#just scenes taht barely fit together

[lady-literature]

Accidental Crime Boss Marinette

Okay so,, I have this AU in my head, right? (not surprised) and I’m lacking any real direction for it (still not surprised) but it basically goes like this:

Marinette moves to Gotham.

She’s drawn there for whatever reason and the kwami are saying something about balance and being a Guardian and her sacred duty and something but Marinette isn’t really listening. She’s too busy trying to find a shop front where she can open a bakery without having to worry about getting mugged every time she steps outside.

Chloé comes with her, obviously, because they’re friends and Chloé has a business degree she puts to good use actually running Mari’s bakery and online boutique while Mari gets to bake and fuck around basically. Adrien, Luka and Kagami are not there, but that’s mostly because they travel too much to settle down and keeping an empty apartment in Gotham is just asking for trouble.

Kagami is a world-renowned fencer and Luka travels the world for his music company. Not touring, but soaking up cultures and ways of life so he can make soundtracks to movies and tv shows. Providing the background and life to a film is more his style than touring the world ala his father, Jagged Stone.

Adrien is having the time of his life being Kagami’s trophy husband. He has no pressing responsibilities he doesn’t take on for himself and he gets to fuck with the world’s elite with little to no consequences. He spends most of his days donating far too much money to charities and orphanages and then causing minor scandals that land him on the cover of magazines.

He has much the same kind of ‘dumbass with a heart of gold’ persona to the media as Bruce Wayne does, only without the playboy bits.

(There is a wall in the back of the bakery, where Chloé and Mari carefully cut out and frame every headline and ridiculous picture Adrien has. He is very much delighted when he learns about his ‘wall of fame’.)

Anyway, Marinette finds herself with a bakery not overly far from crime alley, much to Chloé’s chagrin.

(“What do you mean it ‘just felt right’?! I swear to kwami, DC, you’re going to get us robbed and sold into slavery.”)

They do not get sold into salvery.

In fact, despite their less than stellar choice of locale, they do pretty well for themselves. The only problems they have (according to Chloé) is the army of children Marinette accidentally attracted.

When asked, Marinette tells everyone that it was an accident. Meanwhile, Chloé, standing behind her, will shake her head and insist there was literally never any other option for them the moment that first kid came in looking to nab some cash and a few pastries.

Mari lives by the phrases, ‘kindness breeds more kindness’ and ‘do unto others’ and all that other nice person shit. Chloé just lets Mari pseudo-adopt her strays and makes sure that they don’t steal anything too important in the time it takes her to gain their loyalty.

The kwami stay staunchly out of any arguments involving the kids (and eventually the homeless all along their street and every working girl in a five-block radius). They do so with a special brand of amusement that never means good things for either of them. (After all, the last time the kwami looked that amused, they moved to Gotham.)

The first kid is named Serrure, as Marinette comes to learn over the next month after he returns again and again, getting closer and closer like a feral cat. Other kids come during that time, all of them too small and too thin and too guarded for Mari's tastes. She wants to wrap them all up and tuck them into bed but she can’t. She has to be patient, has to be gentle. These kids are just as likely to bite her hand as they are to accept help.

Serrure becomes an almost permanent fixture at the bakery after that first month. Mari’s not quite sure what she did to get through to him, but she did, she supposes. He can’t be much older than eleven and looks nine, but after getting settled, she and Chloé discover this little slip of a boy is just as mischievous as Trixx and has all the dramatics of their favorite black cat.

The kwami, when talking about him, only refer to Serrure as Loki, even after Marinette scolds them for it. She eventually gives up trying to correct them, it’s not like Serrure talks to them anyway(yet)((that she knows of)).

There’s an apartment above the bakery, which is where Chloé and Mari and all her strays that grow to trust her enough live. It’s three bedrooms, and at first, Mari just buys as many bunk beds as she can fit into the spare room and calls it a day. The kids feel safe in her home, which isn’t too surprising. Everyone thinks the bakery feels safe, feels like home or comfort or whatever else eases their minds.

And Marinette should hopes so. She certainly put enough time and effort and magic and energy into the wards around this place for that to happen. To protect her and the children and all her strays that no one else will help.

But, she eventually amasses too many kids to fit into the one room. Chloé throws a fit about having to share with Mari again—“I had enough of that in university thank you very much”—but she relinquishes easily enough.

Mari buys more bunk beds, and Serrure has taken to sneaking into her room to curl up in her bed anyway, and sometimes the smaller kids who have nightmares will come in and pile on as well.

(There are only a few that Chloé will allow to do the same with her. It is considered a high honor and breeds a playful kind of jealousy that Chloé finds amusing. Mari scolds her for pitting the kids against each other.)

That only lasts them another two months.

“This is getting ridiculous,” Chloé tells her one day before the kids wake up. Mari is at the stove, cooking and baking for a small army while Chloé balances the books. “There’s not enough room for us all, DC, and the only reason someone hasn’t come barrelling down on us about the abundance of children is by the grace of your absurd amount of luck.”

“Well I can’t just kick them out, Queenie! What do you want from me?”

“Either we need to buy more real estate in this city—which I’d rather not do—or you open up the grimoire and start building pocket dimensions. I know you can. I’ve read the chapter.”

Marinette looks at her. “That is such a bad idea.”

They do the idea.

And then Mari adds about a thousand more wards to the bakery, carved into the wood and counter and anything that’s a permanent fixture. Doorways become particularly ward heavy, what with them being the entrances and exits to the hidden realms and children’s’ rooms.

The apartment above the bakery isn’t quite infinite but it gets pretty damn close some days.

This also means, of course, that all the kids definitely know about magic now. Some of them—Serrure—have known about it for a while she knows, but it’s different now. The kwami followed her around most of the time and she doesn’t keep them trapped in the Miracle Box like Fu did, but now that the kids know, they don’t bother staying hidden.

The children, at least, love them and the kwami adore them with all the ferocity a god can give. After Chloé gets over her ‘ew children’ phase, she throws herself into their education (on top of actually running the businesses Mari keeps, mind you). She has the help of the kwami, who act as personal tutors to the children, and it’s not long before the kids start to joke about her being the Principal.

(Some tried to call her Warden, but that joke didn’t last long.)

Marinette has also been telling the kids bedtime stories ever since this started. Old stories of the Guardian and Chosens who fought back the darkness, she shares all she knows of the Orders history with these kids and it’s not until Wayzz points it out to her does she realize what she’s doing.

“Ladybugs are known for renewal. It is no surprise that you are rebuilding what was lost.”

Rebuilding the Order using children was certainly not her intention but, well. She supposes there’s no place safer for her kids than what is shaping up to be the new Miracle Temple. It’s the only haven where they can learn to harness their Gifts and powers, it’s the only place where they can be surrounded by others like them without being thrust into superhero-dom.

Context: about a month into this whole circus, Marinette had realized there was a significant—almost all of them really—amount of metas and Gifted in her little hoard of strays. Which is… odd. Especially with how few metas there are in Gotham.

She had asked the kwami about it, and they have that amused look again. “You are their guardian.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re their guardian. True, you are the Guardian of us, of the ancient ways, but you are a guardian at your soul too. You protect what is yours, and they are yours whether you realise it or not. The children can sense that, so they flock to you.”

And, huh. She supposes that makes sense but that’s also really kind of strange and weird and she doesn't want to think about that anymore actually.

So things are… fine, Marinette supposes. The bakery is doing well, and she has about two dozen-plus helpers running around underfoot to help tend to the customers or run to the store or help in the back with the baking. And every kid of hers has new clothes, their street things thrown out for being too ragged and replaced with something fresh made by Marinette’s own hands.

She embroiders little fairy wings into the clothes normally, because that’s what her cloaked wards look like most times and the kids like it and its technically the logo for the bakery and there’s a million reasons she does it.

It is, perhaps, her first mistake.

(“It was certainly not your first,” Chloé will snark one dayin the future.)

Because now Marinette has an army of magical children learning to wield their powers and not fear them and they’re all wearing what can be considered her insignia and uh oh, it looks a lot like Mari is some sort of up and coming mob boss who uses kids and prostitutes and the homeless as runners. People on the street start calling her the Pixie, start referring to Chloé—her second in all things just as Chat had been her equal—as Wasp, as Yellowjacket, as the Unseelie.

(They cannot seem to pick a name for her, but Pixie is all but engraved in stone. Mari is not sure who coined it, and she doesn't think she wants to know.)

The first time the whole situation is brought to her attention, she punches the idiot who dared even imply such a thing so hard she knocks him out.

Because look. The kids are hers right? And she watches out for the people near her, makes sure the working girls are treated as well as they can be and offers the homeless extra food and a dry place to wait out the storm. She offers her hand and gives them all a place to rest, to eat, to exist without expectations or consequences.

She does that because she’s kind, because it hurts her to see people in need, to see them suffer, not because she’s hoping to gain something from it.

The fact that most of them repay her in gossip or information or bend her ear about the newest goings on in the corrupt elite or filthy underworld is strange, yes, but it’s nice to know what’s going on in the city, she supposes. And one time, Kathy, who works on the corner of Brookes and Gilmore, warned her of a drug raid that saved her an unnecessary trip to the police station so it’s not like it doesn't have it’s uses.

But mostly, Mari doesn't really think about all the information that’s unintentionally or otherwise passed onto her. She remembers it all, because it’s rude not to listen when people talk to her, but nothing comes of normally.

Not until Serrure—now twelve and well versed in the magic of illusions and glamors and knows almost as much about this city as her or the Bats—bursts into the bakery one day and grabs Mari away from the front counter right in the middle of a customer ordering. She should, perhaps, be a little angry at that but Tony, one of the older boys and just shy of sixteen, steps into her place almost immediately, so.

And then Serrure speaks and everything is pushed aside in favour of the next words to fall from his lips.

“Someone took Sophie,” he says and she nearly sees red.

After Serrure, Sophie has been here the longest. She is the youngest of them all, only seven, but oh so clever and kind and while she looks nothing like her, everyone calls her Mini-Mari. If Serrure is her beloved first son, Sophie is her treasured daughter.

She’s out the door in the next moment, storming her way to their base. She has Sophie and a handful of extra kids back by sunset, a little frightened, but no worse for wear. She doesn’t make a big deal out of it, besides making sure that the idiots who dared cross her never do so again, but word gets out.

Soon, her kids and teens and adults begin giving her more than just information, they begin giving her problems. Ones she’s meant to fix because she’s Pixie. She’s safety, she’s protection, she’s the one the people start to turn to for help.

And enter stage left, one Jason Todd who’s all snark and charm and smiles wrapped up in a nice leather bow and tall enough that Mari likely could climb him like a tree. If that was something she wanted, she guesses.

(She wants. She just won’t admit.)

He becomes a regular at the bakery and befriends most of her kids.

Mari’s wary when he first takes an interest in them. They’ve been hurt and a lot of them are still adjusting to being safe and it doesn't matter that this man is hot enough to burn, if he steps even a toe out of line with her kids she’ll make him wish he was never even born.

But, she stops worrying eventually. The kwami like him well enough, but seem to think something’s odd about him—but its Gotham, who isn’t strange?—and both Serrure and Sophie take to him like ducks to water and they’re both good judges of character.

There’s a certain intuition they both have that reminds Marinette just a bit too much about herself and pure magic. Not for the first time does she wonder if they got such strong magic from their parents or if it cropped up in them randomly, fostered by fortune and chance and the magic that’s so deeply seeped into the bones of her bakery it’ll be here long after she’s gone.

And, okay, so she was a little right to be wary because Jason was mostly there to investigate her. Far too many people respect her and are loyal to her and she has a veritable orphanage in her pocket and also Harley and Ivy like her and it just- it doesn’t look good right?

But Jason’s a good detective and it doesn't take him long at all to see that Mari is just as sweet and kind and loving as she appears to be. Not long after that, Red Hood declares Pixie and all of hers, under his protection. She, of course, is more than capable of taking care of her and hers, and the underworld knows this, has seen it, but he does it anyway.

The news, of course, gets back to Mari and she is… confused. Why would the Red Hood do something like that? She’s heard talk of him being sweet on kids, but to claim her? They’ve never even met.

Bonus points for Jason being there when she’s told about it. He kind of raises his eyebrow at her because, huh, that was fast, and then spends the next few minutes talking up the Red Hood to her much to her utter bafflement.

He actually keeps doing that too, talking up the Red Hood. Mari thinks he has a crush on the man for the longest time because of it. Until he reveals he is Red Hood, then she just wants to punch his stupidly handsome face for being such an idiot.

Shit happens from there and things go down and the two spend a couple of months dancing around each other and intentionally and unintentionally ruling the criminal underworld and at one point Marinette definitely punches Bruce and Batman in the face—separately, much to Jason’s unending joy—and she also definitely adopts Duke/Signal as well because that poor boy needs to know he’s not alone.

And it’s just them being domestic and badass and lowkey raising an army of children and falling in love while the kwami and the kids and Chloé are all in the background just yelling at them to get together already!

Which, they do. Eventually. After all the secrets come out and Jason knows about the magic and Order and meets Mari’s other friends, ie Kagami, Luka and Adrien who are all intimidating for wildly different reasons. And Mari finds out that Jason died and came back (which earns him the nickname firebird btw) and that he was a Robin once upon a time but is now Red Hood and oh my kwami it all makes sense now.

Jason confesses like three times via classic Victorian romance novel quotes because he’s a fucking literature nerd but it’s not until he basically spells it out for Mari does she really understand. it’s all very sweet and heartwarming and then the pair duck into one of the empty pocket dimensions they have lying around and aren’t seen for three days.

(No one really goes to look for them tbh)

Chloé definitely teases them about early honeymoons and things but besides the two being even more ridiculously lovey-dovey than usual, life goes back to normal. Or as normal as it gets for them. 

And they all live happily ever after the end.

[iamacolor]

Resonance pt.1

Just finished listening to the album and it was nice but I've already forgotten what most of these sounded like oops I just know there were some really cool piano and background sounds and adlibs and make a wish is a great title track for this but I also think the fixed unit songs are the strongest songs -aside from make a wish (especially dream and wayv)

So many great vocal moments (Taeil Haechan Renjun and Doyoung killed it), I really feel liek overall it was more of a vocal album for me (which I know is weird because not all the songs are vocal-centric but the vocal parts really stood out to me whereas the rap not so much tbh)

Didn't surprise me/shock me/overwhelm me as much as neozone or turn back time tbh I need a relisten definitely to get the hang of some of these

Also I swear I heard mostly like 10 people and then the others were there for at most 2 lines?? Kind of wish they'd have played more with them

Also when will they give me big unison singing??? You know that part in hit by seventeen when they're chanting? I want that from nct!!!! I want them to be big and loud and choir-like, not gospel but as in singing in unison or canon and playing with the sheer volume of voices they have!!! They could do so many things with this omg liek you have 23 members GO FOR IT

-> putting my first reactions to the tracks under this so I can keep a trace of it

1

Love the whistling

Jaehyuuuun

Love the adlibs!!!!!!

Nice tone from jaemin

The adlibs are so cute

Ooooh Doyoung yesss love the airy yet strong voice

Second time hearing the chorus and the 'soft' drop is more satisfying

SHOTARO IS SO CUTE

AND XIAOJUN HELLLOOOO

I LOEV THE ADLIBS

Ooh that stoooop is so good

Clap clap clap

Xiaojun's voice just doesn’t know gravity and then bam the chorus brings it down and it's just the right amount of a weird build up

Ooooh that bridge is soooo good nct vocals let's go

Omg that oh oh oh build up in the back yesddd

Lucas' tone is good here

Percussion + bass in that chorus yes

Back it up after the reverse sound effect that was cool!!

This song has such cute adlibs lol

This is like that blow my whistle baby song

2

Oh misfit right after

Not much of a rap girl so I'll let them do their thing

Mark is good of course. I like jeno's tone and the chorus is fun, they'll never do an ot23 concert but this is definitely a concert song the crowd would go crazy

Sungchan sounds nice

It's weird to hear WayV rap in korean lol

Mark little hits high up on these two syllables are soo satisfying

Ok I like the la la la la bridge this is definitely a concert song!!! I can easily see how they could perform this and it'd be more fun than just listening to it, at least for me

3

no idea who's in this but I like the intro

Ooh this sounds very nct

Is that jaehyun??

DOYOUNG YESSS

jaehyun nice omg jungwoooooo

Love the tiny synth sounds in the back yesss

I want to hear the soundtrack and its vibe a little more

Whisper niiice

Love how much pf the sounds and the vocal melody fade out in the background

I can barely recognise who's singing this is so weird

Like that bounce bah bah bababah part

Oooh jaehyun bringing in that soul and then Doyoung yess

Doyoung that little hit up high yess!

Kind of wish there was a little less rap/spoken words in this

Oooh vocal bridge, such a larger soundscape I loveee

Oooh i love the way they let go of that long note

Doyoung's killing it on the adlibs omg

Bah bah bah bahbah yeah

4

Oooh love the piano, it's quite an unexpected motif almsot sound liek it’s repetaing itself at one point like a little glitch and then it goes on

Very bare instrumental it almost sounds like it's live with just a pair of players

The vocals layered with the rap I love

Doyoung's lower register is so nice he's so good with his voice and how he can reach a little higher

Oh wait there was someone else that was nice singing

Oh is that sungchan ??

I really like this type of rap for taeyong

KUN YES his voice fits this so welllllll

And him and Doyoung sound so well together

Come back come back come back this part is so nice, it's not explosive but it's got a very nice rhythm melody

Doyoung is just showing off so much in this song he's like look at all these little nuances and details I can do yes you go

And kuuuun, his voice is so smooth

And when they both sing in the back of the rap they sound so good omg I don't care about the rapping anymore just give me these two showing off and killing it together

5

Ooooh I like this start it's playful

Jaehyun rapping what is going on and now Johnny

This sounds old school?

Taeil yessss

Omg the piano hits when these vocals leap this is so fun

Chenle??

Oh this chorus is so cute

This is so light and groovy and all the vocalists fit so well together

I love the instrumental and how it's not constant and the level of the piano sound varies like it plays with crescendo sometimes it’s louder sometimes it’s almost faint

Oooh yeeeah taeilll

So many cool adlibs in this album

Second chorus very similar but not boring oh nice background harmonies

Ooooh that synth riff and then the bass hell yeah

This feels like a musical, like a soft group scene where they're just hanging out, ususally when the characters are introduced and you need to get a sense of who they are and what the group vibe is like

Omg the adlibs just go off

The PIANO/guitar funkyy

7

6

Their interludes are always so nice stooop

This has such a nice retro vibe I love it and then of course it gets edgier

Life isn't always like the movie right after I said the song sounded like a musical

Omg the distorted voices and sounds this is such a classic nct interlude I love it

8

Ooooh HAECHAN AND THAT WIND INSTRUMENT YES

love the metallic percussions

Nice two levels vocals with that deeper voice under it (jaemin?) i love it it makes it really interesting

The harmonies are killing it

This is very big and large I love this sounds

Chorus doesn't hit super hard because it stays about the same energy

OMG LOVE THE SUPERHERO SYNTH (because it sounds like a superhero theme lol)

Mark sounds great of course

That omg ad-lib lol

Renjun sounds so nice

I really like this sound for dream kind of reminds me of 119??i think taht’s teh song I’m thinking of

Renjun's voice is so soft yet powerful and then chenle!!!!! Omggg HAECHAN go offff

So many fun sounds in this it's so fun

Another la la la bridge lol

9

WAYV

ooooh starting strong right oofff

this is so catchy

The bass is so good and deep and big I love it

Oh another whistle

omggg xiaojunnnn

kun sounds so good

Looove that sound for WayV this is so nice

Again with the fun adlibs and sounds at the back love it

Winwin??? Omg is this the first time???

Love the grit in lucas's voice

Ten so so smooth and then xiaojun!!!

This song is so catchy

Ooooh THE BRIDGE IS FUN AND SO TRIPPY

XIAOOOJUUUN IS KILLING IT

And then they go back to the chorus with the added vocals and strongest adlibs OMG IT'S SO GOOD

I LOVE THIS SONG

10

Trippy but make it gospel??

”Is it dead”????? What are they saying

Music banks??? Wtf

Haechan sounds so coooool here omggg

Ooooh yuta sounds niiice

TAEIL TAEIL TAEIL

Ooh a chant like chorus with a similar instrumental than the verse??

Oh it picks up it's fun

Oh it's music DANCE LMAOOO I didn't look at the title, i remember now it's just 127

Jungwoo fits that part so well I love his tone, love when they let him play with it a little

Haechan with the little sultry attitude and then Doyoung yeeeaahh

Iwonder how they'll dance to this ooh

It's really catchy wow

So fancy fancy

Of course the classic piano bridge with doyoung

Taeillllll

OMG THAT “OH OH” WAS SO GOOD

SO SOFT BUT IT HITS

this is so laid back but rhythmic it's fun

A little repetitive but it's still okay

Oh this sounds sader

The piano sounds in this album have been so interesting

Johnny sounds nice here wow until he speaks English sorry because then it just feels like jcc

Oooh that Taeil part is soooo GOOD

TENNN you go sing you little funky singer

That haechan Renjun duo part is SO GOOD OMG

and now yuta!!!

And NOW HAECHAN AND TAEIL YEEEAAH

lucas and Taeil adlibs loovee this combo

I love jisung voice so much let me hear more omg where is he

Yuta sounds great

Johnny???? was taht him singing I have no idea who’s doing what

Renjun's voice has such a nice power to it

I love taeil's tone in this so much

Oooh the instrumental becoming a bit richer when haechan starts the bridge

HAECHAN RENJUN TAEILLLLLL OMG THAT RUN

RENJUN AND HAECHAN SOUND SO GOOD

Also that faded in my last song is such a satisfying melody

Ommmggg harmonies and piano hello this is crazy

I honestly have no idea who was on that song aside from taeil Renjun and haechan they were so fucking good!! Oh no yuta too!

12

11

Ok that's the multilingual one

What is it with the piano starts in this album omg such a cool effect like it's coming closer niiice

Starts off with a taeil run this is going to be good

Haechan sounds so full and soulful here I love it

Doyoung has kind of a smocky voice I love it

TAEIL

Love the chorus singing at the back

This is a bit like a choir song

ooh that little break between I'm... Not alone and that little instrument hit....good

I think renjun is killing it omg

Yuta niiice

Was that chenle omg that sounded so nice

WAIT IT’s KUN (i forgot he was in this song omg I think I mixed him up with chenle before??)

RENJUN GOOOO

this would be so nice to sing them sing at a concert with that kind of choir/unison feel but they'd all shine

From home omg yeah this sounds so rich and fullll

The producers just told them go in there and show off and they did

AAND TAEIL EVEN DID MORE

the harmonies excuse me this is so pretty

I'm not a big fan of the melody tbh but as a vocal song it's great

Doyoung little na na na adlibs love ittt

Ooh such a nice way to end that note Renjun

13

Oh Korean version?? Honestly In the previous version I barely noticed there were different languages lol

While this is playing again and sounding so nice just like the first time I have to say this album doesn't feel like it has 23 members lol I feel like I've heard only the same 7/10 people??

Oooh chenle is killing it

Yuta YEAH

Once again chenle and yuta are doing so well here omggg or was it kun these units are messing with my head I swear I never thought he sounded like chenle or anyone else in nct before what is happening

And RENJUN

They must have had a blast recording this and just playing with their voices

RENJUN is stealing the spotlight for me

Wait Doyoung said not yet haha

And TAEILLLLLL JUST SHOOTING FOE THE STARS AND GOING FURTHER AND HAECHAN TOO

this would be a bit boring if it wasn't them singing and being so good and taking it to such a level I think

It's already over!????

Oh English versionof the title track

Love the bass thank you nct

I have no idea what taeyong is saying lol

Oooh jaehyun sounds soo cool

Doyouuung I don't know what you're saying because your voice is too pretty

This hook is so cool

SHOTARO sounds so cute Ommmggg

XIAOJUN and these harmonies he's so good

Jaehyun sounds so cool when he has this kind of attitude in his voice rather than just being smooth and charming lile it's playful it's so nice for him

Taeyong sounds so nice in this song it fits his voice very well

Xiaojun and Jaehyun and Doyoung are a killing trio

That oh oh oh built is so cool

Love that percussion section

This song is not boring at all it's fun and funky and weird I like it a lot

That birthday cake was already funny to me in the kr version it's funnier now

Honestly I didn't listen to the lyrics at all lmaoo

Whaaat

Thank goodness there is a second album lol