#mari needs caffiene

[thatthirdtriplet]

Relationships:

Tim Drake & Dick Grayson Tim Drake & an unholy amount of caffiene

Characters:

Tim Drake Dick Grayson The children who I hear when I hallucinate (they sing happy birthday) a green elephant

Additional Tags:

Sickfic Tim Drake Needs a Hug Tim Drake Gets a Hug Dick Grayson is a good big brother Tim Drake's Missing Spleen title inspired by a jason isbell song as NORMAL I AM OBSESSED not edited also shoutout to mari for suggesting the second part of the title

Summary:

“Noooooo,” He whined, falling backwards. “Sleeps’ the enemy. Coffee is better.”

Dick’s face swam in his vision, the crown in his hair slightly blurry. Dick picked him up fully, cradling him bridal style.

“Dickie..” He mumbled into the older man’s shoulder. “M’ sick. Don’ want you to get sick too.”

“Unlike you, I have a spleen,” Dick’s voice held a hint of a smile. “Also, I have about two weeks of paid sick leave up my sleeve, I can afford to get sick.”

[dessarious]

What Makes a Family? Pt3

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Her attempts to get her parents to excuse her from school failed miserably. They were well aware she didn’t have any urgent commissions, so she trudged to school, hoping she’d make it to class without seeing Adrien or Alya. She didn’t make it inside the gate.

“Did you see the news?” What did he do, leave the house early to lay in wait for her?

“Good morning to you too Adrien.”

“Lila was Akumatized, just like I told you she would be.” She did not have enough caffeine in her system to deal with this right now.

“Yeah, five hours later. Not to mention Lila gets Akumatized every other week whether or not I’m around. Everyone else goes to therapy or finds an outlet to control their emotions, but she feeds off of it. That’s not my fault.” Adrien just blinked at her in shock and she used his confusion to move around him and head into school. She was almost to the front doors.

“Marinette, can I talk to you for a minute?” Ivan was standing off to the side, looking nervous. Well that wasn’t something she expected.

“Sure, what’s up?” She walked closer since he seemed rooted to his spot. He had to take a couple breaths before speaking.

“I… I just wanted to thank you for what you said yesterday.” She cocked her head at him in confusion. “About parents not wanting their children and treating them badly because of it. I realized that a lot of the things my dad lashed out at me for weren’t my fault and I told him last night I wouldn’t take any more of his shit.”

“Wow, umm, I’m glad it helped.” He gave her a pained smile.

“He kicked me out.”

“Oh, Ivan! I’m so sorry!” He waved her off.

“It’s okay. Mylene’s dad said I could crash on their couch until I figure something else out. It’s strange being in a house where I’m not getting yelled at all the time, but it’s nice.” She had no idea his home was like that. Ivan was always so quiet and let everyone else talk about themselves. How do you know someone for years and not see something so important?

“I’m really sorry that you’ve had to deal with that all this time. If you need any help, with anything, let me know okay?” He just gave her a smile, patted her shoulder, and walked into the school. She really needed more caffeine.

“Girl, we need to talk.” Marinette actually groaned out loud. She didn’t mean to, she just couldn’t help it. “Don’t give me attitude when I’m trying to help you.” She turned to find Alya glaring at her with her hands on her hips.

“Help me with what exactly?” Given the look she was getting, Alya thought she was being flippant, but honestly she wanted to know.

“You need to make peace with Lila. I know Adrien has been on you about it lately. Don’t you want to do something to impress him?” She was so tired of this conversation.

“No.” Alya opened her mouth but Marinette just kept going. “I’m going to try and explain this to you, again, and this time you’re going to listen. I am not interested in Adrien anymore. I haven’t been for years. You would know that if you ever bothered to listen to me rather than lecture me about Lila. And as for Lila, the only way we’ll be friends is if she has a complete personality change or I get hit in the head hard enough to lose my memories. Because as long as she keeps lying and I know that she is, we can’t be friends.” Alya rolled her eyes.

“I can’t believe you’re still using that as an excuse. Name one thing Lila lied about.” Marinette just shot her a flat look.

“Just about everything that comes out of her mouth. Honestly, how many times has she spun some story about how I cornered her in a hallway to yell at her? You never believe that, yet you still believe all her wild stories. If anyone else told you that garbage you’d fact check it. I don’t understand why you just assume she’s telling you the truth.” Alya was frowning but it looked more like it was directed internally. Maybe she was finally ready to think for herself. “Also, I’ve been in a relationship for almost a year now.”

Marinette practically ran into the school after that parting shot. She shouldn’t have said it and she knew Alya would find her later to question her, but she hoped that it would help her realize Marinette didn’t care what Adrien thought about her. At least no more than anyone else. Surprisingly, the rest of the school day went really well. Lila seemed subdued. She had no idea why but it made her life easier so she didn’t feel like questioning it. Alya honestly just seemed shellshocked. Adrien was sulking. Maybe she should be that blunt more often.

When she got home, the bakery was closed. She just stood there blinking at the doors for a moment. She pulled her phone out. No texts or missed calls. It wasn’t a holiday. Did her parents have an appointment she’d forgotten about? That feeling of something huge happening hit her again, far more powerful this time. Before she even knew what she was doing, she ran to the side door and up into the house.

“Maman! Papa!” She burst through the door and stopped in confusion. Her parents were there. Kagami, Luka, and Chloe were there. Relief hit her hard and it took her a moment to notice the older gentleman in the room. “What’s going on?” Both of her parents looked worried. Chloe was just glaring at the stranger. Luka and Kagami had been sitting hip to hip but scooted apart slightly so that she could sit between them. Well that couldn’t be good. “Is someone dying?”

That seemed to break some of the tension. Chloe let out a snort of laughter and her parents seemed slightly less tense. The gentleman was studying her and it felt… normal? That didn’t seem exactly right but he wasn’t making her uncomfortable.

“No sweetheart. Everyone is fine as far as we know.” Her Papa’s gentle voice released all her remaining worry. At the same time, no one seemed to know how to continue. Finally the older gentleman stood to address her.

“Miss Marinette. My name is Alfred Pennyworth. It’s very nice to meet you.”

AO3   Beginning    Previous    Next

Ko-Fi

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[quolant]

Dan Rydell for the character ask, please!

thanks!

why i like them

oh my god — ok, so if i had to pick a favorite character out of the sports night cast it'd either be dana or dan (...or both of them!) anyway yeah, dan. dan's so interesting to me as a character in that he's like an onion — he gets more and more compelling as you peel back the layers on him. i love that he can be empathetic and compassionate and simultaneously neurotic and a little irritating. he's got the capability to realize when he's wrong, and he's sincere about it. he cares about the people he's close too and would clearly do anything for them. he's unafraid to show that, which is really, really sweet. also he's quirky as hell, which makes him so funny (see: the tom waits thing, his mixup with secular and nonsecular with hillary clinton). he's probably both the coolest and the least put together person in the room.

why i don't

dan has this ... idea that he can fix things and sometimes it gets to a point where it's damaging — like that he can fix other people and he can fix other situations or he can fix himself so that it fits an idea of something that actually doesn't exist (and inevitably starts to push it onto other people) also, sometimes he thinks he's the best person for dealing with x situation when he really, really isn't — though i think he starts to get that that's not really great as the show progresses. i think sometimes his emotions drive him more than the other way around, which either leads him going over the line or sabatoging on purpose to make a point, when he really needs to take a step back and look at the whole picture or reconsider what the hell he's doing (see: rebecca and draft day and shane)

favorite episode

the apology, hands down

favorite season

season 2!

favorite line

tossup between the speech from the apology and "The only reason I came in here, was to tell you this: no matter what you decide? You've got friends. And this is what friends gear up for." from mary pat shelby

otp

dan/casey!!

brotp

I'd say either dan & natalie or dan & dana but the trio of them is also really great

headcanon

in a MASH au, he is absolutely 100 percent hawkeye pierce. also he has a stupidly ridiculous coffee order because casey dared him one time to order the most complicated thing he could think of and it ended up being actually good — but also dan will literally drink any coffee/caffienated drink in reach

unpopular opinion

im not sure if this is unpopular, but dan has actually tried going to therapy before s2. he went to therapy or grief counseling in college, presumably after sam's death and it wasn't a great experience so it makes him a lot more reluctant to try therapy again (this happened to me and from what we see w dan and abby in s2 i think it's plausible)

[pineapple--belongs--on--pizza]

a-z, you know the drill

A - If I’m in love.

Not currently.

B - Who the last person I talked to on the phone was.

One of my good friends.

C - How long it’s been since I’ve kissed.

Oof, like New Years.

D - If I have a preference for boys or girls.

I don't like to think I have a preference, I'm pretty open minded, but at the end of the day I suppose I'm more attracted to men than women.

E - How many holes I have in my ears.

Both ears total = 7

F - Give me any options, like ‘hot or cold?’

If we're talking weather or beverages, cold.

G - The last person I said ‘I love you’ to.

My best friend.

H - The last person I hugged.

Ironically enough, you.

I - The last time I felt jealous, and why.

I'm honestly not sure. Jealousy is an ugly emotion and I try to not let myself feel that way.

J - Are you insecure. What about?

Very. Where the fuck do you want to start?

K - What my full name is.

Amanda Marie. Last name isn't being mentioned on a public platform, you know it anyways.

L - If I have siblings.

I do, I have an older half brother and a younger half sister. We all have the same mother.

M - If I forgive betrayal.

I'm a pretty forgiving person, but it would depend on the level of betrayal. Depending on that, even if I forgive somone, it doesn't necessarily mean I could/will ever trust them or have the same dynamic with that person again.

N - If you want to know how I treat my friends.

My circle is small, but I would do anything for the few that are in it. I'm an exceptionally loyal person. I try to be there for the people I care about when they need me, no matter how small or insignificant the issue is.

O - If I like my school.

Not in one currently, but if you want to reference high school, I fucking hated it.

P - What kind of music I like.

I will bump just about anything, but metalcore and EDM are the top 2.

Q - What the last party I went to was, and when the next will be.

New Year's Eve was the last. The next I'm not entirely sure, probably a birthday party at the end of the month.

R - For me to tell 10 of my curiosities.

If were talking random things I'm into:

1. Obscure/foreign/old horror movies.

2. Literally anything to do with death because I'm fucking weird.

3. Reptiles. Snakes especially.

4. Also spiders, I really really love tarantulas.

5. Serial killers, their motives, details of crimes committed etc.

6. Various countries cultures.

7. I'm low key obsessed (and while deny it to death if you ever speak of this) with Harry Styles. Legit, he's an incredible writer and is funny af.

8. Anything witchy/occult related.

9. Victorian/goth era decor.

10. SLOTHS SLOTHS SLOTHS

S - 2 habits.

I smoke too much and don't drink enough water. YOLO.

T - 5 things I love unconditionally.

1. A good book.

2. My best friend, obviously.

3. A really good, inky but not too inky pen.

4. That first bit of caffiene & nicotine combo in the morning, like ugggghhh.

5. Again, SLOTHS. Fucking sue me.

U - How many texts I send daily.

Not that many, maybe 10 or 15?

V - 3 big dreams.

1. Travel the world.

2. Adopt a whole ass gang of animals.

3. Just to be happy, like genuinely happy.

W - An idol.

Stevie Nicks. My queen.

X - If I’ve done something I regret very much.

Not really, I try not to live in the past. Anything that I've done has been a part of my journey, it's all apart of my path to wherever life is taking me.

Y - If I like my town and why.

No. Because it sucks ass.

Z - Ask any question you want.

You didn't, so I'm pleading the fifth.

[elizabethrobertajones]

12x22 watching notes

*loud Dean!girl tears*

Cup of Tea No. 1:

Expectations - Berens Buckleming Clean Up Operation, which tbh when you rank writers by skill at this job WAS the top of the game over Dabb but then Perez showed up. But I still expect a competent job.

This appears to be the BMoL and Mary wrap up episode, although on this show appearances can be deceiving.

As a fervent Mary stan this season, I'm hoping they don't kill her but if they do kill her she dies next episode for heroic reasons, not this episode for rubbish hubris reasons, although I am open to being won over to a tearful passing if they actually get to friggin communicate everything with her, and in that respect I feel we've been waiting since 12x03 for Berens to get back to the point he was making there...

I EXPECT Ketch to die bloody, but ever since last episode I've been pre-emptively disappointed that he's going to be mauled by his own hellhound. Slightly less disappointed if Dean opens the cage and says "Sic 'im, boy," to the dog, because this IS an episode by Bobo "Drowley" Berens.

Aside from that, I've pretty much got nothing because I haven't been speculating ahead on much or really daring to entertain any ideas, except for firmly staking my entire farm on the mystery dude from the 2 in 1 trailer being "Garth with padding" so I expect I will be handing over my farm soon. Although I assume that's in 12x23 and therefore not yet and maybe not for hours.

[note from past me ‘hours’ yeah okay this episode literally ended up making me bedridden and too weak to move by the halfway point so I took like 24 hours from start to finish :P]

-

Oh yeah, Dean's got a pending 7 years ago "welcome to next time" for Walt or Roy from Dark Side of the Moon. One or the other is supposed to be in this episode. The reminder of 5x16 nudges all its themes onto the table, and it's nice that it's a Dabb episode, the one that wrecked Dean n Cas's faith, ruined Heaven for Sam n Dean, and had Zach attempt to ruin Mary for Dean with that chilling speech that after 12x03 we were saying really cut too close to home on what Dean might have thought after Mary walked out.

-

Quick Jody recap. Not entirely sure if the "Jody is good people" line comes from 10x20 about Claire, or 7x22 about not!Jenna, the Alpha's blood slave, but it certainly wasn't about Alex, although it's laid over a clip of them together, and the only reminder about Jody is that she adopts wayward daughters.

-

Blah blah  murder!Mary, capturing Toni recap, Mary is brainwashed, bunker is gonna kill you... Noticing Ketch saying the air will "reverse" which means what, exactly, but anyway goes with the theme of reversing things. He also has an extremely punchable face, and since DHJ grew his beard back, all these con photos from the other day have been literally unrecognisable and I keep wondering who the normal looking bloke is hanging out on stage with them, because I'm so used to him looking like this:

-

(brief break because Berens episodes always make me really sick for some reason)

-

Anyway.

NOW.

-

Dead guy (thing?) on a truck.

Dead guy. Mary used some reaaaally horrible cat claw looking knuckle dusters or something to kill him. BMoL including savergy as part of the deal; Mary is the hellhound who tears up these guys. Not just being effective at killing - it has to be horrible too. And Mary's been getting used to killing monsters horribly - why should it matter when it's people?

-

the obvious problem next season is the hunters have been decimated so monsters are going to be a much bigger problem and sam and dean can't rely on all these random nobody hunters to stop the next generation of tragic backstories.

This one was called Lester, and I watched 10x02 waaay to recently and that's the guy who got screwed over by Sam's demon deal shenanigans and Dean killed.

-

Oh no I think he worked in Auto Repair - Bobby would have been a target if only they still had a Bobby

-

Bobby would not have stood for this. Mary would have been in the panic room in a flash through some trickery and smart paranoia :P

-

Aaaaah Jody's on the hit list. Who did Jody ever hurt???

I can tell you why that's stupid even for the BMoL: aside from killing law enforcement being a dumb idea in general to not draw attention to yourself, the local sheriff type hunters will literally always be the sort to get involved in cases on a local level and start hunting for themselves to protect a small town like Jody did... you're never going to stop them popping up and you're removing a valuable local level resource and I bet there are others like Jody who just didn't have the misfortune to know the Winchesters who literally never fight above their weight limit but are ready for vampires to come to town >.>

I know she's on the hitlist because she's an associate of the Winchesters but I mean... their overall plan is STUPID if they're going after hunter cops in general. Pfft

-

*Sam, Dean and Toni bicker entertainingly*

-

Toni argues that they NEED her so THEY don't kill her. It's like... on the endless infinite loops of Crypt Scene reversals, this one is Toni arguing for HER life to UNDO a brainwashing if they don't kill her, using the keyword "you need me", and... yeah. Same sort of deal - someone saying stuff to not get killed and there's brainwashing involved.

-

Sam: "LORE"

-

DAY ONE

-

Remember how 11x14 is one of my favourite Sam episodes because Berens just sometimes writes the Perfect Sam, and he's all peppy and researchy? I've seen literally 2 seconds of this scene and I'm like, yeah, he's at it again.

Berens's take on Sam is probably the interpretation I've funnelled into Terrible Coffee AU, mostly because I laughed SO HARD at excessively caffienated Sam in 11x14 and what it did to his personality, I decided then and there I would never write a scene with him where he hadn't had at least 4 cups of coffee

-

Sam found a gremlin spell :D

-

Pfft they need to purify some blood to make it work. While the Bunker is on lockdown and the lights are flashing red. Dean's even wearing a red shirt, though it's a plaid one, because he's in the family again unlike 10x03, and Toni's the ~invading element~ who last episode like demon!Dean spat a load of bitter truths at Sam, did the same to Mary.

-

Aw they're all combining their blood. They're in like some sort of pact now, that they all at least want to live, at least long enough to try killing each other in free air. But yeah, no one of them is being relied on to be the purified one - symbolic that while they hate each other, when it comes to getting free none of them is being more self-righteous than the others, and also an admission that none of their bloods are pure enough that any of them could have lorded it over the others.

-

(Sam, of course, is working with Toni and compartmentalising everything about how she tortured and mind-raped him)

-

Brains failed, now for brawn. (Sam and Dean still being aligned this way, and each having a day to try their thing)

I hate seeing a map of the Bunker as if it makes sense, but it reassuringly magically produces a brand new wall we've never seen before with a convenient exit right behind it - "let's Shawshank this bitch" - so I figure its magic is still at work. It's brainwashed too - it doesn't want to kill them, so it's doing its best to help :<

They need to manually override it.

-

Dean immediately gets repurcussions for his idea by getting a shard of concrete in his eye. Probably not symbolic

-

Also they probably wasted a ton of air doing that

-

"how did this happen?" "which part?" "all of it" - haven't hit play but cosmic consequeeeences

-

"We had Cas back, we had Mom back"... I assume Dean's priorities have been pointed out by everyone but I'm doing it anyway. Even if you just say he's listing them and had to go one way or the other, and "Mom" is the more surprising one, but still... Cas being got by Lucifer was like, up there with things that getting him back was like getting Mary back, in how happy it made Dean. That is a Thing.

Also belatedly had some Thoughts and came back to this point, that Amara is really the big bad of this season too, but as an abstract concept of chaos, which she represents, where her 2 actions for Dean were to give him Cas and Mary back, but between throwing Lucifer wherever to let him carry on as he liked, and bringing Mary back to get tangled in this, she creates the two heads of the end of season chaos, and both arcs (and Mary and Cas have been mirrored all the way as the two sides of this sort of looping around each other)... I guess what I'm saying is I expect chaos and I'm blaming it on her, but it's belatedly given me a really interesting way to look at the randomness of the season.

-

Sam's regretting things. Give him a dog. *ruffles his damp hair* He was just too optimistic for his own good. He wanted the world wide scale doing good thing, and wanted to follow along instead of leading.

Whenever I think of Sam and leading I think about boy!king Sam and the plans that were apparently there for him. He had the "I'm not a leader" arc like 6 years before Cas did, and it turned out it was all a con anyway, but the point is, Sam very very firmly does not like being put in a position of responsibility, probably has season 2-3 trauma related to it, since it was how he first died, and then how Ruby met him, swearing loyalty to him as if he would be that leader...

Ironically in 12x14 and Berens knows this full well as he writes Sam saying this, Sam took control and leadership of the situation and crisis-managed it all the way through to a dead Alpha vamp, getting the hero shot and everything, but he still blamed the BMoL over and over that they were the ones who did all the hard work, and turned to them for guidance, instead of seeing what he did there.

As Leviathan!Dean once said, but, uh, reapply this to being a GOOD leader, they're strong and smart and so on... He just went to the end that it was a perfectly good opportunity to subjugate the weak (which is what the BMoL want) and of course Sam would rather not do that :P

-

Cup of Tea no. 2

-

Oh crap, they're have a Moment about how they want to die, talking about how they didn't imagine it being this way because, well, who plans to be murdered by their own Bunker

-

I don't think Dean plans to die this way any more

-

Did Dean just....

he did

-

Toni hates the Americans

-

YEAH DEAN

He's gonna remember that forever.

If he's not dead and tbh if he is he just died happy

-

Having an explosion in the Bunker was a terrible way to use up all the oxygen

YAY Dean did the thing and all the smoke is clearing

I suppose because this is on the CW Dean doesn't stumble in with a massive boner from finally getting to use it

This was already a symbolic victory for the crazy American way of hunting.

-

Oh dear, it's Mary.

-

She is covered in blood and just walks up to the door, and Jody's like... okay I guess this is what happens with the Winchesters.

I think 12x06 softened her up too much to the idea they just show up covered in the last hunt and want to watch TV

-

Omg GARTH IS ALIVE. For now?

"You and Bess need to get someplace safe" :3 Thanks for looking after them for me

I mean now Eileen's dead and Garth is still alive I feel sort of bad for using his life to bargain with. Hence hoping he's mystery guy.

-

Nyoooom

-

oh that was a cruel fake trail of blood.

I mean real blood but fake anyone got killed because Jody is upright and Alex is next to her and Mary's just got a bleeding nose and a smirk while being wrapped in rope.

"Hello boys"

-

Heee Alex and Jody took down Mary and they're being proud of each other for doing it

I love them so much so I am in absolute terror that one or both of them dies

-

oh dear Dean's stuck in a room with Jody and Mary and she's taunting Jody for playing mom to Dean - 9x19 comes immediately to mind, and Momma taunting Jody for doing the same to Alex, which is how she got her in the first place. And Mary's tied to a chair and all she's got is the same demon!Dean thing from 10x03 to snark at Dean and tell Jody she can have him.

Honestly, Dean's adapted a lot very well to even survive watching Mary say she doesn't want him to his face.

He doesn't look HAPPY but he didn't like, burst into tears and/or storm out the room

"What's the matter, Dean? Am I too different from the Mary you know? Or too much the same?"

The whole messed up family thing in one go here >.> Mary mirroring Dean as demon!Dean having a dark side that renounced his family and claimed to have always been this thing, and Mary doing the same...

-

Lol Mary's hiding behind "inpenetrable psychic walls" - that's not the metaphor the Bunker was warning about us or anything, OR anything deeply symbolic about all the character stuff for Sam and Dean where they hide behind walls of "the story became the story" and all that. Looks like maybe this is how Dean is forced to tell Mary all the dark horrible truth about her deal and all that we saw in the script they teased? That he has to try and find a way to ease her out from behind it, maybe taking a few scratches and shrapnel in the eye to get there, but... Can he grenade launcher through it with his words??

-

"They can't be torn down with grenades"

Dean is too sad to even do a "watch me try"

-

Random hunters!

-

And Walt and Roy!

-

"No hard feelings" yeah it's much easier to understand when Sam's alive and that was 7 years ago and honestly so much character growth since then or something

Nice demonstration of putting aside bad feelings to work together

-

Dean leaves Sam to do the big presentation and Sam stumbles over introducing it as a personal problem he and Dean have ended up with, but then suddenly drops into inspirational speaking about "our people", taking on the burden as a leader :D

(I mean that's like the one thing they told us in PR but it was "sam n dean" and look I'm really proud of him okay? Berens writes a Sam I love)

Sam also admits, in front of Walt and Roy even, that he was one of the hunters who messed up and were suckered in by their flashy tech. Admitting that the current terrible scenario is his fault again, when that's what they originally killed him for - whatever was on the hunter grapevine about what Sam Winchester had done...

-

blah blah America is great land of the free etc *Sam finishes the speech with an American flag flying behind him*

-

But I mean good laying out of the philosophies of what they see hunting is really all about - the whole cops and robbers thing Sam talked about in 12x14 but thought the BMoL could help with that instead of seeing they weren't going to be anything like what he idealised about the job.

And he asks them to follow him :')

-

I hope the near-death experience made Dean change his mind about dying bloody too

-

Dean's so proud

Me too

-

Oh no he's sitting it out. Literally because he blew his own fucking leg up.

-

I'm sitting this out too... I'm in too much pain to continue doing anything useful right now

-

Cup of coffee no. 1

-

Morning! So Sam gets his big character growth moment to maybe not mess up leading a thing this time (people are going to die but they know that... more alarmingly, Jody's going with them >.>) and Dean's saying behind to fix Mary. He gives a speech to Sam about doing that which sounds almost exactly like the sort of thing Sam was saying about demon!Dean - if there's any of them still in there they're going to find it and bring them back.

The Mary stuff has always been emotionally more on Dean's side just because Sam would be perfectly content for her to exist and see what happens (which is probably an unspoken part of how the BMoL suckered him in that he didn't mention in the big speech to the other hunters) - he gets the external evil to fight, something which helps fix his and especially Mary's mistakes by taking down the operation, while Dean deal with Mary.

It only just occurred to me typing this, even though I've had like 14 hours since I found out what the plan was, that that puts Sam in a Ketch-ish direction if he's going to be anywhere predictable. I'm still torn about this because I want Sam to kill him for Eileen but Mary's got a personal beef too and I'd honestly be sort of confused if despite being the least-most-invested in killing Ketch, Dean doesn't get pitted against him, partially because this is The Raid pt.2 (this time the hunters doing exactly what the vampires did when they were all being killed off) and partly because stuff just kind of happens to Dean more. But it's entirely unfair of him to hog ALL the emotional catharsis if he's got Toni and Mary with him trying to fix Mary, and then ALSO has to deal with an unexpected Ketch

-

Oh dear, Alex just told Jody to kick it in the ass while heading off to a safe house with Donna. It's sort of the show generic rallying cry because Kim Manners, but it's also the Ellen and Jo bye bye phrase, and I don't like this. I have suddenly remembered I am very very worried about one or both of them, and Alex unfortunately still don't have much point to be in this episode except it's weird to pretend Jody doesn't have a family just because the actresses need herding, Claire's purposefully driven off into the sunset so doesn't seem to be a part of this, and that leaves Alex here to either kill or react to Jody being killed.

-

Sam and Dean do the bitch/jerk thing which in a show where there was actual threat to either of them dying would make them having a "don't die pls" farewell unnerving for the exact above reasons, but just makes me feel like everyone's having tearful goodbyes to try and pretend the stakes are equally high - at least, the characters think so - to obscure killing off Jody.

-

The BMoL have Sam and Dean on their board with "ELIMINATED" underneath them. Losers.

Aaaah I forgot Claire was a potential target though. The WORST thing they could do is kill her off-screen without ceremony and let Jody and Alex find out because Jody bursts into the control room and sees Claire's picture with "ELIMINATED" under it

-

Oh nope Ketch is getting nervous about where his asset is so he gets the "keep it between us" info that Mary's in Lebanon, Kansas, aka time for Ketch to not be around to get killed in the base (making it infinitely easier to raid for everyone else) and for him to go exactly where I assumed he would.

-

Sorry Sam, you get the second hand reassurance that Ketch paid for it >.>

-

Nighty night, Dean and Mary :D I'm surprised they didn't just say African Dream Root but I suppose the BMoL have had time to develop these technologies and magical chemistry that makes the stuff work, and dream root does come with the problem that you can literally kill someone in one of the dreams, it's so real, and tidying up all the lore on how to do this sort of thing would make sense if they wanted to not have to deal with any odd plotholes from that. Using electrodes and stuff to link Dean and Mary connects them without the basic way dream root does it, polyjuice potion style, so theoretically neither of them should have control over the other, although Dean's entering Mary's head?

-

WHERE'S THE SOCK MONKEY? INACURRATE. FAKE.

Oh well, I suppose there's some sort of weird symbolism sticking Dean in that chair to wake up but without Dean's sock monkey it just doesn't feel real to me.

-

I suppose it could be any old day of the week not like dropping Dean directly into the scene in 1x01, since it's daylight beyond the windows, so perhaps Mary has been tidying and Dean's sock monkey is in his room where it belongs and it just happened to be on the floor in 1x01 because she hadn't tidied that day >.>

-

Dean whatever you do do not pick up the tiny Sammy. He's very cute but I have a bad feeling about randomly appearing babies.

Oh it's so weird to regress Mary back to the Mary she was stuck at the whole time of the show for 11 seasons. I mean MARY said she was stuck there in 12x03 as well but her surface actions have all been really different, obviously. And at this point... Dean looks stunned to see her and I don't think it's just because it's the "wow Mom" shock he would get all the previous times, but now, FINALLY looking at her as someone who she USED to be...

Oh no he's so small.

This is what he looked like when he wore the "I wuv hugs" shirt. He's seeing it from the other side now.

Dean could pick HIMSELF up.

Oh noooo he's eating PB&J I didn't sign up for this.

I was expecting him to do this but I was not expecting it to be Dark Side of the Moon over again instead of 1x01. I thought he was going to go do something similar to Sam in the vision Azazel showed him in 2x21, but I suppose the point is that they return to the most important moment to them, and for Dean it was eating PB&J with his mom. It's utterly tragic that Dean and Mary have the same Heaven memory but from different sides, because one of the worst  things about Heaven is the isolation - if you don't know to start pressing on the walls looking for roads or loose threads, you can stay in a dream for eternity, and Mary and Dean might be living the exact same moment over and over again, but without each other... I'm not saying they should be soulmates, I'm saying Heaven should be more like what Ash made of it without the sneaking around and needing an advanced understanding of quantum physics or an angel to tell you what to do to start hopping between Heavens.

Of course put too many people together and they start talking and questioning and it's easier to keep them content if they don't have the ability to think about their situation deeply and philosophically, but are drugged up in their Heaven dream with happiness and mindless contentment living over their best times again.

And now Dean's stuck on the outside looking in of the same moment just as Sam was 7 years ago (you know maybe last night I was wondering if we'd come back here because I was thinking Roy and Walt were a very obvious clue... This is what happens when  you take 14 hours off)

-

YEAH JODY. FUCK THE LAW. RUN A GUY OVER. SHOOT SOMEONE.

LOL Roy and Walt are driving Gadreel's car

-

Of course in the way the show endlessly loops around itself, what Dean is doing, especially the sitting opposite Mary while her brain is hacked thing, is 9x10 again. Toni is Crowley but this time Dean is going in himself.

-

"You're choosing this" *Dean is horrified* *has only just gone through this with Cas last year* He hates that anyone would choose not free will because, well, contradiction. But Mary has regressed back to how she would have been in Heaven - living in the dream and not really able to think about what's outside herself, and so the choice to stay is very easy: abstract pain and harsh reality, or just not thinking about it. In a way it's almost like trying to right what she feels was done wrong to her - all those gifsets comparing it to Buffy talking about how she didn't ask to be brought back and how she had been happy in Heaven. To Mary, THAT was the violation of her free will...

"I hate you"

Aaand Dean reaches the most dramatic part of HIS character arc relating to Mary.

Ironically one of the B99 episodes I caught up while laying around like a dead fish yesterday included one where Holt got annoyed Amy wouldn't stand up to him even after he lost her favourite pen, and eventually wound her up enough to make her yell at him and dare to disrespect her superior officer (... to an Amy degree anyway :P) and, yeah. Same deal; Dean's been completely INCAPABLE of expressing anything negative to/about Mary, and even the argument in 12x14 was more a sort of downwards bump in this relationship, because within the episode he decided to reconcile with her *just* because she was Mary, and of course the argument was not as stark and final sounding as "I hate you" - reconciling with her after was just putting that aside in order to keep her around, not any sort of conclusion to this fight.

-

lol getting some more use out of the sci fi corridors to randomly mimic the opening of A New Hope, though the BMoL are literally "the empire" and the American hunters are the "rebels"

-

oh I think Roy or Walt is already dead. Lol. Sucks to be them.

(they DID just think they were doing what was right in 5x16 but still. They've been a statisticaly anomoly to be someone who killed a Winchester and lived to tell the tale (I suppose the lady from Wishful Thinking as well but she was as much a victim of the spell as anything so it doesn't... count...?? I suppose the people from Mystery Spot who helped kill Dean all those 1000s of time as well :P))

Anyway being a redshirt on this mission gets them killed on the Winchesters' behalf so fair's fair

-

Oh boy here's the stuff from Dean's confrontation with Mary, and aside from squeezing her eyes not to listen it's completely one-sided as Jensen delivers the sort of Dean monologue which of all the monologues which should have got him an Emmy already, this is the best. This is terrible :D

He's using instead of "we love you" truths to get to her, the HoRRIBLE truth that she's been owed THIS ENTIRE TIME

Anyway he's blaming his whole tragic backstory on her instead of Azazel, because the story has become the story that even after 4x03 Dean's managed to keep Mary pretty much exactly on the pedestal he always kept her on rather than confront that she is the root cause of his angst, which involves her death... He's letting go of everything. Seeing her saying she wants the best for him and will keep him safe, but he knows she's saying this having ALREADY made the deal, and that her entire happy life with her kids was ALWAYS a sham because she ALWAYS knew something bad was coming, but while she was living like this she put herself entirely into that dream to ignore it.

"You left us, ALONE, because Dad was just a shell" holy crap the show is actually OVER, what's even left to SAY

I know when Mary came back, around this time last year we were screeching about the development he'd be offered by this, by finally getting to confront his family history again and get to be at peace with the way he was raised and all that... It's gutting to watch it in real time though

"I had to be a father, and I had to be a mother"

holy shit I wish I could send this scene back to season 10 me to see :D Like, right after 10x03. Because the character thread in Dean I've been following the entire time I've been in fandom has been waiting to see if this would ever get resolved well, after 10x03 where demon!Dean blurted out similar to Sam but from the worst possible place, at HIS lowest point. (This is not Dean's lowest point. Lowest point for his relationship with his mom, but higest peak he's ever stood on for his own personal strength. Holy crap I'm proud of my boy.)

(The phrasing here is all kind of reminiscent of 10x05's song about John and Mary and it's making me laugh inappropriately because the start of season 10 nailed all this so much)

And the thing is by setting this all here in the Dark Side of the Moon day it's a completely timeless moment - like sure there's some vague outside stuff going on like it's BECAUSE of the BMoL but Dean's ONLY talking about their history, their past, how his life was all the time since ever, and the historical facts of Mary's life. Any time since 5x16 they COULD have pulled the trigger on a scene like this, because all they needed was a run up to get Dean in the right mood to say it all. Of course this is the end result of a massive, at least 4 years project to tear Dean down and build him back up and have his character development go on an absolutely incredible journey... At this point I feel like the sports commentator yelling encouragement on the final lap before an absolutely record breaking victory.

"I couldn't do it - and you want to know what that was like?" YES PLEASE KEEP TALKING

Dean lists all the shit that's happened to Sam like the bitter Sam!girl he is and says "all because of you"

I think at this point I just want to look back at 1x09, where Mary as a ghost goes to Sam, before almost any of this happens except Jess dying and the horrible upbringing, and says "I'm sorry" because she KNEW what she'd done to him, and she died guilty about it. She said in 12x02,

MARY: And when we do find Sam... how am I gonna face him? DEAN: What do you mean? MARY: That yellow-eyed thing would never have come for him that night if I... I started all of this.

but with all the massive miscommunication themes she didn't go talk to Sam when she should have - when he came to her in the end of the episode and hugged her, she should have apologised there, and made a start on it. And if not then, then in 12x03, although I'm feeling like from the moment she cut her hair it was too late and she was already avoiding who she had once been, chopping off the style associated with herself as their mom and stepping into what would become this demon!Dean-like brainwashed Mary. I suppose it makes sense to say in 12x02 she raised the problem that she had to face sam somehow, and she DIDN'T and then we got 12x03, the mirror episode to this one on this side of the story (and it feels like Berens has made one of those clear lines through the season, with 12x14 being mirrored on the other side of this episode, in the way Robbie owned season 9 - so like I hand season 9 to Robbie, I'm giving Berens season 12 :P Good work on all this, sir.) In 12x03 Mary is faced with the haunted house full of mirrors to exactly what she's NOT seeing here - Sam as the burned, soulless doll in a crib, the object the demons passed around, and eventually was nothing but a hollow person, as Dean ends it on describing that Sam lost his soul. And for Dean, she sees the little boy, and she hasn't moved past that, but Dean had to tell her from the moment she died he wasn't that any more - he was the parent of the family. She's got her family regressed here again, because confronting it in 12x03 just made her run away. And this is as far as she's run, through the season, literally just running on the spot in this exact place.

Outside Mary is crying, but inside Mary is refusing to show anything. Maybe it's just because where her consciousness is - she won't cry on the face Dean can see. He's leaking tears in the dream but not on the outside. But yeah, she can pick one (1) set of tear ducts to angrily repress. Because at the end of the day, Mary has always been the one more like Dean.

Dean FINALLY gets through the "i hate yous" he's always needed to say to get back to "i love you"

*slowly sinks underneath the blankets* Yeah, saying "I love you" to Mary is the only way he's ever been able to get it out before - the speculation being that once he's worked through his COLLOSAL issues with his parents he might be able to say "I love you" more casually to others because he's at peace. I can SEE him settling into being at peace now, which I think is all that Amara INTENDED when bringing Mary back, but obviously the MASSIVE repercussions going on outside their little insular family bubble.

And Dean forgives her. And says on the other side of this, they can rebuild their family and make it work. AAAAAAH.

(AAAAAAAAH)

Finally he gets to the "but I need you to fight"

"Mom I need you to see me" Oh god this is so good and painful

Mary's crying on the inside too! But in this case it's good because that's the part of her that can see Dean

And we're back to mirroring the start of the season, the very opening scene, but this time Mary recognises Dean and gets to say his name first, instead of Dean crashing out of the trees at her, yelling "Mom", and getting his ass handed to him :P He had to tell her who she was, but this time he told her who HE was. And NOW she sees him, now he took down every single wall between them.

-

LOL Oops bye Toni nice knowin' ya except for all the times you were terrible.

If Dean had trusted her - and if they'd changed the freakin LOCKS again - she might not be dead.

Ketch does the thing again where instead of just killing his targets, he wants to talk to them, so he wakes Dean up instead of just slitting his and Mary's throats while they're unconscious.

-

I suppose now it's on Mary to wake up and save Dean

-

I was torn on who needed to kill the dark mirror of John more, but honestly, Dean's done, came out of the oven perfectly risen and smelling great, so he does not need to reject John. He sees John accurately and describes him in that speech in such a way... His memory doesn't have to haunt Dean, and he's forgiven Mary too.

(And we never mentioned the cupids. Pfft.)

-

christ, Dean's being given the Swan Song beatdown with his leg not working. For once he fights back because Ketch is absolutely not a loved one, but he's completely outmatched, and Ketch is enjoying punching him.

He says Mary said absolutely nothing about Dean - Dean knows from being in Mary's head how she DOES care about him, and that she was being brainwashed - he doesn't know for how long... Point is, these words can't hurt. He already made his peace with Mary too.

-

I think Dean just threw Ketch through the SW DW table, which is hilariously dark about their legacy >.> It's more about in the contacts they build outside themselves, and the WORK they do, than anything they write on a table - shots of Sam and Dean thinking about the world while sitting alone in the bunker or in/on the car are often very sad about how isolated and alone they are.

Thinking of which, we're rapidly running out of episode for me to be worried about Jody in.

-

Ahaha Ketch brought a gun to the fight. He says he's not stupid after Dean points out how stupid he was, but he's got his back turned to Mary, and Dean's now in exactly the same place SAM was in 10x03 after the demon!Dean chase, where Cas suddenly came out of nowhere and grabbed Dean.

Oh Dean flinched, he had been watching Ketch. Nice surprise. Mary's back :D

Dean hobbles over to stand at her side.

"I knew you were a killer. You both are." "you're right." Yeah, Dean n Mary are a pair aren't they :P Both been through this same arc now. Dean owns the description but I think he has a very different definition than Ketch, for all people tell him that he's a killer. He can kill things for his job and when it needs to be done, but that does NOT mean he's a psychopath like Ketch. And Mary has a heart too and chose the right side.

-

Jody pls don't stand with your back to the open door - this is literally how that random no name got killed in 12x14 and I really really don't like you not covering your back, especially when you're a cop, and even when you think you cleared this place.

-

Oh they all survived. Sam got the news about Lucifer, decided to pass on working with a maybe lesser evil to deal with a bigger one. Jody saves his bacon with the big kill shot.

-

Where does Dean even get prescription painkillers. I suppose he'd have got some when  he broke his leg but aside from that it's pretty much up to them to work out how much to medicate themselves by whatever illegal means off-the-grid people can fake prescriptions or health insurance. Also America's healthcare system is terrible because it seems like an entire adversity all by itself to their lives, while in a free healthcare country... yeah, not so much a big deal :P

-

Mary's got the season 7 Cas guilt now - everything that happened is her fault, she feels. I mean she certainly really helped the BMoL get a foothold and so on although they seemed pretty intent to come on over whether she had anything to do with it or not. But the broken family relationships, yeah, she ran away >.>

-

"What if he can't forgive me?" "Mom. You don't have to be scared of me" *Winchester family sandwich*

I think I'm starting to cry at this show way more often than I used to but oh my god I'm so happy for Sam right now. He misses the entiiiiiiiiire thing but the point he made back at the start of the season is he just wanted Mary THERE and her problem is she was TERRIFIED of him, and having the whole equivalent drama to what Dean just went through with her, but if she knew Sam, that's not him. He zenned out in season 5-7 and has already recovered from like, the whole thing, and piled on totally different trauma :P His arc was so important to resolve to the story they already completed the arc in Swan Song, and it wasn't about Mary but it WAS about peace with himself, and of course all done with external actions and plot drama while Dean had to deal with the internal stuff, literally going inside Mary's head to sort it. Anyway point is Mary doesn't need to be scared of him because there's nothing to be scared of. It's literally as simple as he wants his mom, should she happen to be here. Unlike Dean's entire character arc since season 1 still having been unresolved. And the heart of it was stuff that was obvious since season 1 or the first episode, but Sam got his resolution in season 5, while taking us back to that season 5 moment, showed how Dean did NOT get his resolution when he needed it, because it was never JUST about sam but his entire family.

I wonder how he'll be next season, no matter if Mary survives it or not.

-

Thinking of which, now Berens has finished writing season 12 for us, I suppose Dabb has a whole bucket of fuckery waiting to throw us into season 13.

[hawkeabelas]

Dnd OC ask: 1-11 odd for Kailyn, 2-12 even for Amity, 13-19 odd for Dahlia, 14-20 even for Izzy, and 21-30 for Stella plz and thank you :D

Kailyn:

1. How many dead parents do they have?

She assumes 2. She doesn’t know.

3. Biggest regret?

Running away when her temple needed her. Not finding the courage to go back.

5. If they could hang out with one famous person in 18th century American History, who would they want to hang out with?

Assuming she has any idea what America even is, she’d prob want to chill with Mary How and her/their wife. Idk. 

7. What fictional character are they most like? Was this an intentional or accidental influence?

9. What’s their dump stat?

Lol I don’t give my characters dump stats what are you talking about.

It’s charisma >.> 

11. What is their favorite anime?

Cowboy Bebop. She’s a traditionalist. 

Amity:

2. How good are they at tongue twisters?

Shockingly adequate. 

4. Are they formally trained or have they gone through a more organic learning experience for their skillset?

Definitely not formally trained. All their skills come from experience, or the ruffians who trained them, also based on harsh experience. They’re a natural aim with a crossbow or a gun, and used that as the foundation to learn how to kill things super good.

6. What’s their theme song?

Bartholemew - The Silent Comedy

8. Paper or plastic?

Plastic. To be used for repairs and materials later, probably.

10. What’s their best stat?

Wisdom, somehow. 

12. What’s their favorite beverage?

whiskey, straight no chaser. Also hot cocoa. 

Dahlia Zinthras 

13. If they can use magic, what’s their favorite spell?

She’s not great with magic, but she’s a big fan of fire bolt. 

15. Most despicable thing they have ever done?

She was a soldier. Now she’s a fantasy cop. There are too many despicable things to list and possibly rank. 

She’d tell you it was turning her back on the village of Willowstead - now in ruins, because of her actions. 

17. What’s their favorite food?

Fresh fruit. It was hard to come by for awhile in her life. 

19. They have to go live on a deserted island. They can take one thing and one person. What do they take?

An enchanted book that contains all books, (it’s dnd ok it’s possible), and no one. Homegirl needs some time alone. 

Izzy Feldermere

14. Most heroic thing they have ever done?

Kill a ghost bard that was terrorizing a village. She embellishes a lot, of course.

16. Are they a hero or a supporting protagonist?

Supporting protagonist, for sure. Only sometimes supporting. Sometimes.

18. Would they rather fight a hundred duck-sized horses, or one horse-sized duck?

She’d rather charm the horse-sized duck and adopt it as her noble steed. 

20. Are they religious? If so, what god or gods do they serve?

Lol no. I mean, religious people are fine or whatever - well, some of them - but it’s not for her. too many rules. 

Stella

21. How did they become an adventurer?

Well, they... can’t remember? They assume it had to do with running away from home and meeting Pi, aka, the group dad.

22. Most amazing monster they have ever killed or helped kill?

Probably a literal fucking dragon. At least - she’s pretty sure the dragon died?

23. Thoughts on death?

It’s as natural as life. Her patron is the goddess of death, so she’s p chill with the idea. She’ll die, as all mortals die, at the time she’s supposed to die. It helps that she’ll find rest at the side of her goth goddess mom. 

24. Do they have any interesting skills?

She is a master thrifter. Also a little too into proper coffee roasting and brewing, but it means she makes a damn good cup of hot caffiene.

25. Favorite animal?

Birds of prey. The of-preyer the better.

26. Expansion of civilization or the preservation of nature?

She’s pretty chill either way. Although she’ll defend a village before she saves a forest.

27. They’re at a tavern. They bump into a big burly angry drunk with a combative attitude. What happens?

Flirting. Diplomacy. And if that doesn’t work, hiding behind her big buff wife. 

28. What do they do between quests?

Relax with her family. Chill at the Raven Queen’s temple. As of recent events, learn sign language so she can understand her new adopted daughter.

29. Biggest positive and negative influences on their life and development?

Positive: Her found family, particularly Pi, and Keevi, her wife. Also the guidance she’s found from the Raven Queen.

Negative: Her shitlord of a sperm donor. 

30. Would they smooch a ghost?

Is the ghost a pretty lady ghost? Is her wife cool with the ghost smooching? then probably.

[yin-390]

I liked the bit with Ivan, that was nice! :)

What Makes a Family? Pt3

AO3   Beginning    Previous

Her attempts to get her parents to excuse her from school failed miserably. They were well aware she didn’t have any urgent commissions, so she trudged to school, hoping she’d make it to class without seeing Adrien or Alya. She didn’t make it inside the gate.

“Did you see the news?” What did he do, leave the house early to lay in wait for her?

“Good morning to you too Adrien.”

“Lila was Akumatized, just like I told you she would be.” She did not have enough caffeine in her system to deal with this right now.

“Yeah, five hours later. Not to mention Lila gets Akumatized every other week whether or not I’m around. Everyone else goes to therapy or finds an outlet to control their emotions, but she feeds off of it. That’s not my fault.” Adrien just blinked at her in shock and she used his confusion to move around him and head into school. She was almost to the front doors.

“Marinette, can I talk to you for a minute?” Ivan was standing off to the side, looking nervous. Well that wasn’t something she expected.

“Sure, what’s up?” She walked closer since he seemed rooted to his spot. He had to take a couple breaths before speaking.

“I… I just wanted to thank you for what you said yesterday.” She cocked her head at him in confusion. “About parents not wanting their children and treating them badly because of it. I realized that a lot of the things my dad lashed out at me for weren’t my fault and I told him last night I wouldn’t take any more of his shit.”

“Wow, umm, I’m glad it helped.” He gave her a pained smile.

“He kicked me out.”

“Oh, Ivan! I’m so sorry!” He waved her off.

“It’s okay. Mylene’s dad said I could crash on their couch until I figure something else out. It’s strange being in a house where I’m not getting yelled at all the time, but it’s nice.” She had no idea his home was like that. Ivan was always so quiet and let everyone else talk about themselves. How do you know someone for years and not see something so important?

“I’m really sorry that you’ve had to deal with that all this time. If you need any help, with anything, let me know okay?” He just gave her a smile, patted her shoulder, and walked into the school. She really needed more caffeine.

“Girl, we need to talk.” Marinette actually groaned out loud. She didn’t mean to, she just couldn’t help it. “Don’t give me attitude when I’m trying to help you.” She turned to find Alya glaring at her with her hands on her hips.

“Help me with what exactly?” Given the look she was getting, Alya thought she was being flippant, but honestly she wanted to know.

“You need to make peace with Lila. I know Adrien has been on you about it lately. Don’t you want to do something to impress him?” She was so tired of this conversation.

“No.” Alya opened her mouth but Marinette just kept going. “I’m going to try and explain this to you, again, and this time you’re going to listen. I am not interested in Adrien anymore. I haven’t been for years. You would know that if you ever bothered to listen to me rather than lecture me about Lila. And as for Lila, the only way we’ll be friends is if she has a complete personality change or I get hit in the head hard enough to lose my memories. Because as long as she keeps lying and I know that she is, we can’t be friends.” Alya rolled her eyes.

“I can’t believe you’re still using that as an excuse. Name one thing Lila lied about.” Marinette just shot her a flat look.

“Just about everything that comes out of her mouth. Honestly, how many times has she spun some story about how I cornered her in a hallway to yell at her? You never believe that, yet you still believe all her wild stories. If anyone else told you that garbage you’d fact check it. I don’t understand why you just assume she’s telling you the truth.” Alya was frowning but it looked more like it was directed internally. Maybe she was finally ready to think for herself. “Also, I’ve been in a relationship for almost a year now.”

Marinette practically ran into the school after that parting shot. She shouldn’t have said it and she knew Alya would find her later to question her, but she hoped that it would help her realize Marinette didn’t care what Adrien thought about her. At least no more than anyone else. Surprisingly, the rest of the school day went really well. Lila seemed subdued. She had no idea why but it made her life easier so she didn’t feel like questioning it. Alya honestly just seemed shellshocked. Adrien was sulking. Maybe she should be that blunt more often.

When she got home, the bakery was closed. She just stood there blinking at the doors for a moment. She pulled her phone out. No texts or missed calls. It wasn’t a holiday. Did her parents have an appointment she’d forgotten about? That feeling of something huge happening hit her again, far more powerful this time. Before she even knew what she was doing, she ran to the side door and up into the house.

“Maman! Papa!” She burst through the door and stopped in confusion. Her parents were there. Kagami, Luka, and Chloe were there. Relief hit her hard and it took her a moment to notice the older gentleman in the room. “What’s going on?” Both of her parents looked worried. Chloe was just glaring at the stranger. Luka and Kagami had been sitting hip to hip but scooted apart slightly so that she could sit between them. Well that couldn’t be good. “Is someone dying?”

That seemed to break some of the tension. Chloe let out a snort of laughter and her parents seemed slightly less tense. The gentleman was studying her and it felt… normal? That didn’t seem exactly right but he wasn’t making her uncomfortable.

“No sweetheart. Everyone is fine as far as we know.” Her Papa’s gentle voice released all her remaining worry. At the same time, no one seemed to know how to continue. Finally the older gentleman stood to address her.

“Miss Marinette. My name is Alfred Pennyworth. It’s very nice to meet you.”

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