#clara also this but it was much more about Correcting her when even could to get on her nerves Especially about doctor info even had and

[quietwingsinthesky]

even loves bill so so much which is why whenever bill assumes anything about them they go “🙂 yea. that’s true.” they love her. if you love someone, you lie to them.

even also (reluctantly, on his part, to be clear,) loves nardole, but nardole knows a lot more because nardole’s info about even comes through from the doctor. which makes it harder to lie to him. that doesn’t mean they don’t try.

[hazbinhotelxreader]

Protective Carmilla x fem blind reader!

“Stay Away From Them”

(Requested by PoosayDestroyer on AO3)

A/n: I hope this isn’t disrespectful towards blind ppl since I’ve never wrote about them before-

Summary: reader is blind, and some perv tries to upskirt her, and Carmilla is there to protect the reader

Noises, noises, noises. That’s it. The only thing you could ‘observe’ was noise. Reason for it? Your blind. You’ve been blind ever since you entered hell. The sinners in hell are based off of their insecurities, their deaths, and things they hate. You? You were always called ‘blind’ because you were so oblivious to a lot of things..and hell decided to ‘gift’ you with that.

It wasn’t all bad though. Hell did give you something that you don’t regret having, your lover Carmilla. She never minded that you’re blind, if anything she compliments you and appreciates you, even if you can’t see. And even if you can’t see her, you can just imagine how gorgeous she actually is, she sounds gorgeous too.

The weapon armer has always been so carrying and sweet for you. She’s basically your eyes. She helps you get dressed if you struggle, helps you get to places without bumping into anyone, and explains everything that’s going on that you cannot see. You really love her. Another thing she does for you is keep other demons away from you, she’s pretty darn protective.

Currently, you and her were walking around Pentagram cities streets in hell. She was with her daughters, and you, helping them out with orders in this part of town since she believed it was too dangerous for young girls like them to be alone. You decided to tag along because you just wanted to help and support.

While walking, she holds your hand to help you navigate through the streets and avoid demons. "Careful my love...there's.." she looked down at a dead sinners body that has been brutally gored by an exorcists spear, deciding to not tell you that theres a dead body right below your feet. "..a stump" she corrects and lightly pulls you around it.

"why's there a stump on the sidewalk?" you ask questionably, your head turned towards where her gorgeous voice was, trying your best to show your paying attention to her even if you can't see her.

Carmilla chuckles softly, she always found it cute when you weren't aware of many things, even if it was worrying too. "Oh well, it is hell afterall..something is going to be unexpected." she responds with a softer tone rather than her usual stern one.

"I guess your not wrong" you smile a little at her words and tone, oh god how much you'd do to see what she actually looked like, you know shes gorgeous. Odette and Clara came to a halt up ahead, Odette holding her clipboard as she checks off the territory, and Clara pulling an angelic spear out of a dead sinners body, lucky for you, you could only hear the spear pop out of the sinners side rather than see it.

Carmilla held your hand, then lead you over to a wall. She gently placed your hand on it, and told you to stay right there and to not let go. She wasn't going far, maybe 5 feet away from you wince her voice was pretty clear. She was talking to her daughters about some of the areas in the town they'd go to collect more of the angelic spears. You stayed quite, but also unaware. Lets just say today, wasn't the best day to wear a skirt.

While you were unaware, and obviously not paying attention to anything you can see-well, because your blind..a middle aged small imp approuched you. He was about half your size, maybe to your hips. he had a perverted smirk on his face as he sneaks up on your unaware and oblivious state. You gasp a little when you feel your skirt get lifted a little, there was no wind, so why..? Then you felt a hand on your rear, you jumped and spoke up "hey!" you exclaim with a gasp, catching your lovers attention.

Carmilla's head shoots over to your direction when she heard your distressed cry, and saw the hellborn, fury filled her eyes as she walked over and gave him a push, grabbing your hand to let you know your okay, as she glared down at him. "you little twit..touching girls? Do you really have nothing better to do with your pathetic little life?" the overlord threats with a dangerous look on her face, she would not tolerate such an act of disgust. "You have thirty seconds to run before i send a bullet through your retarded brain." she said calm, stern and intimidating with her arms crossed as she looked down at the quivering imp. The imp nods and scurried off fast, its safe to say he won't be coming near you again. Carmilla's tone and epression softened with concern laced with it. "Mi amor? are you alright? he didn't hurt you right?" she asked, both of her hands placed on the sides of your head as she tilted your head from side to side to check on you.

You let out a soft, shaken chuckle at her actions. "yea..im fine. Just a bit shaken.." you say softly, moving your hand up to hold one of her hands that were on your cheek, you looked in her eyes, even if you couldn't see her. "Thank you my dear..i probably would have been forced into something if you weren't here.." you say in appreitation.

"Anything for you my love.." she chuckled softly and gave you a soft kiss on your forehead while holding you close in her grasp. "Now lets get going, this town is already unsafe for the girls, and now you too. I don't feel comfortable putting you three in danger." she states worried, calling her daughters back over to you two as you both start to walk.

"fine by me.." you say as she takes your hand, leading you and being your eyes once again. Yes, being blind has its cons, you can't see, bumping into things are often, and you won't be able to observe things the ways others do...and it makes you feel left out. But, it also has its pros, its advantages, and sometimes the best thing that happened in your life, and for you, that Carmilla. No doubt about it.

[littlest-nightingale]

little! 13th Doctor because I've talked ab her as a caregiver but not as a little:

 • oh my god. she is a DISASTER

 • she goes to great lengths to hide her regression/not regress. like she is FIGHTING IT

 • about... 1-3 years old? she's little little

 • i genuinely don't think she had an entirely pleasant regression the entire time she was the doctor. i actually think she was that miserable. like maybe there were some regressions that were enjoyable but i think she was lonely and upset most of the time

 • she was absolutely desperate not to let the fam know. She didn't want them to think she was weak, and she definitely didn't want them to see her when she was so helpless.

 • part of it was definitely because this regeneration was a woman! lots of people started treating her differently when she regenerated into a woman, and part of that was that people thought she was weaker or dumber or more incompetent. So she definitely didn't want people to know she regressed! she didn't want to be viewed as more incompetent than people already seemed to view her as.

 • it was also because she was running from her issues. regression takes away what little filter she does have. if she was to regress and say something about the stress she was under, the fam would definitely start pushing her to talk about it, which she very much doesn't want to do!

 • finding out about the timeless child ordeal broke her. She had an entire childhood she couldn't remember because it was taken from her! and, because we know she could remember little glimpses of it, what if regression allowed her to remember. little bits and pieces. little glimpses into tecteuns experiments. maybe even the few times she was forced to regenerate.

 • after finding out, regression wasn't safe for her! memories she wasn't even supposed to have started slipping through the cracks, and unfortunately, her regression isn't entirely voluntary.

 • it didn't help that she spent 19 years in isolation immediately afterwards. she was stuck in that cell and she would regress and she would remember and there was nobody there to help her through it.

 • and even afterwards, she didn't open up about it. ever. She pushed through, she regenerated, and that was it.

 • in terms of regression gear, she has quite a lot. that doesn't mean she uses it.

 • 10, 11, and 12 were also regressors. 10 got a metric fuckton of regression gear and that collection has been modified and added on to with each new regeneration.

 • most of this is kept in a nursery/playroom originally made for 10, which she has asked the TARDIS to hide down the longest hallway she could generate (sometimes the TARDIS pushes the room forward. 13 doesn't take that well)

 • she keeps one stuffed animal in her room. one raggedy stuffed giraffe clara had gifted 11. it is hidden under her bed next to a teether and a box of stim toys

 • given her just. general autism. and how she is. she can get away with alot. she can have stim toys. she can stop talking. she can have cute onesie pajamas. you get the idea. so at least she has that.

 • but stepping away from the absolute misery, here's some happier ones:

 • i think there were positive regression triggers, even if she suppressed it. like at Yaz's grandma's wedding, when they were doing the henna tattoos (i believe that's what they were? im not too familiar with the culture, excuse me if i am wrong and feel free to correct me) as well as the fez, and getting her new clothes!

 • She has a tamagotchi! She is very good at taking care of it, despite it all. She also has a ds with Nintendogs, which was previously used by 11. it's modded so she can have more dogs than the game allows =]

 • she has matching bracelets with her giraffe plush!

 • Shes got a blanket with stars on it, sometimes she lays on top of it with her nightlight on because. sparkly

 • she draws on herself. yes she has paper yes she could draw on a more permanent surface but it's more fun to draw on herself

[sugarywishes]

A more simple question this time: What is the favourite & least favourite activities for the Afton Family & The Kids to do? Everybody has that one thing they love or hate doing after all, so I can't help but be curious what headcannons you have in mind for all of them.

By kids I assume you mean the Afton kids? If not, please correct me in the comments and I'll fix my mistake in the reblogs 😭😭 Answers below as usual!

We're starting off with Old Man Willy (before killing children lmao) his favorite thing to do is brainstorm and think. Yes, really. He likes planning things out or creating concepts for animatronics and their mechanisms (Ex., The funtimes, yikes!) He enjoys the creative thinking process of things. (I think they mean he also liked drawing, I guess?

His least favorite activity is making robots. Sure he took a robotics class and literally creates robots but he only did it because it was a career path that would keep him financially stable. He hates having to do hard work and is always finding the easiest way to have things done. Which explains a lot about his actions from making the Springlock suits so shitty, killing children instead of adults and all that stuff. He also hates going outside and doing normal things like...idk going to the pool?? Or shopping or something like that. He thinks it's really annoying to have to see people he doesn't care about. He hates socializing and prefers watching.

Moving onto Clara, her favorite activity is as one would expect, dancing. She was a very passionate soul when it came to her hobbies, so much so that she still practiced her ballet moves in the house when it was just her or one of the kids. She also likes reading, she became really interested in literature growing up and she occasionally still reads to relieve her stress. She also sews and knits from time to time because her mom had taught her when she was younger and she actually really liked it. And she LIVES for social events, she really likes talking to anyone who isn't William or doesn't disrespect her. (She's probably the one who would encourage normal family activities like going to the beach or something, of course it usually led to fights :( )

For least favorite, she hates cooking and cleaning and doing housework, her family had taught her that it was the only thing she should be good for besides having kids. And now she does do all that so that's lame. So I guess she just doesn't like being a housewife which is understable I get you girl

For Mike (when he was a teen), he liked ditching class and pulling pranks and being an overall troublemaker. He got a ton of enjoyment from doing so, he also liked hanging out with friends (and he's lucky he even got any considering most of his family is friendless lmao) he liked doing typical teen in the 80s stuff. And he also liked watching TV and reading comics, which inspired him to get into drawing (so many artists in the Afton family!) But he doesn't like letting people know he draws just to keep it low key yk? He just liked not having to deal with his family so he's one Afton you would expect to see outside a lot. As for when he gets older, he still likes watching TV and drawing, but now one of his favorite activities is taking his dad down! (How's that going for him...)

For least favorite, he hated doing homework and shit, so he'd get some of his friends to do it for him (or on desperate occasions ask his mom or dad for help, William would usually scold him for being dumb and wouldn't help him but Clara always did her best to assist) he also hated spending time with his siblings, sure he could deal with Liz but she is still a little...weird. And don't even get him started on that crybaby! He also hated doing anything with his dad, they didn't have any 'father-son' bonding time in general. And once he gets scooped he also started to hate going outside and talking to people because you know, he's a rotting corpse! Of course people will freak out and try to pull a "Kill The Beast" moment on him, so he'd have to resort to disguises and stuff.

For Liz, she loves tea parties, likes planning them and attending them! She usually won't do them at her own house (mostly because William refuses to have anyone over at his place that isn't his family or the Emilys) so she does them at school or at Charlie's place. She also likes playing with dolls and role-playing with them like a few girls tend to enjoy, but that of course doesn't stop her from liking other activities like catching bugs (and killing them, Charlie always tells her that the point is to catch and release them) or making a big mess like most kids do.

For least favorite activities, she doesn't really like drawing or writing because she thinks it's difficult and annoying. She doesn't like talking to other people her age, so she doesn't actually have other friends besides than Charlie (I mean not to say that she got bullied or anything like people didn't mind her but Charlie is her only friend in her mind) She doesn't like spending time with her mom, she only likes hanging out with her Dad or Mike or sometimes Evan (I mean before the birthday party thing) and she hates being alone. (Hmm...)

And last and least according to his siblings and everyone else in his life, Evan! I said before in a previous headcanon post about him that he likes collecting (or should I say hoarding) family things! Mostly things that would get thrown away or sold like old toys or jewelry or other stuff like that. So sometimes you'll find old baby things or old clothes hidden somewhere in his room! It reminds him of when he was peacefully oblivious to everything. He also really enjoys playing with toys, a little more than most kids his age should (to be fair he's been isolated for ages) and he does not discriminate, he also liked tea parties and role-playing with his toys and dolls too! He liked fixing broken toys too since he learned some sewing skills from his mom (not like she taught him but he'd watch how she'd do it and learned it himself) and he learned how to repair some of Liz's old broken down dolls himself! (Does sneaking into his siblings room even count as an activity, because he does it often and he really enjoys it lmao) He also liked watching cartoons and reading comics and books like other kids bc yk, he was still a child! And he loved hanging out with his bestest friend, Fredbear! (and his dad too I guess)

He doesn't like talking to people either (these Aftons and their anti-social behavior bruh) it's not like he doesn't want to start making friends, but he's very hesitant to socialize with anyone he doesn't know because of his bullying days at school and at home, and also cause William keeps filling his head with ideas that no one can understand them and that they're always gonna be outcasted so to him it's kind of like "what's the point??" So he's kinda forced to like being alone. He doesn't really like going outside, he doesn't like spending time with Mike, I mean he always scares and pranks him anyway so what's there to even like? He doesn't even relate to him in any way since Evan does actually like learning and isn't a jerk lmao 💀

All in all, can these guys PLEASE go touch some grass

[nesting-dreams]

i see the memes of entp and infp all the time online of infp cartoonishly hating entp and entp being cartoonishly creepy, but a healthy entp and infp relationship is so much more fun to watch in my view. Entp’s and infp’s always have a rough start of misunderstanding, but if they can be mature and look past that. It’s a nice dynamic. I want to use fictional works as examples for this cuz it’s just easier.

I shall give 3 different examples. There is more, but these are my favourites. Marriage: Clara and Doc from back to the future 3. He saves her from dying and they fall for each other, he comes across as the mad doctor in the old west and she is intrigued, and it turns out she was supposed to die, so instead at the end, he offers her to live in time limbo with him so she doesn’t ruin the timeline, but she doesn’t die either. Clara risks dying on a train to be with him by walking on the outside of it to stop him from time jumping without her, he thought it was the best for her to leave her at first, but changed his mind when he saw her do that. She gives off the impression of being this sweet little thing, but her crazy matches his crazy with that train shenanigans and them hanging out throughout the movie. Doc even realised this after that stunt that she’s not normal. He is very happy about it. (Doc’s closest friend is a very mature esfp, who is the only one who really takes him seriously when it’s needed out of most people).

Crushes, but stay friends: Laetitia and Lupin the 3rd. Lupin the third the first. They meet from her throwing a punch at him after he stole from her after she set the cops on him, so she could steal this book that the Nazi’s wanted, and also again when she assaults him with her shoe later on. He makes her genuinely angry at one point and he realises he pushed the wrong button, what she got mad about was he told a lie about someone she admired and she fact corrects him and gets annoyed with him for trying to make her feel stupid. He got upset with her cuz she poked him back as a retort, but she backs off too when she realised she upset him. She dreamily wishes to solve ancient mysteries for the romance and fantasy of it. He wants to solve it for profit and the romance of it. After the suspicion has died down, They start out arguing looking for some ancient technology, the arguments don’t actually last long. It is not mean spirited arguing. Lupin’s really sweet to her for the rest of the movie. It is not often in the series he shows a sweet side like this. He tried kissing her and both developed a crush on the other. Laetitia loves the arguments and she also playfully sasses to his naughty comments. They both smirk at each other a lot knowingly. Because she looks like a puppy, he denies that he falls for it and makes fun of others for falling for it but he takes one look at her when he at first does not want too and he basically does anything she asks. He helps her out by going behind her back and using trickery to help her and others. She is more authentic and genuine and up front about helping him and others. She Cries when failure happens and he cheers her up, by showing her that he will back her up when she fails, and they help each other reach a common goal. They bounce ideas of each other, she shows her knowledge on things and he does the same. Both have different knowledge that helps each other to their common goal. She is genuinely impressed outloud with his smarts while he does not say it out loud, he gets excited for her when she gets passionate. He actively encourages her to use her head more. Later in the movie, he had jumped out a plane without a parachute for her to save her. Normally he thinks things through, but he didn’t for that one. He does sometimes have bursts of stupidity inbetween the genius. She does not hide her worry for him whenever he gets hurt or she thinks something bad may happen to him which I think does make an impact of him being gentle with her. He doesn’t usually hang around such soft people. both have the same idea when it comes to ending a disaster that happens. She tries blowing up this plane with her in it to stop it being used in killing people, but it does not go as planned. He tries the same thing later cuz while he did want to use it for himself what was found, he realised it was too much trouble “human’s aren’t ready for this yet”. He had a backup plan unlike her to escape before he would get consumed by the explosion. (Other people Lupin became friends with who he had a rocky start with (by rocky start I mean that they also tried to beat him up cuz he was insufferable first meeting: estp, Esfp, Infj, istp (out of these he is softest to the infj. I think it’s that introverted feelers that makes his fe want to take care of the introverted feelers people like Laetitia and Goemon. It’s nice seeing how gently he treats Goemon and Laetitia. He does show his sweet side to Esfp, but at some point he stops because Esfp does not take it seriously. I think he wonders what is the point in showing it to her and he reverts back to his usual attitude). Other people he got along with right away: Intp (he sees her as a niece cuz she’s 14). Who he respects yet he always messes with him: Estj. (Laetitia respects an estj called Zenigata and he is really nice to her. It’s nice seeing the stereotype of an infp and estj hating each other thrown in the trash like that computer meme).

Goemon knows how to roast, he has dark ideas and take jabs, but Lupin never really takes it too far with him. He pokes and prods, but not as much as he does with the others. The infj and infp respond positively to him being nicer, so he keeps doing it. They are his moral compass. Meanwhile, his istp friend tends to keep a distant to help and emotions. Lupin is best friends with the istp, he’d jump into a running bus for him, istp would do the same, but they don’t often have a heart to heart. Their play is more rough and they can take the more serious pokes and jabs at each other. (Lupin healthily boosts Laeitita’s Te to the surface which has her notice when she is being manipulated and to be more practical and to use her head in finding out more information on the person manipulating her (she is an adult infp so she actually is good at using it on her own, he just helps her use it even more and in a more practical sense). both connect with their si and Ne, honestly the nicest parts of the movie is when they’re just talking with each other quietly and not moving the plot forward. He also boosts up Goemon’s Se which has Goemon experience things more in life on a whim, he also helps Goemon notice when he’s being manipulated, but if Goemon has noticed he is being manipulated, he usually is not sure what to do if his usual methods don’t work, so Lupin helps him out of that situation. Meanwhile, both Laetitia and Goemon boost Lupin’s Fe to the surface and make him a nicer person in a healthy way. Meanwhile, with others he can be callous at times and not listen to them. He does not like to see Goemon and Laetitia sad and does his best to make them smile even at his own expense. He acts like a cheerleader for both in a way).

Mentor and student: Dazai, entp mentor, Atsushi, infp student. Bungou stray dogs. Dazai had saved Atsushi from homelessness with the usual trickery behind his back thing. And Atsushi is grateful and just stayed with the detective agency. At first, Dazai tries to keep a distance emotionally, pushing buttons. Atsushi becomes more confident and sassy because of Dazai, and Dazai feels like someone cares about him for once in his life so he softens. He gets in trouble and most of the people in this series just shrug it off, but Atsushi’s almost the only one worrying about him (Dazai got taken away by the mafia and Atsushi started worrying where Dazai has been for the past couple of days while the others don’t worry about it). Dazai loves that his student is so willing to listen to him, even his silly little antics, yet sass him back. Atsushi feels the most comfortable around Dazai aside from Kyoka. Dazai’s incredibly sweet to his student. These two have moments where they can talk about stuff with each other that they can’t with others. entp in mentor roles to infp always feel like that disgruntled dad adopting a stray puppy who’s looking for a home, at first the dad doesn’t want it, but he’s not going to throw the puppy out cuz that’d be cruel, but then he will throw a table if you even insist on finding the puppy a new home or suggest putting it down, eventually. Meanwhile, infp’s are just in general protective of their love ones right away. (Who Dazai was close to who died: Infj / someone he is friends with but won’t admit it: Entj/ Atsushi works with an estj who he respects greatly, they’re not friends or close, but both respect each other. You don’t see that happen often, but it can happen. It’s nice seeing the stereotype not being around for once in fiction / Kyoka is an isfp). Bonus cuz I’m not writing more cuz I’ll just keep repeating myself. Family: Edward and Alphonse from full metal alchemist. Yuta and Gojo from Jujutsu kaisen (Gojo is also his mentor). The family dynamic is a lot like the student and teacher I wrote with entp always being the oldest sibling or oldest distant cousins.

For Entp and infp to work, infp needs to have a bite to them from years of life experience and entp needs to soften from years of life experience. Most infp’s and entp’s in reality do mention being fond of the other. They always are great together in fiction too. I’m not sure exactly where these memes come from of them only hating each other, obviously there will be some infp and entp who dislike each other, but I hear more good than bad. Only an infp (and infj) can apparently make Entp feel this “strange protectiveness” over them that does not really come out for other people. (Side note. I also love seeing enfp/intj and intp/enfj together. they really do bring the best out of each other without overshadowing the other and putting them in a box. They all start out annoying each other, but can’t deny being drawn to each other).

[pickalilywrites]

Reincarnation AU. 6 year old Petra writes down her Christmas list that she wants to see Levi again. 20 years later, able to reunite with everyone else, she finally sees him again on Christmas eve

thank you!

the missing piece

rivetra. reincarnation au. 2639 words. read on ao3.

There has not been a Christmas since Petra’s birth that the Ral household is not filled with dread. Her parents had expected Petra’s first three Christmases to be a joyous occasion, but instead of childish laughter their house was filled with anguished cries that they could not satiate no matter how they tried. They spent those first Christmases soothing and coddling her as best as they could, but it was only when the day ended that Petra’s cries would subside. They thought, perhaps, that it was just the fuss of the holiday that upset Petra so much and that she would become used to it as she grew up. It was a relief, then, that on her fourth Christmas that Petra did not cry, but the words she did babble — different from the “Mama” and “Papa” that her parents usually heard — filled them with a different kind of fear.  

“Cap’un,” Petra giggled on the first Christmas she could speak. It had confused her mother at first, but her father’s expression was filled with an unmistakable anguish. It became the only word that Petra would speak that day, echoing around the house, and her father would flinch at every mention at his daughter’s “Cap’un.”  

Petra’s mother knows enough not to ask about the “Cap’un” after seeing her husband’s reaction, but she also knows enough to be equally horrified when the next Christmas, at age 4, Petra clearly calls for her “Captain” as she toddles down the stairs that very morning. Her mother knows enough to be heartbroken when Petra sees, after glancing at the tree and by the hearth, that her “Captain” is not there. She knows that it’ll continue to grow more and more heartbreaking each year that the Captain Petra is wishing for never shows.  

The seventh Christmas, when Petra is aged 6, the only thing she writes on her Christmas list is “Captain” in handwriting as neat as her small, unsteady hand can manage. Her parents look at it with despair in their eyes, but they smile at their daughter and take her by the hand to the ballet, hoping that the show will be enough to distract her from her inevitable disappointment. 

To their surprise, she loves it. Petra had fidgeted in her seat before the show started, and her parents were afraid that she would be bored before the ballet even began. As soon as the curtains were drawn, the lights dimmed, and the stage lights brightened, Petra sat at the edge of her seat, amber eyes wide with wonder as she watched little Clara dance across the stage with fairies, angels, and flowers. She sat captivated and hardly even blinked as she took in the whole play. When the ballet finally ended, the little girl stood up immediately in her seat and began clapping before anyone else did.  

“Did you like it that much, Petra?” her father asks as he leads her out of the theater, smiling down affectionately at his daughter as she hums her own rendition of “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.” 

“I liked it!” Petra says happily. She walks on her tiptoes, trying to mimic the ballerinas they had watched earlier. She only makes it a few steps, but she gets back on her tiptoes every time she falls. She keeps her eyes downward, carefully watching her feet as she tries to balance. “I love it.”  

“And what did you like about it, Pet?” her mother asks with a smile. She reaches down to fix the scarf around her daughter’s neck.  

“The captain,” her daughter replies, and that same expression of dread fills her parent’s faces once more but she’s too busy looking down to notice. “Clara and her captain got to see each other again, so the ending was happy.” 

“Captain?” her mother repeats. She forces a smile on her face as she tries to gently correct her daughter. “You mean the Nutcracker Prince, right, Petra?”  

Petra doesn’t seem to be listening to her mother anymore. Her mind is completely fixated on the Captain once more as it always is each Christmas. She keeps balancing on her toes, challenging herself even more by trying to step only in the center of the tiles of the theater lobby. “I want to see the Captain.”  

Her parents exchange a look. Neither is sure how to broach this topic of the Captain. It’s a conversation they’ve been trying to avoid as long as possible, but their daughter has become more and more insistent on seeing him each year. No matter how much they try to convince her that this Captain that she so wishes to see is merely a character in her dreams, Petra continues to cling onto the hope of seeing him one year.  

“Petra, there are some people that you just never end up meeting even though you really want to,” her father says gently. He tries to say it in as soothing a voice he can, but he knows it’s not enough because his daughter stops in her tracks to look at him. Already, her eyes are beginning to blaze with fury at her father’s audacity of suggesting something so horrible.  

“He has to come. The Captain has to come back,” Petra tells him. She’s small, but her voice carries across the theater lobby and families are turning their heads to look over at them. Her face flush red with anger, her voice growing as she repeats, “The Captain will come!”  

“Darling, he’s not even real,” her mother says before reaching down to rub her daughter’s shoulders in an attempt to calm her child down. She tries to reason with Petra even as the child grows increasingly distressed. “You said you see him sometimes in your dreams? But those are only dreams, Pet. Dreams don’t always come true. That’s just the way it is sometimes.”  

“This one will!” Petra yells. Her entire face is red now and tears are streaming down her cheeks. She continues to cry even when her parents try to console her.  

It’s yet another Christmas filled with tears.  

⋆｡˚☽˚⋆｡ °✩₊ 

Twenty years later, Petra exits the theater with her friends. Watching the Nutcracker has become an annual ritual for her. For a few years, she had even been on stage dancing with the other ballerinas, but her ballet career was cut short after an inexplicable pain in her back had appeared. She had thought it was from exerting herself too much in practice, but after countless visits to numerous doctors, nobody could find anything wrong with her. Eventually, Petra swallowed her pain and just attributed it to her past life like she did everything else that didn’t quite make sense to her.  

“Are you okay, Petra?” Gunther asks, eyes filled with concern as he observes Petra. His hands hover around her shoulders as if to steady her even though she can stand perfectly fine on her own. “Do you want to go home? If you weren’t feeling well, we could have seen this play another night or we could have left early.”  

“Or just skip it entirely. We’ve seen this play dozens of time by now. We know all of it by heart,” Eld says. He takes Petra by the elbow and gently guides her towards a vacant bench in the lobby of the theater.  

“I’m fine. My back is just killing me,” Petra sighs. It is true that her back is aching, but she’s learned how to ignore it most of the time so it doesn’t bother her as much as it used to. She’d rather blame her back pack for her lack of enthusiasm for her favorite ballet instead of discussing the real reason even though she knows her friends will drag the topic out sooner or later. “It’s fine. It doesn’t take that much energy to watch.”  

“Still ...” Gunther says, his voice trailing off. He exchanges a look with Eld and Auruo, the three wearing an expression that seems all too familiar to Petra.  

Petra closes her eyes if only not to see the pitying expressions on her friends’ faces. “Let’s not talk about it. We talk about it every year. Let’s do something different this year,” she murmurs even though she knows by alluding to it she’s brought it up and that there’s no escaping it.  

“It isn’t healthy to just bottle your emotions in,” Eld says gently. He takes a seat beside Petra on the bench, his hand resting on her shoulder comfortingly even though she feels anything but comforted. “It must be frustrating to go by another year with the Captain.”  

“It’s not that frustrating. It’s the same for all of you, isn’t it? You all seem fine,” Petra points out, opening her eyes to look at her friends tiredly. Even though she wants to crumple in front of them, she feigns indifference as best as she can.  

“It’s not the same, though,” Auruo says. His voice goes up a pitch higher than it usual is, and his face is pinched in distress. He doesn’t like when Petra withholds her emotions from them, but he isn’t eloquent enough to coax her from behind her walls. “Petra, you two were different. You know that. We all know that. You two were special.”  

“If we were really special, then we would have found each other by now,” Petra snaps, and Auruo flinches at her harsh tone. She immediately feels awful for being so brash and sighs, rubbing at her temple. She swallows down her frustration and takes a deep breath. “Look. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to talk about this. I don’t know what else anyone can say that hasn’t been said already.”  

Her friends purse their lips and cast their eyes downward. Eld looks almost guilty as he avoids Petra’s gaze. They had all appeared one by one in each other’s lives unexpectedly, but once they did it seems as if a void had been filled in their lives. Everything made a little more sense, the dreams that had haunted them as children began to take shape, and pieces of their past lives fell into place. Eld had even been lucky enough to reunite with his fiancée, which Petra couldn’t help but feel envious over even as she smiled and gave the happy couple her congratulations.  

“It’s not like everyone has been reincarnated,” Gunther murmurs. He still avoids looking at Petra, choosing instead to speak to the ground. “All we know for certain is that we were born again along with the rest of our families, but we haven’t seen anyone else except Eld’s fiancée. Hanji, Erwin, Mike ... maybe some people don’t get a second chance at all.” 

Auruo reaches out to squeeze Petra reassuringly on the arm. “Sometimes we don’t get to see people even if we really want to,” he says.  

Something about his words sounds too familiar. Petra yanks her arm away from Auruo as if she had been burned and stands up abruptly. Everything about this is too suffocating and she suddenly feels the need to run away. Loosening the scarf around her neck, Petra says, “I’m going home,” before bolting out the door, not turning back even when her friends call her name.  

She manages to flag down a cab and hops inside, giving the driver her house address and resting her forehead against the cool window. She tries to compose herself as best as she can so that her parents don’t fret when they see her return. They’re always more aware of her during this time of year knowing all too well what perpetually unmet desire this holiday brings for her. Even as she tells herself that she’s grown now, that the thought of never seeing someone she’s never even met in this life shouldn’t be such big deal to her, but thinking about it only angers her. It all just seems so unfair. They had all left him at the same time, and now they’ve all reunited without him. He had to see to the end of it without them. And now he’s alone once more. Petra sits in the back of the cab, biting her lip and blinking back angry tears.  

The cab takes her down a route she’s a little less familiar with and the streetlights blur through the tears in her eyes. Soon there are too much and the tears flow down her cheeks despite her best efforts, and she can only sigh and gaze out the window, wondering what her parents will think when she walks through the front door in tears. She’s so busy crying that she almost misses the toy shop she’s never seen before with a beautiful display in the front window that makes her call out to the cab driver to stop and let her off early. 

She throws the cab driver her fee for the full drive along with the tip and hurries out of the cab, shutting the door behind her before running towards the shop. As she gets closer, she confirms that the mechanical display that had caught her eye is a beautiful replica of the Nutcracker. The little pieces have gears and gizmos like an old-time clock, beautiful and intricate and painstakingly crafted. The more she looks, the more Petra can see: Clara, the sugar plum fairy, the Mouse King, Mother Ginger, Drosselmeyer. All the characters are there, everyone except for the titular Nutcracker. She gazes, enchanted, studying every little detail of the carefully painted faces and the little figures’ well thought-out poses in the display. Curiously enough, Clara has bright ginger hair rather than the classic brunette that people typically see. Petra thinks for one brazen moment that the Clara in the display has something of a resemblance to her own self even though she knows that should be impossible.  

The sign on the door says “CLOSED”, but there’s a light in the back of the shop. Petra takes a chance and walks towards the door, bursting through and sighing with relief when it opens for her. As soon as she enters, Petra sees a woman a few years younger than her with red hair tied into pigtails.  

“The shop is closed,” the woman says, but she has a strange look as she takes in Petra’s appearance and her voice trails off as she finishes her sentence. It’s almost as if there’s a spark of recognition in her eyes when she sees Petra even though Petra is certain she’s never met this woman in her life. The woman’s mouth parts in a little gasp and she begins to ask, “Aren’t you-?”  

“Isabel, I told you to lock the door earlier. Who are you talking to?” a familiar voice asks, and Petra’s eyes are immediately drawn to the back door, and Petra sees him. He looks exactly as she remembers him, exactly as he looks in her dreams. Same dark hair, short stature, stern gaze that seem to soften when their eyes meet. The sight of her seems to render him speechless because he stops in his tracks, his brows knit in confusion. In his hands is a little mechanical soldier, no Nutcracker, that has the same dark hair and same blue-gray eyes as him, the same face as the Captain that she has longed for all these years. 

Petra has no time to be shocked. She’s been waiting for this moment for twenty-six years. There isn’t any reason for her to wait any longer, so she runs to him and throws her arms around his neck. She feels his arms wrap around her waist the way they were always meant to.  

“Petra,” he says, and Petra’s heart soars at the sound of her name from her Captain’s lips. “I’ve missed you.”  

“I missed you, too, Levi," she says and feels the missing piece fall into place as their lips finally meet.

[silenthillmutual]

which pathologic character would play musical instruments

ooooo well!! i think eva plays piano. i think she plays it comfortably well without being too showy about it. going to invent a hc for myself now which is that at some point in time she wanted to be the best at it and got really worked up about the fact that she struggled with some aspect of it, but never really brought it up to anyone. she just kept it to herself because she felt it was expected of her to be quiet and without complaints. but after moving away from family i think she came to enjoy the act more and cared less about getting notes wrong or scrambling to correct herself, which gives her the air of confidence that makes people second-guess whether or not she did get a note wrong.

peter and andrey i think were taught some form of instrument but neither really kept up with it for their own separate reasons. peter i think pretty obviously struggling with depression makes you sort of not want to practice at all. andrey, for me, would have felt it would ruin the image he projects of himself. and then internally i also think he has issues. kind of hard for me to explain.

daniil definitely plays an instrument he was absolutely put into some sort of instrument classes when he was younger. i don't think that he likes playing the instrument so much as it's just Something He Can Do and hasn't really thought about its attachment to enjoyment until someone (maybe eva?) brings it up to him. and then he has a moment of staring into the abyss and contemplating his life. though my big hc for him is that he has a pleasant singing voice but has a flat or restricted affect that prevents him from sounding all that emotional when he sings. in the perfect world that i have built where the healers are a found family he does sing for them but he is incredibly embarrassed about it.

yulia plays some sort of woodwind. to me. i don't even know why i just know it. not knowing much about these instruments though i cannot comment on them but i don't think she does very well at it.

lara i could see knowing some piano because it feels part of like a well-rounded curriculum but i don't think she enjoys playing it until she makes friends with eva and eva tries to help her find enjoyment in an instrument. maybe we can get her some other instrument to play. women helping women<3

clara desperately wants to learn an instrument. i think post-plague she wants to learn a lot of things and experience life and feels drawn to music, particularly when she's hanging out with the kids of the town. i'm thinking something stringed for her like a guitar, a balalaika, a mandolin? and she uses music to accompany the stories she tells.

khan i think also knows something. maybe like. flute, clarinet. i think his family expected him to learn and he only considers it functional and not fun and hates playing it but finds himself drawn to playing it all the same in order to feel closer to his mother.

[ardn632sem2ashleighdanby]

Assignment 1 "Image Seeing"

"Through the Portal" Ashleigh Danby

Statement

My original inspiration or context for this image was the Titanic film. I was entranced by this beautiful light fixture (photo taken by Zoe) and my inspiration stemmed from there. I thought it gave 1900s vibes, and then was struck with thoughts of Titanic. I thought that maybe the light from the fixtures could tell a story of sorts, but not take away from the beauty of the fixtures. That’s where the tree texture comes from (photo by Clara), it could tell any story that the viewer wishes, but I wanted it to symbolise ominisity. Lastly, I wanted the whole thing to appear underwater, but obviously this never came to fruition, and I ended up with a ‘portal’ (last photo taken by myself) and this gave the image an entirely new context: Looking back through time. Because of this, I wanted my image to make the viewer feel like they were actually ‘in’ the photograph, rather than ‘viewing’ it.

My concept for my image is very mysterious vibes. I want the viewer to feel like they are standing in front of a portal, looking in at a completely different world that is yet to be discovered. I knew when I started that I wanted to use the light fixture as my base photo and that I wanted some kind of texture kind of ‘spilling’ from the actual light provided. I found the tree texture quite spooky and perfect for my purpose as it looks like the light could actually make those kinds of lines down the wall. I struggled a little with the final layer to my image as I desperately wanted the whole image to look like it was taken underwater, but because I didn’t have any access to a photograph that allowed me to do this, I had to take one myself last minute. Even then, my own photograph didn’t come out as I intended, so I just ran with it: turning it into more of a portal rather than it being underwater. 

The materials I used for this assignment was Adobe Photoshop and the tools it provides. To name a few tools that I used: polygonal lasso tool, brush & eraser tool, gradient tool, line tool, filters, image adjustments, layers, curves, opacity, filters, distortion, colour balance, folders and many more I am probably forgetting.

Some impacts that I faced when putting together my composite image was definitely the use of distortion. There was a point in time when I was using a photo of a shark and I couldn’t quite get the proportions correct using any of the distortion tools, so had to scrap that idea entirely.

The research I did during this assignment really helped with my overall composition, colour aspects, and storytelling. I first looked at ‘Propel the Moon’ on Instagram, where she colourgrades her images to all be cohesive with each other. I feel this really helps with the ‘realism’ of an image, and I tried to apply this here by making sure the portal colours kind of ‘take over’ the image, but the warm lighting from the light fixtures still shine. Again, ‘Propel the Moon’ inspired my composition because most of her photos are centre-focused. Originally, the light fixture photograph was landscape, and the lights were to the left of the image, so I change it to make it portrait and put them front and centre. The research I conducted about the viewer and the photographer in week 1 made my approach quite interesting, and this is where my idea of having the viewer feel like they’re ‘in’ the photograph rather than ‘viewing’ it came in. I wanted to break this wall between photographer and viewer. Also, when I was researching the NASA space photographs, I was discussing whether heavy editing manipulates an image ‘too much’ and I said that if it depicted reality, then it was still ethical. I kept this in mind when I was editing my image, as I wanted to keep my colours and lighting as realistic as possible, which is where the two-toned-ness of the image comes from. Keeping the portal blue and mystical and then keeping the warm lighting of the lights. I also loosely took inspiration from Lisa Reihana's Digital Marae as she combines Māori figures and European aesthetic elements, I thought about combining 2 different ‘worlds’ of sorts in my own image. We’ve got the 1900ss light fixture and then also the portal which has become such a modern kind of idea.

I originally started with assignment with a completely different idea in mind, and then change to this idea halfway through. I found this helped me find my groove and actually allowed myself time to become inspired. It did, however, mean I had less time to complete the overall assignment which wasn’t entirely ideal, but I still managed!

I responded to the time constraints by just allowing myself to be happy with what I had instead of continuing to dwell on what I could change, because in reality, I could still be sitting in front of my computer changing small things that really wouldn’t make a different. 

Another constraint I had was not having the ‘correct’ images that I wanted to work with. I had to become creative with what I had and ultimately resort to taking the last image I needed for myself.

Original Images Used

“Dreamy” - Zoe Elizabeth Arthur

“Plant” - Clara CishoskiKelly

“Above” - Ashleigh Danby

References

Barnette, Cassandra. What you see you don't see: Lisa Reihana's Digital Marae. 2011.

Carter, Jamie. "Yes, NASA Did Manipulate The Webb Telescope’s First Color Images Last Week—But Don’t Call Them ‘Fake’." Forbes (blog). October 12, 2022. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2022/07/18/yes-nasa-did-manipulate-the-webb-telescopes-first-color-images-last-week/.

Gwinnett County Public Library. "How Photographs Can Tell Lies." YouTube. April 15, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=Yj0AhfAf_Fs&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fsafe.txmblr.com%2F&embeds_referring_origin=https%3A%2F%2Fsafe.txmblr.com&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjYtime_continue=1&v=Yj0AhfAf_Fs&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fsafe.txmblr.com%2F&embeds_referring_origin=https%3A%2F%2Fsafe.txmblr.com&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjY.

Propel the Moon. "The ocean at dusk revealing her secrets." Instagram. 2024. https://www.instagram.com/p/C-IhEsAvS_K/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=b882e901-52d2-4298-8c84-a4d7983f91a8&img_index=1.

Titanic. Directed by J Cameron. 1997. Film.

[sturchling]

Peaks out of a bush holding a sign asking for forgiveness.

Not in no hurry just add it to the list. Can I get a maribat. With Alya salt where she applys to a contest to win an interview with Lois Lane or Clark Kent. She doesn't tell anyone as she doesn't want to use Lila connections.

Use whatever lie you want to.

Meanwhile Marinette enters a contest sponsed by Daina prince Aka wonder woman.

Alya is told the reason she doesn't win and is disclfied is cause she not only did fact check a lot of what she put is can and will get her sued.

Alya was practically buzzing with excitement. She had entered a journalism contest and the prize was incredible. The first place winner would have their article published in the Daily Planet and win an interview with Clark Kent and Lois Lane, two of the top reporters in the world. Said two reporters were going to judge the entries and would also notify the contestants if they won or lost. Alya was sure she would win. She had submitted a new article, all about Lila's adventures in Gotham, how she was very close with the Wayne family, had helped with several major Wayne Enterprises projects, and how she had even helped Batman and the rest of the Batfam several times. At first, she had wanted to ask Lila for help, to make sure that she got everything right. But she didn't want to bother her friend, and she also didn't want Lila to use her connections to help Alya win. After all, Lila was very close with both Clark Kent and Lois Lane, and was going to help Alya get an internship with them at the Daily Planet. She couldn't ask Lila for more help. Alya was very proud of her work, and was positive that she would receive good news soon.

Meanwhile, Marinette had entered a contest of her own. Themyscira Industries, the public face of Wonder Woman that handles all her merchandising, had announced a contest. Wonder Woman was going to change her super suit design, and had decided that she wanted the public's input. Obviously her suit wouldn't be an exact copy of the design, they would change what they had to for practical reasons. Superhero suits have to be functional as well as fashionable after all. The winner of the contest would not only have their design as Wonder Woman's new suit, but would also get a private meeting with the Amazon herself.

Marinette jumped right in when she heard about the contest, thinking it would a fun chance to be creative and design something she wouldn't normally. And, if she won the meeting with Wonder Woman, she could get help with defeating Hawkmoth. The Parisian government had kept the whole situation a secret as best they could, so as not to effect tourism. This means, no one outside of Paris, including the Justice League, knew what was happening. If she got the meeting, she would reveal her identity to Wonder Woman. She was sure it would be fine, since Wonder Woman's mother Hippolyta was a Ladybug as well. Then with identities revealed, she would ask Wonder Woman for help tracking down Hawkmoth. It wasn't the greatest plan, but it was all she had.

With that in mind, Marinette quickly got to work. She took inspiration from suits Wonder Woman had worn over the years, and made sure that her design was also protective. Her time as Ladybug had made her appreciate a protective suit. When she finished her design, she submitted her entry and anxiously waited for the results.

Weeks went by, and both Alya and Marinette got the results of the contest. But only one girl was happy. Marinette received an email saying that she had won the contest and that her design would be made into Wonder Woman's new suit. Wonder Woman herself had even left praise for Marinette in the email. She had said she loved the design and was thrilled to see some protective elements already included in the design, which most of the other entries hadn't considered. Marinette was practically glowing, ecstatic with how the contest turned out. Not only did she get some good experience with this design, and get her name out there more in the fashion world, she had also got the meeting with Wonder Woman. She planned her trip to meet Wonder Woman

Meanwhile, Alya was upset and furious. Not only had she not won the contest, she had been disqualified. She couldn't believe it! She put everything into that article. At the bottom of the email that brought the bad news was a phone number for Clark Kent, who had sent the rejection email. Alya immediately grabbed her phone and called the number, determined to know what had happened and why she had been disqualified. As soon as Clark answered the phone, Alya started yelling, forgetting who she was talking to. She demanded to know why she was disqualified and what was wrong with her article. "Miss Cesaire, while you are very talented with writing, there is a major problem with your article. You did not fact check a single thing in that article, which was made up of entirely false statements. There is no record of this Lila Rossi being involved with the Wayne Family, Wayne Enterprises, or Batman. If we had published your article in our paper, not only would you have been sued, but we could have been as well. If you want to be a reporter as a career, I highly suggest you start fact checking all of your stories from now on. This kind of writing will absolutely get you sued and no one will want to hire a reporter with a history of publishing lies and getting sued. I wish you all the best with your future, and hope you can learn from this. Have a good day."

Alya was stunned. How could that be what got her disqualified? She had her source. How much better could you get than a first person account of what happened? Sure, she could have included some extra sources to prove everything, but primary sources are always best! Alya was determined to prove them wrong and show that her article was correct. Maybe if she got enough sources to prove her article, they would reconsider the contest. Maybe she could still win this. With that, Alya took to the internet, using all her sources and researching skills. But the more she dug into Lila's story, the more confused she became. She couldn't find any other sources that even mentioned Lila being in Gotham, let alone doing all the incredible things she had claimed to do there. On a hunch, she looked into Lila's other stories. Her stories about Jagged, Clara, Prince Ali, and many other celebrities. Alya couldn't find any proof. As far as she could tell, Lila had been lying this entire time. Alya was furious all over again, but this time at both Lila and herself. Obviously she was furious at Lila for lying to her. But, she was also angry at herself, for believing in her lies. So, Alya sat at her computer one more time tonight, and got ready to write another article.

Alya spent all night working on her new article. This one revealed everything Lila had ever lied about. All the disabilities, all the celebrity connections, and even where she had really been when she was 'on a charity trip to Achu', which she learned about when she called Mrs. Rossi to tell her what her daughter had been doing. And this time, she made sure gather all her sources and fact check everything. When she was sure about everything she had written, she published the story to the Ladyblog, with an apology for every post she had made about Lila's lies. She also took down all the articles about Lila's lies. She ended up emailing a link to her new article to Clark Kent, with an apology for her behavior when she called. Obviously, this didn't do anything in terms of the contest, but it made Alya feel better that one of her favorite reporters had seen a better article of hers.

While she didn't win the contest, when she got another email from Clark Kent saying that this article was much better, she was over the moon. He even told her about a new internship program that was starting that summer, and if she worked hard until then and kept writing and fact checking like this, he would seriously consider her for an intern position. Alya may have made a major mistake with the article she submitted to the contest, but Clark understood it was a mistake and she was trying to learn from it. Everyone deserves a second chance. Alya was thrilled and determined to work hard for that internship.

On Monday, Alya made sure to apologize to Marinette for not believing her about Lila. The two made up and started to patch up their friendship. Lila's kingdom of lies had been completely destroyed during all of this. The whole class knew she was a liar. The school knew about the lies too and expelled her for the truancy and fake disabilities. And her mother was furious when she found out and shipped Lila back to Italy, to live with her grand parents who could keep a close eye on her until Mrs. Rossi could be transferred back to Italy.

Now, Alya was sitting at her computer, getting ready to submit her application to the internship program that Clark Kent had told her about. While that contest all those months ago hadn't gone as planned, Alya was happy with what happened. If she hadn't submitted that article and got disqualified, she may never have looked into Lila's stories until it was too late. She could have ended up being sued or never made it as a reporter. And she might never have made up with Marinette. Now Marinette and her were friends again, and she had an amazing opportunity with this internship program, and it was because of her hard work.

[lihikainanea]

We have talked about Bill having an ex that was really awful to him but what it he has an ex he actually didn't treat that well? Maybe he cheated and even had two girls at once?

Can you tell us the story about when tiger finds this out?

I like this thought, sweet nani. I like it a lot. Because while I think Good Dude Bill is a good dude now, I think he was probably a real fucking asshole in his youth.

Because why wouldn't he be? Rich. Spoiled. Denies the fact that he is both rich and spoiled. Like, you have the perfect recipe for a total fuck boy megadouche right there. But throw in some dashing good looks, a whole lot of height, and a talent for making shit up and pretending to be someone else?

Bill in his late teens/early 20s broke more than a few hearts and he didn't have an ounce of remorse about it.

I say this a lot because I really do believe it to be true--guys aren't worth the fucking air they breathe in until they're at least 30. And even then--some guys remain fucking wastes of skeletons and godly resources their entire lives, some get better and turn into actual humans. And I'm all for figuring yourself out--that's what your 20s are for--butyou don't get to figure yourself out at the expense of other people. You don't get to form into a functional, acceptable human being by leaving people hurt in your wake.

And for as much as Bill had an ex that really fucked him up, I bet Bill is that ex for a lot of women. And tiger knows some of what went on when Bill was in his late teens and early 20s, but maybe she really only knows it in vague details. He doesn't talk about it often, and she knows it's a time that he doesn't like to revisit. He was angry then. Self-absorbed. He was into some bad shit--drugs, partying, the entire Hollywood scene. He lived permanently in LA and New York City and very much adopted the typical rich boy actor life that comes with those cities. He wasn't even a known name then yet, which meant he could do some pretty heavy shit and still remain anonymous.

He got clean shortly before they met, and while he'll answer questions that tiger asks--he also doesn't really offer up a lot of information.

So maybe one weekend they're in NYC for something and as they're walking in the street--tiger wants a coffee, and Bill pulls her down a side street.

"There's a great place two blocks this way," he says, "I could go for a green juice."

"A green juice?" she quirks a brow, "Really?"

"Have to stay healthy, kid."

She gives him a look, and just taps the pack of smokes she knows are in his pocket.

"That's why I need green juice," he scowls, "None of my other habits are healthy."

So he brings her to this little known spot, one of his old haunts that doesn't conjure up too many bad memories. And after they order, they step aside and then he hears a small voice behind him.

"Bill?"

Tiger sees his shoulders tense up, but she thinks it's just a fan. But something about that voice just brought Bill back 10 years, and he turns hesitantly. The girl is a little taller than tiger, petite, and astonishingly pretty in an understated way. She's staring at Bill, her eyes wide, and tiger thinks she looks a lot like she might just start to cry right there.

"Chloe....hey," he stammers. The girl looks stricken, and tiger actually wants to reach out to her.

"Clara," she corrects abruptly. Bill starts to fidget, feeling a lot of eyes on him suddenly, and his gaze flits nervously. He wishes the ground would open up and swallow him whole.

"Right, Clara. I'm sorry," he stutters again, "How uh...how are you?"

"What are you doing here?" she deadpans.

Tiger is starting to feel uncomfortable. The tension in the air is so thick it's palpable, and while she's usually on Bill's side no matter what, something about this girl is getting to her. Tiger feels it all pouring off the girl in waves that she can almost see--sorrow, anger, something akin to grief. It's all very, very intense.

"Just here for a few days for work," he mumbles, willing the coffee barista to hurry the fuck up. "How you been? You look well."

The girl doesn't laugh in disbelief, which tiger almost hoped she would. Hell, she hopes the girl does anything--anything other than looking at Bill in the worst way tiger has ever seen. The girl has sheer disgust, repulsion, blind fury contorting her features. Tiger is starting to break out in hives.

"I look well?" the girl sneers, "Well for the million pieces you left me in?"

Bill fidgets again, looking to her desperately.

"Clara--" he starts.

"Fuck you asshole," she snarls, and tiger doesn't think she's ever heard more anger and rage in a person's voice before. The girl almost growls it.

Bill sighs.

"I'm sor--"

"You don't get to say that to me. I hope you rot in hell."

And then the girl is gone. The whole interaction was quiet enough that it didn't catch the attention of any patrons of the cafe, but tiger is squirming uncomfortably. Something about the entire interaction is not sitting right with her. And tiger loves Bill to hell and back, she'd defend him with everything she has--but tiger has also been that girl, with other guys. And immediately, she feels a kinship.

Bill turns to her, and bites his lip.

"I'm sorry," he says quietly. The barista calls their order at that moment, and tiger side steps him to go and get their drinks.

"We'll talk after, alright?" she asks. He nods.

And she lets it go for the afternoon, until they get back to the hotel and she orders up a bottle of wine from room service. Once it arrives she ushers the kind waiter out, and pops the bottle herself. She pours two big glasses.

"You want to tell me who Clara is?" she asks, and hands a glass to Bill.

"She's a girl I uh...dated, I guess," he rubs a hand over his forehead, and flumps onto the armchair with a big sigh.

Tiger stays silent.

"I was 21, just moved from LA to here. We met at some party, dated for about a year I think," he continues.

"Some impression you left on her after only a year," tiger says lowly. Bill fidgets with the ring on his finger.

"I was messed up at that age tiger," he says, "It's not an excuse. But I was. And I did a lot of things I regret."

She inches closer to him, and perches on the ledge of the armchair. He instinctively puts a hand on her knee.

"I was exclusive with her and fucking everything else with tits and legs in New York City," he grimaces, "I was on drugs, partying all the time. I'd bring girls back to her apartment when she wasn't there. She finally caught me snorting blow off from a stripper's thong in some underground seedy club."

Tiger winces. For as much as Bill hates talking about this part of his life, sometimes tiger really hates hearing it too.

"Then when she tried to end it with me, our fights got so loud that she got evicted from her apartment. She got fired from her job when I showed up high on god knows what and the police had to escort me out," he sighs, downing the rest of his wine in one gulp.

"I was a terrible person then," he mumbles, "I still hate that."

"Wow," tiger says lowly, "That's...that's a lot, bud."

And she's not being judgmental, she’s just being real. She has his back no matter what, but that doesn’t mean she can’t agree that it was a real dick move.

“I understand why she’s so angry,” tiger says. Bill snorts, and gets up to pour another glass.

“Me too,” he says. A heavy silence falls between them, and then he sighs again.

“I can’t say it to her, but I can say it to you,” he mumbles, “I’m sorry, kid. I was a terrible person back then.”

“We were all terrible people in our 20s pal,” she tries to soothe, “We all did things we regret. Our 20s shaped who we are today.”

“But it shouldn’t have been at the expense of other people. Hurting people.”

“Agreed, but what’s done is done,” tiger says, as she runs a hand through his hair, “I wish she could know you now.”

“Me too kid,” he sighs, “Me too.”

[rowanthestrange]

Do you have any autistic doctor hear cannons?

Autistic headcanons for Thirteen:

Simultaneously considers these traits her ‘alienness’ - which only feels more isolating when everything happens; but also does indeed understand them to be autism, because that was one of the checklists Clara made her go through (before she insisted that Clara herself fill out the ADHD one as well because this was just normal stuff, and then Clara agreed and they never talked about it again).

Masks and scripts like an actor playing a superhero. Yes, maybe it’s still noticeable, but imagine what she’d be without that? No-one would trust her to fix a faulty lightbulb let alone a planet. She’s already a woman. Ish. Might as well pack it in and run a corner shop in Kent with a squeaky door, those bags of crisps that are bigger than the little ones but littler than the big ones, and random food only labelled in Polish that’s either a jumbo chocolate-covered wafer or a pack of instant noodles, or some surprisingly edible combination of the two.

She’s actually naturally pretty monotonous and has to constantly, consciously, change her tone to correctly express herself to people, and sound normal - or at the very least not chronically depressed (which admittedly is true but unrelated). She believes this is why she doesn’t know how to play an instrument this go around - she’s the instrument.

Even at her worst she’s usually been against routines and structures and sameness. But after the laziness of someone else doing the work to feed her for most of her last life, and having also acquired the usual handful of issues from the regeneration lucky-dip, she’s mostly given up on eating normal food if it’s not in company. Too complicated, too time-consuming, too varied, too many sensations in her mouth, her stomach, her body in general, blood sugar and salt going up and down, up and down. Yuck. No, a nutrition-tab whenever the TARDIS dispenses it. Biscuits as part of the TARDIS’s training rewards. This was the case even before prison, which only proved how correct this approach was - it proving impossible to swallow the prison food in one go, despite her making a considerable number of attempts to do so.

After a rough day, she usually feels better after staring into the glow of the TARDIS console. Likes sticking her head under and being surrounded by flashing and loud noises. She never got used to the sound being slightly muffled in her left ear since the sonic mine.

Electrocuting yourself is bad, don’t do it, unless you really feel like it and are a licensed electrician in the Angravay System and have two hearts in case one takes a nap.

Other pastimes to be done in the same secrecy as illicit uses of sonic devices include: waggling her fingers in front of her eyes, flapping her arms, jumping up and down until her feet hurt. While wary of indulging too much in front of the fam, luckily it later turned out Yaz also likes trampolining, and theme park rides, and circus skills, so she does all sorts of fun physical things with her, and frequently asks if she’s got any more ideas of what they could do.

The Doctor’s pretty burned out by the time Dan is around full time, and despite having only met him several hours ago, he’s heard enough about her second hand and reacts accordingly that she just...stops masking around him properly. Still lies like a dog, that’s just her, but a lot of her what she thinks of as less human traits, she lets him deal with. If she doesn’t feel like talking, she doesn’t. If she doesn’t want to look at him when they’re talking, or feel like changing her tone, or wants to just make noise responses, she does. If she wants to move weirdly, sometimes she does.

It’s not Dan’s first rodeo. He had a probably-autistic-as-well-as-bipolar-in-hindsight girlfriend before. Not to mention has lived with Yaz when she’s been sick or exhausted or at her wit’s end. His responses aren’t exactly the same as they would have been with Yaz or Jess - mostly because the Doctor doesn’t do physical contact and even if she did he doesn’t really know her like that. Rib-cracking bear hugs are out until she suggests otherwise. But he knows when to not take offence to things, when to distract, when to mirror. Knows how to guess what the real cause of a seemingly random outburst is (like Yaz she forgets to drink, but unlike in 1900 he has easy access to bottled water he can leave around, and without the pushback that he’d get from nagging). This is mostly good for the Doctor, however has the distinct downside that he knows exactly where her autism ends and her being an arsehole begins.

Thirteen and Martin!Doctor are both very autistic, but in completely conflicting ways. Thirteen prefers the interest of newness and change, Martin!Doctor likes structure and pattern. Thirteen is hyposensitive and needs loudness and sensation and input to rebalance, Martin!Doctor is hypersensitive and needs quiet and stillness. Thirteen is an introvert and needs recharge time alone from others, Martin!Doctor who needs to be around people - just people doing the ‘right’ thing. Thirteen is heavy on the masking, Martin!Doctor says she refuses to not act like herself - though still very much has a pride problem, and will disappear off in a ‘sulk’ for days at a time (so ultimately they’re very similar in this respect, but take umbrage at each other anyway). If Martin!Doctor wants to hum over anything or anyone or just in general, she will. Thirteen doesn’t allow herself to do that even if she wants to, simultaneously believing she shouldn’t act like that, and being envious of her. Both are tactile on their own terms, not on others’, which is fine until you’ve got two such people together. Thirteen’s stims are simple but difficult to hide, Martin!Doctor’s are complex but easier to hide (her preferred being completing and learning crossword puzzle books - the automatic calming effect of writing a letter in a box immediately relaxes her on both a mental and physical level in a way she can’t account for). Both are somewhat given to quietly self-injurious behaviour that they attempt to control (Martin!Doctor more successful than Thirteen) but again this isn’t complementary in practice, as they would merely set the other one off shouting at them because they hate seeing their own aspects they dislike reflected back at them.

Thirteen has accidentally given herself a concussion twice, because rattling her brain in her skull makes things feel simpler. Perhaps this is what happens when your first memory is a train floor, if not the train roof that technically came before it.

[imaginary-portal]

Neighbors - Part One

Bucky x Fem Reader

Word Count: ~2k

Summary: Y/N works in the Avengers compound with her boyfriend Jonathan. Bucky Barnes lives in the room next door and finds himself falling for Y/N.

Part Two

Masterlist

Enjoy!

_________

"Y/N? Are you with us?" Y/N snapped her head up. She didn't realize she was staring off into space. The recent sleep deprivation has been costly. So costly that occasionally she sleeps with her eyes open. This meeting was important to plan the attack for the next mission. "Yeah. Sorry." She looked around the room, embarrassed. Bucky Barnes shifted in his seat. Y/N sparked his curiosity. He'd noticed her when he first entered the room, but he wasn't sure why she was there. Half of the room was filled with Avengers, the other half was experts and strategists. "Any suggestions?" Tony asked her, testing her attention span. "I'll have to think on it." Y/N said casually. "How about we take a lunch break. Clear our minds. Meet back here in 30 minutes?" Steve suggested. "Sorry, no one told me you're in charge of meetings now." Tony remarked. "Come on Tony. Look around. Everyone's tired. We'll figure it out after." Steve did have a point. Y/N wasn't the only one who looked drained.

During her lunch break, Y/N went back to her room, where she took a quick power nap. Bucky followed behind her, realizing his room was right next to hers. He wanted to know who she was, so he waited in his room until the lunch break was almost over. He left his room the same time as her. "Hey neighbor." Y/N said, looking refreshed. "Hi. I'm Bucky." Y/N shook his non-metal hand. "I know. I'm Y/N, I work in strategy." Bucky nodded, walking along Y/N's side in the hall. "Ah, that's why you were so tired. They overwork you." Y/N nodded. "Precisely. But I've never enjoyed a job as much as this one. I mean come on, I get free meals and lodging. Who'd pass that up?" The two of them laughed as they reentered the meeting room. "Y/N, welcome back. I'm ready to hear your ideas." Tony pressured her immediately.

_________

When the meeting finally ended, everyone left to grab dinner. Y/N sat with one of her colleagues, where they continued the discussion of the meeting. Her wandering glance noticed several times that Bucky was looking at her. He was sitting with the rest of the Avengers, who were talking about getting suit upgrades. Even though he couldn't hear her, he liked the way she talked with people. She seemed very enthusiastic and educated. "Oh, you like smart girl over there?" Natasha said quietly as motioned her head towards Y/N. Bucky shook his head, not realizing how long he'd been watching her. "No, I just didn't know who she was." Natasha smiled. "It's fine Bucky. You see him over there?" She pointed to a security guard in the corner of the room. He looked off into the distance to see the attractive man. Bucky looked back at Natasha, who wiggled her eyebrows. "We all have a normal person that we're interested in." Bucky looked back at Y/N and watched as a man approached her, interrupting her conversation. Y/N looked up at the man with a smile. The man bent down to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Natasha hissed. "Oh, she's taken. Sorry bud." Bucky looked down at his food, no longer interested in anything beyond his plate.

_________

The next day, the team had a successful mission. It did include some hasty improvising that Tony planned to discuss with Y/N about. He was still wearing his iron suit and had scratches on his face but he wanted to be sure Y/N wrote down his critiques. Y/N walked outside, seeing the Avengers standing in a circle, Steve and Natasha sitting on the ground. A medic cleaned up their wounds as Y/N spoke with Tony. Bucky watched the conversation keenly. Y/N took notes and was very receptive to the critiques. For a moment she seemed to be more patient with Tony than Steve was. That was, until she disagreed with Tony on something. Tony claimed that a mistake was due to her strategy but she believed it had to do with his suit. "Let's test it right now. Stand up there, fly down and blast that trash can." Y/N was confident. Tony did as she said, proving her to be right. "I'll let you get away with that for now." Was all Tony said before walking inside. Y/N scribbled something down in her notebook, smiling to herself. When she looked up, she caught eyes with Bucky, maintaining her smile before walking inside.

_________

The team split up for the next mission. Each strategist was assigned an Avenger to tackle individual weaknesses. Since Y/N showed up pretty well to Tony, she got promoted to Chief Strategist. Therefore, she was given the hardest team member to work with: Bucky. Bucky was only hard to work with because he doesn't engage with people often. He likes to have a plan and the less that plan involves other people the better. What Y/N would find, however, is that Bucky is easy to work with, so she didn't exactly understand what people meant by that.

Y/N entered the meeting room with a computer and notepad. Bucky sat at the table, relieved to see Y/N as his strategist. Y/N sat across from him and logged onto her laptop. "So, what do you feel is your biggest weakness on missions?" She stood up to plug her laptop into the projector. Bucky watched her as he tried to think of his answer. "I guess it would be that I can't fly so I'm always stuck on the ground. I rarely have a height leverage." Y/N nodded, sitting back down. "What if I told you that doesn't really put you at a disadvantage?" Bucky furrowed his eyebrows, confused. "I mean, if flying was the main priority for a mission, only half of the team would be going. After looking at some of Tony's footage, it looks to me that your main weakness is your range." Y/N played a clip on the projector that showed Bucky falling because he couldn't reach behind him. "That metal arm isn't so flexible, yeah?" Bucky sat, astonished. "Yeah, you know what, you're right. I never realized that before." Y/N nodded, typing something on her computer. "So I scheduled you some training sessions this week. They're gonna teach you some new combat moves and flexibility, so it shouldn't be as much of a problem anymore." Bucky nodded, content with the plan.

"Wow. That was easy." Y/N said. "They told me you were the hardest to work with but if I was with Tony I'd be in a meeting for hours." They both laughed as Y/N shut her laptop. "So how's the compound life treating you?" Y/N switched topics. Bucky shrugged. "I mean I can't complain. I've spent a lot of time living in torture chambers." Y/N nodded, understanding the seriousness of the conversation. "I read that in your file. Are you getting any help for dealing with that stuff? You know, mental health is just as important as your physical health." Bucky shrugged again, not really answering her question. "Well there's a lot of resources here so use whatever you need. Not to sound corny, but I'm also available if you ever need someone to talk to. You know where my room is. My door is always open, unless my boyfriend is sleeping, in which case I advise you not to come to our door." Y/N laughed, realizing the ramble she went on. “Wanna grab lunch? I’m starving.” Bucky took up her offer, walking by her side in the halls. Along the way, he got a whiff of her perfume, which was a pleasant and enticing scent.

“Are you single? I can hook you up with my friend Clara. She’s the sweetest person you’ll ever meet.” Bucky shrugged, taking a bite of his sandwich. “Thank you but I’m not interested in a relationship right now.” Bucky lied. To tell the truth he was lonely. To tell another truth he was interested in Y/N. “Understandable.” Y/N said as Bucky swallowed his food. “So what’s your boyfriend like?” Y/N bit her lip as she thought of the perfect way to describe him. “Jonathan works over in aircraft. He’s very logical, focused. He has big plans here.” Bucky raised his eyebrows. “What about you? Do you have plans here?” Y/N nodded, poking around at her side salad. “I do, but they’re not as ambitious as his, you know? I’m already Chief of Strategy so I’m not sure how much further I can go.” Bucky shook his head. “Don’t limit yourself. I can tell you got potential.” Y/N smiled at his compliment. “Thanks Bucky, you’re a nice guy. What about you? Do plan to stay here, work government contracts?” Bucky nodded. “For now. But I guess wherever Steve goes I’ll go.” Y/N awed. “That’s sweet. I love a good friendship.” They both sat in an awkward silence as they thought of something to say. “What do you do for fun?” Bucky scrunched his eyebrows. “I don’t do anything.” Y/N rolled her eyes. “Come on. You gotta do something. You like music? Movies?” Bucky shrugged. “40s music is nice.” Y/N's eyes beamed. "Oh you must know Frank Sinatra, yeah?" Bucky nodded. "Yeah he's all right." Y/N took a large bite of food. "Classic." she said with a mouthful.

"Well, well, well, if it ain't two troublemakers." A man approached the table from behind Y/N. "Jonathan!" Y/N said, excited. She pulled out the chair next to her and the man took a seat, plopping his food on the table. "As you may know, this is Bucky." Y/N tried introducing the two, and Bucky corrected her by saying "James" as he shook Jonathan's hand. Y/N's eyebrow wrinkled. "You do nice work out there, kicking ass." Jonathan complimented as he began eating. Bucky nodded and looked down at his food, no longer interested in conversation. "How's aircraft today?" Y/N asked Jonathan. "Stupid, as usual." Y/N playfully rolled her eyes, but Bucky took him seriously. "What's stupid about it?" Jonathan swallowed and wiped a crumb out of the corner of his mouth with a napkin. "Everyone is so caught up in team work when sometimes things could be faster if we just worked alone." Y/N chuckled to herself. "Easy for you to say when you know everything that goes on there. Not everyone is as advanced as you." Bucky held back an eye roll, growing a distaste for the way Y/N was feeding the man's ego. Jonathan caught onto this, sensing a feeling of disapproval from Bucky. "You'll see. Things will be better once I'm promoted to supervisor." No one replied, instead eating more food.

"So how did you two meet? Is Bucky not logical enough or something?" Jonathan tried cracking a joke. "No, we just split up into groups so everyone needed help." Y/N rebutted. Jonathan shook his head. "They just say that to make the weaker ones feel better. The airborne Avengers: Iron Man, Vision, Falcon, their combat is much more calculated, less error." Y/N smacked Jonathan's shoulder. Bucky expressed an eye roll this time. He didn't know why he was still sitting with this obnoxious couple. "Be nice. And that's not true. Remember when I told you I proved Tony wrong about his suit versus my strategy?" Jonathan shook his head, a confused look on his face. "Well anyways, that's how I got promoted. I'm at a higher rank than you now." She stuck her tongue out a Jonathan, who gave her a kiss on the lips, smirking at Bucky as he pulled away. Y/N regained composure, wiping a hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry Bucky. I promise he's nice when he opens up to you." She looked at her watch. "Shit. I have a meeting in five minutes. I'll see you guys later." Y/N quickly grabbed her bag, gave Jonathan a kiss on the cheek, and promptly left. The two men sat in an awkward silence. Jonathan swallowed the last bite of his food, glaring at Bucky.

"You don't go taking my girl, got it?" Asshole. Bucky nodded affirmatively, picking up his trash and leaving the table. ——————

Copyright © 2021 imaginary-portal. All rights reserved

[writer-panda]

Hit on the groom and what became of it - chapter 1/I will keep missing you (if you don’t stop running)

Disclaimer: I don’t own DC or Miraculous. I’m just playing with some crazy concept. 

Chapter 1 (here)  -|-  Next

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

Ladybug landed on top of the Eiffel tower with practiced grace. An agitated worry roiling in her chest about the message Chat Noir left her. The urgency was one thing, but he sounded… pained. Like the weight of the world dragged him down type pain. 

Marinette knew Chat’s home life wasn’t perfect. Skilled at hiding it, maybe, but details leaked through the cracks. An offhand comment here, a muttered accusation there, a sour face yet again here. He lived in pain and tried so hard to work through it. 

She tried to help him whenever she could, both as Ladybug and Marinette. She may not return his feelings, but she always listened. For months during their third year as heroes, she left food on the rooftop when Chat’s suit revealed too many ribs. She wasn’t sure the reason and didn’t dare to ask, lest she learned too much, but she did try to help. There were times she thought she imagined the pained looks, and thin frame, and thinly veiled comments; maybe overexaggerating the situation in her mind, as she often did. After all, he always acted so cheerfully.

Then, Lila happened. 

The first strike landed swift, almost deadly, but she survived. It was what followed that made her reconsider. A prolonged fight, where Marinette chose to retain a cheerful mask to hide the pain. Along the line, she considered confiding in her parents. But what could they do?  Maybe take her from school, but that would mean Lila already won; the Liar would rule unopposed.

Which left Adrien, her last bastion of friendship. 

She still harbored a bit of a crush on him, but it was justified! Like a knight in shining armor, he stood, always ready to defend her. He always ensured her inclusion in class activities and saved her from several catastrophes. 

She still stumbled over her words with him, but when it’s minor stuttering or not talking to anyone, she forced herself to adapt. It was nowhere near as bad as it used to be. 

With the ability to spend more time with Adrien without acting like a spaz, Kagami also appeared more often, and proved to be a good friend. Marinette found a home with the two awkward rich kids ridiculously clueless and unaware of how the real world functioned. In the end, she even grew to accept Adrien might not be destined to be hers but chose to support him nonetheless. 

“My lady?” She was broken out of her musing by a familiar voice.

“Hello, Kitty-cat. I got your message… what’s wrong?” She turned to see Cat Noir slumped over the railing, with his ears tweaking nervously. She didn’t even know he could do it. 

“I… I’m sorry my Lady, but I can’t… I can’t continue to be your partner,” he declared.

“What?!” she squeaked. “What happened? What’s the matter?” 

“I’m… I’m getting married,” he announced, his ears drooping and tail tucked between his legs.  

Oh, that’s… not what she expected to hear. “Married? Congrat…” she drifted off, noticing his sour face. “Chat? What are you not telling me?”

“It’s… I… My…” He struggled to figure out how to say it, but ultimately remained silent for a moment. “There is nothing to be happy about. It’s a… business marriage,” he spat, his eyes narrowing.  

“But… those are illegal!” Ladybug protested.

“Not when you make it look like a love match. Especially if you insinuate at a scandal.” He sneered, jumping off the railing and pacing along the empty rooftop. “My father holds all the cards and I… I’m in no position to oppose him.”

“I’m sure we can…”

He sighed, walking over to her. “Please… M’lady. Don’t try to give me hope. I accepted what I must do.” With that, he reached for the ring, but she stopped him.

“Chat. We can try… You’re my friend. You can’t… We will figure it out. Together.” In all they’d endured, suffered, and triumphed - Marinette had never seen him this despondent… this broken. 

He sighed, his eyes flat and dull. “There is nothing to figure out,” he said, forcing the ring off his finger. 

The transformation fell, leaving Adrien Agreste materialized in place of her long-time partner. Plagg’s sharp cry cut off, as he’s sucked into the ring the second he popped out of it. She stood there, too stunned to notice the blond boy pushed the ring into her palm and closed it. 

Marinette wasn’t sure what thoughts decided to rampantly rage through her head, but the train of thoughts probably broke the collective speed limit everywhere in the world at the same time. 

“M’lady?” Adrien’s soft voice brought her to earth when she was one step from panic.

“A-Adrien?” She choked on the word.

“You heard about me?” He looked dumbfounded. Ladybug, too shocked to say a word, gestured over to the building line. Even from so high and far away, his most recent billboard advertisement stood visible. “Ah… right.”

“Who… who’s the lucky girl?” Inside her mind, she wondered if Kagami right now faced a  similar problem. It was the most logical…

“Lila Rossi,” Adrien admitted, his shoulders hunching. 

Marinette.exe stopped working. 

A moment passed.

Another.

“Um… M’Lady?” The boy tried to prod his ex-partner to respond by waving his hand in front of her face.

“That… that lying…” Ladybug saw red. This could not be happening.

Adrien nodded, the despondent look on his face growing worse every second.“My father deemed her a suitable heiress to the Gabriel brand… I tried to warn him she was a liar, but he… I think he actually admires her skill…” Tears built in his eyes, and Adrien covertly tried to wipe them away. 

“Maybe… maybe you could… I don’t know!” she screamed in frustration. Marinette had several ideas about what Adrien could do, but none of them would help. 

Running away would be a problem. Leaking the story to the press would lead to his home life growing even worse. After dealing with Gabriel Agreste’s parenting, she held no illusion Adrien could win a court battle. The rich too often got away with whatever they desired. She could try to sicc Uncle Jagged on the case… or maybe Clara Nightingale… Nadia Chamack would probably love the news-breaking story, but it would all put Adrien in danger. Who knows what would happen before they could obtain results or protection against Gabriel’s extensive reach. 

Adrien sighed as if knowing exactly where her thoughts took her. Chat was no dummy, he probably scoured over his options more times than he could count. His resignation, the last resort in a long line of failed plans.  “I appreciate you trying, but I already told you I accepted it. Just… take me down, please. I… I didn’t really plan the location well…” He let out a weak chuckle. 

“Fine… I’m sorry kitty...” She grabbed hold of him and swung to the ground. Despondently she watched her best friend, her partner, walk away into the night; resigned to a life of suffering and isolation. 

There must be something she could do, she thought. She closed a gloved fist around the ring. She was Ladybug, and if she put her mind to it, there was nothing she couldn't do.  

-----------

A week later the press learned about the upcoming wedding. Adrien and Lila both left school for home-school. The press and the general public ate up the news story about star-crossed lovers that met in school and became inseparable. It didn’t help that the class kept commenting about how good they were for each other. 

Marinette resisted an urge to gag whenever she caught the sound of the vicious lies and propaganda.  She was asked for comment only once but chose to refuse. It didn’t earn her any popularity in class. Luckily, she convinced Nadia to stop a nasty side-story about her jealousy from being published. 

No closer to a plan, she despondently continued to push through her life without her friend. She, unsurprisingly, hadn’t received a single text or call. Marinette didn’t blame Adrien; his position couldn’t be easy. A month after Adrien departed from her class, Marinette convinced her parents to also home-school her. Without a single friend, the school became a burden. Of course, her reasoning to her parents leaned into her focus on her fashion business. Which wasn’t untrue. It was starting to pick up. 

The only upside to this whole debacle was near-lack of akuma attacks. It seemed Hawkmoth found a hobby. Maybe he wrote poems? 

Nah. Not his style...

Two months after the announcement  Marinette woke to surprise guests: Adrien, his father, and Lila knocked on the bakery’s doors. The bride-to-be in an especially sour mood, as much as she tried to hide it. Gabriel appeared to be devoid of any emotions, as usual.

She seated them on the couch and asked if they would like a drink. She didn’t bother to offer food, not wanting to waste good cake on the likes of Lila and Gabriel. Although, Adrien’s thin cheeks and haunted eyes made her regret the decision. 

All of them declined the drink.

“Madame Marinette, I assume you have heard of the Wedding?” The capitalization clearly discernible in his voice. 

“Yes… Yes sir!” she corrected herself. Trying desperately to mask her disgust behind a layer of nervousness. She couldn’t risk a glance at Adrien, even if this was the first time she’d seen him since that night on the roof. Making it through the meeting would be hard enough without watching him suffer.  

“While initially, I planned to prepare the dress and suit myself, my son convinced me to give a chance to someone else to shine.” Clearly, whatever it was Adrien said, it didn’t include a polite request. “I have seen the dress you made for Rock Star Jagged Stone’s wedding, as well as the suit worn by Nadia Chamack.”

“They are designs I’m particularly proud of, sir.” 

Play the part. Play the part. Don’t send him to the hospital. Papa and Maman would be disappointed. Well, Maman would probably join me… 

Her homicidal train of thought ended as she forced a smile to appear on her face. Contrary to Lila’s stretched thin lips;  Marinette’s smile shines bright and could’ve been mistaken for genuine.

“Indeed… I’ve come to commission you to design and make the gown and the suit for the sweet couple.” He announced like it was the highest honor, but there was an amount of bile in his words Marinette used to think was reserved only for Nino.

“I… I’m… I’m honored, sir!” She beamed. The excitement only half-forced. Her moral compass told her even entertaining the proposal was wrong, but at the same time, her brain furiously flitted crafting possibilities. 

Gabriel nodded imperiously as if her acceptance merely added to a foregone conclusion. “Good. My assistant, Nathalie, will sort out the details. Lex Luthor agreed to pay for the pieces as his wedding gift, so do not be afraid to ask for full price.” He informed her t as if he believed she would give him a discount. 

For a moment, a singular reckless moment, Marinette entertained the temptation to voice her thoughts about Gabriel being cheap. 

She sighed, no, there would be another day for career suicide. The group rose to leave, and Marinette finally glanced at Adrien; his model-trained smile paper-thin. He caught her eyes, and if he radiated sadness two months ago, it didn’t hold a candle to the devastation swimming in his eyes. The exchange broke when Lila gripped a hand tight around his arm and dragged him to the door. 

Gabriel handed her a card, and the group departed. Marinette collapsed onto the couch, the makings of a headache building in her skull. 

This would be awful.  

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

A week later Marinette held a separate meeting, consisting of Nathalie, Lila, Lila’s mother, and Adrien’s aunt. And her, obviously. 

She first asked what kind of dress Lila wanted.

Lila’s eyes lit up in an unholy glee; and she started talking. 

And talking. 

And talking. 

And talking. 

After the long and painstakingly thorough description, Marinette felt faint. Several reasons contributed to that, although the most prominent were the materials, the design, and the way she spoke. Obviously Lila had feelings, the kind likely to trigger an oncoming Auma attack if Hawkmoth hadn’t pranced off to who knows where, about Marinette designing her dress. 

Marinette was happy Adrien’s aunt pointed out the request’s complete madness, but Lila’s mother waved it off, quick to declare only minor adjustments to the request would be needed. 

In the end, Marinette presented several dozen designs, both hers and foreign to have a basis on which she could work. Lila, of course, chose the one that would be hardest to make.

“I’m sorry none of your designs were good, Marinette…” The liar cooed with faked sorrow. She hid a smirk the designer could clearly see. 

The notion was born because it was a picture and not a sketch. 

Marinette smirked, and rose from the couch, ignoring Lila’s irritated scowl at her non-reaction.  

She liked it even less when the girl brought in the ready-made dress. 

“I made it as the first design for Penny Rolling’s wedding, based on Uncle Jagged’s suggestions. I should’ve known Penny didn’t approve of his idea, but…” she waved it off.

Lila, now actively glaring at her, sat back on the couch. All of which was mistaken for amazement by the adults.

Marinette ignored the girl’s dramatics, it was the only way she’d survive this meeting intact. “Of course, there still needs to be several adjustments and personalizations. I will also need to order the amber you requested. And the platinum thread. And the white gold. And probably an industrial-grade 3-D printer… Is that covered by the expenses?” She looked at Nathalie, who nodded. “Great! I will need just a moment.” 

The women watched as Marinette practically leaped at her notebook and added in adjustments to the sketch. Fifteen minutes later, when she presented a new design, impressing them all (sans Lila, obviously) with the flowing lines and intricate details. They praised her talent (even Natalie), and Marinette played the bashful young designer role to a tee. The liar kept glaring though. She couldn’t back away easily, since she already made a scene about wanting that specific dress. Marinette informed them beforehand she would need to know about her specific wishes before she made any adjustments. 

The final design looked pretty much exactly what Lila wanted though, but she didn’t want to give her nemesis the satisfaction. Her entourage did enough of this. 

Under the cover of being too emotional, they ended the meeting. Nathalie remained to finish the deal and sign the contract. 

After all of them left, Marinette collapsed onto her chair. An hour later a notification from her bank came. She received the first half of the payment. When finished, the dress would officially be the most expensive wedding dress to date. Blessed be Lex Luthor and his deep pocket. She chuckled, remembering how much the billionaire got kidnapped because of his money.

Then, an idea shined in her head.

Oh. 

Oh...

She took off her earrings and dismissed Tikki, promising she needed a quick chat with Plagg about a new potential holder. When Marinette put on the ring, the Kwami of destruction popped back into existence. 

“So… figured out how to help my chosen?” he asked. 

What Tikki didn’t know was when Marinette said she intended to discuss potential holders for Plagg, they really worked on a way to save Adrien. It was their secret since Tikki would most likely disapprove. They didn’t want to risk her disappointment in them. Not until they crafted a fleshed out full-proof plan. 

She nodded. “I have an idea. Let’s hire someone to kidnap him!” 

Plagg rolled his eyes. “Did they hit you on the head, pigtails?”

“No. But look, the problem is whatever we come up with, Adrien ends up blamed or we land ourselves in jail, right?” The Kwami nodded. “So… if we make sure it’s a very public kidnapping and he disappears, we can stash him away until the heat dies down. After we dye his hair and apply fast-tan, he will look different enough no one will connect the two. I’m pretty sure I could get my hands on fake documents if I tried hard enough…” she trailed off thinking of all the minutiae to coordinate to pull this off. 

It would be hard. 

But it would be worth it. 

Plagg slowly nods. “Okay… Somehow, that both makes no sense and seems perfectly legitimate. It’s also your most chaotic plan to date, Pigtails. Let’s do it!” The Kwami cheered, happy to be soon reunited with his chosen kitten. “But what about the costs!”

Marinette already had an answer in mind for that question. “Even after I subtract the costs of materials and other supplies, the payment for the dress, together with my savings, will be more than enough. Now… let’s go wake Tikki up.”

That… ended with the Kwami of Creation vomiting a pile of handcuffs and other police gear at Marinette. 

“Um… Why?”

The little red Kwammi placed her paws on her hips. “Because you should familiarize yourself with those if you plan on going to prison for that plan. It’s no longer just a phone theft, Marinette! You’re talking about breaking more laws than I can count!” She dropped to the pillow below, bemoaning about where she went wrong. 

Marinette scooped up her wayward friend and tried to reassure her. “I just need to be careful. I’m pretty sure I can do it without detection. Maman taught me how to not be seen on the internet. Or in general. Come on. I need to order a secure laptop.”

“I will help!” Plagg offered. “I can cataclysm the internet after you do your thing.”

“What?! No! Think of the cute cat pictures!” Marinette protested. “And video games.” 

“Relax! It’ll just remove any trace of you doing anything online in the several hours or so…” He calmed her.

Tikki trailed after them, a bundle of nerves and worry. “Plagg! It’s irresponsible! You can’t possibly…”

“Pigtails and I have it all under control. What’s the worst that could happen?”

---------

Turns out, a lot. 

Before Marinette put out the hit (kidnapping, she made sure that it was plain as day), she needed to set a price. That one was harder. It wasn’t like you could Google how much you needed to charge to kidnap a celebrity. At least, not without attracting a lot of unwanted attention. 

She asked her mother, under the guise of pure curiosity. It was a normal question any teenage girl asked her mother. How much does it cost to have someone killed, how much cheaper/more expensive a kidnapping is, how to acquire fake documents, that kind of stuff. Not suspicious at all. 

So absorbed in her rant, she missed a merry glint in Sabine’s eyes. She also didn’t question how her Maman knew those prices. 

Finally, she needed to fill the form. 

Assignment: Acquisition and Delivery

Asset(s): Adrien Athanase Agreste

Value: 

Here, Marinette paused. 

Her mom gave her a lengthy lecture about pricing and all. According to her, a professional would take up to fifty thousand dollars for kidnapping and bringing the target to her. Marinette decided, since Adrien was a celebrity, she should double the price. More risks involved, more reward, right? 

But, she also wanted to ensure she hired the best of the best. Compare her work to Gabriel Agreste’s, she came to the conclusion ten times the price was reasonable to ensure only the best in the field would take the job. 

Then, there was the matter of safety and so on and so on. By the end, she settled on two million dollars, as her asking price for one Adrien Agreste. Plagg sagely nodded, agreeing with her assessment. Tikki didn’t comment, as she wasn’t speaking to the two, but also seemed more accepting after spying on Adrien and Lila’s home life. Not that she revealed that tidbit to either of them, lest they drop the plan and directly go at Gabe and the Liar. 

After a few more details and boxes in the form Marinette filled until she came to the end. Only one more detail remained: 

Sponsor:

Marinette stared at the word for a moment. After a quick race of thoughts, she typed slowly. 

Sponsor: The Seamstress

Perfect. Nothing about this could go wrong.

Of course, how could she predict just how big of a mess she would make? 

----------

[hb-writes]

The Shelby Women’s Alliance

From the Little Lady Blinder universe. 

Prompted by this ask: “Would you write about Clara getting her period and she’s scared she’s dying so she tells Ada/polly?”

Characters Featured: Ada Shelby, Clara Shelby (Shelby!Sister), and Tommy Shelby (because apparently I just couldn’t leave him out of it).

-----

Ada sighed at the end of her sister’s long-winded and quickly expelled explanation. She quit her spot hovering by the door to sit beside Clara instead. 

“Oh, you poor little love,” Ada said, her voice letting out the slightest cavalier bit of laughter as she pulled her in for a hug. “You’re just fine. I promise you’re not dying.”

It took a moment for Clara to accept her sister’s hug, to release her small arms from around her own body and properly reciprocate. Clara felt as though she���d been hugging herself for days, not entirely sure what was going on with her body but far too embarrassed to talk to one of her brothers about it. 

Ada did feel sorry for the girl, for having it happen when she was the only female in the house for so many days, with Polly gone away for some time off. And she felt sorry for not preparing her better, for assuming that her little sister growing up in the same house and being vaguely exposed to the things women went through would be an education enough. Clara Shelby thrived on having the necessary information and she turned inward without it, a muddled attempt of protecting against the sense of deficiency not knowing made her feel. 

Ada should have sat her down and discussed it months ago, before she and Freddie moved to London, even. But as much as she felt sorry, and understood her sister’s embarrassment, and regretted not preparing her better, Ada was also concerned that her sister hadn’t voiced to a soul that she thought she was dying, not for three whole days. Clara had done no more than begging off school for the end of the week, citing nothing more than some nondescript nausea. 

Not until Ada, Freddie, and the baby walked through the door of number 6 for a visit that had been planned weeks ago, had Clara given even the slightest indication of there being anything more going on. And even at that, it had taken a bit more prompting than it should have for Ada to gather enough information from her sister to fully understand the situation.

“It’s alright, Clara. You’re a young woman now, is all.”

A wail came through Clara’s lips and Ada held her tighter. 

“But I don’t wanna be, Ada,” she answered.

“Well, we don’t have much choice in it, love,” she answered. “But you’ll be alright. Just a few days a month and--”

“This happens every month?” Clara shouted, pulling back from Ada’s shoulder, her eyes wet with tears. “Ada, I don’t want this every month!” 

Ada fought to keep her composure at her sister’s outrage. She rubbed Clara’s shoulders, giving her a sad smile.

“It’s just a few days and--”

“And it’s terrible and unfair and it hurts,” Clara whined.

“Yes, you’re right,” Ada answered, “but you’ll grow accustomed to it. It’ll get easier and--”

“I don’t wan--” 

A knuckle rapped on the bedroom door, cutting Clara off for a moment. 

“Go the fuck away, Finn!” she shouted from her perch on the bed.

The door swung open and Tommy leaned in the doorway. “What have I told you about that word?”

Clara gulped and her lip started to wobble, whether from her brother’s tone or the pain in her abdomen or the tiredness that had plagued for days or the fact that she’d been going through it all alone or any number of things floating through her mind.

Ada sighed, turning away from her sister for a moment. “Let it be, Tommy.” 

“Let it be?” Tommy met Ada’s eye. “Your sister’s been up in this room claiming sickness for two days now, feigning it by the looks of it, and--” 

“Get out, Tommy!” Clara shouted as she stood, moving towards the door, shoving her hands into his chest. “Just get the fuck out!”

“What did you say?” Tommy asked as he stepped into the room, his hand wrapped around Clara’s arm. 

“Oh, leave her be. Your sister’s not feigning anything.” Ada stood up to meet them, pried her brother and sister apart as she settled between them. “And she won’t be feigning it next month when it happens either, so if she asks you to get the fuck out, just do it.” 

Tommy’s mouth opened as his mind got around to understanding the meaning behind Ada’s words and he took a deep breath, nodding as he met Ada’s eye. “You’ll handle this, then?”

“I’ll handle it or Polly’ll handle it or Esme’ll handle it and I can’t imagine she’d ever want anything from you boys about it.” 

Tommy glanced behind Ada. Clara was still standing there a few steps away, her lip quivering, a few stray tears streaking her cheek as she held her arms around her body. He moved past Ada and grabbed Clara by the shoulders, pulling her into a hug before she could push him away. 

Like with her sister, it took Clara a moment longer than normal to accept the hug, to thaw enough from the cold solitude of the preceding days to accept the comfort of her brother’s arms. 

“If you want me out, I’ll get out,” Tommy said. “Next time just find some better words, eh?” 

“Get the hell out?” Clara mumbled into his chest.

Tommy chuckled. “Maybe put a please in there, eh?”

“Alright,” Ada started. “Enough with the semantics, Tom. We were in the middle of something.” 

“Ada’s right.” Clara pushed out of her brother’s hug. “Please do get the hell out.” 

“You know, I’ve always thought an alliance between you girls would be the greatest threa--”

“Women,” Ada interrupted.

“What?” Tommy asked, turning towards Ada and stepping away from Clara.

“It’s an alliance between women,” Ada corrected. “Your sisters are both women now, Tommy.”

That would take getting used to, the idea of his Clara being a young woman. “Right.”

“Well, Tom, unless you’d like to stay for a chat about the particulars…” Ada began, leading him towards the door with a hand on his shoulder. “Do pretty please get the fuck out.”

Ada offered him a smile as she held the door open a crack. 

“She’ll be fine, Tom. If you’d like to help maybe go fetch her some tea and biscuits, eh? The Shelby Women’s Alliance has the rest handled,” Ada whispered to him before she shut the door. 

-----

Read more Little Lady Blinder stories here.

[mendespideys]

rescue | t.h.

pairing: tom holland x lifeguard!reader

warnings: drowning, i guess, although it is definitely not mentioned or described but still. staying under water a lil bit longer than what’s normal?

summary: you’re a lifeguard and when tom is playing in the pool with harrison and stays under for too long, you come to his aid 

a/n: soo... apparently this was supposed to be for a writing contest hosted by  @sunshinehollandd and @naturallytom that i never finished. oops 🤭

i found it among my 92 drafts and decided to finish it - sort of. It’s more a quick drabble than anything (that i am not proud of) but oh well. at least it’s something, right? so enjoy!

With your brand new sunglasses resting on the bridge of your nose, you settle back into the chair towering above the pool guests. The sun beams down from above, toasting the back of your neck that the umbrella was unable to protect. 

The endless laughter from children, the frustrated scolds from parents, and the splashing of the water beneath you blend together into mere background noise. You shift in your seat, fishing out your bottle from your backpack. To be fair, it’s more a block of ice than water, but your throat relishes the few drops that do fall out as you tip the bottle upwards. 

While you knew your job needed the upmost level of detail, you no longer felt the constant need to pay attention to every single guest. You had been at this long enough to trust your body to react on its own accord and was nowhere near as uptight as you had been your first day. 

Relaxing back into your chair, you let your hidden gaze glide across the people that had taken the trip to your turf today. One of your favorite parts of the job, contrary to what some people might think, was the people watching. There is just something about observing people as they unknowingly go about their day.

Your eyes fall on Mina first. The fourteen year old girl is always there so it comes as no surprise. You watch proudly as she practices her butterfly stroke. Her ceaseless training had done wonders for her technique and you make a mental note to compliment her when she eventually gives up for the day. 

There are a few other regulars as well. Mr. and Mrs. Norris; the retired couple that would come every weekend to work on their tans. Sasha; the single mom that also comes every weekend with her twin boys, Adam and George. Mr. Thomas; an older gentleman who seemed to enjoy speaking with you more than the actual swimming part. And then there was Paddy, who had just recently started visiting. 

The young freckled boy (teenager, Paddy would correct) seemed to also be practicing his techniques much like Mina. There had been a fair share of conversations between the two of you and you had to admit that you enjoyed his company. 

Your eyes land on the two men next to him that he appears to be talking to. You refrain the urge to roll your eyes as you keep watching them, their water fight becoming more intense by the second. Paddy seems to be cheering them on, but you can’t make out his words. Boys. 

While water fights are definitely not unusual for you to witness, this is different as the young men look to be about your own age. For some reason unbeknownst to you, you’re unable to tear your eyes away from the two of them. Or, more specifically, the tone back muscles of the brunette with his back to you. 

They are both extremely attractive - that truth is undeniable. As their playful fighting becomes physical, you finally catch a glimpse of the brunette. The black sunglass that had been nestled in his wet curls were knocked off and long forgotten the second they came in contact with the chlorinated water. 

Your brows perked with amusement as you kept your eyes on the two. A little entertainment in an otherwise mundane work day didn’t hurt, right? The brunette almost effortlessly hops onto the blond’s back, a non-threatening chokehold around his neck. The overpowering does not last for long and before either you or him, it seemed, could anticipate it, the blond had successfully knocked him off and into the water. 

The blond surfaced rather quickly, a triumphant grin dancing on his lips. You chuckled to yourself quietly, anxiously waiting for the attractive brunette to resurface as well. You were rather curious about how he would handle his loss. However, as a few more seconds pass and still no brown locks to be seen, you’re in full lifeguard mode. 

You’re on autopilot. You had trained for years and while you rarely had to actually utilize your skills, it did happen occasionally. Your body doesn’t even react to the temperature difference as your toasted skin comes in contact with the chilled water. You make your way over to the small group in record time, grabbing ahold of the brunette’s arm just as he seems to make his way back up.

His coughs enter your ears as soon as you pull him to the surface and toward the edge of the pool. You’re well-aware of the small audience you have, feeling the burns of their curious stares, but ignore them dutifully and get back to the situation at hand. 

He seems to be conscious enough and helps you out by hoisting himself up on the ledge. You pretend not to notice the way his toned biceps tense as he does so. You quickly hoist yourself up as well, the sun immediately resuming its toasting the minute your body is out of the water. 

You offer a rather pathetic pat on the back as his ceaseless coughs continue. Eventually, he’s able to halt his coughing, his chest heaving as he tries to get enough air into his lungs without irritating his throat again. 

“Are you okay?” you question, hiding your worry behind the professionalism you had adopted summers ago. “See, this is why lifeguards typically frown upon fighting in the water. Playfully or not.”

He nods, finally turning to meet your eyes. You choke down the gasp that involuntarily made its way up your throat. His brown orbs sparkle in the sun and you are immediately mesmerized by their beauty. Still, the way the embarrassment that had been swimming within them was replaced by shock and curiosity the moment they met your gaze didn’t go unnoticed by you.

“I-I’m good,” he brown-eyed man responds, swallowing thickly. The corner of his mouth turns upward as he runs a slightly unsteady hand through his wet curls. “Thanks for coming to my rescue.”

“Well, it is my job,” you retort, a playful smile settling on your lips. “Your poor fighting technique was amusing, so I was already watching.”

“You sure that’s the only thing you were watching, darling?” He’s full-on smirking now and you, once again, refrain from rolling your eyes at his childish antics. 

“Y/N!” 

You turn toward the familiar voice, watching with curious eyes as Paddy swims toward the two of you, the older blond hot on his heel. The freckled teen looks between you and the brunette, not even bothering to hide his amusement. His gaze lands on the brunette who looks at him expectantly. 

“This is why I’m the swimmer and you’re the actor, Tom,” Paddy snorts. 

Tom. So that was his name. 

“Well, Pads, if I had known you were here hanging out with - Y/N, was it? - almost everyday then maybe I’d be here more often and would be a better swimmer.” 

thanks for reading! i haven’t been on here in forever and i don’t know if you want to be on the taglist anymore, so let me know if you want to be taken off 🤓

@tomhollanders2013 // @people-leadingcauseofstress // @lucille-lovely-blog // @twinklestqr // @big-booty-judyy // @tomshufflepuff // @all-black-darling // @whyisbuckysodelicious // @winning-raffl-ticket // @goldenmarvelgirl // @lovethyfandoms2 // @caitsymichelle13  // @itsthwippingtime  // @tony-stank3 // @lauras-collection // @iamcalledsteph // @spideyboix // @heyquackson// @ameliathackray  // @clara-licht // @sltwins // @amberboo329 // @heroes-die-young // @turtoix // @in-a-lot-of-fandoms-tbh // @masintahin // @bbynessaxo // @greenarrowhead // @mendes-marvel //  @heycutiepatooty // @addictofharry // @simplycute-98​ // 

[imthepunchlord]

Oooof, Dodged a Beetle would be a great place to fix a BUNCH of things wrong with Kung Food, to be completely honest.

Like the last DaB anon said, there’s no Alya to call Adrien to help Marinette, so there’s no white boy teaching Marinette about her language and culture, especially since Sabine—Marinette’s mother and Cheng Sifu’s niece—is RIGHT. THERE. In Marinette's Instagram post, Sabine knows how to speak Chinese, and it would make sense for her to come to the contest anyway given that her husband is a baker and she lives in the food industry world, not to mention just spending time with her uncle and daughter together should interest her. With Sabine being another adult who actually knows how Chloe is from her daughter, she would probably stay behind to watch her uncle’s soup “just in case” when Chloe tries to get him away from it, foiling her plans and preventing Kung Food from ever occurring. And in terms of the judge panel, Clara Nightingale, Alim Kubdel, or even Tomoe Tsurugi could easily take Marlena’s place (and eventually Chloe’s empty spot) due to each being a notable person in Paris in one form or another. Hell, Chloe could even get herself in trouble due to being aggravated from not being able to sabotage the soup and refusing to try it for no good reason, saying something like “I don’t get why he couldn’t just make sushi”, which would get her kicked off for being ignorant on live television in an attempt to save face by the producers (bonus points if Tomoe is the one replacing Marlena and demands that the ignorant brat next to her is replaced with someone else). And Lila could bring up the cooking contest to Marinette the next school day to tie it back into the overall story, taking from canon that she does surface level research at least on what’s currently happening with famous people and adding to the plot that she’s starting to take note of Marinette’s talents and connections.

I just… still have so many gripes with how Kung Food was handled, and seeing how the PoC treatment in the show has plummeted since then only makes those feelings worse, even after all these years. And I apologize for venting about it since I know it was so long ago but, Chloe’s racism? Was completely swept under the rug?? By both the show and the writers??? As if her bigotry apparently being born more from pure ignorance than DIRECT malice according to an Astruc tweet is supposed to make any of the viewers—especially the viewers of color—feel any better about it???? Chloe NEEDS to get reprimanded for that SOMEHOW?????

Understandably so as Kung Food is just problematic.

There was no reason given why Sabine wasn't there to see her uncle, which the Shanghai special either confirmed or implied that he raised her. This seems to be an anticipated visit as Marinette was awaiting him, that means Sabine should know he's coming to. Yet there's nothing given on her absence.

Also Tikki has been around the world. She's been used by at least one other Chinese holder, surely she could've been a translator for Marinette or help her in some way. Just be like, "Hello! I'm Tikki! A translation toy!"

Between Sabine and Tikki, there's no reason for Adrien to be there to be translator. He could come in wanting to practice Chinese on his own.

And on Marinette not knowing much, Sabine could see it as a chance to expand her knowledge and connect her with her culture. Could also accept Tikki offering this knowledge as she has been all over and is an ancient mythical being who has worked closely with a wide variety of cultures.

And Chloe's racist comments, that either should've been cut out if they're not going to be addressed, I'm quite certain they were put in to just elaborate on how bad she is; or if there to elaborate on this, really address them. Instead of Adrien coming in as white savior, Wang could've come forth to correct Chloe on this as he knows some French.

And then there's the akuma itself. Yeah there's being based on Sun Wukong, but what does he have to do with food? And that design is more directly tied to Dragon Ball, which is a Japanese creation. And by the name, this implies an assumption that Cheng Wang knows kung fu as is a mixture of that and food, cause obviously every Chinese person knows martial arts.

Only thing about it that I like is the reveal that Marinette's not so connected with her heritage. And that's a very understandable set up. Most 13 yos aren't interested in learning their heritage when they live elsewhere. They may know a few words or traditions, but that's not a norm as that's not where they live. Marinette's going to be more in tune with her French heritage than Chinese as that's where she lives.

I can get that set up as when I was 13, my mom revealed to me that my biological father is French. I didn't have an interest then to learn French culture and connect to it.

And there are others I've talked to that felt how Marinette felt struggling to connect with her great uncle in the beginning, being very limited in terms of communication which had an effect on any sort of connection to make. Not that it needed to be like that as there's no given reason for Sabine to not be there or why couldn't Tikki help Marinette out when its canon confirmed that she originates from China and should know the language.