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tothemeadow · 3 years

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How Genshin Characters View the Traveler (aka crushes galore)

I know this isn't a Genshin blog but I need to get this off my chest and organize my thoughts because I believe in Aether harem supremacy ✌

Disclaimer: this is meant for fun, so don’t get your knickers in a twist

Albedo

Albedo blatantly admits that the traveler fascinates them. He'll usually ask to hear of their numerous journeys and take notes on them. He quite enjoys their company, but Albedo is pretty clueless about his own feelings, especially those of the romantic sort. He wonders why he catches himself staring at them so much.

Amber

Amber is easily one of the traveler’s biggest supporters. She almost gets a bit too excited whenever they’re around, but she’ll also outright deny that she has a crush on them if anyone were to poke fun at her. If time allows it, she’ll often ask them to go gliding around Mondstadt with her.

Ayaka

Ever since she first heard of the traveler, their accomplishments genuinely impressed Ayaka. However, once she first met them in person, she was taken aback by how attractive they were. Furthermore, once they helped her out, she gets more insight of how truly wonderful they are and her affections (hence the dance performance).

Barbara

Barbara truly believes they are an actual gift sent by Barbatos himself. Not only are they kind and helpful, but they treat her with respect as a person, not some glorified object. She tends to get flustered easily and turns shy whenever the traveler compliments her.

Beidou

Beidou likes to laugh, and she thinks the traveler is funny. She often swaps stories about fights and adventures with them, so there’s definitely a bond between them! She especially appreciates their fighting spirit and would be honored to have them join their crew or at least be a drinking buddy (despite what the traveler says).

Bennett

The traveler is essentially an idol in Bennett's eyes. He admires them so much, but it never gets to the creepy level of obsession. He jumps at the opportunity to travel with them every time. Bennett isn't really good with distinguishing feelings, but knowing that they treat him as an equal makes his stomach flutter.

Childe

Hey girlie 😏 Childe gets off to the idea of someone successfully kicking his ass or potentially being able to kill him, so he is an absolute simp for the traveler. He genuinely loves it when they show disinterest at his flirting, and he swoons whenever they're sarcastic with him. He's not pathetic, he's just a sadomasochist.

Chongyun

Frankly, Chongyun’s just happy to have another friend besides Xingqiu. He also really likes the way they don’t push him out of his comfort zone, but instead try to gently coax him out. He’s often very cold to the touch and constantly chilly, but he feels oddly warm whenever the traveler is beside him.

Diluc

Appreciates the fact that the traveler isn't full of shit (unlike some people). He's impressed by their competence and their fighting abilities, so he doesn't hesitate in complimenting them. He usually says things without really thinking through them, so sometimes Diluc says something sappy or embarrassing without meaning to.

Diona

Diona thinks the traveler may or may not be cute. She won't admit it, though. She won't admit that she cares about their wellbeing either. The traveler is just another person who's going to come and go, so there's no point in getting invested in them. It's a relatively simple crush, nothing more.

Eula

Eula is more or less impressed with the traveler. She views them as a truly reliable person that is able to get the job done. Although she may seem skeptical at times, one of her greatest fantasies is to find more rebellious people like them and break free of Mondstadt and her lineage.

Fischl

Perhaps the traveler is a dashing monarch from another world! It genuinely excites her that they follow along with her roleplaying, even when some of her messages get lost in translation. She appreciates their friendly gestures and the fact they don’t treat her like an outsider.

Ganyu

A lot of people have a difficult have a hard time understanding Ganyu’s feelings, so it came as quite as a surprise that she and the traveler clicked almost instantly. The traveler treats her as another person, not as some ancient being; this type of behavior is what made her become flustered around them in the first place ☺️

Hu Tao

Thinks they’re super cute! She’s one who’s playful and flirty; however, her ways are a bit odd. She usually tries to tell what kind of casket she’d lick out for the traveler, what she’d dress them in, etc. Sometimes, she’ll bake “special cookies” in the shapes of bones just for them.

Jean

Much like Barbara, Jean sees the traveler as a blessing. However, unlike Barbara, Jean doesn't swoon over their looks or mannerisms; frankly, she's just glad that someone rational is willing to help and not make too much of a commotion (like some certain members of the Knights of Favonius).

Kazuha

Has feelings for the traveler and makes no effort to hide them. Often times Kazuha will write them poems or haikus; sometimes he'll add dried flowers or a pretty leaf. He truly has a way with words, and it never fails to stir something inside the traveler's chest. He's very gentle and mild-mannered, so he never forces anything too heavy on them.

Kaeya

Kaeya is a humongous flirt and everyone knows it. However, he seems even more so once the traveler is in the picture, and he has the tendency of showing off in some sort of way. He knows he's attractive and uses his looks to advantage whenever he can, though he makes sure to keep it somewhat subtle.

Keqing

Keqing isn’t the type to deal with people’s shit and isn’t fond of fools. Fortunately, the traveler doesn’t fall into either of those categories, so she gets along with them quite well. She can find similarities in their personalities (like working constantly), so she appreciates the fact that she can openly discuss these sort of problems with them.

Klee

Genuinely sees them as an older sibling! Klee often goes to them for advice or to spend the day together; often times, she'll send letters or drawings whenever they're apart (and yes, the drawings usually consist of her and the traveler blowing something up).

Lisa

Another flirt, no problems asked. Lisa makes euphemisms quite a bit, and it truly brings her joy when her comments make the traveler blush. Despite being scolded by Jean to tone it down a bit, she genuinely can't help it. The traveler is her personal cutie, and it's only natural for her to treat them as such, isn't it?

Mona

She could easily tell right away that the traveler was someone special upon first glance. Mona sometimes dreams about them - especially about how they helped her out and landed her a place to stay in Mondstadt. She’s grateful for everything that the traveler has done, yet she’ll deny any feelings for them with a bright blush on her face.

Ningguang

The traveler is seen more as a pet. Ningguang is straight up the sugar mama type, and she openly flaunts it. Granted, she respects the traveler highly, but something about their being Liyue’s hero sounds very, very charming. Whether or not she makes a romantic move is entirely up to her, but it’s not out of the question.

Noelle

Needless to say, Noelle gets flustered fairly easily, so whenever the traveler shows affection and support towards her abilities, she somewhat short-circuits. She'll usually try to play off the fluttering in her heart and simply convince herself that the traveler is only being nice, but she can't deny the fact that she has feelings for them.

Qiqi

Another one that looks up to the traveler as an older sibling. She often refers to her notebook to remind herself as to why she likes them so much; they’re patient with her and genuinely try to help her remember things, plus they’ll bring her candies from Mondstadt sometimes.

Razor

Razor has no idea what romantic feelings are or how he should identify them. All he knows is that he gets excited whenever he sees the traveler, and his metaphorical tail wags furiously. He's keen on protecting them and bringing them food, plus he likes to lie next to them when they relax by the fire.

Rosaria

Like Diluc, Rosaria likes how the traveler isn’t full of shit and can actually put up a decent fight. However, she isn’t the type to compliment them, but rather points out how they can further hone their skills. If anything, she acts more like the traveler’s drunk aunt.

Sayu

She’s mostly indifferent towards the traveler, but - like with most people - she envies their height. Sayu appreciates that they don’t make fun of her size, plus they somehow always manage to find her when she’s hiding for her nap, so she’s fairly interested in what kind of person they are.

Sucrose

Like with most people, Sucrose is quite shy around the traveler, but for some reason she feels more comfortable around them than anyone else. She respects them much like she respects Albedo. She also thinks the traveler has a very nice smile.

Thoma

Thoma is another flirt, but he’s much more reserved in his ways. He’ll often make encouraging comments or flatter the traveler with a bright smile. His flirting either makes the traveler blush or it goes right over their head. There is no in between.

Venti

Venti has a slight... obsession for them. Not in a creepy way, but more in a clingy sense. He practically hangs from them whenever he's messing around, and he unashamedly writes them songs. Venti is also a big fan of hugs! When he's drunk, though, that's when things take a darker, more seductive turn...

Xiangling

Xiangling’s poor little heart goes doki doki whenever she gets to cook for the traveler, have them cook with her, or eat a meal that they prepared. The way to her heart is definitely through her stomach! It’s a fairly small crush since cooking is her true love in life, but if the traveler pops up at Wanmin Restaurant and specifically asks for her again… Oh boy.

Xiao

Secretly has feelings for the traveler, but he refuses to admit it. Xiao thinks feelings like these are a waste of time and only bring pain; since he's been through much and the ultimate emo, he's even more emotionally constipated than the normal person. Although he doesn't outright say it, he'll often show his affection through actions.

Xingqiu

Two words: library dates. Whether if it's meant to be romantic or not, Xingqiu has an affinity for those who show genuine intelligence and is willing to discuss stories with him. Xingqiu could literally sit there all day and listen to the traveler tell him about the different worlds he's been to. It's quite refreshing!

Xinyan

Like Venti, Xinyan will write songs for the traveler, but she's more timid about showing them since rock music has yet a long way to go in Liyue, much less in Teyvat. She'll casually invite them for a jam session and ask for their opinion on how her songs sound. All in all, she thinks the traveler is pretty rad 👀

Yanfei

Yanfei is very skilled and knowledgeable in a wide range of topics, but when it comes to the art of seduction… not so much. She isn’t entirely sure if she has affections towards the traveler or not, but she enjoys being in their company nonetheless. However… she may or may not have tried to teach them Liyue law while over tea 😅

Yoimiya

Thinks the traveler is a lot of fun! She was already interested by the mere fact that they were an outsider, but once they showed their worth and came to her aid, it really sealed the deal. Viewing fireworks with them was an incredibly crucial moment, and she’ll keep that memory stored in her heart for all time.

Zhongli

Zhongli is very protective of them and wants to spoil them, but at the same time, he's also very, very broke. It's not sugar daddy status, obviously, but he enjoys treating them out to a dinner or a night on the town. The traveler thinks he's doing it just to be nice, but Paimon calls bullshit.

#genshin impact #genshin impact x traveler #genshin impact headcanons #other

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mochegato · 4 years

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Pixie Spy

Chapter 5

Chapter 1 Chapter 4

Marinette laid on Nino’s living room floor studying the stolen Grimoire files on her tablet. She had been staring at the same page for the last two hours, making little progress. Just because she could translate the ancient text, it didn’t mean it was easy or quick. In fact, it was headache inducing and with Adrien focusing on keeping them caught up on homework while she and Chloe were otherwise occupied, she was translating alone. She knew there were amazing secrets held in the texts, the drawings promised amazing new powers for each of the miraculous, she just needed to decode them.

She scrunched her eyes closed and rubbed them to clear her vision that had started crossing. Now, she decided, was a perfect time to take a break. She looked around the room for a distraction. Adrien was near her on the floor, leaning against the couch and working on the physics assignment they had received that day, having already finished the calculus assignment. Alya, having already passed her research onto Chloe, was on the couch working on the French Lit homework. Nino was sprawled out on the couch with his feet propped up on Alya’s lap, not working on anything, staring off into space with a furrowed brow instead.

Everyone was working quietly except for Chloe who was making her discontent with her surroundings abundantly clear through her frequent huffs and exaggerated movements. She was sitting in a chair making notes in a notebook referencing her laptop occasionally. She huffed and wiggled uncomfortably in the chair, “Tell me again why we have to do this here?” Chloe demanded, not bothering to mask her disgust with the middle class surroundings.

“We can’t meet in the hotel because we can’t take the chance the Waynes would see Marinette walking in the lobby or the hallway. We can’t meet at Adrien’s place because Asshole Dad. We can’t meet at Marinette’s in case they’ve made her already. That leaves my place or here and my place has the twins who are currently both grounded and bored so… that leaves here.” Alya explained calmly, not bothering to look up from her homework.

“Yeah, yeah, but couldn’t we have met at like a nice café or pub?” Chloe whined, rubbing her arms as though contact with the chair fabric were scratching her.

“And take the texts outside?” Adrien asked with a raised brow motioning toward Marinette.

“Plus until we know how much they know, it is probably best I’m not seen out more than absolutely necessary, hence the…” she indicated the oversized hoodie she had stolen from Kim some time ago she had been wearing all day, mostly with her hood up, completely enveloping her head.

“I thought that was so you could hide from Laurence…” Alya said with a sly grin.

“Or Noelle,” Adrien threw in.

“Or Ignace…” Chloe added, keeping her focus on her laptop.

“Okay stop. Really, Chloe? Wouldn’t you much rather talk about the throngs of people throwing themselves at you?” Marinette attempted to divert her to one of her favorite topics, herself.

“Oh sweetie, we don’t have that kind of time.” Chloe said throwing her ponytail over her shoulder. “We’re just talking about the ten or twenty we know about willing to let you tie them up and beat them like a piñata then thank you for the privilege.”

“That sounds like a regular Saturday night for you, Chlo,” Alya grinned.

“I…I don’t know how to react to that.” Marinette scrunched her face in confusion. “My first inclination is to say she’s exaggerating, but it’s Chloe and if anything she would underplay it. Plus I am extremely not happy with that little insight into Chloe’s bedroom, so… I’m going to ignore this entire conversation.” Marinette said turning back to her tablet.

Adrien looked up from his notes for a few moments staring in thought at nothing, “Valid,” he nodded, turning back to his work as well.

Nino had stayed silent throughout the conversation staring instead unfocused at a spot on the floor for the past few minutes. Adrien glanced back at him with curiosity. “Hey,” he smacked his hand into Nino’s leg, “you okay there? You completely missed us teasing Marinette about her fans. That’s one of your favorite topics.”

“Ahhh, Laurence… yeah, that dude makes me nervous. Michel is cute though. I could see that.” Marinette gave an affronted squawk. Nino continued without acknowledging her, “No, I was just thinking… we know Batman’s secret identity.”

“Yeah,” Adrien said uncertainly.

“And he doesn’t know ours.” Nino continued.

“Right,” Adrien encouraged still not sure where the conversation was going.

“And we have you and Chloe, both pretty famous and could easily end up at a party or event with at least one of them…” Nino mused thinking out loud.

“True.”

“So… how much can we mess with him about it without getting killed?” Nino asked raising his brow with a playful glint in his eyes.

“Dude!” Adrien exclaimed excitedly, his eyes lighting up at the thought.

“You want us to prank the Dark Knight?” Alya looked at him like he was crazy.

“Really?” Marinette deadpanned.

“Yeah, you’re right. It is potentially fraught with danger. We might need to bring Alix and Max in on this.” Nino nodded still thinking about how he could manage it.

Alya dropped her head into her hands, “Idiot.” She muttered shaking her head in her hands, not entirely sure if he was joking or not. Honestly, either option was possible.

“Well, that makes you two perfect for each other,” Chloe deadpanned still focused on writing something down in her notebook missing the withering look Alya shot her.

“Okay Kim,” Marinette rolled her eyes at Nino. She looked uncertain for a moment then pushed herself back until she was sitting on her heels and spoke hesitantly, “Or… we could discuss if we are still certain we don’t want the Batfamily here. Are we sure we don’t want their help?”

“Yes, yes we are,” Alya replied, her voice bordering on disbelief that Marinette would even ask. “We know what the Justice League is like. We know what they’ve done and we have a damn good idea what they could do given half the chance. We gave in on Constantine and look what happened. We cannot trust them.”

“Think about the last few weeks, Marinette. Think how much worse they would have been if those people had powers to begin with and understood the extent of their powers, how to push them, how to exploit them. What to ask for from Hawkmoth to do the most damage?” Nino added.

“The bats don’t have superpowers.” Marinette defended.

“But they work with people who do. They have strategized attack plans around people who have powers. They understand them and what’s most effective…” Chloe added barely looking up from her notepad.

“And they are incredibly well trained in combat and strategic planning… It would be hard enough without them having super powers. With them, we would be fucked.” Adrien added cutting in on Chloe’s statement.

“We are barely keeping up as it is. If one of the bats of Justice League were to get akumatized…” Nino let the statement trail off, allowing everyone to use their imagination to fill in the rest.

“Exactly! We are barely keeping up. Do we need to consider getting help? From someone with more experience and different skills? From someone with experience using superpowers against an opponent?” Marinette ran a hand over her face, “I’m just… I’m getting scared. And I don’t know if that is because I’m seeing a pattern or if I’m just frustrated with where we are and desperate for any change. And the more distance I have from it, the more I wonder if Constantine was right. Is it time to bring someone in, but we’re just too scared to try something different?”

“As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by a banal, obvious statement,” she glared at Adrien, “they have a good understanding of powers, their strengths and weaknesses, and how to strategize around them, which would make them powerful akumas, or incredibly advantageous assets against an akuma.” Everyone stared at her in surprise. “Stunned looks terrible on you.” She said making clear she was directing it to all of them. “The silent awe of me is appropriate though.” She said sitting back in her chair only to immediately grunt and start squirming against the fabric again.

“It isn’t just the powers, I don’t trust them, especially Batman. If we give them half the chance, I’m afraid they will try to take the miraculous because they think they could wield them and protect them better.” Adrien admitted.

The group took a second to let both sides of the argument sink in, unsure how to move forward. Both outcomes could lead to horrific outcomes that nobody wanted to allow. They were all afraid and they knew they were, but like Marinette, they didn’t know if the fear was holding them back from making a mistake or from having a breakthrough.

After a few moments of quiet, Nino broke the quiet in a soothing voice, “We have no way to know which way things will tilt. Let’s see what we get from the files and reassess then. No reason to introduce more chaos until we know what we have to work with already. Have you found anything yet?”

“A bit. Ugh,” she said accepting the change of topic and looking at her notebook with disgust, “this would be so much easier if the kwamis could just tell us all the possible uses of the miraculous were and the ways they could be combined.”

“Yeah, but then Hawkmoth would have known too… and Mayura and Argus.” Tikki pointed out.

“That’s a horrifying thought. I don’t think we could have taken Hawkmoth and Mayura when we started if they had known all their options.” Adrien shuttered thinking about it.

“That’s why they created the rule that kwami could only tell the very basic powers and responsibilities. Anything more than that can only come from the Order, so if anyone stole a miraculous, they wouldn’t be able to effectively wield it, making it easier for trained wielders to get it back.” Trixx said.

“A bit more effective back when there was an Order and masters who actually trained wielders, but you know, times change,” Plagg shrugged with a thinly disguised disgust.

“Okay but let me just say not having known this,” Marinette turned the tablet around for them to see the image of the dragon miraculous she had been studying, “was an option is extremely upsetting.”

“Dibs!” Nino called out, jumping up from the couch before anyone else could call it.

“Fuck you, I saw it first. I’ve got dibs. I’ve got plans for it.” Marinette blew him off.

“No way, you’re going to see all of them first.” Nino pouted.

Marinette grinned at him, “Guardian” she singsonged.

Trixx floated up closer to the tablet. “Oh that one. Yeah, everyone likes that one. It’s actually just a variation of the power you know already so it is a lot easier to pick up than it looks.”

Plagg floated next to her to check it out too. “If you like that one, just wait until you find out about…” his sentence was cut off by an overflow of green bubbles falling out of his mouth, causing him to glare at nothing and everything at the same time.

“Okay enough of that. My turn.” Chloe announced turning her laptop to display pictures of each of the Waynes and their alter egos.

Adrien leaned forward to get a closer look at the images and suddenly his eyes got huge and he gasped, “Oh my God… in the name of all that is holy and good in this world, please tell me the one in the godawful, Red Skull wannabe mask is the one you were making heart eyes at all night. Please, please, please…” Adrien begged Marinette.

Marinette refused to meet his eyes and pursed her lips, focusing intently on the laptop. “No comment.”

“It is him! Can I please, please be there when you ‘discuss’ that mask with him before we kick him out?” Adrien said shaking with delight at the thought of it.

Marinette glared at him, “We are going to be focusing on getting them out of Paris without drawing further curiosity or ire, not their wardrobe.” She pointed out turning to Chloe with an expectant look trying to prompt her to continue but couldn’t stop herself from whipping back toward Adrien, “And, I don’t even know if he was even interested in me at all. It’s far more likely they are concerned about the situation than he is about getting a date.”

Chloe rolled her eyes, “You’re not that stupid, Dupain-Cheng. The honeypotting wouldn’t have worked if he wasn’t interested.”

“I did NOT honeypot him…. And I still don’t know what that means!” Marinette yelled exasperated.

“Yeah, yeah. But I get to be there right?” Adrien implored ignoring her annoyance and still not giving her a definition. At this point, it was a matter of pride… or comedy. Either way, he was dedicated to never telling her what it meant.

“Oooooo and me too,” Alya jumped in.

“You should just leave your com on so we can all hear.” Chloe commented with feigned disinterest.

“We should put it on speaker. The kwamis will want to hear it too.” Nino agreed with a grin.

“I hate all of you,” Marinette grumbled crossing her arms in front of her as she pouted.

Adrien chuckled at her before putting her out of her misery, “Okay, Chlo. What did you figure out?”

“So, I focused on Bruce Wayne, Richard Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, and Damian Wayne. I couldn’t get an identity on Spoiler and there is no public information on Cassandra Cain, who is probably Batgirl, so I could only look at her vigilante work. But if Constantine is right, they are both still in Shanghai. It is unlikely they would have brought them in just to talk with us. So for tonight, they don’t matter.” Chloe explained before continuing with her analysis.

“The rest of the Wayne family are a treasure trove of insecurities, pressure points, and triggers. I’m just going to go over the biggest ones since we hopefully will only have to deal with them for a few minutes at the most. These unstable assholes are definitely Hawkmoth’s wet dream. Extremely well trained and no control over their emotions. All have extreme versions of insecurity complexes, but react differently.

“Bruce Thomas Wayne is a control freak. His public persona isn’t much help. As far as I can tell, most of it is a mask. He pretends to be a drunk, irresponsible, billionaire playboy but we know he’s Batman so all that is bullshit. What isn’t is that he is a good negotiator and actor, all of which means he can be a good manipulator and we know from his experience as Batman that he is extremely strategic. Be suspect of anything he tells you. His intentions appear to stem from a genuine concern with making lives better, but how much he is willing to listen to other people’s opinion of what constitutes better is questionable, especially after what we know of the Justice League’s actions. He has a history of enforcing his vision onto other people, whether they want it or not, of taking control. He needs to be in control, or feel like he is so he can prepare for what is coming and make sure it doesn’t turn against him.

“The oldest, Richard John Grayson, has a martyr complex. He’s so devoted to the saving people thing he became a cop in his civilian life as well, by all accounts an uncorrupt one, and that’s saying something in Gotham and Blüdhaven. Takes on too much at one time trying to fix everything and feels responsible for every bad thing that happens, even if he wasn’t there… especially if he wasn’t there, to stop it. If he only would have done whatever, then the bad thing wouldn’t have happened. If only he was better, blah, blah, blah. Sound familiar?” she looks pointedly at Marinette. “That’s his weakest spot. He takes the blame.

“The next, Jason Peter Todd has abandonment issues. He’s constantly waiting for people to walk away from him like his parents did. There is something more there, I know there is, like whatever happened when he disappeared for a few years, but we don’t have access to that information. Ridiculously protective of kids on the street, I think because he essentially grew up on them himself. But, here’s the catch, he became a crime lord in order to protect them. He is willing to go dark to protect people, so they never have to feel like he did and never have to do what he had to do. He’s straightforward and aggressive. He feels like everyone is going to walk away from him because he isn’t enough for them to stay. He’s dangerous.

“The next, Timothy Jackson Drake has inadequacy issues. Wealthy, absentee parents who likely never treated him like anything more than a business asset.” She looked sympathetically at Adrien. “He is a certified genius. Started running Wayne Enterprises a few years ago. He likes a challenge and is an incredible negotiator. He likes working things out on his own. He’s smart and curious. He knows exactly what to ask in order to get the information he needs without you even knowing that’s what he did. Be careful answering any questions or reacting to any statements from him. He is constantly trying to prove himself so people will love him. He takes any failure extremely personally because it means he doesn’t deserve love and a reminder that he isn’t who he thought he was and therefore not worthy.

“The youngest, Damian Wayne, known as the Ice Prince in Gotham, has a superiority complex. Nobody gets close to him and nobody wants to. He showed up in Gotham at age 10 with a fully-fledged attitude. Everyone and everything is beneath him. He also drives himself to extremes in order to confirm his superiority. He insults and belittles others because he believes he should be superior to everyone around him, but he is afraid he isn’t and if he isn’t better, then he is significantly worse.”

The rest of the room looked at her sympathetically. They all knew she wasn’t just talking about Damian. That was her up until a few years ago. She needed to believe she was better than everyone else and needed everyone around her to believe it too. If she was better then she deserved her parents’ love. If she had everyone else’s love, it made it easier to fool herself into believing her parents loved her as well, or blunt the feeling when she would realize just how much they didn’t. But years of therapy, a higher purpose, and real friends that truly wanted the best for her but refused to take any shit from her, made her realize she didn’t need to be that person to deserve love.

“Also keep in mind there are likely significant trust issues going on here.” Chloe continued ignoring the looks from the rest of the room. “There are a lot of reports of violence between Red Hood and Red Robin, Red Hood and Robin, Red Hood and… everyone actually, as well as Robin and Red Robin. Based on fact that violence is higher immediately after a changing of the guard, I’d say the passing of the mantle from one Robin to another has never been consensual and likely contributed to their complexes. They are held together by the thinnest of threads. We can snap that if we need to… but I don’t think we want to go that far. If we snap that… I don’t know how much damage that will do or if they will come back from it.” She cautioned hesitantly.

“Agreed. I don’t want to go there. There is plenty to use without going into the family issues, without causing irreparable damage.” Marinette concurred. They didn’t want the Bat family in Paris but they didn’t want to destroy them either. She wasn’t willing to let herself or her team become monsters in order to stop them. At the end of the day, they were ultimately all on the same team, they all wanted the same outcome, they just had different ways they wanted to get there… and different ideas about who got to decide that… and who should lead it…

“God these people need a hug not whatever that ‘family’ of theirs is providing each other.” Nino said aghast at the report.

“Marinette’s already on top of that, at least for one of them…” Alya smirked.

“Fuck you, bitch.” Marinette narrowed her eyes at her.

“I’m on top of that one,” Nino grinned, raising his hand.

“Oh God. Seriously we need to investigate that brain bleach thing,” Marinette groaned squeezing her eyes shut trying to keep that image from appearing.

“Okay,” Adrien announced over everyone, “we all agree after this whole Hawkmoth thing is over, I get to kick Constantine’s ass and we all portal over to the Batcave and hug the insecure, unfairly cute, prickly, little echidnas until they feel better, right?” Adrien asked solemnly.

“Ugh, fine but I’m not hugging the gremlin. Someone else gets that one,” Chloe called out throwing out her arms.

The room stilled as everyone else looked at each other, “Not it!” they all called at almost the exact same moment.

“Damn it,” Nino cried as he realized he had been a few seconds slower than everyone else.

“That’s what you get for being a turtle. When the confrontation happens, I got the pampered rich kid.” Chloe announced. This was her area. She knew just where to push kids like that, like her. She knew exactly what to say to get them, her, to hit them at their most vulnerable. To push just enough to make an impact without breaking them.

“No, Chloe. We don’t want to tip our hand and we need you guys to stand sentry. I want you, Alya, and Nino to hang back acting as scouts. This is likely to go bad and I need you guys in a triangular formation a block out watching for akumas. Adrien and I will talk to them.”

“Alone?” Nino asked tentatively. His job was to protect. He didn’t like the idea of not being close enough to act if they should need it.

“They aren’t going to attack us, at least not physically. And we will take an extra miraculous each.” Marinette smiled gently to placate him.

“Are you sure two is enough, m’lady?” Adrien asked curiously.

“You sure you aren’t just trying to keep it a bit more intimate for you and your boy?” Alya waggled her eyebrows.

Marinette glared at her, “Two should be enough.” She said ignoring the previous statement, “Combined with your two, we should be able to cover what we need to. It’s just the Batfamily. We should be able to handle them with just one each even if they wanted to attack us.” She grinned at Adrien. “Magic, gotta love it.”

“Okay but when he calls you incompetent, which he will, you need to push back. Point out the ways he’s failed. He isn’t better than us, no matter what he thinks and the sooner you make him realize that, the sooner the real conversation can start.” Chloe warned.

“He is all of, what, 13? We are not going to try to emotionally damage a child.” Nino stated flatly.

“As long as he thinks he is better than us, he won’t take us seriously.” Chloe warned. Nino just glared back at her, not willing to give in on this. “Fine, if you don’t want to point out his failings, then point out the most impressive things we’ve done that they haven’t. That should suffice. Not as effective, but it should get you there.”

“Okay, if we’re going to start discussing strategy, we’re going to need some sustenance. Let’s get dinner ready so we can start discussing the plan for tonight,” Alya said throwing Nino’s legs off her lap. Marinette and Nino followed her to the kitchen leaving Chloe and Adrien behind.

“You know, I noticed something with your analysis, Chloe,” Adrien started quietly keeping his eyes on their friends.

“I would hope you noticed more than just one thing,” Chloe chided him.

“Cute,” he said rolling his eyes, “Jason was the only one you said was dangerous, why is that?

“I thought it was obvious? The others have a limit. I don’t know that he does. And Marinette likes him, a lot. He has a power to hurt her that the others don’t. And they are very different. They are both willing to go as far as necessary to help others, but to her that means killing herself, to him that means killing everyone else and himself,” She looked at him uncertainly, “and I’m not sure how she will react to that.”

“You think he would do that if we let him stay here?”

“I don’t know enough about him to predict what he will do. He dialed it back to work with the bats again but… There really isn’t that much on him. I can tell you what Red Hood has done and that is bad, but not Jason Todd. Since he disappeared, presumed dead, hell maybe he was, who knows what happens in Gotham, there is nothing on Jason Todd. If you want me to try to predict, you can hop on down to Africa and see if you can borrow the kwami of prediction. Until then, it’s all guesswork. I need to see him. See how he acts before I could even try.”

He stared at her for a few seconds a look of utter confusion on his face, “You think the kwami of prediction is in Africa?”

“Do you ever hear any miraculous related shit doing down in Africa?” she fixed him with a knowing stare.

“No,” he said cautiously

“Exactly, because they know what’s coming and they do their fucking jobs.” She winked at him and walked away.

<><><><><>

Bruce, Jason, Tim, and Damian sat in the living area of Bruce’s hotel room in various states of suited up for the night. They had barely had time to throw their bags in their rooms before meeting up to prepare for the night. Damian was completely dressed and ready to go on a moment’s notice, as always more than ready to focus on business. Bruce and Tim were in everything but their masks, choosing comfort until they had to leave. Jason was sitting in a large chair in just his pants and shirt, attempting to look relaxed and nonchalant about them being so close to the girl he met at the gala. They were all staring at a massive screen linking them to Dick, Alfred, and Selina in the Batcave.

“So, how’s Paris, boys?” Selina asked from her position lounging in one of the chairs. “Meet any interesting people yet? Jason?” She added with a smirk.

“You know Bruce, all work and no play. We haven’t gotten a chance to get out and meet anyone. Doing this instead.” Jason shrugged with a practiced indifference, forcing himself to recline further back into the chair in an effort to seem casual.

“Haven’t even gotten to see the Eiffel Tower yet?” She asked in mock sympathy.

“Oh, no, we saw it… from the plane.” Jason played along.

“You really should make sure to visit the Eiffel Tower while there, Master Bruce.” Alfred threw in trying to downplay his amused smile.

“It’s not as impressive as you think it will be,” Tim muttered to nobody in particular.

“We’re here for a reason, Jason. If we don’t want to lose today, we need to get started immediately…” Bruce admonished him but upon looking up and seeing Alfred’s unimpressed look added, “We can get lunch near the Eiffel Tower tomorrow. Better?” He looked to Alfred who switched to small smile instead. Taking that as approval, Bruce nodded to Tim indicating they were ready for him to start his presentation.

Tim nodded to Bruce and moved to the front of the group and pulled up an image from the Ladyblog displaying five superheroes and their names on half of the screen. “I’ve found a few local resources on the heroes we couldn’t see back home and have downloaded their contents and sent them back to you guys,” he said nodding toward the half of the screen displaying the cave, “so you can look through the information as well. I’m not sure what is preventing the data from being accessible from America, but I suspect magic.” He glared at the screen like it personally offended him, “I hate magic.

“I’ve only had about 30 minutes to prepare so this is going to be brief. I mainly focused on… well actually I mainly focused on figuring out the best resources for information, downloading copies of the site content, and sending a copy back to the batcomputer. But after that, I mainly focused on figuring out who the heroes are so we know who we might run into and who to look for tonight.

“The available information indicates a villain named Hawkmoth appeared in Paris roughly five years ago…”

“Huh. Where have I heard that before?” Jason muttered from his seat.

“… and the heroes Ladybug and Chat Noir appeared at the same time.” Tim continued a bit louder this time. “There appear to be five regular heroes and a few heroes that appear from time to time. Here are images of the heroes we know about,” he nodded to the image on the screen. He switched briefly to another image displaying the lesser known heroes before returning to the image of the main five heroes. “Not every battle is caught on camera and of the battles that are caught, most of the actual fighting is not caught, making it easy to miss heroes and villains in the fight. The resources make it clear there likely are more heroes that we don’t know about, which I would say is a definite since your girlfriend didn’t appear on any of the sites.” He nodded toward Jason who just huffed and crossed his arms in response, not willing to give him the satisfaction of a reaction.

“The primary heroes are Ladybug and Chat Noir, with Ladybug as the leader. Those are the two we need to convince if we want any information. We know a few identities of past heroes, including a girl who lives in this hotel, Chloe Bourgeois. She was a bee themed heroine named Queen Bee. Since then another bee themed heroine has appeared and is one of the 5 regulars.”

Jason narrowed his eyes at the screen, “It looks like the same person. Could it be her in a different costume?”

“I don’t think so,” Tim answered shaking his head, “When I was looking at her page on the sites I think I saw that she has been seen at the same time as the new bee hero. I can analyze it more when I get more time, but the local experts don’t appear to think they are. We don’t know the identity of the new bee.”

“You think they look similar?” Dick asked incredulously. “You’re crazy. Their costume, hair color, eye color, height, everything is different.” Jason looked between Dick and the image of the two bee wielders a few times. One of them was crazy, he just wasn’t sure which one of them it was.

“Figure out where she lives then you should arrange to run into her tomorrow.” Bruce said nodding toward Tim.

Tim gave a single nod to Bruce accepting the assignment. “There seems to have been a massive overhaul of heroes about a year into the fight. All of the heroes except Ladybug and Chat Noir were replaced with new heroes. No explanation was given… or maybe there is one I just haven’t found it yet.”

Damian scoffed, “There’s one villain and five or more heroes and they haven’t been able to take him down? Pathetic. These are the people entrusted with objects capable to destroying the world?”

“I haven’t been able to get much information yet so we don’t know exactly what is going on but it looks like there is more than just Hawkmoth. He might be a leader or mastermind behind the villains. I’ve seen at least a few other villain names mentioned when looking up the heroes.”

“Do we think they all have a miraculous as well?” Dick asked.

“Not sure. I haven’t gotten that far yet, but it stands to reason.” Tim nodded absentmindedly.

Jason moved closer to the screen staring intently at the pictures of Ladybug from different years. There was something familiar about her but there was something else sitting on the edge of his consciousness, he just needed to figure out what his subconscious was trying to tell him. His eyebrows furrowed and he narrowed his eyes trying to block out anything but the images. His eyes widened as the realization suddenly hit him, “Mother fucker!” He whipped around to Tim, “Do we have any indication of how old these heroes are? They look like babies in those older pictures.”

Tim shrugged, “Haven’t gotten that far yet so, not sure. But I glanced at a section on Ladybug and Chat Noir throughout history so at least for them, somewhere between 5 and 5000. I should have a better idea tomorrow after I’ve had a chance to read a bit more.” He squinted at the pictures, “You think they look young?”

“You don’t?” Jason asked incredulously.

Damian examined the images a bit harder as well. “They do seem around my age in the first images.”

“Really? I’m with Tim, I can’t tell either. I can’t get a good feel for age when I look at the pictures.” Dick’s voice came over the speaker. “That’s strange. Their faces are at least partially exposed. I should be able to get an idea at least.” He paused for a few seconds. “Do you think the magic is helping conceal their identities as well?”

Tim stared at the images as well, moving slowly closer to them, “Maybe,” he nodded subconsciously, “I can’t get a feel either. The longer I stare at them the harder it is to tell anything.”

“Magic.” Bruce shook his head in disgust. “Anything else to tell us tonight, Tim?”

Tim shook his head “Not today. I’ll have more tomorrow.”

Bruce nodded a thanks and switched places with Tim. Damian scowled at Tim and moved to put some distance between him and Tim. Tim fought off rolling his eyes in annoyance, but only just managed it. Bruce turned to the rest of the team, “Okay, as soon as we are done here, we’ll start scouting the city to see if we can make contact. We are not looking to be too subtle with this. We want them to know we are here. If you catch sight of them, let the rest of us know we will send someone to talk to them about a meeting later tonight or tomorrow. I want to make this very clear. Our goal today is to meet the local heroes and set up a meeting in the next few days in order to gather more information. The primary mission is recon. We have no idea what exactly is going on here or how dangerous it is. We are not engaging tonight. We want them to trust us, think we’re on their side, and get as much information out of them as we can, on the situation and the miraculous.”

“If we want them to trust us, we should leave the rabid squirrel here. Or better yet, send his petty ass home. He’s only going to cause trouble.” Jason griped, motioning toward Damian. Tim did roll his eyes this time. It was a stupid fight to pick. Damian wasn’t going anywhere. Damian wanted to come and Bruce gave in. They were just on containment duty now, trying to minimize the damage Damian would do.

“You’ve made your feelings more than abundantly clear on the matter, Little Wing, frequently. Damian is there now. Deal with it.” Dick reprimanded him, tired of this conversation. Jason hadn’t gotten his way in their discussion in the Batcave. He hadn’t gotten his way discussing it the next day. He hadn’t gotten his way in the car on the way to the airport or boarding the plane or on the plane or deplaning or while checking into the hotel, he wasn’t going to get Damian kicked off the mission now.

“Someone needs to be there to make sure you don’t tell them all our secrets trying to impress some vapid, philistine harpy.” Damian snapped turning his back to Jason.

It was a small miscalculation, but in this family that is all that is needed. By moving away from Tim, he had placed himself close to Jason and by turning, he had left himself open to Jason’s much longer arm reach. Jason grabbed Damian’s cape and yanked back sharply. “Watch your mouth, you puerile, creepy, little shit.” Damian let out a startled grunt before landing with a loud thump on the ground. He growled at Jason and tensed to pounce on him.

“Jason!” Bruce admonished moving between the two boys. “Let’s focus on the mission.”

Jason rolled his eyes. Of fucking course that would be Bruce’s reaction. “Right. Don’t want to prevent the oncoming disaster if it’s coming from inside the house.” He leaned back in the chair with a huff. “You want to focus on the mission, Old Man? Fine. Coming at them with an almost full team that includes this asshole,” he motioned toward Damian, “doesn’t exactly scream ‘trust us’, does it? Do we really want everyone to show up to this thing? Maybe one or two of you should stay in the room.”

“Considering your girlfriend threatened to leave us bloody and broken, more is probably a safer bet. We probably should have insisted on Dick coming as well, maybe have the girls meet us here too. And do you really want to leave Damian unsupervised?” Tim asked with a raised brow fully facing him. The only way to attempt to contain Damian at this point was to keep him close and Jason knew it.

“You could stay with him. We weren’t planning on actually having a discussion tonight anyway. That way you could get more research done and someone could watch the child.” Jason reasoned. Tim nodded in thought. Not a bad idea at all. He would like more time to research before they actually interacted with any of the heroes. But it came from Jason so there must be something wrong with it. He just needed to figure out what it was.

Damian growled at the description. “I am not a child.”

Jason scoffed back at him, “You act like one.”

Damian jumped at him flipping midair and unsheathing his katana, landing with it a few centimeters from Jason’s jugular, “Could a child do that?”

“One just did.” Jason glowered at him, hitting the sword away.

“Jason has a point.” Dick spoke up, breaking the tension. Damian whipped his head to Dick’s image on the screen his face giving away a flash of hurt before almost immediately schooling his expression into a blank look.

“Did that hurt to say?” Jason asked with a smirk, “It looked like it hurt. That’s okay sometimes the most satisfying things do.”

“Yeah, that’s healthy,” Tim muttered to himself.

Dick rolled his eyes and continued on, ignoring Jason, “Sending so many, especially hostile ones, looks like a power play. It looks like you’re trying to intimidate them.”

“We are,” Damian snapped at him.

“You aren’t.” Dick corrected him. “You’re trying to get them on your side. You are trying to get them to trust you. Not scare them.”

“We won’t all show up to meet them. I’ll take the lead along with Tim. Jason and Damian will hold back and watch.” Bruce clarified. “For tonight I want everyone out and about so we can cover more ground and hopefully either run into one of the heroes or make our presence known enough to get their attention for tomorrow.”

“If this” Damian indicated all of them in the room, “is all it takes to scare them, they need our help more than we thought.”

“He didn’t say it would scare them, he said it looks like we are trying to scare them.” Jason responded with a sharp edge to his voice.

“You’re welcome to stay back in the room.” Tim offered annoyed with the conversation.

“I have information I want too” Jason growled at him.

“We are not here to get information on that woman.” Tim rebuked him.

“You aren’t” Jason muttered turning away.

“Jason” Bruce said sternly, “We are here to collect data on the miraculous and the heroes and see how much danger we and the world are in and if something needs to be done.”

“Not get you a date with a girl you don’t know and don’t even know if she is interested.” Tim taunted him.

“This is not about getting a date,” Jason defended himself.

Tim, Dick, and Damian all scoffed in unison while Bruce and Alfred gave Jason a skeptical look. Selina sat in the background with an amused smile. Really, the only result she was interested in from this mission was Jason finding his girl.

Jason glared at him before turning to Bruce, “I know what we’re here for…” He wouldn’t turn a date down if it should come up and if he managed to find her, he was definitely going to ask her. But, his priority was to help her, which meant both finding her and getting information on the miraculous. If he wanted to achieve both of his goals, he first needed to focus on that the family wanted… for now, so they would be distracted and he could focus on his other mission alone. “What exactly were you thinking might need to be done?”

“Whatever we have to.” Bruce responded calmly but with steel in his eyes.

Jason furrowed his brows at Bruce. That explanation was significantly more hostile than the original mission statement. Not that he was surprised, but Bruce stating it so plainly meant he considered it a higher probability. “That’s a far cry from the ‘we’re just gathering information’ mission you extolled earlier.” Jason gritted out.

“It’s all related.” Bruce stated.

“Why do you think we’re here, Todd? We need to figure out if we need to acquire the miraculous and how to do so.” Damian snapped at him.

“You’re planning on taking the miraculous?” Tim rounded on Bruce, his confusion evident, having come to the same conclusion as Jason. “You said over and over again you didn’t think we needed to worry about the girl that broke into the cave and now you’re planning on stealing their miraculous?”

“We are not going to steal their miraculous!” Jason exclaimed. What the hell was going on? He had thought they were making progress. Bruce agreed to investigate and offer help fight Paris’ villain and now they were planning on taking out the heroes themselves.

“We are going to assess the situation.” Bruce clarified trying to pacify them and bring emotions down to a quiet rumbling rather than a full out roar. Completely content was never an option and Bruce knew it.

“We wouldn’t steal Green Lantern’s ring, we shouldn’t even be thinking about touching theirs.” Jason yelled.

“We would if he were evil.” Dick reasoned, not at all surprised by the turn of events and long past getting upset when Bruce made plans like these. Bruce liked to be prepared. The Paris heroes might not ever do anything evil. They might become allies, but that wouldn’t stop Bruce from figuring out their weaknesses and how to take them down should the need arise.

“If they were evil, Constantine wouldn’t be helping them.” Jason argued back, his face starting to turn red, “Not wanting to have you interfere doesn’t make them evil B.” Jason argued back.

“We are not planning on taking anything, but we need to be prepared if things go bad. We don’t know enough to even begin to guess what could go wrong to cause us to step in. At this stage, we are just trying to get an idea what is going on so we can get a better idea of what to ask later so we can make a plan.” Bruce started moving toward the balcony doors as he pulled on his cowl, “Now finish suiting up. Let’s go.”

“Oh this is going to go just fucking swimmingly,” Jason muttered under his breath as he pulled on his jacket and grabbed his helmet. Tim hummed in agreement and started bracing for the worst, which was standard practice at this point.

Chapter 5

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Note: *Sigh* I honestly thought they would meet again, kinda, in this chapter, but then they didn’t, the unruly bastards. So very sorry. Next chapter I promise! I swear it is the next scene.

#maribat #jasonette #Pixie Spy

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riskeith · 4 years

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good morning love! (or afternoon for you hehe)

deku vs kacchan part 2 is my favorite ep of the entire series actually. i’ve watch that ep so many times as well it’s just perfect. i got into them when i watched that episode actually! the voice acting god..... literally shivers. now that i think about it it might even be my favorite anime ep of all time help. i just love how bakugou lets it all out and we get to see that side of him.. the insecure scared child he tries to hide. god i could ramble about it forever idk just love it. OH YOU WATCHED THE MOVE RIGHT AFTER? a scene with bakugou and todoroki is guaranteed a good time.. and they work so well together. haha that’s such a nice coincidence tho their dynamic is great in that movie even if it’s mostly kiribaku sjsksjk. what do you think about kiribaku btw?

RIGHT!!! at least we have a couple days to decide hihi.... paimon no longer emergency snack.. only seelie. 🥴 oooh? what kind of thing have you envisioned? (if you wanna share ofc!)

i’ve seen so many people mention that!! like one of the worst parts of the game is that in the higher level you get the less there are to do.. ssjksjdk at some point all you can do is grind domains and try to level up shdkdfhdj

LEVEL 40 INTO A LEVEL 70+ FIGHT ok that’s honestly hilariously brave doesn’t she like die right away 😔 oh yeah you’ll be leveling up Again soon *praying for you*... can’t believe they don’t keep the easy bosses anymore sjdkfh that’s so rude. this game is just grind grind grind. WE NEED A BENNY STORY SO BADLY. like imagine a story with him wanting to seek out diluc because he wants to learn how to fight from a master or something like that. i saw it in a comic and i can’t stop thinking about it 😭 all of them deserve stories!!! there’s so many ways they could make it happen pls mihoyo... chongyun x xingqiu story... <333

shfkjdskdjhf nope right now i’m playing with noelle as my main damage dealer, traveller, lisa and barbara actually. so i think i have a pretty good balance atm.. 2 long range 2 short range-ish. i usually trade out barbara for another character if i have to tho, hehe. that’s only combat though ^ benny is with me when we explore. mood is me having a 5 star and not even using her... i still need to think of ways qiqi could fit into the group yk. is your group still looking the same as before? ooooh if you could rank the elements what would your ranking look like?

172!!!!! that’s a bit short though when you said tall i thought like... 190 or something sjksjdxk. wait how tall are You?

oh i just meant like... people bashing others for spending too much money on the game vs those that bash people for not spending money and complaining that they don’t get 5 star etc? idk yt comments can be so ugly though so it’s a good thing that you don’t read them sjdjdjdkd

that’s super smart!!! you just follow along the plan and delete when you come to the part. must feel so satisfying too i imagine. haha, what little notes i have i put in the notes app and just check up on when i need to. sometimes i even forget they’re there shdkdhsks. my notes are filled with half-assed dialogue or random one words notes that don’t make any sense to me anymore.. nskdhddjdj

you’re right!! so you write at night? sometimes i just open docs on my phone and write a bit before i sleep and when i wake up it’s either a grammatical mess or just... super bad hskshd the brain is simply too tired to create anything shakespeareian

nooo i’ll def check these out and let you know what i think. i’ve seen halsey being in pretty much every klance playlist on spotify so i imagine she portrays their vibes pretty nicely. doesn’t she have a song she sings about being blue and red or something... shdjfhdj such a bad description but i see it being used in edits a lot. also now that i think of it melanie has a song called pacify her that i really like!! do you like it?

THATS SO CUTE YOU ARE A CRYBABY. 🥺 same here tbh i actually like crying sometimes... sjskdjdjd like you said it just feels nice to get it all out. i cry to almost movie or series or book i read i’m a super emotional person but i also think it adds to the experience? you feel more immersed in it that way.

RIGHT??? ITS SO BEAUTIFUL!!! and it’s our boys 😭 and they’re cuddling 😭 under the sun 😭 ssjdjdhdjdj 😭

can’t wait to hear from you again <3 yours, ma <3

good night! more like ahhah

:o!! that’s so legendary of them wow.. <33 and yeah honestly the voice acting is phenomenal.. and all the implications behind the fight too? bakugou finally opening up? midoriya understanding that what he needs is to fight him? ugh. kiribaku is fine! fhdsjfks my brain is so full of todobaku that any other ship is really just... in the background hfskjfs but i can appreciate the relationship they have! with kiri being the only one bakugou has really acknowledged and seeing as being on the same level, that iconic hand clasp when bakugou was being rescued... i have a kiribaku fic in my drafts but idk if i can ever get to it ahha. you like them a lot right?

ikkk also i didn’t know we had to wait until the very end to buy? i have more than enough to buy it rn but when i clicked it said ‘must explore area 14 first’ and i was just... bruh. AHAHAH. okay so in my mind it’s like.. chongyun at a funky angle we’re kinda looking up at him and his body is like bent down towards us fhsdkjs idk how to describe it but i can picture it very well but i also cannot put it to paper/screen. and then his clothes are just black instead of white! HAHAH. tho i kinda wanna see if i can draw a xiao first to offer up to the gacha gods hfsdjkfs (and if i can i’ll do a version w a dark outfit too for u hehe)

legitttt im literally just logging in and grinding the talent domains every day fhsdkjfhskfhjd there are some artifacts i want as well but the domain is literally SO difficult for me fuck.

i just go in and use her skill then heal a bit and switch right away fhsdkjfsd it going alright! and then i go ham with my other 3 charas and switch back to her to heal again fhskfjd. OMGGG that’s so cute please... i miss diluc too... come back!! i wish we had a way to replay the old quests even if we get nothing out of them like i just wanna experience it again ya know.

oooo! that’s pretty nice. hfskjd you could switch barbara out for qiqi! since she’s a healer as well. omg wait you have lumine right? so your combat team has no males? legendary 😩 we love fighting queens! ya! traveller, chongyun, xiangling, fischl. and then i switch depending on the domain/boss i’m gonna fight. hmm elements I think would go: anemo, cryo, electro, pyro, hydro, geo, dendro? LMAO i reckon if i had diluc tho pyro would be higher... i also almost forgot to add geo to that list lmaooooooo oops, hbu??

I JUST SAW THE LINK.... AAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! the bestest boys look how cute they’re sjdkfjdjjdd i’m obsessed. the picture where benny has his back turned sjdudjdjddnd stop. 🥺 they’re so neat. 🥺 also NO ARE YOU SERIOUS? that’s so upsetting are you gonna try it out nonetheless or do you think it’s too risky?

they’re SO neat!!! and bennett facing the other way was so fhskjfd yeah cute <3333333 I KNOWWW IM SO SAD :((( and no...... im not gonna try 😭😭😭 i told my brother about it too and he asked how many rolls i was at and i said 70 and he was straight up ‘you can’t try then’ and i was like ‘i know 😔😔’. @ xiao... i am giving up xingqiu rate up for you 😤😤😤😤 ugh i hope i can still get xingqiu in xiao’s banner tho even tho the chances will be shit. are you gonna roll ganyu’s banner?

FHSKJFSD NOOOOOO don’t tell me 172 is average for you wtf... (apparently the average male height in japan is 160cm! for reference ahah) and i myself am. one hundred and. fifty something cm hfsdjfhskjdfhskdjfhw9uehdsifhwsdkjfhsdkfhsd 😔 big sighs lmaoooooooo. how tall are you? (im assuming much taller 😔😔😔😔😔)

ooh notes app? nice ahaha. fhdkjfhskfsk hdthat’s the mood tho! if i don’t have my laptop with me i’ll write out everything on notes first then transfer to my laptop~

AHAHAH yeahhh i think mostly i do? bc during school times i’ll only write after i’m done with my work which = night time. for a while Peak writing time for me was like 1am lmfao but i do that in a like half-asleep half-conscious state so when i come back the next day at a “normal” time i run into the same issue as you fshdfkjshfs

she does!!! it’s called colours 😩 but i think the one i related to voltron most is control! there was this really good shiro edit with that song i still remember it to this day <3 yeah i do!!! i like most of melanie’s songs actually ahahah. i think my favourite for a while was show and tell~

it totally does!! like it’s satisfying as well you know... like the characters have gone through so much and you experienced that with them so it’s natural to get emotional about it. that reminds me, what kind of books do/did you read? did you read all Those YA novels ahah talking about crying has reminded me how i cried reading those..

<333 i wanna be there with them 😩 actually no i want to BE them 😩😩😩

eager for your response <33 love, c.r.

#marriage anon #wowclunaanswers #long post

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hellofromthe-otter-slide · 5 years

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A Soft Ending (My Love)

We’ve reached the end of this series, but never fear! I’m a bit attached to this little series (even if Noelle Stevenson completely blew up my theory with season three. It’s whatever, Noelle. I’m not hurt at all). If you have anything you’d like to see me write in this series, let me know.

Enjoy!

Read on AO3.

Catra wakes up feeling warm, the sun coming through a crack in the blinds helping to warm up the nighttime air, and she snuggles back under the covers. Without looking at any sort of clock, she knows it’s early, way too early to be up, and yet Adora is already out of bed and pulling on training clothes.

Catra groans. “Why do you have to go train now?” she whines, though she would never admit it.

Through her barely-cracked lids Catra can see Adora smile. “You know,” Adora says softly, “You’re cute first thing in the morning.”

Catra flops onto her back and rolls her eyes, “You would be cuter here in bed with me.”

Adora sits on the edge of the bed and scratches just behind Catra’s ear, and she’s too tired to fight off the purr. “You could come train with me.”

“Or I could go jump off a cliff.”

Adora laughs, “It’s not torture.”

Catra starts tugging on Adora’s shirt to try and get her to stay. “You’ve been training too much lately.”

And she has. With Bright Moon preparing for a final battle against the Horde and the Princess Alliance meeting more and more often, Adora has essentially been training whenever she isn’t in a meeting. Catra tried getting Adora to take a break or focus on something else, but Adora refused ever time, repeating over and over again that if she doesn’t train, if she isn’t ready, then Hordak will win.

It’s the same argument that Catra knows Adora is about to use, so just as Adora opens her mouth to say it, Catra cuts her off. “If you keep training like this, you’re going to burn out, and then Hordak really is going to defeat you.”

“That’s blunt.”

“It’s honest.”

“I just—” Adora struggles for some way to explain it.

“I know,” Catra says, untangling her fingers from Adora’s shirt so that she can hold Adora’s hand.

Catra isn’t dumb. Catra knows the responsibilities Adora has as She-Ra. She knows how many people are depending on Adora to lead Bright Moon and the Rebellion to victory. She knows how many expectations sit on Adora’s shoulders and how much Adora worries about it.

“One more hour,” Catra tries to convince her, “And then I’ll let you go train.”

Adora looks like she wants to say no.

“Come on,” Catra tugs on Adora’s hand, “I was up ridiculously late last night helping C’yra with trade agreements, and all I want is one more quiet hour in bed with my girlfriend.”

Adora finally starts letting Catra pull her back to bed. “I think I can manage one more hour.”

“I’ll try not to make it too hard on you,” Catra jokes as she wraps an arm around Adora’s waist and settles herself against Adora’s chest.

Catra falls back into a half sleep while Adora’s runs her fingers through Catra’s hair.

~*~

Catra watches Adora train with the older Magicats from the side of the training grounds, her tail flicking with barely-contained frustration.

Adora started getting restless towards the end of their extra hour in bed, and Catra couldn’t convince her to take a longer break. She left the room before Catra even finished getting ready, and now she’s annoyed, because Adora is obviously exhausted with too much on her plate, but she refuses to take care of herself.

“You’re up early,” Catra hears from behind her, and she turns to see C’yra walking up to her, “I figured you would try to get some sleep.”

“I did,” Catra says, crossing her arms and trying her hardest to keep her tail from giving herself away.

C’yra notices. “You seem happy,” she says sarcastically.

“I’m fine.”

C’yra nods and hums, “Whatever you say, kitten.”

Catra turns from her mother to watch Adora again, and her annoyance just grows.

“She’s impressive,” C’yra muses, “Even without She-Ra, she can take down an enemy twice her size.”

Just as C’yra says it, Adora pins the Magicat she’s sparring with.

“She’s working herself to death,” Catra says, trying her hardest not to sound angry, because she isn’t.

Or she shouldn’t be.

“There’s a lot of pressure on her right now.”

“That doesn’t mean she should forget she’s a person and not a super soldier,” Catra digs her claws into her palm, trying so hard to stay calm and keep her voice level, even if she has to grit her teeth, “She’s either in a war meeting or training, and I’m not sure how much she even sleeps right now.”

“You’re worried about her.”

“Of course I am!” Catra snaps and immediately squeezes her eyes shut. She feels gentle fingers unravel her own so that her claws aren’t digging into her skin anymore, and when she opens her eyes, C’yra looks more worried than Catra has ever seen her.

“Go to the library, kitten,” she says gently, “Find something to read and take some time to yourself.”

“I need to get Adora to take a break.”

“You need to take care of yourself too,” C’yra lets Catra go, “The quiet will help.”

With on final look at Adora, Catra leaves the castle’s training grounds and heads to the library, and just walking in seems to take away some of her stress. The smell of books and the silence feel comforting in a way she never imagined it could, and she finds herself walking through the huge stacks, avoiding any rows where she can see scholars milling about.

She finds a quiet corner and sits down with a random book she pulls off of the shelf behind her, and she has a few moments of uninterrupted silence before her reading is interrupted by Felix coming towards her.

“I’m fine,” she says before he even has a chance to say anything.

“I was only going to ask how the book was so far,” he says, stopping beside her and scanning the shelves like he was only coming to her solitary corner to find something. Catra can tell it’s just an act, though, mostly because Felix rarely pulled anything from the Healing Sciences section.

“Did Mom ask you to come check on me?”

“No,” Felix pulls out a book and pretends to read the back, “She just mentioned that you were worrying over Adora.”

Catra sighs, “Is it really so wrong to be?”

Felix takes that as his cue to stop acting, so he puts the book back and sits on the floor beside her. “Of course it isn’t,” Felix assures her, “It just shows that you care, but you’re letting it take a lot out of you too.”

Catra sets her book aside and pulls her knees up to her chest, her tail wrapping around herself protectively.

“I barely see her anymore,” Catra whispers, “I mean, we see each other in meetings and in the few minutes before and after, but I thought getting her to come to Half Moon would mean she would actually take some time away from it all.”

“Have you told her how much you miss her?”

Catra pauses before saying a soft, “No.”

“You could try.”

“I’m not adding guilt onto the extreme pile of responsibilities Adora feels like she has to handle alone.”

“Then tell her she doesn’t have to handle them alone,” Felix says, getting up from the floor, “Now come on, I know you’re young, but I’m not, and I’d rather sit at a table.”

Catra grabs her book and follows, thinking over Felix’s words.

~*~

Catra sees Adora at lunch, and she barely gets a moment to say anything to her, let alone tell Adora that she misses her, before Adora gives her a quick kiss and says that she has to get back to Bright Moon for meetings with the royal guards.

Catra can't even say goodbye before Adora runs off to Swift Wind.

~*~

Catra is just walking out of a meeting with some of Bright Moon’s higher ranking soldiers when Glimmer appears in front of her in a burst of light and sparkles, grabs onto her, and teleports them away.

Catra rips her arm from Glimmer’s grip when they get to wherever she teleported them. “Sparkles, what the—”

“Adora collapsed,” Glimmer cuts her off.

“What?” Catra starts to feel frantic, “What happened?”

“She was sparring with a few soldiers,” Glimmer explains, “Apparently she fainted mid-spar.”

Catra looks around them and notices that they’re right in front of the infirmary door.

“You can go in,” Glimmer says before Catra can ask, “I’m going to go find Bow.”

And then Glimmer is gone in a burst of glitter.

The infirmary is quiet when Catra walks in, and finding Adora is easy, because she’s in the only bed occupied, a healer standing over her. The healer, one of the fauns who live in the villages surrounding Bright Moon’s castle, smiles at her.

“She’s fine,” he tells Catra, “All she needs is rest.”

“She hasn’t been getting a lot of that lately.”

“That’s why she collapsed,” he explains, “Without enough rest, her current overly-rigorous schedule just became too much for her, even with She-Ra’s strength.”

Catra nods, and the healer takes that as his cue to leave, and Catra is thankful as she sits on the edge of the infirmary bed and grabs onto Adora’s hand. She hears Glimmer and Bow come in, both of them asking the healer questions before sitting down in seats on either side of the bed.

“How are we supposed to get her to actually take a break?” Bow asks quietly so that he doesn’t wake Adora up.

“She’s going to fight any attempts we make,” Glimmer says, and Catra fights rolling her eyes and giving a sarcastic, “No shit.”

“How’d did inviting her to Half Moon work?” Bow asks Catra.

“She ended up spending most of the day training with the other warriors,” Catra says, “Every time I suggested taking a break and doing something else, she fought it.”

“We could try Mystacor,” Glimmer suggests.

“That didn’t work very well the first time,” Bow reminds her.

“Well yeah, but this time there’s no Shadow Weaver,” Glimmer says, and Catra feels just the slightest twinge at the name, even months after Shadow Weaver's death, “There won't be anyone to mess with her head, and she can actually relax.”

"Yeah," Bow draws out, his way of saying no, before politely saying, "Maybe we should think of something else."

They discuss a few other options, anything that might possibly get Adora to just slow down, but nothing seems to be good enough to work, and Catra is about to suggest tying her to a bed when Adora starts to stir, her hand squeezing Catra's.

Adora groans and tries to push herself up, and without thinking, Catra pushes her right back down and keeps pressure on her shoulder.

Bow gets up quickly and puts a gently hand on Adora’s other shoulder. “Take it easy,” he says gently, but Catra hears the littlest bit of force in his tone.

“I’m fine,” Adora argues but her voice is weak and groggy, and Catra feels her push up against her hand again, but Adora isn’t strong enough at that moment.

The fact that that was even true worries Catra.

“Adora,” Glimmer stands up and hovers a hand over Adora’s arm.

“I’m fine,” Adora insists, and she still tries fighting Catra and Bow’s hold, but she’s unsuccessful.

“No, you’re not,” Catra says and pushes Adora down with just enough strength that Adora slumps into the bed. She knows Glimmer and Bow will sugarcoat everything and try and be gentle, but she won't.

She feels Adora move under her hand and almost growls.

“Stop fighting.”

“Let me up.”

“No.”

Catra notices Glimmer and Bow back away from them.

Adora tries to swipe at Catra’s wrist, but with the mix of waking up and the exhaustion that made her collapse in the first place, she barely moves Catra, and Catra lets go of Adora’s hand and shoulder to grab Adora’s wrists to stop her from fighting.

“Catra—” Adora says, and Catra knows that it’s supposed to sound like a warning, but Adora’s voice is barely there, and Catra can see the energy draining out of her quickly.

“Adora, stop,” Catra says softly, “You’re exhausted.”

“I need—”

“To rest,” Catra cuts Adora off, “You collapsed while training and you need to rest.”

“But—”

Catra hisses unintentionally, all of the frustration that has been building up over weeks and weeks of this slipping out without her permission. “Are you trying to kill yourself?”

There are a few whispered words, soft footsteps, and the sound of a door opening and closing. Catra’s ear twitches just so, listening to Glimmer and Bow retreat out of the infirmary and she’s thankful, because she doesn’t know how much longer she can keep her feelings in, and she refuses to show any sort of vulnerability in front of them.

They’ll get their chance to get through to Adora after she’s done.

Adora hasn’t answered, and Catra frustration boils over.

“No, really,” she says, her voice dripping in anger and sarcasm, “I want to know, because at this rate, we might as well send Hordak a letter saying, ‘Congrats! You did it! She-Ra literally worked herself to death, so you’ve defeated her!’”

“Catra—” Adora says, her voice so small, but Catra can’t stop.

“I’ve tried everything,” Catra lets go of Adora’s wrists, refusing to accidentally dig her nails into Adora’s skin, “Glimmer and Bow have tried everything. Even Swift Wind has tried to get you to take a break, and nothing has worked. You keep training and going from meeting to meeting with no break, and I’m just expected to stand by and let you exhaust yourself because you’re She-Ra, and the Rebellion needs She-Ra.”

Catra takes a deep breath, and some of the anger dissipates.

“You’re She-Ra, but you’re Adora too, and I’m not sure how much more your body can take. I’m not sure how much more I can take.”

Adora grabs Catra’s hand but Catra pulls away and stands up from the bed, putting some distance between her and Adora.

Because she knows that when it comes to Adora, she’ll crumble under even one sorry, no matter how ingenuine, and she’s allowed to be upset, especially when her girlfriend ignores her in favor of harming herself.

“Just,” Catra looks down and over to the door and anywhere that isn’t Adora, “Get some rest. Please.”

And then Catra leaves quickly, breezing by Glimmer and Bow waiting outside.

~*~

Catra sees Scorpia stroll through the trees, and she knows Scorpia knows exactly where she is. She knows Scorpia will whistle and pretend like she’s on a nice stroll through the Whispering Woods, and she knows that Scorpia will sit against the trunk of the tree that Catra always climbs up because it’s the tallest one she can find.

Scorpia leans her head against the bark and looks up. “Hey, Wildcat.”

“Hey,” Catra says back, her fingers running over the soft leaves that feel almost unreal, and Catra guesses it has to do with the magic within the woods.

Scorpia takes a moment before asking, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Catra thunks her head back against the trunk and looks past leaves to the pale blue sky. “I don’t even know what to say.”

“I could go get a blanket from the castle,” Scorpia says, and Catra looks down to see her smiling, “I know it’s not the uncomfortable scratchy blue blankets we know and love, but maybe the added softness will help force it out of you.”

Catra smiles back. Scorpia has been gone so long leading Bright Moon's soldiers in taking back small villages conquered by Horde forces, and she didn’t realize until now just how much she missed her best friend.

“I don’t think the blanket will be necessary, Scorp.”

Catra sees Scorpia light up, and she knows it’s the nickname. Catra used it once accidentally, and Scorpia had looked at her surprised. After Catra asked a confused, “What?” Scorpia said, “Nothing. It, just, it makes me feel like I’m actually your best friend,” so Catra has been trying her hardest to use the nickname more.

Because Scorpia is her best friend, and Catra can do this one thing that makes Scorpia feel appreciated, even if she does it with an eye roll.

Scorpia knows that Catra never means it anyways.

“So?” Scorpia asks, her head quirking just so.

“It’s just,” Catra pulls her legs to her chest and hugs them tightly, her tail wrapping around her.

She’s never been good with feelings. She’d rather forget they exist completely, but she knows that she needs to get better, she needs to be more open, if only with a select few, so she tries to voice her thoughts.

“Adora collapsed, and she’s fine, but not really,” Catra says quickly, her eyes closing so that she can’t see Scorpia watching her, “I can’t get her to rest, and she’s working herself to death, and I’m so worried because what if it’s something worse next time?”

“Have you talked to Adora about this?”

Catra rests her chin on her arms and remembers Felix asking the same thing just a week ago.

“Sort of,” Catra says quietly, “I just got so angry and frustrated when she woke up and tried getting out of bed, and I didn’t say anything correctly.”

Scorpia stands up and Catra watches her climb the few low, sturdy branches. She settles herself on one a few feet off the ground and makes herself comfortable before looking back up at Catra.

“From what I understand, explaining it in anger never really works.”

Catra groans, “I didn’t mean to, but she kept insisting she was fine and that she needed to get up and I didn’t mean to snap, but I love her and I’m afraid that if she keeps going on like this, something is going to happen to her.”

Scorpia doesn’t say anything, and Catra notices an amused smile pulling at her lips.

“What?” Catra asks, her voice not nearly as harsh as she wants it to be.

“You love her, huh?”

Catra goes red. She didn’t mean to say that out loud and definitely not to Scorpia. She had planned to never say it, to keep it to herself, because it wasn’t something new to her.

She has loved Adora since they were little kids, and she knows Adora knew that growing up, but they never said it. They showed it through small affections and teasing words and sharing their bunk, and that was always enough.

“No,” Catra says quickly, but Scorpia’s amused smile doesn’t go away, and Catra knows that Scorpia isn’t convinced, so she adds, “Shut up.”

“So, you haven’t told Adora?”

Catra’s ears flatten against her head, “I didn’t mean to tell you. Do you really think I’ve told Adora?”

“You might think about it.”

Catra knows that Scorpia is right, but she doesn’t really want to talk about it anymore, so instead, she stretches out so that she’s lying across the branch and says, “What have you been up to?”

“Oh!” Scorpia says excitedly, “Wildcat, taking back the villages is so much fun! None of the Horde soldiers expect to see me there, and by the time they realize who they’re up against, I’ve already taken the village back and—”

Catra lets Scorpia tell her every story she has, and she gives little hums to let Scorpia know she’s listening to every word.

By the time they head back to the castle, the sun is setting, painting the sky is oranges and reds and pinks, and Catra feels just the slightest bit better.

~*~

Adora finds Catra a few days later in Bright Moon’s library. Catra is in a back corner where she knows no one else goes, her usual table covered in books open to different pages and a notebook with haphazard notes scrawled into it.

Adora takes a moment at the end of the stacks to just watch Catra flip a few more pages, her tail swaying gently and her ears twitching just so, before quietly saying, “I thought you would’ve gone back to Half Moon by now.”

“Horde soldiers have been spotted along Half Moon’s northern border,” Catra says, not even looking up from her book, but Adora can tell that Catra has stopped reading, “I’ve had to sit in meetings trying to get Bright Moon to send soldiers just in case anything happens.”

“They haven’t said yes?”

Catra stops flipping through pages but she doesn’t look up. “There aren’t any soldiers to spare.”

Adora nods, but she doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t know what to say. She can still see Catra leave the infirmary three days ago, still remembers how much it hurt that Catra wouldn’t look at her, and she knew what she wanted to say then.

She has no idea what to say now.

So, she just stands there, and Catra doesn’t move either.

After a few moments of silence, Catra asks, “Are you going to just awkwardly stay there, or can I get back to what I was doing?”

Adora takes a chance and asks, “Can I join you?”

Catra looks up, and Adora can’t quite read Catra’s expression. It looks kind of surprised but also apprehensive, and Adora isn’t sure she blames Catra for that.

“Don’t you need to train?” Catra asks, her voice on the edge of harsh.

“No, I, uh,” Adora doesn’t know what to do with her hands, so her fingers start to twist together, “I’ve been told I need to take a break.”

“You haven’t listened to that before.”

“I know,” Adora says softly, “But I didn’t realize how much I was hurting you before.”

Catra looks genuinely surprised now, like she never expected Adora to admit that so readily, and Adora wonders just how long she went without realizing how affected Catra was by her actions.

“That’s not an apology,” Catra says, her voice losing any edge it had before.

“It wasn’t meant to be,” Adora says, “Can I sit?”

Catra puts down her pencil and slides over on the bench, and Adora takes that as an invitation to sit beside her, but she makes sure there’s space between them, remembering Catra pulling away from her in the infirmary.

“I’m so sorry, Catra,” Adora starts, and her fingers start to wring and twist again, usually so used to having something, someone, to hold onto, “I’m sorry that I hurt you. I know the training was too much, and we never saw each other, and I didn’t even think about it. All I could focus on was me, and I’m so sorry that I’m so selfish.”

“Hey,” Catra says softly, and she scoots closer, one hand resting on top of Adora’s and the other reaching up to cup Adora’s face, “You’re not selfish.”

“I am,” Adora insists, “I—”

“You’re not,” Catra cuts Adora off, “I know the expectations everyone puts on you. You’re She-Ra, and with the Horde edging towards their endgame, everyone expects you to lead the army and destroy Hordak for good, and I wasn’t angry because of that.” Catra starts running her thumb along Adora’s cheek, her tail coming up to wrap around Adora’s wrist like when they were kids, “I was angry, because you weren’t taking care of yourself. You never had a moment to slow down, and you collapsed, Adora.”

“I know,” Adora leans into the touch and closes her eyes.

She didn’t realize before how long it had been since her and Catra were this close, but now that Catra is here and being so affectionate, Adora doesn’t understand how she went without this.

“I missed you,” Adora whispers, unsure of what response she’ll get in return.

“I missed you too,” Catra whispers back, and Adora opens her eyes to see Catra giving her that soft little smile that she saves just for Adora.

“Do you forgive me?” Adora asks, her voice so small and afraid that Catra might say no.

“Will you actually take breaks so that you don't exhaust yourself?”

Adora shakes her head yes.

“Then yes,” Catra says, “I forgive you.”

Adora smiles and leans forward, pulling Catra into a soft, short kiss.

“When did you get so good at talking about your feelings?” Adora asks her when they pull apart.

Catra shrugs, “You get wrapped up in blankets often enough and you realize that just saying what you mean is an easier fate.”

Adora’s eyebrows push together in confusion, and Catra giggles quietly.

“Scorpia,” Catra says in explanation.

“Makes sense,” Adora says, “That bad?”

“You remember those Horde-issued blankets,” Catra jokingly shudders, “Being wrapped in one is a fate worse than death.”

“Maybe we can win by wrapping up every Horde soldier in their blankets,” Adora muses, clearing a small part of the table to she can rest her head on her arms, her body still exhausted even after being released from the infirmary.

Catra goes back to flipping through pages and taking notes, but her tail wraps around Adora’s thigh. “Using their own torture against them would be a sort of poetic justice.”

Adora hums her response and Catra looks over to see Adora slowly starting to fall asleep.

When Adora wakes up, her head is in Catra’s lap, Catra’s fingers running through her hair absentmindedly as Catra reads the book in front of her, and Adora goes back to sleep, a small smile on her lips.

~*~

The reports start flooding in, each spy within the Horde’s ranks confirming the same thing over and over again.

Horde forces have started moving out of the Fright Zone and are setting up on the other side of the Whispering Woods, preparing for battle.

Small factions have set up camp in Horde territories surrounding each kingdom, waiting for the signal.

Even Hordak himself has been spotted among the soldiers at the Whispering Woods camp.

The Rebellion knows that can only mean one thing.

They begin by evacuating any village in the Horde’s line of fire, each princess offering their kingdom as refugee camps. Catra spends days helping the villagers around Half Moon find beds, even giving up her own so that they can have somewhere safe to sleep. She knows Adora, Bow, and Glimmer are doing the same at Bright Moon, hundreds of villagers fleeing there in the hopes of finding solace.

Then, the Princess Alliance starts meeting more and more, discussing tactics and placement of princesses when the Horde finally makes their move. There are arguments for the princesses to stay and defend Bright Moon, arguments for each princess to return to protect their kingdoms, and, surprisingly it’s Catra who speaks up.

“The Princess Alliance is stronger together than apart,” she says, looking at everyone around the table, “We all need to be here.”

“What happens when the Horde camps surrounding our kingdoms attack?” Frosta asks angrily.

“Keep someone trusted in charge and hope that you’ve trained your armies well,” Catra says simply, and even though there’s more arguing after that, in the end, they agree with Catra, each deciding to stay and defend Bright Moon.

The message that the Horde plans to attack the next day is short, just one sentence, but it spurs nonstop movement from the Rebellion. Soldiers are moved around, some kept in Bright Moon and others sent to the other kingdoms in the Alliance, reinforcements start flooding, everyone offering their best fighters to the final battle.

When the Magicat reinforcements arrive, Catra notices C’yra and Felix among them, and she’s quick to argue.

“Half Moon needs their king and queen,” Catra says as the rest of the Magicats walk up to Bright Moon castle, ready to find their quarters and rest before the chaos.

“No,” C’yra says, “Half Moon needs for their queen and king to be right here fighting beside their princess.”

“What if something happens?”

“We do have an army, you know,” Felix says, his voice teasing, “They’ve been rearing for a battle since the Horde attacked after we resettled.”

“This isn’t funny,” Catra argues, “I know there aren’t enough warriors to send reinforcements here and protect Half Moon.”

“Bright Moon soldiers showed up to assist our warriors,” C’yra starts to walk by Catra into the castle, “And everyone agreed that this is where Felix and I needed to be, not fighting the pathetic amount of Horde soldiers camped out right outside our kingdom.”

“It’s almost insulting,” Felix jokes as he follows C’yra, “It’s like they think we wouldn’t be a threat.”

“I’m still not okay with this,” Catra says as she follows them in.

“Good thing it isn’t your choice, kitten.” C’yra smirks at Catra over her shoulder, and she laughs a bit when Catra rolls her eyes in response.

Catra spends part of the day with her parents, filling them in on everything happening around Bright Moon and all of the preparations the Rebellion has undergone to hopefully ensure a win.

She only leaves when C’yra and Felix tell her to go and spend some time with her friends, claiming they want to meet with Angella before there’s no chance to.

Catra spends the rest of her day with Scorpia and Entrapta. They’re in Entrapta’s lab, Catra laid out on her back while Entrapta works on some wiring, and Scorpia fills the silence with stories and musings and ideas for things they can all do together once the Horde is defeated.

Catra can barely imagine what her life will be like without the Horde.

If we even win, she thinks, refusing to say it out loud and possibly ruin Scorpia’s positive attitude.

When Catra gets back to her room, Adora is sat on her bed looking so small and scared.

“I’ve been with Bow and Glimmer all day, but I—” she pauses for just a second, “I want to spend the rest of my time alone with you.”

It’s not late enough to go to sleep yet, but they are snuggled up in bed in minutes, Catra holding Adora against her tightly, and they’re quiet for a few moments, the sound of trees rustling filling the room though Catra’s open window.

“I’m scared,” Adora admits against the short fur of Catra’s throat, “What if I’m not enough? What if She-Ra isn’t enough?”

“You are,” Catra says without any hesitation, because she knows she’s right. She knows that even without She-Ra, Adora would be strong enough to take on Hordak.

“What is we lose?” Adora asks desperately, “What if it’s all my fault?”

Catra pulls away so that she can look Adora in the eyes as she says, “You are not alone out there. You’ve got the whole Princess Alliance backing you up, and even more importantly, you have me. You look out for me and I look out for you, right? Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other.”

Adora still looks afraid, but she smiles as Catra says her own words back to her. “You promise?” she asks, partly because it’s what comes next and partly because she needs the reassurance.

Catra smiles and thinks about how much these words hurt not so long ago.

Now, they’re just as comforting as they were back then.

“I promise,” Catra whispers and brushes a piece of Adora’s hair from her face before pulling Adora to her and kissing her.

This kiss feels so much different than all of their other ones. It’s hurried and hard, like they’re both afraid that this may be the last time they can be with one another like this. Catra tries not to think about how true that fact might be. She pushes away thoughts of Adora losing to Hordak, of something happening to her, and kisses Adora even harder, holding her as close as possible and refusing to think about anything else.

Right now, it’s just Catra and Adora.

There are no final battles, no bleak possibilities, no threats.

There are only desperate kisses, wandering hands, and the soft rustling of leaves.

Later, as the moon rise on Etheria's starless sky, Adora and Catra fall asleep tangled up in one another, Adora running her fingers over Catra’s spine and Catra’s soft purring filling the deep silence of the room.

~*~

The final battle doesn’t happen like Catra expects it to. She expects Hordak to keep fighting, even when it’s obvious the Rebellion has the clear advantage. She expects Adora to lead the charge as She-Ra, and Catra expects to always be at her side, keeping her safe against Horde soldiers and high-tech bots.

She knows she’s going to lose people, but she can’t think of that mid-fight, focusing instead on her claws sinking into metal and ripping as she destroys bot after bot alongside the other Magicats.

She doesn’t expect to watch C’yra go down, though, but she doesn’t think before running over to her, fending off anyone attempting to finish the Magicat queen off until help arrives.

The rest of the battle is a blur after a few healers pull C’yra off the field and Catra is left watching them go, feeling more helpless than she’s felt in a long time. Catra remembers rejoining the fight. She remembers keeping Adora safe as she faces off against Hordak, his villainous speech barely audible over the sound of swords clashing, blasters exploding, and robots whirring.

She remembers glowing orange as the Princess Alliance becomes a united force against the Horde’s army.

And she remembers the moment Hordak falls, She-Ra’s sword held under his chin, and his begrudging surrender.

It all seems to go by in a blur even though the battle takes almost a full day, and Catra remembers it all, but after Hordak is defeated, after the Horde soldiers lay down their arms, after She-Ra shifts back into Adora, war-beaten but altogether okay, Catra runs from the field up to the tents set up right outside Bright Moon castle.

Healers rush around, trying their hardest to help everyone, and none of them even notice Catra looking around frantically. One eyes Catra’s wounds, the cut above her brow dripping blood down her face and the deep gashes along her arms and sides, but she doesn’t say anything. She deems Catra's wounds less serious than anyone around her and moves on to another patient.

C’yra is situated in a back corner, a healer working over her, and Catra can see, even from the entrance, that it’s bad. The wounds are still bleeding despite having happened a few hours before, and the healer has a worried look on his face, like he isn’t sure how to stop it.

“Catra?”

Catra feels a soft hand on her shoulder, and she still jumps, still turns with the claws up, ready to fight, but it’s only Felix looking bruised and beaten.

“She’s—” Catra can’t get it out. She can’t say the words, can’t think of the possibility that C’yra might—

“She’s been through worse,” Felix says, opening his arms up to Catra, and she hugs him and holds tight.

She just got her parents back, and she can't help being afraid that she might lose one of them now.

Felix whispers little reassurances to Catra, but nothing seems to help. She just keeps seeing C’yra falling in battle. All she can see is the blood spilling from the deep gash, and Catra squeezes her eyes shut, hoping that she can fight the images off.

She doesn’t know how long it is before Adora comes to the healers’ tent, She-Ra’s sword still glowing from the battle.

Adora comes over to her before anyone else, and Catra thinks that she should tell Adora to go. She needs to go help the healers, but Catra can’t say it. She just grabs onto Adora and holds tight, fighting off the tears in her eyes.

Adora doesn’t say anything. She just holds Catra until the healer comes over and gives them an update.

The wound was deep, and it took a lot of healing even to close it up, and that wasn't the only damage her body sustained from the fight.

C’yra is stable, but she probably won’t wake up for a while.

Her heart is still beating. She’s still breathing.

She’s alive, Catra keeps repeating to herself, even as the healer leaves them to help others, and she doesn’t know what to do.

She wants to stay and wait for C’yra to wake up, but she knows she’s needed around the castle to help in the aftermath.

“Go,” Felix says softly, like he can read Catra’s mind, “I’ll stay with her, and I’ll have someone come get you if she wakes up, okay?”

Catra nods, and she watches Felix go over to C’yra’s corner and sit on the edge of her cot, his hand grabbing hers without thinking.

“Hey,” Adora says as she reaches out and brushes a bit of Catra’s wild hair out of her face, “I can come with you.”

“No,” Catra says quickly, “They need She-Ra here.”

“I don’t want to leave you,” Adora whispers, and Catra feels the same.

Despite everything, despite having just survived the final battle and C’yra lying unconscious in an infirmary cot, all Catra really wants to do is forget responsibilities and find somewhere quiet where her and Adora can just be together.

But they can’t.

“Tonight, okay?” Catra says, “It’ll just be you and me tonight.”

Adora nods and starts to walk from cot to cot, asking healers what they need from her.

Catra watches her for a few minutes before leaving the tent, looking over her shoulder to check on C’yra one last time.

~*~

Catra and Adora don’t get their night alone like Catra promised. Adora spends hours in the healers’ tent as She-Ra, trying her hardest to save everyone and moving on when she can’t, the weight of each one sitting heavily.

Catra finds herself in front of Angella and Castaspella, arguing a case for the Horde soldiers stolen as children and forced into Hordak’s ranks with no other choice. She talks about her own experiences growing up, how she didn’t even know what her species was called, that she had a family and an entire people outside of the Horde cadets that she never knew about.

“Most of them had no choice,” Catra explains, Scorpia and Entrapta behind her as support, “Their people were either completely eradicated or they were taken as leverage, and none of them got the same chance to escape or defect like we did.”

“Some of them honestly believe in the Horde’s ideals,” Castaspella says, looking weary of the three previous-Horde soldiers stood right in front of her.

“Most of them don’t. They just didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

After hours of back and forth, it’s decided that every Horde soldier will be given the chance to reject the Horde’s ideals, and any who don’t will be jailed and given a trial before the Sorcerer’s Council in Mystacor. All ranking officers wouldn’t be given a choice.

By the time Catra and Adora were done with their responsibilities for the night, they just found a bed wherever they could and fell asleep apart, their last thought of each other.

~*~

News from the Rebellion’s kingdoms start to arrive in the morning, and for the most part it’s good.

For the most part, the Rebellion’s forces were able to fight off the small encampments, and there were very few injured and even fewer deaths.

Catra reads the letter from Pisica on her own off in the Whispering Woods between talking to Horde soldiers and discussing trial proceedings for the ones who still remained loyal to Hordak. It’s the first break she’s gotten all day, her first moments alone since before the battle started, and she enjoys the silence and hopes that no one comes to find her for a bit.

“There were minimal casualties,” Pisica writes, “We underestimated the soldiers stationed outside of Half Moon, though. They were stronger than we assumed, but there wasn’t much damage to Half Moon.”

Pisica sounds formal and direct in her writing, so different from what Catra is used to, and she sees why Pisica’s writing seems so off.

At the bottom of the letter is a list of those who lost their lives protecting Half Moon.

Alonzo’s name is at the top of the list.

“No,” she repeats over and over again, the words really sinking in, and Catra can’t stop the tears from spilling over.

She cries for Alonzo and the other Magicats who died in battle.

She cries because C’yra still hasn’t woken up.

She cries because the stress of the final battle and everything leading up to it finally dissolves.

She cries because it’s over and they won, but it doesn’t feel like it.

Catra hears the sound of feet against soft earth, and she curls up in a ball and hopes that whoever it is doesn’t find her.

Gentle hands wrap around Catra’s wrists and pull her hands from her face, and through her tears she sees Adora with deep bags under her eyes and She-Ra’s sword nowhere to be found.

“He’s dead,” Catra chokes out, “Alonzo’s dead.” It’s all my fault, Catra doesn’t say out loud, He asked me to train him, to help him get better, and it wasn’t enough to keep him safe.

Catra thinks of Alonzo sitting across from her on Beast Island insisting that she teach him. She thinks of his determination, his want to best Catra, even though he never did.

Catra’s tears turn into choking sobs, and Adora holds her close, not saying anything because she knows nothing will really help. All the words and reassurances in the world wouldn’t bring Alonzo back.

It feels like hours before Catra’s sobs quiet down to soft tears, and Adora picks her up and cradles Catra against her as she walks back to the castle.

They fall asleep together, Adora holding Catra in the safety of Adora’s room, and every time either one of them wakes up from a nightmare, the other is there to hold them close and help them fall back asleep.

~*~

The next day, Catra and the other Magicats return to Half Moon to be present for the funerals of those who fell in battle.

In C'yra and Felix's absence, Catra says the Magicat blessing for the dead, the words coming out almost mechanically, and she feels numb as the family members of the fallen light each pyre, the fires burning strong and bright.

~*~

Catra splits her time between Half Moon and Bright Moon in the week following the battle, and she keeps herself as busy as possible to keep her mind off of the fact that C’yra still hasn’t woken up.

Finding work isn’t an issue. When she’s at Half Moon, her time is spent filling in for C’yra, helping Magicats with their concerns and assisting in the few repairs that need to get done, and when she’s at Bright Moon, she’s in meetings and sitting among the Princess Alliance through the trials of Horde officers and loyal soldiers.

The few moments she gets with Adora are fleeting, both of them drowning under their responsibilities, and each one gets shorter and shorter as the week goes on.

She’s just leaving Adora’s room after their only moments together all day when a healer runs up to her.

“Princess Catra,” he says, his words coming out in puffs, “It’s Queen C’yra. She’s awake.”

She shoves past him without thinking, instantly forgetting the meeting she was supposed to go to.

The infirmary is clear on the other side of the castle, and she’s breathing hard as she comes up to the door and pushes it open, narrowly missing one of the healers on the other side. She mumbles a quick apology and rushes to the back corner where she knows C'yra is.

Felix smiles at her as she runs up, and he puts his hands up to stop her. “Calm down, sweetheart,” he says, voice soft and comforting.

“The healer told me—”

“Hey, kitten.”

C’yra’s voice is weak, and when Catra turns to her, C’yra’s eyes are drooping closed, but she has the ghost of a smile on her lips.

“Come here,” C’yra reaches her hand out to Catra, and Catra doesn’t hesitate. She takes her mother’s hand and sits on the edge of the bed.

“How are you feeling?” Catra asks.

“Horrible,” C’yra breathes out and winces.

“But alive,” Catra says, “Which means I can tell you how dumb it was that you didn’t stay at Half Moon.”

C’yra rolls her eyes, and even with her slower movements and sluggishness, Catra can see the fondness in C’yra’s watered-down sarcasm. “So I see that you’re the mother now.”

“I’m glad almost dying didn’t take away your sense of humor,” Catra rolls her eyes too, but beneath it, she’s so unbelievably relieved. C’yra is here, awake and making jokes, and Catra almost lost her, almost lost all of this.

Felix sits on the other side of the bed and runs his fingers through C’yra hair. “I don't know why I didn't expect this."

They talk for a bit, Catra updating C’yra on the things she’s missed around Half Moon and the aftermath of the final battle, straying away from anything too heavy for all of their sakes, and Catra starts to feel part of the heaviness on her heart start to lift.

Everything isn’t okay, not really. The Magicats who lost their lives still weigh heavily on Catra, and her nightmares have been getting worse, older ones of Shadow Weaver mingling with new ones of Adora or C'yra dying and the Rebellion losing the war. Catra is exhausted and all of her responsibilities are overwhelming, but one thing, no matter how small, is finally right.

C'yra is awake. She's still injured, still healing, but she'll be okay.

Catra didn’t lose anything else.

A healer comes by, and he has a sleeping drought for C’yra to take.

“But she just woke up,” Catra says quickly, fear spiking.

“Don’t worry,” the healer smiles in a way that he thinks in comforting, but it doesn't work on Catra, “Sleeping helps her body to heal.”

Catra doesn’t believe him, even though she doesn’t have a reason to think he’s lying.

I’m just scared, Catra thinks, trying her best to logic through her panic, I know I’m scared, but what if something goes wrong? What if sleeping isn’t good? What if, what if, what if?

“Kitten,” C’yra barely nudges Catra, “It’s going to be fine.”

“I’m almost lost you,” Catra whispers, “I just got you back, and then I saw you go down during the battle, and I just—”

Catra doesn’t know how to put all of these feeling, the sadness and emptiness, the overwhelming need to be a good princess and queen for the Magicats right now, the expectations put on her and the fear that she won’t measure up.

“I’m alive, Catra,” C’yra says, her voice sounding stronger than it has since she woke up, “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere, okay?”

Felix reaches over and gently ruffles Catra’s hair. “Neither of us are going anywhere.”

Their words are comforting enough that Catra takes a deep breath and nods, the spiraling thought not fully going away but just enough that they don't overwhelm her.

She stays in the infirmary until C’yra falls asleep again and Felix kindly kicks her out, telling her that C’yra wouldn’t want her to just wait around, so Catra begrudgingly leaves and climbs her way up to the castle’s roof to be alone for just a moment before someone needs her again.

~*~

She’s in the final battle again, Catra fighting her way through soldiers and bots alike, and she doesn’t know where she’s trying to go. She can’t see anyone else from the Rebellion, no princesses or Bright Moon guards or Magicats anywhere near her, but she knows she needs to keep fighting. She needs to get through.

So, she fights. She strikes down soldiers with ease and uses her claws to tear through bots, and she keeps going and going until she sees where she’s going.

It’s Hordak standing tall, a satisfied smile on his face, and he has Adora, a sword held to her throat.

“Hello, Force Captain,” Hordak says, “Have you come to see my victory?”

“Let her go,” Catra growls, ready to lunge.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Hordak says with a small tsk, and the blade presses closer to Adora’s throat, small beads of blood building up around the steel.

“Catra,” Adora says, the eyes wide and filled with fear, “Catra, please.”

“I’ll save you,” Catra tells her desperately.

“I wouldn’t make promises you can’t keep,” Hordak says, and in one quick movement, the sword slices through Adora and she slumps at Hordak’s feet.

“No!”

Catra shoots forward, her breathing sporadic and heavy and her claws digging into her palms, drawing blood.

She feels arms snake around her waist, and she tries to fight, but she hears a soft, “It’s me,” whispered against her ears, and she stops.

“You’re safe,” Adora whispers, “You’re not there anymore.” The arms around Catra’s waist tighten, and usually it would be enough to calm Catra down, but it doesn’t work. She just keeps seeing Adora dead, Adora dying, Adora captured.

“Open your eyes, Catra.”

Catra doesn’t even realize her eyes are closed, and when she opens them, her eyes take a few moments to adjust.

They’re in Adora’s room in Bright Moon, the three moons casting just enough light into the room that Catra’s heightened sight can make out the shapes perfectly. There’s the waterfall in the corner making soft dripping sounds and the table beside Adora’s bed where She-Ra’s sword sits in grabbing distance, and it’s not a battlefield filled with enemies.

I’m not there, Catra chants silently to herself, Adora’s safe. I’m safe. We won. I’m not there. I’m not there. I’m not there.

“Hey,” Catra feels Adora press a few kisses against her shoulder, “I’m here.”

Catra relaxes against Adora, her eyes drooping closed.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Adora asks, so soft and gentle.

Catra nods no.

“Okay,” one of Adora’s hands slips under Catra’s shirt to run along the short fur of Catra’s stomach, “What do you need?”

“This,” Catra says, her voice barely there, “Just this.”

Adora kisses the back of Catra’s neck, “Okay.”

Catra isn’t sure how long they stay like that, but as she starts to drift off, Adora moves them a bit, and Catra falls back asleep against Adora’s chest, her heartbeat loud against Catra’s ear.

~*~

Hordak’s trial is the last, and it goes by quickly.

His numerous crimes are listed, and it doesn’t take long for the Sorcerers’ Council to reach a verdict.

Adora grabs Catra’s hand and squeezes hard, and Catra squeezes back equally as nervous.

Lifetime imprisonment in a solitary cell.

As a pair of Bright Moon guards take Hordak from the room, Catra watches him go and thinks about how powerful Hordak used to seem. She admired him and needed his validation so desperately that she was willing to do anything to get it, even if it meant destroying herself and everyone around her.

But now? Hordak seems small, stripped of all of his armor and strength and power, and Catra feels satisfied as she catches his eye as he passes by the Princess Alliance, smirking at him to say, I don’t need your validation anymore.

The doors slam behind him, and Adora and Catra let out the breath they were holding in and smile at each other.

“Lifetime imprisonment,” Adora says happily as the rest of the Alliance starts to get up from their chairs.

“Solitary too,” Catra feels giddy for the first time since Adora stole that skiff and invited her along, “We’ll never have to see him again.”

“The Horde is gone,” Adora breathes out, and Catra hears the other things underneath those words.

No one will ever be raised like we were ever again.

Children won’t be taken from their families.

No one will be forced to fight in a war their taught to believe is just.

“Yeah,” Catra whispers, “It is.”

~*~

Catra walks into C’yra’s office and immediately glares at her mother, who is currently trying to pull herself from her wheelchair in order to reach a book.

“I will tie you down to that chair.”

C’yra growls, low and frustrated, and she sinks back into the chair. “I can’t reach anything in this damn thing.”

Catra comes over and reaches up just so to grab the book that C’yra was trying to get. “I’ll get Entrapta to make you something.”

“Can she make me something that’ll make my body heal itself faster?” C’yra asks, taking the book from Catra and wheeling herself back over to her desk.

Catra sits across from her, “It’s only been two months.”

“I know,” C’yra sighs, “I know this will take time, but I’m a warrior, kitten. I really don't like having to ask someone for help for everything I want to do.”

“You’ve gotten pretty good at rolling yourself around, though.”

C’yra glares, but Catra just smirks in return.

“You think you’re very funny, kitten.”

“Oh, I don’t think, I know,” Catra says and leans back in her seat, a cocky smirk in place.

C’yra rolls her eyes but smiles fondly, and then asks, “Did you need something, or did Felix send you here to check on me when I kicked him out?”

“Can’t I just want to come spend time with my mother?”

“Not willingly.”

Catra laughs, “I’m glad you maintain your humor in this trying time.”

“It’s all I have.”

“That’s dramatic.”

C’yra smiles, and Catra smiles back, happy to see C'yra more like herself than she has been since she was released from the infirmary and brought back to Half Moon.

“Anything exciting happening in Bright Moon?” C’yra asks, and Catra shrugs.

“Not really,” Catra leans her head back and looks up at the ceiling, “It’s just meeting after meeting, and when we’re not in a meeting, I don’t even get to see anyone. Adora’s even busier than me, and Scorpia is out helping the previous Horde soldiers adjust to their non-soldier life. Even Entrapta is out in the Fright Zone trying to clear the smog and reverse the environmental effects.”

“Post-war is a busy time.”

“I know. I just,” Catra sighs, “I miss everyone.”

Because Catra’s looking up at the ceiling, she doesn’t see C’yra’s smirk.

“Especially your girlfriend.”

Catra scoffs, “Shut up.”

“I’m not wrong.”

“Okay,” Catra stands up quickly, “I didn't come here to be teased. I think it’s Dad’s turn to watch you again.”

“I knew you two had a schedule,” C'yra jokingly accused.

“He planned it.”

“It’s probably color-coded.”

“Of course it is.”

C’yra nods her head with a smile, and Catra smiles too.

“I’m happy you’re getting better,” Catra says genuinely after a few moments, and C’yra’s smile turns soft and warm.

“It’ll take a bit more than Hordak’s second-rate army to keep me down.”

Catra goes to the door, and right before she reaches for the handle, she turns and says, “I love you, Mom.”

C’yra’s eyes go wide, and even Catra is a little surprised at herself. She’s never really told anyone she loved them, and she tries to stay away from the feeling as much as possible, because she always thought that love would make her weak and vulnerable, but she’s starting to learn that there’s nothing wrong with loving and being loved in return, and that the people she loves deserve to hear that she loves them.

“I love you too, kitten,” C’yra says softly, her eyes looking watery, and shoos Catra’s out of her office before Catra can see happy tears falling.

Catra wipes a few of her own away as she starts to make her way to the training grounds.

~*~

Six months after the Second Battle of Bright Moon

Catra wakes up to the sun filtering into her room, the light warming her fur, and she feels nails scratch gently just behind her ear, the action drawing out low purrs.

“Morning,” Adora says softly and presses a few kisses against Catra’s forehead.

Catra nuzzles against Adora’s neck and purrs louder, and she feels Adora giggle.

“That tickles,” Adora breathes, and Catra does it just to hear Adora’s cute giggles again before pressing lazy kisses up Adora’s throat.

“Morning,” Catra murmurs against Adora’s jaw, and Adora’s fingers thread through Catra’s hair and bring her up so that they’re kissing soft and slow, because for the first time in six months, they have time to go slow.

There are no meetings to attend, no crises to resolve, no urgent responsibilities begging their attention.

For the first time in six months, the Princess of Half Moon and She-Ra get to just be Catra and Adora, alone in the peaceful quiet of Catra’s room in Half Moon with no worries of being disturbed.

“Hey, Catra?” Adora asks softly against Catra’s lips.

“Yeah?”

“I want to stay here with you all day.”

Catra smiles, “I think that can be arranged.”

And then they’re kissing again, soft and slow turning to heated and passionate, everything else forgotten.

Tomorrow they will have to return to reality, because there’s still people to help and things to repair. The world isn’t completely fixed, even if it is on its way.

But today, it’s just the two of them, happy and content and alone together.

81 notes · View notes

entamewitchlulu · 5 years

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so i did a reading challenge this year and i wanna talk about what i read

transcription under the cut

i did Popsugar 2019 and wanna talk about what i read: Book Reccs and Anti-Reccs

1.) Becoming a Movie in 2019: Umbrella Academy (vol 1) by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba

4/5. A fascinating take on superpowers, dysfunctional families, and the apocalypse. Can get pretty gory, confusing here and there and you have to pay close attention to panels for lore, but overall an entertaining romp.

2.) Makes you Feel Nostalgic: Circles in the Stream by Rachel Roberts

4/5. Middle grade novel about the magic of music, belief, and of course, friendship. Definitely written for kids, and has some unfortunately clumsy Native rep, but overall an absolute joy to dive into once again.

3.) Written by a Musician: Umbrella Academy (vol 2) by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba

4/5. Ramps up the confusion to ridiculous degrees with some absolutely bonkers, unexplained arcs, but still fun to watch this dysfunctional family do its dysfunctional thing.

4.) You Think Should be Turned into a movie: All That Glitters by Rachel Roberts

4/5. Continuation of Circles in the Stream, but with more unicorns, more rainbows, and more fae, which makes it automatically even better than the first.

5.) With At Least 1 Mil. Ratings on Goodreads: 1984 by George Orwell

1/5. I understand why it's important and all but wasn't prepared for some of the more graphic scenes and the overall hopelessness of the message. Would not recommend or read again.

6.) W/ a Plant in the title or cover: The secret of Dreadwillow carse by Brian farrey

5/5. A fantasy world where everyone is always happy, save for one girl and the princess, who set out to solve the mystery of their kingdom. Poignant and great for kids and adults.

7.) Reread of a favorite: Cry of the Wolf by Rachel Roberts

4/5. Yet another installment in the Avalon: Web of Magic series, which clearly I am obsessed with. Please just read them.

8.) About a Hobby: Welcome to the Writer's Life by Paulette Perhach

5/5. A welcome kick in the pants, chock full of great advice told without condescension, and full of hope and inspiration for writers both new and old.

9.) Meant to read in 2018: The Poet x by Elizabeth Acevedo

4/5. Absolutely beautiful coming of age novel told in verse. Do yourself a favor and listen to the audiobook version.

10.) w/ "pop," "sugar," or "challenge" in the title: Black Sugar by Miguel Bonnefoy

2/5. I think maybe I just don't understand this genre. Or maybe the translation was weird. I was confused.

11.) w/ An Item of Clothing or Accessory on the cover: Our dreams at Dusk by Yuhki Kamatani

4/5. It had a lot more slurs/homophobia than I was prepared for, but otherwise is a very touching, relatable collection of queer characters living in a heteronormative world.

12.) Inspired by Mythology or Folklore: Ravenous by MarcyKate Connolly

3/5. A girl goes on an impossible quest to save her brother from a child-eating witch. Really wanted to like it more because I loved the first one, Monstrous, but it dragged a little.

13.) Published Posthumously: The Islands of Chaldea by Diana Wynne Jones

3/5. I adore Diana Wynne Jones, but this one was missing some of the magic of her other books. Not sure if it was because it had to be finished by someone else, or if I just grew out of her stories.

14.) Set in Space: Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

4/5. Powerfully written story of a girl straddling tradition and innovation, who wields power through mathematical magic, surviving on a spaceship alone with a dangerous alien occupation after everyone else has been killed.

15.) By 2 Female Authors: Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

2/5. Ostensibly a story about a revenge pact in a small island town, but leaves far too many dangling threads to attempt alluring you to the sequel.

16.) W/ A Title containing "salty," "bitter," "Sweet," or "Spicy": The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith

3/5. It's okay but I literally just never know what anyone means at any time. Are they being reticent on purpose or do i just not understand communication

17.) Set in scandinavia: Vinland Saga by Makoto Yukimura

2/5. Technically and historically accurate and well made, but the story itself is not my cup of tea. Very gory.

18.) Takes Place in a Single Day: Long WAy Down by Jason Reynolds

4/5. A boy goes to avenge his murdered brother, but ghostly passengers join him on the elevator ride down. Stunning and powerful character-driven analysis.

19.) Debut Novel: Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

4/5. Charming and then surprisingly heart-breaking comic about Nimona, a shapeshifter who wants to become a villain's minion. Really love the villain/hero dynamic going on in the background, along with the dysfunctional found family.

20.) Published in 2019: The Book of Pride by Mason Funk

4/5. A collection of interviews with the movers, shakers, and pioneers of the queer and LGBTQ+ community. An absolutely essential work for community members and allies alike.

21.) Featuring an extinct/imaginary creature: Phoebe and her Unicorn by Dana Simpson

4/5. Incredibly charming, Calvin and Hobbes-esque collection of comics featuring the adventures of Phoebe and her unicorn best friend.

22.) Recced by a celebrity you admire: The Emerald Circus by Jane Yolen

2/5. Recced by my fave author Brandon Sanderson. An unfortunately disappointing anthology proving that any story can be made uninteresting by telling the wrong section of it.

23.) With "Love" in the Title: Book Love by Debbie Tung

4/5. One of those relatable webcomics, only this one I felt super hard almost the entire time. Books are awesome and libraries rule.

24.) Featuring an amateur detective: Nancy Drew: Palace of Wisdom by Kelly Thompson

4/5. REALLY love this modern take on Nancy Drew, coming back home to her roots to solve a brand new mystery. Diverse cast and lovely artwork, though definitely more adult.

25.) About a family: Amulet by Kabu Kibuishi

4/5. Excellent, top tier graphic novel about a sister and brother who have to go rescue their mother with a mysterious magic stone. LOVE that the mom gets to be involved in the adventure for once.

26.) by an author from asia, Africa, or s. America: Girls' Last tour by Tsukumizu

4/5. Somehow both light-hearted and melancholy. Two girls travel about an empty, post-apocalyptic world, and muse about life and their next meal.

27.) w/ a Zodiac or astrology term in title: Drawing down the moon by margot adler

3/5. A good starting place for anyone interested in the Neo Pagan movement, but didn't really give me what I was personally looking for.

28.) you see someone reading in a tv show or movie: The Promised NEverland by Kaiu Shirai

4/5. I don't watch TV or movies where people read books so i think reading an adaptation of a TV series after watching the series counts. Anyway it was good but beware racist caricatures

29.) A retelling of a classic: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Rey Terciero

5/5. We can stop the Little Women reboots and retellings now, this is the only one we need. In fact, we can toss out the original too, this is the only one necessary.

30.) w/ a question in the title: So I'm a spider, so what? by Asahiro Kakashi

4/5. Cute art despite the subject matter, and a surprisingly enthralling take on the isekai genre. Love the doubling down on the video game skills.

31.) Set in a college or university campus: Moonstruck (vol 2) by Grace Ellis

2/5. An incredibly cute, beautiful, and fascinating world of modern magic and creatures, but unfortunately falls apart at the plot and pacing.

32.) About someone with a superpower: Moonstruck (vol 1) by Grace Ellis

4/5. Though nearly as messy plot-wise as its sequel, the first volume is overwhelmingly charming in a way that overpowers the more confusing plot elements.

33.) told from multiple povs: The Long way to a Small, Angry Planet by becky Chambers

4/5. Told almost in a serial format, like watching a miniseries, a group of found-family spaceship crew members make the long journey to their biggest job ever.

34.) Includes a wedding: We Set the dark on fire by Tehlor kay mejia

4/5. Timely and poignant, a girl tumbles into both love and resistance after becoming one of two wives to one of the most powerful men in the country.

35.) by an author w/ alliterative name: The only harmless great Thing by brooke bolander

3/5. Much deeper than I can currently comprehend. Beautifully written, but difficult to parse.

36.) A ghost story: Her body and other parties by Carmen Maria Machado

4/5. It counts because one of the stories in it has ghosts. A sometimes difficult collection of surrealist, feminist, queer short stories.

37.) W/ a 2 word title: Good omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

4/5. Charming, touching, and comical, probably the best take on the apocalypse to date. Also excellent ruminations on religion and purpose.

38.) based on a true story: The faithful Spy by John Hendrix

4/5. Brilliantly crafted graphic biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and his assistance in fighting back against Nazi Germany.

39.) Revolving around a puzzle or game: the Crossover by Kwame alexander

4/5. The verse didn't always hit right with me, but the story is a sweet, melancholy one about family, loss, and moving on.

40.) previous popsugar prompt (animal in title): The last unicorn by peter s. Beagle

5/5. Absolutely one of my all-time favorite books, it manages to perfectly combine anachronism and comedy with lyricism, melancholy, and ethereal beauty.

41.) Cli-fi: Tokyo Mew Mew by Mia ikumi and Reiko Yoshida

4/5. Shut up it counts

42.) Choose-your-own-adventure: My Lady's choosing by Kitty curran

3/5. Cute in concept, a bit underwhelming in execution. Honestly, just play an otome.

43.) "Own Voices": Home by Nnedi Okorafor

3/5. The storytelling style was definitely not my style; while the first book was slow, too, it felt more purposeful. I found my attention wandering during this installment.

44.) During the season it's set in: Pumpkinheads by rainbow rowell

3/5. Cute art, but precious little substance. The concept simply wasn't for me in the first place.

45.) LITRPG: My next life as a villainess: All routes lead to doom! by Hidaka nami

5/5. An absolute insta-fave! Charming art, endearing characters, an incredible premise, and so much sweet wholesome fluff it'll give you cavities.

46.) No chapters: The field guide to dumb birds of north america by matt kracht

3/5. It started out super strong, but the joke started to wear thin at a little past the halfway point.

47.) 2 books with the same title: Unfollow by Megan Phelps-Roger

4/5. A brave and enduring personal story of growing up in and eventually leaving the Westboro Baptist Church. Really called to me to act with grace and kindness even more in the future.

48.) 2 books with the same title: unfollow by rob williams and michael dowling

1/5. How many times do you think we can make Battle Royale again before someone notices

49.) That has inspired a common phrase or idiom: THe Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

4/5. Definitely good and deserves it's praise as something that pretty much revolutionized and created an entire demographic of literature.

50.) Set in an abbey, cloister, Monastery, convent, or vicarage: Murder at the vicarage by agatha christie

3/5. I just cannot. physically keep up with all of these characters or find the energy to read between the lines.

ok that's all i got, what did y'all read and like this year? (oh god it’s gonna be 2020)

#book reccs #lulu booktalks

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mythgendered · 6 years

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Archie Mega Man: No, it’s ACTUALLY about ethics in video game robotics!

Alright guys, cards on the table: I’ve talked a big game about what I like about the comic so far, with words like theming and worldbuilding and fleshed out characters, but now we’re really getting into it. We’re about to take our first real dive into the story that Flynn has been prepping for us. We’ve had fun in the first three arcs, setting up the stories to come with talks of free will and what it means to be a self aware robot, mashed in with fun adventures and at least one robot dog.

But now the kid gloves are...well, they’re still on, because this is still the super fighting robot comic and we have a lot of goofy adventures left in us. But! we’re switching to something cool, something that says less Mickey Mouse and more...Sonic the Hedgehog.

So let’s put on out fingerless kids gloves and dive into Spiritus Ex Machina, or TERRORISM AND THE ETHICS OF CREATING FEELING MACHINES!

Heads up, this is a long one.

With Dr Wily foiled again and seemingly off the radar, the Light family is afforded some relative peace -- and just in time for the Advanced Robotics Trade Show! It’s a time of meeting new faces and reuniting with old friends, and we are introduced to two of Doctor Light’s oldest friends and fellow roboticists: Dr. Mikhail Cossack and Dr. Noelle Lalinde.

The trade show isn't just about exchanging ideas, as Doctors Light and Lalindre take the stage to debate robotic ethics; namely, is it right to give a thinking, feeling AI to a robot meant for dangerous tasks? Is it ethical to let a robot feel emotion, even negative ones?

The debate gets heated, but before it can continue, the convention is hijacked by a terrorist group known as the Emerald Spears (ha, ha). The Spears are a militant anti-machine group, and they seek to put an end to the field of robotics through any means necrssary-- first through debate, then with the explosions they’ve planted around the convention center.

That leaves Mega Man, Roll and his new companions Pharoh Man and Quake Woman with little time and fewer options to save the day-- because while they’re programmed to help, how can they when they can’t harm humans?

And here we are! We’ve finally arrived at the meat and potatoes of Archie’s Mega Man, and what Flynn has been working toward for the past few arcs. Everything I said I loved about the comic takes shape here, built atop the foundation laid in Time Keeps On Slipping and even the first four issues.

There’s a lot to enjoy here, so let’s take things part by part.

Since Mega Man X introduced repolids and their free will, the franchise has had great potential for a conversation about the ethics of robotics, about how far science can go, or how far it should go. This is a conversation that Ian Flynn is clearly interested in, and the comic is all the better for it. It’s these questions that, while in the background of the last three arcs, are now irrevocably hanging over the cast’s heads, looming over everything they do.

Is it right to create thinking, feeling robots? If we give them the ability to feel and choose, are we putting a gun to our head? Conversely, if we limit those choices, are we condemning thinking, sentient creatires to a shackled, hollow existence? Is it fair to take away that independence, especially if they won’t be able to care about what you’ve taken? At what point does the gift of life become a cruelty-- and to whom is it the most cruel?

If I’m sounding a bit pretentious, I hope you’ll forgive me--but these are the kinds of questions that drive the comic from here on out. And while Rock and his allies continue to struggle against the forces of evil, at times those supervillians merely serve as merciful distractions from the real, troubling implications of he world Thomas Light has ushered in. A world that, by series canon, arguably ends up hurting more than it does heal.

It’s a wonderful level of nuance that Flynn brings to this setting, and one that grounds the otherwise cartoony classic era in a way that more naturally leads into the darker X series-- while still preserving the fiun spirit of it all. I’ll admit, I’m something of a sucker for these “soft existential crisis”angles in scifi stories, and the comic manages to balance it out with the super heroics admirably.

In fact, it’s that balance that drives the arc’s central conflict!

Rock isn’t fighting a group of rogue, reprogrammed robots, here. The Emerald Spears are wholly human, and that doesn’t just tie our heroes’ hands, it shackles them. Elec Man openly gripes about his uselessness, even bringing up that if he still had Wily’s evil programming, the story might have ended a lot sooner.

(Which, itself, is very relevant to the arc’s proceedings)

The conflict is something of a puzzle-- how do our heroes save the day without breaking the one rule they literally can’t break? The answer becomes working around he Spears, tricking them where they can and disarming them to reduce their threat. Ironically, it isn’t until the Spear’s impromptu new leader, Xander Payne (who we’ll get to in a moment), loses his patience and gets trigger happy that our heroes can fully fight back.

All the while the doctors trade words with the Spears’ leadership, continuing the ethics debate started at the arc’s beginning.

It’s a brilliant blending of physical and philosophical conflict, each joined together for a coherent, compelling storyline. This is easily the best the run has seen, with a gripping and intelligent arc that also sets up the stories and themes to come.

I know I’ve been repeating that a lot over the course of these pseudoreviews, so here’s the best time as any to just lay out our themes -- Flynn’s themes. Themes of what it means to be a living, thinking machine, and of what impact living machines have on the world. Themes of scientific progress, and where we should or even can draw the line. Themes of forgiveness -- who we can forgive, and who we maybe should stop giving chances to, and can we forgove ourselves? What consequences do our actions have, and at what point do good intentions stop mattering?

These are the questions the comic asks time and again, and rearely do they have clear cut answers, because these arent questions that can be answered simply. But they’re questions that need to be asked, and are asked, and the comic is just...so much better for it, guys.

Hey, I said up top this reread would be a lot of gushing.

But let’s start talking nice about other stuff this good good arc does right!

As I said back in the first storyline, Flynn makes good use of his Mega Man lore to worldbuild. In three arcs, we’ve gotten references to Blues and Mr X, heaps and heaps of foreshadowing to the X era, and now we sre formally introduced to the Cossacks and future Mega Man 4 boss Pharaoh Man. It really ties the setting together-- of course these titans of robotics would know each other outside of Wily attacks. It’s also just nice to see these characters have a tangible presence in the workd prior to their “intended” introduction in their respective games.

Plus, lookit that big hug Thomas gives his friend. That’s cute as heck!!

But even with the worldbuilding, it also gives us that sweet, sweet dramatic irony we love.

Yeah Pharaoh Man, thats sounds like it would be rough!!

Flynn gets a little cheeky with the irony and he foreshadowing, but it honestly gets me every time and I love it.

But this arc doesn’t also just bring out the goods with established characters/- we also get a whole feast of brand new original characters!

Spiritus Ex Machina introduces us to Dr. Noelle Lalinde and her own robot master, Tempo, also known as Quake Woman. And guys? You know I talked a lot of love for Agents Stern and Krantz. I love them. They were great characters when they were inteoduced, and they will continue to be great characters in every story they feature in.

But I absolute ADORE the Lalinde family, and Tempo herself may just be my favorite of all the comic’s original characters.

(Also, say hi to Pedro in the corner there! He’ll be important soon, and meshes the comic’s strengths of OCs AND established characters.)

In addition to adding a much appreciated female presence to the Mega Man Universe, Tempo and Lalinde embody many of the comic’s themes of sentient AI, robot emotions and familial forgiveness. Theirs is a tragic, but ultimately happy, story of pain, loss and growth. I. Love. Them.

This arc primarily focuses on Dr Lalinde, and how Tempo’s accident affected her and hew worldview-- explaining the hard stance she took against Thomas “my robots are my children” Light during the debate.

Tempo is more of a...presence than a character here, which is the point-- Lalinde took something from her, something unimaginably precious, and left her literally a shell of what she once was. Future issues will focus more on Quake Woman herself, and we’ll get to see how these same effects impact her, so I’ll save that discussion for later. This post is already getting long enough, and I haven’t even touched on the bad guys yet!!

The Emerald Spears are...alright antagonists. They serve as effective bad guys in Dr Wily’s absence, and their more realistic approach to terrorism contrasts well with the Mad Doctor’s own theatrics and literal mustache twirling. I don’t see Xander payne chainsawing a Japanese cyprus with a cord plugged into it.

They also provide a more philosophical counter, by harshly and violently pushing back against the pro-robotics ideals of Dr Light and his colleagues. They fear and hate the dangers advanced robotics pose, and are working to prevent the undermining and extinction of humanity. And honestly? Take one look at the X series -- heck, the Zero series!! -- and tell me they’re not a little right to worry.

I mean, they’re absolute monsters who threaten countless lives in pursuit of a bruitish, self serving and discriminatory worldview but uh...things really arent great for humanity in any of the multiple bloody robot wars that consume the planet over several series and centuries.

What I’m saying is, theres another layer of dramatic irony when your shortsighted, idiotic doomsday cult happens to be right, you know? This never happens in the Battle Network timeline!

The Emerald Spears are bunch of preachy, annoying jerks, but their presence is welcome in this setting, even if Xander Payne is an absolute weenie!!

In what appears to be a soft retcon, Xander Payne is (re)introduced to us as this sunglasses dude from Issue #2. Since hen he’s become a fanatical, robot-hating terrorist leader because, uh...

Because Elec Man zapped him and now he’s got a sick robot eye??

Ok, so Xander’s is not exactly the most...tragic of backstories, especially by this comic’s standards. He might be, in fact, 100 percent a dick. And yeah, that mostly has to do with him trying to bomb a bunch of innocents and his own men, but its really informed by him being such a baby about it all!

I’m of two minds with Payne-- on one hand, he’s kind of a whiny baby throwing a tantrum at advanced robotics, and he has a really gross pencil stache. But again, there’s a certain narrative beauty to a major antagonist being this much of a weenie while, again, kind of also being right!

His presence is not as irritating as it could be, and he largely justifies himself with later, far more interesting revelations than “I never asked for this sweet robot eye.”

But enough about that! lets talk about he really interesting bad guy!

Dr Wily rules the B Plot of this arc, which sees him exploring the mysterious Lanafront Ruins and discovering several ancient technologies-- the largest of which begins building for him a brand new army of robot masters.

This is largely set up for future arcs, the Super Adventure Rockman adaptation in particular, but--

Actually, can we take a moment to sppreciate how cool it is that the comic adapts Super Adventure Rockman of all things? And well before Mega Man 3! That is just so wild to me, and reson #413,612 why I adore Ian Flynn’s writing.

But anyway, In addition to setting up future arcs and adaptations, Dr Wily’s subplot here lays the foundation of the...well, of the Wily Family. The Wilybots had loads of personality in the MM2 arc, and that doesn’t go away when Ra Moon ressurects them. They banter, talk with each other, welcome in the newcomer MM3 bots and...it’s really solid setup for character beats to come. Wily and his robots have been fairly straightforward antagonists to now, but once he Curse of Ra Moon takes its toll, the character development train barrels toward them at full speed.

But we’ll get to that.

For now, we leave the arc with one last character introduction, though we’ve seen him at least once before.

If it isn’t apparent by now, I think Spiritus Ex Machina is a wonderful, wonderful story arc. It’s a kind of turning point for the comic, where the storytelling steps away from the face value of super fighting robot antics and really considers their consequences and implications.

It’s where the comic’s world really comes alive, with more characters and a more realized setting. Things are different from here on out, in exciting and wonderful ways. Like I said last time, hearts will be broken, allies will be made, and worlds will collide -- and I’ll be loving every second of it.

God bless this comic, y’all.

#for archielasting peace #mega man #megaman #this is where i get REALLY wordy guys

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