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olivia-anderson-fanfic · 3 years

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Stalker X Stalker, Part 11

First

Perma tag: @nathleigh @peachmuses

Stalker x Stalker taglist: @aespades @jayjayspixiepop @blueslushgueen @fan-written @seraphichana @nerd-nowandforever @toodaloo-kangaroo

Plot? What's that? I only know domestic fluff

She really didn’t know what to think when Tim asked to move in for a second time the next morning.

On the one hand, it felt like she was taking advantage of him. He’d seen her get shot and she doubted he’d really thought rationally since.

On the other hand… he essentially lived there already and it would do a lot to alleviate the anxiety the both of them had...

She rubbed her eyes -- ha, as if she hadn’t been awake the whole night to make sure he hadn’t had nightmares -- for an excuse to look away while she thought. What should she do? She would be lying if she said she didn’t want him to move in, she knew that was clouding her judgement, but even if she recognized her bias it wasn’t easy to just put it aside.

She sighed lightly and lowered a hand from her eyes. Tim looked really cute after having just woken up with his hair all messy and his eyes half lidded and one of his cheeks slightly flatter where he’d been resting his head against her and who can really say no to that face?

… well, Marinette supposed that would allow both of them to relax a little...

She let her hands drop to rest on top of his.

“Sure, darling. If you want you can move in… but, if you ever want to move out, I won’t stop you. Just ask.”

He cracked a tiny smile. “The only time I’d ever move out of this place is if you were changing apartments.”

She snickered. “Where I go, you go?”

“You have no idea,” he said.

She rolled her eyes. “You bats and your dumb cryptic sentences. Would it kill you guys to ever say a single thing directly?”

“Yes. I’m pretty sure that I would drop dead on the spot.”

Her lips twitched. “Oh yeah? Heart attack or sniper?”

“Can’t tell you. I would drop dead on the spot.”

“Damn. Foiled again by the… mystery cause of death!”

The smile on Tim’s face brightened and he looped his arms around her. “You’d save me.”

“Oh? And miss out on my chance to get that rich boy money you probably gave me in your will?”

He schooled his face back into a serious look. “I see. I’ll have to write you out of my will, then. Make sure you bring me back.”

“Nooooooooo! My scheme! Ruined! Now how will I become a millionaire without trying?!”

They looked at each other for a few seconds, his face purposefully smug and hers pinched into a frown…

And then they broke character, giggles falling from their lips and smiles lighting up their faces. She tipped her head forward until it rested against his chest. He squeezed her tighter.

Then, to her surprise, he flopped back on the couch, pulling her with him. “Alright, sleepy time,” he said cheerfully.

“Darling --.”

“You didn’t sleep last night. Sleep.”

She pressed against his chest until she could sit up just enough to glare at him. “I have super strength. May not be as strong as Connor or anything but I can definitely get away from you if I wanted.”

“Of course.” A smug look made its way across his face. “But you wouldn’t hurt your darling, would you?”

She glared harder despite the slight reddening of her cheeks. His smirk didn’t waver.

Marinette huffed and dropped back down. “You’re the worst.”

“You love me.”

She didn’t respond to that, instead just grumbling ‘pillows don’t talk’ and letting herself finally nod off.

Having two perfectionists trying to figure out the layout of a limited living space might not have been their brightest idea. They should have, at least, gotten someone to help.

Instead they had brought out Marinette’s tape measure and mapped out the entire apartment on a sheet of paper and then made tiny shapes for the furniture. Now, they sat at the table, obsessively moving pieces around.

It could have been worse, of course. Neither of them were the type to hoard things. He wasn’t all that concerned with anything other than his clothes and his laptop. Marinette only cared about her clothes, video games, and baking tools -- all of which could be tucked away in the provided closets and cabinets with ease. If needed they could probably get by with nothing but a dresser and a pull out bed each.

So, yeah, their own personal living styles weren’t the problem…

It was their work. Who knew their workaholic tendencies would be their downfall (besides everyone, of course)? She needed a lot of space for her fabrics and mannequins to make sure nothing got damaged. Tim would need a lot of space for his supercomputer if he didn’t want to make the long trip to Bristol every night.

Speaking of the trip to Bristol! He needed a place to put his motorbike and his suit. Shit. He could find a place to park his bike if he tried, but… he started cutting out a piece for the suit.

Marinette saw him adding more stuff and her head hit the table.

He snickered a little and poked her hair until she, however reluctantly, picked her head back up to send him a halfhearted glare. He smiled, reaching over and plucking the tiny square of paper from where it had stuck itself to her forehead. A blush spread across her cheeks.

Then she happened to glance down and her annoyance was back in full force.

“We didn’t think this through,” she said.

His smile became more strained as he looked down at their map. “Moving sounds so easy on paper.”

“Maybe it’s easier for people who don’t have such complicated lives.”

“Yeah. You’re right. I’m quitting.”

“Aw, but then I’ll lose my patrol buddy! I’ll have to do everything with your siblings instead.”

His nose scrunched up. “God, no. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”

She rolled her eyes. “Please, you love your siblings.”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t know they’re the worst.”

She looked like she was going to argue, but then she tipped her head and nodded. “True.”

He snickered.

Their smiles disappeared quickly as they looked back at the layout of the apartment. Could they even fit all their stuff?

… wait, actually, could they?

He started shuffling things in and he realized that, if they wanted to have space to walk, there wasn’t enough room. No wonder they’d had so much trouble finding a layout that would work. It was literally impossible. They needed more space.

She hesitated slightly. “... what if we bought out the apartment next to this one for work? It could even double as a backup in case you ever decide you want to have a place of your own again.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Can we do that?”

“You’re rich, you could probably figure it out.”

He rolled his eyes. “I mean, yes, we can technically kick out the people next door but I’d kind of prefer if we didn’t displace random families.”

“I mean… we could always…” She made a stabbing motion.

He couldn’t laugh at that. Laughing at that would be bad. So he wouldn’t do that.

“Bean -- Mari -- no.”

“I’m just saying! We’d even get the apartment at a discount!”

Okay, he might have laughed a little.

… they didn’t end up stabbing anyone but, hey, if the family next door happened to get some huge scholarship courtesy of The Wayne Foundation that they didn’t remember applying for with the stipulation that they would have to move districts... then they just so happened to have a lucky break. Good for them.

Which meant that they only really needed to buy a desk, a dresser, and a bed.

So they went to Ikea! A boring place where no shenanigans ever happen!

… well, no shenanigans ever happen if you’re not a pair of vigilantes that bounce bad ideas off of each other like they were playing a particularly intense game of Don’t Let The Balloon Touch The Ground and the entire world would blow up if they dared to lose.

Speaking of things that touch the ground, the resident dumbasses should probably have kept their feet firmly planted on it.

Marinette squinted down the escalator. “Oh, they’re definitely going to kick us out.”

“Definitely,” he agreed.

“Maybe arrested.”

“Maybe that, too,” he said brightly, checking the pot over his head to make sure it wouldn’t come off.

“... the PR team is going to hate us,” she warned him.

“Absolutely.” He could feel the gaze on the back of his head, telling him that the employees had noticed them and, quite likely, knew what they were planning. “Ready?”

A grin spread across her face. “Of course.”

He smirked. “Good, because they’re coming.”

She glanced back at the employees making their way over to interfere.

“Threetwoonego!”

He pushed off with his foot, relishing in her indignant yelp, and grinned widely as he started the very bumpy ride that was snowboarding down an escalator. He’d thought he’d be more or less okay because he had been a skateboarder but it turns out that boarding down moving stairs is very different from boarding down flat planes. He let loose a string of curses as he struggled to hold the plank of wood to his feet and not die a very painful, very stupid death.

Marinette came whizzing past him, eyes wide and the tray she’d been using as a board somehow missing.

She met his eyes briefly and flashed a grin.

And then they crashed.

It was about as painful as one would expect. Tim was glad that he’d thought to give himself a pot-helmet-thing because it had cracked down the middle and he didn’t even want to think about what would have happened if he hadn’t done that.

And he was the lucky one. He got out with a few bruises and a better appreciation for his own life. Marinette was nursing an arm that looked like it was trying to imitate the escalator they had just slid down, lips pressed together tightly as tears threatened to escape.

He carefully crawled over to check for any other injuries that might have been less noticeable.

She grinned up at him, either because he was currently checking to see if her teeth were all in place or to be smug. What she could currently be smug about, though, he had no clue…

“You’re so stupid,” he told her, just in case she wasn’t already aware.

Her smug grin remained even after he had removed the finger from her mouth. “You’re just mad that I won.”

“... sorry?” He hadn’t even been thinking about their impromptu race, too concentrated on the whole ‘making sure they hadn’t just died’ thing, and it took a moment for his brain to catch up. Then he rolled his eyes. “Yeah, won a pretty new cast, maybe.”

She snickered. “You had to cheat and you still didn’t even win. How does it feel to suck?”

“Probably still better than it feels to have a broken arm.”

She sat up. “It’s fine, I’ll live.”

He snorted. “You bet you will. I’m going to bubble wrap the whole apartment.”

“You can’t babyproof the place! We don’t even have kids yet!”

Before he could question her use of the word ‘yet’, the employees managed to get their attention. They were trying to get down the currently very broken escalator and the one that was currently going the wrong way for them. Despite this, the two of them had only a minute max before they reached them.

Marinette and Tim locked eyes.

“Run?” She suggested.

He was already getting to his feet. He dropped a business card for the employees and turned to her.

He grabbed her good hand and they sprinted out of the store, smiles lighting up their faces and laughter spilling from their lips. The poor employees hadn’t stood a chance of catching the two vigilantes, even injured as they were. They knew the city like the back of their hands and were able to weave in and out of side streets and alleyways without much thought.

Once they were sure that no one was following them -- leaving a store unattended in Gotham was a terrible idea and Tim had left a card for them to call -- she tugged him to hide between two buildings.

They squeezed into the tiny space and leaned into each other for support while they struggled to catch their breath. Her good hand came up to grip his shirt. He rested his forehead against the wall above her.

She lifted her gaze to his and he wished she hadn’t because he’d already been out of breath enough before she’d done that but now here was staring into her blue eyes, the corners crinkled in a way that had become so familiar to him over the past few months, and god… all he could think about was all the stories that described how time stopped when you fell in love… and how those stories couldn’t be more wrong. He would have hated for that to happen because if time stopped then he would have to see that perfect smile of hers in anything but real time and he doubted that it would have looked nearly as beautiful without the way her shoulders shook with barely restrained laughter or the slight fluttering of her lashes or the steady pinkening of her cheeks.

She finally gave a little puff of laughter. “What?”

He blinked once, trying to bring himself back to what was going on. “Oh, I was just thinking…”

“Oh? Don’t strain yourself.”

He smiled. “I was just going to say something nice but instead I’ll insult you on your stealth. You’d be a terrible criminal, laughing during your getaway.”

She rolled her eyes. “You laughed, too.”

“Yeah, but when I did it it was super cool and professional.”

“Ah, I see. How could I not have noticed it before?”

He snickered. “Well, if today has proved anything, it’s that you are not, in fact, the world’s greatest detective.”

She grinned. “You were the one that put the pot on my head originally.”

“You came up with the idea to go down the escalators like that.”

“You agreed.”

“You -- I -- shut up,” he complained, sending her a glare.

She smiled at him until he pretty much had no choice but to smile back, letting his head fall the last few inches to press his forehead against hers.

Her hand gripped his shirt a little tighter.

He moved his hands from the wall to her waist.

They stood there, letting time pass them by, searching each other's eyes for some sort of answer to the question neither of them could bring themselves to ask aloud. He bit his lip, trying to swallow down his anxiety.

Her eyes flicked to his lips, her own parted as if to say something, before she seemed to think better of it.

She closed the gap. His heart skipped a beat at the feather-soft feeling of her lips against his and he let his eyes flutter shut. She teased his lip out from between his teeth with her own.

And then she pulled back just slightly.

He opened his eyes just enough to see her shy smile and the blush lighting up her face.

“You… you really have to stop doing that. They’ll get chapped --.”

He pressed forward again, capturing her lips in a kiss that was far more desperate than the last. She gasped quietly and he took the chance to slip his tongue into her mouth. The hand fisted in his shirt slid up to wrap around the back of his neck, dragging him even closer. He pressed her back against the wall, a hand trailing up to tangle itself in her hair, trying to reach more --.

She brought her bad arm up to cradle his face and then yelped in pain.

He jumped back. Right. Broken arm. Looks like a staircase. Not good.

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Uh… let’s get you treated.”

Marinette ended up with a pink cast and an order to stay home for at least a week.

She pouted, resting her head back against the couch as she watched him shuffle around in search of his second shoe (it was tucked behind her back, but he didn’t need to know that). “I’m not a child, you guys can’t just ground me,” she complained for what felt like the millionth time.

Tim rolled his eyes. “We all have to do it when we break bones unless it’s an all hands on deck situation. Been like that since even before I was Robin.”

“But B goes out with broken bones all the time!”

“That’s different.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“It is. If there is a situation where B can be a hypocrite he will do it”

Marinette scoffed. “And you’re allowed out because…?”

He started counting off on his fingers. “None of my bones are broken, my job requires me to leave, I don’t get in trouble 9/10 times I leave the house… should I go on?”

“Last one is a lie,” she mumbled.

“No, I only get in trouble, like, 8/10 times I leave.”

It was hard to maintain her glare. She settled for sticking her tongue out at him like the mature adult she was. He returned it, despite the fact that he was also an adult according to the law.

He grinned and came to sit next to her on the couch. She shifted around until she was leaning against him instead of the couch, legs tangling with his.

He didn’t say anything about the blatant attempt at trapping him there with her. Instead, he leaned closer to her face and said: “Speaking of leaving, do you happen to know where my other shoe is?”

She raised her eyebrows. “Why do I get the feeling that you already know where it is?”

He snickered. “I know you, Bean. So, can I have it back?”

“Hm… I don’t know…” she said, twirling his tie around her hand.

He let her pull him down for a kiss. She giggled against his lips as his hands ghosted over her in search of the missing shoe. She kept her good hand at his collar as a kind of silent promise that she wouldn’t -- couldn’t -- move the shoe, even throwing her bad arm around his neck just in case.

He pulled away a few moments later, squinting at her suspiciously. “I’m beginning to suspect I’ve been tricked.”

Her eyes widened in mock innocence. “Me? Trick you? I could never.”

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, where is it?”

She glanced at the time and smirked. “I guess you’ve earned it…” She pulled her foot out from between the couch cushions to show him the shoe she had hastily slipped on when he’d gotten close.

He scoffed lightly and slipped it off. “Y’know, if I had literally one of the most common fetishes in the world that wouldn’t have worked.”

“But you don’t, so it did,” she chirped with a cheeky grin.

“Guess that’s true…” He pecked her lips one last time before pulling his shoe on and she grinned as she watched him head to the door.

Only to stop a little short because of a knock.

He raised his eyebrows and glanced back. “Are one of my siblings coming over?”

She pressed her lips together thinly to keep herself from laughing. “It’s not any of their normal times. I just figured that, if I had to be home alone all day and couldn’t really do any work because my stupid cast, I should at least keep busy while you were gone.”

His eyes narrowed slightly. He stepped forward and opened the door to reveal a delivery guy with three giant boxes. The furniture they had ordered from Ikea had arrived.

He signed for them and then turned to glare at her. “You planned all this so I couldn’t go.”

“I mean… you could always leave me here to do them myself.” She batted her eyelashes at him innocently. “Of course, my broken arm will make it a little difficult but I’m sure I’ll manage.”

She had been stared down by Batman in full kevlar, she could handle the glare Tim gave her in his slightly messy work suit.

Then, he sighed. “Do you have a backup plan?”

“Obviously. Don’t think you’ll like that one as much.”

He scowled. “You’re really this determined to not be home alone?”

“Oh, no, this is about getting B to allow me out. Trapping you and your siblings here is just a means to that end.”

“You’re going to be trapping my siblings here, too?”

She grinned. “Yep. They show up all the time, might as well use that.”

His shoulders slumped a little.

She giggled. “If I have to stay inside all the time then so do you guys. It’s the rules.”

And, so, she reached for him until he pressed a short kiss to her lips.

Then, they got to work. Or, rather, he did. She had been relegated to just sitting nearby and helping him figure out how to build it.

She took a few pictures for their public accounts as necessary: a picture of him with three screws poking out of his mouth while he tried to figure out the weird L-shaped tool he’d been given, a picture of the two of them staring at the instruction sheet with confused frowns on their faces (taken by Tikki), Vanelope enjoying the boxes the stuff had come in, what was definitely not a thirst pic of Tim, and then the finished furniture in the apartment.

It was there, right before she was about to post it, that she realized that she hadn’t actually publicly followed any of the Waynes. She squinted at her bio, which proclaimed that she would only follow people she genuinely liked, and then at the ten people she had followed. The internet would notice if she suddenly followed eight more people.

“Darling?”

He peeked an eye open from where he was relaxing on the couch and then raised an arm for her. She took his hand and smiled a little when he pulled her into his lap so he could hug her like a pillow.

Then she pulled a more serious look to her face. “Do you want to go public or not?”

He buried his face in her neck. “Sure.”

“... not even gonna think about it?”

He shrugged. “They’re going to suspect it no matter what. Especially since we were goofing around in an Ikea of all places and you’re uploading pictures of me helping you with furniture.”

She nodded slightly. “I know, but I don’t have to upload them.”

There was a long silence as they considered their options.

Eventually he just sighed and tightened his grip on her. “I’ll go with anything you want to do, Bean.”

She relaxed slowly and, hesitantly, she sent him the photos. “Here, you can upload them, too. Might as well make it public on both of our accounts.”

He picked his head up slightly to check out the pictures. She felt his lips curl into a smile against her shoulder at the picture of Vanelope. “This one is nice.”

She snickered. “All cats are cute, obviously it would make a nice picture.”

He hummed his agreement. “No offense to you, you’re cute and all, but the cat definitely wins the cutest here.”

“I’m not offended at all. We could never beat that.”

Then, she got an idea.

“Except… maybe… want a picture of us kissing for the reveal?”

“I’ll take any excuse,” he said with a wink.

She rolled her eyes even as she felt her face warm. “You don’t need an excuse to kiss me, dumbass.”

Now it was his turn to blush. Yay, revenge.

… also, it would be cute for the picture if they were both a little red for it.

She twisted in his lap to press a kiss to his lips. His hands came up to cradle her face. She threw her bad arm around his neck, fingers threaded in his hair.

Her camera clicked. They ignored it.

#im going to write a million words of fluff and no one can stop me #unless i get like zero likes #im v motivated by likes and reblogs pls guys i need it #pls #also they're getting worseeeeeee #tim is lowkey possessive and mari is lowkey controlling #but its v lowkey so #baaasically doesn't exist #stalker x stalker #maribat #tim drake #red robin #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #timari #timmari #timinette #shutterbug

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earlgreytea68 · 3 years

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Tagged by @setting-in-a-honeymoon!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

An even 200!

2. What’s your total AO3 wordcount?

Um. 3,328,002

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Six:

Inception in the lead with 67 fics

Sherlock with 56

Fall Out Boy with 36

Doctor Who with 14 (this number is incorrect, I have written waaaaay more than that, they just live on LJ and DW)

and then one each for Sports Night and The Office (UK)

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Nature and Nurture

Saving Sherlock Holmes

Working on the Edges

The Radovljica Apicultural Museum

John Watson’s Twelve Days of Christmas

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to! Sometimes I get busy or depressed or sick, etc., and I fall behind, but I try to respond, for a number of reasons - they give me so much joy that I want to acknowledge that they have brought my joy; it is so wonderful to see what people to respond to and love and laugh at and cry over, it definitely makes me a better writer, and so I want to acknowledge that, too; and comments when I’m in the middle of posting a fic are especially helpful to me because they often result in me tweaking what’s coming next in response to questions I see people have that indicate I’m not being clear enough, or maybe I’m not hitting the tone I want, etc. And so I like to respond to be like, “Thank you! You have no idea how important and wonderful this is to me!”

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Oh, wow. While I actually think I can write good angst, when I do it I try to have it in the middle of the fic, so that it gets properly resolved to give you a nice, happy ending. I’m sure someone’s going to be like, YOU ARE FORGETTING THIS HEART-WRENCHING THING YOU WROTE, but all I’m coming up with right now is that, in my long Doctor Who ‘verse I wrote, I did a fic in which their family dog died. That was pretty angsty. (omg I just scrolled down to see how I ended this story and OH MY GOD ahahah I forgot that I wrote this after I’d broken up with the Tenth Doctor and so it ends with Brem being like, “Plus, my father is useless so I have to hold the entire family together all the time” hahahaha what an extra-angsty ending, Brem, my love lol)

7. Do you write crossovers? If so what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I do sometimes! I feel like most of my crossovers make some amount of sense. Like, okay, maybe you wouldn’t think to cross Inception with Fall Out Boy (this was a special request) but I think the premise of the fic makes total sense. And I once crossed Oliver with Brem, but those were my first two beloved precocious fic songs, so that made some sense, too. And I still think Inception and Sherlock crossed together made SO much more sense than actual seasons of Sherlock lol. So I guess if I had to choose the craziest I would go with the Doctor Who/Gossip Girl crossover I wrote lol. But wait, that one actually also made sense as I wrote it, I think, so I’ll go with the Sherlock/Fall Out Boy crossover because that was just bonkers.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yes. I wrote a fic that was really horrible to Mary in “Sherlock.” I hate Mary. I feel like I can say that now. I haaaaaated Mary. But in those days “Sherlock” was an incredibly tense fandom to be part of and if you didn’t say that you loved Mary all the time forever and always then people were like !7@((!*(@(!& at you. I have a million massive warnings in all caps all over the fic, like, DON’T READ THIS IF YOU LIKE MARY, and people still would leave rude comments on it lololol. And then we wonder why I left that fandom lol. (I mean, many people in the fandom were wonderful, and I don’t always have REASONS why I leave fandoms, it’s not like anything is that logical or rational. But it wasn’t a very fun time to be in Sherlock fandom. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I do. My smut almost always has to be advancing some kind of emotional beat in the characters’ relationship. I’m never super-explicit because usually the whole point of the scene to me is what the characters are thinking and feeling, not really what they’re *doing.*

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Sometimes my fics show up somewhere without my knowledge. People are really good about letting me know when that happens.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yup!

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes!

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

This is like asking who my all-time favorite child is.

14. What’s a wip that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I have this high school Peterick AU that I started at the beginning of the pandemic. For some reason, when schools shut down, all I could think about was all these bands that wouldn’t get formed because the kids couldn’t go to each other’s houses, like Pete Wentz couldn’t just show up at Patrick Stump’s to hear him play. So I started this story where Pete and Patrick meet right before the pandemic hits, and then everything locks down and they’re stuck Facetiming each other and coming to the realization that their soulmate is on the other side of the screen.

Anyway, I actually think this fic is super-hot?? And I never think I write hot things, but it’s got a hot phone sex scene and I’m really happy with it and I would love to finish the story...except that the pandemic turned out to be...this. And in my head, Idk, I thought there’d be this triumphant moment where everyone would be like, “Yay! We can see each other now!” and Pete and Patrick would reunite, and instead everything petered out into, “Can we see each other now........????? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ “ and I didn’t know what to do with that in my fic, it made it not as neat as I was wanting it to be.

But I hate to lose that hot phone sex scene hahaha. And also after the hot phone sex scene Patrick adds “Hotline Bling” to his and Pete’s shared Spotify playlist they’ve been working on and I’M SORRY, I FOUND THAT SO CHARMING, PATRICK STOLE MY HEART WITH THAT MOVE, anyway, as you can see, I love so much about the fic and I really want to find a way to make it work and maybe someday I will the end.

15. What are your writing strengths?

My dialogue.

Also I think I write the same story over and over (person realizes that they’re deserving of being loved for exactly who they are), but I think I’m REALLY GOOD at that one story lol

Also I like to think that I write family relationship stuff fairly well, like, Idk, I love doing that stuff, whether found family or biological.

Oh, and I think I usually get the ratio of angst::happy ending pretty good (in my view for my personal preference lol).

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

I don’t think I’m especially good at smut. I’m terrible at paying attention to things like setting, what the characters are wearing, what the characters even look like, etc. As mentioned above, I tell the same story over and over and over, and I’m okay with that, but yeah, I’d be bad at telling a story where people aren’t, like, nice people who you’re rooting for.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I think I couldn’t do it, because I don’t speak any other language, but I’m always happy when people translate my fics!

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Doctor Who. Although maybe, like, New Kids on the Block self-insert stuff counts from junior high??? But Doctor Who was first published.

19. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Please see above re: favorite child lol

I tag every writer who wants to do this and I hope every writer does this because I always think these are fascinating!!

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grailfinders · 3 years

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Fate and Phantasms #150: Merlin

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re finishing the last build in Observer on Timeless Temple, the man who broke the meta, Merlin! I’ll be honest, I really wasn’t expecting we’d make it this far. Anyway, you’re a Divination Wizard, because no shit. You’re a wizard, you can see the future, you kinda cheat at life, everything else just falls into place. You’re also a Fighter, because you also keep a shortsword stashed in your staff in case of emergencies.

Check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: A dimension-hopping bisexual. That’s not a phrase I ever thought I’d say, but I’m glad I did.

Race and Background

Merlin’s half Incubus, giving him immense magical power. Thankfully we can match that lineage one for one with the Abyssal Tiefling, an old UA that gives you +2 Intelligence, +1 Charisma, Darkvision, Abyssal Fortitude for half your level (rounded down, minimum 1) in extra HP, and Abyssal Arcana. That last one’s a bit complicated, so give us a second.

Each long rest, you randomly get one of six cantrips by rolling a d6 (aside from the one you just had, you have to re-roll if that happens). You can get Dancing Lights, True Strike, Light, Message, Spare the Dying, or Prestidigitation. You can cast that cantrip like you would any other cantrip at your disposal, although awkwardly enough they never mention what ability score you would use to cast it. (I would assume Charisma, but feel free to argue with your DM.) After you finish another long rest, replace the old cantrip with a new one.

Being stranded on the other side of the world makes you the premier Hermit, giving you proficiency with Arcana and Religion.

Ability Scores

You know literally everything, so make your Intelligence as high as possible. You also don’t have much difficulty avoiding the consequences of your actions, so it’s safe to say your Dexterity is pretty good too. You managed to catfish a not insignificant portion of the human race during the Goetia Crisis, so your Charisma is up there as well. Your Constitution isn’t as strong, you’re pretty much unkillable but I’ll be damned if Quetz didn’t try. Your Wisdom is rather low- you thought betraying the second sun was a good idea- but we’re dumping Strength. You are wizard, no big surprise.

Class Levels

1. First level wizards get proficiency in Intelligence and Wisdom saves, as well as History (you were there for quite a bit of it) and Insight (you watch people long enough eventually you notice patterns).

You also learn how to cast Spells using your Intelligence. Like all wizards you get an obscene number of spells, so we’ll just mention the ones that are very important to the character here, though the character sheet has a full list.

Mage Armor, of course is super important for any wizard, as is your caster balls (Magic Missile). I’d also grab Charm Person to make the whole Magi Marie thing a bit easier. You can also get Find Familiar, if you really want Cath Palug that badly.

Lastly, you get an Arcane Recovery, letting you regain spell slots with a total level equal to half your level rounded up on a short rest once per long rest. Not having slots sucks, don’t do that.

2. Second level wizards learn a specialty, and Divination basically lets you cheat at everything thanks to your Portents. At the end of a long rest, you roll two 20s and save those results. At any time before your next long rest, you can use one of those results to replace an attack, save, or ability roll you can see, once per turn. If you roll high, give it to Artoria. If you roll low, still give it to Artoria, it’ll be funny.

You also become a Divination Savant, making it cheaper and easier to copy divination spells.

3. Third level wizards get second level spells, but your Abyssal Arcana also grows stronger, giving you a random first level spell each long rest as well. You cast these spells as if you were using a second level spell slot once per long rest. They are Burning Hands, Charm Person, Magic Missile, Cure Wounds, Tasha’s Hideous Laughter, and Thunderwave. You’re a Grand Caster candidate, so it’s not like there’s a reason you couldn’t cast any of those.

We’re also spending your spells this level to enhance party members, with Enhance Ability and Magic Weapon helping out in and out of combat.

4. I know we just got cure wounds last level, but that’s a one in six chance of using it once per long rest. I’d hardly call that meta breaking. We’ll fix that by using your first Ability Score Improvement to grab the Magic Initiate feat, giving you the spells Light, Minor Illusion, and Cure Wounds more consistently (the last one is still once per long rest though).

5. Fifth level Abyssal Tieflings get one last boost to their Abyssal Arcana, giving them one of six second level spells each long rest. You could get Alter Self, Darkness, Invisibility, Levitate, Mirror Image, or Spider Climb.

You also learn Dispel Magic to break through Tiamat’s Chaos Tide.

6. Sixth level divination wizards have Expert Divination, recharging lower level spell slots after expending another spell slot on a divination spell. The recharged slot also has to be 5th level or lower, but that’s hardly an issue right now. Very useful for someone who’s technically in another plane most of the time.

You also learn Major Image, for stronger illusory power, and Haste to make a chosen warrior more of a hero.

7. We’re now going to bounce over to Fighter real quick, you’re surprisingly quick to pull a sword on someone if you feel like it. The Dueling fighting style adds 2 to your weapon damage with one handed weapons, and Second Wind lets you spend a bonus action to heal yourself.

8. Second level fighters get an Action Surge, letting you add an extra action to your turn once per short rest.

9. For your fourth level spells, Hallucinatory Terrain will give your allies a glimpse of Avalon (healing and NP charge not included).

10. Use this ASI to bump up your Intelligence, and learn Charm Monster to keep Cath Palug from smacking you upside the head for the eight billionth time.

11. With fifth level spells you can finally insert yourself into others’ dreams thanks to the spell Dream. It takes a minute to cast, but afterwards you can enter a trance to hop into a target’s dreams. You can shape the dream to your liking, or just watch the fireworks. You can also turn into a nightmare to deal psychic damage and prevent any benefits from that sleep if the target fails a wisdom save.

12. Tenth level divination wizards can use The Third Eye to gain one special kind of sight each short rest as an action. You can choose form Darkvision, sight into the Ethereal Plane, the ability to Read any Language, or the ability to see invisible objects and creatures.

13. Sixth level spells like Mental Prison make things a lot harder for your enemies, charming one target creature if it fails an intelligence save. If it succeeds, it only takes some psychic damage. If it fails, it takes the damage and it becomes surrounded by an illusionary prison, so it can’t move, see, or hear anything beyond its space. If it’s forcibly moved out, or is attacked/attacks through the illusion, it takes even more psychic damage and the spell ends.

14. If you’re going with the standard array, you’ve probably noticed by now that your intelligence is currently odd. Thankfully we can fix that and make your DM’s life so much harder all at once thanks to the feat Keen Mind, which we’re picking up with this level’s ASI. Your Intelligence goes up by one, you have a great sense of direction and timing, and you have eidetic memory of the last month.

15. Seventh level spells like Mirage Arcane are another bump in power, letting you warp the landscape in a square mile around you. You can even add your fancy looking tower to the illusion now! Still not a lot of healing though.

16. Your last divination goody is the feature Greater Portent, letting your roll three d20s per day instead of two. Yeah, portent’s just kinda busted.

17. Eighth level spells like Illusory Dragon are a massive upgrade, almost as powerful as you usually are. This lets you make a dragon illusion that takes up space, is tangible, and can really breathe fire. I’m not entirely sure how this is an illusion, if I’m being honest.

18. Use this ASI to bump up your Dexterity for less dying and more stabbing. You also learn the spell Demiplane, to create your own Avalon! As long as you don’t mind your Avalon being a 30′ cube room and nothing else. Still, it’s hard to beat that level of security.

19. Seventeenth level wizards get ninth level spells. Seriously, just grab as many as you can. Merlin’s a grand caster, literally nothing is beyond his reach, certainly not anything a D&D character could do.

20. Eighteenth level wizards gain Spell Mastery over a first and second level spell, letting you cast them at their lowest level like cantrips. Silent Image and Magic Weapon are both good for support, I’d pick those. It’s not a huge issue if you change your mind later, too- you can change spells after 8 hours of study. You also learn True Polymorph. Artoria’s gotta father a child somehow.

Pros:

With your maxed out intelligence, plus ways to confuse your enemies and buff your allies, you make for a pretty good support caster. I doubt that comes as a surprise.

Divination wizards are kinda busted? Three portents per long rest can seriously reshape a campaign if you’re smart with them.

Wish is also kinda busted? You know how a lot of builds I mention not getting to ninth level spells as a con? Now you get to find out why.

Cons:

You’re squishy, which also isn’t too surprising. With an AC of 16 and HP barely scratching past one hundred, You probably won’t want to actually use your sword that often.

Despite healing being the big draw of your FGO counterpart, we didn’t really get that much in this build. You get one to two uses of Cure Wounds per day, plus your second wind. Not exactly meta defining.

Most illusions and buff spells use concentration, so good luck holding onto those with a con save of +1. It also means you have to pick and choose what you’re doing at any one time.

#fgo #Fate Grand Order #D&D 5e #DND #Merlin #Wizard #Fighter

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light-miracles · 3 years

Note

Would it be okay to ask for a writing prompt with SuperBat? Maybe idk Kate’s been missing for ages and Kara has been looking for her non stop and she finally comes back and like visits Kara and Kara just basically breaks down because her best friend was missing and she missed having her worlds finest buddy by her side? I realise this is a long prompt but like I love them and we need more SuperBat fanfics.

Freakin finally, L

......

It was Ally's call what woke her up in the middle of the night, after spending more hours than what she should working in a report for the Senate she had to deliver in two days. Her niece was direct and clear, like all Danvers through the generations. Faintly behind her in the background noise, she could hear Nira Nal's voice telling someone to hold on, not to lose consciousness. Kara immediately stopped feeling any tiredness and got out of the bed. "What?"

"A woman dressed as a bat literally just fell from the sky. Her DNA links her to the Kane family, but she's obviously not Kitty, and her costume seems to be a relic. Aunt Kara, I think it's an accidental time traveler. I need you to-"

Kara ran out her house and in less than ten seconds she was already there.

......

At no point did Kate lose consciousness, but her pain was so intense that she wished she had. She had a vague understanding of everything that had just happened. Alice threatening to blow up the city, the building below her collapsing, she falling, falling, falling uncontrollably and with nowhere to shoot her hook, an excruciating light and then the her painful impact against a car.

Then there was two strange faces in front of her telling her to hold on. Confusing colors. Her mind clouded. At no point the relief of unconsciousness but the blinding torture of pain.

And when she regained her mental clarity, she was sitting in a shiny headquarters, with a couple of weird cables attached to her arm and three people talking around her. Someone had found her and helped her. A great relief washed over her when she recognized Kara. "Super."

"Hey," said Supergirl leaning in front of her. It was Kara. Beautiful, brave Kara. The others must have come to help when they heard of the disaster. Kate wasn't selfish enough not to admit that she was relieved, even if it meant owing Allen a favor. "The city... Alice ..."

"Don't worry, everything is fine," said her friend, putting her shaking hands on her shoulders. "Everything is fine."

"No, it's not okay, the bombs exploded." Kate tried to stand up, remove the cables from her arms, and go back outside where her city needed her. And where was Mary? Luke? Her father?

"Kate, no, don't move, please. You're not fully healed yet."

"I have to help them."

"There's no one to help Kate. Please don't move. Listen to me. Gotham is fine. Everyone is fine. And you have to sit back and let Daydream heal you. She's the best, it won't take long. "

That must be true, because as the seconds passed clearer the image around her became. The lab was very high-tech, bright and white, with things she hadn't seen in her life. The two women next to Kara were strangers and yet they looked familiar. Kara wasn't wearing her outfit but what clearly looked like pajamas, her short hair (short?) tousled like she'd just gotten out of bed.

She looked older. At least ten years older.

"This isn't real," murmured Kate without looking away from her pretty face.

Kara put both hands on her cheeks, holding her gaze. "It's real Kate. I'm here with you."

"Where am I?" she asked trying to control the growing (strange) panic. "What's going on?"

"It's the year 2300," replied Kara slowly. "You have been missing for 280 years."

.....

The only thing that seemed real was Kara's hand holding hers firmly.

Kate thanked her training for her ability of remaining calmed at the face of the strange aspects of her life. It had been useful to her when the Multiverse died because a bald zombie in a robot suit was having a bad day, and it would be useful to her now. If Sara Lance and her team could, so could she. She just had to stick to the facts, evaluate the information, and focus on a way to fix it.

Kara's presence would make it easier.

The brown haired young woman explaining what they thought had happened. In 2020, when Kate fell from the building, somehow a wormhole opened that took her to 2300. For her it had been only seconds. For the rest of the world, centuries.

"Excuse me, what was your name?" asked Kate.

"Ally Danvers," the young woman replied. "I'm Kara's niece."

Kate looked at Kara to confirm, and she nodded. "Great great great something niece, but who counts these days?"

"And I'm Nira Nal, Daydream," the woman a little older than Ally said, stepping forward and bowing slightly. "I think that in your time they shook hands, but we don't do that anymore."

Evidently the little brunette who had been Kara's apprentice had also had a family. Kate nodded again.

"Everything must be very confusing for you, maybe we should give you a moment..."

"How do I come back to 2020?" Kate interrupted. "Someone put me in touch with the Legends. Hell, even Allen would be enough. I don't want to rest, I want to go home and stop Alice."

Ally cleared her throat a little. "It might be a bit more complicated than that. We need a little time to-"

"Look, Agent Danvers 9.0 or whatever, you may have all the time in the world but my city was literally falling apart just now. I have to go back and help my city, now."

It was Kara who answered. "It will take a while, Kate. Time travel isn't that easy anymore. But I'll take you home, I promise."

"This is the future," replied Kate, feeling a sudden rejection for the woman with Kara's face and Kara's voice but that wasn't her Kara. Not completely. "Don't you have loads of time machines and 200 mini Barrys with ridiculous names running around?"

"No, not anymore," Nira Nal replied. "Time travel was completely forbidden years ago. We can bring you home, but it's going to take us a couple of days to get a machine."

"Time travel is forbidden?"

"Yes, I forbade it," said Kara.

Kate turned to look at the blonde woman.

"I'm the President of Earth, Kate."

The bat woman blinked confusedly. "President..."

"Candidate for President of the Solar System next year!" said Nira cheerfully.

It was all too much, and Kate didn't want to show any sign of weakness but it was too much. Kara took her hands. "It's late. Come with me, please. I'll explain everything you want to know at my place, and tomorrow we'll start looking for a time machine. We'll fix it. But Ally and Nira have to go now, someone has to sleep tonight."

Kate still wasn't convinced that she shouldn't just turn around and get out of there.

"World finest, remember?" Kara asked with a small smile.

That helped her make her decision.

....

Kate thought that Kara would take her wherever she was going to take her flying. Instead, they both entered what would in the past have been described as a car but to Kate's eyes looked like a mini tank.

They didn't talk on the way, Kate intently looking at the incredible futuristic city around her, the glowing towers, the long, labyrinth-like streets, the flying vehicles in the sky, and the Kryptonian carefully staring at her at her side. Only Kara could not pay attention to the street at all and drive with absolute safety. Like everything else she did, she did it perfectly.

They left the city towards a two-story red house, which seemed totally mundane. And old, at least for what seemed to be the rest of the future. It had a porsche, two roofs and a small garden where Kate could see a lot of different flowers, dimly lit by the white light coming from the bright lamps.

"I thought you'd live in the White House."

"No, that's still only for the president of the country. I work in the embassy of the planet and live where I want. I use this house when I want to be near Ally and Nira."

"Always taking care of your family."

"You already know me."

Kate still wasn't totally convinced, but she nodded. "The city is not Gotham or National. Where exactly are we?"

"Unity City," replied Kara. "It was founded by Kal 150 years ago."

Still in her Batwoman outfit, Kate got out of the vehicle and rushed into the house, assuming no one was around to see her face or Kara would have said something, the little Bruce in her mind scolding her for having her face uncovered. But she was trying to focus on one problem at a time so she ignored her annoying imaginary cousin.

And it was when the door closed behind them that everything started to feel real.

The place looked so hideously normal that Kate wanted to snap her fingers to make sure no robot butler would come asking for her coat. Kate turned around and Kara was there, by the door, looking at her like she hadn't seen her in centuries and that look of hers broke her heart.

"I know it's only been a few hours for you," said the older-looking short haired Kara. "But I'm so happy to see you, Kate. I thought I'd never see you again. I never knew what happened to you. I thought-" Kara let out a sob.

Kate could never bear to see her sad, so she hugged her. It was the first time all day that she felt like herself. The only thing she felt familiar.

It was Kara. Older, with another hairstyle and almost imperceptible wrinkles around her eyes. But she smelled like Kara. Her hugs felt like Kara's. So Kate closed her eyes and returned her hug with all her strength.

..........

After taking off her batsuit and laying it on a chair, Kate Kane took a quick shower in a bathroom that looked normal except for a small water fountain next to the toilet and the fact that the shower water floated around her instead of falling. After coming out, she dried off and put on a comfortable green pajama that seemed never to have been worn. Probably because it wasn't pink and she didn't imagine Kara's fashion tastes changing, ever.

Kate came out of the bathroom with her hair still wet, studying the house some more. Strangely, Kara no longer had photographs, when in the past she used to have many photos of her friends on her walls. The decor was less colorful too, more sober, fewer kitten figurines and more desks and books and strange objects that Luke would surely kill to use. Kate took one that looked like a remote control, pressed a button, and a small hologram of Saturn appeared in front of her eyes.

"That's a letter they sent me from Titan," said Kara entering the living room, having changed out of her old pajamas for a clean new set. "It turns out that on some of Saturn's moons there are favorable conditions for living. A group of explorers founded a colony fifty years ago."

"Sounds like something out of a bad movie."

"Nobody watches movies anymore, but you're right."

Kate put the remote control down on the table. "Nobody watches movies anymore?"

"Well, I suppose some people still do, but cinematography is considered an ancient art now. They're not as popular as they were in the early 21st century. They're hard to find too."

"Do you still watch movies?"

"You know me, Kate. I couldn't survive without my weekly dose of Frozen," she said smiling and turning away from the door. "Would you like to have dinner with me?"

She nodded and entered the deceptively plain-looking kitchen, all the while Kara staring at her as if she might disappear at any moment. Maybe she was going to do it. Maybe this time travel thing was only safe if you were a Flash or had a time machine. Perhaps at any moment the universe would simply erase her as if she had never been born.

The food on the white table in the kitchen looked magnificent. It was a stew with potatoes. Kate didn't know how hungry she was until she smelled it.

"All kosher, of course."

That moved her deeply, but she did not allow her face to show it.

They both sat silently, facing each other, smiled slightly and began to eat in silence, until Kate could no longer ignore her own nerves and looked up at Kara. The blonde looked at her with a smile on her face, as if patiently waiting for her to talk first.

"Sorry, it's all so..."

"Confused."

"Weird," said Kate. "I had lunch with you last week and now you're... older, and we're in the future."

"I remember that lunch very well. It was the last time I saw you," she said with a sad smile. "I ... never stopped looking for you, not even when you were declared legally dead years later. No one gave up. Sara and her team even asked Gideon to look for you through the timeline, but she couldn't find you. I don't understand why."

"Maybe the thing that brought me here was something different," said Kate rubbing her hands together. "I'll look into it when I get home, and I guess you will too."

Part of Kate wanted to ask her about the future, and another part of her wanted to know absolutely nothing. She knew very well that she could be influenced and change what was supposed to be her future. However, her future was Kara's past. Or at least this Kara's, who was similar enough to her friend to trust her and different enough not to let her guard down entirely.

"So, you're president of the planet now."

The blonde nodded. "Yes, for ten years now."

"And you banned time travel."

"I did, yeah," she said, looking away for the first time, using her dinner as an excuse. "Eventually we discovered that it was too dangerous and could have catastrophic consequences so we banned it. The Time Bureou was dismantled. Brainy had to go back to his own time immediately."

"Consequences like what?"

"The timeline is much more fragile than it seems. Also, for example, if two people from different times have a child, it can create a paradox that could swallow the universe. It was too risky and I had to ban it. That's why believe me when I tell you that take you back to 2020 is practically a global priority, and you will be back very soon."

Kate's instinct told her that there was something Kara wasn't telling her, but she decided not to press it right away. "Good. Meeting Mia was good, but there are also dangerous assholes like Reverse Flash. And I respect and appreciate Sara and Barry but..."

"They were like lemurs with machine guns?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, more or less," said Kara with a sad smile. Kate realized that she had spoken in the past tense about their friends.

"And... is there anyone left?"

Kara's gaze lit up, and she drank a glass of water before answering. "Kal is still in Metropolis, but he's taking some sabbatical years. He's not as active as before but if anyone deserves a break it's him. J'onn is still alive, but he's very old, and can't move as much as before. His children and I visit him very often."

"Children? Oh, good for him."

"Yes," Kara smiled. "He and M'gann were very nervous at first, no one had had yellow Martians in millennia."

"Yellow?"

"Children of green and white Martians."

"Sounds colorful. Anyone else?"

"Charlie, Sara's friend. She hasn't really changed. It's as if time hasn't passed for her. Andrea Rojas is also-"

"Fuck, your awful boss is still alive? What the hell?"

Kara laughed, smiling like old times and making Kate feel her heart flutter. "She's not been my boss in centuries, thank goodness. And it turned out she's half Jarhanpurian. That was a long time ago," she said leaning forward, as if she were going to tell her a secret. "Do you remember Gemma Cooper?"

"Walmart Karen?" said Kate, and they both shared a laugh as they remembered what they used to call the old hideous Obsidian North member.

"Well, Gemma was secretly part of this group of Jarhanpurians hidden in the planet, Leviathan. At that time we didn't know it but she was Andrea's mother."

"Ugh, so a jerk and with super powers."

"And one of them is to age as slowly as a Kryptonian," Kara drank water again. "She's on Titan now, sometimes she sends me letters."

"Then she must not be a jerk anymore," said Kate quietly. And she suddenly knew she had to change the subject before asking about who she really wanted to ask. Mary. Luke. Sophie. Her father.

Alice

Whenever she thought of her sister she only felt pain.

"I have to go home, Kara."

"I know. I'll do anything I can to make you come back safe and sound."

Kate sighed wearily. "Being here can't be good for the timeline."

"Don't worry about that, the timeline can fix itself when you come back to 2020." Kara reached out and cupped her hand on the table, gently stroking her knuckles. Kate wished she hadn't. She was still as intensely beautiful as she was when they first met, and Kate at the time was too tired to be careful not to do something stupid, like tell her she loved her and ask her to kiss her.

So she just smiled wearily. "World Finest?"

Kara's eyes gleamed. "Always."

#This is long wtf so if you see a typo feel free of telling me #Supergirl #Batwoman #Superbat #Superbat^2 #Kanvers #Kara Zor-El #Kara danvers #Kate kane

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ejm513 · 3 years

Text

FAIRY TAIL NEXT GEN CHILDREN-NALU EDITION

DISCLAIMER:

1-I know there is now a cannon child for edo Nalu and edo Gruvia with names and everything. I also know that Gajeel and Levy have twins and Levy is currently pregnant in 100 Years Quest. I love it and their names and everything about those precious babies-but I’ve had these ideas and characters and backstories growing and developing in my head for years so I’m being the stubborn Taurus that I am and sticking with it.

-Also please forgive any misspellings and grammar mistakes as I am dyslexic and my school failed us at teaching spelling and grammar. I did my best.

Hello my lovelies! I am back with the Fairy Tail post and starting with a bang!

I’m working on my next gen story and am determined to make it work this time... so I’m making very detailed profiles for my OC’s that are going to show up and it was so much fun I thought I’d share them with you!

Because of how unwieldly the document was getting I’m going to break it up by pairing staring with Nalu!!!

God I love them...

RANDOM FACTS:

-After the less than stable childhoods the members of the guild had, when they started to have children, they decided to give them as normal a life as possible.

That means the following:

-Many of those who have kids choose to stop taking the longer and dangerous jobs-or at least don’t do nearly as many of them. This is so they can be there for their children and not reduce the risk of not coming home. That doesn’t mean there still aren’t adventures and that these dangerous missions don’t happen, but many of them are weary of the risk. Except for Natsu and Erza… they are always the exception.

-Naturally, the kids are members of the guild from the moment of their conception. However since they live much more stable lives and don’t need to work and take on jobs as children they don’t become official guilds until 13.

-Most of them start taking on summer jobs or small jobs during the school year with their parents starting then and as they get older-like with in a year or two-they start going on solo jobs.

-And yes I said school year because they make their children go to school like normal kids and get the education that most of them never got. (Please note if I mention anything in particular about school or schooling system it is going to be heavily based on the American school system as I went through that system and somehow came out the other side, so that’s what I’m familiar with)

-All of the children suffer from the same illness the Ultear did as child to varying degrees of severity because of how strong their parents. I say varying degrees of severity because some were able to handle it better than others, but none actually died (obviously

THE DRAGNEELS: (NATSU X LUCY)

Lila Dragneel:

Birthday: January 17th, 797

Magic type: Fifth Generation Fire Dragon Slayer; a dragon slayer who was taught and trained by first or second generation dragon slayers

Appearance:

-Height: 5’4 (about the same as Lucy)

-Hair color: Strawberry blonde-or more specifically Lucy’s blonde mixed with Natus’s pink

-Eyes: Exact carbon copy of Natsu’s-large and black.

-Has Natsu’s smile and more of athletic build but she is still uh… gifted

-Otherwise is Lucy’s clone

IMPORTANT FACTS:

-She got the name the name Lila because it’s close to Layla, and for whatever reason I like to think Layla would have liked Lilacs so it’s from the flower too.

-She fell victim to the same illness Ultear did. Because she’s been so strong from the beginning, she handled it relatively smoothly.

-She’s known for her physical strength

Personality:

-Warm and bubbly

-A little whiny

-Loyal to a fault

-Stubborn

-Blunt like her father

-Very childlike and innocent like her father

-Very intelligent like her mother, but can be naïve and dense like Natsu

-She loves books and reading like her mother but is no writer.

-Unlike her father she is not the type to go out and seek fights… However… as Marie from the Aristicats said;

-She was always a good student-particularly excelling in Literature and languages and anything physical (AKA she dominates PE and dodge ball is terrifying with her)

-Though not one to start a fight she does have a tempter and has gotten a number of detentions and at least one suspension for her reckless and destructive tendencies.

-Though if you ask her it’s never her fault because someone kept bugging her until she snapped and they deserved it.

Relationships:

-Extremely close with her mother

-Super close with her father and just seems to click with him more than Lucy. She’s a bit of daddy’s girl and will proudly admit it.

-Also close with her brother. They get along but he more than anyone else can push her buttons. They can fight and because they are Natus’s children it gets physical fast. But they’re still close and love each other.

-Her best friends include: Hazel Redfox and Eliza Fullbuster.

-And Happy. Always Happy

-She tried to be friends with the older and therefore seemingly cooler Aurora Dryer but stopped said friendship after a nasty incident with Aurora and little Eliza.

-Her closest friend is Nick Fullbuster.

-They have somewhat of banter like Natsu and Gray in the sense they’re competitive with each other

An example of a banter:

“Spicy pink head!”

“Ice fairy princess!”

“Destructor!”

“Stripper!”

“Whiny pants!!”

“Pretty Boy!”

“Oh so you think I’m pretty huh?”

“SHUT UP!!”

It’s all-in good fun though.

-It’s also obvious that especially as they get older there is a HEAVY amount of romantic/sexual tension in this banter.

-Everyone but Lila is aware of this. It doesn’t become clear to her until it more less it’s her in the face.

Jude Ingeel Drangeel- Nickname Iggy

Birthday: September 3rd, 802

Magic type: Celestial Magic.

Appearance:

-Height-5’7 (same height as Natsu)

-Hair: Spikey like his Natsu’s but blonde like Lucy’s

-Eyes: Natsu’s Eye Shape and Lucy’s color

-Same build as his father

-More or less a clone of his father with a few differences

-IMPORTANT FACTS

-His name is Jude Ingeel because both Natsu and Lucy agreed that Ingeel Drangeel was a little too much.

-He’s named after both grandfathers, because even though Jude Heartfillia was an ass hat to Lucy they left each other on a positive note and I like to think had she been able to she would have reconciled with him.

-He got the nick name Iggy because his sister thought Jude was stupid and boring and just started calling him Iggy and it stuck.

-Also known for his physical strength

-Also got the same illness Ultear had and like his sister got through it with relative ease

Personality:

-Loud

-Boisterous

-Loyal to a fault

-Protective to a fault

-Scary energetic

-Extremely warm and kind

-Stubborn

-Blunt

-Loves reading and writes like his mother.

-More willing to start a fight than sister, not as bad as his father. He knows there’s a time and place… most of the time

-Most of the fights he starts are with his older sister and Eliza (the later being with words)

-Extremely intelligent and not as dense and naïve as his father or sister.

-He only did okay in school because he was bored most of the time and just didn’t really try... he was also a familiar face at detention.

-He excelled at anything physical (again dodge ball is terrifying with this kid), anything involving writing and oddly music. No one knows where on earth he got it from.

Relationships

-He considers everyone in Fairy Tail his friend

-Very close with his mother, has been called a mama’s boy on occasion but swears he’s not

( *cough cough* he is *cough cough*)

-Considers his father one his best friends

-Close with his sister but he does enjoy pushing her button a little too much which causes a lot of arguments that more than not escalate into physical fights.

-He also likes just tossing her over his shoulder to piss her off and because he can.

-He’s friends with Nick Fullbuster and Simon Scarlet by association but… they’re more like the annoying older brother’s he never asked for.

-His best friend in the whole world (besides his father and Happy) is Eliza… though their relationships can take on more of the trappings of the rivalry of their parents. It doesn’t turn physical because he knows better and doesn’t want to turn into a human popsicle, but it’s a little more heated than Nick and Lila.

-Everything jokes they’re going to end up together like they’re older siblings and to that Iggy said;

“Listen I love Eliza, she’s like my sister. Heck I like her more than my sister sometimes! But I would never, ever, ever never ever ever ever ever… EVER date her.”

-He then proceeded to get blasted into oblivion by a jet of water

-He does however have a bit of a crush on Rose Scarlet.

And there you have it! Hope you like it! Next up is my personal favorite and OTP-Gruvia!!

#fairy tail #fairy tail next generation #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #natsu x lucy #Nalu #Headcanon #ocs #super long #this is gonna take forever #god help me

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grayintogreen · 3 years

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I was not technically tagged, but at least two people on my dash were like DO WHAT YOU WANT NO ONE IS YOUR GOD, and you know what? They’re right and valid.

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

96! And 90% of them are from just this year. Can’t wait to find out what the big 100 is gonna be. Any one of my WIPS could be Disney’s next 100th fic.

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

455,024 (also mostly from this year...)

3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

In my entire life??? Since I was twelve??? I don’t even know, man. I wrote a lot of ooc crackfic and fic for cartoons when I was on FF.net, and then I was on LJ and wrote for a TON of different fandoms, but on AO3, I have written for Critical Role (so much CR), Yashahime/Inuyasha, Guardians of the Galaxy, His Dark Materials (TV), Steven Universe, Bleach, Alias, Supernatural, Dollhouse, Pushing Daisies (the last four were all transferred here from LJ, though)

4) What are your top five fics by kudos?

- turning wine back into water (Critical Role, de-aging fic with plot, 30457 words)

I STILL CANNOT BELIEVE HOW POPULAR THIS FIC IS. It beat out two of my super popular GotG fics that have been up since 2017 BY A LOT. Apparently, there was a market for the Mighty Nein being adorable cocktail brats and saving the world. Thanks, Liam’s Quest!

It is probably one of the most wholesome fics I will ever write too. I love it.

- Sunshine Came Softly (Guardians of the Galaxy, Rocket and Mantis friendship, 3188 words)

THIS FIC STILL GETS HITS EVEN TODAY. It was written right after I saw the movie so it hit hard and fast on the hype train.

- Mine Is Just a Slower Sacrifice (Guardians of the Galaxy, Rocket-centric, 2248 words)

BOY YOU CAN TELL THESE FICS ARE ANCIENT BECAUSE I HADN’T DEVELOPED MY TITLE NICHE YET. where are the lower caps and Seanan McGuire lyrics!!

Anyway, this was written probably IMMEDIATELY after I saw the movie and had to process Rocket’s emotions during the last moments, because of who I am as a person. For what’s mostly a character study, it got some mileage on it.

- they drink dreamers up like brandy (Critical Role, 1625 words)

Back to Critical Role! I wrote this one when I was in a fucking blind post-finale haze and producing massive amounts of Kingsley content and I wanted to write a silly fic about Caleb being tiefling catnip.

- if adversity breeds character (we’ve character enough for two) (Critical Role, Beau and Molly-centric, 1824 words)

I feel like most of my most kudos-ed CR fics are Beau-related, which is funny because I never really wrote her EVER. I guess I need to write her more often. ANYWAY, this one got jossed immediately after 141, but I needed to write Beau and Molly bantering and I couldn’t get her flipping him off after revealing her card is Rumor out of my head.

(Incidentally my sixth most kudos-ed fic is my Fjorester next gen fic, WHICH I WAS NOT EXPECTING AT ALL. IT’S A FIC BASED ON MY OC FANCHILDREN!! I’M VERY EMOTIONAL ABOUT THAT!!)

5) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Usually!! There are times when I forget and then it’s been so long that I never go back, but I like responding to comments. They make me so happy and I want to make sure the people who take the time to comment know that I see them and appreciate them. Especially if they give me long comments. You long commenters know who you are and I value you and also flail incoherently in your direction.

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

God, probably this church takes no conversions simply because, like, the whole ending scenes are MISERABLE AND FULL OF ANGST and then it has the hopeful ending that is actually a bullshit lie.

But second place probably goes to what couldn’t i offer, what couldn’t i give, which is just misery porn in disguise as a character study. Sorry, Cree.

7) Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

Okay, so back in the day when I was a tineh fanbrat I wrote a lot of self-indulgent crossovers featuring my friends and I in true Mary Sue format being ~saviors of the world~ alongside our favorite fictional characters and after I grew out of that, I very rarely did it again, because as someone who can only write AUs if they’re high concept and can only write crossovers if the canon welding is pristine, it’s difficult.

I have ideas for some! I just haven’t written them yet. Or they’re sitting in Google Docs partially written.

8) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not to my recollection, which is insane, because I’ve written some things in my youth that deserved it, but also I was a kid, so maybe I definitely did not deserve it. Don’t send hate to kids!!

9) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

The first smut I ever posted on AO3 involved some fucking American Gods flesh horror shit, so that answers your second question.

Basically, yes, but I write smut to facilitate character development in a way that regular story beats can’t, mainly with characters who are in some way deeply fucked up and have unbalanced dynamics.

So basically chances of me writing smut that isn’t Creecien or Lucigast? Very low. (I haven’t written Lucigast smut yet but I will. Inevitably.)

10) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that anyone’s told me, but one time when I was a teenager someone ripped off an entire group messageboard RP I was in and tried to pass it off as a fic they wrote.

11) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that anyone’s told me!

12) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I tried and it did not work out, because of (non-wanky) reasons, but it’s just not something I’d be very good at. I was the kid who wanted to work alone on group projects. I’m bad at group work.

13) What’s your all time favourite ship?

That I’ve WRITTEN??? Because that at least narrows it down significantly. Sesshoumaru/Rin hands down. It’s a good dynamic and they’re fun and sad at the same time.

My self-indulgent ass does also enjoy writing Creecien though. I’m putting it out there because I want it.

14) What’s a WIP you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

GOD POOR SUPERNOVAS OF ALL SOUND AND LIGHT. THAT FIC COULD’VE BEEN A CONTENDER, but I unfortunately posted it RIGHT BEFORE the White Diamond episodes aired and it became so jossed by canon so fast that I gave up on life with chapter two half finished. I need to delete it but I can’t bring myself to bury my shame.

15) What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue and meta-narrative and character-specific stuff. I go into every story with CHARACTER FIRST mentality, which is how I end up writing so many damn character studies or why my word counts explode. I’m just out here naval gazing because I love character stuff SO MUCH.

I’ve been told I’m good at fight/action scenes too, which... Shocks me, but I think watching and playing a lot of D&D stuff has really improved how I write fighting and action sequences.

16) What are your writing weaknesses?

[whispers] too much naval gaze. dial it back, bitch.

I get really caught up in character stuff and forget to do important things like ADVANCE THE SCENE OR DESCRIBE THE SCENE OR LITERALLY ANYTHING. I also don’t think my prose is all that great, but I’m pretty sure every writer feels that imposter syndrome bullshit, so /waves hands. All I’m saying is I have seen some writers on AO3 who are writing some fucking vivid imagery and stringing flawless sentences together and weaving introspection and description together like beautiful baskets and they are stronger than any US Marine and I salute them and wish to be them.

17) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Iiii try not to. There’s times where I want to throw in, like, a little Zemnian for Caleb flair, but I try to stick to things that are either untranslatable (like German compound words), common phrases (like please or come here), or insults/curses/ pet names. Things that I don’t think Google will fucking lie to me about.

18) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

I think it was a Sailor Moon crackfic about Haruka being forced to enter a beauty pageant which was just a blatant rip-off of Ms Congeniality and oh my god was it awful. I don’t even wanna talk about it.

19) What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

this church takes no conversions, probably BECAUSE it’s my little red-headed stepchild of a fic involving so many things that are just never going to make it popular (backstory fic, fic that is almost 85% headcanon, doesn’t involve popular characters, etc.), but godDAMMIT I love that fic so much. It was fun and I use every bit of that headcanon in almost everything like it’s my job.

shattered stage is a close second, because it was such a crazy concept for a fic that I PULLED OFF SOMEHOW and is this wonderful mix of crazy plot and character and lore and my three favorite tieflings having to work together. And also Jayne Merriweather as the main villain.

A lot of love went into both of those fics and they are my babies. this time next year we’ll see if I add Creedemption and shoot at fate to this list- probably. All of my epic long fics resolve to be my babies because I spent so much time on them, and I have to love them and cherish them because I raised them into gigantic wordy attempts to write a doorstopper.

#writing meme #my writing #shattered stage #this church takes no conversions

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palmett-hoes · 4 years

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Hi, I really loved your post with the monsters as Birds of Prey! Was wondering if you had any thoughts on the Foxes as Marvel or Mcu characters? I feel like I could see Dan as Carol Danvers and Andrew for sure is Jessica Jones, idk about the rest.

oh wow old post!!

haha unfortunately i’m not really a comics person so i don’t feel like i can really give the best analysis possible, but i have seen most of the mcu movies and bits and pieces of the netflix show so i’ll try my best. also im using dc characters too bc i want to

1. Dan: I think your instinct with Dan as Captain Marvel is spot-on (at least uhhh,, based on the movie lol sorry comics ppl). Her direct, forceful powers and fighting style are definitely reminiscent of dan’s no-nonsense leadership approach. similarly the themes of overcoming sexism and acceling in a male-dominated industry in the captain marvel movie is pretty much the same as dan’s story establishing herself as the first female exy captain (tho sports is way more valid than the military). plus there’s a lot of emphasis on love and friendship between women that dan is ALL about. also lashana lynch would be a god tier dan wilds fc. Dan could also def have that lawful good Okoye from Black Panther energy. Loyal, disciplined, no-nonsense leader. no powers except discipline. no hair. also danai gurira in 2012 with the dreads and the sword and the cape on TWD was definitely part of my middle school sexual awakening

2. Kevin: Aquaman. this is based pretty much exclusively on the fact that jason momoa is my #1 kevin fc and also that Pasifika kevin is phenomenal and mandatory, actually. otherwise i think he has a decent amount of stick-up-the-ass cyclops energy. or dick grayson nightwing energy but i don’t have any evidence for why. kinda looks like him tho

3. Andrew: andrew gets the most characters bc he’s my favorite. i think ur jessica jones instincts are absolutely correct, both in her storyline (i only watched the first season) and her powers. i’ve seen some powers au and the tendency seems to be giving andrew like,, psychic powers or the like, and i don’t really agree. andrew is a very direct character. he’s pragmatic, he confronts problems head on, and he doesn’t muck about in details. to me this really translates best into physical powers like super strength that help u big punch straight thru all ur problems. also i def think andrew would be not just a solo hero but a mercenary (or a detective) because he’s not altruistic enough to be a standard vigilante. he doesn’t care enough about other people to hang out on rooftops all night waiting for Crime to occur. there’s a price for that. which brings us to the NEXT andrew hero: deadpool. maybe in personality more of a drugged andrew but the superpowered mercenary is really a perfect fit for andrew. also, healing powers have a decidedly tragic poetry to them on andrew. already he’s self-destructive, if he had a healing factor his concern for his own well-being would be so beyond rock bottom it’d be in the earth’s core. even worse when you remember that with a healing factor, as opposed to indestructibility, you still feel all the pain. which brings us to Wolverine and X-23, who have the same thematic points as deadpool but are much more of a personality match and they have knife hands, which i really think andrew would appreciate. ending that sadness train and onto another tho, andrew’s aesthetic and Vibes fit the Winter Soldier just SO well (just that movie tho, not really civil war or anything past that) and a reinterpretation of the captain america story using the twinyards would be incredibly interesting. and finally, one last hero that would work really well for andrew: rogue, only remove the angst around not being able to touch people, andrew would love that. one touch and their comatose? baller. don't fucking touch him.

4. Matt: Shazam. I didn’t see the shazam movie but my dad and brother did and they said it was very funny and all the trailors looked like it had a lot of fun himbo energy and i really think that fits. in terms of matching himbo disaster energy i think i’ve heard good things about comics hawkeye (not mcu). thor?

5. Aaron: Mr. Fantastic. now this might be a stretch but aaron is a character who uses a skin-deep veneer of anger to cover the fact that he’s actually quite pliant and bends to other people’s wills. and he’s a doctor or w/e. he could alse be like,, antman. he’s smart right? hank pym not paul rudd. katelyn can be wasp

6. Seth: Arm Fall Off Boy. no i will not elaborate. ..... ugh fine, but i'm using my favorite piece of superhero media of all time: x-men evolution, the one where they're all teenagers in public high school. seth can be lance alvers/avalanche who’s a bit of a jerk and has a lot of issues with authority and has a rivalry with cyclops very reminiscent of seth with kevin, but still there’s the recurring theme that he’s lashing out because of low self-esteem and a bad situation and he’s a surprisingly sympathetic character who i’m very fond of. his power is earthquakes but i think the name makes that pretty self-explanatory

7. Allison: Iron Man. cocky, bitchy, and rich rich rich. sounds like allison to me. then to elevate it a level higher: emma frost, rich bitch extraordinaire. also if allison had telepathic powers she would be unstoppable. plus one more bitchy, morally-gray blonde (but chaotic this time): Harley Quinn

8. Nicky: Okay so I do wanna give a quick shout-out to Northstar, the first openly gay comicbook superhero, who’s a speedster which I’d actually say fits Nicky pretty well. However, if i had to choose a superhero to represent nicky in presence and powers it would have to be Jubilee from x-men (... from what i’ve heard lol. i’ve never actually consumed any of her Media hahaha anyway) she’s a joyful, energetic presence and her powers are setting off fireworks which i think is a good balance of nicky being a supportive cousin-parent AND a chaotic train wreck garbage trash man. also gonna throw in johnny storm for a cheap 'flaming' joke

9. Renee: Thunder/Blackbird from Black Lightning bc she’s a fufkin lesbian lol. (i don’t watch the show but i do follow nafessa williams’s tag). now the fr ones i’m gonna do together because to me they have the same Vibes so i chose them for the same reasons. Wonder Woman and Storm who to me have the same reserved, impartial, regal energy. honestly ethereal and somewhat otherwordly, and quite literally goddesses. also op as hell. black widow and her “red in my leger” looking for redemption story also fits thematically.

10. Neil: okay lazy answer first: the flash or quicksilver. get it? because they run fast? and neil run too? yea i like to think i've proven myself to be better than such a surface level interpretation but worth the mention ig. so for srs now, mystique and her shape changing powers would be an interesting interpretation of neil's identity issues, but i wanna push it a step further. nightcrawler would actually be possibly the MOST interesting hero to apply to neil 1. because powers still very movement go fast place to place 2. because of the thematic focus on neil's unusual looks and the lengths he goes to hide them, very much in line with the way nightcrawler will use a hologram-projector in order to look human, yet in both cases it's only a surface-level illusion, and 3. his parentage. here, mary would be mystique, which i also think works very well considering mary seemed to be the far more effective chameleon on the run than neil, and also fits with her place as a morally grey character, as mystique herself is often a villain or an antagonist, with her own agenda and shadowy motives. then nathan matches well with nightcrawler's father: azazel, a literal demon, and also where kurt gets his appearance. it's a shockingly coherent narrative between the three of them. then, to also give neil some powers that aren't contingent on his fucked up geneology and rather on his own merit and abilities, Black Canary and her sonic voice parallel the way that neil began to anchor his identity and take ownership over himself through his voice and his sick roasts

and 1 extra, wymack: batman, on account of his altruism, his dedication to second chances, and his many, many adopted children

---

anon, ik it's been a sec since you sent this, so i hope it gets back to you. i had a fun time with it and it prompted like,,, 7 different au s that i'll never write

#Anonymous #txt #the foxes #im talkin #my posts

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honhonluigi · 3 years

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Your theories and headcanons are super cool! I love your take on Junko, and I now also headcanon the whole "Sayaka dropping a spotlight on her rival" thing. You think of really cool stuff. ❤️

Thank you! I'd honestly take any motives or backstory for Junko over what we get in the games. Or...Lack thereof, actually. I would say "a villain needs to have motives" but it goes beyond that. Every character needs to have sensible motives. Especially a character as important to your story as Junko is to Danganronpa.

The Sayaka-dropping-stagelight-on-rival thing came out of nowhere. People started asking about her dark secrets and I had to come up with something. But I really don't think it's a stretch. I mean, her secret motive probably had something to do with her being an idol, since that was her whole life. And she told Makoto she had to do tons of shameful things she regretted to become an idol. It makes sense that's what it would be about. Plus, I definitely think Sayaka is grasping and desperate enough to pull something like that to get ahead. So even if that idea came to me from nowhere, I'd totally believe it. It makes sense. (I don't think she'd try to kill the chick-- just injure her.)

Don't get me wrong: I like Sayaka. I like her a lot. I think because I say she was trying to frame/kill Makoto, and that she's ambitious and manipulative, that people think I don't like her. No, it's the opposite. I like her because I think those things about her. She cozied up to Makoto to try and frame him. She wrote Leon's name in blood to get her revenge from the grave. She wanted to get out to be famous again, not to save her girl group. She's a desperate, cunning, clever, manipulative, ambitious little minx who will do whatever it takes to achieve her goals. That's not me hating on her. That's a compliment for her character. That's why I like her so much. Her plotting, her scheming, her mental instability is what gives her depth and agency. It turns her into a self-reliant person with great strengths in her ability to be clever and manipulate people. She's able to make things happen, to protect herself, to move herself towards her goals. It's way more interesting. It makes her a more complex character. She's willing to kill to get what she wants, but she's obviously not normally a murderer. How far would she go? Would she feel guilty for it? If she ever hesitated to hurt someone and then ended up losing a goal because of it, would she resent them? Would she ever be Makoto's friend if she wasn't trying to kill him? These are interesting things that you can explore with her when she has these motives and flaws and complexities. That's why I like her. (Also, I just love and admire ambition in characters, especially women.) If you take those things away from her, then you strip Sayaka of her entire character. You strip her of everything that makes her interesting. It's unfair. You turn her from a smart, ambitious girl to a whiny, stupid damsel in distress. You make her weak and, worst of all, boring. With her flaws, she's an interesting and admirable character. Without her flaws, she's another obnoxious boring Mary Sue. Seriously. If you take away her flaws, she would be a total Mary Sue. That's what I thought of her before I learned about her flaws. Her being able to do bad things is what made me like her.

I have a lot more headcanons about a lot more characters, but I'm sure they'll come up eventually.

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mrsleopoldfitz · 4 years

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Random Chicago question for ya: What are your top three restaurant recommendations?

Oh, Nonny. Strap in. You’re in for a ride.

I saw your question this morning and knew I’d have to sit down and really think about it. I thought I’d give you maybe five places I loved because I knew I couldn’t hold myself to just three. Well, you’re getting 18 recommendations and four places I suggest you skip.

A word of warning: I’m a North Sider who lived on the near West Side for years, so most of these places are located in those areas. There are a ton of great places on the South Side (seriously check out Hyde Park - it’s a mecca of great food and culture) that I like, but I haven’t been to often enough to call my favorites. They’re absolutely worth exploring though. Start with Jolly Pumpkin and branch out from Harper Court.

So I guess that means you’re getting 19 recommendations and four skips. Please feel free to reach out and ask me if you have any more questions.

Personal Favorites:

Cafe Iberico - Super authentic Spanish tapas at a great price. There are lots of good tapas places in Chicago, but this is the best.

Folklore - Small Argentine place with great cocktails near my old neighborhood.

West Town Bakery & Diner - This was my favorite brunch place in our old neighborhood. Had to get up early to make sure we got seats, but damn was it worth it.

Bar Eats:

Fatpour Tap Works - Another burger joint that happens to make awesome salads and has an insane selection of beers on tap.

Cleos Bar and Grill - Great place to watch soccer and get a personal pizza at all hours. Definitely a neighborhood kind of place. The Bloody Mary here is trouble. Sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a bad way, but there’ always a good story attached.

Owen & Engine - Best burger in Chicago in an English-style pub. I’m not even kidding. And the rest of the food is great, too. Added bonus? They’re right down the street from Maplewood Brewing.

Brewery Restaurants:

Old Irving Brewing - Hands down some of the best burgers and beers on the northwest side of the city. If I ever leave Chicago, this place will be a must-visit for me. I spend way more money here than I should.

Lagunitas - Yes, I know they’re a California brewery, but they’ve done so much for Douglas Park, they’re honorary Chicagoans. The facility is huge and a lot of fun to just look at (plus they get bonus points for a trippy Willy Wonka theme right as you walk in), and the food is good.

District Brew Yards - Four breweries that allow you to pour your own beer and delicious, delicious Lillie’s Q’s BBQ. It’s a win-win.

Holes-in-the-Wall:

La Pasadita - My personal favorite taqueria, but there a lot of them in Chicago. The fact that it’s right off the Division Blue Line is just an added bonus.

Mario’s Italian Lemonade - Best. Italian. Ice. In. The. City. Don’t try me on this, just go yourself if you get a chance over the summer.

Original Maxwell Street Polish (3801 W. Harrison) - The smell of sauteed onions and kielbasa will tell you that you’re in the right place. Be prepared to sit on the curb or the hood of your car though. You walk up to this joint, order at the window, then chill on the street with the rest of your new best friends as you finish your meal.

Bars:

Queen Mary Tavern - Best cocktails, hands down. Everyone talks about Violet Hour since it’s right under the Damen Blue Line, but this place is a better find. There are some mainstays (the Navy Strength Old Fashioned is godly), but they rotate the menu out with the seasons. Add in Tuesday movie nights with free popcorn and movie-themed cocktails, and you have my heart.

Innertown Pub - This is a typical Chicago bar in what was once clearly someone’s living room. It’s cash only and definitely a local find that’s worth a stop.

Matchbox - Teeny tiny bar that looks totally unassuming but is a brilliant find. Best pisco sour I’ve ever had in the city.

Typical Chicago:

Johnnie’s Beef - Technically not Chicago (it’s in Elmwood Park), but definitely the best Italian beef in the area. Even Alton Brown said so. (Get it dipped if you’re not a coward.)

Fatso’s Last Stand - Greasy, terrible-yet-delicious late-night food and some of the best fried shrimp you could ask for. It’s pretty much everything you want in a Chicago red hot (hot dog) stand without the tamales. (Yeah, our red hot stands sell tamales. It’s a Chicago quirk I wouldn’t give up for the world.)

Tortorice’s Pizza - In my opinion, the best non-chain deep dish (and tavern-style!) you could ask for. I love Lou Malnati’s, but this place is better.

Skip:

These places are good in their own right but are definitely overhyped. If you want to stop by, go for it, but there are better, less crowded places out there.

Pequod’s - The pizza is good, but the caramlized crust is overblown and not worth the wait. Other places do the same thing for a more reasonable price and wait time.

Weiner’s Circle - It’s fun to go to late at night, but a Chicago style hot dog is a Chicago style hot dog no matter where you go. Skip the line and price hike by going further away from Wrigleyville. I’d suggest Jimmy’s Red Hots on Grand.

Al’s Beef - Their gravy is terrible (no flavor) and they’re assholes. Like, super racist POSes at the original location. If you’re going to the one on Taylor Street, skip them and go get yourself an Italian ice across the street at Mario’s instead. You’ll thank me.

Kuma’s Corner - Years ago everyone lost their collective shit over Kuma’s Corner and their burgers. Honestly… They’re meh. I feel like the crazy toppings are covering up for sub-par burgers. They’re okay, but go to Owen & Engine, Old Irving Brewing, or Fatpour if you want a great burger with fewer hoops to jump through.

#asks #anon asks #sweet home chicago #chicago #chicago shit #chicago recommendations

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scarfacemarston · 4 years

Text

I know this isn’t super important, but I thought I’d explain something, especially since I will be writing three or four things about this character. Feel free to ignore. Everyone knows I write about John. It’s in the name. I’ve been in the fandom for ages. Ask me any John Meta question and I will do my best to answer it! But:

.“Why do you always write about Abigail?” This has been asked a few times and I’ve answered it - but I thought I’d answer it for all since I’m sure you some of you who follow me have been thinking it for a while.

I get it, not everyone likes her and I’m totally fine with that. I’m probably one of the few that do like her. My goal isn’t to make you like her. If you don’t like her, that’s okay! Part of it is simply that I really connected with her. I love writing Meta and I think she’s very interesting. I just like writing Meta and I personally think she and Sadie have the most material out of all the ladies. squidpro specialty is Sadie and Arthur so I recommend everyone follow her for her lovely Arthur and Sadie metas. I just didn’t click as much with Sadie, but that doesn’t mean I won’t write about her or someone else. My focus is just Abi and John. I think every character has lived a very hard life and each and everyone of them have incredibly things to analyze. Not counting Sadie, the women don’t receive a lot of attention in the fandom.

But I have to say: A. Abigail has a lot of material to work with. B. A lot of people don’t like her so I at least want to explain why she does what she does so people can understand her. Not to try and change people’s minds. C. I think she has lived maybe the most pitiful life. By this I mean, if you take everything into account - it doesn’t really matter. It’s all sad. I’m not saying hers was the worst. This isn’t a contest, but if you’re talking about pitiful? It’d have to be hers or maybe Molly’s. (Out of the women.) More explained below.

Sadie had a lovely life with Jake for years. It sounded like she had parents that loved her. NOTHING will replace losing Jake, probably her parents, and her material things. What she lost is absolutely terrible and I think that’s all agreed. She had a tough time with the gang, but she quickly rose through the “ranks”. People appreciated and respected her as they should. Sadie after the game did things on her terms when she went to South America. However, her life is still up in the air. She may have found happiness or maybe focused on living an adventurous one. But I’m not counting her because I think she is so well known and beloved for good reason and it does sound like she had a slightly better life at times.

If it wasn’t for Sean’ death, Karen would have had it loads better. Karen didn’t seem to have as awful of a life. She had it rough like most others, but I think she is a different type of survivalist. Nothing gets her down and she is independent. She has people who depend on her and give her purpose. Sean really cared for her and they could have been very happy. That’s a tragedy right there. She had it awful, but I think she had a lot of support and the gang cared about her. Maybe because she “earned her keep”? People checked in on her constantly and begged her to get help - the same even after the main story. Tilly and Mary-beth tried. Mary-Beth and Tilly had this support as well. Molly did not have this support. . Molly was the black sheep mostly because she did not integrated herself into the community. However, people did care about Molly because they always asked about her. Molly had a rich privilege life for quite a while before ending up with Dutch. The last few months of her life were pitiful and horrifying. Mary Beth had her mother pass, but it sounds like her life was somewhat comfortable. Tilly had to struggle with racism and being forced into a gang who did who knows what to her. Literally, we have no idea. She had a HORRIFYING life, but I think I was happiest for her most of all. Still, because of her strength and the ability to take things into her own hands - she faired better. But Tilly and Mary-beth both had happy endings. Karen sadly isn’t confirmed, but I think we all know what happened. Sadie’s ending is up in the air.

As for Abigail, the only real time people pay attention to her is when Jack is taken. Tilly, Hosea and Arthur and later Sadie are the only ones who are steadfast for the first half the game until John comes back. Even with John she doesn’t have much but herself. (Arthur is horribly busy as is Sadie. John is busy and or in jail. Hosea has passed. Tilly is the only one with the ability to help her.) If Abigail didn’t have Jack, I think it would be a very different story.

But outside of that? Abigail has had it the most pitiful out of the women. Nothing she did really amounted to anything. She was orphaned from a young age, lived in an abusive orphanage, lived on the streets and forced into prostitution, became a single mother at a very dangerous time and did not want to become a mother, had her man leave her, later dealt with John being a dead beat when he came back, dealt with the gang constantly shunning her to the point no one except a few would even talk to her. Like I said, John did to his credit come back for her and they do love each other! But not a lot of it was happy because there were marital differences and the shit life threw at them.

She and Jack were moved around constantly due to John’s hasty actions. He loved them no doubt, but they didn’t have any stability until years later. Even with the ranch, which is when she was happiest - they always had to worry about being broke and staying safe. Her daughter died. She seemed to have some sort of nasty illness around the epilogue/rdr 1, She was kidnapped for months on end with Jack. John was horribly murdered, she died of an illness and or broken heart, her son abandoned the ranch and became an outlaw. Everything she never wanted to happen Even the moments on her ranch had a lot of tragedy. Again, I am not saying she had it the worst - but out of the women - her life really amounted to nothing but hardship from beginning to end. So I think her complex character gives me a lot to work with. Plus, she seems to be different in everyone’s playthrough. Perhaps more than any other character. She has NEVER been abusive in any of my playthroughs on the PC and the PS4. I do know she has those scenes though and I hate that she acts that way in some playthroughs. I get life is tough for her, but if this was IRL, you bet I’d call her out. Same with John and a few other characters, even when I like them. Personally, I think if you like someone and they are acting crappy, you have more of an obligation to speak up.

As you all know I rp her. I just think she has a lot of strength for someone who has had to do almost everything by herself her whole life. I think I also wish that she had a bit more happiness, too which is why I want to write fluff or share stuff with her. So many other people just write her as a cold uncaring bitch. I’m talking in general,there are a few John stans who write her this way, but a lot don’t. They usually write Abigail in a nontoxic way, but I’ve certainly seen people in general do awful thing with her, But - like I said, it’s a fandom thing. Plus, since my specialty is John, it’s only natural that she creeps up a lot. As for the audio files, hers are the ONLY ones that are labeled so they are easy to find. The rest are unlabeled so when I get a character audio requested, I’m happy to do it - but it’s hard. Finally, it’s my blog. It’s a lame excuse, but it’s true. I will try to write for any character, but I will freely admit that I am not as passionate about writing about certain characters. So that’s why I write about Abigail so much.

#rdr 2 #abigail marston #abigail roberts #karen jones #tilly jackson #Molly O'shea #red dead redemption 2 #john marston #mary-beth gaskill

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starshine583 · 5 years

Text

New Friends Ch. 16

Ch.1 / Ch.15 / Ch.17

(It’s a little choppy, but I hope you guys like reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!)

Marinette giddily jumped down the steps, into the kitchen. Felix was part of the team now! Well, Chat still seemed iffy, but he would get over it. Eventually. As for Felix himself, he couldn’t be more fit for the role! He was protective and smart and sweet and, well, everything!

“Someone’s in a hurry today.” Sabine teased, watching Marinette hurriedly stuff her books into her bag.

“What can I say? I wanna get an early start today.” She replied, barely finishing her sentence as she rushed out of the room and down to the bakery.

“Woah! Don’t forget your breakfast.” Tom called, dangling the paper bag in the air.

Marinette back-tracked to where her father stood, taking the bag in exchange for a kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks Papa. See you after school!”

“Bye sweetie, have a good day!”

“How many things did you forget in an effort to come meet me outside on time?” Felix asked as they walked. Normally, Luka would walk her to school, but Marinette figured this would give them a chance to talk more about their new dynamic.

“None.” Marinette replied indignantly.

“…at least none that I know of.” She then added, fishing through her backpack to double check.

Felix chuckled beside her. “Well, if you need anything, just ask.”

A blush bloomed across her cheeks. The words were meant to be friendly, but ever since his akumatization she just couldn’t look at him the same way. Anything he said, anything he did for her made her think of his confession. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach anytime he glanced her way, let alone talked to her directly. Was this a good thing? Did she actually have feelings for him, or was it only because of what he said under someone else’s control?

“R-right! Of course, I - yes, I’ll definitely do that.” She stammered, nervously fiddling with her jacket. Why can’t she just talk to him dang it!

“Anyway! How’s Wayzz doing?” She changed the subject, hoping to cover up her stutters.

“He’s doing good. He really likes the tea that old man gave me.”

“Master Felix has even found a way to take it with us!” Wayzz spoke up, holding a small, metal capsule used to store medicine.

“Oh, that’s clever!” Marinette complimented.

Felix shrugged. “It was the only thing I could come up with for now.”

Marinette smirked, shaking her head in her response. He doesn’t give himself enough credit.

She forced her hands to her sides to avoid messing with her jacket. There was no reason to be anxious around Felix, anyway.

Unfortunately for her, their hands bumped together when she did so, causing both of them to blush.

“S-sorry!”

“Don’t worry about it.” Felix mumbled, looking down at his shoes.

Marinette screamed internally, glancing at their hands. Her mind wandered to their talk on the balcony yesterday, how he put his hand on top of hers. It felt..nice, his touch. One might say, electrifying. She wondered what would happen if she held his hand now.

Despite herself, Marinette reached out to him.

Closer.

Their fingers brushed together.

“Mari! Felix! Have you guys seen the news?” Aurore called out to them from the school steps.

Marinette yanked her hand away.

“N-news?” She asked, attempting to hide how flustered she was.

Thankfully, Aurore was too excited to notice.

“Yeah! About the new hero! It was all over the internet last night!” She informed, showing her phone screen to the two.

Felix and Marinette’s eyes widened as they looked at the picture. Ladybug and Buclier were standing on a rooftop with Chat Noir. The picture was obviously taken at night, so whoever took it must have brightened the image.

“Where did you find this?” Marinette frowned. So much for keeping Buclier a secret.

“On the ladyblog.” Aurora said, her nose scrunching up in annoyance. None of them were fond of Alya anymore, but she was their only source of information for the heroes.

“How do you know it’s not photoshopped?” Felix questioned as he walked passed the two.

Aurora furrowed her eyebrows. “Would Alya do that though?”

“We all know she’s hungry for attention from how quickly she joined Rossi’s side. I wouldn’t put it beneath her. You don’t think the figures look a little stiff? Or off color?”

Marinette hid a smile. “Yeah, they do look a tad blurry. There wasn’t even an akuma last night. I thought the extra heroes only came out during fights."

Aurora blinked, looking down at the image again. "I gotta go tell Wayhem."

The blonde ran off, and Marinette fell back into step with Felix.

"I’m impressed. That was some quick thinking, but it won’t stop everyone else from looking at the picture.”

“Maybe, but once one person starts to doubt, others will as well.” Felix responded, smiling to himself.

Marinette nodded. “True, true- Oh! I almost forgot, are you free for lunch?”

Felix hesitated, but nodded. “I should be. What do you have in mind?"

"I wanted to go on another run.”

“In the middle of the day?”

Marinette snorted. “Please. Aside from Alya, no one looks to the rooftops unless there’s an akuma.”

Felix considered her statement, and she ignored her racing heart when he smiled and said, “In that case, a run sounds nice.”

~~~~~~~~

Nino massaged his temples as he sat down for class. This whole Lila situation seemed to be getting out of control. She was pretty cool when she first got there, but now It was like she was turning everyone against each other.

He wasn’t asking much! He just wanted to make sure they weren’t going through all of this conflict for nothing, but Alya acted like Nino committed some sort of murder anytime he suggested investigating. She was so convinced Lila was a perfect angel.

Thing is, chaos doesn’t usually follow a “perfect angel” wherever they go.

“Wow, Alya, that’s such a good shot!” Lila praised behind him, inspecting his girlfriend’s phone. “Guess I don’t have to tell you about them now.”

“Tell me about them?” Alya repeated, curiosity lacing her tone.

He didn’t see Lila’s smirk as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Of course! As Ladybug’s friend, it’s only natural that I’d know about new heroes. In fact, I’m the one that referred them to her.”

Nino sighed, pulling his cap further onto his head. This is exactly what he was talking about! Picking out heroes, being Ladybug’s best friend, didn’t that all sound- I don’t know -too good to be true? He wasn’t even taking into account the fact that- should her stories be true -she helped Ladybug replace him. Granted, Nino didn’t own the miraculous, but he still would have liked a reason, or at least a warning, ya know?

“Nino?” Adrien lightly nudged him, eyebrows furrowed with concern.

Nino straightened. “Sorry, what’d ya say?”

“Nothing. You just looked upset. What’s up?”

He felt the tension melt off his shoulders and a smile spread across his lips. Lila might be stringing them along, but at least he knew Adrien had his back.

“Meh, I was just thinking about-” He paused, cautiously glancing back at the two girls before leaning forward and whispering, “Lila.”

“Lila?” Adrien blinked.

“Yes?” Lila perked up, causing Alya to look their way too.

Nino inwardly cringed. “Uh- nothing! We were just talking about how~ how crazy it was that you knew the new hero! Yeah..”

Alya gave him a look, but brushed it off, going back to her phone. Lila, however, just stared at him. If he didn’t know her to be so sweet, Nino might even think she was glaring at him.

He nervously chuckled, giving her a small wave and quickly facing the front. Why did he have the sudden feeling of being black-listed?

~~~~~~

“What do you mean you guys aren’t coming to lunch?” Aurore said with a pout. They always ate together! It was like.. Their thing now!

Marinette smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, Aurore. Papa wants me to try his new desert.”

“And Mother’s been throwing a fit over her wasted lunches.” Felix added behind her.

Aurore groaned, rubbing her hand over her face. That totally fails.

Wayhem, standing next to her, gave her a pat on the shoulder with a comforting smile.

“Guess it’s just you and me today, Rory.”

Marinette tilted her head to the side.“Just you two? What about Luka and Kagami?”

“Kagami had to go eat with her mother too. Something about a business meeting with the Agreste’s?” Aurore answered, though she questioned herself at the end. She briefly glanced towards Wayhem for confirmation. He winced, but nodded. Yeah, it didn’t sound enjoyable to her either.

“And Luka promised to eat with Juleka today, since they haven’t hung out in a while.” Wayhem then explained.

“Oh, gotcha.”

A small pause, mostly awkward. Aurore almost wanted to ask if she could go with Marinette to her house, but was that too much? She seemed like she wanted to be alone for some reason.

“Well, I’d better get going. I told mother I’d walk home which takes a while” Felix spoke up, effectively shutting down any chance she had of asking.

“Yeah! I should be leaving too. See you guys later!” Marinette waved, her and Felix subtly starting down the stairs.

Aurore gave a dejected- and slightly dramatic -sigh. “Alright, see you later.”

“Have fun with your family!” Wayhem grinned.

Marinette and Felix nodded, exchanging looks before going separate ways.

“..were they a bit off to you?” She said after a moment.

Wayhem shrugged. “Yeah, but I wouldn’t worry about it. Anyway, I’m starving. Ready for food?”

Aurore giggled. “When am I ever not ready for food.”

The two laughed, not noticing the flash of green and red on the rooftops.

~~~~~~

Ladybug grinned from ear to ear as they ran across the rooftops, reveling in the way the wind tugged through her hair. Something about the suit’s super strength propelling you forward made you feel as light as air. Almost like you were flying. A euphoric sense of freedom.

Bouclier let out a shout of joy when he made a particularly large jump.

Ladybug laughed. “Glad to see you’re enjoying yourself.”

“How can I not?” Bouclier yelled over the rush of the wind. “It’s exhilarating!”

They continued running through Paris for another twenty minutes, challenging each other to do different types of tricks. Ladybug also gave Buclier a few pointers here and there. Eventually, the duo became tired and stopped on flat rooftop to eat lunch.

“No wonder I see you around Paris so much.” Felix commented, smiling at the view their rooftop provided. “The view’s amazing from up here.”

Ladybug chuckled, swinging her legs over the edge. “I know right? I wish I could see it more.”

A comfortable silence fell between them.

She savored these moments. Just her and Felix. It gave her a sense of peace she normally couldn’t find on her own. Maybe because she was always up in the air, and he was always down to earth. He grounded her. She lifted him up.

“Felix..” She began softly, as if talking too loud might break their delicate balance.

Bouclier hummed, his half-lidded eyes trailing to hers.

“Do you.. Remember anything? From being akumatized, I mean.”

A frown tugged at the corner of his lips. “No. nothing.”

Ladybug dipped her chin slightly in a thoughtful nod. She figured he didn’t. No one ever remembers being akumatized, nor what they do during that time.

Don’t get her wrong, she was glad he didn’t remember. That sort of thing can be traumatizing, but..

Bouclier knitted his eyebrows. “..Is there something you want me to remember?”

And I love you for it.

A blush exploded on Ladbug’s face, almost as red as her suit.

“No! Nope, absolutely not- I mean-” She flailed her hands around, eventually coming down to cover her face. “No.”

His lack of commentary afterward prompted her to peek through her fingers.

Confusion etched onto Bouclier’s features. He probably didn’t know how to respond. She wouldn’t either.

Ugh! Why couldn’t she just curl into a ball and die? Death would be much less embarrassing.

“We should probably get back to school.” He finally said, glancing down at his wrist and scrunching up his nose when he remembered he didn’t have a watch while in costume.

Ladybug snorted at the sight, though she didn’t have any room to talk. “Yeah. That’s a good idea.”

~~~~~~

Adrien twisted his straw back and forth between his thumb and forefinger, desperately trying to ignore the hole Kagami was burning through his forehead. She hasn’t spoken a word to him since their conversation in the cafeteria over a month ago. Any attempt to speak to her resulted in a steely glare and cold shoulder. What did Marinette say to her for him to deserve such treatment? He only wanted to do what was right!

Speaking of Marinette, what was her deal yesterday anyway? Felix blinded Alya and made Nino deaf- albeit under akumatization, but still -and what did she do? Ran right over to Felix! She didn’t even check to see if they were okay! She seemed more concerned about him rather than them. Why? They’d been friends way longer!

He knew she was frustrated with Lila, and she had reason to be. The brunette was, admittedly, a bit over the top, but she wasn’t terrible like Marinette said.

On top of that, Nino was coming around! Without them saying anything! Her lies were starting to fall through exactly as he predicted. His plan was the right course of action after all! And once he told Marinette about Nino, she’d apologize. Kagami would stop glaring at him, Lila would thank them for making her a better person, and Marinette would talk to them again. Everything would go back to normal!

Adrien smiled, mentally patting himself on the back as he looked out the window. He preferred the driving cars to Kagami’s scowling face.

A sour expression morphed onto his features a few seconds later, however, when he spotted them.

There, a few rooftops away, sat his Lady, laughing and talking with the new hero, whatever-his-name-was. Wasn’t she supposed to be training him? Why were they sitting and talking and laughing? He’d never seen her smile like that with him. And hanging out in pure daylight? What happened to “keeping things professional”?

“Adrien.”

The blonde stiffened when his father called his name. “Y-yes?”

“Is there something wrong?” Gabriel asked with a raised eyebrow.

It was then he realized Kagami wasn’t the only one who’d been staring at him, though she was the only one that glared.

He straightened, scratching the back of his head with a sheepish smile. “Wrong? No, of course not. I’m just gonna..” His eyes grazed over the building where Ladybug was, and he saw her blush- it was evident from a mile away -and adorably flail her arms in the air. The same way she always does when she’s flustered. In different circumstances, he’d find it cute.

“I’ll be right back. Bathroom.” He ground out, standing up and marching off to find a place to transform. No doubt his father would reprimand him for the tone later, but there were more important things right now.

He transformed in an alleyway near the restaurant, already laying out his points and arguments in his head. Oh, she was going to get a piece of his mind.

“Alright, ‘bugaboo’, explain yourself.” He demanded, landing on their rooftop and throwing a harsh glare at..

Nothing.

What?

“Where did they go?” He thought aloud, turning this way and that to find them. No greens, no reds, no pigtails or shield shells, nothing. He’d seen them right? Did they just leave before he could get to them?

He huffed, extending his baton to go back to the restaurant. Father and Mrs. Tsurugi are still waiting for him.

Guess he’ll just have to work on that confrontation until he sees her again.

~~~~~~

Lila did her best to hide her frustrations during lunch with Alya. Nino’s doubts hadn’t faded, and she had a hunch that promising him more things wouldn’t be enough this time. So what did he want? Everybody wants something.

“Ugh, this picture is so blurry.” Alya complained, zooming in on her photo of the new hero. “Do you think you could ask Ladybug to take a photo of him for me?”

Lila forced a sweet smile. “You see, I would, but you know LB. She’s always busy and strictly professional. If I asked for special pictures, she might not let me hang with the heroes anymore.”

Alya groaned. “I know. You’re so lucky. I wish I could be best friends with Ladybug.”

Lila resisted the urge to roll her eyes. How could anyone want to be friends with that insect?

She glanced around the cafeteria, hoping to find something- anything -to take her mind off of that red spotted pest.

Her eyes landed on Aurore and Wayhem, oddly sitting by themselves.

“Al, I’ll see you in class.” Lila said, abruptly cutting off the reporter and standing up. Aurore and Wayhem together? With no Marinette to interfere? Well, she surely couldn’t waste such a unique opportunity. People were only starting to doubt her because of Marinette’s new squad. If she wanted Nino back, maybe stripping that pig-tailed headache of her new friends would squash any extra questions he had of her credibility.

“I’m sorry, but do you mind if I sit here?” She asked politely, holding up her tray for emphasis.

Wayhem and Aurore looked up in surprise, their expressions immediately darkening when they realized who interrupted them. She had to admit, it was.. Unsettling. The pair was usually the epitome of cheeriness.

Wayhem spoke first. “Lila, we’re not saying we don’t like you, but.. We don’t like you.”

“Hate your guts, actually.” Aurore added impassively.

Lila shoved down her rising anger towards the comments and gasped, subtly taking a seat with tear-brimmed eyes. “W-what? Why? What did I do?”

Wayhem scoffed. “That’s not gonna work on us.”

Lila sniffed, going so far as to pull out a handkerchief. “P-please, I just want to be friends. Is this about Marinette? Is she spreading rumors about me to you guys, too?”

“Oh, it’s definitely about Marinette.”

“But she isn’t the one spreading rumors.” Aurore crossed her arms.

“And you think I am? I just wanted to be friends with her and she tried to turn everyone against me for no reason!”

“Right. Because Marinette’s so unreasonable.”

Lila bit back a snarky response, opting instead for another approach.

She sighed dejectedly, drying her fake tears and casting her gaze to the floor. “Okay.. You’re right.”

She heard the two straighten, and hid a smirk behind her bangs.

“The truth- the real truth -is that I was jealous of Marinette. She was so smart and creative and had so many friends.. I just wanted to be like her, but I got carried away..”

Their shoulders sagged slightly. They were losing their guard. Wonderful.

Lila lifted her head, making sure her lip quivered as she spoke. “I didn’t mean to make her miserable. I was embarrassed. And scared. Please, help me apologize. Help me show her that I’m a good person.”

Aurore and Wayhem exchanged looks. Yes! They were getting roped in! Once she had Wayhem and Aurore, she’d get to Luka. Then Kagami. Then Felix! And then Marinette would be powerless again.

“Well.. as long as you’re serious about apologizing..” Wayhem frowned.

Adrenaline rushed through her veins. Almost there! One more to go!

“Aurore?” She turned to the blonde, carefully hiding her excitement.

Aurore pursed her lips, looking down at her lap. “I.. guess we can help you.”

Lila almost squealed. “Really?”

“No.” The two dead-panned, abruptly standing up and taking their trays with them.

She blinked.

..What..what just happened?

“Wait-” She tried to call out to them again, but Aurore sent her a glare.

“Hurts, doesn’t it? Being lied to, getting your hopes up for false promises?” She said haughtily.

Wayhem briefly turned back to Lila, a very clear warning in his tone as he said, “Leave our Mari alone.”

The two walked away after that, leaving a confused and furious Lila behind.

~~~~~~

Felix settled in the seat next to Marinette. He pulled out his tablet to get ready for class, even though he wouldn’t be able to pay attention anyway. There were too many things clouding his mind.

Thing number one, becoming Bouclier. He’d volunteered to help Marinette save Paris, but he had no idea that meant he would get a miraculous. Honestly, Felix couldn’t say he was complaining, though. Wayzz was a delightful companion, and the rush of adrenaline from practically flying over Paris was intoxicating. He couldn’t wait to go out again.

Thinking of his new alter ego brought him to thing number two, Marinette and her question. When she asked if he remembered anything during that time, she almost seemed.. Hopeful. He tried asking her about it, but she got all flustered and anxious. Why? Why did he have this feeling he missed something important that happened?

Felix nearly groaned from all the unanswered questions. At this point, he only hoped his akumatization wasn’t that much of a burden to her. Goodness knows she has enough burdens already. Rossi, Cessaire, Agreste..

He narrowed his eyes as the list grew in his mind. Marinette had burdens. Too many burdens. His golden angel was forced to deal with too many things that simply weren’t her problem. In fact, She shouldn’t have to deal with anything. Marinette was too sweet and too caring and too incredibly amazing and.. and..

Wait..

Wasn’t that going a bit far?

“Felix?” Marinette’s hand lightly touched his shoulder, sending him back to the night before. They’d practically held hands, hadn’t they?

He looked down at her, noticing the slight concern reflecting in her bluer than blue eyes. Why was it so hard to breath all of a sudden?

“Are you okay? You looked pretty lost in thought.”

Ah. Always so considerate, always able to read him so well.

He blinked.

Of course she could read him well. They were friends, after all. That’s why he decided to help her with her Ladybug responsibilities. Not because she was a sun shining through his raging storms. Not because she was also the sparkling moon in his darkest nights. And most certainly not because he’d grown closer to her than any other person he’d ever met.

Felix shook his head.

“I’m fine, thank you.”

What was wrong with him?

No. no, no, no, absolutely not. Marinette was amazing, and he cared for her deeply, which is exactly why he wasn’t going to ponder on those previous thoughts. They had a good friendship going, and he’d be darned if he let a few “flukes” get in the way of that. He would ignore these random thoughts and feelings, and they would leave as quickly as they came. End of story.

“Just checking.” Marinette smiled, her tone light and cheery and adorable as always.

..Okay, maybe this was going to be harder than he thought.

Tag list: @unabashedbookworm @bluerosette23@minightrose@kuroko26@im-here-for-the-content @angstyrastuff@clumsy-owl-4178 @fanboy7794@choaticneturcl @bigcheeseyboi@burntnugget-tae @ayuchan07@honorisfortheweak @knightrose15@mjisntme@rhub4rb@simplythebestbug@wilhelmares@zebrabaker@dargeon-lissa @kristycocopop @alumneia @kaydenth3gayden @thornangelic727@flirtshobi @whatamessofwords @offically-over-it @flashflashitsash @thewingting @aegyobutpsycho2 @zoeytheweeb @zeyheartstaylor @friedchickening @roseinbloom02 @totalgaydrama @god-is-dead-and-so-am-i

#Felinette #Felix Culpa #New Friends AU

796 notes · View notes

mileycyprus-hill · 5 years

Text

Mistakes: Part 3

A RDR2 Fanfic

Summary: Starts right after chapter 2, Arthur and reader have a chat. She goes to the doctor.

Warnings: descriptions of female anatomy (your body’s going through changes, hun. But nothing super graphic)

Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 here.

“Talk ‘bout what?” Arthur asks, stepping past you and into his open tent. You turn to follow right behind him, making sure to stand in the entryway. If he wants to leave, he’d have to walk right through you. Your talk with Hosea had finally given you the bravery needed to confront this issue head-on.

“I think you know what.” You reply, arms straight and hands fidgeting the fabric of your skirt.

With his back still to you, Arthur stiffens. You see a hand curl into a tight fist, his fingers immediately unbend and relax at his side. You try to silence the pounding in your chest, pounding so loud like the war drum of an approaching battalion. Worry seeps through your thoughts while your body steels.

Arthur turns only slightly, his body unmoved while his head slowly veers to look at you over his shoulder. From the side, you can clearly see his eyes make contact with you, normally hidden beneath his father’s hat when he looks straight on. It felt likes ages since you looked into those eyes. Those eyes made from crushed sapphires and emeralds, sprinkled with subtle hints of amber that shine in the light.

Letting out a heavy sigh, he abruptly turns his gaze away, “Ain’t nothin’ to talk about.”

Taking a step—nay, a leap forward, you gently protest, “Arthur...what’s wrong? I—I know it has something to do with that night.”

As you step over to look at him directly, Arthur counters by turning away and avoiding your stare. He mentally curls within himself like a scared, wounded animal.

“I want—I want you to know that...I don’t regret what we did. And—goddammit, will you just look at me?!”

You feel the other members darting their attention to you throughout the camp.

At that, Arthur reluctantly turns to face you, like a scolded child. You can’t tell if he’s nervous or annoyed by the look on his face: the tight pursing of his lips, the furrow of his brow.

“I’m sorry if I pushed you into it,” you continue. “It wasn’t right of me to take advantage of you.”

A moment passes in agonizing silence, and Arthur looks into your eyes.

“I’m sorry, Arthur,” you repeat, this time you avert your gaze and look down to your hands, wringing them nervously. “I just want things to go back to the way they were...but if it can’t, then I understand.”

Without hesitation, you move out of his tent and quickly march to your own with your head held low. You try not to look at the other camp members so they can’t see the tears welling in your eyes. It took so much strength to speak to Arthur, and you feel as if you’re a second away from collapsing.

Approaching your tent, you realize there's no privacy for you to cry in peace. Anyone could hear you and ask, and you have no desire to speak to anyone else tonight. Looking to the horizon, you see the sun set. The dry dirt of New Austin glows red like the embers of a fire. The long, thin clouds cut through the indigo sky in a mix of orange and pink.

You decide to walk to the edge of camp, to a lone tree standing high above the shrubs. Gently falling to your knees, you lean yourself against it and let go. The tears trickle down your cheeks like heavy rain on a window pane. You struggle to take deep breaths with your lungs constricting and heart hammering away.

You weren’t even there for a full minute before you hear footsteps coming from behind you.

“Go away,” you seethe through your teeth in aggravation, not bothering to look at who’s coming. But the footsteps don’t falter, continuing to stamp through the dirt towards you.

Turning towards the sound you nearly shout, “I said, GO AW—”

You’re stopped short. It’s Arthur, raising his hands slightly as if he’s trying not to spook you.

“I’m sorry, just...gimme a minute?” he asks.

You hesitate, quickly wiping the tears from your face.

“Sure,” you turn back around, leaning back against the tree, feet crossed and your knees held up your chest. Arthur steps up near you, leaning his shoulder against the thick trunk.

There’s an uncomfortable silence between you that seems to last forever until Arthur finally speaks.

“I wasn’t lying that night when I said that... what we did was the best I had,” he confesses, scratching the back of his neck. “I guess I—well, I dunno,”

He sits himself down next to you, viewing the beautiful sun disappearing below the horizon. The sky gradually darkens to a deep blue, the evening stars shining brightly.

Looking over at you, he continues, “I guess I was afraid.”

You turn to him, eyes scanning his face, unblemished except for the scar on his chin, a reminder of life's harsh gifts.

“Afraid of what?” you ask.

He shrugs, “ ‘fraid of losing’ you, I guess. I thought you only did it ‘cause you felt sorry for me.”

You cock your head to the side, raising an eyebrow at him, “What?”

Arthur looks back at the horizon and continues his confession.

“I-I know. It’s silly now that I think about it. Hell, I weren’t even sure if you remembered anythin.”

He lets out a deep sigh, “I wanted to give you space...thought you regretted it the way you looked at me—or I should say, didn’t look at me.” He chuckles dryly.

A tiny chuckle rises out of you behind your dried tears.

“I’m sorry.” you say.

“ ‘m sorry, too.” He responds, looking back over to you with a symptathic smile. You catch his eyes studying your face.

“Does this mean we can be friends again?” You inquire.

His eyes squint while a big grin forms on his lips, “Yeah, if you wanna be.”

Taking him by surprise, you embrace him in a hug.

“I do.”

He returns the hug by squeezing his arms around you. You feel safe in his burly arms, the feeling of his warm, bare neck against yours calms you. You take in the scent of his thick hair while he rubs his bulky hands across your back.

—————

Another week goes by and things seem to return to normal. The friendship between you is rekindled, though deep down you secretly crave more. But you refuse to push further. You don’t want to mess things up again.

You almost forget one thing.

Your period still hasn’t shown up. No spotting, no subtle dots on your undergarments, nothing.

And now, you begin to notice other symptoms. At first, you thought they were signs of your upcoming period. But these were different. You couldn’t eat, yet you were starving. Your breasts were tender, your nipples began to darken, and you swore they felt a little bigger than before. Have your breasts swelled before on your periods?

Everything you ate from Pearson gave you intense heartburn. It didn’t matter what it was, your chest felt like it was on fire and you were belching lava.

You were constantly tired from the most menial activities. You tried blaming it on the heat, but it’s October, and the weather is mild. The nights were cold and yet you’d wake up in a sweat. There was no denying it now. You had to go to the doctor to be sure.

But how? It’s not like you could convince Dutch and Hosea to let you go see the doctor when visually, you don’t seem sick.

After your morning chores, you see Arthur sitting in his tent. Unbeknownst to you, he watches you from below his hat, sketching you in his journal. The past few days, he has been capturing the worried look on your face, transferring it to the pages of his book.

If only you had seen the written entries of his journal, then you could see his growing feelings for you. He could be honest to himself in his journal, explaining the conflict within himself. His heart still felt loyal to Mary, as the wounds were still fresh. However, being with you helped patch the trauma of heartbreak. Was he only trying to find a substitute for Mary? Or were these feelings towards you genuine?

He closes his book as you approach his tent.

“Hey Arthur?” you greet him with a nervous tone.

“Yeah?” He replies, the sound of his voice soothing you only minutely.

“If you’ve got a minute, would you mind going into town with me? I uh, heard about some rich newlyweds moving into a homestead not far from here. I’d like to check it out, but Dutch wants me to get the mail first...wanna come with?”

He stares at you for a second, eyes squinting in confusion.

“Funny, I didn’t hear anything about this. Usually Hosea finds out ‘bout these.” He replies.

Your mind scrambles as you to try to convince him to escort you without giving yourself away. Normally, you go into town by yourself. But you’re too scared to enter the doctor’s office on your own and you desperately need someone there with you.

Someone you can trust.

“Yeah uh, he actually told me about it and said I should look into it,” you state. You shove your hands into the pockets of your trousers to stop your fingers from twitching and fidgeting.

“So what’dya need me for?”

Struggling to hold back a frustrated groan, you blurt, “I dunno! Willyoujustcomewithme?”

You’d be surprised if he could even understand that sudden outburst of words.

The both of you stare at each other with wide eyes until you plead softly, “Please?”

With a suspicious look, Arthur sets his journal down on his cot beside him.

“Okay,” he croaks slowly. “Just gimme a minute and I’ll meet’cha over there.” He points over to the horses.

Leaving Arthur, you jog over to Dutch’s tent. You’re only there for a quick second as you poke your head in.

“Arthur and I are going to town, we’ll be back tonight.” You rapidly state, not even giving Dutch a moment to process what you just said before you pop your head back out. You swear you saw him jump with a startled look, nearly dropping the book in his hand.

What you didn’t see was Hosea standing in the tent across from him, leaning back against a table.

Dutch looks to him with his mouth agape and forehead wrinkles creased, “What the hell was that about?”

Hosea shrugs his shoulders, “I don’t know...” he looks over to the closed flaps of the tent. “But I’m sure it’s fine.”

“You haven’t been noticing that something is up between those two?” Dutch asks lowly.

Hosea is well aware, but he knows better than to indulge in Dutch’s skepticism so as to not let him worry any more than he should.

“They’re fine, Dutch,” he responds, stepping forward from the table and placing a hand on his shoulder. “If you’re so worried about them, I’ll go and talk to them tomorrow.”

“Perhaps we both should. Find out what’s going on...I don’t like not knowing.” Dutch closes his book.

Hosea chuckles, “I know.” He pats Dutch’s shoulder once more before leaving the large tent. He watches you and Arthur mount your horses before cantering off into the distance.

Dutch is right, there is something going on between you two. Whatever it may be, Hosea only hopes both of you are being safe, especially you.

——————

The pair of you make it into town fairly quickly. Mainly because of you pushing your steed to a full gallop, almost leaving Arthur behind. His mare can hardly keep up with your thoroughbred.

“Y/N! Slow the hell down!” Arthur yells as you reach the outskirts of the town.

You were in such a daze, you didn’t realize how hard you were pushing the horses. You just wanted to get to the doctor fast, prove to yourself that you’re not pregnant. The thought had been gnawing at you like a dog on a bone. You don’t even recall if Arthur said anything to you on this trip. You had tuned the whole world out.

Pulling on the reigns, you slow König to a walk to let him catch his breath.

“Sorry,” you call behind you as Arthur catches up to you.

“Why you in such a damn hurry? Not like the mail’s goin’ anywhere.” He trots his horse up beside yours and you both ease your way into the streets of town.

Going into town has always made you nervous, as you’re unsure if someone will recognize you as part of the Van der Linde gang. Luckily, the gang’s presence is not that well known in these parts of the country. But you never know what could happen, so you always watch your back.

“I’m not in a hurry, I just—I remembered I got some other things I need to get while we’re here.” You reply to him.

“Mhmm,” Arthur hums, eyeing you suspiciously from his horse.

The two of you reach a hitching post nearby the post office, dismounting your horses and continuing on foot.

“And uh, what ‘other things’ did you suddenly need to get?” He teases.

You blank. Do you persuade him to go with you to the doctor? Or should you distract him? Keep him in the dark until you know your condition for sure?

“Y/N?”

You jolt as Arthur is suddenly by your side, lightly grabbing your elbow to get your attention. He drops his head to look at your eyes, staring at you with slight concern. You’re trembling in fear. Fear of telling him the truth. Fear of the unknown.

You finally look into his eyes, clearing your throat of the growing lump in your throat.

“I uh, need to pick something up at the doctor’s office.”

He straightens up immediately like a spooked horse, but before he open his mouth to ask, you stop him.

“It’s for Miss Grimshaw. It’s...y’know.” You wave your hand. “Lady stuff.”

Arthur makes a disgusted face at which you laugh.

“Tell you what. I’ll get the mail and you go to the doctor, and uh, I’ll meet you up later,” he says.

You nod to him and walk over to the doctor’s. The walk is short, but feels like it’s miles long. With each hurried step, it’s as if you’re further away.

You finally reach the storefront of the building. Looking up at the painted lettering, your heart beats even faster.

Dr. Thomas Birner, M.D.

General health, surgeries, pharmaceuticals

Taking a deep breath, you step inside. You nearly jump at the sound of the bell on the doorframe. You catch the attention of a young woman, slightly older than you, sitting at the front desk. Her tiny spectacles sit on the edge of her nose.

“Hello, may I help you?” She asks kindly. Her delicate fingers organizing the papers littering her desk.

Your mouth feels dry as you step forward and lay your hands on her high desk.

“Um, is...is the doctor in?” You ask meekly.

“Why of course,” she answers. “Lucky for you, he’s only got one patient ahead of you. So you shouldn’t have to wait long. May I get your name?”

Rapping your fingers nervously at the edge of her desk, you give her a false name.

“Y/N...Y/N Dougall.”

“Ok, Miss Dougall. Just follow me.” The young woman stands up and leads you down the hallway.

“Take a seat in here and Dr. Birner will be with you shortly,” she says, holding her arm out in the doorway to invite you to the room.

She shuts the door behind you as you step inside. Sitting down on the cold chair, you look around to see pictures on the walls. Drawn images of organs and human bodies with descriptions are hung up by thumbtacks.

Suddenly, you feel nauseous. You jerk your head over to the door as you hear it click open.

A tall, young man enters the room. He looks too young to be a doctor, in fact. You discreetly examine his long legs and slender torso, moving up to his face. He’s nearly masked by a dark, thick beard, trimmed short to his jawline. His hair is so dark, it almost looks like it’s painted on him. His nose is long and upturned, and the attention of his doe-like eyes move from his hands to you. He pulls out a cigarette and lights it, taking a deep drag before finally speaking.

“Miss Dougall, is it?” He asks. His deep tone is a mix of authority and kindness.

Swallowing your nausea, you answer. “Yes.”

“No need to be afraid Miss. I can see you’re nervous...” he pulls up a rolling chair and squats in front of you. His chair is lowered so that you’re looking down at him, instead of eye-level. The way his knees bend as he sits makes him look like he’s part grasshopper.

“...I’m here to help. So, what seems to be troubling you?” He asks, looking up at you. The cigarette burning slowly in his mouth. His pale, lengthy fingers remove it from his thin lips and places it on the ashtray near.

“Um...well. I, uh, think I may be um...” you gesture with your hands as you can’t bring yourself to say it. You run your hands over your lower stomach.

Dr. Birner’s eyes dart to your stomach. He pauses before finishing your sentence, tilting his head at you.

“Pregnant?” He asks. The timbre of his voice is oddly soothing, as you fail to detect any hint of judgment. You expected the doctor to be an old man who’d give you a lecture about the dangers of sex and pregnancy, how you should have been more responsible, blah, blah, blah. But Dr. Birner seemed to be understanding, like he already knew your life story just by looking at you.

You nod your head while maintaining eye contact.

He rubs his hands in his lap, “And I take it that this was not planned?”

Pursing your lips tightly and wringing your hands, you silently shake your head.

You hear him breathe a small sigh through his nose while he looks up to you again with those big eyes.

“I see...Well, nothing to fear, Miss Dougall. We’ll soon find out. If you don’t mind...” he stands and beckons you to a nearby table.

“Just lay on this table here and relax for me.”

You do as he asks and lie flat on your back on the cold, metal table.

He gently pushes down near your groin with the pads of his fingers, pressing in small areas around your lower stomach. You feel a slight discomfort at this feeling, but surprisingly relaxed by his touch. You watch him narrow his eyes as he focuses.

“When was your last menstruation?” He asks softly while still pushing down.

You try to count the weeks back, “Um, I’m not sure. About two months, at least.”

“Hmm...and uh, do you—well, how do I phrase this? Would you consider yourself...romantically active?”

You furrow your brow at him, “Romantically active? You mean, do I have sex often?”

He lets out an embarrassed chuckle and nods his head, “Yes, to put it mildly.”

His light-hearted chuckle brings a small smile to your lips, easing your nervousness.

“Well, I wouldn’t say I am. The last time I had...relations, was several weeks ago...with a friend.”

“And is he aware of this?” He asks, straightening up and moving over to a nearby cabinet. You hear him rifling through items before pulling out what looks like a horn connected to a tube.

You shake your head, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear, “Not yet.”

Dr. Birner hums again. “If I may, could you untuck your shirt and unbutton your trousers for me?”

You squint your eyes at him. Any man who would ask that would only want one thing. You’ve been tricked and used so many times before, it’s the only thing you expect of men.

He senses your tension and reassures you, “I just need to listen. See this here?” He lifts up the instrument, the horn in one hand and the two odd, silver prongs in the other, “I can listen to your body and the little one inside you...if there’s one in there.”

Nodding your head, you slightly pull your shirt from your trousers, only exposing a small amount of skin. Next, you undo the top two buttons of your pants and go no further.

Dr. Birner pulls your shirt up only a tad and touches your bare skin, his fingers feel ice-cold to the touch. But they’re not as cold as his instrument, causing you to draw in a sharp breath through your nose. He places the horn on various areas of your groin, much like what he was doing earlier. The two silver prongs are now in each ear. He looks straight ahead as he tries to listen.

Removing the prongs from his ears, he straightens himself up and smooths out his shirt sleeves.

“Well, Miss Dougall, it may be too early to know for sure. If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like a more thorough examination.” He says.

“More thorough than this?” You ask.

“Yes. Don’t worry, my wife is at the front desk and she has experience with this. I’ll ask her to come in and help you.” With his long strides, he steps over to the door and leaves the room.

Oh, how you wish Arthur was here with you in this room. The doctor’s uncertainty made your paranoia increase tenfold. You laid on the cold table, shivering violently as you swallow the lump in your throat. You wrap your arms around yourself in your own embrace, wishing it was Arthur’s warm body holding you right now.

———————

Arthur struts out of the post office, stepping into the warm midday sun. The number of people on the streets grows as they go about their day, completing their errands. Arthur begins sorting through the mail letters, leaning against a tall gaslight pole. His heart twinges in disappointment as he sees there are no letters for him. He still carries a small shred of hope that the woman he once loved will change her mind; send a letter to him asking to run away together. But as the weeks rolled by, it became apparent that their relationship is truly over.

The memory of that night with you is triggered as he remembers the heartbreak that lead to it. It seems that you and Mary are tethered in his thoughts, he cannot envision one without the other slipping into vision. While the thought of Mary brings him pain, you bring him pleasure. Your friendly affection towards him is the soothing balm he needs to heal the scarring burn on his heart.

He takes his time walking towards the doctor’s office, as it took him only a minute to retrieve the mail. He has no intention of rushing you, since you’re only picking up an item or two. It shouldn’t take long. So he slows his stride, stopping every once in a while to peer into the glass windows of the stores and boutiques: a cobbler shop with hand-made leather boots and satin slippers set on a display shelf, a toy store with wooden figurines and cotton dolls, and a gun shop showcasing the latest models of rifles and revolvers that have just come out.

As Arthur checks the stores, he regularly looks over to the doctor’s office to see you waiting there. But you have yet to come out.

Curious.

He continues walking over to the office and halts in front of the small steps. Raising his chin, peering here and there, he tries to get a good look inside. Unfortunately, the glare of the sun is making it difficult to view inside the dim office.

The bell rings as he steps inside, his heavy boots landing with dull thumps. Two people down a hallway turn to look at who’s entering the door: a tall young man and a petite young woman.

“Good afternoon. Just take a seat over there and we’ll be with you shortly.” The woman says, pointing to a chair near the front desk.

“Uh, actually. I’m lookin’ for a friend o’ mine,” Arthur steps forward. “She came in here a lil while ago.”

“Oh, Miss Dougall?” Dr. Birner asks. He beckons for the young woman to enter the room off the hallway. She enters, carrying a white sheet or gown of some kind, leaving only him and Arthur.

“She won’t be long. I’ll be finished with her shortly.” He states.

Arthur stammers, taken aback, “Wha—Is...is she alright?”

Dr. Birner senses Arthur’s worry and gives him a reassuring smile.

“Of course. Just an examination.” He steps back and turns to enter the room, closing the door behind him.

Arthur’s left alone at the front of the office. He takes off his hat, running his fingers through his hair and fumbles with the brim of his hat. Shifting his weight from one leg to the other, he stands there, waiting.

—————

You lay on the cold table as you hear the door click open again. This time, it’s the woman entering the room. She tells you to strip your trousers and undergarments off and she lays a white sheet over your lower body.

“It’s all right,” she assures you. “It’s a routine examination. Nothing to worry about. I’ll be right here next to you if you should ever feel uncomfortable.” She looks to you with soft eyes, her blonde hair glowing in the light of the room.

The corner of your lip upturns to a small smile at her reassurance.

“Dr. Birner says uh, you’re his wife?” You ask.

She responds with a warm smile, “That’s right. My father was a medical man and he trained my husband as an apprentice while he was studying.”

She fixes the sheet that’s laid across your legs.

“That’s how we met,” she remembers fondly. Her eyes unfixed as she becomes lost in thought. “We both have a passion for medicine. I studied to become a midwife. We both taught each other everything we knew.”

“A what?” You ask. You never heard that word before.

“A midwife,” she repeats. “Someone who helps the mother with childbirth, so to speak.”

Suddenly, the door opens again and Dr. Birner steps in, walking over to the sink and scrubbing his hands.

“Are we ready, ladies?” He asks softly.

The two of you nod as the doctor sits in his stool again, now at your feet at the end of the table. He holds a small tin in his hand and rubs his fingers with the oily balm that’s inside.

“My name’s Christine, by the way,” she whispers to you, holding your hand. You smile and nod to her. Even if Arthur isn’t here with you, you’re glad to have Christine by your side.

“Christine, if I could have you stand over here, please.” The doctor asks. She obeys and stands as close to him as possible, the two of them facing you.

“And Y/N, if you could bring your knees up for me.” He doesn’t order you. Instead it feels like he’s asking for permission, and you consent.

You feel them lift the sheet up to your knees, and the cold air hitting your bare regions. You nervously fidget with the hem of the sheet as you feel him touch you. You can barely make out what they’re muttering to each other behind the sheet. He presses here and there on your groin while inserting two fingers into your vaginal opening.

Christine looks up and senses your discomfort.

“You ok, Y/N?” She asks, reaching for your hand to calm your fidgeting. Her warmth is a wonderful change from the doctor’s ice-cold fingers. It’s like wrapping your fingers around a warm cup of coffee.

You quickly nod while scrunching your eyes, wanting to get this ordeal over with quickly. The doctor continues to poke and feel around with intense focus in his glare. The two of them continue to whisper to each other, you’re too focused on the feeling inside you to listen.

Finally, the doctor straightens up and slides his fingers out of you. Christine takes her cue and rolls the sheet back down to cover you. Dr. Birner steps back to the sink to wash his hands, shaking them dry. Turning back to you, he catches your stare with a forlorn gaze.

“Well, Miss Dougall, I’m afraid to tell you this but...”

Your breathing quickens to a near panic, leaning up on your elbows in anticipation.

“It does appear you’re pregnant. All the signs point to it.” He wipes his hands with a clean cloth, leaning against the counter.

Your eyes dart back and forth in panic. Your chin quivers as you hold back a scream. You look away from the both of them as you suck in a deep, shaky breath. The pair of them stay absolutely still as they watch.

Sitting up, you move your legs to the edge of the tall table, still covered with the sheet. You can hardly contain yourself anymore as you clasp a hand over your mouth and cry, wrapping an arm around your midsection. You feel Christine’s sympathetic hand rub across your back. Ashamed at your outburst of tears, you drop your head in your hand and hide your eyes in your palm, continuing to shake as each sob rolls out of your chest.

“What’do I do now?” You cry softly into your hand.

Dr. Birner shifts his weight as he answers, “The best thing you can do now is keep yourself healthy. Eat more, drink lots of water, and try not to overwork yourself.”

Stepping forward towards you on the table, he continues, staring at you with those big, brown eyes. “If it’s at all possible, I’d like to see you again in a month.”

With a wet sniffle, you gaze at him with confusion.

“The early stages of pregnancy are the most important,” he explains. “And I’d—we’d like to make sure everything’s going smoothly. For you and the baby.” He and Christine look to each other with fondness.

“I dunno if I can afford that mister.” You confess.

“Don’t worry,” he consoles. “We’ll only charge you what you can afford. Even if it’s just a penny.”

“No offense but, why do you care so much?” You ask.

The two of them turn their heads to each other, the fondness now replaced with melancholy. Dr. Birner looks like he wants to answer, but continues to look into Christine’s eyes as if he’s asking for approval.

Christine turns to you and answers, “To be honest...we can’t have children.” She looks back to Dr. Birner, “No matter how hard we try, it’s just not possible.” She reaches a hand to him and he grasps it, squeezing it gently.

“So, we want to help you. To make sure your baby makes it into this world safely...We realize that it’s God’s plan for us to use our gifts and help others give birth to His children.”

Never have you met such kindness from strangers before. The only instance was Dutch and Hosea taking you under their wings. You instilled your trust in so few people. And here you are, with a young couple offering their charity to you. Do you take it?

If it meant for the safety of your unborn child, then yes.

“Thank you.” You cry, sniffling and wiping away the tears.

A few more minutes go by as the doctor gives you instructions on taking care of yourself during your pregnancy. He steps out of the room while Christine helps you back into your clothes. Your hands tremble as you try to button your pants and tuck in your shirt. Your whole body feels exhausted as you shake like a beaten dog.

How do I tell Arthur?

Christine leads you to the door and opens it for you. You step out with your head held down, watching your feet walk you forward down the hallway. You wipe at your nose with the back of your hand and look up.

Shit.

Arthur is leaning on the front desk, his leg bouncing impatiently and his forearms resting on the countertop. His hat lays on the counter as he turns his head over to you. His eyebrows are upturned in worry, his forehead wrinkling. He stands up straight but doesn’t move.

And neither do you. You stop dead in your tracks.

“Arthur? What’r’you doing here?”

He swings his arms heavily in uncertainty, “You told me you were just pickin’ somethin’ up...You were in here a long time.” He tenses his shoulders up. “Is evertythin’ alright?”

You bite your lower lip, “Sort of.” You step forward to the desk while Christine follows behind you and returns to her seat.

“How much do I owe ya?” You ask.

Christine distractedly glances at Arthur, then to you, “Um, ten dollars.”

You scramble through your satchel and find you only have seven dollars in your bag. Sighing, you take out the crumpled wad of cash and hand it to her.

“This is all I got, I’m sorry.” You state with embarrassment.

“Here,” you hear Arthur’s gruff voice beside you. He pulls out a neat stack of cash and slides out three extra dollars, placing it on your stack.

“Arthur, no. You don’t have to.” You protest.

“Don’t worry about it,” he counters, placing the stack of bills back in his bag.

You thank him softly.

“Should we expect you back in a month?” Christine inquires, causing Arthur to lean and peer at you.

Quickly nodding your head you let out a small croak, “Yes.” You immediately turn to leave the awkward situation and walk out the door. Arthur steps right behind you.

Walking briskly, you nearly jog back to your horses tied at the post office. You avoid looking back at Arthur who doesn’t struggle to keep up your pace with his long strides. You feel him staring at you. Neither of you speak a word as you near the horses.

You’re about to untie König from the post when Arthur finally speaks up.

“Y/N?”

You stand still with your back to him, shoulders tensing.

“You wanna tell me what happened back there?” He asks.

Tremors shake through your body. You gnaw at your lower lip, nearly drawing blood from the constant biting. You hear him step towards you and place a hand on your shoulder. You tense up at his touch and turn to him, causing him to release his hand as if he’s been burned.

He notices your bloodshot eyes. Your face is paled, and you let out a shaky breath.

“I’m pregnant.”

#damn text block limit got me again #working on chapter 4 now!#mistakes #arthur morgan #arthur morgan x reader #arthur morgan x female reader #rdr2 #red dead redemption 2 #fan fic

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spiritmaiden23 · 4 years

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THE POSITIVE & NEGATIVE; Mun & Muse - Meme.

fill out & repost ♥ This meme definitely favors canons more, but I hope OC’s still can make it somehow work with their own lore, and lil’ fandom of friends & mutuals. Multi-Muses pick the muse you are the most invested in atm.

My muse is: canon / oc / au / canon-divergent / fandomless /

Is your character popular in the fandom? YES / NO / IDK. For sure, for being the cutest of cutes!! All Zeldas are cute though but she was the blueprint ;v;

Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom? YES / NO / IDK. I’m a devout christian virgin I would never ever look at those kind of topics the only hot I see is the flames of hell for even considering this smh smh bUT NO FOR REAL THO I’M NOT REALLY SURE???? I mostly see people gushing over how cute she is rather than hot.

Is your character considered strong in the fandom? YES / NO / In some aspects. We don’t really see Skyward Sword Zelda’s abilities in the games as we did in, say, BOTW where she goes full goddess mode. Aside from blessing the master sword, sealing herself away, and the implications that the game gives us with Zelda being not only a student at the knight school but also a badass warrior goddess in her past life; I’d say she’s pretty up there in terms of strength.

Are they underrated? YES / NO. GONNA GO WITH YES AND NO ON THIS. As a character, Zelda is far from underrated she’s actually cliche blonde character we all love and stan but in this incarnation.... also yes and no because while I see a lot of people like SS Zelda keep in mind that SS is the black sheep of the series so not a lot of people have good opinions on it. I’ve seen some say she’s annoying, too shoujo or even Mary Sue at some points and hweoh we all know that the last one ain’t even close to true since she’s far from bland and OP written. But it’s all a matter of perspective!

Were they relevant for the main story? YES / NO.

Were they relevant for the main character? YES / NO /

Are they widely known in their world? YES / NO.

How’s their reputation? GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL / FOR THE MOST PART, if we were talking verses like say witch verse she’d have more of a neutral reputation considering witches aren’t really well-liked ;-;

How strictly do you follow canon?

I try to do the best that I can do given with what we’re working with here all while adding my own spin to her characterization because we all have different perspective when it comes to art! How I see Zelda is someone who’s bubbly, playful (big ol bully hweoh), a bit of a busybody if she feels she needs to step in due to worrywart tendencies yet highly responsible and carries a wisdom that’s beyond her age, she doesn’t like seeing people bullying others and isn’t afraid to put her foot down to speak her mind if something is up. While kindness is sorta her strong suit I wanted to go beyond “nice girl” and just showcase other sides of her too, hence why main verse is typically set during the events of SS because here we see her growth into the girl we see at the end of the game where she’s melancholic of her past but is looking forward to seeing what the future holds and wants to build a brighter tomorrow with Link by her side along with friends and loved ones. I’m not at all confident in playing as her, despite playing as Zelda since 2017 haha!! So I can’t really say that I’m super strict in following canon considering that’s how I view the character through the actions and dialogue throughout the game, perhaps the creators had something different in mind than how I see Sky Zelda.

SELL YOUR MUSE! Aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutuals.

DO YOU LIKE WHOLESOME GIRLS?! Wait no, hold on, that’s a little too vague, so let’s try that again. Do you like wholesome genki girls who were once a god who fought in a war in their past life? How about pastel girls who may seem sweet but are deep down bullies towards loved ones? Are you at a point in your life where you find yourself wondering: where on earth can I find someone who’s ray of sunshine can brighten up my day. Will do I have good news for you buddy! Introducing your very own friend: Zelda from hit series Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. This Zelda is more extreme than the others due to the fact that she’s not a princess, that’s right no princess titles clogging up that beautiful name. Just a knight who somehow finds out she’s actually a goddess reborn as human, no biggie!

Now the OPPOSITE, list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?)

SHOUJO PROTAG WHO’S TOO FREAKING CUTE!! So.... if that’s not your cup of tea ;v; but nah I can see people not liking Zelda because not everyone like the nice girl who’s your childhood friend characrter, I totally get it but if you dig a little deeper you see that there’s more to it than that.

What inspired you to rp your muse?

My close friend was FINALLY getting into the LOZ series back when BOTW was first coming out, her playthrough of SS made me remember how much I loved each characters and honestly Zelda’s design in that game was always my fav right next to Tetra and ALTTP/ALBW! At the time I mostly played more introverted muses or straight up villains and I wanted to try my hand at playing more wholesome characters like Sky Zel and ALTTP Zel ;v; now look at me, the CEO of wholesome cute girls ;v;

What keeps your inspiration going?

Motivation and time at this point, I’m not the young starry-eyed rper who used to have playlists and replay things to keep up with canon. I just pray to god I’m doing ok, let jesus take the wheel and just sorta do my own thing. I think having fun threads or a friendship with partners or just good vibes from them def helps a whole lot.

Some more personal questions for the mun.

Give your mutuals some insight about the way you are in some matters, which could lead them to get more comfortable with you or perhaps not.

Do you think you give your character justice? YES / NO.

Do you frequently write headcanons? YES / NO. SORTA KINDA NOT AS MUCH AS I DO WITH ALTTP ZEL BECAUSE I’M ALWAYS NERVOUS THAT I MIGHT LIKE BREAK THE CANON OR ZEL’S CHARACTER!!

Do you sometimes write drabbles? YES / NO.

Do you think a lot about your Muse during the day? YES / NO.

Are you confident in your portrayal? YES / NO.

Are you confident in your writing? YES / NO / Most of the time!

Are you a sensitive person? YES / NO. I mean, that’s a trick question because I can be sensitive in picking up tones and reading between the lines but like if you mean if someone says something mean than no not anymore at least, I’m too old to care about what people say about me or think about me.

Do you accept criticism well about your portrayal?

YE! I do! I mean we’re all improving and junk so I see no issues with criticisms uvub I always worry about whether or not you can hear different voices within the characters I rp as among writing issues I have that comes with learning disability and ADD, I try my hardest but I know at the end of the day there will always be grammar mistakes and even spelling!

Do you like questions, which help you explore your character?

YES YES YES!! OMG YES!! I TAKE WHATEVER QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE AND JUST... WORD VOMIT BACK SEVEN PAGE ESSAY SOMETIMES ;V;

If someone disagrees to a headcanon of yours, do you want to know why?

Eh, well yeah it’d be nice honestly to hear feedbacks and thoughts. Just saying ‘I don’t like this or I don’t agree with this’ doesn’t really help anyone who wants to improve but I’m not gonna like press them for it either because again I’m at the stage in my life where I’m just like ‘it is what it is’.

If someone disagrees with your portrayal, how would you take it?

Shrug emoji, and then move on! Again it’d be nice if they can tell me though but I won’t press them for it if they don’t feel like it. We’re allowed to have our opinions after all yo!

If someone really hates your character, how do you take it?

It is illegal to hate sky zel or any Zel really... NAH JK I DON’T REALLY CARE I’ve liked characters who aren’t popular among the fandom, I’m more or less used to seeing character bashing for faves so like it doesn’t really affect me at all I’m just like “lol” and move on.

Are you okay with people pointing out your grammatical errors?

YES! Though keep in mind, despite me using Grey instead of Gray, I use US English ;v; so keep that in mind when spotting out certain words other parts of the world may spell differently because us US Americans just..... gotta be extra like that.

Do you think you are easy going as a mun?

I TRY!!! IDK IF I COME ACROSS AS THAT but I’m very much someone who goes with the flow anyway, I’ve been told that much IRL and I’m just hweoh not really someone who’s a stick in the mud or has a stick up their ass, you know? I’m pretty laid back and not much bothers me, I can get petty if I have to come across rude people that’s the one thing that kills it for me but aside from that, I just wanna try to get along with people. We don’t have to be friends if you’re not feeling the vibes but friendly terms is good enough for me!

That’s about it, congrats for filling out!

#long post /#ooc postings.#the ceo of cute wholesome girls that's all i wanna be known for #but phew the sleeping pills are kicking in i can't write too well now #so good niiiiight enjoy this early munday meme!

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hellzyeahwebwielingessays · 4 years

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The Not-So-Amazing Mary Jane Part 35: AMJ #6.2

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Much as we did for AMJ #4 we will be turning this issue into a three parter. This is because the next page we will cover has a Hell of a lot to unpack. As always, if you want the full context read the previous post.

MJ’s mental rehearsal continues, with her imagining Peter’s questions and the answers she plans on giving.

Why didn’t she call Peter? Because she couldn’t get to her phone safely

Why didn’t she scream for help/aren’t there security guars on set? Because she was the only one being pursued.

MJ plans to pause for dramatic effect and say (with enough conviction that Peter would have to understand): “I’d just seen this guy kill someone. Who knows what else he was capable of? I didn’t want to endanger anyone else by making them my shield. Especially since this guy was intent on following me and only me out of the building.”

Whilst MJ is going through this in her head she is shocked and scared at the sight of Oni. Oni reaches into his jacket (seemingly for a gun). MJ’ facial expression changes (I don’t really know what it’s trying to convey) and she smashes a fire alarm. Oni pulls his hand out of his jacket revealing nothing but his hand in a gun pose. Behind him the audiences rushes out in a panic.

Okay, the storytelling between the art and captions is actually very well executed here. If this was an original character rather than Mary Jane, someone who was perhaps characterized as brash, impulsive (possibly self-destructive), then this page would actually be really cool.

I appreciate how the art and dialogue marry up together creating irony and a contrast to what is happening. The framing of Oni and the ‘lighting’ (for lack of a better word) are also excellent as is the pacing and ‘rhythm’ of the page. It’s just executed very well.

Too bad MJ isn’t an original character and the context ruins the page.

Not only is MJ planning on deliberately lying to Peter but going to extra lengths to do it. It’s not just the one lie it’s several about her being in danger and unnecessarily. The worst part is the ‘I will say with enough conviction that my….boyfriend has to understand…’ It’s just so underhanded and exploitative, its MJ planning on in a sense tricking Peter into believing her lies.

And I do not know why.

Why is she planning to lie to him about this at all? Is she so egotistical that she can’t admit she made a mistake? Has she or is she planning on always lying to Peter about pursuing crooks herself?

I just do not understand the need for MJ to lie to Peter about this. Yes it will upset him but surely she knows he’ll get over it. Even if it’s just to save her some kind of hassle with him later surely she knows lying is just generally bad for a relationship, especially over something as serious as this. Peter doesn’t lie to her about being Spider-Man or the risks that entails for God’s sake.

This isn’t even connected to the Mysterio thing. This is just an extra pack of lies about an essentially unrelated event.

The most grating aspect of the page is that MJ recognizes the obvious questions and the obvious reasons she should have done something different. Which means Williams does too. Williams knows there were other more reasonable options for Mary Jane to have taken but has chosen for her to not take them.

And let’s dig into those options shall we.

She could have called Spidey. She is planning on lying about her phone being out of safe reach. Except it wasn’t.

She could’ve screamed for help or screamed about the murder. She could’ve gotten the security guards to help her. She plans to claim she was the only one being pursued. She wasn’t, the guy was leaving and she pursued him. He isn’t even pursuing her on this page.

Even if she was the only one being pursued she still could’ve gotten security guards involved. Putting aside the fact that that’s their job, this guy is seemingly not a super human. If he was why is he walking away, keeping to the shadows and using a weapon to strangle his victim. If he had enhanced strength he’d not need that. Therefore there is no evidence to suggest this man couldn’t be stopped by several burly guys or a bullet. After all, even in New York city the number of regular human criminals outnumber the costumed criminals.

And yes, this guy is seemingly a cold-blooded killer so MJ couldn’t be sure what else he was capable of. But if this chat show hosts celebrity guests then surely the security services have provisions in place to protect them? They are celebrities, there are always going to be one or two lunatics who might take things too far. So provided they aren’t incompetent the security guards should be armed and prepared to deal with a normal non-powered person at the very least, even an armed one and a cold blooded killer. In fact I’d have thought a crazed and armed celebrity stalker would be far less predictable than a sane and rationale killer.

Also, MJ’s point about not knowing what Oni is capable of applies to her. She doesn’t know what the man is capable of beyond obviously being willing and able to kill; we’ll come back to that in a moment.

MJ final point on this page regards not wanting to make other people her shield, especially since he was just after her. Again he wasn’t. In fact her pursuit of him wound up endangering more people. Not by accident either, she deliberately put them in danger by triggering the fire alarm.

That’s aggressively out of character for Mary Jane. Risk the lives of innocent people to save her own skin? Get fucked, Mary Jane would never do that. I can’t say I’m surprised. MJ’s moral compass has been utterly broken throughout this series. She’s been mind bogglingly selfish throughout this series.

You know when I wrote part 16, I was only thinking about MJ prioritizing her career over other people. I honestly never expected that I’d have to point out that she’d obviously not use other people as her shield.

There is an element of good craftsmanship to that moment though. The juxtaposition between what MJ is doing and the rehearsal dialogue MJ is running through in her head. As a moment intended to deliver irony it works magnificently. It just isn’t something Mary Jane would ever do. Oh, unless it was six villains and they were threatening the movie.

I guess in this series MJ’s priorities are:

Mysterio’s dream film project/Mysterio’s ‘redemption’/The employment of current super villains/Her career/Her life

Her relationship with Peter/the lives of innocent people

In that order.

Why do people sill laud this series again?

Anyway, MJ’s point about not wanting to use people as shields doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. Not just because that is literally what she is doing on this page. Not just because she basically did that last issue when the cast and crew battled the Savage Six for her. Not just because Mysterio battled them in issue #3.

But MJ has sought the help of others countless times before.

In part 20 I recounted several instances of MJ getting assists to save her self. Whilst some of those instances entailed help finding her, others involved her actively seeking help. In ASM #261 she asked Harry about Peter as she wanted Spider-Man to come help them. She asked Spidey to help rescue her and Liz from the fire in the same issue.

In part 17 I also pointed out that Mary Jane sought assistance from the police, body guards and Peter to deal with her stalker. In that instalment I also went over the time she encouraged Peter to go out and deal with a gangland shoot out going on. Obviously MJ was not in any direct danger there but wouldn’t asking Peter for help qualify as looking to him to protect innocent people, as MJ is herself was (allegedly) trying to do by pursing Oni?

There are numerous other instances where MJ has looked to others to help her in times of peril or when innocent people are in danger.

When Smythe abducted her in ASM Annual #19 she tried to get the attention of Peter or the authorities.

In Web #49 to Peter to sort out Lorraine’s drug dealer?

In ASm #317 she suggested calling in the marines when Venom was on the loose again.

In MKSM #11 she called S.H.I.E.L.D. to save Peter and Felicia from she (correctly) presumed would be a trap.

Or how about Spec #228 where a pregnant MJ was pursued by a mind controlled Peter bent on killing her? In that issue Mary Jane sought the help of the New Warriors and Ben Reilly/Scarlet Spider who acted as a shield between her and Peter.

No matter how you slice it, if MJ is in danger or thinks others are, she is more than willing to seek assistance from people who’s job it is to protect others. Shit, how many times has MJ suggested other heroes or the police could save the day instead of Spider-Man?

These do not mark her out as a weak coward. If you know your limits and can reasonably assess danger then often you serve the greater good by seeking the assistance of others. Sometimes serving the greater good means handing over responsibility to them if they are better qualified.

Spider-Man himself has sought help from other heroes when he feels outgunned on countless occasions. One of the most recent (as of this writing) occurred in FNSM v2 #12-13 where Peter asked the F4 to help him.

It’s all about scale. I went over this in parts 19-22, but MJ is not a super hero. She’s just a very capable civilian. But a capable civilian is still not on the same level as a very capable trained cop or trained security officer, someone who knows what they are doing with a gun basically. She’s probably more resourceful than those people, but her resourcefulness boils down to luck. She needs the right resources around her to exploit. Hence why her only course of action on this page was to create dozens of human shields.

Noticeably she was scared and unprepared deal with him one-on-one. Like what the fuck did she think was going to happen when she caught up with him. Her apprehension seemed at it’s worst when he was seemingly pulling out a gun and…yeah. What would she have done if he was armed.

Look back at the prior page. The distance between them would’ve been too great for her to have knocked the gun out of his hand or even attack him hand to hand. The pacing of the panels on this page make it clear that Oni would’ve had ample opportunity to have shot her if he wanted, even after MJ hit the alarm.

You could argue that her distraction worked because he wouldn’t have dared kill her with so many witnesses. That is to say he might’ve refrained from pulling a gun specifically because MJ hit the alarm. Or maybe you could argue if he had pulled a gun he wouldn’t have fired because of the witnesses.

The problem there being that he apparently wasn’t that fussed about witnesses because he knew MJ saw him but was leaving. And again, he’s wearing a mask! So what if people identify him. People know Spider-Man is guilty of countless property damage and other acts of vigilantism. It doesn’t matter because he wears a mask. Obviously he doesn’t want to be framed for a more serious crime like murder, but he’s on the side of the angels. Oni clearly isn’t and clearly doesn’t care to be. Not only because he just murdered someone but because he is literally dressed as a demon!

His decision to wear a mask like that at all actually destroys the idea that he is particularly worried about being spotted. From a realistic stand point no one would wear something so garish unless they wanted to be spotted. Super villains often want attention and have big egos, hence the flashy costumes. If this guy’s job was to be a shadowy assassin who kills with no witnesses why wear a bright red mask (which is specifically how MJ spotted him btw) with big impractical horns on it. I’m not saying this guy is actively trying to get noticed, but he clearly wouldn’t care about witnesses because his disguise is highly attention grabbing. Look how nonchalant he is amidst the crowd on this very page? If he really did want to just get in and get out, no witnesses he’d never have worn that.

Oh well. At least MJ isn’t nonplussed like she was last issue…Hey wait a minute. Why isn’t Mary Jane nonplussed like last issue? She could hold her own against the Savage Six single handily but one guy in a scary mask and some garrotte rope and she’s intimidated?

How does that make sense? I mean yes, it makes sense and is totally believable if you take this situation in isolation. But it this series isn’t consistent even with it’s own stupid ass rules!

Let’s leave it there for now. We’ll wrap up the issue with the next instalment.

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#Leah Williams #Amazing Mary Jane #mjwatsonedit #mary jane watson #Mary Jane Watson Parker #MJ Watson #Spider-Man #Peter Parker #Fantastic Four #Venom #Alastair Smythe #Eddie Brock #Venom Symbiote

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