and they figured some parents would rather their kids not see that.

In the centre-back was the largest attraction, the colourful red and yellow striped circus tent. It was big enough to fit quite a crowd, and they were planning to put the cake in the tent and sing happy birthday there. For now, though, a few rotating acts were being held in the tent. They’d hired a magician, a few acrobats, and a few other classic circus acts that little kids would enjoy. And apparently Ryu was also there too, showing off his strength as he tossed children into the air.

There were few carnival games, too, like ring-toss and whack-a-mole that kids and parents both could participate in to win prizes like little colourful stuffed animals. They were set up not far from the circus tent, to lure people coming in and out of the tent.

And of course there was whatever Iris and Wes were doing. Their puppet show, magic act, and midday arson was just beyond the circus tent, in a quieter part of the yard lest they accidentally set something other than fireworks ablaze.

A few other performers Xander and Scarlet had agreed on were milling around, another magician doing smaller acts to wow the small crowd of children that had surrounded her. An actual clown making balloon animals for a line of children. A fortune teller draped in an indigo robe beneath a canopy of midnight blue.

Scarlet and Xander made their way around the outskirts of the party, trying out all the foods that were to offer. Deep fried Beaver Tails drowning in nutella and bananas and brownie chunks. Caramel corn that stuck to their fingers as the caramel melted in the heat. Candy apples that were so sweet their teeth ached. Soft pretzels so salty they downed the rest of their drinks before going off in search of the water station.

“Scarlet.” Xander’s tone was abnormally serious, startling Scarlet from her reverie as she enjoyed the syrupy goodness of the snowcone she’d just grabbed.

Her heart was in her throat as she reached towards him, fingertips stained blue and red from the syrup. “Xander? What’s wrong?”

His smile was soft, his eyes far away as he took her hand, oblivious to how sticky it probably was. It was best she did not go anywhere near Flora right now.

“Xander?”

He tilted his head down, gesturing to something he was watching. “Look.”

She turned her attention to where he was looking, finding their twins dancing with some of their friends, the children singing with the party princesses they’d hired.

“Where’d she get that wand from?” Scarlet furrowed her brow, snorting as Harmony waved around a sparkly pink wand with little streamers flying from the sides. “I don’t think we own one.”

“One of the princess maybe,” Xander suggested, squeezing her hand tighter.

She frowned at how tightly he held her hand, how unfocused his eyes were.

“Xander?” She kept her voice soft, stroking her thumb over the back of his hand. “What’s happening in your head?”

He turned back to her, the blue of his eyes limned in silver, like the sky reflected in a lake. “Scarlet, I love them.”

Her heart ached, ribs cracking from the pressure. Her eyes burned just looking at him, as ridiculous as he looked in his clown makeup. “I know you do.”

He squeezed her hand tighter. “I love them so much. I never thought I… I was almost too scared to hope that…”

He kept trailing off, but Scarlet understood. Of course she understood. Part of it was about his family, the elite who shared his blood, who’d been cruel from the moment he’d been on his own. But the other part was from the life they had all lived for so many years. From the years lost in galaxies and worlds they had never known existed. From the days they hadn’t known whether they would see through. The nights they had never been sure they’d get a chance to witness break.

“I understand,” she murmured, leaning against him. Of course she understood. How could she not, when the same feelings had pierced her, the weaknesses in her armour. When even now she stood in disbelief, not truly believing that this could all be real. When she was terrified she would wake up and this all would have been the sweetest of dreams.

He sighed, eyes closing to stifle his tears before they fell, lest they ruin his makeup. “Some days I’m so scared to wake up and find out they’re not real.”

“But they are real,” she said, keeping her voice soft. “And they’re usually the ones waking you up.”

He chuckled, loosening his grip on her hand. “They’re real. And you’re here. Every day I wake up, you’re there, and I know this isn’t a dream.”

She furrowed her brow. “How?”

A million thoughts flashed through her mind. Was it her morning breath? Was her hair always a mess? Did she kick him in her sleep? Did she sleep-talk and say ridiculous things?

But Xander’s smile was too soft to be a precursor to any teasing. He cupped her cheek, seeming not to care about her fixed makeup. “Because you’re always so close. I can feel your heartbeat, and you’re always warm. And I’m so happy there’s no way it could possibly be a dream.”

Now Scarlet’s vision was growing blurry, and she had to blink furiously before the tears fell. “Xander, you’re going to make me cry.”

He huffed a laugh, brushing his lips to the corners of her eyes. “And we wouldn’t want that.”

“We wouldn’t.” She sniffled, clutching his hand as tightly as he did hers. Until she felt his tongue flick against her skin, and then she was shaking him off, smacking his arm. “You’re an asshole.”

“But you love me, right?”

She wrinkled her nose, staring down at her melting snow-cone. “Of course I do.”

She didn’t have to look to know his smile was more blinding than the sun. If she didn’t eat her snow-cone soon it would surely melt.

“Scarlet.”

She sighed, turning back to him. His tone was playful now, although she caught the serious note at the end, the way his voice dropped when he said the final consonant of her name. “Yes, my love?”

He cocked his head to the side, mischief in his eyes. “I want another one.”

“Another snow-cone?”

A snort, his eyes flicking to where their twins continued trying to serenade the party princesses. “Another one of those.”

She blinked, certain she had misheard even as her entire body felt like it had been set aflame. “What?”

He beamed, although his eyes didn’t sparkle with his usual mischief. There was something warmer in them, deepening the usual sky-blue. His voice, too, was softer when he answered her. “I want another one.”

Not knowing what else to do, Scarlet took a bite of her snow-cone, barely registering the cold that shot its way straight to her brain.

Then she took another bite, and another, trying and failing to come up with a single response.

Another one. Another little one. Another red, wrinkly baby with little hands that were forever twisting into her hair when she tried to put them down for a nap. That screamed when she tried to feed them and screamed when she dressed them and screamed when she tried to play with them.

But another baby that cooed and smiled when their eyes opened and found hers. Another baby that laughed at the simplest things. That curled up in her arms, content with being close.

“Maybe.”

She was quite proud of herself for finding any words at all, especially with her brain frozen as it was. Xander seemed content, nodding as he curled his arm around her waist.

“We can always talk about it more later. When we’re not both dressed like clowns.”

“That would probably be best.” She finished off her snow-cone, although her thoughts were no longer frozen, whirring so quickly she thought smoke might start pouring from her ears.

They hadn’t even considered anything after the twins. Double the babies meant double the cleaning, double the cooking, double the toys, double the trouble they got up to when everyone’s back was turned.

But something in her heart ached, warmth spreading slowly out like wildflowers in spring sprouting from barren soil. Something in her heart that said it was worth talking about

 Although if they had another set of twins Xander was getting snipped. Immediately.

High pitched shrieks reeled her back from the ocean of her thoughts, and Scarlet had to remind herself that this was probably not the time to be thinking about it. But the seed had been planted in the back of her mind, and even though she did not tend to it that day, it slowly began to bloom.

They made their tour of the remaining food vendors, each snacking on a corn dog and enjoying a shared cup of the sweetest lemonade before Xander checked the time.

“The cake should be arriving in the next forty-five minutes,” he said, tucking his phone away. “We should probably let the performers know if there’s anyone in the tent. We’ll need to start setting up so it’s ready when the cake arrives.”

“Why don’t we head to the tent first? Then we can enlist anyone we see on the way over.”

“Genius idea, Lady Lightborn.”

She considered smacking him upside the head, but decided against it. She rarely heard that name anymore unless they were joking around, and the sharpness of it had been slowly smoothed away like a rock beneath ocean waves.

She did however make him stop so they could get another Beaver Tail, feeling a little smug as she took a bite.

They’d only just started plunging through the crowd, passing by families surrounding the different games, shouts of excitement and outrage a symphony of chaos around them. Ryu came up to them out of nowhere, looking more than a little disheveled, taking them both by surprise.

He’d dressed simply for the party, his outfit not much different than what he would wear around Starfall with Babs, nothing near ornate enough to peg him as the royal consort. But his usual outfit was marred by swathes of colour staining his plain white top and brown trousers. Reds, pinks, yellows, greens, and blues all created a cacophony of colour, with Ryu as the canvas. A cloud of colour trailed behind him as he moved, as though he were a fairy in a children’s storybook.

“What happened to you?” Scarlet asked, stifling laughter as a puff of yellow billowed in the air from his hair.

“There’s a new clown that showed up in the tent while I was keeping some of the kids occupied,” he said, frowning as he wiped at his face. His efforts were in vain, doing little but smudging colours together across his brow.

Xander frowned. “What do you mean a new clown? There shouldn’t be anyone new showing up.”

Ryu shrugged, his grey eyes flicking to the side. “I have a suspicion.”

Scarlet pursed her lips, only one person coming to mind who could be responsible for such shenanigans.

Well, technically there could have been three, but both Iris and Wes seemed to still be occupied with whatever they were doing, cheers coming up from where they were still situated. And there was only one person still unaccounted for.

Xander sighed, rolling his eyes. “You think she’d stop with the theatrics for the girls’ birthday.”

“It’s Raven. I think she’d die if she tried that.”

Ryu heaved a long sigh, wiping at his shirt. “If you’ll both excuse me, I need to change.”

“Take your time,” Scarlet said, patting his arm as he passed. “We’ll handle the newest member of this circus.”

Xander chuckled, taking Scarlet’s free hand. “You know sometimes it feels like we really are part of a circus.”

“Does that make us actual clowns?”

“I can’t speak for myself, but I don’t think you’re a clown.”

Scarlet laughed, offering him a bite of her treat. “Well I don’t think you’re a clown. Usually.”

“Sunbeam, you wound me!”

“I say it with affection!”

Xander pouted. “Prove it.”

Now it was Scarlet’s turn to grin mischievously, untangling her hand from his to run her finger down his arm. “Tonight maybe I will.”

If he wasn’t wearing makeup she would be able to see his blush, but Scarlet settled for the tips of his ears burning crimson. He looked away, eyes focusing on something she couldn’t see, but she knew his thoughts had ground to a standstill.

“Xander?” She made her voice as sugary as she could, invoking all the sweets they’d had so far.

He sounded strained as he responded. “Yes?”

“I love you. So much.”

She heard him suck in his breath, his hands fisting at his sides. He wouldn’t make eye-contact with her, but she didn’t much mind. She just looped her arms around his, grinning up at him as innocently as she could.

Perhaps their life really was a circus every day, and perhaps they were both clowns. But she would be happy to be one forever if it meant she would always get to be by his side, if it meant she would get to see every one of his smiles.

“Xander?”

He coughed. “I love you too.”

She offered him her Beaver Tail, smirking as he slowly broke off a piece. “Come on, we still have Raven to deal with. And then we have to prepare for the cake.”

He nodded, seeming to come back to himself just the tiniest bit. Although he still sounded a bit strained. “We have to make sure everything’s ready. It’s big.”

“What do you mean it’s big?” She narrowed her eyes. She hadn’t been on cake duty, but she had heard some of the ideas tossed around.

He shrugged, fixing a serene smile to his lips. “You’ll just have to wait to find out.”

“Alexandre, what did you do?!”

He only responded by laughing, kissing her brow. “It’s a surprise.”

She really was a clown, wasn’t she?

There was no point in pushing; Xander was a steel trap when he wanted to be. Although she was annoyed that he had chosen this moment to be one.

All she could do was steel herself, and maybe pinch Xander’s side in retaliation for keeping a secret from her now. She had no time for much else, not when they had to find a way to handle Raven and prepare for the cake and the biggest part of the party afterwards.

But everyone was happy, and that was all that mattered. And although she was annoyed, Scarlet was happy too.

[mapleglasses27]

Eyeliner and glitter lipstick - Bakugou Katsuki x Reader.

It was a hero costume evaluation day at UA. These had gotten common as graduation date came closer, and so had PR training sessions, both of which which required hero students to be all decked up in their hero suit.

For you, that meant merely pulling a zipper up, tying up your hair and putting on some annoying shoes.

For katsuki, however, it meant putting on grenades, the armour vest, knee pads, and your favourite part...

Eyeliner.

Ever since Aizawa had required that their official hero costumes be one and the same to the pictures in their files, katsuki had kind of been regretting wearing eyeliner to the shoot.

Of course, that feeling only lasted until you and your annoying ass came along, and he slowly started loving it.

Maybe it was how you always sat face to face with him, both your legs on either of his sides, and your tongue poked out a little bit as you pulled out his eyeliner and put it on his lids.

Maybe it was how you always have him a little peck on the cheek before you got up, never minding how he batted you away.

Sorry, mildly batted you away.

But today, as you went about the routine, he saw your lipstick on the table next to you both.

It was something you very rarely used, and the colour itself was rather light, although it complimented your skin beautifully.

He always loved getting eyeliner put on when you were around.

He decided it was about time he return the favour.

As you finished up with his eyeliner, and put the cap on the lid, he had picked up said lipstick, and started putting it on your partially parted lips, and tried not to think of the glitter of the lipstick glistening in the dorm light, and how your questioning eyes were intently fixed on him.

“Hey dumbass, thought you might like some lipstick.” He grunted out.

“I think that’s uneccesary, especially when I can just do this...” you replied, as you did the thing he least expected you to.

You moved closer to him, and eventually met his lips in a chaste kiss, and he could feel you smiling through it.

You pulled away, and looked at him lovingly.

He glared at you.

lovingly glared at you.

“I’ve got glitter on my lips now, moron!”

“Don’t think I haven’t seen your eyeshadow palette.”

And so, the dorm was filled with your teasing taunts and bakugou’s angry howls.

Teasing angry howls.

After all, he did love you.

But if he took it easy on you, you would most definitely be kicking his ass.

Lovingly kicking his ass.

445 Words

Sky Light Maple

A.n - Sorry I’ve been gone for so long! My laptop was actually crushed, and won’t be repaired anytime soon. Since I’m trying to get used to writing on a phone [salute to those who started out like this], you all probably won’t be getting very long content yet. I will still be posting short drabbles like this thought. That being said, I hope you enjoyed it!

[theyreonlynoodlesmike]

Boom, what if they knocked down and tied up Tommy before he killed anyone (like Sam in 94) and now reader and the gang are just dragging around Tommy (scary dog privileges). And reader is just talking to him to ease their nerves and it seems like he still understands them even if he's just responding in huff, grunts, and aggressive nods

Ooh!!!! This is such a cool idea!!!! I hope you enjoy!!!

Are You in There? (Tommy Slater x Reader)

Warnings: angst, mentions of restraints and a gag, Tommy is trying to kill everyone still, possessed!Tommy, the reader and Arnie kind of sit on the sidelines while Alice and Cindy do everything :), Arnie and Alice are canon compliantly jerks, discussed murder/abandonment

Word Count: 1.5k

You sat with Tommy's head in your lap. You were trying to keep him calm by petting his head, rubbing his temples. But this wasn't just a headache you were trying to cure.

Something was seriously wrong with your boyfriend. Like, seriously wrong.

He'd gone for an axe, just before you, Cindy, Arnie, and Alice had stopped him. You'd tied him up, and even gagged him. If you didn't, he'd yell and try to bite. And if his hands were free? Well, he'd already given Arnie a nasty bruise on the cheek and he'd nearly thrown Cindy. He was like a feral dog more than your sweet Tommy, and, well, you needed to not draw attention to where the five of you had gone exploring. Especially with what was in the next room.

Really, how would you explain your boyfriend's sudden urge to kill everyone he saw? Even if you did show them the room that Alice and Cindy had found, his name on the wall, it still sounded crazy. And what would they do with him?

You shook your head. It didn't matter, because it wasn't going to happen. You were going to fix him. You'd told him that a few times. Without mobility and the ability to bite or yell, the boy in your lap settled for glares full of hatred as his only response.

It was a little jarring to see him look at you with such contempt. Usually, his eyes were soft and kind. He was nice to everyone, but he saved a special part of his sweetness for you. And now?

You sighed as you brushed your hand over his cheek, trying to will this away with your thoughts alone. This wasn't your Tommy. It looked like him, but, whoever this was, it wasn't the man that you fell in love with.

"What are we gonna do?" Cindy asked, her arms folded in front of her. You were wondering the same thing, and your heart sank when Alice said,

"I say we leave his ass." And both you and Cindy cried out at the same time,

"No!"

"We can't!" And the pair of you looked at eachother, and then at the bleached blonde. It comforted you that at least Cindy was on your side, but hurt was etched in your face as you started at Alice. You couldn't believe that she would just leave him behind. But, Arnie sided with his girlfriend,

"Did you two forget the part where he tried to axe me? And then punched me in the face? Or, Cindy, when he fucking threw you?" And you grimaced. Yeah, Tommy hadn't exactly done himself any favors when it came to getting people on his side. But, you looked up at them, and then directly at Alice.

"You saw his name on that wall, Alice. Whatever this is- whatever that is," You said, and pointed towards the room. "It's not Tommy. It's the witch." And you knew, you knew, that you were right. You could feel it. And you knew she did too. How else could you explain everything? Nurse Lane had been right about everything so far, so you grabbed the book from her. She yelled,

"Hey!" When you snatched it but you didn't care. You flipped through it, and read from it,

"She reaches from beyond the grave to make good men her wicked slaves- See! This is what I mean! Tommy's possessed." You said, and, the three of them looked between eachother. You knew Alice and Arnie, to some degree, believed in the witch. But Cindy?

"Don't be ridiculous. The witch isn't real." And you gave her a glare. You gestured towards the room, and then asked,

"Oh, so did that just develop over time? Listen to yourself, Cindy! That's witchcraft!" You yelled, and Tommy shook in your lap. Your rising voice seemed to be riling him up, and you quickly shushed him. You stroked his face, trying to calm him, but he didn't calm so easily. He huffed and shook, but when you started scratching his scalp, in a place you knew he liked, he seemed to falter for a second. He sighed, and you watched as he settled. It made part of your heart swell, even if his eyes didn't soften.

"So- So, what if it is the witch?" Alice started, and you looked up in surprise. Everyone looked to her, and she continued with, "Well, Nurse Lane- Nurse Lane tried to kill Tommy. Maybe, we should-" And you couldn't believe what she was saying. First leaving him and now killing him? You stared at her in shock, and you were quick to yell,

"No!" And, thank God, Cindy agreed with you. She was quick to ask,

"Are you crazy? You want to kill someone? Kill Tommy?" And, you swore that Cindy was possibly the only one with sense between the three of them. Already, you were missing Tommy's even-tempered mind. Quickly, she tried to defend herself,

"Well, what else are we supposed to do with psycho here?" She said, gesturing towards him. You broke in, your voice even as you said,

"We help him. We break the curse." Your voice was serious, even if Arnie scoffed. You glared at him, and your voice was almost deadly as you stared at him and said, "He would do it for you." You paused, looking at Cindy before settling on Alice. "Tommy would do it if it was any of you." And neither Alice or Arnie seemed to have a smart remark to reply to that with. They knew it was true. Tommy was just like that. He wouldn't even give it a second thought. Even if he didn't believe in the witch, or her stupid curse.

"Well, how exactly are we supposed to break the curse?" Arnie said, and you didn't even have to answer. Alice, from memory, said in a deadpan voice,

"By cutting off her cursed hand, she keeps her grip upon the land." And then you watched as she let out a sigh and rubbed her forehead. It seemed the situation was weighing heavily on everyone. "We have to find Sarah Fiers hand and put it back with the rest of her body." Alice said, and the four of you looked between eachother. Yeah, this wasn't exactly the treasure hunt you had planned for later on in the week. Sarcastically, Arnie said,

"Great. This is gonna be so fun."

***

Getting Tommy up had been an ordeal all in itself. He'd thrashed, squirmed, and basically tried to harm anyone around him in any way he could. And getting him through the crawlspace you'd found behind the desk? Yeah, right. So, you and Arnie sat in the creepy room with all the creepy names, with Tommy's head back in your lap. At first, you'd offered to watch him by yourself, but the three of them had each given you a glance.

Getting him restrained between the four of them had been difficult, but leaving him with just you? Yeah, no way. So, Arnie sat a few feet away with his back against the wall, playing with a loose string of his tank top, just in case Tommy got loose. You, on the other hand, were talking to Tommy.

"Y'know, after all this is over, I bet the witch would make a great Halloween costume." You said, rambling on about anything and everything that came to your mind. You were trying to understand the curse more. The whole 'wicked slaves' thing was sort of vague. Part of you wondered if Tommy was even still there, or if it was the witch inside him. But, you'd started to lean towards the former a little bit. Tommy grunted. It was muffled behind the gag, but that wasn't the first time.

He seemed to be almost reacting to some of the things you said, even if the reaction wasn't always kind. When you argued earlier, he'd gotten riled up. But, when you talked to him like this, all he did was let out little grunts and huffs.

You stared down at him. At his strawberry blonde hair and his crystal blue eyes. He had a cut jaw, and nice cheekbones. You even smiled as you traced the dimple in his chin. He was your kind, sweet, perfect boyfriend. And you weren't going to let a stupid witch have him.

"Are you in there, Tommy?" You whispered, tracing his jaw. You just wanted to know, wanted some sort of sign. Something solid. Something sure. But, before you could ask him something else, Arnie let his hands fall to his lap with a clap and said,

"Can you not get all," He interrupted himself with a gesture of his hands, and you gave him a look. Really, sometimes, you didn't know what Alice saw in him.

"Are you gonna be an ass all night?" You asked, and, to your surprise, Tommy seemingly huffed in agreement. It made you smile, and, to you, that was as good of a confirmation as any.

[howaboutleeches]

Ive never sent an ask before so im not sure if it will work but how about the Arcana main 6 with a seamstress Mc :)

How would the Main Six React to a seamstress MC!

Asra:

🔮 Asra could go hours and hours just watching you sewing, putting pieces together, and working on your machine. He found it mesmerizing how skilled you were, his eyes focused on every hand movement of yours.

🔮 The sound of your machine calmed him down, and he could fall asleep on a couch next to your working space, the one he had prepared specially for you and your craft. Enough lightening to make your job easier, any materials you may need and a comfortable chair to keep you comfortable.

🔮 Once you started working, Faust paid attention to you as well. She would slither up your desk or your back and watch closely, her big eyes shining as she watched you working. "Friend, work hard!"

🔮 Asra didn't want to ask for it, but if you made something for him, he would keep it around him all the time. Wearing, wrapping around his neck, around his waist, he wouldn't let it go.

🔮 Even better if you made something for Faust as well. Maybe something matching for the three of you? It would definitely put a smile on his face and make Faust's tail wiggle in excitement.

Nadia:

👑 No matter how she came to know about your skill, either you telling her or she figuring it out on her own, she became very excited about it. "I've always admired seamstresses! I tried sewing once but I just didn't have enough skill to seek it further", she would say as she grabbed your hands, caressing them as if trying to feel the power coming from them.

👑 Not even a week later, she grabbed you by the arm and led you across the halls of the palace, until she stopped in front of a room, a bright smile on her face. She opened the door to reveal a room filled with fabrics, sewing machines, mannequins, and many other items that made your heart skip a bit.

👑 That was her way of showing how much she appreciated your work. Contributing with her money to help you have the best environment (and products) to pursue your sewing career.

👑 She would ask you to make her outfits and brag to other royals and her own family about how good you were. It didn't take long for you to start receiving requests from other kingdoms and from her relatives as well.

👑 She just wants to see you happy, and knowing she helped you with it also fills up her sense of pride. Don't get me wrong, she didn't do it so she could brag about it, but she likes to know her help took part in your happiness.

Julian:

♠️ When he came to know about what you did, he was beyond thrilled. He started to bombard you with the most various questions regarding your profession, how long you have been doing that, who taught you, and what kind of things you could make.

♠️ Although he felt a little embarrassed to ask for it, he would gather enough courage to do some stuff for him, if you wanted to and had the time, of course. Custom eyepatches would be his top request.

♠️ Eventually, he also started asking for costume capes. He got so excited when you would walk into the room waving a brand new cape, almost like a child receiving a Christmas gift.

♠️ He would often bring you books about sewing, and beautiful fabrics he bought with a discount, calling it his "contribution". The thing is, he felt guilty for asking you to do eyepatches and capes for him, but he felt so good wearing something you made, he couldn't help it!

♠️ Whenever your machine would have any sort of issue, he would rush to your aid and try to fix the situation, even if you knew how to do it yourself. He just loved being useful and getting a kiss on the cheek as a reward for his good deeds.

Muriel:

🌿 He and Inanna were curious regarding your machine. When it started to make noises, Inanna growled a little at it, but seeing it was harmless, she decided to approach and sniff. Soon, she started to enjoy the noises.

🌿 Muriel on the other hand had a frown on his face, saying he didn't like it. He actually didn't have anything against the machine itself, but he started feeling jealous of it. You spent so much time working on it, he felt left out.

🌿 You ended up noticing that and decided to set up a corner next to your working table where he could rest close to you and the fireplace as well. After that, his complaints stropped.

🌿 He sometimes went out to gather some flowers he found in the forest, hoping you could use them when sewing. He always tried to get the brightest and best smelling ones, saying they would look good on you.

🌿 If you made something for Inanna, he would think about proposing to you on the spot. Inanna has been his companion for a long time, and if you cared about her enough to do something nice for her out of genuine kindness, he would know you're the right one.

Portia:

🐈 After finding out about you being a seamstress, she bothered Mazelinka for days so she could give her an old sewing machine she had in her house and other sewing materials that were buried deep into her house. Even if they were there for a long time, they were still very good quality.

🐈 She loved to watch you sewing, finding the sound of the machine extremely relaxing. She also pulled Pepi into her lap to watch you, which she did with wide eyes, following every movement of your hand with her gaze.

🐈 Portia one day asked if you could make something for Pepi, which you agreed to. As a surprise, you made matching sweaters for Pepi and Portia, which made her tear up in joy.

🐈She always bragged about your work to Nadia, saying you were, without a doubt, the best seamstress in the entire city of Vesuvia, the whole world even! She was extremely proud of you and wasn't afraid to show it to anyone.

Lucio:

🐐At first, he tried to convince you to pursue another career path. He said you were royalty now, and royalty didn't have to sew, they had other people to do that for them. It slightly annoyed him that you were doing something that someone else could take off your shoulders.

🐐As he watched you work though, his opinion started to slowly change. He saw the effort and love you put into it, and the beautiful pieces you created. He slowly started to fall in love with it.

🐐He secretly ordered a sewing machine for himself, thinking that it should be easy to sew. Then, he would show you his final work and you would awe and praise him. At least that was his plan, but after twenty minutes of trying to get the machine to work, he gave up.

🐐 He swallowed his pride, something he has only done three times in his life (he kept count of it), and went to you, asking you to teach him how to sew. The smile on his face when he made a scarf was priceless. He paraded it around the castle, making sure that everyone knew he had done it himself. And that you, his amazing and talented partner, had taught him how.

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

Well, I've been absent for a good while now, I'm not even sure no one reads my stuff anymore, but if someone still does, here ya go! I hope you enjoy this (◠‿◠✿)

I plan on being more active, maybe posting once a week.

tag list

@the-chaos-siblings @angelyuji @diamondlight301 @antipositiva @alliespec @euphorically-bisexual @v--o-i--d @llavender-tae @iarychachy @sonofahell @sluttiestestablishment @esdtvbjikmkkjbvvh @mycomancer @spinehoarder @blackrose8425 @prettyorangepineapple @anjhope1 @updatedautopsyrep0rt

If you want to be added to the tag list, go interact on my pinned post so I can know  😉 💖

[spectral-kitkat]

Miraculous Rant.

Where the hell do I begin…

Season 1:

The show was decent in season 1. Some episodes were just mindless filler and probably weren’t needed in the grand scheme of things but they helped us get introduced to the characters, we got to know the plot and the world our characters inhabit. It was good. The love story between Adrien and Marinette was cute and off to a touching and fluffy start.

Season 2:

This season was immediately better than season 1. It had character development, it went more into detail about the lore surrounding the Miraculous and we got to learn more about our characters and their families and the villian’s motives. (HM really went from “I wanna destroy the world” to “I wanna wake my wife from the coma she’s in”).

We got to see new heroes which was fun! We got new characters like Luka and Kagami.

The season finale was epic! The Miraculous team all taking down all the previous villains in the show was awesome. At the end we even got Mari kissing Adrien on the cheek. It was great! (Even though it clearly reset itself in season 3 cause it’s never mentioned again)

I really enjoyed season 2 and it’s probably my favourite out of the 4.

Season 3:

Season 3 was kinda good and kinda bad. We had some great episodes but this is where the show took the wrong turn.

Marinette lost some of her character in season 3. This was the start of her descent into being the Queen of Mary Sues. It’s also where she was crowned the Queen of Stalkers! Her character took a fucking nose dive in this season. We had so many moments that just creeped me the fuck out.

1. The ENTIRETY of Puppeteer 2 🤢🤢🤢 I could not stand that episode. When we reached the dreaded statue scene I physically had to pause it like 10 times. That scene takes about 3 minutes to watch… it took me about 20. I cringed so fucking hard because of the secondhand embarrassment I was feeling. That was not sweet, it wasn’t romantic, it wasn’t the least bit cute… it was a train wreck! It was creepy and stalkerish and it’s a wonder Adrien even spoke to her again after that atrocity!

2. LB delivering the present in Chat Blanc. Two words: STALKER BEHAVIOUR!!! I genuinely could not believe my eyes when I saw LB run her hand across everything in his room and then actually SNIFF Adrien’s pillow. Like WTF!!! 🤮 I’m pretty sure whoever was responsible for that scene clearly thought it was the equivalent of when someone gets their S/O’s jumper or something and it still smells like them. But this turned it up to the nth degree and way passed the line of sanity.

Adrien was extremely under-utilised in this season. He didn’t really do anything. The only episodes we got about him didn’t really focus on him. ‘Felix’ whilst focusing on Adrien’s family didn’t really feature him. ‘Party Crasher’ while a beautiful mess was more about Mari trying to get into the party than the party itself. ‘Chat Blanc’ again focused more on Mari trying to fix her mistake.

We got even more heroes in season 3, not in the right order but they were there. It was fun seeing everyone’s transformations.

Season 3 was also the season of destroying redemptions. The big one obviously being Chloe. Season 2 was setting up this amazing redemption for her and before it could go anywhere it was wiped off the face of the earth during the finale (and don’t worry we’ll get to that dumpster fire later). Gabriel also had any remaining sympathy ripped away from him. How did the guy who stopped Gorizilla from letting Adrien die when he only thought he was CN go from that to using his son like fucking baseball in Chat Blanc when he knew his son was CN. Like I knew you were a shit father but you still cared about Adrien in some way shape or form but after that episode I can see I was clearly mistaken!

Before we get to the finale I want to talk about probably my 2 least favourite episodes from this season: Desperada and Reflekdoll

Desperada:

I fucking hated this episode! The only good thing was Luka getting to be Viperion, other than that this episode was awful!

Marinette was a selfish cringey bitch. Completely ignoring Luka to gush about Adrien to Jagged. Brushing Luka off as soon as Adrien turns up. Immediately cuddling up to Aspik and flirting with him when she needed to focus on the akuma (something which she has told CN not to do many times before)

Adrien, I love you kid but Jesus Christ you were a dumbass in this episode! Aspik’s design was terrible! Aspik himself was awful. I know Adrien tried his best but dude you were given the Black Cat miraculous for a reason! He shouldn’t have tried to be Aspik but even when he did he should’ve called it quits after like 5 resets not 25,913 times.

The only person with a brain this episode was Luka. So well done guitar boy, gold star!

Reflekdoll:

This episode was annoying! It was basically the start of the Marinette can do no wrong streak! When they have to swap miraculous I was happy cause it meant we got to see new outfits and see how they each handle the different powers. It would also serve as a way to get LB and CN to see what their partners role is first hand. Until we actually get to it…

LadyNoire is of course amazing and needs no introduction to using this new miraculous that she’s never used before. She’s cocky and confident and basically just LB in Chat’s costume with his powers.

Mister Bug on the other hand is just useless. He struggles with this new miraculous (like anyone would!) and is stupid and goofy. He has to rely on LadyNoire to solve the lucky charm. They swapped miraculous so shouldn’t that mean that Mister Bug should get the lucky vision and the creative powers that the earrings give him.

Overall Reflekdoll is awful. It was shitty writing and the start of Adrien getting the short end of the stick.

And now the season 3 finale… Just what the fuck. That is my only reaction: what the fuck!

Chloe you poor fucking child! What did they do to you!!! So much potential SQUANDERED!!!!

What was the point in bringing in all these different superheros with unique skill sets, costumes and transformations if you were just going to immediately reveal them to the main villian so they can’t be used again. That’s stupid! If you wanted the shock value that is “Oh no HM knows some of the heroes identities!” Then keep it as only some. Have like Max, Kim and Kagami outside trying to find somewhere to hide but unfortunately they get hit. Or Nino and Alya are hiding but the windows open and they get hit. Have some of the heroes hide so they’re fine! Taking away every ally of LB and CN’s was a stupid move! (Even if they wanted Alya to become a spy have her as part of the like 4 that get revealed or something, it’s not that difficult)

Season 3 was 50/50 for me

Season 4:

So I know season 4 isn’t even halfway through yet but so much is wrong with this season already that I need to vent!

So my biggest problem with this season of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybitch and Rena Rouge, I mean Rena Furtive… shit, Chat Noir! Is that CN is basically pointless! Adrien has been flung over a rainbow and is only remembered when he’s needed as

1. Marinette’s love interest

2. Someone for LB to shout at

3. A plot device

He has basically been sidelined. Partners my ASS!!!

Adrien is being blown off by pretty much EVERYONE! It’s coming to a point where this poor sweet summer child is going to crack! And it is not gonna be pretty… I definitely feel like the writers are leading up to a big fight between CN and LB which will probably end with Chat Blanc 2.0.

I REALLY HATE MARINETTE/LADYBUG!!!! In Season 3 I said it was the beginning of her descent, well in season 4 she’s done it. She’s descended, she has hit rock fucking bottom. She is so unlikable I don’t actually care about her as a person. She has entered full blown stalker territory it’s only a matter of time before she starts killing people for even looking at Adrien! Not to mention that Miss Mary Sue here can’t do anything wrong! She never has to suffer the consequences of her actions, she is always perfect no matter what she does… it pisses me off!)

She’s the Guardian now big whoop. I know what it feels like to be stressed and under pressure so I do understand why she needed to tell someone about it all. I just don’t see why that person had to Alya! Especially considering she has someone by her side every akuma attack going through pretty much the exact same thing. I know she’s worried about CB happening again but as I said before the more she leaves him out the more she is actually pushing that to become a possibility! Plus it makes sense for them to reveal their identities now since LB is now the guardian it’s probably a good idea to know who holds the cat miraculous, she knows everyone else’s identities!

Even if she didn’t want to tell CN her identity she could still explain the situation to him. If she didn’t want to tell him anything (which she doesn’t anyway) then instead of Alya she should’ve talked to Luka! Her boyfriend for all of half an episode (thanks writers…). He’s so sweet and caring and clearly loves her so much! If she wanted someone to confide in then why not choose the person you clearly wanted to date but couldn’t because of that very reason! (Yeah I know it’s kinda a moot point now since Luka knows both identities but still). He wanted to try and comfort her so it would’ve been the perfect moment for it. That way you could still date him and he’d know why you had to suddenly leave dates halfway through! But no break the boys heart instead!

Adrien and Marinette were both such fucking idiots in the first 2 episodes. Like why would you start a relationship with someone when you know your heart isn’t in it! That’s called leading someone on and is a really shitty thing to do to someone! No wonder Kagami and Luka ended up akumatized!

Another aspect of season 4 I don’t like is Rena Furtive. Yes ok having a spy for your side is a good strategy but when said spy basically tells an important member of a duo that the 2 person job doesn’t involve them… it just really ticks me off! Alya you are the sidekick to LB and CN! Chat isn’t!

Miraculous specials:

The Miraculous World specials suck! Shanghai is better than NY but still has its problems. Both specials add nothing to the overall plot/lore of the show apart from trying to set up some weird cinematic universe…

NY special:

One of the worst things I’ve ever had to sit through! The plane scene alone I paused a few times. I want to say well done to Mari for trying to move on from Adrien (especially considering I’m pretty sure she’s dating Luka at this point) but I can’t help but think it’s just to give her character some pointless development that goes nowhere and doesn’t actually develop anything!

LB can pretty much fuck off at this point! I hate her! She put all this shit on CN (like she doesn’t know exactly how that feels). It’s like why does she get to go off on holiday but CN can’t. LB should’ve stayed in Paris for 3 reasons:

1. She’s recently become the guardian meaning it would probably be best that she stayed with the Mircle Box

2. She’s the only one who can purity the akumas

3. If she’s so sure about being the boss then she should take responsibility of Paris and the citizens.

What really pisses me off about her is what she says to CN during the big fight. “I can’t trust you”… surely you could have this conversation afterwards since you’re supposed to be focusing on taking down the villian! Plus everyone bashes Adrien for giving his miraculous up in this episode but look at it from his point of view: His partner and best friend just said she couldn’t trust him which in turn caused him to cataclysm someone and essentially kill them. That’s gonna take a toll on anyone, especially a 14 year old! He probably thought in that moment. “Ladybug needs a partner she can trust and someone who won’t mess up and kill someone. She needs a better partner.” It makes sense he renounces his miraculous! I’m just upset that in doing so he loses Plagg who is pretty much his only friend who actually understands what Adrien goes through at home.

When Uncanny gets CN to come back, LB acts like it’s not her fault in the first place that he feels inadequate! She didn’t even apologise for saying what she did! He apologised for lying about not being in Paris but nope LB wasn’t in the wrong at all and didn’t have anything to apologise for 🙄… (yes the LadyNoir hug was amazing but I just wish it was under different circumstances!)

Also are we not gonna mention Gabriel Agreste almost starting WW3??? He wanted to launch a fucking missile!!!

Shanghai:

As I said before, this special is way better for several reasons.

We got MariChat! (Best side to the love square imo). This special actually had some semblance on a plot. Fei, whilst a bit op, was a cool character. It was nice to see Wang Cheng again.

However once again there were many problems.

A big one being Marinette yet again! (What a shock! 😒 I’ll come back to this). Another was that once again HM’s motivation has changed. How is getting the Prodigious gonna help bring back Emilie??

Back to Marinette… The fact that the words “Huh?! There must be some kind of mistake! I always know what's up with Adrien! … His 5 first names and every corresponding name date, his yearly schedule, even his shoe size! If there were anything to know about him, I would know it!” come out of her mouth whilst she is flipping through his schedule that she keeps in her pocketbook is a hugh red flag!!! That is not cute or adorable! That’s messed up and Adrien needs to fucking run and maybe possibly go into witness protection… Marinette is a full blown stalker! Not to mention the GPS she has (that could just be the find my friends app on iphone but still).

It also is extremely rude of her to use not only her great uncle’s birthday but also a lie about wanting to know her Chinese heritage in order to go to Shanghai to stalk her obsession, I mean crush. This could’ve been avoided if the Dupain-Chengs were going to Shanghai for the purpose of celebrating Wang Cheng’s bday and then Adrien just so happened to be in Shanghai.

Also this means LB left Paris without telling CN! I know CN did the same but again he can’t purify the akumas. Plus he has a reason he couldn’t stay in Paris, Mari just went cause her crush did. Great guardianship there Marinette.

This was also the last time CN actually did something. Even if it was for a short while before LB and her female partner took over (the beginning of a theme…)

Other things:

There are 2 other things that I wanna say but felt they needed a separate bit.

In Furious Fu, Su-Han has a rule book that he uses to tell Marinette which rules she has broken. At the end of the episode he tells her that is she breaks 1 more rule that he will take the Miraculous and the Miracle Box off her, which fair enough but wouldn’t it be helpful to leave the rule book with her?! How can she be wary of not breaking anymore rules when she doesn’t even know what the rules are??

Now the big one: Master Fu…

Where do I even start with him. He is so fucking manipulative!! He is Asian Dumbledore!

He decides to leave these extremely powerful jewels in the hands of 13 year olds! Surely leaving the miraculous to someone in their 20s would’ve been better!

He clearly favours LB over CN even though the Ladybug and Black Cat are supposed to be partners! Wouldn’t it make sense for them both to be in contact with the guardian from the start?? He randomly started introducing rules such as if LB and CN find out each other’s identities they would lose their miraculous… what kind of bullshit rule is that? It also came out of fucking nowhere!

Final Thoughts:

But to summarise all of that: Miraculous is on quite a steep decline but I’m invested at this point and I am genuinely curious as to where the fuck this will go.

Marinette needs professional fucking help before the writers even consider canonising Adrienette cause at the moment she is not what Adrien needs!

Adrien needs to stand up for himself! He needs to pull LB to the side and tell her what he feels and what he’s going through cause he is on the precipice of a breakdown!

(Small point that’s more to do with the fandom: when searching for fanfics it’s really annoying that Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir Bashing is a tag but Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug Bashing isn’t. Why does everyone think Marinette can do no wrong???)

[the-wild-wolves-around-you]

hear those bells ring deep in the soul (a katsuki bakugo/reader fic)

Summary: Pro Hero Dynamight was Japan’s Number Two Hero. He'd worked hard to achieve his position, his fame. And now it was all going down the damn drain, along with his hearing.

~*~*

Bakugo is suffering from hearing loss as a side effect of his quirk, and he struggles with how to face this new challenge. Enter Reader with a healing quirk.

Pairings: Katsuki Bakugo/Reader; Katsuki Bakugo/You

Rating: M(ature)

Warnings: Blood & violence. 

A/N: No spoilers or anything. This is just a self-indulgent AU fic with aged up characters. Everyone’s in their mid-20s. Fic title is from a song called “Achilles Come Down.” 

Ao3 Link: Here 

*****A/N Part 2: This post has now been updated to include the links to Ch 2

Ch 2 Tumblr Link: Here 

Pro Hero Dynamight was Japan’s Number Two Hero. Actually, he’d argue he was tied for first place with the current Symbol of Peace, Shitty Deku. Their victory statistics were basically the fucking same, the only difference was the freckled idiot was made of smiles and sunshine and stupid fucking sugar or something. The whole world ate out of his scarred, fucked up hand, and Darling Deku ate up all the media’s attention in return. 

In contrast, Bakugo wasn’t a “people person,” as Deku loved to put it, but… he also wasn’t the same fifteen-year-old brat who got muzzled on live national television. Pro Hero Dynamight was known for his crass, blunt language, his vicious streak of justice when it came to villains, but people also looked up to him. Extras cheered for him in the streets as he exploded past mid-battle. Children ran up to him on patrol and asked him to sign their books, their photos, their Dynamight merch. On one memorable occasion, that he may or may not have saved on his computer, a national news channel ran a live clip from a disaster site, a villain attack turned rescue mission after a building collapsed. The soundbite was only thirty seconds, a close up of a pale, dusty woman with a shallow cut on her brow. The splash of crimson and her bloodshot blue eyes were the only spots of color on her, everything else washed out in white plaster and cement dust, tear tracks carving grooves down her cheeks. 

But the smile on her face could have lit up goddamn Tokyo. 

“Dynamight saved us,” the woman had said to the news reporter, her voice full of awe and tears. “I-I got stuck under some debris, but I heard the moment Dynamight arrived, and I just knew we were safe. The battle was over a minute later, and then he just… pulled me out of the wreckage. He pulled us all out. He’s… the greatest hero I’ve ever seen.” 

That was a nice stroke to his ego. And the dazed woman had been right. He had pulled everyone out of that building, and not a single person died that day, which only confirmed what he already knew: 

Katsuki Bakugo was the best of the best. Deku might have been the better show pony, but Dynamight was an undefeated hero, fierce, fearless, ferocious. 

Except right now… he was fucking scared out of his mind. 

This couldn’t be happening. 

“What?” he snarled at the extra in the white coat standing before him. 

The man flinched and visibly recoiled, shuffling back a step and partially ducking behind his tablet device. When he spoke again, he’d raised his voice an entire fucking octave. 

“I-I’m sorry, sir,” the doctor stammered, but then he seemed to regain his composure and lowered his voice a little. “I… I wish I had better news for you, Dynamight, but…” 

He trailed off and swallowed, the jut of his Adam’s apple bobbing beneath the thin skin of his throat. 

“But what?” Bakugo spat, something like magma roiling in his veins, pops of heat crackling against his palms like splatters of hot oil from a stove. 

“B-But this… can’t come as a complete shock to you,” the doctor said as he glanced back at his tablet. “Other physicians before myself must have warned you of the risks.” 

The risks. Bakugo bared his teeth in a silent snarl. What did this fucking extra, with his soft hands and softer body, know about risks? The heat in his palms grew until he could see their red-hot glow out of the corner of his eye. 

“Well, who and how much do I gotta pay to fix it?” Bakugo demanded as he shoved his hands in his pockets. 

“That depends,” the doctor hedged and adjusted the square black glasses perched on his stupid face. “There are a variety of aid types—” 

“I don’t want fuckin’ support gear or aids,” Bakugo sneered. “I want mine fixed.” 

Now, the doctor’s face grew pitying. “I’m afraid that’s just not possible, given a number of factors, most importantly your current occupation.” 

“My current occupation?” the hero seethed, teeth bared again like a wounded dog, a cornered wolf, snapping at the world. “Are you fucking KIDDING—” 

A hint of fear sparked in the doctor’s eyes, but he suddenly raised a hand, palm out in the universal symbol for stop. “Dynamight, sir, I know this is distressing, but there are other sick patients in these walls, so please refrain from using your quirk.” 

“I’m not usin’ shit,” Bakugo snapped, but then the doctor’s eyes flicked downward, and Bakugo followed them to his hands, wreathed in sparks and flares of flames, lit up like a fucking Christmas tree. 

The breath stuttered in Bakugo’s lungs. 

He hadn’t even felt himself call upon his quirk. 

Even worse… he hadn’t heard it when he did. 

He dropped his hands quickly, shoving them back in his pockets. Bile rose in his throat, but he washed it down with blood as he bit through his tongue. 

“There has to be… something,” he gritted out, curling his hands into fists in their confines. “A healer—” 

“Healers are rarer than you think,” the doctor sighed and shook his head. “And what’s more, they’re usually specific and limited. Their abilities are tied to blood types or restricted to relatives or even limbs. One nurse here can only heal femur bones.” 

“Bullshit they’re rare, I’ve met at least two goddamn healers just this month,” Bakugo spat. “These paramedics—” 

“And how strong where they?” the doctor cut him off again, raising an eyebrow. “You said paramedics, so I’m going to assume their talents mostly lie in the superficial and basic: triage, stopping the bleeding, knitting skin back together, etc.” 

“What’s your fucking point?” He was this close to punching the asshole right in the glasses. 

“My point is the inner workings of your ear are much more delicate than a broken rib or lacerated arm,” the doctor said in a really condescending tone that Bakugo did not appreciate. “But let’s say you do find a healer specific enough and skilled enough to restore the hearing you have already lost without damaging anything else in the process. What then? I don’t imagine Japan’s Number Two Hero retiring less than ten years after his debut and hanging up his quirk.” 

Bakugo scowled, heart kick-starting in his chest, his gut tying itself in a knot. 

No. No, that wasn’t possible. Katsuki Bakugo was a hero, the best of the best. It was all he’d ever wanted, and he would be damned if it was taken from him. 

The doctor must have seen as much on the blond’s face because he sighed and adjusted his glasses again. “Exactly. Which means you’re just going to keep destroying your ears again and again, and even if say Recovery Girl was still alive, the repetitive healing sessions would destroy your own body’s healing factor, and after a while, you would still lose you’re hearing.” 

“Tch.” Bakugo looked away and gritted his teeth so hard they ached. 

The doctor sighed. “You’re already at moderate hearing loss, Dynamight, so while we do still have some options, they are limited. Honestly… I’m surprised you didn’t come in sooner.” 

He should have. He fucking should have. He’d been noticing little things for years, but he just brushed it off, yelled at Deku to speak the fuck up and stop mumbling, told himself his phone must be a piece of shit and that’s why he didn’t hear a call or message. The low persistent ringing he’d been experiencing since UA was harder to write off, but after a while, it was also easier to ignore. 

Then, on his last mission, Bakugo was shoving some weak ass villain at a couple of cops. The battle had lasted less than five minutes, and he was still itching for a fight, his quirk burning just beneath the surface of his skin, like embers waiting to explode back into flame. In the next moment, a hand had suddenly clamped down on his shoulder from behind, and he’d reacted out of reflex, flipping his attacker over his shoulder and nearly blasting them in the gut for good measure. 

“Whoa! Fuck, dude, it’s me!” Kirishima had yelped, his skin rippling and hardening in an instant. Wide, red eyes gaped up at him, and Japan’s Number Three Hero even looked a little worried. “Didn’t you hear me? I called your name like five times.” 

Bakugo had dropped Red Riot like he was on fire. No. No, Dynamight hadn’t heard his patrol partner. In fact, all he could hear in the moment was the muted wailing of sirens, the low murmur of shouting extras, and the blood roaring in his head. 

Now, two days later he was standing in front of a doctor who was telling him there was nothing more they could do. 

But that was fucking unacceptable. He couldn’t lose his hearing. What kind of shitty hero would he be if he couldn’t hear where the villains were in battle or where stupid extras in need of saving were in rescue situations? 

He wouldn’t be a hero at all, just a fucking liability. 

Bakugo tried to imagine having to retire, to hang up his hero costume, to leave Shitty Hair in charge of their joint agency. What would he do? He’d wanted, and planned, to be a hero since he was five years old. He had no other skills, not really. It wasn’t like he could work a damn desk job. Well, UA might throw him a bone, offer him a pity faculty position. 

The thought left a sour taste in his mouth. 

“What… are my options?” he asked haltingly as he snapped his eyes up and locked gazes with the doctor. “You said I still had some.” 

The man in the white coat blinked in surprise, but then he straightened up and tapped at his tablet. “Currently, you have a few options, but you’d receive the best outcome if we did them all together. First, we can get you fitted for some hearing aids for you to wear while you are off duty. They would significantly increase your hearing capacity in your normal day-to-day life.” 

Bakugo felt his face pull into a scowl. “Off duty? I need them while I’m on duty!” 

“If you wear them while using your quirk, you’ll ruin the rest of your hearing in one blow,” the doctor said with a straight face. “Hearing aids amplify sounds. Amplifying your explosions is the last thing we want.” 

“Well, what the fuck am I supposed to do then?” the hero snapped, heat flaring through his body with a supernova. 

“Since I assume you’re going to continue your hero work, I would recommend contacting a support gear company.” The doctor made a note on his tablet. “We’ll email you the contact information for several companies the hospital has connections with, and once you chose one, we can send them your file. There are numerous noise-cancelling devices out there, but given your situation, you will probably need to collaborate with them for something custom. The goal is to having something to protect your ears-- a helmet, headphones, anything really—while you are using your quirk. Between such a device and the hearing aids, I hope we can preserve what’s left of your hearing and maybe give you a little bit back. But I will warn you… you’re hearing will never be as it was. You should know that now.” 

You’re hearing will never be as it was. 

You’re hearing will never be as it was. 

You’re hearing will never be as it was. 

The words cycloned through Bakugo’s head, round and round and round, destroying every other thought in their path. He felt detached from himself, the doctor’s voice fizzling out into a muffled drone. His vision seemed to narrow and darken, like he was viewing the world at the end of a very long and dark tunnel. One minute, he was standing there in that examine room, and then he blinked and was on the street, people rushing past him like a river unbothered by the boulder in its current. 

He glanced down at his hand, at the paperwork for his follow up appointment and his fitting for the hearing aids. Heat squirmed under his skin, in his veins, like something living, something that wanted to get out. 

Bakugo bared his teeth, crumpled the paper in his fist, and let the heat rush through his body, down through his arm, and into his hand. He didn’t hear the crackle, but he saw the flares of light, trapped between his palm and the paperwork like fireflies. 

Then he opened his hand, and he watched the wind catch the ash and carry if off down the street, out of sight. 

He needed a fucking drink. 

~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Several hours later, Bakugo stumbled out of his usual dive bar, the taste of whisky still burning a hole through the back of his throat. The night was colder than he anticipated, colder than it should be for the beginning of autumn, and he grumbled and cursed as he hunched against the wind. He squinted at his phone, debating on whether to call a car, but in the end it was too much trouble. He was less than a half an hour’s walk from his apartment, and it was late, so he wouldn’t have to worry about extras coming up to him for photos or goddamn autographs. 

Besides, the whisky hadn’t helped to quench the heat writhing through his veins, in fact the alcohol only made it worse. Bakugo felt restless, all pins and needles and ants, so maybe the brisk walk would burn off some of that energy. 

Decided, Bakugo turned in the direction of home and began the long, stumbling journey through the midnight streets. 

Time passed as sluggishly as his feet, which he made sure to stare down at so he didn’t trip over them. Like he anticipated, he passed no one on the sidewalks, and few cars rumbled past him. It wasn’t surprising, this neighborhood was mostly shops that closed by sundown and a few residences. The dive bar he’d left was a holdover from past decades when this side of town was rougher, but Bakugo suspected the old man who owned the joint would live on for at least another decade, if only to spite the development companies that kept trying to buy him out. The ornery bastard was half the reason Bakugo loved that bar, the other half being their decent whisky and usually empty stools. 

“Shit,” he mumbled as he suddenly slipped, tittering on the edge of the curb. 

He shook his head and managed to regain his balance, but when he took another step, he wobbled again. 

“Come on, you drunk idiot,” he hissed at himself as he stumbled once more. 

Except… he’d been standing still that time. 

“Hah?” Bakugo squinted down at his feet. 

The pebbles around his shoes rattled and jumped. He didn’t think he was that drunk, but he slapped his cheek with a bit of heat to his palm. The snap of warmth and pain woke him up a little, but when he glanced back down at the ground, everything was still moving. 

“What the fu—” 

Then the road undulated under his feet like a living thing, and the shockwave hit him a moment later. 

Bakugo barked a curse as he was bucked several feet into the air, twin explosions blooming from his palms so he could right himself and land on his feet. He snapped his head up as he skidded to a stop, and the breath stilled in his lungs. 

Up ahead, a man stood in the middle of the intersection, staring down the road to Bakugo’s left. Black rubble and goo floated around him like asteroids trapped in a planet’s orbit, and even from a distance, Bakugo could see the crazed smile on the man’s pale, black-streaked face. 

A moment later, several heroes lunged out from around the corner and barreled straight for the villain, only to be blasted backwards as the villain flung out his hands and commanded the black debris and goo to slam into the idiots. 

The villain threw back his head and seemed to laugh maniacally. Bakugo couldn’t hear it, but that didn’t matter. Lava was starting to boil in his veins, burning off the last of the whisky, and Dynamight felt an equally crazed smile stretch across his mouth. 

This idiot had chosen the wrong road to fuck up tonight. 

Heat condensed in his palms like collapsing stars, and then he was exploding forward, the taste of ozone and nitroglycerin on his tongue. 

Within moments, Bakugo was able to determine the villain’s quirk revolved around asphalt. The bastard was able to pull large chunks of it out of the road and then liquify parts of them until they were scalding and sticky. 

The other heroes—whoever they were, Bakugo didn’t even care to check—struggled to evade the villain’s attacks, but evasion wasn’t Dynamight’s style. He came at the bastard head on, exploding every rock and tar puddle in his way. 

Of course, asphalt was flammable, so flames were flaring up all around the street now, but Bakugo wasn’t stupid enough to get burned. If the other heroes were, that was on them. 

Dynamight was here to get the job done. 

“Come here, ya sonvabitch,” Bakugo snarled as he blasted apart a chunk of asphalt aimed for his head. 

The villain shrieked out something high-pitched that Bakugo didn’t catch, and then the fucker was swinging out his arm, a blob of black tar following the arc. 

Bakugo let out a controlled burst toward his feet and backflipped through the air, crunching down on the roof of a parked car. He could see some of the other heroes waving at him from the corner of his eye, but he couldn’t hear what they were saying over the wailing of the car alarm below him. 

The villain’s sneer was a white slash on his black, goo-streaked face, and Bakugo bared his teeth back in an expression halfway between a feral grin and a beast’s snarl. He could feel the heat crackling along his palms as he contemplated his next move, but then the villain shouted something, and all the asphalt floating in the air rocketed back towards him like the fucker was a magnet. 

As Bakugo watched, the debris and goo coalesced into a singular shape, liquifying and hardening in turns until a giant black arm the size of a semi was hovering over the road. The fingers wiggled in a jaunty little wave as the villain shouted something again that was lost to the car’s still wailing alarm, and then the giant hand curled into a fist and dropped down on Bakugo like the hammer of some god. 

He exploded out of the way and up into the air right before the fist smashed into the car he’d been standing on, and the siren cut out with a muffled crunch. 

Bakugo had barely landed before the arm was shooting out again, but this time it wasn’t aimed for him. 

A stupid fucking extra had stumbled out of one of the buildings and stood gaping like a goddamn moron on the sidewalk. Several of the on-scene heroes rushed forward, but the hand swatted them aside like annoying flies. The idiot civilian was still just standing there, though, and Bakugo found himself airborne before he could even process the thought. 

“Run!” he roared as he reached the extra and shoved him out of the way, but an instant later, he felt stony fingers wrap around his torso and squeeze. 

Bakugo wheezed out a curse as the giant hand lifted him into the sky, the pressure around his ribs increasing with every second. The asphalt was hot in some places, too, scalding the skin of his left arm where it was pinned against his hip. He wrenched his right arm around and tried to aim at the wrist of the asphalt appendage, but the angle was off, and the few chunks he was able to blast were quickly replaced by more rubble and boiling tar. 

“Fuck!” Bakugo screamed as the fist clenched down around him. His ribs strained, his lungs unable to expand, pain licking at him like the flames flickering in his peripherals. 

Distantly, he heard the villain’s laughter below him, and as the arm swayed to the side, Bakugo realized he was right above the bastard. His vision swam, his ribs screaming, his arm burning, but Bakugo gritted his teeth as he aimed his right palm down. He concentrated every ounce of his quirk into his hand until it glowed white-hot, and the asphalt around him began to liquefy again. 

The villain’s eyes widened as he realized what the hero was doing, and the fucker wildly swung out his arm in a last-ditch effort. The giant asphalt limb responded in kind, but Bakugo unleashed his quirk right before the arm flung him through the air. 

A massive explosion rocked the street an instant later, and the subsequent shockwave slammed into his back and propelled him through a window. 

He felt the impact and pain as he struck the glass, and then… 

Nothing. 

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

“Ouch, fuck!” you cursed as your pricked yourself for the millionth time. 

A red drop of blood beaded up on the pad of your index finger, and you scowled before you sucked the smarting appendage into your mouth. It was more of a reflex than anything, since by the time you pulled your finger out, the pinprick of a wound was already healed. Healing such a small injury would usually barely even register to you, but the clock above your desk was inching closer and closer to midnight, and you’d been up since 6am. You also skipped dinner so you could finish altering the dress you were currently working on, which didn’t help your energy levels, but you were just a few stitches away from completing your task, so you hunched back over and powered through the next five minutes. 

When you were finally done, you sat back in your chair with a sigh and threw down your needle and thread. The sewing table before you swam and doubled as your vision struggled to focus on something, and you rubbed at your tired, burning eyes. You always tried to work reasonable hours, have a healthy work-life balance, but somehow you always found yourself slaving away into the dark hours of the night. You tried to tell yourself it wasn’t your fault. You’d lived here less than a year, so you didn’t know many people beyond your few neighbors and the old ladies who frequented your alterations shop. 

You were also trying very hard to keep your grandparents’ business afloat. 

Your grandfather had been a tailor, your grandmother a seamstress. They’d opened a shop together over fifty years ago, and if your parents hadn’t moved to America before you were born, you were sure you father would have taken over the family business. In the end, though, after your grandparents passed, you were the one to take up the needle and pull up your roots. You’d always loved making your own clothes, and you’d always felt… disconnected in America. Nothing had ever felt… right, no matter how many jobs you hopped around to. The US had been the only home you’d ever known, but when you and your parents spoke Japanese together, it had made something ache deep in the center of you, something you couldn’t name or place. 

So, when your father said he was taking a trip to the homeland to sell his parents’ shop, you’d gone with him and somehow convinced him to sign everything over to you. Which was more than just a little insane. Your prior work history had been in food service and clothing retail, and your degree was in linguistics for fuck’s sake. You had no idea how to run a business, let alone in another country. Thankfully, you spoke Japanese fluently, so that had been one less hurtle to overcome, but everything else had been a dramatic learning curve. Getting to know the new city, figuring out the currency, hell even navigating the vastly different social norms of Japanese culture was daunting, and you would be lying if you said you didn’t have numerous fumbles along the way. 

It, everything, had definitely taken some getting used to. 

Now, a year later, things were just starting to really look up. You had used most of the money your grandparents left you to renovate the shop, get new equipment, and fix the upstairs apartment you lived in. About two dozen loyal customers helped to pay your bills and keep you afloat, and one-to-two new customers walked into your shop each month just on word of mouth. You weren’t rich by any means, but you weren’t struggling like you did in America. You felt… happy here, if a little tired. Fulfilled. 

That might also have had something to do with your little… side business. 

You bit your lip as your eyes shot to your window guiltily, like someone was watching you. You weren’t doing anything wrong—right now, anyways—but for the last six months, it’s been hard to shake off your paranoia. 

And your guilt. Which was ridiculous. You weren’t hurting anyone. In fact, you were doing the exact opposite. 

But it was still against the law. Here in Japan, at least. 

That was another thing that took some getting used to. The Japanese government had strict laws on quirk usage, unlike in America where everything was about individualistic rights. In Japan, only heroes were given almost free reign, but even they had some restrictions on when and how they could use their powers. 

For the rest of the Japanese populace, using quirks in day-to-day life, without official permission, was frowned upon at best and illegal at worst. 

Because of your specific quirk, you leaned more toward the illegal side of things. 

Healing quirks were rare. That’s what you’d been told all your life. Your mother’s quirk was the ability to lower fevers by somehow using her own body to regulate the temperature. Nothing super special or powerful, but she’d gone on to become a pediatric nurse, so she had used her quirk to its fullest and made a long, happy career for herself. 

When you were young and your quirk manifested, you thought you would follow in your mother’s footsteps. 

But as a teenager, you’d come to some hard realizations about yourself. 

One, you weren’t strong enough to be a hero. You’d tried to get into a hero course in the States, several in fact. One course rejected you solely on your application, and then you failed two entrance exams. It had been a devastating blow to your youthful dreams and self-esteem, but your mother encouraged you, said being a hero wasn’t the only way to use your quirk for good. 

So, you turned your focus to medicine… and quickly discovered that wasn’t right for you, either. Your mother hated when you said this but… you just weren’t smart enough. You had tried, really did, but everything was such a struggle, like Sisyphus slogging uphill through the mud. It just didn’t click for you like it did for your mom. You also hated to admit it, but you were a little squeamish. You were fine with small stuff, cuts and bruises, broken fingers, but once you had to dissect a large pig in an anatomy class, and the smell and weight of the pig’s slippery organs in your hands made your lunch rise up into the back of your throat. You somehow managed to make it through the class, but directly after you ran to the bathroom and emptied your own guts into the toilet. 

With your dreams of being a hero and doctor dashed, you’d been a little aimless in college, taking random courses to fill your time and see if anything spoke to you. Then, during an 8am linguistics lecture you signed up for on a whim, something ignited inside you. Languages spoke to you like science and medicine never did. So, you’d changed your major to linguistics, minored in Japanese to feel closer to your parents, and took ever other language credit you could get your hands on. In between classes, you’d taken up sewing again while you listened to your audio assignments. It was just something to keep your hands busy at first, a skill your father taught you as a child until you abandoned it, but then your roommates complimented your work and started asking you to hem their jeans or take in their skirts. They offered to pay you, but you always declined, saying it was no trouble, you liked the work, and you liked being able to help. 

At some point, you realized that was all you had ever wanted to do. Help people. And if you couldn’t save them as a hero, you would find some other way to make yourself useful. 

So, you studied languages in the hopes of being able to help others communicate. You altered your friends’ clothes and made them small things like a monogrammed scarf or mittens. And, occasionally, you healed your roommates’ hangovers or food poisoning, stopped the bleeding when they cut their fingers making dinner, pushing through their pain to make them whole again. It wasn’t a lot, nothing really, but it was something, and it made you feel purposeful. 

When you moved to Japan, you mourned the loss of being able to use your quirk on others, but you shoved the thought aside and focused on your work and the shop and figuring out how to settle down in your first home on your own. 

Then, six months after you took over the shop, Mrs. Kojima, a little old lady in her seventies, had brought in her grandchildren’s uniforms to be patched and altered. She’d known your grandparents for many years, so she was always kind and had a story to share with you about your father in his youth or the gorgeous dresses your grandmother used to make. You always looked forward to Mrs. Kojima’s visits, and she always had a way of making you feel younger than you were, but not in a bad way. She just made you feel… nostalgic and safe, like you were listening to your late grandma talk over the phone. 

This was probably why, when Mrs. Kojima slipped and fell in front of your counter, you reacted without thinking. The old lady barely had time to hit the floor and cry out before you were hovering over her, a green aura illuminating your hands. Her pain hit you a moment later, like a heated slap to the face, a bone-deep ache in your leg, but you gritted your teeth and pushed through the discomfort. Then you moved your fingers over to the hip Mrs. Kojima was clutching, and a moment later you felt the drain as your energy siphoned into the elderly woman’s body. Thankfully, it had only been a fracture, not a full break, so you barely even felt the difference in your strength, but as Mrs. Kojima gaped up at you, realization struck you like a freight train. 

You had used your quirk, without a license, without permission, hell without the consent of Mrs. Kojima. Healing quirks were illegal for a reason, so many things could go wrong, and you weren’t properly trained. Your breathing hitched as panic seized your heart, squeezing like a vise, and your entire world had just begun to crash down around your ears when Mrs. Kojima sat up and threw her arms around you. 

“Thank you,” she’d sniffled into your hair in Japanese. “Thank you so much.” 

After the initial shock wore off, you had helped Mrs. Kojima into a chair, and she’d continued to thank you over and over again, saying how money was tight and she would have hated to be a burden to her children with hospital bills and a long recovery. She talked about how a lot of her elderly friends were in similar positions, dealing with perpetual aches and pains but having no way to pay for treatment or seek relief. 

The sadness in her face had twisted something in your chest, an ache you were all too familiar with. It was the one you felt after you failed the hero course entrance exams. The ache you felt when you realized you could never be a doctor. The ache of being helpless in the face of suffering. 

Your mouth had opened without your permission, and you told Mrs. Kojima that you would help her, and her friends, whenever they needed it. The elderly Japanese woman tried to wave you off, saying she didn’t want to get you in any trouble, but you had just smiled and said, “I’m fine with making a little good trouble.” 

You didn’t know where your courage had come from, but you let it carry you past your fears and doubts. 

So, for the last six months, Mrs. Kojima had brought all of her friends, and sometimes their children and grandchildren, to you when they were in need of healing. They always brought dresses or pants or blouses for you to fix as a cover, and you did do alterations work for them, but you also eased flaring arthritis, cataracts, fevers, and scrapped knees in the backroom. You refused to take payment for these secret services, it just felt wrong, but the little old ladies somehow always snuck large “tips” into your register when you weren’t looking. 

Mrs. Kojima and every one of her friends and family members swore to their ancestors to keep your secret, and you trusted them, but you still couldn’t help proverbially looking over your shoulder, holding your breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop and for the police to barge in and take you away. 

It hadn’t happened yet, but the worry of it kept you up most nights, which was maybe another reason why you threw yourself into your work until you were so tired you just passed out. 

You sighed again as you stretched and felt your back pop, releasing some of the tension in your spine. Glancing at the clock, you saw it was just past midnight, and you winced. You had to be up at five tomorrow—today, now—because Mr. Akane wanted to come in early before you opened the shop. His bad knee was giving him trouble again, an old injury he’d obtained as a boy. You were unable to fully reconstruct the joint—that took more strength and stamina than you currently possessed—but you were able to soothe his pain for weeks at a time, which he was immensely grateful for. He always brought you fresh fish when he came by, “gifts” he’d emphasized when you reminded him you didn’t take payment, and you’d be lying if you said you didn’t appreciate the gesture. You weren’t exactly hurting for money, but you also didn’t normally splurge on fish caught just that morning, and you told yourself you deserved the small treat. Besides, the protein helped boost your energy and stamina levels, which meant you could heal more people, so really Mr. Akane was merely investing in his future treatments. 

Your stomach grumbled at the thought of food, and you dragged yourself out of your chair before picking your way across your messy apartment to the kitchen. The apartment wasn’t very large, one large space for kitchen, dining, and living room, with one small bedroom and one bathroom down a hallway to the right when you walked in the front door. But it had been your grandparent’s home for many years before they bought a larger house after having your father, and it sat right above the shop, so you never had to worry about running late for work.

Bolts of fabric, some client pieces, and a few of your own personal sewing projects were strewn over every available surface of the main room, but you had the cleared path through the chaos memorized, so you were tossing leftovers in the microwave barely thirty seconds later. The warmed-up curry and rice—another “gift” from Mrs. Kojima—tasted as good as it had the last several days, and you hummed as the spiced meat slid down your throat and settled in your belly. After the first bite, your hunger seemed to hit you in full force, and you scarfed down every last bite in a matter of minutes. When you were done, the minor headache that had been pulsing behind your eyes abated, and you yawned as you rinsed off the dishes. 

You set the damp plate on the edge of the counter as you reached for a towel, but then a sudden tremor, followed by a loud boom, seemed to shake the building, and the plate tittered on the counter’s edge for a moment before it crashed to the floor. 

“Fuck!” you gasped as you jumped back and away from the ceramic shards, but another tremor-boom combo had you stumbling, and you scrambled to grab the back of the couch so you didn’t fall on your ass. 

Your wide eyes took in the broken plate scattered at your feet before they jumped to the window on the opposite side of the room. The night sky was dark beyond, cut only by the dim street light just beyond the window’s view. You held your breath as your heart hammered in your ears, the hair on the back of your neck prickling, sweat slicking your palms. 

What the fuck was that? Your first thought was earthquake—you hadn’t experienced one yet, but you knew they were common in Japan—but then you remembered the booms. 

Maybe… maybe an electrical box blew? But no, the lights were still working. A car crash? 

Then another boom vibrated you down to your very bones, and you fell to one knee as the breath hitched in your lungs. 

That sounded… closer. 

With your heart in your throat, you half scrambled, half crawled the last few feet to your window, and you peeked your head over the sill just as a flash off white-hot light lit up the night sky. 

“Shit!” You squinted your eyes against the glare as you leaned back from the window, but then you saw a shadow streak through the air before it crashed into a car just at the edge of your peripherals. 

You had the distant thought that Mr. Takeyoshi’s vehicle was very obviously totaled before you realized the thing that had crashed into the car was a person. 

Your jaw gaped open as a hero pulled himself from the wreckage and shook his head groggily. The shadows—only broken by more flares of light as more explosions and fire seemed to erupt along the street—made it difficult to tell how injured the hero was. You didn’t recognize their yellow and teal costume, but you saw patches of blood along the hero’s bulky frame, and bile burned at the back of your teeth. 

Holy shit. This wasn’t an accident. It was a villain attack. 

Just as you had the thought, another explosion rattled your windows, making your ears ring, and you snapped your head to the side to see a man standing in the middle of the road about half a block down. 

The man—villain, you realized quickly—swung his arms around like a conductor of an orchestra, but his instruments seemed to be the black rocks and liquid swirling around him. The debris glistened like an oil slick in the light of the flames, and as you watched, the villain shouted something and slashed his arm through the air. 

Then a figure suddenly exploded onto the scene, lunging out from the shadows in a flare of white-hot light. It moved too fast for you to track, but the villain swung his arm again, and rocks and viscous black goo shot toward the figure still in mid-air. 

A futile scream of warning caught in your throat, but then the figure seemed to explode and backflip through the air, landing on his feet but crushing the roof of a car beneath his boots. The wailing of the car’s alarm split the air, and you clenched your teeth until they ached. 

The flames illuminated this new man’s face, a snarl of white teeth against the flames and smoke, but only the barest hint of recognition flared through you before everything exploded into chaos again. Another shout from the villain had all the rocks and black slime streaking back towards him, and you watched in horror as a stony black arm fifty feet long formed above the ruined street. 

You knew you should be running, trying to find cover, calling the police, but you were glued there, on your knees before the window, you fingers digging grooves into the sill. 

The next fifteen seconds seemed to simultaneously happen in slow motion and at hyper speed. 

The giant rocky hand wiggled its fingers before it curled into a fist and slammed down on the wailing car and the man atop it. 

The man—hero, you distantly thought, although your chaotic thoughts still couldn’t place him—launched up into the air with another explosion that rattled your windows, the car alarm cutting off as the vehicle was crushed an instant later. 

The blond skidded into a landing half a dozen yards away, but then you suddenly saw Mr. Takeyoshi standing on the street, a ghostly apparition framed by smoke and flames. 

You blinked, and the giant hand shot toward Mr. Takeyoshi, batting away several more heroes who tried to intervene. 

Then the explosive hero was just there, pushing Mr. Takeyoshi out of the way, right before the hand wrapped around him. 

You could hear the hero’s anguished scream through your window as he was crushed in the fist’s grip, and the sound hit you right in the solar plexus, knocking the breath out of you, bruising your insides, the pain settling into the familiar ache of being helpless in the face of suffering. 

You watched uselessly as the hero was lifted up into the sky, struggling, setting off explosions left and right. Then the massive arm seemed to pause in the middle of the road, right above the villain, and your eyes locked onto the hero, his pale hair and skin stark against the black, rocky hand that held him trapped. 

In the next instant, a white light, like a star going supernova, bloomed to life around the hero, illuminating the white slash of his snarling teeth before it became too bright for you to take. You slammed your eyes shut against the burning light, and the hair on the back of your neck stood on end, like the moment before lightning struck, as you dropped to the floor below your window. 

Then the world exploded, the building shaking to its foundations, right before the window burst into a million shards of glass.

[nctsworld]

gifts galore

✩‌ jaehyun ‌x‌ ‌reader‌ ‌|‌ ‌smut‌ ‌|‌ fluff | ‌2.3k

SUMMARY‌ ‌⇾‌ you and jaehyun agree to not exchange any gifts this christmas, yet both of you break your agreement for the better. // part of the x-mas in ncity collection WARNINGS‌ ‌⇾‌ ‌smut,‌ costume/roleplaying (sexy mrs. claus outfit), playful dirty talk, unprotected s*x, f*ngering, couch s*x, mentions of alcohol/drinking, established relationship    ‌ ‌ RATING‌ ‌⇾‌ mature

⇾‌ gif created by me, please don’t repost or share without credit!

Snuggling underneath a blanket on the couch by the crackling fireplace, you and Jaehyun are casually watching a Christmas movie in your new apartment. His hand listlessly switches between playing with your hair and lovingly rubbing your shoulder.

You beam happily, absolutely content about your updated living situation and being with your one and only on Christmas Eve, and soon to be Christmas in half an hour or so.  

Breaking apart from his arms momentarily, you sit up to reach the coffee table. You refill your empty glass with wine. Noticing the one beside it is empty too, you pour a splash in, assuming the owner will want some more.

“Thanks, babe,” Jaehyun coos, his fingers brushing over the bottom of your back.

You’ve known each other long enough to know what the other wants without exchanging a word. Needless to say, you and Jaehyun were a perfect fit on every level. You couldn’t ask for anything more from him.  

Taking a sip, you gaze over at the little Christmas tree set up in the corner of the room and pout at the sight of the empty space surrounding it.

Because you two spent so much on the new place, money was tighter than usual, so you mutually agreed to not exchange any gifts this year. It hurt you so much since you loved seeing Jaehyun’s face light up brighter than Christmas lights when he unwrapped his presents. 

Despite the agreement, you may have had one small gift hidden up your sleeve.

You check your phone for the time. 11:48 PM reflects back at you. With a sly nibble of your lip, you rest your drink back onto the table and snuggle once more with your beloved for another several minutes.

At the stroke of midnight (which you know from constantly checking your phone), you glance upwards.

“Merry Christmas, Jaehyun,” you whisper softly. His rosy cheeks rise and his dimples show; the smile he gives you meets his starry eyes.

“Merry Christmas, my love.”

He cranes his neck to capture your lips, delving into a sweet embrace. Your hand lays on his firm chest while he rests his palm atop your cheek. Parting the kiss, you’re both forehead to forehead, sharing this moment amidst the warm atmosphere. However, without a word, you depart from his body and bolt towards the bedroom. Jaehyun’s left on the couch with ruffled eyebrows.

As he opens his mouth to say something, you call out from the bedroom. “I know we said no gifts this year, but I sorta maybe have a teeny, tiny gift this year...”

He chides you with a holler of your name. “I thought we both agreed—”

“You know I can’t help myself, okay? And anyway—”

Jaehyun’s jaw immediately drops.

You’re leaning on the doorframe with your hand stretched on the wood beside your head, donning a fitting, strapless red dress with white fleece trimming at the top and bottom, which barely covers your uncovered goods, and a Santa hat as the cherry on top.

“I thought you’d like this,” you shrug, feigning innocence. Looking off to one side, you twirl some hair around your finger. “It was cheap, so it’s not like a big gift—”

Suddenly, Jaehyun’s lips cut you off. His body presses up against yours, barring you between the doorframe and himself. A hand snakes up your thigh and, with a little help from the lack of fabric, his hand quickly grasps your bare ass. 

His kisses are eager and hungry, and when he desires more of you, he captures your neck. Your eyelids tremble, head leaning back on the doorframe.

“You really didn’t have to get me anything, you know,” Jaehyun mumbles into your skin. He’s now moved onto your exposed shoulders, but never forgetting to squeeze your ass throughout. “Not that I’m complaining...”

“Do you like it?” you moan aloud as Jaehyun leaves chaste kisses across the top of your chest. You already foresee the answer from his reactions, but you yearn to hear it explicitly. He brings his face up to you once more.

“Of course.” And his lips find a home upon yours again. The pressure against your hips strengthens and you’re certain he’s about to reward you with an emerging present of his own.

“Now, Mrs. Claus...” he says in between kisses. Light giggles let loose from you.

“Have I been on the naughty or nice list this year?” You inhale his question with his forehead against yours.

“Definitely naughty.”

He cocks his head to the side and his fingers dance away from your ass towards the front of your thighs.

“How can I prove to you that I’ve been a good boy?”

Said fingers are now being dragged along your thigh, upward to your arousal. Your breaths become shallower, thoughts melting fast from his touch, but you hone your focus, wanting to make this a proper gift for Jaehyun.

“I can think of a few ways…”    

Hurriedly, you take his wrist and lead him back to the couch. You playfully push him by the chest to sit down. Your seated love feasts his eyes on you taking your time to straddle him.  

For the longest time, your lips intertwine deeply, as if your lips are soldered together. Hands flounder over every part of your body, only intensifying the craving for you both. Exhausted from kissing, Jaehyun draws back and strips off his shirt with ease, perspired from both the passion and the fireplace.

Rising yourself off his thighs to devour his neck, your burning desire hangs overhead his own. Taking the opportunity, he slides a digit over it and you sigh into his touch. 

“I don’t think Mr. Claus would appreciate you touching what’s his,” you tease, nibbling on his ear lobe with your hands resting on his chest.

“You’re mine, and you know it,” he growls half-seriously. Without warning, Jaehyun swiftly releases his touch to grip onto your ass and waist, then lays you on your backside onto the couch. He hovers over you with fierce eyes and directly sticks two fingers into you.  

Your hat drops over the arm rest and onto the floor as your back arches from the immediate delight. Ardently, Jaehyun’s free hand pulls down the top half of your dress and your tits are pleased by his heavenly mouth.

“Am I a good boy yet?” he asks on the way towards your other breast, hot breath searing your supple skin.  

“F-fuck,” You shake your head, desperate for more. “Not quite, ah—”

Responding to your words, Jaehyun’s wrist fires up. The muscles in his arm flex greatly alongside the acceleration of his thrusting digits, and yet, he’s still maintaining the puckering around your acute nub. The excitement builds in your chest and delicate moans develop into harsh groans.    

“Babe, babe,” you call out, pausing the roleplay talk. Your fingers are falling weak within his hair and upon his arm, losing strength by the second. “I don’t want to come just yet. This is all for you, and I haven’t even touched you yet.”

With one last inhale of your chest, he then hangs his head overs yours. 

“Seeing you in pleasure is a gift in itself, honey,” Jaehyun states gently.  

Behind your half-lidded eyes, you notice Jaehyun’s fixed stare, not deterring eye contact with you whatsoever. Despite the lust, your love plants a kiss atop of your forehead.

“Now, come for me and I’ll show you how good I can be to you.”

Embracing his relieving reassurance, you relax into his touch and unwind over his full fingers. After you’re fulfilled, Jaehyun tastes your slick off his fingers with a wink prior to the undressing of his pants.

Finally bare, your sight wavers between his beautiful figure and his equally beautiful cock as he lines up with your entrance. When his possession disappears entirely, engulfing within your desire, you simultaneously moan at the initial gratification.

Your beloved’s grip is safe around your waist, feeling the downy fabric of the dress still scrunched around your body. 

Jaehyun drinks in everything—your face drenched in delectation, the constant bouncing of your bosoms happening in tandem with his deep plunges, his name spilling sweetly from your pretty lips, and the raw pleasure of it all.

He braces a hand onto the arm rest next to your head. Looking up at him, you bring your hands that were gripping tightly onto the couch towards his cheeks, cupping them. 

“I can’t believe you’re all mine,” he utters. His spare hand moves towards your sprawled upper arm, rubbing the tender muscles. You nod, whimpering in agreement.

“Are you all mine?” you moan unevenly, intoxicated by the passion.

Jaehyun nods too with hazy eyes, running fingers through his mussy hair to view you clearly.

“Of course, of course...”

The kiss you share is overpowering, as if he was kissing you upon every inch of your body all at once. Flares flood over your body, but they’re not stopping anytime soon. 

Following more fondling of one another’s bodies and the never ending orgasms he consistently draws out of you, Jaehyun can only last so much and eventually stirs, his pleasure reaching the brim and pouring onto your inner thigh.

Like clockwork, Jaehyun is quick to clean-up you and himself, and the two of you lay on the couch with him spooning your backside. You both agree to no blanket since each of you are sweltering because of the fireplace, in addition to what you just endured.

“If you think you’re going on the nice list after that, you’re wrong,” you pant, glancing over your shoulder slyly. “That was naughty from head to toe.”

Jaehyun pecks the back of your head, stuffing his nose in your hair. 

“Coal is worth the price of having you.”

He hugs you tightly and you burst into a flutter of giggles as he kisses the crook of your neck.

Morning comes and you’re surprised to not find Jaehyun in bed with you, especially after the tiring events from last night. In your pajamas, you tread towards the living room and see him in his knitted black sweater by the kitchen counter on his phone. He glimpses up, grinning ear to ear, and places his phone down.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he greets, walking to you.  

“Jae, why are you up so ea—”

Your gaze falls upon the Christmas tree in the corner and you notice a gift box as tall as a book. Puzzled, you make your way over.

“To get back at you for your gift last night,” he says next to you beside the tree and watches your next moves carefully. “I got you a little something too.” 

You laugh as you unravel the large bow, thinking it’s likely a joke gift he often does or, on the other hand, maybe more lingerie since he loved the way it looked on (and off) you.

However, your breathing stills and your entirety stiffens.

A tiny velvet box is inside, with a folded piece of paper leaning against it.

One of your hands darts to your mouth, covering it. Shaking slightly, you peer up at Jaehyun.

He nods softly, urging you to continue.

You read the letter addressed to you quietly to yourself: 

“Can you believe this is the fifth Christmas we’re spending together? Time flies by so fast, and this is our first Christmas in our own place. Hopefully the first of many!

I’m always grateful to spend the holidays with you and I couldn’t imagine anyone else to spend it with. I know it’s cliché, but I mean it when I say you mean the world to me. I can’t ask for a better gift than being with you.  

On the topic of gifts, I know you might be disappointed that we agreed on no presents this year, but please don’t hate me for going against my word (if you want, you can gift me something from Boxing Day and we’ll call it even).

I’ve been waiting to give you this gift for a really long time... 

I hope you like it.

Merry Christmas, my dearest.

Love,

Jaehyun ♡”

As you lift your head, tears blur your vision and you can’t stop them from falling. You try your best to muster up the biggest smile and squeak a simple, “Yes!”

The love of your life chuckles tenderly, caressing your cheeks in his palms. His thumbs swipe away the oncoming waterworks. “Honey, you didn’t even open the box yet.”

“I don’t need to. I have x-ray vision,” you joke. “My answer is yes.”

“You sure?” he asks. Even with the fog in your eyes, you see a sliver of worry and rejection flash by on Jaehyun’s face. You’re nodding fervently, not wanting him to doubt your love for even a second.  

His expression fades and he gently grabs the letter and box out of your hands. Getting onto one knee, Jaehyun opens the velvet box, revealing the not-so surprising sparkling ring. He holds your hand in his and slowly places the ring on your left finger.

It’s a perfect fit. 

Jaehyun stands up, still cherishing your hand in his. You’re enraptured by the light hitting the gemstone, twinkling back at you like a familiar smile.  

“Guess we’re even now?”

Sniffling, you shake your head at Jaehyun before you wipe the tears away with the back of your hand. “I’m definitely getting you a proper gift tomorrow.”

Neither of you are aware of it and will find out later that day, but snow begins to fall outside at about the exact moment you lock eyes.

You take a deep breath, trying your best to sound as normal as you can, as if you weren’t just bawling your eyes out.

“I love you, Jaehyun.”

Your love moves some of the stray strands of hair out of your face and whispers:

“And I love you.”

The next kiss is ardent and heartfelt. A kiss you’ve shared with Jaehyun many times before, but it’s a little different than the rest.

It’s a kiss that signals the new beginnings for you and Jaehyun. 

[strawberrystar7]

I think People misunderstood Chloé's arc and the season 3 finale (and especially Chloé's role in it.). And here is why I think that.

This is a really long post and I know it's hard to keep reading something as long as this but please, I ask you, either do not read it at all if you don't want to read something like this or read it completely. If you do decide to read this but stop in the middle because you want to comment on something I ask you to not do that. Please read all of it thoroughly. If you want to comment on something, take notes but don't post it before having read all, because if you do not read all you probably won't understand it correctly. Additionally, some things might have been answered later on in the post.

I think the true lesson the writers wanted to give with Chloé's arc and especially the Season 3 finale is that it's good to be forgiving and give second or maybe even 3rd chances but you shouldn't try and help someone who doesn't want to change. There was a time where she maybe wanted to change... I put the maybe there on purpose. This is because if I look at Chloé's behavior it isn't entirely clear if she ever wanted to change because she wants to help others or if she just wanted to "change" so she can have the Bee Miraculous.

Chloé's arc in actuality was a treason arc. It wasn't a redemption arc. On the surface it may have looked like one but if you look deeper I think you'll see the signs.

I know I am gonna get hate for saying the next bit but if you look closely (and I mean very closely) at Chloé's actions then you'll see what I mean. In season 1 Chloe was a stereotypical bully. In season 2 she actually got a backstory, explaining her actions. It basically made her look more like a real person. But even so her actions didn't really change. She stayed a bully. On surface level her actions did change a little, but on a lower level they didn't.

What do I mean with that? Take Despair Bear as an example she threw a party and invitated all her classmates. In itself that's a nice action but do you remember the reason why she threw the party? Adrien threatened to break up their friendship if she wasn't nicer to people. So her Butler Jean gave her the idea with the party and that she should be nice. 

Yeah, I know this happened before the Queen's Battle trilogy (I know it's actually just a 2 part episode (Style Queen and Queen Wasp) but I count Malediktator as a 3rd part because it pretty much is a direct follow up to Queen Wasp.) but this is supposed to serve as an example for Chloé's behavior in season 2.

Now look at Zombizou. Chloé gave Miss Bustier a present the day after her birthday. Do you remember why this happened? Marinette called Chloé out for not having brought one and pretty much embarrassed her infront of the class (I know the way she called her out was mean but that's not the point here). In the end Chloé most likely would never have brought a gift if this didn't happen.

I think this Episode also came before the Queens Battle trilogy but I'm not sure. Anyway even if it was before, it still shows how Chloé behaves most of the time when she does good things.

Now let's look at the Queen's Battle trilogy. In the Style Queen episode we see for the first time how Audrey treats Chloé and while it does explain why Chloé does what she does it doesn't mean her actions are excusable. It makes her actions understandable to the viewers and it makes her, as already mentioned, look more like an actual human being. In that episode we do not really see any more about Chloé and her past or actions besides her finding the Box with the Bee Miraculous.

After that Queen Wasp follows. In this episode the first scene where Chloe plays a rather major role is the scene with Gabriel Agreste, Audrey Bourgeois, André Bourgeois, Tom Dupain, Sabine Cheng, Adrien Agreste, Marinette Dupain-Cheng and of course Chloé Bourgeois. In this scene we see Audrey taking Marinette's feather hat after it rolls infront of her. She inspects it and remarks that it isn't Gabriel's. She then asks if Marinette is responsible for the hat, which Marinette replies to with her having created the hat. You know the rest Gabriel admits she won a fashion contest, Audrey remarks the hat is "exceptional", and then she asks Marinette if she wants to go to New York. That is where Chloé comes in, claiming to never having been in New York. She also asked why she was taking Marinette. Audrey replies with Marinette being "exceptional". Chloé then says that she's "exceptional" too. Audrey then says the following "The only exeptionial thing about you, my dear... is your mother.". I think you know the rest André tries to step in but is interrupted by Chloé who transforms into Queen Bee infront of everyone to proof that she is exceptional.

This wasn't simply to prove her mother wrong tho. She did it to prove to everyone that she's exceptional and her behaviors later on that episode prove that exact point. Queen Bee then disappears.

The others go home and Queen Bee looks around the city to see if there's anything she can do but doesn't find anyone who needs saving. She then thinks of that plan with the train and calls Nadja Chamak to gain publicity for her heroic deeds. As already mentioned this pretty much proves my point. If she really jzst wanted to prove Audrey wrong then why call in one of Paris's star reporters?

After the call she heads towards the metro. She runs on the side of the metro and enters the driver's room. She then Calls out her venom and numbs the driver. The metro speeds up and Queen Bee turns on the metro TV saying she'll save them (this pretty much was to gain even more publicity). Queen Bee isn't able to stop the metro and Ladybug and Cat Noir come in to help stop the metro. Ladybug calls Chloé out for numbing the train driver and Nadja Chamak comes with Audrey Bourgeois on a live call. Audrey then says the following "What? Regarding my daughter's ineptitude? I think it speaks for itself, doesn't it?". Ladybug asks Chloé to give the Miraculous back but Chloé keeps it and runs away with it. Queen Bee then gets akumatized before she transforms back causing her to turn in Queen Wasp. I don't think it's important to mention what happened while she was Queen Wasp because in this case she wasn't willingly akumatized just like Antibug which also means she wasn't herself unlike Chameleon and Miracle Queen who both were willingly akumatized and both kinda knew what happened while they were akumatized.).

When she gets deakumatized Marinette later comes in and tries to help fix Chloé's and Audrey's relationship (atleast as much as it can be fixed) by pretty much insulting both of them and saying "You're also wrong about your daughter not being exceptional. In fact, Chloé is exceptionally mean. She's the worst person I've ever met. She may be more heinous, pompous and selfish than you. Compared to both of you, even a rock seems more capable of love.". Chloé and Audrey then pretty much shout at the same time "How dare you⁈". They then see they do have a lot in common. The episode then pretty much ends after 2 more short scenes (both scenes do not have anything to do with Chloé so I don't think they are important.).

Now let's look at Malediktator. The episode starts with Chloé's documentary about Queen Bee where Chloé-Bee and Chloé-Bug (I'm gonna call her that because that's Chloé with a Queen Bee costume and Chloé with a Ladybug costume) talk about how great of a superhero Queen Bee is. Then it zooms out to reveal that the documentary is watched by Chloé's classmates.

Ivan then points out that isn't Ladybug. Chloé says it is Ladybug and Miss Bustier asks why Chloé did the assignment about herself.

Chloé then says they were supposed to choose an important person in French history. Chloé-Bug talks more about Queen Bee. Alya then points out that's Chloé with a Ladybug costume. This discussion goes on for a bit until Chloé leaves.

Chloé and Audrey then storm in to André's office while a pair is getting married. They force them out and Audrey tells André to close the school while Chloé tells him to ban Marinette and her family.

Audrey then says the following "That monster hurt your little girl’s feelings.". Chloé adds "She got the whole class to gang up on me. They all have to pay.". You probably know the rest. André says he can't do that and Chloé and Audrey leave him alone in his office and say they'll leave for New York. Chloé is then in the Bourgeois suite packing (or more like telling her Butler to pack for her.) André comes in to argue with Chloé and Audrey to stay in Versailles or near Paris.

Hawk Moth akumatizes André after Audrey and Chloé leave with the helicopter.

Chloé flies over the school with her helicopter, throwing flyers showing Chloé in front of the statue of liberty and saying she'll leave for New York. The students celebrate after Chloé leaves.

Malediktator stops the helicopter and says he has the power to close the school and banish the students who were mean to her. He then commands Audrey to be devoted to him and stay in Paris. Chloé runs away/hides. Some time passes and Ladybug goes to Chloé asking her why Malediktator is mad.

Chloé doesn't want to say at first and blames Marinette, then saying André got mad all by himself but then she admits to being the cause of her fathers akumatization.

Then this happens:

Ladybug: Because of what happened in school? I'm sure Marinette probably didn't exactly mean what she said.

Chloé: Oh, it's not just her— actually, I don't even care about her— it's because I have no reason to be here: nobody likes me; I have no friends. I'm… useless.

Ladybug: (remembering what Adrien told Marinette earlier at school about Chloé) A friend once told me: nobody is useless, Chloé.

Chloé: It's easy for you to say that. You're Ladybug, a superhero. You serve a purpose.

Ladybug: Yes, I can fix up all the messes. You said it yourself in your documentary.

Chloé: (gasps) You saw it?!

Ladybug: (nods) Mm-hmm.

Chloé: Oh! I'm so embarrassed. That film's ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. I realize that now.

Ladybug: Don't worry Chloé. You can fix your own messes, if that's what you want. You, too, can serve a purpose, but you have to want to.

Chloé: (sniffles) I do want to.

Ladybug: Chloé Bourgeois, (holds out the Miraculous box) here is the Bee Miraculous, which grants you the power to immobilize your opponent. You will use it for the greater good.

(Chloé hesitates; Ladybug nods approvingly; Chloé takes the box and opens it; a yellow ball of light flies around her and Pollen appears.)

Pollen: At your service, my Queen.

Ladybug: Once the job is complete, you will return the Miraculous to me. Can I trust you, Chloé?

Chloé: (puts the haircomb in her hair) I won't disappoint you this time, Ladybug.

Then Chloé transforms into Queen Bee.

Queen Bee and Ladybug (with the help of Cat!Cat Noir) defeat Malediktator.

Then this happens:

Ladybug: Yep, you missed Queen Bee and Ladybug saving Paris, for real this time.

Queen Bee: I understand, Ladybug. Buzz off. (transforms back into Chloé)

Chloé: (gives back her Miraculous) Being a superhero isn't only about fixing messes. (Ladybug holds up her hand in a fist; Chloé gasps and smiles)

Chloé and Ladybug: (fist-bump) Pound it!

After that Chloé and her family leave.

Then this happens:

Chloé: It's okay, Jean-Yves; I'll take care of it.

Butler Jean: Mademoiselle, are you sure?

Chloé: Yes, I need to do it myself.

Marinette: Chloé?

Chloé: (gasps) Dupain-Cheng?

After that Marinette brings Chloé to the school showing her they threw a party for her. That's pretty much how the episode ends.

I guess this is the episode (Malediktator) that convinced everyone Chloé was changing (and maybe at this point in time she truly did want to change. But I'll explain later on in the text why it did not work out.). After all it literally showed scenes where Chloé was nice without her benefitting from it. And honestly the earlier episodes did not show that Chloé was going to change. The earlier episodes gave depth to her character and kinda explained her actions but they didn't really make her look like she wanted to change. The end of the Malediktator episode tho? It did look like she wanted to change or atleast it made it seem like that. But as I implied Chloé's arc is way more complicated than you think. It can't be just written of as bad or inconsistent writing. Read more and you'll see exactly why this isn't just inconsistent/bad writing.

I don't think we saw much of Chloé in the season 2 finale besides her appearance as Queen Bee again. But honestly I do not remember much about the season 2 finale anyway.

Now let's look at season 3. (I just remembered I forgot about Animaestro. I forgot where in the season that happened but I just put it in the beginning because I feel like it would ruin the flow of the text.) In Animaestro Chloé literally teams up with Marinette to ruin Kagami's day (This was just to show that Chloé still did stuff like in season 1). Anyway, not only is it pretty clear that Chloé would love to be Queen Bee again but she also probably would do anything to be Queen Bee again. So she constantly asks for her Miraculous (seen in Startrain and other episodes) or she pretty much shows everyone how proud she is of being Queen Bee, seeking attention for that (Maledikator). In Miraculer Chloé waits to get her Miraculous but doesn't get it. Then Lila tells Chloé about a fake dance which summons Ladybug. Chloé gets really angry when the dance failed and then lashes out at Sabrina telling her she doesn't want to play with her. Chloé then breaks down after not getting the Miraculous for some time, resulting into the scene where Chloé resists getting akumatized. Instead, Sabrina is the one getting akumatized. Some time later a cataclysmed Cat Noir tries to give Chloé the Miraculous but because of his cataclysmed rips he ends up loosing the Miraculous to Mayura.

You probably know the rest. Rena Rouge makes a Chloé illusion in Ladybug's place, Ladybug gets her powers back, Chloé makes Miraculer even angrier, Ladybug (with the help of Cat Noir, Rena Rouge, Carapace) gets the Bee Miraculous back and gives it to Chloé. Chloé follows Mayura but looses her. After the fight Ladybug talks to Chloé.

This happens:

Queen Bee: Ladybug. Mayura got away from me. I'm sorry, utterly sorry.

Ladybug: That's okay, Queen Bee. We'll get her next time. (reaches hand out for the Bee Miraculous)

Queen Bee: If you'd given it to me earlier, we'd probably would've defeated Hawk Moth.

Ladybug: I'm sorry, Chloé. I should've told you this a long time ago. I might never be able to let you be Queen Bee again.

Queen Bee: What? But I did everything you asked me to.

Ladybug: I know. But this is for your own safety. It's too dangerous for you and your loved ones because Hawk Moth knows that you're Queen Bee.

Queen Bee: Buzz off. (turns back into Chloé and gives Miraculous to Ladybug)

Chloé: I understand. But I'm sure that you'll need me again, Ladybug. I know that I'll be Queen Bee again someday. I will always be Queen Bee.

Ladybug: (notices her Miraculous beeping) Thank you, Chloé. Let's go. (takes off with Rena Rouge and Carapace)

Despite saying that Chloé said she understood she can't have the Miraculous anymore she did not understand.

I know one of the arguments people have was that if Ladybug stayed longer to explain more thoroughly Chloé would have understood. But what do you want Ladybug to do? Risk her identity? She was on her last 5 minutes. Probably less considering how a couple minutes probably flew by from the moment she called out her lucky charm to the moment she called out Miraculous Ladybug. So probably 2 or 3 minutes were already gone from her timer. Additionally, she still needs atleast a minute to not risk her identity getting revealed while she takes Rena Rouge's and Carapace's Miraculous. There was no more time to spare. Despite that I don't really think Chloé would have understood even if Ladybug had more than 2 minutes to spare. Not with how self-centered she is.

Well there had been some smaller incidents with Chloé treating people badly (Animaestro fo example) but that aside those were small moments. I think the next big Chloé moment would pretty much be Heart Hunter and Miracle Queen. Heart Hunter proved that Chloé did not learn from what Ladybug said. She still waited on her rooftop with her Bee signal for Ladybug to come and give her the Miraculous. In the end of the episode we see her so angry at Ladybug for not giving her the Miraculous that she willingly worked with Hawk Moth and actively forcing her will onto Pollen.

This is what happens:

Hawk Moth: (puts up his hand and interrupts) You're right, but I did it for one reason only. So that you would finally realize that Ladybug will never give you the Bee Miraculous again. I, however, always keep my promises. (shows her the Bee Miraculous in his hand)

Chloé: This isn't real! How do you have it?

Hawk Moth: Try it and see for yourself. You're Ladybug's greatest fan. You've helped her, you've trusted her, and what has she done for you in return?

Chloé: (gets angry) Nothing! She couldn't care less about me! I'm done with her. She's irrelevant, utterly irrelevant! (reaches out to grap the Miraculous, stops) I want you to deakumatize has my parents first!

Hawk Moth: Whatever you say, my queen. (Chloé takes the comb and puts it in her hair, releasing Pollen)

Pollen: (urgently) Your majesty, wait!-

Chloé: Silence! You will speak only when spoken to. Your loss, Ladybug. Pollen, buzz on! (transforms into Queen Bee)

She then gets willingly akumatized.

In Miracle Queen we then see her actively work for Hawk Moth, even revealing all the Miraculous Holders. After she gets deakumatized she seems to still have her memory, considering how she wasn't disoriented like every other Akuma Victim. She even jumps after another Akuma.

Chloé also does and says the following "I'm not on your side anymore! How many times have I asked to fight alongside you? And how many times have you refused to give me back my Miraculous? How many, huh? Hawk Moth isn't my enemy, he's yours! And the Miracle Box is mine! (Queen Bee slams down the Miracle Box, and opening it, starts putting on all of the Miraculouses)".

This pretty much proves my point further. Chloé never let go of the Bee Miraculous, thinking it was her own and she had every right to obtain it whenever she wants. The fact that she's only concerned about getting the Miraculous even proves further that she doesn't really care about helping others. All she cares about is her self and as established before this had always been the case. Even in the Queen's Battle trilogy.

Think about it. Chloé is so deadset on keeping the Bee Miraculous that she would do anything. And if I say anything I mean anything. She literally worked with Hawk Moth to get the Miraculous. So if getting the Miraculous and all the attention that comes with it means that she has to help others she'd gladly do it. If helping others means she gets attention she'd gladly do it. We've seen it in Despair Bear and other episodes. Ladybug used to be Chloé's idol so to get her attention she pushed the mind controlled Cat Noir away. To get Adrien's attention she threw the party and was nice to the others. But the moment people didn't look she acted mean. This isn't even the only season 2 or 3 episode this happened. It is totally in character for Chloé to have reacted the way she did in the season 3 finale. Just because she turned bad again doesn't mean she's a 2 dimensional character. She still has the same backstory and all as she had before. The only difference here is that she openly worked with Hawk Moth. So why is she suddenly a horribly written character? Just because she worked with Hawk Moth?

Well let me tell you something: Just look at her relationship with her father. He never denied her anything. He always did everything she wanted. She would throw a tantrum if she doesn't get what she wants. So don't you think it's totally in character for Chloé to react the way she did when Ladybug refused to give her the Miraculous? It's the equivalent to the tantrum of a spoiled rich girl (or boy) would throw if they don't get what they want. The only difference here being that a magical terrorist pretty much took advantage of that tantrum.

As you can see the way she acted was not out of character. It was completely in character for Chloé. In fact, it was so in character that if we've taken the time to truly look at her then we all would have seen it. I gotta admit, I myself got completely deceived the first time I watched Malediktator and Miraculer. I myself thought, maybe she could change (and I still think so). The first time I watched Heart Hunter and Miracle Queen I also thought it was bad writing and I also hated that finale. I thought they did her dirty. I literally blamed the writers like all the others and stated on YouTube how bad of a Episode that was. But now? Now that I actually took the time to rewatch the Episodes (not just the finale but generally any episode) over and over again just to see all the small details people talked about that I never noticed, I noticed those details about Chloé that I didn't before.

People always claim the finale is horrible because they made Chloé out of character... but... In fact, the Season 3 finale is actually good. It may have some plot holes because the writing of the show honestly sometimes isn't the best. There's some episodes that are badly written and have loads of plot holes. But the season 3 finale? It might just be one of the better written episodes. And that only because of the fact that they sticked to how a girl like Chloé would actually react to getting told off like that. And I know for a fact that girls as spoiled as Chloé would react like that because I met a fair share of people like that. They all threw a huge tantrum when they got told off.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying Chloé doesn't have the potential to change. Infact, she definitely has the potential to change. But not like this. Chloé needs to hit rock bottom before she can actually change. And no, getting told you can't have the Bee Miraculous anymore is not rock bottom. The first thing that needs to happen is for her father to stand up to her. And as seen in (⚠️Season 4 Spoiler warning⚠️) Queen Banana André finally did stand up to Chloé. If he keeps that up that might be good start (⚠️End of Spoiler⚠️). After Chloé doesn't get everything she wants from her father anymore there's two things that can happen: Either she becomes a complete lost cause and doesn't learn anything from it or rather she doesn't want to learn or she learns that not everything will always go her way and that she can't have everything (specifically the Bee Miraculous, as you can't buy it.). This also might cause her to become less selfish and start thinking more about the others. Even if that doesn't happen maybe Zoé (because she's Chloé's half sister) or Adrien (because he is/was Chloé's childhood best friend and would love to help her) could come in to help Chloé become less selfish. But again for that to happen Chloé first needs to learn that not everything goes how she wants it and she can't have everything. And again this won't happen if everything is handed to her like it has been all these years.

Please understand that I am not hating on Chloé. Chloé may even be one of my favorite characters for the exact reasons I mentioned here. Because even tho she's a stereotypical bully she has depth to her character. And if she'll ever truly change she'd might just become one of the more relatable characters in the show.

And I know I am none of the writers so I do not know what they thought while writing the finale and the rest of Chloé's arc but to me this seems like the most logical explanation. I do not think the writers hate Chloé. That just makes no sense. They have developed her past and backstory and stuff like that way too much for them to hate her. If they truly hated her I don't even think they would have developed her character like that. If they truly hated her they would have left her like Lila with little to no information about her past or basically anything that explains her actions.

So please, I ask you please do not harass the writers for their decisions. Just please for once try to understand their thought process. Maybe you just didn't truly understand what they meant because as I explained Chloé's arc was deceiving. On the surface it looked like a redemption arc but truly it wasn't.

I am not claiming to have fully understood what the writers where trying to say but I do think I got close to what they were trying to say. I am also very sorry if I might have not been able to explain some of the points well. While I did rewatch every episode while writing this I did not want to put in every single episode (which might have gotten my points across even better) as the post has already gotten way too long. Not many people like to read much so probably only a few will even have read this completely. But to those who did take the time to read it all, thank you for having taken the time. I'd really like to hear your opinion on my take on this topic. Because while I do think this might be somewhat close to what the writers where trying to do it most likely isn't exactly what they wanted. I'd really like to hear your opinion on my take on this topic. Because as I said while I do think this might be somewhat close to what the writers where trying to do it most likely isn't exactly what they wanted. Maybe some of you have something to debunk or maybe even strengthen my points. Both is fine as long as everyone's nice towards each other. I do not want to see some kind of war. So please be kind towards each other.

[marauderundercover]

Taking Chance Ch. 10: Father Daughter Time (alt. prompt Take Your Kids to Work)

AO3

Prev

Sitting in her hotel room, Marinette pouts. Her family hadn’t wanted to talk about their identities. Or hers. So instead, they’d had a rushed (awkward) dinner, and then sent her and Adrien away. But she knew they were going to patrol. Marinette grins as an idea forms. 

“Whatever it is, I��m sure it’s not a good idea.” Tikki says from her spot on the bed, obviously tired of the drama and insanity that Marinette had managed to find since coming to Gotham. 

“Tikki, please. I just found out that my brothers and Mr. Wayne are all heroes. Not just any heroes, heroes known for their detective work. Can you blame me for wanting to go out and talk to them? Maybe if I go as Ladybug and not Marinette, maybe they’ll actually help. You know, hero to hero.” She pleads, looking at Tikki with her best puppy dog eyes. Tikki, unfortunately, was an ancient deity and was not affected by puppy dog eyes. 

“Marinette, I still think it’s a bad idea. Besides, Ladybug shouldn’t be in Gotham.” Tikki argues. Marinette huffs, knowing the kwami is right. 

“Fine. Well if I can’t be Ladybug, then I’ll just sew a domino mask really quick and go run on the roofs as myself.” She says, jutting her chin out in defiance.

“Marinette! That’s completely unsafe.” Tikki chastises. Marinette ignores her, moving around to find cloth to use for her mask. Tikki sighs. “Just- be careful. Think about the Bats, and that Ladybug is not supposed to be seen in Gotham.” She says. Marinette frowns. It almost sounds as if Tikki is giving her permission. But at the same time….

“Wait, what?” She asks. 

“Think about when you transform.” Tikki says with a tired smile. Marinette frowns, but does as she instructed. When the light from her transformation fades, she gasps at the new suit design. It was much darker, and looked as though she belonged with her family rather than the brightly colored Parisian heroes. What was once one singular piece of material was now several. The bottom part of her suit was black. It started at her feet and went all the way up to her chest. Underneath that, she had what seemed to be a deep red leotard (but it was hard to tell since it disappeared under the black bottoms). On her feet were ballet shoes that matched her leotard, the ribbons snaking up her legs. The shoes were slightly confusing, as she’d never seen a member of the Batfam with ballet shoes (and she herself couldn’t dance) but they fit with the rest of the costume. She also now had a hood, much to her delight. It would be useful against the slight chill in the air. Pleased with her new costume, Marinette opens her window and takes a deep breath before jumping out and swinging onto the roof. Giggling, she starts swinging around randomly, hoping that she’ll bump into a friendly sooner or later. A slight miscalculation between buildings leads her to freefall, her eyes wide as she desperately tries to hook her yoyo onto the roof. Arms wrap around her roughly and she yelps in surprise, tilting her head up to look at who grabbed her midair. Her father. Crap. 

“I don’t take kindly to unknown vigilantes in my city.” He says gruffly as they land on the roof. She frowns before she remembers her costume is completely different, and the Miraculous magic definitely helped conceal her identity (even though her family technically already knew). 

“Oh, I’m not unknown. It’s me, Ladybug? Couldn’t exactly bring out the spots in Gotham. Especially with French students in town.” She says with a grin. Batman (Mr. Wayne?) tenses before sighing. 

“Marinette?” He asks, she nods. 

“Yes, though I think it’s probably best to not use my actual name. You can call me….” She hesitates for a moment, searching her mind for a new name. “Ladybird.” She finally says. Ladybird, because it was another name for a Ladybug and because if someone didn’t know that, they’d think she was just another Bat with a bird theme. 

“Very well. Ladybird, go home.” He says. 

“Home home, or where I’m staying home?” She asks cheekily, the banter coming easily with the freedom of a mask. 

“Where you’re staying.” He says through a clenched jaw. 

“Yeah...no can do. See, I’ve been trying to bond with my biological father and it just hasn’t worked out so far. I’m hoping to fix that tonight though!” She says, hoping she doesn’t sound as desperate as she feels. She can’t help it though. Ever since she found out she was adopted, she’s wanted to connect with Bruce. And every time she’s tried, something has come up. Or some revelation has happened and they’ve had to stop their pitiful attempts at bonding. 

“I don’t think-” Batman starts, his lips pursed. 

“Oh no, you see, I know he’ll say yes. See, it’s take your kid to work day.” She rushes out, tilting her head as she thinks of what she just said. “Or rather, night, I guess?” 

“Why not go to his day job, that’s much safer.” Batman argues, Marinette snorts. 

“Sure, it might be safer, but it’s also gonna be boring. Plus, he’d never bring me. Then he’d have to say something about me and I’m not sure either of us are ready for that yet.” She says. She watches Batman, holding her breath as she waits for a verdict. As much as it would hurt, she’d leave if he told her to. Well, she would now once she’d said her peace. But if he made her leave now, after hearing how much she wants to spend time with him? She wasn’t sure if she could handle it. 

“If you’re out of my sight for even a minute, I’m taking you home. I’m serious, Ladybird. You don’t have the training that the others do.” He finally says. She grins, jumping up and wrapping him in a hug. She instantly freezes when she realizes what she’s done and backs up, stuttering out an apology. 

---

Bruce looked at his daughter, unable to move as she continued to apologize. 

“B, I swear if you don’t tell her it’s okay, I’m going to shoot your fucking foot.” Jason’s yelling on the comms finally pulls him from his own thoughts. 

“It’s fine, Ladybird. Don’t apologize.” He manages to say, fighting the urge to smile reassuringly at her. She was so excited, the pure joy on her face made him feel like he had done something right for once. Of course it was replaced almost immediately by her stumbling out an apology and her once cheerful face twisted with regret. So he was still a failure as a father. Nice to know he was staying consistent. He watched, slightly worried as she stayed, stood completely still, in total silence. It was the first time he’d seen his daughter still. She truly was like a bird, always flitting about the room, moving from thing to thing with no real direction. To see her almost frozen was unnatural, it just felt wrong. Just as he opens his mouth to try and see if she’s okay, she snaps out of it. 

“Right! Well, let’s go! Patrol isn’t gonna happen by itself.” She says with a grin. He nods, taking off, always watching her from the corner of his eye. Maybe this wasn’t the bonding he had originally wanted, nor the bonding she’d been expecting. But he’d always found it easier to deal with stressful situations under his cowl. And a fourteen year old daughter? That was the definition of stressful situation.

Ladybird’s suit

Next

Tag list: @maribat-bdbwm @vixen-uchiha @stainedglassm @liquid-luck-00 @jayjayspixiepop @jjmjjktth @mizzy-pop @trippingovermyfeet @queenz-z @thepaceperson @iloontjeboontje @waiting247 @laurcad123 @toodaloo-kangaroo @ritacrow-blog @deathssilentapproach-blog @kittenmywaythrulife @nerd-nowandforever @imarivers8 @when-no-wings-do-broomsticks

[bakugohoex]

CONGRATS ON 1K!!! For the event, could you do Bakugo with Fluff #4??? It just seems so much like him

“because i’m fucking in love with you”

pairing: katsuki bakugo x female reader

cw: language, fluff, kissing

word count: 2500+

a/n: i have to write a levi oneshot now, bruh i might just go sleep, who knows what i’m going to do

summary: in which bakugo watches you get too close with another man and can’t help but let his anger take over seeing you with anybody other him

1k event masterlist

↞ back to my hero academia masterlist

Bakugo had many reasons to get angry on a warm summer day at the office. Being a pro hero had its ups and downs, the down being what was occurring today. Paperwork, he hated it with a passion, he loved the idea of fighting and defeating villains but the idea of writing it all up made his skin itch in disgust. Of course he had his sidekicks to help him, but they would never know the true extent of having to re-read over fights that occurred and signing it all off.

Bakugo still had other reasons that annoyed him, the weather had become broiling, his sidekicks were pissing him off and then there was you. You with your hero costume that looked tighter every time he saw it, you with the way you’d walk into a room and have everybody on your feet. You who had whipped him like a servant boy, he hated having to work alongside you. You had your own agency a couple blocks away from him, but ever since you both found out you took the same route. You’d come and annoyingly meet him throughout the day.

He hated it, and as he signed off on another report, his V neck not helping him at all, he heard the sounds of chatting from outside his office, that's when he saw it through the glass. The way you flaunted past the desks with your skimpy hero costume which he understood was for the best possible use of your quirk. But even then, it always cupped your body in just the right places. 

You seemed to have been waving at one of the new sidekicks Bakugo had recruited. He hated it, pen almost breaking from his anger, he watched as you didn't bother to knock only cascade inside with the looks of others following your pristine body. “What?”

“How rude, Bakugo! Is that any way to greet your favourite pro hero.” You mocked falling onto the chair with a hefty sign, he watched at how you were clearly out of breath with the way your chest heaved harshly. 

“Shut it, extra. What do you want?” He repeated.

You began playing with the stuff on his desk, he’d noticed how you always needed something in your hands and since he had always left a small jelly like plushie just for these moments. You happily put it in your hand pulling and stretching at it before looking up at him, “are you not coming for the patrol?”

“I got paperwork.” He signed as you saw the almost boxful of papers. 

“No fair, I'll just go on my own then.” You were about to stand up when he stopped you. 

“Get one of your sidekicks to go, idiot, help me with this.” He gestured to the paperwork that he knew wasn't the full extent as you both had decided to split it.

You gave another huff at him, “just because I’m organised doesn't mean i want to spend my Monday morning doing dreary paperwork.”

“I know you split it 70:30 so fucking help me.” He growled loudly making a shiver run down your spine. 

“So needy, Bakugo, let me just call them.” You gesture to your phone as you walked outside his office. You leant against the glass door, Bakugo’s eyes fixed to the way your ass and thighs had been pushed against the wall. He licked his lips as he stared longley at your body before hearing your sign. 

That's when he saw his new sidekick come up to you, of course he knew that the sidekick was only a couple years younger than the two of you. But he had a crush, the way his eyes lingered across your body, the way he passed you the coffee which you hadn’t even asked for. The way you laughed at his shitty joke, were you really flirting back with a man like that, Bakugo scowled before directing his eyes back to the paperwork. 

“I’ll make sure to come for you when I need some coffee.” You laughed at the boy as you opened the glass door. 

Bakugo heard the boy give a chuckle touching your arm as he let you go through the door. “Here do you want some?” You gestured to the coffee you had, noticing the empty coffee mug on the side of his desk. 

“No.” Bakugo muttered but nevertheless took the coffee and drank a large gulp of it. “Why don’t you get your little coffee boy to bring more?”

He was pissed not only had you let his stupid sidekick touch you, but you’d made him feel special as if he had your attention. “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.” You chucked the cup in the bin, going over to the box where you grabbed some files out. 

Bakugo didn’t make a remark instead letting you read over what had occurred and sign it off. “Bakugo.” You whispered halfway through your first file and already bored. “Bakugo.”

“What?” He questioned after he had seen you become more concentrated in the pen you held than the paperwork itself.

You stared at him with a bright smile, “we should get some lunch.”

“Y/n, it’s only half 10, it's a bit early for lunch.” He scowled, chucking the finished file into the complete pile.

“But I’m hungry.” You whined leaning against the cold desktop, it was white and probably made from marble, but it was the best bet of comfort you’d get from Bakugo’s office. 

“Go get some food then.” He muttered as you stood up all giddy. “Get me something as well.”

“Now who’s the hungry one.” You mocked as you happily skipped out of his office, he couldn't help but roll his eyes and give a slight smile to you. But that’s when he saw his stupid sidekick come up to you. His face faulted, his smile turning downwards as he watched you both converse and leave to the elevator.

“You really don’t have to come.” You spoke stepping into the elevator, you hated how vulnerable you felt with Bakugo, how easily he could stare at you and make you go weak at the knees. He was perfect, an amazing pro hero who was ahead of you in the charts by the couple of numbers. You were almost grateful that your paths had crossed and that you spent patrols together, but his sidekicks were a whole other thing. 

You knew the coffee boy had a crush; the whole department knew that. But how could you let a sweet boy down after all he did was such good things, how could you tell him you’d rather have his asshole of a boss than a sweetheart like him. “No, it’s fine, I was going that way anyway.”

“Oh why?” You questioned through the long elevator ride down.

“I had to buy some stuff for my sister's birthday and I'm on my break.” You nodded happily, not asking anymore through the uncomfortable silence as soon as the door dinged open, you both walked out, he had walked you to the bakery as you were craving a sandwich, he waited as you picked one you liked and one that Bakugo definitely likes. He didn't say a word until you spoke. 

“What are you thinking of getting your sister?” You asked walking with him into the store selling gifts. 

“What do you like, I mean girls like?” A heavy blush formed on his face as you began looking through the gifts. 

“I’d probably go for that drinks set, it’s cute if she of course drinks that is.”

He quickly spoke to ease your gaze, “she does.” He instantly grabs it going to pay, you didn't question his rash decision and you both walked back to the building. 

“I’m sure she’ll love it.” You smile out as you both step through the office again, Bakugo in an instant saw the two of you, bags in hand. 

“I hope so, thank you Y/n.” He smiles putting his hand on your shoulder, he goes in for a hug which you happily give, he was clearly nervous for his sister's birthday. Bakugo watched intensively, surprised at the hug as he stormed out of the doors of his office on a mission to grab you and take you with him. 

“Y/n.” He bellowed out. 

You both retreated from the hug, staring at the angry blond, “Bakugo, i bought sandwiches.” You happily smile out, rummaging through the bag to show him it, “and cupcakes.”

His face fell, a smile erupting that he didn't know he was even capable of, you looked so happy showing him the cupcakes with the pink frosting on them. “Come on.” He whispered watching you come beside him, his arm on your back guiding you inside. 

Bakugo guided you inside, watching you happily pull out the food, he saw how you moved the chair for visitors beside him making him move up. You were closer than he had expected, leaning across to grab the cupcakes and stuff one in your face. “You looked angry before?”

“I wasn't.” He muttered while taking a bite of the sandwich. 

“Don’t lie to me, what’s up?” You began to play with his other hand, he hadn't expected it but the way your hands had just met his own, the way you skimmed his veins and the rings that embodied his fingers. It felt like heaven, but your eyes gave a sense of doubt and resistance. 

“I...I just don’t like you spending time with that guy.” He spoke staring at you, your eyesight was on his hand still, the way you continued to play with his fingers before moving to the back of his hand. 

You took a sharp breath before speaking to yourself, “is it because of his crush on me?”

“You know about that?” 

“Of course I know Bakugo, I think everybody knows about it.” You whispered out softly.

“Is he your type?” Bakugo had gone against his words of jealousy, maybe if you admitted you liked coffee boy then he could move on more easily. 

You finally looked up at the blond, his piercing red eyes giving a look of caution, “he should be.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Bakugo moved his hand away from you, your unclear answer had made him a lot more pissed at the idea of you stringing both the men along. 

“I...I just mean that he’s nice y’know and he should be my type, but he’s not.” Bakugo’s anger seemed to calm down as he gave you a softer look. 

“Who is then?” Bakugo went to grab the cupcake you had bought for him ,taking a soft bite as the sweet frosting enchanted his mouth.

“You have frosting on your lips.” Bakugo went to lick it as you avoided his question entirely. 

“Y/n, who’s your type?” Bakugo repeated staring at you, in an instant you stood up not wanting to confess anything else. 

“I’m going to go see how my guys are doing.” You left him with no other word, he couldn't even stop you at how you almost ran away from the situation. Even if he had found out you didn't like the coffee boy you were now avoiding him which felt a lot worse.

Bakugo tried calling you but it went to miss call, he ended up finishing the rest of the paperwork and by the end of the day he knew you’d probably be hung up in your office, pushing yourself to do something other than talk to him. He began walking the short distance in the humid air, the sun was just about to set as he arrived at your agency. He always liked the vibe you had going on, even your sidekicks were okay, a lot better than his own. He was able to get inside with ease, walking the steps towards your office, he could see your shadow through the frosted glass. 

You seemed to be pacing on the phone to someone, but he couldn’t tell who until he was just in ear shot. “I can’t tell him that, he’s going to think these months have just been me being selfish.”

Bakugo couldn’t hear the other line but it raised more questions in the boys mind instead. He was careful about being unseen until he heard you continue. “He’s a fucking idiot, how could someone like him ever love me, I’m nothing special.”

He heard another long sign from you at the response from the other side before hearing you say your farewells and begin to pace about the room. Bakugo softly knocked against the door, hearing a come in as he walked inside, your office being as pristine as ever. You were no longer wearing your hero costume, assuming you had been on a patrol yourself at the tiredness that set in your eyes.

He saw you as a normal civilian at this moment, so sweet and innocent but you gave a glare. “How long were you listening in for?”

“I...I wasn't.” He stuttered out. 

“Bullshit, why the fuck were you listening into my private conversation?” You scowled again leaning against your desk.

Bakugo knew he was caught but in his idiocrasy decided to make the situation worse, “who’s the guy you’re talking about?”

“Why do you care?” You spoke stubbornly.

“Y/n, who’s the guy?” He repeated himself.

You faced the blond scowl on your face at his relentless pushing of an answer. “It’s nobody okay, I don’t even understand why you care so much?”

Bakugo’s anger rose at you hiding even more from him, how could he work alongside you if you were just going to keep him in the dark about some stupid guy that probably meant fuck all in the big picture. He knew this wasn't the true reason behind his anger though, he was jealous, some man you loved didn't love you back, and he was here with all his love to give.

“Because I’m fucking in love with you.” Bakugo shouted, the words spewing out without even realising. Bakugo’s eyes widened and so did your own, he looked at how your eyes had almost softened at the confession.

“You...You love me?” You questioned standing up to come closer to him. 

“I’m not repeatin…”

You quickly interrupt him, your bodies almost touching as your hand moves to his face making him stare right back at you. “I love you too.” You softly whispered before closing the gap between the two of you. His hand moved to your face guiding the kiss as he had to bend down to even meet you.

It was filled with passion and drive from the countless nights you both spent together in each other's office, the morning patrols together and even the galas you attended together as friends. Everything you both had wanted from each other had come down from a singular kiss in a small office in the middle of Japan.

A small moan escaped your lips, his tongue gliding in with such ease as he toyed with your own, almost sucking the spit and saliva that was across your own tongue. He let go taking a harsh breath and he brought your face closer to his, foreheads touching as he gave the softest look he possibly could. You stayed in his arms, just staring at each other with such love and passion, both knowing nothing could break you both now.

i’d really appreciate if you guys could leave a like, reblog or comment, thanks x

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[lemonhobgoblin]

A Casual Night

Mothman x human reader (gender-neutral)

Word Count: 7k

(I remember saying I would have a fic done the same week I posted my other fic. Well, that was a lie. After dealing with work, creating new wips, and editing what started as a 2k fic became this long-ass post. I tried to keep this gender-neutral, but if there are any parts thats not gender-neutral, or if something doesn't make sense give me a message and I'll fix it. Anyway hope you enjoy!)

The faint sound of your car running and the sound of the wind whipping against the surface was muddled out by old tunes playing from a random radio station filling the lonely ride home. Your eyes trained on the dark empty road ahead, your headlights on full beam, lighting your way. The subtle notes of a box of cooling pizza wafting in your direction every so often.

You were driving from a city over from where you lived, coming back from a friend’s home who was having a small get-together. It was a great time, unwinding from the stresses of work and life in general, with games, movies, playful banter, and sharing a couple of drinks. As the night progressed, things began to slow down, one of your friends passed out on the couch while everyone else turned to some lighthearted conversation. Leading the host to pipe up if they were willing to spend the night given how late it has gotten and mostly due to how much some people drank.

While everyone was willing to stay the night and continue their night of merriment. You on the other hand as well as one other person had to leave for the night due to work obligations you both had tomorrow morning.

Regretfully, you made your exit not without being offered leftovers for the ride back. But halfway home, you received an email detailing how you were not needed for work tomorrow as you were getting gas.

With this newfound information, you had the choice of making a U-turn back or continue straight home.

Rather than driving back to your friend's home, you were just going to continue your way home. You already said goodnight to them, and you were almost home even though it was still quite a ways to go. Nevertheless, they probably turned in for the night by now, and there was always next time to make it up to them.

So driving down an empty two-way road, with no lights fixture to light the road. With no other cars passing through, keeping you company. Only the trees crowding around the road giving you some sort of haunting looming audience. This was a normally busy road; however, by how late in the night it was, it was understandably dead.

Fortunately, enough, you saw your first signs of life up ahead. It seemed to be a herd of deer passing by. You honked your horn to scare them away from the oncoming danger that was your car.

Except instead of dispersing, they stayed in place, it didn’t seem out of the ordinary why else did they have the saying 'a deer in headlights.'

But what was odd, was the closer you approached the herd of deer they seemed to be floating off the pavement, apparently, they were one entity and not a group and had a pair of red glowing eyes. It stirred an unpleasant feeling in the pit of your stomach.

Promptly, an undiscernible screech erupted all around, jolting you in your seat, feeling a pang of sudden fear washing over you. Convincing yourself it was only the radio going off the fritz, peeling your eyes away from the road you scrambled to shut off the device. During your haste to bring an end to the blaring otherworldly sound, you didn’t realize how fast you were driving.

"What the fuck?!" Seeing a flash of a large dark mass smashing against your windshield - shards of glass flying around and onto you.

Swerving your car over to the side of the road, feeling the right side slope down, the bumps of the grass making you rattle and jostle in your seat. Putting your car to a complete stop.

Frantically, you scrambled to free yourself from your seatbelts, ripping yourself from your constraints, you busted out your car. Not giving a single care to the state of your car or your frazzled state. Only concerned about what or who you hit.

Jogging down, you saw a crumpled figure on the ground, he was a good distance away from where you parked. "Oh my god," You exclaimed.

“I didn’t see you coming, I’m so sorry," you yelled, hurrying to aid the individual. You didn’t get a response or see any movement - he did hit your car pretty hard.

Scared for their wellbeing you slowed down and fished for your phone in your back pocket to call for help. But before you could dial for help, you saw something that put halt to your actions. You starred in disbelief as your phone locked out.

From the figure, a wing stretched out toward the sky before folding back in itself.

What the hell did you hit?!

Cautiously, you crept forward to get a better look, you could see he was wearing a fur jacket. No. He was furry everywhere, dull in color but with an interesting print on what you believed was the wings, the pattern was similar to a moth's wing. A costume perhaps? His legs were a digitigrade structure and his feet are similar to a bird's foot arrangement. The talons of which were scraping against the road like an animal in pain.

"A moth?" Perplexed at what exactly you were looking at, it still seemed human, but it was too large in stature given it curled up on the ground. This had to be some large person in a very convincing costume. Assuming it was someone dressed up, as what you could only think of as Mothman. A random tall person dressed head to toe in an extremely convincing Mothman in the middle of an isolated road, for reasons you couldn't conjure but there had to be a rational reason as to why.

The closer you approached, the more of your rationality began to slip. Carefully you squat down, putting your hands on its back, it felt real. Too real.

The wings felt warm, stroking your hand down, you felt the ridges, bumps, and what felt like a pulse, in the wings. You noticed it had a plush ruff around its neck that could’ve been mistaken for a scarf. And there were antennas on its head, it was featherlike and twitched every few seconds. You had no desire to investigate further, yet you had a gnawing sense of curiosity that compelled you.

Besides what if was someone who was severely injured and needed immediate help. And what kind of person would you be if you just drove off without a second thought, leaving them to die. You couldn't live with yourself if that was the case.

This is too unreal. But all the signs suggested otherwise.

Bracing yourself, you gently turned him over to face you, the moment you caught a glimpse of his face, you felt instant regret surge through your veins. You stumbled backward, landing on your back, trying to push yourself away from the massive creature with your legs.

"MOTHMAN!!" You screamed.

This in turn alarmed the cryptid, flapping his wings erratically in response to your sudden outcry. It was emitting these indiscernible sounds that you had heard earlier in the car, it provoked that familiar immense fear within you.

Except, this was louder than when you were in your car, the sound reverberated through you, chills traveling up your spine. You could feel your heart palpitating within your chest, your trembling limbs growing numb. You felt your senses heightened at an alarming rate it was nauseating that you felt your mind blur. If these disquieting sounds alone could trigger your flight or fight response, without the presence of the monster. It was nothing in comparison to the full show that was in front of you, it was overwhelming in all the senses, inciting you to get far as possible.

"Holy shit!" Pulling yourself from your state of shock, you turned over onto your hands and knees, pushing yourself up and away, making a straight beeline to your car without delay.

The screeching stopped behind you. Glancing back toward the monster curious if it was making a move towards you. But all you saw was a poor incapacitated being, pitifully attempting to lift itself away. One of its wings was flapping while the other was barely moving at all. When it tried to move its stiff wing, it wouldn't fully extend before retracting it back, making what sounded like a pained low screech.

In all honesty, even in your fear-driven state, it pained you to witness this distressing scene. Pondering back and forth between taking the car and leaving, or taking your chances with the monster.

Inching toward the car, all without removing your eyes from the scene. Then you heard a more distressing shrill, stopping you dead in your tracks. You couldn't leave him.

He still needs help.

Inhaling a deep breath, you shakily walked back, each step was challenging you felt so weak in the knees and you felt lighter than usual. Your mouth desiccated of any moisture but persisted in swallowing nothing. It felt as if you were walking down to your execution and it might as well be. You couldn't predict what it would do or what it was capable of doing if you got any closer. Regardless, you tried to push your fears aside and help him, even if it killed you.

"Hold on, I'm not gonna hurt you. Just don’t hurt me please." Easing yourself onto your knees, mindful of not doing any sudden movements to provoke it any further for both of your sakes.

Bringing a hand back to where you had it before, you delicately brushed your hand up and down in small strokes on its wing. Focusing on his state and not his appearance, you saw cuts and scrapes littering its wings and body.

You grazed over an open wound, causing the creature to flinch, silently apologizing to him in a hushed tone before continuing to pet him while avoiding any more wounds.

Its breathing began to slow, quelling its jitters. You took this as an indicator of the creature growing at ease at your presence. “See I just wanna help." You whispered as the Moth creature peered up, gazing into your eyes in a sort of mutual understanding. Ensuring a feeling of reprieve within you and within him, or so you thought. It was soon to be proven wrong. The moment was short-lived when the cryptid began to thrash around again, this time trying to keep you away from him.

"Wait I thought we had an understanding there." Pulling yourself into a ball to avoid the cryptid's violent flapping wing and arms recklessly whipping around. "The eye contact we had! The eye contact!" you screamed after being betrayed by this false sense of amicable trust you thought you both had shared at that moment. But this ineffectively did nothing to fix the dilemma, merely adding more to the chaos.

"Please I want to help you." Reaching your hand out to calm him once more, without the screaming and flailing this time. "This was my fault, I wanna help and then you can go on your Mothman way, okay?" You tried to coax. Once more the monster began to quiet down, its quick shallow breathing slowed. Weary of his soothed behavior, you waited a bit before wrapping his arm over your neck.

"Okay, I'm gonna pick you up or at least try to." You said, guiding him upward into a standing position.

"Christ, you’re heavy!" Bending under the weight, propping him against your frame, so you could get a proper footing and grip on him. You struggled to the car, trudging over, but not without one of your legs giving out from under the weight occasionally. What caught your eye was how his head lulled forward or side to side, he might be disoriented from the blow. Not wanting to move his head much, you trudged much slower than you already were and stopped every few seconds.

Arriving at you your vehicle, you rested against your car, before opening the car door and easing him inside into the backseat. Tucking in any stray limbs and wings fully inside the car. Shutting the door you looked at the heavily cracked windshield. It was damaged pretty well, you summarized that you had to slowly drive all the way home. Wait home.

"Wait, I can't just bring you to my house." You said, bringing a hand to your mouth, realizing a new issue. "Someone's gonna see you." Remembering you lived on a busy street near pubs and shops, and it was Friday night you could only assume there were still people out and about enjoying the nightlife. Peering inside your car, your eyes locked on your jacket in the front seat.

"Maybe I can disguise you, and it is Friday night maybe people would be too drunk to notice."

"As long as we don't draw too much attention." You said, getting into your seat and starting up the engine. But something about saying those words aloud, felt like it was going to bite you in the ass but what’s the worst that can happen, you had him handled.

….

Here you were driving back home with the low-volume melody playing like before. However, this was different, before you were alone and you welcomed the tranquil ambiance you had riding home. But now you were riding back with an elusive creature. Creating an unsettling silence within the vehicle. What was maddening was that you were unsure what he was thinking, making you unsure of what to do besides drive. Maybe you were overthinking this but you felt you had to do something to break this disorienting atmosphere because this was too hard to fathom as reality.

"D-Do you want gum? L-Leftover pizza?" Your voice cracked, quickly clearing your throat asking again in a stronger confident voice.

No response. You tapped your fingers on the steering wheel, sucking in your cheek prompting you to purse your lips in your endeavor of finding what else to say. Flitting your eyes back and forth from the road to looking around your car on what else to offer.

"My coat?"

No response again.

Looking at your rearview mirror to get a glimpse of the cryptid only to be met with its red eyes staring directly back at you. Hastily looking back to the road and sinking into your seat, alarmed. How long was he staring at you? Why was he staring? At least he seemed less disoriented now, but you didn’t need that right now, maybe you could draw his attention onto something else other than you.

"How about some air?" you asked, hoping he would stare out the window or put his head out, anything but him staring at you all the way home. Gliding your left hand over to the window control panel on the side of your door, you pushed down a button making his window rolled down. This captured his attention, redirecting his gaze towards the open window, watching the trees and road signs passing by. O thank god. but just as he turned his head to the outside, he took this as an invitation to spread his wings to catch some air.

"That doesn't mean you can start flapping, put your wings down." Whipping your head back and forth from the creature to the road, drawing a hand at him, swinging it around to get him to fold his wings down. "PUT YOUR WINGS DOWN! PUT YOUR WINGS DOWN!" Veering your car off to the side of the road.

.....

Back on the road, after sorting out the matter. "Okay, no rolled down windows." You remarked. Mothman looking like a perfect angel in the back tapping at the rolled-up window while you were in the front with your hair messed up and arms lightly scratched. You weren't a mother, but you now had a vague idea of what it would be like and further respect and admiration for them.

Needless to say, you rode the entire way back in silence without a single word being uttered.

…..

Steering your car on the side of the street in front of an apartment complex, you placed your car in park. You turned off the engine. Street lamps and other building lights were illuminating the street. The neon signs from the local business started to shut off, looked like some of them are turning in for the night.

You snatched your jacket from the passenger seat before slipping out and making your way to open Mothman’s car door.

"We need to move, quickly." Throwing your coat over him to conceal him in the event of someone walking by. Mothman pawed at the coat and clutching it closer to get a better look and smell of the material. After gathering your phone and keys, you whirled back toward Mothman. Fussing at him to not move the jacket, readjusting it over his head. You surveyed the streets for anyone coming down or seem like they are heading out in your direction.

Once more putting his arm around you, you strode as quickly as you possibly could to the complex without either of you falling over. Mercifully, you got to the door with no problem at all or bumping into anyone.

Until you heard something you’ve been dreading on the way home, something that made your heart sank down into the deep trenches of your stomach

"Holy shit! Is that Mothman!?!" A male voice exclaimed.

You whirled your head toward the stranger who was slowly approaching you two. Fuck!

Where did he come from and what made him so confident that he’s looking at Mothman. You glanced back over to Mothman noticing that the jacket that was covering his face, was now draped over his shoulders. Drastically you scoured your brain for an excuse or some sort of explanation to counter how this wasn't a cryptid. But he beat you to the punch before you had a chance to find a solid response.

"Dude sick costume!" He said excitedly.

O fuck. Relieved that it wasn't the worse, but you were surprised he didn't question any further especially how close he was to you both. Even you would've questioned, the details and just the overall realism of said 'costume'. It didn't take long for the answer to hit you square in the nose. When a waft of alcohol invaded your nostrils, the man was drunk, and you never were more grateful.

"Thanks." You nervously laughed.

"That’s crazy good man, you did this all yourself?” He asked enthusiastically towards Mothman, beholding every bit of intricacy on the creature.

"He can’t talk right now; he drank too much to function." You interjected. “We just got back from a party.”

"I gotcha, but is it okay if I get a photo though?"

FUCK! you blurted internally, but externally with faux delight, you said "Sure!"

" 'Chad' you cool with that?" you sheepishly asked your moth friend with the first name you could think of for him. And why were you asking him? As if he could make a cohesive verbal response. But you were hoping at this moment he could magically talk, alas all he did was blankly stare.

"I'm not hearing a no." You heard the man say and you woefully agreed.

"Gimme a sec." The man pulled out his phone and tapping it unlocked.

"Okay," your heart was racing in your chest and you could feel a layer of sweat beginning to form and pool in places. But by some sweet grace of some higher being, a miracle happened right before your eyes. You heard a melodious chime sweetly ring through the crisp early fall air.

"O dang getting a call, hold on" the man answered the call, turning his back towards you.

Maybe there was a god, after all, a fucking sadist with a sick sense of humor. Either way, you were not about to pass up this chance for a free getaway.

You took this God-given opportunity to jam your key into the lock swiftly to get the both of you inside. Twisting to unlock the entrance, you could overhear the man to what sounded like him wrapping up his conservation. Turning the knob, you ushered Mothman and yourself inside the apartment complex, but not without throwing a quick apology to the stranger. Slamming your back against the door shutting it closed, a wave of relief washed over you.

"Aw man, that was too close." leaning your head against the door, desperate for a quick breath from your ordeal. You hadn't felt this much adrenaline since, since. You were so winded you couldn't even recall a memory.

Peeling yourself off from the door, feeling ready to make the final steps home. Deceptively though your body wasn’t as ready to move just yet.

"Nope wait." still trying to catch your breath. Doubling over, leaning forward, and resting your hands on your knees. Mothman all the while just tilted his head at you, confused. While you were over there feeling like you were going to be sick. The wave of nausea quickly fading away allowing you to straighten yourself out.

"Okay, we're good." You said as you grabbed his hand leading him up the stairs. Unbeknownst to you, the large creature was zoning in at the unfamiliar contact.

During his entire time with you, he was just as wary of you as you were with him. He wasn’t one to present himself to people, only as a forewarning of what was to come or an indication that Mothman will be the very last thing they would see. He trailed and stalked others like you in your car but was never hit, that was a first for him. Albeit though, him getting hit with your car, leaving him cut up and bruised did give him another reason to be extremely defensive and antsy around you.

Yet, you were gentle, loud but gentle with him when he wasn’t. Risking your safety in an effort for him to get mended. Lightly ghosting his thumb over the soft skin of your hand, tightening his hold on you. But you didn't notice, you were too preoccupied with climbing higher up the stairs, vigilant for any neighbors.

"Come on we're almost to my place." Giving a reassuring hand squeeze.

"Try to stay quiet a little longer." Peering back at the cryptid flashing him a quick warm smile, before looking back straight ahead. The creature looked directly at you, then to stairs, and back to you again. He came up with a grand idea to help with your effort. But first, he had to gain your attention and for this to work, he had to disregard everything you told him not to do earlier. The cryptid started to emit his screech directly at you to get your attention. And to you, he was making a ruckus, that was echoing through the entire stairwell and halls.

"What part of stay quiet do you not understand?" Grimacing at the noise. You stopped your movement, aiming to cover his mouth with your free hand, you felt his mandibles tickling underneath your palm.

The creature pulled your hand away and into his own, clutching both of his hands close to himself, bringing you into him. This gesture was unexpected and left you feeling warm in the face by how close he was pressing you into him. But it didn't last long when he began to bend his knee and flap his wing readying himself to fly up.

"Wait don't" Pushing yourself away from him, you freed yourself from his grasp to stop his actions. He was still injured this would only cause more harm to him and to you if he tried doing what you thought he was about to do. In your effort to stop him, Mothman tried to reach out for you again, only for his wing to smack into you causing you to land on the hard edge of the concrete stairs; headfirst. “Shit."

Groaning, "Well, I deserved that." you brought your hand to your head, you winced at the touch. As you yanked your hand away you caught a glimpse of red in your peripherals. Bringing the hand in your line of vision you saw blood smeared on the tips of your fingers.

Mothman immediately brought his actions to a halt when he saw what he had done to you. His antennas drooped down, he came close, giving you a hand up. Gladly accepting the gesture, he brought you up to an upright position, he felt bad for what he had done to you. Tentatively, he brought a hand up, lightly swiping his claws over your forehead making a low pained screech.

“It’s okay, you just wanted help didn’t you.” He nodded in response, you pressed a hand to the wound preventing the blood from dripping down. You couldn’t be mad at him he didn’t know better, and you did hurt him first, it only felt fair. Disrupting this tender moment, you heard yelling and heavy footsteps approaching one of the doors on the floor you were on.

"Let’s go!" you rushed up the stairs, luckily for you both it was the final flight of stairs. Reaching the top of steps in record time when you heard the front swing door open.

"What's with all that commotion!?" A neighbor yelled upward toward the sound of your feet stomping up. Coming to an abrupt halt at your door, you whispered for Mothman to stay where he was, while you dealt with the matter below. But he decided to follow behind instead, not wanting to leave your side.

"Sorry I was just goofing" You admitted, showing your face over the rail, outing yourself to your neighbor.

"Sorry my ass, I got work early tomorrow, you expect me to sleep with this fucking racket outside, and now this." They argued back, and rightly so, who wouldn’t complain about an unearthly ear-piercing screech penetrating through the halls along with banging sounds hitting all around the walls. But you couldn’t help but feel annoyed

"I’m sorry, it won’t happen again, promise." You leaned forward resting against the rail while one leg was kicked up behind you, preventing Mothman from coming toward the railing. You exchanged a few more words with your neighbor to avoid the landlord getting involved. Finishing up, you pulled yourself away calling it wraps on the conversation as the individual below continued spewing profanities at you and about the building.

You unlocked and opened your door “In! In! In!" You shoved the imposing cryptid inside, already getting peeved by the neighbor's continuous rambling. It wasn’t anything new they hated everyone in the building, but it wasn’t something you grew used to though.

"Jesus Christ finally." you sighed, kicking the door behind shut.

Slipping off your shoes, leaving them by the entrance, your feet ached in relief from its constructing confines. Dragging yourself through the small hall leading the way to the main part of your home, it was small but cozy.

"Here we are home sweet home." you chimed, leading Mothman further into the living room, grabbing the jacket from him and tossing it to the couch. As well as turning on a lamp to properly illuminate the room. It didn't take long for Mothman to be drawn to the light fixture like the moth he was. He grabbed the lamp hugging it towards him, looking directly at the bulb. Chuckling at the sight, you could’ve given him a flashlight on the way home if he was going to be this mesmerized. You proceeded to make your way to the kitchen for your first aid kit.

"You can make yourself comfortable, but don’t wreck anything please," you shouted from the room over, but Mothman was unbothered, he was solely transfixed on the soft light, eyes wide and grabbing at the lampshade. "I'm gonna go find my first aid kit to fix you and my cut." You really hoped nothing else gets broken, there was already enough screaming and thrashing for the night.

Shuffling through the kitchen, trying to remember where you last placed the kit. You rested and slid a hand over the cool smooth linoleum counter, looking between cabinets for any sign of a small box. Coming to the last cabinet, you rummaged through before finally pulling out your first aid kit.

But you couldn’t help but stop and think about tonight’s events. It started as a fun night, then filled with pure dread, mothering, and now what felt like taking care of a drunk long-time friend. Except, what really dominated your mind was this odd feeling you started to feel, you recounted back in the hall the way he held you close. It made you feel bashful, to say the least. Up to now, you saw him as a friendly harmless dare you say, an unexpected friend. But that didn’t accurately describe what you were feeling. Shaking your heading, you had other pressing matters to attend to.

"Got it, let's see." And not to your surprise you saw the tall cryptid sitting on the couch, clutching the lamp close to him as if it was his lifeline. You contemplated whether you should take the lamp away. But he looked to be enjoying the light source, hearing faint happy chirps emitting from him. Sadly, you decided to ruin his fun, seeing as there were wounds you needed to tend to on his chest and you needed the light to properly see them.

You attempted to pull the lamp away so you could have better access to examine his injuries. In response, he chittered in objection to his lamp being taken, and nothing was going to separate him from his precious lamp. He was going to soon learn that the lamp was barely holding onto the outlet. Hugging it closer to himself, the plug came out, extinguishing the light. Perplexed as to where his light disappeared to, he presented the lamp towards you hoping you would bring the light back.

“I’ll bring it back, but only until I get a look at you.” He nodded vigorously as you grabbed the lamp and setting back on the mini table, blindingly trying to find the plug and inserting back into the outlet turning on the lamp again. You sat on the couch next to him, motioning for him to come closer so you could get to work.

......

"I don’t see any major cuts or anything broken." Scouting out the state of the injuries, they were honestly not that bad, you guessed it was probably due to the now dried flaky blood around his cuts gave the appearance that they worse than what they were. He got pretty lucky but it was probably due to his build that he was capable of taking on more than a couple of hits.

"Only just a sprain and a couple of cuts, that’s a relief" Thinking to yourself glad it wasn't any worse, you couldn't imagine the stress of trying to keep him at your apartment while he heals, and away from your neighbors’ eyes. The fear of him getting caught and taken away and dissected. Being bombarded by officials and Mothman lovers. And getting questioned or probed, maybe even both. You didn’t know if they would, but you knew deep in your heart they would probe you for answers. Stopping your paranoid-filled train of thought from delving any further. You finished tying up a couple of loose ends and sticking on on salve on minor areas.

"See all better. Don’t move too much, it'll heal quickly that way" Gathering any trash to throw away. Everything is fine now; you don’t have plans tomorrow so you could probably sneak him back out the next night.

Huh.

Letting him go. The idea of it should have given you some relief and yet you couldn’t help but feel conflicted. Would he come to visit again? No that would be reckless. Or you could convince him to stay longer to heal, no that would be irresponsible and selfish of you. He deserves to go back, and you're going to help him get back on his feet and let him be on his way. You walked back to the room.

“Feel much better?” you inquired to Mothman who busy was playing with the bandages on him.

He looked directly at you and nodded in response.

"That’s good, the sooner you get better the sooner you can leave," you told him, seating yourself back next to Mothman who hasn’t kept his eyes off of you. You peered up to catch a glimpse of what he was doing, only to capture him looking directly at you with his head tilted.

Not this again. you thought.

He’s certainly not making this any easier. You looked away trying to focus on anything else in the room before you resorted to looking at the floor.

"You know it’s still kinda crazy, that this is even real. Like I feel like I’m going insane," you jokingly confessed to Mothman, laughing to yourself. But you thought about it more, maybe you were, "O my God is this what a psychological break is?" You looked back at him, having an unfazed look on him.

"Can I?" you asked reaching a hand forward. He stared at your hand for a bit, until he leaned forward giving you permission to proceed.

"So soft" allowing yourself to fully feel him, combing your hand through his dark fur and traveling up his ruff. It was surprisingly plush for how it looked, it felt you were touching a cloud but with some tiny debris within it. You gathered more courage to let your hand wander up to his face, giving a couple of brushes before stopping your motion, cupping the side face. His eyes were a brilliant red color comparable to a lustrous gem.

"You really are real." You muttered, stroking a thumb over his cheek.

Mothman brought a clawed hand to your face in a likewise manner, curious of your own features. Where for him he found them peculiar and to other individuals such as yourself they found it normal. The universe was messed up, making it much harder for you to separate yourself from him when the time comes for him to leave, but you allowed this, forgetting your initial plan.

Feeling a sharp claw gliding up against your skin, perfectly capable of nicking you or doing so much worse to you than you could imagine. But he had no intention to do so, merely entranced by you.

His hand wandered up to your forehead, where your gash was, flaky and dried the blood was chipping at the edges. His antennas lowered and chirped in response, for what he did to you back at the stairwell, he didn't mean to. Even if you said it was alright, it still didn’t make him better, bringing a hand to skim the wound, you flinched at the sharp pain of your forgotten injury, knocking you out of your trance-like state.

Mothman drawing back in his seat, alert and worried thinking he hurt you again.

“It’s okay, you did nothing wrong.”

You reached a hand out to calm him, you aimed for his arm but managed to miss and land your hand on his thigh. Wow, that’s great! you internally cringed feeling a blush rush over you, instead of pulling back you still tried to alleviate him by patting his leg, telling him it was the injury that was hurting you not him.

Instead of defusing his concerned mindset, he only tried to push away from you to avoid causing you any further harm. Hand still anchored on his thigh, you launched yourself trying to stop him from hurting himself more.

Fortunately, with your luck, you ended up top of him, Mothman laying on the couch while you hovered over him, with both of your legs planted on either side of his thigh. Your left knee was alarming close to his crotch if you moved an inch closer you would be bumping your knee right into it. Your hands rested squarely on his chest, finger splayed out as you looked down at him with a similar wide-eyed expression.

You gotta be fucking kidding me.

Maintaining your effort of trying to console Mothman, you coughed to clear your throat and your mind of any dirty thoughts from springing up. “Hey, I know you didn’t mean to, and if you did, I would tell you and- and I’m sorry that I gave you the impression that you hurt me and I’m sorry for hitting you with my car, I feel like saying it doesn’t do justice for what I did.” You panted after your long-winded speech.

“Also, I’m sorry for tackling you down that wasn’t my intention. So, you good? I didn’t hurt you?”

He slowly shook his head, as a response that you didn’t hurt him. Startled yes. Hurt no. Bobbing your head in understanding, you carefully crawled off him.

"Well, I guess I should go get the blood washed off, I'll be right back." You informed the still cryptid who made no effort of getting up, just continued to lay on the couch staring straight ahead in shock.

Walking off to clean off the blood and to regain your composure. You were just going through too many emotions than you should for the night. On your way to take care of your problem, you could’ve sworn you heard something akin to a cat purring where Mothman was. But you blew it off and justified it as hearing the blood rushing and the beat of your heart pounding in your ears.

Striding down a hall and into the bathroom you turned the faucet on allowing the water to flow into the sink and onto your hands. Water pooled in your cupped hands before splashing the cold water onto your face, the water, and dried blood dripping together down around the curves and grooves of your face into the porcelain bowl below. It was a satisfying contrast to your heated face, splashing another round of water at your face but an intrusive memory replayed the moment that happened a few seconds ago. Leaving your face buried in your hands, groaning from sheer embarrassment. Fucking hell why am I like this?!

Unwillingly you slid your hands off and look at yourself in the mirror you looked like the accurate personification of a hot mess. You weren’t going to think too much into this, you are going to pretend what happened didn’t happen, you were going to disinfect and stick a bandage on your cut and not dwell on your emotions around the situation at hand. Allowing him to leave as soon as he is better and not have any other affiliations with him again.

Opening the medicine cabinet for an alcohol wipe and unwrapping the wipe from its small packaging.

"Now for the worst part." Quietly hissing at the contact with the antiseptic. Finishing up on cleaning the wound, you foraged through the cabinet looking for a bandaid. Noting there wasn’t one to be found, you sighed.

Guess I need to go find one.

Turning toward the door to walk out, you looked up and saw Mothman standing at the doorway, watching.

How long was he standing? And how the hell is he so silent for such a big guy and why wasn't he like this before? You were about to question him what he was doing here or if needed something when you noticed he was fiddling with a band-aid in hand. Slowly he brought it up, placing it over your cut.

"Thanks." Laying a hand over the band-aid, feeling not just your cheeks warming up but now a butterfly feeling in your stomach, solidifying your emotions for him.

So much for my plan.

Weaseling past him, before enthusiastically asking him, "Well, we got time to pass, so what do you want to do?"

…..

The sun rays bled through the curtains lightening up your home, the light seeping past your eyelashes and into your eyelids forcing you to wake up. Blinded by the light, you groaned in discomfort, pushing yourself up hearing a couple pops in your back. Rubbing a hand up and down your face trying to wipe away the sleep.

What the hell happened here? Why was there glass everywhere? Looking up you saw your window smashed in with only a few jagged pieces in place around the sides. Turning your attention away you looked around the room, wasn’t there someone else here. O yeah.

But the question was, how did you end up falling asleep on the floor, and where was the large cryptid. Wait a minute.

…

"No, you can't go out, you're still hurt." Trying to hold him back from going through the window. Everything was fine, you both were sitting on the couch, watching whatever, and snacking on fruit, and next, you found yourself asleep but woke up to a ruckus, the tv still on, and seeing Mothman trying to rip the curtain off the window nearby. Jumping to action to stop him, he successfully pulled off the curtains along with the rack, you assumed he was trying to leave even though he wasn’t better or so you thought.

And here you were struggling to hold him back, you thought he was difficult before but now that he fully adjusted and patched, you fully experienced that he was pure indomitable power.

"At least wait till the street is clear." You insisted, noticing some people walking or jogging down the street in the dark early morning. But he didn't listen he was adamant in making his exit. So, you made the decision to let him go.

"Okay, okay at least let me get the window, I don’t want glass on the floor." Racing in front of him to slide the window open. A quick gust of wind whipped against your face, causing you to squint your eyes in response.

"There! AH-!" the last thing you saw was Mothman coming at you and the last thing you felt was his frame bulldozing you down by fast approaching torso.

…

"O right." That explains how you ended up on the floor and the glass strewn all over the floor. More incredibly, even when you opened the window, the creature still managed to break the window in its haste to leave. Your head was pounding, he really is a force to be reckoned with. Bringing a hand to your head, you winced at the contact to your forehead but noticed something else. Delicately raising a hand back to your forehead and skimming along the surface. There was the band-aid from the stairwell and on the other side was another. You didn’t remember adding when did you?

Oh.

……

"My window," you muttered groggily, your vision fading out not before the moth creature gave his assistance to you for the last time and a thanks to you by sticking a band-aid on your sure-to-be bruised noggin as you lulled into an unconscious state.

……

At least bug boy was nice enough to get you another band-aid when he put you out cold, before making his exit. Slowly standing up to get started on assessing the mess and knowing full well that you needed to inform your landlord of the window. You peered out the window, curious of any indication of Mothman to spot, unfortunately, all there was to see the was hustle and bustle of the city around and below.

Turning your attention back to the mess, maybe you could make a fib of some large man drunk man pretending to be Mothman breaking into your home believing it was his. Sighing, you went to grab a broom to clean up the mess, at least you were able to encounter a real living and breathing legend. Made you wonder if other cryptids exist, but you’re pretty sure handling one creature was enough for now after last night.

Finishing up, you gathered all the shards and brought them to the trash. You didn’t have work for today, which gave you the opportunity to get a breather and get things done. Making your way to your room and getting ready for the day.

As you were getting clothes on and getting a good look at yourself in the mirror. There square above your eyes and your right eye was a bruise evident from last night's escapades. Shaking your head, laughing to yourself you weren’t going to be able to cover up the contusion. Bringing a hand to your head, you couldn’t help but smile at the cryptids' cute gesture. Walking out of the restroom deciding to let the shiner shine, ready to do some damage control.

Grabbing your keys, and heading out the door, and yet you couldn't stop thinking of that little moth guy. What are the chances of seeing him again? Probably unlikely, a mere once in a lifetime chance but you were grateful to encounter a sweet bug boy like him.

[lostandsearching]

Her Loss

Pairings: Maria Hill/Fem!Reader, Natasha Romanoff/Fem!Reader, Wanda Maximoff/Fem!Reader

Summary: Y/N is forever searching for her, the half of her soul that will free her form the pain in her heart. But what does she do when the roads fork into different paths and into different arms. How does she differentiate from true love and fleeting lust? Can she find the arms of her destined or will she simply doom herself and let them slip through her fingers.

Warnings: WandaVision elements used, swearing (maybe?)

Word Count: 2600+

A/N: Here’s chapter 3 and we’re following our favourite little witchy! Just a shout out to @theperfectlovestory​ for being so patient and reading through my chapters. If you ain’t read her work, you’re missing out! As always, reblogs and feedback are welcome. Enjoy :)

Chapter One | Chapter Two

Tossing and turning, she shifts around in bed uncomfortably. Having been able to sleep the night before, exhaustion catching up to her, she is faced with another restless night. Her sleeping has improved over the months. The nights she cried to sleep was no longer a regular occurrence but she still had her difficulties.

The bed was always too unfamiliarly empty no matter how much time had passed. There was no weight by her side causing a dip in the mattress, no strong arms wrapped around her waist encasing her protectively and no cool body to nestle herself against. Her empty bed serves as just another reminder of everything she’s lost. The fates had been cruel to her, delivering her time and time again into loving arms only to rip them away from her far too soon.

Having accepted that sleep will not welcome her tonight, she looked towards the wall clock on her right. ‘It’s only four but I guess I can enjoy the quiet and watch the sunrise for a little while’ muttering to herself. She clambers out of bed throwing on a large dark blue jumper, his jumper, and a pair of jeans careful not to make any noise and stir the children next door.

She loves Clint’s children dearly and wholeheartedly. They accepted her, a stranger, as family without hesitation or fear of her abilities. Little Nate went so far as running to her with the widest grin on his face to proudly proclaim that he’s also named after her brother. This only brought happy tears to her eyes as she engulfed him in a hug. Yes, she loved them dearly and she couldn’t be more grateful to the retired archer and Laura for opening their home to her but sometimes it was too much.

The happy shrieks of laughing children reverberating off the walls, the gentle and loving touches between Laura and Clint, the pure love and pride in Clint’s eyes as he took in his family at the dinner table would sometimes be unbearable for Wanda. This was supposed to be the life she had with him. A home, he had secretly bought for them, in a place called Westview with two children at least. They would have dinner together as a family, watch their children grow up like no time has passed at all, even go trick-or-treating wearing silly family costumes. Her life would have been filled with love, laughter and warm embraces but he was gone, taking her dreams along with him.

Wanda quickly threw on her slippers and crept as quietly as possible out of the farmhouse, trying to avoid rousing the slumber of the ever attentive Hawkeye. He may need hearing aids but Wanda would bet anything that he wore them to bed to avoid being taken by surprise. One misstep on a creaky floorboard would have him rushing out with bow and arrow in hand, ready to protect his family from any intruder, only for her to flounder a lame excuse at her sneaking around at an ungodly hour.

Lady luck was on her side it would seem and she escaped the confines of the home without incident. She is instantly greeted by a cool and gentle breeze caressing her skin. She sits on the steps of the home looking up at the clear night sky as the sun teeters on the horizon, teasing the darkness with a warm glow. She lets her mind wander back to over a year ago, to the events that unfolded after her return from the now dubbed Blip.

//

One moment she had Vision’s lifeless body cradled against her as she sobs, only to be suddenly greeted by a strange man calling her to arms, Vision’s body nowhere to be found.

“The fate of the world needs you to come with me now if we are to have any hope in defeating Thanos” and with that he opened a portal and passed through, Wanda nipping at his heels.

She thrust herself into the chaotic battlefield, remnants of the destroyed compound strewn about, with only one goal in mind. He took the love of her life, he took her life and he’s taken her home. Thanos has taken everything from her and now she’ll make him pay.

She flew in engaging Thanos, bombarding him with all the rage coursing through her veins. Angry, red wisps encase the tyrant threatening to rip him apart but as she was within a hair’s breadth away from finding her revenge, hell fire reigned from the skies knocking her off her feet. The battle for the gauntlet waged on being passed from Avenger to Avenger in hopes of getting it to some rickety van in the distance.

When all hope seemed to be lost, the gauntlet fixed around Thanos’s hand once again with an arrogant line about inevitability escaping his lips, their one and only chance arrived.

“Stark! Now!” a sound shouts commandingly before a woman encompassed in light crashes into the purple titan throwing him back. In the few moments after the order, Tony flew into action and disabled the gauntlet remotely allowing it to fall from Thanos’s hand and to wrap itself around the ready fist of Captain Marvel.

“Yeah, I don’t think so” she retorts with a head tilt and a cocky grin painted on her face. ‘Snap’ the battlefield is once again being covered in ash but it is Thanos’s army that is falling to dust with himself crumbling soon after. Being exposed to gamma radiation in space for years and receiving power from the space stone made her more resilient to the after effects of using the infinity stones. Painful as it was, she would recover.

Wanda on the other hand wasn’t sure she would recover herself. Not only had she lost Vision and her home, in what felt like a matter of fleeting moments, she lost the chance at avenging him by her own hands. ‘He’s gone, this will have to be good enough’ she finally relents to herself.

It was only after the battle had ended, when Bruce and Captain Marvel, she later learned, had been tended to that she found out the true price of  her, and the half the universe’s return. Natasha Romanoff had given her life in exchange for the soul stone, she gave her life so the world could be set right.

The icy cold Black Widow had held her at arms-length after Wanda had entered the older woman’s mind at Ultron’s behest. At the battle of Sokovia Wanda tried to remedy her mistake and prove herself but lost her first home and the life of her brother, Pietro, instead. Clint quickly took it upon himself to care for the young witch and urged Natasha to give Wanda a chance. He believed she already paid a heavy price for her mistake, she doesn’t need to be punished anymore.

With many gruelling training sessions under the watchful eye of the Black Widow, a tentative bond slowly grew, one of mentorship and then eventually friendship. Natasha grew to care for Wanda like a younger sister, although she would never out rightly admit of her fondness to the other Avengers. Wanda learnt to appreciate that the harshness delivered in Natasha’s training had served to keep Wanda alive, to give her the tools to protect herself from their dangerous job.

She had lost another loved one, Natasha on a planet and in a time she couldn’t reach, she needed to get one of them back. She approached the only man she knew that would have the unending finances to find Vision’s body. Although she still doesn’t trust Tony Stark, his hubris being the reason for her parents’ death and then his pride being the reason she was locked away in the Raft like an animal, she believed that his intentions were only ever good, even if his methods were questionable at best. He swore on his daughter’s life, much to the surprise of Wanda only having learnt of Morgan, that he would find Vision for her. She will try to trust him once more.

The compound needed to be rebuilt and Stark needed to build another time machine so that the stones could be returned to their original time, cutting off the branches, at least that’s what was explained to her.

//

It took no time at all, considering Stark’s wealth and that the world was also eternally grateful for the return of their loved ones, for the Avengers compound to be rebuilt. Surprisingly, especially to Stark, she continued to stay at the cabin whilst the new time machine was being built. She couldn’t possibly go back to the compound with both her love and her sister being gone.

“Please bring her back, I can’t lose anyone else. I don’t know what I’d do” she pleads with her arms around the super soldier. She pulls back from their embrace, tears threatening to fall.

“I’ll bring her back Wanda, whatever it takes” Steve promises with finality and with a gentle squeeze of her hand, he steps into the portal.

Wanda stood there with bated breath, closing her eyes and wrapping her arms around herself. She squeezes herself tightly as if holding back a terrible force and its impending explosion from within, should Steve fail. It isn’t until Bruce speaks that she tempts fate by opening her eyes, fixed on the platform once more.

“5…4…3…2…1. Ha! It worked!” he yelps, fisting the air with joy.

Wanda couldn’t believe the sight in front of her, Steve kept his word. Forest green eyes land on hazel green ones. She wasn’t too sure what happened, one moment she was standing and the next moment, she was crumpled on the floor sobbing. She finally let the tears free fall, allowing the anguish, loss and small reprieve to wash over her. ‘She came back, someone came back’ a mantra repeating itself in her mind begging to be believed.

With all the agility and grace attributed to the Widow, Natasha leapt out of Steve’s arms to engulf the younger woman in hers. As is always in the Avengers’ lives, the joy of a win is forever marred with sorrow at the cost of gaining it.

The compound having already been built, Wanda finally returned with Natasha by her side. The Avengers home was no longer filled with mirth as it once was, trauma, loss and exhaustion hangs heavy in the air. Clint had chosen to stay at the compound temporarily, with his family, to spend time with Wanda and Natasha. Tony and Rhodey chose to retire, Captain Marvel had long since returned to space but promised to visit when she was in the galaxy, Thor chose to leave the Avengers to join The Guardians in space and Vision was gone.

It was a week after Natasha’s return, a week at the compound that Wanda finally got the call she so desperately needed.

“Hey witchy, how are you liking the new digs?” Tony jokes. Wanda couldn’t help but roll her eyes as anger began bubbling beneath the surface.

“I am not in the mood for your jokes Stark” her thick Sokovian accent slipping past the cracks of her control.

Tony lets out a heavy sigh before responding. “OK kid, this isn’t a social call. I promised I’d find him but I don’t think you’re gonna like what I’m about to tell you” he tries carefully.

Her eyes are consumed with whirls of red while her hand holds the phone in a vice-like grip. “Where is he Stark?” she says through gritted teeth.

“I tried to get his body released to me this morning, but they refused. I could spend every dime I have and liquidate all my assets, they still won’t let him go claiming that he is government property since he signed the Accords.” frustration clear in his voice.

“I will get the best lawyers on the case but it will take time be…”

“Where” she interrupts with a bite in her tone.

“S.W.O.R.D”

//

After the events of meeting Hayward and seeing what he had done to Vision, Wanda knew she had two choices. She opted for the latter. She called Natasha as soon as she left S.W.O.R.D’s offices making her way back to her car.

“Wanda, what’s going on? You ran…” Before she could finish her questioning, she is interrupted by Wanda’s broken voice.

“S.W.O.R.D have Vision’s body and they wouldn’t let me take him home to bury him. They’re tearing him apart like an OBJECT! He gave his LIFE and they won’t even let what’s left of him find PEACE!” her anger is replaced by breaking sobs wracking through her body, ending her ability to speak any further.

“Come home now. Clint and I will fix it” She commands calmly and confidently.

Just as Wanda was the female assassin’s younger sister, she was also the archer’s daughter. No-one messes with the two deadly assassins’ family and escapes unscathed.

True to the Widow name, Natasha seduced and hacked her way into S.W.O.R.D’s data server and extracted details on questionable S.W.O.R.D activities including Hayward’s isolated server with files and data on his less than legal proclivities.

Clint, being true to his ethos, was crawling through S.W.O.R.D ventilation shafts, planting well placed audio and visual recording devices, courtesy of Stark himself.

With all the pieces at hand, Natasha only needed the perfect person for the execution. Her love for Wanda saw her doing the unimaginable for the first time. She asked for help.

“Maria, I need you to do something for me. I need you to get Vision’s body from S.W.O.R.D. Clint and I have all the data you’ll need to make it happen” her steady voice not betraying the pounding in her heart.

“Why would I get on S.W.O.R.D’S radar exactly?” Maria responds emotionlessly. She would have done it without question of course, but she can’t let Natasha know that. After all, she has a reputation to maintain.

“Because I will owe you a favour” Natasha retorts through clenched teeth. A pregnant pause fills the air before Maria responds.

“Send me everything you have and give me 48 hours” without another word, Maria ends the call and Natasha releases a breath she wasn’t aware she was holding.

Maria, always a woman of her word, saw to it that 48 hours later Vision’s body was being returned to Wanda at the compound under S.H.I.E.L.D escort. Wanda may not have given her lover the death that he asked of her nor the vengeance that he was owed, but she could give him the burial that he deserved and the farewell she needed.

All the Avengers, including Rhodey, Tony and Thor, returned one last time to pay their respects, to honour their fallen ally and friend. Wanda laid to rest the love of her life and yet another piece of her heart.

//

“You know, you still aren’t as quiet as Nat” he teases taking a seat on the step beside her. “Penny for your thoughts?” he gently prods.

“Thinking about him” Wanda whispers, still unable to say Vision’s name since the funeral. “Thinking about what you, Nat and even Tony have done for me since”

He turns to look at the young woman and sees not only pain in her eyes, but a steady determination that wasn’t there before. He keeps quiet, allowing her to gather her thoughts without interruption.

“I think…no, I know I’m ready to go home Clint” she says with growing confidence. She finally turns to face the archer. She sees time, suffering and loss etched on his aging face but those are all muted by the brightness in his blue-grey eyes full of love and pride.

Wanda has survived the loss of her parents, her brother, her first home and her lover. She’s tired of surviving and she is finally ready to go home to start living.

“I’ll tell Nat so she can get a jet ready and prepared for you” and with that, they spend the last few moments together, sitting in silence and basking in the warm glow of the sunrise full of hope and gentle promises. 

Chapter Four