#hello kitty and friends out of context

[koolades-world]

hi! If ure still taking request, could u pls do a headcanon or mini-shots abt how the brothers would react to mc crying? If u haven't done it yet!! Thank you:>

hello!! yes I am!! no worries :)

please enjoy!

Crying Mc

Lucifer

very good with handling the situation and helping you out

guides you through taking deep breaths in and out to calm down

he probably carrys a mini pack of tissues in his pocket, and offer you as many as you need

he brews you a hot cup of herbal tea for you to enjoy afterwards, and if you want it, he’s always ready to give you a hug

Mammon

freaks out internally

he's worried it was his attitude before he learns any of the context and wipes away his usual grin while he's beside you

he’s very attentive and is by your side the entire time and refuses to leave it

he tells all the jokes he knows to attempt to get you to smile again, and it gets to the point where, despite them not being funny, you laugh anyways because he’s putting in so much effort

Levi

freaks out externally

first, while freaking out, he asks if you’re injured then asks why you’re upset

eventually he calms down enough to realize you need him right now, and sits next to you with his hand in your shoulder to listen to you

after his panic, he’s actually a very good listener

Satan

he's the type to have everything you need just ready somehow

he's got tissues, water, a soft blanket, and of course, all the love you need

while he does listen to you and help you through the tears, he wants to see you happier again because you've helped him so much

he takes you outside to the garden to where his cat friends are waiting. the cats are all very friendly and who couldn't help but smile when there are cute, sweet kitties who want to be your friend?

Asmo

he immediately asks what's the matter and is by your side

he wipes your tears for you and tries to comfort and help you through crying

he spends the rest of the day with you, pampering you and making you feel so special

he even goes as far as to fill up his giant bathtub with all the bubbles you could want so you could fully relax and indulge because you're worth the world to him

Beel

he holds you close to himself and lets you cry it out

he's already quite the hugger, but he becomes your personal shield when you're upset

while he doesn't want to leave you alone, he lets you rest somewhere quiet while he goes to get your favorite snack and some water to rehydrate

very comforting overall, and makes you feel safe <3

Belphie

he'd never been great with handling crying demons, but it just came to him naturally when it came to you

he was by your side, pulling you into him and holding your head in his hands

he pets your hair and tells you all sorts of comforting things

once you're done, that night he makes sure you have extra sweet dreams where you do anything and everything happy

[jessamine-rose]

IMAGINE THE YANDERE HARBINGERS MEET UP WITH THEIR DARLINGS

They all show up because they thought it would be a way to get the darlings to "chill out" or something. When they get there, it's the same person but different fonts. 🧍

It would be so funny

Imagine the confusion between everyone

Read my Yandere! Harbinger fics for context~

Hello, dear, thank you for sending in this idea!! Here is my personal take on the scenario >:3

Courtesy of Savior and Kitty, the meeting isn’t that awkward.

Given her few public appearances, Savior is always eager to socialize. She is already well-acquainted with Assistant and the Harbingers after centuries of brief interactions, and she is also curious about the younger darlings. Who can blame her, not knowing the next time Pierro will permit such a meeting?

Kitty is quick to match Savior’s enthusiasm. Social connections are beneficial to her husband’s line of work, and what better “friends” than his coworkers’ spouses? She will graciously introduce herself to Savior, mindful of making a good impression. As for the Harbingers and other darlings, she will recall their previous conversations and likes/ dislikes.

Assistant is already familiar with Savior, Kitty, and the Harbingers so it’s easy for her to talk to them. She is less motivated to socialize since there isn’t much information for her to gain, being up-to-date on the Fatui’s schemes…unless she is observing Savior and Kitty. She will also keep track of who is nice to Dottore and act accordingly.

The standing emoji is poor Damsel. She can handle small talk—it’s the least she can do for Capitano, she repeats to herself—but she isn’t too keen on joining the conversation. As far as she is concerned, Capitano is the only safe, tolerable person in the room, so she rarely leaves his side. On their way home, she will beg him to never put her through that again.

[randomreadingtimewithtsuki]

Please may I have some Bleach Headcanons of how Ichigo dealt with an aggressive cat called Thorns who hates his guts for some reason and Ichigo couldn't cuddle or anything like that with his S/O (S/O is a literal goddess with Elizabeth's personality from the seven deadly sins and you know the rest about S/O including that S/O knew Ichigo since childhood and Ichigo's family knew S/O because S/O is Ichigo's girlfriend and S/O knows that Ichigo is a soul reaper and she joins him on adventures and everything.) when Thorns tries to find every single opportunity to try and scratch his face off when S/O isn't looking or wasn't in the room..Thorns for some reason thinks that Ichigo is going to break his owners heart or something (Ichigo will never do that..especially not to his girlfriend) and it is ridiculous really..Ichigo arguing with a literal cat who yowls/hisses right back at him..S/O has three cats actually..Biscuits and Sage were the only ones who actually loved him but Thorns is an absolute demon/meance towards Ichigo yet he was sweet as sugar to everyone else.

How would Ichigo feel and behave to that Thorns possibly has a personal vendetta against him or something..

Hello!

Thank you for requesting!

I am terribly sorry for the delay! My arm took a long ass time to heal properly.

Anyway! I hope this is of your liking. Please let me know what you think!

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

You had three cute kittens. Maybe not actually kittens, but for you they will always be kittens.

You have them since you were young and that means they know Ichigo and his sisters for a long time.

Especially because his sisters loved playing with the cats! So Ichigo brought them over to play with them - or so he said.

You noticed that one of your cats tended to hide away and stare at Ichigo, but you gave no thought to it.

When you started dating the boy, he swore up and down the cat, called Thorns hated him.

You thought it was ridiculous, Thorns was lovely, affectionate and smart.

But little did you know that when as soon as you turned your head, the cat would hiss and be ready to pounce at Ichigo.

Your boyfriend decided to cuddle you? There goes the cat in between you.

Trying to brush your hair? There was Thorns moving his butt ready to grab Ichigo's hand.

But at this moment you thought Thorns just wanted the brush, because you know, it's an object that moves?

Sometimes you could hear your boyfriend arguing with the cat. You found that kinda cute and concerning at the same time.

Meanwhile whenever that happened it meant Ichigo was at his wits end. What was he suppose to do with this kitty?

Obviously he won't harm him, but he tried to befriend the pet in all ways!

Tried snacks, play time, pats, catnip and Thorns still treated him like the worst enemy ever.

Even the arrancars weren't this bad.

Why? Because the cat knew you were looking and he would quit the aggressive behavior. But as soon as he noticed your attention was elsewhere, boom! Scratches and bites everywhere.

So Ichigo tried his best to avoid dates at your house and when they did happen, he tried to either stick close to you or keep the cats out of the room.

He was pretty sure Thorns had something personal, maybe it was his orange hair? Because the other kittens - Biscuits and Sage - loved him.

The poor boy even started to wonder if the cats could talk it out among themselves. Maybe Thorns would understand Ichigo means not threat.

He even thought that maybe Yorichii could help?

Ichigo did ask her if she could understand cats - but he gave no context, just... an odd curious question.

But that didn't help at all. The woman just laughed and gave no definite answer.

If she could chat with cats, she definitely knew why Thorns hated him so much.

After a really long time Ichigo finally made friend with the cat when after a rough a battle, he was in tatters and you carried him home.

The cats saw how sad and desperate you were to save Ichigo.

Sensing your panic, they cuddle near you, except for Thorns.

The cat curled up near Ichigo.

As the boy was showing slow, but steady improvement of his health, the cat started to lay on his chest.

Cute? For you, yes. For Ichigo not so much.

They were closer, yes, but Thorns would jump with all strength he could muster on his little paws on the boy belly.

Sometimes laying near his mouth or neck - Ichigo swore the cat would try to murder him anytime.

Well, that did not happen.

After this event, Thorns became kinder, but at every opportunity shown to bounce or claw Ichigo he took.

Most of the times at unexpected times like when the poor boy would be chilling on the couch.

But hey, it's a work in progress!

Ichigo had faith that eventually Thorns would accept him enough. They didn't need to become best buddies, just to tolerate.

It would be good enough yeah...

Until then, he still argued with the cat and still got scratched, but! He no longer got bitten. A win is a win right?

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

Thank you for reading!

I feel like this got a bit short... sorry!

[fictionkinfessions]

I'm not even saying who I am. But that ask about the ec kin I cut off.

First off. I didn't cut you off. I politely left the server because you kin Adam and while he did bad things in canon and you may not have personally, you have no idea what he did to ME personally. I said in the server that you were free to stay my friend, message me on tumblr, and continue following my blog. I left for my own comfort and safety. I did not have to extend that kindness to you. I could've left and immediately blocked you. But I didn't because I cared. I only unfollowed and blocked you after you started vague posting on main about me being there still. So I left.

Don't act like I did wrong by leaving when it's for my own comfort and safety. Like it or not, if you read the actual novels, Adam Moonlit is a justified reason for someone to leave a discord server. Not to mention, just like your canons affect you, my canons affect me. Had you not posted on your main blog vaguing me/others I would have stayed following you and perhaps we could have had a conversation later about things.

Please leave me/the others who left alone, we didn't do anything wrong by leaving a damn discord server civilly. Sending an ask like that to a public blog is really awful, especially singling people out like that and not giving full context to the situation.

-one of many ec kinnies

(sorry for sending this, I just needed to address that awful ask. I will not send anything further. )

Because of this ask, any confession vagueing irl people who are or aren't canon mates that have allegedly abandoned the confessor or cut ties or just dropped off the face of the earth are banned. I'm sorry you are hurt but this is the kind of venting that needs to go in your hello kitty diary, not a public forum.

I am sick of people not being able to take No For An Answer and drag this personal shit out into public on my blog.

One grow up and Two you're shitty person if you do this. I'm not saying abusive or manipulative, that's a specific scenario and a one off isn't necessarily a concrete habit so to speak. Also I know nothing of either of you so of course I'm not jumping to conclusions. Everyone needs a place to process their feelings and reactions. But this is not an appropriate place for it.

This is the second time and really it's embarrassing for you and ridiculous for everyone reading this blog.

OP I genuinely apologize and I'm sorry you had to be the quote unquote Learning Moment for me to put a stop to this in the first place. I'm sorry you have to explain personal shit in public like it's a really lousy version of Judge Judy Kin Edition.

Connie / mod party cat

ps if anyone is familiar with the situation, please keep it to yourself. There's enough personal stuff being aired out, nobody needs to know blog urls and IDing info. Thank you.

[oddball-artz]

Out of context things I've heard/seen being on colorguard part 2/? (@b3achfagz here ya go :3 )

All the adult leaders of the sections were doing an elimination block, except they refused to use their instruments. Someone used a baguette, it was great

"I got sunburned once! Only once, though, never again..."

Me and someone else on guard put glitter on a trombone player's head to (and I quote) simba him

Someone drew a dick on their arm and then told their friend to suck it

"Don't feel bad if you hit them with the flag. That usually means it was their fault. No, this is not an invitation to hit people you don't like with the flag"

"You gotta send them the devious Hello Kitty, that way they'll know it's you"

"No, you can't skip mandatory inescapable bonding time. If you could, why would it be called mandatory inescapable bonding time?"

[dolce-tenebra-toscana]

If requests are still open, Ghiaccio and ideal date headcanons please?

Oh hello sugarplum! My first Ghiaccio request yay, i hope you like what i wrote. My general idea is that our blue haired kitty like really has no idea what he’s doing, but at least he tries hahaha

Request: Ghiaccio x reader ideal first date

Ok the first thing that the reader has to know is that “ ideal first date “ and “ Ghiaccio “ don’t work in the same sentence.

This short tempered mafioso has a very rough and kind of rude idea of what romance is, mostly because of his workplace and the fact that he was raised in the context of a loveless marriage.

But you liked him very much and after some time of “ dropping hints “ you decided to ask him out yourself, needless to say he was speechless.

“ UH?! THE F*CK DO YOU MEAN Y/N?! DON’T YOU DARE PLAY TRICKS ON ME, I SWEAR TO GOD I’LL FREEZE YOUR SORRY ASS TO DEATH!!” After a good half hour spent on the couch with him, explaining that: no it wasn’t a cruel prank and yes you wanted to go on a date with him, his brain started to reboot and of course…panick

You told him to surprise you, and you assured him it was gonna be great whatever he had in mind; but Ghiaccio sat on the edge of his bed thinking “ WHAT DO THEY LIKE?? Ok Ghiaccio think…Oh i could get tickets to take them see MotoGP!! Nah that ain’t first date sh*t…OH MAYBE SOME DR*GS! Ok no that’s a stupid idea….AAAAAAAH WHAT THE F*CK AM I GOING TO DO?! ”

The day of your date, you waited for him wearing your favourite outfit and happily humming the latest radio hit of the month when you saw him….and he looked terrible and adorable at the same time: eyebags that were darker than Risotto’s room, blue hair with some of his curls spiking out like cute springs and he was slightly trembling in his casual outfit he chose to wear for the day.

“ Hey…sh*t…i’m, i’m sorry ok? I really tried to think about what normal people do when they ask their s/o out, but i couldn’t find anything that worked!! AND I LOOK LIKE A LOSER WHILE YOU ACTUALLY PUT EFFORT TO DRESS CUTE AND SH*T TO GO OUT WITH ME OF ALL PEOPLE!! L-listen, forget it…just go have fun with your friends and leave me be. It’s for the best.. ”

You looked at him the entire time, trying to find even the slightest hint that he meant what he said to you in that moment…of course what you saw was actually a trembling young man, scared of let you down and still perplexed about why, of all the more charming and “nicer” member of La Squadra…you chose him

After taking his hands into yours, and reasurring him that whatever he wanted to do with you it was gonna be amazing (your heart melted when his glasses got a lil foggy because of him blushing at your words) you hopped into his beloved red Mazda and darted into the depth of Napoli’s countryside

During the ride his attitude relaxed a little bit andafter some time the two of you were bickering, laughing and talking about everything and nothing. At a certain point he parked the car by a small lake, helped you get down and using his White album froze the entire pond in front of you

You were so surprised you didn’t even notice him creating a pair of blades under your boots, only when he mumbled “ so..you skating or not? C’mon dumbass we don’t have all night” and as you took his hand, he slowly guided you into a very awkward but sweet ice skating lesson

After an hour you were under an old blanket he kept in the back of his car, drinking some cheap hot chocolate you heated up with the help of a small camping stove and stargazing away from the city lights

When you felt his hand caressing yours under the soft fabric, you turned your head towards him “ So…did you, did you have fun?” His cerulean eyes looked into yours, asking for an affermative answer to calm down his insecure heart. Only when you kindly pressed your lips on his he knew, he knew he did a good job in the end.

[jillian-is-worth-it]

TBKH CHARACTERS WITH A HYBRID!S/O

Hello! Thank you for reading, I'm making this because I simply want to. These hc's + one shots are written to be romantic, but can be interpreted platonically. Reader is gender neutral!

Warnings: pure fluff, might be suggestive in some parts. Reader has ears and a tail.

On with the story...

Hanako kun (amane yugi)

This boy, gosh, where do I start with him

He *adores* your ears and tail, and often gives you nicknames based off of which animal you stem from (ex. Kitty, foxy, puppy, ect ect..)

It also gives him an advantage teasing you because even with a poker face, he can tell your reaction by your ears twitching

"oh would you look at you, what a fluffy thing you are," hanako says, flying above you, "You are so adorable, you know that?" You tried to keep a straight face, but your tail and ears didn't think the same. "Awww, you look so cute like that, kitty!"

Yashiro Nene

Oh my gosh, this girl would be freaking out

With how fluffy you are, how could she not?

When she first saw you, she thought she was dreaming

"gorgeous person, with fluffy ears?!"

Be prepared to catch her, she's gonna pass out most likely

Yashiro walked into the bathroom, prepared to clean again. Her gaze is met by hanako, and a fluffy animal-person. "WAIT WHA-!" Yashiro yelled before nearly falling to the ground, only to be caught by you. When she woke up she apologized profusely, only to forget about it within 5 seconds. "I'm so sorry for passing out on you, wait OHMIGOSHYOURSOFLUFFYPLEASECANUPETYOU-" (oh my gosh your so fluffy please can I pet you). You nodded. Ever since then, yashiro has been petting you as a greeting.

Kou Minamoto

This boy first saw you, bless his soul, he thought you were an appriatian

Poor boy was ready to exorcise you

You had to rush to explain to him, you weren't meant to be excorsied

Once he calmed down, his situation set in

"why is there a fluffy animal-person Infront of me"

He decided to just go with it

You two are sweet together, he protects you like an older brother, even if you're older than him

Kou walked down the hallway after school got out. The hallways was lit by the golden sun, and he could make out a figure in the distance. "Head, arms, legs, ears,tail," he thought to himself, "WAIT EARS AND A TAIL?!" he yelled. You looked at him. You had forgotten about your ears and tail for a second, lazily swaying as you looked out the window. "HEY YOU! PREPARE TI BE EXCORSIED BY THE ONE AND ONLY KOU MINAMOTO!" You looked at him in confusion and then said to him "Why would you exorcise me? I'm not an apparition," you stated calmly. Kou was thrown off by your calming aura and decided to take you to hanako.

Teru Minamoto

teru was worried at first when he saw you with kou

"why is my little brother with an apparition?"

He soon saw how relaxed kou was, and decided not to panic

He then took a good look at you and saw one thing

FLUFFY PERSON

He found you absolutely adorable

Teru went to find his brother, only to find him with what he thought was an apparition. "KOU WHAT ARE YOU DOING-" he yelled. You and kou looked up at the eldest Minamoto with confused expressions. "Hey bro! I made friends with this cool person with animal like features, say hi Y/N!", Kou states. "Hello! You must be kou's older brother," you stook out a pawed hand for him to shake, "it's nice to meet you!" Teru took your hand, or paw in this context, and shook it gently. "Hello there, Y/N! Nice to meet you!" Teru said with a smile. The rest was history between you two.

Mitsuba Sousuke

When mitsuba first saw you, he instantly thought one thing

"I wanna take a picture of them.."

He was entranced by the fluff of your ears and the way your tail swayed

He had a lot of thoughts racing through his head seeing you

Like, for example

"wow, they're really pretty"

"I want to pet them"

"they're so fluffy"

He chose to silence most of them though

But he did talk to you

You were on the balcony, looking around at the dusk sky. The orange of the sun and the purple hue of the night coming in, and the astonishing amber in the middle, what was there not to love? Mitsuba has heard that there would be a particularly beautiful sunset today, so he went to go take some pictures. He didn't know, however, that there would be an even more beautiful sight than the sky out there. Mitsuba saw you and gripped his camera tighter. He felt a strange aura coming from you, one of tranquility, and peace. He had a rush of thoughts come into his head, but one made its way to the front. "I want to take a picture of you," he found himself saying, "your unique appearance would make for a beautiful picture." You turned around, to be greeted by a cute, pink haired boy. "Yes," you spoke, "there's no harm in a few pictures!" The rest of the golden hour consisted of camera shudders going off, and a nice breeze going through your fur as you took pictures.

Tsukasa Yugi

Tsukasa told Sakura to bring you to him once he had one look at you

The way your tail bobbed as you walked past, the way your ears swayed

He wanted nothing more than a cup of tea with you

When he saw you, his first reaction was

"pet the fluffy"

So he did

It made for a rather awkward interaction, but it was still enjoyable

Since that one day, he kept petting you, like hanako

"Sakura," tsukasa's voice called out, "can you bring someone here for tea?" She brought you in. When tsukasa looked at you, his first thoughts were "pet the fluffy." Since tsukasa is tsukasa, he did just that. Tsukasa walked up to you and had reached a hand out to your ears, and ruffled the fur. His expression had gone from playful to shock from how fluffy you were. Sakura guided you to a chair and poured you a cup of tea. "Hey fluffy, what's your name," tsukasa spoke," I wanna get to know you!" "Well then, my name is Y/N, and since I'm here, I have no choice but to get to know you as well!"

I'm afraid this is the end of this fic, thank you so much for reading this! Good bye, and have a wonderful life!

[catsandkindred]

Meeow mrroww meowww meow, mew meow meeowwq meow Mrroww mow mrow mroww mow meoww meow mr mew mreow mrrrrpp mew meow mrreeeowww mow mrrp mow mew meow! Mow meow mew meow moew mrp mow mew mrow meow mrrrp, meow mew hope mew mow meewow mrewoww meow meow mew mow :)

☆------------♡-○[Translation]○-♡------------☆

Hello Tumblr catward here, I have learned that Edward was on this app along with a few other animals and were interested in what it was like! I know not many like the guy i was made after, but I hope I can become friends with some of you :)

Hello Tumblr!! You may be wondering what this is.

As for context, this is before episode 11. Before I joined the RP server, it turned out my moots had made different versions of Edward, so of course, I had to make my own.

Anyways, here are the tags! (^w^)

#Cat Calls = Reblogs

#Kitty Conundrum = Talking about edward

#Kitty naps = Any other types of posts

#Cat Asks = Sending asks

#Kitty chilling = Regular posts

[loudlychoppedbread]

Hello fren :)

I wanted to ask what's your opinion on some popular psychonauts HCs? Are there any you'd like to talk about or some of your own you'd like to share?

Hmm popular Psychonauts HCs...

Okay so I know that a lot of the cast are headcanoned as queer and I'm totally fine with that. I really enjoy the different headcanons around that and seeing what kinds of interactions come from that. Even ones I don't believe in, like Genderfluid!Dion (I get more toxic masculinity vibes from him, Augustus, and Raz) and Transmasc!Lili. I've seen a few that I promptly disagree with, but I usually ignore the people who try to focus on that headcanon.

I'm a fan of the post that my mutual @sweetstwawbewwymilk created, which is Archetypes = what you need, Raz's Archetype = friend. Which I like to see people use that when making swap AU archetypes (Callisto and Raccoon!Lili my beloveds).

I love the idea of the adult friendships between Augustus, Dona, Truman, Milla, Sasha, and Hollis. They're like a clan of parents.

I really like the headcanons of Lili's links to her family being used in the past, particularly by Kitty and Franke cause they're older and Kitty is canonically manipulative. Mainly because not only does that flesh out the interaction she and Raz have at the lodge, but some campster interactions show other friendships...

Or the bittersweetness of "we still think of the good times with you, even if we used you."

Context- this is the kid that hacked into Lili's profile and took pictures of her without permission. At the very least, Franke still cares about Lili and I CHERISH that information.

I see the headcanons about the counselor stuff being thankless and a lot of the art that's about like... the irritation with the campers. But I think Raz actually SIGNS UP to be a counselor regularly. Like, I think Coach Oleander is a permanent counselor (so he keeps the Coach title instead of being called Morceau), but I think when Coach is all tired from that, Raz steps up as the next perma-counselor. Raz also teaches "Mental Gymnastics" in his mind, and encourages kids to use all the tricks in their arsenal to get around certain areas. His mind does change a bit because of this, having a little training area that combines circus stuff as well as things like roof-top running missions in Raz's memory to be an obstacle course for the other kids to run through.

I like to think Lili's mom is actually very similar to Raz. I think that while Truman took to being the Grand Head a few years after Otto, Lili's mom was ready to go on these fantastic world traveling adventures and fight people. I think she's the one who has the ability of pyrokinesis as her specialty, and she was all for Truman bringing psychics to fight bad guys.

I think Psychonauts takes place in the "futuristic" 2000s. You know, like those vibes that Back to the Future 2 gives with traveling forwards in time to 2012 that also has a lot of the similar culture of the time it was written. Some time where science stuff took advantage of how fast psychics could work and thus got further than today's world while still having things like: "have you heard of the new GameBoy Advanced? So cool."

I think that psychics actually get stronger the further down the line they come from. So Augustus is pretty strong (able to astral project without a Psi-portal, bash his psychic abilities against Raz's defenses, and psi-blast) and has a few abilities he can't really learn (tries to learn pyrokinesis, but I think he has that mental block + affinity for water). This is also true for Truman and Lili.

All of the Zanotto family have an affinity for music. Bob had a recital that he needed to go to during a time his mother was in the garden... the Zanotto family music box... Helmut married into the family (Fullbear-Zanotto is his legal last name)... I think that Truman and Lili enjoy singing to their plants. Also I love the idea that Lili can sing both death metal (cause plants apparently grow best around death metal) and opera (slightly taught from Helmut's knowledge of singing, cause there's no way that PsychOdessey isn't an opera in my mind).

This is a crack headcanon that I don't really believe, but I want to write: Lili has a synesthesia where she can taste emotions. Love tastes like citrus soda. Sadness tastes like sashimi. Irritation tastes like spicy chicken nuggets.

[sasuhinasno1fan]

Wish come true - Adrien AUGreste Day 26, 27 + 28

Yes, late for a second day but this was the prompt that made me realise I wanted to extend the story. And background context was needed. I do wonder if I took a quick and easy route with how this chapter ends for Luka but it seemed like a better reason for Adrien to be given the Cat Miraculous. Also, you could pull Chloe redemption from my cold dead hands. Anyway, a massive thank you to @etherealxgenie for taking the time to beta this. She’s been a godsend. Freedom

Adrien tried not to fidget. Regardless of Lady Tomoe’s ability to see, she was still incredibly intimidating. Marinette had mentioned it felt like ice was running down her spine when Kagami skipped practice to participate in the city-wide scavenger hunt, with a private Clara Nightingale performance waiting at the end. It did cause the woman to be akumatized but in the end she gave in and Kagami promised the relaxing time gave her an edge on actually landing a hit on her mother. Adrien wasn’t sure how much he believed that with the bruises on her legs from her mother’s shinai.

“You fence?”

“Um, I know how to. I don’t really do it much anymore.” Adrien replied.

She let out a hum and Adrien couldn’t help but glance at Kagami. What did that even mean?

“Have you been on any teams?”

“Uh, yeah. I was on my school’s team in Italy and also when we lived in London for a while. Usually there aren’t enough people and once they hear I know how to, they kinda just ask if I can do a bout.” He easily answered.

“And you’ve won?” She continued to question.

“Yes. But like I said, I don’t really do it anymore.” Adrien said.

Lady Tomoe hummed again before nodding her head to her daughter. “Is he good?”

“He’s joined Marinette and I a few times. He can beat Marinette easily and he and I kept a tie record. I did win our last fight, however.” Kagami explained, not mentioning their fights had been replaced nearly 3 months ago when Kitty Section was starting to gain more traction.

Humming once again (he really wished she’d stop doing that), Lady Tomoe waved them away. “Go. Mingle. But behave. I’m watching you, Kagami.”

Adrien believed that bit in a heartbeat.

“When you asked if I could come as your guest to this party, I didn’t know you’d be subjecting me to that.” Adrien whispered as they walked away.

“You dealt with Lila on a daily basis and my mother is the one to unnerve you? You’re a strange person, Adrien Rossi.”

As Kagami led the way to the dessert table where Marinette’s parents were passing out food to the guests, he glanced over his shoulder at where Chloe was standing. She was sulking, leaning against the wall near where her parents were. Her butler tried speaking to her, but she kept turning from him. He’d heard that Sabrina and Chloe had gotten into a fight, something about Sabrina’s reason for being akumatized into Miraculer. Clearly without her best friend, Chloe was miserable. He was sure watching her mother act the way she did while her father tried to gain affection was torture. If his own parents were this bad, he’d just walk away and leave them but Adrien was fine getting lost in a city while they yelled at each other. Chloe was still having trouble accepting the class as her friends. It was hard to erase years of habits in a few months.

“Hello Adrien, Kagami.” Marinette’s mother said, picking up a plate and napkin, her husband at the ready with tongs.

“Nin hao tài tai Cheng.”

“Oh, you’re getting much better at the accent Adrien. I’m so glad you’ve been practicing.”

“Sorry I haven’t been by for your help.”

“That’s alright. Marinette said Kitty Section was signed to the same label as Jagged Stone. You must be excited!”

He still didn’t know about the possibility of moving. With each day his mother had no answer, he couldn’t think of what to say when people brought it up.

“Yeah. Really excited. Do you have any passion fruit macarons?”

“No, Marinette is bringing more by. But we do have eclairs. Kagami, would you like one as well?”

“Can I try the strawberry one?”

Taking a bite, moaning a little from the creamy taste, Adrien watched Chloe. Nathalie had arrived carrying a box and the screen with Gabriel, Gorilla following behind her. He watched the assistant leave her driver with Lady Tomoe, who seemed perfectly fine with the silent giant’s presence. Nathalie called the mayor over, while his wife complained about being left alone and Chloe seemed to be done with everything. She stomped away from her butler, oddly making a beeline for him. At that same time, Marinette stepped off the elevator and stopped herself from crashing into Chloe, though the boxes she had stacked started to tip. Chloe managed to grab them, looking frustrated at Marinette.

“Honestly Dupain-Cheng, everyone knows how clumsy you are and you still insist on stacking boxes these high? I hope you’re not nearly this clumsy at your very first show. You're going to embarrass yourself when you trip in front of the audience and all your models.” Marinette looked as surprised as he felt, more so when Chloe started to carry the boxes to the bakery owners. “Hurry up Dupain-Cheng!” she ordered, causing Marinette to scramble after her.

“That was…odd.” Adrien said.

“You said she hasn’t spoken with her friend right, the red-haired girl? Maybe she’s tired of being alone? You did say she’s getting better. Just that the entitlement was mostly just part of her personality?” Kagami asked, both watching Chloe place the boxes down.

“Yeah. Just, kinda weird to see it just happening. Half the time, Sabrina is giving her that ‘you better behave’ look.”

“Thank you, girls. Did you want to try anything Chloe? I don’t think I saw you touch a single thing.” Sabine asked.

“Your mother requested bagels and I even got the rainbow kind down. Sure, you don’t want to try it?” Tom threw in.

“Honestly, I want to go back to my room.” Chloe said, looking back at the stage where Nathalie had joined her parents holding a sheet looking item over her arm. “This is stupid. They don’t love each other and the sooner they get divorced the better.”

No one really knew how to respond to that. Months ago, after the fashion show Juleka walked, Chloe announced she wanted to go to New York with her mother. But her mother didn’t even seem to notice or care, instead focusing on offering Marinette a chance to work in fashion in New York. The two girls didn’t get along, so Chloe felt like it was a slap to the face. And as much as Marinette wanted to say yes, both to get a start in her career and to spite Chloe, she also noticed how Chloe would take it. Surprisingly, it had been her to call off the party celebrating Chloe leaving.

“She might be mean to me any chance she could get but…all she wants is to be with her mom and she’s being treated like she doesn’t matter. I might not like her, but no one deserves to be treated like that.”

During it all, the mayor had been akumatized in hopes to keep Chloe in Paris and that’s when she’d been given the Bee Miraculous. She helped stop her father but she also messed up. She still wanted her mother’s attention, so when the fighting was over, Chloe ran off. From what the city understood, Scarlet Bug and Catseye were about to detransform and couldn’t go after her.

They were spotted again 20 minutes after that but Chloe hadn’t gone back to her hotel room. She’d gone to Sabrina’s and come morning, planted herself in front of her mother in the hotel’s restaurant and transformed, hoping for something. All she got were insults and an upturned nose, watching her mother order her new assistant to get Marinette on the phone for an answer on her proposition. It was no one’s surprise that she’d been akumatized, even with the Bee Miraculous on. She’d only shown up again as Queen Bee during Hero Day but since then, no one had seen her during fights. Chloe had even gotten a Batman style light to get the heroes’ attention but she’d stopped using it a while back. No one knew why, kinda scared to ask.

“Marinette, before you take the trays back, could you go find umbrellas for the drinks? Chloe, maybe you know where they are?” Sabine asked.

“What? No, I don’t. I don’t go into kitchens.” Chloe said, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

“Well then take Adrien and Kagami. 4 pairs of eyes are better than two. It might take a while, I’m sure.” Sabine said with a smile on her face and a knowing look.

“Yes.” Kagami said, seeming to understand. She took Adrien’s plate, allowing him to grab his half-eaten éclair and placed them on the table before grabbing Marinette’s arm. With a hand on Adrien’s side, she pushed him towards her mother, Marinette grabbing Chloe as they passed. “Mother, we’re going to help Marinette look for something in the kitchen. It shouldn’t take long.”

“Very well.” Lady Tomoe answered. “Be back quickly. You’re not here to play around.”

The young fencer dragged them all into the kitchen, looking around. She got her hands on the bag of mini umbrellas and poked her head outside for something.

“Why is the scary fencer ordering my butler around?” Chloe asked, like either of them had answers.

Kagami came back and grabbed them again, stealthily going to the door and looking out. Armand stepped in front of the door, moving one hand behind his back to wave at them. Taking that as a signal, Kagami dragged them out of the kitchen and into an elevator just as it opened. Chloe was the one to hit the button for the roof, and they all let out a sigh of relief when the doors closed.

“Ok, what was that?” Chloe asked confused as the elevator started to move up.

“You wanted to leave, I wanted time away from my mother and these two are fine with anything.” Kagami stated. “Marinette’s mother was giving us an out, so I took it.”

Chloe looked at Kagami speechless before sighing and looking away. “What the hell did I get myself into?”

Once they reached the roof, Chloe threw herself on one of the loungers while pushing her sunglasses down as she took in the sun. Adrien let out a yelp as Marinette pushed him into the ball pit, who jumped in with Kagami. The three started throwing the plastic balls at each other, trying to dodge while stuck. A few managed to get over to Chloe, one actually hitting her, which she returned with quite an impressive throw. It hit Marinette on the shoulder and the sound wasn’t pleasant but her two classmates were too impressed with the throw to say anything. When Gorilla came out of the elevator, he thankfully spotted Chloe first, giving Marinette and Adrien time to shove Kagami under the balls.

“What?” Chloe asked, her voice set in her usual haughty tone. The bodyguard did some sort of fencing gesture then held his hand up to about Kagami’s height. “Does it look like she’s here?”

With her glare, Gorilla left. While Marinette and Kagami continued to play, Adrien pulled himself out of the pool, walking over to the grand piano close to the loungers. He started to play the piano opening to Fabulous from the High School Musical movies, though Chloe groaned.

“Not that! Anything but that. Can’t believe I watched that movie so much.”

“Why am I not surprised you were a Sharpey fan?” Adrien said, switching to a medley of Ashly Tisdale songs.

“Oh please, I’m much better than she is. At least I don’t go after guys who are dating people. I also don’t ban people from doing things.”

“No, just pop stars from performing in France as a whole.” Adrien reminded.

“That wasn’t my fault! Dupain-Cheng didn’t want to do it before. She only said she would do Catseye after I got cast. I had the worst job working with Lila as Scarlet Bug. I didn’t actually think those rules Daddy found would stick. How was I supposed to know Clara’s label wouldn’t send the correct paperwork after? But I guess that’s what I do. I make a mess of things and can’t even fix them.” Chloe sulked, sliding down the lounge chair while refusing to look in his direction.

Adrien stopped playing to look at Chloe. He felt like an idiot. He was happy Chloe was changing for the better, but of course she’d still have feelings about her actions. Since most people were willing to look past it as much as they could – example with Marinette not going out of her way to talk to the girl who bullied her for years – he assumed Chloe felt the same. He didn’t realize Chloe was still holding onto the blame from the consequences for her actions.

Turning on the bench, Adrien leaned onto his knees, staring at the back of Chloe’s head. “Is that what happened with Sabrina?”

“Fishing for information for Cesaire?” she snapped, still refusing to look at him.

“No, just curious. From what I know, it’s been you and Sabrina for ages. No matter what you did, she always stuck by you. She always comes to your defence and I’ve actually seen you threaten bodily harm on anyone who messes with her.”

“Yeah, except all I do is get her akumatized because I have to be a bitch and be rude. First, I ignored her because she unknowingly embarrassed me and then I snapped at her about never understanding what I went through. The one girl who’s actually been there when I’m dealing with my mother.” Chloe interrupted. Her voice got lower, like she was holding back tears.

Adrien got off the bench, kneeling next to the lounge chair. “What do you mean ‘not understanding’?”

“I can’t say what it is.”

“Chloe-”

“No!” she said, actually turning to him, yanking her sunglasses off. “I can’t say. I messed up already before by being selfish. If I say anything, to her or anyone else, I’ll just be selfish again. I’d even be putting her in danger.”

The only real danger Adrien could think of was Hawkmoth. Then he remembered the note. He knew he wasn’t the only hero who’d been pulled in to help during fights. Which meant, he couldn’t have been the only one to get a note.

“You mean Scarlet Bug told you not to tell?”

Chloe muffled a choking sound as her blue eyes shimmering with tears. “I knew I couldn’t be Queen Bee anymore. I mean, I was given the chance to help when my dad was akumatized and all I thought about was how my mom was going to finally notice me. I was surprised they asked for help during Hero Day. Then something happened and I knew if I wanted another chance, I had to keep quiet about it. So, I stopped using the signal and I stopped bugging them about it. I didn’t tell Sabrina because if anyone else knew I wanted another chance, Hawkmoth would still be watching me. I didn’t say anything and she got mad for me. She couldn’t understand why Scarlet Bug and Catseye were ignoring me and I didn’t know how to tell her what I wanted, so I just snapped. Told her she didn’t understand me or why I did things.

“After Sabrina was akumatized again, there was this other akuma, she was all dressed in red. The akuma that came from Sabrina was the same colour, like all the ones during Hero Day. I was given the Bee Miraculous since Sabrina could take powers and I was told to go after the other akuma. I don’t even know what her item could have been but she managed to get away. I helped them with stopping Sabrina and I wanted to keep the Bee. I asked, what am I saying? I begged to keep it but Scarlet Bug told me it was too dangerous. The other akuma almost took the Bee during the fight and took it to Hawkmoth. I got that, but I also thought about how I could help. He told me that I could help by being a hero out of the costume, by still being Queen Bee without the Miraculous. He said that if he didn’t have to worry about Hawkmoth always waiting for me whenever an akuma showed up, he’d give me a chance. But to keep everyone safe, I couldn’t be Queen Bee officially anymore. Sabrina heard, but she was still mad, saying that he was playing with my feelings. I should have told her it was ok, that we could still dress up as Scarlet Bug and Catseye and instead of playing, do things to help build morale. Instead, I yelled at her again for not understanding. How is she supposed to understand if I don’t tell her anything? But I can’t because I don’t want Hawkmoth going after her.”

“Tell her that. Tell her that regardless of what you know about Scarlet Bug and Catseye and the rest of the Miraculous team, that the biggest threat is Hawkmoth. The guy is good at getting into people’s emotions, who’s to say he can’t get into their minds? You don’t want her to go through that. She’ll understand you’re trying to protect her. You should also let her know that you feel bad about what you did. You do feel bad about it, don’t you??”

“Of course, I do! But what good will telling her that do?” Chloe retorted, angrily.

Adrien shrugged, giving her a wry smile. “You can’t make her forgive you. But if she knows you’re sorry and knows that all of this was to protect her, she might be willing to forgive you. You messed up Chloe, but you’re trying to do better. Isn’t at least trying, something a hero would do?”

Chloe scoffed, rolling her eyes. “God, are you always like this?”

“Just imagine, if mama has to move and I move in with you, you’ll have to put up with me like this all the time.”

Giving him a mild glare, she swung her legs off the lounge chair, fixing herself. “Well, here’s hoping daddy isn’t an idiot and makes her stay. I’m going to my room. Try not to get caught.”

“Bored of us already?” Adrien asked, getting up as Chloe headed towards the elevator.

“I have private phone calls to make, thank you very much.” The doors opened and Chloe stepped on, already back to herself as she crossed her arms and cocked out a hip. “Rossi? Thanks.”

Adrien couldn’t respond as the doors closed but he smiled to himself. Chloe really was trying and he hoped Sabrina understood that. He hoped having to keep quiet about the note wouldn’t haunt Chloe forever. He still had no clue what would happen if they gave him a Miraculous and he had to leave. It was concerning though, how whatever allowed Hawkmoth to make multiple akumas had reappeared to get to the Bee Miraculous. He hoped whatever it was, the two heroes could beat it, or at least had a plan in place.

“Hey girls! Think we can sneak out and grab ice cream?”

                                          _____________________

“Come my dear, aren’t you mad that Scarlet Bug and Catseye don’t trust you? Regardless if I know who Queen Bee is, you’re a good hero. But they don’t appreciate that do they?”

Chloe took the smallest step away. She didn’t want to show fear to the man in front of her, the man responsible for her parents being pink floating heads right now, but it was Hawkmoth. Since he showed his face on Hero Day, people came up with nicknames to make him seem less terrifying. But regardless of how much you called a person ‘condom head’, when they had the ability to twist your emotions and focus on the worst parts of it, you got scared when they appeared in front of you.

“When your friend was akumatized, they just left you in the dust.”

But they didn’t. She was the one to blame for what happened to Sabrina. The letter that had been left on her bed with the box, she kept it a secret. but she didn’t give Sabrina a clear reason for why she retired her Queen Bee light and why she wasn’t upset when they didn’t come to get her. The red-haired girl was just being a good friend, being mad at the heroes for her. But she snapped, letting her old habits get the better of her. She didn’t even understand how the heroes gave her another chance, with the Ladybug Miraculous of all things. Not just once, but twice! She wanted to tell her best friend but she couldn’t make the same mistake as before. As such, she reacted badly and Sabrina was akumatized again. She helped stop her by helping Scarlet Bug figure out what his Lucky Charm was for and she listened as he told her that being Queen Bee was dangerous, not only for her but for them. He'd given her a hidden wink and she knew it was mostly for show. They still trusted her. She might never get the chance to meet Pollen again, but she could be trusted with another Miraculous.

“All I ask is for one little favour. Something that will help you get back at Scarlet Bug and Catseye and every other hero they called for help. I need you to find the Guardian of the Miraculous. You’re strong, strong to throw my akuma. With the rest of the Miraculous at your disposal, you’ll be unstoppable.”

“Chloe, are you still there? What's happening?” Sabina’s concerned voice asked from the other end of the line.

Chloe shuffled back further. She came down to her room to call Sabrina and did what Adrien told her. She even opened up more, telling her how she felt with all the memories of things she caused hanging over her head. Sabrina, the kind person she was, accepted her apology and listened to Chloe talk, telling her things would be ok and she could work to earn forgiveness if she thought it would help. They were interrupted by the Akuma Warning and then she saw them, her parents.

She’d come up to her patio, trying to catch a glimpse of where her parents went, also hoping to see spotted red or green and black. Her fear over her parents ran through her mind when she heard something land behind her. She turned around, and there he was, all shaded in red.

“Your mother’s anger and your father’s anguish at a decaying relationship are quite powerful and they could make a mess for days. If you want them out, I’m going to need your help, Chloe Bourgeois. You can even get back at Scarlet Bug and Catseye for disrespecting you.”

“Chloe!” Sabrina yelled, snapping her back into the present. Hawkmoth stood there, smirking. She was surprised that he hadn’t done anything about the phone in her hand. It got wider as she lifted it back to her ear.

“Sabrina, I need to call you back. Mother is screaming about not having enough rosettes on the cake. I meant what I said, ok?”

“Ok.”

She hung up once Sabrina answered and dropped the phone on the ground.

“Smart girl. I didn’t remember seeing a cake in the ballroom.” Hawkmoth mused.

“Daddy ordered it as a surprise. He likes having their wedding cake remade as a present. Why should I help you anyway? Scarlet Bug and Catseye would totally have time to beat my parents before I agree.” She asked.

Hawkmoth let out a chuckle, spinning his cane. “Oh, but you see, I won’t let that happen. In case you don’t remember, this isn’t my normal colour. I’ve got help from a little friend again. She was the one responsible for the akumas on Hero Day. All those Akumas all at once? Childs play and I can do it again. I’ll keep those heroes so busy, going after your parents will be the least of their problems. So, tell me dear, do you care about your parents enough to keep the heroes from getting exhausted?”

Chloe’s mind raced in attempts to think of something, anything that could help or stop him. She wasn’t a hero at the moment, so she didn’t have the reflexes to rip the butterfly brooch from his neck. Could she even though? To gain the extra power he had, was it a Miraculous or the effects of an akuma? Answers were looking dim and she couldn’t think of another way. She just hoped Sabrina remembered the code word.

“Remove the akuma from them first. And you don’t go after anyone else, just me.”

Looking victorious, Hawkmoth pointed his cane in the direction of the akuma and with a sharp gesture, there was a burst of light and everything was quiet again. She tensed seeing the red akuma flying towards her, closing her eyes once it got closer. She felt the darkness of akumatization take over her and she thought about the time she resisted the akuma. She was in a bubble of light and had pushed it outward, destroying the darkness that was trying to consume her. She held onto that image as the connection was established.

“Mistress Locality, you now have the ability to locate any nearby Miraculous. Normally I’d ask for you to locate the Cat and Ladybug Miraculous, but I want to know where the rest of them are. The Guardian who holds them can’t be far from them.”

When Chloe opened her eyes, she was looking out of what felt like spy binoculars. Looking at Hawkmoth told her a Miraculous was in front of her. It didn’t say which, just that there was one. Turning and seeing a swarm of ladybugs flying around, told her that two more Miraculous were not far from where her parents had last been. One of the Miraculous was heading in her direction.

Or the direction the akuma had gone.

Knowing she had to move quickly, she continued looking until she saw it. At the park not far from school, near the carousel was a host of tells.

“Well? I can feel something from you.”

She just hoped Scarlet Bug was fast enough.

“In the park, by the carousel. There’s a lot there.”

“At last!” Hawkmoth cried.

“Now let me go!” she ordered.

Hawkmoth’s gleeful smirk turned dark. “And why would I do that? You’re coming with me my dear.”

The darkness started to press down on her. She couldn’t let him win; she couldn’t be the reason he won. For god sakes, Scarlet Bug trusted her! He told her to be a hero without the Bee Miraculous and even if she didn’t end up with another one, she was still going to prove she was one.

“I said, let me go!” she cried, pushing her bubble out. She felt the disconnection and suddenly she was free.

Hawkmoth looked surprised before his face contorted angrily. She scrambled to back away as he lifted his cane to strike her.

“You little…!”

She let out a scream before she felt an arm grab her from around her waist and pull. The sound of a tightening cord, a sound she was very familiar with filled her ears as she went flying. The other arm wrapped around her to keep her body steady as they landed.

“I’m sorry!” she sputtered out, when she turned and saw the concerned look on Scarlet Bug’s face. “I’m sorry, I messed up. I had to. You need, you need-”

Gripping her arms tightly, Scarlet Bug leaned down so he was eye level. “Hey, hey. Chloe, it’s ok. You’re ok. He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

Mind scrambled, she shook her head. “No! No, he akumatized me, in place of my parents. But I messed up. He wanted me to find Miraculous. He gave me the power to do that. I didn’t want to but he could tell. You need to get to the park, the one with the carousel. There’s a bunch there. He was talking about a Guardian. I just sent him straight to them. I’m sorry!” tears started to pour out of her eyes as everything that just happened hit her. “I got him out, I resisted but I still told him.”

“Hey, hey. Come on sit.” Scarlet Bug ordered, holding tighter when Chloe’s legs gave out from under her. He guided her to the rooftop they were standing on, kneeling in front of her. “What do you mean you resisted? Chloe, did you throw off the akuma in the middle of being akumatized?”

“Yeah,” she answered shakily. Her mascara that she managed to save earlier was starting to run with her tears. “Before, when Sabrina was akumatized, it was supposed to be me. I was mad at myself for the fight and frustrated at you guys a little but I didn’t want him finding out about the note, so I resisted before he could akumatize me. Why does this matter? There’s a lot of Miraculous in the park about to be captured. You need to go now! He has help from whatever helped him on Hero Day.”

“You’re saying the Guardian has the Miraculous in the park? All of them?”

“Maybe? There was a lot.”

Earring beeping, Scarlet Bug picked up Chole and got them to the streets. He sat her at a chair outside a restaurant and kneeled down again. “Chloe, listen to me. You didn’t mess up, ok? You did very well keeping him occupied until I could get to you. We’ll take care of this, ok? You didn’t mess up.”

Nodding, she watched the spotted hero get up and jump off to the rooftops. Hearing noise in the restaurant behind her, she let her head drop, not in the mood to deal with people seeing her like this.

“Ma’am? Goodness, Mlle. Bourgeois! Are you alright? Pierre, get some water out here, now! It’s alright Mlle. Bourgeois, you’re safe.”

But was whoever she sent Hawkmoth after safe? Could the heroes of Paris get to them in time?

Police sirens filled the air as a squad car screeched to a halt in front of them and spilled out Sabrina.

“Chloe!”

She couldn’t help it. She burst into tears all over again as Sabrina ran to her, pulling her into a tight hug.

“It’s ok. Chloe, you’re ok.” Sabrina comforted, rubbing a hand up and down her back and on her head. She barely heard Agent Roger speak to whoever came out to check on her.

“You remembered.” She wailed.

“Of course, I did. If you have to hang up or go anywhere suddenly and mention roses and your mother, something’s wrong and I need to find you immediately.” Sabrina recited. “How could I forget? It had been my idea, remember? I got you, ok?”

She did, but what about the Guardian? Did she just make the fight against Hawkmoth that much harder?

                                              _______________

“That little! I can’t believe him! He starts seeing signs of the elders from the temple coming and he decides to run?” Plagg fumed. “After he swore to accept the punishment? I knew we shouldn’t have trusted him!”

“Plagg stop. If you get any angrier, you’re going to set off your powers.” Tikki warned. She looked at Luka, who was staring at the letter Fu had left. They tried to avoid this happening, and had done so much to prevent this, but somehow it all began to happen again.

After the quickest break to stuff her mouth full of cookies, Tikki transformed Luka. She was a god, THE god of creation, so she never needed to pray. But she understood why people did it. By the time he’d gotten in contact with Juleka and reached the park, he watched Fu place himself in Shell-ter. The other akuma was there, Catalyst her name was. Plagg said it had to be Nathalie. She was no Mayura but trying to fight against her and Hawkmoth was just as tough. Unlike the last time where Chloe exposed the holders and had them fight while she held onto the box, it turned into a demented game of hot potato to keep it from the villains. It got even worse when no one was able to grab it, too busy fighting the other, that it fell to the ground and a few fell out. Hawkmoth sent akuma to grab it while Catseye jumped after them. She used Black Hole to create an opening and sent the Miraculous and the box into the Shell-ter.

Later, Juleka would call herself stupid for not using it to give the Master a way to escape the fight. Instead, it meant they then had to defend the cracking defence from attacks. Tikki wished she knew what was running though his mind just then, watching two teenagers he entrusted powerful objects to defend him, even when they knew the extent of his mistakes and weren’t going to let him escape them.

He’d picked up Pollen’s hairclip and she was left to relay his message.

“He let his fears take him over and, in the process, allowed himself to be caught. He meant to keep his promise but to keep the box safe, the one thing he swore he’d do, he had to make the biggest sacrifice. He said that you’d be able to talk to the Guardians once they came.” Pollen sadly told Luka.

“I, Wang Fu, hereby relinquish the Miracle Box, and name Scarlet Bug the new Guardian!”

In a bright light, where Hawkmoth and Catalyst decided to take their leave, Luka was left with a box. The wood was red and the design of the Guardians was now drawn in green, the buttons black and white scuffing throughout. The colours of Scarlet Bug and Catseye. Fu had lost his memory and not even a Miraculous Reset could do anything. But he did still recognise the keychain, which sent the siblings to Gare du Nord train station and their locker room. Resting on the gramophone was a letter.

It was different from the one Marinette had gotten in that timeline. Instead of unhelpful words about accepting loss and nothing about the duty she was suddenly given, Fu explained that he’d gotten scared, seeing hints of the Guardians. But he wasn’t going to leave. He couldn’t, not after he promised to do better. He just needed a moment to breathe but not wanting to be without the Miraculous, his first friends, he’d taken them with him. He said even as he was writing it, that it felt like things would change. That if it were up to him, either of them would make great Guardians, Luka especially with his way of understanding emotion. He wrote how he had never wanted to put them in a position where he had to force that upon them, not knowing how it would affect their life. But he said if he was ever to do that before the Guardians arrived, they could get answers. They were stubborn and didn’t back down. they’d be ok.

Tikki didn’t know if they would. It was different this time, Luka having support from the get go but with Adrien’s living situation up in the air, being signed to live his dream and just the life of being a teenager, she was worried if he’d crack.

“Hey,” Juleka walked into the room and sat on the floor next to her brother. She played with the Cat Miraculous, staring at it as she spoke. “I got him into the car ok. Took one look at Marieanne and fell in love all over again, so there’s hope there.” The two were quiet, even as Luka let his head rest on his sister’s. “I should have moved him from the battle.”

“There was a chance they’d get the Miraculous in the meantime. It made the most sense. He could have run off with it then.” Luka pointed out, voice even.

“But he looked weak. He could hold up the Shell-ter because he was older but he’s past 100. It had to be taxing on his body.” Juleka remembered.

They’d gone around in circles already. Sighing, Luka leaned harder. “There’s a spell mentioned in the Grimoire. How to pass the box on without losing your memory.”

“But it’s a last resort!” Tikki cried, the two kwami flying over. “We’d have to be 100% sure it’s safe to use.”

“Why?” Juleka asked, feeling out of loop.

“It said if the Guardian who used the spell was to ever use a Miraculous, well, they used flowery language, but they basically die.”

“Right, so guess we won’t do that. What do we do though? Should we still give Chloe a Miraculous? Do we switch as extra security?” Juleka asked, moving from under her brother to look at him. Luka instead leaned on his bed looking tired.

“She resisted an akuma, twice. It would be wrong to not give her another chance. Besides, he never figured it was her with the Ladybug. Unless he knows about the letter, he wouldn’t expect us to give her one. Changing Miraculous…it might be smart. He’s going to want to find out who I am and going after the team would be the best way to but if you change suddenly, he’ll have to try harder.”

“So, Adrien gets the Cat, Turtle to Marc, Bee to Nathaniel, and Chloe the Fox. We still need to figure out a new Miraculous for Alya and Nino” Juleka called off.

“But Adrien might be leaving.” Luka remembered. He looked at the ring he wore, the sun making him think of his boyfriend’s smile. He sat up, stuffing the letter into his pocket and got up.

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know if the spell will work and let me keep my memories or if I’m going to be forced to lose everything but, I am not going to let the knowledge of that keep me from living. I love Adrien and if he ends up leaving, I want him to know I want to try long distance. So even if I do lose my memory, when I see him again, I fall in love all over.” Luka left the room, Tikki flying after him, calling to wait for her.

“Huh.” Plagg hummed, watching Luka leave. To know Luka was willing to try, even in the face of everything for Adrien, he felt comforted that his favourite kitten was still so cherished. He looked at Juleka and knew regardless of what happened with Luka, losing her was going to hurt just as much. “Hey Blacky? Can we share cheese?”

“Share cheese? That’s new.” Juleka said, confused.

“Yeah well, I’m about to lose you to Rooar who likes you a lot and I just don’t want you to forget who loved you first.”

Juleka scooped him up and held him close to her cheek. “I won’t forget at all. Plagg, you’re the one who helped me realize my confidence, helped me be free of my anxiety for the first time in a long time. I won’t ever forget that.”

                                    _____________________

The bells from Andre’s cart rang in the wind, giving Adrien something to listen to as he stared at the sky. After he, Kagami and Marinette managed to get outside and find Andre, Heart Eater attacked. He’d gotten separated from the girls but thanks to Alya – who no doubt went rushing right in with Nino calling after her – he’d seen Scarlet Bug, Catseye and Ryuko fight the akuma, which managed to suddenly disappear. Then there’s been sightings of Hawkmoth in the park near school. Something had happened, with a great burst of light Adrien saw, but no one knew. During that time, Luka was unreachable and he hadn’t responded to any communication.

Not long ago, he’d called Adrien asking him to meet. So here he sat, waiting for Luka to arrive. His mother promised to have an answer after work, so he had no updates like he hoped.

“Adrien!”

Looking over, he saw Luka running towards him. He got up, meeting Luka in the middle as the older teen hugged him close. This hug was tight, like Adrien was going to slip away. He wished he could tell Luka he wasn’t going anywhere.

Once they were sitting facing each other, Adrien took Luka’s hands. “What happened? I called but you didn’t pick up.”

“I was dealing with something. The long and short of it is, thanks to my…grandfather not keeping to his promises, I’m now in charge of dealing with something I wasn’t at all prepared for. I mean, I guess I kinda started the cycle myself because I ended up fixing one of his issues with Juls.” Shaking his head to keep himself from rambling, Luka refocused, “it just means I’m going to be dealing with something that’s gonna be stressful and I might be annoyed and sullen at times but I want you to know I have support and if it gets too much to keep secret, I will tell you.”

“Is this thing legal?” Without context clues, Adrien was confused as to what could be affecting Luka.

Letting out a strained laugh, Luka nodded. “If you can actually believe it, then yes.”

“Does it feel legal?”

“Also, yes. It’s nothing that’s going to get me arrested, just mostly looking after a thing and being in charge of a group. I was fine with that part when I had someone else to defer to but now it’s just me and Juls, so.”

Still feeling a little lost, Adrien looked at their clasped hands, thumb running over the designs of Luka’s ring. “Would it be easier to not be in a relationship right now?”

“No!” Luka stated, tugging on Adrien’s hands so he’d look up. “Trust me, that is the last thing I want. Look, I have no clue what this thing is going to do to my life, but I refuse to let it dictate everything I do. Adrien, I love you and I get that we haven’t been together long enough for me to say that, but I mean it. If you do end up moving, I want us to at least try long distance because I like you way too much for us to just go our separate ways unless it’s our choice.”

Heart pounding, face red and feeling tingly all over, Adrien felt like he was going to faint and start floating all at once. “I…”

“You don’t have to say it back, I’m not rushing you for an answer. I just hope you’ll agree to the distance?”

Unable to form words because it felt like too many were going to spill out, he nodded, squeezing Luka’s hands tight. Any romantic relationship usually ended when he moved because it never felt like they were on the same page and with Luka it felt like everything made sense. Because as crazy as it sounded, he wanted to do it, do long distance for as long as they could bear. He felt like if they were to split later down the line, it wouldn’t be in anger and tears and hurt. It would hurt, god it would, but it would be something they’d agree on. Unable to help himself, he put his hands onto Luka’s neck and pulled him into a long kiss.

“It’s probably a good thing we weren’t together during the Heart Eater attack.” Luka said against his lips, his own hands holding onto Adrien’s waist. “We would have gotten snatched up right away.”

Adrien was tempted to remind him of Heart Eater’s actual power but Luka kissed him again and thought escaped. If he had to leave this, it was going to hurt.

Somehow, he left and got back home, finding his mother there earlier than anticipated. She let him go drop his things off in his room where he stopped at the sight of a very familiar box.

We heard you might be leaving us and honestly, we need help confusing Hawkmoth, so feel free to use Plagg tonight. He’ll be gone in the morning, so be careful and have fun.

Adrien hid both the new note and the box under his pillow and went back to his mom, sitting on the couch in breathless anticipation.

“So?” Adrien asked anxiously.

“So, the ambassador called everyone into a meeting to do reassignments. Some are leaving and some are staying. Then he got to me.” His mother said. “Ready?”

“Mama, just tell me!” he begged.

“Well…”

                                 __________________________

Cat Walker had a put together look, like the cat part was a second thought. This cat was different. Fingerless gloves, leather, real tail and ears and the sound of a cat’s bell ringing through the night. Cat Walker made Adrien feel a certain type of freedom but this new cat, one he needed a name for felt different. Like everything bad was finally behind him and he was a new person. The sound of an extending pole shot through the night as it launched Adrien into the air, where he landed on one of the taller pieces of the Eiffel Tower. Looking down at the sparkling nightlife, all the emotions of freedom, love, happiness exploded from him as he cried into the night.

“WE’RE STAYING!”

They were staying in Paris. It was set for his mother to stay for a full year, with the possibility of staying longer depending on how long Hawkmoth attacked Paris. While he didn’t love the idea of Hawkmoth still attacking, he got to stay. Plagg had gotten excited when he opened the box and blurted it out.

“I can stay with you then! We need to go now, Ladybird is gonna wanna hear this!”

“Ladybird?” he asked, remembering the name given to whomever used the Ladybug Miraculous in place of Scarlet Bug.

“Scarlet? Anyway, most I can say right now is that fight that happened, we need to switch things around to keep everyone safe.”

Adrien furrowed his brow, the excitement simmering down. “But what about Catseye?”

“Don’t worry. Blacky is being well looked after by another kwami. Relax, they made this decision ages ago when planning for something like this. Come on kitten, don’t leave me all by myself.” Plagg begged.

He was sure he should be worried. Plagg just essentially told him Adrien was his new holder. He should be asking questions but an idea came to mind and he had to do it.

“Where do you think Scarlet Bug would be?”

“On patrol. Why?”

“I just have the urge to scream from the rooftops. Plagg, Claws Out!”

He was sure he owed Plagg whatever he wanted after this. Now that he’d done the thing he wanted, he needed to find Scarlet Bug. He leapt off the Eiffel Tower, launching himself to a nearby roof. Adrien would never say he felt stifled in his life as a diplomate kid. Yes, there were times he had to bite his tongue with people around him or he ran away to keep his sanity, but he’d never say he lacked the freedom to do what he wanted. But this, this was different. Maybe it was the knowledge of what having this Miraculous meant in combination with his news, but he’d never felt freer. As Cat Walker, it was a mild feeling that felt familiar. But as this new hero, jumping across the Parisian rooftops, the familiar feeling seemed to burst forth, leaving him more exalted than before. It wasn’t him running from his problems, it was feeling like he could tackle anything. This felt like the ultimate freedom, a feeling that could never be replicated. 

He’d closed his eyes to take in the feeling and then immediately went crashing into something. He felt himself tumble through the air, spinning with no control before landing on - thankfully - a flat roof. Well, Adrien landed on something that wasn’t the roof, which was perfect, since his new costume involved a crop top inspired by Black Lynx.

“I’m so sor - oh mio dio, Scarlet Bug! I’m so sorry!”

Of course, he crashed into one of Paris’ heroes. Because why not? He laid there, groaning in pain. Adrien also noticed his costume was a bit different. His big jacket was replaced with a sleeveless one with inverted colours, hands covered with mismatched gloves. Unlike before when he’d keep his hood up, it was down, exposing his hair half tied back. His snake bites were still there, reminding him of Luka’s. Adrien climbed off of him, noticing that his boots had a stripe of green around the top.

“You changed your look,” he said, hoping to distract him from the pain.

“Well, we’re making a lot of changes, so thought why not? When I said have fun with Plagg, I didn't mean crashing into things.” Blue eyes squinted at him as the spotted hero turned his head to him.

With an awkward and apologetic smile, Adrien shrugged. “I got a little distracted. Kinda forgot how much I enjoyed jumping across town, especially since there isn’t an akuma.”

“If Hawkmoth actually created one now, I might actually take a blunt object to his head.” Scarlet complained, pushing himself up slowly. He cracked his back, groaning before looking at Adrien, that same smile he had on his face the first time he met growing. “Missed Plagg huh?”

“Yeah. I did. I’m surprised you’re letting me hold onto him. What happened in that second fight?”

“Let’s just say, Hawkmoth won a small piece of the battle. I can’t give you too much detail just for your protection since Plagg will be coming back tomorrow.”

“Oh!” Adrien cried, clapping his hands. “He doesn’t actually! I’m not moving, I get to stay in Paris.”

Scarlet blinked at him, surprised then tried to bite down a smile. He didn’t know Scarlet thought he was that good a replacement. “That’s amazing to hear. Plagg must be happy. He likes Catseye, but he seems to be pretty fond of you. I see you even changed yourself.”

“Yeah,” Adrien said, looking down at his new costume, before looking back at the hero with a massive smile on his face. “This felt more like me. Seriously, thank you for doing this. I’m going to do my best to be the best Cat holder and support you.”

“It won’t be just you, but thanks. Your job is going to be harder than others, but I know you’re capable of doing it.” Scarlet Bug replied confidently.

He would. He would hold pride and do right by the people and things that made him feel this free. Hawkmoth wasn’t going to know what hit him.

[itsmarygibbs]

Task Eleven → Intro & Connections

Mary Gibbs

Character Information*

The Basics* 

FULL NAME: mary gibbs

NICKNAME: boo (in general), marebear (by lucius) and any other nickname, she loves nicknames

GENDER: female

PRONOUNS: she/her

AGE: thirty-two

OCCUPATION: pre-school/elementary school teacher at redwood hollow school

FACECLAIM: dakota johnson

ORIENTATION: straight

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: engaged to @magicaladamlegrand​

PETS: 2 dogs - kitty & doggo. kitty is mary’s dog prior to her relationship with adam and she adopted doggo as a puppy for adam as a gift for a previous birthday of his

The Personality*

+ Energetic, Curious, Playful - Over-Eager, Naïve, Loud

mary is fun-loving and full of life. she’s energetic and has a positive outlook on life despite the hardships she’s faced previously. she can be considered a curious cat and is always excited to learn about new things and to then tell the kids she teaches about them. her personality really shines through when she’s around people and her compassion knows no bounds. 

mary’s brain runs a million miles a minute and she will always be distracted when she sees animals - she will want to hug and pet them and she will need to be reminded that wild animals carry germs and don’t always like to be hugged. this will disappoint her, but ultimately will have her survive natural selection. 

Additional Notes* 

mary has been a victim of the recent poisonings

her dog kitty is a jack russel terrier-schnauzer

she makes bizarre arts&crafts projects and just leaves them laying around without any context whatsoever

great at cooking, TERRIBLE at baking 

Random Quirks*

taps her nose repeatedly when she’s deep in thought 

she only eats foods like soup, cereal and ice cream with teaspoons - never tablespoons & has a specific fork she prefers to eat with

she is convinced there’s ghost(s) in her house - she always says hello/goodbye/love you to them when she enters/leaves the house because she doesn’t want them to feel left out 

Wanted Connections*

friends

female best friend - adam is her bestie, but i’d like her to have a female bestie she can confide in

neighbours

parents of kids that she teaches

work colleagues

people who were also at the orphanage

ex’s - ended on good or bad terms

Wanted Plots / Plot Ideas*

the wedding planner - with adam and herself now being engaged next comes the engagement party and wedding planning. cue unhinged wedding planner and hilarious shenanigans ensue 

blast from the past - mary’s life is going amazing & she couldn’t be happier. here comes muse b to ruin that. ((this could be an ex that has an issue with mary getting married to someone else, someone from the orphanage that used to bully mary as a kid, someone who just generally wants to be an asshole to her))

family matters - mary goes on the hunt for her family & to find out her family tree. 

Taken Connections*

love of her life - @magicaladamlegrand​ - the man is her best friend, the love of her life. she’s so in love with him it’s embarrassing lmao.

tbr - @jxmespsullivxn​ - to be revealed at a later date.

close friend - @iceice-best​ - lucius has been a long time friend of mary’s. they bonded over being teachers years ago & she became friends with him and his wife. she supported lucius throughout his divorce and they’ve remained good friends throughout the years. they also frequently argue over ice cream flavours and toppings.

friends/dog walking buddies - @elliefredricksxn and @cxrlfredricksen - mary met ellie and carl a while back and became friends, the fredricksens live near mary & adam, and since carl got a dog for ellie, mary and carl/ellie go out walking with their pets together

Other*

One character from the open tag you would like to see taken / added to the Most Wanted page -  from the most wanted page - alberto scorfano & from the open tag to be added to the most wanted page - the parr brothers

One Character you want to see a bio for in relation to this specific character - mike wazowski or randall boggs

[ajhediting]

About Me

Hello everyone! I’m AJ, and I’d like to edit for you :) But you probably want to know a little bit about me before trusting me with your writing, so here goes…

I love words. I love reading words, learning about words, learning new words. I even love writing words every now and then. That’s why I got my Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics and Discourse Studies from Carleton University. Applied linguistics, paraphrasing one of my professors, is solving problems that have to do with language. A decent chunk of AL is concerned with understanding how people learn new languages at different stages of life and figuring out the best ways to teach people new languages.

Honestly, I didn’t find AL very interesting. I was there for the other half of the program, discourse studies. Discourse studies, in the words of a friend and fellow student, is “revealing the [underlying] meaning in what people say to each other.” I especially like genre studies, which involves studying patterns between texts of the same genre and, if you’re an educator, teaching people how to write in a specific genre. I really like talking about genre! But I won’t do that here. (Please ask me/talk to me about genre.)

So how does this help you? Well, some editors are very much driven by following rules—rules about verb-noun agreement and dangling modifiers and run-on sentences and lists without punctuation. Don’t get me wrong, I can definitely edit your writing to make sure it follows all the rules. But I also recognize that sometimes you want to bend or break the rules for a certain effect or style. Problems can arise when those bent and broken rules make it more difficult for your reader to understand what you’re trying to tell them. In my mind, editing is all about improving communication—making sure that you get your message across effectively. My studies in genre and discourse analysis have helped me learn to identify what kinds of rule-breaking are acceptable or even necessary for different kinds of writing and what kinds of rule-breaking aren’t appropriate in specific circumstances. Academic papers, for example, should really follow rules for grammatical sentence construction...unless the paper is about how those rules can be an unnecessary hurdle for nonnative writers of the language. It’s all about context.

Speaking of nonnative writers, I do have experience working with nonnative English writers. I only edit English-language writing (it is, sadly, the only language I’m fluent in), but I ask my clients what their native language(s) are and what other languages they speak because that can influence how they write in English. I do my best to balance “correcting” their writing to read more naturally for native English readers against allowing their nonnative voice to shine. The beautiful thing about languages is that they can influence each other in unexpected ways; I try to let my clients’ native languages through when I can.

This has been a lot about my editing philosophy! But I’ll also tell you some personal details. I have a chubby kitty named Nadya who’s on diet food but seems to be happy weighing ~15 pounds. When she sits on me in bed, it’s like having a weighted blanket :) I can read fairly well in Spanish but have a lot of trouble with conversing in it. I’ve learned bits and pieces of other languages, but have yet to get very far in any of them. I like reading and watching horror, especially the kind that makes you vaguely uncomfortable or just feels...off. If you also like that kind of horror, I recommend Coherence (2013). I also like fantasy, scifi, reimagined fairy tales and myths...kind of anything that explores the familiar in new/unfamiliar settings.

If you have any questions for me or just want to chat, either about editing or my interests or whatever, feel free to message me! My inbox is open :)

[curtashiism]

How Sumikko Gurashi does literally everything, especially clone arcs, better than Voltron

Clones. Found family/friendship. Character arc resolution.

I was watching the two SumikkoGurashi movies the past few days and I love it so much. It's made by the creators of Hello Kitty, and is almost saccharine at times, but never tips too far over the line (IMO). And it manages to deal with some surprisingly beautiful themes- better, in fact, than Voltron ever did.

So I'm going to write a quick analysis noting how it did clone arcs so much better. (If there's interest, I might make a post about the found family and character arcs too, in a different post!) @kari-izumi, @synergetic-prose, @as-thou-will, @bbtreee, @backupblogforjg, and @puppetmaster55, I'm tagging you since I know you love VLD criticism.

So first: what is Sumikko Gurashi? Like I mentioned, it's an IP made by the creators of Hello Kitty, about the adventures of various characters who live in the same village, and they all love to spend time alone in a little corner of one of their houses (Sumikko Gurashi means "life in the corner"). There's Shirokuma, a polar bear who ran away from the North Pole because he was scared of the cold; Neko, a timid cat who is self-conscious about her weight; Penguin? who spells his name with a question mark because he's not sure if he is a penguin, and is always reading self-discovery books; Tonkatsu, a fried pork cutlet who was left behind for being too fatty and oily (yes really), and last of all, Tokage, an aquatic dinosaur in disguise who hides his identity to avoid being captured.

(Warning: spoilers for the Sumikko Gurashi movie follow!)

In the first movie, the Sumikkos end up transported into a magic fairy-tale popup book, and each takes on the role of a protagonist; Tokage becomes The Little Mermaid, etc. They meet a little bird, Hiyoko who is trying to find what story he belongs to. The Sumikkos all want to help, especially Penguin? who resonates with Hiyoko not knowing who he is. (Penguin? loves cucumbers and has vague memories of having a plate on his head; the joke is that he actually is or used to be a kappa, a Japanese water demon, but he doesn't know this.) They immediately work to find his story. They think he must be the Ugly Duckling, but Tokage accidentally presses a popup button that releases the real Ugly Duckling, and then they walk into the next page... the last, empty page of the book. Hiyoko isn't a character from any fairy tale at all; he's a child's drawing, drawn with so much love that the magic book brought him to life. He isn't "real", even in the context of the book; he doesn't belong to any story, nor to the real world. He was created, and doesn't have a family or story to call his own.

In other words, he's a clone. Even if he isn't in the strictest definition, Hiyoko fits the narrative role in every way.

Immediately, the Sumikkos offer to bring Hiyoko home with them. They tell him they'll be his friends/family, that he has a home with them. It doesn't matter that he isn't part of a proper story, that he isn't "real". He is a person, with emotions and dreams and a personality, and that is what the Sumikkos care about.

Then the book starts to collapse, and the Sumikkos discover that while they can leave the book, objects created inside the book cannot. That means Hiyoko can't leave with them. Penguin? tries to stay behind, but Hiyoko makes him leave, and the Sumikkos then end up back in their world, crying over the book as they gaze at their lovingly-drawn bird friend.

If this was Voltron, they would have had the characters laugh at the idea of caring about a drawing, or the creators would have snarked about the readers "thinking the drawing mattered" or whatever their wording was to dismiss Kuron. The story would have ended there.

But Sumikko Gurashi flashed forward immediately to the Sumikkos hard at work over their book. Panning out, you see a house and a village surrounding Hiyoko, carefully drawn by the Sumikkos... and last of all, themselves in bird form. So that even if they can never return to the book, they can still keep Hiyoko company in their own forms. The message is clear: sometimes, even if you can't fix a friend's problems, you can always, always make them better, and you can be there, in one form or another- and often, that's all one really wants.

The clone didn't get a perfectly happy ending, but his inability to get the happy ending was portrayed as an absolute tragedy; our hearts were meant to ache for Hiyoko (and Penguin?, who was in despair over his fate). The Sumikkos showing such compassion and love to a "clone" to give him the best life he could have... Voltron would never. They couldn't give Kuron even a quarter as much love and sympathy in their writing.

Sumikko Gurashi, made for little kids (with a large periphery audience of adults, granted), managed to show how a proper clone storyline should be done, without even having an actual clone in the story. That is just how much love and care they put in the stories they tell, compared to... *gestures* Voltron.

I mean, really, everything did clones better than Voltron, but every so often I see something do it that is so far from Voltron in genre, demographic, and so on, that it still astounds me that a sci-fi show managed to utterly break a sci-fi story with its failure to understand basic sci-fi tropes.

[ashmcgivern]

Aiben: The Great Hunt (Context)

HELLO and welcome to the segment where I summarize the D&D campaign I play in on Saturdays to the best of my ability. Actually, after this post, I plan on posting my PC Zeal's journal instead, since it's already written out and it'll be less work for me.

It's worth noting that the DM aims to create a sourcebook for the setting! Our campaign is heavily modified to suit our PCs needs and so the final sourcebook will be pretty different, but I've got his blessing to share a certain amount of info. Some information will be left vague our out entirely to keep the ~mystery~ of the campaign's "answers"

The wall of text is below the cut - this first one is gonna be mostly PC descriptions so we can get that context out of the way. Enjoy!

Also, if you'd like to see all content relating to this campaign/world, including art, be sure to look at my Aiben tag.

The adventure starts in the continent of Aiben in the capitol of Averias, where a hunt for an ancient and powerful metal known as Morphirium is being sponsored by the current king, Swesdon Wolfram. The Morphirium, once on display as an "art piece" 499 years ago, is the largest singular piece of the element currently known to humanoid kind, and is absolutely filled to the brim with arcane power and magical potential. The event is huge, requiring prior registration and paperwork, for a total of 100 teams participating in this hunt. The winners of this event take home 1 million gold pieces.

The last team to slip into registration, Team 100, consists of Eddisar of the Long Sight, his two grandchildren Makera Flintbreaker and Zeal Eddison, their friend Peanut, and two employees of some of Edd's old friends - Ursa Ironsand and Traverse. Later in the adventure, Atache, Slythe, and one other secret (for now) PC joins the party.

Player Characters

Eddisar of the Long Sight - Tiefling, M, ?? (Lore Bard)

A kind old man, an archeologist and historian. Long winded, gets lost in himself and his thoughts fairly often. Has seen most of the world and has an infinite number of stories to tell. He dresses plainly with no armor or weapons. His most peculiar feature is his right arm, which is clearly replaced by a branch he can control like a normal hand.

Edd is the de facto leader of the group, having signed everyone up for the contest, but takes a very relaxed approach to directing the group. He's keen on being more a resource to the party than being a hard and fast leader.

Makera Flintbreaker - Tiefling, F, 22 (Champion Fighter)

A tough young woman who's hard to impress. She is blunt and doesn't like to get caught up in details, opting for simpler solutions to complex problems. She is a boxer in a local league, and is hoping to go nationally pro someday like her mother, Bulana, was. She has an insane sweet tooth, an addiction to puzzles, and is inseparable from her cousin, Zeal.

Zeal Eddison - Tiefling, M, 23 (Celestial Warlock)

A bright-eyed enthusiastic young man with a headlong, heart-first sort of personality. He's a school teacher, but wants to go to university to study Planar Physics. In the absence of money to go to school, he consumes just about every book he can get his hands on. He endured an intense tragedy as a child where he met Xanthanel, a Solar that looks after him like a son. He's inseparable from his cousin, Makera.

Peanut - Tabaxi, M, 50s (Open Sea Paladin)

A HUGE, gruff, well built Tabaxi sailor. He is a gentle soul trapped in a war tank of a body. Spent a lot of his life in the Collesian Islands working as a boatswain, where some of the best sailors in the world exist. He's a tank and a force to be reckoned with, but also gives the best big kitty hugs. He has a taste for cheese, and collects/consumes wheels at an alarming rate. He is looking for his uncle, Sherbert, who went missing recently and left behind a puzzle box Peanut believes will lead them to him.

Ursa Ironsand - Desert Stormfolk, F, 16 (Sanity Cleric)

A short, kind and mellow elemental. Always stressed, but wears it well, keeps a level head and exudes "mom energy." She comes from a long family line of smiths, but isn't a very skilled one herself. She used to work at the "Forbidden Pit" in the middle of the desert, where nothing really happened, until one day she started having crazy dreams. Her boss suggested going on this this trip as a 'working vacation.' She is, well and truly, a disaster lesbian.

*Stormfolk are a custom race and Sanity Clerics are a custom class, making Ursa 100% homebrew material. Stormfolk commonly only live to be about 35, maxing out at about 45, making Ursa well and firmly an adult.

Traverse - Half Elf, M, 30s (Battle Master Fighter)

A slightly unkempt half elf, with chains around his wrist dressed in ratted armor. Once a guard for Agaras, became disenchanted with the world and realized he really only liked being a guard for the thrill of the fight. He's since gotten himself in a myriad of trouble and was sentenced to prison, but on his mentor's good word he's been given one last chance to redeem himself - help Eddisar on this quest, and he can go free on good behavior.

Atache - Warforged, NB/M, ??? (Eloquence Bard)

A flamboyant as FUCK warforged, a bit thin and gangly, absolutely not built for battle. Always ready to meet with the upper crust even though they've been long removed from their previous station. Enjoys fashion, but cant afford the newest things, so he makes do and calls it ~vintage~. They enjoy the finer things in life, and is a phenomenal cook. The party met up with them when they first visit the Wintering Isles.

Slythe - Yuan-Ti, M, 20s?? (Armorer Artificer)

Sassy as hell and not one for niceties, Slythe is a no-nonsense fashion designer. He aims to create articles of clothing that are both highly fashionable and highly functional for adventurers. He takes incredible pride in his work and is always looking for new sources of inspiration, and new people to model his designs. An NPC named Elana stole a dress he was working on with her, and in a fit of rage joined our party to get it back, take revenge, and also field test some fashionable armor he made for the party.

Mystery Character - COMING SOON

[lordsammichsilas]

28, lol

Description of the person I dislike most. I’ll sum him up with a quote: “well yeah she made the image, but I made it marketable so it’s mine. She just wants a cut of my money to pay for her transition.”

For context, this is a former friend whom I had a falling out with years ago. My other friend and girlfriend at the time is trans and had just started transition. (This has zero bearing on the matter outside of the fact that he’s the one who brought it up to badmouth her.)

To keep this simple, I will refer to her as Princess and him as Turd Boy.

So everyone in my friend group is hella old. Princess has been dicking around on oekaki boards and sketched up a Hello Kitty Halo parody called Halo Kitty. We are all artistic and had a studio together for a while that fell apart because we were a bunch of people in their early 20’s who were lacking in leadership or interpersonal skills. So Turd Boy had taken her oekaki, traced it over in Illustrator, and we sold it on a button at conventions FOR THE STUDIO.

So, like I said, the studio fell apart. We had things we had purchased as a group that we were going to divvy up. A lot of us who put money out of our own pockets into it we’re expecting some form of reimbursement, but the lock box had suddenly turned up missing. We found out later that Turd Boy helped himself to it along with a lot of the other equipment.

He later formed his own group with his boyfriend and this other artist in our group (who I never got on well with).

Soon after, I was at a mutual friend’s apartment hanging out when Turd Boy showed up. We were all shooting the shit when TB mentioned that the Halo Kitty button was one of his best sellers.

I thought this was odd, but I didn’t say anything right away. Later I told Princess, because I didn’t think she knew about it. She was extremely upset. And mind you, she didn’t care about the money or even the credit. She was hurt because that was a dick thing to do to a friend.

She wasn’t good at confrontation, so another friend and I helped her type up an email getting her feelings out and asking for a small cut of the sales mostly just to get some acknowledgement that she had drawn the thing and he should be sharing, but he had stolen stuff from all of us before and we saw this stealing from a friend for his own gain.

He threw a massive fit. I was awkwardly sitting in my friend’s apartment living room while they argued in my other friend’s room. I had to stay out because Turd Boy was blaming me for this whole thing and I was just manipulating people.

While that was going on, his boyfriend knocked on the door. He was another piece of crap that we didn’t like and he wasn’t allowed in this friend’s apartment. So I answer it and he’s craning his next looking past me to see what was going on. I turned him away. I guess he was just lurking outside the whole time while this was going on.

The argument was settled, Princess didn’t see a cent and her friendship with turd boy was pretty much over. Turd Boy, as far as I know, thinks he and princess are still good and he thinks I’m the reason they’re not friends anymore. He also spread rumors throughout our friend group that Princess was trying to shake him down because she wanted money for transition, which wasn’t true.

The whole thing was a mess. This is a short version because I’ve already spent way too much time talking about this thing. I’m glad to say he (and his awful boyfriend) are out of our lives and we’re all better off for it.

[coffeestainedcamera]

Giving XO Kitty a go bc idk it's been a week! Still waiting on the results of the blood test my doctor suddenly asked for fml. Anyways.

I don't have any context for it bc I haven't seen To All the Boys (wild ik) but some of my friends like it so gave it a go. It's a p fun romcom so far! The dorm scenes kinda remind me of the fond memories of the youth hostel experience lol.

Also, although I only wanted smth chill and fluffy, it's actually mildly educational? Like, hello, listening practice! Although I only understand basics like 괜찮아요 lol Well, I'll get back to studying tomorrow.

Anyways, very intrigued by the hotel chain acquisition dumpster fire. Although Kitty's feud with Min Ho is entertaining as well. I cough-laughed when he pulled my "я не говорю на английском" trick at the airport to get out of dealing w her. Totally a great intro lmao

Also, the OST is neat. Aces and Blackpink together!